[41] hillside.
[42] disguised in sad attire.
[43] violent.
[44] oppressed.
[45] formerly.
[46] cursed.
[47] frail.
[48] sufferest.
[49] fair, _lit._ shining.
[50] Robs.
[51] Concealed.
[52] by myself.
[53] High.
[54] Without delay.
[55] idleness.
[56] rolling.
[57] scowling.
[58] rude, boisterous.
[59] bellow.
COMPLAYNT OF THE COMMOUNWEILL OF SCOTLAND.
And thus as we wer talking, to and fro,
We saw a bousteous berne cum ouir the bent[60],
Bot[61] hors, on fute, als fast as he mycht go,
Quhose rayment wes all raggit, revin, and rent,
With visage leyne, as he had fastit Lent:
And fordwart fast his wayis he did advance,
With ane rycht melancolious countynance,
With scrip on hip, and pyikstaff in his hand,
As he had purposit to passe fra hame.
Quod I, “Gude-man, I wald faine understand,
Geve that ye plesit, to wyt[62] quhat were your name?”
Quod he, “My Sonne, of that I think gret schame,
Bot, sen thow wald of my name have ane feill[63],
Forsuith, thay call me John the Commounweill.”
“Schir Commounweill, quho hes yow so disgysit?”
Quod I: “or quhat makis yow so miserabyll?
I have marvell to se yow so supprysit[64],
The quhilk that I have sene so honorabyll.
To all the warld ye have bene profitabyll,
And weill honourit in everilk[65] natioun:
How happinnis now your tribulatioun?”
“Allace!” quod he, “thow seis how it dois stand
With me, and quhow I am disherisit
Of all my grace, and mon[66] pass of Scotland,
And go, afore quhare I was cherisit.
Remane I heir, I am bot perysit[67];
For thare is few to me that takis tent[68],
That garris[69] me go so raggit, rewin, and rent:
“My tender freindis are all put to the flycht;
For Policye is fled agane in France.[70]
My syster, Justice, almaist haith tynt[71] hir sycht,
That scho can nocht hald evinly the ballance.
Plane wrang is plane capitane of ordinance,
The quhilk debarris laute[72] and reasoun;
And small remeid is found for open treasoun.
“In-to the South, allace! I was neir slane;
Ouer all the land I culd fynd no releif.
Almoist betuix the Mers and Lowmabane
I culde nocht knaw are leill man be ane theif.
To schaw thair reif[73], thift, murthour, and mischeif,
And vicious workis, it wald infect the air,
And als langsum[74] to me for tyll declair.
“In-to the Hieland I could fynd no remeid,
Bot suddantlie I wes put to exile:
Thai sweir swyngeoris[75] thay tuke of me non heid,
Nor amangs thame lat me remane are quhyle.
Als, in the Oute Ylis, and in Argyle,
Unthrift, sweirnes, falset, povertie, and stryfe
Pat Policye in dainger of hir lyfe.
“In the Lawland I come to seik refuge,
And purposit thare to mak my residence;
Bot singulare profeit gart[76] me soune disluge,
And did me gret injuries and offence,
And said to me, ‘Swyith[77], harlote, hy thee hence,
And in this countre see thow tak no curis[78],
So lang as my auctoritie induris.’
“And now I may mak no langer debait;
Nor I wate[79] nocht quhome to I suld me mene[80];
For I have socht throw all the Spirituall stait,
Quhilkis tuke na compt for to heir me complene.
Thair officiaris, thay held me at disdene;
For Symonie, he rewlis up all that rowte;
And Covatyce, that carle, gart bar me oute.
“Pryde haith chaist far frome thame Humilitie;
Devotioun is fled unto the Freris;
Sensuale plesour hes baneist Chaistitie;
Lordis of religioun, thay go lyke seculeris,
Taking more compt in tellyng thair deneris[81]
Nor thai do of thair constitutioun.
Thus are thay blyndit be ambitioun.
“Our gentyll men are all degenerat;
Liberalitie and lawte boith ar lost,
And Cowardyce with lordis is laureat,
And knychtlie Curage turnit in brag and boast.
The civele weir misgydis everilk oist[82];
Thare is nocht ellis bot ilk[83] man for hym-self;
That garris me go, thus baneist lyke ane elf.
“Tharefor, adew: I may no langer tarye.”
“Fair weill,” quod I, “and with sanct Jhone to borrow[84]!”
