THE CASTLE OF PERSEVERANCE: FOOTNOTES

1 The four daughters will be clad in mantles, Mercy in white, Righteousness

2 First Standard-bearer Glorious God, in all degrees lord of most might

3 And all the nobles of this realm, and advise them the right (way)

4 And ask generous friendship of you

5 Destroyed is mankind cruelly when he to sin agrees

6 Slandering and accusing against all men to stir up trouble

7 When Mankind has taken possession of the Castle of Perseverance

8 And causes him to believe he will suffer need through poverty

9 To put his goods in the control [of others] troubles his mind

10 We intend to play these parts with stage properties

11 Pincenarii (Thrace), Paris, and the land of the Pygmies

12 Truly, from Carlisle into Kent they receive my rebuke (i.e., all of England — see note)

13 Kings, emperors, soldiers, and many a brave knight

14 Give me neither wealth nor poverty, Lord (see Proverbs 30:8)

15 Man, remember your ending, and you will never sin (see Ecclesiasticus 7:40)

16 Then he descends together [with Folly] into the platea

17 There is no rich man in the world who says, "Enough"

18 Wisdom is with the Lord (see Ecclesiasticus 1:1)

19 The trumpet sounds. Then Pleasure and Folly, the Bad Angel and Mankind go to the World, and he [Pleasure] says

20 That which is acquired over a long time slips away quickly (Distichs of Cato 2:17)

21 Unless he sings "If I shall give (I will expect recompense)." See "Addresses of the Commons" line 23, in Dean, Medieval English Political Writings, p. 138.

22 All shall be destroyed, for merry games in the land

23 To ensnare [it] according to my nature

24 Then those rascals for their pleasure I will destroy completely

25 Then Pride, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Lechery, and Sloth go to Covetousness, and Pride says

26 This seems to mean "Let each of us take up our own weapons"

27 See 1 Corinthians 13:13

28 Since those who live in the flesh cannot be pleasing to God (see Romans 8:8)

29 See Matthew 6:19.

30 Lines 1696a–b: You will be holy with the holy ones, etcetera (see Psalm 17:26). / Then he goes in

31 Lines 1705a–b: He who perseveres to the end will be saved (see Matthew 10:22). / Then they will sing "Eternal King most high," and [Meekness] says

32 Then Flesh will shout to Gluttony, Sloth, and Lechery

33 Then he (Mundus) will blow a horn towards [the scaffold of] Covetousness

34 Then the World, Covetousness, and Folly shall go to the castle with a banner and the Devil will say [from his scaffold]

35 Devil, prepare yourself nobly to make those maidens look silly

36 Consider it all joy, when you fall into many temptations (see James 1:2)

37 Take pleasure in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart (see Psalm 36:4)

38 He has put down the mighty from their seats, etc. (see Luke 1:52)

39 Whoever exalts himself will be abased, etc. (see Luke 14:11 and 18:14)

40 For the wrath of man does not produce the justice of God (see James 1:20)

41 Woe to the man through whom offense comes (see Matthew 18:7)

42 When he had fasted forty days, etc. (see Matthew 4:2)

43 Now read, now pray, now learn, and now work

44 The world passes away, and the desire thereof (see 1 John 2:17)

45 And thus they [the foolish] leave their wealth to others (see Psalm 48:11)

46 His glory (wealth) shall not descend with him (see Psalm 48:18)

47 The miser will never be satisfied with money (see Ecclesiastes 5:9–10)

48 Man heaps up treasure and does not know to whom it will accumulate (see Psalm 38:7)

49 Not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of Heaven (see Matthew 7:21)

50 Then they go to the Father all together and Truth says

51 Lines 3271–73: in dying, / Repenting far too late, / I condemn such a death

52 Lines 3284–86: Because truth endures for all time, / Man goes to Hell / By no means he comes to Heaven

53 Oh Father of Mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us all in our tribulation (see 2 Corinthians 1:3–4). [Since an English version of this line does not appear in the text, it is not clear whether it should be considered part of the playtext or not.]

54 Lines 3339a–b: If through sin old Adam had not fallen, / Your mother would never have become heavy with child

55 Since you have said, "I will keep my mercy" (see Psalm 88:29)

56 I shall sing of the mercies of the Lord forever (see Psalm 88:1)

57 The righteous man will rejoice when he sees vengeance (see Psalm 57:11)

58 And his mercy is over all his works (see Psalm 144:9)

59 And his mercy is from generation to generation, etc. (see Luke 1:50)

60 Mercy and Truth have met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other (see Psalm 84:11–12)

61 Here is peace, here is goodness, here is glory, here eternally is virtue

62 And we earnestly entreat your pity, O Lord, so that you may deign to grant him a shining and peaceful dwelling

63 I think thoughts of peace, not of affliction (see Jeremias 29:11)

64 The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (see Psalm 32:5). [This line might well be part of the playtext.]

65 Then they all ascend to the Bad Angel together and say

66 Like a spark in the midst of the sea (see note below). [This line might be part of the playtext.]

67 I will kill and make alive, I will wound and heal; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand (see Deuteronomy 32:39)

68 Lo, I will inquire of my flock at the hand of the shepherd (see Ezechiel 34:10)

69 And those who do good, they will go to eternal life; those who do evil, assuredly to eternal fire (see note)
 

 

THE CASTLE OF PERSEVERANCE: EXPLANATORY NOTES

Abbreviations: B: Bevington, Medieval Drama; CT: Chaucer, Canterbury Tales; E: Eccles, The Macro Plays; MED: Middle English Dictionary; OED: Oxford English Dictionary; Tilley: Tilley, A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries; Whiting: Whiting, Proverbs, Sentences, and Pro­verbial Phrases.

STAGE PLAN

The OED connects "stytelerys" with the verb "stightle" (to arrange, set in order), perhaps related (as Eccles points out) to "stickler" (umpire, moderator), recorded first in 1538. This would suggest that the "stytelerys" were crowd-control officers; it is not clear whether the direction that there should not be too many of them indicates a common failing with large plays or an assumption that they will not be needed in this particular case.

The "copbord" of Greed at the foot of the bed from which Mankind is born and in which he dies is not necessarily a stationary piece of furniture. Tydeman questions the stage plan's placement of it within the castle, and suggests that this is an error for a position near Greed's scaffold (English Medieval Theatre 1400–1500, pp. 97–98). But that is unnecessary. Mankind likely stores his riches in the "copbord," especially the thousand marks which Greed gives him to entice him out of the castle (line 2726). The "copbord" might also be carried away by Garcio at line 2960, "Go hens, for this is myne." This hint of portability might well imply a chest or similar container. Although no reference is made to it in the play, the prominent description of its location on the stage plan suggests that it was intended to be used in such a manner. Although it stands by Mankind's bed, it is Greed's cupboard and thus likely holds those things which Greed gives to Mankind. Natalie Crohn Schmitt suggests a useful analogue, citing Hieronymus Bosch's "Death of the Miser," in which the Miser's goods are kept in just such a chest at the foot of the bed ("Was There a Medieval Theatre in the Round?" p. 130, n. 4, and p. 142. A reproduction of the painting can also be found at <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/death-miser/death-miser.jpg>).

