by: John the Blind Audelay (Author) , Susanna Greer Fein (Editor)
John the Blind Audelay, Carol Sequence
JOHN AUDELAY, CAROL SEQUENCE: FOOTNOTES
1 Here begin the Ten Commandments in the form of a song. Compare Exodus 20:1–17, Matthew 19:18–19. Audelay adds injunctions to avoid backbiting and love one’s neighbor, and omits the last two commandments against covetousness.
2 Concerning the Seven Works of Mercy. The subject derives from Matthew 25:31–46, and Audelay treats it elsewhere: True Living, lines 173–85 and 238–63, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 164–71 and 197–220.
3 On the day of Saint Stephen (December 26). Compare Acts 7:55–59.
4 On the day of Saint John, apostle and evangelist (December 27)
5 Concerning Saint Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury (December 29)
6 In grace her shelter there he found for her, with a punning floral sense: In meadows her garden then he found in her. See explanatory note.
7 When, fairest of shape (i.e., Christ), he swooned away from you
8 The fear of death troubles me. The phrase is liturgical (see explanatory note).
9 Passion of Christ, fortify me. This is the fifth line of the famous prayer Anima Christi sanctifica me, found earlier in MS Douce 302 (fol. 9r). It also appears in Pope John’s Passion of Our Lord, line 9.
10 Into thy hands, Lord. Luke 23:46. Compare Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, lines 74–75.
JOHN AUDELAY, CAROL SEQUENCE: EXPLANATORY NOTES
Abbreviations: CT: Chaucer, Canterbury Tales; NHC: Northern Homily Cycle; NIMEV: The New Index of Middle English Verse, ed. Boffey and Edwards; For manuscript abbreviations (ED, A, D, G, L, V), see the Introduction.
XXXV. CAROL SEQUENCE [W28–W52]
Audelay’s carol sequence possesses an apparent order by number (twenty-five) and arrangement by topic: the articles of faith; the feasts of the Church; support of king (Henry VI) and the social order; veneration of the Holy Family (Anne, Mary, Christ, all of whom branch from the Tree of Jesse); and then a celebration of virginity, chastity, and love of God; a holy fear of death; and, lastly, honor to Saint Francis, the promoter of vernacular Christian song. Although the manuscript does not contain music, the carols were likely meant to be sung, with the possible exception of the longer ones, such as King Henry VI and Saint Francis (Copley, "John Audelay’s Carols and Music," pp. 211–12). The sequence has received recent critical treatment by Boffey, "Audelay’s Carol Collection," and Reichl, "Middle English Carol," pp. 152–56, both of whom compare it to other collections in manuscripts. Audelay’s is the earliest such collection. The carol sequence may be a principal reason that the manuscript migrated into the hands of a minstrel (Taylor, "Myth of the Minstrel Manuscript," pp. 65–66).INSTRUCTIONS FOR READING 3 [unnumbered in W]
[Fol. 27vb, upper margin. Not in IMEV, NIMEV. Hand: Scribe B, poem in red. Meter: One tetrameter couplet. Editions: Coxe, p. 51; E. Whiting, p. 180.]CAROL 1. TEN COMMANDMENTS [W28]
It is noteworthy that Carols 1–5 form a group centered on basic articles of faith (Ten Commandments, Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Works of Mercy, Five Wits, and Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost). These carols are all composed in a 7-line stanza, and they are similar in length: Carols 1–4 have five stanzas, and Carol 5 has six.burden The saying is proverbial and homiletic. Compare Chaucer’s Physician’s Tale ("Forsaketh synne, er synne yow forsake" [CT VI(C) 286]) and Parson’s Tale ("And therfore repentant folk, that stynte for to synne and forlete synne er that synne forlete hem, hooly chirche holdeth hem siker of hire savacioun" [CT X(I) 93]). For the proverb, see B. Whiting and Whiting, Proverbs, pp. 520–21 [S335].
On Audelay’s treatment of the Ten Commandments, Greene, Early English Carols, p. 428, was first to note that the chaplain "takes some liberties with the Commandments as they were prescribed to be taught by the Synod of Lambeth (1281). . . . He introduces Christ’s injunction from Matthew xix.19. . . . He also omits the Ninth and Tenth Commandments against covetousness and adds one of his own against backbiting." Audelay repeats this formulation in True Living, lines 143–54, which is probably the earlier work, especially as its verses also were also reused in Carols 3, 5, 13, and 22. On this subject of the commandments, compare, too, Virtues of the Mass, lines 138–43. An unrelated Middle English lyric on the Ten Commandments appears in the Vernon Manuscript; it has thirteen 8-line stanzas and the refrain "And kepe wel Cristes Comaundement" (Brown, Religious Lyrics of the XIVth Century, pp. 148–51 [no. 102], 278).
[Fol. 27vb. IMEV, NIMEV 304. MWME 6:1994 [327]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium A in blue with red filigree (2 lines high). Meter: Five 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "Leve ye me." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, p. 479; E. Whiting, pp. 181, 249; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 197–98, 428–29 (no. 324).]
1 And. This word, connected syntactically to the burden, tells us that the burden was sung first.
1–4 These lines are taken from True Living, lines 143–46.
2 Compare Matthew 19:19, where Jesus adds: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The Vernon lyric "Keep Well Christ’s Commandments" also instructs: "And let þi neiõhebor, frend and fo, / Riht frely of þi frendshupe fele" (Brown, Religious Lyrics of the XIVth Century, p. 149, lines 17–18).
8–10 These lines are taken from True Living, lines 147–49.
10 Bacbyte. The injunction against slander is added by Audelay. Bennett, "John Audelay: Life Records," p. 41, suggests that it comes in part from Audelay’s personal experience, including his part in Lord LeStrange’s public scandal. Backbiting is also added to the commandments in True Living, lines 149–50.
15–18 These lines are taken from True Living, lines 151–54.
22 A parallel to this line exists in a carol from MS Sloane 2593. See Greene, Early English Carols, p. 213 (no. 356, stanza 1, line 2).
29–32 Variants of these lines also occur in On the World’s Folly, lines 25–27, and Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, lines 110–12.
CAROL 2. SEVEN DEADLY SINS [W29]
On Audelay’s treatment elsewhere of the theme of the seven deadly sins, see Seven Bleedings of Christ, lines 19–60 (explanatory note); Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, lines 5–12; Prayer of General Confession, lines 5–8; and Childhood, lines 1–15. This carol is part of an internal series (Carols 1–5) on articles of the faith.burden In wele beware ore thou be woo. This proverb is also found in Audelay’s Marcolf and Solomon, lines 42–43 (with an echo of it also at line 949), and in Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, line 218. A Middle English lyric in fourteen 8-line stanzas uses this proverb as its refrain ("Eche man be war, er hym be wo"). It appears in Oxford, Bodl. Lib. MS Digby 102, fols. 113r–114r (Kail, Twenty-Six Political and Other Poems, pp. 60–64). See Greene, Early English Carols, p. 429, for other literary occurrences of the proverb.
[Fols. 27vb–28ra. IMEV, NIMEV 858. MWME 6:1994 [328]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Large I in blue with red filigree (eight lines high, in margin). Meter: Five 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "I say thee so." (NIMEV mistakenly lists the meter as "five 4-line st. and 2-line burden.") Other MS: Aberystwyth, NLW 334A, endleaf. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, p. 480; E. Whiting, pp. 182, 249; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 198, 429 (no. 325).]
CAROL 3. SEVEN WORKS OF MERCY [W30]
Seven Works of Mercy reveals Audelay’s method of recasting earlier compositions in different meters and for different contexts. Nearly the entire carol is crafted from True Living, lines 173–85, 238–63, and (less directly) God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 164–71, 197–220. Audelay also mined material from True Living when he composed Carols 1, 5, 13, and 22. On the poet’s treatment of the seven works of mercy, Greene, Early English Carols, p. 429, comments: "Audelay is again somewhat original . . . and deviates slightly from the list formulated by the Synod of Lambeth. He seems to have in mind the seven ‘corporal’ works, but of these he omits to mention the ransoming of the captive and the visiting of the sick. The injunction to ‘teach the unwise’ he takes over from the list of ‘spiritual’ works."1–4 These lines appear in True Living, lines 173–76, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 164–66, 169–70.
Scribe B seems to have wanted to delete the tag-refrain line 5 of each stanza, but he missed line 26. With the fifth line retained (as here), the meter conforms to that found in many Audelay carols, and it matches, in particular, the others on the articles of belief (Carols 1–5). If the fifth line were deleted, the stanza would be unique among Audelay’s carols.
On the importance of the seven works of mercy as a codified teaching for pious behavior in late medieval England, see Goldberg, Medieval England, pp. 230–31. Poems on the seven works of mercy have been printed from MS Lambeth 491 (Bülbring, pp. 388–89) and the Vernon Manuscript (Horstman, Minor Poems of the Vernon MS, pp. 34–35). Many more lyrics on the topic survive in manuscripts and remain unprinted (IMEV, p. 767, s.v. "Mercy, works of").
[Fol. 28ra. IMEV, NIMEV 792. MWME 6:1994 [329]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium W in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "I cownsel thee." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 480–81; E. Whiting, pp. 183, 249; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 198, 429 (no. 326).]
8–11 A version of these lines appears in True Living, lines 177–79, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 167, 171, 173–74. The parallel for line 11 is found only in God’s Address to Sinful Men.
15–18 See True Living, lines 238–41, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 197–200.
22–25 See True Living, lines 251–54, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 213–16.
24 Let se. The MS is difficult to read due to rubbing and fading. The reading here is supported by Audelay’s identical lines at True Living, line 253, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, line 215. Other editors’ variants are therefore probably incorrect: Loke (Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, followed by Whiting) and Loo, se (Greene, Early English Carols).
29–32 See True Living, lines 255–58, and God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 217–20.
29 wellay. Greene’s well ay gives a different interpretation of the same MS reading, but it is not supported by the parallel reading weleway in True Living, line 255; compare God’s Address to Sinful Men, line 217.
31 This line voices the complaint of the poor against the rich, as will be uttered on Doomsday. Greene, Early English Carols, punctuates line 29 as the beginning of the quote, but he neglects to punctuate the end of the quote. Whiting does not indicate a speech here by means of quotation marks.
CAROL 4. FIVE WITS [W31]
This subject is addressed elsewhere in MS Douce 302 at Prayer of General Confession, lines 10–16 (note). A poem on the five wits appears in MS Lambeth 491 (Bülbring, "Handscrift Nr. 491," p. 388) and also speaks in the imperative, but it bears no further likeness to Audelay’s carol (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 429). Another lyric survives in the Vernon Manuscript (Horstmann, Minor Poems of the Vernon MS, p. 35). For a few others that remain unprinted, see IMEV, p. 784, s.v. "Wits, five bodily."9 fre choys and fre wil. On the topic of free will in Audelay’s works, see the explanatory note to True Living, lines 203–07.
[Fol. 28ra–b. IMEV, NIMEV 3346. MWME 6:1995 [331]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium T in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "Lest thou be chent." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 481–82; E. Whiting, pp. 184, 249; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 199, 429–30 (no. 328).]
32 This line is a proverb; see B. Whiting and Whiting, Proverbs, pp. 395–96 [M454]; and Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 429–30.
CAROL 5. SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST [W32]
Three stanzas of this carol are borrowed directly from Audelay’s True Living, a poem in 13-line stanzas. The chaplain also mined material from this apparently earlier work for Carols 1, 3, 13, and 22. Greene, Early English Carols, p. 429, comments: "Audelay’s formulation of the Seven Gifts differs from that of other literature on the subject. The traditional gifts are those enumerated in Isaiah xi. 2, 3. . . . Audelay’s ‘mind’ can be identified with ‘intellectus’ and ‘resun’ with ‘consilium’, but the others he has taken from the Cardinal Virtues. . . . He has certainly confused his theology." A poem on the same subject appears in the Vernon Manuscript (Horstmann, Minor Poems of the Vernon MS, p. 34; Patterson, Middle English Penitential Lyrics, p. 128 [no. 51]).burden Compare the opening of the Vernon lyric, "God þat art of mihtes most, / Þe seuen 3iftus of the holigost / I preye þat þou 3iue me" (Horstmann, Minor Poems of the Vernon MS, p. 34, lines 1–3).
[Fol. 28rb. IMEV, NIMEV 2173. MWME 6:1995 [330]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium G in red (two lines high). Meter: Six 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "Ellis were we lost." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 482–83; E. Whiting, pp. 185–86, 249–50; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 198–99, 429 (no. 327).]
11 grownder. Compare Salutation to Saint Winifred, line 56, and the explanatory note to that line.
22–25 These lines derive from True Living, lines 212–15.
29–32 These lines derive from True Living, lines 225–28.
30 Soule. The emendation of MS oule to Soule is based on True Living, line 226. Previous editors read onle.
36–38 These lines derive from True Living, lines 229–31.
38 On Audelay’s frequent citation of the Golden Rule, see the explanatory note to True Living, line 231.
CAROL 6. DAY OF THE NATIVITY [W33]
This carol of convivial Yuletide joy and welcome begins a new internal group of five carols (Carols 6–10) that follows the Church calendar of observance for December 25 to December 29. The same sequence occurs for sermons in Mirk’s Festial (ed. Erbe, pp. 21–44) and Speculum sacerdotale (ed. Weatherly, pp. 5–18), where the next topics are Circumcision and Epiphany (compare Carols 11 and 15). The existence of a closely related carol in Sloane 2593 causes Greene, Early English Carols, p. 344, to posit a prototype carol behind both and to deduce that "Audelay’s original authorship of the carol is doubtful." Carols 6–10 are all written in 6-line stanzas. Of these, only this one (probably known from a familiar model) has a refrain at the fourth line.7–9 These lines are not present in the Sloane carol.
[Fol. 28rb–va. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 3877. MWME 6:1945-46 [6]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium W in red (2 lines high). Meter: Five 6-line stanzas, aaaBBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden and introductory refrain line "Welcum, Yole, forever and ay." Other MS: London, BL MS Sloane 2593, fol. 32r (15th cent.): five 6-line stanzas, aaa4B2BB4 (Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 4, 343–44 [no. 7B]). Editions: Sandys, Christmastide, pp. 218–19; Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, p. 483; E. Whiting, pp. 186–87, 250; Greene, Selection of English Carols, pp. 55–56, 187 (no. 2); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 3–4, 343–44 (no. 7A).]
13–15 By naming these saints, Audelay invokes the sequence of feast days that immediately follow Christmas Day: Saint Stephen’s Day (December 26); Saint John’s Day (December 27); Holy Innocents Day (December 28) and Saint Thomas of Canterbury’s Day (December 29). This sequence also marks the subject matter of Carols 6–10. Compare the second stanza of the related carol in MS Sloane 2593.
20 Greene provides a useful note on the "alternative ways of regarding the Christmas season" embodied in this carol and the one in MS Sloane 2593 (Early English Carols, p. 344). Audelay’s poem celebrates the twelve days to Epiphany (January 6; see Carol 15), while the Sloane poem celebrates the forty days to the Purification, extending the welcome to Candlemas.
CAROL 7. DAY OF SAINT STEPHEN [W34]
In the sequence of Carols 6–10, this one celebrates the Day of Saint Stephen, December 26. The grouping of the martyrdoms of Stephen, John the Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents follows Church tradition. In The Golden Legend, it is explained that these three exemplify "all the different classes of martyrs, associating them closely with the birth of Christ, which was the cause of their martyrdom. For there are three kinds of martyrdom: the first is willed and endured, the second willed but not endured, the third endured without being willed. Saint Stephen is an example of the first, Saint John of the second, the Holy Innocents of the third" (Jacobus de Voragine, trans. Ryan, 1:49–50).1–21 The events follow the biblical account in Acts of Apostles 7:55–60. The story of Saint Stephen’s martyrdom is also recounted by Jacobus de Voragine in The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 1:45–50), along with further legends about finding Stephen’s relics and the miracles that attended that event (trans. Ryan, 2:40–44). Caxton’s English Golden Legend contains these accounts as well (ed. Ellis, 2:152–61, 4:165–72).