Bot, wyt ye weill, my hart was wounder sarye[85]
Quhen Comounweill so sopit[86] was in sorrow.
“Yit efter the nycht cumis the glaid morrow;
Quharefor, I pray yow, schaw me in certane
Quhen that ye purpose for to cum agane.”
“That questioun, it sall be sone decydit,”
Quod he, “thare sall na Scot have confortyng
Of me tyll that I see the countre gydit
Be wysedome of ane gude auld prudent Kyng,
Quhilk sall delyte him maist, abone[87] all thyng,
To put Justice tyll executioun,
And on strang traitouris mak punitioun.
“Als yit to thee I say ane-uther thyng:
I see rycht weill that proverbe is full trew,
‘Wo to the realme that hes ouer young ane King!’”
With that he turnit his bak, and said adew.
Ouer firth and fell[88] rycht fast fra me he flew,
Quhose departyng to me was displesand.[89]
With that, Remembrance tuk me be the hand,
And sone, me-thocht, scho brocht me to the roche
And to the cove quhare I began to sleip.
With that, one schip did spedalye approche,
Full plesandlie saling apone the deip,
And syne[90] did slake hir salis and gan to creip
Towart the land, anent[91] quhare that I lay.
Bot, wyt ye weill, I gat ane fellown fray[92]:
All hir cannounis sche leit craik of at onis:
Down schuke the stremaris frome the topcastell;
Thay sparit nocht the poulder nor the stonis[93];
Thay schot thair boltis, and doun thair ankeris fell;
The marenaris, thay did so youte[94] and yell,
That haistalie I stert out of my dreme,
Half in ane fray, and spedalie past hame.
And lychtlie dynit, with lyste[95] and appetyte,
Syne efter past in-tyll ane oratore,
And tuke my pen, and thare began to wryte
All the visioun that I have schawin afore.
Schir, of my dreme as now thou gettis no more,
Bot I beseik God for to send thee grace
To rewle thy realme in unitie and peace.
[60] over the open field.
[61] without.
[62] know.
[63] knowledge.
[64] oppressed.
[65] every.
[66] must.
[67] wasted, laid waste.
[68] regard.
[69] causes.
[70] An allusion to the departure of the Regent Albany.
[71] lost.
[72] loyalty.
[73] robbery.
[74] tedious.
[75] These lazy sluggards.
[76] _i.e._ personal interest caused.
[77] Quickly.
[78] cares, business.
[79] know.
[80] complain.
[81] money. _Fr._ dénier.
[82] every host.
[83] each.
[84] St. John be your surety.
[85] sorrowful.
[86] steeped.
[87] above.
[88] Over outland and mountain.
[89] From John the Commonweill, says Sibbald, it has been suggested
that Arbuthnot caught the first hint of his celebrated John Bull.
[90] presently.
[91] opposite.
[92] a cruel fright.
[93] Stones were the bullets of that age.
[94] shout.
[95] pleasure.
THE TESTAMENT AND COMPLAYNT OF OUR SOVERANE LORDIS PAPYNGO.
PROLOG.
Suppose I had ingyne[96] angelicall,
With sapience more than Salamonicall[97],
I not quhat mater put in memorie;
The poeitis auld, in style heroycall,
In breve[98] subtell termes rethorycall,
Of everlike[99] mater, tragedie and storie,
So ornatlie, to thair heych[100] laude and glorie,
Haith done indyte; quhose supreme sapience
Transcendith far the dull intellygence
Of poeitis now in-tyll our vulgare toung.
For quhy? the bell of rethorick bene roung
Be Chawceir, Goweir, and Lidgate laureate.
Quho dar presume thir poeitis tyll impung
Quhose sweit sentence throuch Albione bene sung?
Or quho can now the workis countrafait
Of Kennedie with termes aureait,
Or of Dunbar, quhilk language had at large,
As may be sene in-tyll his Goldin Targe?
Quintyn, Merser, Rowle, Henderson, Hay, and Holland,[101]
Thocht thay be deid thair libellis bene levand[102],
Quhilkis to reheirs makeith redaris to rejose.
Allace for one quhilk lampe wes of this land,
Of eloquence the flowand balmy strand[103]
And in our Inglis rethorick the rose!
As of rubeis the charbunckle bene chose,
And as Phebus dois Cynthia precell,
So Gawane Dowglas, Byschope of Dunkell,
Had, quhen he wes in-to this land on lyve[104],
Abufe vulgare poeitis prerogatyve
Both in pratick and speculatioun.
