#Dialect#: South Midland.
#Inflexions#: _u_ for inflexional _e_, as in _knowun_ _a_ 2, _seun_ _a_
51, _aȝenus_ _a_ 29, _mannus_ _b_ 114 is found chiefly in West
Midland.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg. _madist_ _b_ 214.
3 sg. _groundiþ_ _a_ 4.
3 pl. _seyn_ _a_ 1, _techen_ _b_ 5.
pres. p. _brennynge_ _b_ 67.
strong pp. _knowun_ _a_ 2, _ȝouen_ _b_ 264, _take_ _b_
271.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. _þey_, _þei_, _a_ 3, _b_ 9;
possessive usually _þer_ in _a_ 1, 23, &c.; but _her_ _a_
52, and regularly _here_ in _b_ 25, 36, &c.;
objective _hem_ _a_ 4, _b_ 3.
#Sounds#: OE. _ā_ appears regularly as _o_, _oo_: _more_ _a_ 7,
_Hooly_ _a_ 10, _toolde_ _a_ 65.
OE. _y_ appears as _y_, _i_: _synne_ _a_ 61, _stiren_ _b_ 93.
The form _þouþ_ (= _þouȝ_) _b_ 190 probably indicates
sound-substitution; and in _ynowþȝ_ (= _ynouȝ_) _b_ 149 there is
wavering between the two forms.
* * * * *
_a_ 12. _Wit Sunday_: the first element is OE. _hwīt_ 'white', not
'wit'.
_a_ 25 ff. Translations of the Bible were common in France at this
time. No less than six fine copies survive from the library of John,
Duke of Berry (d. 1416). About the middle of the fourteenth century King
John of France ordered a new translation and commentary to be made at
the expense of the Jews, but it was never finished, although several
scholars were still engaged on it at the end of the century. The early
French verse renderings, which incorporate a good deal of mediaeval
legend, are described by J. Bonnard, _Les Traductions de la Bible en
Vers Français au Moyen Âge_ (Paris 1884); the prose by S. Berger, _La
Bible Française au Moyen Âge_ (Paris 1884). Of the surviving manuscripts
mentioned in these excellent monographs several were written in England.
_a_ 28 ff. In earlier times, when most of those who could read at all
were schooled in Latin, the need for English translations of the
Scriptures was not so pressing, and the partial translations that were
made were intended rather for the use of the clergy and their noble
patrons than for the people. Bede (d. 735) completed a rendering of St.
John's Gospel on his death-bed. Old English versions of the Gospels and
the Psalms still survive. Abbot Aelfric (about A.D. 1000) translated the
first five books of the Old Testament; and more than one Middle English
version of the Psalms is known. Wiclif was perhaps unaware of the Old
English precedents because French renderings became fashionable in
England from the twelfth century onwards, and he would probably think of
the Psalter more as a separate service book than as an integral part of
the Bible. But the prologue to the Wiclifite version attributed to John
Purvey quotes the example of Bede and King Alfred; and the Dialogue on
Translation which, in Caxton's print, serves as preface to Trevisa's
translation of Higden, emphasizes the Old English precedents. Both may
be read in _Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse_, ed. A. W. Pollard,
London 1903, pp. 193 ff. The attitude of the mediaeval Church towards
vernacular translations of the Bible has been studied very fully by Miss
M. Deanesly, _The Lollard Bible and other Medieval Biblical Versions_,
Cambridge 1920.
_a_ 34. _þe pley of Ȝork._ The York Paternoster Play has not
survived, but there are records from 1389 of a Guild of the Lord's
Prayer at York, whose main object was the production of the play. It
seems to have been an early example of the moral play, holding up 'the
vices to scorn and the virtues to praise', and it probably consisted of
several scenes, each exhibiting one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The last
recorded representation was in 1572. See Chambers, _The Mediaeval
Stage_, vol. ii, p. 154. The association of the friars with the
production of religious plays is confirmed by other writings of the
time. They were quick to realize the value of dramatic representation
as a means of gaining favour with the people, and their encouragement
must be reckoned an important factor in the development of the Miracle
Play.