Gunpowder (gunnepowdyr) was known in England at least from the mid-thirteenth century, when Roger Bacon described it in his treatise De nullitate magiæ. By the middle of the fourteenth century, gunpowder was being made in the royal armories of the Tower of London. The provision of gunpowder/fireworks for Belial would strongly suggest that the actor wore an elaborate protective costume, gloved to protect his hands, and with a substantial mask to protect his ears (see Butterworth, Theatre of Fire, pp. 25–26).

The Four Daughters of God wear costumes in traditionally symbolic colors: white is a standard symbol for Mercy, Peace's black is the color of mourning, Justice wears the red of a judge, and Truth's green symbolizes eternity.

CAST LIST

The list of the players actually appears at the end of the play on fol. 191. The scribe has miscounted by one; including the "vexillatores" (standard-bearers) who announce the play a week before the performance, there are only thirty-five characters, not thirty-six.

18 Although the idea of a pair of forces, one malign, one benign, fighting for control of each human being is found in a wide range of popular theology and sermon literature, only here and in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus are they given a place on stage. There is no evidence that Marlowe knew Castle, though it is not outside the bounds of possibility.

29 The traditional Three Enemies of Mankind, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, appear in several other plays as well, notably in the Digby play of Mary Magdalene. Though the idea — a sort of evil parallel to the Trinity — was widespread, it may derive ultimately from the Meditations attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Chapter 12, De tribus inimicis hominis, carne, mundo et diabolo ("On the Three Enemies of Man, the Flesh, the World, and the Devil"). See also Wenzel, "Three Enemies of Man."

44 When banns do survive for a play, discrepancies between the banns and the playtext are not uncommon, suggesting perhaps that the play has been revised without the revision having been transferred to the summary of the banns. Here, according to the summary, the Good Angel enlists the help of Conscience, Confession, and Penitence to take Mankind out of the clutches of Greed, the Three Enemies, and the Seven Deadly Sins. In the play, however, Conscience does not appear.

91 The relationship between old age and covetousness is proverbial. See, for example, Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde (IV.1369), where Criseyde notes, "elde is ful of coveytise." See also Whiting C490.

99 lake. The "lake" is probably an alliterative reference to the pit of Hell.

124 Further evidence that the play may have been revised without reference to the banns can be seen in the absence of any description of the colloquy of the Four Daughters of God which ends the playtext as we have it. This line may suggest that an earlier version of the play concluded with the intercession of Mary, similar, perhaps, to her support for the King in The Pride of Life.

138 This line is ambiguous in two ways. The term "underne" could mean midmorning, midday, or midafternoon, and it is not certain whether "we shul be onward" means "our play must be underway" or "we must be finished and moving on to our next destination."

154 Eccles proposed reading the infinitive "lende" for the manuscript reading "lendys," though that is problematic since the rhyme of the passage is "-ys" (E, p. 7, n. 154).

161–63 The World is speaking to the audience, and their division into "bolde bachelerys" who will need to be prepared to fight and "syrys" who "syttyth on syde" seems to echo Mercy's division of his audience in Mankind into "ye soverens that sitt, and ye brothern that stonde right uppe" (line 29).

170–78 The World boasts of the extent of his reputation, and the place-names are selected largely for their alliteration. The Dry Tree is located at the site of the Garden of Eden; it dried up and withered at the moment of Adam's fall. It appears on the well-known Hereford Cathedral map of the world (ca. 1300) next to the Gates of Paradise; see Westrem, Hereford Map, pp. 38–39, #76.

182 Greed does not merely give the lands to the World, but places him in legal possession (seisin) of them.

201 Carlisle, just south of the Scottish border in the far northwest, to Kent, in the southeast, defines the whole of England.

202 Belial's claim that he bursts into flame "Bothe the bak and the buttoke" would seem to echo the provision for gunpowder in his costume on the stage plan.

226 grym. "Strife." Eccles glosses: "cruelty" (E, p. 246), presumably to get at the force of Belial's boast. MED grim n1.c suggests "agitation," which goes well with the fiends' usual practice of working the field as agitators, trying to create disturbances that will give them clues to people's weak spots. Lucifer is an agitator when he first approaches Eve; Titivillus agitates Mankind until he breaks faith with Mercy in Mankind. When Belial comes upon "Fele folke on a flokke to flappyn and to flene" (line 225), his alliterative boasting implies more of an effort to create a "flap" than to actually beat and flay people — not even Belial could get away with that until he actually has someone in hell. His intention at the moment is to impress the "folke" with his capacity for frightful violence, in which case his boasting is more an effort to stir his "boyis on this grene" (line 227) into action when he blasts his bugle than an act of cruelty.

235, 239 Flesh's scaffold would have been decorated with towers.

271 The reference here (and elsewhere, lines 906, 1897, 1926) to a "hyll" has caused some difficulties for scholars who would take it literally and equate it with a pile of earth created by digging a ditch. It is far more likely that it refers simply to the appropriate scaffold, and that the word is used for its alliterative value or its rhyme (as here). See Schmitt, "Was There a Medieval Theatre in the Round?" p. 138.

294 It is not clear whether Mankind's reference is to "chrisom," a piece of linen cloth placed over a child's head at christening, or to "chrism," the consecrated oil used in several sacraments, including christening. The difference is not important; Mankind explains that his only possession is that which he received at his first sacrament.

324 See previous note; the phrase "a crysyme" would suggest the first meaning.

345 stylle as ston. Mankind does not move as he tries to decide between the two angels.

361a On this and subsequent extra-metrical Latin lines in the text, see Introduction, "Extra-metrical Latin Lines," pp. 6–7. The Good Angel has been arguing that Mankind should avoid the World altogether, so although the Latin line seems like an expansion of the previous statement, it does not really "bere wytnesse" to the Good Angel's argument advocating, as it does, a middle way between riches and poverty. On this and other situations where the Latin quotation does not exactly fit the playtext, see Parry, "Margin of Error," p. 43.

407–10a The point which the Good Angel makes here foreshadows the end of the play, where the actor playing God steps out of character and concludes that pondering one's ending is the proper way to avoid sin and lead a good life.

455, s.d. "Pipe" in this context could indicate any wind instrument or combination of wind instruments. The playwright tends to be specific about trumpets ("trumpe up," lines 156, 574 s.d., etc., or "bemys," lines 617, 2376), so the reference here would more likely be to a ceremonial shawm band as illustrated in many fifteenth-century pictures of feasts and celebratory occasions.

479 The hawthorn berry is proverbial as an indication of something trivial, small, and worthless. See Whiting H190.

516 If Folly is referring here to a specific book, it would likely be either Thomas à Kempis' Imitatio Christi, which circulated in several different versions dating between 1418 and 1441, or Nicholas of Cusa's De docta ignorantia, which first appeared in 1441. Folly could not be thinking of Erasmus' Praise of Folly (Morae Encomium), which was written in 1509, well after the date of the Castle manuscript. See Kaiser, Praisers of Folly, pp. 8–10.

