Library of the University of North Carolina Endowed by the Dialectic and Philan- thropic Societies .— -^-^r THE LIBRARY OP THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROUN A AT CHAPEL HILL ENDOWED BY THE DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES PR 1119 ♦Eg no. 71 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 10000640996 This book is due at the LOUIS R. WILSON LIBRARY on the last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold it may be renewed by bringing it to the library. DATE DirT 1 DUE RET * DATE DUE ftl * 1 irwri-^E '«! - 1 jr h 1 : J'J^flTT Ucl ou 1 FEB , 2 MQ3 • c~ 3 \ M^ 3 1 APR? ft ^^^^■^^^HHHHB dPR->* «Qi - 1 s Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/towneleyplays71engl §h{ Womx\k% Jtogjj. €xtra Stems, No. lxxi. 1897. BERLIN: ASHER & CO., 13, UNTER DEN LIND] NEW YORK : C. SCRIBNER & CO. ; LEYPOLDT & PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT k CO. (§ltury Scroggs and the Shepherd's Thorn. xiv Horb Boughton is mentioned, a kind of suburb to Chester. In th Secunda Pastorum. Secundus Pastor. Who shuld do us that skorne ? that were a fowlle spott. Primus Pastor. Some shrewe. I have soght with my doges All Horbery shroges And of XV hoges Fond I bot oone ewe. " Horbury is the name of a village about two or three miles south- west from Wakefield. Shroges or Scroggs is a northern term applied to any piece of rough uninclosed ground more or less covered with low brushwood." "The other local allusion is less decisive than this. When the two Shepherds appoint to meet, the place which they appoint is 'the crokyd thorne.' Now, though it cannot, perhaps, be shown that there was any place or tree then precisely so denominated, yet it can be shown that, at no great distance from Horbury, there was at that time a remarkable thorn tree which was known by the name of the Shepherd's Thorn. It stood in Mapplewell, near the borders of the two manors of Notton and Darton. A jury in the 20th of Edward IV., on a question between James Strangeways of Harlsey, and the Prior of Bretton, found that the Shepherd's Thorn ' was in Darton ' ; and in the time of Charles L, one John Webster of Kexborough, then aged 77, deposed that the inhabitants of Mapplewell and Darton had been accustomed to turn their sheep on the moor at all times, and that it extended southward to a place called ' The Shep- herd's Thorn,' where a thorn tree stood. There must be here more than an accidental coincidence." Since the publication of the Surtees Society edition of the Towneley Plays in 1836, all the three other great cycles of English Miracle Plays have been printed, the so-called ' Coventry ' cycle in 1841, the Chester in 1843, and the York Plays, admirably edited by Miss Toulmin Smith, in 1885. The publication of this last cycle revealed the fact that five of the York Plays were based, in whole or in part, on the same originals as five of the Towneley. The importance of this discovery for the study of Miracle Plays and of the conditions under which they were produced, is hardly to be over-estimated. There is no reason to believe that it is by a mere chance, some peculiarly malicious freak of The Miracle Plays anonymous. The York Cycle. xv the arch-enemy Time, that, as far as I am aware, in no single case are there two early copies extant of any miracle play. Human nature, we may presume, was much the same in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as in our own, and the ordinary author, when he had written a poem or a chronicle, no doubt did everything in his power to multiply copies of it, since every fresh copy would increase his chance of obtaining the patronage or preferment which constituted the rewards of authorship in those days. But in the case of plays we can easily see that a wholly different motive would come into action. With the highly doubtful exception of the Chester cycle, not a single Miracle Play has the name of any author connected with it. The author's personality is wholly lost in that of the actors and their pay- masters ; and in the absence of any law of copyright or custom as to ' acting rights,' it was to the interest of these jealously to guard their book of the words, lest the popularity of their entertainment should suffer from unauthorized rivalry. Since many of the players probably could not read, even the multiplication of ' actors' parts ' would be very limited, and fresh copies would only be made when the plays underwent revision. The apparent exception to this theory, the five copies extant of the Chester cycle, really only confirm it, for all of these were made between 1590 and 1607, and must owe their exist- ence to the desire of literary antiquaries either simply for their pre- servation or, more probably, for their revival, at a time when miracle plays were almost gone out of fashion. For the reason thus hazarded, opportunities for the study of the genesis of any given cycle of plays are extremely small. We know that a fragment of the old poem of the Harrowing of Hell, beginning, ' Harde gatys haue I gon,' is found imbedded in the ' Coventry ' Play of the Eesurrection, and, thanks once more to the industry of Miss Toulmin Smith, in the Brome ' Common-Place Book ' we can now study a version of the Sacrifice of Isaac closely similar to that in the Chester cycle. But the relations of the five plays in the York and Towneley cycles are much more interesting and important than these, and it will be worth while to examine them with some minuteness. The first of these five plays is that called by Miss Smith, ' the Departure of the Israelites from Egypt,' No. xi. in the York Cycle, 1 acted by the ' Hoseers,' No. vm. in tlie Towneley Cycle, where it is 1 Printed, with the generous addition of the Towneley text at the foot of the page, on pp. 68—92 of Miss Smith's edition ( York Plays. Edited by Lucy Toulmin Smith. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1885). xvi The Towneley and York Plays of Pharaoh. called Pharao, and where also the sidenote ' Litsters Pagonn ' informs us that it is one of the plays acted by the Craft-Gilds of Wakefield. In comparing the two texts, the first point we notice is, that while the York Play consists of 408 1 lines, divided with unbroken regularity into 34 twelve-line stanzas, the metrical scheme of the Towneley Play is far less orderly. At the outset, indeed, it is evident that the Wakefield reviser mistook the metre, for by the addition of a quatrain of mere surplusage, he has turned the first 1 2- line stanza into two octetts. After seven long stanzas (divided in this text into octetts and quatrains, 3 — 16), we find similar additions in 11. 113 — 117 and 127 — 133, turning two 12-line stanzas into four octetts. Everything then proceeds regularly till we come to Towneley stanza 49, when we find a line — Als wele on myddyng als on more — missing after 1. 308. Again in stanza 55 the two lines — Lorde, was they wente than walde it sese, So shuld we save vs and oure seede —are omitted after 1. 340. In stanzas 57, 58,11. 355 — 359 appear in the Towneley MS. as— Primus Miles. A, my lord ! Pharao. hagh ! ijus Miles. Grete pestilence is comyn ; It is like ful long to last. Pharao. In the dwilys name ! then is oure pride ouer past. — in place of the regular York text (11. 344 — 348) — i Egip. My lorde, grete pestelence Is like ful lange to last. Bex. Owe ! come that in oure presence, Than is oure pride al past. Lastly, we find that the Towneley text has added, or more probably retained, twelve lines at the end of the play which do not appear in the York edition. If now we turn our attention to single lines, we shall find numerous instances in which the Towneley text exhibits an unmetrical corruption of the York. Here are a few — 1 Numbered by Miss Smith as 406, but the last couplet is really a quatrain, and might with advantage have been so printed. Towneley and York Plays of Pharaoh and the Doctors, xvii That wold my fors down fell (T. 32) That wolde aught fand owre forse to fell (Y. 28) That shall euer last (T. 39) They are like and they laste (Y. 34) I shall sheld the from shame (T. 189) I sail the saffe from synne and shame (Y. 176) "What, ragyd the dwyll of hell, alys you so to cry (T. 304) What deuyll ayles you so to crye (Y. 291) (cp. T. 337 and .415, Y. 334 and 403) On the other hand, T. 106— And euer elyke the leyfes are greyn — is plainly better than Y. 102 — And the leues last ay in like grene —and T. 216, 217 — God graunt you good weyndyng, And euermore with you be — both for their sense and the purity of the rime to ' kyng ' are better than Y. 203, 204— God sende vs gude tythingis And all may with you be. v Lastly we may take a pair of lines — My lord, bot if this menye may remeve (T. 270) Lord, whills ve [sic] with this nienyhe meve (Y. 277) — in which we may reasonably suspect that both texts are corrupt forms of some such original as — My lord, bot if this menye meve. The inevitable conclusion from these notes is, that the Towneley text of Pharao is a corrupted and edited version of the York play of ' The Hoseers ' in a slightly purer form than we have it at present. I think we may also say that the majority of the corruptions in the Towneley text are of the kind which would most naturally arise in oral transmission, rather than from the blunders of a scribe. Turning now to the second play in which the two cycles partly agree, The Play of the Doctors (Towneley xviii. ; York xxn., played by the ' Sporiers and Loriners '), we find that the Towneley text, which lacks the opening speech of - Primus Magister,' begins in its present form with twelve quatrains which are quite different from the York version, and then follows closely the York twelve-line stanzas to the end, only interrupting them to substitute a longer T. PLAYS. b xviii Towneley and York Plays of Harrowing and Resurrection. exposition of the Ten Commandments, for which again quatrains are used. In some instances, as before, the Towneley text is better than the York, but we cannot doubt that the nearly homogeneous 1 York play represents the original on which the Towneley playwright incorporated his variations in a different metre. A comparison of the third pair of plays — the York play of the Sadilleres (No. xxxvu.) and Towneley No. xxv. — representing the Extraccio Ardmarum or Harrowing of Hell, yields still more striking results. The York play, as usual quite regular, consists of 34 twelve-line stanzas, and it is clear that the Towneley play-wright had these in his mind all the way through, though sometimes, perhaps from failure of memory on the part of his informants, he can do no more than imbed a few York lines into new stanzas of his own, while elsewhere he makes intentional additions. Summarizing the result of these changes, we find that the first twenty-four lines of Towneley reproduce ten from York ; then we have York stanzas 4 — 10 with interpolations between 4 and 5, 8 and 9, and the omission of the last quatrain of 5. Stanzas 11 and 12 are repre- sented by 11. 1 1 5 — 147, but only nine lines are preserved. Stanzas 13 — 15 are intact • stanza 16 is docked of its first quatrain • then we have an interpolation of twelve lines; then the first quatrain of 17, the second and third being expanded into twelve lines. Stanzas 18 — 28 are only interrupted by an interpolation (11. 314 — 322) between 25 and 26. In 29 there is a substitution of a new third quatrain for four lines in the octett, the effect being so good that we may doubt whether in this case we have not really a preservation of an older text. Then come stanzas 30 and 31, and eight lines of 32, and with two substituted quatrains the Towneley play reaches its rather abrupt end. In the fourth pair of plays, treating of 'The Eesurrection ' (York xxxviii. ' The Carpenteres' : Towneley xxvi.), the resemblance begins four lines earlier than Miss Toulmin Smith has noted, T. 41 —44 answering to Y. 31, 32, 35, 36, while the 'rybaldys' of T. 42 is a better reading than the York ' rebelles.' In the preceding speech of Pilate we may note how the Towneley adaptor altered the York metre by lengthening the last line of the first four stanzas from two beats to three. We find the same difference in the added stanzas 9 — 11 (11. 51 — 73), while five (or rather seven) lines tacked on to the 1 There is a slight disturbance, in which Towneley agrees, in York, stanzas 19, 20 (11. 216—240) and Towneley, stanzas 44—46 (11. 204—228). Towneley and York Plays nf the Resurrection. xix last of these are outside the metrical scheme altogether. Stanzas 12 and 13 have half their lines as in York and half new. Stanzas 14 — 22, though with many corruptions, reproduce York 11 — 22. Stanza 23 is added ; 24 (which should have been printed as in four lines) agrees with York 20, omitting the two opening lines ; 25, save in its third line, is the same as York 21. In stanza 26 some of the York phrases are retained, but every line has been changed, and the bad rimes 'emang' and 'stand' show the work of a botcher. After this, with various corruptions, too numerous to mention, stanzas 27 — 35 reproduce York 23 — 31, 'but there is nothing in the York play to answer to 11. 214 — 333 (stanzas 36 — 55). The first ten of these 120 lines continue the talk of the soldiers, the rest is made up of the monologue of the risen Christ. The metre continues regular ; with a few exceptions, the origin of which can easily be seen, the last line of each stanza remains quadrisyllable, instead of being lengthened as in the added stanzas at the beginning of the play, and I think there can be no doubt that this speech of Christ once formed part of the York Cycle, but was subsequently omitted. Similar speeches occur in the ' Coventry ' and Chester cycles, and in the last-named there are some positive resemblances which, in case they have not been noticed before, I set forth in a footnote. 1 It will be noticed that this play falls naturally into three parts, of which Christ's monologue is the centre ; and it is much easier to 1 Towneley, 11. 226—231. Chester, vol. 2, p. 89. (Sh. Soc. ed.) Erthly man, that I haue wroght Eirthly man that I have wroughte, Wight! y wake, and slepe thou noght ! Awake out of thy slepe ; With bytter bay 11 I haue the boght, Eirthly man that / Jmve bought, To make the fre ; Of me thou have no kepe. Into this dongeon depe I soght From heaven man's soule I soughte And all for luf of the. Into a dongion depe My dere lemon from thense I broughte 11. 322—327. For ruthe of her I weepe. ffor I am veray prynce of peasse, i" am vereye prince of 'peace, And synnes seyr I may releasse, And kinge of free mercye ; And whoso will of synnes seasse Who will of synnes have release And mercy cry, On me the call and crye. And yf the will of synnes cease I grauntt theym here a measse i" graunte them peace trewlye, In brede myn awn body. And therto a full rich messye, In brede my owne bodye. The verbal resemblances here seem almost too close to be explained by a common original. If there has been direct transmission, it must have been southwards. xx Towneley and York Plays of Resurrection and Last Judgment. believe that in some process oi amalgamating or dividing the different parts, this speech was omitted from the York manuscript, than that so important a feature in the plays was not represented in the cycle. After 1. 333 in Towneley, etc., agreement between the two cycles is resumed, and continues, with the usual verbal variations, to 1. 561, the agreement of the stanzas being as follows — Towneley. York. Towneley. York. 56—66 = 32—42 88 partly = 67 67 = parts of 43, 44 89 = 68 68—85 = 45—62 90—93 = 70-73 86, 87 64, 65 Stanzas 63, 66 and 69 of York are unrepresented. L. 562 in Towneley is extra metrum, and cuts short the rather wearisome talk of Pilate which lasts in the York play for another eighteen lines. The scene between Christ and S. Mary Magdalene, which follows in the Towneley cycle, forms a separate play (No. xxxix.) in the York, and there are no textual resemblances. It will be noticed that of the first eight of the eleven stanzas into which it is divided, every one has a different metre — a sure sign, I think, of the hasty work rendered necessary by an incident which could not be omitted having to be tacked on to a different play. The case of the last of the five parallel texts, that of the play of the Last Judgment (Towneley xxx. Judicium; York xlviii. acted by the ' Merceres '), is again very striking and interesting. The Towneley play, unfortunately, lacks some lines (the speech of ' Primus Malus ') at the beginning, and the first sixteen lines which have been preserved to us, written in two different metres, are additions to the York text. The next three stanzas, with the exception of the last half of the fourth, are founded on York stanzas 19 — 21, then we have an inserted speech by ' Quartus Mains' (32 lines), then two more York stanzas, then the broad comedy of the Demons (stanzas 16 — 48, 11. 89 — 384), which takes the place of a short passage in York (11. 185— 228), the greater part of which is occupied by the speeches of Christ and the Apostles. After 1. 385 the bor- rowings begin again, and for the whole of the Judgment-scene proper (Towneley, st. 49—67,11. 386— 531 = York, st. 30-47,11. 229 — 372), the regular 8-line stanzas of the York dramatist are only interrupted by a single insertion of four lines (st. 65). But between The Tests of a harrowed Play. xxi the final dooming of the damned and the thanksgiving of the saved (1. G12 — 620), the Towneley play-Wright inserts a long passage in which the fiends gloat over their victims, and this is all his own. Where the last stauza was taken from we cannot say. It is quite different from the York text, and bears more resemblance to the Towneley ending of the Extraccio Animarum (p. 305). The foregoing conspectus of the points of agreement and disagree- ment between the Towneley and York texts of these five plays has probably been found almost as tedious to read as it certainly was to compile. But it was worth while to work it out in lull, since the most cursory perusal of it must suffice to show that, in the circum- stances under which the borrowings took place, it was practically impossible for a play to pass from one cycle to another without showing signs of the process in marked disturbances of metre and frequent corruptions both of sense and rhyme* It follows from this that wherever we find a play (not merely a fragment) the metre of which is uniform, or is obviously varied only in correspondence with the character of the speakers, while at the same time the rhymes are regular and the text good, in the absence of positive evidence to the contrary we are not only entitled, but bound, to assume that the play was composed for the place and the cycle to which it now belongs. A play full of obvious corruptions need not be a borrowed play, because corruptions may have arisen in many other ways ; but a play which is creditably free from corruptions can hardly by any possibility have been borrowed. Now if we apply this canon to the Towneley Plays, it will enable us to set some limit to the amount of imported work which Ave can safely recognize as existing in the cycle as it has come down to us. Long before the publication of the York Plays, the composite character of the Towneley was recognized by its first editor, though the reasons he assigned were less happy than his surmise itself, 1 and later writers have not failed to enlarge on the point. It thus becomes interesting to see how much of the cycle we can claim on sure evidence as composed especially for it. It is no bad beginning to be able to say at once, at least one-fourth, and this the fourth which contains the finest and most original -work. The evidence for now know to be mainly borrowed from the York cycle, and remarks " Cccmr Augustus is plainly by the same hand as Pharo.o. The heroes in both swear by ' Mahowne ' " — a habit shared by most potentates in miracle plays. xx ii The 5 best Toivnelcy Plays by a Genius. this is irresistible. We find the Wakefield or Wood kirk editor inter- polating two broadly humorous scenes, the one containing 297 lines, the other 81, on the impressive York play of the Judgment. These scenes are written in a complex metre, a 9-line stanza riming aaaa beech, with central rimes in the first four lines (I should prefer to write it - — edddc), and we find this same metre used with admir- bbbb able regularity throughout five long plays, viz. — in. Processus Noe cum iiliis 558 lines xii. Prima Pastorum 502 (2 lines lost) xiii. Secunda Pastorum l 754 (2 lines lost) xiv. Magnus Herodes 513 xxi. Coliphizacio 450 • — or, including the two passages in tire Judicium ,in no less than 3155 lines, occupying in this edition almost exactly 100 pages out of 396. If any one will read these plays together, I think he cannot fail to feel that they are all the work of the same writer, and that this writer deserves to be ranked — if only we knew his name ! — at least as high as Langland, and as an exponent of a rather boisterous kind of humour had no equal in his own day. We may also be sure that the two other plays, Flarjellacio (No. xxn.) and Processus Tcdentomm (No. xxiv.), contain about the same proportion of his work as does the Judicium. They are closely akin to the Coliphizacio, and contain the one 24, the other 8 of his favourite stanzas. For one other play which it is very tempting to assign to the same hand, the Mactacio Abel (No. it.), we lack the evidence of identity of metre ; in fact, the frequent changes from one metrical form to another would make us suspect that we had here an instance of editing, if it were not quite impossible to isolate from the present text any underlying original. Put the extraordinary boldness of the play, and the character of its humour, make it difficult to dissociate it from the work of the author of the Shepherds' Plays, and I cannot doubt that this also, at least in part, must be added to his credit. When the work of this man of real genius has been eliminated, the search for another Wakefield, or Woo.dkirk, author becomes distinctly less interesting. It will be worth while, however, now to pass the whole cycle in review, adding what notes we can to each play, especially as to their metres. 1 This play is further stamped as especially composed for the Wakefield district by the allusion to ' Horbiuy ' noted above, p. xiv. III. IV. {■;: VIII. / VII. \ IX. J X. V XI. / XII. Ixm. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. xx\ xx b . XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. Noah. 9-line stanza ;,,', , 2 c 1 ddd 2 c 2 , The List of the Towncley Plays and their Metres, xxiii i. Creation. Couplets (aa 4 ) and stanzas, mostly aa 4 b 3 a 4 b 3 . Connected with Barkers of Wakefield. ii. Abel. Metres very confused. Apparently a bold rehandling of an earlier and simpler play. Connected with [Wakefield] Glovers. Connected with Wakefield. bbbb 2 Abraham, abababab 4 . Cp. No. xix. Isaac. Fragments of 35 couplets (aa 4 ). Jacob. Fragments of 71 couplets (aa 4 ). [vii.] Pharaoh. abababab 4 cdcd 3 , with many corruptions. Con- nected with Litsters of Wakefield. Based on York XI. [vin.] Processus Prophetarum. aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 , less often aa 4 b 3 aa 4 b 3 . Caesar Augustus. aa 4 b 3 na 4 b 3 . Annunciation. Conplets (aa 4 ) and stanzas aa 3 b 3 cc 4 b 3 . Salutation. aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 . Prima Pastorum. 9-line stanza, as III. Secunda Pastorum. As xn. Magi. aaa 4 b 2 a 4 b 2 , with four disturbances. Alliterative. Flight into Egypt. ababaabaab 3 c 1 b 3 c 2 . Alliterative. Herod. 9-line stanza as in., etc. Purification. aaa 4 b 2 ccc 4 b 2 and aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 . Doctors. abababab 4 cdcd 3 , with corruptions and interpolations. Based on York xxiii. John the Baptist, abababab 4 . Cp. No. iv. Conspiracio. abababab 4 cdcd 3 . Speech of Pilate prefixed in 9-line stanzas. Capcio. Couplets and quatrains (aa 4 and abab 4 ) with interpolations. Coliphizacio. 9-line stanza, as III., &c. Flagellacio. Mixed metres. About half the play in 9 -line stanzas. Processus Crucis. Much edited and interpolated from an original basis of aa'Vcc 4 !) 3 . " Processus Talentorum. Metres very confused. Much interpolation. JSxtraccio Animarum. abababab 4 cdcd 3 , with additions and corrup- tions. Based on York xxxvu. Resurrection. aaa 4 b 2 a 4 b 2 , with many corruptions and interpolations. Based on York xxxvin. Peregrini. aaa 4 b 2 a 4 b 2 , with corruptions and interpolations. S. Thomas. aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 followed by a 4 b 3 a 4 b 3 a% 3 a 4 b a . Ascension. Metres very confused. Judgment. Based on abababab 4 of York xlviii., with interpola- tions of abababab 3 and 8-line stanzas. Lazarus. Couplets with stanzas in several different metres. Suspeneio hide. Fragment in aaa 4 b 2 a 4 b 2 . [Cp. xxvi., xxvii.] In this conspectus, besides the plays written in the 8-line stanza, we may note that we have two fragments (Nos. iv. and. v.) written in couplets on the history of Isaac and Jacob ; two plays, the Creation (No. i.) and Annunciation (No x.), in which couplets are joined with a 6-line stanza rhyming aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 , or aa 4 b 3 aa 4 b 3 , and three plays, xxiv Prof. Ten-Brink on ' Jacob and Emu', 'Isaac and Jacob.' the Processus Prophetarum (No. vn. ; it should of course change places with the Pharaoh, No. vin.), the Caesar Augustus (No. ix.) and Salutation (No. xi.) } written throughout in this stanza, which is also employed for parts of the plays of the Purification (No. xvil), Processus Crucis (No. xxiil), and S. Thomas of India (xxviii.). As to the two fragments (iv. and v.) the late Professor Ten-Brink wrote 1 — " About a generation — but hardly much more — separates this oldest extant English drama [i. e. the Harrowing of Hell, ' composed shortly after the middle of the thirteenth century '] from the next. The play of Jacob and Esau, as we take the liberty of calling it, appears to have been composed not far from the mouth of the Humber, and probably to the north of the dialect line. The influ- ence of the East Midlands is seen in the choice of subject, which was not popular on the earlier stage elsewhere, and the manner of treatment also reminds us of the districts and the century which produced the poems of Genesis and Exodus." " In Jacob and Esau the dramatic art is still of a low standard ; the situations are not made much use of ; the characteristics show little depth or originality. The poet is full of reverence for his subject, and dramatizes faithfully what seems to him its most important traits, without putting to it much of his own originality," etc. In his Appendix (vol. in. p. 274), Prof. Ten-Brink supported this view of the play with the following note — " This play has been handed down in the Towneley Collection : unfortunately it is mutilated at the beginning, and also divided into two parts : Isaac and Jacob. However, it originally formed, and, in fact, still forms, one drama, which was produced independently without regard to any cycle of mysteries, and indeed earlier than most of the others, probably than all the other parts of the cycle in which it was subsequently incorporated. All this can easily be proved by means now at the disposal of philology, but this is not the place for entering into the subject. Less certain is the local origin of the piece. The assumption that few of the rhyming words have been altered in their transmission could, for instance, allow of the supposition that the drama might have been produced in the north of the East-Midland territory, rather than in the southern districts of Northumbria, a supposition which would coincide very well with many other peculiarities of the work." I have quoted these passages from Prof. Ten-Brink in full, because the opinion of the writer who has produced the only really good history of our early literature, is a thqusand times more import- ant than my own. But my difficulties in accepting his theory in 1 History of English Literature (English edition), vol. ii. p. 244. The different Groups of the Towneley Plays. XXV its entirety are both numerous and great. The Harrowing of Hell itself seems to me — as it has seemed to my betters before me — rather a dramatic poem than a Miracle Play properly so called, and I cannot conceive on what occasion, or by whom, an isolated play on Jacob and Esau could come to be acted in the vernacular. In a cycle, the presence of a play on Abraham might easily suggest a continuation dealing with his immediate descendants, and its simpler and more archaic form might be partly accounted for by the nature of its subject. I should prefer, also, to attribute differences of dialect to the removal from one district to another of a play- writing monk, rather than to the acceptance in one district of a play which had been composed for another many years before. It is obvious, however, that these two fragments do belong to a period, whether prae-cyclic or cyclic, at which the narrative and didactic interest of the representation was uppermost, and before the constantly increasing importation of external attractions had produced a distaste for the simpler and more exclusively religious form of drama. We know from Chaucer's allusions, as well as from the evidence of the York plays, that by the last quarter of the fourteenth century Noah and his quarrelsome wife and the ranting Herods and Pilates were already stock characters, and we may thus well believe that the cycle ' of matter from the beginning of the world ' in its simplest form, must have been in existence during the first half of that century. The fact that this play has only come to us in fragments, is probably good evidence that it was considered anti- quated at the time our manuscript was written, and that only a few speeches from it were used. I must confess, however, that I cannot find anything either in the style or the language of these fragments which need compel us to separate them from the couplets in the play of the Creation and the Annunciation ; and I incline strongly to believe that in these plays, and the others which I have mentioned as written wholly or partly in the aa 4 b 3 cc 4 b 3 stanza, we possess part of an original didactic cycle, of much the same tone as the Chester Plays, on to which other plays, mostly written in a more popular style, have been tacked from time to time. In any case I do not think it can be doubted that the four plays, vn., ix., x., and XL, are the work of the same writer, and the rest seem to me to go with them. The plays of the Magi (xiv.) and of the Flight into Egypt (xv.) are marked olf from this group by their much greater use of alliteration, xxvi Groups of the Plays. Date of the Shepherds Plays. and seem to me — though my opinion on questions of dialect is worth very little — to have been written by an author of somewhat different speech. The Abraham and John the Baptist again are in a totally different metre, and may belong to the period when the York plays were being incorporated into the cycle. As regards these York plays, enough has already been said ; but it is worth noting that the pre- dominant metre of the Consplracio (xx a .) is the same as that of three out of the live plays connected with York (the Pharaoh, Doctor, and Extraccio Animarum), and may possibly be based on a lost alternative to the extant York play on this subject. A similar guess may be hazarded as to the play of the Peregrini (xxvu.), the metre of which is the same as that of the Resurrectio (xxvi., York xxxviii.), while the obvious corruptions and interpolations of the text may well lead us to doubt its being indigenous. The fragment of the Susjiencio Iude, printed at the end of the cycle, but which would naturally come immediately before the Resurrectio, is in the same metre, and subject to the same hypothesis. As regards the work of the one real genius of the Towneley cycle, the author of the two plays of the Shepherds, and of the others written in the same metre, the converse of the arguments of which we admitted the force as regards the Isaac and the Jacob, will naturally lead us to assign to them as late a date as possible. As noted by the Surtees editor, the allusion in the Judicium to the head-gear which could make a woman look ' horned like a cow,' enables us to be sure that this play-wright was a younger contemporary of Chaucer. We must not, indeed, like the cataloguer of the auction-room, argue that because Stow writes that in the days of Anne of Bohemia ' noble women used high attire on their heads, piked like homes,' therefore these plays may be assigned approximately to the date of her arrival in England". I imagine that in those days as in these the fashions in the Yorkshire country- side were apt to be a little behind those of London ; the piked head-gear is found in manuscripts as late as about 1420 (e.g. Harl. 2897, f. 188 b , and Harl. 4431, f. 2, kindly pointed out to me by Sir E. M. Thompson), 1 and the other allusions of these plays, e< g. the reference to tennis (Sec. Past. 736), the frequent 1 See also Lydgate's 15th century 'Dyte of Womenhis Hornys' in his Minor Poems, Percy Soc. p. 46-9, and Harl. MSS. 2255, 2251, etc. Horns were in fashion in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries ; see Fairholt's Costume in England, ed. Dillon, 1885, ii. 224-5, and Planche's paper therein named. — F. J. F. Date of Shepherds' Plays. Three Stages of Toicneley Plays, xxvii and rather learned talk about music (See. Past. 186 — 89, G56 — GO, Judicium 537, 538), and the general talk of Shepherds and Devils about the state of the country l — all agree very well with the early years of the fifteenth century. In a writer so full of allusions, the absence of any reference to fighting tends, I think, to show that the plays were not written during the war with France, and thus everything seems to point to the reign of Henry IV. as the most likely date of their composition. The date of our text is probably about half a century later, but the example of the York Plays shows us that in its own habitat the text of a play could be preserved in tolerable purity for a longer period than this. In the direction of popular treatment it was impossible for any editor, however much disposed towards tinkering, to think he could improve on the play-wright of the 9 -line stanzas, while it is reasonable to presume that the hold of these plays on the Yorkshire audience was sufficiently strong to resist the intrusion of didactics. As regards the only plays not yet mentioned in the survey, the Capcio (xx b .), Processus Talentorum (xxiv.), Ascension (xxix b .) and Lazarus, there has been so much editing and interpolating, and the consequent mixture of metres is so great, that it is difficult to arrive at any clear conclusion about them. 2 But, subject to such corrections as the survey of the dialect now being undertaken by Dr. Matthews may suggest, I think we may fairly regard this Towneley cycle as built up in at least three distinct stages. In the first of these we find the simple religious tone which we naturally assign to the beginning of the cyclical religious drama, the majority of them being written in one of the favourite metres of the fourteenth-century romances which were already going out of fashion in Chaucer's day. 3 In the second 1 Note especially the allusions to 'maintenance' in Let. Past. 1. 