Thomas Wright

Page 1, line 10, Savory of Mauleon.—For an interesting article on this Baron and his poems, see the eighteenth volume of the Histoire LittÉraire de France, pp. 671-682. His name is of frequent occurrence in the English rolls and charters of the reigns of John and Henry III.

—— l. 20, laxait Bordelois.—Alphonso VIII. King of Castille, married Alianor, daughter of Henry II. of England, and in her right he claimed Gascony, in opposition to King John, and invaded it. In 1206, he laid siege to Bourdeaux. See Dom. Bouquet, Collect. des Historiens de France, tom. xviii. p. 245.

P. 3, l. 2, lois is the Latin laudes.

—— l. 19, par presen.—It has been suggested that this may mean as though he were present; but I think the translation adopted is preferable.

P. 4, l. 6, Lo rei Richard.—Richard I. was in Aquitaine when he received the wound which caused his death.

—— l. 17, Lozoics ... Guillelme ... ad Aurenga.—The allusion, I suppose, is to the inedited romance of Guillaume d’Orange.

P. 5, l. 20, Cadoing.—Perhaps Cadomum, or Caen, as here translated. But there was also a place called Cadoing near PÉrigueux, which had a celebrated abbey.

It may be observed, as a peculiar characteristic of the ProvenÇal songs of this class, that the poet generally introduces an address to a lady, although she has nothing to do with the subject.

P. 6, l. 11. Song on the Bishops.—Since this part of the volume was printed, I have found among the manuscripts of the British Museum (MS. Reg. 7 F, V, fol. 1, r^o, written in a contemporary hand) a copy of this song, containing important variations, which would have enabled me to give the text more correctly. In this manuscript the lines are arranged thus in each stanza:—

Complange tuum, Anglia, melos suspendens organi;

Et maxime tu, Cantia, de mora tui Stephani.

Thomam habes sed alterum, secundum habes iterum

Stephanum, qui trans hominem induens fortitudinem signa facit in populo.

Dolos doles metropolis quos subdoli parturiunt,

Orbata tuis incolis, dolose quos ejiciunt,

Largos emittis gemitus, patre privata penitus.

Sed cum habebis Stephanum, assumes tibi tympanum, chelym tangens

sub modulo.

The following are the various readings offered by this MS.—P. 6, l. 1, tuum.—P. 7, l. 4, doles.—15, vel legem.—17, quis Nathan David.—19, vel postibus.—21, jam liberetur.—P. 8, l. 2, exurge.—4, ancilla.—5, jam superductis aliam.—7, PortÆ prÆvalent inferi, with Tartari written over the last word.—8, nam ludo.—16, Scriptis omitted.—19, Patet interpretatio " et arduis et infimis, " Nam regni, &c.—P. 9, l. 2, et sacerdos, with et erased and nam written over it.—3, concurrit ad.—7, sudet.—12, eos.—15, et deicit.—20, debent et suum fundere.—22, jactant.—P. 10, l. 8, in hac.—11, clamet.—16, dum.—17, perit.—20, sedet ad.—22, Euvangelium.—23, after this line should come the following, Ad nummos vertit oculum.—P. 11, l. 1, lucro lucam.—2, Marcum marca.—3, librum libra.—8, Amplectuntur.—13, sunt appositi " Sed longe.—20, ob hoc.—P. 12, l. 1, In canes nostri.—10, Eliensis.—11, datus.—12, Eli et ensis.—14, Elios.—16, Et Babilonis.—19, Wlstani.—P. 13, l. 1, Wlstani.—4, Effot, mitram, et anulum.—8, et is omitted.—9, Hinc est, et hinc a latere " Et pauper.—13, non causatur.—14, des. Cantia.

—— l. 16, tui Stephani.—Stephen Langton, whom the Pope had appointed to the archbishopric of Canterbury, in opposition to the election of the monks and the King. He was archbishop from 1207 to 1229.

P. 7, l. 17, natum should be Nathan; see the above various readings for this as well as for some other necessary corrections, which would have rendered the translation less difficult.

P. 8, l. 3, Agar ... filium.—The marginal note in Flacius says, Joannem Graye Episcopum Nordovicensem intelligit. It is not said whether these side-notes are given from the MS. which Flacius used, or are of his own making.

P. 8, l. 14.—The same side-notes tell us the scribentem digitum means the Pope—Papam intelligit.

P. 9, l. 12, Non est qui.—The allusion, according to the side-note, is to Pandulph the legate. This explanation is, however, rather doubtful.

P. 10, l. 1, prÆsuli BathoniÆ.—Joceline de Welles, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1205 to 1242. He fled out of England with the Bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester, who had published the interdict.

—— l. 10, Norwicensis bestia.—John Graye, Bishop of Norwich, who was designed by the King to the see of Canterbury. The three Bishops who took part with the King, whom Matthew Paris calls “tres episcopi curiales,” were those of Norwich, Winchester, and Durham.

—— l. 15, Cato quondam tertius.—I do not quite understand the allusion. It occurs again at the end of the Apocalypsis GoliÆ—

De cÆlo cecidi ut Cato tertius,

Nec summi venio secreti nuncius,

Sed meus michi quod inscripsit socius,

Hoc vobis dicere possum fidelius.

—— l. 19, Wintoniensis armiger.—Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, from 1204 to 1238. He was a native of Poitiers in France, and had been a knight before his consecration. He, with the Bishops of Durham and Norwich, supported the party of the King against the Pope. In 1214 he was made chief-justice of England, and he was protector of the realm during the minority of Henry III. See Godwin, de PrÆsulibus.

P. 11, l. 1, lucro Lucam ... Marco marcam ... librÆ librum.—These puns are frequently repeated in the satirical poetry of the thirteenth century. They will be found further on in the present volume, pp. 16 and 31, as well as in some of the poems of Walter Mapes. Giraldus Cambrensis uses a similar pun in relating his journey to Rome, where he says he differed in one particular from others who went there, for he offered libros, non libras. Libra in the song should probably be translated a pound, as at p. 31, not the scales.

P. 12, l. 1, Joannes ... decanus.—For Joannes, the King’s MS. has canes, which is perhaps right, as canus and canit in the following line seem to be continued puns upon the word.

P. 12, l. 10, Heliensis.—Eustace, Bishop of Ely, from 1197 to 1214. As has been observed, he was one of the three who published the pope’s interdict.

—— l. 19, Wolstani subambule.—Maugerius, Bishop of Worcester, from 1200 to 1212. He was also one of those who published the interdict, and having like the others fled to the Continent, he died in exile at Pontiniac, in 1212. It is hardly necessary to observe that St. Wolstan had held the see of Worcester in the eleventh century.

P. 13, l. 6, De Roffensi episcopo.—Gilbert de Glanville, Bishop of Rochester, from 1185 to 1214. Between him and his monks there was perpetual contention, and he diminished much the goods of his church. See Godwin.

—— l. 10, pauper SarisburiÆ.—Robert, Bishop of Salisbury, who seems to have lived in obscurity. Godwin says he could find no other information relating to him, except the date of his being bishop.

—— l. 15, I Romam.—Flacius Illyricus gives here the following side-note—“Golias ad librum, vel Gualterus Mapes.”

P. 14, l. 6-10.—This information is conveyed in two side-notes in Flacius Illyricus, who has printed this Song imperfectly; but whether these notes were composed by the editor, or found in the manuscript, we are not told. There are no circumstances in the Song itself which would lead us to fix it to this date rather than to any other in the first half of the thirteenth century. The two notes are at the beginning,—“Leo, Joannes Rex; aselli, episcopi sunt;”—and at the end, “Jupiter Rex Joannes est: Pluto, Romanus pontifex.” On reference, however, to Bale, I find that he speaks of Mapes as calling King John sometimes a lion and sometimes Jupiter, and as designating the Pope by the name of Pluto, and the bishops as asses, which seems to prove that he had read these side-notes, perhaps in the manuscript from which Flacius’s transcript was made. It is not indeed improbable that the latter obtained it from Bale himself, who was perhaps the author of the side-notes.

—— l. 11, Song on the Times.—Flacius has printed this Song in his Varia Doctorum, etc. Poemata, p. 406, with the omission of the three first stanzas, which he had previously given as a separate song at p. 159. The text now printed is made up from a comparison of the manuscript with the printed text. The variations are as follows:—L. 1, utor, Flacius.—3, deaurati belli, Fl.—9, Facies in opere, MS.—10, Tegunt partem an., Fl.—P. 15, l. 2, congruit ramum in, Fl.—3, caput mundi, Fl.—5, Trahit enim ... et sec., Fl.—7, singula, Fl.—9, RomÆ sunt v., Fl.—11, In hoc cons., Fl.—17, petunt quando petis, Fl.—18, seminas, eadem tu metis, Fl.—P. 16, l. 4, Munus al. pollet sing., Fl.—6, rot. placet, totum pl., Fl.—7, Et c. ita pl. ... Romanis, Fl.—10, objiciat, Fl.—12, transeunt, ut bursa det g., Fl.—13, Romam avaritiÆ vitet manus p., Fl.—16, At est, MS.—P. 17, l. 1, non sit, Fl.—2, Respondet, hÆc tybia non est michi tanti, MS.—4, pappare, Fl.—5, nomen Gallicum, Fl.—6, Paies, paies, dist le mot, Fl.—7-10, These four lines are not found in the MS.—11, Da istis, da aliis, addas, Fl.—P. 18, l. 1, Burse, Fl.—4, Ut cum fiat vacuus, magis imp., Fl.—6, habet Pl., Fl.—In Fl. the two last tetrastichs are transposed.

P. 16, l. 6, crux placet.—The face of the coin was marked with a cross.

P. 20, l. 1, prima rabies.—The insurrection of the Barons.

—— l. 2, altera belligeras Francorum.—The expedition of Prince Louis to help the Barons, who were hard pressed by John’s foreign auxiliaries.

—— l. 3, Scottorum tertia.—l. 4, Flexit quarta Galenses.—Both the Scots and Welsh joined actively in the war, or rather took that occasion of invading the kingdom.

—— l. 6, turres.—The MS. has turmas in the text, and “vel turres” in the margin.

P. 22, l. 13.—The writer evidently intended a pun, or rather a double meaning, in the word parentis at the end of the line.

P. 23, l. 5, viri, i. e. Gualo the legate. The poem was evidently written by a strong partizan of the Pope.

—— l. 10, truces.—The MS. has traces.

—— l. 15, &c.—Louis and his party were at London, which they quitted in the November after King John’s death, in order to march towards the North. On the 6th December they took Hertford Castle, and that of Berkhampstead on the 20th, and proceeded to St. Alban’s. A truce was then agreed to, which continued till after Easter.

P. 24, l. 2, Montique Sorello.—When hostilities recommenced, the Barons of the king’s party laid siege to Mount Sorrel, in Lincolnshire, but were obliged to retreat by the approach of a part of the army of Louis under the command of the Comte de Perche.

—— l. 7, Cestrensis clipeus.—Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester, one of the most powerful Barons on the king’s party, who now commanded the army which had besieged Mount Sorrel, and which soon afterwards defeated the Comte de Perche at Lincoln.

P. 24, ll. 8, 9, 10, in the margin, opposite these three lines respectively, the original scribe has written, “S. Notingham. Trente. Nicole.” The nobilis matrona was Nichola, widow of Gerard de Camville, who defended Lincoln Castle against the French.

—— l. 11.—It may be well to point out the remarkable alliteration in this line and the following.

—— l. 14, signa.—The MS. has singna, a form not uncommon in such words.

—— l. 15, ora.—The MS. has hora.

P. 25, l. 2, Sabbatum.—Saturday, May 20, 1217. The next day was Trinity Sunday.

P. 28, l. 11, SabinÆ.—Sabina was a very common term for a modest woman in low Latin, just as Thais was for a strumpet. See on the latter word a note in the Early Mysteries and other Latin Poems, p. 131.