[Fol. 28va. IMEV, NIMEV 3057. MWME 6:1959 [95]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium I in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 483–84; E. Whiting, pp. 187, 250; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 52, 364 (no. 97).]
CAROL 8. DAY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST [W35]
Saint John the Evangelist was the patron saint of Haughmond Abbey. His statue appears among others in the columns outside the chapter house, where he is depicted holding a palm branch and scroll and standing upon an eagle (his emblem). In the sequence of Carols 6–10, this one celebrates the Day of Saint John the Evangelist, December 27. Greene, Early English Carols, prints other carols dedicated to Saint John (nos. 103–06).1–4 From the account of the Last Supper, John 13:23: "Now there was leaning on Jesus’s bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." On John as Jesus’ most beloved disciple, see too Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 1.50–55, especially p. 50; for Caxton’s version, see Ellis, 2:161–76). On the martyrological significance of John the Evangelist, see the explanatory note to Carol 7.
[Fol. 28va–b. IMEV, NIMEV 2929. MWME 6:1960 [100]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Large I in red (five lines high, in margin). Meter: Ten 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 484–85; E. Whiting, pp. 188–89, 250; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 55, 365 (no. 102)]
7 dere derling. Compare Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, line 45.
7–16 These stanzas allude to and imaginatively expand on John 19:26–27, a passage frequently cited in Middle English narratives of the Passion; compare Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, lines 40–42, and Seven Hours of the Cross, lines 42–44.
46 The logic of human redemption gained through Christ’s suffering — and enacted painfully and emotionally in Mary as well — is a feature of many dialogic lyrics between Mary and Christ, framed usually as lullabies or planctus Mariae. See, e.g., "Dialogue between Our Lady and Jesus on the Cross" (Brown, English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century, pp. 87–88 [no. 49]; and my discussion in MWME 11:4192–93 [20]).
CAROL 9. DAY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS [W36]
In the sequence of Carols 6–10, this one celebrates the Day of the Holy Innocents, December 28. Greene, Selection of English Carols, prints three other carols on this theme (nos. 109–12). On the martyrological grouping of Carols 7–9, see the explanatory note to Day of Saint Stephen. The legend of the Holy Innocents is recounted in Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 1:56–59; for Caxton’s version, see Ellis, 2:176–82). On the literary and visual tradition of the Massacre of the Innocents, see Oosterwijk, "Long lullynge haue I lorn!" especially p. 3.1–2 These lines appear in a carol fragment from Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College MS 383 (fifteenth century), printed by Greene, Early English Carols, p. 292 (App., no. ii); variants appear in another carol (Greene, p. 73 [no. 125A, stanza 16]).
[Fols. 28vb–29ra. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 601 (mistakenly called "nativity carol"). MWME 6:1961 [106]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium W in red (two lines high). Meter: Six 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 485–86; E. Whiting, pp. 189–90, 250; Greene, Selection of English Carols, pp. 79–80, 200 (no. 22); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 58, 367–68 (no. 108).
7 This passage is based on Matthew 2:16. According to Greene, Early English Carols, p. 367, "The tradition was that Herod was called to Rome directly after his interview with the Magi and was a year on the road each way. Hence, when he returned, he ordered the killing of all male children of two years and under." Compare Mirk’s Festial (ed. Erbe, p. 36).
13 "Audelay’s figure of 140,000 as the number slain is not quite the customary one. The number was generally put in the Middle Ages at 144,000, in defiance of all historical possibility, by identifying the Innocents with the white-clad host of Revelation [Apocalypse] xiv. 3" (Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 367–68). Compare, too, the numbers of pains in hell in Audelay’s The Vision of Saint Paul, line 317 (explanatory note).
34 Compare Apocalypse 14:4, of the redeemed on the Day of Judgment: "These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb."
CAROL 10. SAINT THOMAS ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY [W37]
An effigy of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, with mitre and archbishop’s cross-staff, stands between the arches of the chapter house in the remains of Haughmond Abbey. In the sequence of Carols 6–10, this one celebrates Saint Thomas’s Day, December 29. For other carols on this theme, see Greene, Early English Carols, nos. 114, 115, 115.1, 116. Of Audelay’s carol, he comments: "Audelay, as is natural for one so solicitous for the rights of the clerical orders, exaggerates somewhat the services of Thomas to the Church, and his exposition of the points at issue is hardly the historical one" (p. 369). Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend also places Thomas in liturgical sequence after Stephen, John the Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents (trans. Ryan, 1.59–62; for Caxton, see Ellis, Golden Legend, 2:182–97). For the liturgical office of Saint Thomas, see Reames, "Liturgical Offices." For mentions of Saint Thomas elsewhere in MS Douce 302, see Marcolf and Solomon, line 342 (explanatory note), and Day of the Nativity, line 15.burden The MS reading sers is emended to seris, Audelay’s usual two-syllable form, to maintain tetrameter.
[Fol. 29ra. IMEV, NIMEV 838. MWME 6:1961–62 [110]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Large I in red (eight lines high, in margin). Meter: Five 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 486–87; E. Whiting, pp. 190–91, 251; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 60, 368–69 (no. 113).]
1–3 The opening of this carol commemorates a blessed birth and martyrdom, connecting it to the openings of the preceding and succeeding carols, Day of the Holy Innocents and Day of the Lord’s Circumcision. For the traditional significance of Tuesdays in Saint Thomas’s life, see Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 368–69; and Reames, "Liturgical Offices," p. 592n34. In line 2 Audelay goes beyond tradition and fact: Thomas was ordained on a Saturday.
13–22 For historical background, see Greene, Early English Carols, p. 369.
26 fyfté poyntis. Though the number varies in the records, the received tradition on Thomas Becket was that he suffered martyrdom because he disputed numerous points decreed in a royal charter. Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 369–70, provides a full and helpful explanation of this crux (note to no. 114, stanza 9).
28 Compare a carol on Thomas found in Oxford, Bodl. Lib. MS. Eng. poet. e.1 (fifteenth century): "Hys moder be blyssyd that hym bar, / And also hys fader that hym begat" (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 61 [no. 115, stanza 2]).
CAROL 11. DAY OF THE LORD'S CIRCUMCISION [W38]
This carol honors the Day of the Circumcision, January 1, so it carries forward the chronology of an internal group (Carols 6–10) that mark holy days December 25 to 29. One may compare the exposition of the Lord’s Circumcision in The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 1:71–78), Mirk’s Festial (ed. Erbe, pp. 44–47), and Speculum sacerdotale (ed. Weatherly, pp. 16–18). Audelay’s carol is the longest of the three versions of it that survive; the others possess musical settings and four stanzas, each in different arrangements. The fifth stanza is unique to MS Douce 302.6 Sense, meter, and the wording of other stanzas indicate that the original line at this point may have been "Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day." Greene, Early English Carols, omits this line (and lines 16, 26, 36, 46) to achieve a uniform 9-line meter of ababCcdCD4.
This lovely, innovative carol embeds the burden at lines 5–6 and then repeats it at lines 9–10. The repetitions at lines 5–6 are indicated by the words ut supra, or the first words of the burden, or both (see textual notes). Three stanzas (2, 4, 5) vary the burden wording in the fifth line, "Seche wonder tythyngis ye may here." E. Whiting prints the manuscript version diplomatically and thus shows how the five stanzas there are uneven in length (8, 7, 8, 7, 8 lines) and vary in providing indications of where and how to repeat the burden. Greene, Early English Carols, deduces a 9-line stanza, but to create this he must omit Scribe A’s line 6 (see also Copley, "Popular Fifteenth-Century Carol," pp. 387–89). Following the indications of Scribes A and B, I am led to believe that the carol has 10-line stanzas (fifty lines in total). It is evident that Scribe A’s copy was defective, particularly for the third stanza, and that Scribe B has made extensive correction. In this regard, one may compare the shared scribal labor evident in Gabriel’s Salutation to the Virgin and Chastity for Mary’s Love.
Extrapolating from the musical settings in the other manuscripts, it seems probable that stanzas were sung by a soloist, burden-refrains by a chorus, so that a joyous dialogue emerged between a company and a "messenger"; see Greene’s interesting note on the question of performance (Early English Carols, p. 372), and see also Copley, "John Audelay’s Carols and Music," p. 209. Although Audelay’s version is the most fully preserved text, Greene doubts (perhaps unfairly) that Audelay composed this carol: "The spirited rhythm is so much superior to Audelay’s usual metres that his original authorship must be regarded as doubtful" (Early English Carols, p. 372). This carol under the title "What Tidings?" — with lyrics ascribed to Audelay — has been adapted for modern choral performance and recordings.
[Fol. 29ra–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 21 ("New Year carol"). MWME 3:843-44 [10], 6:1962 [115]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. The carol has been heavily corrected by Scribe B. Initial: Medium W in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 10-line stanzas, ababCDcdCD4. (NIMEV mistakenly lists the meter as "four 7-line st. and 2-line burden.") Other MSS: Cambridge, TCC MS O.3.58, recto (fifteenth century): burden and stanzas 1, 3, 2, 4 (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 63 [no. 117b]); Oxford, Bodl. Lib. MS Arch. Selden B.26, fols. 15v–16r (fifteenth century): burden and stanzas 1, 2, 4, 3 (Dearmer et al., Oxford Book of Carols, pp. 78–79 [no. 40]; Greene, Early English Carols, p. 63 [no. 117c]). Modern Choral Adaptations: Stevens,"What Tidings Bringest Thou?" Mediaeval Carols, pp. 8–9 (no. 11), 20 (no. 27); Hoddinott, "What Tidings?" Sound Recordings: The Elizabethan Singers 1966; New York Pro Musica Antiqua 1978; Oxford Camerata 1993. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 487–88; E. Whiting, pp. 191–93, 251; Greene, Selection of English Carols, pp. 83–84, 204–05 (no. 25); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 62–63, 372 (no. 117a). Modernized Edition: Sisam and Sisam, Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, pp. 386–87 (no. 117a).]
8 This line appears to signify that the Devil may now attempt only to prey on sinning humans, but not assume they are damned. With the coming of Christ, mankind is now redeemable.
CAROL 12. KING HENRY VI [W39]
This carol comes twelfth of twenty-five, a position treated as the center of the sequence. A prominent and distinctive leaf-point in the foliage of the ornamental initial A seems designed to highlight the carol and signify Henry’s sovereignty as important to Audelay’s carol collection. Henry V died in France on August 31, 1422, when his son was yet an infant (born on December 6, 1421). Henry VI was crowned king of England at Westminster on November 6, 1429 (at age eight), and king of France in Paris, on December 16, 1431 (at age ten). Greene, Early English Carols, p. 475, suggests that "this circumstance excuses Audelay’s devoting most of the carol to the exploits of the new king’s father rather than to the virtues of the boy himself." Audelay’s patriotic loyalty to the monarch emerges elsewhere, most notably in Salutation to Saint Bridget. In the Chastity of Wives carol, he laments a decline in England’s noble bloodlines caused by female inconstancy. Useful discussion of this carol, with comparison to The Agincourt Carol (Robbins, Historical Poems, pp. 91–92 [no. 32]) and a Lydgate poem, appears in the essay by Hirsh, "Wo and werres"; see, too, McKenna, "Henry VI," pp. 154–55. On celebrations of Henry V’s monarchy in fifteenth-century literature, see Dockray, Henry V, pp. 13–32, and Allmand, Henry V, especially p. 427. For accounts of Henry VI’s years of minority (1422–37), see Pollard, Late Medieval England, pp. 92–115, and Wolffe, Henry VI, pp. 25–47. Griffiths, "Sense of Dynasty," details the vigorous sense of dynasty motivating regnal ambitions during this era.13–15 Audelay’s sequence of events is inaccurate. Henry V’s marriage to Catherine of Valois (on June 2, 1420) was not an issue before his defeat of the French in 1419. The tennis ball incident occurred in 1415. See E. Whiting, p. 252, and Greene, Early English Carols, p. 476.
[Fol. 29rb–va. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 822. MWME 6:2011 [437]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium A in red (two lines high), with trailing foliage that curves into a leaf pointing back at lines 1–4 of the poem. Meter: Sixteen 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Halliwell, pp. viii–x; Chambers and Sidgwick 1910, pp. 488–90; E. Whiting, pp. 193–95, 251–52; Robbins, Historical Poems, pp. 108–10 (no. 41); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 258–59, 475–76 (no. 428); Hirsh, Medieval Lyric, pp. 195–99 (no. B9).]
15 hee. As E. Whiting notes, p. 251, there is no antecedent for this pronoun, but it must be the Dauphin: "The Dauphin said that Henry’s love for Katharine should not be."
19–22 Greene, Early English Carols, p. 476, comments: "The tennis-ball incident and its sequel of ‘teaching the French the game’ caught Audelay’s imagination as it later did Shakespeare’s." See also Dockray, Henry V, p. 53, and Allmand, Henry V, p. 427.
25 Harflete. The reference is to the town of Harfleur, taken by siege September 22, 1415, upon Henry V’s landing in France in the summer. Compare The Agincourt Carol: "He sette a sege, þe sothe for to say, / To harflu tovne with ryal a-ray; / Þat tovne he wan & made a-fray" (Robbins, Historical Poems, p. 91).
33 Agyncowrt. I.e., the battle of Agincourt, on October 25, 1415 (on which, see Curry, Agincourt). Robbins, Historical Poems, provides a succinct summary of the events leading to this victory for the English (pp. 285–86) as well as a description of the elaborate pageants that followed Henry V’s triumphant return to London (pp. 296–97).
63–64 McKenna, "Henry VI," pp. 154–55, cites these lines as an instance of "congratulatory stanzas" evocative of domestic propaganda in celebration of Henry VI’s dual coronation as king of England and of France. If this is so, it would date Audelay’s carol sequence and the MS to after 1431. Robbins, Historical Poems, p. 108, dates Audelay’s King Henry VI "1429."
73–76 Greene, Early English Carols, p. 476, comments: "Audelay’s prophecy is given a tragic irony by the events of Henry VI’s reign. The last stanza, however, shows that the poet recognized the possibilities of disaster facing the new sovereign."
CAROL 13. FOUR ESTATES [W40]
The opening stanza of this carol borrows directly from Audelay’s True Living, a poem in 13-line stanzas. Audelay also mined material from this apparently earlier work for Carols 1, 3, 5, and 22.1–4 On Audelay’s staunch attitude on upholding one’s station, see True Living, lines 130–33 (and explanatory note).
[Fol. 29va–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 1588. MWME 6:1997 [350]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium H in red (two lines high). Meter: Eight 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "I say, algate." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 68–69; E. Whiting, pp. 195–97; Kaiser, Medieval English, p. 295; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 209–10, 435–36 (no. 347). Modernized Edition: Davies, Medieval English Lyrics, pp. 171–73.]
CAROL 14. CHILDHOOD [W41]
Salter, Fourteenth-Century English Poetry, p. 17, praises this carol for its "warmth of feeling for the innocence of a child — an emotion more unusual in [Audelay’s] age than we might think possible," and she astutely notes how that emotion is not "indulged," but rather "turned to useful account in his numerous Nativity lyrics" (compare Jesus Flower of Jesse’s Tree, lines 42–44). Greene’s praise is more muted: "The attitude of reverence for childhood expressed by Audelay in this carol is unusual . . . and has been deservedly praised. Nevertheless, the expression of it is rather stiff and conventional with its systematic introduction of the Deadly Sins and is more probably inspired by the words of Jesus . . . than by sympathetic association with real children" (Early English Carols, p. 459). The biblical passages referenced by Greene are Matthew 18:3 ("Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven") and Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17 ("Amen, I say to you: Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it").1–15 On Audelay’s treatment of the seven deadly sins, see explanatory note to Seven Bleedings of Christ, lines 19–60.
[Fols 29vb, 31ra. IMEV, NIMEV 840. MWME 6:2007 [417]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium A in red (two lines high). Meter: Eight 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 69–70; E. Whiting, pp. 197–98; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 245, 459 (no. 412).]
1–6 For a psychoanalytical reading of these lines, see Citrome, Surgeon, pp. 103–05, who comments that "metaphors [of childhood] act in concert with . . . supremely ambivalent experiences of parental power to strengthen the authority of the clergy" (p. 104).
