Chapter XV: Appendix (3)

And wid that laste derthe com ther another shame,
That ouhte be god skile maken us alle tame.
The fend kidde his maistri, and arerede a strif,
That everi lording was bisi to sauve his owen lyf,
and his god.
God do bote theron, for his blessede blod!

Gret nede hit were to bidde that the pes were brouht,
For the lordinges of the lond, that swich wo han i-wrouht,

GLOSSARY.--408. _wreche_, punishment. _lore_, teaching.--409.
_sorwe_, sorrow.--412. _orf deiede al bidene_, cattle died
all forthwith.--414. _wrecche_, punishment.--415. _qualm_,
mortality. _astint_, stopped.--418. _seli_, simple. _afingred_,
hungry.--422. _god skile_, good reason.--423. _fend_, fiend,
devil. _kidde_, showed. _arerede_, raised.--424. _bisi_,
busy.--426. _do bote_, make a remedy.--427. _bidde_, pray.

That nolde spare for kin that o kosin that other;
So the fend hem prokede uch man to mourdren other 430
wid wille,
That al Engelond i-wis was in point to spille.

Pride prikede hem so faste, that nolde theih nevere have pes
Ar theih hadden in this lond maked swich a res,
That the beste blod of the lond shamliche was brouht to grounde,
If hit betre mihte a ben, allas! the harde stounde
bitid,
That of so gentille blod i-born swich wreche was i-kid.

Allas! that evere sholde hit bifalle that in so litel a throwe,
Swiche men sholde swich deth thole, and ben i-leid so lowe. 440
Off eorles ant of barouns baldest hii were;
And nu hit is of hem bicome riht as theih nevere ne were
i-born.
God loke to the soules, that hii ne be noht lorn!

Ac whiles thise grete lordinges thus han i-hurled to hepe,
Thise prelatz of holi churche to longe theih han i-slepe;
Al to late theih wakeden, and that was muchel reuthe;
Theih weren ablent wid coveytise, and mihte noht se the treuthe
for mist. 449
Theih dradden more here lond to lese, than love of Jhesu Crist.

GLOSSARY.--430. _prokede_, urged.--432. _spille_, to be ruined,
spoilt.--434. _Ar_, before. _swich a res_, such a rage.--438.
_wreche_, destruction. _i-kid_, shown.--440. _thole_, undergo,
bear. _i-leid_, laid.--444. _lorn_, lost.--445. _i-hurled
to hepe_, thrown on a heap.--448. _ablent_, blinded.--450.
_dradden_, dreaded. _lese_, lose.

For hadde the clergie harde holden to-gidere,
And noht flecched aboute nother hider ne thidere,
But loked where the treuthe was, and there have bileved,
Thanne were the barnage hol, that nu is al to-dreved
so wide;
Ac certes Engelond is shent thurw falsnesse and thurw pride.

Pride hath in his paunter kauht the heie and the lowe,
So that unnethe can eny man God Almihti knowe.
Pride priketh aboute, wid nithe and wid onde;
Pes and love and charité hien hem out of londe 460
so faste,
That God wole for-don the world we muwe be sore agaste.

Alle wite we wel it is oure gilt, the wo that we beth inne;
But no man knoweth that hit is for his owen sinne.
Uch man put on other the wreche of the wouh;
But wolde uch man ranczake himself, thanne were al wel i-nouh
i-wrouht.
But nu can uch man demen other, and himselve nouht.

And thise assisours, that comen to shire and to hundred,
Damneth men for silver, and that nis no wonder. 470
For whan the riche justise wol do wrong for mede,
Thanne thinketh hem theih muwen the bet, for theih han more nede

GLOSSARY.--451. _to-gidere_, together.--452. _flecched_,
wavered.--453. _bileved_, remained.--454. _barnage_, baronage.
_hol_, whole, entire. _to-dreved_, separated, driven to
pieces.--456. _shent_, ruined. _thurw_, through.--457.
_paunter_, pantry. _heie_, high.--459. _priketh_, rideth.
_nithe_, strife. _onde_, envy.--460. _hien_, hie, haste.--462.
_for-don_, destroy. _muwe_, may. _agaste_, afraid.--463.
_wite_, know. _wo_, woe.--465. _Uch_, each. _wreche_, blame.
_wouh_, wrong.--468. _demen_, judge.--471. _mede_, bribe.--472.
_bet_, better.

to winne.
Ac so is al this world ablent, that no man douteth sinne.

But bi seint Jame of Galice, that many man hath souht!
The pilory and the cucking-stol beth i-mad for noht,
* * * * *

GLOSSARY.--474. _douteth_, feareth.

NOTES.

_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 pœna 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 pœnetentiam.”

