Return To The Table of Contents

SIR CLEGES: FOOTNOTE

1 He thought to rid himself of debt by that means

SIR CLEGES: NOTES

Sir Cleges is extant in two fifteenth-century MSS (see introduction). The version presented in this volume is Bodleian 6922, which is more complete than the Edinburgh version. The entire MS is written by a single scribe identified as Rate and features drawings of a pike and a flower after several of the pieces.

Abbreviations: B: Bodleian MS 6922 (Ashmole); A: Advocates MS; Mc: McKnight; T: Treichel; H: Housum.

1 Lystyns lordynges. B: ystyns lordynges; T's emendation. A: Will ye lystyn, and ye schyll here. The line constitutes a conventional exhortation to the audience suggesting the orality/aurality of the poem as the reader gains the attention of the audience.

1-79 A number of scholars have noted the similarity between the initial situation of Sir Cleges and that of Sir Amadace; the two poems share the motif of the Spendthrift Knight. Both Amadace and Cleges give generously even after they incur great debt. See also Sir Launfal contained in this volume.

2 Off ansytores, that before us were. A: Of eldyrs, that before us were. One of the features of B is the scribal proclivity for writing double f. Thus "of" appears as off. H notes that ansytores and eldyrs refer to "ancestors and in general to those who lived in former times." She points out a distinction in the two terms that implies a gap in composition time between the two MSS. "The use of eldyrs to mean `ancestors' seems to have become less common around the end of the fourteenth century. The MED does not list any fifteenth-century citation of eldyrs meaning `ancestors'."

3 herdy and wyght. A stereotype of what ancestors were thought to be and a conventional expression in romance and Breton lay.

4-5 Uter and Pendragoun. A: In the tyme of kynge Uter. Mc suggests that the evocation of the name Pendragon in B refers to Uther's brother, which is his explan-ation for the separation of the names. However, the surname is often attached to Uther himself who, with the aid of Merlin, became the legendary father of King Arthur, as line five suggests. Arthur's mother is Igraine of Cornwall to whom a reference is made later in the poem (lines 386-89). H suggests that the double naming in B is a scribal error and is originally intended to suggest one man, Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father.

6 A sembly man of syght. A: A semely man in sight. H notes the frequency with which semely along with a variation of "see" is found in tail-rhyme poetry. The term is used again in line 27 to describe Dame Clarys.

7 knyghht, hyght. The scribe commonly uses yogh to indicate a palatal or velar fricative, which I have transcribed as gh.

Clegys. A: Cleges. Mc points out that Cleges is an uncommon name found a few times in Malory's Morte d'Arthur and the Awntyrs of Arthur. Jessie Weston and Mary Housum note the similarity to Chrétien de Troyes' title character in Cliges, but point out the lack of similarity in plot. The MED defines clege as a noun meaning "horsefly," which may be a joking comment on Cleges' horselessness later in the poem.

9 The evocation of the Round Table as well as the earlier evocation of Uther Pendragon places the narrative within the Arthurian tradition, though it is not often recognized as part of the Arthurian cycle, but rather as an apocryphal, independent narrative such as Thomas Chestre's Sir Launfal. The Round Table is more often understood to be the invention of King Arthur.

10 hy statoure. A: hight stature. Mc suggests that "high stature" is a literary convention describing the physical attributes of the protagonist. The phrase, used again at line 498, suggests a possible pun meaning both physical height and lofty status in the community.

13 he was one. The sense is that in his country Cleges is in a class apart from others C all alone in his kind, beyond the capability of anyone else.

13-15 The attributes of a knight, i.e., courtesy and gentilnesse or nobility, constitute necessary character traits both for a romantic hero and for an actual knight. In addition to "generosity," fre indicates Cleges' socio-economic status, namely that he is freeborn.

14 In all this werld. A: In all the lond. The phrase in B expands the boundaries of Cleges' reputation.

16-17 Cleges makes a practice of honoring those who did not fare well during the war.