_a_ 51. _wher_, 'whether'; cp. _b_ 207. In ll. 197, 266, 274, it
introduces a direct question; see note to V 118.
_b_ 20. _Gregory_, Gregory the Great. See his work _In Primum Regum
Expositiones_, Bk. iii, c. 28: _praedicatores autem Sanctae Ecclesiae...
prophetae ministerio utuntur_ (Migne, _Patrologia_, vol. lxxix, col.
158).
_b_ 44. <_God_>. Such omissions from the Corpus MS. are supplied
throughout from the copy in Trinity College, Dublin, MS. C. III. 12.
_b_ 79-80. Cp. Luke xxi. 36 and 1 Thessalonians v. 17.
_b_ 89-91. Proverbs xxviii. 9.
_b_ 126. _as Ambrose_: In 386 St. Ambrose, besieged in the Portian
Church at Milan by Arian sectaries, kept his followers occupied and in
good heart by introducing the Eastern practice of singing hymns and
antiphons. See St. Augustine's _Confessions_ Bk. ix, c. 7.
_b_ 131-2. _placebo._ Vespers of the Dead, named from the first word of
the antiphon, _Placebo Domino in regione vivorum_ (Psalm cxiv. 9).
_dirige._ Matins of the Dead, named from the first word of the antiphon,
_Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam_ (Psalm v. 9).
Hence our word _dirge_.
_comendacion_: an office in which the souls of the dead are commended to
God.
_matynes of Oure Lady_: one of the services in honour of the Virgin
introduced in the Middle Ages.
The whole question of these accretions to the Church services is dealt
with by our English master in liturgical study, the late Mr. Edmund
Bishop, in his essay introductory to the Early English Text Society's
edition of the _Prymer_, since reprinted with additional notes in his
_Liturgica Historica_ (Oxford 1918), pp. 211 ff.
_b_ 137 f. _deschaunt, countre note, and orgon, and smale brekynge._ The
elaboration of the Church services in mediaeval times was accompanied by
a corresponding enrichment of the music. To the plain chant additional
parts were joined, sung in harmony either above or below the plain
chant. _Descant_ usually means the addition of a part above, _organ_ and
_countre-note_ (= counterpoint) the addition of parts either above or
below. All these could be composed note for note with the plain chant.
But _smale brekyng_ represents a further complication, whereby the
single note in the plain chant was represented by two or more notes in
the accompanying parts.
_b_ 140 f. The abuse is referred to in _Piers Plowman_:
_Persones and parsheprests pleynede to the bisshop
That hure parshens ben poore sitthe the pestelence tyme,
To haue licence and leue in Londone to dwelle,
And synge ther for symonye, for seluer ys swete._
_Prologue_ ll. 81-4.
and by Chaucer in his description of the Parson:
_He sette nat his benefice to hyre,
And leet his sheepe encombred in the myre,
And ran to Londoun, unto Seint Poules,
To seken hym a chaunterie for soules._
_Prologue_ ll. 507-10.
_b_ 183. _Ordynalle of Salisbury._ An 'ordinal' is a book showing the
order of church services and ceremonies. In mediaeval times there was
considerable divergence in the usage of different churches. But after
the Conquest, and more especially in the thirteenth century, there was
developed at Salisbury Cathedral an elaborate order and form of service
which spread to most of the English churches of any pretensions. This
was called 'Sarum' or 'Salisbury' use.
_b_ 209. _þei demen it dedly synne a prest to fulfille_, &c. For this
construction, cp. Chaucer, _Prologue_ 502 _No wonder is a lewed man to
ruste_; Shakespeare, _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, V. iv. 108 f. _It is the
lesser blot... Women to change their shapes_, &c. The same construction,
where we now insert _for_, is seen in _Gawayne_ (v. 352-3) _hit were a
wynne huge... a leude, þat couþe, to luf hom wel_, &c.
_b_ 221-3. 'They say that a priest may be excused from saying mass, to
be the substance of which God gave Himself, provided that he hears one.'