516a This is a particularly good example of an extra-metrical Latin line that cannot be part of the playtext, since it would be highly inappropriate for either Folly or Pleasure to say "Wisdom is with the Lord." The line does, however, make excellent sense as an extra-dramatic gloss on the passage. See Parry, "Margin of Error," p. 44.

519 I have hyphenated Lust-and-Lykynge since it is clear in the text that the phrase refers to one person who is called "Voluptas" (Pleasure) in the speech headings.

656 Backbiter addresses the audience directly.

659 Backbiter has several names. He also calls himself Detraction (line 777), and the World calls him Flibbertigibet (lines 775, 1724, 1733). He represents the self-absorption that leads men to flatter those who can do them good and to speak ill of their neighbors. One of the two lowlifes who accuse Mary of adultery in the N-Town "Trial of Mary and Joseph" is named Bakbytere (N-Town Plays, ed. Spector, 1:140, line 41, or Sugano, p. 124, line 41). On Edgar's references (as Poor Tom) to Flibbertigibbet in King Lear, see also Cauthen, "Foule Flibbertigibbet."

672 Backbiter is carrying a letter box or dispatch box containing the lies he spreads about other people.

691 Several scholars have proposed emending "pley" to "prey" on the grounds that Backbiter's hunting in the woods would be more likely to be for prey than for play. However, if the object of his hunting is the "game" he is playing with Mankind, the reading "pley" would also make sense. See Withington, "Castle of Perseverance, line 695," and Umphrey, "Castle of Perseverance, line 695."

716 Although the World is probably costumed as a prince, in purple or red, this line suggests that his costume is edged with white fur (or its costume equivalent).

730 feffe. As with "sesyd" (line 182), the World does not merely give wealth to Mankind, but formally puts him in legal possession (enfeoffs him).

750 Mankind has already cast ethical action to the winds; in the service of the World he will happily imprison anyone who speaks against the World, whether guilty or innocent of any real crime.

763 opyn sesun. As in line 182, "seisin" indicates the legal possession of land.

775 See note to line 659.

802 whanne the fox prechyth. Proverbial; compare Cain's assessment of Abel's prayer in the Towneley Mactacio Abel: "How! let furth youre geyse; the fox will preche" (Towneley Plays, ed. Stevens and Cawley, 1:14, line 86). G. R. Owst illustrates the proverb with a wood-carving of a fox preaching (Preaching in Medieval England, p. 86).

805 The cope which the Good Angel wears indicates that he is costumed as a priest in liturgical vestments.

841 Simony, the buying or selling of church offices for profit, was a substantial problem in the Middle Ages, when many churchmen held temporal administrative positions in addition to their spiritual positions within the church. Dante's Inferno condemned the simoniacs to the eighth circle of Hell. A fourteenth-century poem, "The Simonie," linking simony and covetousness or greed, is found in Dean, Medieval English Political Writings, pp. 193–212.

866 The Disticha of Dionysius Cato (who is otherwise unknown) are moral statements in Latin hexameter couplets, written in the third or fourth century. They were virtually ubiquitous in the Middle Ages as a school text for the learning of Latin. Their usefulness persisted well into the early modern period; Benjamin Franklin printed an English version of them in 1735. See Chase, Distichs of Cato.

879 Si dedero. A satirical Latin song which begins with these words seems to have been very popular, though it is not certain that the reference here is to that poem. The phrase out of context seems to have been a byword for bribery, with which meaning it appears frequently, including in the Macro play of Mankind, line 456. In most of its appearances, the phrase "If I give [you something]" implies the continuation "I'll expect something better in return." John Lydgate's version of the Aesopian fable of the Wolf and the Lamb concludes with the statement:

Si dedero ys now so mery a song, Hath founde a practyk by lawe to make a preef      To hang a trew man & save an errant theef.

method; prove a case obvious

(Minor Poems of John Lydgate, ed. MacCracken, 2:577, lines 327–29). A similar usage appears in the poem "The Simonie" in the Auchinleck manuscript (National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Advocates Manuscript 19.2.1) which describes a clerk presenting a case at the court of Rome: "Or he shal singe si dedero or al geineþ him noht" ("Either he will offer a bribe or he'll get nothing at all," line 24). Both Mankind and Greed speak of "singing" the phrase, and it does appear to have existed as well as a popular tune. A setting of it in three parts by Alexander Agricola (ca. 1445–1506) was printed by Ottaviano Petrucci in Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A (1501), and Jacob Obrecht (ca. 1457–1505) used the tune as the cantus firmus of a setting of the Mass.

906 The "hyll" to which Pride refers is presumably the scaffold of Greed (see note to line 271).

941 Belsabubbe. The Devil's many guises are indicated by the several names he is called: Belial, Beelsabub, Satanas.

1031 The syntax is a bit messy here. "Thei" refers to the three sins, Gluttony, Sloth, and Lechery, in line 1030, but the playwright (or scribe) seems to have forgotten that the reference there is to the adjectival forms (gluttonous, slothful, lecherous) following on from "He is . . ." in line 1029, rather than to the sins themselves. The sense of the line is "They are sometimes there as well."

1035 A "pynyngys stole," like the stocks and the pillory, was a method of punishment, especially for selling food and drink at false measures. Greed's intent of making Mankind "to ben a foole" would be fulfilled by putting him to a punishment intended for alewives, butchers, and bakers.

1059 The "crakows" which Pride recommends to Mankind as the latest fashion are useful in dating the original composition of the play. These shoes with excessively long pointed toes (often so long as to require attaching to the knees) are referred to only in texts dating from about 1382 to about 1425. E (pp. 190–91) gives a full list of these references. The style seems to have come from Eastern Europe, and the name likely derives from Krakow, Poland. In the Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi II it is claimed that the style was introduced by Anne of Bohemia, who married Richard in 1382 (see E, p. 191).

1060 The technique of "jagging" clothes involved the cutting of long (predominately vertical) slashes to allow a lining of contrasting color and texture to be seen through the cut.

1073 The image of the wheel of Fortune is ubiquitous in medieval literature. It is described in detail in Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy (Book II); see Patch, Goddess Fortuna in Medieval Literature.

1085a I have followed B's practice of adding appropriate stage directions for the vices' joining of Covetousness, here and at 1145a, 1175a, 1205a, and 1237a.

1109 This line could be seen as a foreshadowing of Mankind's eventual death (line 2807).

1122 Unlike Mankind (lines 1102 and 1106), Envy is wary of taking the Lord's name in vain.

1139 Cum up to me above. Humanum Genus, basking proudly on Sir Covetyse's scaffold, invites Envy to join him "on lofte" (line 1145).

1152–55 The laity was required to fast (usually defined as the removal of meat from the diet) during the seasons of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) and Lent (the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter).

1215 take a swet. E (p. 269), B (p. 833), and MED gloss swet in this line as "sweat," the idea being, perhaps, that rather than go to Mass the lover should wrap his head in a cloth (i.e., a sweat band, line 1214) and relax in a steam bath.

1237a [Sloth ascends to Covetousness' scaffold] is Bevington's stage direction (B, p. 834). It is especially necessary here to clarify the distinction between Humanum Genus' two contiguous speeches.

