_a-strout_, sticking out (?).--282. _allermost_, most of
all.--283. _newe taille_, new cut.--284. _raye_, cloth,
garment. _overthuert_, crosswise.--286. _ben i-laft wid_,
have separated from, or have sent away.--289. _shirreves_,
sheriffs.--290. _kunnen_, know how, they can.--292.
_mot-halle_, hall of meeting, the justice-hall.--293. _wouh_,
wrong.--294. _i-whited_, whitened.
The stiffeste sholen bileve at hom for .x. shillinges or .xii.,
And sende forth a wrecche that may noht helpe himselve
at nede.
Thus is the king deceyved, and pore men shent for mede. 300
And if the king in his lond maketh a taxacioun,
And everi man is i-set to a certein raunczoun,
Hit shal be so for-pinched, to-toilled, and to-twiht,
That halvendel shal gon in the fendes fliht
off helle;
Ther beth so manye parteners may no tunge telle.
A man of .xl. poundes-worth god is leid to .xii. pans rounde;
And also much paieth another that poverte hath brouht to grounde,
And hath an hep of girles sittende aboute the flet.
Godes curs moten hii have! but that be wel set 310
and sworn,
That the pore is thus i-piled, and the riche forborn.
Ac if the king hit wiste, I trowe he wolde be wroth,
Hou the pore beth i-piled, and hu the silver goth;
Hit is so deskatered bothe hider and thidere,
That halvendel shal ben stole ar hit come togidere,
and acounted;
An if a pore man speke a word, he shal be foule afrounted.
GLOSSARY.--297. _bileve_, remain.--300. _shent_, ruined.
_mede_, reward, bribery.--303. _for-pinched_, pinched to
pieces. _to-toilled_, laboured away. _to-twiht_, twitted
away.--304. _halvendel_, one half.--307. _god_, goods. _pans_,
pence.--309. _flet_, floor.--312. _i-piled_, robbed.--315.
_deskatered_, scattered about.--318. _afrounted_, accosted
(French, _affronter_).
Ac were the king wel avised, and wolde worche bi skile,
Litel nede sholde he have swiche pore to pile; 320
Thurfte him noht seke tresor so fer, he mihte finde ner,
At justices, at shirreves, cheiturs, and chaunceler,
and at les;
Swiche mihte finde him i-nouh, and late pore men have pes.
For who so is in swich ofice, come he nevere so pore,
He fareth in a while as thouh he hadde silver ore;
Theih bien londes and ledes, ne may hem non astonde.
What sholde pore men [ben] i-piled, when swiche men beth in londe
so fele?
Theih pleien wid the kinges silver, and breden wod for wele. 330
Ac shrewedeliche for sothe hii don the kinges heste;
Whan everi man hath his part, the king hath the leste.
Everi man is aboute to fille his owen purs;
And the king hath the leste part, and he hath al the curs,
wid wronge.
God sende treuthe into this lond, for tricherie dureth to longe.
And baillifs and bedeles under the shirreve,
Everich fondeth hu he may pore men most greve.
The pore men beth over al somouned on assise;
And the riche sholen sitte at hom, and ther wole silver rise 340
to shon.
Godes curs moten hii have, but that be wel don!
GLOSSARY.--319. _skile_, reason, right.--320. _swiche_,
such.--321. _thurfte him_, need he. _ner_, near.--322.
_cheiturs_, escheators.--324. _pes_, peace.--327. _bien_, buy.
_ledes_, possessions. _astonde_, withstand.--329. _fele_,
many.--330. _wod_, wood.--331. _heste_, command.--332. _leste_,
least.--338. _fondeth_, tries, endeavours.--341. _shon_, to be
shewn, to be seen.--342. _moten_, may.
And countours in benche that stondeth at the barre,
Theih wolen bigile the in thin hond, but if thu be the warre.
He wole take .xl. pans for to do doun his hod,
And speke for the a word or to, and don the litel god,
I trouwe.
And have he turned the bak, he makketh the a mouwe.
Attourneis in cuntré theih geten silver for noht;
Theih maken men biginne that they nevere hadden thouht; 350
And whan theih comen to the ring, hoppe if hii kunne.
Al that theih muwen so gete, al thinketh hem i-wonne
wid skile.
Ne triste no man to hem, so false theih beth in the bile.
And sumtime were chapmen that treweliche bouhten and solde;
And nu is thilke assise broke, and nas noht ȝore holde.