10 cheré stons. Playing with cherry stones is here a sign of childish innocence, but John Lydgate’s Testament portrays the same activity as a youthful waste of time and a turning from God: "My wyttes fyve in wast I did alle vse, / Redier cheristones for to telle / Than gon to chirche, or here the sacryng belle" (MacCracken, Minor Poems of John Lydgate, p. 353, lines 646–48). Greene, Early English Carols, p. 459, calls Audelay’s detail "a pleasant touch."
16 mystere. "Necessity." See MED mister, n.5(a).
43–46 Citrome reads this passage as another instance of Audelay viewing his afflictions as an early purgatory (The Surgeon, p. 103); compare the explanatory note to Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, lines 14–26.
CAROL 15. DAY OF EPIPHANY [W42]
With a burden of "Nowel!" and evocations of the Christmas season, this lovely carol is composed for the Day of Epiphany, January 6. There survive two variant versions of Audelay’s carol, both much shorter and possessing different 2-line burdens. In Audelay’s poem the fourth line of each stanza is the opening of a different Latin hymn; several of these hymns are specific to Epiphany (lines 24, 29, 44) or to Christmas (lines 14, 49). These Latin lines are tabulated with their hymnal uses and their other carol occurrences by Greene, Early English Carols, pp. lxxxvi–lxxxviii. Appropriately, Audelay’s version develops the story of the Three Magi; compare Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 1:78–84) and Speculum Sacerdotale (ed. Weatherly, pp. 18–21). The Sloane version treats the Magi story in only one stanza, and the even shorter Balliol version omits it.4 Vene, Creatore Spiritus. Hymn used for Whitsunday, Terce, and also the first words of the ordinary of the mass (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxviii). For editions and commentary, see Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:213–15; Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 2:93; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:241–42; Trench, Sacred Latin Poetry, pp. 186–88; and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 373–76.
[Fol. 31ra–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 3526 (compare IMEV, NIMEV 20). MWME 6:1963 [120]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium N in red (two lines high). Meter: Eleven 5-line macaronic stanzas, abab4C3, with a nonrhyming 1-line burden (a form unique among Audelay’s carols). Variants: five stanzas, London, BL MS Sloane 2593, fol. 27v–28r (fifteenth century; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 67–68 [no. 122B]); four stanzas, Balliol College Oxford MS 354, fol. 221v (sixteenth century; Greene, Early English Carols, p. 68 [no. 122C]). Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 70–71; E. Whiting, pp. 198–200, 252–53; Kaiser, Medieval English, p. 295 (stanzas 6, 10 omitted); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 67, 376 (no. 122A).]
9 Tu Trinetatis Unitas. Hymn used for the Friday after Octave of Epiphany, Matins (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxviii). For editions and commentary, see Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:35–36; Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 2:33; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:379–80; and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 272–73.
14 Glorea in exelsis Deo. This line derives from the biblical Nativity story (Luke 2:14) and is omitted from Greene’s chart; see Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 2:267–75. Vulgate Luke 2:14 reads gloria in altissimis Deo; exelsis precedes the Vulgate in Greek liturgical forms of the Gloria. In music, it is the preferred form because of its rhythmical scansion.
19 Iam lucis ortus sidere. Hymn used for Advent, First Sunday, Prime (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:56–57; Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 4:238; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:177–78; and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 293–94.
24 Hostes Herodes impii. Hymn used for Vigil of Epiphany, Vespers (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:147–49.
29 Deus Creator omnium. Hymn used for First Sunday after Octave of Epiphany, I Vespers (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvi). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:17–18; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:381–82; and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 44–49. For the hymn translated to English, see Van Buren, Latin Hymns in English Verse, pp. 28–31.
34 Jhesu Salvotor seculi. Hymn used for (a) First Sunday after Easter, Compline, and (b) All Saints, I Vespers (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:297–98, and compare Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:399–400, "Jesu redemptor saeculi."
39 Jhesu nostra Redempcio. Hymn used for Vigil of Ascension, Compline (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:63–64; Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 2:49; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:230–31; and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 364–65.
42 Prest. On this liturgical interpretation of the incense, and the word prest applied to Christ, see an analogous carol cited by Greene, Early English Carols, p. 354 (no. 47), and his note on its fifth stanza: "The doctrine of Christ’s priesthood concerns itself with the sacrificial aspect of His life and death and would be a natural reference for a writer who wished to emphasize . . . the human qualities of the Saviour."
44 Magne Deus potencie. Hymn used for Thursday after Octave of Epiphany, Vespers (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:61, and Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 2:32.
49 Christe Redemptore omnium. Hymn used for Christmas, Matins (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxvi). See Dreves and Blume, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 51:49, and Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, pp. 306–08. Compare Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 3:27, 3:496, and Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 1:78–79, "Iesu redemptor omnium."
54 Salvator mundy Domine. Hymn used for Advent, First Sunday (Greene, Early English Carols, p. lxxxviii). See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, 4:209, and Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 1:47–48.
CAROL 16. SAINT ANNE MOTHER OF MARY [W43]
This carol may have been intended for singing on the day of Saint Anne (July 26) or at Christmas. Audelay also composed a gaude poem to Anne, copied in the salutations section of MS Douce 302. Woolf, English Religious Lyric, p. 297, praises this carol as "a Marian variation of the Tree of Jesse," noting that "though the reference of the imagery is doctrinal, it retains in Audelay’s style some of the associations of natural imagery, the beauty of flowers and perhaps even of the joy in their growth." She finds "a sense of delight in the poem" that "the more formal and ornate style of Lydgate" lacks. In their shared Tree of Jesse theme, this carol and the next are explicitly paired. Warren, Spiritual Economies, pp. 111–33 (especially pp. 123–24), details the use of this image in nationalist discourse, called upon to serve Henry V’s "incarnational politics" (p. 123).3 oure soulis leche. According to Citrome, an intensely personalized petition develops in Audelay’s sequencing of material, which culminates in this plea to Mary’s mother: "we can glimpse Audelay’s despair at the unraveling of his illness narrative — his failure to find relief from his afflictions through either the healing properties of confession or the intercessory powers of Mary — in the pattern of spiraling pleas for mediation that have occurred throughout the anthology. Indeed, he has prayed for Christ to intercede with God, Mary to intercede with Christ, and then . . . for St. Anne to intercede with Mary" (Surgeon, p. 110).
On Saint Anne in general, Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418, comments: "The fashion of devotion to St. Anne and the formation of guilds in her honour was growing rapidly in England at the time this carol was written down, her day having been made a feast of obligation in 1382. The diocese of Hereford, which included southern Shropshire, though not Haughmond itself, was particularly zealous in this devotion." For references to other Middle English treatments of Saint Anne, see Parker, Middle English Stanzaic Versions, pp. x–xi. On the legend of Saint Anne, see Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 2:149–58). Useful modern studies of the cult of Saint Anne include Ronan, S. Anne (listing sites of devotion in Hereford); Ashley and Sheingorn, Interpreting Cultural Symbols; and Nixon, Mary’s Mother.
[Fol. 31rb–va. IMEV, NIMEV 3244. MWME 6:1991 [313]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium T in red (two lines high). Meter: Nine 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "Herefore we/I say." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 71–73; E. Whiting, pp. 200–01, 253; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 189–90, 418 (no. 311).]
15–18 On Saint Anne’s long period of barrenness, compare Salutation to Saint Anne lines 13–16. The narrative of Mary’s conception is "coloured by echoes of the Annunciation" (Woolf, English Religious Lyric, p. 297). Sautman describes the folk tradition of Saint Anne: "ancient figure of motherhood, . . . first mother in the family of Christ, protector of women in childbed, the sterile tree who bore fruit in the autumn of her age" ("Saint Anne in Folk Tradition," p. 85).
24 For this wording, compare Chastity of Wives, line 22.v
30–31 Compare Jesus Flower of Jesse’s Tree, lines 7–8.
36–38 Compare Jesus Flower of Jesse’s Tree, lines 3–4. The development of Mary as a branch of Jesse links this carol to the next one (as do lines 30–31). On Anne’s iconographical place in this tradition, see Sheingorn, "Appropriating the Holy Kinship," pp. 170–71; and on the Tree of Jesse tradition in general, see Watson, Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse. The dual exposition on Christ’s human lineage and birth underscores what must be an intentional grouping of these carols. Compare also Salutation to Saint Anne, lines 5–8.
43–46 Analogous lines appear in an Annunciation poem: "Call him Jesu of Nazareth, / God and mon in on degree. / Right as mon schall suffur dethe / And regne in David dignite" (Chambers and Sidgwick, Early English Lyrics, p. 113, lines 33–36; see also Breul, "Zwei Mittelenglische Christmas Carols," pp. 401–02).
58 Compare Gabriel’s Salutation to the Virgin, line 60: "Afftur thys owtlary." Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418, notes that this stanza translates, in part, the Latin burden of a carol found in MS Balliol 354: "Mater, ora Filium / Vt post hoc exilium / Nobis donet gaudium / Beatorum omnium" (no. 178 in his edition; and compare the burden of no. 195).
CAROL 17. JESUS FLOWER OF JESSE'S TREE [W44]
Despite the incipit, the central focus of this carol is Jesus, Mary’s fruit. On Audelay’s tendency to blend Marian and Christ-Child piety, compare Salutation to Jesus for Mary’s Love, the first piece in the salutation section, which is also labeled (by Scribe B) a poem to the Virgin, but it addresses the Virgin and her joys in order to access Jesus. In both these poems one approaches Christ devotionally via his natural kinship to Mary. The Tree of Jesse motif describes Mary’s conception in the preceding Saint Anne Mother of Mary, and now the image is in full bloom: the branch is Mary, the flower Christ. Woolf, English Religious Lyric, p. 287, cites this carol as a "charming" elaboration of "the standard tradition." Of the two surviving versions, Greene, Early English Carols, p. 394, comments that Audelay’s is "better" and "seems to be the earlier." On the Tree of Jesse tradition in general, see Watson, Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse. On its political use for the making of Lancastrian dynastic claims, see McKenna, "Henry VI," pp. 160–61, and Warren, Spiritual Economies, pp. 123–24. On the unknown musical setting of this carol, see Copley, "John Audelay’s Carols and Music," pp. 210–11.burden Compare Saint Anne Mother of Mary, lines 30–31.
Of special note is Haberly’s 1926 edition, a hand-produced art-volume limited to 450 copies and illustrated with seventeen woodcuts executed by Haberly in the style of William Morris. Haberly’s art develops a visual theme of Mary and Jesus as the conjoined flower of salvation progressively unfurled in Christian narrative. The edition casts Audelay’s carol as a devotional poem rather than a song.
[Fol. 31va–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 3603 (mistakenly called "carol to the Virgin Mary"). MWME 6:1974 [172]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium T in red (two lines high). Meter: Seven 10-line stanzas, aaaa4b2bCC4 D2 D4. Other MS: Balliol College, Oxford MS 354, fol. 220v (sixteenth century; Dyboski, Songs, Carols, p. 6; Flügel, "Liedersammlungen des XVI. Jahrhunderts," pp. 230–31; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 115 [no. 172b]). Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 73–74; E. Whiting, pp. 202–03, 253; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 115, 394 (no. 172a). Modernized Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1907, pp. 110–11, 350 (no. LVII); Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols, pp. 160–61; Haberly, Alia Cantalena de Sancta Maria by John Awdlay, pp. 3–17; Sitwell, Atlantic Book of British and American Poetry, pp. 8–9; Sisam and Sisam, Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, pp. 388–89 (no. 158).]
3–4 Compare Saint Anne Mother of Mary, lines 36–38.
14 medis. Whiting’s gloss of medis as "midst" is unlikely to be correct. From evidence in the MED, the word is probably mede, n.(4)2(b), "gift, reward," or, in this context, "in grace," with a light pun, suited to the carol’s floral trope, on mede, n.(2)(a), i.e., "in Bethlehem meadows."
33 sede appears in the manuscript and corrects the reading lede given by all previous editors. See MED sed, n.3(b), "a race, line, stock; species, kind."
42–44 Salter, Fourteenth-Century English Poetry, p. 17, cites these lines to illustrate how Audelay’s feelings for a child’s innocence, which he expresses in Childhood, are "not indulged" but rather are "turned to useful account in his numerous Nativity lyrics."
46 golde. The word means "cold," although E. Whiting translates it "gold." The reference is to Christ’s birth in winter, deploying the vegetative metaphor.
CAROL 18. JOYS OF MARY [W45]
This carol can be compared to Audelay’s treatment of the five joys of Mary in Salutation to Jesus for Mary’s Love, lines 81–88, 91, and Prayer on the Joys of the Virgin. Woolf, English Religious Lyric, p. 297, asserts that "Audelay is the only fifteenth-century writer on the five joys, who, encouraged by the theme, is able to break through ornateness and formality" such as one finds in Lydgate, to reach true "affective meditation." Although Greene, Early English Carols, p. 403, considers original authorship by Audelay to be "doubtful," noting how the meter is unique among his carols, Woolf praises this carol for its "sweetness and gentle feeling typical of Audelay’s poetry" and declares it the only "poetically pleasing" carol on the five joys theme (English Religious Lyric, p. 297). Numerous Middle English carols addressed to Mary are conveniently gathered in Greene’s 1977 edition, with three others there that enumerate Mary’s five joys (nos. 231, 232, 233). There is also a fine Harley lyric on the subject (Brook, Harley Lyrics, pp. 65–66; MWME 11.4200 [27]).2 moder of thyn Emne. The curiosity of Mary’s kinship to God is the focus here. Mary is mother of her own Father, Husband, and Brother; compare Salutation to Mary, line 80: "Haile, thi Breder thou hast eborene." The manuscript word emne is strange, however, and editors have found it hard to construe. E. Whiting, p. 254, glosses emne as "equal," but the sense is poor, and the word even is not a noun, according to the MED. Greene, Early English Carols, p. 403, thinks that the word is "probably a scribal blunder which escaped the corrector’s eye"; the rhyme calls for the word to end in -ene, and the parallel line in Balliol reads "Mary myld, of the I mene," a phrase that Greene adopts. The manuscript reading might be an error for emane / emene, from OE gemana; see MED imone, n.(1)(c), "a companion, mate." The word is not, however, recorded later than the fourteenth century.
[Fols 31vb, 30ra. IMEV, NIMEV 895 (mistakenly listed as six stanzas). MWME 6:1981-82 [232]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium A in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 10-line macaronic stanzas, ababbcbcCC4. Each stanza opens with the anaphora "Gaude Maria"; each has a Latin eighth line, drawn from a single Marian hymn (see explanatory note to line 8). Other MS: Balliol College, Oxford MS 354, fol. 219a (sixteenth century; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 144–45, 403 [no. 230]). Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 74–75; E. Whiting, pp. 203–04, 253–54.]
8 E. Whiting, p. 254, first detected the hymnal source for the Latin eighth line of each stanza (Dreves and Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 31:176; Mone, Lateinische Hymnen, 2:172). The English lines do not, however, translate this hymn on the five joys (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 403).
11–18 Woolf, English Religious Lyric, p. 297, cites this stanza and freely emends it, as follows: "Gaude Maria, yglent with grace, / Whan Jhesus thi Son on the was bore, / Full nygh thy brest thou gan him brace; / He sowked, he sighhed, he wepte full sore. / Thou fedest the flowr that never shall fade / With maydons mylke and songe therto, / ‘Lulley, my swet, I bare the, babe, / Cum pudoris lilio.’"
45 The translation follows E. Whiting, p. 254.
CAROL 19. MARY FLOWER OF WOMEN [W46]
Many epithets for Mary in this carol may also be found in Audelay’s Salutation to Mary, which has the refrain "Hail, Blessed Fruit! Hail, Sweet Flower!"13 Compare Audelay’s Gabriel’s Salutation to the Virgin, lines 4–36, dramatizing how the event of God’s Incarnation and birth moves rapidly to an offensive strike against the Devil.
[Fol. 30ra. IMEV, NIMEV 536 ("carol of the Virgin Mary"). MWME 6:1975-76 [177]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium H in red (two lines high). Meter: Five 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 75–76; E. Whiting, pp. 205, 254; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 118, 395 (no. 177).]