1350 al to sone. It is necessary for Mankind to go to confession before taking communion on Easter Sunday. Mankind tells Schrift that, according to Sloth, Palm Sunday (a week before Easter) is much too early for confession, and that he should return on Good Friday, five days later.

1369 We have etyn garlek everychone. Mankind, thinking back to his pleasures of food on Glutton's scaffold, resists the Confessor's invitation to temper his diet. The Castle-playwright is drawing on a well-established tradition of the evil of rich foods mentioned by the hungry Israelites in the desert who, dissatisfied with the blandness of manna, yearn for the tasty delicacies of Egypt (Numbers 11:5). That passage gets picked up in various commentaries and also by Gower in Vox clamantis (3.85–90; Macaulay, ed., Works, 4:109), where the protagonist warns against the corruptive effects of such foods on worldly prelates; and in Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, where the Summoner, physically disfigured as a sign of his debauched love of women or men and rich food, is said to be fond of garlic, onions, and leeks (CT I[A]634). See Kaske, "Summoner's Garleek, Oynons, and Eek Lekes," on these foods as symbolic of moral corruption; and Biggins, who discusses such foods as stimulants of sexual desire, in "Chaucer's Summoner: ‘Wel Loved He Garleek, Onyons, and eek Lekes,' C.T. I, 634." See also Wood, "Sources of Chaucer's Summoner's ‘Garleek, Oyunons, and eek Lekes.'"

1379 As with line 1109, perhaps a foreshadowing of Mankind's death in line 2807.

1381–89 Contrition (sorrow of heart) is one of the canonical requirements for true confession; the others are verbal confession and penance. See also lines 1419 and 1431.

1468–80 This stanza and the next constitute Mankind's oral confession, while lines 1494–1531 represent Confession's absolution (explicit in lines 1507 and 1520).

1496–97 Confession refers to Matthew 16:18–19, "And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and, whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." Confession's point is that God has granted the power of absolution to His church and His priesthood.

1601 A leaf is missing from the manuscript following this line. The action of the missing text seems reasonably clear: Mankind enters the Castle of Perseverance accompanied by the seven cardinal virtues. Meekness and Patience, the only two virtues whose introductory speeches are missing, clearly spoke as well, since Mankind answers them in lines 1671–75. Before the virtues introduce themselves, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil and their accompanying sins retreat from Covetousness' scaffold to their own scaffolds.

1621–23 The idea that Adam's sin in eating the apple was gluttony appears in a number of medieval sources. The preachers' manual Qui bene presunt of Richard of Wetheringsett (ca. 1220) includes a chapter on gluttony in its fifth Distinction, De viciis, in which he notes that it was Adam "qui propter pomum amisit Paradisum" ("who was driven from Paradise because of an apple"). Richard's treatise was very popular in England over the following three centuries. The full text is found in many manuscripts; the quotation here is from London, British Library Ms. Royal 9.A.xiv. I am grateful to Joseph Goering for this reference.

1660 Criticism of estate executors is common through the fourteenth century, since the law gave them considerable control over the distribution of the estate. In Langland's Piers Plowman, for example, executors are said to "maken hym murie with oother mennes goodes" (B-text, Passus 20, line 289). E provides several other examples (p. 193).

1668 The lily is commonly a symbol of virginity.

1705b The hymn Aeterne Rex altissime is sung at the service of matins (the first of the day's canonical services) between Ascension (the fortieth day after Easter) and Pentecost (the fiftieth day after Easter).

1711 "Dos" is generally used of an amount of medicine; perhaps a reference to the vinegar and gall given to Christ to slake his thirst.

1731 Not "mothers," but the East Anglian dialect word "moder," "servant or wench" as cited by the OED (s.v. "mawther") from the Promptorium Parvulorum. The term is intended to be an insult.

1742 St. James the Greater, one of Jesus' apostles, who is reputed to be buried at Compostella in the province of Galicia, Spain.

1744 Backbiter's slanderous activities "both in England and in Wales" are less likely to be a comment on the Welsh than a convenient rhyme for "Galys."

1778–90 One of Backbiter's jobs is informing on his fellows, acting as a "snitch." Thus it is he who advises the three Enemies of the failure of the seven sins to keep Mankind in their clutches. His reveling in their punishment is part of the normal process of backbiting.

1828 wyth rowtynge rele. "in riotous tumult" (MED rele n.2). The "rele" figure also bears connotations of domesticity apt to the infighting amongst the seven deadly kinsmen that so amuses Backbiter in that "rele" is primarily the reel (MED rele n.1) that thread is spun onto from the distaff, which is another domestic tool that often gets mixed up in domestic brawls. The figure ties amusingly back into the metaphors of thread and weaving that the fiends use in hope of ensnaring their victims. Backbiter thrives on pranks against his fiendish buddies as well as anyone else. See lines 1832–35.

1848 "Lake" was a fine grade of linen; Chaucer's Sir Thopas is dressed in "cloth of lake fyn and cleere" (CT VII[B²]858).

1870 Greed accepts no blame for Mankind's change of heart; the loss is the World's, not his.

1884 bleryn. MED v.1 "blear over; stream at the eyes"; v.2 "wail." B glosses: "be blinded" (p. 851); E: "stream at the eyes" (p. 233).

1929 Pride swears by Goliath, the Philistine giant killed by David in 1 Kings 50.

1941 Gogmagog was a mythical British giant defeated by Corineus in 1.16 of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain.

2022 This line is a puzzle, and it is not at all clear what it might mean. "Parlasent" could be the French phrase "par asent," "voluntarily," which also appears in line 1013, but the rest of the line remains obscure. Happé suggests that the line is addressed to the virtues as primroses, "first flowers," and that the verb, "pleyeth," should be read as OED v, "to bestir or busily occupy oneself." Thus the line would mean, "O first flowers, stir yourselves willingly." This reading is not entirely convincing, and it does not explain the ending of the verb, "pleyeth," which should appear as "pleye" (Happé, Four Morality Plays, p. 626).

2053 oure flourys. This is the first reference to the flowers with which the Virtues defend the castle; later (line 2145) it becomes clear that their weapons are red roses, symbols of the Passion.

2115 wyld fere. "Wild fire" was a general term for gunpowder-based stage effects often, as likely here, thrown or "cast." See Butterworth, Theatre of Fire, pp. 21–24.

2120 "Motyhole" is clearly an insult, though its meaning is not clear. Furnivall and Pollard, Macro Plays (p. 200), took it to mean "moth hole," and E (p. 195) related it to "motty," "containing motes or dust," but neither of these is very convincing. Happé suggests that the first element is more likely derived from "mot" ("loose woman, harlot," Four Morality Plays, p. 626), see OED s.v. 3/1. But "filthy cunt" perhaps says it best, with moty implying "musty" or "dirty," and "hole" being what it is.

2145 rosys swete and softe. The anonymous treatise Vitis Mystica (attributed both to St. Bernard and St. Bonaventure) describes the roses with which the Virtues defend Mankind as symbols both of Charity and of Christ's Passion (Patrologia Latina, vol. 184, cols. 708–15) [Chapters XXXIII–XLI].