—— l. 12, Arabes.—Arabia, the land of gems and spices, was believed to contain inexhaustible stores of riches.

P. 33, l. 4, Refert ad focariam.—Focaria was the name given to the wives or concubines of the priests and clergy, who had been recently proscribed. It occurs again in the Apocalypsis GoliÆ—

Seductam nuncii fraude prÆambuli,

Capit focariam, ut per cubiculi

Fortunam habeat fortunam loculi,

Et per vehiculum omen vehiculi.

I have rendered the word, according to its derivation, by fire-side woman, for it is explained in an old gloss as meretrix foco assidens. See Ducange in v. Fuller (Church Hist. p. 27, folio edit.) makes very needless difficulties on the meaning of this word, apparently for the sake of introducing some equally needless jokes. The following article in the decreta of Pope Alexander, printed in the History of Henry of Huntingdon (Scriptores post Bedam, fol. 1601), p. 589, which one would think must have passed under his eyes, left little room for doubt;—

“Ne clerici in sacris ordinibus constituti focarias habeant.

“Clerici in sacris ordinibus constituti, qui mulierculas in domibus suis sub incontinentiÆ nota tenuerint, aut abjiciant eas et continenter vivant, aut beneficio et officio fiant ecclesiastico alieni.”

In the statutes of Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, MS. Cotton. Julius D. II. fol. 167, r^o, we find also a chapter—

“De focariis amovendis.

“Sacerdotibus vero prÆcipue et spiritualiter in virtute Spiritus Sancti et sub periculo beneficii districte prÆcipimus quod continenter vivant et honeste, concubinas suas a domibus suis procul expellant, et nullam familiaritatem cum eis de cÆtero habeant, nec in propriis domibus nec in alienis, nisi volunt simul beneficiis et officiis contra hoc agendo privari,” etc.

And again, just after, we have the following title:—

“De poena et satisfactione focariarum.

“ConcubinÆ sacerdotum frequenter moneantur ab archidiaconis, et prÆcipue a sacerdotibus in quorum parochia morantur, vel ut contrahant, vel ut claustrum ingrediantur, vel sicut publice peccaverunt publicam agant poenetentiam.”

The word focaria is often used by Giraldus Cambrensis. Speaking of a priest on the Borders of Wales, he says, “More sacerdotum parochialium AngliÆ fere cunctorum damnabili quidem et detestabili, publicam secum habebat comitem individuam et in foco focariam et in cubiculo concubinam.” (Wharton, Anglia Sacr. vol. ii. p. 525.) From this passage it is clear that the name focaria was given to them because they lived publicly with the priests in their houses, and shared their fire-sides; and from some other circumstances mentioned in Giraldus, it appears that they were in reality married to the priests, though the stricter party considered the marriage to be uncanonical.

P. 36, l. 2, Omina.—The MS. has Homina.

—— Bernard de Rovenac.—For all that is known of this poet, see the Histoire LittÉraire de France, tom. xviii. p. 667.

P. 48, ll. 7-10, Regnat nunc impietas, &c. These four lines resemble very closely the first four lines of another song, in MS. Sloane, No. 1580, fol. 160, v^o, which will be printed among the Poems of Walter Mapes—

Captivata largitas longe relegatur,

Exulansque probitas misere fugatur,

Dum virtuti veritas prave novercatur,

Inperat cupiditas atque principatur.

P. 49, l. 8, Wandelardus.—Perhaps a Vandal.

—— ll. 15-18. With the little information given in the song, it is difficult to ascertain who were the four brothers the writer intended to satirise. This punning way of deriving and explaining proper names was by no means uncommon during the middle ages. In a splendid Bible in three volumes folio, written in England early in the twelfth century, and now preserved in the Library of St. GeneviÈve at Paris, the scribe gives the following very curious account of his family. Its being previously inedited will be a sufficient excuse for inserting it here.

“Hanc Bibliothecam scripsit Mainerus scriptor Cantuariensis. Sed ne ab ignorantibus parentelam suam putaretur nothus, sive spurius, placuit ei nomen proprium suum et nomen propinquorum parentum suorum scribere et ethimo-logizare. Ipse itaque scriptor inter suos recto nomine Mainerus nominabatur, quod nomen ei desienter datum est; Mainerus enim interpretatus est, imitata in sua manu gnatus, quia peritus fuit et gnarus in arte scribendi. Pater ejus Wimundus nominabatur, quod nomen interpretatum Latine sonat hodie mundus; poterat enim de eo dici cotidie quod mundus esset, quod mundus in mundo munde vixit, ad Creatorem suum sine immunditia migravit. Nomen matris suÆ dicebatur Anglice Livena, quod Latine sonat lÆtitia; fuit enim mulier hylaris, facie decora, moribus ornata et pudica, et semper in largiendo bona sua pro Dei amore datrix hilaris; sana et incolumis per .lxxx. annos et plus feliciter vixit. Avus suus nominabatur Ulgerus, i. ulnas gerens; fuit enim vir magnus et fortis, qui magnas habebat ulnas. Nomen aviÆ suÆ dicebatur Anglice Elvera, quod interpretatur Dei vidua, quÆ et in bona viduitate diu vixit. Quatuor habuit fratres et unam sororem, quorum primus vocabatur Radulphus, i. ratus et adustus, i. firmus in adolescentia; fortis enim valde juvenis fuit. Secundus dicebatur Robertus, quia a re nomen habuit, spoliator enim diu fuit et prÆdo. Tertius nuncupabatur Giroldus, girovagus enim fuit omnibus diebus vitÆ suÆ. Quartus nominabatur Johannes, quod nomen interpretatum sonat Dei gratia; et iste gratiam Dei gratia Dei adeptus est; fuit enim juvenis Ætate, senex moribus, virgo castitate, vita beatus. Soror ipsius dicebatur Dionisia, id est Deo nitens; nitebatur enim semper bonis operibus ad Deum venire. AnimÆ omnium istorum et animÆ omnium fidelium defunctorum per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace! Amen!”

P. 51. Song upon the Tailors.—It is scarcely necessary to say that the three lines which form the theme of this song, are the commencement of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Llewellin, Prince of Wales, invaded the Marches in 1263.

P. 53, l. 3, capucium.—The name capuce was given sometimes to a separate piece of apparel with which the head was covered, and at others to the upper part of the tunic of the monks which covered the head. In the present instance it must be taken in the former sense. A full account of the different senses of the word will be found in Ducange.

—— l. 6, almucium.—The aumuce was a separate article of clothing which covered both head and shoulders. One of the articles of the canons for the behaviour of the monks, given by Pope Clement V., was, “ut almutiis de panno nigro, vel pellibus, caputiorum loco, uterentur.”

—— l. 14, Tyeis.—The French and Anglo-Norman form of the Latin Teutonicus. It is the origin of the name of several old English families.

P. 57, l. 4, Cernite.—The MS. has scernite.

P. 58, l. 2, Frollo.—This personage is a famous character in the fabulous history of Arthur, and is there said to have been King of Paris under the Romans. When hard pressed by Arthur, who had conquered “all France and all Germany,” he took refuge in Paris, and was besieged there. The people in the city beginning to feel the effects of famine, persuaded Frollo to engage Arthur in single combat. The battle was said to have taken place in the “isle” (insula Parisiensis), the part of the French capital included between the two branches of the Seine, in which, at the present day, stand NÔtre-Dame and the Palais de Justice, with its beautiful Sainte-Chapelle. The story of Arthur and Frollo is told at length in Geoffrey of Monmouth.

—— ll. 10, 11, Arthurus.—King Arthur, the hero of so many romances. Broinsius. (?) Constantinus.—Constantine the Great, whose mother Helena was said to have been a British lady. Brennius: the conqueror of Rome, who, according to the British history, was a Briton.

P. 58, ll. 13, 14, Karolum—Charlemagne; Ricardum—Richard Coeur-de-Lion: both of whom were the heroes of romances and popular songs. The same two heroes of French and English fable are mentioned in a curious passage of the Polychronica of Ralph Higden: “Quemadmodum GrÆci suum Alexandrum, Romani suum Octavium, Angli suum Ricardum, Franci suum Karolum, sic Britones suum Arthurum prÆconiantur.” P. 225, in Gale’s Scriptores.

P. 59. The Song of the Barons.—The transcript of this curious fragment was communicated to me by Sir Frederick Madden. The original is written in a contemporary hand on a roll twenty-two inches long, by three broad, and was evidently intended to be carried about by the minstrel who was to sing it. On the reverse had been written a curious interlocutory poem in English of a later period, entitled, “Interludium de Clerico et Puella.” It was, in 1838, in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Richard Yerburgh, Vicar of Sleaford, in Lincolnshire.

Such rolls appear to have been in common use. A very curious vellum roll of the fifteenth century, containing chiefly religious songs with the music, and, among the rest, a copy of the well-known song on the battle of Agincourt printed by Percy, has been recently deposited in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. I am informed that another, of the thirteenth century, has been lately found among the archives of Sir John Hanmer, Bart., containing an Anglo-Norman romance previously unknown, on the adventures of Melors, son of Melians of Cornwall. Among the Sloane MSS. in the British Museum (No. 809), is an early copy of the curious poem of Walter de Biblesworth, designed for the instruction of children in the French language, written in a similar manner on a roll of parchment, evidently for the purpose of being more easily used in a school.

—— l. 1, de Warenne ly bon quens ... en Norfolk.—John, Earl of Warenne, a staunch supporter of the royal party, in whose cause we shall soon afterwards find him fighting at Lewes.

—— l. 7, Sire Jon Giffard.—Sir John Giffard, of Brimsfield, in Gloucestershire, a firm adherent of the Barons. When Sir Roger de Clifford delivered Gloucester to Prince Edward, Giffard fortified his castle of Brimsfield, and greatly annoyed the royalist garrison of the former place. For an account of his exploits at this time, see Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle, pp. 538, 539. He was on the Barons’ party at the battle of Lewes, and was taken prisoner there; but afterwards, when Simon de Montfort was in the height of his power, Giffard deserted him. See Robert of Gloucester, p. 550.

P. 60, l. 1, Sire Jon Dayvile.—Sir John Dayvile, or D’Ayvile (Robert of Gloucester calls him in one place De Eivile) does not appear very prominent in these troubles till after the death of Simon de Montfort at Evesham. He then headed those of the Barons who established themselves at Chesterford in the Peak, and afterwards was the chief of those who held the Isle of Ely against the King. Knighton calls him “homo callidus et bellator fortis.” See Knighton (in Twysden), col. 2454; Chron. ThomÆ Wikes (Gale), pp. 81, 82; Robert of Gloucester, p. 564.

—— l. 7, De Cliffort ly bon Roger.—Roger de Clifford first took part with the Barons, but early in the war deserted them, and delivered Gloucester castle, which he held for them, to Prince Edward. He was with the King at Northampton.

—— l. 13, Sire Roger de Leyburne ... ses pertes que Sire Edward le fist.—Sir Roger de Leyburn was at first a partizan of the Barons, and had been taken prisoner at Rochester Castle, and committed to the custody of John Mareschall. It was on this occasion, probably, that he was visited with the penalties alluded to in the song. He was afterwards seduced by the royal party, and made Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was with the King at the taking of Northampton, at the defence of Rochester, where he was wounded, and at Lewes.

P. 61, l. 16, Ly eveske de Herefort.—Peter de Egueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, a staunch adherent to the King, and, by his oppressions, exceedingly obnoxious to the Commons. In 1263, the Barons seized and imprisoned him, and confiscated his treasures. He was a native of Savoy.

P. 62, l. 1, ly pastors de Norwis.—Simon de Wanton, Bishop of Norwich, from 1257 to 1265, chaplain to King Henry III., and one of his justices.

—— l. 7, Sire Jon de LangelÉ.—According to the Annales de Dunstaple, the estates of G. de Langley were plundered soon after the arrest of the Bishop of Hereford:—“idem facientes de maneriis G. de Langele et ejus bonis.” Vol. i. p. 354. Perhaps this was the same person.