35, and the claim of Tutivillus to he a ' master lollar ' in Jud. 213. 2 The Lazarus, for instance, seems to be built up in three layers, the last of them the grim passage on death being strikingly in the style of some of the 9-line stanzas. 3 A curious reminiscence of these romances is preserved in stanza 26 of the Processus Prophetarum : Now haue I songen you a fytt ; loke in mynd that ye haue it, I rede with my myght ; He that maide vs with his wytt, Sheld vs all from hell pytt, And graunt us heuen lyght — which might have come straight out of a romance. xxviii The three Stages, and the Home of the Towncley Plays. stage we have the introduction by some playwright, who brought the knowledge of them from elsewhere, of at least five — possibly seven or eight — of the plays which were acted at York, and the composition of some others in the same style. In the third stage a writer of genuine dramatic power, whose humour was unchecked by any respect for conventionality, wrote, especially for this cycle, the plays in the 9-line stanza which form its backbone, and added here and there to others. Taken together, the three stages probably cover something like half a century, ending about 1410, though subsequent editors may have tinkered here and there, as editors will, and much allowance must be made for continual corruption by the actors. It may be as well to note here that whatever weight we may be disposed to attach to the tradition that the cycle belonged to the Woodkirk monks and was acted at Woodkirk Fair, it is impossible to believe that the plays noted in the MS. as connected with Wakefield form in any way a group by themselves, The Barkers' play of the Creation, however much edited, belongs in its origin to our first stage ; the Pharaoh, played by the Wakefield Litsters, but based on York XL, to our second, to which also I should assign the Peregrini played by the Fishers, written in the metre of the York Resurrectio. Lastly, the Noah, against which Wakefield is written, is in the 9-line stanza of the Shepherds' Plays, and the Glovers' play of Abel, whether re-written by the same author or not, is, in its present form, certainly late work. With the exception of the Fishers, we might say, without much exaggeration, that all the three crafts named, Dyers, Tanners, and Glovers, had some connection with the sheep, their hides and wool, which were probably the chief com- modities sold at the Woodkirk fair, 1 and so might have taken a special interest in any pageant likely to bring customers to it. But we are bound to remember that the connection with Woodkirk is a mere tradition, and that it is quite possible that the whole cycle belongs to Wakefield, which is the only place with which it is authoritatively connected. To bring literary criticism to bear on a cycle built up, even approximately, in the manner which I have suggested, is no easy *■ 1 If the Fishers, as at York, were allied with the Mariners, they too might be dragged in as concerned with the export trade. If they were Fishers, * purs et simples,' one is tempted to say that they may have lent a hand at play- acting for the lack of sufficient employment in an inland town ! The poetic worth of the Towneley Plays. xxix task. The plays were not written for our reading, but for the edification and amusement of the uncritical audience of their own day; and we can certainly say of them that, whatever effect the playwright aimed at, he almost always attained. Of the simply devotional plays the Annunciation seems to me the finest. The whole of this play, indeed, is full of tenderness ; and there are touches in it in which Eossetti, if he knew it, must have delighted. The reconciliation between Joseph and the Blessed Virgin is delightful ; and the passage in which Joseph describes his enforced marriage is really poetically written. One verse is especially quotable : Whan I all thus had wed hir thare, We and my madyns home can fare, That kyngys daughters were ; All wroght thay sylk to find them on, Marie ivroght purpyll, the oder none hot other e colers sere. If this touch had been entirely of the dramatist's own invention he must, indeed, have been Eossetti's spiritual forbear ; but it is needless to say that it comes from the apocryphal gospel of Mary, though he deserves all credit for bringing together two widely separated verses. 1 The plays which I have put into my second group are on the whole very dull. The dramatist of the Abraham could not fail to attain to some pathos in the treatment of the scene between Isaac and his father ; but though he avoids the mistake of the York play- wright who represented Isaac as a man of thirty, his handling of" the scene is distinctly inferior to that of the Brome Play and the Chester cycle. The general characteristic, indeed, of the group is, that the playwright plods persevering!;^ through his subject, but never rises above the level of the honest journeyman. Between the dull work and the abounding humour and constant 1 Chap. vi. 7 : " But the Virgin of the Lord, Mary, with seven other virgins of the same age, who had been appointed to . attend her by the priest, returned to her parents' house in Galilee;" and Chap. iv. 1 — 4: "And it came to pass, in a council of the priests it was said, ' Let us make a new veil for the temple of the Lord.' And the high-priest said, ' Call together to me seven undefiled virgins of the tribe of David. ' And the servants went and brought them unto the temple of the Lord ; and the high-priest said unto them, ' Cast lots before me now, who of you shall spin the golden thread, who the blue, who the scarlet, who the fine linen, and who the true purple.' Then the high-priest knew Mary, that she was of the tribe of David ; and he called her, and the true purple fell to her lot to spin, and she went away to her own house." (Hone's Apocryphal Gospels, 1820.) xxx The Writer of the Shepherds Plays probably a Monk. allusiveness of the author of the plays in the 9-line stanza, the distance can only be measured by the two words respectability and genius. It is all the more pleasant to use the first to denote the dull level from which he keeps aloof, in that I have a strong suspicion that during his life the author of our -9-line stanza plays may have been censured for the lack of this very quality. His sympathy with poor folk, and his dislike of the " gentlery men " who oppressed them, seem something more than conventional ; and his satire is sometimes as grim as it is free. From his frequent allusions to music, his scraps of Latin and allusions to Latin authors, his dislike of Lollards, and the daring of some of his phrases, which seems to surpass what would have been permitted to a layman, it is probable that he was in orders ; and the vision of the Friar Tuck of Peacock's Maid Marian rises up before me as I read his plays. As a dramatist it is difficult to praise him too highly, if we remember the limitations under which he worked, and the feeble efforts of his contemporaries and successors. The Secunda Pastorum, the survival of which "in Archie Arm- strong's Aith " Prof. Kolbing has so pleasantly illustrated (see his Appendix), is really perfect as a work of art ; and if in the Prima Pastorum our author was only feeling his way, and in the Noah, Herod, etc., was cramped by the natural limitation of his subject, we have the more reason to regret that a writer of such real power had no other scope for his abilities than that offered by the cyclical miracle play. Even within these limits, however, he had room to display other gifts besides those of dramatic construction and humour. The three speeches of the Shepherds to the little Jesus are exquisite in their rustic tenderness, and even if we may not attribute to him the really terrific picture of corruption in the Lazarus, there is contrast enough between these and the denunciation of the usurers and extortioners in the Judicium. Without his aid, the Towneley cycle would have been interesting, but not more interesting than any of its three competitors. His additions entitle it to be ranked among the great works of our earlier literature. Alfred W. Pollard. XXXI APPENDIX. The Secunda Pastorum of the Towneley Plays (p. 116 ft".) and Archie Armstrang's Aith. By PROF. E. KOLBING, Ph.D. So far as I know, nobody has yet discovered that the leading incident in the Second Play of the Shepherds is repeated in quite another department of English Literature, viz. in Archie Armstrang's Aith, by the Rev. John Marriott, printed in ' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,' 5th ed. vol. iii. Edinb., 1821, p. 481 ff. Archie Armstrang was, as we learn from the Notes of this poem, p. 487 f., " a native of Eskdale, and contributed not a little towards the raising his clan to that pre-eminence which it long maintained amongst the Border thieves .... and there distinguished himself so much by zeal and assiduity in his professional duties, that at length he found it expedient to emigrate. . . . He afterwards became a celebrated jester in the English Court. . . . He was dismissed in disgrace in the year 1637. . . . The exploit detailed in this ballad has been preserved, with many others of the same kind, by tradition, and is at this time current in Eskdale." The story runs as follows : — Archie has stolen a sheep, and is pursued by the shepherds, but manages to reach his house, where, with the assistance of his wife, he skins the sheep, throws its entrails and hide into the river, and stuffs the body into a child's cradle. Then he sits down by it and sings a lullaby. At this very moment the pursuers enter the house and declare him to be the thief. But Archie protests, wants them to be quiet, because his child is dying, and swears an oath, that, if he has ever lessened the herds of his neighbour, he will eat the flesh that is now lying in the cradle. Besides, he gives them leave to ransack every corner of his house in order to find the sheep which they say he has stolen. So they search — naturally without result, — and the shepherds conclude that it was either the devil himself, that they saw running off with the sheep, or that they mistook the culprit, and that Maggie Brown is the real thief. As to Archie, when the shepherds are gone, he piques himself not a little on his ability in representing a nurse ; and, at the same time, says that nobody is entitled to call him a perjurer, for he really eats up the sheep in the cradle. xxxii Appendix. Archie Armstrang's Ailli. We see at once the striking point in the story, that the thief and his wife hide the stolen sheep from the suspicious shepherds in a cradle, is common to both versions. Besides, I ask my readers to compare the following single passages. When the thief returns to his house, his wife is afraid that he will be discovered and tied up ; he wants her to be quiet and to help him. Towneley, p. 126 — Uxor : By the nakyd nek art thou lyke for to hyng. Mak : Do way .... Uxor : , It were a fowtr blott to be hanged for the case. Male : I have skapyd, Jelott, oft as hard a glase. Uxor : Bot so long goys the pott to the water, men says At last Comys it home broken. Mak : Weti knowe I the token, Bot let it never be spoken, Bot com and help fast. I wold he were slayn, etc. corresponds to Archie Amnstrang's Aith, st. 6 fr". And oh ! when he st'-pp'd o'er the door, His wife she look'd aghast. "A, wherefore, Archie, wad ye slight Ilk word o' timely warning ? I trow ye will be ta'en the night, And hangit i' the morning." "Now hawd your tongue, ye prating wife, And help me as ye dow ; I wad be laith to lose my life For ae poor silly yowe. " In Town., p. 130, the thief's wife gives the following advice — Harken ay, when thay calle : thay will com anone. Com and make redy alle, and syng by thyn oone, Syng lullay thou shalle .... Syng lullay on fast, "When thou heris at the last. According to Archie Armstrong's Aith, st. 13 f., Archie performs this skilful service — And down sat Archie daintillie, And rock'd it wi' his hand ; Siccan a rough nourice as he Was not in a' the land. And saftlie lie began to croon, "Hush, hushabye, my dear." He hadna sang to sic a tunc, I trow, for mony a year. Appendix. Archie Armstrang's Aith. xxxiii For the rhyme croon : tune we may compare the following lines in the conversation of the shepherds in front of Mak's hut (p. 131) — Tertius Pastor : Witt ye here how thay hak ? Oure syre, lyst, croyne ! Primus Pastor : Hard I never none crak so clere out of toyne. In Towneley, p. 133, Uxor says — I pray to God so mylde, If ever I you begyld, That I ete this chylde, That lygys in this credyrh Likewise in Archie Armstranc/s Aith, st. 18, the husband — If e'er I did sae fause a feat, As thin my neebor's faulds, May I doom'd the flesh to eat This vera cradyl halds ! In both versions the shepherds, not having found anything, believe they have made a mistake ; Town., p. 134 — Primus Pastor : "We have merkyd amys : I hold us begyld. Archie Armstrang's Aith, st. 22 — Or aiblins Maggie's ta'en the yowe, And thus beguiled your e'e. The principal difference between the two versions of the same story is, that in the play the thief, in spite of this trick, is finally discovered and punished by lynch-law, whilst according to the ballad the thief and his wife succeed in their plot, and the suspicion falls upon another. It is in harmony with this difference that the seemingly not real- izable oath is only of a secondary interest in the play, while in the ballad it forms the centre of the whole. Now the only MS. of the Towneley Plays seems to have been written in the beginning of the fifteenth century, whilst Archie Arm- strang's Aith, belonging to the " Imitations of the ancient ballad," was scarcely composed long before 1802, in which year the -Minstrelsy' made its first appearance in the literary world. It is most unlikely that John Marriott, — who, according to Allibone's Dictionary, was Curate of Broad Clift, Devon, and Eector of Church Liford, War- wickshire, and in 1820 and 1836 published some collections of sermons, — borrowed this story from the then imprinted MS. of the Towneley Plays and transferred it, of his own authority, to Archie Armstrang, so that the whole of his notes were a forgery. 1 It is much 1 It is perhaps worth noting that the Secunda Pastorum was printed in the Collection of English Miracle Plays published at Basel in 1838 by a Dr. William Marriott, who may possibly have been a relation of the Rev. John Marriott of Prof. Kblbing's ballad.— A. W. P. T. PLAYS. C xxxiv Appendix. Archie Armstrang's Aith. more credible that this fanny tale was preserved by oral traditions, possibly in a metrical form. The tale was first bronght into the Christmas story by the author of the Towneley Play, and afterwards, in the seventeenth century, transferred to the famous thief and jester, Archie Armstrang. Whether the happy or unhappy end of the story is to be considered as the original one, is a question, which, in the want of other materials, we shall perhaps never be able to solve with any certainty. 1 This little paper is englisht from the original in the Zeitschrift fur vergleicliende Litteraturgescliichte, herausgegeben von M. Koch. Neue Folge. Elfter Band, p. 137 fL— E. K. 1 As "bang went saxpence" would have been the result of the Shepherds kissing the babe in the cradle, I suggest that Scotch shepherds, at any rate, would never have thought of incurring such an awful liability. — F. J. F. CORRECTIONS. p. 70, Stage-directions to 1. 200, and sidenotes to st. 32 : — for Boys^ read Israelites, as pueri plainly means Children of Israel. p. 71, 1. 332 : — vnys = v[y]nys, vines, p. 77. 1. 397 : — now should be new. See also ' couandys ' and ' stenen ' in the Index. THE TOWNELEY PLAYS. (i.) [267 lines, in stanzas and couplets. Stanzas 12 — 15 have 10 [aabab aabab), 7 {aab ab ab), 5 and 5 (aabab) lines respectively, the rest 6 (aab ccb).] Deus. Cherubyn. Lucifer. [Dramatis Personae. Angeli Mali 1 et 2. 1 Angeli Boni 1 ei 2. Demones 1 et 2. 1 In dei nomine amen. Assit Pnncipio, Sancta, Maria, Meo. Wakefeld. [Scene I. Heaven.] N [Deus] (1) BARKERS. [Fol. 1, a.] | ^go sum alpha et 1 o, God declares His nature i^ I am the first 1 , the last 1 also, & might. 1 A Oone god in mageste ; 3 Meruelus, of myght 1 most, ffader', & son), & holy goost, On) god in tnnyte. 6 (2) I am without begynnyng*, My godhede hath none endyng*, I am god in trone ; 9 Oone god in persons thre, Which may neuer twynnyd be, ffor 1 1 am) god alone. 12 (3) AH maner thyng 1 is in my thoght, Withoutten) me ther may be noght, Nothing may ifor* aH is in my sight ; 15 exist with- out Him. hit 1 shall be done after 1 my will, that I haue thoght I shall fulfill And manteyn) with my myght 1 . 18 1 These may be the same. T. PLAYS. 2 Towneley Plays. L The Creation. God begins At the begynnyng 1 of oure dede creation. make we heuen) & erth, on brede, the parting " and lyghtys fayre to se, 21 of darkness PP , ., . ,, . , & light. nor it is good' to be so ; darknes from) light we parte on two, In tyme to serue and be. 24 (5) Darknes we carl the nyghf, and lith also the bright 1 , If shall be as I say ; 27 after 5 my wiH this is furth broghf , Euen) and morne both ar* thay wroghf , and thus is maid a day. 30L (6) The 2nd day: In medys the water, bi oure assenf, ment divides be now maide the nrmamenf, And parte ather 1 from) othere, 33 Water aboue, I-wis ; Euen) and morne maide is this A day, [so was] the tothere. 3§ (?) The 3rd day : Waters, thaf so wyde ben) spred, the division , , , , , . , . , of earth & be gedered to geder in to one stede, thaf dry the erth may seym); 39 thaf af is dry the erth shaH be, the waters also I call the see ; this warke to me is queme. 42 (8) . The earth to Ouf of 1 the erth herbys shal spryng 1 , fruh? ° r Trees to llorish and frute furth bryng 1 , thare kynde that if be kyd. 45 This is done after my wiH ; Even) & morn) maide is ther* tiH A day, this is the thryd*. [Ms. thyrd.] 48 (9) The 4th day: Son) & moyne set in the heuen), sun & moon. With starnes, & the pianettes seuen), To stand in thare degre ; 51 Towneley Plays. I. The Creation. The son) to serue the day lyght 1 , The moyne also to serue the nyght? ; The fourte day shaH this be. (10) The water to norish the fysfr swymand, The erth to norish best?/s crepeand, That 1 fly oi ) go may. Multiplye in erth, and be In my blyssyng 1 , wax now ye ; This is the fyftt day. (11) Cherubyii). Oure lord god in trynyte, Myrth and lovyng 1 be to the, Myrth and lovyng 1 ouer al thyng 1 ; ffor* thou has'inade 1 , with thi bidyng 1 , Heuen), & erth, and aH that is, and giffen) vs Ioy that 1 neuer shall mys. Lord, thou) art fuH mych of 1 myght, that 1 has maide lucifer so bright ; we loue the, lord, bright 1 ai ) we, bot none of* vs so bright 1 as he : He may weH hight lucifere, fibr 1 lufly light that 1 he doth bere. He is so lufly and so bright It is grete ioy to se that 1 sight ; We lofe the, lord, with aH oure thoght 1 , that sich thyng 1 can) make of noght. 54 The 5th day : the creation of fish & "creeping 57 beasts that may fly or go." [Cp. 11. 162, 163.] 60- 64 68 72 76 hie deus recedit a suo sollo fy lucifei sedebit in eodem solio. (12) 77 81 Lucifer. Cei%s, it 1 is a semely sight, Syn that 1 we ar* aH angels bright, and euer in blis to be ; If H that 1 ye wiH behold? me right, this mastre long^/s to me. I am so fare and bright, of me commys aH this light 1 , this gam) and aH this gle ; 1 The words "has made" are in a later hand, the originals having been obliterated. [Fol. i, b.] Cherubim praise God. He has made all of them bright, but Lucifer brightest. Lucifer prides him- self on his brightness art 1 so fayre syght, thou) semys weH to sytt on) night 1 ; So thynke me that thou doyse. jpnmvLS bonus angelus. I rede ye leyfe that royse, fYor* that 1 seyte may non) angerl seme So weH as hym) that 1 aH shaH denie. JSecxmduLS bonus angelus. I reyde ye sese of that ye sayn), ffor 1 weH I wote ye carpe in vayne ; 115 hit semyd hym) neuer, ne neuer shaH, So weH as hym) that has maide aH. 1 MS. may thyng 1 stand then) be. 103 107 vnto my vanys 111 Towneley Plays. I. The Creation. 5 Secunchxs mahis anadus. Now, and bi oght that I can) witt, The bad angels think he semys futi wett theron) to sytt ; 119 him as fit to sit in God's He is so fayre, w^'t7i0utten) les, • seat as God « ' .,. , Himself. he semys fun well to sytfr on) des. therfor 1 , felow, hold thi peasse, and vmbithynke the what thou) saysse. 123 he semys as weH to sytt there as god hymself 1 , if he were here. Z&ciferl leyf felow, thy nk the not 1 so 1 126 primus malus angelus. Yee, god wote, so dos othere mo. [Foi. 2, a.] primus bonus [Angehis]. Nay, forsoth, so thynk not vs. lucifer\ Now, therof a leke what xokys vs % Syn) I my self am so bright Lucifer says therfor' wiH I take a flyght 1 . 1 131 a flight/ e Tunc exibunt demones clamando, & dicit primus, [Scene II. Hell] primus demon). Alas, alas, and wele-wo ! The devils lucifer*, whi feH thou SO % Lucifer. We, that were angels so fare, and sat so hie aboue the ayere, 135 Now ar* we waxen) blak as any coyH, They are and vgly, tatyrd as a foyU. aTcoai^^ What 1 alyd the, lucifer, to fall % was thou) not farist of angels aH1 139 Brightist 1 , and best, & most 1 of* luf 1 With god hym) self, that syttys aboyf 1 1 thou) has maide [neyn, 2 ] there was [ten, 3 ] He has made thou) art 1 fouH comyn from) thi kyn) ; 143 therVwen? thou) art* fallen), that 1 was the teynd, tenth part ffrom) an angeH to a feynd. oJ angeists thou) has vs doyn a vyle dispyte, uHab, 257]'. and broght 1 thi self 1 to sorow and sitfr. 1 47 Alas, ther 1 is noght els to say bot 1 we ar> tynt 1 for" now and ay. 149 Secundus demon. — Alas, the ioy that 1 we were In haue w r e lost 1 , for oure syn). 1 A scribe has mistaken Lucifer's boastful flight for his fall. One or more stanzas containing either a speech of Deus (cp. Chester and Coventry Plays) or the exclamations of the devils as they fall (cp. York Plays) must have been omitted. 2 MS. ix, 3 MSi x< Towneley Plays. I. The Creation. We may- curse our wicked, pride : " so may ye all that stand beside." alas, that 1 euer cam pride in thoght 1 , fFor ) it has broght vs aH to nogfrt. We were in myrth and Ioy enoghe When lucifer to pn^'de drogh. Alas, we may warrie wikkyd pnde, so may ye all that 1 st&ndys be side ; We held? with hym) ther* he saide leasse, and therfor 1 haue we aH vnpeasse* Alas, alas, oure Ioye is tynfr, We mon) haue payne that* neuer shaH stynf . 153 157 161 God pro- ceeds to make man. He gives him know- ledge, strength, the government of the world, & paradise to dwell in. [Scene III. Earth.] (17) Deus. — Erthly best?/s, that may crepe and go, bryng ye furth and wax ye mo, I se that 1 it 1 is good ; 164 now make we man to oure liknes, that* shaH be keper of more & les, ^ of 1 fowles, and fysh in flood. Et y tanged eum. 167 (18) spreyte of* life I in the blaw, good and iH both shaH thou) knaw ; rise vp, and stand bi me. 170 AH that 1 is in water or land, It 1 shaH bow vnto thi hand, and sufferan) shaH thou be ; 173 (19) I gif 1 the witt*, I gif the strenght, of 1 all thou sees, of brede & lengthe ; thou shaH be wonder wise. 176 Myrth and Ioy to haue at wiH, AH thi likyng to fulfill, and dwell in paradise. 179 (20) This I make thi wonnyng playce, ffuH of 1 myrth and of solace, and I seasse the therin. 182 It 1 is not 1 good to be alone, to walk here in this worthely wone, In aH this welthly wyri); . 185 Tovmdey Plays. I. The Creadon. i (21) therfor', a rib I from the take, God makes therof 1 shaH be [maide] thi make, woman to be man's And be to thi helpyng 1 . 188 helping. Ye both to gouerne that 1 here is, and euer more to be in blis, ye wax in my blissyng 1 . 191 (22) ye shaH have Ioye & blis therin, whils ye wiH kepe you) out of syn), I say w£*t7*out[ten] lese. 194 Ryse vp, myn) angell cherubyn), [Fol. 2, b.] And bids ai Take and leyd theym) both in, angel lead them to And leyf 1 them) there in peasse. 197 paradise. Tunc capifi vherubyri) adam pev manum, fy dicitf eis. dommus, (23) _ Heris thou adam, and eue thi wife, I forbede you the tre of 1 life, And, I commaund, that 1 it 1 be gat 1 , Take which ye wiH, bot 1 negh not 1 that 1 . 201 Adam, if 1 thou breke my rede, thou) shaH dye a dulfuH dede. Cherubyn). Oure lord, oure god, thi wiH: be done ; I shaft go with theym) fuH sone. 205 ffor 1 soth, my lord, I shaH not sted tiU I haue theym) theder led. we thank the, lord, with fuH good chere, that 1 has maide man to be oure feere. [Exit Deus.] 209 Com furth, adam, I shall the leyd ; take tent 1 to me, I shaH the reyd?. I rede the thynk how thou art 1 wroght, and luf my lord? in all thi thoght, 213 That 1 has maide the thrugh his wiH, angels ordir ) to fulfiH. Many thyng?/s he has the giffen), and maide the master 1 of 1 all that 1 liffen) ; 217 He has f orbed? the bot 1 a tre ; look that thou) let it be, God forbids Adam and Eve the tree of life. The Angel instructs Adam. Towneley Plays. I. The Creation. Adam and Eve con- gratulate^ themselves & thank God. Adam bids Eve keep away from the Tree of Life. The tenth order of angels is fallen. ffor ) if 1 thou breke his commaundment, thou) skapys not 1 bot 1 thou be shent. Weynd here in to paradise, and luke now that 1 ye be wyse, And kepe you) weH, for 1 I must 1 go vnto my lord, ther* I cam) fro. [Exit Cherubyn).] Adam). Almyghty lord, I thank 1 it the that 1 is, and was, and shaH be, Of thi luf H and of 1 thi grace, ffor > now is here a mery place ; Eue, my f elow, how thynk the this 1 JEua. A stede me thynk of 1 Ioye and blis, That 1 god has giflen) to the and me ; Withoutten) ende blissyd be he. Adam). Eue, felow, abide me thore, ffor > I wiH go to viset more, To se what trees that 1 here been) ; here ar* weH moo then) we have seen), Giesys, and othere small floures, that 1 smeH furl swete, of seyi J coloures. Eua. Gladly, sir, I wiH fuH fayne ; When) ye haue sene theym), com) agane. Adam). Bof luke weH, eue, my wife, that 1 thou) negh not the tree of 1 life ; fror 1 if 1 thou) do he bese iH paide ; then be we tynt 1 , as he has saide. Eua. Go furth and play the aH aboute, I shaH not 1 negh it 1 while thou) art 1 oute ; fcor 1 be thou sekyr 1 I were fuH loth fTor 1 any thyng that 1 he were wroth. [Exeunt Adam & [Scene IV. Hell] Lucifer ] . Who wend euer this tyme haue seyn) 1 We, that in sich myrth haue beyii), That we shuld suffre so mych wo ? Who wold euer trow it 1 shuld be so % p Ten] orders in heuen were of 1 angels, that 1 had offyce sere ; Of ich order 5 , in thare degre, the [ 2 teynd] parte fell downe with me ; 1 MS. X. 2 MS. x. 221 225 229 233 237 241 245 Eve.] 253 257 Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. ffoi° thay held with me that 1 tyde, and mantenyd me in my pnde ; Bofr herkyns, felows, what I say — the Ioy that we haue lost for ay, God has maide man with his hend, to haue that 1 blis wMoutten end, The 1 neyn ordre to fulfil, that 1 after 1 vs left, sich is his will. And now ar 1 thay in paradise ; bot 1 thens thay shaH, if we be wise. 261 265 267 The MS. has apparently lost 12 leaves here, containing (no doubt) the Temptation of Eve and the Expulsion of her and Adam from Paradise. God has made man to fill its place. (ii.) Mactacio abel. Sec^da pagina. [473 lines in tliirteens (aaab ccccb bdbd, no. 1), twelves (aaab cccb bdbd, no. 3), elevens (aab cccb, no 2 — or aaab ccb, no. 7 — bdbd), nines, eights (aaab bcbc, no. 6, or cccb, no. 10 ; aaa bbb cc, no. 14), sevens (aaab ccb, no. 4 ; aab ab cc, no. 16), sixes, fives (aa bbb, no. 5), fours (ab ab, no. 13), threes and twos.] [Dramatis Personae. Cayn. Abel. Garcio. Gar do. (1) AH hayH, all hayH, both blithe and glad, Deus.] Glover Pag. 2 .. ffor* here com I, a mery lad ; be peasse youre dyn, my master 1 bad, Or* els the dwiH you spede. 4 Wote ye not* I com before 1 Bot who that 1 Ianglis any more He must 1 blaw my blab hoiH bore, both behynd* and before, Till his tethe blede. 9 ffelows, here I you forbede To make nother nose ne cry ; Who so is so hardy to do that 1 dede The dwiH, 3 hang hym vp to dry. 13 ' JJS. ix. 2 In a ^ter hand. MS. dewill ; the "e" having been overlined by a later hand. [Fol. 3, a.] Garcio makes a ranting speech. 10 Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. His master is a good yeoman : ill to quarrel with. Cain calls to his mare. Pull on a bit, you shrew. You're the worst mare I ever had in plough. He calls the Boy. They wrangle. (2) Gedlyng^s, I am a fuHe grete wat, A good yoman my master' hat 1 , ffuH: weH ye aH hyni ken) ; 1 6 Begyn lie with you for to stryfe, cerU's, then mon ye neuer thryfe ; Bot 1 I trow, bi god on life, Som of 1 you ai J his men. 20 Bot 1 let 1 youre lippis coue?* youre ten, harlotU's, euerichon ! ffor if 1 my master 5 com, welcom) hym then). ffareweH, for* I am gone. [Exit Garcio.] 24 [Enter Cain, ploughing.] (3) Cayn\ Io furth, greyn-horne ! and war* oute, gryme ! Drawes on ! god gif you iH to tyme ! Ye stand as ye were fallen in swyme ; What 1 ! wiH ye no forther 1 , mare 1 28 War ! let 1 me se how down) wiH draw ; Yit 1 , shrew, yit 1 , puH on a thraw ! What 1 ! it 1 semys for* me ye stand none aw ! I say, donnyng, go fare ! 32 A, ha ! god gif the soro & care ! Io ! now hard she what I saide ; now yit 1 art thou the warst mare In plogh that 1 euer I haide. (*) How ! pike-harnes, how ! com heder belife ! [Enter Garcio.] Garcio. I fend, gocU's forbot, that euer thou thrife 36 39 43 Pol. 3, b.] Cayn. What 1 , boy, shal I both hold and drife % heris thou not how I cry 1 Garcio. Say, mail and stott, wiH ye not 1 go ? Lemyng 1 , moreU, white-horne, Io ! now wiH ye not se how thay hy 1 (5) " Cayn}. Gog gif the sorow, boy ; want 1 of mete it gars. Garcio. thare prouand, sir, for 1 thi, I lay behynd thare ars, And tyes them fast bi the nekis, With many stanys in thare helm. Cayn\ That* shall bi thi fals cheHs. 48 Toivneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. 11 (6) Gar do. And haue agane as right. Cayn. I am thi master, wilt thou fight 1 Garcio. Yai, with the same mesure and weght That 1 1 boro will I qwite. Cayn. We ! now, no thyng 1 , hot 1 call on tyte, that we had ployde this land. Garcio. harrer 1 , inoreH, iofurth, hyte ! and let the plogh stand. [Enter Abel.] (7) AbeR. God, as he both may and can, Spede the, brother 1 , & thi man. Cayn. Com kis myne ars, me list not ban, As welcom standis ther* oute. Thou shuld haue bide til thou were cald ; Com nar 1 , & other 1 drife or 1 hald, and kys the dwillis toute. , Go grese thi shepe vnder 1 the toute, tlbr that 1 is the moste lefe. AbeQ.. broder*, ther* is none here aboute that 1 wold the any grefe ; (8) bot 1 , leif 1 brothel, here my sawe — It 1 is the custom of 1 oure law, AR that 1 wyrk as the wise shall worship god witli sacrifice. Oure fader 1 vs bad, oure fader vs kend, that 1 oure tend shuld be brend. Com furth, brothere, and let vs gang To worship god ; we dwell fuH lang 1 ; Gif 1 we hym parte of oure fee, Come oi cataH, wheder if be. I (9) And therfor 1 , brother 1 , let vs weynd, And first 1 clens vs from the feynd or 1 we make sacrifice ; Then blis wiihoutten end get we for* oure seruyce, 49 Cain offers to fight liim. The Boy is quite ready. 