+Cotton MS. Nero A. x.+ A small quarto volume, consisting of three
different MSS. bound together, which originally had no connection with
each other. Prefixed is an imperfect list of contents in the
hand-writing of James, the Bodley Librarian.
The first portion consists of a panegyrical oration in Latin by Justus
de Justis, on John Chedworth, archdeacon of Lincoln, dated at Verona
16th July, 1468. It occupies thirty-six folios, written on vellum, and
is the original copy presented by the author.
The second portion is that we are more immediately concerned with. It is
described by James as “_Vetus poema Anglicanum, in quo sub insomnii
figmento multa ad religionem et mores spectantia explicantur_,” and this
account, with some slight changes, is adopted by Smith and Planta, in
their catalogues; both of whom assign it to the fifteenth century. It
will appear, by what follows, that no less than four distinct poems have
been confounded together by these writers.
This portion of the volume extends from fol. 37 to fol. 126, inclusive,
and is written by one and the same hand, in a small, sharp, irregular
character, which is often, from the paleness of the ink, and the
contractions used, difficult to read. There are no titles or rubrics,
but the divisions are marked by large initial letters of blue,
flourished with red, and several illuminations, coarsely executed, serve
by way of illustration, each of which occupies a page.
1. Four of these are prefixed to the first poem. In the first the
Author is represented slumbering in a meadow, by the side of a
streamlet, clad in a long red gown, having falling sleeves, turned
up with white, and a blue hood attached round the neck.
In the second the same person appears, drawn on a larger scale, and
standing by the stream. In the third he occurs nearly in the same
position, with his hands raised, and on the opposite side a lady
dressed in white, in the costume of Richard the Second’s and Henry
the Fourth’s time, buttoned tight up to the neck, with long hanging
sleeves. Her hair is plaited on each side, and on her head is a
crown. In the fourth we see the author kneeling by the water, and
beyond the stream is depicted a castle or palace, on the embattled
wall of which appears the same lady, with her arm extended towards
him.
The poem commences on fol. 39, and consists of one hundred and one
twelve-line stanzas,[68] every five of which conclude with the same
line, and are connected by the iteration of a leading expression. It
concludes on fol. 55b.
2. Then follow two more illuminations; in the first of which Noah
and his family are represented in the ark; in the second the prophet
Daniel expounding the writing on the wall to the affrighted
Belshazzar and his queen. These serve as illustrations to the second
poem, which begins at fol. 57, and is written in long alliterative
lines. It concludes on fol. 82.
3. Two illuminations precede, as before; one of which represents the
sailors throwing the prophet Jonas into the sea, the other depicts
the prophet in the attitude of preaching to the people of Nineveh.
The poem is in the same metre as the last, and commences at fol. 83.
It is occupied wholly with the story of Jonas, as applicable to the
praise of meekness and patience; and ends on fol. 90.
4. The Romance intitled _Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyȝt_ follows,
fol. 91. Prefixed is an illumination of a headless knight on
horseback, carrying his head by its hair in his right hand, and
looking benignly at an odd-eyed bill-man before him; while from a
raised structure above, a king armed with a knife, his queen, an
attendant with a sabre, and another bill-man scowling looks on. Here
and elsewhere the only colours used are green, red, blue, and
yellow. It ends on fol. 124b., and at the conclusion, in a later
hand, is written “Hony soit q̃ mal penc,” which may, perhaps, allude
to the illumination on the opposite page, fol. 125, representing the
stolen interview between the wife of the Grene Knyȝt and Sir
Gawayne. Above the lady’s head is written:
Mi mind is mukel on on, þ{a}t wil me noȝt amende,
Sum time was trewe as ston, & fro schame couþ{e} hir defende.
It does not appear very clearly how these lines apply to the painting.
Two additional illuminations follow; in the first of which Gawayne is
seen approaching the _Grene Chapel_, whilst his enemy appears above,
wielding his huge axe; and in the second Sir Gawayne, fully equipped in
armour, is represented in the presence of king Arthur and queen
Guenever, after his return to the court.
The third and concluding portion of the Cotton volume extends from fol.
127 to fol. 140b, inclusive, and consists of theological excerpts, in
Latin, written in a hand of the end of the thirteenth century. At the
conclusion is added _Epitaphium de Ranulfo, abbate Ramesiensi_, who was
abbot from the year 1231 to 1253, and who is erroneously called _Ralph_
in the _Monasticon_, vol. ii. p. 548, new ed.
[Footnote 67: Taken with some few alterations from Sir F. Madden’s
“Syr Gawayn.”]
[Footnote 68: A line, however, is missing from the MS. on fol.
55b. See page 15.]