Above All Thing Thow Arte a Kyng

by: James M. Dean (Editor)

from: Medieval English Political Writings  1996

[Money, Money!]

(British Library MS Royal 17.B.xlvii fols. 160v-162r)

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Money, money, now hay goode day!    Money, where haste thow be?    Money, money, thow gost away    And wylt not byde wyth me.     Above all thing thow arte a kyng,    And rulyst the world over all; Who lakythe the, all joy, pardé,    Wyll sone then frome hym ffall!     In every place thow makyste solas,    Gret joye, spoorte, and uelfare; When money ys gone, comfort ys none,    But thowght, sorowe, and care.     In kynges corte, where money dothe route,    Yt makyth the galandes to jett, And for to were gorgeouse ther gere, 1    Ther cappes awry to sett.     In the heyweyes ther joly palfreys 2    Yt makyght to lepe and praunce, It maket justynges, pleys, dysguysynges,    Ladys to synge and daunce.     For he that alway wantyth money    Stondyth a mated chere, Can never wel syng, lang daunce nor springe,    Nor make no lusty chere. 3     At cardes and dyce yt bereth the pryce,    As kyng and emperoure; At tables, tennes, and al othere games,    Money hathe ever the floure.     Wythe squyer and knyght and every wyghte    Money maketh men fayne; And causeth many in sume compeney    Theyr felowes to dysdayne.     In marchandys who can devyse    So good a ware, I say? At al tymys the best ware ys    Ever redy money.     Money to incresse, marchandys never to cease    Wyth many a sotell wyle; Men say the wolde for sylver and golde    Ther owne faders begyle.     Women, I trowe, love money also    To by them joly gere; For that helpythe and oft causethe    Women to loke full fayre.     In Westmyaster Hall the criers call;    The sergeauntes plede apace. Attorneys appere, now here, now ther,    Renning in every place.     Whatesoever he be, and yf that he    Whante money to plede the lawe, Do whate he cane in ys mater than    Shale prove not worthe a strawe.     I know yt not, but well I wotte    I have harde often tymys tell, Prestes use thys guyse, ther benefyce    For moyeny to bey and sell.     Craftysmen that be in every cyté,    They worke and never blynne; Sum cutte, sume shave, sume knoke, sum grave,    Only money to wynne.     The plowman hymselfe dothe dyge and delve    In storme, snowe, frost, and rayne, Money to get with laboure and swete,    Yet small geynes and muche peyne.     And sume for money lye by the wey    Another mannes purse to gett; But they that long use yt amonge    Ben hangyd by the neke.     The beggers eke in every strete    Ly walowyng by the wey; They begge, the crye, oft the cume by,    And all ys but for money.     In every coste men love yt moste,    In Ynglonde, Spayne, and Francs, For every man lackyng yt than    Is clene owte of countenaunce.     Of what degré so ever he be,    Of werteouse conyng he have, And wante moné, yet men wyll sey,    That he ys but a knave.         Where indede, so God me spede,    Sey all men whate they cane; Yt ys allwayes sene nowadayes    That money makythe the man.     finis

have a been                 rule; everywhere worships thee; by God soon; from; (see note)     comfort; (see note) diversion; prosperity     anxiety; (see note)     court; gather gallants; swagger; (see note)             (see note) causes jousts; masquerades; (see note)         always lacks; (see note) flustered countenance; (see note) long; (see note)             (see note) backgammon, tennis; (see note) is foremost     person; (see note) eager     (see note)     merchandise     defense         (see note) subtle ruse they; (see note) deceive; (see note)         buy; apparel (see note)         Westminster; (see note) barristers (see note) Running     (see note) Lacks; plead Whatever he can do in his lawsuit then (see note)     know heard     buy; (see note)     Guildsmen; (see note) cease hammer; engrave; (see note)         dig; (see note)     sweat gains; (see note)     wait in ambush get     neck         Lie wallowing they; (see note)         country England; France     Is utterly humiliated         useful scholarship If [he] lacks money; (see note) (see note)             whatever they can (see note)

Go To In Erth It Es a Litill Thing (Sir Penny)

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Footnotes

ABOVE ALL THING THOW ARTE A KYNG: FOOTNOTES

1 And to wear their gorgeous clothing

2 In the highways there [are] splendid palfreys (saddle-horses)

3 "Nor provide lively entertainment, joyful welcome" (RHR)

ABOVE ALL THING THOW ARTE A KYNG: NOTES

Refrain, line 3. MS and Greene goste; RHR gost.

4 The word money in the margin appears to indicate the refrain after each quatrain for the first nine stanzas and also 11-12; stanzas 10 and 13-20 have the phrase money &c.

5 place thow makyste. MS palce tomakt thou makyste.

8 But thowght. MS but so thowght.

10 galandes. Gallants -- what later ages would call "swells" -- were fashionably-dressed young men. In moral lyrics they became symbols or topoi of pride and presumption. See, for example, "an acrostic on the name 'Galaunt' (built on the Seven Deadly Sins)" as printed in A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 5:1469, and the three poems on galaunts mentioned on page 1470 (§§ 161-63). The MS seems to read garlandes rather than galandes (= RHR's and Greene's reading).

jett. Derives from Lat. and Fr jactare, jetter but has the sense of "to carry oneself confidently or conceitedly, to talk boastfully of oneself, to boast, brag, vaunt oneself, make an ostentatious display" (OED s.v. Jet v.1). See also The Simonie 118 and note.

13 the. So Greene and RHR; MS they (anticipation of hey weys).

15 dysguysynges. "Allegorical entertainments, the forerunners of the Tudor masques" (Greene).

17 wantyth. MS yt written above the line.

18 a mated chere. "With the air of one checkmated or baffled" (Greene, cited by RHR).

19 springe. So RHR; MS sprnge.

22 As kyng. MS and RHR at kyng; Greene As.

23 tables. Backgammon, as in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, line 51: "Then playe either at ches or tables."

25 and knyght . . . wyghte. MS and & knyght . . . wyghe. Emendations by Greene and RHR.

28 Theyr. MS thery; RHR theyr, Greene Theyr.

33 incresse. MS Icresse; Greene, RHR emend to Incresse.

35 the. So MS; Greene emends to the[y]. RHR directs to line 67 (the crye), where Greene also reads the[y].

36 faders. MS fath faders.

39 oft. So MS and RHR; Greene of[t].

41 Westmyaster. MS wystmyaster; Greene emends to Westmynster, RHR to westmynster.

43 ther. So MS and Greene; RHR there.

45 Whatesoever. MS Whate so euery; RHR Whate-so-euer; Greene Whatsoeuer.

48 Shale prove not. So Greene and RHR; MS shale not proue not.

52 moyeny. So MS (e inserted above the line); RHR emends to money.

53 that be in. So MS and RHR; Greene that in.

55 Sum cutte. So RHR; MS Su[m] knowe cutte.

57 dothe. So MS and RHR; Greene doth.

60 peyne. So MS and RHR; Greene payne.

67 oft the. So MS; RHR of them. Greene reads of the[y].

75 moné. So MS and RHR; Greene emends to mone[y].

76 That he ys. So RHR; MS that he r ys. Greene That i heys.

79 Yt ys. MS ys yt ys.