18 gold and fe. In feudal English law a fee is a parcel of land or an estate held on condition of homage and service to a superior lord, by whom it is granted and in whom the ownership remains. The term is synonymous with fief and feudal benefice. Fee often appears in conjunction with something else of intrinsic value, usually gold.

19 Hys tenantes feyre he wold rehete. A: The pore pepull he wold releve. B's reading points to Cleges as a property owner, a status that plays an important role in this economy of manors/manners. The reading in A provides evidence of Cleges' charity to the poor.

20 No man he wold buske ne bete. A: And no man wold he greve.

H notes the variations in meaning of the word buske and its association with other words, e.g., busken, "to hasten," busshen "to push, press," and busten, "to bruise, beat." The MED, which cites only Sir Cleges, defines it as "to oppress, flog." The difference in meaning of the two lines is notable; the reading of B foreshadows Cleges' mode of justice later in the poem.

21 Meke as meyd was he. A: Meke of maners was hee.

In the Canterbury Tales Chaucer's exemplary knight is described similarly to the reading in B

And though that he were worthy, he was wys,
And of his port as meeke as is a mayde.
(General Prologue, 68-69)

27 Ne non semblyere in syght. A: And mery sche was on sighte. The description of Clarys in B parallels that of Cleges in line six.

28 Dame Clarys, as her name suggests, illuminates the narrative with her good sense, patience, and cheerful optimism. Mc expresses admiration by comparing her to such stalwart female characters as Le Freine, Emaré, Constance, and Griselda, though he finds Clarys "the most human of them all" (p. 74). Another worthy comparison may be Dame Beulybon in Erle of Tolous, who demonstrates a remarkable fortitude in response to a false accusation of adultery. H notes no other romance heroine of this exact name, but one Old French verse romance in which Cleges appears as a character is called Clarice after the hero; other sources of inspiration may be the Old French verse romance Claris et Laris, Clarice, the protective friend of Blanchefleur, in Floris and Blanchefleur, or the briefly mentioned character in Piers Plowman, Clarys of Cokkeslane. Given the themes of the poem, Clarys could allude to St. Clare, the thirteenth-century Franciscan nun who founded the Order of Poor Clares in Assisi shortly after the death and canonization of St. Francis.

31-32 Grete almusfolke bothe thei were. A: Almus gret sche wold geve. B defines both Cleges and Clarys as almsgivers. Almsgiving to the poor was both an indication of charity and an official activity.

32 Both to pore man and to frere. A: The pore pepull to releve. A distinction is being made in B between the ordinary poor and mendicants, orders of friars who embrace poverty voluntarily. Fraternal orders include the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Carmelites. According to the MED, frere could also refer to knights of a brotherhood such as the Templars or Hospitallers, an order founded by St. Julian the patron saint of hospitality.

34-36 The sense seems to be: For Claris and Cleges no person would suffer loss, whether rich or poor; for such people they would provide restitution.

38-39 It was customary on feast days for double portions to be served to guests as a sign of the king's liberality and good will. Largesse was particularly encouraged at Christmas. Compare Christmas feasts in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Perceval of Galles.

40-42 A lacuna appears in B. I have emended by supplying the missing passage from A.

46-54 Minstrels often performed in return for room and board and whatever remuneration a lord might offer for the entertainment. Most often reward consisted of robes and garments, but occasionally a valuable gold cup was given.

47 A: For there they myghht most myrthis fynd.

48 ther pay. A double sense is possible here: Minstrels will be there since they find their greatest pleasure amidst such mirth; or, since that is where they find greatest recompense.

52 rynges. B: thynges. T emends to rynges. I follow the emendation to maintain the alliteration and to avoid redundancy.

55 In B Roman numerals indicate cardinal numbers. I have emended all Roman numerals to their verbal equivalents.

56 In worschype of Hym, that all weld. A: In the worschepe of Mari myld. The disparity between MSS in the object of worship, i.e., Christ or the Virgin Mary, is interesting, perhaps indicating the interchangeability between the two in medieval piety, particularly at Christmas. Mary is evoked three more times in both MSS in exclamatory expressions.

58 slake. B: schake. T emends to slake to concur with the reading in A as well as for sense.

