Ss ^Ej 5s THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND POEMS B Y THOMAS HOCCLEVE, NEVER BEFORE PRINTED: SELECTED FROM A MS. IN THE POSSESSION OF GEORGE MASON. WITH A PREFACE, NOTES, AND GLOSSARY. LONDON: PRINTED. BY C. ROWORTH, FOR LEIGH AND SOTHEBY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCXCVI. m*. THAT INTELLIGENT FRIEND OF LITERATURE, GEORGE JOHN EARL SPENCER, THESE POEMS OF HOCCLEVE MOST SATISFACTORILY THEIR EDITOR INSCRIBES. PR ADVERTISEMENT. THE MS., from which thefe Poems are fele&ed, came into the hands of the editor at the well-known auction of Dr. Afkew's MSS. in 1785. By the arms on both fides of the cover the book appears to have belonged to Henry Prince of Wales, fon to James the firft. The circumftance of moft of the poems not being known to exift elfewhere has induced the editor to fpecify the contents of the MS. in his preface- that any other pofleflbr of any of thefe pieces may know them to be the fame, and have the option of communicating intelligence upon the fubject. ERRATA. Page 19. line 10. after editions infert by Berthekt. 25. line 15. fcarfe4y fhould be printed fcar*fe4y. 27. line penult, in notes, for ablative read oblative. 30. turn the comma at the end of v. 36 into a colon. 31. v. 54. for grace re*concyle read gra*ce reconcyle. 37. v. 138. for deer read deere. 43. v. 230. for fogete \ez&forgete. 52. v. 374. for th;r read th*r. 53. v. 392. for ne read no. 54. v. 405. for difplezfaunt read difplefaunt. 58. line 3. after IL infert ESTOIT. Errors merely literal (as cowzentator, Wintowms, &c.) are not particularly fet forth. PREFACE. JL HIS publication contains fix poems, fele&ed out of feven- teen, which make the whole of a Mf. in the editor's poflef- fion, and were all written by THOMAS HOCCLEVE. He is more generally called OCCLEVE ; but his name is here fpelt as it (lands in the Mf. wherever this poet fpeaks of himfelf. Particulars of HOCCLEVE'S life have been very fparingly tranfmitted to us : fome of thofe too, which we have, are totally inconfiftent with many of his fentiments, as delivered by him in his poetry. Alfo the very time of his birth, and the duration of his exiftence, are left exceedingly at large by all who mention him. Yet both of thefe may be pretty nearly afcertained from what will occur in this felec~lion. It is moft probable, that HOCCLEVE was born about the year 1370. The reafons for this conclufion will be fully fet forth in notes B to to the paflages, whence the inference is drawn. From what our poet fays of himfelf*, he has been filled CHAUCER'S difciple. The age he was of, when firft honoured by the notice of this great matter, does not appear ; but according to the computation of his birth, he muft have been thirty years old when CHAUCER died. PITTS fays, that HOCCLEVE ftudied the law at Chefter's Inn, and was a writer to the Privy Seal for twenty years. His refidence at " Cheftres-j- Inne by the Stronde" is teftified by himfelf in the introduction to his poem de regimine prin- cipum. That he belonged to the Privy Seal for a confider- able length of time in the younger and middle part of his life, is almofl manifeft from paflages in the poems now pub- lifhed. When he quitted this office, or what means of fub- fiftence he afterwards had, cannot be fo clearly determined. PITTS feems to infmuate, that he was provided for by HUM- PHREY Duke of Glocefter, faying, " that he wonderfully * See teftimonies of CHAUCER in URRY'S edition, and WARTON'S Englijk Poetry^ Tol. ii. p. 43. f This was one of the buildings pulled down to make room for the firft erection of Somerfet Houfe\ but (according to DUGDALE'S Orig. Jurid.} was once the town refidence of the Bi/hops of LitchfielJ, who were formerly called bifhops of Chefter, [See SPELMAN'S Remains, p. 212 at bottom, and WRIGHT'S edition of Heylin's Help to Englijk Hi/lory, p. 58 and 60 and 130.] This accounts for the name of the edifice ; but at what time it was converted into an Inn for law-ftudents, and whether it was only made a part of Stronde Inn, are circumftances not fpecified either in DUGDALE or SPELMAN. " celebrated ( 3 ) " celebrated this patron in his verfes." Both thefe things may poflibly be true ; but no fpecific vouchers are adduced for either by PITTS. Mr. WARTON indeed ftrengthens the latter aflertion by faying, " OCCLEVE in this poem \de regl- mlne principum\ and in others, often celebrates HUMPHREY Duke of Glocefter*." In thefe others (not feen by the edi- tor) Mr. WARTON probably had grounds for what he ad- vanced ; but the poem de reglmine principum makes no men- tion of HUMPHREY : nor was it at all likely that it fhould ; fmce, at the time of HOCCLEVE'S promulgating that work, HUMPHREY was neither Duke of Glocefter, nor of an age to be a patron. In the editor's Mf. are two little poems, which were fent with this piece, one to the Prince of Wales (after- wards HENRY V.) and the other to Prince John afterwards Duke of Bedford. There are pafTages of the poem to Prince JOHN, which almoft imply his being then under a tutor : and HUMPHREY was the youngeft of the princes. In all the feventeen pieces (contained in the editor's Mf.) there is cer- tainly not a word of HUMPHREY. Whatever was the fource of HOCCLEVE'S fupport in the latter period of his life, it is pretty evident from the laft poem in this felection, that he could be little fhort of eighty years of age at the time of his writing it. One of the dates afligned to his asra in TANNER'S * Hift. of Eng. Poet. vol. ii. p. 44. B 2 Bibliotheca C 4 ] Bibliotheca is 1454; which is very likely to have been the year of his deceafe. BALE tells us, " that OCCLEVE had imbibed the religious " tenets of WICLIFF and BERENGARIUS ;" and feemingly quotes a paffage from WALSINGHAM to prove it. As the paf- fage ftands in the printed copies of WALSINGHAM, it has been grievoufly mif-quoted by BALE. The hiftorian is fpeaking of WICLIFF in the year 1381, and fays of him " reaflumens " damnatas opiniones Berengarii et OCKLEFE." This paf- fage would make Wicliff an Ocklefian, inftead of Ocklefe a Wicliffian, and could never relate to our HOCCLEVE, then a boy not twelve years old. Indeed from comparing Wal- fingham with himfelf in his Tpodeigma Neuftrice, and with the Monk of Evejham's Life of Richard II. the words " et 46 Ocklefe" feem rather fome blundering interpolation. Our author had fo little imbibed the tenets of that early reformer, that he frequently {hews himfelf much too violent againft Wicliff's followers. So many circumftances of HOCCLEVE'S private life are dif- played in the felected poems, that the editor's principal inducement, for giving thefe particular pieces to the public, has arifen from his obferving fuch kind of matter to be con-, tained in them. Private anecdotes in the leaft degree cha* racteriftical are always amufmg ; and when they bring us ^ acquainted [ 5 ] acquainted with peculiar habits and manners after the inter- vention of centuries, can hardly fail of interesting readers of curiofity. The fubject of the chief poem in this publication is the poet's own diflipated life. Nor is his propenfity to extravagance unaccountable, fmce the example ofthefecond Richard's court was always before his eyes in his youth. Hardynge's Chronicle plainly fets forth the exceffive profu- fion of that unfortunate monarch. Truly I heard Robert Ireleffe fay Clerke of the greencloth, that to the houfehold Came every day, for the moft part alway Ten Thoufand folk by his mefles told That followed the houfe ay as they wold, And in the kechin three hundreth fervitours, And in eche office many occupiours. And Ladies faire with their gontilwomen, Chamberers alfo and launderers Thre hundreth of them were occupied then. There was great pride among the officers, And of all men for paflyng their compeers, Of rich array and much more coftious Than was before, or fith, and more precious. Yomen [ 6 ] Yomen and gromes in clothe of filke arayed Sattyn and damafk, in doublittes and gouns, In cloth of green and fcarlet, for unpayed. Cut worke was great, both in court and townes, Bothe in mens hoodes, and alfo in their gounes, Broudur and furres, and goldfmith werke ay new In many a wyfe eche day they did renewe. The poetical merit of our author has been varioufly eftimated by thofe that have treated of it. It would be idle to refer to Pitts or Bale, as arbiters in this way ; but WILLIAM BROWNE had an eafy vein of harmonious poetry, and cannot well be fuppofed an incompetent judge on the fubje6t. He has incorporated into his Shepherds Pipe (pub- lifhed in 1614) a whole poem written by HOCCLEVE, tranf- lated from Gefta Romanorum, and entitled tfhe Story of Jo- nathas. BROWNE foon after fays, Well I wot, the man, that firft Sung this lay, did quench his third Deeply, as did ever one, In the Mufes' Helicon. Mr. WARTON (in his Diflertation on Gejla Romanorum) directly diflents from the writer of thefe praifes : yet his chief [ 7 ] chief reafon for doing fo feems not to be warranted by the real ftate of the fat. His words are, " he [HOCCLEVE] has " given no fort of embellifhment to his original." Had Mr. WARTON found fault with the poet's mode of embellifh- ment, the editor would have felt a diffidence in a contrary opinion to that of fo able a critic ; but the general negation is certainly unfounded. HOCCLEVE indeed adheres clofely to the fubftance of the ftory, yet embelliihes it in various places by judicious infertions of his own, and of which there are no traces at all in his original. The tale would abfo- lutely appear in certain parts of it as if it had been muti- lated, were it not for thefe additional touches. In fome of them there is a ftrain of pleafantry fimilar to that of PRIOR ; and which the modern poet in one inftance pro- bably copied. At the meeting of Jonathas with his para- mour, HCICCLEVE fays, that he rowned * in her ear, Nat wot I what, for I ne cam nat there. PRIOR fays in Down ball, And Morley moft lovingly whifper'd the maid. The maid ! was fhe handfome ? why truly fo-fo : But what Morley whlfpeSd, we never Jball know. * Whifpered. PRIOR [ 8 ] PRIOR had accefs to the Harleian Library, where he might as eafily have feen the Shepherd's Pipe, as he did T'he Not- browne Mayde. In his preceding volume of the Hiftory of Englifh Poetry Mr. WARTON had fpoken unfavourably of the talents of HOCCLEVE : he had called him " a feeble writer, as a poet," and gone fo far as to fay, " the titles of his pieces indicate a " coldnefs of genius." And might not fuch a remark be faid to indie ate fame degree of prejudice ? Many an admirable poem would (land in danger of being configned to oblivion, if an index expurgatorius fhould be framed from the bare infpection of titles. The very perfon here ftigmatifed for coldnefs of genius is (a few pages after) defervedly commended by his cenfurer, for exprefling great warmth of fenfibility in fome lines to the memory of Chaucer. Mr. WARTON'S final fentence againft HO-CCLEVE is grounded on fuppofmg in him a total want of " invention " and fancy." The editor of the prefent felection by no means prefumes to enter into competition with the judg- ment of fo eminent and ingenious a writer ; and, as far as evi- dence was equally open to both, acquiefces in the decifion of an infinitely fuperior authority. But there are ftrong reafons for believing, that none of the poems in the editor's Mf. (except [ 9 ] (except two of the fhorteft, already mentioned as fent to the Princes) could ever have been feen by Mr. WART ON*. Of the remaining fifteen the title only of one (in the words defuis prodigalitatibus) is in TANNER ; but, where the poem itfelf exifted, TANNER could give no intimation. The late Mr. TYRWHITT, whofe accuracy in refearches of this kind needs not be expatiated upon, knew of no other Mf. in which any of thefe fifteen pieces were to be met with. Now had fome of thefe, efpecially fome of the prefent feletion, been feen by Mr. WARTON, the editor really thinks, that this difcerning critic would have perceived more originality in HOCCLEVE, than he deemed him poffeft of, and confe- quently have held him in a fomewhat higher degree of efti- mation. There is at leaft through the whole of this Mf. a negative merit, which Mr. WARTON muft have accounted fingular in a poet of fo early a period : fince this very merit is alledged by himfelf againft allowing the authenticity of the poems called Rowley's. I mean, there are no ana- chronifms, " no incongruous combinations" in all thefe -f poetical remains. I now * It may be afked, why the editor did not offer Mr. Warton the ufe of this Mf. ? It was not in the editor's poffelfion, till a few years after Mr. Warton had publifhed ' his third and laft volume. f The editor does not affert, that HOCCLEVE was always free from any defect of this fort. In his Letter of Cupid (publifhed with Chaucer) this heathen god talks of angels and the fsoelve apoftles, of the F"irgin Mary and the Devil. But this Letter might C have I now proceed to give the reader a lift of the contents of the Mf. whence this felection is made, and which feems to have been written about the middle of the i5th century. CONTENTS OF THE MS. A Complaint of the Virgin Mary ought to be number I. but wants the beginning, which was probably an il- luminated leaf, and torn out for the fake of the illumination. To prevent this imperfection of the volume from being ma- nifeft at firft fight, fome proprietor has tranfpofed the re- mainder of this piece into the middle of the next, and in- ferted it after the fecond leaf of what was properly the fecond poem, but of which the beginning now ftands fir ft. This fragment contains twenty-nine ftanzas of feven lines each, and ends thus : for your redemptioun. Cette compleynte paramount feuft tranflatee au comandement de Madame de Hereford* que dieu par- d y nt - This have been loft, or not known for Hoccleve's, and was probably one of his moft youthful competitions. There are in the editor's Mf. 2200 verfes on 17 different fubje&s, entirely clear of that abfurdity, which Mr. WARTON deemed infeparable from the productions of HocclevSs aera. If the contents of this Mf. had been all the remains of its author, they might have been made ufe of as a very ftrong argument in reply to Mr. WARTON'S. * Madame de Hereford was probably Anne, daughter to Thomas of Woodftock, Duke [This French colophon, and moft of the titles following, cannot poflibly be quite fo old as the poems, to which they are refpe6tively annext : fome of them perhaps were not older than the Mf.] II. Cette feuft fee au temps q le R. H. la v l q dieu pdoint feuft a Hampton fur fon primer paffage vers Harflete. This title ((landing firft in the Mf.) belongs to a balade addrefl to SIR JOHN OLDCASTELL ; from whofe critical fitu- ation at the time, as well as from the notoriety of the fub- jecl:, this balade may appear one of the propereft for pub- lication. But the editor has rejected it, as too great an impo- fition on the patience of his readers. It confifts of fixty-four eight-line ftanzas, and is much more of a theological difpu- tation, than a poetical exercife : one ftanza may ferve for a fample of its argumentation : Duke of Glocefter ; who, on the death of her mother the Dutchefs, in Odober 1399, feems to have aflumed the title of Countefs of Hereford. The Lady fpoken of asfuch in Hardynge's Chronicle (198 b) could not well have been any other. C 2 Right . .: t - ] Right as a fpe6lacle' helpith feeble fighte, Whan a man on the book redith or writ, And caufith him to fee bet* than he mighte ; In which fpectacle his fighte nat-j- a bit But gooth thurgh :, and on the book reftith it ; The fa^me may men of ymages feye : Thogh the yma^ge nat the feint be, yit The fighte us myngith || to the feint to preye. So little does HOCCLEVE in this poem incline to Wicliffian principles, that in the zeal of papiftical orthodoxy he advifes OLDCASTELL to leave off ftudying " holy writ," and read Lancelot deLake , or Vegece^, or the Siege** off role or 'fhebcs. But if he will needs read the bible, he fends him to Judicum, Regum, Jofue, Judith, Paralipomenon, and Machabe -f -J- ; than which he tells him, Mo*re autentic fhalt thow fyn=de Ne mo^re pertinent to chivalrie. * Better. f Not. + Through. || Reminds. See Lye's Junius. A famous book of chivalrie. ^[ Vegetius. ** Poems on each of thefe fubje&s were afterwards written by Lydgate ; but the books here recommended were moft likely to have been Latin or French. ft In other words, Judges, Kings, Jojhua, Judith, the Chronicles, and the Ma- chabees. *J None. Nor. In [ '3 ] In the fame poem we have the following line : Ye medle' of al thyng, ye moot*//>oo the goos. This faying is dated in modern books of proverbs to be Scottijh. As there are alfo a few other words and phrafes ufed by HOCCLEVE, which are ftill current in fome northern counties, and which do not occur in other writers co-tem- porary with our poet, it might incline us to imagine, that he was of northern parentage^-. This fecond poem begins, > The laddre of hevene - III. La male regie de T. Hoccleve {lands firft in the prefent feledlion. IV. Cefte balade enfuante feuft faite au tres noble Roy H. le v' q dieu pardoint le jour q les Seigneurs de fon Roialme luy firent lour homages a Kenyngton contains five eight-line ftanzas, and begins, The kyng of kynges - * Muft. f In confirmation of this conje&ure it may be obferved, that HOCCLOUGH is the name of a parifh in Northumberland, At the fame time it mud be owned, that there are other parifhes in more fouthern counties whofe names approach full as near to that