THE BABEES’ BOOK

MS. Harleian 5086, fols. 86-90, about 1475, ends, “Learn or be lewd.” First printed by Dr. Furnivall. Nothing is known of the author. Written in rhyme royal, five-stress lines in seven-line stanzas, arranged ababbcc. The treatise is noteworthy chiefly in that it seems to be addressed to young princes, and the MS. dates from the time when Edward V. and Richard of York were boys. As it is more tedious than quaint in the original, it has been rendered into prose.

p. 1. Facet. For author and title, see Introduction, p. xii. It was printed very frequently in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, both separately and in connection with seven similar works, two of them also attributed to John Garland, under the title: Auctores Octo Opusculorum cum commentariis, &c.; Videlicet Cathonis, Theodoli, Faceti, Cartule alias de Contemptu Mundi, Thobiadis, Parabolarum Alani, Fabularum Esopi, Floreti. The English author seems to have borrowed little besides the name and the introduction,

p. 2. Babies. Children much older than those we associate with the word. Apparently it was used like the Spanish menino (French menin, introduced from Spain, 1680) to mean, “young man of good family.”

p. 2. Ease in learning, i.e., because it was in verse.

p. 2. Lady Facetia. Apparently the author’s feminine of Facetus (perhaps through confusion with facetiÆ, jokes), because courtesy was usually personified as a woman. In the Tesoretto, the chief virtue is Larghezza (liberality), upon whom Courtesy attends, together with Good-Faith and Valour, over against the masculine qualities, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice.

p. 3. Bele. Fr. belle, beautiful. Not common in English (see N.E.D.) until the seventeenth century.

p. 6. Trencher. Originally, a slice of wholemeal bread, four days old, upon which food was served. Later, it was made of wood.

p. 8. Where they ought to be. In a knife-rack or case? See Wright, Domestic Manners and Customs, p. 464.

THE A B C OF ARISTOTLE

MS. Lambeth 853, fol. 30, about 1430, written without breaks; Harl. 5086, fol. 70b, and Harl. 1304, fol. 103, about 1450 (printed in Queene Eliz. Achad.). It is needless to say that nothing of the sort is found in Aristotle; the author is unknown. The introduction is in connected alliterative verse (lacking in Harl. 5086, and expanded into a generalised religious discourse in Harl. 1304).

p. 10. Elenge. See N.E.D. on this rare word. Its two originally distinct meanings (1) long, hence, tedious, and (2) lonely, remote, combine to form a third meaning, melancholy.

MS. Cotton Caligula, A ii, fol. 88, 1446-60. Author unknown. Apparently first printed by Dr. Furnivall. The Duke of Norfolk, grandfather of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, was among the young henchmen at the court of Edward IV., brought up on “the booke of urbanitie.”

p. 13. Good manners, &c. William of Wykeham was more curt in his motto for Winchester College: “Manners makyth man.”

p. 14. Close your hand, &c., i.e., one hand over the over, to keep a secret.

p. 14. Had I wist. Proverbial. See notes on The Good Wife, p. 186, below.

p. 15. Let your right shoulder, &c., i.e., keep a step behind him to the left.

THE LITTLE CHILDREN’S LITTLE BOOK

MSS. Harl. 541, fol. 210, and Egerton 1995, about 1480. Sub-title Edyllys be. Edyllys may be the O. E. Æthele, German edel, meaning noble; but the sentence is then incomplete. Ends “Quod Whytyng.” Whether he was author or scribe I do not know, more probably the latter. I have kept the rhyme in this version, because it is at once shorter and more interesting than the other.

p. 16. Seven Arts. The quadrivium: arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy; and the trivium: grammar, rhetoric, logic.

p. 16. When Gabriel ... meet. It is interesting to note that a medieval writer connected courtesy with the worship of Mary, even although he includes no precepts which touch upon what we call chivalry to-day.

p. 16. Villainy. The French equivalent of churlishness; what Russell calls “simple conditions.”

p. 17. Beginning ... think. This kind of rhyme, not uncommon in the fifteenth century, seems to indicate a pronunciation as in the cockney nothink.

p. 17. Mess. Here food, but sometimes table (Latin mensa), and again group of people at a table, as used still in the expression “officers’ mess.”