65 Both gentyll men and comenere. A: Many a knyght and squire. B expands the range of Cleges' largesse beyond strict delineations of class and estate.

68 The folk motif of the Spendthrift Knight has been noted as present in this and other poems, e.g., Thomas Chestre's Sir Launfal, the later Sir Lambewell, Sir Amadace, The Good Knight and His Jealous Wyfe, and the fifteenth-century ballad The True Tale of Robin Hood. H notes the occurrence of the motif "in the folktales and literature of many European cultures as well as far away as Japan" (p. 67).

78 A: Might not leve there on.

79 Mc marks this as the point of differentiation from the plot of Sir Amadace. Amadace's wealth is lost as a result of his charity toward a widow who is prevented from burying the corpse of her husband until she pays his debts and funeral costs. Amadace's fortune is restored by the ghost of the dead man disguised as a White Knight rather than by an equally grateful but living king as in Sir Cleges. In Sir Launfal, the hero's wealth is restored by a fairy mistress.

80 Weste awey onne every syde. A: Gan slake awaye on every syde. Either reading points to the unreliability of fair-weather friends.

82-83 B: To duell with hym ther left no mo / Bot hys wyfe and his chylder two. A: But he and his childyrn too; / Than was his hart in mech woo. B is more explicit in describing Cleges' family including two children and his wife, who play a significant supporting role in the narrative.

86 Syre Clegys and his wyfe. A: A kynge bethowght hym full evyn.

87 Cardyff syde. Cardiff is a city in Wales associated with the Arthurian cycle as are Carleon and Carlisle.

88 none. Noon often precipitates unusual occurrences in medieval narratives, e.g., Sir Orfeo. See John Block Friedman's "Orpheus, Eurydice and the Noon-day Demon," Speculum 41 (1966), 22-24.

89 Swooning is not uncommon in medieval romance. H notes other poems which incorporate the trope: Sir Launfal, Sir Eglamour, Amis and Amiloun, Sir Landevale, Sir Degaré. Also Constance and Griselda in Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale and the Clerk's Tale or both Troilus and Crisyde in their romance.

93 B: Tenandrys and landes wyde. A: And his renttes wyde.

96 Fore fallyd was his pride. Hanspeter Schelp, who categorizes Sir Cleges as an exemplary romance, argues that Cleges' pride is his downfall. [See Exemplarische Romanzen im Mittelenglishchen (Göttengen: Vandenhaeck & Ruprecht, 1967), pp. 93-97.]

99 dyverse mynstralsy. There are a number of similar listings of musical instruments in other romances. See Sir Launfal, Emaré, Pearl, Squire of Low Degree, Richard Coeur de Lyon, Libeaus Desconus, Thomas of Erceldoune, Kyng Alisaunder, Buke of Houlate, Sir Degrevant. Chaucer's Manciple's Tale lists the musical instruments similarly: "Bothe harpe, and lute, and gyterne, and sautrie" (line 268). Though the instruments differ among the poems, the frequency with which they occur in these narratives indicates the importance of music to everyday as well as festive medieval life.

101 notys. The MED (sb. 2d) suggests that notys in this line might refer to a musical instrument on grounds that A reads luttis; but that interpretation accords neither with the syntax of the line nor the sense of the series which presents performers and music rather than instruments. Line 102 does, however, mention instruments, as it does in A. But in B the progression in the series moves from musicians (line 100) to their music (line 101) to their instruments (line 102).

102 sytall. B: sycall; T's emendation.

103 In the Middle Ages carols included dancing. Men and/or women formed a circle and danced as they sang. A famous scene of carolling is staged in Handlyng Synne to serve as an example of wicked behavior.

119 That longes for any manus fode. A: That myght be gott, be the rode. In his prayer Cleges demonstrates his philosophy of charity. He will give to anyone in "any lond" (line 117) who has experienced misfortune and hunger. He is not only generous but undiscriminating in his generosity.

125 My trew wedyd fere. A: my trew fere.

130-32 There is a three-line lacuna in B which I have replaced with the corresponding passage in A.

145 tho. B: the; T's emendation.