2198 blowe your brode baggys. Belial's call for bagpipes may simply be a mustering call to war, though, given the obscenity of his and his associates' attitudes toward women, more than military warfare may be implied. Bagpipes were commonly used to signify lechery and the dance of the flesh, which would be in keeping with the fiends and the seven sins' perpetual reducing of the Virtues to whores, sluts, and obscene parts of the anatomy (see note to line 2120). N.b., Eustache Deschamps' reference to the pipes as "instruments des hommes bestiaulx" (Oeuvres Complètes v:127). That the drunken Miller leads Chaucer's pilgrims out of town with his bagpipe (CT I[A]565) has been often discussed as a type of concupiscence, lechery, and gluttony. Edward A. Block comments on the bagpipe as a sign of carnal lust, gluttony, avarice, and dissipation in Chaucer, but, especially, in the paintings of Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder ("Chaucer's Millers and Their Bagpipes"). So too Kathleen L. Scott, who explores typology linking bagpipes to gluttony and lechery as the piper plays upon pig stomachs and genitalia to make his squeal ("Sow-and-Bagpipe Imagery in the Miller's Portrait"). Scott cites British Library MS Sloane 748, fol. 82v, for an image of a pig playing bagpipes next to a jester holding his genitals (p. 289, n. 1). See also D. W. Robertson, Jr., on bagpipes as signs of the old sexual dance, in Preface to Chaucer, p. 243, and in figures 15, 33, 35, 37, and 42.

2198a Taking into account the elaborate references to weapons, shields, and banners as the sins prepare for battle, as well as the stage plan's description of the Devil's battle costume, the provision here for an extended battle would form a spectacular climax to the fight for Mankind.

2212 malaundyr. Mallender is a form of chronic dermatitis in horses, characterized by sores on the legs.

2239 wynnyth a scho. The phrase "to win one's shoes" with the meaning "to prove oneself in battle" appears in several fifteenth-century texts. So in the romance Sir Perceval of Galles King Arthur tells Perceval that he will "wynn thi schone" in battle with the sultan (ed. Braswell, line 1595).

2269 I mene the sacrament. The sacrament to which Abstinence refers is the Eucharist, in which the "bread" of lines 2267 and 2270 is the body of Christ.

2303a Anderson notes that Chastity's invocation of the Virgin Mary and her threat to "quenche" Lechery's "fowle hete" may indicate that she throws a bowl of water over her, especially since Lechery later complains that she has been "drenchyd" (see Drama and Imagery in English Medieval Churches, pp. 81–82). Conversely, Chastity might engineer Lechery's falling into the ditch, which is filled (for the moment) with the water of grace.

2329 this dyche I fowe. Although there is no stage direction to confirm it, it seems likely that the "dyche" from which Sloth empties the "watyr of grace" is the same ditch described in detail on the stage plan. The most significant argument against this conclusion is the stage plan's option of barring the place "strongely . . . al abowt" instead of digging a ditch, since it would not be clear in that case what Sloth would empty. Where the sins have been unsuccessful in their direct assault on the castle, Sloth gains entry by appealing to Mankind's innate laziness, just as Greed will draw him out of the castle by offering him creature comforts.

2335 Thre mens songys. A three-men's song would have been in three parts — usually treble, mean, and bass — like the song proposed by the Three Mights in Wisdom (lines 613–20); or, perhaps, a catch like those sung by Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Feste in Twelfth Night. The three-men's song had a long history of association with drama; the two songs which survive with the Coventry Christmas pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors are both three-men's songs, as are many of the theater-related songs published by Thomas Ravenscroft. For the Coventry songs, see The Coventry Corpus Christi Plays, ed. King and Davidson, pp. 166–73; for Ravenscroft's songs, see Pammelia (1609), Deuteromelia (1609), and Melismata (1611).

2379 myrth. The manuscript reads "myth" (might, power). Either word makes sense in the passage, but the rhyme word ("dyrt") suggests that E's emendation to "myrth" is correct.

2385 cowche qwayl. This may well have been a game. The character Franticness in John Skelton's anti-Wolsey satire "Speke, Parrot" (a close relation to Castle's Folly) causes men "to play cowche quale" (Skelton, Complete English Poems, p. 243, line 426).

2390 qwene. There is a pun involved in this line, since Lechery's "qwene" has a double meaning of "queen," as Chastity has already used it in her previous fight with Lechery (line 2315), and "whore, slut," which is clearly the sense in which Lechery is using the word here.

2403–04 my ballokys bathe / And leykyn. Perhaps the licking metaphor comes from the behavior of dogs cleansing themselves at rest, though it's hard to imagine Accidia having such dexterity.

2421 As Smart noted ("Castle of Perseverance"), the Canwick gallows with which the World threatens his minions stood on Canwick Hill near Lincoln. The site was notorious since in 1255 eighteen Jews were hanged there for the murder of the eight-year-old Hugh of Lincoln. The executions were clearly political in nature, since a young Jewish boy had already confessed to the murder and had been executed.

2435 St. Giles is the patron saint of beggars, cripples, and the insane. Covetousness' offer to Mankind is perhaps not as good as it sounds.

2445 Greed (Avaricia) is here associated with Cupiditas (also meaning Greed) which, as 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us, is the root of all evil.

2482 I gynne to waxyn hory and olde. One of the more troubling tropes of old age is the increase of miserliness (see note to line 91), as if to secure oneself against the crippling fear of loss and disablement that inevitably are on the horizon. Compare the anxieties of Elde in The Parliament of the Three Ages. The fearful compulsion is so great that Mankind leaves the castle abruptly with Coveytyse, giving the virtuous ladies no opportunity to try to dissuade him (n.b., stage direction after line 2556).

2488 arayed in a sloppe. A "slop" would be loose and practical, though unfashionable, unlike the fine clothes of Mankind's youth (n.b., lines 623–26).

2494 A mark was an amount of money (never minted as a coin) equal to two-thirds of a pound, or 13 s. 4 d.

2513 E (p. 197) suggests that the "Bok of Kendys" refers to De naturis rerum of Alexander Neckam (1157–1215), an encyclopedic collection of scientific knowledge.

2537 This sounds like a proverb, but it does not appear in any of the standard sources.

2589 That is, in Heaven.

2644 Generosity apologizes directly to the audience for having lost Mankind to the clutches of Greed.

2649–51 The Bad Angel's misogynist rant is well known as a proverb; see Tilley, W 686–87.

2665–73 Mankind speaks of money as a personification, "Penny-man."

2703 my castel cage. The "cage" to which Covetousness takes Mankind may well be the "cupboard" mentioned on the stage plan (see p. 105), situated at the end of Mankind's bed under the castle. The "cupboard" would likely have been portable, perhaps a chest, since Garcio appears to carry it off (around line 2981).

2726 See note to line 2494.

2740 The noble was a gold coin first struck during the reign of Edward III in 1344–46, with a value of 1/3 of a pound, or 6 s. 8 d.