52 56 57 Abel bids them God speed. 60 Cain tells him he isn't wanted. 63 67 Abel exhorts him to come & make burnt-offer- ings of his n -I tenths of • *■ corn & cattle. 75 77 82 12 Towndey Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. (10) Of hym that 1 is oure saulis leciie. 83 Cain will CaynK How ! let" furth youre geyse, the fox wiH prectie ; sermoning. How long wilt thou me appech With thi seraionyng 1 1 86 Hold thi tong 1 , yit I say, Eiien thei J the good wife strokid the hay ; Or* sit downe in the dwiH way, With thi vayn carpyng 1 . 90 (ii) He won't Shuld I leif e my plogh & aH thyng plough! his And go with the to make offieryng 1 o V nTy k liv?s° d Nay ! thou fyndys me not 1 so mad I him^sorrow Gq ^ ^ dw[ ^ and gay j bad , 94 "What 1 gifys god the to rose hym so ? me gifys he nog-lit 1 hot 1 soro and wo. 96 [Fol. 4, a.] ' (12) AbeE. Caym, leife this vayn carpyng, fror 1 god giffys the aft thi lifyng. Gayn\ Yit 1 boroed I neuer a farthyng 99 Abel says of* hym, here my hend. have told AbeR. Brother', as elders haue vs kend, must title & ffirst shuld' we tend with oure hend J , offering? 111 " and to his lofyng 1 sithen be brend. 103 (13) Cayn\ My farthyng is in the preest hand syn last tyme I offyrd. AbeB.. leif brother*, let vs be walkand ; I wold oure tend were profyrd. 107 (14) Cain replies Cayn\ We ! wherof 1 shuld I tend, leif* brothere 1 offeachyew. ff or) I am icfi y ere wars then cthere, here my trouth it 1 is none othere ; 110 My wynnyngz's ar> bot meyri), No wonder if* that 1 1 be leyn ; flurl long tiH hym I may me meyri), 113 ffor* bi hym that me dere boght, 1 traw that 1 he wiH leyn me noght. 115 Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. 13 (15) AbeR. Yis, aH the good thou has in wone Of 1 goch's grace is hot a lone. Cayn\ Lenys he me, as com thrift 1 apon the so 1 frW he has euer yit 1 beyn my fo j ftW had he my freynd'- beyn, Other 1 gate's it 1 had beyn seyn). When aH mens corn was fayre in feld* Then was myne not 1 worth a neld 1 ; When I shuld saw, & wantyd seyde, And of corn had fuH grete neyde, Then gaf 1 he me none of 1 his, No mo;ee wilt I gif hym of 1 this, hardely hold me to blame bot 1 if 1 1 serue hym of the same. AbeR. Leif 1 brother 1 , say not 1 so, bot let vs furth togeder go ; Good brother, let vs weynd sone, no longer* here I rede we hone. Cayn\ Yei, yei, thou Iangyls waste ; the dwiH me spede if 1 1 haue hast, As long as I may lif 1 , to dele my good or 1 gif 1 Ather to god or* yit 1 to man), of 1 any good that 1 euer I wan) ; ffor 5 had I giffen away my goode, then myght I go with a ryffen) hood, And it is better* hold that 1 1 haue then go from doore to doore & craue. AbeR. Brothei , com furth, in god^s name, I am f uH ferd' that 1 we get blame ; Hy Ave fast 1 that 1 we were thore. Cayn\ We ! ryn on), in the dwiHs nayme Before ! Wemay, man, I hold the mad ! wenys thou now that 1 1 list gad To gif 1 away my warldz's aght 1 1 the dwiH hym spede that me so taght ! what 1 nede had I my traueH to lose, to were my shoyn & ryfe my hose % 1 MS. an eld. 119 God has always been his foe. His own D corn is the 126 worst of anybody's. 127 131 135 139 143 147 151 He is in no haste to give. If he had given away his good he might go with a torn hood. Better keep, than beg. [Fol. 4, b.] He thinks Abel mad. u Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. Abel doesn't want to go without him. I see I must come then. Go on be- fore. Let us go together, says Abel. You tithe first, says Cain. Abel burns his tithes. Cain begins tithing. AbeR. Dere brother 5 , hit were grete wonder that I & thou shuld go in sonder*, 155 Then wold oure fader haue grete ferly ; Ar> we not blether 1 , thou & 1 1 CaynK No, bot 1 cry on, cry, whyls the thynk good ; Here my trowth, I hold the woode ; 159 Wheder that 1 he be blithe or' wroth to dele my good is me fuH lothe. I haue gone oft 1 on softer 1 wise ther 1 I trowed som prow wold rise. 163 Bot 1 well I se go must 1 I nede ; now weynd before, iH myght 1 thou spede ! syn that 1 we shall algatzs go. AbeR. leif 1 brother 1 , whi sais thou so 1 167 Bot 1 go we furth both togeder ; blissid* be god we haue fare weder. Cayn). lay downe thi trusseH apon this hiH. AbeR. fforsoth broder, so I wiH : 171 Gog of* heuen, take it 1 to good?. CaynK Thou shall tend first if thou were wood. AbeR. God that 1 shope both erth and heuen), I pray to the thou here my steven), 175 And take in thank, if thi wiH be, the tend that I off re here to the ; ffor* I gif 1 it 1 in good entent 1 to the, my lord, that aH has sent. 179 I bren it now, with stedfast thoght, In worship of 1 hym that 1 aH has wroght. CaynK Eyse ! let 1 me now, syn thou has done ; lord of 1 heuen, thou here my boyne ! 183 And ouer, godis forbofl, be to the thank or* thew to kun me ; ffor*, as browke I thise two shankys, It is full sore, myne vnthankys, 187 The teynd that 1 1 here gif 1 to the, of 1 corn, or* thyng, that 1 newys me ; Bot now begyn wiH I then, syn I must 1 nede my tend to bren). 191 (Done shefe, oone, and this msikys two, bot 1 nawder of 1 thise may I forgo : Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. 15 Two, two, now this is thre, yei, this also shaH leif 1 with me : 195 ffor I wift chose and best 1 haue, this hold I thrift 1 of 1 aH this thrafe ; Wemo, wemo, foure, lo, here ! better groved' me no this yere. 199 At 1 yere tyme I sew fayre corn, yit was it sich when it 1 was shorne, Thy sty Is & brerys, yei grete plente, And aH kyn wed^'s that myght be. 203 ffoure shefYs, foure, lo, this maWs fyfe — deyH I fast 1 thus long or 5 I thrife — ffyfe and sex, now this is sevyn, bot 1 this gettis neuer god of 1 heuen ; 207 Nor* none of 1 thise foure, at 1 my myght, |i shaH neuer com in god^'s sight 1 . Sevyn, sevyn, now this is aght 1 , AbelA. Cain, brother 5 , thou art 1 not 1 god betaghft. 211 Cayn. "We ! therf or* is it 1 that 1 1 say, ffor I wiH not 1 deyle my good away : Bot 1 had I gyffen) hym this to teynd Then wold thou say he were my Ereynd ; 215 Bot 1 I thynk not 1 , bi my hode, To departe so lightly fro my goode. we ! aght 1 , aght 1 , & neyn, & ten is this, we ! this may we best mys. 219 Gif 1 hym that 1 that 1 lig^s thore 1 It 1 goyse agans myn hart 1 full sore. 221 (16) AheR. Cam ! teynd right 1 of 1 aH bedeyn. Cayn. we ! lo twelve, fyfteyn, sexteyn x AbeR. Caym, thou tend^s wrang 1 , and of 1 the warst 1 . CaynK we ! com nar*, and hide myne een) ; In the wenyand wist 1 ye now at last, 226 Or 1 els wiH thou that I wynk 1 then shaH I doy no wrong, me thynk. 228 (17) 1 ?,ft me se now how it 1 is — lo, yit 1 I hold me paide ; I teyndyd wonder well bi ges, And so euen I laide. 232 1 MS. xij, xv, xvi. He chooses & keeps the best for himself, grumbling all the time. Cain keeps on counting. [The repeti- tion, of the numbers may mean that he counts 20 sheaves as 10, so as to pay a 20th instead of a 10th.] [Pol. 5, a. Sig. C. 1.] We may best do without this one. Abel tells him he is tithing wrongly & of the worst. 16 Toivneley Plays. II. lite Killing of Abel. Devil speed me if he get a sheaf more. I had many a weary back in getting this. Never you mind how I'm tithing. Here are two sheaves, and that must do. C Cease your jangling. (18) AbeR. Came, of 1 god me thynke thou has no drede. Came. Now and he get more, the dwift me spede ! As mych as oone reepe, ffor* that earn hym fuH light chepe ; 236 Not as mekiH, grete ne small, as he myght wipe his ars with aH. ffor 1 that 1 , and this that lyys here, haue cost me fuH dere ; 240 Or* it was shorne, and broght in stak, had I many a wery bak ; Therfor 1 aske me no more of* this, ffor 1 I haue giffen that 1 my wiH is. 244 AbeR. Cam, I rede thou tend right* £for ) drede of* hym that 1 sittis on higlitf. Cayn). How that 1 1 tend, rek the neuer a deiH, bot 1 tend thi skabbid shepe wele ; 248 ffor ) if thou to my teynd tent 1 take, It 1 bese the wars for* thi sake. Thou wold I gaf 1 hym this shefe, or* this sheyfe; na, nawder of 1 thise [two x ] wil I leife ; 252 Bot take this, now has he two, and for 5 my sauH now mot* if go, Bot 1 it gos sore agans my wiH, and shal he like fuH iH. 256 AbeR. Cam, I reyde thou so teynd that 1 god of heuen be thi freynd. CaynK My freynd 1 na, not 1 bot 1 if 1 he wiH ! I did hym neuer yit 1 bot 1 skirl. 260 If 1 he be neuer so my fo, I am avisidl gif 1 hym no mo ; Bot 1 chaunge thi conscience, as I do myn), yit 1 teynd thou not 1 thi mesel swyne? 264 AbeR. If 1 thou teynd right thou mon) it fynde. Gayn. Yei, kys the dwiHs ars behynde ; The dwirl hang the bi the nek ! how that I teynd, neuer thou rek. 268 WiH thou not 1 yit hold thi peasse] of 1 this Ianglyng I reyde thou seasse. And teynd I weH, or* tend I ill, bere the euen & speke bot 1 skiH. 272 1 MS. ij. Tovmeley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. 17 [Fol. 6, a. Sig. C. 2.]i 276 Bot now syn thou has teyndid thyne, Now wiH I set fyr° on myne. We ! out 1 ! haro ! help to blaw ! It 1 wiH: not 1 bren for* me, I traw ; Puf 1 ! this smoke dos me mych shame — now bren, in the dwiHys name ! A ! what 1 dwiH of heft is it ? Almost had myne breth beyn dif. 280 had I blawen) oone blast more I had beyn choked right 1 thore ; IV stank like the dwiU in heH, that longer ther 3 myght I not dwell. ■ 284 AbeH. Cam, this is not 1 worth, oone leke ; thy tend shuld bren w/t/ioutten) smeke. Caym\ Com kys the dwiH right 1 in the ars, for 1 the it 1 brens bot 1 the wars ; 288 I wold that 1 it were in thi throte, ffyr*, & shefe, and ich a sprote. [God appears above.] Beits. Cam, whi art 1 thou so reberl Agans thi brother 1 abeH 1 292 Thai thou nowthei' flyte ne chyde, if 1 thou tend right 1 thou gettis thi mede ; And be thou sekir*, if 1 thou teynd fals, thou bese alowed ther 1 after als. [Exit Deus ] 296 (19) Caym\ Whi, who is that 1 hob-ouer-the-waft 1 we ! who was that 1 that 1 piped so smaH ? Com go we hens, for 1 perels aH ; God is out 1 of 1 hys wit 1 . 300 Com furth, abeH, & let 1 vs weynd ; Me thynk that 1 god is not 1 my freynd, on land then wiH I flyt. 303 (20) AbeH. A, Cayra, brother*, that 1 is itt done. Cayn\ 'No, bot 1 go we hens sone ; 1 The writer of MS. has by mistake continued his lines on Fol. 6 a, instead of fol. 5 b, and has made a note in red ink on top of fol. 5 b. as follows ;— " [M]d? that 1 this syde of the leyfe [shjuld* folow the other next 1 syde [acjcordyng to the tokyns here maide, [an]d* then after al stondys in ordre." T. PLAYS. He sets fire to his offer- ing. Cain's offer- ing won't burn, but almost chokes him with smoke. Abel says it is no good. Cain reviles him. God reproves Cain. As he tithes so shall he receive. Cain scoffs at God. "Who is that hob-over- the-wall?" Abel is shocked. 18 Toivneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. He says he will go to his Cain stops him and says it is time to pay Abel what he owes him. Why did your tithe burn & not mine? I will take your life for it with this cheek bone. Abel cries for venge- ance. If any one thinks he did amiss, Cain will make things worse. [Fol. 5, b.] But now that Abel is brought to sleep he would fain creep into a hole for 40 days. And if 1 1 may, I shaft be ther* as god shall not 1 me see. 307 AbeR. Dere brother*, I will fayre on feld ther 5 oure best/s ar*, To looke if 1 thay be holgh oi J fuH. Caym\ Na, na, abide, we hane a craw to puH ; 311 Hark, speke with me or 1 thou go ; what ! wenys thou to skape so % we ! na ! I aght 1 the a fowH dispyte, and now is tyme that I hit qwite. 315 Abel. Brother 1 , whi art 1 thou so to me in Ire 1 Caym\ we ! theyf 1 , whi brend thi tend so shyre 1 Ther* myne did bot 1 smoked right 1 as it wold vs both haue choked. 319 Abel. Godis wiH I trow it 1 were that 1 myn brened so clere ; 1 If 1 thyne smoked am I to wite 1 CaymK we ! yei ! that shal thou sore abite ; 323 with cheke bon, oi J that I blyn, shal I the & thi life twyn ; [Cain Jails Abel.] So lig down ther* and take thi rest, thus sharl shrewes be chastysed best. (21) AbeVi. Veniance, veniance, lord, I cry ! for* I am slayn, & not 1 gilty. Gayn\ Yei, ly ther 1 old shrew, ly thei , ly ! (22) And if 1 any of 1 you thynk I did amys I shal it 1 amend wars then it 1 is, that 1 aH men may it 1 se : weH wars then it 1 is right 1 so shall it 1 be. (23) Bot 1 now, syn he is Broght on Slepe, Into Som) hole fayn wold I crepe ; ffor ferd I qwake and can no rede, for be I taken, I be bot dede ; 327 330 333 335 339 1 Originally written "I am not to wite" ; "/" and "not" have been struck out with red ink, and "2" placed after "am." Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. 1 here will I lig thise fourty dayes, And I shrew hym that me fyrst rayse. Deus. Caym, Caym ! [God appears above.] g^ ca]lsto Caym. who is that 1 that 1 callis me % I am yonder, may thou not 1 se 1 343 Deus. Caym, where is thi brothel abeH 1 £Jt£r? thy Caym. what askis thou me 1 I trow at heH : At hell I trow he be— Cain answers he who so were ther* then my edit he se — 347 may be in d ° hell or Or ) somwhere fallen on slepyng ; asleep, when was he in my kepyng 1 1 Deus. Caym, Caym, thou was wode ; The voyce of 1 thi brothem blode 351 That 1 thou has slayn, on fals wise, from erth to heuen venyance cryse. jjjj curses And, for* thou has broght thi brother > downe, here I gif 1 the my malison. 355 Cavm\ Yei, dele aboute the, for* I wiH none, Cain says u since he has or 1 take it the when I am gone. lost God's grace he will Syn I haue done so mekiH syn, hide himself. that 1 1 may not 1 thi mercy wyn, 359 And thou thus dos me from thi grace, I shall hyde me fro thi face ; And where so any man may fynd me, . if any man V -. , o„ find him, let Let hym slo me hardely ; 363 Mm slay him : and And where so any man may me meyte, bury him Ayther bi sty, or* yit 1 bi strete ; boure at the And hardely, when I am dede, head?" bery me in gudeboure at the quareH hede, 367 ifor 1 , may I pas this place in quarte, bi aH men set I not a fart. Deus. Nay, caym, it 1 bese not so ; God will not I wiH that 1 no man other* slo, 1 371 slain, fror* he that sloys yong or* old It shall be punyshid sevenfold*. [Exit Deus.] Caym). No force, I wote wheder I shall ; In heH I wote mon be my staH. 375 Cain knows T .L, • r j . that hell will It 1 is no boyte mercy to craue, be his place. fcW if I do I mon none haue ; 377 1 Opposite this line a later hand has added in the margin, ".& that shall do thy boddy der." 20 Towneley Plays. II. The Killing of Abel. He wants to hide the body. If Pike- harnes were there they would bury it together. Cain calls Pyke- harnes and hitsiiim to keep his hand in. [Fol. 6, b.] He tells him he has slain Abel. The boy cries out upon him. We shall come off ill if the bailies catch us. Cain pro- mises to cry his peace. Bot 1 this cors I wold were hid, 378 ffor som man myght 1 com at vngayn, ' ffle fals shrew,' wold he bid, And weyn I had my brother 5 slayn. 381 Bot 1 were pike-harnes, my knafe, here, we shuld bery hym) both in fere. How, pyke-harnes, scape-thryft ! how, pike-harnes, how ! Garcio. Master 5 , master* ! 385 GayrD. harstow, boy % ther 5 is a podyng 1 in the pot ; take the that, boy, tak the that ! Garcio. I shrew thi baH vnder thi hode, If 1 thou were my sj r re of flesh & blode ; 389 AH the day to ryn and trott 1 , And euer amang thou strykeand, Thus am I comen bofett/s to fott. Cayn ] . Peas, man, I did it bot to vse my hand; 393 (24) Bot Harke, boy, I haue a counsel! to the to Say — - I slogh my brother 5 this same day ■ I pray the, good boy, and thou may, to ryn away with the bayn. 397 Garcio. We ! out apon the, thefe ! has thou thi brother* slayn % Caym. Peasse, man, for 5 godis payn ! 400 (25) I saide it* for 5 a skaunce. Garcio. Yey, bot 1 for 5 ferde of grevance here I the forsake ; we mon haue a mekiH myschaunce and the bayles vs take. 405 (26) Caym). A, sir, I cry you mercy; seasse ! and I shall make you a releasse. Garcio. what 1 , wilt 1 thou cry my peasse 408 (27) thrughout 1 this land 1 Cayn\ Yey, that 1 1 gif* god a vow, belife. Garcio. how wiH thou do long or 5 thou thrife 1 Caym), Stand vp, my good boy, belife, and thaym peasse both man & [w]ife; 412 Toivneley Plays. II The Killing of Abel. 21 (28) And who so will do after* me ffuft slape of thrift 1 then shal he be. Bot 1 thou must be my good boy, and cry oyes, oyes, oy ! Gareio. Browes, browes, to thi boy. 417 (29) CaymK I co?mnaund t you in the kyng/s nay me, Garc'w. And in my masteres, fals Cayme, CaymK That 1 no man at 1 thame fynd fawt ne blame. Gareio. Yey, cold rost is at my masteres hame. 421 (30) Caym\ Nowther' with hym nor* with his knafe, Gareio. What 1 , I hope my master rafe. CaymK nor* thay ar* trew, furl many fold? ; Gareio. My master suppys no coyle bot cold?. 425 CaymK The kyng wry t is you vntiH. Gareio. Yit 1 ete I neuer half my fill. 427 (31) CaymK The kyng wiU that thay be safe, Gareio. Yey, a draght 1 of 1 drynke fayne wold I hayfe. Caym\ At 1 thare awne wiH let tham) wafe ; Gareio. My stomak is redy to receyfe. 431 (32) CaymK Loke no man say to theym, on nor* other* ; Gareio. This same is he that slo his brother*. 433 CaymK Byd euery man thaym luf 1 and lowt 1 , Gareio. Yey, iH spon) weft* ay comes foule out.- CaymK 1 long or 1 thou get 1 thi hoyse and thou go thus aboute. (33) 436 Byd euery man theym pleasse to pay. Gareio. Yey, gif* don), thyne hors, a wisp of 1 hay. CaymK we ! com. downe in twenty dwitt way, The dwitt I the betake ; ffor* bot* it* were abeH, my brothere, yit knew I neuer thi make. 1 This line should probably be Gareio 's. 440 442 He bids him cry Oyez. Cain makes proclama- tion of pardon for himself & his boy. The boy mocks him in audible 'asides.' Cain curses the boy. He has never known his equal since Abel. [Fol. 7, a. Sig. C, 3.] 22 Towncley Plays. II The Killing of Abel. The boy wishes the spectators the blessing God gave Cain. Cain makes the hoy go to the plough. If he angers him lie will hang him on it. His own place must he in hell. (34) Gar do. Now old and yong 1 , or 1 that 1 ye weynd, 443 The same blissyng withoutten end?, AH sam then shall ye haue, 445 That 1 god of heuen my master has giffen) ; Browke it 1 weH, whils that ye liffen), he vowche it 1 furl weH safe. 448 (35) Caym). Com downe yit 1 in the dwilfr's way, And angre me no more ; And take yond plogh, I say, And weynd the furth fast* before ; 452 And I shall, if H I may, Tech the another 1 lore ; I warn the lad, for 1 ay, ffro now furth, euermore, That 1 thou greue me noght ; 457 fibr', hi Go&is sydis, if 1 thou do, I shall hang the apon this plo,_ with this rope, lo, lad, lo ! By hym that 1 me dere boght. 461 (36) Now fayre well, felows aH, ffor I must nedis weynd, And to the dwiH be thrall, warld? withoutten end?. 465 Ordand ther' is my stall, with satharias the feynd, Euer iH myght 1 hym befall that theder me commend', This tyde. 470 ffare weH les, & fare weH more, ffW now and euer more, I wiH go me to hyde. 473 Explicit Madacio AbeR. Sequitur ] Noe. Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. 23 (in.) Processus Noe cu?rc filiis. Wakefeld. [Fol 7> b>] [In 62 nine-line stanzas, aaaab ccb, ivith central rymes in aaaa, markt here by bars.] Noe. Beits. Vxor Noe. Noe. (1) [Dramatis Pcrsonae. Primus filius. Sccundus films. Tercius filius. Prima Mulier. Sccunda Mulier. Tcrcia Mulier. ] yo-htfuH sod veray / Maker of 1 ali that is, Noah praises J ° J ' God for His Thre pe?'sons withoutten nay / oone sod in work of 1 J l a creation. endles blis, M f| Thou maide "both nyght & day / beesfr, fowle, & fysh, AH creatures that lif 1 may / wroght thou at thi wish, As thou wel myght ; 5 The son, the moyne, veranienfr, Thou maide; the firmament 1 , The stern es also fuH feruent, To shyne thou maide ful bright. 9 (2) Angels thou maide ful euen / ali orders that is, He recalls To haue the blis in heuen / this did thou more & les, of the'angeis ffutt mervelus to neuen / yifr was ther* vnkyndnes, More bi foldz's seuen / then I can weH expres ; ftVwhi? 14 Of art angels in brightnes God gaf< lucifer 1 most lightnes, Yit prowdly he flyt his des, And set 1 hym euen) hym) by. 1 S (3) He thoght* hymself 1 as worthi / as hyin that hym made, In brightnes, in bewty / therf oi J he hym degrade ; put hym in a low degre / soyn) after, in a brade, hym) and aH his menye / whei J he may be vnglacf ffor euer. 23 shali thay neuer wyn away hence vnto domysday, Bot burne in bayle for* ay, shaH thay neuer clysseue?*. 27 and the fall of Lucifer. 24 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. Noah recalls Soyne after that gracyous lord / to his liknes maide the creation of Adam & man), 28 That place to be restord / euen as he began), Of 1 the trinite bi accord? / Adam & eue that woman), To multiplie w^out discord 4 / In paradise put 1 he thaym), And sithen to both 32 Gaf* in co??zmaundement 1 , On the tre of* life to lay no hend ; Bot 1 yit 1 the fals feynd? Made hyni with man wroth, 36 and their Fall. [Fol. 8, a. Sig. C, 4.] Air living people now sin boldly. So that he dreads God's vengeance. (5) Entysyd man to glotony / styrd him to syn in pride ; Bot in paradise securly / myght no syn abide, And therfof man fuH hastely / was put out, in that tyde, In wo & wandreth for 1 to be / In paynes furl vnrid? To knawe, 1 41 ffyrst 1 in erth, in sythen in heH •with feynd is foi J to dwell, Bot* he his mercy meH To those that 1 wiH hym trawe. 45 (6) Oyle of 1 mercy he Hus hight / As I haue Hard red, To euery lifyng wight 1 / that wold luf* hym and dred? ; Bot 1 now before his sight 1 / euery liffyng leyde, Most party day and nyght / syn in word and dede ffuH bold ; Som in pride, Ire, and enuy, Som in Couet[yse] 2 & glotyny, Som in sloth and lechery, And other' wise many fold. 50 54 (?) Therfor 1 I drede lest god / on vs will take veniance, fTor > syn is now alod / -without any repentance ; Sex hundreth yeris & od / haue I, without distance, In erth, as any sod? / liffyd with grete grevance AH way ; 1 MS. knowe. 2 MS. Oouetous. 59 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. 25 And now I wax old, seke, sory, and cold?, As muk apon mold I widder away ; 63 (8) 68 Bot* yit 1 wiH I cry / for* mercy and earl ; Noe thi seruantf, am I / lord oner arl ! Therf or* me and my fry / shal yvikh me farl ; saue from velany / and bryng to thi harl In heuen) ; And kepe me from syn, This warld within ; Comly kyng 1 of* mankyn, I pray the here my stevyn) ! [God appears above. (9) Deus. Syn I haue maide ait thyng / that is liffand, Duke, emperpiir 1 , and kyng / with myne awne hand, ffor to haue thare likyng / bi see & bi sand, Euery man to my bydyng / shuld be bowand ffuH f eruent* ; That* maide man sich a creatoure, ffarest 1 of 1 favoure, Man must luf me paramoure, by reson, and repent. (10) . Me thoght I shewed man luf / when I made hym to be AH angels abuf / like to the trynyte ; And now in grete reprufe / furl low \igis he, In erth hy7?zself to stuf 1 / with syn that displeasse me Most 1 of 1 aH: ; 86 Veniance wiH I take, In erth for syn sake, My grame thus wiH I wake, both of grete and smaH. 90 (ii) I repente furl sore / that euer maide I man), Bi me he settis no store / and I am his soferan ; I wiH distroy therfor 1 / Both beest, man, and woman, AH shaH perish les and more / that bargan may thay ban, 77 81 Noah him- self is old. He calls to God for mercy. God solilo- quizes. He has made all men & they should love Him & repent. But they lie sunk in sin, for which He will take vengeance. He repents He ever made man. [Fol. 8, b.] 26 Townelcy Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. The earth is full of sin. God will destroy it with floods, & make end of every thing living, save Noah & his wife. He will warn Noah quickly. God bids Noah build a ship 300 cubits long, 30 high, 50 broad. That ill has done. 95 In ertfr I se right 1 noghfr Bofr syn that is vnsoght ; Of* those that weH has wroght ffyndl bo^afone. 99 (12) Therfor 1 shall I fordo / AH this meditt-erd with floods that shall no / & ryn with hidous rercH ) I haue good cause therto / ffor 1 me no man is ferd, As I say shal I do / of veniance draw my swerd, And make end? 104 of* all that beris life, Sayf 1 noe and his wife, ffoi° thay wold neuer stryfe With me [ne] me offend. [ms. then.} 108 (13) hym to mekiH wyn / hastly wiH I go, To noe my seraand, or 1 I blyn / to warn hym of his wo. In erth I se bot 1 syn / reynand to and fro, Emang 1 both more & myn / ichon other fo ; With aH thare entent ; 113 AH shall I fordo with floodz's that shall floo, wirk shall I thaym wo, That wiH not repent. [God descends § comes to Noah.] (14) Noe, my freend, I thee co??2maund / from cares the to keyle, 118 A ship that thou ordand / of nayle and bord ful wele. Thou was alway weft wirkand / to me trew as stele, To my bydyng obediand / frendship shal thou fele Tomede; 122 of lennthe thi ship be Thre hundreth cubettzs, warn I the, Of heght euen thrirte, of fyfty als in brede. 126 (15) Anoynfr thi ship with pik and tar* / without? & als withm, The water out to spar 1 / this is a noble gyn ; 1 MS. bot. Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark 27 look no man the mar 5 / thre chese l chambres begyn, How the ark Thou must spend many a spar' / this wark or 5 thou wyn fitted. To end fully. 131 Make in thi ship also, parloures oone or 1 two, And houses of offyce mo, ffor* heestis that ther must he. 135 (16) Oone cubite on hight / A wyndo shal thou make ; on the syde a doore with slyght 1 / be-neyth shal thou take ; With the shal no man fyghfr / nor' do the no kyn wrake. When aH is doyne thus right / thi wife, that 1 is thi make, Fol g a Take in to the ; 140 Noah is to Thi sonnes of good fame, wife, his T . ' ~ three sons & feem, lapnet 1 , and Uame, their wives, Take in also hame, Thare wife's also thre. 144 (17) ffor 5 ali shal be fordone / that lif« in land bot* ye, to escape the ' •> ram that with floods that from abone / shal faH, & that 1 plente ; sha Ji last ' J r ; 40 days. It shaH begyn fuH sone / to rayn vncessantle, After dayes seuen be done / and induyi 1 ' dayes fourty, w^outten fayrl. ' 149 Take to thi ship also He is to take of ich kynd beestos two, two beasts of every MayH & femayH, bot no mo, kind, Or* thou purl vp thi sayrl. 153 (18) ffor 1 thay may the avayrl / when al this thyng is wroght 1 ; and to _ Stuf* thi ship with vitaylt, / ffor* hungre that ye perish well. noghfr ; Of 1 beestzs, fouH, and catayH / fTor' thaym haue thou in thoght, ffor thaym is my counsayH / that som socour' be soght, In hast; 158 Thay must haue corn and hay, And oder 1 mete alway ; Do now as I the say, In the name of* the holy gast. 162 1 MS. "chefe." Compare line 281. V 28 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. (19) Noah asks ]Sf e. A ! benedicite ! / what art 1 thou that thus 163 who it is ' who speaks. Tellys afore that 1 shall be ? / thou art full mervelus ! TeH me, for* charite / thi name so gracius. God declares Dens. My name is of dignyte / and also furl glorius Himself. _ . J _ b J I 5 To knawe. 1 167 I am god most myghty, Oone god in trynyty, Made the and ich man to be ; To luf me weH thou awe. 171 Noah thanks Him for (20) Noe. I thank the, lord, so dere / that wold? vowch sayf 1 God him. appearing to Thus low to appere / to a symple knafe ; knave like Blis vs, lord, here / for charite I hit crafe, Legs ms The better may we stere / the ship that 1 we shall hafe. Wessing ' Certayn). 176 Deus. Noe, to the and to thi fry My blyssyng graunt I ; Ye shall wax and multiply, And fiH the erth agane, 180 (21) When aH thise floods ar 1 past 1 / and fully gone away. Noah says Noe. lord, homward wiH I hast 1 / as fast as that I may ; Klwife. ^ [wife] wiH I frasf / what she wiH say, [Exit Deus.] And I am agast 1 / that we get som fray Betwixt vs both ; 185 ffoi J she is furl tethee, ffor' litiH oft 1 angre, If any thyng 1 wrang be, Soyne is she wroth. Tunc jpQiget ad vxoremK 189 (22) [Foi. 9, b.] God spede, dere wife / how fayre ye 1 Vxor\ Now, as cuer myght I thryfe / the wars She wants to I thee see; hehasteen Do terl me belife / where has thou thus long be \ doing. Tq dede may we dryfe I 0I , lifl for > th6j ffor' want 1 . 194 1 MS. knowe. Toioneley Plays. III. Noah and the Arh 29 When we swete or 5 swynk, thou dos what thou thynk, Yit of mete and of 1 drynk haue we veray skant. 198 (23) Noe. Wife, we ar 5 hard? sted / with tythyngw new. Vxor\ Bofrthou were worthi be cled / In Stafford blew ; flor 5 thou art alway adred / be it fals or 1 trew ; Bot god knowes I am led / and that 1 may I rew, . ffuH ifl ; 203 ffor I dar 5 be thi borow, ffrom euen vnto morow, Thou spek*s euer of 1 sorow ; God send the'onys thi fill ! 207 (24) We women may wary / aH ill husbands ; I haue oone, bi mary ! / that lowsyd me of my bandz's ; If 4 he teyn I must tary / how so euer it standi, With seymland fuH sory, / wryngand both my hand/s fror 1 drede. 212 Bot 1 yit other while, What with gam & -with gyle, I shall smyte and smyle, And qwite hym his mede. 216 (25) Noe. We ! hold* thi tong, ram-sky t / or I shaft the still. Vxor\ By my thryft, if 1 thou smyte / I shal turne the vntiH. Noe. We shaft assay as tyte / haue at the, giH ! Apon the bone shal it byte. / Vxorl A, so_ mary ! thou smyh's iH ! Bot 1 1 suppose 221 I shal not 1 in thi det 1 , fflyfrof 1 this flett! Take the ther 1 a langett To tye vp thi hose 1 225 (26) Noe. A ! wilt thou so 1 / mary, that 1 is myne. Vxor\ Thou shal thre for 5 two / I swere bi godte pyne. We sweat while you play. Noah has bad news. His wife says he should be " clad in Stafford blew," for he is always afraid. Women may curse all ill husbands, but she knows how to pay out hers. Noah bids her hold her tongue. She dares him. He strikes her. She hits back, & promises three blows for two. 30 Toivneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. Noah pro- mises to pay her back. There is no wife like her on eartlu She says she will go spin. Noah bids her pray for hirn. [Fol. 10, a.] Noah begins work on the ark, first invok- ing the Trinity. He gets the ark of the right dimensions. Noe. And I shaH qwyte the tho / In fayth or* syne. 228 Vxor\ Out 1 apon the, ho ! / Noe. Thou can both byte and whyne, with a rerd? ; 230 ffor all if 1 she stryke, yif fast 1 wiH she skryke, In fayth I hold? none slyke In aH mediH-erd? ; 234 (27) Bof I wiH kepe charyte /, ffor* I haue at do. VxorK Here shal no man tary the / I pray the go to ! ffuH well may we mys the / as euer haue I ro ; To spyn wiH I dres me. / Noe. We ! fare weH, lo ; Bot wife, ' 239 Pray for me besele, To eft I com vnto the. Vxor . Euen as thou prays for 1 me, As euer myght 1 1 thrife. [Exit Yxorl] 243 (28) Noe. I tary f uH Lang / Fro my warke, I traw ; Now my gere wiH I fang / and thederward draw ; I may fuH iH gang / the soth for to knaw, Bot if god help amang / I may sit 1 downe daw To ken) j 248 Now assay wiH I how I can of wrightry, In no?7ii?ie pafris, & filii, Et sptfoYits sancti. Amen. 252 (29) To begyn of this tree / my bonys wiH I bend, I traw from the trynyte / socoure wiH be send? ; It fayres fuH fay re, thynk me / this wark to my hend ; Now blissid be he / that this can amend 1 . lo, here the lenght, 257 Thre hundreth cubettfo euenly, of 1 breed lo is it fyfty, The heght is euen thyrty Cubetfa's fuH stre?zght. 261 Tovmeley Plays. III. Noah and the Arh. (30) Now my gowne wiH I cast / and wyrk in my cote, 262 Make wiH I the mast /'oi J I iiyt oone foote, A ! my bak, I traw, wiH brast ! / this is a sory note ! hit 1 is wonder that I last 1 / sich an old? dote AH dold, 266 To begyn sich a wark ! My bonys ar" so stark, No wonder if 1 thay wark, fTor> I am fuH old?. 270 (31) The top and the sayrl / both wiH I make, The helme and the casteH / also wiH I take, To drife ich a nayH / wiH I not forsake, This gere may neuer fayH / that dar* I vndertake On one. 275 This is a nobuH gyn, Thise nayles so thay ryn, Thoro more and myn, Thise bordi's ichon ; 279 (32) wyndow and doore / euen as he saide, Thre ches chambre / thay ar> weH maide, Pyk & tai J fuH sure / ther apon laide, This wiH euer endure / therof 1 am I paide ; fror why % 284 It 1 is better wrognt Then I coude haif 1 thoght ; hyni that 1 maide all of 1 noght I thank oonly. 288 (33) Now wiH I hy me / and no thyng be leder*, 'My wife and my^meneye / to bryng euen) heder. Tent hedir tydely / wife, and consider, hens must vs fie / AH sam togeder 1 In hast. 293 VxorK Whi, syr>, what alis you % Who is that asalis you % To fie it avalis you, And ye be agast 1 . 297 SI Takes off his gown to work at the mast, but finds it hard work for his old bones. He makes top & sail, helm & castle, & drives in the nails. He makes window & door, & three rooms. Then comes to his wife & bids her [Fol. 10, b.i She asks what ails him. 32 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. Noah tells his wife of the coming flood. (34) Noe. Ther is garn on the reyH / other*, my dame. 298 Vxor\ TeH me that ich a deyH / els get ye blame. Noe. He that 1 cares may keiH / blissid be his name ! he has for oure seyH / to sheld vs fro shame, And sayd«, 302 AH this warld aboute With floodz's so stoute, That shaH ryn on a route, ShaH be ouerlaide. 