P. 62, l. 13, Sire Mathi de Besile.—We should perhaps read Machi; Robert of Gloucester and Stow call him Macy. He was a French knight, who had been made Sheriff of Gloucester, after the King had sworn to the articles of Oxford. The Barons ejected him, and put another sheriff in his place; Sir Macy came with a body of armed men and the authority of the King, reinstated himself by force, and drove away his rival. Sir Roger de Clifford and Sir John Giffard came against him, besieged and took Gloucester Castle, and imprisoned him along with the “Freinss bissop” of Hereford, whom they seized immediately afterwards. Robert of Gloucester mentions the confiscation of his property:—

“And Sir Jon Giffard nom to him is quic ei?te echon,

And al that he fond of is, and nameliche at Sserton.”

The song here printed was evidently written just after this event, and previous to the subsequent desertion of Clifford and others mentioned in it.

—— l. 18, treget.—It has been suggested that this word represents the Latin treugellum, a little truce.

—— l. 19, mi Sire Jon de Gray.—John de Gray held on the King’s party, and was rewarded for his loyalty by the grant of various high offices. The circumstance alluded to in the song is thus told in the Annales de Dunstaple (Ed. Hearne, vol. i. p. 357); it occurred in the disturbances in London in 1263.—“Quo perpetrato facinore, cives Londoniarum contra ipsum et alios de consilio regis in civitate commorantes, insurrexerunt; in tantum quod hospitium Johannis de Grey extra Ludgate invaserunt, et equos ejus triginta duo et alia quÆcunque ibidem inventa abduxerunt: ipso Johanne cum difficultate maxima ultra alveum de Flete fugam arripiente. Idem fecerunt de domibus et bonis Simonis Passelewe.”

—— l. 21, que must, quod movit.

P. 63, l. 4, Sire Willem le Latimer.—Sir William le Latimer was a firm adherent of the King, and held at different times several offices of trust. He suffered considerable losses in the Barons’ wars. He afterwards appears to have accompanied Prince Edward to the Holy Land, and was at the siege of Carlaverock in 1300. He died in 1305, at a very advanced age. Knighton calls him miles strenuissimus.

P. 63. Song of the Peace with England.—It has been suggested to me that the word cul in this song is only a form of col (collum); and I am told that among the titles of some fables in the same manuscript there is one of the stork “au long cul.” In this song, however, I am inclined to think such an interpretation not admissible. It is a rude burlesque not only upon the event to which it relates, but upon the English in general, and contains much coarse humour such as is not uncommonly used at the present day. The grammatical construction is, evidently by design, a complete confusion of tenses, numbers, and genders. It appears to me that not a little of the effect it was intended to produce, depended upon the coarse play upon words involved in the use of the expression above mentioned. When the reciter introduced King Henry to his auditors, and they expected he was going to sigh from his heart, instead of completing the sentence il suspire de coeur (p. 65), i. e. ille suspirat de corde, he introduces another word beginning with the same letter, and says il suspire de cul (ille suspirat de culo). That Trichart in the preceding line was intended for a pun upon Richard, we may conjecture from the rhymes in the English song on the same person’s name, p. 69. Again, at p. 66, it would naturally be expected that he would place his lance against his enemy’s coeur; the blow was to be so strong, that if his opponent did not give way, he would himself suffer in that part which was in communication with the saddle, and where, of course, the resistance was concentrated. These jokes must have been extremely diverting to the class of people for whom this song was designed.

The Song of the Peace with England had been previously printed by Mons. Achille Jubinal, well known for his numerous publications of early French literature, in a very curious volume entitled “Jongleurs et TrouvÈres,” 8vo. Paris, 1835. M. Jubinal also gave a translation into modern French of this song, as well as of the piece I am now going to mention, in the “Journal de l’Institut Historique,” Jan. 1835, which has been reproduced in the Histoire de Saint Louis, by the Marquis de Villeneuve-Trans, 8vo. Paris, 1839, vol. iii. p. 614. In the manuscript from which this song is printed, it is accompanied by a piece in prose on the same event, and of a similar character, entitled Le Chartre de la Pais aus Anglois, which I venture to reprint here from M. Jubinal’s book, as the latter is now out of print, and very scarce. It will be observed that the same style of gross joking which is found in the song, runs through the charter; a double meaning was evidently intended, for example, in the words qu’il fu fet .i. gros pes entre, etc., which might be taken as signifying, in this broken French, either grossa pax, or grossus peditus.

La Chartre de la Pais aus Anglois.

“Ce sache sil qui sont et qui ne sont mi, et qui ne doivent mi estre, qu’il fu fet .i. gros pes entre ce rai Hari d’Ingleter, et ce riche homme Loys À Parris, sarra forretier de ce grant forrest À Normandi. Et quant ce rai Hari d’Ingleter voudra vauchier par son terre, ce riche homme Loys À Parris voudra donier À ce rai Hari meismes .ii. poronssores À mester soz son houses, por ester plus minet; et quant ce rai Hari voudra aler de mort À vie, cestui riche homme Loys À Parris, devra donier À d’Adouart sa fils cesti chos meism, souz vise quitement, francement di-je, c’avant c’arier. C’est donques À saver .i. poronssores quant il voudra vauchier par son terre À meter soz son houses, por ester plus minet aussinc comme À sa piere. Et por ce que je vÉele que ce chos fout fiens en estable, je vÉele pendez ma saiele À ce cul par derrier, avoecques la saiele À mi barons d’Ingleter. L’an de l’incarnacion nostres sinors Jesoucriet mimes qui souffri mort À la crucefimie por nous, m. cc. lx. i. ij. et iij., À ce jodi assolier, derriÈre ce vendredi, À orre que Marri Masalaine chata ce honissement À honissier les .v. plais Jesoucriet nostre sinors mimes, qui souffra mort À la croucefin por nous, et Marri Mauvaise-alaine portez ce honnissement À la Saint Supoucre; et Marri Mauvaise-alaine vÉez l’angiel, et l’angiel pona: “Marri! Marri! quei quierÉ vous quei?” Et Marri pona: “Je queres Jhesum qui fout À la crucefimie.” Et l’angel pona À Marri: “Marri! Marri! alÉici, alÉici: il ne fout pas Çi, il fout alÉ cestui matin À Galerrie.”

P. 64, l. 6, choison; from choir (cadere).

P. 65, l. 6, gondre Glais grondier, contra Anglos grunnire.

—— l. 9, À l’art.—Perhaps it should be alart, and is derived from the Latin alacriter.

—— l. 11, la conte À Clocestre.—Gilbert de Clare, who succeeded his father in the Earldoms of Hereford and Gloucester in 1262, and was a zealous partizan of the Barons, until he deserted Simon de Montfort before the battle of Evesham.

—— l. 15, la cont Vincestre.—Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Why his name is introduced so prominently, does not seem clear. He died in the year following (1264), and the title became extinct.

P. 67, l. 3, Rogier Bigot.—Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.

P. 67, l. 18, Saint Amont, means, probably, St. Edmund.

P. 69. Song against the King of Almaigne.—This song was first printed in Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

—— l. 2, Kyn of Alemaigne.—It is hardly necessary to say that this was Richard Earl of Cornwall, the King’s brother.

—— l. 3, Thritti thousent pound.—The Barons had offered him this sum, if he would by his intermediation persuade the King to agree to a peace with them, and at the same time accept the terms they demanded.

—— l. 10, Walingford.—The honour of Wallingford had been conferred on Richard in 1243.

—— l. 12.—Windsor was the stronghold of the royal party, and had been garrisoned by foreigners.

—— l. 15, mulne.—“After the battle was lost, Richard, King of the Romans, took refuge in a windmill, which he barricadoed, and maintained for some time against the Barons, but in the evening was obliged to surrender. See a very full account of this in the Chronicle of Mailros.” Percy.

P. 70, l. 8.—The Earl of Warenne escaped from the battle, and fled into France.

—— l. 20, Sire Hue de Bigot.—Hugh Bigod escaped with the Earl of Warenne to Pevensey, and from thence to France. He was cousin to the Hugh Bigod who took part with the Barons, and was slain at Lewes.

P. 71, l. 6, lyard.—This word (in low Latin liardus) means, properly, a dapple-grey horse; but it is often used, like several other similar words, as a common name for a horse in general. I have interpreted it as meaning a hack; but probably the passage implies a sneer at Edward, who had been more than once with his army to Dover, in the hope of taking the castle from the Barons, and the word may mean simply his horse.

P. 72, l. 13.—The battle of Lewes was fought on Thursday, (?) May 14, 1264.

P. 73, l. 36, in claustro.—A great part of those of the King’s party who quitted the field, took shelter in the abbey of Lewes, where they were besieged by the Barons.

P. 74, l. 47, apud Northamptoniam.—Northampton had been taken by the King on the third of April preceding.

P. 74, l. 55, monasterium, quod Bellum vocatur.—I have not found any notice elsewhere of the contributions forced from the abbies of Battle and Robertsbridge.

P. 75, l. 1, monachi Cystercii de Ponte-Roberti.—There was an abbey of Cistertian monks at Robertsbridge, in Sussex.

—— ll. 73-77.—With these lines may be compared a passage in Knighton’s Chronicle (ap. Twysden), col. 2445:—“Et sicut Simon MachabÆus surrexit pro fratre suo Juda, ut pro populo Dei et lege paterna certaret ad mortem; sic et Simon de Monteforti pro Anglia erexit se, ut pro legibus et libertatibus ejus usque ad mortis perniciem dimicaret.”

P. 76, l. 94, intumuit.—In the MS. the scribe has written intimuit in the margin, either as a various reading, or as an improvement of his own.

P. 78, l. 128, bellici.—The MS. has vellici.

P. 79, l. 145, gaudii.—The MS. has gladii in the text, with gaudii written in the margin.

P. 81, l. 193, S. divina gratia prÆsul Cycestrensis.—Stephen de Berkstead, Bishop of Chichester. He was excommunicated for his staunch adherence to the party of Simon de Montfort.

P. 88, l. 325, movisset.—The MS. has novisset.

—— l. 330, for proponerat, read proponeret.

P. 89, l. 252, invenire.—The MS. has inveniere.

P. 94, l. 437, Testis sit Glovernia.—Alluding to the delivery of Gloucester to Prince Edward, and his treatment of the town.

P. 102, l. 609, regis et.—The MS. has regisset.

P. 104, l. 635, Unius rex, etc.—This line appears to be very corrupt, as are one or two others in the poem.

P. 114, l. 833, Nec libertas proprie debet nominari, " quÆ permittit inscie stultos dominari.—The reader will hardly fail to call to mind the similar sentiment expressed in the line of Milton—

“Licence they mean, when they cry liberty.”

P. 115, l. 858, p’rat.—The MS. has prat, the meaning of which is by no means clear.

P. 116, l. 875, Veritas, lux, caritas, calor, urit zelus.—Perhaps the commas should be omitted after veritas and caritas, and the whole be translated, “Truth is light, charity is warmth, zeal burns.”

P. 117, Regis esse noveris nomen relativum.—It would be by no means uninteresting to collect the expressions of the popular doctrine concerning the kingly character held by our forefathers at different periods. Perhaps it may not be considered altogether foreign to the subject to point out here a few of them.

I.—In a MS. of the tenth century (MS. Cotton. Nero, A. I., fol. 71, r^o.) we have, among some other things of a similar kind, the following sketch of the opinion of the Anglo-Saxons on this subject, said to be from the pen of Alfric:—

And again, a little further on (fol. 72, r^o.)—

II. In the curious poem of the proverbs of Alfred, composed perhaps in the twelfth century, and which is here quoted from a MS. of the earlier part of the thirteenth century (MS. Trin. Coll. Cambridge, B. 14, 39) is the following account of the duties of King and People.

III. In the middle of the thirteenth century, at the period of the Barons’ wars, we have the passage to which this forms a note.

IV. In the reign of Edward III. the writer of Piers Ploughman gives us the following description of the relative duties of the different orders of society.

