Thei have no puteye of the puple
That parcel-mele mote biggen,
Thauh thei take hem untydy thyng,
Thei hold it no treson;
And thauh thei fulle nat ful,
That for lawe y-seelde,
He gripeth therfor as grete
As for the grete treuthe.
Meny sondry sorwes
In cyté fallen ofte,
Bothe thorw fyur and flod,
And al for false puple,
That bygylen good men,
And greveth hem wrongliche,
The wiche cryen on hure knees
That Christ hem avenge
Here on this erthe,
Other elles on helle,
That so bygyleth hem of here good,
And God on hem sendeth
Feveres, other fouler hyveles,
Other fur on here houses,
Moreyne, other meschaunce.
And menye tyme hit falleth,
That innocence ys y-herde
In hevene amonge seyntes,
That louten for hem to oure Lorde,
And to oure Lady bothe,
To granten gylours on erthe
Grace to amende,
And have here penaunce on pure erthe,
And noght in the pyne of helle.
And thenne falleth the fur
On false menne houses,
And good men for here gultes
Gloweth on fuyr after.
Al thys have we seyen,
That some tyme thorw a brewere
Many burgages y-brent,
And bodyes therynne,
And thorw a candel cloming
In a cursed place,
Fel a-don and for-brende
Forth al the rewe,
For-thy mayres that maken free-men,
Me thynken that thei ouhten
For to spure and aspye,
For eny speche of selver,
What manere mester
Of merchaundise he usede,
Er he were underfonge free
And felawe in youre rolles.
Hit ys nought semly, for soth,
In cyté ne in borw-ton,
That usurers other regratours
For eny kynne geftes,
Be fraunchised for a free-man,
And have fals name.
1548. Job, xv, 34.
1611. _Youre fader she felled._ An allusion to the deposition and death of
Edward II.
1652. Provisors were people who obtained from the pope the reversion of
ecclesiastical dignities, and several severe statutes were made against
them, one well-known one by Edward III.
1674. _Love-daies._ See further on, the note on l. 5634.
1735. _In Normandie._ 1750. _To Caleis._ Allusions, no doubt, to recent
events in the wars of Edward III. See the Introduction.
1769. _Caytiflyche thow, Conscience, | Consailedist the kyng leten | In hus
enemys honde | Ys heritage of Fraunce._ Whit.
1827. Psalm xiv, 1.
1835. Ps. xiv, 2.
1845. Ps. xiv, 5.
1862. Psalm xxv, 10.
1875. Matth. vi, 5.
1885. _Regum._ The reference is to 1 Sam. xv, which in the old Vulgate was
called _primus liber regum_.
1985, 2019. Isaiah ii, 4.
2043. Prov. xxii, 9. Victoriam et honorem acquiret qui dat munera; animam
autem aufert accipientium.
2099. _lernest._ Whitaker's text has _ledest_.
2149. Psalm xiii, 3. The quotation which follows is from the same verse.
2171. _his sone._ The Black Prince, who was a great favourite with the
people.
2175-2186. The variation in Whitaker's text deserves notice. This passage
there stands as follows:--
Thenne cam Pees into parlement,
And putte up a bylle.
How that Wrong wilfullich
Hadde hus wif for-leyen;
And how he ravysed Rose,
The riche widewe, by nyghte;
And Margarete of here maidenhod,
As he met hure late.
'Both my goos, and my grys,
And my gras he taketh,
Ich dar nouht for is felaweshepe,
In faith!' Pees saide,
'Bere sickerlich eny selver
To seint Gyles doune;
He watteth ful wel,
Wan ich sulfere taketh,
Wat wey ich wende.
Wel yerne he aspieth,
To robbe me and to ryfle me,
Yf ich ride softe.
Yut he is bolde for to borwe,
And baldelich he payeth:
He borwede of me Bayarde,' etc.
2177. _How Wrong ayeins his wille._ What follows is a true picture of the
oppressions to which the peasantry were frequently subjected by the king's
purveyors, and by others in power. See the Political Songs, pp. 377, 378;
and Hartshorne's Ancient Metrical Tales, pp. 41, 42.
2197. _taillé_, a tally. See the Political Songs, as above quoted. Whitaker
translates this passage, which stands thus in his edition,
And taketh me bote a taile
For ten quarters other twelve,
by, "and for ten or twelve quarters of it repaid me but _a sheep's tail_!"
2298. _in my stokkes._ In my prison. Prisons were usually furnished with
stocks, in which, instead of fetters, prisoners were set.
2323. _Beneyt._ St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order; St.
Bernard, of the order of Cistercians; St. Francis, of the Franciscans.
2335. _Galis._ Compostello in Galicia.
2473. _Passus Quintus._ In Whitaker's text, this section, which is called
_Passus Sextus_, is prefaced by the following long exordium, intended as a
satire against the mendicant friars:--
Thus ich awaked, God wot!
Wanne ich wonede on Cornhulle,
Kytte and ich in a cote,
Clothede as a lollere:
And a lytel ich let by,
Leyve me, for sothe,
Among lolleres of London,
And lewede heremytes.