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 Cœur-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 eiȝte 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 cœur_ (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 _cœur_; 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 pr̄at, 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:--

Cristenum cyninge ge-byreð on cristenre þeode, þæt he sy eal swa hit riht is folces frofer, ⁊ rihtwis hyrde ofer cristene heorde, ⁊ hym ge-byreð þæt he eallum mægene cristendom rære, ⁊ Godes cyrcan æghwar georne fyrðrie ⁊ friðrie, ⁊ eal cristen folc sibbie ⁊ sehte mid rihtre lage, swa he geornost mæge, ⁊ þurh ælc þing riht-wisnesse lufie, for Gode ⁊ for worolde. For þam þurh þæt he sceal sylf fyrmest ge-þeon, ⁊ his þeodscype eac swa, þe he riht lufige, for Gode ⁊ for worolde. ⁊ him ge-byreð þæt he geornlice fylste þam þe riht willan, ⁊ á hetelicest yre þam þe þryres wyllan.

He sceal mán dæde men þreagean þearle, mid woroldlicre steore; ⁊ he sceal ryperas ⁊ reaferas ⁊ worold-struderas hatian ⁊ hynan; ⁊ eallum Godes feondum styrnlice wiðstandan; ⁊ ægðer he sceal beon mid rihte ge milde ge reðe, milde þam godum, ⁊ styrne þam yfelum. Ðæt bið cyninges riht, ⁊ cynelic ge-wuna, ⁊ þæt sceal on þeode swyþost ge-fremian. La! þurh hwæt sceal Godes þeowum ⁊ Godes þearfum frið ⁊ fultum cuman, butan þurh Crist ⁊ þurh cristenne cyning? Ðurh cyninges wisdom folc wyrð ge-sælig, ge-sundful, ⁊ sigefæst, ⁊ þy sceal wis cyning Cristendom ⁊ cynedom miclian ⁊ mærsian, ⁊ á he sceal hæþendom hindrian ⁊ hyrwan.

He sceal boc-larum hlystan swyþe georne, ⁊ Godes beboda geornlice healdan, ⁊ ge-lome wið witan wisdom smeagan, gyf he gode wile rihtlice hyran. ⁊ gif hwa to þam stræt sy ahwar on þeode, þæt riht nelle healdan swa swa he scolde, ac Godes lage wyrde, oððe folc lage myrre, þonne cyþe hit man þam cynge, gif man þæt nyde scyle, ⁊ he þonne sona ræde ymbe þa bote ⁊ ge-wylde hine georne, to þam þe his þearf sy huru unþances, gif he elles ne mæge. ⁊ do swa him þearf is, clænsige his þeode, for Gode ⁊ for worolde, gif he Godes miltse ge-earnian wylle.

It behoves a Christian King in a Christian people, that he
be all as it is right the people’s protector, and a just
shepherd over the Christian flock, and it behoves him that he
with all his might raise Christendom, and advance and protect
God’s church everywhere diligently, and pacify and reconcile
with just law all Christian people, as he most earnestly
may, and love justice in every thing, before God and before
the world. Because by that he shall profit himself in the
first place, and also his people, whom let him love rightly,
before God and before the world. And it behoveth him that he
diligently help those who wish for justice, and ever most
hatefully persecute those who wish for wrong. He shall punish
men severely for evil deeds, with secular punishment; and he
shall hate and put down thieves and robbers and oppressors of
the world; and sternly resist all God’s enemies; and he shall
be with justice both mild and severe, mild to the good and
stern to the bad. This is the king’s right, and the manner of
a king, and this shall be most efficient in the people. Lo!
through what shall peace and help come to God’s servants and
to God’s poor, except through Christ and through a Christian
king? Through the king’s wisdom the people shall be happy,
prosperous, and victorious, and on that account shall a
wise king enlarge and increase Christianity and royalty,
and ever he shall hinder and persecute heathendom. He shall
listen very diligently to scholars, and diligently hold God’s
commandments, and frequently search wisdom from his witans,
if he will rightly hear what is good. And if any one openly
be any where in the people, that will not hold justice as
he should, but infringes God’s law, or obstructs the law of
the people, then let people declare it to the king, if they
would extinguish that violence, and there let them soon take
counsel for the amends, and subdue him diligently, until that
he be reduced at last by force, if he may not otherwise.
And let him do as it is needful for him, purify his people,
before God and before the world, if he will earn God’s mercy.

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

Ælc riht cynestol stent on þrim stapelum, þe fullice ariht
stænt. An is _Oratores_, ⁊ oðer is _Laboratores_, ⁊ þridde
is _Bellatores_. _Oratores_ syndon gebedmen, þe Gode scylan
þeowian, ⁊ dæges ⁊ nihtes for ealne þeodscype þingigan georne.
_Laboratores_ syndon weorc-men, þe tilian scylan þæs þe eal
þeodscype big sceal libban. _Bellatores_ syndon wig-men, þe eard
scylon werian, wiglice mid wæpnum. On þyssum þrim stapelum sceal
ælc cynestol standan mid rihte on Cristenre þeode. ⁊ awacie heora
ænig, sona se stol scylfð; ⁊ ful berste heora ænig, þonne hryst
se stol nyþer, ⁊ þæt wyrð þære þeode eal to un-þearfe.