of HOCCLEVE, and that many words and phrafes which now exift only in the north, might in old times have been general over the ifland. V. Ceftes [ '4 ] V. Cedes balades enfuyantes feurent faites au tres noble Roy H. le quint q dieu pardoint, & au tres honorable compaignie du Jartier. The two balades, here coupled by a double title, confift of four eight- line ftanzas each, and the firft begins, To yow, welle of honur VI. Ad beatam Virginem. A penitential hymn of fifteen eight-line ftanzas, beginning Modir of lyf VII. Cede balade enfuyante feuft faite toft apres que les offes du Roy Richard feurent apportez a Weft- menfter contains fix eight-line ftanzas, and begins, Wher as that this land - VIII is the laft of the feleftion. IX. Ad beatam Virginem. A prayer to the Virgin for her interceffion ; before the conclufion of which, Saint John is admitted to an equal fhare of the poet's adoration. Addrefles to the Virgin in former times [ '5 I times were couched in phrafes ftrangely figurative. Godric (hermit of Finch ale) in the twelfth century flyles her " Chriftes Bur" [chamber] : in the fifteenth our courtly writer to the Privy Seal converts this chamber into a palace, and calls the Virgin " Paleys of Cry ft." The piece con- tains twenty feven-line ftanzas, and begins, Modir of God X. Ce feuft mys en le livre de Mons r . Johan lors no- mez ore Regent de France & Due de Bedford. This piece has already been mentioned, and exifts in one of the Mfs. in the Britifh Mufeum of the poem de reglmine principum. It contains three nine-line ftanzas, and begins, Unto the rial XI has no title. It is a mere petition in verfe to a clerical Lord Chancellor* for a patent to have arrearages paid, contains three eight-line ftanzas, and begins, Fadir in God XII. Ceftes balade & chanceon, &c. fecond in the felection. * The Archbifhop of Canterbury [Fitzalan a younger fon of an Earl of Arundel] was Lord Chancellor for three years from 1407. XIII. Cefte [ 16 ] XIII. Cefte balade enfuyante feuft mife en le fin du . livre del Regiment des princes (already mentioned, as addreft to Henry V. when Prince of Wales) is in all. the Mfs. of HOCCLEVE'S chief poem, which are perfect at the conclufion, though Number X. feems only to have been preferved in the Royal Mf. [17 D XVIII.], and in the editor's. The piece contains three eight-line ftanzas, and begins, O litil book XIV. Item au Roy, &c. fourth in the felection. XV. A. de B, &c. fifth in the fele&ion. XVI. Cefte balade enfuyante feut par le Court, &c. third in the fele&ion. XVII. Cefte balade enfuyante feuft tranflatee au com- mandement de mon meiftre Robert Chichele*. This tranflated poem is a religious meditation, confifting of twenty ftanzas ; the firft of which being tolerably poeti- cal is here tranfcribed at length. * A perfon of this name was twice (in 1411 and 1421) Lord Mayor of London, and probably brother to Henry Chichele made Archbifhop of Canterbury by Henry V. ; indeed he is exprefsly called fo in Wright's edition of Heylin. Weever (p. 409)- gives us the infcription on his monument, which records his general benevolence. As [ I? ] As that I walkid in the monthe of May Befyde a grove, in an hevy mufynge, Flowers diverfe I fy* right frefh and gay, And briddes-f- herde I eek luftyly^: fynge, That to myn her=te yaf || a confortynge : But eve're' o thoght me ftang unto the herte, That dye I fholde and had=de no knowynge, Whansnef , ne** whidirf f I fholde hennes^ fterte. LANGUAGE. HOCCLEVE^S language was chiefly Chaucerian, but had fome real or feeming peculiarities of his own in it. Such of thefe as are general will be now treated of ; thofe that are particular will be confidered in the notes to the pafTages where they occur. The liberty taken by our early printers, of modernizing to their own time (totally or partially) many things that they printed, makes it exceedingly difficult to afcertain with precifion the exact ftate of our language at any former pe- riod. Neither are Mfs more infallible in this refpect, unlefs * Saw. f Birds. J Merrily. || Gave. One. f When. ** Nor. ff Whither. ft Hence. Depart fuddenly. D nearly [ '8 ] nearly co-eval with the production of the works themfelves. Thus there muft be a degree of uncertainty in all that can be faid about this matter. HOCCLEVE'S uniform* adherence to the old hem and Air, and never ufmg the more modern them and their to the middle of the fifteenth century, may appear fmgular to thofe, who fee writings of the fame period generally printed with the more modern words. But there is great likeli- hood, that others, befides HOCCLEVE, continued the fame practice. In LYDGATE'S Story of Thebes (printed with Chaucer in 1561) hem and her run through the whole of it. There may indeed be a particular propriety in Lydgate's ad- hering to thefe old words in his Story of Thebes ', fmce he in- troduces it as told at the fame time with the Canterbury Tales: confequently it required to be clothed precifely in the language of that aera. From Dugdale's edition of LYDGATE'S Dance of Death, and Mr. Reed's of his Chichevache and Bicorne, and a Mf. of his Legende of Selnte Margarete in the editor's pofleflion, it fhould feem as if he had ufed the new * That HOCCLEVE uniformly ufed thefe old words may be doubted, becaufe them and their conftantly occur in his tale of Jonathas, as printed in BROWNE'S Shep- herd's Pipe. But the royal Mf. of Jonathas in the Britifh Mufeum (17 D VI) has hem and hir throughout. words [ '9 ] words and the old promifcuoufly*. Such is alfo the ufage in other authentic remains of Hen. Vth's reign, as printed by Hearne-f-. I'hem conftantly occurs in the metrical Boetius (Taviftock edition) written in 1410 : which would certainly be fufpicious, if it was not partly confirmed by Thorpe's trial in 1407, according to the copy of it (in State Trials) faid to be written by Thorpe himfelf. Lefs credit is to be given to the accuracy of the editions of GOWER'S Confejfio Amantis, which was finifhed by him in 1393. Indeed it is only for fome pages at the beginning of thefe editions, that we fee them and their ; nor are thefe words to be found at all in the Mf. of Go WER [Reg. 1 8 C. XXII.] At whatever period them got a footing in our language, hem certainly continued to hold a place in it fo late as 1486 ; for we frequently meet with this old word in the metrical book of hunting^ printed together with the treatife on hawking at St. Albans in that year:}:. Many * The word them indeed in all thefe three copies of Lydgate's poems occurs but in one (Dayce of death) and there only once. f Verfes on the battle of Agincourt with Thomas tie Elmham, and the earl of Cam- bridge's letter with Foro-Julienfis. % 1486. This St. Albans edition is one of the moft remarkable books in the annals of Englifh typography. Yet in the variorum Shakfpeare of 1785, and alfo in a later edition of it, a note to the fecond part of Hen. VI. (aft 2) tells us, D 2 that Many of Mr. TYRWHITT'S grammatical hints on the lan- guage of CHAUCER may ferve equally for HOCCLEVE. The latter ufes the plural of the prefent tenfe in en, as torments ; and of the preterit, as feiden ; alfo the infinitive, as with- drawn ; and the participle, as founds. This termination however is fubjecT: to two alterations : the firft, when the e is omitted on account of a preceding 0, as in doon ; the other, when the n is cut off- a liberty often practifed by old Eng- lifti writers, even with words which ftill retain the n in mo- dern language. Thus we fee take, throw, and be ufed by HOCCLEVE, as participles. The termination th * was ufed by Hoccleve in the fecond perfon plural of the imperative, as beeth, keeplth, dooth. Mr. that Juliana Barnes's book of hawking was fi'-Jl printed at Weftminfter 1496. This Weftminfter edition was indeed the/r/? of an additional treatife onfijhing : but could any comentator izkeji/Jiing for hawking ? * It may not be here out of the way to obferve, that the termination in s of the third perfon fingular of the prefent tenfe was in ufe at the very beginning of the i4th century. This appears from a metrical pfawter (deemed by Selden of the age of Edward II.) of which there are fome extracts in Weever, p. 153. About the mid- dle of the fame century Laurence Minol, and other verfifiers fome years later, extended this termination to the plurals both of indicative and imperative. That fuch ter- mination was moft intelligible to the common people in Hoccleve's days, may be concluded, from its occurring no lefs than four times in the fhort proclamation for apprehending Sir John Oldcaftell. The fame formation may be found (once at leaft for rime-fake in the word accreivs) in Hardynge's chronicle, and not unfrequently in the St. Albans edition of Juliana Barnes ; yet it was fo generally avoided by the befl writers of old Englifh, that it may be regarded as a proof of inferiority of ftyle in any author before the i6th century. TYRWHITT [ 21 ] TYRWHITT calls this termination etb ; which would not fuit the Mf. of Hoccleve, where it is much oftener itb. Whether this variation was the author's own, or only that of the Mf. is more than the editor can venture to pronounce. Of two royal Mfs of the poem de regimine principum, one [17 D. XVIII, which Mr. Warton calls the bed] has always itb in the fame words, that the other [ 1 7 D XIX] has etb. This variation equally takes place in the third perfon fmgular of the indicative. Mr. TYRWHITT muft have known, that in Chaucer's time, and even earlier, fome nouns (not ending in e) formed their plurals by the mere addition of j. In the prologue alone to the Canterbury Tales are, nations ,feffions, coverchiefs^parijhens^ and achatours ; none of which words come within a rule of contraction, afterwards mentioned by that learned editor. Confequently what he fays (vol. iv. p. 3 1 ) is a little defective with regard to plurals, though perfectly accurate as to geni- tive cafes. All thofe plural nouns of three fyllables, accented on the firft, which Mr. TYRWHITT* remarks were diflylla- bles by contraction in Chaucer, are neceflarily diflyllables in the editor's Mf., as fervants : though the fame word, when accented upon the fecond, is written and pronounced a tri- * Lee his note onpalmere's, p. no. fyllable, fyllable, asfervbntes. This innovation, inafmuch as it makes the letters accord with the found, appears to be an improve- mentat lead in orthography. The infinitives after fome particular verbs (as -bid) have generally in the prefent times no to prefixt to them : this omiflion of to before an infinitive feems to have been practifed by HOCCLEVE after mofl verbs indifcriminately. GLOSSARY. In a volume of fo little bulk, as the prefent is, there can be no excufe for fparing any pains in compofing the glojfary, which may tend to render it more ufeful. It therefore gene- rally refers to the paflages, which contain the words needing explanation. A view of the context often gives better in- formation of the import of a word, than does any expofition by the glofTarift. The editor of Wintownis Cronykll might have been content with ftating his reafons for omit- ting fuch references himfelf, without carping at the prefer- able mode adopted by Mr. TYRWHITT. Mr. Macpherfon's argument againft fuch a ferviceable addition goes much more to the point of form, than to fubftance. If a gloflarift is able in a fmall compafs to rival the lexicographer, why fhould he not ? more efpecially, when he happens to treat of words, [ '3 ] words, which come not within the plan of any lexicogra- pher whatever ? This method of making a gloffary ferve in fome refpe6l as a verbal index to the work itfelf, is a con- fiderable help to all thofe, who are difpofed to be ftudiers of language. Confining the advantage of fuch a labour merely to the perufal of a fmgle book, is depriving the literary world of a benefit, almoft infinitely more extenfive. The actual ufage of words by his author, and the con- fequential inftruction to be derived from it by readers of old Englifh, being the points principally confidered by the editor in his gloflary, he has no recourfe to mere etymological de- rivations, except when requifite for proof, or for illuftrating an expofition. He thinks it needlefs, to load the gloflary with words, that were created by the regular formation of verbs, which was then ufed, and which has partly been defcribed in this pre- face. He obferves the fame rule in regard to other words, which will be further adverted to in the following fection on orthography. He looks upon it as fuperfluous, to explain any word, whofe old fignification is properly given in Johnfon's dic- tionary which, with all its faults, fhould be in every reader's hands, till the public is provided with a better. If the the fame word is ufed in different fenfes, only thofe that are obfolete are taken notice of in the glofTary. ORTHOGRAPHY. The editor makes a point of omitting nothing in the pieces here publifhed, which he finds in his Mf. If he adds but fo much as a letter, which the metre calls for, he prints it in italics. He has fcrupuloufly adhered to the practice of the Mf. in dividing fome words which are now conftantly one, as un to, wher as, ther of, &c. It makes the edition a faithful copy of old orthography. The reader will frequently meet with a duplication of vowels, as in aart, weel, ooth, &c. but as this does not feem to make any alteration in found, or number of fyllables, no further notice will be taken of it. T is frequently put for /, w for u, and y or / for e. Little variations of fpelling that are common in books of the laft century, and others from which no ambiguity can be occafioned, are left to be diftinguifhed by the reader's i fagacity. VER- VERSIFICATION. It may be ufeful, to add a few obfervations to what Mr. TYRWHITT has already laid down on the verification of Chaucer. Excepting one or two inftances, where trifyllables ac- cented on the firft, and ending in es, are reduced to diiTylla- bles, and which will be marked by an apoftrophe, the final es (throughout HOCCLEVE) always makes a fyllable of itfelf, and is never loft in the preceding one. Flou*res, and heroes may ferve for examples. The final en follows the fame rule, as in know^en : alfo the final ed, as in cleaved. The letter e in the middle of a word often makes a fylla- ble, where moderns would not think of pronouncing one, as in fcarfe^ly*. Where the e is not pronounced, it is fome- times abfolutely omitted, as in tikly and jhaply : it is not omitted indeed in every, becaufe that word feems always to have been a diflyllable in metre. The reader is defired to take for granted that this middle e makes a fyllable, wherever no mark indicates the contrary. * This mode of pronunciation is to be found ia SPENSER, who makes fa*fe*ty a trifyllable in F. Q. B. iii. C. 5. ft. 36. E There [ 26 ] There are many fyllables in modern language, which are ftill allowed to be fuch by grammarians, but are always loft by contraction in general pronunciation, or in verfe. Thefe however were ufually diftinc~l fyllables in old Englifh, and muft be regarded as fuch in HOCCLEVE. Thus we read precious, cotidi^an, fapisence, confufisoun. This rule not being without exception, a mark of contraction is added where it is otherwife ; as in victorious. This divifion of fyllables is fometimes carried ftill further : thus ie is but one fyllable, as in verif/V ; but add a confonant and it is fometimes two, as in mortified * : and even with- out an additional confonant by changing / into jy, as in gy*e. Particular diftinctions of pronunciation will be pointed out by marks, but the reader no further apprifed of the general ones. The editor clofes this preface with a thankful acknow- ledgment of having received many very ufeful hints, com- municated by the judicious author of the Curialia. * Thus triced is a diflyllable in SPENSER, F. Q. B. Hi. c. 9. ft. 25. LA I. LA MALE REGLE DE T. HOCCLEVE. [THE MIS-RULE OF T. HOCCLEVE.] Precious trefor incomparable, O ground and roo^te of profperitee, O excellent richef=se commendable Aboven abk that in eer^the be, Who may fuftee*ne thyn adverfitee ? 5 What wight may him avante of worldly welthe, But if he fully ftand in grace of thee, Eerthely god, piler of lyf, thow helthe ? Whil V. 5. Adverjltee is both here and elfewhere ufed by Hoccleve in the fenfe of ad- verft influence : See alfo Chaucer's R. R. 5547. " Fortune's adverfity" is in fome verfes of the time of Hen. VIII. printed with Robert of Gloceiler, p. 580. V. 6. Him avante.'} This verb, by the ufage of it in Chaucer and Hoccleve, ieems to have required the ablative cafe with it. V. 8. Mr. WARTON thought it a fufficient objection to the authenticity of Row- E a Icy, Whil thy powder and excellent vigour (As was plefimt un to thy worthynefle) 10 Regned in me, and was my governour, Than was I wel ; tho felte I no dureffe, Tho farfid was I with hertes gladnefTe : And now my body empty is, and bare Of joie, and ful of feekly hevynefle, 15 Al poore of efe, and ryche of evel fare. If that thy favour twyn*ne from a wight, Smal is his efe, and greet is his grevance. Thy love is lyf, thyn haste fleeth downright. Who may compleysne thy difleverance 20 Bettre ley, that " we have long and laboured invocations to Truth, to Hope, to Content, " and other divinities of the pagan creed, or rather of the creed of modern poetry." Here however we have a whole poem addrefl to the divinity Health, not indeed the pagan one (for Hygeia was a * female) but of a poetical creed, which exifted half a century previous to the date attributed to Rowley. * There is indeed mention in PAUSANIAS of a male deity of health, who was worfhipt in various parts of Greece by various names, one of which was Telefphorus : but it can hardly be imagined, that HOCCLEVE was at all acquainted with the work of this Greek author. V. ii. Regned.