V. We may compare all these with the Alliterative Poem on the Deposition of Richard the Second, p. 23, to which, as it is one of the Publications of the Camden Society, I need do no more than refer.

P. 120, l. 947.—This line cannot be construed as it stands, and is evidently corrupt.

P. 121. William de Rishanger was a monk of St. Alban’s, and is said to have been the King’s historiographer (historiographus regius) after Matthew Paris’s death. He died in 1312. He tells us that this song was written before, and not after, the battle of Lewes; and that it was the defection of some of the Barons mentioned in the song at p. 59, which gave rise to it. It is, therefore, probably placed wrongly after the battle of Lewes.

P. 122, l. 19, O Comes GloverniÆ.—This was Gilbert de Clare, who was extremely active in the cause of the Barons, and distinguished himself at the battle of Lewes.

P. 123, l. 3.—The second line of this tetrastich seems to be lost.

—— l. 10, Comes le Bygot.—This was Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, whom the Barons made Governor of Orford in Suffolk, after the battle of Lewes.

P. 124, l. 3, nobis.—A mere error of the press for vobis.

P. 125. The Lament of Simon de Montfort.—This song was printed privately, with some other Anglo-Norman poems from the same MS., by Sir Francis Palgrave, in 1818, in a collection which is now extremely rare. It was also inserted in the second edition of Ritson’s Ancient Songs (1829), where it is accompanied with a translation in English verse by George Ellis.

—— l. 8, Tot À cheval.—The Barons were surprised at Evesham before they were joined by their foot soldiers, and when therefore they were unprepared for this decisive conflict.

P. 126, l. 4, Sire Hue le fer, ly Despencer, tresnoble justice.—Hugh Despencer, appointed justiciary of England by the Barons. He fell at Evesham.

—— l. 6, Sire Henri ... fitz le cuens de Leycestre.—The eldest son of Simon de Montfort; he fell in the battle.

—— l. 7, par le cuens de Gloucestre.—After the battle of Lewes, the Earl of Gloucester, becoming jealous of Simon de Montfort’s popularity, deserted to the King, and fought against his former associates at Evesham.

—— l. 14, une heyre.—I suppose this refers to Guy de Montfort, Simon’s second son, who was taken prisoner at Evesham, but afterwards escaped and fled to the Continent.

P. 126, l. 15, les faus ribaus.—As this word, ribaldus, ribaus, ribaud, occurs frequently in our Songs, both in Latin, Anglo-Norman, and English, it may be worth while to say something about it.

It is one of those curious words of which the origin and primary signification are very doubtful. It was certainly applied to a particular class of people, and a class which seems to have been dependant on the household of the great. Giraldus Cambrensis, when telling his various troubles and persecutions (Wharton, Anglia Sacra, vol. iii. p. 575), speaks thus of the witnesses brought against him by his enemies:—“Archidiaconus (i. e. Giraldus himself) autem statim, productis testibus illis coram auditoribus ad jurandum, proposuit in singulorum personas se dicturum; in canonicos Menevenses tanquam perjuros et excommunicatos, in monachos tanquam trutannos et domorum suarum desertores, in ribaldos tanquam vilissimos et, sicut cÆteri cuncti, mercede conductos.” And again, on the next page, “Et testium multitudinem de garcionibus et ribaldis partis adversÆ, qui omnes jurare parati fuerant et testificare ... trutannus ille vilissimus id totum faciebat; qui et ribaldos suos cunctos ad hoc probandum simul cum ipso mittebat.... Videns igitur archidiaconus ribaldos illos ad nutum dominorum suorum quidlibet probare paratos.... Sciens itaque si probatio ribaldica procederet ... ribaldica multitudo, etc.” They seem to have been the lowest class of retainers, perhaps men without any certain appointment, who had no other mode of living than following the courts of the Barons, and who were employed on all kinds of disgraceful and wicked actions. One authority quoted by Ducange couples “parasitos atque ribaldos.” A story quoted from a MS. at Berne, by Sinner (Catalogus, tom. i. p. 272), shows us that a goliard belonged to the class of ribalds: now a goliard seems to have been only another name for a jongleur (joculator), or one who attended the tables of the rich to amuse the guests by jokes, buffoonery, and mountebank tricks. An ecclesiastical statute quoted in Ducange (v. Goliardus) says, “item prÆcipimus quod clerici non sint joculatores, goliardi, seu bufones;” and another commands, “quod clerici ribaldi, maxime vero qui dicuntur de familia goliÆ, per episcopos ... tondere prÆcipiantur.” Matthew Paris, sub an. 1229, says, “quidam famuli, vel mancipia, vel illi quos solemus goliardenses appellare, versus ridiculos componebant.” In this last passage we find them classed with the famuli, or household retainers. This class appears, at least in France, to have enjoyed certain popular rights or privileges. In a very curious charter of the year 1380, printed in Ducange, we find one Antony de Sagiac “se gerens pro ribaldo, et se dicens de ordine seu de statu goliardorum, seu buffonum,” claiming a fine of five pence upon incontinent women, and accused of trying to extract money from a woman, whom he accused wrongfully, on this account, “de talique et alio vili questu, quem sub umbra ribaldiÆ, goliardiÆ, seu buffoniÆ ejusmodi ... vivebat.” In the household of the King of France there was a rex ribaldorum, whose office was to judge disputes, &c. which might occur among the retainers of his class, and who had also a jurisdiction over the public stews. As the lives of this class of men were set at a small value by their masters, they were commonly exposed to the first brunt of battle in the wars, and the name is sometimes given to the body which is now called the forlorn hope in the attack of a town. The ribaldi who accompanied the army were also employed in plundering and destroying the country. As they were people of vile life and condition, the term ribald came gradually into use as a common appellation for a low and infamous person, and was used, as in the present instance, as an epithet of contempt and degradation.

P. 128, l. 1, pepulere.—The MS. has pepulare.

P. 130, l. 8, Plebs devicta fremit.—Alluding to the rising at Chesterfield, the occupation of the Isles of Axholme and Ely, and other insurrections.

—— l. 11, Urbs Londoniensis.—The Earl of Gloucester, dissatisfied with the King’s proceedings after the battle of Evesham, had taken up arms and established himself at London, the citizens of which joined his party readily, as they were themselves enraged against the King for having deprived them of their charter.

P. 131, l. 2, Francorum regis germanus rex Siculorum.—Prince Edward left England in July, 1270, to join the King of France, Saint Louis, in his expedition to the Holy Land. Louis was persuaded by his brother, Charles, then King of Sicily, to turn aside, in order to make war on the Bey of Tunis, from whom he claimed a tribute. Louis died at Carthage of a disease produced by the climate; and when Prince Edward and his English army arrived, they found their ally dead, and the King of Sicily, who had made advantageous terms with the Bey, ready to return home. Charles, who hastened to take possession of the throne of France, refused to proceed in the crusade, and Edward, who was obliged to go alone, went over to Sicily, and wintered at Trapani. Here, on the night of December 23, the day after their arrival, occurred the terrible storm alluded to in the Poem. Early in the spring, Edward, with his small army, proceeded on their voyage, and landed at Acre.

P. 132, l. 5, Accon respirat.—Acre was besieged by Bondocar, Sultan of Babylon, who was preparing to take the place by assault, at the moment when Edward arrived to raise the siege.

—— l. 9, Assessinus Veteris de Monte.—On the Old Man of the Mountain, and the Assassins, or Assessins, much information will be found in a popular form, in the Marquis of Villeneuve-Trans, Histoire de St. Louis.

—— l. 16.—This seems to be a new testimony against the truth of the story which makes Edward’s Queen suck the poison from his wound. A song made on the occasion would hardly have failed to mention such a circumstance, if it had been known.

—— l. 17, Thomam de Wyta.—This writer’s name is not found in Tanner.

P. 135, l. 13, comencent.—Probably an error of the scribe for comencement.

P. 136, l. 4, vironum.—The MS. has virronum. Viro is given by Ducange as synonymous with baro, and is supposed to be derived from vir.

P. 137, ll. 15, 16, sonme ... prodhonme.—In old manuscripts it is quite impossible to say whether the scribe meant n or u, unless we know otherwise which it ought to be, and the n in words of the form of those just quoted may perhaps be intended for u. But I am rather inclined to think such was not the case.

P. 138, l. 34, Sympringham.—The order of Sempringham, commonly called Gilbertine canons, was founded by Sir Gilbert de Sempringham, in the first half of the twelfth century. One of its peculiarities was the establishment of monks and nuns in the same house, though their different habitations were carefully separated, and all intercourse between them strictly forbidden.

Nigellus Wireker speaks of this as a newly established order, and satirizes the near collocation of nuns and monks in a spirit similar to that of our song:—

And again, in describing his own order, he says, archly,—

P. 139, l. 61, De Beverleye.—The monks of Beverley were Franciscans.

P. 140, l. 71, De Hospitlers.—The order of Knights Hospitalers, founded during the first crusades, was introduced into England about the year 1100. They were laymen, and, from an humble beginning, they became exceedingly rich and proud. In the Patent Rolls (45 Edw. III.) we find that the King “constituit Ricardum de Everton visitatorem Hospitalis S. Joannis Jerusalem in Anglia ad reprimendam religiosorum insolentiam, et ad observandam religiosorum honestatem.” See Ellis’s Dugdale, vol. vi. p. 786.

—— l. 79, De Chanoynes.—The regular canons were a less strict order than the other monks in general, and followed the rule of St. Augustine. One of the rules of their order was expressed simply thus—“Carnem vestram domate jejuniis et abstinentia escÆ quantum valetudo permittit.” They appear to have been particularly enjoined frequent abstinence from flesh. However, at the time when this song was written, they seem not to have observed their rule in this respect very strictly. Rutebeuf says of them (Jubinal’s Rutebeuf, vol. i. p. 239)—

P. 141, l. 95, de Moyne Neirs.—The Black Monks were the Benedictines.

P. 142, l. 115, Des Chanoygnes Seculers.—The luxury of the secular canons is often alluded to by the early satirists. Nigellus Wireker says of them—

Rutebeuf (ed. Jubinal, vol. i. p. 239) says that there were many of them—

P. 143, l. 133, Gris Moignes.—Perhaps the Cistercians. In a poem on the Grey Monks, De Grisis Monachis (MS. Cotton. Vespas. A. XIX. fol. 56, r^o), which will be found among the works of Walter Mapes, they are ridiculed for the same arrangement of clothing,—

The Albi Monachi are similarly satirized by Nigellus Wireker for going without breeches. The Friars de Sacco wore no breeches under their robes.

P. 144, l. 154, l’Ordre de Cilence.—Perhaps the Carthusian monks, a branch of the Benedictines, whose order, which was peculiarly strict, was introduced into England by Henry II. They were enjoined to live in separate cells, and to keep very strict silence, and have little communication with each other.

—— l. 169, Les Frere Menours.—The Friars Minors were better known as Franciscans, and in France as the Cordeliers. Their order enjoined, above all things, poverty and humility. They were not to ride when travelling, unless some manifest necessity or infirmity obliged them. See Dugdale, vi. 1505.

P. 145, l. 188.—The MS. has en autre, which seems to be a mere error for ne autre.

P. 146, l. 194, des Prechours.—The preaching friars were the Dominicans, called, in France, Jacobins. This order was introduced into England in 1221. Rutebeuf says that instead of adhering to their primitive humility and poverty, the Jacobins became the richest and most overbearing of all the orders. Jubinal, vol. i. pp. 152, 175-179.

P. 148, l. 240, devyns seems to be a mere variation of devys, thus spelt in order to accommodate the rhyme.

P. 149. Song of the Husbandman.—This Song is in many parts extremely difficult to translate, from the numerous words in it which do not occur elsewhere, as well as from the abruptness of the phraseology. The same may be said of one or two other songs printed from the same manuscript.