306 (35) All are to he he saide aH shall be slayn / bot oonely we, Oure barnes that 1 ar* bayn / and thare wifz's thre ; A ship he bad me ordayn / to safe vs & oure fee, Therfor 1 \xit7i aH oure mayn / thank we that fre Beytter of 1 bayH ; hy vs fast, go we thedir\ Vxor\ I wote neuer whedir ) , I dase and I dedir tfor 1 ferd of that tayH. themselves, their sons, and their son's wives. Slie is afraid at Ins tale. 315 Noah hids wife & sons help get together their goods. They all promise. (36) Noe. Be not aferd?, haue done / trus sam oure gere, That we be ther 1 or none / Without more dere. primus films* It shall be done fuH sone / brether*, help to bere. Secundus filius. ffuH long shaH I not hoyne / to do my devere, Brether sam. 320 Tercius filias. without any yelp, At my myght shaH I help. Vxor\ Yit for 5 drede of 1 a skelp help weH thi dam. 324 (37) The gear Noe. Now ar 1 we there / as we shuld be ; fSo\ht Sk. ^° g et in oure § ere / oure cataii and fe > In to this vesseH here / my chylde?* fre. VxorK I was neuer bard ere / As euer myght I the, In sich an oostre as this. 329 Towneley Plays. Ill Noah and the Ark 33 In fatli I can not fynd The wife t. • fc • i~ £ i_ • fc ' ' • i. v j complains of whicn is before, wnicn is behynd ; the ark. Bot shaft we here be pynd, tell fore from Noe, as haue thou blis ? 333 aft * (38) Noe. Dame, as it is skiH / here must vs abide grace ; Therfor', wife, with good wiH / com into this place. VxorK Sir, for Iak nor for giH / wiH I turne my face She won't go TiH I haue on this hiH / spon a space has done on my rok ; \ 338 spinning. Weil were he, myght get me, Now wiH I downe set me, Yit reede I no man let me, ffor 1 drede of a knok. 342 (39) Noe. Behold to the heuen / the cateractes aH, Noah sees That are open fuH euen / grete and small, are threaten- And the pianette seuen / left has thare staH. Thise thoners and levyn / downe gai J faH ffuH stout, 347 Both halles and bowers, [Pol. n, a.] Castels and towres ; ££uH sharp ar 1 thise showers, that renys aboute : 351 (40) Therfor\ wife, haue done / com into ship fast. and bids her ' * come in. Vxor. Yei, noe, go cloute thi shone / the better wiH thai last. prima mulierK Good moder, com in sone / ffoi? all is ouer Her sons' of wives cast, entreat her. Both the son and the mone. / Secunda mulied, and many wynd blast 1 ffuH sharp; 356 Thise floods so thay ryn, Therfor 1 moder come in. VxorK In f ay th yit wiH I spyn : She says she . y, . fJ ) will spin on# AH m vayn ye carp. 360 (41) Tercia Mulier\ If* ye like ye may spyn / Mode?*, in the "Why not Ship. ship?" T. PLAYS. D \ .34 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Arh. She will spin out her spindle on the hill where she is. Noah threatens her with the whip. She defies him, & wishes she were a widow. She wouldn't grudge a penny dole for his soul then, & sees other wives who think the same. Noe. Now is this twyys com in / dame, on my frenship. VxorK Wheder I lose oi J I wyn / In fayth, thi felow- ship, set I not at a pyn / this spyndiH will I slip Apon this hill, 365 Or* I styi° oone fote. Noe. Peter ! I traw we dote ; wit7*out any more note Come in if ye will. 369 (42) VxorK Yei, wate?* nyghys so nere / that I sit not 1 dry, Into ship with a byr 1 / therfoi J wiH I hy ftor 1 drede that I drone here. / • Noe. dame, securly, It bees boght fuH dere / ye abode so long by out 1 of ship. 374 Vxor\ I wiH nof, for thi bydyng, go from doore to niydyng 1 . Noe. In fayth, and for' youre long taryyng Ye shal lik on the whyp. 378 (43) Vxor\ Spare me not, I pray the / bot euen as thou thynk, Thise grete worde's shall not na^ me. / Noe. Abide, dame, and drynk ? fixo? betyn shall thou be / with this staf to thou stynk ; Ai* strokes good 1 say me. / Vxor\ what say ye, wat wynk 1 Noe. speke ! 383 Cry me mercy, I say ! Vxor\ Therto say I nay. Noe. Bot thou do, bi this day, Thi hede shall I breke. 387 (44) Vxor\ Lord, I were at ese / and hertely fdfl hoylle, Might 1 1 onys haue a measse / of wedows coyH j fFor thi sauH, without lese / shuld I dele pemiy doyH, so wold mo, no frese / that I scon this sole of 1 wife's that ar* here, 392 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. 35 ffor the life that thay leyd, Wives have Wold thare husbands were dede, life, ffor, as euer ete I brede, So wold I oure syre were. 396 (45) Noe. Yee men that has wife / whyls they ar* yong, Noah bids ' ° * ■ ° husbands If* ye luf youre life / chastice thare tong : chastise 17 d ' • their wives' Me thynk my hert ryfe / both levyr 1 and long, tongues To se sich stryfeV wedinen emong ; Bot I, 401 As haue I blys, t FoL n > b -l He will set shall chastyse this. an example. Vxor\ Yit may ye mys, MchoH nedy ! 405 (46) Noe. I shall make be still as stone / begynnar 5 of He threaten blunder' ! I shall bete the bak and bone / and breke all in sonder 1 . [They fight] Vxor\ Out, alas, I am crone ! / oute apon the, mans She cries out ' ' o / i > & beats him wonder ! back - Noe. Se how she can grone / and I lig vnder ; Bot, wife, 410 In this hast let vs ho, ffor my bak is nere in two. Vxor\ And I am bet so bio That I may not thryfe. [They enter the Aj'Jc] 414 (47) Primus films. A ! whi fare ye thus % / ffader and moder ^ e p e r o a s ch ns both ! them - Secundusfilius.^Ye shuld not be so spitus / standyng in sich a woth. Tercius films. Thise ai J so hidus / with many a cold coth. Noe. we wiH do as ye bid vs / we wiH no more be wroth, Dere barnes S 419 Now to the helrne wiH I hent, Noah takes And to my ship tent. VxorK I se on the firmament, Me thynk, the seven starnes. 423 \ 36 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. (48) The flood tfoe. This is a grete flood / wife, take hede. 424 rises. ° ' ' YxorK So me thoght, as I stode / we ar> in grete - drede ; Thise wawghes ar 5 so wode. / Noah calls Noe. help, god, in this nede ! on God. . r & As thou art 1 stere-man good / and best, as I rede, Of aH ; 428 Thon rewle vs in this rase, As thou me behete hase. Vxor\ This is a perlous case : help, sod, when we carl ! 432 (49) Noah bids Noe. Wife, tent the stere-tre / and I shaH asay the helm The depnes of the see / that we bere, if* I may. sounds. VxorK That shall I do ful wysely / now go thi way. ffor ) apon this flood haue we / flett many day, with pyne. 437 Noe. Now the water wiH I sownd : A ! it is far to the grownd ; This traueH I expownd had I to tyne. 441 (50) The waters Aboue aH hilly s bedeyn / the water is rysen late above the Cubetk's fyfteyn, 1 I bot in a highter state hills, but jw J •> i o now they It may not be, I weyn / for this weli I wate, will abate, J ' J ' ' after the 40 This forty dayes has rayn beyn / It 1 wiH therfoi ) abate daJS ' raiI1 - Futtlele. 446 This water in hast, eft wiH I tast ; He sounds Now am I agast, again. It is wanyd a grete dele. 450 (51) Now are the weders cest / and cateractes knyt, Both the most and the leest. / The wife sees Vxot j . Me thynk, bi my wit, shining in The son shynes in the eest / lo, is not yond if 1 we shuld haue a good feest / were thise floods flyt So spytus. 455 1 MS. xv. Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Arh. 37 Noe. we haue been here, aH we, They have now been thre hundreth 1 dayes and iyfty. 350 days in Vxor\ Yei, now wanys the see ; lord, weli is vs ! - 459 (52) [Pol. 12, a.] Noe. The thryd tyme wiii I prufe / what depnes we sounding!! -1 j third time, & oere. touches VxorK Now long shall thou hufe / lay in thy lyne there. s round - Noe. I may towch with my lufe / the grownd evyn here. Vxor\ Then begynnys to grufe / to vs mery chere; Bot, husband, 464 What grownd may this be 1 Noe. The hyllys of armonye. the 6 Mis °? Vxor J . Now blissid be he Armenia. That thus for vs can ordand ! 468 (53) Noe, I see toppys of 1 hyllys he / many at a syght, No thyng to let me / the wedir* is so bright. Vxor\ Thise ar of* mercy / tokyns fuH right. Noe. Dame, thi counseH me / what fowlt best myght, -Noah asks a i /-. j*- ,» n hiswifewhat And CowtS, 473 bird will fly with flight Of Wyng soonest bryng, without taryying, a r toIen a of Of mercy som tokynyng Ayther* bi north or sou the 1 477 (54) ffor this is the fyrst day / of the tent moyne. VxorK The ravyn, durst I lay / wili com agane sone ; She suggests v « *_' , the raven. As fast as thou may / cast hym furth, haue done, He may happyn to day / com agane or* none With grath. 482 Noe. I will cast out also . Dowfys oone or 1 two : He lets loose ^ a dove or Go youre way, go, two also. God send? you som wathe ! 486 (55) Now ar* thise fowles none / Into seyr* countre ; Pray we fast ichoiV/ kneland on our kne, 1 MS. ccc. 38 Noah and his family pray to God that the birds may return with good news. He wonders why they tarry so long. He hopes most from the dove. The wife sees her coming with an olive-branch in her bill. [Fol. 12, b.] Noah blesses the dove. Her return is a true token they shall be saved. Toivneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. To hym that 1 is alone / worthiest of 1 degre, 489 That he wold send anone / oure fowles som fee To glad vs. 491 Vxor\ Thai may not fayH of land, The water is so wanand. Noe. Thank we god all weldand, That 1 lord that made vs. 495 (56) It 1 is a wonder thyng / me thynk sothle, Thai ar 1 so long taryyng / the fowles that we Cast 1 out in the mornyng. / Vxor\ Syr', it 1 may be Thai tary to thay bryng. / Noe. The ravyn is a hungrye AH way ; 500 He is w^t/iout any reson, And he fynd any caryon, As pera venture may befon, he will not away ; 504 (57) The dowfe is more gentiH / her* trust I vntew, like vnto the turtiH / for' she is ay trew. Vxor\ hence bot a litiH / she commys, lew, lew ! she hvjngys in her biH / som novels new ; Behalf ! 509 If is of* an olif tre A branch, thynkys me. Noe. If is soth, perde, righf so is if caldl. 513 (58) Doufe, byr<$ fuH blist / ffayre myghf the befall ! Thou art trew for 1 to trist / as ston in the wall ; FuH weH I it wist / thou wold com to thi haH, Vxorl A trew tokyn isf / we shaft be sauyd aH : ffoi^whi? 518 The water, syn she com, Of depnes plom, Is fallen a fathom, And more hardely. 522 Towneley Plays. III. Noah and the Ark. 30 (59) Primus films. Thise floods ar' gone / fader, behold'. Seeundus /ilius. Ther 1 is left right 1 none / and that be ye bold!. Tercius /ilius, As stirl as a stone / oure ship is stold. Noe. Apon land here anone / that we were, fayn I wold ; My childe?* dere, 527 Sem, Japhet and Cam, with gle and with gam, Com go we arl sam, Noah's sons exclaim that the. floods are gone at thou hy Ynto the land of Visyon ; 68 And the thryd day be thei J , bid? I, And take vritih the, Isaac, thi son, As a beest to sacryfy, To slo hym look thou not shon, 72 (10) And bren hym trier* to thyn offerand. Abraham. A, lovyd be thou, lord in throne ! hold oner me, lord, thy holy hand, ffor 1 cerU's thi bidyng shall be done. 76 Blissyd be that lord in euery land - wold viset his seruand thus so soyn). ffayn wold I this thyng ordand, ffor it profettz's noghtt to hoyne ; [Exit Deus.] 80 (ii) This co??zmaundement 1 must 1 1 ned^s fulfill, If 4 that my hert wax hevy as leyde ; Shuld I offend my lordz's wiH ? Nay, yit were I leyffer' my child were dede. 84 What 1 so he bidd^s me, good or* iH, That 4 shaH be done in euery steede ; Both wife and child?, if 1 he bid spiH ; I wille not do agans his rede. 88 Towneley Plays. IV. Abraham. 43 (12) wist Isaac, wher 5 so lie were, he wold be abast now, how that he is in dangere. Isaac, son, wher art* thou? 92 Isaac. AH redy, fader, Lo me here ; Now was I commyng vnto you ; I luf* you mekiH, fader dere. Abraham. And dos thou so 1 I wold wit how 96 (13) \vlis thou me, son, as thou has saide. Isaac. Yei, fader*, with all myn hart, More then aH that 1 euer was maide ; God hold me long youre life in quart ! 100 Abraham. Now, who would not be glad that had A child so luf and as thou art 1 1 Thi lufly chere makis my hert glad, And many a tyme so has it gart. 104 (14) Go home, son ; com sone agane, And teH thi moder I com f ul fast ; [hie tmnssiet Jsaac a patre, So now god the saif and sayne ! Now weH is me that he is past ! 108 Alone, right here in this playn, Might I speke to myn hart brast, I wold? that 1 aH were weH ful fayn, Abraham calls Isaac. [Fol. 14, a. Sig. D. 2.] Isaac comes to him. ' I love you much, dear father.' Abraham rejoices in his son's love, and bids him tell his mother he is coming quickly. Now he is alone he could speak till his heart break. Bof it* must 1 ne&is be done at last* 112 (15) And it 1 is good that I be war*, To be avised full good it were. 1 The land of 4 vision ^s ful far 5 , The thrid day end must I be there ; 1 Myn ase shaH with vs, if 1 it thar 1 , To bere oure harnes les & more, ffor* my son may be slayn no nar* ; A swerd must 1 with vs yit therf ore, But he must prepare for Ms three days' journey. 116 120 1 The rhyme needs ' wore, thore. 44 Toivneley Plays. IV. Abraham. Abraham (16) will start this night, And 1 shall found? to make me yare ; 121 win must be This nyght wiH I begyn my way, Jpof 1 Isaac be neuer so fayre, And myn awn son, the soth to say, 124 And? thof 1 he be myn right haire, And all shuld weld after my day, Godds bydyng 1 shall I not spare ; shuld I that ganstand 1 ? we, nay, ma fay! 128 (17) He calls Isaac ! Isaac, & tells Twar sir » him to pre- J-bOOO. fall . Sumeyfo Abraham. — luke thou be bowne; farcou?t^ a ffor> certan > son > tni self * and *» He is to take we frwo must 1 now weynd furth of 1 towne, wood & fire. J ' In far? country to sacrifie, 132 ffor certan skyllys and encheson. Take wod and f yere with the, in hy ; Isaac shall Bi hillys and! dayllys, both vp & downe, wm walk. son, thou shal ride and I wiH go bi. - 136 (18) looke thou mys noght Jxxt tliou shuld? nede ; Do make the redy, my darlyng ! Isaac is Isaac. I am redy to do this dede, ready at his - word. And euer to fulfill youre bydyng. 140 Abraham. My dere son, look thou haue no drede, We shal com home with grete loyyng ; Both to & fro I shal vs lede ; Com now, son, in my blyssyng. 144 (19) [They come Ye two here with this asse abide, [To the Servants. of sacrifice!] ffor* Isaac & I wiH to yond hill ; ^ihfthe 1 1^ is so hie we may not 1 ride, sS^behild. therfor 5 ye two shal abide here still. 148 primus puerK sir, ye ow not to be denyed : we ar redy youre bydyng to fulfill. secxmdus puer\ What 1 so eue?" to vs betide To do youre bidyng ay we wiH. 152 Towneley Plays. IV. Abraham. 45 (20) Abraham. Gock's blyssyng 1 haue ye both in fere ; I shaH not tary long you fro. primus puerK Sir*, we shal abide yon here, Oute of this stede shaH we not 1 go. Abraham. Childre, ye ar 1 ay to me furl dere, I pray god kepe [you] euer fro wo. Secxmdus puer\ we wiH do, sir, as ye vs lere. Abraham. Isaac, now ar* we bot 1 we two, (21) we must go a fuH good paase, ffor it 1 is farther than I wend* ; we shaH make myrtri & grete solace, Bi this thyng be broght to end. lo, my son, here is the place. Isaac, wod and fyere ar* in my hend ; TeH me now, if 4 ye haue space, where is the beest 1 that 1 shuld be brend % (22) Abraham. Now, son, I may no longer layn, sich wiH is into myne hart went ; Thou was euer to me f uH bayn Euer to fulfill myn entenf. Bot 1 certanly thou mu.st 1 be slayn, And it 1 may be as I haue ment. Isaac. I am hevy and nothyng fayn, Thus hastely that shaH be shent. (23) Abraham. Isaac ! Isaac. sir 1 Abraham them. He will soon be back. [Fol. 14, b.] 156 164 168 He and Isaac come to the place. Isaac asks where is the beast they are to burn. Abraham tells him he is to be slain. Abraham. A Com heder, bid I ; Thou shal be dede what so euer betide. Isaac. A, fader, mercy ! mercy ! Abraham. That 1 1 say may not 1 be denyde ; Take thi dede therfor* mekely. Isaac. A, good sir, abide ; ffader / Abraham. What son? Isaac. to do youre wiH I am redy, where so euer ye go or' ride, 172 Isaac is heavy at heart and •j y n unwilling. Abraham bids him take his death meekly & he submits. 180 184 46 Towneley Plays. IV. Abraham. Isaac says since he has trespassed he would be beaten. But what has he done ? "Truly, no ill," Abra- ham an- swers, yet that may not help him. His ques- tions wring Abraham's heart, but he bids him lie still. [Fol. 15, a. Sig. D. 3.] Isaac quakes at the sight of the sword. He is placed on his face that he may not see it. (24) If 1 1 may oght 1 ouertake youre will, 185 syn I haue trepa[s]fr I wold be bet. Abraham. Isaac ! Isaac. What, sirl Abraham. good son, be still. Isaac, ffader! Abraham. what, son! Isaac. think on thi get ! 188 what haue I done 1 Abraham. truly, none iH. Isaac. And shall be slayn 1 Abraham. so haue I het. Isaac, sir, what may help % Abraham. cerU's, no skiH. Isaac. I ask mercy. Abraham. that may not let. 192 (25) Isaac, when I am dede, and closed in clay, who shall then be youre son 1 Abraham. A, lord, that I shuld abide this day ! Isaac, sir, who shall do that I was won 1 196 4-braham. speke no sich word^, son, I the pray. Isaac, shall ye me slo % Abraham. I trow I mon) ; lyg still ! I smyte ! Isaac. sir, let 1 me say. Abraham. IS"ow, my dere child, thou may not shon). 200 (26) Isaac. The shynyng of youre bright 1 blayde If gars me quake for ferde to dee. Abraham. Therfor* grorlyng^s thou shall be layde, Then when I stryke thou shal not se. 204 Isaac. What 1 haue I done, fader, what haue I saide 1 Abraam. Truly, no kyns iH to me. Isaac. And thus gyltles shall be arayde. Abraham. Now, good son, let sich wordz's be. (27) Isaac. I luf 1 you ay. Abraham. so do I the. 208 Towneley Plays. IV. Abraham. m Is&ac. ffader ! Abraham. what 1 , son 1 Isaac. let now be seyn). ffor > my moder luf. Abraham. let be, let be ! It 1 wiH not help that thou wold 4 meyn ; Bot 1 ly styH tiH I com to the, I mys a lytyH thyng, I weyn. he spelu's so rufully to me That 1 water shoiis in both myn eeyn, Isaac im- plores Abra- ham by his mother's love. 212 Abraham turns aside, blinded by tears. 216 (28) I were leuer than aH wardly wyn, That I had fon hym onys vnkynde, Bot 1 no defawfr I faund hym in : I wold be dede for 1 hym, or* pynde ; To slo hym thus, I thynk grete syn, So rufuH wordz's I with hym fynd ; I am fuH wo that we shuld twyn, ffor he wiH neuer oute of 1 my mynd. 220 224 If only he had found Isaac once unkind ! 228 232 (29) What shal I to his moder say ? ffor " where is he," tyte wiH she spyr ; If 1 1 teH hir>, " ron away," hii J answere bese belife — " nay, sir 1 ! " And I am ferd? hir 1 for to slay ; I ne wote what I shal say tiH hir\ he lyys fuH still ther* as he lay, ffor to I com, dar* he not 1 styr. i \ (30) [God appears above.] Deus. Angeit, hy with aH thi mayn ! To abraham thou shaH be sent ; say, Isaac shaH not 1 be slayn ; he shaH lif 1 , and not 1 be brent. 236 My bydyng standi he not agane, Go, put 1 hym out of 1 his intent 1 ; Byd? hym go home agane, I know weH how he ment. 240 What shall he say to his mother? She will not believe Isaac has run away. God bids an angel tell Abraham to spare his son. 48 Towneley Plays. IV. Abraham. [Fol. 15, b.] The Angel rejoices in his errand. Abraham says to him- self he must run up sud- denly & slay Isaac where he lies. The Angel bids him hold his hand. Abraham doubts which is God's final order. The Angel assures him, & he thanks God for His goodness. 244 248 252 256 (31) Angelus. Gladly, Lord, I am redy : thi bidyng shaH be magnyfyed ; I shaH me spede ful hastely, the to obeye at euery tyde ; Thi wiH, Thi name, to glorifye, Oner aH this warld so wide ; And to thi seruand now in hy, good, trew, abraham, wiH I glyde. (32) Abraham. Bot myght I yit of 1 wepyng sese, till I had done this sacrifice ; It must 1 nedi's be, withoutten lesse, thof 1 aH I carpe on this kyn wise, The more my sorow it 1 wiH incres ; when I look to hym, I gryse ; I wiH ryn on a res, And slo hym here, right as he lyse. (33) Angelus. Abraham ! Abraham ! [Seizes him."] Abraham. Who is ther* now 1 War 1 ! let the 1 go. Angelus. stand vp, now, stand ; Thi good wiH com I to alow, Therfor I byd the hold' thi hand. 260 Abraham, say, who bad* so ^ any bot 1 thou 1 Angelus. Yei, god ; & sendw this beest to thyn offerand*. Abraham. I speke with god latter, I trow, And doyng he me commaund. 264 (34) Angelus. He has pe?*sauyd thy mekenes And thi good wiH also, Iwis ; he wiH thou do thi son no distres, ffor 1 he has graunt to the his blys. 268 Abraham. Bot wote thou weH that it is As thou has sayd ? Angelus. I say the yis. Abraham. I thank the, lord?, weH of 1 goodnes, That 1 aH thus has relest 1 me this ; 272 1 Query "me." Towncley Plays. V. Isaac. (35) To speke wzt/z, the haue I no space, with my dere son till I haue spokyn. Mj good son, thou shal haue grace, On the now wiU I not 1 be wrokyn ; 276 Eyse vp now, with thi frely face. Isaac, sir 1 , shaH I lif 1 Abraham. . yei, this to tokyn. Efi osculatm eum. son thou has skapid a fuH hard grace, Thou shuld haue beyn both brent & brokyn. 280 (36) Isaac. Bot, fader, shaH I not 1 be slayn ? Abraham. No, certos, son. Isaac. then am I glad ; Good sir, put 1 vp youre sword agayn. Abraham. Nay hardely, son, be thou not adrad. 284 Isaac. Is aH for geyn 1 Abraham. yei, son, certan. Isaac, fror 1 ferd, sir, was I nere-hand mad. 286 ****** [Two leaves of the MS." are wanting here, sigs. d 4 and d 5. They contained the end of Abraham and the beginning, almost all, of Isaac.} 49 Abraham tells Isaac he is not to be killed. Bids him arise, and kisses him. Isaac bids him put up his sword again. He was almost mad for fear. [Isaac] [Incomplete. The last 35 couplets only left.] [Dramatis Personae. Isaac. Jacob. Esaw. Rebecca.] ****** [Isaac.'] Com nere son and kys me, that 1 I may feyle the smerl of* the. The smerl of my son is lyke to a feld with flouris, or 1 hony bike, where art 1 thou, Esaw, my son ? Iacob. here, fader, and askw youre benyson. T. PLAYS. [Fol. 16, a.] Isaac bids Esau come near that he may smell him. Jacob comes instead and asks his blessing. 50 Townehy Plays. V. Isaac. Isaac blesses IsaacK The blyssyng my fader gaf to me, mlstakTfor god of heuen & I gif the ; 8 Esau - God gif the plente grete, of wyne, of H oyH, and of 1 whete ; And graunt 1 thi childre aH to worship the, both grete and small ; 12 who so the blyssys, blyssed be he ; who so the waris, wared be he. Now has thou my grete blyssyng, loue the shaH aH thyne ofspryng 1 ; 16 Go now wheder thou has to go. Iacob. Graunt mercy, s^r, I wiH do so. recedet iacob. [Esau- advances.] Esau brings Esaw. haue, ete, fader, of 1 myn) huntyng 1 , venison he And gif me sythen jour blyssyng. 20 has prepared . and asks his Isaac', Who IS that « blessing. _ Esaw. 1, youre son t Esaw, bryng^9 you venyson. Isaac). Who was that 1 was right 1 now here, And broght 1 me bruet of 1 a dere % 24 T ete weH, and blyssyd hym ; And he is blyssyd, ich a lym). Esaw. Alas ! I may grete and sob. Isaac sees Isaac\ Thou art begylyd thrugh iacob, 28 been That 1 is thyne awne german) brother*. Jacob. Esaw. haue ye kepyd me none other 1 Blyssyng then ye set 1 hym one 1 He gives Isaac, sich another* haue I none; 32 feiSsing Bott god gif the to thyn handband e ean * the dew of heuen & frute of land* ; Other* then this can I not 1 say. Esau vows Esaw. Now, alas, and walo-way ! 36 to slay Jacob __ T .,, ,, . . if he meet May 1 witn that 1 tratoure mete, my faders dayes shaH com with grete, And my moders may I hym mete, I shaH hym slo. 40 [Esaw retires. Rebecca advances,] Rebecca. Isaac 1 , it 1 were my deth If Iacob weddeth in kynd of heth : Towneley Plays. V. Isaac. 51 I wiH send hym to aran, there my brothere dwellys, laban ; 44 And there may lie serue in peasse tiH his brother's wrath wiH seasse. why shuld? I apon a day loyse both my sonnes 1 better nay. 48 Isaac* . Thou says soth, wife ; carl hym heder, And let vs teU hym where & wheder That he may tie esaw, that 1 vs both heU's bale to brew. 52 [Iacob advances.] Rebecca. Iacob, son ! thi fader & I wold? speke with the j com, stand* vs by ! Out 1 of 1 contry must 1 thou tie, that 1 Esaw slo not the. 56 Iacob. "Whederward? shuld? I go, dame 1 Rebecca. To mesopotameam ; To my brothere, and thyn erne, that dwellys besyde Iordan streme ; 60 And ther 1 may thou with hym won, to Esaw, niyne other' son), fforget, and aU his wrath be dede. Iacob. I will go, fader, at youre rede. 64 Isaac. Yei, son, do as thi moder says ; Com kys vs both, & weynd thi ways. ' et osculatui. Iacob. Haue good day, sir and dame ! Isaac. God shield 1 the, son, from syn and shame ! 68 Rebecca. And gif 1 the grace, good man to be, And send me glad tythyngw to the. Explicit Isaac. Rebecca and Isaac resolve to send Jacob to his uncle Laban till Esau's wrath, cease. Eebecca tells Jacob he must flee from Esau. [Fol. 16, b.] He kisses his father & mother, & goes his way with their blessing. 52 Towneley Plays. VI. Jacob. (VI.) SequiW iacob. [71 couplets aa.] [Dramatis Personae. Lya. [Leah.] j Turmae. \ Joseph. Benjamin Jacob. Deus. Racheft. Jacob. Jacob prays ' f ;§~ e *P me lo?&, adonay, his guide 6 on And bald' me in the right 1 way Esaw.] H his way * To mesopotameam ; ffor 1 1 cam neuer or* now where I am j 4 I cam neuer here in this contre ; lord' of 1 heuen, thou help me ! ffor 1 1 haue maide me, in this strete, ' sore bonys & warkand feete. 8 The son is downe, what is best 1 ? He lies down her* purpose I ail nyght to rest 1 ; a stone P for a Vnder* my hede this ston) shal ly ; pmow * A nyghtw rest 1 take wiH I. 12 to°wm and* -Deus. Iacob, iacob, thi god I am ; [Deuus appears above.] blesses him. Of 1 thi forfader abraham, And of 1 thi fader Isaac ; I shaH the blys for 1 thare sake. 1 6 This land? that 1 thou slepys in, I shaH the gif 1 , and thi kyn ; I shaH thi seede multyply, As thyk as powder on ertii may ly. 20 The kynd of 1 the shaH sprede wide, ffrom eest 1 to west 1 on euery syde, ffrom the south vnto the north ; AH that 1 1 say, I shaH forth ; 24 And aH the foYkis of 1 thyne ofspryng, shal be blyssyd of 1 thy blyssyng 1 . Iacob, haue thou no kyns drede ! I shaH the clethe, I shaH the fede. 28 WhartfuH shaH I make thi gate ; I shal the help erly and late ; Towneley Plays. VI. Jacob. 53 And aH in qwarf shaH I bryng the home agane to thi countre. I shaH not 1 fayH, be thou bold?, Bot I shaH do as I haue told?. hie vigilet. Iacob. A ! lord ! what 1 may this mene] what 1 haue I herd* in slepe, and sene 1 That god leynyd hym to a stegh, And spake to me, it 1 is no leghe; And now is here none othere gate, bot 1 god^'s howse and heuens yate. lord, how dredfuH is this stede ! ther* I layde downe my hede, In godis lovyng 1 1 rayse this stone, And? oyH will I putt 1 theron). lord 1 of 1 heuen, that aH wote, here to the I make a hote : If 1 thou gif 1 me mete and foode, And close to body, as I behoued ? , And bryng me home to kytfi. and kyn, by the way that I walk in, without 1 skathe and in quarte, I promyse to the, with stedfast 1 hart 1 , As thou art 1 lord? and god myne, And I Iacob, thi trew hyne, This stone jl rayse in sygne to day shaH I hold? holy kyrk for 1 ay ; And of 1 aH: that 1 newes me rightwys tend 1 shaH I gif 1 the. hie egrediatux iacob de aran in texram natiuitatis sue. A, my fader, god of 1 heuen, that 1 saide to me, thrugh thi steven, when I in aran was dwelland*, that 1 I shuld turne agane to land? Ther* I was both fed and borne, warnyd thou me, lord, beforne, As I went 1 toward aran with my staff, and passyd* Iordan : God pro- of) mises him a O^ peaceful return home. 36 40 44 48 52 56 Jacob awakes, & sets up a stone in praise of God, pouring oil thereon. The stone is his witness, that if God provides for him & brings him home in peace he will hold to his holy Church for ever. [Fol. 17, a.] On his return g0 from Aran, Jacob remembers God's pro- mise. 64 54 Toivneley Plays. VI. Jacob. Jacob is re- turning with two hosts of He prays God to pro- tect him from Esau. He has sent Esau many- beasts as a present, & hopes it may pacify him. And now I com agane to kyth, with two ostes of 1 men me with. Thou hete me, lord', to do well with me, to multyplye my seede as sand of 1 see ; Thou saue me, lord*, thrugfr vertew, ffrom veniance of 1 Esaw, That 1 he slo not 1 , for" old? greme, these moders with thare barne teme. HacheR. Oure anguysh, sir 1 , is many fold', syn that 1 oure messyngere vs told' That Esaw wold' you slo, with foure hundreth men and mo. Iacob. ffor ) soth, racheH, I haue hym sent of 1 many beesto's sere present". May tyde he wiH oure giitis take, And right 1 so shall his wrath slake, where ar ) oure thjngis, ar* thay past Iordan 1 Lya. Go and look, sir 1 , as ye can. 68 72 76 80 84 hie scrutetui superlectile, & luctetui angelus cum eo. He wrestles with God, and will not let Him go. God changes his name to Israel. Jacobs asks God's name, and is told "Wonder- ful." Deus. The day spryngw ; now lett 1 me go. Iacob. Nay, nay, I wiH not so, Bot 1 thou blys me or* thou gang : If I may, I shall hold' the lang. Deus. In tokynyng that 1 thou speHs with me, I shall toche now thi thee, That halt shaH thou euermore, bot 1 thou shall fele no sore ; What 1 is thy name, thou me teH 1 Iacob. Iacob. Deus. nay, bot 1 Israeli ; syn thou to me sich strengths may kythe, to men of 1 erth thou must be stythe. Iacob. what is thy name 1 Deus. whi askis thou it 1 1 wonderful!,' if 1 thou wil wyt. Iacob. A, blys me, lord? ! Deus. I shaH the blys, And be to the fuH propyce, 88 92 96 100 Towneley Plays. VI. Jacob, 55 And gyf 1 the my blyssyng for 1 ay, God blesses As lord and he that 1 aH may. I shaH grayth thi gate, And furl well ordeyn thi state ; 104 when thou has drede, thynk on me, And thou shal fuH well saynyd be, And look thou trow weH my sayes ; And farewell now, the day dayes. 108 Iacob. Now haue I a new name, israeH : Jacob calls ' the place this place shaH Thigh t] fanueH, "PanueU," r L . . for he has ffor 1 1 haue seyn in this place, seen God J r i face to fac& god of* heuen) face to face. 112 RacheR. Iacob, lo we haue tythand? Rachel . announces that 1 Esaw is here at 1 hand. the approach hie diuidit tmmas in tres pontes. of Esau. Iacob. EacheH, stand thou in the last 1 eschele, J? c .o, b , . divides his ffor* I wold? thou were sauyd wele : 116 hosts into three parts, CaH Ioseph and-beniamin, placing r Rachel & her And let 1 thevm not 1 fro the twyn. sons in the T . . , _ J third for lr it 1 be so that 1 Esaw safety, vs before aH-to-hew, 120 Ye that 1 ar* here the last 1 [Fol. 17, b.] Ye may be sauyd if 1 ye He fast. & vadat ifrcob osculand) Esaw; venit iacob, flectit genua exorando deum, & leuando, occuirit illi Esaw in amplexibus. Iacob. I pray the, lord, as thou me heft, Jacob & 1 thou saue me and* my gete. 124 ea^h other Esaw. welcom brother*, to kyn and kyth, kmdiy. thi wife and childre thaft comes the with, how has thou far en in far 1 land? % teU me now som good tythand?. 128 Iacob. Well, my brother* Esaw, If 1 thaft thi men no bale me brew. dicit seruis suis. Esaw. wemo ! felows, hold youre hend, Esau bids frend?, 1 MS. that. ye se that I and he ai> frend', 132 gSXSta? 56 Towneley Plays. VII. The Prophets. Jacob thanks Esau for his kindness. Esau recog- nizes him as his lord "through destiny." And frenship here wiH we fulfiH, syn that 1 it 1 is gock's wiH. Iacob. God yeld you, brothere, that it so is that* thou thi hyne so wold? kys. Esaw. Nay, Iacob, my dere brothere, I shaH the teH att anothere ; Thou art 1 my lord' thrugh destyny ; go we togeder both thou and I, To my fader and his wife, that 1 lofys the, brother*, as thare lyfe. Explicit Iacob. 136 140 reminds the people of Israel of the condemna- tion of Adam. God will raise up a prophet, & all who believe in him shall be saved. (VII.) Processus Prophetarwm. [Incomplete : 39 six-lined stanzas, aab ccb, and 4 bits of Latin.] [Dramatis Personae. Dauid. Sybilla propheta. Daniel.] (Prolog.) PRophetain excitabifr deus de f ratribws vestris ; Omms arcima, que now audierif prophetam ilium, exterminabitwr de popwlo suo ; JSTemo p?*ophe£a sine honore nisi in patria sua. (i) AH ye folk of 1 israeH, herkyn to me ! I wiH you teH Tythyngzs farly goode ; 3 AH wote ys how it 1 be fell wherfor 1 Adam was dampnyd? to heH, he, and aH his blode. 6 (2) Therfor 5 wiH god? styr* and rayse A prophete, in som man dayes, Of* onre brethere kyn ; 9 And aH trowes as he says, And wiH walk in his ways, ffrom heH he wiH theym twyn. 12 Tovmeley Plays. VII. The Prophets. (3) when his tyme begynnys to day, I rede no man fro hym dray, In way, ne stand on strut ; ffor he that wiH nofr here his sagh, he be shewed? as an out-lagh, And from his iolhis be putt 1 . I warne you weH that same prophete shaH com hereafter ward', furl swete, And many meruels shew ; Man snarl faH tiH his feete, rTor 1 cause he can bales beete, Thrugh his awn thew. (5) AH that 1 wiH in irowth ren shaH he saue, I warne you then, Trust 1 shaH his name be. Bot 1 aH oue?' wiH man prophete ken with worship, amang^'s men, Bot 1 in his awne countre. I (6) herkyns ali, both yong and old* ! God that 1 has aH in wold?, Gretys you /bi me ; his commaundementos ar* ten ; Behold', ye that ar* his men, here ye may theym se. (7) his co??imaundement£s that I haue broght 1 , looke that ye hold* thaym noght 1 ffor' tryfyls, ne for* fables ; ffor ye shaH weH vnderstand? That 1 god wrote theym wit7i his hand? In thyse same tables. (8) Ye that 1 thyse in hart wiH halo?, vnto heuen shaH ye be cald', 57 15 18 27 30 33 36 39 He who will not hear him shall be as an outlaw The prophet shall show many o 1 marvels. 