For ich made of tho men,
As Reson me tauhte.
For as ich cam by Conscience,
Wit Reson ich mette,
In an hote hervest,
Wenne ich hadde myn hele,
And lymes to labore with,
And lovede wel fare,
And no dede to do
Bote drynke and to slepe,
In hele and in unité,
On me aposede,
Romynge in remembraunce.
Thus Reson me arated:
'Canstow serven,' he seide,
'Other syngen in a churche?
Other loke for my cokers?
Other to the carte picche?
Mowe, other mowen,
Other make bond to sheves?
Repe, other be a repe-reyve
And arise erliche?
Other have an horne and be hay-warde,
And liggen out a nyghtes,
And kepe my corn in my croft
From pykers and theeves?
Other shap shoon other clothes?
Other shep other kyne kepe?
Eggen, other harwen,
Other swyne other gees dryve?
Other eny kyne craft
That to the comune nudeth,
Hem that bed-reden be
Bylyve to fynde?'
'Certes,' ich seyde,
'And so me God helpe!
Ich am to waik to worche
With sykel other with sythe;
And to long, leyf me,
Lowe for to stoupe,
To worchen as workeman
Eny wyle to dure.'
'Then havest thow londes to lyve by,'
Quath Reson, 'other lynage ryche
That fynden the thy fode?
For an hydel man thow semest,
A spendour that spende mot,
Other a spille-tyme;
Other beggest thy lyve
Aboute ate menne hatches;
Other faitest upon Fridays
Other feste dayes in churches;
The wiche is lollerene lyf,
That lytel is preysed
Ther ryghtfulnesse rewardeth
Ryght as men deserveth.
_Reddit unicuique juxta opera sua._
Ether thow ert broke, so may be,
In body other in membre,
Other y-maymed thorow som myshap.
Werby thow myght be excusede.'
'Wanne ich yong was,' quath ich,
'Many yer hennes,
My fader and my frendes
Founden me to scole,
Tyl ich wiste wyterliche
Wat holy wryt menede,
And wat is best for the body,
As the bok telleth,
And sykerest for the soule,
By so ich wolle continue.
And yut fond ich never in faith,
Sytthen my frendes deyden,
Lyf that me lyked,
Bote in thes long clothes.
Hyf ich by laboure sholde lyf,
And lyflode deserven,
That labour that ich lerned best
Therwhit lyve ich sholde.
_In eadem vocatione qua vocati estis._
And ich lyve in Londene
And on Londen bothe.
The lomes that ich laboure with
And lyflode deserve,
Ys paternoster and my prymer,
_Placebo et dirige_,
And my sauter some tyme,
And my sevene psalmes.
Thus ich synge for hure soules
Of suche as me helpen.
And tho that fynden me my fode
Vochen saf, ich trowe,
To be wolcome wan ich come
Other wyle in a monthe,
Now with hym, and now with hure,
And thus gate ich begge
Withoute bagge other botel,
Bote my wombe one.
And also, moreover,
Me thynketh, syre Reson,
Men sholde constreyne
No clerke to knavene werkes.
For by law of Livitici,
That oure Lord ordeynede,
Clerkes that aren crowned
Of kynde understondyng,
Sholde nother swynke ne swete,
Ne swere at enquestes,
Ne fyghte in no vauntwarde,
Ne hus fo greve.
_Nou reddas malum pro malo._
For it ben aires of hevene,
And alle that ben crounede
And in queer in churches,
Cristes owene mynestres.
_Dominus pars hæreditatis meæ
Et alibi, Clementia non constringit._
Hit bycometh for clerkus
Crist for to serven;
And knaves uncrounede
To cart and to worche.
For shold no clerk be crouned,
Bote yf he y-come were
Of franklens and freemen
And of folke y-weddede.
Bondmen and bastardes,
And beggers children,
Thuse bylongeth to labour.
And lordes children sholde serven,
Bothe God and good men,
As here degree asketh;
Some to synge masses,
Others sitten and wryte,
Rede and receyve
That Reson oughte spende.
And sith bondemenne barnes
Han be made bisshopes,
And barnes bastardes
Han ben archidekenes;
And sopers and here sones
For selver han be knyghtes,
And lordene sones here laboreres,
And leid here rentes to wedden
For the ryght of the reame,
Ryden ayens oure enemys,
In consort of the comune
And the kynges worshep.
And monkes and moniales.
That mendinauns sholden fynde,
Han mad here kyn knyghtes,
And knyght fees purchase.
Popes and patrones
Povre gentil blod refuseth,
And taken Symondes sonne
Seyntewarie to kepe.
Lyf-holynesse and love
Han ben longe hennes,
And wole, til hit be wered out,
Or otherwise y-chaunged.
For-thy rebuke me ryht nouht,
Reson, ich yow praye;
For in my conscience ich knowe
What Crist wolde that ich wroughte.
Preyers of perfyt man,
And penaunce discret,
Is the levest labour
That oure Lord pleseth.
_Non de solo_, ich seyde,
For sothe _vivit homo,
Nec in pane et pabulo_,
The paternoster witnesseth.