P. 154, l. 14, halymotes.—This word means literally holy meetings. It is translated sabbath, in the supposition that there is some allusion to the popular notion of the festive meetings of the devils and the witches.

P. 160. Song on the Scottish Wars.—The copy of this Song preserved among the manuscripts of Clare Hall was first pointed out by Mr. Hunter, in the Appendix to the last Report of the Record Commission. I have obtained a copy of part of it by the kindness of Mr. Halliwell, who was unable from different circumstances to continue his transcript beyond the 72nd line. The Oxford MS. I only know through Mr. Halliwell’s description of it: to judge by the articles contained in this MS., I should be inclined to think they were mostly copied from the Cottonian MS. Titus A. XX. In the Cottonian MS., Claudius D. VI. this poem bears the title “Commendatio Gentis Anglorum et processus guerrÆ inter Anglos et Scotos.” In the Clare Hall MS. the Song is attributed to the “Prior de Blithe.” The Prior of Blythe, in Nottinghamshire, at this time, was William Burdon. See Ellis’s Dugdale, iv. 621. The MS. in the Sloane Library seems to be a transcript from a monastic register, perhaps of Alnwick, in Northumberland, for the reference in the margin is, “Regist. Prem. fol. 59, a.” It is there attributed to the Prior of Alnwick. The original title seems to have been “Rithmus bonus de bello ScotiÆ ad Dunbarre;” which the transcriber had first copied, and then, after erasing it, substituted the following, “Prioris Alnwicensis de Bello Scotico apud Dunbarr, tempore regis Edwardi I., dictamen sive rithmus Latinus; quo de Willielmo Wallace, Scotico illo Robin Whood, plura, sed invidiose, canit.” Ritson, in his preface to Robin Hood, was misled by this latter title, and cites it as a proof that this hero was popular in the thirteenth century. In MS. Cotton. Titus A. XX. a hand of the sixteenth century ascribes this poem to Robert Baston.

It will already have been observed by the reader, that, in verse of this kind, the fourth line of each tetrastich is an hexameter (sometimes a pentameter), taken from some poet then popular, and often from a classic writer. In the MS. from which the Sloane transcript was made, the authorities for the hexameters, in the present Song, were indicated in the margin. They are as follows:—ll. 4, Morus.—8, Cato.—†8, Cato.—†12, Poetria.—†16, Oracius.—12, Cato.—16, Doctrinale.—20, Doctrinale.—24, De proprio.—28, Doctrinale.—32, Cartul.—36, Urbanus.—40, Doctrinale.—44, Morus.—48, Theodorus.—52, De proprio.—56, Vulgat.—60, Pu....—64, Vulgat.—68, Buliardus.—72, Oracius.—76, Oracius.—80, Oracius.—84, Cato.—88, Ovidius.—92, Doctrinale.—96, Cato.—100, Cato.—104, Ovidius.—108, Cato.—112, Cato.—116, Cato. (?)—120, Cato.—124, Cato.—128, Cato.—132, Doctrinale.—136, Cato.—140, Cato.—144, Poeta.—148, Poeta.—152, Orasius.—156, Virgilius.—160, Statius.—†164, Oratius.—†168, Teodorus.—164, Omerus.—168, Ovid. Omer.—172, Cartul.—176, Veritas evangelica.—180, De proprio.—184, Ovidius.—188, Vulgat.—192, Doctrinale.—196, Vulgat.—200, Doctrinale.—204, Idem.—208, Oracius.—212, De Vulg.—216, Doctrinale.—220, Amianus.

In the above list of names, Poetria refers to the celebrated work of Galfridus de Vinesauf. Poeta seems to be a mere error of the scribe for Poetria. Doctrinale is here only another name for the ParabolÆ of Alanus de Insulis. Cato refers to the well-known Disticha. De proprio means that the verse is of the author’s own making.

P. 164, l. 44, Joannis, John Baliol.—In the Cottonian MS. Claudius D. VI. the following lines are here inserted, which evidently do not belong to the poem:

P. 168, l. 102, Johannem WarenniÆ.—This was the same John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, who, staunch to the party of Henry III., had escaped from the battle of Lewes. He commanded the English army at the battle of Dunbar, was afterwards made Governor or Guardian of Scotland, and was again at the head of the English forces when they were defeated at Stirling.

P. 169, l. 1, Quod Trentam non transient.—The King had carried with him to London the Scottish knights whom he most suspected, and, before he went to Flanders, he exacted from them solemn oaths that during his absence they would not repass the Trent without his permission.

P. 170, l. 138, ad Strivelyne.—The battle of Stirling was fought on Thursday the 11th of September, 1297.

P. 171, l. 141, comes dux Anglorum.—The Earl of Surrey (Warenne).

—— l. 147, Levenax et Ricardus Lundi.—For an account of this reverse, and the part which the Earl of Levenax (Lennox) and Richard Lundi acted, see Knighton, in Twisden, coll. 2516, et seq.

P. 172, l. 163.—This line is evidently corrupt; but, as it is only found in one MS., I have no means of correcting it.

P. 173, l. 163, Cremare Northumbriam.—The invasion of Northumberland and the burning of Hexham and Corbridge are told by Matthew of Westminster, p. 427. See also Peter Langtoft, in the present volume, p. 287; and Knighton, coll. 2520, et seq. None of them mention the damages done at Alnwick.

—— l. 167, Vesey, Morley, Somervile, Bertram.—The poet seems to refer to members of those families who had distinguished themselves in opposing the inroads of the Scots at different periods, but who were dead at the time of this invasion.

P. 174, l. 186, Willelmo datum est militare pignus.—On his return from the expedition into England, Wallace was solemnly installed Guardian of Scotland.

P. 176, l. 205, die MagdalenÆ.—The battle of Falkirk, so fatal to the Scots, was fought on St. Mary Magdalen’s day, the 22nd of July, 1298.

—— l. 211, trutannus.—This word is the origin of the modern word truant. Its primary meaning has not been accurately ascertained, but it seems to have been most generally used for a person who wandered about, and gained his living by false pretences, or passed himself under a different character to that which really belonged to him. It is applied sometimes to abbots or priors who lived abroad and neglected their monasteries, or to monks who had quitted their houses, as in the passage of Giraldus, quoted at p. 369.

P. 178, l. 234, Margaretam reginam.—Edward married, in second nuptials, Margaret, sister of the King of France.

—— l. 243, Comyn, Karryk, Umfraville.—Three of the most active leaders of the Scots in their opposition to Edward. The Earl of Karrik was Robert Bruce. Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, had been one of Edward’s Commissioners for manning and fortifying the castles in Scotland.

P. 183, l. 11, collectio lanarum.—The oppressive duty upon wool, which was the staple of English commerce at that period, was severely felt and complained of. In 1296, the King seized all the wool in the merchants’ warehouses, and sold it for his own profit, paying for it, as usual, with tallies, and promises to repay them to the full. “Ministri regis omnes saccos lanÆ, quinarium numerum excedentes, datis talliis, acceperunt ad opus regis, et ab unoquoque sacco, numerum quinarium non excedente, ab ipsis eorum dominis, nomine malÆ totÆ, xl. solidos extorserunt.” Hemingford, p. 110.

P. 186, l. 11, de fust manger (de fusto manducare).—In low Latin, fustum was a generic name for everything made of wood. It need hardly be said that it means here the plates and other utensils of the table, which among the lower classes were generally of this material. It would be more reasonable, says the writer of the song, if the court would eat out of wooden vessels, and pay for their provisions with silver, than to live sumptuously with plate, and only pay their victuals with wooden tallies.

—— l. 13, Est vitii signum pro victu solvere lignum.—The King’s purveyors were a great grievance to the peasantry. In the curious poem of “King Edward and the Shepherd” (printed by Hartshorne from a MS. in the University Library, Cambridge), the latter personage is made to say:—

“In Wynsour was I borne;

Hit is a myle but here beforne,

The town then maist thou see.

I am so pyled with the Kyng,

That I most fle fro my wonyng,

And therefore woo is me.

I hade catell, now have I non;

Thay take my bestis, and don thaim slon,

And payen but a stick of tre.”

And when the King, in disguise, promises to obtain redress, the Shepherd proceeds—

P. 187. Song on the Flemish Insurrection.—This Song was printed by Ritson, in his Ancient Songs.

P. 188, l. 16, Peter Conyng.—Peter Coning (in English, Peter King,) was a weaver of Bruges. A brief account of this insurrection is given in Matthew of Westminster, p. 444. See, for a more complete narrative, Michelet’s Histoire de France, vol. iii. p. 76.

P. 189, l. 8, avowerie.—This is the low Latin advocaria. See Ducange, in voce.

—— l. 11, hou.—The MS. has hout.

P. 189, l. 17, to clynken huere basyns of bras.—This circumstance occurred on the 21st March, 1302, at the beginning of the insurrection. In the towns of Flanders, as in the boroughs in England, the people were called up in an insurrection by the sound of the church bell. There was a famous distich on the bell of Roland, at Bruges—

On the present occasion, the people dared not go to their bell, on account of their French governors, so they beat their brass basins:—cumque ad campanam civitatis non auderent accedere, pelves suas pulsantes ... omnem multitudinem concitarent. Meyer, Annal. in a. 1301, p. 90.

P. 191, l. 9, Conyng.—This word, in English, meant a rabbit, and is here made the subject of a pun. In Flemish, it signified king.

P. 193, ll. 17, 18, Awey thou ?unge pope!... Thou hast lore thin cardinals.—P. 194, l. 2, Do the forth to Rome.—An allusion to the dissensions between the Pope and the family of the Colonnas.—“Illis etiam diebus, dominus papa, fidei et orationum quÆ erant beati Petri oblitus, assumens quÆ non erant ejus, tam aurum videlicet a viduis et orphanis quam argentum, non viduis et orphanis, sed militibus bellicosis illud erogare curavit, contra schema quorundam cardinalium, eos denique degradando, et contra regem SiciliÆ guerram movendo. Sed dicti regis exercitus de galeatis turmis domini papÆ multa millia viriliter necaverunt.” Matthew of Westminster, p. 432. This was the famous Pope Boniface VIII., who suffered so much from the persecutions of the King of France.

—— l. 7, fot lome, probably means foot-lame, lame of foot. It occurs again in p. 335 of the present volume.

P. 195. A Song on the Times.—The MS. from which this song is taken, MS. Harl. No. 913, was written in Ireland, about the year 1308, by an English monk. For a detailed description of it, see Mr. Crofton Croker’s Popular Songs of Ireland.

P. 196, l. 19, hoblurs.—The name hoblurs (hobellarii) was given properly to a kind of light-armed soldiers.

P. 198, l. 14, geet.—This word should probably be translated goats, rather than kids.

P. 199, l. 7, anone.—In the MS. this word is explained by the original scribe in the margin as “at one time.”

P. 206. Song against the Scholastic Studies.—In the Cottonian MS. from which this song is taken, a hand of the 16th century has written in the margin that it was the work of Robert Baston.

The Oxford MS. was pointed out to me by Mr. Halliwell, but I have not been able to obtain a collation.

P. 207, l. 2, propere.—The MS. has p~p~e, the meaning of which is not clear.

—— l. 10, Sicut servus Stichus.—This name was given to a servant in the Roman comic writers. It is introduced here for the sake of rhyme.

P. 208, l. 2, nullus.—The MS. has unus.

—— l. 10, Thebanas ... vel Trojanas cÆdes.—Referring to the Thebaid of Statius, and the poem De bello Trojano of Joseph of Exeter, both of them at that period popular reading books.

—— l. 16, Telluris.—The MS. has Celurus.

P. 209, l. 4, agro ... positis.—The MS. has ager and positus.

P. 212. Song on the Execution of Sir Simon Fraser.—This song was printed by Ritson, in his Ancient Songs.

P. 213, l. 6, The Waleis.—Wallace was taken prisoner at the second battle of Dunbar, in 1305, and was executed at London on the Eve of St. Bartholomew, (Aug. 24) 1306. The places to which his quarters were sent were Newcastle, Berwick, Perth, and Aberdeen.