24 He will save them who walk in truth. But a pro- phet ever has honour save in his own country. [Fol. 18, a.] Moses de- clares God's command- ments. They are no trifles nor fables. God wrote them with 42 His own hand. 58 They who hold them in their heart shall go to heaven ; those who do not, to hell. The first command- ment is against idols. The second, against swearing falsely by God's name. The third, to keep the holy day. The fourth, to honour father and mother. The fifth, to forsake fornication & take a mate. The sixth, to be no manslayer. The seventh, not to steal. The eighth, to be true of tongue. Toivneley Plays, VII. The Prophets, That 1 is fyrst to com) ; And ye that wiH not do so, TiH heH: pyne mon ye go, And byde a bytter dome. (9) Do now as I shaH you wys ; The fyrst commaundement 1 is this That 1 1 shall you say ; Make no god of 1 stok ne stone, And* trow in none god bofr oone, That 1 mayde both nyght and day. (10) Anothere bydz's thou shaH not swere, ffor 1 no mede, ne for 1 no dere, ffalsly, bi godz's name ; If 1 thou swere wrongwosly, Wit thou weH and wytterly, Thou) art worthi grete blame. (ii) The thyrd? is, thou shaH weH yheme Thi holy day, and serue to wheme God with aH thi hart 1 . The fourt 1 commaundement 1 is bi tayH, ffader and moder worship thou shaH, In pouert 1 and in qwarte. (12) The fyft commaundz's thou shaH forsake ft'ornycacyon, and take the a make, And lyf* in rightwys state. The sext 1 commaundz's thou shal not 1 be Man sloer 1 , for gold? ne fee, 2\Te for 1 luf 1 , ne for hate. (13) The seuenth commaundz's that 1 thou shaH leue, And nather* go to stele ne reue, ffor more then for 1 les. The aght 1 bydz's both old* and yong, That thay be traw of 1 thare tong, And bere no fals witnes. 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 78 Towneletj Plays. VII. The Prophets. (14) The nenth hydis the, bi thi lif*, Thou desyre not 1 thi neghbur's wife, 3STe mayden that 1 is his. 81 The tent 1 hi&is the, for* no case, Desyre not 1 wranwosly thyng thi neghbur' has ; Do thus, and do no mys. 84 (15) I am the same man that 1 god chase, And toke the ten commaundementa's of peasse In the monte synay ; 87 Thise woidis, I say, ar no les ; My name is callyd moyses ; And hane now aH good day ! [Exit Moses.] 90 Dauid. Omwes reges adorabunt eum, omnes gentes seruient ei. (16) herkyn, aH, that 1 here may, And perceyf well what I shaR say, AH with righ[t]wisnes. 93 loke ye put 1 it 1 not 1 away, Eot 1 thynk theron/ both nyght 1 and day, flW it 1 is sothfastnes. 96 , (") Iesse son, ye wote I am ; Dauid is my right 1 name, And I bere crowne 3 99 Bot 1 ye me trow, ye ar to blame ; Of 1 Israel, both wyld* and tame, I haue in my bondon. 1 102 (18) As god of 1 heuen has gyffyn me wit, shall I now syng you a fytt, With my mynstrelsy ; 105 loke ye do it 1 well in wrytt 1 , And theron a knot 1 knytt 1 , fTor* it 1 is prophecy. 108 59 The ninth, not to covet thy neigh- bour's wife. The tenth, to covet nothing of thy neigh- bour's. [Fol. 18, b.] These words are true. David bids the people think on righteous- ness. I am Jesse's son, David, and have all Israel sub- ject to me. He will sing a fytt, which shall be a prophecy. 1 The ryme needs ■ bondowne. 60 Towneley Plays. VII. The Prophets. David sings of the coming of God's Son to be man's Saviour. Of His coming he is glad. God's Son shall return to the highest seat in heaven. He shall be lord of all. Kings shall kneel to Him, and bring Him rich gifts. [Fol. 19, a. Sig. E. 1.] (19) Myrth I make tiH aH men, with my harp and fyngers ten, And warn theym that thay glad? ; ffor god wiH that his son down send*, That 1 wroght 1 adam with his hend?, And heuen and erth mayde. (20) He wiH lyght 1 fro heuen towre, fTor to be mans saueyoure, And saue that 1 is f orlorne ; fTor that 1 1 harp, and myrth make, Is for he wiH manhede take, I teft you thus beforne ; (21) And thider shaH he ren agane, As gyant 1 of mych mayne, Ynto the hyest 1 sete ; Ther is nawther' kyng, ne swayn, Then no thyng that 1 may hym layn, Ne hyde from his hete. (22) he shaH be lord? and kyng of aft, TyH hys feete shaH kyng/s faH, To offre to hym wytterly. Blyssyd* be that 1 swete blome, That 1 shaH saue vs at his com) ! IoyfuH may we be. (23) Kiche gyftz's thay shaH hym bryng, And tiH hym make offeryng, kneland on thare kne ; weft were hym that 1 that lordyng, And that dere derlyng 1 , Myght 1 bide on lyfe and se. (24) Men may know hym bi his marke, Myrth and lovyng 1 is his warke, that 1 shaH he luf 1 most. Ill LU 117 120 123 129 132 135 138 141 Towneley Plays. VII. The Prophets. lyghtt shaft be born that 1 tyine in darke, Both to lawd* man and to dark, the luf 1 of rightwys gost. (25) Therfor', both emperoure and kyng, Eyche and poore, both old? and ying, temper weil youre gle, Agans that kyng lyght 1 downe, ffor 1 to lowse vs of* pryson, And make vs all free. 144 147 150 61 Light shall come both to layman and to clerk. Temper your glee, emperor & king, till that King come to free us. Ostende nobis dora^ne misericordiam tuam, et> salutare tuum da (26) Thou shew thi mercy, lord, tyft vs, ffor to thou com, to hell we trus, we may not* go beside ; lord, when thi wiH is for 1 to dele TyH us thi salue and tfyi hele, whom we aft abyde. , (27) Now haue I songen you a fytt 1 ; loke in mynd that ye haue it 1 , I rede with my my gilt 1 ; he that 1 maide vs aft -with his wytt 1 , sheld? vs aft from heft pytt, And graunt 1 vs heuew lyght 1 ! 153 156 159 Till the Lord come we must all go to hell. [Exit David.] 162 I have sung you a fytt, look you keep it in mind. sibilla pwpheta. Iudicii signum tellus sudore madescit 1 , E celo rex adueniet 1 per secla futurus, Scilicet 1 in carne p?*esens vt 1 iudicet 1 orbem. (28) Who so wyft here tythyngas glad 8 , of 1 hym that aft this warld? made, here me wytterly ! 165 sibift sage is my name ; Bot 1 ye me here, ye ar to blame, My word? is p?'ophecy. 168 The Sibyl calls on men to hear her. 62 Towneley Plays. VII. The Projjhets. A new king is coming to fight the fiend. He shall judge the world. Every man shall rise in his flesh, & see Him on the Judg- ment Day. [Fol. 19, b.] They shall stand before Him, and the earth shall be burnt with fire. Hill and dale shall run together & all be made even. (29) AH men was slayn thrugh adam syn, And put to pyne that 1 neuer shall blyn, thrugh falsnes of* the f eynd* ; A new kyng comes from heuen to fyght 1 Agans the feynd, to wyn his right, so is his mercy heynd*. (30) AH the warlct shaH he deme, And that 1 haue seruyd hym to wheme, Myrth thaym mon betyde ; AH shall se hym with thare ee, Eyche and poore, low and hye, No man may hym hyde ; (31) Bot 1 thay shaH in thare flesh ryse, That 1 euery man shaH whake and gryse, Agans that ilk dome. with his sanU's, many oone, he shaH be sene in flesh and f bone, that 1 kyng that 1 is to com. (32) AH that shaH stand hym before, AH shal be les and more, Of 1 oone eld J ichon. Angels shall' qwake then for 1 ferd, And fyre shaH bren this mydyH-erd', yei, erth and' aH ther apon). (33) shaH nothyng here in erth be kencl, Bot it 1 shaH be strewyd* and brendl, AH waters and the see. sythen shaH both hiH and dale Byn togeder, grete and smale, And aH shaH euen be. (34) At hys commyng shaH bemys blaw, That 1 men may his commyng knaw ; ffuH sorowfuH shaH be that blast ; 171 174 177 180 183 186 189 192 195 198 201 keep him from sin. Towneley Plays. VII. The Prophets. 63 Ther is no man that 1 herys it 1 , Trumpets _ , .. ,- , „ , „ , . ... shall blow at Bot 1 he shall qwake for an his witt, His coming. Be he neuer so stedfast. 204 quake at the sound. (35) Then shall hell gape and gryn, Hell shall That men may know thare dome therin, TheWshaii Of 1 that 1 hye iustyce ; 207 good To 3 ' That 1 iH have done, to heli mon go ; And to henen the other* also, that 1 has been rightwys. 210 (36) Therfor*, I rede ilk a man, Therefore let t -it, -i each man kepe, as wen as he can, fTro syn and fro mysdede. 213 My prophecy now haue I told ; God? you saue, both yong and old, And help von at youre nede ! [Exit Sybil.] 216 Daniel. Cum venerit sanctus sanctorum cessabit 1 vncio Yestm. (37) God that maide adam and eue, Daniel whils thay dyd well, he gaf thaym leue fail of Adam. In paradise to dwell ; 219 Sone when thay that 1 appyll ete, Thay were dampned?, sone and skete, Ynto the pyne of 1 hen, 222 (38) Thrugh sorow and paynes euer new ; God ^g Therfor wyn god apon vs rew, SS^L 8011 And his son downe send? 225 aSenlTour Into erth, flesh to take, trespass. That 1 is all for oure sake, oure trespas to amend'. 228 (39) fflesh with fleshe will be boght, That he lose not that he has wroght wyth hys. awne hend? ; 231 64 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. He shall be born of a maiden to save the lost. Of* a madyn shal he be borne, To saue aH that 1 ar* forlorne, Euermore withoutten end'. 1 234 [Fol. 21, a. Sig. E. 3.] Pharaoh calls for Peace. He is king as his father was before him. All Egypt his. They who hearken not to his words shall be hanged high. (VIII.) Incipit Pharao. [36 eight-line stanzas, ab ab ab ab ; 1 seven-line {no. 49), ab ab aba ; 1 six {no. 55), ab ab ab ; 32 fours, ab ab ; and 2 single lines, 109, 355.] [Dramatis Personae Pharao. I Moyses. i Primus Puer. Primus Miles. Deus. ' Secundus Puer.] Secundus Miles. I Pharao. (1) Litsters Pagonn* PEas, of payn that* no man pas ; bott kepe the course that I commaunde, And take good hede of hym that 1 has youre helth aH holy in hys hande ; 4 ifor kyng pharro my fader Was, And led thys lordshyp of thys land ; I am hys hayre as age Wyll has, Euer in stede to styr or stand. 8 (2) AH Egypt is myne awne To leede aftyr my law ; I Wold my myght Were knawne 3 And honoryd, as hyt awe. 12 ffuli low he shaH be thrawme That 1 harkyns not my sawe, hanged hy and drawne, Therfor no boste ye blaw ; 1 6 1 This Play is unfinished, the rest of fol. 19 b, and the whole of fol. 20, being left blank. 2 This is written at top of the page in the margin, in a more recent hand ; but about half-way down (and not in the margin) are the words "lyster play," in yet another hand. 3 MS. knowne. Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. 65 (3) Bot 1 as for kyng I co?wmaund peasse, Be obedient find t&lcf 1 To aH the people of thys empyre. heed to me. looke no man put hym self in preaase, Bot 1 that WyK do as I desyre, 20 And of youre Word^s look that ye seasse. Take tent 1 to me, youre soferand syre, That* may youre comfort most increasse, And to my lyst bo we lyfe and lyre. 24 Pibnus Miles. My lord, if any here "Were, The 1st mi . -m- it, i ttt ,-. soldier will Inat Wold not 1 wyrk youre Wyll, [Foi. 21, t>.] kin any one If "We myght com thaym nere, not work ffuH soyn we shuld theym spy ft. 28 Pharaoh's will. (5) Pharao. Thrugh out 1 my kyngdom Wold I ken, Pharaoh And kun hym th^nk that 1 Wold me tell, are any in* 6 If any Were so Waryd men who^fhhTs That 1 wold my fors downe fell. 32 doWDfa11 - Secundus Miles. My lord, ye haue a maner of men that make great 1 mastres vs emell ; Soldier* 1 The lues that W T on in gersen, jew" 6 thay ar callyd chyldyr of Israel. 36 [^^^ (6) Thay multyplye fuH fast 1 , and sothly We suppose That 1 shaft euer last 1 , oure lordshyp for to lose. 40 Pharao. Why, how haue thay sych gawdis begun 1 ar thay of myght to make sych frayes 1 Primus Jfiles. Yei, lord, fuH fell folk ther Was fun In kyng pharao, youre fader dayes. 44 Thay cam of Ioseph, Was iacob son — ■ They come he Was a prince Worthy to prayse— SSn. In sythen in ryst 1 haue thay ay ron ; thus ar thay lyke to lose youre layse, 48 T. PLAYS. p 66 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. The Jews will con- found Pharaoh, if they go on multiplying. They were but 70 when they came, and after 400 years are 300,000 men. Pharaoh determines to crush them by cunning. He is told of a prophecy, & gives orders that themidwives shall kill all Hebrew babies. [Fol. 22, a. Big. E. 4.] The rest shall be kept in bondage to ditch and delve. (8) Thay WyH confound you cleyn, 49 bott if thay soner sesse. Pharao. "What 1 deuytt is that 1 thay nieyn that 1 thay so fast* incresse 1 52 (9) >Secunc?us Jfiles. How thay incres fult weH we ken, as oure faders dyd vnderstand ; Thay Were hot* sexty and ten when thay fyrsfr cam in to thys land ; 56 Sythen haue soierned in gersen [Fower hundreth] * Wynter, I dar warand ; !Now ar thay nowmbred of myghty men moo then [thre hundreth] 2 thousand, 60 (10) Wyth outen Wyfe and chyld, or hyi'di's that kepe thare fee. Pharao. How thus myght we be begyld 1 bot 1 shaft it not 1 be ; 64 (11) ffor wyth quantyse we shall thaym quell, so \at thay shall not far sprede. Pri??ius Miles. My lord, we haue hard oure faders tell, and clerks that well couth rede, 68 Ther shuld a man walk vs ameli that shuld fordo vs and oure dede. Pharao. fT y on hym, to the deuyH of heH ! sych destyny wyft we not 1 drede ; 72 (12) We shal make mydwyfzs to spyft them) where any ebrew is borne, And aft menkynde to kyft them), so shaft thay soyn be lorne. 76 (13) And as for elder haue I none awe, sych bondage shaft I to thaym beyde, To dyke and delf, here and draw, and to do aft vnhonest deyde ; 80 1 MS. iiijc. 2 MS. ccc. Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. 67 So shaH these ladch's be halden law, In thraldom euer thare lyfe to leyde. Semndus ikfiles. Now, cerfo's, thys was a soteH saw, thus shaH these folk no farthere sprede. 84 The second soldier thinks this a subtle saying. (14) Phar ao. Now help to hald theym downe, look I no fayntnes fynde. Primus Miles. AH redy, lord, We shaH be bowne, in bondage thaym to bynde. Tunc Intrat ] moyses cum. virgd in manu, etc. 88 Pharaoh says there must be no faintness. (15) Moyses. Gret god, that aH thys Warld began, and growndyd it in good degre, Thou mayde me, moyses, vnto man, and sythen thou sauyd me from the se ; 92 kyng Pharao had commawndyd 1 than, ther shuld no man chyld sauyd be ; Agans hys WyH away I wan ; thus has god* shewed hys myght for me. 96 Moses thanks God for saving him from Pharaoh at his birth. (16) Now am I sett to kepe, vnder thys montayn syde, Byshope Iettyr shepe, to better may be tyde ; 100 He is now set to keep sheep till better betide. ' (17) A, lord, grete is thy myght ! What man may of yond menieU meyn? Yonder I se a selcowth syght, sych on in Warld Was neuer seyn ; A bush I se burnand fuH bryght, and euer elyke the leyfes are greyn ; If it be wark of Warldly Wyght, I WyH go wyt wythoutyn Weyn. Deus. Moyses, Moyses ! 104 108 He sees a strange sight, a bush burning while its leaves keep hie pvoj)erat ] ad ruuum, et dicit ] ei deus, etc. 68 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. God bids Moses take off his shoes for the place is hallowed. (18) Moyses, com not to nere, bot styH in that stede thou dwelt, And harkyn vnto me here; take tent What I the tell, do of thy shoyes in fere, wyth mowth as I the meH, the place thou standi in there forsothe, is halowd Well. 110 113 117 He declares himself as the God who Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (19) I am thy lord, Wythouten lak, to lengthe thi lyfe euen as I lyst ; I am god that som tyme spake to thyn elders, as thay Wyst ; To abraam, and Isaac, and iacob, I sayde shuld be blyst, And multytude of them to make, so that thare seyde shuld not be myst. 121 125 (20) He will not suffer Pharaoh to hurt the Jews. Bot now thys kyng, pharao, he hurtys my folk so fast, If that I sufHre hym so, thare seyde shuld' soyne be past ; Bot I WyH not so do, in me if thay Wyrl trast, [Foi. 22, b.] Bondage to bryng 1 thaym fro. therfor thou go in hast 1 129 133 IS bidden to tell Pharaoh to let the Jews go to the Wilder- ness to worship God. {21) To do my message, haue in mynde, to hym that me sych harme mase ; Thou speke to hym Wyth wordz's heynde, so that 1 he let my people pas, To Wyldernes that 1 thay may Weynde, to Worshyp me as I wyH asse. Agans my wyH if that thay leynd, f ul soyn hys song shall be ' alas. ' 137 HI Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. G9 (22) A, lord ! pardon me, Wyth thy leyf, that 1 lynage luffVs me noght ; Gladly thay Wold me greyf, if I sycn bodworde broghfr. 145 (23) Good lord, lett som othere frastt, that has more fors the folke to fere. Deus. Moyses, be thou nott abasft, my bydyng shaH thou boldly here ; If thay with wrong away Wold Wrasfr, outt of the way I shall the Were. Moyses. Good lord, thay Wyrl not me trast for all the othes that I can swere ; (24) To neuen sych noytis newe to folk of Wykyd WyH, Wyth outen tokyn trew, thay wyH not tent ther tytt. 157 (25) Deus. If that he wyH not vnderstand thys tokyn trew that I shaH sent, Afore the kyng cast downe thy Wand, and it shaH turne to a serpent ; 161 Then take the tayH agane in hand — boldly vp look thou it hent — And in the state that thou it fand, then shal it turne by myne intent 1 . 165 (26) Sythen hald thy hand soyn in thy barme, and as a lepre it shal be lyke, And hole agane with outen harme ; lo, my tokyns shal be slyke. 169 (27) And if he wyH not suffre then my people for to pas in peasse, I shaH send venyance [neyn] 1 or ten, shaH sowe fuH sore or I seasse. 173 1 MS. ix. Moses begs God to send somebody of more force. God bids him not be 149 abashed. Moses fears that without a token he will not be 153 trusted. A wand that shall turn into a ser- pent & again into a wand shall be his token. He shall be able to make his hand leprous or whole. If Pharaoh will not let the people go, God will punish him. 70 Tovmeley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. TheHebrews Bot the ebrewes, won in lessen, shall escape the plagues. snail not be merkyd with that measse ; As long as thay my lawes Wyll ken thare comforth shall euer increasse. (28) Moyses. A, lord, to luf the aght vs weH, that make's thy folk thus free ; I shall vnto thaym tell as thou has told to me. 174 177 181 Moses asks by what name he is to speak to Pharaoh of God. God tells him and blesses him. [Fol. 23, a.] (29) Bot to the kyng, lord, when I com, if he aske what 1 is thy 1 name, And I stand styH, both deyf & dom, how shuld* I [skape] 2 w/t7ioutten blame 1 Deus. I say the thus, ' Ego sum qui su??z,' I am he that is the same ; If thou can nother muf nor mom, I shall sheld? the from shame. (30) Moyses. I vnderstand fuH weH thys thyng, I go, lord, with all the myght in me. Deus. Be bold in my blyssyng 1 , thi socoure shall I be. [Deus retires!] 185 189 193 (31) resolves to tell his friends of this comfort, lo my ireynd The boys he speaks to complain of their lot. Moyses. A, lord of luf, leyn me thy lare, that I may truly talys teH ; now wyH I fare, the chosyn childre of Israeli, 197 To teH theym comforth of thare care, in dawngere ther as thay dwell. God manteyn you euermare, [Moses accosts the hoys.] And mekyH myrth be you emeH. 201 (32) primus puer. A, master moyses, dere ! oure myrth is aH mowrnyng ; ffull hard halden ar we here, as carls vnder the kyng. 205 1 MS. my. 2 MS. skake. Tovmelcy Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. 71 (33) Secimdus puer. We may niowm, both more and myn, tlier is no man that oure myrth mase ; Bot syn we ar aH of a kyn, god send vs comforth in thys case. 209 Moyses. Brethere, of youre mowrnyng blyn ; god WyH delyue?- you thrugfc his grace, Out 1 of this wo he wyH you wyn, and put you to youre pleassyng place ; 213 (34) ffor I shaft carp vnto the kyng, and fownd fuH soyn to make you free. primus puer. Goji graunt you good Weyndyng, and eue?*more with you be. 217 [Moses approaches Pharaoh.'] (35) Moyses. kyng pharao, to me take tent. Pharao. Why, boy, what tythyngzs can thou teft 1 Moyses. ftrom god hym self hydder am I sent to foche the chyldre of Israeli ; 221 To Wyldernes he wold thay went. Pharao. yei, weynd the to the clevyH of herl ! I gyf no force What he has menft, In my dangere, herst thou, shall thay dwell ; 225 (36) And, fature, for thy sake, thay shalbe put to pyne. Moyses. Then wyH god venyance take of the, and of aH thyn. 229 (37) Pharao. On me 1 fy on the lad, out of my land ! wenys thou thus to loyse oure lay ? [To the soldiers.] Say, whence is yond warlow with his wand that thus wold wyle oure folk away? 233 Primus, Miles. Yond is moyses, I dar warand, agans aH egypt has beyn ay, Greatt defawte with hym youre fader fand ; now wyH he mar you) if he may. 237 They pray God send them com- fort, & wish Moses success. Moses asks Pharaoh to let the Israelites i go to the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses, with threats. The 1st soldier says Moses has ever been a foe to Egypt. 72 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks Moses for a token. [Fol. 23, b.] He changes his wand into a serpent. Then changes it back again. Pharaoh says these gauds shall help the Israelites nothing. (38) Pharao. ffy on hym ! nay, nay, that dawnce is done ; lurdan, thou leryd to late. Moyses. God byd^s the graunt my bone, and let me go my gate. 241 . (39) Pharao. Bydfl's god me 1 fals loseH, thou) lyse ! What tokyn told he 1 take thou tent. Moyses. He sayd thou) shuld dyspyse both me, and hys coramaundementt ; 245 fforthy, apon thys wyse, my Wand he bad, in thi present 1 , I shuld lay downe, and the avyse how it shuld turne to oone serpent ; 249 (40) And in hys holy name here I lay it downe ; lo, syr, here may thou se the same. Pharao. A, ha, dog ! the devyH the drowne ! 253 (41) Moyses. He bad me take it* by the tayU, for to pref e hys powere playn) ; Then he sayde, wythouten fayH, hyt shuld turne to a wand agayn. 257 lo, sir, behold ! Pharao. wyth ylahayH ! Cert/s this is a soteri swayn ! bot thyse boyes shall abyde in bayH, AH thi g&w&is shall thaym not gayn ; 261 (42) Bot wars, both morn and none, shaH thay fare, for thi sake. Moyses. I pray god send us venyange sone, and on thi Wark^s take wrake. 265 (43) primus Miles. Alas, alas ! this land is lorn ! on lyf e we may [no] longer leynd ; Sych myschefe is fallen syn morn, ther may no medsyn it amend. 269 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. 73 The soldiers announce the first plague : the waters are turned to red blood. The 2nd plague : venomous toads. Pharao. Why cry ye so, l&ddisl lyst ye skorn? ijus Miles. Syr kyng, sych care was neuer kend, In no mans tyme that 1 euer was borne. Pharao. TeH on, belyfe, and make an end. 273 (44) Pri??ras Miles. Syr, the Waters that were ordand for men and hestis foyde, Thrugh ontt aH egypfr land, ar turnyd into reede bloyde ; 277 (45) ffuH vgly and fuH yH is hytt, that both fresh and' £ayre- was before. Pharao. 0, ho ! this is a wonderfuH thyng to wytt, of aH the warlu's that 1 euer wore ! 281 *)'us Miles. Nay, lord, ther is anothere yit, that 1 sodanly sowys vs fuH sore ; ffor tody's and froslm may no man flyt, thay venom vs so, both les and more. 285 (46) Pri?nus Miles. Greatte mysU's, sir, ther is both morn The 3rd J plague: and noyn, great byte vs full bytterly ; [gnats] we trow that it be doyn bitterly, thrugh moyses, oure greatte enmy. 289 (47) ijus Miles. My lord, bof if this menye may remefe, Mon neuer niyrth be vs amang. Pharao. Go, say to hym we wyH not 1 grefe, bot 1 thay shall neuer the tytter gang 1 . 293 Pri?ttus Miles. Moyses, my lord gyffys leyfe to leyd thi folk to lykyng lang, So that 1 we mend of oure myschefe. Moyses. ffuH weH I wote, thyse wovdis ar wrang ; 297 (48) But hardely aH that I heytt ffuH sodanly it shall be seyn ; vncowth meruels shalbe meyt And he of malyce meyn. 301 Pharaoh delusive offers to let the Jews go [Fol. 24, a.] 74 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. The 4th plague : great "loppys" [fleas]. The 5th plague: a murrain on the cattle. Pharaoh renews his pretended permission. The 6th plague : boils & Wains. The 7th plague : hail and rain. (49) Secundus i/iles. A, lord, alas, for doyH we dy ! 302 we dar look oute at 1 no dowre. Pharao. What 1 , ragyd the dwyH of heH, alys you so to cry 1 ? Primus iliiles. ffor we fare wars then euer we fowre ; 305 grete loppys oue?* aH \is land thay fly, And where thay byte thay make grete blowre, and in euery place oure bestis dede ly. 1 308 (50) Secundus Miles, hors, ox, and asse, thay faH downe dede, syr, sodanly. Phorao. we ! lo, ther is no man that has half as mych harme as I. 312 (51) Primus ITiles. yis, sir, poore folk haue mekyH wo, to se thare cataH thus out cast. The lues in gessen fayre not 1 so, thay haue lykyng for to last. 316 Pharao. Then shall we gyf theym leyf to go, to tyme this pe?*erl be on past ; Bot 1 , or thay flytt oght 1 far vs fro, we shall \em bond twyse as fast. 320 (52) Secxmdus i/iles. Moyses, my lord gyfrYs leyf thi meneye to remeue. Moyses. ye mon hafe more myschefe bot 1 if thyse talys be trew. 324 (53) Primus Miles. A, lord, we may not leyde thyse lyfys. Pharao. what, dwyH ! is grevance grofen agayn 1 Secimdus ilfiles. ye, sir, sich powder apon vs dryfys, where it abides it 1 makys a blayn; 328 MeseH makys it man and wyfe, 2 thus ar we hurt with hayH & rayn. Syr, vnys in montanse may not 1 thryfe, so has frost & thoner thaym slayn. 332 1 The following line in — owre is left out. 2 The singular rymes with the plural now and then. Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. "Jo (54) Pliarao. yei, botf how do thay in gessen, Pharaoh J ' rages when the lues, can ye me say** he hears the ^ Tiii Jews are Primus Miles. Of aff thyse cares no thyng thay ken, unhurt by no a these harms. thay feyH noght of our afray. 060 (55) Pliarao. No % the ragyd ! the dwyft ! sytt thay in peasse 1 and we euery day in donte & drede 1 ijvLS Miles. My lord, this care wyll euer encrese, to moyses haue his folk to leyd ; Els be we lorn, it is no lesse, yifr were it better that J>ai yede. 342 (56) Pliarao. Thes folk shall fly fr no far, But still will " not let them If he go welland wode. go. Primus Miles. Then wirl it sone be war ; [Foi. 24, b.] It 1 were better thay yode. 346 (57) ijus Miles. My lord, new harme is comyn in hand. The 8th plague : wild Pliarao. Yei, d'wiH, will it 1 no better be % worms, or Primus Miles, wyld wormes ar layd ouer aH this land, Thai leyf no floure, nor leyf on tre. 350 ijus Miles. Agans thatstorme may no man stand; And mekyH more merueH thynk me, That 1 thise thre l dayes has bene durand The 9th Sich myst, \at no man may other se. 354 great mist -r, . ,,., . it. or darkness. Primus Miles. A, my lord ! Pliarao. hagh ! (58) ijus Miles. Grete pestilence is comyn ; 2 The 10th It 1 is like ful long to last. pestilence. Pliarao. [pestilence 3 ] in the dwilys name ! then is oure pWde ouer past. 359 (59) Primus Miles. My lord, this care lastz's lang, The 1st ; °' soldier says and wifi, to moyses naue nis bone ; care win last . . , . till Moses let hym go, els wyrk we wrang, be satisfied. If may not help to houer ne hone. 363 1 MS. iij. 2 Its rymc name is assonantal. 3 MS. pentilence. 76 Tovmeley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. Pharaoh ives leave The Israelites doubt, but Moses assures them. Pharao. Then wilt we gif theym leyf to gang ; for the Jews Syn if must 1 nedzs be doyn ; hopes to Perchauns we salt thaym fang catch them , . , , again. and mar them or to morn at 1 none. (60) «/us Miles. Moyses, my lord he says thou shall haue passage playn. Moyses. Now haue we lefe to pas, my freyndw, now be ye fayn ; (61) Com furth, now saH ye weynd to land of lykyng you to pay. Primus puer. Bott kyng Pharao, that fals feynd, he wiH vs eft betray ; ffuH soyn he wiH shape vs to sheynd, And after vs send his garray. Moyses. Be not 1 abast 1 , god is oure freynd, And all oure foes wiH slay ; (62) Therfor com on with me, haue done and drede you noght. ijus Puer. That 1 lord blyst might he be, that vs from bayrl has broght. (63) Primus puer. Sich frenship neuer we fand ; bofr yifr I drede for perels aU, The reede see is here at hand, ther shal we byde to we be thrall. Moyses. I shall make way ther with my wand?, as god has sayde, to sayf vs art ; On ayther syde the see mon) stand, to we be gone, right 1 as a waH. (64) [Foi. 25, a.] Com on wyth me, leyf none behynde ; lo fowndl ye now youre god to pleasse. hie pertransientt mare. Secnndvis puer. 0, lord? ! this way is heynd ; Now weynd we aU at easse. 364 367 371 375 379 383 He parts the Red Sea with his wand. 387 391 395 Towneley Plays. VIII. Pharaoh. 11 (65) /primus M iles. kyng pharao ! thyse folk ar gone. Pharaoh is * J o r j o told of the Pharao. Say, ar ther any noyes now % flight of the ijxxs J/iles. Thise Ebrews ar gone, lord, eue?Mchon). Pharao. how says thou that* 1 Primus Miles. lord, that 1 tayH is trew. 399 Pharao. We, out tyte, that 1 they were tayn ; That' ryett radly shaH thay rew, we shaH not seasse to thay be slayn, fTor to the see we shaH thaym sew ; 403 (66) So charge youre chariotte's swythe, He pursues A j * ii i r i them with And lersly look ye iolow me. his chariots ; ijus Miles. AH redy, lord, we ar furl blyth At 1 youre byddyng to be. 407 (67) Primus ilfiles. lord, at 1 youre byddyng ar we bowne Oure bodys boldly for to beyd ; we shaH not seasse, hot 1 dyng all downe, To aH be dede withouten drede. 411 Pharao. heyf vp youre herte's vnto mahowne, calling on . .,, , . , Mahound. lie win be nere vs in oure nede ; He & his help ! the raggyd dwyH, we drowne ! drowned. Now mon we dy for aH oure dede. 415 Tunc merget eos mare. (68) Moyses. ."Now ar we won from aH oure wo, Moses and And sauyd out of the see ; give thanks , ,. , . to God for lOUyng gyf we god Vnto, their safe Go we to land now merely. 419 passage * (69) pvimus puer. lofe we may that 1 lord on hyght 1 , And euer teH on this merueH ; Drownyd he has Kyng pharao myghtt, [Foi. 25, b.] louyd be that 1 lord EmanueH. 423 Moyses. heuen, thou attend, I say, in syghfr, And erth my wordys ; here what I teH. As rayn or dew on erth doys lyght And waters herbys and trees fuH weH, 427 78 Towneley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. Honoured be God in Trinity. (70) Gyf louyng to godch/s mageste, hys dedys ar done, hys ways ar trew, honowred be he in trynyte, to hym be honowre and vertew. Amen). Explicit pharao. 428 431 The Emperor commands silence, and magnifies his own power. [Pol. Imperator. Primus Consultus. Secundus Consultus. (IX.) Incipit Cesar Augustus. [40 six-line stanzas aab ccb.] {Dramatis, Personae. Nuncius. (Lyghtfotc. ) Sirinics.] B Impvtator. (1) E styH, beshers, I commawnd yow, That no man speke a word here now Botf I my self alon ; And if ye do, I make a vow, Thys brand abowte youre nekys shall bow, ffor thy be styH as stori) : (2) And looke ye grefe me noght, ffor if 1 ye do it 1 shall be boght, I swere you by mahowne ; I wote weH if ye knew me oght, To slo you aH how lytyH I roght 1 , Ston styH ye wold syt downe. (3) fifor aH is myn that 1 vp standys, Castels, towers, townys, and landys. To me homage thay bryng ; ffor I may bynd and lowse of band, Euery thyng bowys vnto my hand, I want* none erthly thyng. 12 15 18 Toumeley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. (4) I am lord and syr oner aH, AH bowys to me, both grete and small, As lord of euery land ; Is none so comly on to caH, Whoso this agane says, fowll shall be fall, And therto here my hand. (5) ffor I am he that myghty is, And hardely all hathennes Is redy at my wyH ; Both ryche, and poore, more & les, At 1 my lykyng for to redres, whether I wyH sane or spyH. (6) Cesar augnst I am cald', A fayrer cors for to behaid, Is not 1 of bloode & bone ; Ryche ne poore, yong ne old, SycH an othere, as I am told, In aH thys warld is none. (7) Bot oone thyng doys me full mych care, I trow my land wyrl sone mysfare ffor defawte of counsel! lele ; My counsellars so wyse of lare, help to comfortr! me of care, No wyt from me ye f ele. (8) As I am man moost 1 of renowne, I shall you gyf youre waryson To help me if ye may. 45 primus Consw^us. To counsel! you, lord, we ar bowne, And for no man that 1 lyfys in towne wyH we not let, perf ay ; 48 (9) youre messyngere I reede ye carl, ffor any thyng that may befaH, 79 He is lord over all. All heatheness obeys him. 21 24 27 30 He is called Caesar Augustus, the fairest 33 body on earth. 36 One thing troubles him : he needs' loyal 39 counsel. 42 The 1st councillor bids him send for his 80 Towneley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. His messen- ger shall proclaim his peace over all the land. The Emperor assents. [Fol. 26, h.] The 2nd councillor has heard that a virgin shall bear a child who shall lay low the Emperor's might. The Emperor rages with fear and anger. Byd hym go hastely, 51 Thrugh out youre landys ouer ait, Amang youre folk, both grete and small youre gyrth. & peasse to cry; 54 (10) ffor to co?wmaunde both, yong & old?, None be so hardy ne so bold, To hold of none bot you ; 57 And? who so doth, put them in hold, And loke ye payn theym many fold. Impeiator. I shall, I make a vowe ; 60 (ii) Of thys counserl weH payde am I, It 1 shall be done fuH hastely, wyth outen any respytt. 63 JSecundus Consultas. My Lord abyde awyle, for why ? A word to you I wold cleryfy. Impeiator. Go on, then, tell me tytt. 66 (12) Secundus Consultus. AH redy, lord, now permafay, Thys haue I herd syn many day, ffolk in the contre teH ; 69 That in this land shuld dwell a may, The which saH bere a chylde, thay say, That shaH youre force downe feH. 72 (13) Impeiator . Downe feH 1 dwyH ! what may this be % Out 1 , harow, f uH wo is me ! I am fuH wyH of reede ! 