2742 In a world in which banking and investing were only available to the very rich, money was generally stored in a locked chest. Such storage was, of course, vulnerable to theft, and one of the few methods of longer-term secure storage available to all was secret burial.

2745–47 That is, "I would not spend any of it even to save my neighbor from the gallows."

2816 Thanne was I wel knowe. Clearly a reference to the Black Death. Although the first wave of this epidemic reached England in 1348–50, outbreaks of plague occurred with some frequency over the next three hundred years. Death's "grete pestelens" likely refers to the first wave, in which as much as 30–40 percent of England's population died, but the later outbreaks would have meant that no one in the audience would have been ignorant of Death's power.

2820 grete fyschys ete the smale. Proverbial; see Whiting F232. But here Death's point is that the covetous use their predatory preoccupation mainly as a diversion away from facing the facts of life: in death, they are the ones who will be devoured, regardless of how great they are.

2823 Hem schal helpyn nothyr mel or mete. Death's taking the proud and covetous while they are feasting is a favorite trope in medieval drama. See the Death of Herod Play in N-Town, where Death watches the privileged who are unaware of his presence until he slays them all to exit in a dance of death, with admonitions to the audience. Or consider the presentation of Belshazzar's feast in The Play of Daniel.

2876 The "outrage" which Mankind has committed against the World is his residency in the Castle of Perseverance and his adherence to the seven Virtues.

2900 The breaking of Mankind's gall bladder would presumably increase the amount of yellow bile (gall) in his body. Since an excess of yellow bile leads to a choleric temperament, Mankind would be provoked to anger at the thought that his goods might go to someone not of his family ("kende").

2979 That is, "things will not go according to my plans, that my estate should go to my wife and children."

2985a It is not clear whether this line should be spoken or not, since the sense of it is given in English in the following lines.

2990 The sin of despair involves the denial of God's mercy, the blasphemous thought that one's own sins are too great for God to forgive. Mankind's prayer against despair is thus important, for were he to give in to this sin his wickedness would be far greater.

3007 At the last moment Mankind opens the door for his possible salvation by rejecting both his sinful life and his thoughts of despair and placing himself in the mercy of God.

3008 According to the stage plan, the Soul (perhaps played by a boy) has been under Mankind's bed for the whole of the play so far, waiting for his entrance. Although it would be a long wait, it would hardly be impossible, and the sudden appearance of the Soul at the moment of Mankind's death would provide a simple but extraordinary theatrical effect.

3012 The Soul addresses the dead body of Mankind, probably positioned on the bed from under which the Soul has just emerged.

3029 A leaf is missing in the manuscript after this line. Given the context, it seems likely that the Good Angel answers the Soul's question of line 3021 with advice concerning its salvation, prompting the Bad Angel's rejoinder in lines 3030–33, appealing to the audience on why such salvation should not be permitted. It is probable that the argument between the Good and Bad Angels, which would have begun in the missing passage, was intended to foreshadow the colloquy of the Four Daughters of God which follows at line 3129. This final discussion puts the question on an entirely new level; while the Good Angel here cannot think of a logical reason ("ryth resun," line 3043) why Mankind should not be damned, the arguments of Peace and Mercy which follow transcend mere logic.

3031 That is, out of the Castle of Perseverance.

3063 But Mercy pase alle thynge. Bevington notes an allusion here to Psalm 145:9 (Vulgate Psalm 144:9): "God's compassion is over all that he has made" (B, p. 883).

3096–97 The passage is derived from the line "Quia in inferno nulla est redemptio," from the Office of the Dead.

3101–03 The Bad Angel threatens to slice off the Soul's sinful bits once they get to Hell.

3114–18 Have this . . . have thou that. The Bad Angel makes a charade of Mankind's former poor decisions, reenacting them with blows. E.g., compare line 2719.

3115 The Bad Angel's accusation repeats the point made in one of the extra-metrical Latin tags (line 503a), that the man who is given to Greed will never say "enough."

3122 The Bad Angel attaches an accounting ("synful tydynge") of Mankind's sins to the Soul's back.

3124 Psalm 114:9, "Placebo Dominum in regione vivorum" ("I will please the Lord in the land of the living") was sung as the first antiphon in the Office of the Dead.

3135 The colloquy of the Four Daughters of God which ends the play is based on the doctrine that, although the conflicting ideals of Justice and Truth (on the one hand) and Peace and Mercy (on the other) lead to differing conclusions concerning man's salvation, these were reconciled by the Crucifixion. The personification of these four abstract qualities derives, at least in part, from Psalm 84:11–12. The function of the four daughters in establishing the theological foundation in late thirteenth-, fourteenth-, and fifteenth-century literature is noteworthy. In the drama, besides Castle of Perseverance, see N-Town Play 11: The Parliament of Heaven, where the four daughters of God settle the Justice/Mercy question in favor of humankind prior to the Annunciation and Salutation. The idea likewise appears in Mankind as Mercy (here depicted as male) frames the aberrant behavior of Mankind when the protagonist calls for mercy at the end and Mercy, who had earlier been mocked off the stage, returns to help him, citing Jesus' sacrifice to convince Justice of Mankind's worthiness despite all his retrogressive ways. Likewise the idea is alluded to in Everyman when, as Everyman and his Good Deeds step into the grave, he, like Humanum Genus, calls for mercy. In other literature, the colloquy provides the hopeful solution to Robert Grosseteste's theologically rich Chateau d'Amour, and in Langland's Piers Plowman (B-text Passus 18 lines 110 ff.), after Christ on the Cross forgives the one thief, darkness descends and Mercy appears out of the west and Truth from the east to debate with Rihtwisness from the north and Peace from the south the meaning of Christ's sacrifice. See also Gesta Romanorum 34 about Agios, a Wise Emperoure; The Allegory of Mercy, Truth, Justice, and Peace; and also The Charter Abbey of the Holy Ghost.

3147 See also lines 3368–69. Doctor Faustus expresses the same regret in Marlowe's play just before he is dragged off to Hell: "See see where Christs blood streames in the firmament, / One drop would save my soule, halfe a drop, ah my Christ!" (A text, scene 13, lines 74–75).

3207 us three. Not the four daughters, but those on the one side of the argument, Peace, Mercy, and Christ, whose sacrifice tipped the balance in their favor.

3215 Unlike the final lines of the other stanzas, this line is not placed to the right of the brackets and thus has not been indented.

3252a Quoniam veritatem dilexisti. I have been unable to identify the source. Eccles identifies it as Psalm 1:8 (E, p. 201), but Psalm 1 has only six verses. Bevington cites Psalm 51:6 (B, p. 888), which accords somewhat with the King James Version ("Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom"), but not with the Vulgate ("Thou has loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue"). The Wycliffe Bible reads "Thou lovedist alle wordis of casting doun; with a gileful tunge."

3313a As with line 2985a, it is not clear whether this line is to be spoken or not.

3342 Mercy speaks simultaneously to God the Father and God the Son.

3368–69 See note to line 3147.

3425 The idea of Death as a dance appears frequently in the literature and iconography of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. See Clark, Dance of Death.

3437 us thre. See note to line 3207. The adherents to the other side of the argument (as Justice sees it): Justice, Truth, and God.