I say no more; gude redaris may descryve[105]
His worthy workis in nowmer more than fyve,
And specallye the trew translatioun
Of Virgill, quhilk bene consolatioun
To cunnyng men, to knaw his gret ingyne,
Als weill in naturall science as devyne.
And in the courte bene present in thir[106] dayis
That ballattis brevis lustellie[107], and layis,
Quhilkis tyll our Prince daylie thay do present.
Quho can say more than Schir James Inglis[108] sayis,
In ballattis, farses, and in plesand playis?
But Culrose hes his pen maid impotent.
Kyd, in cunnyng and pratick rycht prudent,
And Stewarte,[109] quhilk desyrith ane staitly style,
Full ornate werkis daylie dois compyle.
Stewart of Lorne wyll carpe[110] rycht curiouslie;
Galbraith, Kynlouch, quhen thay lyst tham applie
In-to that art, ar craftie of ingyne.
Bot now of lait is starte up haistelie
Ane cunnyng[111] clerk quhilk wrytith craftelie,
Ane plant of poeitis callit Ballendyne,
Quhose ornat workis my wytt can nocht defyne.
Gett he in-to the courte auctorite
He wyll precell Quintyn and Kennedie.
So, thocht[112] I had ingyne, as I have none,
I watt[113] nocht quhat to wryt, be sweit Sanct Jhone;
For quhy? in all the garth[114] of eloquence
Is no-thyng left bot barrane stok and stone;
The poleit termes are pullit everilk one[115]
Be thir fornamit poeitis of prudence;
And sen I fynd none uther new sentence
I sall declare, or[116] I depart yow fro,
The complaynt of ane woundit papingo[117].
Quharefor, because myne mater bene so rude
Of sentence, and of rethorike denude,
To rurall folke myne dyting[118] bene directit,
Far flemit[119] frome the sycht of men of gude[120];
For cunnyng men, I knaw, wyll soune conclude
It dowe[121] no-thyng bot for to be dejectit;
And quhen I heir myne mater bene detractit
Than sall I sweir I maid it bot in mowis[122]
To landwart lassis quhilks kepith kye and yowis[123].
[The “Complaynt” begins with a homily on the text “Quho clymmis to
hycht, perforce his feit mon faill.” To illustrate this apophthegm
the story of the king’s papyngo is told. The unfortunate bird,
climbing to the topmost twig of a tree in the royal garden, is
thrown to earth by a gust of wind, and hopelessly injured on a stob
of timber. In her last hour she addresses one epistle to the king,
deriving lessons to royalty from the chronicles of Scotland, and
another to her “brether of the court” upon the text “Quho sittith
moist hie sal fynd the sait most slidder.” The latter epistle ends
with an adieu to Edinburgh, Stirling, and Falkland, and the chief
scene of the satire immediately ensues.]
[96] intellect.
[97] Solomon-like.
[98] writing.
[99] every.
[100] high.
[101] Sir Gilbert Hay, Merser, and two Rowles, one of Aberdeen and one
of Corstorphine, are mentioned in Dunbar’s “Lament for the Makaris.”
Henryson and Sir Richard Holland, the author of “The Houlate,” are well
known. Sir John Rowle’s “Cursing vpon the Steilaris of his fowlis” is
preserved in the Bannatyne MS.
[102] their books live.
[103] stream.
[104] alive.
[105] describe.
[106] these.
[107] write pleasantly.
[108] A chaplain at court, and reputed author of the “Complaynt of
Scotland,” Inglis was made abbot of Culross by James V. He was murdered
by the baron of Tullialan a few months after this mention of him.
[109] A considerable number of poems bearing the colophon “quod
Stewart” are preserved by Bannatyne, but nothing is known of their
separate authorship.
[110] speak, narrate.
[111] skilful.
[112] though.
[113] know.
[114] garden.
[115] every one.
[116] ere
[117] popinjay, parrot.
[118] writing.
[119] banished.
[120] worth.
[121] deserves.
[122] jest.
[123] country lasses who keep kine and ewes.
ADEW.
Adew, Edinburgh! thou heych tryumphant toun,
Within quhose boundis rycht blythfull have I bene,
Of trew merchandis the rute of this regioun,
Most reddy to resave Court, King, and Quene!
Thy polecye and justice may be sene.
War devotioun, wysedome, and honestie,
And credence, tynt[124], thay mycht be found in thee.