75 A, fy, and dewyls ! whens cam he That thus shuld reyfe me my pawste 1 Ere shuld I be his dede. 78 (14) ffor certys, then were my worshyp lorne, If sych a swayn, a snoke home, Shuld thus be my suffrane ; 81 may I wyt when that 1 boy is borne, In certan, had the dwyH hit sworne, that* gadlyng shuld agane. 84 Toumeley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. (15) Primus Consultus. Do way, lord, greyf you not so, youre messyngere ye cause furth go Aftyr youre eosyn dere, To speke witJi you a word* or two, The best counseH that 1 lad to slo, ffuH soyn he can you lere ; (16) ffor a wyse man that knyght men know. Impevator. Now I assent vnto thi saw, of witt art thou the weH ; ffor all the best men of hym blowys ; he shall neuer dystroy my lawes, were he the dwyH of heH. (17) Com lyghtfote, lad, loke thou be yare On my message furth to fare, go tytt to sir syryn ; Say sorow takys me full sare, pray hym to comforth me of care, As myn awne dere cosyn ; ,; ( 18 > And bot if thou com .agane to nyght, look I se the neuer in syght, neuer where in my land. Nuncius. yis, aexiys, lord, I am fuH lyght, or noyn of the day, I dar you hyght, to bryng hym by the hand. (19) Impemtor. yai, boy, and as" thou) luffys me dere, Luke that thou spy, both far and nere, Ouer aH in yen" place ; If thou here any saghes sere, Of any carpyng, far and nere, Of that 1 lad* where that 1 thou) gase. (20) fundus. AH redy, lord, I am) furl bowne, To spyr and spy in euery towne, T. PLAYS. 87 90 81 The 1st Councillor bids the Emperor take counsel with his cousin Sirinus. The Emperor iJO assents, 96 99 102 105 108 111 114 and sends his messen- ger Lyght- foot, bidding him be back by night, [Fol. 27, a. Sig. ff. 1.] and keep his ears open for news. 82 Townelcy Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. Lyghtfoot The Emperor prays Mahound to speed him. Lyghtfoot greets Sirinus in the Emperor's name, and bids him come to hold counsel. Sirinus promises. Lyghtfoot returns to the Em- peror, and an- nounces the approach of Sirinus. After that 1 wykkyd? queyd ; 117 If I here any rank or rowne, I shaH fownd to crak thare crowne, Ouer aH, in ylk a stede ; 120 (21) And therfor, lord, haue now good day. Impemtor. Mahowne he wyse the on thi way, That* weldys water and wynde; _ 123 And specyally, here I the pray, To spede the as fast as thou may. Nuncius. yis, lord, that 1 shaH ye fynde. 126 (22) [To Sirinus.] Mahowne the saue and' se, sir syryne ! Cesar, my lord, and youre cosyn, he gvetys you welt by me. 129 Sirinus. Thou art 1 welcom) to me and myn) ; Com nere and teH me tjthsmdys thyn), Tyte, what 1 thay may be. 132 (23) Nuncius. My lord prays you, as ye luf hym dere, To com to hym, if youre wyll were, To speke with hym) awhyle. 135 Sirinus. Go grete hym weH, thou messyngere, say hym I com, and that* right nere, Behynd? the not a myle. 138 (24) Nuncius. AH redy, lord, at 1 youre byddyng. [To Cesar.] Mahowne the menske, my lord kyng, And save the by see and sand. 141 Impevator. Welcom), bewshere, say what 1 tythyng, Do teH me tyte, for any thyng, "What* herd thou in my land 1 144 (25) Nuncius. I herd 1 no thyng, lord, bot goode ; Syr syryn, that 1 1 after yode, he wyH be here this nyght. 147 Impemtor. I thank the by mahownes bloode ; Thise tythyngi/s mekyH amend?/s my mode ; Go rest, thou) worthy wyght. 150 Towneley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. 83 (26) Sirinus. Mahowne so semely on) to call, he saue the, lord of lorcU's aH, Syttyng w^t7*, thi meneye. Impexatov. Welcom, sir syrynne, to this haH, Besyde my self here sytt thou shaH, Com) vp belyf to me. (27) Sirinus. yis, lord, I am at youre talent 1 . ImperatoT. Wherfor, sir, I after the sent, I shall the say f uH right 1 ; And therfor take to me intent, I am in poynt for to be shent 1 . Sirinus. how so, for mahownes myght ? (28) ImpemtoT. syr, I am done to vnderstand, That a qweyn here, in this land, shall bere a chyld? I wene, That shaH be crowned kyng lyfand, And aH shaH bow vnto his hand ; Thise tythyngys doth me teyne. (29) he shaH commaunde both ying and old, None be so hardy ne so bold To gyf seruyce to me ; Then wold? my hart be cold If sich a beggere shold My kyngdom) thus reyf me ; (30) And therfor, sir, I wold the pray, Thy best counsel! thou wold me say, To do what I am) best ; ffor securly, if that I may, If he be f onden I shaH hym slay, Aythere by eest 1 or west 1 . (31) Syrinus. Now wote ye, lord, what that I reede ; I counsel! you, as ete I brede, Sirinus and the Emperor greet each other. 153 156 159 162 165 168 No one will then give service to •j rr -1 himself. 174 177 180 The Em- peror tells Sirinus of his danger ; [Fol. 27, b.] how a quean shall bear a child who shall become king. He asks counsel from Sirinus. 84 Towneley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. Sirinus bids the Emperor seek out the hoy & kill him, and com- mand every man to come to him, bring- ing a head- penny, on the third day. Thus they will all pay him The Em- peror agrees, & rewards him. He sends out his messenger [Fol. 28, a. Sig. ff. 2.] to command the folk to own none but him as their lord. what 1 best therof may be ; Gar serehe youre land in every stede, And byd that boy be done to dede, who the fyrst 1 may hym see ; (32) And also I rede that 1 ye gar cry, To fleme wyth all that 1 belamy, That 1 shuld be kyng with crowne ; Byd ych man com to you holly, And bryng to you a heede penny, That 1 dwellys in to were or towne ; (33) That 1 this be done by the thyrde day, Then may none of his imyndys say, Eot 1 he has mayde homage. If ye do thus, sir, pmnafay, youre worship shall ye wyn for ay, If thay make you trowage. (34) Imperatov. I thank you, sir, as myght 1 I the, ffor thyse tjthjngys that 1 thou tellys me, Thy counsel! shaH avayH ; lord and syre of this cowntre, wythouten ende here make I the, ffor thy good counsel! ; (35) My messyngere, loke thou be bowne, And weynd belyf from towne to towne, And be my nobyH swane ; I pray the, as thou luff?/s mahowne, And also for thy waryson, That 1 thou com tytt 1 agane. (36) Coramaunde the folk holly ichon, Byche ne poore forgett thou none, To hold' holly on me, And lowtt 1 me as thare lord alone ; And who wyH not 1 thay shaH be slone, This brand thare bayH shal be. 183 186 189 192 195 198 201 204 207 210 213 216 Towneley Plays. IX. Caesar Augustus. 85 (37) Therfor thou byd both old and ying, Old and . young must That icn man know me for his kyng, bring their ffor drede that I thaym spyll, 219 do homage. That 1 1 am lord, and in tokynyng, Byd ich man a penny bryng, And make homage me tyH. 222 (38) To my statutes who wyH not stand, SthS^Sa ffasf for to ne outt of my land, Sustflee Byd thaym, wMouten lyte ; 225 ^ his Now by mahowne, god aH weldand, He promises J ' ° ' the messen- Thou shaH be mayde knyght with my hand, gerknight- And therfor hye the tyte. 228 (39) Nuncius. AH redy, lord, it 1 shaH be done ; ger says he Bot 1 1 wote weH I com) not sone, back soon, And therfor be not* wroth ; 231 I swere you, sir, by son and moyne, I com) not 1 here by fore eft 1 none, wheder ye be leyfe or loth ; 234 (40) Bot 1 hafe good day, now wyH I weynd, ffor longer here may I not 1 leynd, Bot 1 grathe me furth my gate. 237 The Em _ Impeiator. Mahowne that 1 is curtes and heynd, Sound 3 he bryng thi Iornay weH to eynd, s P eed him - And wysh the that 1 aH wate. 240 Explicit Cesar Augustus. and starts off. 86 Toivneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. (X.) Incipit Annunciacio. [38 couplets aa ; 49 \ six-line stanzas aab ccb.] [Dramatis Personae. Deus. Gabriel. Maria. Joseph. Angehcs.] (i) God recalls Deus. Sythen I haue mayde all thyng of noght, of Adam and And Adam with my hand^s hath, wroght, Lyke to myn ymage, att my devyse, And gyffen hym Ioy in paradyse, 4 To won therin, as that I wend, To that he dyd that 1 I defend ; [Foi. 28, b.] Then I hym) put out of that 1 place, Bot 1 yit, I myn), I hight hym grace ■ 8 OyH of mercy I can hym) heyt, The time is And tyme also his bayU to beytt. redeem him ffor he has boght 1 his syn futt sore, pain, Thise f yfe 1 thowsand yeris and more, 1 2 ffyrst 1 in erthe and sythen) in heH ; Bot 1 long therin shall he not dwell. Outt 1 of payn he shaH be boght 1 , I wyU not tyne that I haue wroght. 16 I wyH make redempcyon, As I hyght for my person, AH wyth reson and with right, Both thrugh mercy and thrugh myght 1 . 20 he shall not, therfor, ay be spylft, for Adam ffor he was Avrangwysly begylt 1 ; was beguiled , in , p by the Ser- he snarl out oi preson pas, pent & Eve. |f or t hat« he begyled was 24 Thrugh the edder, and his wyfe ; Thay gart hym towch the tree of lyfe, And ete the frute that I forbed, And he was dampned for that dede. 28 God's Son shall take Kyghtwysnes wyrr we make ; manhood. I wytt that 1 my son manhede take, 1 MS. v. Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. 87 ffor reson wyH that 1 ther be thre, A man, a madyn, and a tre : 32 Man for man, tre for tre, Madyn for madyn ; thus shal it be. My son shaH in a madyn light 1 , Agans the feynd of heH to fight 1 ; 36 wythouten wem), os son thrugh glas, And she madyn as she was. Both god and man shall he be, And she mode?* and madyn fre. 40 To abraham I am in dett 1 To safe hym and his gett ; And I wytt that 1 aH prophecye Be fulfyllyd here by me ; 44 ffor I am lord and lech of heyle, My p?'ophetys shaH be f unden leyle ; As moyses sayd, and Isay, Kyng dauid, and Ieromy, 48 Abacuk, and danierl, Sybyrl sage, that 1 sayde ay weH, And myne othere prophets aH, As thay haue [said] it 1 shaH befall. 1 52 Ryse vp, gabrieH, and weynd vnto a madyn that 1 is heynd, To nazareth in galilee, Ther she dwellys in that 1 cytee. 56 To that 1 vyrgyn and to that 1 spouse, To a man of dauid house, loseph also he is namyd by, And the madyn name mary. 60 Angett must to mary go, ffor the feynd was eue fo ; he was foule and layth to syght, And thou art angeH fayr and bright ; 64 And hayls that 1 madyn, my lemman, As heyndly as thou can. Of my behalf thou shaH hyr grete, E haue hyr chosen, that 1 madyn swete, 68 1 The word "said" has been inserted in the MS. by a later hand. There must be man for man, maid for maid, tree for tree. Abraham & his seed must be saved, and all propheey fulfilkd. God bids Gabriel go to the Virgin Mary, spouse of Joseph, (a good angel to Mary, as a bad angel to Eve) and hail her. 88 Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. God has chosen Mary to conceive his darling. [Fol. 29, a. Gabriel hails Mary, queen of virgins. The Lord of heaven is with her. She shall conceive a child of might. He shall he called Jesus. She shaH conceyf my derlyng, Thrugh thy word and hyr heryng. In hyr body wyH I lyght, That* is to me clenly dyghfr; 72 She shall of hyr body bere God and man wythouten) dere. She shaH be blyssyd wythouten ende ; Grayth the gabrieH, and weynd. 76 (2) [Gabriel goes to Mary.] Gdbriell. hayH, mary, gracyouse ! hayH. madyn and godz's spouse ! Ynto the I lowte ; 79 Of aH vyrgyns thou art 1 qwene, That euer* was, or shaH be seyn, wythouten dowte. 82 (3) hayri, mary, and weH thou be ! My lord of heuen is wyth the, wythouten end ; 85 hayri, woman most of mede! Goodly lady, haue thou no drede, That* I commend ; 88 (4) ffor thou has fonden aH thyn oone, The grace of god, that 1 was out gone, ffor adam plyght. 91 This is the grace that the betydys, Thou shaH conceyue within thi sydys A chyld of myght. 94 (5) "When he is comen, that thi son, he shaH take cyrcu??isycyon, Call hym ihesum. 97 MightfuH man shaH be he that*, And godys son shaH he hat, By his day com. 100 (6) My lord also shaH gyf hym tyH hys fader sete, dauid, at wyH, Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. 89 Therin to sytt : he shall be kyng in Iacob kyn, hys kyngdom shall neuer blyn, lady, weH thou wytt. (7) Maria. What 1 is thi name 1 Gabriel. gabrieH ; go&ys strengthe and his angeH, That comys to the. Maria, fferly gretyng thou me gretys ; A child to bere thou me hetys, how shuld' if be 1 (8) I cam neuer by man's syde, Bot has avowed my madynhede. ffrom fleshly gett. Therfor I wote not how That this be brokyn, as a vow That* I haue hett ; (9) Neuer the les, weH I wote, To wyrk thi word and hold? thi hote MightfuH god is ; Bot 1 I ne wote of what manere, Therfor I pray the, messyngere, That thou me wysh. (10) GabrieR. lady, this is the preuate ; The holy gost shall light 1 in the, And his vertue, he shaH vmshade and fulfyH That 1 thi madynhede shall neuer spyH, Bot 1 ay be new. (ii) The child that 1 thou shaH bere, madame, ShaH godys son be callid by name ; And se, mary, Elesabeth, thi Cosyn, that* is cald? geld?, She has conceyffied a son in elde, Of zacary ; 103 He shall be King in Jacob. 106 109 112 115 118 121 124 127 130 133 136 Mary asks Gabriel's name. How can all this be? She is a vowed virgin. But God is mighty to fulfill Gabriel's word. Gabriel says the Holy Ghost shall, light in her. [Fol. 29, b.] The child she shall bear shall be God's Son. Her cousin Elizabeth also has conceived a son. 90 Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. Nothing is impossible with God. Mary praises God, & believes the angel's message. Gabriel takes leave of Mary. Joseph marvels at the con- dition in which he finds his wife. He bemoans himself that ever he married one so young. (12) And this is, who wyH late, The sexfr moneth" of hyr conceytate, That 1 geld? is cald. 139 No word, lady, that 1 1 the bryng, Is vnmyghtfuil to heuen kyng, Botf aH shaft hald. 142 (13) Maria. I lofe my lord all weldand, I am his madyn at 1 his hand, And in his wold* ; 145 I trow bodword that 1 thou me bryng, Ee done to me in aH thyng, As thou has told*. 148 (14) Gabriel. Mary, madyn heynd, me behovys to weynd, my leyf at 1 the I take. 151 Maria. Har to my freynd, Who the can send, ffor mankynde sake. 154 [Gabriel retires ; Joseph advances.'] (15) Iosepfc.. AH-myghty god, what may this be ! Of mary my wyfe meruels me, Alas, what has she wroghtt? 157 A, hyr body is grete and she with childe ! ffor me was she neuer fylyd, Therfor myin is if noght. 160 (16) I irke full sore with my lyfe, That* euer I wed so yong a wyfe, That 1 bargan may I ban ; 163 To me it was a carefuH dede, I myght weH wyt 1 that yowthede wold haue lykyng of man. 166 (17) I am old, sothly to say, passed? I am aH: preuay play, Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. 91 The gams fro me ar gane. It 1 is iH cowpled of youth and elde ; I wote weH, for I am vnwelde, som othere has she tane. (18) she is with chyld, I wote neuer how, JSTow, who wold any woman trow 1 Cert?/s, no man that can any goode ; I wote not 1 in the warld? what* I shuld? do, Bot 1 now then wytt I weynd hyr to, And wytt 1 who owe that foode. (19) hayH, mary, and weli ye be ! why, hot woman, what 1 chere with the 1 Maria. The better, sir, for you. Iosepu. So wold? I, woman, that 1 ye wore ; Bot 1 certys, mary, I rew fuH sore It 1 stand?/s so with the now. (20) Bot 1 of a thyng frayn the I shall, who owe this child thou gose with aH % Maria. Syr, ye, and god of heuen). Ioseph. Myne, mary 1 do way thi dyn ; That 1 1 shuld* oght 1 haue parte therin Thou ne&ys it 1 not to neuen ; (21) wherto neuyns thou me therto ? I had neuer with the to do, how shuld it 1 then be myne 1 whos is that 1 chyld', so god the spede 1 Maria. Syr, godys and yowrs, with outen drede. Ioseph. That 1 word had thou to tyne, (22) ffor it is right 1 fuH far me fro, And I forthynk?/s thou has done so Thise iH dedys bedene ; And if thou speke thi self to spyH, It 1 is fuH sore agans my wyH, If bette?* myght 1 haue bene. 169 It is ill to wed youth with age. 172 175 Joseph determines to go to , _ Q Mary & l/o question her. He greets her. 181 184 187 190 193 [Fol. ff. 4.] •feasks whose is the child? She replies his & the God of heaven's. Joseph denies any pnrt therein. Mary repeats -i Q£ it is God's iy0 &his. 199 202 Joseph has still mis- givings. 92 Mary denies knowledge of any other man. Joseph does not blame her ; it is but the way of women. Toivneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. (23) Maria. Aft godys wyH, Ioseph, must 1 if be, ffor certanly bot 1 god and ye I know none othere man) ; 205 ffor fleshly was I neuer fylyd. Ioseph. how shuld thou thus then be with chyld 1 Excuse the weH thou can ; 208 (24) I blame the not 1 , so god me saue, woman maners if that 1 thou haue, Bot 1 ceitys I say the this, weH wote thou, and so do I, Thi body fames the openly, That 1 thou has done amys. (25) Maria, yee, god he knowys aH my doyng. Ioseph. we ! now, this is a wonder thyng, I can noght 1 say therto ; Bot 1 in my hart 1 1 haue greatt care, And ay the longer mare and mare ; ffor doyH what 1 shall I do 1 (26) Godys and myn she says it 1 is ; I wyrl not 1 fader it 1 , she says amys ; ffor shame yit 1 shuld she let, To excuse hir velany by me ; with hir I thynk no longer be, I rew that 1 euer we met. (27) He describes And how we met 1 ye shall wyt sone ; Men vse yong chyldren for to done He knows not what to do. He will not father the child, & thinks of leaving his wife. 211 214 217 220 223 226 of their betrothal. In temple for to lere ; Soo dyd thay hir, to she wex more Then othere madyns wyse of lore ; then byshopes sayd to hir, (28) " Mary, the behowfys to take Som yong man to be thi make, 229 232 Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. 93 As thou seys other hane, In the temple which thou wyH neuen) ; " And she sayd, none, hot god of heuen, To hym she had hir tane ; (29) She wold none othere for any sagh ; Thay sayd she must, it 1 was the lagh, She was of age thertrrh To the temple thay somond old and ying, AH of Iuda ofspryng, The law for to fulfill. (30) Thay gaf ich man a white wand, And bad vs here them in oure hande, To offre with good intent ; Thay offerd thare yendys vp in that 1 tyde, ffor I was old* I stode be syde, I wyst 1 not what thay nient 1 : (31) Thay lakyd oone, thay sayde in hy, AH had offerd, thay sayd, bot I, ffor I ay wztMrogh me. ffurth with my wande thay mayd me com, In my hand it floryshed with blome ; Then sayde thay aH to me, (32) " If thou be old? merueH not 1 the, if or god of heuen thus ordans he, Thi wand shewys openly ; It florishes so, wMouten) nay, That the behovys wed mary the may ; " A sory man then was I ; (33) I was fuR sory in my thoght 1 , I sayde for old I myght 1 noght hir haue neuer the wheder ; I was vnlykely to hir so yong, Thay sayde ther helpyd none excusyng, And wed vs thus togeder. 235 238 241 244 250 Mary, when pressed to take a young man for her husband, dedicated herself to God. [Fol. 30, h.] She was urged again, & old & young were summoned to the temple. Each man was given a white wand & told to 247 offer it. Joseph stood aside & made no offering because he was old. 253 256 259 262 265 268 He was made to come forth, & his wand blossomed in his hand. This showed clearly that he was to marry Mary. He was sad, but no ex- cuses helped him, & they were married. 94 Tovmeley Plays. X. The Annunciation. After the wedding the maidens, kings' daughters, worked silks ; Mary- alone wrought purple. Joseph went into the country to work. After nine months he returns & finds her with child. The women say an angel visited her, giving this excuse for her folly. [Fol. 31, a.] It must have been some earthly man. (34) when I aH thus had wed hir thare, we and my madyns home can fare, That 1 kjngys doghters were ; AH wroght thay sylk to fynd them on, Marie wroght 1 purpyti, the oder none bot 1 othere colers sere. (35) I left 1 thaym in good peasse wenyd I, Into the contre I went 1 on hy, My craft 1 to vse with mayn ; To gett 1 oure lyfyng I must 1 nede, On marie I prayd them take good hede, To that I cam agane. (36) Neyn J monethes was I fro that my Id ; when I cam home she was with chyld • Alas, I sayd, for shame ! I askyd ther women who that had done, And thay me sayde an angeH sone, syn that I went from) hame : (37) An angeH spake with that wyght 1 , And no man els, bi day nor nyght, " sir, therof be ye bold?." Thay excusyd hir thus sothly, To make hir clene of hir foly, And babyshed? me that was old. (38) Shuld? an angeH this dede haue wroght 1 Sich excusyng helpys noght, ffor no craft that thay can ; A heuenly thyng, for sothe, is he, And she is erthly ; this may not be, It 1 is som othere man. (39) Cert^, I forthynk sore of hir dede, Bot it is long of yowth-hede, 1 MS. ix. 271 274 277 280 283 286 289 292 295 298 Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. 95 AH sicll wanton playes ; ffor yong women wyH nech/s play them) with yong men, if old? forsake them, Thus it is sene always. (40) Bot 1 marie and I playd neuer so sam, Neuer togeder we vsid that gam, I cam hir neuer so nere ; 1 (41) she is as clene as crista]} clyfe ffor me, and shalbe whyls I lyf, The law wyH it be so. And then am I cause of hir dede, ffor thi then can I now no rede, Alas, what 1 1 am wo ! (42) And sothly, if it so befaH:, Godys son that* she be w^t7i arl, If sich grace myght betyde, I wote well that I am not he, which that 1 is worthi to be That 1 blyssed? body besyde, («) Nor yit 1 to be in company ; To wyldernes I wiH for thi Enfors me for to fare ; And neue?* longer w^t7i hir dele, Bot 1 stylly shall I from hir stele, That 1 mete shall we no mare. (44) Angelus. Do wa, Ioseph, and mend thy thoght 1 , I warne the weH, and weynd thou noght 1 , To wyldernes so wylde ; Turne home to thi spouse agane, look thou deme in hir no trane, ffor she was neuer ffylde. (45) wyte thou no wyrkyng of Werk?/s wast, She hase consauyd the holy gast, 1 Is half a stanza of the original left out ? 301 Young women will needs play with young men. 304 But Mary & he never played on 7 together. She is clean as crystal for him, and „ ^ ^ shall be so 310 while he lives. 313 316 319 322 325 328 331 If it be God's Son she has for her child, then Joseph is not worthy to lie beside her. He will steal away to the wilderness so that they meet no more. An Angel warns him to mend his thoughts and return to his wife. 96 Towneley Plays. X. The Annunciation. Mary is with And she shaH bere god^s son) ; 334 child of the ' , ..'..-.'* Holy Ghost, ftor thy W£t/& hir, in thi degre, Meke and buxom) looke thou be, And -with hir dwell and won. 337 (46) Joseph Ioseph. A, lord, I lofe the aH alon, praises God tor entrust- lhat vowcnes sale that I be oone ing him with the care of lo tent 1 that 1 chyld so ymg ; 340 Child. I that* thus haue vngrathly gone, And vntruly taken apon Mary, that* dere darlyng. 343 (47) He grieves I rewe f uH sore that 1 1 haue sayde, for his sus- picions, & And of hir byrdyng hir vpbrade, goes to ask ait . Mary's And she not gylty is ; 346 [Foi. 3i, b.'] ffor thy to hir now WyH I weynde, And pray hir for to be my freynde, And aske hir forgyfnes, 349 (48) A, mary, wyfe, what 1 chere 1 Mary asks Maria. The better, sir, that 1 ye ar here ; WllGPG ll6 lllS teen. Thus long 1 where haue ye lent 1 352 Ioseph. Ceitys, walkyd aboute, lyke a fon, That 1 wrangwysly hase taken apon ; I wyst 1 neuer What 1 1 ment ; 355 (49) Joseph* says Bot 1 1 wote weH, my le??zman fre, ll6 llfiS sinned I haue trespast 1 to god and the ; & g her! and fforgyf me, I the pray. 358 ness. °she e " Maria. Now aH that euer ye sayde me to, frefiy. es m God forgyf you, and I do, With aH the myght 1 I may. 361 (50) He thanks Joseph. Gramercy, mary, thi good wyH may be well So kyndly forgyfr/s that 1 I sayde yH, a meek wife, When I can the vpbrade ; 364 have S no S e Bot 1 weH is hym hase sich a fode, goo s. ^ meke wyf, Mvithouten goode, he may weH hold? hym payde. 367 Towneley Plays. XI. The Salutation of Elizabeth. 97 (51) A, what 1 1 am light as lynde ! he that 1 may both lowse and bynde, And euery mys amend, leyn me grace, powere, and myghfr, My wyfe and hir swete yong 1 wight 1 To kepe, to my lyft/s ende. Explicit Annunciacio beate Marie. 370 373 Joseph is light of heart. He prays God help him keep wife and child. (XI.) Incipit Saliitaci'o Elezabeth. [15 six-line stanzas, aab, ccb.] [Dramatis Personae. Maria. JElezabeth.] Maria. (1) ~ia M~7 l° r( l of heuen, that syttys he, Mary salutes \\ /■ And aH thyng seys with ee, Elizabeth. W 1 The safe, Elezabeth. 3 • X Y IS fflezabetfr. Welcom, mary, blyssed blome, Ioyf uH am I of thi com To me, from nazareth. 6 (2) - Maria, how stsmdys it with you, dame, of qwarfrl fflezabeifr. weH, my doghter and dere hart*, As can for myn elde. 9 Maria. To speke with you me thoght 1 f uH lang, She has long ffor ye with childe in elde gang, desired to speak with And ye be cald* geld*. .12 her. (3) Elezabeth. ffuH lang shaH I the better be, Elizabeth is That I may speke my fyH with the, glad to hear about her My dere kyns Woman ; 15 friends. To wytt how thi freynd^/s fare, In thi countre where thay ar, Therof teH me thou can, 18 T. PLAYS. H 98 Towneley Plays. XL The Salutation of Elizabeth. [Fol. 32, a.] Elizabeth asks after Mary's father and mother. Mary says they are both well, & thanks her. Elizabeth hails Mary as the mother of her Lord. The child in her own body makes joy. She com- mends Mary for believing the word of the Lord. (*> And how thou farys, my dexe derlyng. Maria, WeH, dame, gramercy youre askyng, ffor good I wote ye spyr. 21 Elezabefc. And Ioachym, thy fader, at hame, And anna, my nese, and thi dame, how standys it 1 vtith hym and hir 1 24 (5) Maria. Dame, yift ar thay both on lyfe, Both ioachym and anna his wyfe. Elezabetla.. Els were my hart 1 fuH sore. 27 Maria. Dame, god that aH may, yeld? you that 1 ye say, And* blys you therfore. 30 (6) Elezabefil. Blyssed be thou of all women, And the fruyte that 1 1 weH ken, "WWiin the wombe of the ; 33 And this tyme may I blys, That 1 my loidys moder is Comen thus vnto me. 36 (7) ffor syn that 1 tyme fuH well I wote, The stevyn of angeH voce it 1 smote, And rang now in myn ere ; 39 A selcouth thyng is me betyde, The chyld makys Ioy, as any byrd, 1 That 1 1 in body here. 42 (8) And als, mary, blyssed be thou, That 1 stedfastly wold? trow, The woidys of oure heven kyng ; 45 Therfor aH thyng now shaH be kend, That 1 vnto the were sayd or send, By the angeH gretyng. 48 (9) Maria. Magnificat 1 arcima mea dominum ; My sauH luft/s my lord abuf, And my gost 1 glades "with luf, 1 The rhyme requires bryd. Towneley Plays. XI. The Salutation of Elizabeth. 99 In god, that 1 is my hele ; ffor he has bene sene agane, The buxumnes of his bane, And kept 1 me madyn lele. (10) Lo, therof what me shall betyde — AH nacyons on euery syde, Blyssyd shall me caH ; ffor he that is fuH of myght, MekyH tliyng to me has dyght 1 , his name be blyssed ouer aH ; (ii) And his nwcy is also ffrom kynde to kynde, tyH aH tho That 1 ar hym dredand. Myght* in his amies he wroght 1 , And dystroed in his thoght 1 , Prowde men and hygh berand?. (12) Myghty men furth of sete he dyd, And he hyghtynd in that 1 stede The meke men of hart ; The hungre With aH good he fyld, And left the rich outt shyld, Thaym to Vn quart 1 . (13) Israeli has vnder law, his awne son in his awe, By menys of his nie^cy ; As he told before by name, To oure fader, abraham, And seyd of his body. (14) Elezabeth, myn awnt dere, My lefe I take at 1 you here, ffor I dwell now fuH lang. Elezabeth. wyH thou now go, godys fere 1 Com kys me, doghter, with good chere, or thou hens gang ; 5 1 Mary praises God in the Magnificat. 51 All nations shall call her blessed. 57 GO 63 66 69 72. iO 78 81 84 God's mercy is on them that dread Him. He hath upraised the meek. [Fol. 32, b.] He fulfils His promise to Abraham. Mary takes leave of Elizabeth. 100 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. Elizabeth bids Mary farewell h sends greet- ing to her kinsfolk. (15) ffareweR now, thou frely foode ! I pray the be of comforts, goode, ffor thou art 1 full of grace ; Grete weH aH oure kyn of bloode ; That lord, that the with grace infude, he saue aH in this place. 87 90 Explicit Salutacio Elezdbeth. The 1st shepherd envies the dead who are now exempt from vicissitudes. [Fol. 33, a.] In this world sorrow comes after play. (XII.) Incipit Pagina pastor^/i. [54 nine-line stanzas, aaaab cccb, and 1 seven-line {no. 15), aab cccb. The aaaa lines have central rymes markt by bars.] [Dramatis Personae. Primus Pastor. Secundus Pastor. Tercius Pastor. Idk Garcio. Angelus. Jhesus. Maria.] Pnmus Pastor. (1) LOrd, what 1 thay ar weyH / that hens ar past 1 ! ffor thay noght 1 feytl / theym to downe cast, here is mekyH vnceyH / and long has it 1 last 1 , Now in hart 1 , now in heyH / now in weytt 1 , now in blast 1 , Now in care, 5 Now in comforth agane, Now is fayre, now is rane, Now in hart 1 fuH fane, And after fuH sare. 9 (2) Thus this Warld', as I say / farys on ylk syde, ffor after oure play / com sorows vnryde ; ffor he that 1 most 1 may / When he syttys in pryde, When it 1 corny s on assay / is kesten downe wyde, Toiuneley Plays. XII Shepherds Play, I. 101 This is seyn ; When ryches is he, Then comys pouerte, hors-man Iak cope "Walkys then), I weyn. (3) I thank if god / hark ye what I mene, ffor euen or for od / I haue mekyH tene ; As heuy as a sod / I grete with myn eene, When I nap on my cod / for care that 1 has bene, And sorow. AH my shepe ar gone, I am not 1 left oone, The rott has theym slone ; Now beg I and borow. My hand?/s may I wryng / and niowrnyng make, Bot 1 if good will spryng / the countre forsake ; ffermes thyk ar comyng / my purs is hot 1 wake, I haue nerehand nothyng 1 / to pay nor to take ; I may syng* With purs penneles, That* mak?/s this heuynes, Wo is me this dystres ! And has no helpyng. (5) Thus sett 1 1 my mynde / truly to neuen), By my wytt to fynde / to cast 1 the warld in seuen) ; My shepe haue I tynde / by the moren fuH euen) ; Now if hap wiH grynde / god from his heuen) Send grace, To the fare wiH I me, To by shepe, perde, And yifr may I multyple, ffor aH this hard case. («) Secxmdus pastor. Benste, benste 1 / be vs emang, And saue aH that 1 1 se / here in this thrang, 1 Benedicite, benedicite ! 14 18 23 27 32 36 41 45 After riches comes poverty, & Jack Cope must walk instead of riding. He himself has much trouble. His sheep are slain with the rot & he must beg. Rents are due & his purse is weak. He has lost his sheep & must go to the fair to buy more. 102 These fellows are as proud as lords, with a fine head of hair and grim bearing. It is hard to tell lad from master. They will have what they want. May God mend them and end them. He calls out "Good morning, Gyb," to the 1st shepherd. Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I he saue you and me / ouertwhart 1 and endlang, That 1 hang on a tre / I say you no wrang ; Cryst saue vs ffrom arl myschefys, ffrom robers and thefys, ffrom those mens grefys, That 1 oft 1 ar agans vs. ^ (7) Both bosters and bragers / god kepe vs fro, That with thare long dagers / dos mekyH wo ; ffrom arl byri hagers / with colkuyf?/s that go ; Sich wryers and wragers / gose to and fro ffor to crak. "Who so says hyni agane, were better be slane ; Both ploghe and wane Amendys wiH not make. (8) he wiR make if as prowde / a lord as he were, With a hede lyke a clowde / ffelterd his here ; he spekys on lowde / with a grym bere, I wold not haue trowde / so galy in gere As he glydys. I wote not 1 the better, Nor wheder is gretter, The lad or the master, So stowtly he strydys. (9) If he hask me oght / that 1 he wold to his pay, ffutt dere bese it 1 boght / if I say nay ; Bot 1 god that 1 arl wroght 1 / to the now I say, help that 1 thay were broght / to a bette?' way ffor thare sawlys ; And send theym good mendyng With a short 1 endyng, And with the to be lendyng When that 1 thou callys. (10) how. gyb, goode morne / wheder goys thou ? Thou goys ouer the come / gyb, I say, how I 50 54 59 63 68 72 81 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. 103 primus pastor. Who is that 1 John home / I make god The 1st ■*■ shepherd a VOWe ! greets the t • t / i -i e xi n 2nd as John 1 say not* in skorne / thorn, how iarys thou t Home. SecundvLS pastor, hay, ha ! 86 Ar ye in this towne % primus pastor, yey, by my crowne. ijus pastor. I thoght by youre gowne This was youre aray. 90 (") primus pastor. I am euer elyke / wote I neuer what 1 Gyb is faring x . ' as badly as it 1 gars, any shep- Is none in this ryke / a shepard? farys wars. kingdom. ijus pastor, poore men ar in the dyke / and oft tyme Home says poor men mars, are in the The warld is slyke / also helpars Is none here. 95 primus pastor. It is sayde fuH ryf e, G ,y b quotes J- J- j j i the proverb, " a man may not 1 wyfe "Aman may not And also thryf e, marry & J ' thrive all in And all in a yere." 99 a year." (12) £/us pastor, ffyrst must vs crepe / and sythen go. We must primus pastor. I go to by shepe. / we go. Secimdus [pastor]. nay, not so ; Gyb says he What, dreme ye or slepe ? / where shuld thay go 1 [Foi. 34, a.] buyshfep, here shaH thou none kepe. / quarrel as . primus pastor. A, good sir, ho ! shaTSd* 16 Who am I? 104 them ' I wyH pasture my fe where so euer lyk?/s me, here shaH thou theym se. ijus pastor. Not 1 so hardy ! 108 (13) Not 1 oone shepe tayH / shaH thou bryng hedyr. primus pastor. I shaH bryng, no faytt / A himdreth togedyr. ijus pastor. What 1 , art 1 thou in ayH / longys thou oght 1 Gyb primus paste*. Thay shaH go, saunce fayH / go how, t5£t&* beHweder! »-£»■ 104 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I The two shepherds call out con- tradictory orders to the imaginary Gyb threatens to break Home's head. The 3rd shepherd, Slow-pace, arrives & asks what is wrong. Gyb says Home won't let him drive his sheep this way. Slow-pace asks where the sheep are, and chaffs him. ijws, pastor. I say, tyr ! 