22 treu as ston. Audelay uses this proverbial simile in Marcolf and Solomon, line 59.
28 hal. MS: bal. I agree with Greene that the emendation is needed; he argues that E. Whiting’s gloss of bal, "world, sphere," is not an attested medieval term for heaven (p. 395), and the evidence in the MED supports this position.
CAROL 20. CHASTITY FOR MARY'S LOVE [W47]
It is evident that a compiler (presumably Audelay) wanted this carol to appear at this point in the manuscript, but he did not immediately have it at hand or in memory. Scribe A inserted a portion of it (omitting the burden), and left lines blank (more than needed) to accommodate the rest of its verses. Scribe B completed the job and inserted corrections (see textual notes). A similar division of labor in the body of a text occurs in Gabriel’s Salutation to the Virgin and Day of the Lord’s Circumcision. The carol is composed in Audelay’s standard 6-line carol stanza. Despite the category assigned it by NIMEV, "carol of women," the chastity celebrated in the poem could be that of male religious — secular clergy and/or cloistered monks. The female martyr saints named in line 19 were venerated at Haughmond (see explanatory note), and line 27 seems more a generalization about female virgins than an injunction pointed towards real women.7 On "word, will, deed, and thought," see the explanatory note to Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, line 115.
[Fol. 30ra–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 535 ("carol of women"). MWME 6:2004 [401]. Hands: Scribe A, parts of the carol in black; Scribe B, incipit in red, burden and much of the carol in black. Initial: Medium B in red (two lines high), marking the first line instead of the burden. Meter: Six 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick, pp. 76–77; E. Whiting, pp. 206–07, 254; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 234, 450–51 (no. 397).]
19 Kateryn and Marget and Wynfred. These female martyrs were all beheaded upon refusal to give up their virginity. They are honored in the architecture of Haughmond Abbey: their effigies stand among those still surviving between the outside archways to the chapter house. Catherine holds a wheel and sword, standing on the crown of the head of the Emperor Maxentius, who had her martyred; Margaret of Antioch stands on a dragon and pierces it with her cross; and Winifred (a local saint) stands on the head of her would-be murderer Caradoc. On the lives of Saints Katherine and Margaret, see Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 2:334–41 and 2:232–33). Audelay honors Winifred in the salutations section of the manuscript, where she receives a vita in carol stanzas and a salutation-poem (Saint Winifred Carol and Salutation to Saint Winifred).
28 Compare this line to Four Estates, line 1, "In wat order or what degré," and see the explanatory note to True Living, lines 130–33.
CAROL 21. VIRGINITY OF MAIDS [W48]
Unlike the last carol, which treats the virtue of chastity in saintly and vocational terms, this carol points its message directly at secular unmarried women, preaching that they have a moral duty to preserve virginity before marriage. As Greene, Early English Carols, p. 451, comments of the pragmatic message in the last stanza: "Audelay’s praise of the worldly value of chastity is consonant with his prudential attitude throughout." The carol belongs to a tradition of clerical counsel to women to maintain their virginity; see, e.g., Thomas of Hales’s Love Rune (Fein, Moral Love Songs, pp. 11–56, with a bibliography of Middle English works on pp. 27–28).burden On Audelay’s conservative attitude on upholding one’s station, see the explanatory note to True Living, lines 130–33.
[Fol. 30rb–va. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 1595 ("carol of women"). MWME 6:2004 [402]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Large I in red (seven lines high, in margin). Meter: Eight 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 77–78; E. Whiting, pp. 207–08, 254; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 235, 451 (no. 398).]
1 On "word, will, deed, and thought," see the explanatory note to Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, line 115.
CAROL 22. CHASTITY OF WIVES [W49]
Greene, Early English Carols, entitles this carol On the Decadence of Marriage, noting how it and the preceding carol demonstrate Audelay’s adherence to social rank and class-based mores. The sixth stanza expresses disgust for ladies who "wil take a page" for fleshly lust and courtly fashion, and the seventh sees England in decline as a result. For Audelay, such behavior by gentlewomen disgraces the upper classes and creates unlawful heirs, causing English nobility to waste away. Six of the seven stanzas of this carol borrow directly from two consecutive stanzas of Audelay’s True Living. Audelay also revised material from this earlier work for Carols 1, 3, 5, and 13.burden The phrase is proverbial. See Greene, Early English Carols, p. 459; E. Whiting, p. 254; Chambers and Sidgwick, 1911, p. 84; and MED had-I-wist(e, n.: "Regret for something done in heedlessness or ignorance; vain regret."
[Fol. 30va. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 1630 ("carol of marriage"). MWME 6:2007 [416]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium A in red (two lines high, with tail trailing down margin). Meter: Seven 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "All day thou seest." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 78–79; E. Whiting, pp. 208–09, 254; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 244–45, 459 (no. 411).]
1–4 Stanza 1 is the only stanza of this carol not also found in True Living.
8–11 Stanza 2; compare True Living, lines 78–81.
15–18 Stanza 3; compare True Living, lines 82–85.
22–25 Stanza 4; compare True Living, lines 87–90. For line 25, Audelay has filled out a short line in a different meter by simply adding the word unlaufully.
29–32 Stanza 5; compare True Living, lines 91–94.
30 Compare True Living, line 92, and textual note.
31 Compare True Living, line 93, and textual note.
36–39 Stanza 6; compare True Living, lines 95–98.
43–46 Stanza 7; compare True Living, lines 99–103. The reference to "Englond" is an addition.
CAROL 23. LOVE OF GOD [W50]
In this carol Audelay displays something fairly rare in his verse, that is, a capacity for compressed wordplay of the type best known in the gnomic Earth upon Earth and its variants (MWME 11:4172 [1]). Here, the term love suffuses every line, where its meanings — religious and profane — are devotionally intertwined and meditated upon, to create, in the words of Hirsh, Medieval Lyric, p. 193, a "gentle reflection . . . upon what [Audelay] and many of his contemporaries would have regarded as the greatest of medieval themes, the love which exists between God and all of humankind." Salter, Fourteenth-Century English Poetry, p. 17, calls this carol "reminiscent of Herbert in balanced moods of reconciliation and praise," and uses it to note Audelay’s finest trait: "The stability of his best verse, perfectly shaping emotion to the celebrative language of the Church, is, in its modest way, impressive." This carol about the love of God forms the logical culmination of an internal group of carols on chastity, virginity, and marriage (Carols 20–23).CAROL 24. DREAD OF DEATH [W51]
[Fol. 30va–b. IMEV, NIMEV 831. MWME 6:1987 [272]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Large I in red (eight lines high, in margin). Meter: Five 7-line stanzas, abab4C2CC4, with 2-line tetrameter burden, introduced by tag-refrain "I say, herefore." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, p. 79; E. Whiting, p. 210; Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 170–71, 412 (no. 272); Hirsh, Medieval Lyric, pp. 193–94 (no. B8). Modernized Edition: Sisam and Sisam, Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, pp. 390–91 (no. 159).]
Dread of Death is the best-known carol of Audelay’s collection — and the most praised. Greene, Early English Carols, p. 442, rates it "one of the most personal of all the carols [in Middle English]," with "its directness and apparent sincerity, as well as its tale of personal affliction," which sets "it apart from the more conventional laments on the ‘Timor mortis’ theme." Salter, Fourteenth-Century English Poetry, p. 17, lauds its fusion of personal and communal experience: "[Audelay’s] personal situation — he was blind, deaf and ailing — is put at the service of the community: ‘timor mortis’ is, for him, a pressing theme . . . [b]ut it is made to yield consolation." Woolf ranks it with George Herbert’s verse (English Religious Lyric, p. 7), naming it "[o]f the many Timor mortis poems by far the most moving. . . . In this, for perhaps the first time in an English lyric poem, the poet truly speaks in his own voice" (English Religious Lyric, p. 335; see also pp. 387–88). Comparing this carol to Lydgate’s "A Prayer in Old Age" (MacCracken, Minor Poems of John Lydgate, pp. 20–21), Tristram, Figures of Life and Death, p. 222n12, finds both poets capable of a rare meditative tone of "present and personal experience." This carol belongs with Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience and Audelay’s Conclusion as important clues in our understanding of Audelay’s individuality and personality, as committed to verse. It contains lines shared with Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, and like Saint Francis, it bears Audelay’s name.burden Timor mortis conturbat me. The source of this line is liturgical. Compare the seventh leccio in the Office of the Dead (Job 17:1–3, 11–15), as found in The Prymer or Lay Folks’ Prayer Book: "Þe drede of deeþ trubliþ me euery dai, þe while y synne & repente me not, for in helle is no redempcion" (Littlehales, Prymer or Lay Folks’ Prayer Book, p. 68). On the Middle English Timor mortis tradition, see Patterson, Middle English Penitential Lyric, pp. 100–08, 180–84 (nos. 34–39), and compare the fifteenth-century paraphrase of the Office of the Dead in Pety Job (Fein, Moral Love Songs, pp. 289–359, especially pp. 324–27). Gillespie, "Moral and Penitential Lyrics," pp. 80–85, discusses how feelingly some penitential lyrics express the personal anguish of inward suffering.
[Fols 30vb, 32ra. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 693. MWME 6:2000 [372]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initials: Medium L in red (two lines high). On fol. 32ra (the last full column of the carols section), the first letter of every line is marked in red; in this carol the marked initials occur in lines 40, 43-46, 49-52, 55-58, 61-64. Audelay Signature: Line 43 (Scribe A). Meter: Eleven 6-line macaronic stanzas, aaaBBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden and introductory Latin refrain "Passio Christi conforta me." Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 80–81; E. Whiting, pp. 211–12, 255; Silverstein, English Lyrics, pp. 105-06 (no. 84); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 219–20, 442 (no. 369). Modernized Editions: Sisam and Sisam, Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse, pp. 391–93 (no. 160); Davies, Medieval English Lyrics, pp. 170–71, 339 (no. 81).]
4 Passio Christi conforta me. Audelay draws this line from the prayer Anima Christi sanctifica me, copied earlier in MS Douce 302, and he also uses it in Pope John’s Passion of Our Lord, line 9.
25–38 Citrome notes how, with its "excremental rhetoric" of pastoral literature, this passage offers "a startling admission of penitential self-loathing," and also how Audelay’s continuous "illness narrative" in Douce 302 returns here to the restorative medicine of Christ’s five wounds (Surgeon, pp. 109–10).
32 On "deed, will, and thought," see the explanatory note to Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, line 115.
43–45 Compare Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, lines 482–84.
50 Compare Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, lines 74–75.
56 On Audelay’s reverence for the five joys of the Virgin, see Salutation to Jesus for Mary’s Love, Prayer on the Joys of the Virgin, and Joys of Mary.
62 This is a proverbial phrase. See Greene, Early English Carols, p. 442.
CAROL 25. SAINT FRANCIS [W52]
Audelay’s motive for composing a carol in honor of Saint Francis cannot be known. Given that Haughmond Abbey was Augustinian, E. Whiting, p. 255, finds it "unusual that Audelay should glorify St. Francis, the founder of one of the rival orders." But Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418, points out how, in Marcolf and Solomon, Audelay shows himself to be "no enemy of the friars as such, but only of those who gave way to avarice or other sins," and that Audelay expresses there his admiration for the founders of the orders (Marcolf and Solomon, lines 430–31). Melissa Jones, "Swete May, Soulis Leche," p. 2, suggests that the reason for Audelay’s giving honor and place of prominence to Saint Francis is both religious and literary: "The final carol is dedicated to St Francis of Assisi, creator of the vernacular Christian song, in whom the carol-composing Audelay must have held particular esteem." That Audelay signed the carol suggests that he held Saint Francis in special reverence (the signature in the preceding carol seems to signify such a personal meaning), but it may also indicate, more simply, that Audelay wanted his name noted at the end of the carol sequence, where it was to be "read."burden breder. According to Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418, the term is "probably meant to designate not only the friars of Francis’s own order but his ‘brothers’ in the wider sense of all Christians."
[Fol. 32ra–b. IMEV, Suppl., NIMEV 44. MWME 6:1991 [312]. Hands: Scribe A, carol and burden in black; Scribe B, incipit in red. Initial: Medium S in red (two lines high). On fol. 32ra (the last full column of the carols section), the first letter of every line is marked in red; in this carol the marked initials occur in the burden and in lines 1-4, 7-10, 13-16, 19-22, 25-28, 31-34, 37-40. Audelay Signature: Line 55 (Scribe A). Meter: Thirteen 6-line stanzas, aaabBB4, with 2-line tetrameter burden. Editions: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911, pp. 81–82; E. Whiting, pp. 212–14, 255; Greene, Selection of English Carols, pp. 122–23 (no. 61); Greene, Early English Carols, pp. 188–89, 417–18 (no. 310).]
3–4 "St. Francis had a particular devotion to the Passion of Christ" (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 417).
5 Where the burden has the word say, this line substitutes the word pray.
9 preynt. For the story, see Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend (trans. Ryan, 2.220–30; for Caxton’s version, see Ellis, Golden Legend, 5:215–34).
14 thre. Greene, Early English Carols, p. 417, notes that the actual number of years during which Francis bore the stigmata was two and not three.
21 Greene, Early English Carols, p. 417, understands this line as meaning that out of piety Francis would divide his food in five parts in memory of Christ’s wounds, but the source is obscure. Similar practices are well attested in the fifteenth century. See, e.g., Pantin, "Instruction for a Devout and Literate Layman," pp. 398–422.
31 thongis. "thankedst." E. Whiting notes that this verb is a present tense used for the preterite; compare Salutation to Saint Winifred, line 30.
31–34 Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418: "St. Francis set out in 1212 on a mission to the heathen in Palestine, but his ship was wrecked, and he was forced to return. In 1219 he actually went to the Near East and attempted the conversion of some Mohammedans, but soon returned to Italy."
39 testament. That is, "the Testament of St. Francis containing his last instructions to his brethren, dictated by him shortly before his death" (Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418).
40, 43–46 These lines are Christ’s words to Saint Francis.
49–52 Greene, Early English Carols, p. 418: "The first Rule was given out by St. Francis and orally approved by Pope Innocent III in 1210, not, as the carol implies, later than the Testament. The latter enjoins obedience to the Rule as it had been revised in the saint’s lifetime."
67–72 This stanza is adapted and repeated in Saint Winifred Carol, lines 169–74.
73–78 These lines, especially 73–74, formally close the carol sequence, joining with the opening couplet to frame the collection. While the opening couplet — "I pray you, syrus, boothe moore and las, / Syng these caroles in Cristemas" (written by Scribe B) — references the carols as songs, these closing lines refer to reading. Overall, the frame signals an intent already evident in the work of Scribe A to present the carols as a series. On the reference to reading rather than singing this carol, compare Saint Winifred Carol, lines 175–80, and see Copley, "John Audelay’s Carols and Music," pp. 211–12.
JOHN AUDELAY, CAROL SEQUENCE: TEXTUAL NOTES
The following notes record readings of the manuscript at those points where other editors have made different assessments of the textual evidence, as well as at points of important physical detail.In general, Scribe A copied texts, and Scribe B later added incipits and explicits and acted as proofreader. Wherever Scribe B played a significant, uncharacteristic role in the textual copying, the affected lines are noted. Not noted, however, are the many correcting marks made by the scribes. Wherever final readings are determinate, those readings are adopted without comment. On how the scribes divided their work on particular items, see the explanatory notes.
Modernized editions with altered spellings and wordings (Chambers and Sidgwick 1907, Davies, Haberly, Sisam and Sisam, and Sitwell) are not recorded in the textual notes. Hands that date later than those of the two scribes are also not recorded. In MS Douce 302 there are two significant early hands, both probably medieval:
(1) An inexperienced writer who copies stray phrases in the margin (fols. 16rb, 16va, 29ra, 34rb, and 35ra).There are also two modern readers whose hands appear on the pages of MS Douce 302:
(2) A doodler, whose simple drawings and occasional crosses appear most frequently on upper recto pages, b-column, perhaps to record his reading progress (fols. 3rb, 5rb, 6rb, 7rb, 9rb [two marks], 10rb, 11rb, 13rb, 18rb [the climax of The Vision of Saint Paul], 27vb, and 28va). The involvement of this reader is evident in his drawing of a sleeved hand pointing to the word "assencion" in Salutation to Christ’s Body, line 26 (fol. 10rb), a line that marks the raising of the host in the Levation.