—— l. 10, Simond Frysel.—This was the original form of the name of Fraser, and is the way in which it is spelt in all the English documents.

P. 215, l. 14, kyng of somere.—Matthew of Westminster gives a popular story, that Bruce’s queen had told him in derision, he was but a summer king, and that his kingdom would scarcely last in the winter. See Holinshed, p. 314.

P. 215, l. 9, Sire Edward of Carnarvon.—The Prince of Wales.

P. 216, l. 10, Sir Emer de Valence.—Aylmer de Valence, second Earl of Pembroke, a Baron who was frequently occupied in the Scottish wars, and who was appointed by Edward to be one of the guardians of his son, Edward II.

—— l. 19, the batayle of Kyrkenclyff.—Fought, according to Holinshed, on the next Sunday after Midsummer day, 1306.

—— l. 15, Sire Thomas of Multone.—Thomas de Multon, of Egremond, in Cumberland. He was active in the Scottish wars of this reign.

P. 218, l. 17, Sire Herbert of Morham.—Apparently a mere error of the scribe for Norham. Matthew of Westminster relates the same anecdote.

P. 219, l. 13, oure Levedy even.—The seventh of September, 1306.

—— l. 16, Sire Rauf of Sondwyche.—Ralph de Sandwich was constable of the Tower of London (constabularius turris London).

P. 221, l. 7, a curtel of burel.—Burellus, in low Latin, bureau or burel in old French, was a kind of coarse and common cloth.

P. 222, l. 9, tu-brugge.—Perhaps this word means a drawbridge. It occurs again in Robert of Gloucester, p. 543:—

Which means probably that he burnt all that part of the bridge on the meadow side up to the place where its communication with the rest was cut off by the raising of the drawbridge.

P. 223, l. 6, Erl of Asseles.—John de Strathbogie, Earl of Athol. He also was captured and executed.

—— l. 18, Tprot, Scot, for thi strif!—The word tprot appears to be a mere exclamation of contempt. In a poem on “The Propertees of the Shyres of Engelond,” printed by Hearne in the Introduction to the fifth volume of Leland’s Itinerary, we find it used, as here, against the Scots:—

It will be found similarly used in a passage quoted in a note further on (p. 391). In Sir Thomas de la More’s Chronicle, it is applied to King Edward II.:—“Tprut! Sire King!” It seems to be taken from the French: in Jean Bodel’s Jeu de S. Nicolas (ThÉatre FranÇais au Moyen-Age, edited by MM. MonmerquÉ and Michel) it is put in the mouths of the common gamblers in a public-house:—

And again, immediately after (p. 184):—

P. 223, l. 21, with the longe shonkes.—King Edward, still known popularly as Edward Long-shanks.

P. 224. Song on the Venality of the Judges.—After this song was printed, I found another copy of it in MS. Reg. 12, c. XII. fol. 1, v^o. of reign of Edw. II., written likewise as prose, which presents the following variations:—P. 224, ll. 1, 2, esuriunt " Et faciunt justitiam " et od.—7, exhennia.—9, this line is omitted, and the following begins Sed quÆ.—11, et aure non.—13, Sed modo miro more.—15, ad peric.—17, ambiant.—P. 225, l. 1, hÆc.—7, nam is omitted.—8, Qui sensum.—9, ei pure.—14, Quid ergo Jhesu bone.—P. 226, l. 1, accedit.—2, secretius.—7, potest.—ll. 12-18 are placed after l. 10 in the next page.—14, dona.—15, et hoc pro l.—17, quamvis prius.—19, Si quÆdam pulcra nobilis " decora vel am.—P. 227, l. 2, hoc.—12, ut exprimant.—13, vocantur.—14, priores.—18, Sed quid.—P. 228, l. 1, quid laboras.—2, quid facis.—8, ibis Omere, foras.—9, De vinctibus.—11, enumerare.—19, Est salsum totum. This MS. ends with this verse.

—— l. 7, encennia.—This word answers as nearly as may be to the modern word jewels. The other MS., of which the variations are given above, reads exennia, i. e. treasures.

P. 225, l. 17, cedunt.—In the MS. the scribe has written over this word “i. re,” that is, “i. e. recedunt.”

P. 226, l. 21, cum capite cornuto.—The head dress of the ladies of rank and fashion at this period was arranged in the form of two horns.

P. 227, l. 13, relatores, “qui querelam ad judices referunt.” Ducange.

P. 229, l. 13, transmittantur.—The MS. has transmutantur.

P. 229, l. 18, averia.—The term averium is commonly used to signify all kinds of moveable property; but more particularly to signify cattle and horses.

P. 230, l. 1, clericos.—The scribe has written above this word, in the MS. “i. pauperes.”

P. 231. The Outlaw’s Song of Trailebaston.—This song also was printed by Sir Francis Palgrave in the collection mentioned in a former note. The notion that the judges were called Trailebastons on account of the hastiness of their proceedings, is quite incorrect. The term was applied not to the judges, but to the persons judged, who received this name because they carried with them long staffs. An account of the origin of the Trailebastons will be found in the extract of Peter Langtoft, at p. 318 of the present volume. The proceedings against them led to many abuses, and were often made the means of gratifying personal revenge. The statute against the Trailebastons was continued in force through the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III.

P. 232, l. 1, souz.—In old French and Anglo-Norman, the word sous was not used in its present sense, but represented the Latin solidos.

—— l. 7, le bois de Belregard.—Perhaps a fictitious name, invented by the poet.

P. 233, l. 3, ly Martyn ... ly Knoville.—l. 5, Spigurnel ... Belflour.—By the following commission, given in Rymer, we find that these Barons were the commissioners appointed to judge the Trailebastons in the western counties of England. There can be little doubt that Belflour in the song is meant for the name which in the commission is Bellafagus. This document is curious, both for the light it throws on the subject, and for the circumstance that it fixes the period at which the song was written; it bears date at Westminster, April 6, 1305.

“De transgressionibus nominatis Trailbaston audiendis et terminandis per totum regnum.—Rex delectis et fidelibus suis, Wilielmo Martyn, Henrico Spigurnell, Wilielmo de Knovill, Rogero de Bellafago, et ThomÆ de la Hyde, salutem.—Quia quamplures malefactores, et pacis nostrÆ perturbatores, homicidia, deprÆdationes, incendia, et alia dampna quamplurima nocte dieque perpetrantes, vagantur et discurrunt in boscis, in parcis, et aliis locis diversis, tam infra libertates quam extra, in comitatibus CornubiÆ, DevoniÆ, SumersetiÆ, DorsetiÆ, HerefordiÆ, WygorniÆ, SalopiÆ, StaffordiÆ, Wiltes’, et SuthamptoniÆ, et ibidem receptantur, in maximum periculum tam hominum per partes illas transeuntium, quam ibidem morantium, et nostri contemptum, ac pacis nostrÆ lÆsionem manifestam, ut accepimus: Per quorum incursus poterunt pejora prioribus de facili evenire, nisi remedium super hoc citius apponatur: Nos, eorum malitiÆ in hac parte obviare, et hujusmodi dampnis et periculis prÆcavere volentes, assignavimus vos justiciarios nostros: Ad inquirendum, per sacramentum tam militum quam aliorum proborum et legalium hominum de comitatibus prÆdictis, tam infra libertates quam extra, per quos rei veritas melius sciri poterit, qui sunt illi malefactores, et eorum scienter receptatores, et eis consentientes, vim et auxilium prÆbentes, seu dictas transgressiones fieri procurantes et prÆcipientes: Et etiam ad inquirendum de illis, qui pro muneribus suis pactum fecerunt et faciunt cum malefactoribus, et pacis nostrÆ perturbatoribus, et eos conduxerunt et conducunt ad verberandum, vulnerandum, male tractantandum et interficiendum plures de regno nostro, in feriis, mercatis, et aliis locis, in dictis comitatibus, pro inimicitia, invidia, malitia, et etiam pro eo quod in assisis, juratis, recognitionibus, et inquisitionibus factis de feloniis, positi fuerunt, et veritatem dixerunt: unde per conductionem hujusmodi malefactorum, juratores assisarum, juratorum recognitionum, et inquisitionum illarum, prÆ timore dictorum malefactorum et horum minarum, sÆpius veritatem dicere seu dictos malefactores indictare minime aussi fuerunt, et sunt: Et etiam ad inquirendum de illis qui hujusmodi munera dederunt et dant: et quantum et quibus: et qui hujusmodi munera receperunt et recipiunt: et a quibus, et qualiter, et quo modo: et qui hujusmodi malefactores in sua malitia fovent, nutriunt, et manutenent in comitatibus prÆdictis: Et etiam de illis, qui, ratione potestatis et dominii sui, aliquos in eorum protectionem et advocationem pro suo dando susceperunt, et adhuc suscipiunt: Et de illis qui pecuniam ab aliquo, per graves minas ei factas, malitiose extorserunt: Et ad felonias et transgressiones illas audiendas et terminandas secundum legem et consuetudinem regni nostri, et juxta formam ordinationis per nos et consilium nostrum super hoc factÆ, et vobis in parliamento nostro liberatÆ: Et etiam ad omnes felonias et transgressiones, de quibus inquisitiones coram dilectis et fidelibus nostris, Henrico de Cobeham, Thoma Paynel, Hugone de Sancto Philiberto, et Johanne Randolf, in prÆdictis comitatibus Wiltes’ et SuthamtoniÆ factÆ sunt, et per vos, si necesse fuerit, faciendÆ, audiendas et terminandas in forma prÆdicta:” etc.

P. 235, l. 6, escolage, answers probably to a low Latin word excollectionem.

P. 237. A Song against the Retinues of the Great People.—Half of this song is written in the original in short lines, and the other half in long lines, to suit the convenience of the MS. It contains numerous popular words and phrases, the meaning of which it is now very difficult to ascertain.

P. 242, l. 9, Le rei de Fraunce.—Edward seems to have long cherished the design of embarking in a new crusade, which had been strongly advocated by the Pope, but he had been hindered by his continued wars and embarrassments, which the writer of the song attributes to the intrigues of the King of France.

P. 243, l. 13, A Peiters À l’Apostoile.—Pope Clement the Fifth, who was constantly in hostilities with his Italian subjects, and little more than a dependent on France, resided a great part of his pontificate at Poitiers.

P. 245, ll. 5, 6, Si Aristotle ... e Virgile.—Aristotle and Virgil were names in great repute in the popular literature of the middle ages, and were the subject of much legend and romance.

P. 246. Elegy on the Death of Edward I.—This song had been already printed in Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

P. 253. On the King’s Breaking his Confirmation of Magna Charta.—This curious poem is reprinted from an interesting little volume of early poetry, edited and printed privately by David Laing, Esq. and W. B. D. D. Turnbull, Esq. under the title of “Owain Miles, and other Inedited Fragments of Ancient English Poetry.” 8vo. Edinburgh, 1837.

—— l. 7, the feire.—Probably the fair of St. Bartholomew.

P. 254, l. 5, Of .iiij. wise-men.—This was a very popular story, and found its way into the celebrated Gesta Romanorum. It also occurs frequently in a separate and different form in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The sentences of the wise men were popular sayings independent of the tale, and are sometimes found separately. They varied at different periods, both as they are found separately, and as they are given in the different recensions of the story. It would be a curious and interesting work to collect together such popular political proverbs in chronological order. I have met with this story in a MS. in the British Museum contemporary with the present song, in which, if I remember right, both the sayings and the explanations of them are given in full both in English and Latin, but I have unfortunately mislaid my reference to it. The following is taken from MS. Reg. 5 A. VI. fol. 83 r^o, of the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th cent. A more modern copy, with rather larger commentary, will be found in MS. Harl. No. 206, fol. 38, v^o.