~\ " Which regne in mannys body." Dives and Pauper. Pre. i. ch. 2. V. 20. Complcyne.'} The word complain in its a&ive fenfe of lament is to be found .even in Johnfon's Dictionary, with an example from Dryden. The propriety of fuch Bettre than I, that of myn ignorance Un to feeknefTe am knyt, thy mortal fo ? Now can I know^e feef^te fro penance, And whil I was with thee cowde I nat fo. My grief and bify fmert cotidian 25 So me labouren and tormenten fore, That what thow art now wel remembr' I can, And what fruyt is in keepynge of thy lore. Had I thy powder kno wen or this yore, As now thy fo compellith me to knowe, 30 Nat fholde his lym han cleved to my gore For al his aart, ne han me broght thus lowe. ; - fuch ufage is there doubted, but was frequent in old Englifli. " I dar not compleynt his fortune" is in Tiptoft Erie of Wirceftre's tranflation of Cicero de amiciti. The fall of prynces he did alfo compleyne. LY DG AT E'S proL to Bochas. V. 25. Bify, troublefome : one of its fenfes in Johnfon's Di&ionary. V. 31. Lym is certainly not ufed here in the fame literal fenfe, which old glof- faries attribute to it, but rather means aflive mini/let; or injlrument. that he come and defend us Foles fro thefe feends lyms. P. Ps. Plfion, laft paflus. " Oft tymes the feend and the feendes lyms teach well." Dives and Pauper, Pr. i. ch. 46. V. 31 and 32. Lines like thefe might well occjtfion W. BROWNE to fay of H-oc- CLEVE, in the beginning of the feventeenth century, There are few fuch fwaines as he Now adayes for harmonic. But C 3 ] But I have herd men fey*e longe ago, Profperitee is blynd, and fee ne may ; And verifie I can wel, it is fo, 35 For I myfelf put have it in aflay, Whan I was weel, cowde I confidere it ? nay : But what ? me longed aftir novelrie, As yeeres yon*ge yernen day by day ; And now my fmert accufith my folie. 40 Myn unwar yowsthe knew nat what it wroghte, This woot I wel, whan fro thee twynned fhee : But of hir ignorance hir felf fhee foghte, And knew nat, that fhee dwellynge was with thee. For to a wight were it greet nycetee 45 His lord or freend wityngly for toffende, Left that the weighte of his adverfitee The fool opprefle, and make of him an ende. V. 36. Put have for have put. Ver. 37. Conjidcre it pronounced conjidrit. V. 38. But -what ?~\ This phrafe is ufed by Wicliff(Philipp. ch. i. v. 18.) as the tranflation of quid enim, which is the literal verfion of the Greek : ivhat then are the words in the prefent teftament. Me longed.'} Oblative cafe for nominative formerly frequent. V. 43. Soghte. See Gloflary. V. 44. Dwellynge -was lalth thee.~\ In familiar language at prefent, living tuith ke : for this compaignie, That I fpak of, been fumwhat likerous ; Wher as they mowe a draght of wyn efpie, V. 138. is nearly copied from CHAUCER'S Squires Tale : Now dauncen lufty Venus children dere. V. 143. When biihops licenfed ftews, the apoftle Paul's head might be a proper fign for a brothel : the famion however of that time decently omitted prefixing the word Saint. V. 146. Wafres} Whatever fort of cake was meant by this word, it feems to have given a double name to a trade ; fince Chaucer fpeaks of a luafeter, and Pierce Plowman of wafrejiers. Lifton manour (Eflfex) was bound to find wafres at the .King's Coronation. Weever's Fun. Mon. 659, and Beck. Ten. 26. . Thikke means in plenty, as in ' thick and threefold.' Sweete, [ 38 ] Sweete, and in wirkynge hoot for the maiftrie, To warme a ftomak with ther of they drank. 1 50 To fuffre' hem paie had been no courtefie : That charge I took, to wyn*ne love and thank. Of loves aart yit touchid I no deel ; I cowfde nat, and eek it was no neede : Had I a kus, I was content ful weel, 155 Bettre than I wolde han be with the deede. Ther on can I but fmal, it is no dreede ; Whan that men fpeke of it in my prefence, For fhame I wexe as reed as is the gleede. Now wole I torne ageyn to my fentence. V. 151. Suffre] Here, and in other places, Hoccleve removes e to the end of the word to get rid of a fyllable. V. 1 54. // tuas no nede\ In modern language it mould be there ; but fuch was the old phrafeology. " It is no nede, that I difpute long with you of deth." Tullye of 'old age ', printed by Caxton. V. 155. Kus\ There can hardly be a ftronger inftance of the promifcuous ufe of vowels in old Englilh than in this word. Kufs is ufed by GOWER, (Yet wole he ftele a kufs or two. B. v. f. 119. b.) and by LYDOATE in his Fall of Princes, and by CAXON in the Proud Lady of 'Love , and by SKELTON in Speak Parrot. The more ufual word in the old writers was kijje ; but Chaucer for rime's fake (in the Clerkes Tale} ufes ke/e. Wicliff's word is co^ which accords with the Saxon. Of [ 39 ] | | Of him, that hauntith taverne of cuftume, In fhor;te wordes the profyt is this In double wyfe ; his bagge it fhal confume, And make his ton^ge fpeke of folk amis : For in the cup=pe felden founden is, 165 That any wight his neigheburgh commendith. Beholde and fee, what avantage is his, That God, his freend, and eek him felf offendith ! But oon avantage in this cas I have : I was fo ferd with any man to fighte, 1 70 Cloos kepte I me ; no man durfte I deprave But rownyngly : I fpak no thyng on highte : And yit my wil was good, if that I mighte For lettynge of my manly cowardyfe, That ay of ftrokes impreflid the wighte : 175 So that I dur^fte medlen in no wyfe. V. 165, &c. There is great affinity between this remark and the following lines on the fame fubjecl: : Perhaps alas ! the pleating theme was brought From this man's error, from another's fault, From tbpics, which good-nature would forget, And prudence mention with the laft regret. PRIOR'S Solomon. V. 175. Wighte for weight. This is a ftrong inftance of the poetical licence of that age in changing a word for the fake of rime. CHAUCER had previoufly made the .fame alteration. See Troil. v. 1385. Wher [ 40 ] Wher was a gretter maiftir eek than y, Or bet acqweyntid at Weftmy'nftre yate ; Among the taverneres namely, And cookes ? whan I cam, eerly or late, i8q I pynchid nat at hem in myn acate, But paied hem as that they ax*e wolde ; Wherfore I was the welcomer algate, And for a verray gentil man y-holde. And if it happid on the fomere's day, 185 That I thus at the taverne had^de be, Whan I deparste fholde, and go my way Hoom to the privee feel, fo wowid me Hete, and unluft, and fuperfluitee To walke un to the brigge and take a boot, 1 90 V- 177- y (fignifying I) feems to be fpelt in this manner for the lake of riming in/iew as well as found : but it was ufually T in Wicliff. V. 185. Somere's] This is an inftance of a word of three fyllables (accented on the firft) being reduced to a difTyllable. Had it been a plural, according to the tenour of the Mf. it would have been written fomers ; but no fuch liberty is here taken with genitive cafes, though they feem to have been abridged in the fame manner foon after ; as we have for genitives fingular in FORTESCUE on Monarchy the words, kings, fuljetts, &c. V. 1 88. Hoom to the privee feel\ By this it mould feem, that fome of the clerks of the Privy Seal were then refident at the Office, and that the faid Office was not far from the water-fide. The editor can learn no more. V. 190. Brigge} In later times there was a bridge over a creek, which ran up into the garden belonging to Whitehall : there might have been one there, before that fpot was a garden. That That nat durfte I contrarie hem all three, But dide all that they ftired me, god woot. And in the wyntir, for the way was deep, Un to the brigge I dreffid me alfo ; And ther the bootmen took up on me keep, 195 For they my riot kneewen fern ago : With hem I was y-tuggid to and fro, So wel was him, that I with wol*de fare. For riot paieth large'ly evere mo; He ftyntith never, til his purs be bare. 200 Other than maiftir callid was I never Among this meynee in myn audience ; Me thoghte I was y-maad a man for ever : So tikelid me that nyce reverence, That it me ma^de larger of defpence, 205 Than that I thoghte han been. O Flatene, The guyfe of thy traiterous diligence Is folk to mefcheef haaflen and to hie. % V. 1.92. S tired me] That is, Jiirred me to. V. 206. Thoghte feems to be ufed in the fenfe of meant to : indeed it is only the omiffion of to (common with Hoccleve) which makes the phrafeology differ from modern. V. 208. Before haajlen there is another elliptical omiffion of to. G Al [ V ] Al be it that my yeeres be but yonge, Yet have I feen in folk of hy degree, 210 How that the venym of Faveles tonge Hath mortified hir profperitee, And broght hem in fo fharp adverfitee, That it hir lyf hath alfo throwe adoun : And yit ther can no man in this contree 215 Unnethe efchu=e this confufioun. Many a fervant un to his lord feith, That al the world fpekith of him honour, Whan the contrarie of that is footh in feith ; And lightly leeved is this lofengour : 220 His hony wordes wrappid in errour Blyndly conceyved been, the more harm is. V. an. Faveles.'] Cajolerie is the trueft explanation of Favel, as given by CAR- PENTIER in his Supplement to Du Cange. Favel is perfonified both in P. P's. Vljions^ and in SKELTON'S Bouge of Court e. The gloflarift to Pieces of Popular Poetry (publifhed 1791) explains/aw/ by the general word deceit, and unfortunately refers the reader to Bouge of Courte ; whereas in that poem Pavel and Difceyte are diftint perfonages ; though the latter (for the fake of rime) is firft called fubtylte. In BARCLAY'S Ecclogues we read of Flatterers, and liers, carters of f of ell. PUTTENHAM too calls Curry-favel a figure in poetry (p. 154). Both thefe authorities confirm the fame gloflarift's conjecture about the expreflion of currying favour. V. 219. Contrarie} This feems to be an inftance of what Mr. TYRWHITT has remarked in CHAUCER ; that two quick fyllables fometimes make but one in metre. Oh! [ 43 ] , O ! thow, Favele, of lefynges auctour, Caufift al day thy lord to fare amis. The combreworldes clept been enchantours 225 In bookes, as that I have or this red, That is to fcy^e, fotil deceyvours By whom the peple' is mis gy*ed and led, And with plefan^ce fo foftred and fed, That they fogete hem felf, and can nat feele 230 The foothe of the condition in hem bred No motre, than hir wit were in hir heele. Who fo that lift in the book of nature Of beeftes re=de, therin he may fee, If he take heesde un to the fcripture 235 Wher it fpekth of meermaides in the fee, How that fo inly mirie fyngith fhee, That the fhipman ther with fallith a fleepe, V. 232. Hir TO// -were in liir leele muft have been an old proverb. V. 233. The book of nature of beeftes.~} Whatever book is here vouched, its author feems to have been more credulous than Pliny ; who fpeaks of the fame quality at- tributed to Sirens, and not worthy of belief. Nat. Hift. lib. xi. V. 237. S/iee has no proper antecedent ; but muft either mean one of the meermaiJes, or be ufed like a plural, G 2 And t 44 ] And by hir aftir devoured is he. From al fwich fong is good men hem to keepe. 240 Right fo the feyned wordes of plefance Annoyen aftir, thogh they plefe a tyme To hem that been unwyfe of governance. Lordes, beeth waar, let nat Favel you lyme ; If that yee been envolupid in cry me, 245 Yee may nat deesme men fpeke of you weel : Thogh Favel peynte her tale in profe or ryme, Ful holfum is it trufte her nat a deel. Holco*te feith up on the book alfo Of fapience, as it can teftifie, 250 Whan that Ulixes faillid to and fro By meermaides, this was his policie : All eres of men of his compaignie With wex he ftop^pe leet, for that they noght Hir fong Iholde hee^re, left the armonie 255 Hem might un to fwich deedly fleep han broght, V. 240. This final line of the ftanza is very much in the manner adopted by Spenfer. V. 248. Thj^.] That is to truft. Another omiffion of to before an infinitive. V. 249. Holcote.] See the Glofiary. And [ 46 j ; ; And bond him felf un to the fhippes maft. So thus hem all faved his providence. The wys man is of peril fore agaft. O flaterie, o lurkyng peflilence, 260 If fum man dide his cure and diligence To ftoppe his eres fro thy poefie, And nat wolde herkne' a word of thy fentence, Un to his greef it were a remedie. Ah nay! al thogh thy ton^ge wer ago, 265 Yit canft thou glofe in contenance and cheere ; Thou fupportift with lookes evere mo Thy lordes wordes in e^che mateere V. 261. If fum man.] This idiom of ufing the fingular inftead of plural num- ber was not very uncommon. " Sum forefter may bring moo men to the feld, than " may fum knight, or fum efquier." Fortefcue on monarchy, p. 22. Dide his cure and diligence.} Thus in Lydgate. Full befily did her diligence. Storie of Thebes. V. 262. Poefa feems to mean mujical enchantment, as LYDGATE calls Amphion's building Thebes with his harp darke poefie. 263. Herkne is here turned into a monofyllable by tranfpofition of letters, as fuffre, v. 151. For its meaning fee the gloflary. Althogh [ 46 ] Althogh that they a my^te be to deere : And thus thy gyfe is ; privee and appert 270 With word and look among our lordes here Preferred be, thogh ther be no differt. But whan the fobre, treewe, and weel avyfid With fad vifage his lord enformeth pleyn, How that his governance is defpyfid 275 Among the peple', and feith him as they feyn, As man treewe oghte un to his fovereyn, Confeillynge him amende his governance, The lordes her^te fwellith for defdeyn, And bit him voi*de bly^ve with mefchance. 280 V. 269. Amyte is ufed elliptically for at a mite. So in LYDGATE'S Troy-book " deare inogh a mite." V. 270. Privee and appert. "\ Perfons in private and public capacities is the only fenfe of thefe words fuitable to the context. A privee man is explained by TYRWHITT, a man entrufted with private bujinefs, and appert means public. In the next century we meet with a corruption of this phrafe, " privy or pearte." So it ftands in a fatire on Wolfey, entitled Rede me, &c. V. 271. With is put for fy, as in Lydgate : With kynges and prynces in every regyon Greatly preferred. Prol. to Bochas. V. 276. Seith ufed a&ively like tells : as LYDGATE in Troy-book, " loke thou/zy Aim/a." V. 278. Amende mould have to before it now, but was probably then as intelli- gible without. Men [ 47 ] Men fetten nat by trousthe now adayes, Men love it nat, men wole it nat cherice, And yit is trou=the beft at all aflayes : Whan that falfe Favel, fouftenour of vice, Nat wi=te fhal how hi^re to chevyce, 285 Ful boldely fhal trouthe hire heed up bere. Lordes, left Favel you fro we*le tryce, No lenger fouffre' hir neftlen in your ere. Be as be may, no more of this as now ; But to my mis reu=le wole I refeere ; 290 Wher as I was at e*fe weel ynow, Or excefle un to me leef was and deere, And or I kneew his erneftful maneere : My purs of coyn had refonable wone ; But now ther in can ther but fcant appeere : 295 ExcefTe hath ny exyled hem echone. V. 285. Hire.'] This word is very feldom made a diflyllable; but the metre abfo- lutely requires it mould be fo in this line : it feems almoft as neceffary too in a line of Chaucer ; Becaufe that he fer was from hi*re fight, v. 339$. V. 291. Wher as.] TYRWHITT fays in his gloffary " w/ier in compofition fome- times fignifies which.' 1 '' Thus iv/ier as here may fignify as to which referring to mis- reuk in the line before. There is the fame ufage of ivheras in GAXTON'S Proud Lady of love. ch. i. V. 294. Coyn mult in this place be confidered as a plural (like yere and wyntir), elfe there can be no grammatical fenfe in the laft line of the ftanza. The The feend and excef*fe been convertible As enditith to me my fantafie. This is my (kill, if it be admittible : Excefle of mete and drynke is glotonie, 300 Glotonie awakith malencolie. Malencolie engendryth werre and ftryf, Stryf caufith mortel hurt thurgh hir folie : Thus may excef=fe reve a foule hir lyf. No force of al this : go we now to wacche 305 By nightertasle out of al mefure, For as in that fin^de cowde I no macche In al the privee feel with me tendure ; And to the cuppe ay took I heede and cure, For that the dryn^ke appall fholsde noght : 310 But whan the pot emptid was of moifture To wake aftirward cam nat in my thoght. But whan the cuppe had thus my neesde fped, And fumdel mo^re than neceflitee, With repleet fpirit wente I to my bed 3 1 5 And bathid ther in fuperfluitee ; But [ 49 ] But on the morn was wight of no degree So loothe as I to twyn^ne fro my cowche, By aght I woot---aby*de, let me fee, Of two as looth I am feur kowde I towche. 320 I dar not feyn, Prentys and Arundel Me countrefete, and in fwich wach go ny me ; But often they hir bed loven fo wel, That of the day it drawith ny the pry^me Or they rife up ; nat can I tell the ty=me 325 Whan they to bed^de goon, it is fo late. O Helsthe lord, thou feed hem in that cry*me, And yit thee looth is with hem to debate. V. 320. Tcnuche, that is, make mention. This fenfe of touch withwz joined to it is in Johnfon's di&ionary ; but formerly it was followed by of: " touch and fpeke both of Afcanius and of Silvius." R AST ELL'S Cronicle. Though I have touched of this enormitie. BARCLAY'S Skip of Fools. V. 321. Prentys and Arundd.