Ac staþelige man ⁊ strangige and trymme hy georne, mid wislicre
Godes lage ⁊ mid rihtlicre worold lage, þæt wyrð þam ðeodscype
to langsuman ræde. ⁊ soð is þæt ic secge, awacie se Cristendom,
sona scylfð se cynedom; ⁊ arære man un-laga ahwar on lande
oððon únsida lufige ahwar to swyþe, þæt cymð þære þeode eal to
un-þearfe. Ac do man swa hit þearf is, alecge man un-riht, ⁊ rære
up Godes riht, þæt mæg to þearfe for Gode ⁊ for worolde. _Amen._

Every just throne stands on three props, that stands
perfectly right. One is _Oratores_, and the other is
_Laboratores_, and the third is _Bellatores_. The _Oratores_
are the men of prayer, who shall serve God, and by day and
night intercede for the whole nation. The _Laboratores_ are
the workmen, who shall labour in order that all the nation
shall live thereby. The _Bellatores_ are the men of war (_i.
e._ knights), who shall defend the land, valiantly with
weapons. On these three props shall every throne stand with
justice among Christian people. And if any of them become
weakened, soon the throne wavers; and if any one of them
fail entirely, then the throne falls down, and that will
be the entire ruin of the people. But let man establish
and strengthen and confirm them diligently, with the wise
law of God and just law of the world, that will be to the
nation for a lasting counsel. And it is true what I say, if
Christendom be weakened, soon royalty wavers; and if people
raise lawlessness everywhere in the land, or love everywhere
wickedness too much, that brings the people entirely to ruin.
But let people do as it is needful, let people put down
injustice, and raise up God’s justice, that may bring it to
prosperity before God and before the world. _Amen._

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.

¶ þus quad Alfred,
Englene frovere:
May no riche king
ben onder Crist selves,
bote þif he be booc-lerid,
⁊ he writes wel kenne,
⁊ bote he cunne letteris,
lokin himselven
wu he sule his lond
laweliche holden.

¶ þus quad Helfred:
þe herl ⁊ þe heþeling
þo ben under þe King,
þe lond to leden
mid lauelich i-dedin,
boþe þe clerc ⁊ þe cnit
demen evenliche rict.
For after þat mon souit,
als inpich sal he mouin,
⁊ everiches monnes dom
to his oge dure cherricd.

¶ þus quad Alfred:
þe cnith biovit
kerliche to cnouen
for to weriin þe lond
of here ⁊ of here-gong,
þat þe riche habbe gryt,
⁊ þe cherril be in frit,
his sedis to souin,
his medis to mowen,
his plouis to drivin,
to ure alre bi-lif.
þis is þe cnichs lage,
loke þat hit wel fare.

Thus saith Alfred,
the protector of the English:
There may no just king
be under Christ himself,
unless he be book-learned,
and he know well writings,
and unless he know letters,
to look himself
how he shall his land
hold with good laws.

Thus saith Alfred:
The Earl and the Atheling
they are under the King,
the land to lead
by example of lawful deeds,
both the clerk and the knight
to judge impartially right.
For according as a man sows,
so shall he mow,
and every man’s judgment
falls at his own door.

Thus saith Alfred:
It behoves the knight
carefully to know
how to defend the land
from army and from invasion,
that the rich may have peace,
and the churl be in tranquillity,
his seeds to sow,
his meadows to mow,
to drive his ploughs,
for the sustenance of us all.
This is the knights’ law,
see that it goes well.

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.

Thanne kam ther a kyng,
knyȝthod hym ladde,
miȝt of the communes
made hym to regne.
And thanne cam kynde wit,
and clerkes he made,
for to counseillen the kyng,
and the commune save.
The kyng and knyȝthod,
and clergie bothe,
casten that the commune
sholde hemself fynde.
The commune contreved
of kynde wit craftes,
and for profit of al the peple
plowmen ordeyned,
to tilie and to travaille,
as trewe lif asketh.
The kyng and the commune,
and kynde wit the thridde,
shopen lawe and leauté,
ech man to knowe his owene.

Then came there a king,
knighthood led him,
the power of the commons
made him to reign.
And then came natural sense,
and he made clerks,
in order to counsel the king,
and to be a safeguard to the commons,
The king and knighthood,
and clergy along with them,
determined that the commons
should find themselves.
The commons contrived
arts by means of natural sense,
and for the profit of the people
ordained ploughmen,
to till and to labour,
as true life requires.
The king and the commons,
and natural sense the third,
created law and loyalty,
each man to know his own.

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.