(1) A reader who notes the correspondence of True Living, line 78, and Chastity of Wives, line 8, by inserting in fine-line black ink the cross-reference in the margins of fols. 1rb and 30va. This may be the same hand that numbers the folios in the upper right-hand corners. It may also be the hand that "corrects" the reading Hontis in Three Dead Kings, line 11.In addition to these extraneous hands, the book contains a few marks of early ownership. Erased notes on fol. 35rb (visible by ultraviolet light) record that a Coventry minstrel named William Wyatt once possessed the book, and that he passed it on to an Augustinian canon named John Barker in Launde, Leicestershire. These transactions likely took place in the fifteenth century. On fol. 35v, which looks like an original outside cover of the book, the name "John" appears many times amid doodles and verse jottings unrelated to the contents of MS Douce 302. A much later owner was late eighteenth-century bibliophile Richard Farmer, master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, whose handwritten sheet catalogue was bound with the book in 1803 by Francis Douce, its next owner. Douce contributed the woodcut pasted into the back inside cover of the bound book, which makes reference to Three Dead Kings (Fein, "Life and Death," pp. 90–91; Fein, "John Audelay and His Book," pp. 5, 24n13). Later, in 1834, Douce’s vast collection of manuscripts, charters, books, and antiquarian holdings transferred to the Bodleian Library, Oxford. A detailed history of ownership and printed descriptions of MS Douce 302 is provided in Fein, "John Audelay and His Book," pp. 4–15.
(2) A reader who marks texts in pencil, using left-hand marginal crosses and long vertical squiggles to highlight passages of interest. This reader was perhaps an early cataloguer. He is especially interested in political comments and in Audelay’s self-identifications in signatures and autobiographical moments. His hand pervades the book, appearing beside the texts of True Living, Marcolf and Solomon, Visiting the Sick and Consoling the Needy, Instructions for Reading 2, Audelay’s Prayer Explicit to Pope John’s Passion, Our Lord’s Epistle on Sunday, The Vision of Saint Paul, Audelay’s Epilogue to The Counsel of Conscience, Song of the Magnificat, Salutation to Saint Bridget, Saint Winifred Carol, King Henry VI, Joys of Mary, Virginity of Maids, Chastity of Wives, Dread of Death, Saint Francis, Over-Hippers and Skippers, An Honest Bed, Paternoster, Three Dead Kings, and Audelay’s Conclusion.
Abbreviations: C: Cumming; CS1: Chambers and Sidgwick 1910; CS2: Chambers and Sidgwick 1911; Di: Dickins (lexical comments); Do: Doyle; F1: Fein 1985; F2: Fein 1994; G1: Greene 1962; G2: Greene 1977; Ha: Halliwell; Hi: Hirsh 2005; K: Kaiser; M: McIntosh (lexical comments); Mo: R. Morris 1872; MS: Douce 302; P: Priebsch; Pu: Putter; R: Robbins 1959; S: Sandys; Sa: Saupe; Si: Silverstein 1971; SJ: Storck and Jordan; St: Stanley 2009 (lexical comments); T: Turville-Petre 1989; W: Whiting.
CAROL 1. TEN COMMANDMENTS [W28]
9 Scle. So MS (letter c interlined), G2. CS1, W: Sle.
17 Lechoré. So MS, W, G2. CS1: lechere.
24 tult. So MS, W, G2. CS1: cust.
31 geton hom. So MS, W, G2. CS1: geten hem.
32 holdyn. So MS, W, G2. CS1: heldyn.
CAROL 2. SEVEN DEADLY SINS [W29]
22 Glotoré. So MS, W, G2. CS1: glotory.
24 Slouthe. So MS, W, G2. CS1: slouth.
CAROL 3. SEVEN WORKS OF MERCY [W30]
2 Clothe. So MS, W, G2. CS1: Cloþ.
3 presun. So MS (re abbreviated), W. CS1, G2: prisun.
5 Line erased by Scribe B; faintly visible.
12 Line erased by Scribe B; faintly visible.
16 part. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS1, W. G2: pert.
19 Line erased by Scribe B; faintly visible.
23 Opon. So MS, W. CS1: Vpon. G2: Apon.
24 Let se. MS reading uncertain. CS1, W: Loke. G2: Loo, se. See explanatory note.
onsware. So MS, G2. CS1, W: onswere.
29 wellay. So MS, W, CS1. G2: well ay. See explanatory note.
33 Line erased by Scribe B; faintly visible.
CAROL 4. FIVE WITS [W31]
burden wele. So MS, G2. CS1, W: wel.
4 laus. So MS, followed by W, G2. CS1: love.
10 wordlé. So MS, W, G2. CS1: wonder.
25 sorfet. So CS1, W, G2. MS: forfet.
32 mary. So MS, CS1, G2. W: mery.
33 Line omitted in MS, CS1, W. G2 prints the line.
CAROL 5. SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST [W32]
8 makis. So MS, W, G2. CS1: make.
9 werkis. So MS, W, G2. CS1: workis.
11 grownder. So MS (er abbreviated). CS1, G2, W: grownde.
15 dothe. So MS, W, G2. CS1: doþ.
18 hom. So MS, W, G2. CS1: hem.
30 Soule. MS: oule. CS1, W, G2: Onle. See explanatory note.
CAROL 6. DAY OF THE NATIVITY [W33]
burden Welcum. So W, G1, G2. MS, S, CS1: Wwelcum.
good. So MS (first o interlined), S, W. CS1: glad. G1, G2: glod.
aray. So MS, W, G1, G2. S, CS1: array.
holeday. So MS, W, G1, G2. S, CS1: holiday.
2 ibore. So MS, W, G1, G2. S: þu born. CS1: bore.
9 us. So MS, CS1, W, G1, G2. S: as.
10 foreever. So MS, CS1, W, G2. S, G1: for ever.
14 childern. So MS, CS1, W, G1, G2. S: childrn.
15 alle on. So MS, CS1, W. S: all on. G1, G2: allon.
CAROL 7. DAY OF SAINT STEPHEN [W34]
2 He. So CS1, W, G2. MS: Hit (H with interlined t).
13 heven. So MS, W, G2. CS1: hoven.
27 When. So MS, W. CS1, G2: Whan.
28 grawnt us. So MS (us abbreviated), G2. CS1, W: grawntus.
CAROL 8. DAY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST [W35]
burden breder. So MS, W, G2. CS1: broder.
14 pouere. So MS, W, G2. CS1: powere.
15 part. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS1, W. G2: pert.
21 kynes. So MS, CS1. W: kneys. G2: knyes.
31 wynd. So MS (away deleted after wynd), CS1, W. G2: wynd away.
39 departyng. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS1, W. G2: depertyng.
49 Chelde. So MS. CS1: chylde. W, G2: childe.
CAROL 9. DAY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS [W36]
burden reverens. So CS1, W, G1, G2. MS: reuers.
2 Isral. So G1, G2. MS, CS1, W: Iral.
15 eor. So MS, CS1, G1, G2. W: hor.
16 vergyns. So MS (er abbreviated), W, G1, G2. CS1: virgyns.
26 Abyd. So W. MS, G1, G2: Abyds. CS1: Abyde.
CAROL 10. SAINT THOMAS ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY [W37]
burden pra. So MS, CS1, G2. W: pray.
seris. MS, CS1, W, G2: sers. See explanatory note.
this. So MS, W, G2. CS1: þe.
7 ale. So MS. CS1, W, G2: al.
16 seche. So MS. CS1, W, G2: soche.
fal. So MS, W. CS1, G2: fel.
19 Then. So CS1, W, G2. MS: The.
21 Ne. So MS (capital N is formed as in Childhood, line 3), CS1, W, G2 (who all read MS þe).
CAROL 11. DAY OF THE LORD’S CIRCUMCISION [W38]
incipit circumcicionis. So CS1, W, G2. MS: circucicionis. G1: omitted.
burden What. So CS1, W, G1, G2. MS: Hwhat (Scribe B’s ornamental initial in red is H, Scribe A’s what).
1 of hye natewre. Written by Scribe B.
3 the. Interlined by Scribe B.
4 Hys. So MS, W, G1, G2. CS1: His.
12 Barne. So MS (written by Scribe B), W, G1, G2. CS1: berne.
15 Line written by Scribe B.
16 Line omitted in MS. In the next stanza Scribe B writes ut supra at this stanza point (line 26), and Scribe A writes ut supra at later places where the burden is to be repeated (lines 29, 35, 45, 49).
17–18 Lines written by Scribe B. The next four lines (at the base of fol. 29ra) are erased and left blank.
17 yfere. So MS, W, G1, G2. CS1: yn fere.
23 ale. So MS (e abbreviated). CS1, W, G1, G2: al.
25 Whatt. So MS (Scribe B), G1, G2. CS1, W: What.
bryngis. So CS1, W. MS: bryngi... (last letter cut off). G1, G2: bryngu[st]. This line, with ut supra, is written in the right margin by Scribe B.
31 Thise. So CS1, W. MS: iese. G1, G2: These.
con grete here Chylde. Written by Scribe B.
here. So MS, CS1. W, G1, G2: her.
34 haylsyng. So MS, W, G1, G2. CS1: haylsing.
35 wonder. So CS1, W, G1, G2. MS: woder.
37 so he. So MS, G1, G2. CS1, W: soche.
44 From. So MS, W, G1, G2. CS1: fro.
CAROL 12. KING HENRY VI [W39]
burden The initial A is decorated with foliage pointing to the opening lines. It is drawn over a small a written by Scribe A.
Pryns. So Ha, CS1, W, R, G2, Hi. MS: Peryns (er abbreviated).
4 prince. Word interlined by Scribe B.
8 moder. So R, G2. MS, Ha, CS1, W, Hi: moderis.
9 worthear. So MS (a interlined), CS1, W, R, G2, Ha. Hi: worthier.
19 withalle. So MS (e abbreviated), Ha, CS1, W, Hi. R, G2: withall.
20 balle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS1, W, Hi. Ha, R, G2: ball.
21 halle. So MS (e abbreviated), Ha, CS1, W, Hi. R, G2: hall.
22 thi. So MS, CS1, W. Ha, R, G2: thei. Hi: thai.
33 Agyncowrt. So MS, CS1, W, R, G2, Hi. Ha: Agyncourt.
patayle. So MS, CS1, W, R, G2. Ha, Hi: batayle.
37 Frawns. So MS, CS1, W, R, G2, Hi. Ha: Frawnce.
43 sese. So MS, Ha, CS1, W, G2, Hi. R: ses.
57 beforne. So Ha, CS1, W, R, Hi. MS, G2: before.
67 On. So MS, Ha, CS1, W, R, G2. Hi: Of.
70 halud. So MS, W, R, Hi. Ha, CS1, G2: habud. The MS reading is ambiguous; see W’s note (p. 252).
74 alle reams. So Ha, W, Hi. MS, CS1: alle al reams. R, G2: all reams.
75 hethynes. So MS, CS1, W, R, G2, Hi. Ha: hevyness.
79 alle. So MS (e abbreviated), Ha, CS1, W, Hi. R, G2: all.
81 falle. So MS (e abbreviated), Ha, CS1, W, R. G2, Hi: fall.
91 schul. So MS, Ha, CS1, W, G2, Hi. R: schuld.
94 Thus. So MS, Ha, CS1, W, G2, Hi. R: This.
CAROL 13. FOUR ESTATES [W40]
burden oun estate. So MS. CS2, W, K, G2: oune state.
5 allegate. So MS. CS2, W, K, G2: allgate. Scribe A writes ut supra after the fifth line of every stanza.
15 obisions. So MS, K, G2. CS2, W: abusions.
30 poverté. So CS2, W, K, G2. MS: pouert.
36 chast. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: chaste.
52 alegate. So MS. CS2, W, K, G2: algate.
53 Wosever. So MS, CS2. W, K, G2: Wosoever.
chomys. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: chamys.
CAROL 14. CHILDHOOD [W41]
1 alle one. So MS (e in alle abbreviated), CS2. W: all one. G2: allone.
12 After this line at the bottom of fol. 29v, one must turn to fol. 31r, because fols. 30 and 31 are interposed.
22 synus. So MS, G2. CS2, W: synns.
31 myrth. So MS, W, G2. CS2: myry.
38 synus. So MS (us abbreviated), W, G2. CS2: synes.
CAROL 15. DAY OF EPIPHANY [W42]
9 Trinetatis. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: trinitatis.
11 chepardis. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS2, W, K. G2: cheperdis.
14 exelsis. So MS, CS2, K, G2. W: excelsis.
16 chepardis. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS2, W, K. G2: cheperdis.
17 heredon. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: hered on.
18 merth. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: mery.
26 bad. So CS2, W. G2: bed. This line is repeated in the manuscript, occurring at the base of a column and the head of the next. G2 selects bed from the line at the base of fol. 31ra.
36 reverens. So CS2, W, K, G2. MS: reueres.
38 ale. So MS (e abbreviated), W, G2. CS2, K: al.
46 wernyd. So MS, W. CS2, G2: warnyd.
53 begonon. So MS, W, K, G2. CS2: be gonen.
CAROL 16. SAINT ANNE MOTHER OF MARY [W43]
1 Anne. So G2. MS, CS2, W: Tanne.
8 alle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: all.
10 blisful. So MS, CS2, W. G2: blissful.
29 hem. So CS2, W, G2. MS: he.
46 rynyd. So MS, CS2, G2. W: reynyd.
CAROL 17. JESUS FLOWER OF JESSE’S TREE [W44]
burden sprung. So CS2, W, G2. MS: sprng.
called. So MS, CS2, G2. W: callid.
14 In medis. So CS2, W, G2. MS: word In is obscure.
21 Gabrael. So MS, CS2, W. G2: Gabreel.
25 Hent. So MS, W, G2. CS2: houe.
31 sprede. So MS (e abbreviation), CS2, W. G2: spred.
32 his. So W, G2. MS, CS2: his his.
33 sede. So MS. CS2, W, G2: lede.
35 Til. So MS (word is barely legible), G2. CS2, W: And.
kyngys. So W, G2. MS: kyngnys. CS2: kyngnge.
51 lillé. So CS2, W, G2. MS: letter i is rubbed out.
54 Thet. MS, CS2, W: õet. G2: That.
prys. So CS2, W, G2. MS: preys (re abbreviated).
67 There is a Floure. The scribe copies this portion of the burden here.
CAROL 18. JOYS OF MARY [W45]
2 of thyn Emne. So MS, CS2, W. The parallel line in Balliol reads: "Mary myld, of the I mene."
8–9 These lines are reversed in the manuscript (Ave maria ut supra / Gabrielis nuncio). CS2 and W arrange them as here.
26 wo. So CS2, W. MS: w.
27 lyve. So MS, W. CS2: liue.
33 This line occurs at the top of fol. 30ra.
37 styud. So MS, W. CS2: stynd.
45 Love al. So MS, W. CS2: soueal.
CAROL 19. MARY FLOWER OF WOMEN [W46]
burden alle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: all.
calle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: call.
4 falle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: fall.
7 alle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: all.
berdis. So MS (the e is legible), G2, W. CS2: lordis.
14 consayved. So MS (e interlined), CS2, W. G2: consauyd.
16 thralle. So MS (e abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: thrall.
19 chosun. So MS, W, G2. CS2: chosen.
28 hal. So G2. MS, CS2, W: bal.
CAROL 20. CHASTITY FOR MARY’S LOVE [W47]
incipit virginitate. So CS2, W, G2. MS: virgintate.
burden Written by Scribe B on one manuscript line.
1 Blessid. So W, G2. MS, CS2: BBlessid (first B is the ornamental initial).
be. So MS (he deleted before be), W, G2. CS2: he be.
oure. Written by Scribe B.
2 vergyn. So MS, W, G2. CS2: virgyn.
sheo was ful cleene. Written by Scribe B.