p. 17. Fault. Text: that thy salt holds—which the rhyme shows to be corrupt.

p. 18. Work. Text: keep—changed for the rhyme.

p. 18. Fingers, i.e., not with thy knife? Or has a negative been omitted?

p. 19. No drop be seen. So Chaucer’s Prioress. See Introduction, p. xvi.

p. 19. Behind no man’s back. There was perhaps originally an idea of greed, or, it may be, of possible tampering with the drink, behind the prohibition.

p. 20. Jill. From Gillian, once a common name for women.

p. 20. The same. Text: in same (German zusammen) together.

p. 21. Cumbered with no fiends. This fear was very real in the Middle Ages, and was fostered by such stories as Robert the Devil, Sir Gowther, and ballads of supernatural beings.

MS. Ashmole 61 (Bodleian Library), fol. 20, about 1500.

p. 21. Seven Sciences, i.e., knowledges, hence Arts. The introduction is nearly identical, but very few of the maxims agree.

p. 22. What you get with your hands. One of the many allusions which suggest adaptation to the middle class. Others are to buying and selling, to getting your money honestly, &c. The stress upon morals rather than manners is perhaps due to the same cause.

p. 25. At the school. The inference seems to be that they would learn manners there.

p. 25. Quoth Kate. The same name occurs at the end of the three next poems as they appear in MS. Ashmole 61. It is probably a corruption, unless we have here one of the rare instances of a woman copyist. Cato suggests itself as the most likely original; and in this way. He was undoubtedly identified with the Wise Man, as appears from the Luytel Caton of the Vernon MS. (see p. 189, below). Accordingly, Quod Cato might have stood at the end of this poem, and have become confused with Kate from Katharine or Catherine.

STANS PUER AD MENSAM

This must have been a popular form of the maxims, as many MSS. still exist. The translation is made from MS. Lambeth 853, fol. 150, about 1430, with occasional references to Harl. 2251, fol. 153 (148), about 1460(?). A much longer and more tedious (250 lines, instead of 99) version was printed by Dr. Furnivall in Queene Eliz. Achad., from MS. Ashmole 61. This last quotes Grostum Caput, i.e., Grossetete, and refers several times to “Dr. Palere,” of whom nothing seems to be known. The Ashmole version, however, contains several interesting points not mentioned in the other two:—

Various other MSS. are (1) Jesus College, Cambridge (Q.T. 8, printed by Wright & Halliwell, in ReliquiÆ AntiquÆ, I., 156-58), (2) Cotton Caligula A ii, Harl. 4011, Lansdowne 699, Additional 5467, &c. It was printed once by Caxton, and several times by Wynkyn de Worde.

The only reason for considering John Lydgate as the author lies in the attribution to him in the last stanza (see next page).

p. 27. Indict. Text: edwite, modern, twit.

p. 30. Ah, little ballad, &c. The Harl. text reads:

HOW THE GOOD WIFE TAUGHT HER DAUGHTER

MS. Lambeth 853, p. 102, about 1430, written without breaks. Other MSS. are Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 3, 19, and Ashmole 61, p. 7 (printed in Queene Elizabethes Achademy), a later and inferior text, which contains, however, a fresh and interesting stanza:

MS. Porkington 10, p. 135 back, about 1460-70 contained a variant form The Good Wife Would a Pilgrimage, i.e., before she sets out for the Holy Land, she leaves instructions for her daughter. This version (printed in Queene Eliz. Achad.) is interesting for its proverbs:

A third version was printed in 1597 under the title, The Northern Mother’s Blessing. Written nine years before the death of G. Chaucer. Together with it a short poem: The Way to Thrift. This contains several different and interesting stanzas.

It begins:

Another is:

The order of the stanzas is different from that here printed.

The rhyme-scheme is normally aabbccd; but the first, second, seventeenth, and last stanzas are irregular—abcddc, ababcdcdeef, aabbccdde, and aaaa, thus varying in both number and arrangement of lines. The first four verses contain roughly the same number of accents, the fifth and sixth vary greatly in length, while the seventh is a constant refrain to all stanzas except the first and last.