~\ Whether thefe two gentlemen belonged to the Privy Seal, or not, feems doubtful : had they been in the fame department with Hoccleve, they would moft likely have been mentioned in the next poem. V. 324. Pryme. See the Gloflary. H And [ 5 ] And why ? I n'at : it fit nat un to me, That mirour am of riot and excefle, 330 To knowen of a goddes pryvetee : But thus I ymagyne, and thus I gefTe ; Thow meeved art of tendre gentilnefle Hem to forber, and will hem nat chaftyfe, For they in mirthe and vertuous gladnefle 335 Lordes reconforten in fundry wyfe. But to my purpos : fyn that my feeknefle, As wel of purs as body, hath refreyned Me fro Taverne and othir wantonefTe, Among an heep my name is now defteyned ; 340 My grevous hurt ful litil is compleyned, But they the lak compleyne of my defpenfe. Alas ! that evere knyt I was and cheyned To cxcefle, or him dide obedience. Defpenfes large enhaunce a mannes loos, 345 Whil they endure ; and whan they be forbore, V. 331. Goddes pryvetee.'} LYDGATE fays of Amphiorar, was alfo fecree With the Goddes, knowing her privetee. St. of Th. V. 335. Pertuous.'] The word here feems to mtznfalubrious. We ftill ufe 'the verlue of medicines.' Lydgate fpeaks of ' vertuous plente.' Fall of Ps. B. iv. ch. 14- His t 5i His name is deed ; men keepe hir mowthes cloos As nat a peny had he fpent to fore : My thank is qweynt, my purs his ftuf hath lore, And my carkeis repleet with hevynefle : .35 Be waar, Hoccleve, I re^de thee therefore, And to a me-ne reu4e thow thee drefle. Who fo paflyn^ge mefu*re defyrith (As that witneflen ol;de clerkes wyfe) Him felf encombrith often fythe and myrith, 355 And for thy let the me*ne thee foufFyfe : If fwich a conceit in thyn her^te ryfe, As thy profyt may hindre' or thy renown If it were execut in any wyfe, With manly refoun thrifste thow it down. 360 Thy rentes annuel, as thou wel wood, To fcar^ce been greet coftes to fufteene ; And in thy cofre pardee is cold rooft ; And of thy manuel labour, as I weene, V. 349. My thank mufl mean thanks due to me. So Lydgate has Lefeth oft his thank. Fall of Ps. B. v. ch. 17. V. 364. Manuel mufl: be a diffyllable, and was therefore likely to be pronounced' mamuel : u and w were often confounded, as in dell, frequent in Maundevile. The fame kind of pronunciation might take place in the word continue^ v. in. H 2 Thy Thy lucre' is fwich, that it unneth is feene, 365 Ne felt ; of yyftes feye I eek the fame : And fte4e, for the guerdon is fo keene, Ne darft thow nat, ne begge alfo for fhame. Than wolde it fee^me, that thow borwid haaft Mochil of that, that thow haaft thus defpent 370 In outrage and excefTe and verray waaft. Avy;fe thee ; for what thyng that is lent Of verray right moft hoom ageyn be fent ; Thow thir in haaft no perpetuitee : Thy dettes pai^e, left that thow be fhent, 375 And or that thow ther to compel lid be. Sum folk in this cas dreeden more offenfe Of man for wyly wrenches of the lawe, Than he dooth either god or confcience ; For by hem two he fettith nat an hawe. 380 V. 377. Folkdreeden.~\ Here folk, as a noun of multitude, has a verb plural-^ yet is regarded as Jlngnlar by he in the third and fourth lines of the flanza. V. 380. An (not in the Mf.) is wanted for the metre. In the laft poem of the Mf. is " nat laorth an hawe" At is omitted, as in v. 269. before a mite, and as in CHAUCER'S R. R. 5730. they fett nat a kke. If [ 53 ] If thy conceit be fwich, thow it withdraw e I rede, and voide it clene out of thyn herte ; And firft of god, and fyn of man have awe, Left that they bosthe ma^ke thee to fmerte. Now lat t\iis fmert warnyn^ge to thee be; 385 And if thow maift heer aftir be releeved Of body and purs, fo thow gy*e thee By wit, that thow no mo^re thus be greeved. What riot is, thow taaftid haaft and preeved. The fyr, men feyn, he dreedith that is brent ; 390 And, if thow fo do, thow art wel y-meeved : Be now ne lenger fool, by myn afTent. Ey ! what is me ? that to my felf thus longe Clappid have I ! I tro^we, that I rave. Ah nay ! my poo^re purs and peynes ftronge 395 Have artid me fpeke, as I fpoken have. V. 386. Releeved feems here to be ufed in a fenfe a little different from its com- mon one. As in the following line of Earl Rivers : Thingis derked to light hit dooth releve. Alfo in P. Ps. Vifions, paflus 1 8 : And that death in them fordid, my deth fhal releve. V. 393. What is me ?~\ An ellipfis for laftat is come to me ? t 54 ] Who fo him fhapith mercy for to crave, His leflbn moot recorde in fundry wyfe ; And whil my breeth may in my body wave, To recorde it unnethe I may fouffyfe. 400 god, o Helthe, un to thyn ordenance, Weleful lord, meekly fubmitte I me ; 1 am contryt, and of ful repentance, That eve're' I fwymmed in fwich nycetee, As was difpleafaunt to thy deitee : 405 Now kythe on me thy mercy and thy grace ; It fit a God been of his gra*ce free ; Foryeve, and nevere wole I eft trefpace. My body and purs been at ones feeke, And for hem bothe I to thyn hy noblefle, 410 As humblely as that I can, byfeeke With herte unfeyned ; reewe on our diftrefTe ; Pitee have of myn harmful hevynefle ; Releesve the repentant in difefe ; Defpende on me a drope of thy largefle 415 Right in this wyfe, if it thee like and plefe. V. 407. It fa a god.~\ Gower fol. 9. It fit a preeft. Lo! t 55 ] Lo ! lat my lord the Fourneval I preye (My noble lord, that now is treforeer) From thyn hynef;fe have a tokne' or tweye To pai-e me that due is for this yeer 420 Of my yeerly ten pounds in thefchequeer ; Nat but for Michel ter^me that was laft : I dar nat fpeke a word of ferneyeer, So is my fpirit fimple* and fore agaft. I kepste, nat to be feen importune 425 In my purfuyte ; I am ther to ful looth : And yit that gy*fe ryf is and comune Among the peple now, withouten ooth ; V. 417. Fourneval.] Thomas Nevil (Lord Furnival jure uxoris) was conftituted (jointly with Sir John Pelham) Treafurer of the kingdom, by both Houfes of Parlia- ment in 1405. See Parliamentary Hift. vol. ii. p. 85. See alfo DUGDALE'S Mon. Ang. vol. ii. p. 938. col. ii. where this fame perfon is called " Treaforer of England." V. 423. Ferneyeer (as explained in the glofiary) means the foregoing year. In the margin of the Mf. is this note : " annus ille fuitannus reflri&ionis annuitatum." Of the year 1405 there is a ftatute in old French and not tranflated (7 H. IV. ch. 16.) which flops the payment of annuities lately granted, to fecure it to thofe of older date. By the paflage in the poem, and by the note, itfhould feem, thatHoccLEVE had one of thefe late grants, and that the ftatute continued in force only for a twelvemonth. This line (together with that which mentions the treafurerfhip of Lord Furnival) almoft fixes the date of this poem to the clofe of 1406, or very be- ginning of 1407. V. 428. Withouten ooth.~\ This phrafe feems to mean beyond eccafon for an oath to my affertion. Withutcn langage in the Corpus Chrifti play means no need to fay more. [ 56 ] As the fhamelees cravour wole, it gooth, For eftaat real can nat al day werne ; 430 But poo^re fhamefaft man ofte is wrooth ; Wherfosre for to cra*ve moot I lerne. The proverb is, the doumb man no land getith : Who fo nat fpekith, and with neede is bete, And thurgh arghnefle his ovv*ne felf forgetith, 435 No wondir thogh an othir him forgete ; Neede hath no lawe, as that the Clerkes trete ; And thus to cra^ve artith me my neede, And right wole eek, that I me entremete, For that I axe is due, as god me fpeede. 440 V. 431. For the fenfe of wrooth here, fee the gloffary. V. 435. His none /elf] This expreffion may ferve to confirm WALLIS'S opinion, that felf was a fubftantive. Mr. TYRWHITT held the contrary in his vindication of his appendix to Rowley ; but allowed, that felf had been made a fubftantive of in the 1 6th century: he had not (when he wrote this vindication) feen the editor's Mf. Any other fuch inftance, either in the i $th century, or earlier, the editor acknow- ledges th#t he has not found ; yet he cannot conceive, but that this fingle authority is an undeniable one. [ 57 ] And that, that due is, thy magnificence Shunneth to \ver*ne, as that I byleeve ; As I feide, reew*e on myn impotence, That likly am to fteiwe yit or eeve, But if thow in this wy*fe me releeve : 445 By coyn I geste may fwich medecyne, As may myn hur=tes aI4/> in this fenfe in the next poem. V. 25. HOCCLEVE, &c.] By the poet's naming himfelf firft, we may conclude, that he was the fenior in office of the four. . , . . - t ... . -.; V. 28. Our wit is aweye] So in GOWER, out of him felfe awey. Fol. 35. . By the rimes of the four firft lines of this itanza, there feems to have been a dif- tinclion of found between the fyllables ay and eye which we are not now 'aware of: or elfe rimes were expected to match to the fight as well as to the ear. Of this in^ deed we have feen inftances already, and mail meet with more. HOCCLEVE was exa&er in his rimes than even moft modern poets. -I, 1. - Were [ 62 ] Were our feed inned, wel we mighten pleye, And us defporte, and fynge, and maske game ; 30 And yit this rowndel ihal we fynge and feye In truft of yow, and honour of your name. Somer, that rypeft mannes fuftenance With holfum hete of the Sonnes warmnefle, Al kynde of man thee holden is to bleffe. 35 Ay thankid be thy freendly governance, And thy frefh look of mirthe and of gladneffe. Somer, that rypeft mannes fuftenance With holfum hete of the Sonnes warmnefle, All kynde of man thee holden is to bleffe. 40 V. 3 1. RownJel] From v. 33 to the end of this poem is a fample of old Englim roundels, which Cotgrave defines " a rime, or fonnet, that ends as it begins." A fpe- cimen of the rime in the definition may feem in CHAUCER'S Knight's Tale, v. 1512, 13, 14; and of the fonnet here. Cotgrave's definition is incomplete, by making no mention of the rcpttition of the burden in the middle. In this refpet the definition in diStionalre des Trevoux (adopted by Johnfon) is more to the purpofe ; but neither does that exactly correfpond with this Englim relique, for it makes the fonnet confift of thirteen lines ; of which eight accord to one rime, and five to another : here we have fourteen lines in all, and nine of them to one rime. This roundel is what is called chanceon in the title to the piece. To [ 63 ] To hevy folk of thee the remembrance Is falve and oynement to hir feeknefle ; For why we this (hul fynge in criftemeffe : Somer, that rypeft mannes fuftenance With holfum hete of the Sonnes warmnefle, 45 Al kynde of man thee holden is to blefle. V. 43. For -why] See the gloflary. CESTE III. CESTE BALADE ENSUYANTE FEUST PAR LA COURT DE BONE COMPAIGNIE ENVOIEE A LONURE SIRE HENRI SOMER CHAUNCELLER DE LESCHEQUER ET UN DE LA DITE COURT. [THIS BALADE FOLLOWING WAS BY THE COURT OF GOOD COMPANY SENT TO HIS HONOUR SIR HENRY SOMER CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHE- QUER AND ONE OF THE SAID COURT. *] WORSHIPFUL Sir, and our freend fpecial, (And fe\aw*e in this cas we call yow) Your lettre fent un to us cleerly al We ha*ve red, and underftanden, how It * Said Court the editor apprehends muft mean the Ceurt fo called in the beginning of this title, and not the Exchequer ; becaufe, though Henry Somer was made a K Baron [ 66 ] It is no wit to your conceit, as now, 5 \}:{Q the ru4e foorth as we been inne, But al an othir ru4e to begynne : Reherfynge, how in the place of honour, The Temple, for folace and for gladnefle (Wher as nat oghste ufid been errour 10 Of over mochil waaft or of excefle) Firft wern we foundid to u?fe largeffe Baron of that Court in 1408, he could hardly remain fo after being appointed its Chancellor. When his latter promotion took place, does not appear ; but there was a new appointment of a baron in 1409, another in 1410, and of three more in 1414 ; either of which might be in the room of Somer. This Company feems to have been formed of members of the Middle Temple. The Temple is mentioned ifi the poem; and Cheflre's Inn (where HOCCLEVE ftudied the law) appears to have then belonged to the Middle Temple. Though the editor can throw very little light upon the particular cuftom of the feaft here treated of; yet he gives the piece to the pub- lic, as a fingular curiofity in its way, and perhaps more intelligible to abler antiqua- ries, than to himfelf. It certainly is not publifhed to fet off the poetical talent of its author, being merely an epiftolary altercation vernfied, and in a ftyle for the moft part much embarrafied. V. 5. No ivit feems another way of fpelling no whit: but take wit forfenfe, and the paffage will be equally intelligible. Ufeth no -uytte is a phrafe in Caxton's Chivalry. V. 6. Ufe~[ Another omiffion of to before the infinitive. In In our defpenfes ; but for to exceede Refon we han, efpyed yee nat beede. Yee allegge eek, how a rule hath be kept 1 5 Or this, which was good as yee have herd feyn ; But it now la*te ceflid hath and flept, Which good yow thynkith were up take ageyn ; And, but if it fo be, our Court certeyn Nat likly any whyle is to endure, 20 As hath in mow^the many a cre-ature. Yee wolden, that in confervacioun Of our honour, and eek for our profyt, That thentente of our old fundacioun Obferved migtute been, and to that plyt 25 Be broght as it was firft, and pafTe al qwyt V. 13. To exceede} At the Middle Temple an additional difh to the regular dinner is ftill called exceeding; : to which appellation Maffinger alludes (in the Pidhire) by the expreflion of " feftival exceedings ;" but his editor Coxeter, not knowing the origin of the phrafe, thinks * exceeding feftivals' had been better. V. 14. Efpyed yee nat beede.] that is, you do not fay has beenfeeh by you. V. 1 8. Tow thynkith is the fame kind of phrafe as me thinks : yow is the oblative cafe, and not the nominative. V. 26. fajfe alquyt out of the daunger} This phrafeology was common with old writers. Fabian has it in a paffage, where daunger is ufed more peculiarly, than by Hoccleve: he is fpeaking of two fheriffs imprifoned in the 38th year of Hen. III. and fays, " how they pafjyd out of the kynges daunger^ I fynde not." K 2 Out [ 68 ] Out of the daunger of outrageous waaft, Left with icorn and repreef feed us fwich taaft. Un to that crude fix=e fhippes grete To yeve us han yee grauntid and benight, 30 To bye ageyn our dyner flour or whete ; And befide it, as refon wole and right, Paife your lagh, as dooth an othir wight, That by mefusre rulith him and gyeth, And nat as he, whom outrange maiftrieth. 35 In your lettre contened is alfo, That if us lift to chaunge in no maneere Our neew*e gy^fe, ne twyn?ne ther fro, The firsfte day of May yee wole appeere ; That day yee febte be with us in feere ; 40 And to keepe it yee wole be reedy. This is theffeft of your lettre foothly. V. 29. Sixjkippes grete can mean nothing elfe in this paffage, than^/fo whole nobles; which HOCCLEVE calls fhips for the reafon already given in the note to II. 21. V. 40. Sette be : that is, appoint to be. To To the which in this wy^fe we anfwere : Excefe for to do be yee nat bownde, Ne noon of us, but do as we may bere ; 45 Up on fwich ru4e we nat us ne grownde. Yee been difcreet, thogh yee in good habownde : Dooth as yow thynkith for your honeftee ; Yee and we all arn at our libertee. At our lafste dyner, wel knowen yee, 50 By our Stywardes limitacion, (As cuftume of our Court axith to be, And ay at ou^re congregacion Obferved) left al excufacion, Warned yee wern for the dyner arraye 55 Ageyn thorfday next, and nat it delaye. We yow nat holde avyfid in fwich wyfe, As for to make us deftitut that day Of our dyner, take on yow that empryfe : V. 48. TOI-J thynkith.'} See note to v. 18. V. 50. At our laftedyner, &V.] By the whole of this ftanza it may be inferred, that each dinner had a Steward, who then appointed the time for the next dinner. Alfo a new Steward feems to have been appointed at the fame time, who bore a con- fiderable mare of the charge. This (we may prefume) was now Sir Henry Somer. V. 56. Delaye means to delay. V. Co. Take for or to take. If [ 7 ] If your luft be, dryveth excefle away ; 60 Of wysfe men mochil folke ler*ne may ; Difcretion mefurith eve*ry thyng ; Defpende aftir your pleafance and lykyng. Enfaumpleth us, let feen and us miroure : As that it feemeth good to your prudence, 65 Reu4e that day, for the thank lhal be youre ; Booth, as yow lift be drawe in confequence ; We truften in your wys experience : But keepith wel your tourn, how fo befall, On thorfday next, on which we awayte all. 70 V. 641 Let feen and us miroure^ for and let us fee a pattern. This tranfpofition of and is very unufual ; yet there does not feem any other way of making fenfe of the paflage, but by putting let feen by itfelf, and making miroure a verb for which laft ufage the editor can find no trace of an authority. V. 67. As yow lift be draw in confequence. ~\ The meaning is, * as it pleafes you to have drawn into a precedent.' V. 70. Awayte is here ufed in a neutral fenfe, like wait. Lydgate ufes it in the fame way in his Troy-book : Medea, to awayte upon her knight, &c. AU IV. AU ROY. [TO THE KING*.] VICTORIOUS kyng, our lord ful gracious, We humble li*ge men to your hynefle Meekly byfeechen you, o kyng pitous, Tendre pitee have on our (harp diftrefle : For, but the flood of your rial largefle 5 Flowe up on us, gold hath us in fwich hate, That of his love and cheertee the fcantnefle Wole arte us three to trotte un to Newgate. * Mofl probably Hen. V. and towards the end of his Ihort reign. The poem is fele&ed, to fhew the continuance of HOCCLEVE'S pecuniary diftreffes. V. 8. Us three probably includes two of our poet's three joint-petitioners to the Undertreafurer, that are named in No. II. v. 25, 6. Benigne t 7* 1 Benigne li*ge Lord, o havene and yate Of our confort, let your hy worthyneffe 10 Oure indigences foftne and abate ; In yow lyth al, yee may our greef redrefle. The fomsme, that we in our bill expreffe, Is nat exceflif, ne outrageous ; Our long fervice alfo berith witnefle 1 5 We han for it be ful laborious. O lisge Lord, that han be plentevous Un to your liges of your grace algate, Styntith nat now for to be bontevous To us your fervants of the o]-de date : 20 God woot, we have been ay eerly and late Lovynsge lisge men to your noblefle ; Lat nat the ftrook of indigence us mate, O worthy Prinsce, mirour of proweffe. V. 13. We in our bill exprejfe.] By this it appears, that thefe verfes only accompa- nied a more regular petition [bill] prefented to the King. V. 20. The olde date.'] This expreffion makes it probable, that the verfes were written towards the conclufion of this reign: by which time HOCCLEVE might have been in his office 25 years; for the ftoppage of his annuity in the laft reign, implies, that he had a grant from Richard II. [See note to v. 423.] Ade V. A de B, & C de D, &c. uEE heer my maiftr' Carpenter, I yow preye, How many chalenges ageyn me be ; And I may nat delivre' hem by no weye, * This is not the title to the poem, but written in the margin, even with the firft line. Under thefe initials is alfo this marginal note. " Cefte balade feuft ten* " drement confideree, & bonement executee." V. i. Carpenter, ] Rofs of Warwick fays, that John Carpenter (made in 1443 Bimop of Worcefter) was recommended for promotion by Henry V. on his death-bed. He might therefore be in circumftances to affift Hoccleve early in the next reign. By a patent of the ^th of Henry VI. printed in the laft part of the third volume of DUGDALE'S Monafticon (p. 177, col. 2.) it appears, that a John Carpenter (probably the fame) was one of the executors of the famous Richard Whityngton. L So [ 74 ] So me werreyeth coynes fcarfetee, That ny coufin is to neceflitee ; 5 For why un to yow feeke I for refut, Which that of confort am ny deftitut. Tho men, whos names I above exprefle, Fayn wolden that they and I evene were ; And fo wolde I, god take I to witnefle. 