148 fell. B: sell; T's emendation.

149 comforth. H observes that "comfort" implies more than "to cheer, or console," its primary meaning. Rather, it carries connotations of spiritual strength since "Clarys is leading her husband away from despair."

166-68 These three lines are missing in A.

171 Be chesyn. The phrase is rich with possible meanings. The sense could be that Cleges prays because of his wife's admonition, or choice, or resolve, or chastisement; or it could mean that he prayed on behalf of his wife, or in appreciation of her discretion, or in gratitude for the choice of wife that Christ, his gracious Lord, has bestowed upon him.

172 seyd. B: feyd; T's emendation.

179 The thankyd God omnipotent. A: And thanked God with good entent.

180 They went home so ryfe. A: And put away penci.

185 hys. B: hy; T's emendation.

191-92 Of all desesyd in poverté / That ever to hym He sente. A: Of his dysese and hys povertt / That to hym was sent. In B Cleges prays explicitly for those other than himself which is the implication of A.

193-201 The motif of the Miraculous Cherries has been traced by Sherwin Carr to Pseudo-Matthew, an apocryphal gospel, and demonstrated in The Birth of Christ or Joseph and the Midwives, the fifteenth play of the N-Town mystery cycle, sometimes called the Ludus Coventriae or The Play Called Corpus Christi. A similar motif appears in "The Cherry Tree Carol," Ballad 54, printed in F. J. Child's edition of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. In the play, the miracle occurs enroute to Bethlehem when Mary spies a cherry tree (see introduction).

In "The Cherry Tree Carol" the unborn child commands the tree to bend down and offer its fruit:

O then bespoke the babe,
within his mother's womb:
"Bow down then the tallest tree,
for my mother to have some."

The motif has also been noted in the Wakefield Master's Secunda Pastorum in The Towneley Cycle (see introduction).

194 chery-tre. Cherry trees were commonly found in medieval English gardens; cherry festivals were often held in orchards during cherry season. Reference to the fruit appears twice in John Gower's Confessio Amantis, in a discussion of teachers of religion and morality and again while speaking of love's delicacies.

Thei prechen ous in audience
That noman schalle his soule empeyre,
For al is bot a chirie feire.
(Prologue, 452-54)

Somtime I drawe into memoire
Hou sorwe mai noght evere laste;
And so comth hope in ate laste,
Whan I non other fode knowe
And that endureth bot a throwe,
Riht as it were a cherie feste;
(VI, 886-91)

The fruit also appears in an elaborate description of the hortus conclusus in The Pistel of Swete Susan: "The chirie and the chestein that chosen is of hewe" (line 93).

In Piers Plowman cherries are the food of the poor:

Al the pore peple . pese-coddes fetten,
Bake benes in bred . thei brouhten in heor lappes
Chibolles, cheef mete . and ripe chiries monye,
And proferde Pers this present . to plese with hungur.
(ed., Skeat, A text, VII, 279-82; see also B VI 294-97.
The line is omitted in the C text.)

A "ripe cherry" is likened to the material world in A Father's Instructions to His Son, a companion piece in B: "Son, set nought by this world's weal, for it fares as a ripe cherry."

The cherry is recognized in Christian iconography as symbolic. According to George Ferguson's Signs & Symbols in Christian Art (New York: Oxford University Press, 1954) the cherry "symbolizes the sweetness of character which is derived from good works. It is often called the Fruit of Paradise. A cherry, held in the hand of the Christ Child, suggests the delights of the blessed" (p. 29).

200-01 The motif of Unseasonable Growth has hagiological and folkloric resonances. C. Grant Loomis notes the Celtic legends of St. Ciaranus of Saigir, St. Kentigern, St. Barrus, St. Aidus, and St. Brynach, while Clement Miles, in Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan (London: T. F. Unwin, 1912), acknowledges an ancient belief in England of trees blossoming at Christmas. The belief is connected with a well-known legend of Joseph of Arimathea. Miles writes: "When the saint settled at Glastonbury he planted his staff in the earth and it put forth leaves; moreover it blossomed every Christmas Eve" (p. 268).