113 ^ri??zus pastor. I say, tyr, now agane ! I say skyp ouer the plane. ijus pastor, wold? thou neuer so fane, Tup, I say, whyr ! 117 (14) primus pastor. What 1 , wyH thou not 1 yit / I say, let the shepe go 1 Whop! JSecundus pastor, abyde yit. / primus pastor. Will thou hot 1 so 1 knafe, hens I byd flytt / as good that 1 thou do, Or I shall the hytt / on thi pate, lo, shall thou reyH ; 122 I say, gyf the shepe space. ijus pastor. Syr, a letter of youre grace, here comys slaw-pase ffro the mylii whele. 126 (15) Tercius pastor. What a do, what 1 a do / is this you betweyn 1 A good day, thou, and thou. / jpriraus pastor. hark what I meyn You to say: 129 I was bowne to by store, drofe my shepe me before, he says not 1 oone hore shall pas by this way ; 133 (16) Bot and he were wood / this way shall thay go. iijus pastor, yey, bot 1 teH me, good / where ar youre shepe, lo*? ijus pastor. Now, sir, by my hode / yit 1 se I no mo, Not 1 syn I here stode. / iijus pastor. god gyf you wo and sorow ! 138 ye fysh before the nett, And stryfe on this bett, sich folys neuer I mett Evyn or at 1 morow. 142 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds Play, I. 10; (17) It 1 is wonder to wyt / where wytt 1 shuld? be fownde ; here ar old? knafys yit / standys on this grownde, these wold? by thare wytt / make a shyp be drownde ; he were weft qwytt / had sold* for a pownde sich two. 147 thay fyght 1 and thay flyte ffor that* at 1 comys not tyte ; It is far to byd hyte To an eg or it* go. 151 (18) Tytter want 1 ye sowH / then sorow I pray ; Ye brayde of mowH / that 1 went 1 by the way — Many shepe can she poll / bot 1 oone had she ay — ■ Bot 1 she happynyd fuH fowll / hyr pycher, I say, Was broken) ; 156 "ho, god," she sayde, bot 1 oone shepe yit she hade, The my Ik pycher was layde, The skarthis was the tokyn. 160 (19) Bot 1 syn ye ar bare / of wysdom to knawe, 1 iMS.knowe. Take hede how I fare / and lere at 1 my la we ; ye nede not 1 to care / if ye f olow my sawe ; hold? ye my mare / this sek thou thrawe On my bak, 165 Whylst 1 1, with my hand, lawse the sek band ; Com nar and by stand Both gyg and Iak ; 169 (20) Is not 1 aH shakyn owte / and no meyrl is therin 1 pnrmis pastor, yey, that 1 is no dowte. / Tem'us pastor. so is youre wyttys thyn. And ye look well abowte / nawther more nor myn, So gose youre wjttys owte / evyn as It com In : Geder vp 174 And seke it 1 agane. ?)'us pastox. May we not be fane ! he has told vs fuH plane Wysdom to sup. 178 Here are two old knaves not worth a pound between them, fighting for nothing. [Fol. 34, b.] They are like MoU who, while counting up many sheep, broke her pitcher, and had but one sheep all the time. He makes them hold his mare while he shakes his sack empty, and then compares it to their thin wits. 106 Toivneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I Jack the boy- comes in. Save the men of Gotham he thinks they hear the hell of all fools from heaven unto hell. Gyh asks after his sheep and then pro- poses to sit down & drink. Home asks, "What is drink with- out meat?" and wants dinner. [Fol. 35, a. Sig. G. 1.] (21) Ialt garcio. Now god gyf you care / foles all sam ; Sagn I neuer none so fare / bot 1 the foles of gotham. Wo is hir that 1 yow bare / youre syre and youre dam, bad she broghfr furtn" an hare / a shepe, or a lam, had bene weU. Of aH the foles I can tell, flrom heuen) vnto heH, ye thre bere the beH ; God gyf yon vnceyH. 183 187 (22) primus, fjastor. how pastures oure fee / say me, good pen. Garcio. Thay ar gryssed to the kne. / ijus pastor. fare farl the ! Garcio. Amen ! If ye wiH ye may se / youre bestes ye ken. primus pastor.' Sytt we downe aH thre / and drynk shall we then. 'iijus pastor, yey, torde ! 192 I am leuer ete ; what 1 is drynk wMoute mete 1 Gett 1 mete, getfr, And sett vs a borde, 196 (23) Then may we go dyne / oure belly s to fyH. ijus pastor. Abyde vnto syne. / iijus pastor. be god, sir, I nyH ! I am worthy the wyne / me thynk it* good skyH ; My seruyse I tyne / I fare full yU, At 1 youre mangere. 201 primus pastor. Trus ! go we to mete, It 1 is best* that we trete, I lystt not* to plete To stand in thi dangere ; 205 (U) Thou has euer bene curst / syn we met togeder. 1 iijus pastor. Now in fayth, if I durst / ye ar euen my broder. 1 Note the rymes of ■oder. Towneley Plays. XII Shepherds' Play, I. 1 07 ijus pastor. Syrs, let vs cryb furst / for oone thyng or oder, That 1 thise word/s be purst 1 / and let vs go foder Oure mompyns ; 210 Home pro- lay furtli of oure store, lo, here ! browne of a bore. jprimus jpastor. Set 1 mustard afore, oure mete now begyns; 214 boar's brawn , (25) here a foote of a cowe / weH sawsed, I wene, The pesteH of a sowe / that 1 powderd has bene, Two blodyngj's, I trow / A leueryng betwene ; Do gladly, syrs, now / my breder bedene, With more. Both befe, and moton Of an ewe that 1 was roton, Good mete for a gloton ; Ete of this store. 219 223 Gyb, a cow's foot, a sow's shank, blood puddings, (26) ijns pastor. I haue here in my mayH / sothen and rost 1 , Home has in his bag an ox tail, a pie, two swine's jaws & part of a hare. Euen of an ox tayH / that 1 wold? not 1 be lost 1 ; ha, ha, goderhayH ! / I let for no cost, A good py or we fayH / this is good for the frost 1 In a mornyng ; And two swyne gronys, Aft a hare bot 1 the lonys, we myster no sponys here, at 1 oure mangyng. 228 232 (27) Ujxjls pastor, here is to recorde /the leg of a goys, with chekyns endorde / pork, partryk, to roys ; A tart 1 for a lorde / how thynk ye this doys 1 A calf lyuer skorde / with the veryose ; Good sawse, This is a restorete To make a good appete. primus pastor, yee speke aH by clerge[te], I here by your clause ; 237 241 Slow-pace contributes a goose's leg, pork, partridge, tart & calf's liver. 108 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. They drink good whole- some ale as a cure for their ills. As each drinks the others chaff him. (28) Cowth ye by youre gramery / reche vs a drynk, I shuld be more mery / ye wote What I thynk. ijus pastor, haue good ayli of bely / bewar now, I wynk, ffior and thou drynk drely / in thy poH wyH it synk. primus pastor. A, so; 246 This is boyte of oure bayR, 1 good holsom ayH. iijus pastor, ye hold* long the skayR, Now lettt me go to. 250 Home bids the others leave him some. (29) Secundus pastor. I shrew those lyppys / bofr thou leyff me som parte, prbnus pastor, be god, he bot syppys / begylde thou art; [Foi. 35, b.] Behold 1 how he kyppys. / Secundus pastor. I shrew you so smart, And me on my hyppys / bot 1 if I gart 1 Abate. 255 Be thou wyne, be thou ayH, bot 1 if my brethe fayrl, I shaH sett 1 the on sayR ; He will drink till his breath fail. God send the good gayfce. 259 (30) Tercius pastor. Be my dam sauH, alyce / If was sadly dronken. primus pastor. Now, as euer haue I blys / to the bothom it is sonken. ijxis pastor, yitt a boteR here is. / Tercius pastor. that 1 is weR spoken ! By my thryft we must kys. / Secundus pastor. that 1 had I forgo ten. 2 Bot 1 hark ! 264 They sing. Who so can best 1 syng Shall haue the begynnyng. primus pastor. Now prays at the partyng I shaH sett 1 you on warke ; 268 Another bottle is found. 1 The MS makes 2 lines of this : 1 A so ; 2 This etc. 2 Note the assonance t and k. Towiichy Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. 109 (31) We haue clone oure parte / and songyn) right weyR, They drink again, each 1 clrynk tor my parte. / still anxious , ' . . , . , , ,, for his fair ijvis pastor. Abyde, letf cop reyti. share. primus pastor. Godys forbof, thou sparf / and thou clrynk every deyfct. iijus pastor. Thou has dronken a quart / therfor choke the the cleyH. primus pastor. Thourafys; 273 And if were for a sogh Ther is clrynk enogh. iijus pastor. I shrew the hauidys if drogh ! ve be both knafys. 277 (32) primus pastor. Nay ! we knaues aH / thus thynk me best 1 , so, sir, shulct ye caR. / ijVLS pastor. furth let if rest ; we wiH nof braH. / primus pastor. then wold I we fest, This mete Who shaH / into panyere kest. iijus pastor, sjrs, herys ; 282 Gill pro- ff or oure sanies lett vs do collect the Poore men gyf if to. 2?rimus pastor. Geder vp, lo, lo ! ye hungre begers ffrerys ! 286 (33) ijus pastor. If clraes nere nyght / trus, go we to resf ; They pre- I am euen recly dyghf / I thynk it the best*. sleep! iijus pastor, ffor ferde we be fiyghf / a crosse lett vs kest, siow-pace Crysf crosse, benedyght / eesf and west", £ S pS. a Bight " fTor drede. 291 Ihesws. 1 onazorus, Crncyefixus, Morcus, andreus, God be oure specie ! 295 (34) [They sleep.} Angelas, herkyn, hyrdes, awake ! / gyf louyng ye shaH, The angels he is borne for [y]oure 2 sake / lorde perpetual* ; ' awaS? m 1 MS. inc. 2 Originally oure, the " y " having been added by a later hand. broken meats for the poor. 110 A child is born at Bethlehem. [Fol. 36, a. Sig. G. 2.] Gyb wonders what the song was. He supposes it was a cloud whistling in his ear. Home is sure it was an angel, speaking of a child. Yon star betokens it. Slow-pace remembers the angel bade them goto Bethlehem to worship. Towncley Plays. XII Shepherds' Play, I he is comen to take / and rawnson you ail, youre sorowe to slake / kyng eniperiaH, he beliestys ; 300 That 1 chyld is borne At 1 bethelem this morne, ye shaH fynde hym beforne Betwix two bestys. 304 (35) Primus Pastor. A, godys dere dominus ! / What was that 1 sang 1 ? It 1 was wonder curiose / wzt7* small noytys emang ; I pray to god saue vs / now in this thrang ; I am ferd, by ihesus 1 / somwhaf be wrang ; Me thoghtf, 309 Oone scremyd on lowde ; I suppose it was a clowde, In myn erys it sowde, By hym that 1 me boght ! 313 (36) Secwndns pastor. ETay, that 1 may not be / I say you certan, fHor he spake to vs thre / as he had bene a man ; When he lemyd on this lee / my hart* shakyd than, An angeH was he / teH you I can, No dowte. 318 he spake of a barne, We must seke hym, I you warne, That 1 betokyns yond starne, That 1 standi yonder owte. 322 (37) Teictus pastor. It 1 was me?'iieH to se / so bright as it shone, I wold haue trowyd, veraly / if had bene thoner flone, Lot 1 I sagh with myn ee / as I lenyd to this stone ; It 1 was a mery gle / sich hard I neuer none, I recorcle. 327 As he sayde in a skreme, Or els that 1 I dreme, we shuld go to bedleme, To wyrship that 1 lorde. 331 1 MS. ifcc. Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. Ill (38) primus pastor. That 1 same childe is he / that 1 prophet?/s They recall of told, ofthI or i t i i prophets, Shuld make them fre / that 1 adam had sold. ijus pastor. Take tent vnto me / this is inrold, By the wordy s of Isae / a prynce most 1 bold shall he be, 336 And kyng with crowiie, of a king J _ . _ who shall sit Sett on dauid trone, on David's throne, Sich was neuer none, Seyn with oure ee. 340 (39) urns pastor. Also Isay says / oure faders vs told born of a . ' virgin of the That a vyrgyn shuld pas / of Iesse, that 1 wold root of Jesse. Bryng furth, by grace / a floure so bold ; That 1 vyrgyn now has / these woro\ys vphold? As ye se ; 345 Trust 1 it 1 now we may, he is borne this day, Exiet 1 virga De radice iesse. 349 (40) pihnus pastor. Of hym spake more / SybyK as I weyn, Sybyi & And nabugodhonosor / from oure faythe alyene, nezzar spake In the fornace where thay wore / thre childre sene, He it was The fourt stode before / goo\ys son lyke to bene. with the ijus pastor. That fygure 354 children in , Tr oc t i the Fire. Was gyften by reualacyon [Foh 36> b -, That 1 god wold haue a son) ; This is a good lesson, Ys to consydure. 358 (41) Tercius pastor. Of hym spake Ieromy / and moyses also, of Him "Where he sagh hym by / a bushe burnand, lo ! Jeremiah & when he cam to aspy / if it 1 were so, Ynbumyd was it 1 truly / at commyng therto, A wonder. 363 primus pastor. That 1 was for to se hir holy vyrgynyte, That 1 she vnfylyd shuld be, Thus can I ponder, 367 112 Toivneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. They marvel how a virgin may bear a son, and recall more pro- phecies. Gyb quotes Virgil's Eclogue, and is chaffed by Home on his Latin. He has learnt his ' Cato.' Gyb expounds Virgil's text. [Fol. 37, a. Sig. G. 3.] And shuld haue a chyld / sich was neuer sene. ijus pastor, pese, man, thou art 1 begyld? / thou shaH se hym with eene, Of a niadyn so myld / greatt merueH I mene ; yee, and she vnfyld / a virgyn clene, So soyne. 372 primus pastor. Nothyng is inpossybyH sothly, that 1 god wyH ; IV shalbe stabyH That 1 god wyH haue done. 376 (43) ijus iiastor. Abacuc and ely / prophesyde so, Elezabeth and zachare / and many other mo, And dauid as veraly / is witnes therto, Iohn Baptyste sewrly / and daniel also. iijus pastor. So sayng, • 381 he is godys son alon, without hym shalbe none, his sete and his trone ShaH euer be lastyng ; 385 (44) primus pastoi. VirgiH in his poetre / sayde in his verse, Even thus by gramere / as I shall reherse ; " lam noua progenies celo demittitur alto, lam rediet virgo, redeunt 1 saturnia regna." ijus pastor, weme ! tord ! what 1 speke ye / here in myn eeres 1 TeH vs no clerge / I hold you of the freres, ye preche ; 390 If semys by youre laton ye haue lerd 1 youre caton. primus pastor, herk, syrs, ye fon, I shall you teche ; 394 (45) he sayde from heuen / a new kynde is send, whom a vyrgyn to neuen, oure mys to amend, ShaH conceyue fuH euen / thus make I' an end ; And yit more to neuen / that samyne shaH bend 1 1 The first five lines on this leaf having become indistinct, have apparently been touched up by a later hand. Toivneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. 113 vnto VS " 399 Peace and VIUU Vb ' plenty, love With peasse and plente, SSuS? with ryches and menee, among us. Good luf and chary te Blendyd amanges vs 403 (46) Tercius pastor. And I hold if trew / ffor ther shuld be, When that kyng commys new / peasse by land and se. ij ns pastor. Now brethere, adew ! / take tent vnto me ; Home has ° ■* ' made out I wold* that 1 we knew / of this song so ire that the , no angel was Of the angeH ; 4Uo sent from I hard by hys steuen, he was send downe ffro heuen. jpiinms pastor. If is trouth that ye neuen, I hard hym weH speH. 412 (47) */us pastor. Now, by god that me boght / if was a He Drought 24 short mery song ; notes to a I dar say thaf he broght / foure & twenty to a long. iijus pastor. I wold? it were soght / thaf same vs emong. primus pastor. In f ayth I trow noght / so many he Gyb could throng them, hut they weTe Onaneppe; 417 gentle and Thay were gentyll and small, And weH tonyd with aH. iijus pastor, yee, bot I can thaym aH, Now lyst I lepe. 421 (48) primus pastor. Erek outt youre voce / let se as ye yelp. Slow-pace iijus pastor. I may not for the pose / bot I haue help. over the secundus pastor. A, thy hart is in thy hose ! / finds' he\as , . » , i a cold. The j>nmus pastor. now, in payn ol a skelp others must This sang thou not lose. / Mm up. iijus pastor. thou art an yH qwelp ffor angre ! 426 secundus pastor. Go to now, begyn ! primus pastor, he lyst not weH ryn. iijus pastor. Godlett vs neuer blyn ; Take af my sangre. 430 T. PLAYS. I 114 Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds' Play, I. When the song is done, they think of starting off, though there is no moon. They pray that they may see this Babe, whom prophets & saints have desired to see. [Fol. 37, b.] A star appears to guide them. Gyb is sent in first. (49) primus pastor. Now an ende haue we doyn / of oure song this tyde. {jus pastor, ffayr fail thi growne / weH has thou hyde. w)'us pastor. Then furth lett vs ron) / I wyU not 1 abyde. primus pastor. No lyght makethe mone / that 1 haue I asspyde ; Neuer the les 435 lett vs hold? oure beheste. ijus pastor. That hold I best. iijus pastor. Then must we go eest, After my ges. 439 (50) primus pastor, wold? god that 1 we myght / this yong* bab see ! ijus pastor. Many prophetys that syght / desyryd veralee to haue seen that* bright. / iijus pastor. and god so hee wold shew vs that Wyght 1 / we myght say, perde, We had sene 444 That* many sant 1 desyryd, with prophetys inspyryd, If thay hym requyryd, yit I-closyd ar thare eene. 448 (51) ijus pastor. God graunt vs that grace. / Ter cius pastor. god so do. primus pastor. Abyde, syrs, a space / lo, yonde?*, lo ! IV commys on a rase / yond sterne vs to. y us pastor. IV is a grete blase / oure gate let vs go, here he is ! [They go to Bethlehem.] 453 iijus pastor. Who shaH go in before % primus pastor. I ne rek, by my hore. ijus pastor, ye ar of the old store, It semys you, Iwys. [They enter the stable.] 457 (52) primus pastor. hayH, kyng I the carl ! / hayH, most 1 of myght ! haytt, the worthyst of all ! / hayH, duke ! hayH, knyght ! Towneley Plays. XII. Shepherds Play, I. 115 Of ereatt and smaH / thou art lorde by right : He worships ° ' " ° the Holy hayH, perpetuaH ! / haytt, faryst wyght ! Child & offers a little here I oner ! 4oz spruce , coffer. I pray the to take — If thou wold, for my sake, with this may thou lake, — This lytytt spruse cofer. 466 (53) Secundus pastor, hay ft, lytyH tyn) mop / re warder of Home offers ' a ball for mede ! Him to play hayli, bof oone drop / of grace at 1 my nede ; hayli, lytyll mylk sop ! / haytt, dauid sede ! Of oure crede thou art crop / hayli, in god hede ! This baH 471 That? thou wold resaue, — lytyll is that 1 I haue, This wyH I vowche saue, — To play the with aft. 475 (54) u/us pastov. hayH, maker of man / hayli, swetyng ! siow-pace hayH, so as I can / hayH, praty mytyng ! EttSffor I cowche to the than / for fayn nere gretyng ; board to S °° d hayH, lord ! here I ordan / now at 1 oure metyng, ^urd." f a This boteH— 480 If is an old by-worde, It 1 is a good bowrde, for to drynk of a gowrde, — If holdys a mettf poteH. 484 (55) Maria, he that aH myghtys may / the makere of heuen, Maiy prays That is for to say / my son that I neuen, J5JSS Kewarde you this day / as he sett aH on seuen ; them ' he graunf you for ay / his blys fuH euen Contynuyng ; 489 He gyf you good grace, §& ofaj TeH furth of this case, he spede youre pase, And graunt you good endyng. 493 116 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II (56) The shep- primus pastor, flare well, fare lorde ! / with thy mode/* herds take -i their leave, &1SO. So! this ijns pastor, we shall this recorde / where as we go. Lamb, ^^^iijus pastor, we mon aH be restorde / god graunt* it be so ! ] primus pastor. Amen, to that 1 worde / syng we therto / On hight ; 498 / To Ioy aH sam, / "With myrth and gam, I To the lawde of this lam Syng we in syght. Explicit Vna pagina pastorwm The first shepherd comes on, complaining of the cold ri7?ius pastor. yee, on a ley land hard I hym blaw / he commys here at 1 hand, Not 1 far; 113 1 The word in brackets is illegible in the MS. Yet some men will have two wives ] Though the shrew cam late, yit is he in state To dyne, if he had it. 153 (18) Tercins pastor. Sicrl seruand^/s as I / that 1 swettys and Daw says t servants swynkys, sweat & Etys oure brede fuH dry / and that me forthynkys ; they eat U We ar oft* weytfr and wery / when master-men wynkys, dry^& tnei yitf commys f nfi lately / both dyners and drynkys, gjjj* at Botfnately. 158 theirhire - Both oure dame and oure syre, when we haue ryn in the myre, Thay can nyp at 1 oure hyre, And pay vs furl lately. 162 (19) Bot 1 here my troutS., master / for the fayr that 1 ye make, He tells I shall do theraf ter / wyrk as I take ; work as he 1 shall do a lytyH. sir / and emang euer lake, a cheap ° x ffor yit 1 lay my soper / neuer on my stomake yfe^fs but In feyldys. 167 p °° rly ' Wherto shuld* I threpe 1 with my staf can I lepe, And men say " lyght 1 chepe letherly for-yeldys." 171 (20) primus pastor. Thou were an yrr" lad / to ryde on The first shepherd WOWyng says Daw With a man that 1 had / bof lytyH of spendyng. mTadtogo ijus pastor. Peasse, boy, I bad / no more Iangling, wrth°a poor master. Or I shall make the futt rad / by the heuen's kyng ! with thy gawdys ; 176 Theshep- wher ar oure shepe, boy, we skorne ? afteAheir iijus pastor. Sir, this same day at 1 morne s eep * I thaym left* in the corne, when thay rang lawdys ; 180 122 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. The three shepherds sing a song, taking tenor, treble, & Mak comes on, wishing he were in heaven, where no bairns weep (21) Thay haue pasture good / thay can not 1 go wrong, primus pastor. That 1 is right*, by the roode ! / thyse nyghtys ar long, yifr I wold, or we yode / oone gaf vs a song. ij\xs pastor. So I thoghf as I stode / to myrth vs emong. iijua pastor. I grauntf. 185 primus pastor. lett 1 me syng the tenory. ijus pastor. And I the tryble so hye. iijtis pastor. Then the meyne fallys to me ; lett se how ye chauntt. 189 Tunc intrat mak, in clamide se super togam vestitus. (22) Mak. Now lord, for thy naymes sevyn 1 / that 1 made both moyn & starnes WeH mo then I can neuen / thi wiU, lorde, of me tharnys ; [Foi. 40, b.] I am aH vneuen / that moves oft my harnes, Now Wold god I were in heuen / for there 2 wepe no barnes So styli. . 194 primus pastor. Who is that 1 pypys so poore 1 Mak. wold? god ye wyst 1 how I foore ! lo, a man that w&lkys on the moore, And has not aH his wyH ! 198 (23) sexnndus pastor. Mak, where has thou gon 3 1 / teH vs tythyng. Tercius pastor. Is he commen ? then ylkon / take hede to his thyng. & accipit clamidem ah ipso. Mak. what ! ich be a yoman / I teH you, of the king ; The self and the same / sond from a greatfr lordyng, And sich. 203 ffy on you ! goyth hence Out of my presence ! I must 1 haue reuerence ; why, who be ich 1 207 1 MS. vij. 2 MS. the. 3 MS. gom. The 2nd shepherd asks the news. Daw bids each man look to his goods. Mak says he is the king's yeoman, & must have reverence. Toivneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II 123 (24) l^ primus pastor. Why make ye it so q waynt 1 I mak, ye in spite of * •* " the shep- d.0 Wrang. herds' com- n i t xi j merits Mak Mas pastor. Bot 1 , mak, lyst ye saynt f / 1 trow that ye continues to boast. lang. iijus pastor. I trow the shrew can paynt, / the dewyH myght 1 hym hang ! Mak. Ich shaH make complaynt / and make you aH to thwang At a worde, 212 And teH euyn how ye doth. m _ lH6 lSu primus pastor. Bot, Mak, is that sothe i shepherd ■xt i i i bids him .Now take outt that sothren tothe, take out his And sett in a torde ! 216 tooth. (25) ijus pastor. Mak, the dewiH in youre ee / a stroke wold? Under T , threats Mak 1 leyne you. recognizes iijus pastor. Mak, know ye not me? / by god I couthe herds as "a . t fair com- teyn 1 you. pany . Male. God looke you. aH thre ! / me thoght I had sene you, ye ar a fare compane. / primus pastor. can ye now mene you 1 secundus pastor. Shrew, lape ! 221 The 2nd Thus late as thou goys, hints that , . ,, „ Mak is out what wytt men suppos { so late with And thou has an yH noys sheep- of stelyng of shepe. 225 ms * (26) , Mak. And I am trew as steyH / aH men waytt, Mak says all Bot a sekenes I feyH / that hald^/s me fuH haytt, heTstouTas My belly farys not weyH / it is out of astate. Reikis iijus pastor. Seldom lyys the dewyH / dede by the gate. Khalno Mak. Therfor 230 a PP etite - fuH sore am I and yH, If I stande stone styH ; I ete not an nedyH Thys moneth and more. 234 1 MS. teyle; but the letters "le" have been written over the original by a later hand. 124 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds 7 Play, II. Asked after his wife, Mak says she does nought but [Fol. 41, a.] eat & drink & bear children. However rich he were she would eat him out of house & home. He would give all he has would she but need a mass- penny. The shep- herds are tired and lie down to sleep. They make Mak lie between them. (27) primus pastor, how farys thi wyff ] by my hoode / how farys sho % Male, lyys walteryng, by the roode / by the fyere, lo ! And a howse furl of brude / she drynkys werl to ; yU spede othere good / that she wyH do ! Bot so 239 Etys as fast as she can, And ilk yere that 1 co?>zmys to man She bryngys furth a lakan, And som yeres two. 243 (28) Bot 1 were I not 1 more gracyus / and rychere befar, I were eten outt of howse / and of harbar ; Yit 1 is she a fowH dowse / if ye com nar : Ther is none that 1 trowse / nor knowys a war, Then ken I. 248 Now wyH ye se what 1 I profer, To gyf arl in my cofer To morne at next to offer hyr hed mas pewny. 252 (29) Secundus p>astor. I wote so forwakyd / is none in this shyre : I wold slepe if I takyd / les to my hyere. iijus pastor. I am cold* and nakyd / and wold haue a fyere. ^?ri7?zus pastor. I am wery, for-rakyd / and run in the myre. wake thou ! 257 ijus pastor. Nay, I wyH lyg downe by, ffor I must slepe truly. u)'us pastor. As good a man's son was I As any of you. 261 (30) Bot, mak, com heder ! betwene / shall thou lyg downe. Mak. Then myght I lett you bedene / of that 1 ye wold 1 Possibly 2 lines in -owne are missing in this couplet. see the like, stanza 15 in the first Shepherds' Play, p. 104. But Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II 125 No drede. 264 ffro my top to my too, Manws tuas co??zmendo, poncio pilato, Cryst crosse me spede ! 268 Tunc surgit, pastoribus dormientihus, & dicit ; (31) JSTow were tyme for a man / that lakkys what 1 he wold, To stalk preuely than / vnto a fold?, And neemly to wyrk than / and be not 1 to bold, ffor he might aby the bargan / if it 1 were told At 1 the endyng. 273 Now were tyme for to reyH ; Bot he ne&ys good counsell That 1 fayn wold* fare weyH, And has bot 1 lytyH spendyng. 277 (32) Bot 1 abowte you a serkyH: / as rownde as a moyn, To I haue done that I wyH / tyU that it be noyn, That ye lyg stone styH / to that 1 1 haue doyne, And I shall say thertyH / of good word?/s a foyne. On hight 282 Oner youre hejdys my hand I lyft, Outtf go youre een, fordo your syght, Bot 1 yit 1 I must make better shyft, Mak says a mock night-spell. He sees a chance of stealing a sheep. And it 1 be right. 286 (33) lord ! what 1 thay slepe hard ! / that 1 may ye aft here ; was I neuer a shepard / bot 1 now wyH I lere. If the flok be skard / yit 1 shaft I nyp nere, how ! drawes hederward ! / now mendys oure chere ffrom sorow : [MS. ffron.] A fatt 1 shepe I dar say, A good flese dar I lay, Eft whyte when I may, Bot 1 this will I borow. [Mak goes home.] (34) how, gytt, art 1 thou In % / gett vs som lyght. Vxor eius. Who makys sich dyn / this tyme nyght % 291 295 of the He uses a spell to make the shepherds sleep till noon. [Fol. 41, b.] When he finds by their snoring that they are sleeping hard he "borrows" a sheep & carries it home. He knocks, & his wife Gyll asks "Who is it?" 126 Tovmehy Plays. XIII. Shepherds Play, II. Gyll says she is spinning & can't be interrupted for nothing. When she recognizes Mak's voice she let's him in; "his sheep- stealing will end in his being hanged." Mak has done it before, but "so long goes the pot to the water that it is broken at last!" Mak wants a dinner off the sheep at once, but they are afraid the shepherds [Fol. 42, a.] may follow him. 300 304 I am sett 1 for to spyn / I hope not I myght 1 Kyse a penny to wyn, / I shrew them on hight ! So farys A huswyfr" that has bene To be rasyd thus betwene : here may no note be sene ffor sich smaH charys. (35) Mak. Good wyff, open the hek ! / seys thou not what Ibryng? Vxor. I may thole the dray the snek. / A, com in, my swetyng ! Mak. yee, thou thar not 1 rek / of my long standyng. Vxor. By the nakyd nek / art 1 thou lyke for to hyng. Mak. Do way : 309 I am worthy my mete, ffor in a strate can I gett More then thay that 1 swynke and swette AH the long day, 313 (36) Thus it 1 ferl to my lott / gyll, I had sich grace. Vxor. It 1 were a fowH blott / to be hanged for the case. Mak. I haue skapyd, Ielott / oft 1 as hard a glase. Vxor. Bot 1 so long goys the pott / to the wate?*, men says, At last 318 Comys it 1 home broken. Mak. weH knowe I the token, Bot let 1 it 1 neuer be spoken ; Bot 1 com and help fast. 322 (37) I wold he were slayn / I lyst weft ete : This twelmothe was I not 1 so fayn / of oone shepe mete. Vxor. Com thay or he be slayn / and here the shepe blete ! Mak. Then myght I be tane, / that 1 were a cold? swette ! Go spar 327 The gaytt doore. Vxor. Yis, Mak, ffor and thay com at thy bak, Mak. Then myght I by, for aH the pak, The dewiU of the war. 331 Toiuneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds Play, II. 127 (38) vxor. A good bowrde haue I spied / syn thou can none. Gyii will put the shee P in here shall we hym hyde / to thay be gone ; a cradle & In my credyH abyde / lett me alone, a new-born And I sharl lyg besyde / in chylbed, and grone. Mak. Thou red ; 336 And I shall say thou was lyght Of a knaue child e this nyght. Vxor. Now weH is me day bright, That 1 euer was I bred. 340 (39) This is a good gyse / and a far cast; Mak must go v ., IT! , ,i i back to the lit 1 a woman avyse / helpys at 1 the last. shepherds, I wote neuer who spyse, / agane go thou fast. be an ill Mak. Bot 1 1 com or thay ryse / els blawes a cold blast ! I wyH go slepe. [Mak returns to the shepherds, yit 1 slepys aft this meneye, and resumes his place.'] And I shaU go stalk pmiely, As it had neuer bene I He finds That 1 caryed thare shepe. 349 sleeping. (40) primus pastor. Eesurrex a mortrw's ! / haue hald my hand. The 1st Iudas carnas dominus ! / I may not weH stand : wakes? 1 He My foytt slepys, by ihesus 1 / and I water fastand. he d was e near I thoghf that 1 we layd vs / f uH nere yngland. England. Secundus pastor. Aye! 354 The 2nd lord ! what I haue slept weyH ; has slept As fresh as an eyH, As lyght I me feyH As leyfe on a tre. 358 (41) Tercius pastor. Benste be here in ! / so my [hart?] qwakys, Daw wakes My hart 1 is outt of skyn / what 1 so it makys. asks where Who makys all: this dyn 1 / so my browes blakys, To the do wore wyH I wyn / harke felows, wakys ! We were fowre : 363 se ye awre of mak now 1 primus pastor, we were vp or thou. The 2nd / -»/r t n i shepherd ijus pastor. Man, I gyf god a vowe, says he has yit 1 yede he nawre. 367 nowhere. 1 MS. iHc. 128 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. (42) Daw had fc'yus pastor. Me thoght lie was lapt / in a wolfe skyn. primus pastor. So are many hapt / now namely within. ij\is pastor. When we had long napt /me thoght with agyn [Foi. 42, b.] A fatt shepe he trapt / bot he mayde no dyn. Tercius pastor. Be styft : 372 Thi dreme makys the woode : It is bot fantom, by the roode. primus pastor. Now god turne aH to good, If it 1 be his wyll. 376 Mak had trapped one of the sheep but he is reassured by the others. They wake Mak, who pretends to have a stiff neck, and to have been frightened by a dream. (43) ijus pastor. Eyse, mak, for shame ! / thou \jgys right lang. Mak. Now crjstys holy name / be vs emang ! what 1 is this 1 for sant lame / I may not weH gang ! I trow I be the same / A ! my nek has lygen) wrang Enoghe; 381 MekiH thank, syn yister euen, Now, by sant strevyn, I was flayd with a swevyn, My hart out of sloghe. 385 He dreamt his wife had another boy ! Wo is him that has many bairns and little bread. (44) I thoght gyrl began to crok / and traueH full sad, welner at 1 the fyrst 1 cok / of a yong lad, nor to mend oure flok / then be I neuer glad. I haue tow on my rok / more then euer I had. A, my heede ! A house furl of yong tharmes, The dewiH knok outt thare harnes ! wo is hym has many barnes, And therto lytyll brede ! 390 394 He must go home to Gyll, but first bids them see he has stolen nought. (45) I must 1 go home, by youre lefe / to gyrl as I thoght. I pray you looke my slefe / that 1 1 steyH noght : I am loth you to grefe / or from you take oght. iijus pastor. Go furth, yH myght thou chefe ! / now wold I we soght, Toivneley Plays. XII I. Shepherds' Play, II. 129 This morne, 399 The ahep- * herds That we had aH oure store. separate to count their primus pastor. Boft I wiH go before, sheep, let vs mete. ijus pastor, whore 1 ? iijus pastor. At the crokyd thorne. 403 (46) Mak. Vndo this doore ! who is here % I how long shaft Mak comes home & is I Standi welcomed Vxor eius. Who makys sich a bere % / now walk in the some 7 Wenyand. gramWi " g ' Mak. A, gyft, what chere 1 / it is I, mak, youre husbande, Vxor. Then may we be here / the dewiH in a bande, Syr gyle ; 408 lo, he commys with a lote As he were holden in the throte. I may not syt at my note, A hand lang while. 412 (47) Mak. wyH ye here what fare she makys / to gett hir a glose, And dos nog-lit 1 bot lakys / and clowse hir toose. Vxor. why, who wanders, who wakys / who commys, it is the -i „ n woman does WilOgOSe? all the work, who brewys, who bakys 1 / what makys me thus hose ? Chouse 3 - And than, 417 J-«* It 1 is rewthe to beholde, Now in hote, now in colde, ffuH wofuH is the householde That w&ntys a woman. 421 (48) Bot? what ende has thou mayde / with the hyrdys, [Foi. 43, a.] mak ? Mak. The last* worde that 1 thay sayde / when I turnyd Mak tells mv "hair Gyllthe m J DaK > shepherds Thay wold looke that 1 thay hade / thare shepe aH the pak. thlSep. 2 I hope thay wyH: nott* be weH payde / when thay thare shepe lak, Perde. 