Chaffare was woned to be meintened wid treuthe,
And nu is al turned to treccherie, and that is muchel reuthe
to wite,
That alle manere godnesse is thus adoun i-smite. 360
Unnethe is nu eny man that can eny craft,
That he nis a party los in the haft;
For falsnesse is so fer forth over al the londe i-sprunge,
GLOSSARY.--345. _pans_, pence.--348. _mouwe_, mow, contemptuous
gesture.--352. _muwen_, may. _i-wonne_, won.--353. _skile_,
reason.--354. _triste_, trust. _beth_, are.--355. _chapmen_,
merchants. _treweliche_, truly.--356. _nas noht ȝore holde_,
has not been held a long time.--357. _Chaffare_, traffic.--358.
_muchel reuthe_, great pity.--361. _can_, knows.--362. _party
los in the haft_,....
That wel neih nis no treuthe in hond, ne in tunge,
ne in herte;
And tharfore nis no wonder thouh al the world it smerte.
Ther was a gamen in Engelond that durede ȝer and other;
Erliche upon the Monenday uch man bishrewed other;
So longe lastede that gamen among lered and lewed, 369
That nolde theih nevere stinten, or al the world were bishrewed,
i-wis;
And therfore al that helpe sholde, fareth the more amis.
So that for that shrewedom that regneth in the lond,
I drede me that God us hath for-laft out of his hond,
Thurw wederes that he hath i-sent cold and unkinde;
And ȝit ne haveth no man of him the more minde
ariht;
Unnethe is any man aferd of Godes muchele miht.
God hath ben wroth wid the world, and that is wel i-sene;
For al that whilom was murthe, is turned to treie and tene. 380
He sente us plenté i-nouh, suffre whiles we wolde,
Off alle manere sustenaunce grouwende upon molde
so thicke;
And evere aȝeines his godnesse we weren i-liche wicke.
GLOSSARY.--367. _gamen_, game. _ȝer and other_, a year and an
other, _i. e._ two years.--369. _lered and lewed_, learned
and unlearned, clergy and laity.--370. _nolde theih_, they
would not. _stinten_, desist. _or_, before. _bishrewed_,
accursed.--373. _shrewedom_, cursedness.--374. _for-laft_,
dismissed.--375. _Thurw_, through. _wederes_, weathers.--380.
_treie and tene_, vexation and sorrow.--382. _grouwende_,
growing. _molde_, earth.--384. _i-liche wicke_, equally wicked.
Men sholde noht sumtime finde a boy for to bere a lettre,
That wolde eten eny mete, but it were the betre.
For beof ne for bakoun, ne for swich stor of house,
Unnethe wolde eny don a char, so were theih daungerouse
for wlaunke;
And siththen bicom ful reulich, that thanne weren so ranke. 390
For tho God seih that the world was so over gart,
He sente a derthe on eorthe, and made hit ful smart.
A busshel of whete was at foure shillinges or more,
And so men mihte han i-had a quarter noht ȝore
i-gon;
So can God make wane, ther rathere was won.
And thanne gan bleiken here ble, that arst lowen so loude,
And to waxen al hand-tame that rathere weren so proude.
A mannes herte mihte blede for to here the crie
Off pore men that gradden, “Allas! for hungger I die 400
up rihte!”
This auhte make men aferd of Godes muchele miht.
And after that ilke wante com eft wele i-nouh,
And plenté of alle gode grouwende on uch a bouh.
Tho god ȝer was aȝein i-come, and god chep of corn,
Tho were we also muchele shrewes as we were beforn,
GLOSSARY.--388. _don a char_, do a turn, or task.--389.
_wlaunke_, pride.--390. _siththen_, since. _reulich_,
pitiful.--391. _tho_, when. _over gart_, over proud.--394-95.
_noht ȝore i-gon_, not long ago.--397. _gan bleiken here
ble_, their complexion turned pale. _arst lowen_, formerly
laughed.--398. _rathere_, earlier, before.--400. _gradden_,
said lamentingly.--403. _eft_, again.--405-6. _Tho ... tho_,
when ... then.
or more;
Also swithe we forȝeten his wreche and his lore.
Tho com ther another sorwe that spradde over al the lond;
A thusent winter ther bifore com nevere non so strong. 410
To binde alle the mene men in mourning and in care,
The orf deiede al bidene, and maden the lond al bare,
so faste,
Com nevere wrecche into Engelond that made men more agaste.
And tho that qualm was astin[t] of beste that bar horn,
Tho sente God on eorthe another derthe of corn,
That spradde over al Engelond bothe north and south,
And made seli pore men afingred in here mouth
ful sore;
And ȝit unnethe any man dredeth God the more. 420
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.