10 I woot wel, I moot heere, or elles where Reckne' of my dettes, and of hem anfwere ; Myn h.er*te for the dreede of god and awe Fayn wolde it qwyte, and for conftreynt of lawe. But by my trousthe nat wole it betyde : 1 5 And therfore, as fair as I can and may, With afpen her*te I preye hem abyde, And me refpy=te to fum lenger day ; Some of hem grante, and fome of hem feyn nay ; V. 5. Coii/in.] And very cojyns through hafty cruelte To the wode furies infernall. LTD. Fall of Vs. V. 8. Abwe^ that is, in the initials at the top of the laft page. V. 14. // anfwering to dettes is a confufion of number; which grammatical in- accuracy old Englifh writers were indeed frequently guilty of. And [ 75 ] And I fo fore ay dreede an aftir clap, 20 That it me reveth many a deep and nap. If that it lykid un to your goodneffe To be betwixt hem and me fwich a mene, As that I mighste kept be fro durefle, My hevy thoghtes wolde it voi^de clene. 25 As your good plefance is, this thyng demene How wel that yee doon, and how foone alfo I fuffre may in qwenchynge of my wo. V. 21. Many a both here, and in III. 21, makes but two fyllables; as is always the cafe in MILTON, and frequently in SPENSER. V. 23. Herri) though not in the Mf. is clearly required both for fenfe and metre, V. 28. Suffre.~\ See Gloffary. L 2 GO VI.* (jrO litil pamfilet, and ftreight thee drefle Un to the noble rootid gentillefle Of the mighty prince of famous honour, My gracious Lord of Yorke, to whos noblefle Me recommansde with hertes humblefle, 5 As he that have his grace and his favour Fownden alway, for which I am dettour For him to preye ; and fo dial my fimplefle Hertily do un to my dethes hour. Remem- * This poem has no title, but foon difcovers itfelf to have been fent and addreft to Richard Duke of York, father to Edward I V The nine-line ftanzas (of which it confifts) were not veiy common with our old poets ; and even in thofe few of the kind the arrangement of rimes was moftly different from what it is here : but DUNBAR'S Golden Terge exactly correfponds with the metre of this poem. V. i. Pamfilet.'] Whether this word relates fingly to the prefent poem, or to a number of the poet's other pieces accompanying it, is not fo clear. HOCCLEVE calls his poem de regimine principum alfo a pamfilet. SK ELTON fpeaks of a noble pam- fhelet. V. 6. He.] A grammatical irregularity for him. See GlofTary. His grace and his favour fwmden alway , &V.] Here we have a plain acknowledg- ment Remembre his worthynefle I charge thee, 10 How ones at London defired he Of me, that am his fervant and ihal ay, To have of my balades fwich plentee, As ther weren remeynynge un to me, And for nat wole I to his wil feyn nay, 1 5 But fulfille it as ferfoorth as I may, Be thow an owter of my nycetee For my good lordes luft and game and play. My lord byfeeke eek in humble maneere That he nat fouffre thee for to appeere 20 In thonurable fighte or the prefence Of the noble princefle, and lady deere, My gracious lady, my goo.d lordes feere, The mirour of womanly excellence ; Thy cheer is naght, ne haaft noon eloquence 25 To monftre thee before hir y?en cleere : For myn honour were holfum thyn abfence. ment of a long feries of obligations. The poet's addrefs to his friend Carpenter feems to have been the lateft of his complaining ftrains. It is therefore by no means improbable, that the latter part of his life was rendered comfortable by the liberality of the Duke of York. V. iz. Shalufed elliptically forjfral be. See TYRWHITT'S gloflary to Chaucer. V. 25. Haaft.'} Thw is underftood. Yit [ 79 ] Yit ful fayn wolde I have a mefTageer To recommarude me with herte enteer To hir benigne and humble wommanhede ; 30 And at this tyme have I noon othir heer But thee, and fmal am I for thee the neer ; And if thow do it nat, than fhal the dedc Be left, and (that nat kepte I) out of dredc My Lord, nat I, fhal have of thee poweer ; 35 Axe him licenfe, up on him crie and grede. Whan that thow haft thus doon, than aftirward Byfeesche thow that worthy Prince Edward, That he thee leye apart, for what may tyde, Left thee behol^de my maiftir Picard. 40 I warme thee, that it fhal be ful hard For thee and me to halte on any fyde, But he efpie us : yit no force ; abyde ; Let him look on ; his herte is to me ward So freendly, that our lhasme wole he hyde. 45 V. 40. Picard (of whom the editor has found no mention elfe-where) muft have been the name of Edward's tutor. Edward was but feven years old in 1449; at which period HOCCLEVE'S age could be little fhort of eighty. If [ 8 ] If that I in my wrytyn^ge foley'e (As I do oft, I can it nat withfeye) Meetrynge amis, or fpeke unfyttingly, Or nat by juft peys my fentences weye, And nat to thordre' of endytyng obeye, 50 And my colours fette ofste fythe awry, With al myn her^te wole I buxumly, It to amende and to corre6te, him preye ; For undir his correction ftande y. Thow foul book un to my Lord feye alfo, 55 That pryde is un to me fo greet a fo, That the fpe&acle forbedith he me, And hath y-doon of tysme yere ago ; And for my fighste blyve haftith me fro, V. 50. Thordre is the ordre in the Mf. ; but metre requires the contraction ; and, that being the cafe, the Mf. authorifes this mode of junction by many fimilar ones. V. 51. Colours."] Thus Lydgate in his Fall of Princes fpeaks of Chaucer's " colours of fwetenes," and fays of himfelf, Of frefh colours I toke no manere hede. V. 57. The fpeflade.~\ This word (both here and in the lines cited in the preface) muft mean nearly the fame as is now called a pair of fpeflacles. So thought the late worthy optician, Mr. Adams, whofe profeffional judgment and truly communicative difpofition the editor had availed himfelf of upon the fubject. SKELTON in his Crown of laurel has the ^>\\\ra\fpeiade s. And And lakkith that that fholde his confort be, 60 No wondir thogh thow ha-ve no beautee. Out up on pry=de, caufer of my wo ! My fighte is hurt thurgh hir adverfitee. Now ende I thus : the holy Trinitee, And our Lady the bleflid mayden free, 65 My Lord and Lady have in governance, And grante hem joie and hy profperitee, Nat to endure oonly two yeer or three, But a thoufand : and if any plefance Happe migrate on my poo^re fouffiflance 70 To his proweflfe and hir benignitee, My lyves joie it were, and fuftenance. V. 65. Free feems to have been an ufual epithet bellowed -on the Virgin : annunciation of owre ladyfre purification of owre lady fofre. JULIANA BARNES on hunting. M AN A N E XPL AN ATION OF THE REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE GLOSSARY. The fmall figures, when by themfelves, refer to the correfponding lines ia the firft poem ; when they have Roman numerals prefixt, then to thofe of the poem pointed out by the faid numerals. Immediately after each word to be explained is an abbreviation, denoting the part of fpeech ; as v. for verb, n. for noun, &c. Alb. The St. Alban's edition of the book on hawking, hunting, and Cootarmuris, in the year 1486. Carp. Carpentier's Supplement to the GlolTary of Du Cange. Caxt. Caxton. Ch. Chaucer. C. C. Pla. Corpus Chrifti Play, printed in Stevens's MonafHcon. Div. & Pau. Dives & Pauper, Pynfon's edition, 1493. M 2 Doug. [ 84 ] Doug. Vir. Gloffary to Gawin Douglas's Virgil by Ruddiman. E. R. Earl Rivers's Moral Proverbs, printed by Caxton. Fab. Fabyan's Chronycle. Fort. Fortefcue on Monarchy. G. Gower. Hylt. , Walter Hylton's Scala Perfe&ionis, Notary's edition, 1567. L. Lydgate. M. V. Maundevile's Voyage. M. L. D. Manning's edition of Lye's Dictionary. P. L. Gloffary to Peter Langtoft by Hearne. P. P. Pierce Ploughman's Vifions. Prompt. Promptorium, &c. printed by Pynfon in 1499, but compiled in 1440. R. G. Gloffary to Robert of Glocefter, by Hearne. Spen. Spenfer. < Tipt. Tiptoft Earl of Worcefter's Tranflation of Cicero de Amicitia , or elfe his other trait printed by Caxton with it. Tyr. Tyrwhitt's Gloffary to Chaucer. Wlc. Wicliff's Teftament according to the edition of it by Lewis. The Gloffary there annext to it omits many of its obfolete words, fcf denotes a word not to have been ufed (as far as the editor can difcover) by any other author than HOCCLEVE. GLOSSARY. GLOSSARY. A. (prep.) 4. Above. G. and L. Abyde (v.) 319. V 17. VI 43. Stay. Wic. Acate (.) 181. Purchafe. Tyr. Achate. Accufith (v.) 40. Difcovers. 'Tyr. K? Admittible (adj.) 299. Admittable. This does not feem to have been a real word, but only a change of a vowel by poetical licenfe for the fake of rime. Adverfitee, (.) 5. 47. VI 63. See note to 5. Agaft (part.) 259. 424. Terrified. Tyr. Ageyn (prep.) 52. 1119. Ill 31. 56. V 2. Againft. Tyr. Ago (part.) 265. Gone. Tyr. Al (adv.) 16. 192. III7. Quite. Tyr. (conj.) 209. Although. Tyr. Al day See day. Algate (adv.) 183. IV 18. Always. Tyr. [ 86 ] Amis (adv.] 164. 224. 111. Tyr. Appall (v.) 310. Grow flat. L. Which never fhall appal/en in my minde, But a\\vzie fre/Ze been in myne memorie. Pro/, to Stone of Thebes. Pall as a verb neuter is ft ill ufed in the fame fenfe. Appert See privee. ?> Arghnefle (//.) 435. Indolence. Arg. for indolent may be found in M. L. D. Supp. Forming fubftantives by the addition of nes was the practice of other writers ; for in Cootarmuris we have longnes and brodenei. Armonie (n.) 255. Harmony. L. Arn (v.} Ill 49. Are. Tyr. , Arte (v.) IV 8. Conftrain. Tyr. Artith 438. Artid (part.) 396. As feems often to be redundant, like as in the modern phrafe as yet. See 65. 182. 289. 307. Aflautes (.) 58. Aflaults. Tyr. Afterte (v.} 96. Efcape. Tyr. Attemprely (adv.) 106. Temperately. Tyr. Avantage (n.) 167,9. Advantage. Tyr. Avante (v.) 6. Boaft. Tyr. Au&our (.) 223. Source. Wic. Avyfe [with thee~\ (v.) 372. Look to thyfelf. Tyr. Avyfid (part.) 273. Ill 57. Advifed. Doug. Vir. Awayte (v.) Ill 70. See the note. Axe (v.) 182. 440. VI 36. Afk. Tyr. Axith Axith (v.) Ill 12. Requires. Dh. & Pau. Axynge (.) II 12. Requeft. Tyr. B. Beede (v.) Ill 14. Say. R. G. See bud in the addenda to M. L. D. where one of the interpretations of beodan is pradicare. Behight (part.) Ill 30. Promifed. Tyr. Benefice (.) 103. Benefit. JVic. I. Tym. ch. 6. and Div. & Pau. Pr. iii. Bere (v.) 286. Ill 45. Bear. Tyr. Berith IV 15. Beftad (part.) 129. Circumftanced. Spen. Bet (adv.) 178. Better. Tyr. Bete (part.) 434. Beaten. Z. Bill (.) IV 13. Petition. L. This was the byl, which that Ihon Bochas Made unto Fortune. Fall of Ps. B. vi.ch. i. Bit (v.) 280. Bid. Tyr. Blyve (adv.) 280. VI 59. Quickly. Tyr. Blive. Bond (pret. oi bind) 275. Bound. Wic. " Held Jon and bond him." Mark, ch. 6. Bontevous* (adj.) II 8. IV 17. Bounteous. Z. Bountevous. * The letter v in this word, and in others of the fame formation, was probably pronounced like any"; fince in Maundeviles Voyage we meet with plenti/ous, and cofti/bus. Boot [ 88 ] Boot (.) 190. Boat. Wlc. Boot-men 195. Borwid (part, of borwe) 369. Borrowed. The verb borive (but in another of its old fenfes) is in C. C. Pla. Brent (part, of brenne) 390. Burnt. Tyr. Brigge (.) 190. 194. Bridge. M. V. K> Brydillees (adj.) 78. Without bridle. lees was the fame privative termination, as the modern hfs. But (conj.) 57. 129. IV 5. Unlefs. Tyr. But if (row/.) 7.445. Illig. Unlefs. P. L. Buxumly (adv.) VI 52. Submiflively. Tyr. Bye (v.) Ill 31. Buy. Wlc. L. and Fort. Byfeeke (v.) 411. VI 19. Befeech. Tyr. Byfeye (part.) 142. Befeen. Tyr. C. Carkeis (.) 350. Carcafe. The word carkes is in Fabyan. Ceflid (part.) Ill 17. Ceafed. Tyr. Chalenges (.) V 2. Claims. Wic. Chalange. Charge (.) 127. Bufmefs of weight. Tyr. Cheef 50. See the note. Cheer (.) 266. Appearance. Tyr. Chere. VI 25. Courtefy. R. G. Cheerid (adj.) II 9. Glad cheer id. Of a pleafant afpeft. L. has Hidoufly chered, and ugly for to fee. Stone of Thebes. Cheertee (.) IV 7. Regard. L. Cherice (v.) 282. Cherifh. Tyr. Chevice Chevice (v.) 101. 285. Bear up. See Carp, in chevir. Chevice is ufed in the fame fenfe by HOCCLEVE in his Letter of Cupid, printed with CHAUCER ; and alfo in CHAUCER'S Complaint of Mars, where Urry's gloflarift (not underftanding the word) would alter it to cherice. Chinchy (adj.) 136. Niggardly. Ch. R. R. 6002. Chyldly (adj.) 64. Of a child. L. In chyldly wy*fe on her gan to fmyle. Fall of Ps. II. ch. 22. This word (having no proper fubftitute in modern language) is worth reviving. Clappid (part.) 394. Talked quick. Tyr. Theyr tunge dappith. L. Chichevache and Bycorne. Clept (part, of clepe) 225. Called. Tyr. Combreworldes (n.) 225. Encumbrances to the world. Tyr. Compleyne (v. aftive.) 20. 342. Bewail. L. and Tipt. Compleyned (part.) 341. Comune (adj.) 427. Common. -L. and Tipt. Conceit (n.) Ill 5. Conception. Tyr. Concete. Confort (n.) IV 10. V 7. VI 60. Comfort. L. Confeil (n.) 76. 86. Counfel. Tyr. Confeillynge (part.) 278- Counselling. P. L. Contenance (n.) 266. Countenance. L. Contened (part.) Ill 36. Contained. Wic. prol. to apocal. Contrarie (v.) 191. Oppofe. Wic. Contree (n.) 215. Country. M. V. Cotidian (adj.) 25. Daily. Tyr. Countrefete (v.) 322. Imitate. Tyr. Contrefete. Kf* Cravour (n.) 429. One that craves. N Cure [ 9 ] Cure (.) 261. 309. Care. Tyr. Cuftume (.) 113. 161. Ill 52. Cuftom. Caxi. D. Dar (v.) 137. 321. 425. Dare. TY'ic. Daunger (.) 126. Coynefs. Tyr. Day (.) 185. V 1 8. Time. Tyr. Al day 224. 430. Always. L. Day by day. 39. 122. Continually. Wlc. Debate (v.) 328. Combat. Spen. Well could he turney, and in lifts debate. F. (^ B. II. C. i. ft. 6. Delivre (v.) V3- Difcharge. Wic. Demene (v.) V 26. Manage. Tyr. Demaine. See Carp. Difmanare. Departith (v.) 133. Separates. M. V. " Departethe Ytaille and Greece." ch. 5. Deprave* (v.) 171. Vilify. L. Derke (adj.) 88. Dark. Wic. and L. Defpenfe (.) 205. 342. Expence. Tyr. Difpence. Defpenfes. 345. Ill 13. Defporte (v.) II 30. Divert. Tyr. Difport. * The editor is much miftaken, if this verb is not ufed in the fame fenfe by Shakfpeare, even in a paflage which Johnfon has cited, as an inftance of its other meaning [to corrupt]. Who lives, that's not Depraved, or depraves ? Timon, act i. Let any reader only look at the context both' before and after. Even Johnfon fliews in the fame dictionary, that Shakfpeare ufed depi-avation for defamation,. Defteyned . [ 9 ] Defteyned (part.) 340. Difparaged. Doug. Vir. Diftene. Dettes (n.) 375. V 12. Debts. L. Dettour (.) VI 7. Debtor. JVic. and Ttpt. Dide (v.) Did. fVic. and M. V. and L. DirknefTe (.) 115. Darknefs. L. Difplefaunt [adj.] 405. Difpleafmg. Tyr. Diflert* (.) 272. Defert or Merit. M. V. Difleverance (n.) 20. Separation. Doug. fir. Doumb (adj.] 433. Dumb. Wic. Dreede (.) 157. Doubt. Out of drede. VI 34. Without Doubt. Tyr. Drefle (v.) 352. Apply. VI i. Addrefs. Tyr. Dreffid me (pret.) 194. Took my way. L. Drope (.) 415. Drop. L. Durefle (.) 12. Hardfhip. Tyr. V24- Harm. L. For winter Storms might do them no dureffe. Fall of Ps. E. Effer. Eft (Wz/.j 408. Again. Tyr. Elles (adv.) II 23. Elfe. Elles where. Vn. Elfewhere. Tyr. Encombrith (v.) 355. DiftrefTes. Z. Enditith (v.) 298. Di&ates. 7>r. * Dis for Enlumynynge (n.) II 4. Illumination. L. Enteer (adj.] VI 29. Entire. L. Entent (n.) 182. Intention. Tyr. Entremete (v.) 429. Interpofe. Tyr. Entermete. Envolupid (part.} 245. Wrapt up. Tyr. Erneftful (adj.) 293. Zealous. M. L. D. Earneft interpreted by Jludiofus. Efchue (v.) 216. Efchew or avoid. 6'. and L. Evere mo (adv.] 199. 267. Evermore. G. Execute (part.) 76. 359. Put in execution. L. Ey (inter -j.) 393. Tyr. F. Farfid (part.) 13. Stuffed. Tyr. Favell (.) 244,7. 2 ^4' 7' Favele. 