“Legitur quendam Regem quondam fuisse qui habuit 4^or Philosophos in regno suo. In quo regno multÆ plagÆ, multa infortunia, et multi defectus fiebant in populis. Rex autem videns se ipsum nullo peccato mortali vulneratum, mirabatur valde, et diligenter inquirebat a prÆdictis 4^or Philosophis qua de causa hÆc infortunia magis agebantur in populis in tempore suo quam in tempore prÆdecessorum suorum.

“Primus Philosophus dixit, Mi?t is ri?t; Unde illud YsaiÆ, 69, Conversum est retrorsum judicium, et justitia longe stetit; corruit in platea veritas, et Æquitas non potuit ingredi. Li?t is ny?t; unde Ewang., VÆ homini illi per quem scandalum venit! Per eum scandalum venit qui alios malo exemplo corrumpit. Dominus in Levetico dixit: Time, inquit, Dominum Deum tuum, ut vivere possit frater tuus apud te; hoc est, ut sic vivas quod frater tuus per tuum exemplum vitam possit habere non mortem. Fi?t is fli?t; unde Augustinus: Bene agere et illicita non prohibere consensus erroris est. Gregorius: Facientis proculdubio culpam habet qui quod potest corrigere negligit emendare.

“Secundus Philosophus dixit, One is too; unde Ewang.: Omne regnum in se divisum desolabitur. Ambrosius: Sicut sine via nullus pervenit quo tendit, sic sine caritate, quÆ dicta est via, non ambulare possunt homines, sed errare. Frend is foo; hoc potest intelligi quando homines et prÆcipue potentes veram pacem vel justitiam aut Dei ecclesiam strangulant, quibus principaliter propter Deum militare deberent. Weele is woo; Gregorius: Qui bona mundi diligit, velit nolit timori et dolori bene succumbit. Seneca: Avarus nisi dum moritur nichil bene facit.

“Tertius Philosophus dixit, Lust has leve; unde Paulus: Si secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Jeronimus: Qui post carnem ambulant, in ventrem et libidinem proni, quasi irrationalia jumenta reputantur. Thef is refe; unde Jeremias: VÆ qui Ædificant domum suam non in justitia! Robertus Lincolniensis: VÆ illis qui dicunt, faciamus mala, ut veniant bona, quorum damnatio justa est! Pride has slef; unde in Ps.: Irritaverunt eum in adinventionibus suis, et multiplicata est in eis ruina. David autem dixit: Non habitabit in medio domus meÆ qui facit superbiam.

“Quartus Philosophus dixit, Wille is red; unde per Psalmistam dicitur: Noluit intelligere ut bene aget. Prover. 12: Via stulti recta in oculis ejus; qui autem sapiens est audit consilium. Wytte is qued; unde P.: Erit enim tempus cum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt. Augus.: Juventuti malorum hominum venenum est quidquid virtus prÆcipit, esca vero quidquid diabolus suggerit. Good is ded; unde in psalmo: Universa vanitas omnis homo vivens, i. vivens secundum hominem, non secundum Deum. Augus.: Sicut mors corporalis separat animum a corpore, ita peccatum mortale animam a vera vita, quÆ est Deus.”

In the following, which is taken from the common printed Gesta Romanorum, cap. 144, the English is translated.

“Fertur de quodam Rege cujus regnum in tam subitam devenit mutationem, quod bonum in malum, verum in falsum, forte in debile, justum in injustum est mutatum. Quam mutationem Rex admirans, a quattuor Philosophis sapientissimis causam hujus quÆsivit; qui, inquam, Philosophi post sanam deliberationem ad quattuor portas civitates pergentes quilibet eorum tres causas ibi scripsit. Primus scripsit, Potentia est justitia, ideo terra sine lege; dies est nox, ideo terra sine via; fuga est in pugna, ideo regnum sine honore. Secundus scripsit, Unum est duo, ideo regnum sine veritate; amicus est inimicus, ideo regnum sine fidelitate; malum est bonum, ideo terra sine pietate. Tertius scripsit, Ratio habet licentiam, ideo regnum sine nomine; fur est prÆpositus, ideo regnum sine pecunia; corabola vult esse aquila, ideo nulla discretio in patria. Quartus scripsit, Voluntas est consiliarius, ideo terra male disponitur; denarius dat sententiam, ideo terra male regitur; Deus est mortuus, ideo totum regnum peccatoribus est repletum.”

In the moralisation, these sentences are applied to the time in which it was written. In the English Gesta Romanorum (edited by Sir Frederick Madden for the Roxburghe Club in 1838, and which it is to be regretted is not published in a popular form), p. 397, we have the following version of the story.

“This is redde in the Cronycles of Rome, that in the tyme of Antynyane the Emperour, in the citie of Rome befille a grete pestilence of men and bestes, and grete hungre in alle the empire. The comons risene agayne her lordes, and agayne her Emperour. The Emperour desirede to wete the cause of the tribulacions and diseases, and disposede hym for to putte a remedie agayne the foresaide disease. He callede to hym .iiij. wise Philisophers, for to shew hym the cause of the grete vengeaunce; of the whiche Philisophers the first saide thus, ‘Gifte is domesman, and Gile is chapman; the grete holde no lawe, and servauntes have none awe.’ The seconde saide, ‘Witte is turnede to trechery, and love into lechery; the holy day into glotonye, and gentrie into vilanie.’ The thirde saide, ‘Wise men are but scornede, and wedowes be sore yernede; grete men are but glosede, and smale men borne downe and myslovede.’ The fourthe saide, ‘Lordes wexen blynde, and kynnesmen ben unkynde; dethe out of mynde, and trewthe may no man fynde.’”

The sentences in this last version are also found frequently in MSS. in a separate form. An imperfect copy of them will be found in the ReliquiÆ AntiquÆ, (Pickering, 1839,) p. 58. I have met recently with a much more complete copy, agreeing closely with the sentences in the above tale from the English Gesta, but I have also unfortunately lost the reference to it, and cannot recall it to mind at the present moment. In MS. Cotton. Vespas. E. XII. fol. 100, r^o., of the end of the fourteenth century, is given another Latin version of this story, where the scene is laid at Carthage, the King is Hannibal, and instead of the four wise men we have Virgil, and the sayings are again different from the others. This version is important both for the history of the story, and for its connexion with the fable of the legendary Virgilius.

P. 256, l. 9, god is ded.—It will have been observed in the foregoing note that one of the versions of the story interprets god by Deus;—God is dead,—which is most probably right, and the former editors have very properly given the word with a capital.

P. 258. Songs on the Death of Peter de Gaveston.—Both these songs are parodies upon hymns in the Romish ritual.

P. 260, l. 1, Vult hic comes, et non Petrus, dici.—The favourite was, indeed, extremely angry because people persisted in calling him Peter, and obtained a Royal decree that no one should be permitted to call him otherwise than Earl of Cornwall in future.

P. 262. The Battle of Bannockburn.—The text of this poem is extremely corrupt. It appears, from Mr. Halliwell’s description of the MS., that there is another copy of it at Oxford, MS. Rawl. B. 214. This poem is attributed to Robert Baston, a carmelite, who, according to a popular story, was present at the battle, and was taken prisoner by the Scots. We are told that he was liberated on condition of composing a poem to celebrate the valour of the Scots: the song here printed is of quite a different character.

P. 262, l. 6, dabantur.—Debantur in the MS.

—— l. 10, prÆparare.—The MS. has portare, with “p’p’are” written above.

P. 263, l. 9, conflictus.—The MS. had consultus, which is changed into conflictus.

—— l. 10, Comes heu! GloverniÆ.—Gilbert de Clare, son of that Earl of Gloucester who was so active in the Barons’ wars of the reign of Henry III. On his death, at Bannockburn, the title became extinct.

—— l. 17, proditorius vir Bartholomeus.—Perhaps Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who was Steward of the King’s household, and attended the King in these wars.

P. 264, l. 2, sex seminum.—This word evidently represents the French semaines.

P. 265, l. 2, nimis.—The MS. has nims.

—— l. 4, veneficos.—The MS. has venifices.

—— l. 9, multiplica.—In middle-age Latin, the form multiplicus is frequently used for multiplex.

—— l. 14, corruerunt.—The scribe has written sub over the first syllable of this word in the MS., as though he would correct it to subruerunt.

P. 266, l. 16, horridus.—The MS. has oridus, and just afterwards it seems to have quievit for crevit.

P. 267, l. 4, stirps radice.—The MS. has radix, with ortus written over it; from which it may be conjectured that the original from which the scribe copied had the reading which I have given, and that the word ortus was written over it, or in the margin, to supply the construction—stirps ortus radice JessÆ.

—— l. 12, far....—The MS. has far?.

P. 268. The Office of St. Thomas of Lancaster.—Popular heroes and patriots were frequently canonised by the people after their death. Such was the case with Simon de Montfort. See p. 124 of the present volume. A very curious story of this kind will be found in William of Newbury, l. 5, cc. 20, 21. The King, in the present instance, was obliged to issue a proclamation forbidding the worship of Earl Thomas of Lancaster.

P. 268, l. 2, Thomam CantuariÆ.—All the popular heroes were compared to St. Thomas of Canterbury. We have seen the comparison used in the case of Simon de Montfort, see p. 125 of the present volume.

P. 270, l. 11, pater proles erat regia.—Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, was son of Edmund, younger brother of Edward I.

—— l. 12, matrem ... reginam Navarria.—Blanche, daughter of Robert, Earl of Artois, and widow of Henry, King of Navarre, who was espoused in second marriage to Edmund Plantagenet.

—— l. 16, Benedicti capitur vigilia...., l. 17, die tertia.—After the battle of Boroughbridge (March 15, 1322), the Earl of Lancaster took refuge in a chapel, where he was taken on the 20th, brought to Pontefract on the 21st, tried on the 22nd, and beheaded the same day. The 20th of March was the eve of St. Benet.

P. 271, l. 2, HoylandiÆ.—Robert de Hoyland (the father of Thomas de Holand, Earl of Kent, the first husband of Joan, Princess of Wales,) had been sent to collect forces in Lancashire, to assist the Earl of Lancaster, but when he had gotten them together, he deserted the Earl, and went over with them to the King’s party.

—— sudam appears to be an error for some other word.

P. 273. Peter Langtoft’s Chronicle.—The Cambridge MS. contains only the history of Edward I., which is given as a complete work, with the title, “Ici commence le Brut coment li bon rei Edward gaigna Escotz e Galis.” The Fairfax MS. seems also to have given the same portion of Langtoft’s Chronicle. Since my text was printed, Sir Frederick Madden has kindly given me his transcripts of the English fragments as they stand in the Fairfax MS. No. 24, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, and in the Arundel MS. No. 14, in the College of Arms. The numerous variations in these lines, and the frequent recurrence of lines in one MS. which are omitted in another, seem clearly to prove they were fragments of popular songs interwoven into the Chronicle by its writer. I ought to say that, at the time the extracts in the present volume were printed off, it was not in my power to have the sheets collated with the original. It may also be observed, that it has not been thought proper to correct the text by the various readings, but the translation is frequently made from the latter, when the text is evidently wrong.

P. 274, l. 15, Celestine la pape.—Pope Celestin the Fifth, who was elected in July, 1294, and abdicated in the December following.

P. 275, l. 50, suz Dover.—An account of this attack upon Dover will be found in Matthew of Westminster, p. 424, and in Knighton, col. 2502.

P. 278, l. 75, Thomas de Turbevile.—See, on this affair, Matthew of Westminster, p. 425, Knighton, col. 2502, Hemingford, p. 58.

—— l. 83, Cent lievre de tere.—Robert de Brunne’s version has a hundred pounds of land, i. e. lands of that yearly value.

P. 280, l. 106, Le tierz jour.—Robert de Brunne says—

—— l. 112, cum traitur est jugÉ.—Robert of Brunne has given more details of Turbeville’s trial than are found in the original.

P. 282, l. 135, Le counte de Nincole.—Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln and Salisbury.

—— l. 136, Sir Willeam de Vescy.—William de Vescy, Lord of Alnwick, and governor of Scarborough Castle.

