Line 1. Bale, quoting the first two lines, translates them _In æstivo
tempore, cum sol caleret_. The printers of the early editions altered
_softe_ to _set_.
4, 5. _shroudes ... sheep_. The other text of this poem reads _Yshop into
shrobbis | as y shepherde were_. See the Introduction.
28. The text represented in Whitaker's edition here differs much from the
other. Our dreamer is there introduced very unadvisedly telling us of this
tower, 'truthe was therynne,' a piece of information which he only learns
afterwards from dame 'Holy Churche:'
Ich was aferd of hure face,
Thauh hue faire were,
And saide, mercy, madame,
Wat may this be to mene,
_The tour upon toft_, quath hue,
Treuthe ys therynne.
(Passus Secundus, ed. Whit.)
Where there is an evident reference to the "tour on a toft," which has been
previously mentioned in the more correct text.
43, 44. Dr. Whitaker, misunderstanding this passage, has printed 'ther' for
'that,' which is in all the MSS. In his gloss, he interprets 'wonnen' by
'to dwell;' and he paraphrases the sentence, 'some destroying themselves by
gluttony and excess,' translating it, I suppose, "And there dwell wasters
whom gluttony destroyeth." The meaning is, the ploughmen worked hard, "and
obtained (wan) that which wasters destroy with their gluttony." The writer
of the second Trin. Coll. MS. seems to have understood the meaning of the
passage, but not the words, and has 'whom that thise wastours.'
68. I have here to preserve the alliteration, adopted 'giltles,' from the
second Trin. Coll. MS., and one of the printed editions, in place of
'synneles,' which the other MS. has. Though we find instances of
irregularity in the sub-letters (or alliterative letters in the first line)
in Pierce Plowman, the chief letter is not so often neglected. In
Whitaker's text the account of the minstrels is very confused. Here the
minstrels get gold by their song without sin, but the japers and janglers
are condemned as getting their living by what is afterwards called
'turpiloquium,' when they had ability to get it in an honester way.
88. _Roberdes knaves._ These are the same class of malefactors who are
named _Roberdesmen_ in the Statutes, 5 Ed. III. c. 14. "Et diverses
roberies, homicides, et felonies ont esté faitz eintz ces heures par gentz
qui sont appellez Roberdesmen, Wastours, et Draghelatche, si est acordé et
establi que si homme eit suspecion de mal de nuls tielx, soit-il de jour
soit-il de nuyt, que meintenant soient arestus par les conestables des
villes." This law was confirmed by 7 Ric. II. c. 5, where the word is again
introduced. Whitaker supposes, without any reason, the 'Roberdes knaves' to
be Robin Hood's men. The other Trin. Coll. MS. reads _Robertis knaves_.
93. _Seint Jame._ St. James of Compostello was a famous resort of pilgrims
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. An amusing song on the
inconveniences which attended the voyage is printed in the Reliquiæ
Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 2.
107. _Walsyngham._ The shrine of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham in Norfolk,
also enjoyed an extraordinary celebrity, as a resort of English pilgrims.
It appears that the first complaints of the Wicliffite reformers were
strongly expressed against this pilgrimage. "Lolardi sequaces Johannis
Wiclif ... prædicaverunt peregrinationes non debere fieri, et præcipue apud
Walsingham," etc. Th. Walsingh. p. 340.
116. The four orders of friars were, of course, the Franciscans,
Augustines, Dominicans, and Carmelites.
131. These four lines stand thus in Whitaker's text, _Bote holy churche and
charité | choppe a-doun swich shryvers, | the moste myschif of molde |
mounteth up faste._ Whitaker has translated it quite wrong, "May true
charity and church discipline knock down these, the greatest pests on
earth, who are rapidly increasing!" The simple meaning of the passage, as
given by Whitaker, is, "Unless holy church and charity chop down such
shrivers (confessors), the greatest mischief of the world is increasing
fast." The present text affords a better and equally clear meaning, "Unless
holy church and they hold better together, the greatest mischief in the
world is increasing, or gaining ground very fast."
141. _of falshede of fastynge_, the comma has slipped in by accident. The
meaning is "of breaking fast-days."