_Fiat voluntas tua_
Fynt ous alle thynges.'
Quath Conscience, 'By Crist!
Ich can nat see this lyeth.
Ac it semeth nouht perfitnesse
In cyties for to begge,
Bote he be obediencer
To pryour other to mynstre.'
'That ys soth,' ich seide,
'And so ich by-knowe
That ich have tynt tyme,
And tyme mys-spended.
And yut ich hope, as he
That ofte haveth chaffarede,
That ay hath lost and lost,
And at the latest hym happeth
He bouhte suche a bargayn
He was the bet evere,
And sette hus lost at a lef
At the laste ende;
Suche a wynnynge hym warth
Thorw wyrdes of his grace.
_Simile est regnum coelorum thesauro
abscondito in agro, etc._
_Mulier quæ inveniet dragmam, etc._
So hope ich to have of hym
That his almyghty
A gobet of hus grace,
And bygynne a tyme
That alle tymes of my tyme
To profit shal turne.'
'Ich rede the,' quath Reson tho,
'Rathe the to bygynne
The lyf that ys lowable
And leel to the soule.'
'Ye, and continue,' quath Conscience.
And to the church ich wente.
And to the church gan ich go,
God to honourie,
Byfor the crois on my knees
Knocked ich my brest,
Sykinge for my sennes,
Segginge my paternoster,
Wepyng and wailinge,
Tyl ich was a-slepe
Thenne mete me moche more
Than ich byfor tolde,
Of the mater that ich mete fyrst
On Malverne hulles.
Ich sawe the feld ful of folk
Fram ende to the other;
And Reson revested
Ryght as a pope,
And Conscience his crocer
Byfore the kynge stande.
Reson reverentliche
Byfor all the reame
Prechede and provede
That thuse pestilences
Was for pure synne, etc.
_See_ l. 2497, of the present edition.
2497. _thise pestilences._--There were three great pestilences in the reign
of Edward III, the terrible effects of which were long fresh in people's
minds, and they were often taken as points from which to date common
events. Two of them had passed at the period when the Visions of Piers
Ploughman are believed to have been written, and are the ones here alluded
to. Of the first, or great pestilence, which lasted from 31 May, 1348, to
29 Sept. 1349, the contemporary chroniclers give a fearful account. In a
register of the Abbey of Gloucester (MS. Cotton. Domit. A. VIII, fol. 124),
we have the following entry:--"Anno Domini m^o.ccc^o.xlviij^o. anno vero
regni regis Edwardi III, post conquestum xxij^o. incepit magna pestilentia
in Anglia, ita quod _vix tertia pars_ hominum remansit." This pestilence,
known as the _black plague_, ravaged most parts of Europe, and is said to
have carried off in general about two-thirds of the people. It was the
pestilence which gave rise to the Decameron of Boccaccio. For an
interesting account of it, see Michelet's Hist. de France, iii, 342-349.
The second pestilence lasted from 15 Aug. 1361, to May 3, 1362, and was
much less severe. The third pestilence raged from 2 July to 29 September,
1369.
2500. _The south-westrene wynd | on Saterday at even._ Tyrwhitt, in his
Preface to Chaucer, first pointed out the identity of this wind with the
one mentioned by the old chroniclers (Thorn, Decem. Script. col. 2122;
Walsingham, p. 178; the continuator of Adam Murimuth, p. 115), as occurring
on the evening of Jan. 15, 1362. The fifteenth of January in that year was
a Saturday. The following is the account given by Walsingham: "Anno gratiæ
millesimo trecentesimo sexagesimo secundo, qui est annus regni regis
Edwardi a conquestu tertii tricesimus sextus, tenuit rex natale apud
Wyndesor, et quinto decimo die sequente ventus vehemens, nothus auster
affricus, tanta vi erupit, quod flatu suo domos altas, ædificia sublimia,
turres, et campanilia, arbores, et alia quæque durabilia et fortia
violenter prostravit pariter et impegit, in tantum quod residua quæ modo
extant, sunt hactenus infirmiora." The continuator of Murimuth is more
particular as to the time of the day, and in other respects more exact.
"A.D. m. ccc. lxii, xv die Januarii, _circa horam vesperarum_, ventus
vehemens notus australis affricus tanta rabie erupit," etc.
2529. _And fecche Felis his wyf | Fro wyuene pyne._ MS. Trin. Col. 2.
2547. This was a very old and very common proverb in England. Thus in the
Proverbs of Hending (Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 110):--
Ne bue thi child never so duere,
Ant hit wolle unthewes lerne,
Bet hit other whyle;
Mote hit al habben is wille,
Woltou nultou hit wolle spille,
Ant bicome a fule.
_Luef child lore byhoveth_;
Quoth Hendyng.
The proverb is a little varied in another copy of these "Proverbs," p. 194
of the same work. There is a German proverb closely resembling it, "Je
lieberes Kind, je schärfere Ruthe."
2551. Prov. xiii, 24.
2569. After this line Whitaker's text has inserted a passage, answering
nearly word for word (except in the few first lines) to the passage in our
text, ll. 6218-6274.