—— l. 153, la male rage.—“Male rage: Faim extraordinaire, enragÉe; mala rabies.” Roquefort.

—— l. 156, rivelins.—Apparently a kind of rough boots worn by the Scots, so called perhaps on account of their ragged and torn appearance.

—— la nue nage.—Nage is the Latin nates. The Fairfax and Arundel MS. have here a line or two of the French which is not found in the other copies, with the following fragments of English—

(F.) Tprut! Skot riveling,

In unseli timing

crope thu out of cage.

—— l. 157, Robert de Ros de Werke.—Robert de Ros was an English Baron, but, falling in love with a Scottish lady, he deserted to the Scots, for which his possessions were confiscated. See Hemingford, p. 85.

P. 284, l. 168, quatre mile.—The English version makes it forty thousand—

—— l. 170, Richard de Cornewalle.—Holinshed, p. 298, says Sir Richard Cornwall was brother to the Earl of Cornwall. See also Hemingford, p. 91.

—— l. 171, la sale rouge.—The Red Hall was the factory of the Flemish merchants, who carried on an extensive trade with Berwick.

P. 285, l. 175, Willeam de Douglasse.—William Douglas was captain of the garrison of Berwick. See Hemingford, ib.

—— l. 176, Ricard Fresel.—The English has Symoun Freselle.

—— l. 178, li quens de la Merche, Patrik.—Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, served in the English army; but his Countess, who was left in the castle of Dunbar, and who hated the English, delivered the castle to the Scots.

—— l. 180, Gilbert de Umfravile.—Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, was one of the Scottish Barons who remained faithful to the English.

P. 286, l. 194, Piket him, etc.—The Fairfax MS. has only four lines of this song:—

In the Arundel MS. it stands thus:—

Robert of Brunne gives the fragment as follows, with six additional lines:—

P. 288, l. 227, Otes de Graunt-souns.—Otho had been sent into the East to the aid of the Christians by Edward I., who intended to follow him in person. An account of the loss of Acre, and the escape of the Christians to Cyprus, will be found in Hemingford, pp. 21-28.

P. 289, l. 245, le counte de Warwik e Huge le Despencer.—Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and Hugh Despencer, who was afterwards so famous as the favourite of Edward II.

P. 293, l. 299, On grene, &c.—In Robert of Brunne, these lines stand thus:—

P. 294, l. 324, sire CorynÉe.—The fabulous hero who was said to have killed the giant Gogmagog.

P. 295, l. 338, The fote folke, etc.—Robert of Brunne gives these lines as follows, with an introduction of his own, in which he says distinctly that they were rhymes which the English made on the Scots:—

In the Fairfax MS. they stand thus:—

The Arundel MS. gives them thus:—

In my transcript of the Cambridge MS. I had written wages in the third line, but, thinking it might be an error of my own, I ventured to change it to nages, in conformity with the readings of the other MSS. I have no doubt that nages, the French nages (see before, p. 283, l. 156, and the note), the Latin nates, is the right word. The other reading of the line was perhaps substituted by some one who did not understand the word.

P. 298, l. 380, For Scottes, etc.—Robert of Brunne agrees with the present text, in this song. In the Fairfax and Arundel MSS. it stands thus:—

P. 300, l. 417, Albanak, the son of Brute, who was said to have first peopled Scotland, and given it the name of Albania.

P. 303, l. 466, For boule, etc.—Robert of Brunne, like the Museum MSS., gives only the first six lines of this fragment.

—— l. 471, hise tabard es tome.—Toom tabard (empty tabard) was a nickname given by the Scots to their King, John Baliol, on account of his little wit. In like manner, we still vulgarly call people who possess very little sense, empty bottles.

P. 304, l. 484, eces; another form of assez.

—— l. 486, Henri de Perci aid Galwei.—Henry de Percy, nephew of Warenne, was made keeper of the county of Galloway and the sheriffdom of Ayr.

P. 305, l. 504, le eveske de Duram.—The famous Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham, who, at the head of his knights, attended Edward in all his invasions of Scotland, and commanded one division of the army at the battle of Falkirk.

—— l. 514, Kambynoy.—Robert of Brunne translates this passage as follows:—

P. 306, l. 521, Ou il est mort " al mouster.—The Monastery of Hexham, which the Scots had burnt, was dedicated to their patron Saint, St. Andrew. Hemingford remarks, in a similar manner, the impiety of the Scots in burning the church of their patron. This writer, in many parts of his Chronicle, seems to paraphrase and enlarge upon the narrative of Peter Langtoft.

P. 307, l. 550, Deus! cum Merlins.—The Cambridge MS. has Teus, with a great T., by an error of the illuminator. Robert of Brunne, in translating this part of the Chronicle, quotes the original author, Peter Langtoft, as his authority:—

The MS. from which Hearne printed contained a marginal note, “De unione ScotiÆ et AngliÆ secundum dicta Petri et Bridlingtone,” meaning that Bridlington had something similar in his prophecies. Hearne, not aware that it is Peter Langtoft to whom the writer refers, alters it to Petri de Bridlington; although, if he had referred to Bale, he would have found that Bridlington’s name was John, and not Peter.

P. 309, l. 582, Jon e Thomas ... Cuthbert.—John of Beverley, Thomas of Canterbury, and Cuthbert of Durham. These three saints are elsewhere spoken of in Peter Langtoft as Edward’s especial patrons and aiders.

P. 310, l. 607, Des biens de seint eglise.—See, on this transaction, Matthew of Westminster, p. 428, and Hemingford, p. 107.

P. 311. I suspect that the lines here inclosed in brackets, as not found in the Cambridge MS., were missed by myself in transcribing.

—— l. 613, disime dener.—Robert of Brunne says the twelfth penny.

P. 315, l. 683, jeo crei.—The manner in which the writer here speaks, as well as other expressions in the course of the poem, seem to show that he wrote down the events as they happened.

P. 316, l. 701, le Sire de Canturbir.—Robert Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1294 to 1313.

P. 317, l. 709, Li sire de Nichole.—Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln, who died in the November of 1299.

—— l. 714, L’elyt de Everwyke.—Henry de Newark, who succeeded to the Archbishopric in 1297, and died in 1299.

P. 318, l. 720. These English verses are only found in the Cambridge MS.

P. 320, l. 19, Pur treys souz, &c.—Robert of Brunne translates this—

We learn from this writer that it was the King who gave them the name of Trailebastons.

P. 321, l. 43, Sire Jon de Meneteft.—He is said to have been incited by his personal hatred of Wallace to seek out and deliver the Scottish Chieftain to his enemies. Robert de Brunne adds something to his original in this place:—

We may take this occasion of pointing out the impropriety of quoting Robert de Brunne as Peter Langtoft. Mr. Tytler quotes this story of Jack Short upon Langtoft’s authority, which involves two serious errors, first, making Langtoft say what he did not say, and, secondly, giving the story on better authority than that on which it really rests, for, in this respect, Robert de Brunne is certainly inferior to Langtoft.

P. 323, l. 67, And tus, etc.—Robert of Brunne has six lines of this fragment more than in the French MSS.

P. 326, l. 66, nu.—In the MS. it is written n^ou. Perhaps the o was added by somebody who thought the orthography should be nou.

P. 327, l. 78, serven the chapele.—This last word, which answers to capella in the similar passage in the Song at the end of these notes (p. 401, l. 21), means here, perhaps, a wardrobe.

P. 329, l. 126, amis.—This word is added in the MS. by a later hand than that which wrote the other part.

P. 336, l. 285, turmentours that comen from clerkes plei.—Men who have performed the part of devils, or tormentors, in the miracle plays, which were performed by the clerks.

P. 338, l. 330, Theih pleien wid the hinges silver, and breden wod for wele.—They use the king’s silver for their own pleasures, and produce wood, or tallies, instead of contributing to the prosperity of the people.

P. 341, l. 392, a derthe.—l. 403, eft wele i-nouh.—P. 342, l. 409, another sorwe.—l. 416, another derthe of corn.—Our poem was probably composed in 1321. During the preceding years, the kingdom had been visited repeatedly by dearth and famine. Holinshed remarks in 1316, a great dearth and famine, insomuch that a quarter of wheat sold for forty shillings, and at the same time a murrain among the cattle; in 1317, a “pitiful famine” with a “sore mortalitie of people;” the year 1318 seems to have been free from these visitations, and may have been that in which, according to the poem, there was “eft wele i-nouh;” in 1319, again, a great murrain of cattle; and in the latter end of the following year and in 1321, broke out the “great variaunce betwixt the lords and the Spensers,” which was the cause of so much bloodshed, and which seems to be the “strif” (l. 423) under which the poet represents the people as then labouring.

P. 342, l. 418, afingred.—For other instances of the use of this form, see a note on “The Tale of the Basyn and the Frere and the Boy.” (Pickering, 1836.)

P. 344, l. 457, paunter.—The true meaning of this word seems to be a trap, or snare. An English prose treatise of counsel for hermits, probably by Hampole (MS. Trin. Coll. Cant. B. 15, 17, of the reign of Edward III.), speaking of the snares laid by the devil to deceive people, observes, “This panter leyeth owre enemy to taken us with, whan we bigynne to haten wikkednesse, and turne us to goodnesse.”

P. 345.—This poem is defective at the end, by the loss of the remainder of the MS., which is imperfect. The following curious Song, which was given me by Mr. Halliwell, bears a remarkable resemblance in some parts to the English poem of the Auchinleck MS. It is taken from a MS. in the University Library, Cambridge, Ee. VI. 29, of the beginning of the fifteenth century, though most, if not all, the articles it contains are compositions of a much earlier date.

P. 14. Song on the Times.—Giraldus Cambrensis has inserted a copy of this Song in the Speculum EcclesiÆ, MS. Cotton. Tiberius, B. XIII. fol. 126, v^o, and attributes it to the famous Golias, which is commonly supposed to be only a fictitious name for Walter Mapes. This takes away all doubt as to its age, and the explanations given by Flacius Illyricus may be right. There is another copy in a Cottonian MS. of the thirteenth century, Vespas. A. XIX. fol. 59, r^o, where it is entitled De veneranda justitia RomanÆ curiÆ. In Giraldus, the song commences with the 13th line, Roma mundi caput est, &c. In the other Cotton. MS. it begins as in our text. The variations afforded by these two MSS. are as follow:—P. 14, l. 1, RomanÆ reb., C.—6, profluit, C.—9, the first est is omitted in C.—10, Tegunt picem, C.—P. 15, l. 12, ramus in sap., C.—15, trahit enim, G. and C.—17, res et sing., C.—21, In hoc consistorio, G. and C.—27, petunt quando petis, G. and C.—28, eadem et metis, C.—P. 16. The first 16 lines in this page are omitted in Giraldus.—l. 5, nummus, C.—6, rot. placet, totum pl., C.—7, ita pl. ... Romanos, C.—10, obiceret, C.—11, Et sanc., C.—12, transeunt, C.—13, venit parca, C.—15, pro munere, C.—P. 17, l. 1, et ... sit, G. and C. animanti, C.—2, Respondet hÆc tibia, G. and C.—6, li mort, C.—7, G. and C. have Porta at the beginning of this line, and Papa in the next. G. omits the words chartula quÆrit: it ought to be observed that in this MS. the song is written as prose, so that such omissions are easily explained.—8, G. and C. omit the words cursor quÆrit.—9, omnis quÆrit, G. si des si quid uni, G. and C.—10, Totum mare salsum est, tota, G. and C. except that the former has salseum for salsum est: see another example of this expression in the present volume, p. 228, l. 19.—11, Des ... des ... addas, G.—l. 12, the extract in Giraldus ends here.—P. 18, l. 4, totum impl., C.—6, habet Pluto, C.—9, dant divitibus, C.

P. 44, l. 3 of Song against the Bishops, read fungar vice cotis, “I will perform the part of a whetstone.”

P. 282, l. 5 of translation, for Edward, read Edmund.