223. Cajolery or flattery by words. Faveles (*. ftf.) 211. See the note. Feere (n.) VI 23. Wife. Infeere. Ill 40. In company. Tyr. Feith (n.) 219. Truth. ^/. in Cootarmuris : As fe'ith is ' as is the truth.' Felawe (.) Ill 2. Companion. Tyr. Femel (.) 138. Family. Doug. Vir. Ferd (part.) 170. Afraid. Tyr. Ferfoorth (adv ) VI 16. Far forth. Tyr. Fern ago ( Foleye (v.) VI 46. Trifle. Carp. Folier. For like the French pour before infinitives. Tyr. (conj.) Becaufe that. Tyr. Fer thy (conj.) 356. Therefore. Tyr. For why (conj.) 1143. V6. Wherefore. JVic. Luk. ch. 12. v 3. Div. & Pau. Pr. viii. ch. i. towards the end. Alfo Hylt. in a few places. This fenfe of for why, which accords beft of any with the two paflages in HICCLEVE, is, notwithftanding its analogy with the foregoing article, very rare in old writers : the why in general (except where the two words make the whole of an interrogative fentence) is redundant, and makes no altera- tion in the accuftomed fenfes of for. Force (n.) 130. Neceflary confequence. Doug. Vir. No force. VI 43. No Matter. Tyr. No force of. 305. No matter for. Tyr. Foryeve (v.) 408. Forgive. Div. & Pau. Foftred (part.) 229. Nourifhed. Tyr. Free (adj.) VI 65. Liberal. Tyr. Fro (prep.) From. Tyr. Fundacioun (n.) Ill 24. Foundation. L. G. Gentillefle (.) II 17. Liberality. VI 2. Dignity. Tyr. Gefie (v.) 332. Guefs. Tyr. Gleede (n.) 159. Burning coal. Tyr. Good (.) Ill 47. Goods or Wealth. Tyr. Governaill [ 94 ] Governaill (.) II 9. Governance. Ch. Grede (v.) VI 36. Cry loudly. Tyr. Guerdon (.) 367. Retribution. L. Fraud quit with fraud is guerdon covenable. Fall of Pr. II. ch. 30. Gye (v.) 387. Guide. Tyr. Gyed 228! Gyeth III 34. Gyfe (.) 270. 427. Guife or fafhion. Tyr. H. Habownde (v.) Ill 47. Abound. L. Habundantly (adv.) 119. Abundantly. Hylt. Halt (pret. of hold.) 53. Held or kept. Tyr. Han for haven (plur. or wjf. of) Have. Tyr. He (^0.) VI 6. Him. P. L. This indeed feems to have been a common phrafeology. " He that moche hath moche behoveth." Dives & Pauper. ch. 4. is in all in its cafes ufed for it. Tyr. Hem (pro.) Them, and Themfelves. Tyr. Hennes (adv.) 49. Hence. Tyr. Herkne (v.) 263. Hear. L. When Thelamon herkened had his tayle. Highte (.) On highte. 172. Aloud. Tyr. who gives his interpretation only as a conjecture, but which is clearly confirmed by this paflage in HOCCLEVE. Indeed Spenfer ufes thefe words in the fame fenfe. F. Q., B. V. C. 4. ft. 45. Him is frequently ufed for himfelf. Tyr. Hir C 95 ] Hir (pro.) Her, and their. Tyr. Hire (pro.) Her. 285. Herfelf. Holcote (prop, name.) 249. Robert Holcote was a voluminous theological writer in the time of Ed. III. His latin treatife on the Wifdom of Solomon, which is referred to by HOCCLEVE, was printed at feveral places on the Continent in the fifteenth century. The reader that would know more of him, may confult TANNER'S Bibliotheca Britann. and FABRICIUS in his Blbl. lot. med. & inf. tetatis. Holfum (adj.) 248. II 34. VI 27. Wholfome. Good. L. Hondes (.) 115. Hands. Tyr. Honeftee (.) 11148. Honour. Wic. I Cor. ch. 12. How (adv.) V 27. In fuch manner as. R. G. {!=> Humblely* (adv.) 411. Humbly. Humblefle (.) VI 5. Humility. Tyr. 1. Importune (adj.) 425. Troublefome. Tyr. Inly (adv.) 237. Thoroughly. Tyr. Inne (prep.) Ill 6. In. Tyr. K. Keep (.) 195. Care. Tyr. Kepte (pret. of kepe.) 425. Took care, Tyr. * This manner of forming adverbs extended formerly to feme others, which arc for found's fake entirely left off. Thus in the will of Hen. IV. (preferred in Wee- ver p. 208) we have the word voAollify, Knyt [ 96 ] Knyt (part.) 22. 343. Bound. Tyr. Knit. Kus (.) 155. Kifs. G. Kythe (v.) 406. Make known. Tyr. Kithe. L. &3> Lagh* (.) Ill 33. Juft fhare. M. L. D. interprets the faxon word by jus. Larger (adj.) 205. More prodigal. Tyr. Large. Lat (v.) Let. M. V. Leef (adj.) 292. Pleafmg. Tyr. Lefe. Leet (v.) Stoppe leet, 254. Made ftop. M. V. *' He leet fetten 12 greet ftones." ch. 6. Leeved (part.) 220. Believed. 7yr. Leve. Lenger (adv.) 288. 392. Longer. Tyr. (adj.) V 18. Z. Lefte (pret.) 107. Liked. Tyr. Lefynges (.) 223. Lies. 7>' r - Lettynge (.) 174. Hindrance. Z. *$> Lightlees (adj.) 88. Void of light. See Brydillees. Likerous (adj.) 147. Liquorifh. M. L. D. Lift (v.) 84. 233. Likes. 7y r - (imperfonal) I2O. II 22. Ill 37. 67. It pleafes. 7y r - Loos (w.) 345. Praife. Tyr. * This word has the fame orthography in an extraft (fee Weever p. 153) from an old Metrical pfauter, in the Bodleian Library : but there its fenfe exaftly corre- fponds with that of the modern word law. Lore [ 97 ] Lore (part, of lere.) 349. Loft. G. The lofs is had, the lucre is lore. B. IV. Lofengour (. ) 220. Flatterer. Tyr. Luft (.) II 13. Ill 60. VI 18. Pleafure. Tyr. Lufty (adj.) 138. Lovely. P. L. Lym 31. See the note. Lyte. A lyte and lyte. 92. L. in Troy-book ufes a /y/.) II 3. Were not. Tyr. Nightertale (.) 306. Night-time. Tyr. Noblefle (n.) 410. IV 22. VI 4. Dignity. Tyr. Noght (adv.) 254. 310. Not at all. Tyr. Nought. Noon (adj.) 132. HI 45. VI 25. 31. None. Alb. N'ot [for ne wot] (v.) 329. Know not. Tyr. Novelrie (n.) 38. Novelty. Tyr. Nyce (tf^'.) 204. Foolifti. Tyr. Nice. The contemptuous word nizy had probably this original. Nycetee (n.) 45. 404. VI 17. Folly. Tyr. Nicetee. O. Of (prep.) 387. IV 18. In. . <2. Of tyme* (adv.) VI 58. Oftentimes. ^/^. in Cootarmuns. Indeed of in old Englifh fometimes fignified oft. R. G. Ofte fythe (adv.] VI 51. Oftentimes. R. G. Oinement (.) II 42. Ointment. Tyr. On (prep.) VI 70. In. Tyr. Ones (adv.) 409. VI. n. Once. Tyr. Only (adv.) 83. Solely. Tyr. Oon (.) 290. Revert. This fenfe of the verb refer deviates in fome degree from any the editor has met with. Refut (n.) V 6. Refuge. Tyr. Regned (v.) u. Was predominant. L. Regnynge (part.) 67. Releeved (part.) 386. See tHe note. Releevynge (.) II 24. Relief. Div. & Pau. Renneth (v.) 78. Runs. Tyr. Repeir (n.) 137. Refort. Tyr. Repreef (n.) Ill 28. Reproof. Tyr. Refoun (n.) 70, I. 360. Reafon. JV'tc. Reve (v.) 304. Deprive of. P. L. Reveth. V 21. Rewe [ I0 3 ] Rewe (v.) 412. 443. Have compafllon. Tyr. Rial (adj.) IV 5, Royal. L. RichefTe (n.) 3. Wealth. Tyr. Riotoures (n.) 118. Intemperate liver's. Fab. Rowndel (.) II 31. See the note. S^ Rownyngly (adv.) 172. In a whifper. E. R. has rownyng the par- ticiple. Rypeft (v.) II 33. Ripeneft. L. When Ceres hath full ryped every grain. Troy-book V. ch. 36. S. Sad (adj.) 274. Steady. M. V. ch. 14. Salomon 85. Solomon. Wic. Salut II 22. See Port. 8^ Scantnefle (n.) IV 7. Scantinefs. Seeke (adj.) 409. Sick. Caxt. Seekly (adj.) 15. Sickly. Caxt. Seeknefle (n.) 22. 118. 337. 1142. Sicknefs, J/. V. Seelde (adv.) 73. Seldom. L. and TTpf. Seith (v.) 276. Tells. Af. T. Selden (adv.) 165. Seldom. T^- Self (pro.) 280. Selves. 7>r. Sentence (n.) 160. Purport. See 7)T. Servage (n.) 116. Servitude. Prompt. Sette by (#.) 108. Rate. Tyr. Setten by 281. Settith by 380. Seur [ I0 4 J Sour (adj.) 320. Sure. E. R. Shal VI 12. See the note. Shamefaft (adj.) 431. Modeft. Tyr. Shapith (v.) 397. Makes ready. Tyr. Shapen. Shent (part.) 375. Ruined. L. Sholde (v.) Should. R. G. Shul (plur of foal) II 43. Shall. Tyr. SimplefTe (.) VI 8. Simplicity. Tyr. Sit for Sitteth (v. neut. imperfonal) 329. Suits. Tyr. (v . aft . imperfonal) 407. The fimilarity of figure in,/ and j joined to fimilarity of fignification, has induced fome of the ableft antiqua- ries to doubt this meaning of the verbyfr, and to fuppofe it an error for jit. Thus HEARNE in an old profe extract (which he has inferted in his Gloflary to Peter Langtoft under the word to name) meeting with the participles/ft//^, conjectures, that it ought to have been fitting. Yet this very participle occurs in this fenfe no lefs than eight times in LYDGATE'S Fall of Princes ; and all parts of the fame* verb in the fame fenfe are to be found in moft of the beft authors of the I4th, and I5th, and even the beginning of the i6th centuries: for this very participle is fo ufed in one of Barclay's eclogues, and in Froyflart, Thefe inftances are far too numerous to have arifen from errors of the pen ; and the preterit fate differs fufficiently from. * In the printed edition of the prologue to Cicero de amicltia tranflated by Tiptoft, the word f Unflttyngly (adv.) VI 48. Unfuitably. L. and Fab. have unfittynge. Unwar (adj.) 41. Unwary. P. L. Voide (v.) 382. V2. Put away. L. When quene Vafly was voided for her pride. Fall of Ps. III. ch. 26. 448. Clear. Tyr. (v. neut.) 280. Go away. Tyr. W. Wacch (.) 305. 322. Late revel. L. The wynter he fpent in lechery, In watch and ryot. Fall of Ps. V. ch. 15. Soon after he repeats the three, and calls them Nyght exceffe, ryot, and lechery. Wafres [ III ] Wafres (n.) 146. See the note. Warie (%>.} 63. Revile. Doug. Fir. Weene (v.) 364. Think. Tyr. Wene. Wei was him 199. Well off was he. See Tyr. Wele (n.) 287. Profperity. Tyr. Weleful (adj.) 402. Able to make happy. Tyr. and Tipt. Wern [for weren] (v.) Ill 12. 55. Were. L. Werne (v.) 430. 442. Refufe. Tyr. Werre (n.) 80. 302. War. Tyr. Werreith (v.) 117. V 4. Worries. L. Wexe (v.} 159. 115. Wax or grow. Tyr. Weye (v.) VI 49. Weigh. Div. & Pau. Whan, whanne (adv.) When. Tyr. Which (pro.) V 7. Who. ffic. Wighte (.) 175. Weight. Tyr. Willynge (.) II 10. Supplication. This word feems to have the fame meaning in Raftell's Chronicle: " His lordes in Normandye fent unto * kyng Henry [thefirfl] his brother wyllynge for to come into Normandye." Wite (v.) 285. Know. Tyr. With (prep.) 271. See the note. Withfeye (v.) VI 47. Deny. Tyr. Wityngly (adv.) 46. Knowingly. Div. & Pau. Wole (v.) Will. Wolde (pret.) Would. Tyr. Wommanhede (n.) VI 30. Womanly dignity. Tyr. Wone (n.) 294. Heap. Tyr. Woot (v.) Know, Knows, Knew. Tyr. Wot and Wote. Wooft. 361. Knoweft. Wowid Wowid (v.) 188. Wooed. 7}r. Wrecche (.) 63. A wretch. Wic. Wrenches (n.) 378. Quirks. Tyr. Wrooth 431. Chagrined. There are many paffages in L. and in Hyh, where this fenfe feems much more applicable to wroth, than that of angry. It probably has the fame meaning too in BARCLAY'S Ship of Fools: Be the poore wroth, or be he well apayde. Y. Y is frequently prefixt to verbs and participles without altering their fignifi- cation. This practice very much prevails in Lydgate's Troy-book. Y (pro.) 177. VI 54. I. Wic. Yate (.) 178. VI 9. Gate. Tyr. Y-doon (part.) VI 58. Done. R. G. Ye (.) 98. Eye. Yen. (plur.) 97. VI 26. There was formerly great variation in the manner of fpelling this noun : nor has the editor met with it any where exactly fimilar to that of the Mf. Then in the Mf. of Lydgate's Legend of Seinte Afargarete comes the neareft. Yeer (.) no. VI 68. and Yere. VI 58. Years. Tyr. Yemen (v.) 39. Earneftly defire. Tyr. Yeve (v.) Ill 30. Give. Yeveth. II 4. Tyr. Y-holde (part.) 184. Holden. L. Yiftes (n.) 366. Gifts. L. Y-maad (part.) 203. Made. L. Ynow [ "3 ] Y-meeved (part.) 391. Actuated. L. Y-mceved only of trouth and of refon. Stone of Thebes* Ynow (adv.) 145. 291. Enough. Tyr. Yore (adv.) 29. Of a long time. Tyr. Yoven (part of yeve.) 99. Given. Tipt. Y-rooted (part.) 94. Rooted. L. Y-tugged (part.) 197. Conveyed. M. L. D. Teogan, ducere. FINIS. I. begins page 27, ends page 57 II. .... 59 , - - - 63 III. .... 65, - - - 70 IV. .... 71, . - - 72 V. - - - - 73 - - - 75 VL *7T. Si L^TELT PUBLISHED, A N S S A O N DESIGN IN GARDENING, &c. INCLUDING A DISQUISITION O N BOWERS, AND ON THE OLD MEANING OF THAT WORD. BY GEORGE MASON. /len .Robertc (d: jaoUerte tye feupll. METRICAL ROMANCE, 7ROM AN Ancient Illuminated Manufcript. LONDON: PRINTED FOR I. HERBIRT, 1798. ADVERTISEMENT. XH I S MS of Eoii^te tlje SDntjlU" appears to have been tranfcribed word for word, from an edition in quarto, printed ei- ther by Wynken de Worde or Pynfon, of which I have feen a fragment confiding of fix leaves ; thefe have been -collated with the MS to which is prefixed this note. YSTEN lordinges that of marueyles lyke to heare Of a&es that were done fometyme in dede By cure elders that before vs were How fome in myfcheiffe their lyfe dyd leade And in this boke may ye fe yf that ye will rede Of one Robert the deuyll, borne in Normandye That was as uengeable a man as myght treade On goddes grounde for he delyted all in tyranyer A A Duke 2 C6e Life of A Duke fometyme in Normandye there was Full uertuous and deuoute in all hys Jyuynge And in almofe dedes, he yede in the waye of grace Of knyghtlye maners, and manfull in iuftynge A Lordlye parfone, alfo courtes in euery thynge Hys d welly nge was at Nauerne vpon fayne At Chryftmas to honoure that holy tymc Open houfholde he kepte, and to pleafe God was [fayne. A feafte he helde vpon a certayne daye Lordes come thyther of greate renowne And as they fate at dyner a knyght gan faye Vnto the Duke, and on hys knees kneled downe My lorde he fayd ye be owner of many a towne Yet haue ye no lady, nor none heyre After your dayes to reioyce youre grounde Therfore gett youe a princes that ys yonge and fayre. Wyueles longe faid the duke haue I taryed And lyued fole withoute any mate I fe well yt ys youre wyll that I fhoulde be maryed But yet woulde I haue one to myne eftate Accordynge, for and I (houlde take A Lady of nobler bloude than I am Or elfe of lower degre, foone fhoulde I forfake Myne owne worihip, and lyue lyke no man. Yf Eo&erte t&e Detail* 3 Yf I fhoulde nowe wedde, and after repent And lyue in forowe and greate langoure Than myght I faye that fortune had me fent A chaunce mysfortunate, diftaynynge the floure Of noble fame that fhoulde encreafe myne honoure Wherfore lordes all, accordinge to prudence A forefight fayeth Salomon ys worthe treafoure Yet be ye ruled by fortune a Lady of excellence. Than fayde to the Duke a Baron right bolde My lorde I befeke youre grace of audyence The Duke bade hym than faje what he woulde In Burgonye fayd the Baron ys a ladye of reuerence Daughter to the Earle, yf yt pleafe youre magnyfi- Her for to take, there wyll no man faye naye [cence Than to hys wordes the Duke gave credence And fayde I knowe well the Earles doughter that lady [gaye In procefTe that lady to the Duke was maryed A feafte was made of greate folempnytye And twelue yeares together they taryed Jn wealth and greate profperytye Goddes lawe they kepte and lyued vertuouflye Yet chylde together had they none They prayed to god with heart deuoutlye Yf yt pleafed hym for to fende them one. A 2 Euer 4 Cbe life of Euer they prayed, but yt woulde not be In twelue yeare, chylde had they none Good dedes they dyd, and gaue almofe plentye Alacke faid thys Ladye fhall I lyve alone Ofte (he fyghed and made greate mone That no chylde on her body woulde fprynge The good Duke alfo ever dyd grone And fayed good Jefu yet heare my cryengc Lorde fende me a chylde the worlde to multyplyc The Duke fayde, yf it be thy wyll My wyfe foroweth in her partye I feare that flie wyll her felfe fp)ll Nothinge to the lorde that ys vnpoffyble Nowe heare my prayer for loue of thy mother Sende me a chylde my petycion to fullfyll For to be myrry I defyre none other. And on a tyme the Duke and Duches walked In a garden by them felfe alone Eche of them complayned and to other talked Howe they could haue no chylde, and made much Full greate, and faide joy have we none [mone ; I curfe them faide the Duke that made the maryage For I had leuer to have lyued ftyli alone Chylde have I none, to reioyce myne herytage. And IRofcertc tbe Deuplt 5 And faid yf I had be maryed to another ladye I knowe that I fhould have had chyldren ynowe The Duches auniVered as for her partye Yf I had chaunged, verylye I trowe [youe Thac chyldern I fhoulde haue had; none haue I by Let vs thanke god of that he doth vs fende For I beleue and do verelye trowe That all oure forowe he may yt amende. So on a morowe the Duke went on huntynge Hys hearte was fullfvlled all with thought In hys mynde chydde, and agayne god grudgynge He fighed fore inwardlye and ofte If he myght haue dyed, nothynge he rought And feyde god loueth not me, all in dyfpayre Many women haue chyldren : but myne nought Alas I trowe I fhall have none to be myne heyre The fende tempted foore the Duke tho That he wyft not what to do nor faye He left huntynge and homewarde he dyd go And in to hys chaumber he toke the waye So there the Duches at the fame tyme laye In as greate trouble as her hufbande was And to her lorde faide no chylde I beare maye I am vnhappye, and therewith fkyde alas. He 6 C&e life of He toke her in hys armes and her kyftc And of that Lady he had all his pleafure And fo begate a chyld ; and yt not wyfte The Duke to oure Lorde made hys prayer For to fende hym a chylde for to gladde hys chere The ladye faide the Deuyll now fende vs one For god wyll not oure petycion heare Therefore I trowe power hath he none She fayde yf I he ronceyued this houre nowe I geve yt to the deuyll both foule and bodye Lo thys lady was nere folyfshe I trowe And fullfylled with great obftynacye Her owne foule there (he dyd put in ieopardye For that houre flie dyd conceyve with a man chylde That whan he was borne lyued myfcheuouflye In thefte and murder lyke a tyraunte wylde The tyme drewe fo that nyne monethes was paft Than her tyme drewe on verye nye At the houre of byrth fhe laboured faft More than a moneth the boke doth fpecyfye She had many throwes, with many a pytteous crye Ladyes prayed for her, and gaue almefe dede They trowed verelye that fhe ftioulde dye With that our ladye wolde her helpe and fpede. And tbc DeupH, 7 And afsone as Robert the deuyll was borne The fkyes waxed biacke that it was wonder And fodenlye there began a full greate ftorme Rayne lyghtenynge with horrible thonder They feared that the houfe would ryue a fonder. Then blewe the wynde with greate power That they wende the dome had he comen there For downe wente wynuowes and euery