A Mumming at Hertford:
Trinity R.3.20 Verses
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Folio 23 Verso (Page 46)
Compare Witnesses: •
ɲ
A desgisinge to fore þe
Kynge •ɲ
It longeþe to vs / to clappen as
a mylle •No counseyle keepe / but þe troutħ oute telle •
We beo not borne / by
hevenly influence •
Of oure nature to keepe vs in sylence •
Haþe redy aunswere / in al suche maner stryff •
Þougħe þeos dotardes witħ þeyre dokked berdes •
Whicħ strowteþe out / as þey were made of herdes •
Haue ageyn hus / a gret quarełł nowe
sette •
I trowe þe bakoun / was neuer of hem fette •
Awaye at dounmowe / in þe Pryorye •
Þey weene of vs to haue ay þe maystrye •
Ellas þeos fooles / let hem aunswere here to •
Whoo cane hem wassħe / who can hem wring al soo •
Wryng hem yee wryng so als God vs speed •
Til þat some tyme / we make hir nases bleed •
And sowe hir clooþes / whan þey beoþe to rent •
And clowte hir bakkes / til somme of vs beo
shent •
Loo yit þeos fooles / god gyf hem sory chaunce •
Wolde sette hir wyves / vnder gouuernaunce •
We knowe to weel þe bent / of Iackys bowe •
Al þat we clayme / we clayme it but of rigħt •
ffy on hem cowardes / when hit komeþe to nede •
We clayme maystrye / by prescripcyoun •
Be long tytle of successyoun •
ffrome wyff to wyff whicħ we wol not leese •
Men may weel gruchche / but they shal not cheese •
Notes
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The EETS edition terminates this line with a suspended "e" but does not do so with the following line, which has the same mark. Considering the scribe's tendency to use otiose marks it seems more likely this is "wyff" than a suspension. ↩
-
I believe the otiose line at the end is a line filler, rather than a semi-colon as MacCraken has it rendered. ↩
-
There are two descenders here, which might be taken to mean a double "f," but the scribe typically truncates the bow of the first "f's" ascender and that is not present here. It seems more likely this is a corrected scribal error. MacCraken has rendered it as a "ff" in the EETS edition. ↩
The work on this manuscript witness was generously sponsored by a ZKS-Lendrum Fellowship in the Scientific Study of Manuscripts and Inscriptions at the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham University. The transcription of this work is owned by the editor and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images are owned by the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge and are provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.