The poem is distinctly popular in tone; and I have seldom attempted to improve its rough metre, holding that the effect is racier as it is.

p. 31. Kirk. Text has church, but the rhyme is work.

p. 32. Thrive ... life. The corresponding couplets are usually proverbial in character.

p. 33. Whatsoever he be. Apparently on the basis that “e’er a man is better than ne’er a man.”

p. 33. Atterling. Literally, one who deals in poisons (O. E. ator); hence, a witch; hence, a shrew.

p. 34. Maze. Without the help of the N.E.D., the word is puzzling; but the context seems to demand maze, connected with amaze, rather than maze = labyrinth.

p. 35. Shooting at the cock. The popular old English pastime of throwing missiles to bring down a cock tied by the leg.

p. 37. Deed ... speed. The meaning is that a deed finished quickly helps on another by giving place to it.

p. 38. Term-day. Servants were hired by the year at special times which varied according to the district, being usually coincident with the big fairs of that part. Michaelmas was a usual time.

p. 40. As a wren hath veins. The wren is so small that but little blood can be let from her veins. Put more strongly: “You cannot squeeze blood out of a stone.”

HOW THE WISE MAN TAUGHT HIS SON

Found in various MSS. The version in The Babees’ Book is printed from Lambeth 853, fol. 186. Another is given in Queene Eliz. Achad. from Ashmole 61, fol. 6. Ritson, in his Ancient Popular Poetry, printed Harl. 4596, and Hazlitt, in his Early Popular Poetry, MS. Camb. Ff. ll. Luytel Caton

(Part II., Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., published by Dr. Furnivall, 1902) says:—

It is doubtful whether this poem was written in imitation of the preceding, or that of this, but the Wise Man, through its connection with Cato, has the longer pedigree. A poem in the Exeter Book begins: “Thus a wise father (frodfÆder) instructed his dear son, a parent wise in mind, old in virtues, sagacious in words,” &c. Although I have not been able to compare the different versions in detail, I incline to believe that there are recognisable links between them all. The Good Wife is, however, much the more vivid and amusing of the two.

The metre is ababbcbc, but the poem loses little by being turned into prose.

p. 47. All that there is. This passage suggests one in the Blickling Homilies (No. VIII. Soul’s Need, ed. Morris), which goes back to St. Augustine.

JOHN RUSSELL’S BOOK OF NURTURE

First printed by Dr. Furnivall from MS. Harl. 4011, fols. 171-89, dated about 1460. Other copies are in Sloane 1315, fols. 49-67 and 2027, fols. 1-15b, supposed to be slightly earlier in date; also, Royal 17 D xv., article 5.

Nothing is known of the author beyond what he himself says, that he was usher and marshal to Duke Humphrey of Gloucester (regent during the minority of Henry VI.). He was seemingly an old man and a widower before the death of Duke Humphrey, who was murdered in 1447. This seems to be suggested by the fact that he asks the reader’s prayers for Duke Humphrey (as the King is prayed for to-day) and then for the souls of his wife and his parents. If then he was forced to retire from court by old age (as he says in another place, see p. 77, above) some time before 1447, he might have been born even before 1360, and studied his courtesy under Edward III., or at the very latest under Richard ll.

The device of wandering in the country and there meeting with some one who furnishes the subject of the poem was extensively used by Chaucer and his school, derived by them in turn from French poets of the thirteenth century.

The long lines and pompous metre which he uses I have employed occasionally, where the subject permitted that form, to show the effect. The whole production done that way would become insufferably tedious.

p. 49. “Is thy governance good?” Practically, “Do you behave well?”

p. 50. Smooth and square the trenchers with. At this time, still made of stale wholemeal bread; later, of wood.

p. 51. Linen clouts. To stop up holes?

p. 52. Couleur de rose. A red wine, classified under malmsey (and therefore Greek?), mentioned in the Interlude of the Four Elements.

p. 52. New ale is wasteful, i.e., people can drink so much of it because it is not intoxicating.

p. 52. Stale drink. Perhaps an allusion to the lead poisoning which is known to result from drinking ale that has stood in a pewter pot for some time.

p. 52. Cowche. Any sort of cover. Used perhaps as nowadays to lessen the noise and save the board.

p. 53. Lay a second cloth. I understand this to mean that one linen cloth was not wide enough to cover the table and to hang down sufficiently; hence, that two were used, overlapping in the middle, and hanging down on each side. By following the directions, literally, it is possible to see what is meant. The outer edge, I take to be that nearest the centre of the room, the inner, next to the wall.