3547a This prayer is said liturgically for the benefit of souls in Purgatory.

3591 This is a common alliterative tag, though it may well derive from the intrusive quality of the sound of a bell.

3597b This common medieval sentiment is found in a variety of texts, most influentially in the anonymous Speculum Christiani (p. 73). The full text reads "Sicut scintilla ignis in medio maris, sic omnis impietas viri ad misericordiam Dei" ("Like a spark of fire in the middle of the sea is all the wickedness of man compared to the mercy of God").

3620 A direct reference to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30), in which the coins (talents) are a metaphor for the good things God gives to man, which he must use to increase the good things in the world.

3628 The seven acts of mercy are feeding the hungry, relieving the thirsty, clothing the naked, offering comfort to the imprisoned, offering hospitality to pilgrims (or sheltering the homeless), caring for the sick, and burying the dead. The first six are drawn from Matthew 25:34–40.

3636a This line from the Athanasian Creed assumes critical importance in Langland's poem Piers Plowman, since it constitutes the text of the pardon given to Piers in Passus 7, line 110 (B-text).

3637 The goods of this world are morally neutral, and can come to man through sin (line 3297) or by God's gift.

3649 The manuscripts of surviving plays, especially those with a liturgical connection, frequently conclude with an indication that those present should sing the hymn Te Deum laudamus. It is not clear from the Castle text whether the hymn was to be sung, or the character of God (who has in the previous four lines stepped out of his role and addressed the audience directly as an actor) would simply speak the text.

THE CASTLE OF PERSEVERANCE: TEXTUAL NOTES

Abbreviations: E: Eccles, Macro Plays; H: Happé, Four Morality Plays; MS: Folger Manuscript V.a.354 (the Macro Manuscript)1 Primus Vexillator. MS: Primus Vexil[. . .].

4 mankynde. MS: man is smudged.

5 our lofly. MS: our lo is smudged.

14 Secundus Vexillator. MS: Secundus Vexil[. . .].

17 hys last. MS: hys l smudged.

18 God. MS: god good.
aungelys. So E. MS: aungel. H: aungel[ys].

21 behende. So E. MS: be hende. H: be-hende.

27 Primus Vexillator. MS: Primus Vexilla[. . .].

28 thre. So E. MS, H: iii.

32 meynten. So E. MS: meyten. H: mey[n]ten.

42 lofty. MS, E, H: lofly.

43 Aungellys. So E. MS: Aungell. H: Aungell[ys].

58 Flesch, iwys. So E. MS: flesch þan i wys. H: Flesch i-wys.

64 stryvyth. MS, E, H: strywyth.

80 gan. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

92 MS: From this point on to the end of the banns the speech headings (Primus/Secundus Vexillator) are backwards in the manuscript, and have here been reversed.

99 ful. So E. MS, H: foul.

114 whanne he may. So E. MS: whanne may. H: whanne [he] may.

124 Ladi. MS: written above the rest of the line but marked for insertion.

132 parcellys. So E. MS: parcell. H: parcell[ys].

after 134 MS: a line is written in the bottom margin of the folio but the page is cropped in such a way that it is illegible. It does not appear to be a part of the play.

144 oure leve. MS: another word starting with l is cancelled before leve. H: oure lyvys.

159 prinse. MS: added above the rest of the line over what appears to be pride.

184 The emendation is Eccles' (E, p. 8). MS: Ther is wythe.

192 Werld. MS, E, H: werd.

215 kene knyth. MS: kene kyth knyth.

258 Bothe. So E. MS: bote. H: Bot[h]e.

262 dryve to. MS: dryweto. E, H: drywe to.

270 MS: If that w[e may], added in right margin above line 269.

301 To. So E. MS, H: ii.

308 To. So E. MS: do. H: [To].
devylys. MS, E, H: dewylys.

312 evyl. MS, E, H: ewyl.

346 Werld. MS, E, H: werd.

355 Heveneryche. MS: heue ryche. E: heueryche. H: heve-ryche.

356 syttyth. So E, H. MS: syttyht.

367 bale schal. MS: schal bale schal.

378 And fayn. MS: written in left margin.

379 MS: line 380 is written above this line in the margin but cancelled.

488 have. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

523 Foly ruste. MS: foly truste ruste.

545 lyve. MS, E, H: lywe.

553 of lofte. MS: of last lofte.

568 Of God. This emendation was proposed by Furnivall and Pollard. MS, E, H: omit.

580 be. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

625 robys ryve. MS: robys ryve wyth rych.

631–38 MS: written in two lines but marked for breaks into eight.

639–46 MS: written in two lines but marked for breaks into eight.

668 a. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

713 al hys. So E, H. MS: al hys al hys.

748 MS: a letter is scratched out at the beginning of this line.

785–86 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

787–88 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

804 off. MS, E, H: of.

934 steryste or staryste. MS: stertystys or starystys. The suggested emendation is E's. H: steryst[e] or staryst[e].

945 chyldryn. So E. MS: chyrdryn. H: chy[l]dryn.

984 soure syth. MS: sour snow t syth.

985 iwys. MS, E, H: wys.

1016 Slawth. MS: sslawth.

1020 systyr. So E. MS: sytyr. H: sy[s]tyr.

1045 growe glad. MS: a letter is erased between these words.

1068 no man. MS: no ma man.

1084–85 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1086–87 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1094 be ful. MS: be feld and flod ful.

1109 MS: line 1110 is written but erased before this one.

1114–15 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1116–17 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1124 knyve. MS: the n is written over a y.

1144–45 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1146–47 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1160 MS: this line is not written in the right margin as other tail rhyme lines.

1166 I ne rekke. So E. MS: I rekke. H: I [ne] rekke.

1172 lyfe. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

1174–75 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1176–77 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1183 thou. So E. MS: thu. H: th[o]u.

1185 If thou gyf. MS: If ₃yf. H: If [thou] gyf. E: If þou ₃yf.

1201 wyl forsake thee day. MS: wyl for sake day. H: wyl for-sake [the] day. E: wyl forsake þe day.

1204–05 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1206–07 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1208 bedde bothe. MS: bedde browth bothe.

1234–35 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1236–37 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1238 The manuscript's repetition of the speech heading is likely just a scribal error.

1248 gray. MS, E, H: gay.

1250 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

1253 But of othyr. So E. MS, H: of othyr.

1257 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

1286–97 MS: written in six lines but marked for breaks into twelve.

1298 CONFESCIO. MS: Confessio.

1304 For all. MS: For olde, all is written in the left margin.

1314 in. MS: written above the rest of the line but marked for insertion.

1324 counfort stronge. MS: counfort good stronge.

1337 CONFESCIO. MS: Confessi[. . .].

1373 evyl. MS, E, H: ewyl.

1374 evyl. MS, E, H: ewyl.

1377 hym prene. MS: hym preue prene.

1404 syhe. So E. MS: shye. H: [syhe].

1422 my. So E. H: [my]. MS: I.

1440 evyl. MS, E, H: ewyl.

1452 to. MS: a letter is cancelled before this word.