211 The cherry pit is left in Cleges' mouth, evidence of the kind of fruit this is.

220-25 Cleges interprets the sign as a portent, while Clarys interprets it as a miracle.

235 It was customary for rewards to be given for gifts offered to the King.

242 pannyere. The OED defines the term as:

a basket of considerable size for carrying provisions, fish, or other commodities; in later use mostly restricted to those carried by a beast of burden (usually in pairs, one on each side, slung across the back), or on the shoulders of a man or woman.

255 There seems to be an error in chronology. If the miracle occurs on Christmas Day then Cleges' journey to deliver the gift to King Uther takes place on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.

262 The porter's duties include screening those desiring an audience with the king. Mc notes that "the minstrel was well accustomed to the ill treatment of porters, and the surly porter appears frequently in minstrel story" (p. 77). H notes that the Hindering Servant motif often appears with the Shared Strokes motif but also separately. These servants, including here the usher and the steward, prohibit heroes of several Middle English narratives from entering the castle, e.g., Sir Gowther, Octavian, Sir Tristrem, Robert of Cisyle, Beves of Hampton.

267 begers route. A frequent motif in medieval narrative, many heroes often become beggars or are disguised as beggars. In Sir Orfeo, Orfeo assumes the beggar's disguise to test his steward; in King Horn the hero goes to beggar's row:

He sette him wel loghe
In beggeres row.
(lines 1080-81)

In Piers Plowman, Will experiences poverty first hand:

Ich haue mete more than ynough . ac nought so moche worship
As tho that seten atte syde-table . or with the souereignes of the halle
But sitte as a begger bordeless . bi myself on the grounde.
(ed., Skeat, B text, XII, 199-201)

B: Go. T emends to To.

275 Cleges claims here and subsequently that his gift is from God Himself.

293 offycers. A: usscher. The office of usher called for an ability to distinguish class difference in order to seat people appropriately at table; or as F&H note "[to keep] the rabble from annoying guests at a feast." According to John Russell's Book of Nurture, a fifteenth-century treatise on the duties of domestic employees of the king including carvers, chamberlains, ushers, etc.:

An usher or marshal, without fail, must know all the estates of the Church, and the excellent estate of a king with his honourable blood. This is a notable nurture, cunning, curious and commendable . . . and now I will show you how they should be grouped at table in respect of their dignity, and how they should be served. (As quoted in The Babees Book: Medieval Manners for the Young, ed., Edith Rickert, pp. 69-71.)

316 wernyng. A: lesyng. The variant readings are worth noting. A implies that the usher expects Cleges to lie; B expects compliance.

337 stewerd. The steward acted as his lord's representative in decision making regarding household or manorial matters. Often held by a freeman it was a position requiring absolute trust and unwavering loyalty.

352 traveyll. A: labor.

355 Herlot. Contrary to modern associations of this word with female prostitution, in Middle English it means "a man of no fixed occupation, an idle rogue, a vagabond or beggar." Used as a term of abuse it connoted, "scoundrel, knave, rogue, reprobate, base fellow, coward." In the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer describes the Summoner as: "a gentil harlot and a kynde; / A bettre felawe sholde men noght fynde" (I [A] 647-48). Larry D. Benson in The Riverside Chaucer glosses harlot "buffoon, jester," which casts the term in a more positive light.

358-59 B: Or with a staff I schall the twake / And bete thi ragges to thi bake. A: Ar wyth a staffe I schall the wake / That thy rebys schall all to quake. The physicality of the retribution provided by B renders the scene more graphically than the reading of A.

384 Without. B: With. T's emendation.

386 a lady gente. The allusion seems to be to Igraine, who becomes Uther's queen and Arthur's mother.

403 He brought Cleges before the Kyng. A: Whan he cam before the kynge. In B the King sends the squire to retrieve Cleges; in A the squire seems to get lost along the way.