p. 53. State. A fold or some other ornamental arrangement of the table-cloth. The usher or sewer seems to have twisted or curled it with his rod.

p. 53. Put a towel round your neck. The achievement described in the following lines is quite possible, if the loaves are small, and makes quite a “mannerly” appearance.

p. 54. Rennes cloth. Made at Rennes in Brittany, and frequently mentioned in the romances.

p. 54. Fold it lengthwise, &c. This performance was possibly to give an appearance of cleanliness. The best way to understand the process is to take a towel and try; it is not so complicated as it sounds.

p. 55. Surnape. This again becomes simple by experiment. The pleat or doubling about a foot from the end of the table, is probably to avoid letting the long cloth fall to the door. When the triple thickness of cloth has been pushed and pulled across the table by the butler and marshal, the pleat is smoothed out and the cloth hangs from eighteen to thirty inches over each end.

p. 55. Sewer. Fr. esculier, Lat. scutellarius, whence also is derived scullery. The sewer’s office was practically to bring and arrange the dishes.

p. 57. Winking and watering. More or less difficult in the days of primitive chimneys, or no chimneys at all.

p. 60. Upper crust. In the old ovens, which were heated by faggots withdrawn before the bread was put in, this was even more distinctly the best part.

p. 60. Carving of flesh, &c. This more properly belongs in a book given over to recipes and the like, as the description of the dishes is more interesting than the special knack of serving each one.

p. 62. Need not fear, &c. Almost the only suggestion of any indignity in the service.

p. 63. He ... and look you. The change of person is Russell’s.

p. 63. As brown as a water-leech. Is the allusion possibly to shoes of dark-brown colour? Leeches are usually described as black.

p. 65. Bankers. Translated bench-covers; but the context suggests rather bolsters. The bench-covers were doubtless cushions; hence the transition from the one meaning to the other is easy.

p. 67. By the license of his estate. This seems to point to a Sumptuary Law. In 1483, it was decreed that none under the rank of a lord might wear cloth of gold, none under a knight, velvet, &c.

p. 67. Wound. A sort of turban?

p. 67. Paris-candle or percher. A big candle of the sort commonly used on altars.

p. 68. Medicinable Bath. A sort of Turkish bath with herbs added. Some of those mentioned were known for their curative properties, even in Saxon times, as hollyhock, mallow, centaury, fennel, heyriff, daisy, brooklime, ribwort, flax, willow. Mallow was supposed to be good for wounds. Wall pellitory contains nitrate of potash. Fennel is still used as a home remedy. Heyhove is bitter and aromatic, abounding in a principle similar to camphor. Heyriff used to be applied externally for scurvy, and is said to be still used in France (taken internally) for epilepsy. Scabious was once thought valuable for various diseases, primarily the itch, but also coughs, pleurisy, &c. Danewort was traditionally thought to have sprung up whenever there had been an encounter between the English and the Danes; it is a dwarf elder valued for its purgative properties. Centaury was so named from the legend that by it Chiron the Centaur was cured. It is gentianaceous and valuable as a bitter. Herb-bennet, herba benedicta, the blessed herb, was supposed to be particularly efficacious in keeping away the devil. It was perhaps hemlock, or wild valerian. St. John’s wort seems to have been a neutral element, although it may have been added for some special reason. Bresewort or bruisewort is the common daisy, once highly valued for its general medicinal properties. Bugloss (text, bilgres) was valued as a blood-purifier. Camomile is still used in home medicine.

p. 70. Mayor of Calais. Because this was the one French port that continued to be held by the English after the Hundred Years’ War until the reign of Queen Mary. This officer was also called “Mayor of the Staple,” because of the wool-trade carried on through Calais. See p. 71, above.

p. 71. Golden royal rod. A prince who was crowned in his father’s life-time? In 1343, the Black Prince was invested with a gold circlet and ring, and silver rod, by Edward III.; so, likewise Henry V., in 1399, received a coronet, ring and golden rod.

p. 72. Bishop of Canterbury, &c. This means only that neither archbishop had jurisdiction over the see of the other.