Adew, fair Snawdoun[125]! with thy touris hie,
Thy Chapell Royall, park, and tabyll rounde![126]
May, June, and July walde I dwell in thee,
War I one man, to heir the birdis sounde
Quhilk doith agane thy royall roche redounde.
Adew, Lythquo[127]! quhose Palyce of plesance
Mycht be one patrone[128] in Portingall or France!
Fair-weill, Falkland! the fortrace of Fyfe,
Thy polyte park, under the Lowmound Law!
Sum-tyme in thee I led ane lustye[129] lyfe,
The fallow deir, to see thame raik on raw[130].
Court men to cum to thee, thay stand gret awe,
Sayand thy burgh bene of all burrowis baill[131],
Because in thee thay never gat gude aill.
[124] lost.
[125] The ancient name for _Stirling_.
[126] The curious earthworks about which the sports of the Knights of
the Round Table took place are still to be seen under the Castle-hill
at Stirling.
[127] Linlithgow.
[128] pattern.
[129] pleasant.
[130] range in row.
[131] wretched.
THE COMMONYNG BETUIX THE PAPYNGO AND HIR HOLYE EXECUTOURIS.
The Pye persavit the Papyngo in paine,
He lychtit doun, and fenyeit him to greit[132]:
“Sister,” said he, “alace! quho hes yow slane?
I pray yow, mak provisione for your spreit,
Dispone your geir[133], and yow confes compleit.
I have power, be your contritioun,
Of all your mys[134] to geve yow full remissioun.
“I am,” said he, “one Channoun regulare,
And of my brether Pryour principall:
My quhyte rocket my clene lyfe doith declare;
The blak bene of the deith memoriall:
Quharefor I thynk your gudis naturall
Sulde be submyttit hole into my cure;
Ye know I am ane holye creature.”
The Ravin come rolpand[135], quhen he hard the rair;
So did the Gled[136], with mony pieteous pew;
And fenyeitlye thay contrafait gret cair.
“Sister,” said thay, “your raklesnes we rew;
Now best it is our juste counsall ensew,
Sen we pretend to heych promotioun,
Religious men, of gret devotioun.”
“I am ane blak Monk,” said the rutlande[137] Ravin;
So said the Gled, “I am ane holy freir,
And hes power to bryng yow quyke to hevin.
It is weill knawin my conscience bene full cleir;
The blak Bybill[138] pronunce I sall perqueir[139],
So tyll our brether ye will geve sum gude;
God wat geve we hes[140] neid of lyves fude!”
The Papyngo said, “Father, be the Rude,
Howbeit your rayment be religious lyke,
Your conscience, I suspect, be nocht gude.
I did persave quhen prevelye ye did pyke[141]
Ane chekin from ane hen under ane dyke.”
“I grant,” said he. “That hen was my gude freind,
And I that chekin tuke bot for my teind.
“Ye knaw, the faith be us mon be susteind;
So be the Pope it is preordinate
That spirituall men suld leve upon thair teind:
Bot weill wat I ye bene predestinate
In your extremis to be so fortunate,
To have sic holy consultatioun;
Quharefore we mak yow exhortatioun:
“Sen dame Nature hes grantit yow sic grace,
Layser to mak confessioun generall,
Schaw furth your syn in haist, quhil ye haif space;
Syne of your geir mak one memoriall.
We thre sal mak your feistis funerall,
And with gret blys bury we sall your bonis,
Syne trentalls[142] twenty trattyll[143] all at onis.
“The roukis sall rair, that men sall on thame rew,
And crye _Commemoratio Animarum_.
We sall gar chehnis cheip[144], and geaslyngis pew,
Suppose the geis and hennis suld crye alarum:
And we sall serve _Secundum usum Sarum_[145],
And mak you saif: we fynd Sanct Blase to borgh[146],
Cryand for yow the cairfull corrynogh[147].
“And we sall syng about your sepulture
Sanct Mongois matynis and the mekle creid[148],
And syne devotely saye, I yow assure,
The auld Placebo bakwart, and the beid;
And we sall weir for yow the murnyng weid
And, thocht your spreit with Pluto war profest,
Devotelie sall your diregie be addrest.”
“Father,” said scho, “your facunde[149] wordis fair,
Full sore I dreid, be contrar to your dedis.
The wyffis of the village cryis with cair
Quhen thai persave your mowe ouirthort thar medis[150].
Your fals consait boith duke and draik sore dreidis
I marvell, suithlie[151], ye be nocht eschamit
For your defaltis, beyng so defamit.