428 strokes twelve. The motif of Shared Strokes is found in a number of cultures in various degrees of sophistication according to John R. Reinhard in "Strokes Shared," Journal of American Folklore 36 (1928), 380-400. But the four most often cited as related stories are from John Bromyard's Summa Praedicantium, a collection of exempla for preaching, where the story is found under the heading, "Invidia"; How the King's Son Shared His Reward, found in the Gesta Romanorum; a French tale, Le Vilain au Buffet; and Lucky They Are Not Peaches, printed in W. A. Clouston's Popular Tales and Fictions: Their Migrations and Transformations (Edinbugh and London: W. Blackwell and Sons, 1887), vol. II.

432 Fore Seynt Charyté. A: For send charyte. As one of three theological virtues (Faith and Hope are the other two), Charity is fittingly personified as a saint. H notes how common the expression is in Middle English romance, e.g., "For love of seynt charyté" (Sir Isumbras, line 156), "For seynt charite" (Amis and Amiloun, line 1608). J.O. Halliman in Thornton Romances (London: J. B. Nichols and Son, 1844), p. 272, cites its use by Shakespeare: "By Gis and by Saint Charity" (Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5); and Spenser: "Ah! dear Lord, and sweet Saint Charitee! / That some good body once would pity me" (Shephard's Calendar, May, line 247).

440 graunteyng. B: graunte; T's emendation.

442 B: The Kyng was angary and grevyd sore. A: The kynge was sory therfore. B's reading demonstrates a more complex emotional response.

444 The dyntes schuld be payd. A: Therefore he was full sade. That Cleges' debt should be paid in "dyntes" is an important detail that the B poet/scribe does not overlook.

448 A describes the steward as proud; B does not.

454 strokes thre. There are four blows in all (a third of the twelve).

465 him grete. The resonances of word choice here are rich, ranging from "greeted him," "honored him," "welcomed or rewarded him," to "insulted, challenged, or struck him" or "made him weep" or "groan."

466 B: Syr seyd; T adds Cleges.

481 hys parlere. A private chamber separated from the main dining hall, a segregation of the King from his court that William Langland, author of Piers Plowman, finds lamentable:

Elyng is the halle . vche daye in the wyke,
There the lord ne the lady . liketh noughte to sytte
Now hath vche riche a reule . to eten bi hym-selue
In a pryue parloure . for pore mennes sake,
Or in a chambre with a chymneye . and leue the chief halle,
That was made for meles . men to eten inne.
(ed., Skeat, B, X, 93-99)

484 a geyst i-seyd. H observes a significant variance between MSS in this passage. While in A the harper sings a song of Cleges, in B the subject of the song is not mentioned.

496 thinke. B: thnke.

517-20 H observes that a similar situation occurs in Northern Octavian "where Clement, the bourgeois stepfather of the hero, angered at the expenses of his stepson's knighting, beats part of the emperor's retinue, in this case the minstrels, and causes the court to laugh at him": "Thereatt all the kynges loghe / There was joye and gamen ynoghe" (lines 1165-66).

545 Compare Sir Orfeo and its positive portrayal of the steward. In the Erle of Tolous Sir Barnard proves himself worthy to be bequeathed the Emperor's holdings.

554 colere. The investiture of a collar, often including a pair of spurs, signifies the making of a squire. The attainment of the position was not restricted to those of noble birth but open to peasants, tradesmen, and common soldiers. See Squire of Low Degree. A squire's training often included the singing and writing of poems, as in the case of Chaucer's Squire in the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales.

566 old. B: hold; T's emendation.

569 kynne. B: lynne; T's emendation.

576 Amen. A is incomplete. Many of the companion pieces in B including a fragment of Erle of Tolous read: Amen quod Rate. There is some disagreement among scholars about the identity of the scribe or author. F. J. Furnivall, who reads the initial letter of the name as K rather than R, suggests that the scribe may be female: Quoth Kate. "The same name occurs at the end of the three next poems as they appear in Bodleian MS 6922 (Ashmole 61). It is probably a corruption, unless we have here one of the rare instances of a woman copyist." (As quoted in The Babees Book: Medieval Manners for the Young, ed. Edith Rickert, p. 183.) But H disspells the possibility with a specific name-- John Rathe.