p. 73. Groom, i.e., receive each as if he were one degree higher than his actual estate.

p. 74. Queenborough. A small port near the mouth of the Thames, on the island of Sheppey.

p. 74. Abbot of Westminster. The yearly rental, as quoted by Dr. Furnivall from Valor Ecclesiarum I., pp. 410-24, was £4470, 0s. 2d.; of Tintern, £258, 5s. 10d. (Val. Ecc. IV., 370-71).

p. 74. Prior of Dudley. The value of this quoted by Dr. Furnivall was £34, 1s. 4d. over against Canterbury at £163, 1s. 9d. (Val. Ecc. III., pp. 4-5, and I., 27-32).

p. 75. Whether the cook be lief or loth. A hint that the cook was not always duly subordinate.

p. 78. “Go forth, little book,” &c. The Envoi presents a problem which at present I cannot solve. The question is, how much of the “copy” here is the same as the treatise used by Russell in his youth, and whether another writer adds an Envoi explaining how he has improved Russell’s work, while the latter is referring to a still earlier work. There is every probability that Russell’s own work ends with the request for prayers, which includes the mention of the author’s name, and concludes with Amen. And in support of this view is the fact that neither of the Sloane MSS., which seem earlier than the one translated, contains either the Envoi or Russell’s name. As I have not studied the relation of the MSS. I hesitate to conjecture; but from the facts at my disposal, I think it probable that the writer of the Envoi alludes to Russell as the “fore writer,” and casts the blame for whatever faults may be found, upon the treatise on which Russell himself declared his work to be based. It would appear also that the writer of the Envoi did not recognise Russell’s source. This may possibly have been the Book of Courtesy, which (especially in its third book) often corresponds to Russell. Moreover, as it was written by a man who talked familiarly of John of Gaunt (see p. 112, above), who died in 1399, it agrees well enough with the date of the book used by Russell in his youth; but, needless to say, there is no proof that they were the same.

THE BOOK OF COURTESY

MS. Sloane 1986, about 1460. The text is either very corrupt, or the style is as rough as possible, lacking even the essentials of grammar. It contains many Scotch words, and has certainly suffered in its rhymes, and probably in its sense through English copyists. The author apparently remembered the institution of a custom at the court of John of Gaunt; hence it seems likely that he wrote before 1420.

p. 81. Bakes. Perhaps rolls into a ball or moulds, as this is a stage of baking.

p. 81. Wallowing, i.e., rolling the morsel about.

p. 83. Chare. From the O. E. verb to turn; hence, a turn either at play as here (trick) or at work, as in the compound charwoman.

p. 85. Cross-Christ thee speed. The same oath occurs in Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, l. 762; but I do not remember it elsewhere. The order of the first two words is commonly Christ-cross, as in “Christ-cross-row” (alphabet). The inversion is possibly a sign of translation from the French.

p. 86. On both knees. So in Liber Faceti.

p. 88. The adder. “The nedder,” as the text puts it quaintly, in the old, correct form. The serpent in Genesis.

p. 88. Mysloset. Apparently from the root lose; hence, to lose amiss, i.e., to lead astray; but the form appears to be passive, not active. Perhaps the idea is that the serpent himself was lost for his wickedness; but this seems far-fetched.

p. 89. Solace ... makes. One of the many traces of Scotch. The original rhyme must have been mas.

p. 90. St. Ambrose. Archbishop of Milan, 340-97. He wrote an ethical treatise De Officiis Ministrorum, in imitation of Cicero’s De Officiis; but whether or not this injunction is found therein, it occurs in almost the same words in Liber Faceti:—

p. 90. More and less. If at means that, the sense is, that everybody understands it; but the context seems to call for the meaning: that you yourself do not fully understand.

p. 91. Opens his lip. Text:—

p. 91. To staunch, &c. So in Liber Faceti:

p. 92. Three oxen, &c. Another proverbial voicing of “Two’s company, three’s none.”

p. 93. Red man, i.e., red-haired. Presumably this distrust of red-haired people as treacherous was based on the old tradition that Judas was red-haired.

p. 93. His courtesy, &c. The meaning is: he must needs be discourteous who stirs fingers and toes, &c.

p. 96. Stocks with him. Doubtless, because the castle gate would be the most conspicuous place of punishment.