3 Soche. Written by Scribe B.
yer sene. Written by Scribe B.
4 here. So MS, CS2, W. G2: her. This line, except for the first two words (That so), is written by Scribe B.
7–10 These lines, except for the first two words (In word), are written by Scribe B.
8 sheo. So MS, W, G2. CS2: shee.
13 This line is written by Scribe B, followed by two blank lines.
16 Ever. So MS (written by Scribe B in the margin), G2. CS2: &. W: Euen.
19 Seynt. So MS, G2. CS2, W: Saynt. Written by Scribe B in the margin.
21 The. So MS, CS2, W. G2: Thei.
22 defouled wold. So MS, W, G2. CS2: defouled isold. The word defouled is written by Scribe B. A blank line follows this line.
26 ever ther ys. Written by Scribe B.
28 worder and. So MS, W, G2. CS2: wordes in. Lines 27–28 are written by Scribe B.
CAROL 21. VIRGINITY OF MAIDS [W48]
burden I. So W. MS, CS2: II (the first I is the ornamental initial).
14 layne. So CS2, W, G2. MS: lay.
15 payne. So CS2, W, G2. MS: pay.
21 Oft. So G2. MS, CS2, W: Of.
25 ewroght. So MS, W, G2. CS2: iwroõt.
39 lene. So MS, W, G2. CS2: loue.
CAROL 22. CHASTITY OF WIVES [W49]
15 thus. So CS2, W. G2. MS: þaus.
17 com. So MS, CS2, W. G2: come.
18 metlé. So MS, W, G2. CS2: mecle.
19 Ale. So MS (e abbreviated), W, G2. CS2: Al.
seest. So CS2, W. MS, G2: sees.
25 unlaufully. So MS, W, G2. CS2: unlawfully.
26 Al. So MS, CS2, W. G2: All.
30 doth. So W, G2. MS, CS2: omitted.
31 chesyn. So W, G. MS: þesyn. CS2: þe syn.
32 treu. So MS, CS2, W. G: triu.
33 Alle. So MS (e abbreviated), W. CS2, G2: All.
38 disparage. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS2, W. G2: disperage.
40 day. So MS (a deleted before day), W, G2. CS2: a day.
43 lorchip. So MS, W, G2. CS2: lordchip.
CAROL 23. LOVE OF GOD [W50]
burden Written by Scribe A on one manuscript line.
foreevermore. So MS (er abbreviated, final e visible under red ink of a paraph), CS2, W, Hi. G2: fore euermor.
10 elore. So MS, W, G2, Hi. CS2: a lore.
16 Withot. So MS, CS2. W, G2, Hi: Without.
17 blyn. So CS2, W, G2, Hi. MS: bly.
24 rew. So MS, W, G2, Hi. CS2: new.
31 lovyd. So CS2, W, G2, Hi. MS: lovy.
32 Without. So CS2, W, G2, Hi. MS: With (abbreviated wt).
is. So MS, CS2, G2. W, Hi: his.
CAROL 24. DREAD OF DEATH [W51]
4 conforta. So W, G2. MS, CS2: confarte.
21 both. So MS, W, G2. CS2: beth.
44 and teere of ye. Written by Scribe B.
57 To. So MS (written over an erasure), G2. CS2, W: Of.
CAROL 25. SAINT FRANCIS [W52]
incipit Fransisco. So MS, G2. CS2: francisco. G1: omitted.
5 pray. So MS, CS2, W. G1, G2: line omitted. Although the burden has say, this line (written by Scribe A) substitutes pray.
9 preynt. So MS (re abbreviated), G1, G2. CS2, W: prynt.
14 yere. So CS2, W, G1, G2. MS: ye.
21 partys. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS2, W. G1, G2: pertys.
partyng. So MS (ar abbreviated), CS2, W. G1, G2: pertyng.
28 ly in. So MS. CS2, W, G1, G2: lyin.
40 ens. So MS, W, G1, G2. CS2: ever.
45 perpetualé. So W, G1, G2. MS: perpetual. CS2: perpetually.
63 Gracious. So CS2, W, G1, G2. MS: Grcious.
73 pur. So MS (ur abbreviated), W, G1, G2. CS2: par.
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XXXV. CAROL SEQUENCE |
[W28–W52] |
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR READING 3 I pray yow, syrus, boothe moore and las, Syng these caroles in Cristemas. |
[unnumbered in W] sirs; less |
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5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 |
CAROL 1. TEN COMMANDMENTS Hic incipiunt decem precepta in modum cantalene.1 A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. And love thi God over al thyng, Thi neghbore as thiselfe, I say; Let be your hoth, your false sweryng; In clannes kepe your haleday — Leve ye me. A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. Thi fader, thi moder, thou worchip ay; Scle no mon fore wordlé thyng; Bacbyte no man nyght ne day, Fore this is Godis est and his bidyng — Leve ye me. A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. False witnes loke thou non bere; Dissayte ne theft, loke thou do non; Lechoré thou most foreswere; Here beth comawndmentis, everechon — Leve ye me. A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. Thagh thou be kyng and were the croune, Mon, have mynd of thyn endyng; The wele of Forteune wil tult thee doune, When thou art cald to thi rekenyng — Leve thoue me. A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. Thou schalt acownt, ful sekyrly, Fore al the goodis that God thee send; Howe thou hast geton hom, in wat degré, How thou hast holdyn, hou thou hast spend — Leve ye me. A, mon! Yif thou wold savyd be, Foresake thi syn or hit do thee. CAROL 2. SEVEN DEADLY SINS De septem peccatis mortalibus. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. Foresake thi Pride and thyn Envy; Thou schalt fynd hit fore the best, Covetyse, Wrath, and Lechory, Yif thou wilt set thi soule in rest — I say thee so. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. Glotery, Slouth, al beth acurst; Thai ben the brondis in hel brenyng; Beware betyme or thou be lost; Thai bryng mon soule to evel endyng — I sai thee so. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. Agayns Pride, take Buxumnes; Agayns Wrath, take Charité; Agayns Covetys, take Largenes; Agayns Envy, Humeleté — I sai thee so. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. Agayns Glotore, take Abstenens; Agayns Lechoré, take Chastité; Agayns Slouthe, take Besenes; Here is a gracious remedé — I say thee so. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. Fore his love that youe dere boght, Lerne this lesson, I youe pray; Have this in mynd, foregete hit noght, Fore to heven ther is no nother way — I say thee so. In wele beware ore thou be woo; Thenke wens thou come, wheder to goo. CAROL 3. SEVEN WORKS OF MERCY De septem opera misericordie.2 Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. Fede the hungeré; the thirsté gif drenke; Clothe the nakid, as Y youe say; Vesid the pore in presun lyyng; Beré the ded, now I thee pray — I cownsel thee. Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. Herber the pore that goth be the way; Teche the unwyse of thi conyng; Do these dedis nyght and day, Thi soule to heven hit wil thee bryng — I cownsel thee. Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. And ever have peté on the pore, And part with him that God thee send; Thou hast no nother tresoure, Agayns the Day of Jugement — I cownsel thee. Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. The pore schul be mad domusmen Opon the ryche at Domysday; Let se houe thai con onsware then, Fore al here reverens, here ryal aray — I cownsel thee. Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. In hongyr, in thurst, in myschif — wellay! — After here almus ay waytyng: “Thay wold noght us vesete nyght ne day.” Thus wil thai playn ham to Heven Kyng — I cownsel thee. Wele is him and wele schal be, That doth the Seven Werkis of Mercé. CAROL 4. FIVE WITS De quinque sensus. Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. The furst, hit is thi heryng: Loke thou turne away thyne ere Fro ydil wordis, untrew talkyng; The laus of God loke that thou lere — Lest thou be chent! Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. The second, hit is thi seyng: Thou hast fre choys and fre wil To behold al wordlé thyng, The good to chese, to leve the ille — Lest thou be chent! Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. The third, hit is thi towchyng: Worche no worke unlawfully; Goveren thi fete in thi walkyng Toward heven, and fle foly — Lest thou be chent! Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. The forth, hit is thi smellyng: To saver thi sustinans sote of smelle, Let resun thee rewle in thyne etyng; Beware, fore sorfet hit may thee spille — Lest thou be chent! Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. The fifth, hit is thi tung tastyng: Thi mete, thi drynke, holsum and clene, Yif hit be lusté to thi lykyng, Then mesuere hit is a mary mene — Lest thou be chent! Thy Fyve Wittis loke that thou wele spende, And thonke that Lord that ham thee sende. CAROL 5. SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST De septem dona Spiritus Sancti. God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Mynd, Resun, Vertu, and Grace, Humeleté, Chast, and Chareté, These seven giftis God geven has, Be the vertu of the Holé Gost to mon onlé — Ellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Mynd makis a mon himselve to know, And Resun him reulis in his werkis alle, And Vertu makis his goodnes yknow, And Grace is grownder of hem alle — Ellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Humeleté, pride he dothe downe falle; Chast kepis thee clene in thi levyng; Then Chareté is chef of hem alle; Mon soule to blis he dothe hom breng — Ellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Have Faythe, Hope, and Chareté; These be the grownd of thi beleve, Ellis savyd thou myght not be; Thus Poule in his pistil he doth preve — Ellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Thi Faythe is thi beleve of Holé Cherche; Soule, in Hope God hathe hordent thee Good werkis that thou schuld werche, And be rewardid in heven on hye — Hellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. Then Chareté chef callid is he; He cownselis uche mon that is levyng To do as thou woldist me did be thee, And kepe Godis est and his bidyng — Ellis were we lost! God hath geven of myghtis most The Seven Giftis of the Holé Gost. CAROL 6. DAY OF THE NATIVITY In die natalis Domini. Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! Welcum be thou, Heven Kyng, Welcum, ibore in hon mornyng, Welcum, to thee now wil we syng — Welcum, Yole, forever and ay! Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! Welcum be thou, Maré myld, Welcum be thou and thi Child, Welcum, fro the Fynd thou us schilde — Welcum, Yole, foreever and ay! Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! Welcum be ye, Steven and Jone, Welcum, childern everechone, Wellcum, Thomas marter, alle on — Welcum, Yole, forever and ay! Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! Welcum be thou, good New Yere, Welcum, the twelve days efere, Welcum be ye alle that bene here — Welcum, Yole, forever and ay! Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! Welcum be ye, lord and lady, Welcum be ye, al this cumpané, Fore Yolis love, now makis meré — Welcum, Yole, foreever and ay! Welcum, Yole, in good aray, In worchip of the holeday! CAROL 7. DAY OF SAINT STEPHEN In die Sancti Stephani.3 In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. Saynt Steven, the first martere, He ched his blod in herth here; Fore the love of his Lord so dere, He sofird payn and passion. In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. He was stonyd with stons ful cruellé, And sofird his payn ful pasiently: “Lord, of myn enmes thou have mercé, That wot not what thai done.” In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. He beheld into heven on he, And se Jhesu stonde in his majesté, And sayd: “My soule, Lord, take to thee, And foregif myn enmys everechon.” In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. Then when that word he had sayd, God therof was wel apayd; His hede mekelé to slep he layd; His sowle was takyn to heven anon. In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. Swete Saynt Steven, fore us thou pray To that Lord that best may; When our soule schal wynd away, He grawnt us al remyssion. In reverens of oure Lord in heven, Worchip this marter, swete Sent Steven. CAROL 8. DAY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST In die Sancti Johannis apopstole et ewangeliste.4 I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. Synt Jon is Cristis derlyng dere; He lenyd on his brest at his sopere, And ther he mad hym wonderful chere, Tofore his postilis everechon. I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “Saynt Jon,” He said, “my dere derlyng, Take my moder into thi kepyng; Heo is my joy, my hert swetyng — Loke thou leve not here anon.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “Jon, I pray thee, make here good chere With al thi hert and thi pouere; Loke ye to part not in fere In wat cuntré that ever ye goon.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “I comawnd youe, my postilis alle, When my moder doth on youe calle, Anon on kynes that ye down falle, And do here worchip therwith anon.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “I pray youe al, on my blessyng, Kepe ye chareté for oné thyng; Thenke what I said in your waschyng, Knelyng tofore youe on a stone.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “Farewel, now I wynd youe fro; To Jerusalem I most goo, To be betrayd of my fo, And sofir payn and passiown.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon.” “A, my Sun! My Heven Kyng!” Oure lady therwith felle downe, sonyng — This was a dolful departyng! Thai toke here up with gret mon. I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “A, my moder! Me dere derlyng! Let be thi wo and thi wepyng, Fore I most do my Fader bidyng, Ellis redempcion were ther non.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. “Farewel, my Fader! Farewel, my Chelde!” “Farewel, moder and maid mylde; Fro the Fynd I wil thee childe, And crowne thee quene in heven trone.” I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. Swete Saynt Jon, to thee we pray, Beseche that Lord, that best may, When our soulis schal wynd away, He grawnt us al remyssion! I pray youe, breder everechon, Worchip this postil, swete Saynt Jon. CAROL 9. DAY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS In die Sanctorum Innocencium. With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. Crist crid in cradil, “Moder, ba, ba!” The childer of Isral cridyn, “Wa, wa!” Fore here merth hit was aga When Erod fersly cowth hem fray! With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. Al knavechilder with two yere Of age in Bedlem, fere or nere, Thai chedyn here blod with swerd and spere — Alas, ther was a rewful aray! With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. An hunderd and fourté thousand ther were; Crist ham cristynd, al in fere, In eor blod, and were martere, Al clene vergyns — hit is no nay! With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. The crisum-childer to Crist con cry: “We beth slayne fore gret envy! Lord, venge our blod fore thi mercy, And take our soulis to thee, we pray!” With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. An hevenlé voys answerd agayn: “Abyd awyle, and sofer your payn Hent the nowmbir be eslayn Of your breder, as I you say.” With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. Fore ye han sofird marterdom For Cristis sake, al and sum, He wil youe crowne in his kyngdam, And folou the Lomb in joy for ay. With al the reverens that we may, Worchip we Childermasday. CAROL 10. SAINT THOMAS ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY De sancto Thome archiepiscopo Cantuarienci.5 I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. For on a Tewsday, Thomas was borne, And on a Tuysday, he was prest schorne, And on a Tuysday, his lyve was lorne, And sofyrd martyrdam with myld chere. I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. Fore Holé Cherche ryght ale hit was — Ellis we had then songyn “alas!” — And the child that unborne was Schul have boght his lyve ful dere. I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. Ther prestis were thral, he mad hem fre, That no clerke hongid schuld be, Bot eretyk, or fore traytré, Yif oné seche case fal ther were. I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. Then no child criston schuld be, Ne clerke take ordere in no degré, Ne mayde mared in no cuntré, Without trebeut in the kyng dangere. I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. Thus Holé Cherche he mad fre; Fore fyfté poyntis he dyed, treuly; In heven worchipt mot he be, And fader and moder him gete and bere! I pra you, seris, al in fere, Worchip Seynt Thomas, this holé marter. CAROL 11. DAY OF THE LORD'S CIRCUMCISION In die circumcicionis Domini. What tythyngis bryngst us, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? A Babe is borne of hye natewre, A Prynce of Pese that ever schal be; Off heven and erthe he hath the cewre; Hys lordchip is eterneté! Seche wonder tythyngis ye may here — What tythyngis bryngis thee, messangere? — That God and Mon is hon in fere; Hour syn had mad bot Fyndis pray! What tythyngis bryngst us, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? A semlé selcouth hit is to se — The burd that had this Barne iborne, This Child conseyvyd in he degré, And maydyn is as was beforne! Seche wonder tydyngus ye mow here Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day, That maydon and modur ys won yfere, And lady ys of hye aray! What tythyngis bryngst us, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? A wonder thyng is now befall — That Lord that mad both se and sun, Heven and erth, and angelis ale, In monkynde ys now becumme! Whatt tydyngus bryngis us, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? A faunt that is bot of on yere, Ever as ben and schal be ay! What tythyngis bryngis thou, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? Thise lovelé ladé con grete here Chylde: “Hayle, Sun! Haile, Broder! Haile, Fader dere!” “Haile, doghter! Haile, suster! Haile, moder myld!” — This haylsyng was on coynt manere! Seche wonder tythyngis ye may here Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day — This gretyng was of so he chere That mans pyne, hit turnyd to play! What tythyngis bryngst us, messangere, Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day? That Lord, that al thyng mad of noght, Is Mon becum fore mons love; Fore with his blood, he schul be boght From bale to blys that is above! Seche wonder tythyngis ye may here Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day! That Lord us grawnt now our prayoure To twel in heven that we may; Seche wonder tythyngis ye may here Of Cristis borth this New Eris Day! CAROL 12. KING HENRY VI De rege nostro Henrico Sexto. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Fore he is ful yong, tender of age, Semelé to se, o bold corage, Lovelé and lofté of his lenage, Both perles prince and kyng veray! A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! His gracious granseres and his grawndame, His fader and moder, of kyngis thay came; Was never a worthear prynce of name, So exelent in al our day. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! His fader fore love of mayd Kateryn, In Fraunce he wroght turment and tene; His love, hee sayd, hit schuld not ben, And send him ballis him with to play. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Then was he wyse in wars withalle, And taght Franchemen to plai at the balle — With tenés hold, he ferd ham halle! — To castelles and setis thi floyn away. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! To Harflete a sege he layd anon, And cast a bal unto the towne; The Frenchemen swere be se and sun, Hit was the Fynd that mad that fray. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Anon thai toke ham to cownsele; Oure gracious kyng thai wold asayle; At Agyncowrt, at that patayle, The floure of Frawnce he fel that day. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! The Kyng of Frawns then was agast — Mesagers to him send in hast — Fore wele he west hit was bot wast Hem to witstond in honé way. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! And prayd hym to sese of his outrage, And take Kateryn to mareage; Al Frawnce to him schuld do homage, And croune him kyng afftyr his day. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Of Frawnce he mad him anon regent, And wedid Kateren in his present; Into Englond anon he went, And cround our quene in ryal aray. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Of Quen Kateryn our kyng was borne, To save our ryght that was forelorne, Oure faders in Frawns had won beforne; Thai han hit hold moné a day. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Thus was his fader a conqueroure, And wan his moder with gret onoure; Now may the kyng bere the floure Of kyngis and kyngdams in uche cuntré. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! On him schal fal the prophecé, That hath ben sayd of Kyng Herré: The holé cros wyn or he dye, That Crist halud on Good Fryday. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Al wo and werres he schal acese, And set alle reams in rest and pese, And turne to Cristyndam al hethynes — Now grawnt him hit so be may! A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Pray we that Lord is Lord of alle To save our kyng his reme ryal, And let never myschip uppon him falle, Ne false traytoure him to betray. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! I pray youe, seris, of your gentré, Syng this carol reverently, Fore hit is mad of Kyng Herré — Gret ned fore him we han to pray! A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! Yif he fare wele, wele schul we be, Or ellis we may be ful soré, Fore him schal wepe moné an e — Thus prophecis the Blynd Awdlay. A, perles Pryns, to thee we pray, Save our kyng both nyght and day! CAROL 13. FOUR ESTATES Fac ad quod venisti. Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. In wat order or what degré Holé Cherche hath bownd thee to, Kepe hit wele, I cownsel thee; Dissire thou never to go therfro. I say, allegate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. A hye worchip hit is to thee To kepe thi state and thi good name, Leud or lered, werehere hit be, Ellis God and mon, thay wol thee blame. I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. Fore four obisions now schul ye here That God hatis hilé in his syght: A hardé prest, a proud frere, An hold mon lechoure, a couard knyght. I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. A prest schuld scheu uche mon mekenes, And leve in love and charité; Throgh his grace and his goodnes, Set al other in unité. I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. A frere schuld love alle holenes, Prayers, penans, and poverté; Relegious men, Crist hem ches To foresake pride and vaynglory. I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. An hold mon schuld kepe him chast, And leve the synne of lechoré; Al wedid men schuld be stedfast, And foresake the syn of avowtré. I sai, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. A knyght schuld feght agayns falsnes, And schew his monhod and his myght, And mayntene trouth and ryghtwysnes, And Holé Cherche and wedowes ryght. I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. Here be al the foure astatis In Holé Cherche God hath ordent; He bedis you kepe hem wel, alegate — Wosever he chomys, he wyl be schent! I say, algate, Hit is the best, erelé and late, Uche mon kepe his oun estate. CAROL 14. CHILDHOOD Cantalena de puericia. And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! Fore pride in herte, he hatis alle one; Worchip ne reverens kepis he non; Ne he is wroth with no mon — In chareté is alle his chere! And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! He wot never wat is envy; He wol uche mon fard wele him by; He covetis noght unlaufully — Fore cheré stons is his tresoure. And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! In hert he hatis lechori — To here therof he is sory! — He sleth the syn of gloteré, Nother etis ne drynkis bot fore mystere. And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! Slouth he putis away, algate, And wol be besé erlé and late — Al wyckidnes thus he doth hate, The seven dedlé synus al in fere. And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! A gracious lyfe, forsothe, he has — To God ne mon doth no trespas — And I in syn fal, alas, Everé day in the yere! And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! My joy, my myrth is fro me clene — I turne to care, turment, and tene — Ded I wold that I had bene When I was borne, and layd on bere — And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! Fore better hit were to be unboren, Then fore my synus to be forelorne, Nere grace of God that is beforne, Almysdede, and holé prayere! And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! Now other cumford se I non Bot schryve me clene with contricion, And make here trew satisfaccion, And do my penans wyle Y am here — And God wold graunt me my prayer, A child agene I wold I were! CAROL 15. DAY OF EPIPHANY In die Epephanis &c. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! Ther is a Babe born of a may In salvacion of us; That he be heryd in this day, Vene, Creatore Spiritus. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! In Bedlem, in that fayre plas, This blessid Barne, borne He was, Him to serve, God grawnt us grace, Tu Trinetatis Unitas. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! The angelis to chepardis songyn and sayd: “Pes in erth be mon unto!” — Therwith thai were ful sore afrayd — “Glorea in exelsis Deo!” Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! The chepardis hard that angel song; Thai heredon God in Treneté; Moche merth was ham among, Iam lucis ortus sidere. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! Thre kyngis thai soght him, herefore, Of dyvers lond and fere cuntré, And askidyn were this Barne was bore, Hostes Herodes impii. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! He bad ham go seche this Barne: “Anon this way to me he come, That I may do hym worchip beforne, Deus Creator omnium.” Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! The stere apered here face beforne — That gladid here hertes ful graciously! — Over that plase this Babe was born, Jhesu Salvotor seculi. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! Thai knelid adowne with gret reverens; Gold, sens, and myr, thai offerd him to; He blessid ham ale that were present, Jhesu nostra Redempcio Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! The gold betokens he was a Kyng; The sens, a Prest of dyngneté; The myr betokynth his bereyng, Magne Deus potencie. Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! The angel hem wernyd in here slepyng At Erod the kyng thai schuld not cumme: “That Babe you bade on his blessyng, Christe Redemptore omnium.” Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! Thai turnyd then another way Into kyngdom ful graciously; Then thai begonon to syng and say, “Salvator mundy Domine.” Nowel! Nowel! Nowel! CAROL 16. SAINT ANNE MOTHER OF MARY De Sancta Anna matre Marie. The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Swete Saynt Anne, we thee beseche, Thou pray fore us to oure laday, That heo wel be oure soulis leche, That day when we schul dey. Herefore we say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Throgh thee was gladid alle this word When Maré of thee borne was, That bere that Barne, that blisful Lord, That grawntis us al mercé and grace. Herefore we say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Baren thou were ful long before, Then God he se to thi mekenes, That thou schuldist delyver that was forelore, Mon soule that lay in the Fyndis distres. Herefore we say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Fore Joachym, that holé housbond, Prayyd to God ful paciently That he wold send his swete sond, Sum froyte betwene you two to be. Herefore we say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Then God hem grawntid graciously Betwene youe two a floure schul spryng, The rote therof is clepid Jesse, That joye and blis to the word schal beryng. Herefore I say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! The blisful branche this floure on greue, Out of Jesse, at my wettyng, Was Maré myld that bere Jhesu, Maydyn and moder to Heven Kyng. Herefore I say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Icallid Jhesus of Nazaret, God Sun of hi degré, As here as Mon that sofyrd deth, And rynyd into Davit dygneté. Herefore I say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! In Bedlem, in that blessid place, Maré myld this Floure hath borne Betwene an ox and an as, To save his pepil that was forelorne. Herefore I say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! Mater, ora Filium, That he wyl affter this outleré Nobis donet gaudium Sine fyne, fore his mercé. Herefore I say — The moder of Mary, that merceful may, Pray fore us both nyght and day! CAROL 17. JESUS FLOWER OF JESSE’S TREE Alia cantalena de Sancta Maria. There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! This Flour is fayre and fresche of heue; Hit fadis never, bot ever is new; The blisful branche this Flour on grew Was Maré myld that bare Jhesu — A Flour of grace! Agayns al sorow hit is solas! There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! The Sede hereof was Godis sond, That God himselve sew with his hond; In Bedlem, in that Holé Lond, In medis here herbere ther he hir fond.6 This blisful Floure Sprang never bot in Maris boure! There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! When Gabrael this mayd met, With “Ave, Maria,” he here gret; Betwene hem two this Flour was set, And kept was, no mon schul wit, Hent on a day In Bedlem, hit con spred and spray. There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! When that Floure began to sprede, And his blossum to bede, Ryche and pore of everé sede, Thai marvelt hou this Flour myght sprede! Til kyngys thre That blesful Floure come to se. There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! Angelis ther cam out of here toure To loke apon this freschelé Floure — Houe fayre he was in his coloure, And hou sote in his savour! — And to behold How soche a Flour myght spryng in golde! There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! Of lillé, of rose of ryse, Of prymrol, and of flour-de-lyse, Of al the flours at my devyse, Thet Floure of Jesse yet bers the prys, As most of hele To slake oure sorous everedele! There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! I pray youe, flours of this cuntré, Whereevere ye go, wereever ye be, Hold hup the Flour of good Jesse, Fore your freschenes and youre beuté, As fayrist of al, And ever was and ever schal! There is a Floure sprung of a tre, The rote therof is called Jesse — A Floure of pryce! Ther is non seche in paradise! CAROL 18. JOYS OF MARY Et alia de Sancta Maria. “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! Gaude, Maria, Cristis moder, Maré, moder of thyn Emne, Thou bare my Lord. Thou bare my Broder. Thou bare a cumlé Child and clene. Thou stodist ful stil, without wene, When in thyn ere this erand was doo. When gracious God thee lyght within, Gabrielis nuncio. “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! Gaude, Maria, Y gret with grace. When Jhesu, thi Sun, of thee was bore, Fol nygh thi brest thou con him brace. He secud. He soukid. He wept ful sore. Thou fedist that Flour that never schal fade With maydns melke, and sang therto: “Lolay, my Swete! I bare thee, Babe, Cum peudoris lilleo.” “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! Gaude, Maria, thi myght was away, When Crist thi Son on cros con dye, Ful dolfully on Good Fryday, That moné a moder sone hit se. His blod us boght fro care and strive. His wateré wondis us waschid fro wo. The thryd day fro deth to lyve, Fulget resureccio! “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! Gaude, Maria, thou burd so bryght, Breghter then the blossum that blomyth on the hill, Ful joyful thou were to se seche a syght, And al the postilis so swet of wil, Fore, al and sum, thai stod ful stil, When, fayrst of chap, he swond youe fro7 — Fro erthe to heven he styud ful stil, Motu fertur proprio. “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! Gaude, Maria, that Rose on ryse — Moder and maid, gentil and fre, Precious, perrles, princes of pes, Thi boure is next the Trineté — Thi Sun as Love al knon of kynd, Thi bodé and soule he toke him to. Thou restist with him ther, as we fynd, In celi palacio. “Ave, Maria,” now say we so, Moder and maydon was never non mo! CAROL 19. MARY FLOWER OF WOMEN Et de Sancta Maria. Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! Blessid mot thou be, thou berd so bryght, Moder and maidon most of myght, Thou art the ster of days lyght, And kepust us when we schul falle. Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! Of alle berdis that ever was boren, Blessid mot thou be both even and morn; Throgh thee were savyd that were forelorne, Moné on beth gret and smale. Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! “Hayle” to thee was swettlé sayd When Jhesu in thee he was consayved, And throgh thee was the Fende afrayd — Thou madist us fre to make him thralle! Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! Hayle, chif chosun garbunkul ston, Of thee was borne both God and Mon; When synful mon he makis his mon, To him thou art treu as ston in wal. Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! Haile, be thou quene, emperes of hel, Of al peté, thou arte the wel. We prayn thee, dame and damesel, That thou bryng us into thi hal. Heyle, of wymmen flour of alle, Thou herst us when we to thee calle! CAROL 20. CHASTITY FOR MARY’S LOVE De virginitate. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! Blessid mot be oure heven quene, Fore vergyn and maydyn sheo was ful cleene. Soche another was never yer sene, That so wel kept here virgynyté. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! In word, in will, in dede, in thoght, Here maydehood defowled sheo noght; Therfore the Lorde that here hade wroght Wolde be boron of hyr body. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! Tofore alle maydenes, to hyr he ches Fore here clannes and here mekenes; Fore mon soule heo schuld reles Ever fro the Fynd and his pousté. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! Seynt Kateryn and Marget and Wynfred, That lovyd ful wel here maydhed, The sofird to smyte of here hede, Fore defouled wold thai not be. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! Therfore thai be in heven blis, Where murth and melodé ever ther ys, And soo shal all maydons, ywys, That kepon heore worder and here degré. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! Thai foloun our lady with gret reverens, And don here servys in here presens, Fore agayns the Fynd thai made defense With the swerd of chastité. For the love of a maydon fre, I have me choson to chastité! CAROL 21. VIRGINITY OF MAIDS Cantalena de virginibus. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. In word, in dede, in wyl, in thoght, Your maydynhede defoule ye noght, Lest to blame that ye ben broght, And lese your state, your honesté. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. An undurmarke Crist con you lene To marc with — kepe hit clene! Yif ye hit tame, hit wil be sene, Do ye never soo prevely. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Of that tresour men ben ful fayne, And al here love on youe thai layne, And moné a pené fore hit thai payne, Both selver and gold, lond and fe. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Yif that tresoure ye don hit tame, When hit is knowyn, ye wil have chame — Oft therfore ye berne gret blame, Never on be other ware wil be. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Nad that tresoure bene ewroght, To blis we had not bene ebroght; Hit faylis never, ne fadis noght; Ever to mon, hit is redy. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Yif ye kepyn wele that tresoure, Hit schal you bryng to hie honoure; Thagh ye be fayre, of freche coloure, Beuté is noght without bonté. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Trewly, nyer that tresoure were, Of men ye schuld have febul chere; Avyse you whom ye lene hit here, Yif ye ben begild, that blame not me. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. Fore other cownsel nedis youe non, Then doth therafter, everechon, Fore this tresoure has holpyn moné hone; Hit marys maydis uche cuntré. I pray youe, maydys that here be, Kepe your state and your degré. CAROL 22. CHASTITY OF WIVES De matrimonio mulierum. Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Hit is ful hevé, chastité, With moné maydyns nowoday, That lovyn to have gam and gle — That turnes to sorowe, sothly to say! — Alle day thou sist! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Now yif a womon mared schal be, Anon heo schal be boght and solde, Fore no love of hert, truly, Bot fore covetyse of lond ore gold — Al day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Bot thus Godis low and his wil wolde Even of blod, of good, of ache, Fore love togeder thus com thai schuld, Fore this makis metlé mareache — Ale day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” And the froyt that coms hom betwene, Hit schal have grace to thryve and the; Ther other schal have turment and tene, Fore covetyse unlaufully — Al day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Ther is no creatuere, as wretyn I fynd, Save onelé mon that doth outtrache, Bot chesyn hom makys of here oune kynd, And so thai makyn treu mareache — Alle day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Bot now a lady wil take a page Fore no love bot fleschelé lust, And so here blod is disparage — Thus lordus and lordchip al day ben lost — Al day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” Lordis and lorchip thus wastyn away In Englond in moné a place (That makis false ayrs — hit is no nay!) And lese worchip, honowre, and grace — Al day thou seest! Avyse youe, wemen, wom ye trust, And beware of “had-I-wyst.” CAROL 23. LOVE OF GOD De amore Dei. I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! Fore Love is Love and ever schal be, And Love has bene ore we were bore; Fore Love, he askys no nother fe Bot love agayn; he kepis no more. I say, herefore, I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! Trew love is tresoure, trust is store, To a love to Godis plesyng; Bot leude love makis men elore, To love here lust and here lykyng. I say, herefore, I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! In good love ther is no syn; Withot love is hevenes; Herefore, to love I nyl not blyn To love my God and his goodnes. I say, herefore, I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! Fore he me lovyd or I him knew; Therfore, I love him altherbest, Ellis my love I myght hit rew; I love with him to take my rest. I say, herefore, I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! Of al loveres that ever was borne, His love hit passid everechon; Nad he us lovyd, we were forelorne; Without is love, trew love is non. I say, herefore, I have a Love, is Heven Kyng; I love his love foreevermore! CAROL 24. DREAD OF DEATH Timor mortis conturbat me.8 Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Dred of deth, sorow of syn, Trobils my hert ful grevysly; My soule hit nyth with my lust then — Passio Christi conforta me.9 Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Fore blyndnes is a hevé thyng, And to be def therwith only, To lese my lyght and my herying — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. And to lese my tast and my smellyng, And to be seke in my body, Here have I lost al my lykyng — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Thus God he geves and takys away, And, as he wil, so mot hit be; His name be blessid both nyght and daye — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Here is a cause of gret mornyng — Of myselfe nothyng I se, Save filth, unclennes, vile stynkyng — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Into this word no more I broght, No more I gete with me, trewly, Save good ded, word, wil, and thoght — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. The fyve wondis of Jhesu Crist, My midsyne now mot thai be, The Fyndis pouere downe to cast — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. As I lay seke in my langure, With sorow of hert and teere of ye, This caral I made with gret doloure — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Oft with these prayere I me blest, In manus tuas, Domine,10 Thou take my soule into thi rest — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Maré moder, merceful may, Fore the joys thou hadist, lady, To thi Sun, fore me thou pray — Passio Christi conforta me. Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. Lerne this lesson of Blynd Awdlay: When bale is hyest, then bot may be, Yif thou be nyd nyght or day, Say “Passio Christi conforta me.” Ladé, helpe! Jhesu, mercé! Timor mortis conturbat me. CAROL 25. SAINT FRANCIS De Sancto Fransisco. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! A holé confessoure thou were hone, And levydist in contemplacion, To thyng on Cristis Passioun, That sofyrd deth on Good Fryday. Saynt Frawnces, to thee I pray, Save thi breder both nyght and day! His Passion was in thee so fervent That he aperd to thi present; Upon thi body he set his preynt, His fyve wondis — hit is no nay! Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! Upon thi body thou hem bere, Affter that tyme, ful thre yere; To al men syght thai did apere — No water myght wasche hem away. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day. Weder thou schuldist ete ore drenke, On Cristis Passion thou woldist thynke; In fyve partys wes thi partyng Of his sustinans, sothe to say. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! Crist he grawnt thee, specialy, Fore on his Passion thou hadist peté, To feche thi breder out of purgatori, That ly in ther in rewful aray. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! Thou thongis Crist of his swete sonde, And thoghtist to go to the Holé Londe, Fore dred of deth thou woldist not wond, To teche the pepil thi Cristyn fay. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! Then Crist he knew welle then entent, And turned thee out of that talent, And bede thee make thi testament, And: “Come to me, fore ens and ay.” Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! “A, holé Frawnces, now I se, Fore my love that thou woldist dye; Thou schalt have joy perpetualé, Thou hast dyssired moné a day.” Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! His holé reule of relegiowne To his breder he wrote anon, And prayd ham, fore Cristis Passiowne, To kepe hit wel both nyght and day. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! A sad ensampil here mow ye se, On Cristis Passioun to have peté, And to leve in love and chareté, Then meré in hert be ye may. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! His last prayer to Crist this was, Fore al that sustens this holé place: “Gracious God, grawnt ham thi grace, Tofore thi Jugement at Domysday.” Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! Pray we to Frawnses, that beth present, To save his breder and his covent, That thai be never chamyd ne chent, With wyckid man ne Fyndis fray. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! I pray youe, seris, pur charyté, Redis this caral reverently, Fore I mad hit with wepyng eye, Your broder Jon the Blynd Awdlay. Saynt Frances, to thee I say, Save thi breder both nyght and day! |
[W28] (see note) [Exodus 20:3–6]; (see note) [Matthew 19:19]; (see note) Forsake; oath [Exodus 20:7] cleanness; sabbath [Exodus 20:8–11] Believe always [Exodus 20:12]; (see note) Slay; worldly [Exodus 20:13]; (t-note) Slander; (see note) behest; bidding bear [Exodus 20:16]; (see note) Deceit nor [Exodus 20:15] [Exodus 20:14]; (t-note) are; every one wear; (see note) wheel; tilt; (t-note) account; certainly; (see note) what; (t-note) (t-note) [W29] Concerning the Seven Deadly Sins (see note) Avarice happiness; before whence; whither Gluttony; accursed brands; firing in time before Obedience Generosity Humility Abstinence; (t-note) Busyness; (t-note) dearly [W30] give; (see note) (t-note) Visit; (t-note) Bury (t-note) Shelter; (see note) wisdom deeds (t-note) compassion; (see note) share; what; (t-note) (t-note) judges; (see note) rich people; (t-note) (see note); (t-note) high office; royal array misery; alas; (see note); (t-note) alms (see note) (t-note) [W31] Concerning the five senses (t-note) hearing ear From idle laws; learn; (t-note) ruined seeing free choice; (see note) worldly; (t-note) touching savor; sustenance (i.e., food) sweet reason; rule surfeit; harm; (t-note) wholesome greatly to your liking moderation; merry mean; (see note); (t-note) (t-note) [W32] Concerning the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost (see note) Reason Chastity God of most might has given (t-note) (t-note) to be known basis; (see note); (t-note) (t-note) pure; living chief him bring; (t-note) (see note) epistle [1 Corinthians 13:13] belief in; (see note) ordained; (see note); (t-note) (see note) each one; by [Matthew 7:12]; (see note) behest; bidding [W33] On the day of the Lord’s birth (December 25) (t-note) born; one; (t-note) (see note) Fiend; protect; (t-note) (t-note) Stephen and John [the Evangelist]; (see note) children (i.e., Holy Innocents); (t-note) Thomas martyr, all together; (t-note) together; (see note) merry [W34] martyr; (see note) shed; earth; (t-note) suffered patiently high; (t-note) saw every one satisfied meekly pass; (t-note) (t-note) [W35] all brethren; (t-note) apostle beloved dear; (see note) leaned; supper [John 13:23] showed; affection Before (see note) [see John 19:26–27] She; heart’s darling her give her good affection power; (t-note) from each other; (t-note) whatever country knees; (t-note) worship her Maintain; any [John 13:14–17] depart from you; (t-note) swooning (t-note) moan (see note) (t-note) shield [W36] On the day of the Holy Innocents (December 28) (t-note) (see note) Israel; (t-note) mirth; gone Herod fiercely did them kill male children; (see note) Bethlehem, far [Matthew 2:16] shed their pitiful spectacle [see Apocalypse 14:3 and note] christened; together their; martyred; (t-note) (t-note) children newly baptized Be patient awhile; suffer; (t-note) Until the [full] number [Apocalypse 14:4]; (see note) [W37] pray; together; (see note); (t-note) holy martyr (see note) tonsured lost composure [at that time] was all in order; (t-note) (i.e., future generations; “us”) Wherever priests were enslaved (oppressed); (see note) hanged Except heretics, or for treason any such; (t-note) may no child be christened; (t-note) married; (t-note) tribute under the king’s jurisdiction free [of secular control] fifty points [of dispute with the king]; (see note) worshipped may [who] begot and bore him; (see note) [W38] On the day of the Lord's circumcision (January 1); (t-note) tidings do you bring; messenger; (t-note) birth; Year's high nature; (t-note) Peace cure; (t-note) He is lord of eternity; (t-note) Such wondrous (see note) one united Our sin has become mere Fiend’s prey; (see note) seemly wonder maiden; Child; (t-note) high virgin (t-note) (t-note) one and the same; (t-note) wondrous sea (t-note) (t-note) infant; one as [has] been and shall be ever her; (t-note) greeting; quaint; (t-note) (t-note) such exalted manner; (t-note) mankind’s pain from nothing (t-note) dwell [W39] Concerning our king Henry VI (t-note) of bold spirit lineage true; (t-note) grandsires; grandmother (t-note) worthier; (t-note) (see note) trouble he (the Dauphin) said; (see note) sent; [tennis] balls therewith; (see note); (t-note) (t-note) tennis old; frightened them all; (t-note) At castles and cities they [the balls] flew; (t-note) Harfleur; (see note) swore by sea attack assail Agincourt; battle; (see note); (t-note) flower (i.e., nobility); defeated (t-note) knew; wasteful withstand; any cease; ferocity; (t-note) presence royal territorial right [What] our; (t-note) flower (i.e., prize for excellence); (see note) each country (t-note) [That he should] the holy cross win before dragged; (t-note) cease; (see note) realms; (t-note) all heathens to Christianity; (t-note) (t-note) royal realm mishap; (t-note) courtesy (t-note) many an eye (t-note) [W40] Do that for which you have come (t-note) whatever [religious] order; rank; (see note) in any case; (t-note) Ignorant or learned, whatever perversions; (t-note) hates entirely bold old; coward show each; meekness Set everything in unity holiness (t-note) (t-note) forsake wedded adultery manhood widows’ ordained bids; (t-note) Whosoever he (i.e., God) shames; doomed; (t-note) [W41] A song concerning childhood If wish he (i.e., a child); entirely; (see note); (t-note) regard for high rank manner knows not what wishes each man to fare well covets cherry pits are; (see note) (t-note) hear; perturbed slays necessity; (see note) in every case active together; (t-note) life of grace [gone] from me entirely; (t-note) trouble Dead bier unborn damned (utterly lost); (t-note) Were [it] not [for]; came before Almsdeed (see note) confess [W42] On the day of Epiphany, etc. (January 6) Noel praised Come, Creator Spirit; (see note) place Child You the Unity of the Trinity; (see note); (t-note) shepherds sang; (t-note) “Glory to God in the highest!” (see note); (t-note) heard; (t-note) praised; (t-note) Much gladness; among; (t-note) Now the star of light having risen; (see note) therefore diverse; far asked where Herod, wicked enemy; (see note) He (i.e., Herod) bade; seek; (t-note) they God Creator of all things; (see note) before their faces Jesus Savior of the world; (see note) kneeled; reverence; (t-note) incense; myrrh (t-note) Jesus our Redemption; (see note) dignity; (see note) burial Great God of power; (see note) (t-note) To Christ, Redeemer of everyone; (see note) (t-note) Savior of the world, Lord; (see note) [W43] Concerning Saint Anne, mother of Mary maid full of mercy [may] pray (t-note) lady (Mary) she; physician; (see note) gladdened; world; (t-note) (t-note) Barren; (see note) determined because of what was forlorn gift; (see note) fruit (t-note) flower should grow root; called [see Isaias 11:1] world; bring on which this flower grew; (see note) by my understanding who bore Named; (see note) God’s; high Was reigned; David’s dignity; (t-note) Mother, pray to the Son outlawry (i.e., exile in sin); (see note) [That] he give us joy Without end [W44] Another song concerning Blessed Mary Flower; (see note); (t-note) root; [see Isaias 11:1] splendor (beauty) such fresh of hue on [which] this Flower grew; (see note) solace Seed; gift sowed Bethlehem (see note); (t-note) bower (t-note) implanted conceived; [as] no man shall understand Until; (t-note) did spread and sprout (t-note) its; bud (i.e., form a bead); (t-note) seed (i.e., kind); (see note); (t-note) marveled (t-note) their tower fresh; (see note) sweet; savor cold; (see note) lily; on branch; (t-note) primrose I can think of is supreme; (t-note) best remedy relieve; sorrows entirely flowers (i.e., souls) up Before; freshness; beauty fairest (t-note) [W45] And another [song] concerning Blessed Mary any other [like you] Rejoice, Mary Mate (see note); (t-note) comely quietly; doubt ear; done alighted At Gabriel’s announcement; (see note); (t-note) more [than you] greet; (see note) Very near; embrace sighed; sucked fed maiden’s milk bore With the lily of chastity strength was gone many a mother’s son it saw strife watery wounds; (t-note) (t-note) The resurrection shines woman blooms see such; (t-note) apostles all together climbed; steadily; (t-note) He moves with his own motion branch (with a pun on arising) peerless princess of peace bower; next [to] Thy Son known everywhere as Love by nature; (see note); (t-note) In heaven’s palace [W46] And concerning Blessed Mary (t-note) hear woman star support; (t-note) women; (t-note) evening Many a one [who] are (i.e., by Gabriel) [Luke 1:28]; (see note) (t-note) Fiend [made] afraid enslaved; (t-note) choicest carbuncle stone; (t-note) (see note) empress of hell fountain (see note); (t-note) [W47] Concerning virginity; (t-note) (t-note) (t-note) (t-note) before; (t-note) (t-note) (see note); (t-note) virginity; (t-note) that had created her born chose; (t-note) release power; (t-note) Margaret; Winifred; (see note); (t-note) They suffered the smiting [off] of their heads; (t-note) (t-note) (t-note) vow; (see note); (t-note) follow serve her [W 48] A song concerning viginity (see note); (t-note) (see note) lose your condition hidden mark; loan injure privately treasure (i.e., virginity); eager their; lay; (t-note) many a penny for it they [would] pay; (t-note) property shame [would] bear; (t-note) [If you] never will beware of another Had not; made; (t-note) brought (i.e., through Mary) fades Always preserve high fresh Beauty; goodness were it not that; were [intact] feeble favor to whom you let have; (t-note) are beguiled (i.e., seduced) So follow [this advice], every one [of you] helped many [a] one It allow maids to marry in every land [W49] Concerning the matrimony of women whom; (see note) the regret of “had I known” heavy; (see note) nowadays sport and mirth Which turns to sorrow see [that this is true] if; married; (see note) heart coveting law; ordains; (see note); (t-note) Equality of birth, of wealth, of age (t-note) suitable marriage; (t-note) (t-note) fruit (i.e., offspring); (see note) thrive and prosper trouble avarice; (t-note) (t-note) (see note) only; outrage (i.e., unnatural mating); (see note); (t-note) choose for themselves mates; own; (see note); (t-note) marriage; (t-note) (t-note) servant; (see note) fleshly misallied in rank; (t-note) lords and lordships (t-note) (see note); (t-note) heirs [W50] Concerning the love of God (t-note) before; born reward wealth pleasing to God licentious; lost; (t-note) fleshly pleasure Without; distress; (t-note) cease; (t-note) before best of all regret; (t-note) Had he not; (t-note) his; (t-note) [W51] (see note) Troubles; grievously harms (see note); (t-note) The fear of death troubles me burdensome deaf lose Passion of Christ, fortify me pleasure wills; may (t-note) mourning; (see note) world (see note) medicine Fiend’s power sick; languishing; (see note) tear of eye; (t-note) sadness prayers (see note) (see note) (t-note) misery; highest; remedy may occur; (see note) troubled [W52] Concerning Saint Francis; (t-note) brethren; (see note) one lived think; (see note) (see note); (t-note) appeared in your presence stigmata; (see note); (t-note) you bore them (the wounds) (see note); (t-note) Whether dividing; (see note); (t-note) pitiful state; (t-note) thanked; gift; (see note) hesitate faith your intent purpose (see note) once and always; (see note); (t-note) (see note) (t-note) [As] you have desired (see note) may live merry (t-note) [you] who are present; (see note) convent shamed or disgraced Fiend’s attack for; (see note); (t-note) |
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