“It dois abhor, my pure perturbit spreit,
Tyll mak to yow ony confessioun.
I heir men saye ye bene one ypocrite
Exemptit frome the Senye[152] and the Sessioun.
To put my geir in your possessioun,
That wyll I nocht, so help me Dame Nature!
Nor of my corps I wyll yow geve no cure[153].
“Bot, had I heir the nobyll Nychtingall,
The gentyll Ja, the Merle, and Turtur trew,
My obsequeis and feistis funerall
Ordour thay wald, with notis of the new.
The plesand Pown[154], most angellyke of hew,
Wald God I wer this daye with hym confest,
And my devyse[155] dewlie be hym addrest!
“The myrthfull Maveis, with the gay Goldspink,
The lustye[156] Larke, wald God thay war present!
My infortune, forsuith, thay wald forthink[157],
And comforte me that bene so impotent.
The swyft Swallow, in prattick[158] moste prudent,
I wate scho wald my bledyng stem belyve[159]
With hir moste verteous stone restringityve.”
“Compt me the cace, under confessioun,”
The Gled said proudlye to the Papingo,
“And we sall sweir, be our professioun,
Counsall to keip, and schaw it to no mo.
We thee beseik, or[160] thou depart us fro,
Declare to us sum causis reasonabyll
Quhy we bene haldin so abhominabyll.
“Be thy travell thou hes experience,
First, beand bred in-to the Orient,
Syne be thy gude servyce and delygence
To prencis maid heir in the Occident.
Thow knawis the vulgare pepyllis jugement
Quhare thou transcurrit[161] the hote Meridionall,
Syne nyxt the Poill the plaige[162] Septentrionall.
“So, be thyne heych ingyne[163] superlatyve,
Of all countreis thou knawis the qualiteis;
Quharefore, I thee conjure, be God of lyve,
The veritie declare, withouttin leis[164],
Quhat thou hes hard, be landis or be seis,
Of us kirkmen, boith gude and evyll reporte;
And quhow thay juge, schaw us, we thee exhorte.”
“Father,” said scho, “I catyve creature,
Dar nocht presume with sic mater to mell[165].
Of your caces, ye knaw, I have no cure;
Demand thame quhilk in prudence doith precell.
I maye nocht pew[166], my panes bene so fell[167]:
And als, perchance, ye wyll nocht stand content
To knaw the vulgare pepyllis jugement.
“Yit, wyll the deith alyte[168] withdrawe his darte,
All that lyis in my memoryall
I sall declare with trew unfenyeit hart.
And first I saye to you in generall
The commoun peple sayith ye bene all
Degenerit frome your holy pirmityvis[169],
As testyfeis the proces of your lyvis.
“Of your peirles prudent predecessouris
The beginnyng, I grant, wes verray gude:
Apostolis, martyres, virgines, confessouris,
The sound of thair excellent sanctitude
Was hard ouer all the warld, be land and flude,
Plantyng the faith, be predicatioun[170],
As Christe had maid to thame narratioun.
“To fortyfie the faith thay tuke no feir
Afore prencis, preching full prudentlie;
Of dolorous deith thay doutit nocht the deir[171],
The veritie declaryng ferventlie;
And martyrdome thay sufferit pacientlie:
Thay tuke no cure of land, ryches, nor rent;
Doctryne and deid war boith equivolent.
“To schaw at lenth thair workis wer gret wunder,
Thair myracklis thay wer so manifest.
In name of Christe thay hailit mony hounder[172],
Rasyng the dede, and purgeing the possest,
With perverst spreitis quhilkis had bene opprest.
The crukit ran, the blynd men gat thair ene,
The deiff men hard, the lypper war maid clene.
“The prelatis spousit wer with povertie,
Those dayis, quhen so thay flurisit in fame,
And with hir generit[173] lady Chaistitie
And dame Devotioun, notabyll of name.
Humyll thay wer, simpyll, and full of schame.
Thus Chaistitie and dame Devotioun
Wer principall cause of thair promotioun.
“Thus thay contynewit in this lyfe devyne
Aye tyll thare rang[174], in Romes gret cietie,
Ane potent prince was namit Constantyne;[175]
Persavit the Kirk had spowsit Povertie,
With gude intent, and movit of pietie,
Cause of divorce he fande betuix thame two,
And partit thame, withouttin wordis mo.
