and he describes the class, "they who take solace and mirth when they
sit together in fellowship," and deem it "wisdom for to witten" (to
know)
The state of the land, and haf it written.
The Hermit of Hampole expressly wrote his theological poems for the
people, for those who could understand only English.
At a period when we glean nothing from any literature of the people, we
find that it had a positive existence; for two chronicles and a
collection of tales and theological poems were furnished for them in
their native idiom, by writers who unquestionably sought for celebrity.
The people, too, had what in every age has been their peculiar
property,--all the fragmentary wisdom of antiquity in those "Few words
to the Wise," so daily useful, or so apt in the contingencies of human
life; proverbs and Aesopian fables, delightedly transmitted from father
to son. The memories of the people were stored with short narratives;
for a startling tale was not easily forgotten. They had songs of trades,
appropriated to the different avocations of labourers. These were a
solace to the solitary task-worker, or threw a cheering impulse when
many were employed together. Such HALL aptly describes as