p. 96. What he will deem. What judgment he will pronounce by law.

p. 96. Wesselle clothes. The meaning is not clear. Dr. Furnivall suggests vessel-cloths; but the phrase is still doubtful unless it alludes to ecclesiastical coverings, which, however, would not be in the porter’s keeping, and which would certainly not be sold. Possibly, wassail-clothes, i.e., garments kept perhaps for occasions of special revelry; or, it may be, the sense is that the porter must keep a look-out that vessels and clothes, in general, be not stolen and sold by servants or others.

p. 96. Sits with him, &c., i.e., he chooses his own companions.

p. 97. Four pence apiece. Dr. Furnivall found statutes against excessive prices, but no stipulation of the sum mentioned. Perhaps it was the fixed price in the author’s shire. It is cheap enough, only four shillings, at the outside.

p. 97. Cupboard. Probably that in which the canopies and curtains were stored when not in use.

p. 98. Liveries. Not uniforms, but deliveries, i.e., of rations, or, as in this case, fuel for their own rooms.

p. 98. Holly keen, i.e., it filled the fireplace like an arbour from Good Friday until All Hallows Day.

p. 99. On his yard score, i.e., make notes by a sort of tally on the wood.

p. 99. Six pence, about five shillings to-day. According to Russell, four ordinary persons made up a “mess.”

p. 99. The cause he has it in score, i.e., if the cook quarrels about the expense, or the panter wants extra bread (reward) brought on. In cases of dispute, the steward was referred to.

p. 100. Shall harbour, i.e., the marshal has charge of all other officers, except the usher in the chamber. John Russell combined the two functions.

p. 100. Gentleman, yeoman-usher, i.e., two, of different social standing.

p. 100. Make litter. The making of a pallet-bed I understand as follows. The mattress is nine feet by seven, made of loose straw, for the most part; but with a sort of framework on all four sides, made of bundles (wisps) of straw to keep the sides firm and the great mass of straw in its place; and the whole is to be kept level. Text: On legh unsunken, which seems to mean, not in hills and dales.

p. 101. As a man by the neck, i.e., the button was put into a loop resembling a noose. The end of the line is not clear. Perhaps (1) the man hangs light as the flesh drops from his bones on the gallows; (2) the button hangs light because it has no body; (3) the adjective was dragged in for the rhyme.

p. 102. Boards, trestles, &c. For the chamber only, as I understand it, the hall having its own groom.

p. 104. In strong stead (text, styd) on pallet he lay. The line is certainly corrupt, and I can make no sense of it. From the context I gather that lay is the present optative of the verb meaning to place, not the past tense of lie. He seems to refer to the servant, as in the next line, and not to the master who is already “winking.” In that case In (Sc., ane?) strong stead must represent something that he places on the pallet—what, I do not know.

p. 105. Many are false. So often in the romances of the time.

p. 105. Wax so green. Seemingly the steward’s accounts were kept first on tablets, and afterwards copied into books.

p. 106. Surveyor. His duty was to examine the dishes and see that everything was right before it went to the table.

p. 112. Duke John’s house. As his father was king, the man referred to must be John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who died 1399.

p. 112. [Wide]. The passage seems corrupt. The text says:—

p. 118. Starven. Starved is still used, dialectically, to mean, nearly dying of cold.

p. 119. Will eat. Russell, in his directions to the carver, specifies choice bits, as the wings (first left, then right) of capon or hen; the legs of quail, lark or pigeon; of fawn, kid, lamb, first the kidney, then the rib; shoulder, then rib of pork, sides of rabbit or hare, &c.

p. 119. Lief and dear. This seems to mean only that he might, if he liked, keep a choice bit for a stranger.

SYMON’S LESSON OF WISDOM FOR
ALL MANNER CHILDREN

MS. Bodley 832, fol. 174, about 1500. It seems to be unique, and of the author or copyist I know nothing.

p. 123. Wall. The passage suggests Lydgate’s poem, giving an account of his school-days, especially:—

p. 124. Schate. The context seems to demand the meaning fence; but the nearest to the form given here seems to be the Scotch skathie.

p. 125. When he is passed. The allusion seems to be to a middle-class boy in a cathedral school, who, as a chorister perhaps, would be familiar with the bishop’s presence, to whom therefore the reference would be pertinent and vivid.