“Syne, schortlie, with ane gret solempnitie,
Withouttin ony dispensatioun,
The Kirk he spowsit with dame Propirtie,
Quhilk haistelye, be proclamatioun,
To Povertie gart[176] mak narratioun,
Under the pane of peirsyng of hir eine[177],
That with the Kirk scho sulde no more be seine.
“Sanct Sylvester that tyme rang Pope in Rome[178],
Quhilk first consentit to the mariage
Of Propirtie, the quhilk began to blome,
Taking on hir the cure with heych corrage.
Devotioun drew hir tyll one heremytage
Quhen scho considerit lady Propirtie
So heych exaltit in-to dignitie.
“O Sylvester, quhare was thy discretioun?
Quhilk Peter did renounce thow did resave.
Androw and Jhone did leif thair possessioun,
Thair schippis, and nettis, lynes, and all the lave[179];
Of temporall substance no-thing wald thay have
Contrarious to thair contemplatioun,
Bot soberlye thair sustentatioun.
“Johne the Baptist went to the wyldernes.
Lazarus, Martha, and Marie Magdalene
Left heretage and guddis, more and les.
Prudent Sanct Paule thocht Propertie prophane;
Frome toun to toun he ran, in wynde and rane,
Upon his feit, techeing the word of grace,
And never was subjectit to ryches.”
The Gled said, “Yit I heir no-thyng bot gude.
Proceid schortlye, and thy mater avance.”
The Papyngo said, “Father, be the Rude,
It wer too lang to schaw the circumstance,
Quhow Propertie, with hir new alyance,
Grew gret with chylde, as trew men to me talde,
And bure two dochteris gudelie to behalde.
“The eldest dochter named was Ryches,
The secunde syster, Sensualytie;
Quhilks did incres, within one schorte proces,
Preplesande[180] to the Spiritualytie.
In gret substance and excellent bewtie
Thir Ladyis two grew so, within few yeiris,
That in the warlde wer non mycht be thair peiris.
“This royall Ryches and lady Sensuall
Frome that tyme furth tuke hole the governance
Of the moste part of the Stait Spirituall:
And thay agane, with humbyll observance,
Amorouslie thair wyttis did avance,
As trew luffaris, thair ladyis for to pleis.
God wate geve than[181] thair hartis war at eis.
“Soune thay foryet[182] to study, praye, and preche,
Thay grew so subject to dame Sensuall,
And thocht bot paine pure pepyll for to teche;
Yit thay decretit, in thair gret Counsall,
Thay wald no more to mariage be thrall,
Traistyng surely tyll observe Chaistitie,
And all begylit quod[183] Sensualytie.
“Apperandlye thay did expell thair wyffis
That thay mycht leif at large, without thirlage[184],
At libertie to lede thair lustie lyffis[185],
Thynkand men thrall that bene in mariage.
For new faces provokis new corrage.
Thus Chaistitie thay turne in-to delyte;
Wantyng of wyffis bene cause of appetyte.
“Dame Chaistitie did steill away for schame,
Frome tyme scho did persave thair proviance[186].
Dame Sensuall one letter gart proclame,
And hir exilit Italy and France.
In Inglande couthe scho get none ordinance[187].
Than to the kyng and courte of Scotlande
Scho markit hir[188], withouttin more demande.
“Traistyng in-to that court to get conforte,
Scho maid hir humyll supplycatioun.
Schortlye thay said scho sulde get na supporte,
Bot bostit hir[189], with blasphematioun,
‘To preistis go mak your protestatioun.
It is,’ said thay, ‘mony one houndreth yeir
Sen Chaistitie had ony entres[190] heir.’
“Tyrit for travell, scho to the preistis past,
And to the rewlaris of religioun.
Of hir presens schortlye thay war agast,
Sayand thay thocht it bot abusioun
Hir to resave: so, with conclusion,
With one avyce[191] decretit and gave dome
Thay walde resset no rebell out of Rome.
“‘Sulde we resave that Romanis hes refusit,
And baneist Inglande, Italye, and France,
For your flattrye, than wer we weill abusit[192].
Passe hyne[193],’ said thay, ‘and fast your way avance,
Amang the nonnis go seik your ordinance;
For we have maid aith of fidelytie
To dame Ryches and Sensualytie.’
“Than paciently scho maid progressioun
Towarde the nonnis, with hart syching[194] full sore.
Thay gaif hir presens, with processioun,
Ressavand hir with honour, laud, and glore,
Purposyng to preserve hir ever-more.
Of that novellis[195] come to dame Propertie,
To Ryches, and to Sensualytie;