doore. Halfe the houfe the deuyll pulled downe Yet at ths last the wether waxed cleare So for dreade thys lady laye in a fowne That greate wetherynge ihe dyd fore feare ; Her gentlewomen bade her be of good chere They told her that the wather was gone and paft Then to the churche the chylde they dyd beare And chryftened yt Robert at the laft. He was as bygge the fame daye As fome chylde of twelue monethes olde When they came from Churche he cryed all the That yt made many hym to beholde [waye Men fade the chylde loked very bolde Hys teeth grewe fait when that he fhoulde foucke The noryli-e nypplcs fo harJe byte he woulde That yt went then to her verye hearte roote. There * s C6e JLife of There durft no woman geue hym fuck in faye For hys teeth grewe fo peryllouflye That the noryfshe nypples be bote a waye But than they woulde no more byde the ieopardye So with an home he was fedde trewlye At the years ende he could bothe go and fpeake The elder he waxed, the more vnhappye Shrewdnes he woulde do bothe in houfe and ftreate Hurte would he do to woman and man Vngracious was he daye and nyght Yf he amonge any chyldren came He woulde them hurte both fcratche and byte Cafte ftones at theyr heades and fyght Breake their fhynnes and put Come eyes oute Lordes and ladyes of hym had greate delyght And wende yt had ben but wantonnes withoute . [doute. Mennes chyldren there he dyd muche harme Of them he hurte ftirewdelye many a one Breake bothe legge headde and arme Therefore he was beloued of none Hys companye chyldren forfoke everychone They dyd flee fro him as the deuyll fro holy water We wyll not haue hym amonge vs to come They fayd and he never do ; we be gladder. For Ho&erte tfje DeuplU 9 For and the chyldern had feen hym come In to the ftreate there for to playe They woulde take theyr legges, and away runnc To theyr fathers as fafte as they maye Roberte the Deuyll dothe come they would faye For yonge chyldren gave him that name The chyldren hydde them in corners eucry daye And to runne from hym they woulde leaue theyr game. And whan that he was aboute feuen yeare of aegc Hys father fette hym to fcole in dede With a dyfcrete man and a fage And prayed hys fonne that he would fpede For to learne both to wryte and reade And to Roberte the deuyll hys father fayde Sonne, yf thy lyfe in vertue thoue leade Than wyll I with the be right well a payed. Robert the Deuyll wente to fcole a lytell fpace And euer he thought yt to longe ywys He learned fo that he was paft all grace Yt happened at the laft he dyd amyfie Hys matter fayde Syr youe mufte amende thys Or elles forfothe ye fhalbe beate He fayde yf thou fmyte me I wyll make the wyfshe That thou thyne owne flefhe rather had eate. B Naye j.o Cfjc Life of Naye fayde hys mafter ye be to bolde And toke a rodde for to chafte hym {bone- So to beate hym he fayde that he woulde Roberte fawe what he purpofed to done And fayde ye were better Jette me a lone For with a dagger he thruft hym in to the bellyc That the bloude ran downe in to hys (hone So flewe hys mafter, and Jet hym deade lye. Whan Robert the Deuyll fawe hys mafter fall He fayde he woulde go to fcole no more Hys boke he threwe agaynft the wall The deuyll have the whyt that he was forye therfore Alacke he made hys fathers hearte foore When that hys mafter had flavne The Duches curfed the houre that he was bore She fayde of hys companye no man ys fayne. After that there woulde no pryft hym teache He folowed uice, he woule be ruled by none And mocke pryftes whan they fhoulde preache For and he into the church had gone He woulde (korne the clearkes euerychone And when they fonge, come them behynde So threwe duft in theyr mowthes by one and one And fome in theyr eyes to make them blynde. Yf ftofcerte t&e JDiugll* i,r Yf he fawe any men or women deuoutlye knele For to ferue God with theyr prayer, or ftande Pryuelye behynde them woulde he fteale And geue them a fowce with hys hande To caufe fome to yell out theyr tongues longe Or els he woulde make theyr heades go to grounde Theyr neckes he hurte fore he was fo ftronge And many olde folkes he caufed to founde. Yt was vnpoflible for a clarke to write The dedes he dyd that weare full vengeablc Then gentlemen that weare fadde and dyfcretc Complayned to hys father withoute fable The Duke fayde, to chafte hym I am not able Than Robert was brought before hym He fayde : Sonne, thy dedes ben reproueable Thou fhameft me and all thy hole kynne. Thow doeft all thynge that dyfpleafeth god Thy fcolemafter thou fleweft with a knyfe Becaufe that he woulde haue beate the with a rodde To the pryftes in churche thou doeft muche greyfe Full ofte I wyfhe me oute of my lyfe For thou of thy dedes arte fo houge and perylloufe That chyldren younge bothe mayde and wyfe Whyche dothe the knowe geueth the theyr curfe B a All 12 Cijclifcof All one with hym, in at the one care and out at He was neuer the better daye nor nyght [the other Hys olde laye kept, he woulde do none other He was neuer glad but when he dyd fyght To fwere and lye, theryn he had great delyght At laft hys mother to her lorde fpake And fayd yt were beft to make hym a knyght Thys noble ordre let Robert the deuyll take. For I truft then he wyll amende Whan he that greate othe doth heare Yt wyll make hym forye for that he dyd offende And the workes of god hereafter for to leare The Duke confented euen right there And afked Robert yf he would lyue vnder awe Of god, and the order of knight-hode beare He aunfwered I fett not thereby a ftrawe. At the laft Robert was made a knyght Hys father bade him take hede of hys othe To deftroye wronge and to maynteyne right And do trewe juftyce for leefe or for lothe For a knyght that in cheualrye goethe Euer agaynft vice he muft fyght And fupporte trewe maydens, and he fo dothe He ys an inherytoure of heaven, goddes own knyght. Robert iRobettc f&e flDeupIU 13 Robert aunfwered, father at youre commandement I wyll thys greate order vpon me take But for to chaunge all myne entent As for my manners 1 wyll not forfake All men (hall not ones me make For ro leaue my cuftomes olde I will contynewe and neuer wyll flake Thoughe 1 therfore my lyfe lofe (houlde. The Duke caufed a greate iuftynge to be Lordes came fro many a farre lande And Ladyes alfo that runnynge to fee He that {houlde be mofte doughtye of hande There was many a knight full ftronge That thought theyr rlot-hes of full greate pryce- Yet a gayne Roberte there myght none ftande As for worfliip by hym woulde none ryfe* A fyelde was ordeyned bothe brode and wyde With lyftes fayre where they fhould runne Tentes were pyght on euery fyde Greate was the people that thether come The daye was fayre, hole fhone the fonne [crye Greate trumpets blewe, the herauldes made theyr That euery knyght hys deuoure (houlde done For to proue who was mofte myghtye. Knightes 14 Cftc Life of Knyghtes then dreflid them to the fyelde In fyluer armoure fayre and bright Barons doughtye with fpeare and fhylcle With helmes and haubreks that all the fyelde dyd Steedes in trappoure the was a goodlye fyght Speare heades that a ftrong cote woulde faylle Clothe of golde in harnes curyonflye pyght Worne of haburgin many a ftronge mayle. Roberte the deuyll came in as meke as a Lyon In his fyfte he had a greate fpeare Of fure wodde both toughe and longe Hys loke fo grymme many men dyd feare Alfo that houghe ftaffe that he dyd beare Was almoft as bygge as fome twayne. Vnoccupyed faide Robert why ftand we here For to leaue all worke he woulde full fayne. The Duke bade them all to begynne A fayre knyght then feutred hys fpeare In fayth fayde Robert I wyll run to hym And lyghtly turned hys greate ftede theare Eche agayne other fpeares did beare Thofe courfers dyd runne, they fmote in the fyelde Hartye were bothe, nought did they feare That knyght fmote Robert fore in the fhyelde. That JRo&erte tfjelDeupil* 15 That the ftroke made Robert right wrothe To him he thought to ryde agayne He feutred hys fpeare, and forthe he gothe With hys fhyelde Robert mette playne And ftroke fo foore that he fmote it euen in twayne And throughe the knightes fhulder the fpeare dyd I trowe therof Robert was fayne [runne And afked yf any more woulde come. Another knyght thought Robert to aflaylle So yode they together with greate raundone Loth were they bothe for to fayle And haftelye theyr ftedes ftrongelye dyd runne So fvvyfte with ftrenght Robert dyd come That hys fpeare ran thorowe the knyghtes bodye And to the earthe dead fell he downe AH men wondred of Robert trewlye. The thyrde knyght to the grounde he fmote And brake hys horfe backe a fonder There was none that myght ftande a ftroke Of hym that daye, nowe the people dyd wonder To fe that all knyghtes to hym were vnder For fo foore Robert dyd them aflayle (thonder A man had ben as good to haue be fmytten with As to haue a ftroke of hys hand without faylle. Thre- i6 C6e Life of Thre noble Barons he flewe there that daye He fared as he had ben a fyende of hell As was in earnefre ? and not in playe Fro theyr horfes many knyghtes he fell And breke theyr armes as the bokes do tell. For he trewe fo grefelye and foore That they knewe nother wo nor well On ftedes myght they ryde never more. All that he mette, he them, down threwc Yonge nor olde he fpared none For pittye had he no more than a Jue That daye he hurte there many a one And lyke a boore at the mouth he dyd fome He fought and ftroke all while that he was able In peace he woulde not haue them to ftande alone He loued murderers that were euer vengeable. To kyll and flea was all hys delyght Tenne noble ftedes backes he dyd bruft When that he at theyr mafters dyd fmyte Or with hys fpeare at them dyd thruft To fight euer more and more he had luft For all hys pleafure was in deathe fett And euer he cryed who wyll more iufte The deuyll was in hym no man myght hym lette. And N And whan hys father fawe howe in vengeaunce He was fett, and woulde no fad wayes take In hys thought he toke greate greuance And bade that all the knyghtes fhoulde departs Eche theyr waye, and no more juftes to make Than Robert woulde not obey the commaundement Of hys father, but fayd for owe ftioulde awake For then in myfcheif he fett all hys ententte. He woulde not go fro the battaylle But hue and flewe on euery fyde The ftronge knightes there he dyd aflaylle All the people fledde, they durft not abyde The knyghtes all awaye dyde tyde With lordes and Ladyes cuerychone Robert loughe whan he that fpyed Than thought he I will no more go home. Than Robert rode into the countre/ And robbed and kylled many a one Maydens and wyues he rauyfhed pytteouflye He pulled downe abbeys and houfes of ftone For all the Churches that he dyd by come Thorowe that countrey of Normandye By hys wyll there ftioulde frande none For all hyt pleafure was in murder and robberye. C He i8 C&eKUfeof He brente houfes and flewe yonge chyldren Death vpon death was all hys lyfe The countrey complayned to hys father Howe theyr feruantes were flayne with Robertes Some fayde he hathe rauyfhed my wyfe [knyfc And by cure doughters he hathe layne They prayed the Duke to ftynte that ftryfe Or to flee that lande they would full faync. The Duke wepte and fayde alas That euer I hym begate on woman My prayer vnto Jefu euer was For to fende me a chylde for I had none And nowe gode hath fente me one That maketh me full heauy and fad The Duches wayled and made great mone That from her mynde fhe was nye madde. The Duke made hys feruantes to ryde To feke Robert in Cyttie and in towne Good watche was layde on euery fydc On holte and heath in fyelde and towne And in euery place that they dyd come The countrey Robert dyd curfe and blame And prayed, that he myght haue an yll death foone For he the ordre of knyghthode dothe ihame. With iRoberte tfce DeuglL 19 With Robert at the laft thefe men mette They fayde that he fhoulde with them them goo All aboute Robert fhortlye they fette One afked hym what he woulde doo Wylt thou go with vs, he fayde noo And drewe hys fvvorde and with them dyd fyght Full greate woundes he gaue one or twoo And all the refydue he put to flyght. And all that he toke he put theyr eyes oute So bade them go feeke theyr way home And ferued them all fo withoute doute Thefe poore men they made greate mone So Robert departed and lefte them alone And fayde tell my father that yt ys for hys fake Then thefe men in tyme to the courte came home And fhewed what maftryes Robert dyd make. Thys good Duke in hearte was right wo When he fawe hys mennes eyes oute Fore angre he wyft not what to do But commaunded all the courte aboute Counftables and bayllifes with all theyr route All men to take hym who fo maye And in pryfon to put hym without doute He charged all men good watche to laye. C 2 So 20 cje Life of So when Robert knewe of thys warke He gathered a great companye theues yll He gate hym into a forreft full darke Where yt was farre from boroughe or hyll There he lyued and all dyd he kyll That he myght fe in the heath fo playne Corne and fruites all dyd he fpyll In doynge myfcheif allwaye was he fayne. Yt was hys pleafure to eate fleflie on the frydaye A dogge dyd fafte as well as he Poore pylgrymes he kylled goynge by the ware And holy hermytes that lyued deuoutlye So on a daye he rofe vppe earlye And in the forreft feuen hermytes he founde Before a crofle knelynge on theyr knee Of theyr prayers to heauen wente the fownde. What holy whorefones he fayde be youc That gapeth vpwardes after the moone If ye be a thruft ye (hall drynke nowe And oute he drewe hys fwearde full foone The hermytes wyft no what to done But fuffered death for Jefus fake [runne So throughe one of theyr bodyes hys fworde dyd For feare all the other Jyd tremble and quake. Than iRofcerte tfje DeupH. ** Than he ftrake of theyr heades all And reioyfed at that perylloufe dede In fcorne he fayde, fyrs do youe fall Patter and praye ye in youre crede Full fafte thefe holy men dyd blede That Robertes clothes were readde as vermulon- With hys fworde he thought further to fpede In vengeaunce he rought not where he become. Lo thys caytifFe was blynde and myght not fee The cloudes had in clipped the Sunne of grace Lyke to an apple that the core doft putryfie The darke myftes of uice fmote hym in the face He was none of the fhepe of Ifrael but the kyd of He exyled pittye as dyd cruel Kynge Pharao [golyas Heaped full of fynne, as euer he was That flewe hys own mother, men called hym Nero- Then he lefte thefe feuen hermytes deadde And rode oute of the wodde lyke a wylde dragon So lyke a bore he threwe vp hys headde The bloude of the hermytes couered all hys gowne A (hepherde he fawe and rode to hym foone But whan the herdes man dyd hym efpye Yt was no hede to bydde hym begone He ranne hys waye then for feare dyd he crye. At 2s Cbe life of At the lafte he the {hepherde ouertoke in faye And afked what tydynges that he woulde tell The (hepherd agayne to hym dyd faye [hell I was of youe afrayde I wende ye had come oute of And as for tydynges, here ys darkenes caftell There lyeth the Duches of Normandye With many a lorde of her counfell Of all thys greate lande the royalltye. So Robert came to the townc there the caftell The people fa we one ryde as he had ben madde [ftode With a fworde in hande, and all arayed in bloude To runne in to houfe euery man was gladde At the laft Robert began to waxe fadde And fayde alas that euer he was borne In murder and myfchief my lyfe haue I ladde Hys heere of hys heade he thought to haue tornCi Than he was a bafhed foore in hys mode Whan that the people woulde hym not abyde What yt mente than he vnderftode Eucry body them felfe from hym dyd hyde Than to the Caftle gate Robert dyd ryde Ayd fayne with fome body he woulde fpeake But whan any man hym efpyede They ranne awaye as they dyd in the ftreate. Than Eofcextc tfce DeuslL 23; Than with a heauy hearte downe dyd he lyghfe And went ftreyght into the Caftell hall But when the people of hym had a fight None durft hym byde there at all Many for helpe dyd crye and calle Hys mother fawe hym as fhe fate at meate For feare fhe beganne to fall And hafted her awaye for to gette. And when he fawe hys mother goynge He fayde alas Lady mother fpeake with me Hys hearte for forowe braft in weepynge Whan he fawe her from hym fo flee And fayde to hys mother full pitteouflye Lady tell me howe that I was borne That 1 haue ledde my lyfe fo mifcheuouflye In the tempefts of uice with many a greate ftorme* Hys mother all unto hym tolde Howe fhe gave hym to the fende both foule and bodye And he afked her howe fhe durfte be fo bolde To gyue hym from god allmightye I knowe he fayd that I haue lyued fynfullye As euer dyd the emperoure greate Nero Amende I wyll and for mercye crye My dedes will J bewayile wherfoeuer I go.. Hys 24 CbeiUfeof Hys mother prayed hym to fmyte j>f her headde For the trefpace (he fayde, that I dyd to thee I am worthye therefore for to be deaddc To god I offended alfo in obftynacye Slea me (he fayde, and I forgiue yt thee, He fayde. Mother I wyll not do fo I had leuer be beaten full bytterlye And on my feate to the worldes ende to go. Than for woo Robert fell to the grounde And a greate whyle there he fo laye There fodenlye he rofe in that ftounde And faide Mother nowe I go my wayc To Rome wyll I hye as faft as I maye And prayed her to commende hym to hys father dere So he defyred them all for hym to praye And went forth with a full pytteous chere. So fhortly Robert tofce hys horfe and rode Streyght vnto the forreft to hys companye Than the Duches that in the Caftle abode Shryked full fore with a full pytteous crye And faide