_b_ 228 f. _newe costy portos, antifeners, graielis, and alle oþere
bokis._ _Portos_, French _porte hors_, represents Latin _portiforium_, a
breviary convenient for 'carrying out of doors'. The _antifener_
contained the antiphons, responses, &c., necessary for the musical
service of the canonical hours. The _graiel_, or _gradual_, was so
called from the gradual responses, sung at the steps of the altar, or
while the deacon ascended the steps of the pulpit: but the book actually
contained all the choral service of the Mass.
_b_ 230. _makynge of biblis._ Wiclif in his _Office of Curates_ (ed.
Matthew, p. 145) complains of the scarcity of bibles. _But fewe curatis
han þe Bible and exposiciouns of þe Gospelis, and litel studien on hem,
and lesse donne after hem. But wolde God þat euery parische chirche in
þis lond hadde a good Bible!_ &c.
_b_ 234. At this time books, especially illuminated books, were very
dear. The Missal of Westminster Abbey, which is now shown in the
Chapter-house, was written in 1382-4 at a cost of £34 14_s._ 7_d._—a
great sum in those days, for the scribe, Thomas Preston, who took two
years to write it, received only £4 for his labour, 20_s._ for his
livery, and board at the rate of 21_s._ 8_d._ the half year. The
inscription in British Museum MS. Royal 19 D. II, a magnificently
illustrated Bible with commentary, shows that it was captured at
Poitiers with King John of France, and bought by the Earl of Salisbury
for 100 marks (about £66). Edward III gave the same sum to a nun of
Amesbury for a rich book of romance. In France John, Duke of Berry, paid
as much as £200 for a breviary, and the appraisement of his library in
1416 shows a surprisingly high level of values (L. Delisle, _Le Cabinet
des Manuscrits_, vol. iii, pp. 171 ff.). These were luxurious books. The
books from the chapel of Archbishop Bowet of York (d. 1423) sold more
reasonably: £8 for a great antiphonar and £6 13_s._ 4_d._ _pro uno libro
vocato 'Bibill'_, were the highest prices paid; and from his library
there were some fascinating bargains: 4_s._ for a small copy of
Gregory's _Cura Pastoralis_; 5_s._ _pro uno libro vocato 'Johannes
Andrewe', vetere et debili_, which would probably turn out to be a dry
work on the Decretals; and 3_s._ 4_d._ for a nameless codex, _vetere et
caduco_, 'old and falling to pieces'. (_Historians of the Church of
York_, ed. J. Raine, vol. iii, pp. 311, 315.)
But the failing activity of the monastic scriptoria, and the formation
of libraries by the friars and by rich private collectors, made study
difficult for students at the universities, where at this time a
shilling per week—a third of the price of Bowet's most dilapidated
volume—was reckoned enough to cover the expenses of a scholar living
plainly. The college libraries were scantily supplied: books were lent
only in exchange for a valuable pledge; or even pawned, in hard times,
by the colleges themselves.
These conditions were not greatly improved until printing gave an easy
means of duplication, and for a time caused the humble manuscripts in
which most of the mediaeval vernacular literature was preserved to be
treated as waste paper. As late as the eighteenth century Martène found
the superb illuminated manuscripts left by John, Duke of Berry, to the
Sainte Chapelle at Bourges serving as roosting places to their keeper's
hens (_Voyage Littéraire_, Paris 1717, pt. i, p. 29).
_b_ 261-3. The reference is to Acts vi. 2, 'It is not reason that we
should leave the word of God, and serve tables.'
_b_ 266. _wisere þan._ After these words the Corpus MS. (p. 170, col. i,
l. 34 mid.), without any warning, goes on to the closing passage of an
entirely unrelated 'Petition to the King and Parliament'. By way of
compensation, the end of our sermon appears at the close of the
Petition. Clearly the scribe (or some one of his predecessors) copied
without any regard for the sense from a MS. of which the leaves had
become disarranged.
_b_ 285. Cp. Acts iii. 6.