1460 But kepe. MS: but h kepe.

1473 syttyth. So E. MS: syttyh. H: sytty[t]h.

1511 thee the. MS, E, H: þe.

1513 fyve. So E. MS, H: v.

1537 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

1551 werldly. MS, E, H: werldyly.

1552 Goo to yone. So E. MS: goo ₃one. H: Goo [to] yone.

1553 For it is. So E. MS: for is. H: For [it] is.

1581 the. MS: written above the line.

after 1601 MS: Detraccio ad caro is written in a different hand in the bottom margin of this folio. Malus angelus is smudged out above it. A leaf is missing after this one.

1606 alwey Envye. MS: alwey eny envye.

1629 maydyn Marye. MS: maydyn to Marye.

1631a placere. So E, H. MS: plcere.

1635 grace. MS: written in the left margin.

1644 thowtys wyckke. MS: þowtys þy wyckke.

1648 but thwyte. MS: but tw thwyte.

1658 MS: this line is written in the right margin but marked for insertion.

1669 your. MS: written above my

1691 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

1705b et dicet. So E. MS: &[. . .]. H: et [dicet].

1707 fro foly. MS: fro h foly.

1746–49 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

1750–53 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

1767–68 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1791–94 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

1795–98 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

1812–13 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1821 Why ne had. So E. MS: why had. H: Why[ne] had.

1822a verberabit. So E, H. MS: verberauit.

1836–39 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

1844 goode. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

1853–54 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

1855 Lewde. MS: lowde.

1862 Therfore a. MS: therfor thou a.

1863a verberabit. So E. MS: verberauit. H: verbera[b]it.

1889 MS: line 1892 is written after this line but is cancelled.

1921 woful. MS: wowful.

1940 Whanne. So E, H. MS: Wahanne.

1958 cache. MS, E, H: chache.

1969 herawd. So E. MS, H: heyward.

1970 damyselys. So E. MS: damysely. H: damysely[s].

1981 kachyn. MS: two letters are cancelled before this word.

2000 To men thei. So E. MS, H: to men ben.

2056 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

before 2112 MS: Ira is written in a different hand in the top margin of this folio.

2149 wreke. MS: written in right margin after breke.

2163a Vae. MS, E, H: ve.
venit. So E. MS: ven[. . .]. H: ven[it].

2164 not hys. MS: not tame hys.

2177 synne had he. MS: synne [ink blot] he had he.

2189 moderys, all three. MS: moderys all at onys þre.

2203 MS: line 2221 is written but cancelled before this line.

2228 Yerne. MS: be yerne.

2240 wynne. So E. MS, H: wyth.

2255 vow. H: vowe. MS, E: wou.

2284 Abstynens. MS: aabstynens.

2291 MS: this line is also written erroneously to the right with a bracket and then cancelled.

2303a concupiscentias. So E, H. MS: concupiscen[. . .].

2320 hym wyth synful. So E. MS: hym synful. H: hym[wyth] synful.

2332 Thyrti. So E. MS, H: xxx^ti.

2335 Thre. So E. MS, H: iii.

2365 Belyalys. So E. MS: Blyalys. H: B[e]lyalys.

2388 hathe me dayschyd. So E, H. MS: hathe dayschyd.

2420 The medys. MS: the md medys.

before 2431 MS: covetyse is written in a different hand in the top margin of this folio.

2448 gynnyst wende. MS: gynnyst g wende.

2456 Coveytyse. So E, H. MS: Coveyse.

after 2482 MS: luxurya is written in a different hand in the bottom margin of this folio.

2529 thou be pore. MS: thou po r be.

2543 betyde. MS: two letters are erased before this word.

2562 not. MS: written above the rest of the line but marked for insertion.

before 2587 MS: the bottom of an illegible phrase written in a different hand is apparent in the top margin of the folio. The top of the phrase has been cropped, hence the illegibility.

2598 thre. So E. MS, H: iii.

2610 sekatour. MS: the at is blotted and hard to read.

2612a relinquent. So E. MS: relinquam. H: relinqu[ent].

before 2648 MS: an illegible word appears in the left margin next to this line.

2667 Where that evere. MS: that squeezed in between the other two words.

2693 pounde I. MS: pounde of golde I.

2745 neybore. MS, E, H: neygbore.

2757 be. MS: written above the line but marked for insertion.

2768 too. MS, E, H: to.

2805 blastys. So E. MS: bastys. H: b[l]astys.

2855 hath. MS, E, H: hat.

2878 Werldys. MS, E, H: Werldlys.

2891 lott. MS: tt is blotted and hard to read.

2892 whow. MS: whou.

2920 wounde. MS: wou[. . .].

before 2930 MS: This ought to be p. 184 is written in a different hand in the top margin of the folio.

2932 what. So E. MS: wha. H: wha[t].

2965 thee. MS: added above the rest of the line.

after 2977 MS: othyr is written in a different hand in the bottom margin of this folio.

2979 as I thout. MS, E: as þout. H: as thout.

after 3029 MS: a leaf is missing at this point in the text.

3040 hathe he servyd. MS, E, H: hathe servyd.

3059 MS: he aperith þe sowle is written in a different hand under this line in the right margin.

3060 too. MS, E, H: to.

after 3076 MS: holtys is written in a different hand in the bottom margin of this folio.

3084 Thou were. MS: thou be were.

3110 schalt. MS: there is a cancelled s or f before this word.

3127–28 MS: written in one line but marked for break into two.

3187 goode. So E. MS, H: goodys.

3215 MS: this line should be written in the right margin like all of the rest of the tail rhymed lines, but it is not.

3228a Patrem. MS: prem.

3229–32 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3233–36 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3237–40 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3241–44 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3245–48 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3285 ad infernum. MS: ad supernum infernum.

3344 thyrti. So E. MS, H: xxx^ti.

3345 to-schent. MS: schent is written above rent.

3383 fro. So E. MS: ffre. H: fre.

3385 to be. MS: to þe be.

3389 And to. MS: and do to.

3404 Qui. MS, E, H: quia.
Domini. So E. MS: deum. H: [Domini].

3408 space. MS: written above grace.

3411 Flesch. MS: flsch.

3421 comberaunce. MS: written to the right of governaunce.

3422 putte ful. MS: putte a wey ful.

3430 MS: a letter is erased at the beginning of this line.

3440 dwellys. So E. MS: dwell. H: dwell[ys].

3467 endynge. So E. MS, H: begynnynge.

3495 cacche. So E, H. MS: chache.

3497 Ten. So E. MS, H: x.

3541 MS: this line is written in the right margin after a cancelled line 3537.

3542 all be. MS, E, H: be all.

3547a quietas. So E. MS, H: quie[. . .].
mansiones. So E. MS, H: mansione[. . .].

3574–81 MS: written in four lines but marked for break into eight.

3582–85 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3586–89 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3590–93 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3594–97 MS: written in two lines but marked for break into four.

3597b scintilla. MS: sintill. E: sintilla. H: sintill[a].

3628 sevene. So E. MS, H: vii.

3638 schal be heynyd. So E. MS: schal heynyd. H: shal [be] heynyd