alas lorde to fynfull am I All women beware, curfe neuer your chylde And yf that ye do, then be youe in jeopardyc Alfo in myfcheyff they (halbe defyelde. Wyth 2$ Wyth that the Duke came into the chaumber And afked her why (he dyd wepe and wayle She fayde Robert youre fonne hath ben here [fayle And (hewed how that he wolde to Rome without Ah, fayde the Duke, I feare yt wyll lyttell auayle He is not able to make reftytucyon Alacke fayd the Duke yet am I gladde fauns fayle Tbat he ys wyllynge to make hys confeifion. Nowe ys Robert come to the forreft agayne And founde hys men all at dyner fyttynge To conuerte them to goodnes he would full fayne And fayde my felowes, with pytteous lamentyngc Let vs remember cure fynfull lyuynge And aflce god mercy with greate repentaunce Yf we leade thys lyfe ftyll, yt will vs brynge To hell withouie cnde, with horrible vengeauncCc , Let vs remeniber he (aide our fynfull lyfc We haue murdered people full cruellye Rauyfhed maydens and many a wyfe Slayne pryftes and hermytes full pytteouflye And abbeys haue ben dyftroyed through our robbery With Nunnes, Ankers, take yt in remerobraunce Howe we put them in ieopardie Wherfore I dreade hell, with horrible vengeaunce. D Houfes jt C6e life of Houfes we haue brentte many a one And fpylte of chyldren much precyous blouse Compaflion there, nor pyttye had we none ]n myfcheyff we delyted, and neuer in good And nowe let vs remember hym that dyed on the rode That from vs yet hath kept hys fworde by fufleraunce For and we nowe in deathes daunce ftode To hell flioulde we go, with horrible vengeaunce. One fayde Robert, what be youe there And ftode up and began hym to fkorne Will youe fee fellowes : the fox wylbe an anker What matter, ye be as wyfe as a ftiepe newe (home I trowe youre buttocke be prycked with a thornc For your wytt ys oute of temperaunce I woulde not haue thys tearme aboute borne That we flioulde to hell go with horrible venge- [aunce. Another thefe (aide matter Roberte, harke To preache to vs yt ys all in vayne And what I faye, I prayc you yt marke Thys lyfe wyll we leade in wordes playne Euer yet in thefe workes we haue be fayne For our fyrme we entende not to do pennaunce We wyll not forfake thoughe ye ftryue vs agayne To hell woulde we rather go with horrible vengeaunce. Than - Than Roberta fawe that they woulde not amende. But in myfcheyf there to lyue ftyll And to the poore men they wyll ofte offende Thus then he confpyred in hys wyll One after another for to kyll To make (hort he kylled them euerychone He fayde ye haue be readye euer to do euyll Therfore alyue wyll I not leaue one. He toldc them a good feruaunte muft haue good No we do I paye youe after your deferuynge [wages There dead in the floore all theyr bodyes fprayles Robert fhutt the doore and they laye within And fayde of myfcheyf this ys the endynge So he thought to fett the houfe on fyre But he dyd not, he yede a waye fighynge And fayd alas I haue payde my men theyr hyre. Than Robert toke hys horfe and blefTed hym So throughe the forreft he toke the waye Ouer hylles and downes faft rydynge Thus rode he ftyll all a longe daye And ofte for fynne he cryed well awaye Than of an abbaye he had a fight Whiche ofte he had robbed in good faye Alas faide Robert there will I lodge to nyght, D * For 28 C6e life of Tor faulte of meate then he hongred fore And fayde to eate fayne I wolde haue fome Alacke riowe that euer I was bore And when the monkes dyd fe hym come Eehe man hys waye faft dyd ronne And faide here cometh the furyous ferpent Roberte, which ys I trowe a deuylls fonne That in murmer and myfcheif hath a greate talent. Than forthe he rode to the churche dore And difcended from his horfe right there So he kneled downe in the floore And to cure lorde god he made hys prayer Sayinge, fwete Jefu that bought me dere Haue mercy on me for that precyous bloude. That ran from your hearte with longis fpeare Which ftonge youe in the fide hangynge onthcroode* Then vp he rofe and went to the Abbot And fayde to hym with pitteoufe lamentynge I haue bene fo fymple father^ that ye well wot That nowe Ifeare the fworde that ys lyghtly comynge Of our lordes vcngeauhce for my falfe lyuynge And of all that I haue offended vnto youe Forgeue me for hys loue that was hangynge [bowe. Seuen hourcs on the crofTe and there hys head dyd And Bo&erte t&e SDeugil, *? And when they hearde hym pitteouflye cwnplaync And in hys harde hearte toke repentaunce The monckes all thereof were fayne So there he tolde them all in fubftaunce Howe he was in wyllynge to fuffer pennaunce And to Rome to take hys Journeye So there he called to hys remembraunce Of hys lodge and therof toke the abbot the keyei Thys kcye to the Abbot there he toke And tolde hym that he fhoulde haue all the treafure In the theues lodge yf that he woulde loke That he had robbed fynce the fyrft houre And faide my meynye lyen dead in the floore The Abbot he prayed to geue hys father the keye For I wyll not flepe one night where I do another Tyll I in Rome with the pope fpeke maye. And praye my father to make reftytucyeii For me to all them that I dyd offende I crye hym mercy alfo I am hys fonne Hym for to myfchcif alfo I dyd entencfe But what thoughe, nowe I truft to amende There Robert toke hys leaue of all the hole couent ftys horfe and hys fworde he to hys father fende And fo departed and on hys fee te for the wentte. Than 50 C6e life of Than rode the Abbot to the Duke of Normatidye And fhewed of Robert all that was befall There he delyuered vp the keye And of hys entente he fheowid the Duke all Then he hys men before hym dyd call And fayde I wyll ryde and reftore the goodes agayne And euery man hys owne haue (hall Then were the Dukes feruauntes all fayne. Nowe Robert walked ouer dale and hyll By holte and heath, many a wery waye He laboured night and daye euer ftyll At the laft he came to Rome on Sherethurfdaye All nyght poorely in the ftreate he layc And on the good frydaye to churche he went tywis Towardes the quyere and nothynge dyd faye For that daye the Pope fayed all the feruyce: The Popes feruauntes bade hym go backc They fmote Robert and thruft hym afyde Tho to hym felf he fayde, oute alacke Yet he thought boldlyer for to abyde Where people were thynneft there he efpyed So preft amonge them tyll he came to the pope And fell downe to hys fete and loude there he cryed As cayne the teares fell fro hys eyes god wottc* The iRoberte t&e SDeupll* 31 The popes feruauntes would haue pulled hym afyde Oure holy father, yet aunfwered naye Medle not with hym, lett hym abdyde That I maye here what he dothe faye ; Robert aunfwered I am here thys daye The fynfulleft lyuer that euer was founde Synce Adam was made in Canaan of claye I am the greateft fynner that lyued on grounde. The pope fayde what art thou good frende And whye inakeft thoue thys lamentacon Oh good father faide Robert to god I haue offended I defyre youe to heare my confeffion Of my greate fynnes the abhomynacon On them to mufe yt ys vnnumerable] Vice and I refted all waye in one habytacion "With murder and euery vnthryftye culpable. ' Art thou Robert the deuyll fayde the pope than That ys the worft creatu re of all the worlde yll Yee yee fyr fayde Robert I am the fame man Greate myfcheyf haue I do, and muche yll As to robbe and flea, both burne and kyll The popa fayd, here in goddes name I thee warne By uertue of hys paffion ftande here ftyll Do to me nor my men no manor of harme, Naye 32 Cfccfcifeof Naye naye fayde Robert, neuer chryften man Wyll I hurte by night nor daye The pope toke hym by the hande than And bade hym hys confeilion to hym fayc Thereto Robert woulde not faye naye But all hys fynnes con faffed and tolde The pope whan he hym hearde dyd quake for frayc For to heare hys iynnes hys hearte waxed nye colde. And tolde ho we hys mother gaue hym to the feende In the houre of hys fyrft contemplacyon [of hell The pope fayd Robert I thee tell Thou muft go to an hermytc three miles withoute the Robert fayde with good will thys fhalbc done [townc Then wente he to the popes gooftlye father The pope commaunded hym Co to done That the hermyte might hys confeflion hearc. In the mornynge Robert walked ouer hyU and dale He was full werye of bis labourynge At the lafte he came in to a greate vale And foundc fame hermyte ftandinge He fpake with the hermyte, and (hewed of hys lyuynge And tolde that he was fente fro the pope of Rome But when that holy man hearde hys confeflion He fayed brother ye be right wellcomc. And IRofcettc t&e 2>eupU, 33 And for youre fynnes euer youe mufte be foryc For as yet I will not aflbylle youe In a lyttell chappell all nyght (hall youe lye Do ye as I do youe councell nowe Afke god mercye, and let youre hearte bowe For all thys nyght I wyll wake and praye Vnto oure lorde, that I maye knowe Yf in-faluacion ye do ftande in the waye. So they departed, the hermyte fell on flepe An aungell fodenlyc to hym dyd appeare And faide to Goddes cornmaundement take good kepe And of Robertes pennaunce thou fhalt heare, He mufte counterfeyt a fole in all manere The meate that he (hall eate, he mufte pull yt from And neuer to fpeake, but as he dombe weare [a dogge Thys pennaunce done, he fhalbe forgeuen of god. The hermyte with that fliortlye dyd awake And called Robert, and fpaeke to hym [take And faide heare nowe the pennaunce that ye (hall God commaundeth the to counterfet a foole in all thinge Meate none to eate, withoute a dogge do yt brynge To the in hys mouth, then mufte thou yt eate No worde to fpeake, but as bdombe euer beynge With dogges euery nyght alfo thou muft fleepe. E The 34 Cfcc life of The hermyte faid, tyll thy fynnes be forgeu* Thou muft do as I haue here fayde With thys fharpe pennaunce thou muft lyue- Tyll god of hys debtes by the be payde Forget not thys, in thy hearte let it be layde At the laft god wyll fende the worde agayne Robert wepte as thoughe he fhoulde haue dyed And fayde thys pennaunce will I do full fayne. The hermyte bade hym remember althynge And whan thy fynnes be cleane forgeuen the J3y an Aungell god wyll fende the warnynge Nowe maye thou no longer byde with me Robert blefled the hermyte then trewlyc So eche toke theyr leaue of other Nowe god for euer be wyth the He fayd to Robert, nowe farewell brother. There poore Robert departed fro the hermytfc And blefled hym and agayne went to Rome For to do hys pennaunce in the ftrete And whan that he thether was come Lyke as he had ben a foole he dyd ronne And lepte and daunced from one fyde to another Many folke laughed at hym foone And wende he bad ben a foole, they knew none other. Boyt& Robcrte t&e DeuglU 35 Boyes folowed hym throughe the ftrete Caftynge ftyckes and ftoncs at hym And fome with roddes hys bodye dyd beate The chyldren made greate (houtes and cryenge B urges of the cyttie at Robert laye laughynge Oute of theyr wyndowes to fe hym playe The boyes threwe dyrte and myre at hym Tims contynewed Robert manye a daye. Thus he played the foole on a feafon He came on a tyme to the Emperours Courte And fawe that the gate ftode all open Robert ranne into the hall and beganne to worke So daunced and lept and aboute fo ftarte At the lafte the Emperoure had pyttie on hym Howe he taere hys clothes and gnew hys (hyrte And bade a feruaunte meate hym for to brynge.' Thys feruaunte brought Robert plentye of meatfi So proferde hyt hym and faide go dyne Robert (ate ftyll he woulde not eate Yet god wotte hys belly greate pyne At laft themperoure fayde yonder ys afeounde of myne And bade hys feruaunte throwe hym a bone So he dyd, and whan Robert yt had fpyne Alack thought Robert, he (hall not cate yt alpne. 2 He 3$ Cfce JLife of He lept from the table and with the dogge fought And all for to haue the bone awaye The hounde at the laft by the fyngers hym caught So ftyll in hys mowthe he kepte hys ,praye, Whan Robert fawe that, downe he laye The dogge gnewe the one ende and Robert the other The Emperoure laughed whan he that fawe And fayde the dogge and he fought harde together,. The Emperoure fawe that he was hongrye And bade to throwe the dogge a hole Icffe Whan Robert fawe that he was glad greatelye. For to lofe hys parte he was right lothe, And agayne to the dogge he goeth So brake the loffc a fonder and to the houndev He gaue the one halfe to faye the fothe And eate the other as the dogge dyd on the grounded The Emperoure faide, fyth that I was borna Sawe I neuer a more foole natural! Nor fuche an ydeot (awe I neuer beforno That had leuer eate that that to the dogge dyd fall Rather then that that was proffered hym in the hall Than Robert toke hys ftaffe and fmote at forme and (tile What forowe was in hys hearte they knewe not all . There men were gladde to fee hym playe the foole. At fio&me tBe aTeupll, 37 At the laft Robert went into a garden And there he founde a fayre fountayne He was a thurft and whan he had dronken He wente in to nys dogge agayne To folowe hym euer he was fayne Thus vnder a ftayre at nyght laye the hounde And euer hys pennaunce Robert dyd not dyfdayne Allwaye hys bed was with the dogge on the grounded Whan the Emperoure efpyed hym lye there Fett hym a bed to a man dyd he faye And lett yt be layed for hym under the ftayre So they dyd and Robert poynted as naye And woulde have them to beare the bed awaye Then they fett hym an arme full of ftrawe And therupon by hys dogge he laye All men marueyled that yt fawe. Muche myrth and fporte he madb euer amonge A'hd as the Emperoure was at dyner on a dayc A Jue fate at the borde, that greate rowme longe In that houfe beare, and was receyued all waye Than Roberte hys dogge toke in hys armes in faye And touched the Jue and he ouer hys (holder loked backe Robert fet the^ogges ars to hys mowth without naye Full -foorc the Emperoure loughc whan he fawe that. Robert $8 Cbe life of Robert fawe a bryde t^t fhoulde be maryerf And foone he toke her by the hande So into a foule donge myxen he her caryed And in the myre he let her ftande The Emperoure ftode and behelde hym longe At the laft Robert toke a quycke Catte And ranne into the kechyn amonge. the throngc And thrcwe her quycke into the beefc pottc. Lordes and barons loughe that they couldc not To fee hym make myrth withoute harme [ftandc They faide he was the mcryeft in all that lande With that a meflenger the Emperoure dydwarne That aboute rome was many a Sarafyne And faide the Senefchall hathe gathered a great armye Becaufe ye wyll not let your daughter haue hym He purpofeth all Rome for to dyftroye. Thys Emperoure had a doughter that coulde not The whiche the Senefchall loued as hys lyfe [fpeake And ofte with the Emperoure he dyd treate For to haue her vnto hys wyfe And for that caufe the Senefchall made thys ftryfe Becaufe the Emperoure in nowife woulde Geue hym hys doughter, he fwere ofte fythc Maugre hys head wynne her he fhoulde. The t&e DcuglL 39 The Emperoure heardVhych Robert at the Ufte hynge by the headde. Witk Kobette fte JDeugU* 47 With hys mother he mette in the cyttyeof Rome The Duches was then glad and blythe That Robert her fonne fo vertuous was come horn? Whiche in hys youthe lyued fo myfcheuous a lyfe Than all men loued hym, both mayde and wyfc Tyll it befell vpon a certayne daye A meflenger came from the Emperoure full fwythe And prayed hym to come to Rome in all the haft he mayc He tolde that the Senefchall had greate warrc With hys lorde the Emperoure in dede Robert fent after men nye and farre In all the hafte thether he gan fpede But ere he came was done a myfcheuous dede The Senefchall the Emperoure had flayne For forowe Robertes hearte dyd blede In fyelde he woulde haue fought full fayne. The Senefchall hearde that Robert was come And purpofed for to mete hym in the fyelde He reared up many a black Sarafon With wepon ftronge bothe fpeare and fliyeWe So ether partyes other behelde And fought together a greate batteyll There Robert with hys handes the Senefchall kyldc So to hys countrey returned without fayle. An* 48 C&e fcife of And whan he came agayne to Normandye He dreade euer god and kepte hys lawe So lyued he full deuoutelye For all thynge woulde he do- vnder awe And punyfhe Rebelles both hange and drawe Than was he called the feruaunte of god No thefe woulde he faue that he myght knowe For dreade of goddes righteoufnes the (harpe rodde. One chylde by the Emperours doughter he had That was a knyght with' Kinge charles of Frauncc In manfull dedes he hys lyfe ladde Doughty he was bothe with fpeare and launce Lo, thy Robert ended hys lyfe in pennaunce And whan he dyed hys foule went to heauen hye Nowe all men beare thefe in remembraunce He that lyueth well here, no euyll death fliall dye* Yonge and olde that delyteth to reade in ftoryc Yt fliall youe ftyrre to uertuous lyuynge And caufe fome to haue theyr memory e Of the paynes of hell, that ys euer duryngc By readynge bookes men knowe all thynge That euer was done, and hereafter (hallbe idlenes to myfcheif many a one doth brynge And fpecyally as we daylye may fee. Take iRobet t tfcc >eugiu 49 Take youe enfample of thys ftory olde Howe that he in youth dyd greate vengeaunce In doynge myfcheife he was euer bolde Tyll god fent to hym good remembraunce And after that he toke fuche repentaunce That he was called the feruaunte of god by name And fo contynewed without varyaunce God geue vs grace that we may do the fame. Here endeth the lyfe of Robert the Deuyll. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. DEC? i'V.: ;; MAR 1819641 URL DEC 11 1979 INTERLIBRARV LOANS "* ""S^fg* ' 5 4>WJ AJ ' ^ DUE TWO WEEKS #y&&ijpr V 5>f> -, ^.^ ^S*-: r X *V3S? >, V*a^ > - ! V .': X, r .' m