HUGH RHODES’S BOOK OF NURTURE

The Boke of Nurture, or School of Good Manners for Men, Servants, and Children, with Stans Puer Ad Mensam, newly corrected, being necessary for all youth and children. The British Museum contains three early editions, of 1550 [?], 1568, and 1577; and Dr. Furnivall mentions two others as printed between 1551 and 1586.

There is considerable difference between the editions of 1550 [?] and 1568, and that of 1577. H. Jackson, the printer, or some unknown editor either worked from a very imperfect copy or wilfully altered the meaning in many cases; and further, broke up the long rhyming couplets of the original into stanzas of four short lines, the second and fourth rhyming. Naturally, the first and third contain the greatest number of changes. I have used the oldest edition, only modernising the spelling, herein departing from Dr. Furnivall, who printed from that of 1577.

The Book of Nurture, which forms the main body of the work, is preceded by The Duties of Parents and Masters, The Manner of Serving a Knight, Squire, or Gentleman, and How to Order your Master’s Chamber at Night to Bedward, all in prose, and is followed by a poem For the Waiting Servant, which I have omitted as more adapted to grown serving-men than to children, and by various rules and maxims.

From the colophon we learn that the author was Hugh Rhodes of the King’s Chapel, who early in the poem declares himself “born and bred in Devonshire,” as his language showed. However, I can discover no traces of dialect.

Nothing further is known of him. The probabilities are that he was Master of the chapel children, whose duty it was to direct their singing, and generally look after them and order their behaviour; but his name does not seem to appear on any royal household list, as far as I have observed.

p. 127. Briefs and longs. Expressed in musical terms, perhaps because Rhodes was a music-master.

p. 128. You ... thee ... thy. These pronouns seem throughout to be used indiscriminately, referring to the same antecedent, and so I have retained them.

p. 135. Phantasy. Here taste, inclination. Obsolete. See N.E.D., Fantasy 7.

p. 136. Stick. Probably toothpick. Erasmus wrote of them twenty years before. Cf. Introduction, p. xxvii. But indeed we read in Old English of a “tooth-spear.”

p. 138. Checkmate. Perhaps the meaning is: done for, as far as manners are concerned. But later editions read Jack-mate, of which the sense seems to be: that, you think yourself as good as he, i.e., your action shows too great familiarity.

FRANCIS SEAGER’S SCHOOL OF VIRTUE

The title continues: and Book of Good Nurture for Children and Youth to Learn their Duty by. Newly perused, corrected and augmented by the first Auctor, F.S. With a brief declaration of the duty of each degree. Anno 1557, &c.

This indicates plainly that there had been an earlier edition. Seager was a poet and translator who flourished 1549-63. He seems to have come of a Devonshire family, and was perhaps the Francis Nicholson, alias Seager, who was made free of the Stationers’ Company in 1557. Among other things, he translated from Alain Chartier, and also made a rendering of the Psalms. His School of Virtue shows as little originality as poetic merit, but it seems to have been popular in his day and long after, as it was revised by Robert Crowley and extended by Richard Weste during the seventeenth century.

This was printed in 1619, and about fifty years later was added to an edition of Seager, revised and extended by Robert Crowley; hence, the sub-title, “the Second Part.” Weste’s treatise is believed to be unique. Of its contents, Dr. Furnivall published only Demeanour in Serving at the Table, from Bensley’s reprint, 1817.

p. 161. Gellius. Flourished in the second century A.D., and wrote the famous commonplace book, Noctes AtticÆ.

p. 163. Serve God, &c., alludes perhaps to serving at table.

p. 164. Glumly. Text: glouting.

p. 164. Hedgehogs’ right, i.e., be not bristling with frowns.

p. 164. Nor imitate with Socrates. From this it would seem that Socrates, like Vergil, was roughly handled in the Middle Ages.

p. 165. Stork ... elephant. The idea seems to be: don’t make outlandish noises.

p. 166. Like an image pictured, &c. Sixteenth-century pictures of the winds are commonly so drawn.

p. 167. The lips set close, &c. The idea seems to be merely that pouting lips are not mannerly.

p. 168. Clitipho. A comic character in Heautontimoroumenos.