426 T. PLATS. K 130 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. The shep- herds are sure to sus- pect him. The sheep is swaddled in a cradle, & Gyll lies down. Mak must sing a lullaby, while she groans. Bot 1 how so the gam gose, To me thay wyH suppose, And make a fowil noyse, And cry outt 1 apon me. The shep- herds meet again. The 1st shepherd has lost a fat wether, & has searched "all horbery shrogys" in vain. 430 (49) Bot 1 thou must 1 do as thou hyght 1 / Vxor. I accorde me thertyH. I shall swedyH hym) right / In my credyrl ; If it 1 were a gretter slyght / yitf couthe I help tyH. I wyH lyg downe stright ; / com hap me ; Mak. I wyH. Vxor. Behynde. 435 Com cott and his maroo, Thay will nyp vs furl naroo. Mak. Bot 1 1 may cry out 1 ' haroo/ The shepe if thay fynde. 43& (50) Vxor. harken ay when thay caH / thay wiH com onone. Com and make redy aU / and syng by thyn oone ; Syng lullay thou shall / for I must 1 grone, And cry outt by the wall / on mary and Iohu, ffor sore. 444 Syng lullay on fast 1 when thou heris at 1 the last 1 ; And bot 1 1 play a fals cast, Trust 1 me no more. 448 (51) Tercius pastor. A, coH, goode morne / why slepys thou nott? primus pastor. Alas, that euer was I borne ! / we haue a fowll blott. A fat wedir haue we lorne. / Tercius pastor. mary, go&ys forbott ! £)'us pastor, who shuld do vs that 1 skorne 1 that 1 were a fowli spott. primus pastor. Som shrewe. 453 I haue soght 1 with my dogys Att horbery shrogys, And of fefteyn 1 hogys ffond I bot oone ewe. 457 1 MS. xv. Townehy Plays. XIII. ShephertM Play, II. 131. (52) iijns pastor. Now trow me, if ye will / by sant thomas Daw sus- „ , , pects either 01 Kent, Mak or Gyll. Ay the r mak or gyH / was at that* assent 1 . pvimus pastor, peasse, man, be still ! / I sagll when he went ; Thou sklanders hym yH / thou aght to repent, Goode spede. 462 ijus pastor. Now as euer myght I the, If I shuld? euyn here de, I wold say it 1 were he, That 1 dyd that same dede. 466 (53) iijus pastor. Go we theder, I rede / and ryn on oure The shep herds ' off for house herds start ieete. offforMak's ShaH I neuer ete brede / the sothe to I wytt. primus pastor. Nor drynk in my heede / with hym tyH I mete. Secundus jpastor. I wyH rest 1 in no stede / tyH that I [Foi. 43, b.] hym grete, My brothere. 471 Oone I wiH hight : TyH I se hym. in sight 1 shaH I neuer slepe one nyghf Ther I do anothere. 475 (54) Tercius pastor. wiH ye here how thay hak 1 / oure syre, They hear lyst 1 , croyne. -£, and primus pastor, hard I neuer none crab / so clere out of tS^spfak toyne ; softl J r - Carl on hym. ijus pastor, mak ! / vndo youre doore soyne. Male. Who is that 1 spak, / as it were noyne, On loft 1 ? 480 Who is that* I say % iijus pastor. Goode felowse, were it day. Mak. As far as ye may, Good, sipekys soft 1 , 484 132 Tovmeley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II (55) Every foot- Oner a seke woman's heede / that* is at mayli easse ; through I had leuer be dede / or she had any dyseasse. Vxor. Go to an othere stede / I may not weH qweasse. Ich fote that 1 ye trede / goys thorow my nese. So hee ! 489 primus pastor. Tell vs, mak, if ye may, how fare ye, I say 1 Mak. Bot 1 ar ye in this towne to day 1 Now how fare ye 1 ■■ 493 (56) Mak bids the ye haue ryn in the myre / and ar weytt yit 1 : sit down* I shall make you a fyre / if ye wiH syt. hascome" 1 A nores wold* I hyre / thynk ye on yit, weH qwytt is my hyre / my dreme this is itt, A seson. 498 I haue barnes, if ye knew, weH mo then enewe, Bot 1 we must 1 drynk as we brew, And that 1 is bot 1 reson. 502 (57) The shep- I wold ye dynyd or ye yode / me thynk that 1 ye swette. ciinehis Secundus pastor. Nay, nawther mendys oure mode / hospitality, , . & hint that drynke nor mette. their sheep. Mak. why, sir, alys you oghtf bot goode 1 ? / Tercius pastor, yee, oure shepe that we gett, Ar stollyn as thay yode / oure los is grette. Mak. Syrs, diynkys ! 507 had I bene thore, Som shuld haue boght 1 it full sore, primus pastor. Mary, som men trowes that 1 ye wore, And that vs forthynk?/s. 511 (58) Mak bids ijus pastor. Mak, som men trowys / that 1 it shuld be ye. them search ... . , , / the house. tij us pastor. Aytner ye or youre spouse / so say we. Mak. Now if ye haue suspowse / to giH or to me, Com and rype oure howse / and then may ye se Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds Play, II. 133 who had hir, 516 AsforGyii, 7 she has not If I any shepe fott, left her bed. Aythor cow or stott ; And gyH, my wyfe, rose nott here syn she lade hir. 520 (59) As I am true and lele / to god here I pray, s^hV] That 1 this he the fyrst mele / that 1 I shall ete this day. primus pastor. Mak, as haue I ceyrl, / Avyse the, I say ; he lernyd tymely to steytt / that 1 couth not 1 say nay. Vxor. Iswelt! 525 Gyn cries out on them Outt, thefys, fro my wonys ! for thieves, ye com to roh vs for the nonys. Mak. here ye not how she gronys 1 youre hartys shuld melt 1 . 529 (60) Vxor. Outt 1 , thefys, fro my harne ! / negh hym not thoi°. Mak. wyst ye how she had fame / youre hartys wold Mak re- J d ' d d proaches the be SOre. shepherds for disturb- ye do wrang, I you warne / that 1 thus coramys before ing her. To a woman that 1 has fame / bot 1 1 say no more. Vxor. A, mymedyH! 534 Gyii-miieat T , ". 1 the child in 1 pray to god so mylde, the cradle It euer I you begyla, cheated That 1 1 ete this chylde them - That Ijgys in this credyH. 538 (61) Mak. peasse, woman, for godys payn / and cry not 1 so : The shep- Thou spyllys thy brane / and makys me f uH wo. • find nothing Seamdus pastor. I trow oure shepe be slayn / what but two finde ye two 1 pStters. iijus pastor. AH wyrk we in vayn / as weH may we go. Bot hatters, 543 I can fynde no flesh, hard nor nesh, Salt nor fresh, Bot 1 two tome platers. 547 134 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. The 1st shepherd thinks they have made a mistake. They talk of Gyll's child. Parkyn and Gybon Waller and gentle John Home are his gossips. [Fol. 44, h.] The shep- herds take a friendly farewell. Mak pre- tends to sulk. Daw goes back to give the child a sixpence. Mak tries to keep him away from the cradle. (62) Whik cateH bot 1 this / tame nor wylde, None, as haue I blys / as lowde as lie smylde. Vxor. No, so god me blys / and gyf me Ioy of my chylde ! 2?ri??ms pastor. We haue merkyd amys / I hold vs begyld. ijus pastor. Syr don, 552 Syr, oure lady hym saue ! Is youre chyld a knaue % MaJc. Any lord myghf hym haue This chyld to his son. 556 (63) when he wakyns he kyppys / that 1 ioy is to se. iijus pastor. In good tyme to hys hyppys / and in cele. Bot who was his gossyppys / so sone rede 1 Mak. So fare faH thare lyppys ! / piimus pastor. hark now, a le I Mak. So god thaym thank, 561 Parkyn, and gybon waller, I say, And gentiH Iohn home, in good fay, he made aH the garray, With the greatt 1 shank. 565 (64) ijus pastor. Mak, freynd?/s wiH we be / fflor we ar aH oone. Male, we ! now I hald for me / for mend?/6' gett I none, flare well all thre / aH glad were ye gone. [TJie shepherds leave.] iijus pastoi. Hare wordys may ther be / bot 1 luf is ther none this yere. 570 primus pastoi. Gaf ye the chyld' any thyng 1 ijus pastoi. I trow not 1 oone farthyng. iijus pastor, ffast 1 agane wiH I flyng, Abyde ye me there. [Goes back to the house.] (65) Mak, take it to no grefe / if I com to thi barne. Mak. Nay, thou dos me greatt reprefe / and fowH has thou fame. iijus pastor. The child wiH it 1 not 1 grefe / that lytyH day starne. Mak, with youre leyfe / let me gyf youre barne, Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds" Play, II 135 Bot 1 sex 1 pence. 579 Mak. Nay, do way : he slepys. Jg s ets iijvis pastor. Me thynk he pepys. Mak. when he wakyns he wepys. I pray you go hence. [The other shepherds come back.] (66) iijus pastor. Gyf me lefe hym to kys / and ]yffr vp the lifts the clowtt. [Seeing the sheep.] kiss the what* the dewiH is this 1 / he has a long snowte. claim's atTts primus pastor, he is merkyd amys. / we wate iH abowte. Toothers' ijus pastor. Hi spon weft, Iwys / ay commys fouU tSafte?* 7 owte. Si u ? Ay, so! 588 S. the he is lyke to oure shepe ! Myus pastor, how, gyb ! may I pepe % primus pastor. I trow, kynde wiH crepe where it may not go. 592 (67) ijus pastor. This was a qwantft gawde / and a far cast. The shep- liGrds ftrp It was a hee frawde. / furious, hut .... , can't help zijus pastor. yee, syrs, wast. seeing the lett bren this bawde / and bynd hir fast. J0 e ' A fals skawde / hang at 1 the last ; So shaH thou. 597 wyH ye se how thay swedyH his foure f eytt in the medyU 1 Sagh I neuer in a credyH A hornyd lad or now. 601 (68) Mak. Peasse byd I : what 1 ! / lett 1 be youre fare ; [Foi. 45, a. I am he that hym gatt / and yond woman hym bare. Mak and primus pastor. What 1 dewirl shaH he hatt? / Mak, lo KStthe god maki/s ayre. theKiid. ijus pastor, lett* be aH that 1 . / now god gyf hym care, I sagh. 606 Vxor. A pratty child is he As syttys on a waman's kne ; A dyllydowne, perde, To gar a man laghe. 610 "* 1 MS. vj. 136 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. a clerk had nms pastor. I know hym by the eere marke / that 1 is toldMakthe , ' , child was a good tokyn. forspoken, & __ , T , .. . . , . . _ Gyii saw an Mok. 1 tea you, syrs, nark ! / hys noyse was brokyn. him as the Sythen told? me a clerk / that* he was f orspokyn. twelve. primus pastor. This is a fals wark / I wold? fayn be wrokyn : Gett 1 wepyn. 615 Vxor. he was takyn with an elfe, I saw it 1 myself, when the clok stroke twelf was he forshapyn. 619 (70) But Mak ijus pastor, ye two ar weH fef t / sam in a stede. guilty, and iijus pastor. Syn thay manteyn thare theft 1 / let do herds let thaym to dede. a good Mak. If I trespas eft / gyrd of my heede. an e mg. ^^ ^^ ^j ^ ^ e j^ j primus pastor. syrs, do my reede. fTor this trespas, 624 we wiH nawther ban ne flyte, ffyght 1 nor chyte, Bot 1 haue done as tyte, And cast hym in canvas. {They toss Mak in a sJieet.] (71) They toss lord ! what 1 1 am sore / in poynt 1 for to bryst. him till they I if J J are tired, & In f ayth I may no more / therfor wyH I ryst. down to ^'us pastor. As a shepe of sevyn * skore / he weyd in my fyst. ffor to slepe ay whore / me thynk that 1 1 lyst. iijus pastor. Now I pray you, 633 lyg downe on this grene. primus pastor. On these theiys yit I mene. iijus pastor, wherto shuld ye tene So, as I say you 1 ? 637 Angelus cantat " gloria in exelsis : " postea dicat : (72) An angel Angelus. Eyse, hyrd men heynd ! / for now is he borne rise. That 1 shall take fro the feynd / that 1 adam had lorne : 1 MS. vij. Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II 137 That* warloo to sheynd / this nyghf is he borne. The Re- vi i ° deenier is God is made youre freynd / now at 1 this morne. *°™> * ^ey he behestys, 642 Bethlehem J ' to see Him. At 1 bedlem go se, Ther Ijgys that 1 fre In a cryb fuH poorely, Betwyx two bestys. 646 (73) primus pastor. This was a qwant stevyn / that 1 euer yit [Pol. 45, b.j T -i -11 The shep- I nard. 1 herds talk of It is a merueH to neuyn / thus to be skard. message, 1 & ijvis pastor. Of godys son of heuyn / he spak vpward. star! smdl " g AH the wod on a leuyn / me thoghf that he gard Appere. 651 iijrxB pastor, he spake of a barne In bedlem, I yon warne. primus pastor. That 1 betokyns yond starne. let vs seke hym there, 655 (74) ijus pastor. Say, what* was his song 1 / hard ye not They discuss * i i j m. i» ■ ' . tne angel's how he crakyd if 1 music, & try mi i n i i i to imitate it. Ihre breles to a long. / iijus pastor. yee, mary, he hakt 1 it. was no crochetf wrong / nor no thyng that 1 lakt if. primus pastor, ffor to syng vs emong / right* as he knakt if, I can. 660 ijxis pastor, lef se how ye croyne. 2 Can ye bark af the mone 1 iijus pastor, hold youre tonges, haue done ! primus pastor, hark after, than. 664 (75) ijns pastor. To bedlem he bad / thaf we shuld gang : But they I am full fard / thaf we tary to lang. toSSS" n/us pastor. Be mery and nof sad / of myrth is oure sang, Euer lastyng glad / to mede may we fang, 1 ' That euer yit I hard' was originally "he spake vpward," from 1. 649, but this has been crossed out with red ink. 2 ' Croyne ' for ' crone ' hem. 138 Towneley Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. Though they be wet & weary, they must see that child & that lady. The 2nd shepherd recalls the prophecies of David and Isaiah. [1 This is of course for 1 Ecce.'] If Daw could once kneel "before that child it would ever he well with him. The 1st shepherd remembers that patriarchs & prophets have desired to see this sight. [Fol. 46, a. Sig. H. 4.] 'Twas pro- mised He should appear to the poor. 'Withow.it noyse. 669 primus pastor, hy we theder for thy ; If we be wete and wery, To that 1 chyld and that lady we haue if not to lose. 673 (76) ij\is pastor, we fynde by the prophecy — / let* be youre dyn — Of dauid and Isay / and mo then I myn, Thay prophecyed by clergy / that 1 in a vyrgyn shuld? he lyght 1 and ly / to slokyn oure syn And slake if, 678 Oure kynde from wo ; ffor Isay sayd so, Cite 1 virgo Concipiet 1 a chylde that is nakyd. 682 (77) iij pastor. ffuH glad may we be / and abyde that 1 day That lufly to se / that 1 aft myghtys may. lord? weH were me / for ones and for ay, Myght 1 1 knele on my kne / som word for to say To that 1 chylde. 687 Bot 1 the angeH: sayd, In a cryb wos he layde ; he was poorly arayd Both mener and mylde. 691 (78) jprimus pastoi. patryarkes that 1 has bene / and propheta/s beforne, Thay desyryd to haue sene / this chylde that 1 is borne. Thay ar gone full clene / that 1 haue thay lorne. We shall se hym, I weyn /^or it be morne, To tokyn. 696 "When I se hym and fele, Then wote I fuH weyft It 1 is true as steyH That 1 propheta/s haue spokyn. 700 (79) To so poore as we ar / that 1 he wold appere, ffyrst fynd, and declare / by his messyngere. Townehy Plays. XIII. Shepherds' Play, II. 139 //us pastor. Go we now, let vs fare / the place is vs nere. They pray "... J 3 j / • * God they ?/;us pastor. I am redy and yare / go we m iere may have To that bright*. 705 comfort His Lord, if thi wylles be, we ar lewde aH thre, Thou grauntt vs somkyns gle To comfortfi. thi wight. [They enter the stable.] (80) primus pastor. hayH, comly and clene ! / hayH, yong The 1st , ., t , shepherd child ! bids the hayH, maker, as I meyne, / of a madyn so mylde ! Scoffers Thou has waryd, I weyne / the warlo so wylcle ; SfSerate*" The fals gyler of teyn / now goys he begylde. lo, he merys ; 714 lo, he laghys, my swetyng, A welfare metyng, I haue holden my hetyng ; haue a bob of cherys, 718 (81) ^)'us pastor. hayH, sufferan sauyoure ! / ffor thou has vs The 2nd ' -I ■_. , shepherd SOgnt? I brings Him hayH, frely foycle and noure / that 1 aft thyng has wroght ! a bird ' hayH, fuH of fauoure / that 1 made aH of noght 1 ! hayH ! I kneyH and I cowre. / A byrd haue I broght 1 To my barne. 723 hayH, lytyH tyne mop ! of oure crede thou art crop : I wold drynk on thy cop, LytyH day starne. 727 (82) iijus pastor. hayH, derlyng dere / fuH of godhede ! Daw's heart I pray the be nere / when that 1 I haue nede. Him so hayH ! swete is thy chere ! / my hart* wold* blede Kere ' To se the sytt here / in so poore wede, With no peraiys. 732 hayH ! put furth thy daH ! I bryng the bott a batt : haue and play the with aft, And go to the tenys. 736 140 Toivnelef Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. Mary pro- mises to pray her Son to keep them from woe. [Fol. 46, b.] The shep- herds go their way singing. (83) Maria. The fader of heuen / god omnypotenfr. That 1 sett aH on seuen, / his son has he sent. My name conth he neuen / and lyght 1 or he went 1 . I conceynyd hym fuH euen / thrugft myghtt as he meat 1 , And now is he borne. 741 he kepe you fro wo ! I shaH pray hym so ; Tell furth as ye go, And myn on this morne. 745 (84) primus pastor. ffareweH, lady / so fare to beholde, with thy childe on thi kne ! / ijus pastor. hot 1 he Ijgys f uH cold, lord, weH is me / now we go, thou behold. iijus pastor, ffor sothe aH redy / if semys to be told fuH oft. 750 primus pastoi. what 1 grace we haue fun. ijus pastov. Com furth, now ar we won. iijus pastor. To syng ar we bun) : let take on loft. 754 Explicit pagina Pastorum. Herod calls for silence. Herodes. Nuncius. XIV. Incipit oblacz'o magorum. [Dramatis Personae. Primus Rex, Jaspar. Secundus Rex, Melchior. Tercius Rex, Palthesar.] [One 12-line stanza (no, 100), ab ab ab abc ddc ; 105 six-line stanzas, aaab ab, except stanza 72, ab ab ab, and one A-line stanza 22, aaab. herodes. (1) Easse, I byd, both far and nere, I warne you leyf youre sawes sere ; who that msikys noyse whyls I am here, I say, shaH dy. Of aH this warld, sooth, far & nere, The lord am I. P Toivneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 141 (2) Lord am I of euery land, Of towre and towne, of se and sand ; Agans me dar noman stand, That 1 berys lyfe ; AH erthly thyng bowes to my hand, Both man and wyfe. (3) Man and wyfe, that 1 warne I you, That 1 in this warld? is lyfand now, To mahowne & me all shall bow, Both old? and ying ; On hym wyH I ich man trow, ffor any thyng. {*) ffor any thyng it 1 shall be so ; lord ouer aH where I go, who so says agane, I shall hym slo, where so he dwell ; The feynd, if he were my fo, I shuld* hym feH. (5) To feH those fatures I am bowne, And dystroy those dogys in feyld? and towne That 1 wiH not 1 trow on sant 1 Mahowne, Onre god so swete ; Those fals faturs I shall feH downe Vnder my feete. • (6) Vnder my feete I shaH thaym fare, Those ladys that 1 wiH [not] lere my lare, ffor I am myghty man ay whare. Of ilk a pak ; Clenly shapen, hyde and hare, w^t/ioutten lak. (7) The myght 1 of me may no man mene, ffor aH [that] dos me any teyn, 10 12 16 18 22 24 28 30 34 36 He is lord of every land. All shall bow to Mahound himself. He would slay the fiend if he him. [Fol. 47, a.] He will lay low all who won't believe in Mahound. He is a mighty man, clean shapen, hide & hair. 142 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. He will ding down all who give him trouble. So he will send to see if there be any traitors in the land. He bids his me: go & spy if there be any who trow not on Mahound. If there be, he will flay them. The messen- ger offers to kill them, but Herod bids him bring them to him. I shall dyng thaym downe bydeyn, And w.yrk thaym wo ; And on assay it 1 shall be seyn, Or I go. (8) 40 42 46 48 And therfor wiH I send and se In aH this land, full hastely, To looke if any dwelland he In towre or towne, That 1 wyH not hold' holly on me, And on mahowne. (2) If ther be fonden any of tho, with bytter payn I shall theym slo ; [To the messenger.] My messynger, swyth looke thou go 1 Thrugh ilk countre, In all this land, both to and fro, I commaunde the ; (10) And truly looke thou spyr and spy, — In euery stede ther thou commys by, — who trowes not 1 on mahowne most myghty, Oure god so f re ; And looke thou bryng theym hastely heder vnto me. (ii) And I shall fownd thaym for to flay, Those laddys that 1 wiH not* lede oure lay ; Therfor, boy, now I the pray That 1 thou go tytt. Nuncius. If shal be done, lord, if I may, wfc'tftoutten lett : (12) And ceitys, if I may any fynde, I shall not 1 leyfe oone of them behynde. herodes. No, bot 1 boldly thou thaym bynde And with the leyde : Mahowne, that weldys water and wynde, The wish and spede ! 52 54 5S 60 64 6Q 70 72 1 In the MS. this line reads thou go. " My messynger [lord] swyth looke Towneley Plays. XI V. Offering of the Magi. 143 (13) Nuncius. AH peasse, lordyngT/s, and hold* you styH, To I haue sayde what 1 1 wiH ; Take goode hede Ynto my skyH, Both old? and ying ; 76 In message what is cowmen you tyU firom herode, the kyng. 78 (14) he cowmaund?/s you, euerilkon, To hold no kyng bot 1 hym alon, And othere god ye worship none Bot mahowne so fre ; 82 And if ye do, ye mon be slone ; Thus told? he me. 84 Tunc venit ] piinms rex equitans ; & respieiens stellam dicit, (15) primus rex. Lord, of whom this light* is lent 1 , And vnto me this sight" has sent 1 , I pray to the, with good intent 1 , ffrom shame me shelde ; 88 So that I no harmes hent By way[e]s wylde. 90 (16) Also I pray the specyally, Thou graunt 1 me grace of company, That 1 I may haue som beyldyng by, In my trauayH : 94 And, eerfa/s, for to lyf or dy I shall not fayfl, 96 (17) To that 1 1 in som land haue bene, To wyt what 1 this starne may mene, That 1 has me led, with bemys shene, ffro my cuntre ; 100 Now weynd I wilt, w*'t7ioiitten weyn, The sothe to se. 102 (18) See\mdus rex. A ! lord, that 1 is wit/toutten ende ! whens euer this selcouth light dyscende, The messen- ger cries silence for the king's message. [Fol. 47, b.] Herod is the only king, & Mahound the only god to be wor- shipped. The first king prays God shield him from harm. & give him grace of company till he has found the meaning of this guiding star. 144 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. The 2nd king wonders what the light may mean. He will never rest till he know whence it comes. The kings accost each other. The 2nd king has come from Araby, and is called Melchior. The 1st is •Jaspar, kin^ of Tars. [Fol. 48, a.] They praise God for the star. 106 108 112 114 That thus kynclly has me kende Oute of my land, And shewyd to me ther I can leynd, thus bright 1 shynand 1 (19) Ceitys, I sagh neuer none so bright ; I shall neuer ryst by day nor nyght, To I wyt whens may com this lyght, And from what 1 place ; he that 1 it 1 send vnto my sight leyne me that 1 grace ! (20) primus rex. A, sir, wheder ar ye away 1 TeH me, good sir, I you pray. £ecun^us rex. Ceitys, I trow, the sothe to say, None wote bott I ; I haue folowed yond f starne, veray, ffrom araby ; (21) fFor I am kyng of that cuntre, And rnelchor thei J caH men me. jpiimus rex. And kyng, sir, was I wont* to be, In tars, at hame, Both of towne and cyte ; Iaspar is my name ; (22) The light* of yond starne sagh I thedyr. Secxmdus rex. That lord be louyd that 1 send me hedyr ! fHor it 1 will grathly ken vs whedyr, that 1 we shall weynd; 130 we owe to loue hym both togedyr, That 1 it 1 to vs wold send. 132 118 120 124 126 The 3rd king comes on, wondering at the star's brightness. . (23) Tercius rex. A, lord ! in land what 1 may this mene % So selcouth sight 1 was neuer sene, Sich a starne, shynand so shene, Sagh I neuer none ; If gyli'ys lyght 1 ouer aU, bedene, By hym alone. ^ 136 138 142 144 [Turns to the Magi.] 148 He sees the other kings Toioneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi 14i (24) What 1 it 1 may mene, that 1 know I noght 1 ; Bot 1 yonder ar two, me thynk, in thoght 1 , I thank hym that thaym heder has broght* Thus vnto me ; I shall assay if thay wote oght what* it* may be. (25) lordyngys, that 1 ar leyf and dere, I pray you teH me with good chere wheder ye weynd, on this manere, And where that 1 ye haue bene ; And of this starne, that 1 shynys thus clere, what 1 it 1 may mene. • (26) primus rex. Syr, I say you certanly, ffrom tars for yond starne soght haue I. ijus rex. To seke yond light from araby, sir, haue I went 1 . 154 iijus rex. Now hertely I thank hy??z for-thy, That 1 it 1 has sent. 156 & asks them the meaning of the star. 150 They say they have come from Tars and Araby to seek it. (27) primus rex. Good sir, what cuntre cam ye fra ? iijus rex. This light 1 has led me fro saba ; And balthesar', my name to say, The so the to teH. ijus rex. And? kyngfc's, sir, are we twa, Ther as we dwell. 160 162 The third king is named Bal- thasar and comes from Saba. (28) iijus rex. Now, syrs, syn we ar semled here, I rede we ryde togeder, in fere, vnto we wytt, on aH manere, ffor good or jE, what 1 it 1 may mene, this sterne so clere Shynand vs tyli. (29) primus rex. A, lor&yngys ! behold* the lyght Of yond' starne; with bemys bright ! T. PLAYS. 166 He proposes that they shall all ride together. Jaspar is amazed at 146 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. the star's brightness. [Pol. 48, b.] The star is brighter than the sun or moon. Melchior notes its " nearness to the earth. ffor sothe I sagh neuer sich a sight In no-kyns land ; A starne thus, aboute mydnyght, so bright 1 shynand. (30) It 1 gyfys more light it* self alone Then any son that 1 euer shone, Or mone, when he of son has ton his light 1 so cleyn ; Sich selcouth sight 1 haue I sene none, what so euer it 1 meyn. (31) Secundus rex. Behold, lovdyngys, vnto his pase, And se how nygh the erth hit gase ; It 1 is a tokyn that 1 it mase Of nouelry ; A merueH it is, good tent 1 who tase, Now here in hy. (32) ffor sich a starne was neuer ere seyn, As wyde in warld as we haue beyn, ffor blasyng bemys, shynand f uH sheyn, ffrom hit ai J sent 1 ; MerueU I haue what 1 it 1 may meyn In myn intent. (33) Tercius rex. Cevtys, syrs, the sothe to say, I shaH dyscry now, if I may, what 1 it 1 may meyn, yond starne veray, Shynand tytt vs ; It 1 has bene sayde syn many a day It 1 shuld' be thus. (34) The star be- yond starne betokyns, weH wote I, birth of a The byrth of a prynce, syrs, securly, less the rules That 1 shewys weH the prophecy ofastronomv „. . , deceive him. Ihat it SO be ; Or els the rewlys of astronomy Dyssauys me. 172 174 178 180 184 186 He marvels what it may mean. 190 192 Balthasar re- members that this has been fore- told. 196 198 202 204 All folk shall obey the star Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 147 (35) primus rex. Certan, balaam spekys of this thyng, jaspar re- That 1 of Iacob a starne shall spryng piiecyof 1 '™" That 1 shaH ouercom kasar and kyng, WMoutten stryfe ; 208 AH folk shalbe to hym obeyng That berys the lyfe. 210 of Jacob, (36) Now wote I weH this is the same, Doubtless In Query place he shaH haue hame, and ail shall AH shaH hym bo we that 1 berys name, Him. In ilk cuntre; 214 who trowys it 1 not 1 , thay ar to blame, what 1 so thay be. 216 (37) ijus rex. Certys, lordyng?/s, fuH weH wote I, Meichior ff ulfyllyd* is now the prophecy ; thSepro- That 1 prynce that 1 shaH ouer com in hy f$£{ is ful " kasar and kyng, 220 This starne berith witnes, wytterly, Of his beryng. 222 (38) _ iijus rex. Now is f ulfyllyd here in this land So also Bai- Thatt balaam sayd, I vnderstand ; Now is he borne that 1 se and sand [Foi. 49, a.] Shalt weyld? at wyH : 226 That 1 shewys this starne, so bright 1 shynand, vs thre vntyH. 228 (39) pvbims rex. Lordyng?/s, I rede we weynd aH thre Jaspar pro- ffor to wyrship that 1 chyld* so f re, they ail T iiii in three s° & In tokyn that 1 he kyng shalbe worship the r\c n i ^r. child. His Ui alkyn thyng ; 232 own offering This gold 1 now wyH I bere with me, gold. To myn ofFeryng. 234 (40) fc/us rex. Go we fast 1 , syrs, I you pray, To worship hym if that 1 we may ; . 1 The word "gold" is omitted, by mistake of the original copier, probably. 148 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. Melchior is bringing in- cense in token that the child is very God. Balthasar is bringing myrrh as a token of the child's death. Jaspar asks where the king is to be found. Balthasar counsels following the star. Herod's mes- senger is re- proached for his long His tidings are good & ill, mingled together. I bryng rekyls, the sothe to say, here in myn hende, 238 In tokyn that he [is] god veray, W^'t/ioutten ende. 240 (41) iijus rex. Syrs, as ye say right so I red ; hast 1 we tytt vnto that sted To wirship hym, as for oure hed, with oure offeryng ; 244 In tokyn that 1 he shalbe ded, This Myrr I bryng. 246 (42) primus rex. where is that 1 kyng of lues land, That 1 shalbe lord 4 of se and sand, And folk shall bow vnto his hand Both more and myn] 250 ■ To wyrship hym with oure offerand we wyH not blyn. 252 (43) ijus rex. we shall not 1 rest 1 , euen nor morne, vnto we com ther he is borne. iijus rex. ffolowe this light 1 , els be we lorne, ffor sothe, I trowe, 256 That 1 frely to we com beforne ; Syrs, go we now. 258 [The kings retire. Herod and his messenger advance.'] (44) ~Nuncius. Mahowne, that 1 is of greatt 1 pausty, My lord, sir herode, the saue and se ! herodes. where has J?ou bene so long fro me, Vyle stynkand lad 1 262 Nuncius. Lord, gone youre herand* in this cuutre, As ye me bad. 264 (45) Hero&. Thou lyys, lurdan, the clewiH the hang ! why has thou dwelt 1 away so lang 1 Nuricius. lord* ye wyte me aH with wrang. Herodes. what ty thy ngys 1 say! 268 JSfuncius. Som good, som yH, mengyd emang. liero&. howl I the pray. 270 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. ' 149 (46) Do teH me fast 1 how thou has fame ; Thy waryson shaH thou not 1 thame. Nuncius. As I cam walkand, I you warne, Lord 1 , by the way, I met* thre 1 kyngis sekeand a barne, Thus can thay say. (47) Her odes. To seke a barne ! for what thyng 1 Told' thay any new ty thyng 1 NunciuB. yey, lord* ! thay sayd he shuld? be kyiig Of towne and towre ; ffor thy thay went, with thare offeryng, hym to honoure. (48) herodt. Kyng ! the dewiH ! bot 1 of what 1 empyre 1 Of what 1 land shuld that lad be syre 1 Nay, I shall with that 1 trature tyre ; Sore sharl he rewe ! Nuncius. lord, by a starne as bright 1 as fyre This kyng thay knew ; («) If led thaym outt 1 of thare cuntre. Herod, we, fy ! fy ! dewyls on thame aH thre ! he shaH neuer haue myght 1 to me, That 1 new borne lad ; when thare wytt 1 in a starne shuld be, I hold thaym mad. (50) Those lurdans wote not 1 what 1 thay 2 say; Thay ryfe my hede, that 1 dar I lay ; Ther dyd no tythyng^s many a day, Sich harme me to ; ffor wo my wytt 1 is aH away ; what 1 shaH I do ? [Fol. 49, b.] 2/4 He has met three kings seeking a 276 cMld ' who, they said, should 2iO\) be a king. 282 Herod will make the child rue. 286 The mes- senger tells 288 of the star. 292 294 298 300 Herod thinks the three kings mad. Nevertheless he is greatly troubled, 1 MS. iij. 2 "Thay" is overlined, but the original word unaltered. 150 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. (51) why, what the dewyli is in thare harnes 1 Is thare wytf ail in the staruos 1 These tythyngis mar my mode in ernes ; And of this thyng To wytt the sothe, full sore me yarnes, Of this new kyng. (52) Kyng 1 what 1 the dewyH, other then I ! we, fy on dewyls ! fy, fy ! Cert?/*, that 1 boy shaH dere aby ! his ded is dight ! ShaH he be kyng thus hastely 1 who the dewiH made hym knyght 1 (§3) Alas, for shame ! this is a skorne ! Thay fynde no reson thaym beforne ; Shuld that 1 brodeH, that 1 late is borne, Be most 1 of mayn 1 Nay, if the dewyli of heH had sworne, he shaH agane. (54) [Foi. 50, a.] Alas, alas ! for doyH and* care ! So mekyH sorow had I neuer are ; If it 1 be sothe, for euer mare I am vndoyn ; and would fain find out the truth about this new king. Herod won- ders, if the child is to be king so soon, who the devil made him knight. He con- tinues to rage, resolves to seek the truth of learned men, Af good clerk?/s and wyse of lare I wyH wyt soyn. (55) but first win Bot 1 fyrst 1 yifwiH I send and se send for the three kings The answere of those lurdans tnre. & question _ , them. Messyngere, tytt hy thou the, 304 306 310 312 316 318 322 324 [Calls to messenger.] The messen- ger is sent off. And make the yare ; Go, byd those kjngys com speke with me, That 1 told thou of are. (56) Say I haue greatt 1 heiand thaym tyH. Nuncius. If shalbe done, lord, af youre wyH, 328 330 Townclcy Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 151 youre byddyng shaH I soyn fulfyH In ilk cuntre. 334 Herod. Mahowne the shelde from aH kyns yH, ffor his pauste. 336 [The messenger goes to where the Icings stand.] (57) Nuncius. Mahowne you sane, sir kyngys thre, I haue message to you preue, ffrom herode, kyng of this cuntre, That 1 is oure chefe ; 340 And lo, syrs, if ye trow not me, ye rede this brefe. 342 (58) primvLs rex. welcom be thou, belamy ! what 1 is his wyH 1 teH vs in hy. Nuncius. Cevtys, sir, that 1 wote not I, Bot 1 thus he sayde to me, 346 That 1 ye shuld? com fuH hastely To hym aU thre, 348 (59) ffor nede herand, he sayd me so. Secundus rex. Messynger, before thou go, And teH: thi lord we ar aH thro his wyH to do ; 352 Both I and my felose two ShaH com hym to. [The messenger returns to Herod.'] \ (60) Nuncius. Mahowne you looke, my lord so dere. herod 1 . welcom be thou, messy ngere ! how has thou fame syn thou was here 1 Thou teH me tytt. Nuncius. lord, I haue traueld' far and nere withoutten lett, (61) And done youre herand*, sir, sothely ; Thre kyngis with me broghf haue I, ffro saba, tars, and araby, Then haue thay soght 1 . 364 her odes. Thi wary son shaH thou haue for thy, By hym me boght* ; 366 358 360 He hails tb kings in Herod's name, and exhibits his "brief." The kings ' are to come to Herod at once. Melchior bids the messenger return & announce their approach. Herod wel- comes the messenger, who an- nounces his success, & is promised a reward. 152 Towneley Plays. 'XIV. Offering of the Magi. Balthasar announces the readiness of the kings to obey Herod. [Fol. 50, b.] Herod ques- tions them concerning the token in the sky. Jaspar re- counts the rising of the star in the East. Melchior says that by the star they knew of the child's birth. Herod laments & desires his learned men to search their books (62) And, certanly, that* is good sky!}, And syrs, ye ar welcom me tyfh iijus rex. Lord, thi bydyng to fulfyli [The three kings come to Herod.'] Are we furl thro. 370 herodes. A, rnekyH thank of youre good wyH That 1 ye wyH so. 372 (63) fTor, certys, I haue couett greattly To speke with you, and here now why : TeH me, I pray you specyally, fTor any thyng, 376 what 1 tokynyng saw ye on the sky Of this new kyng ? 378 (64) jprimus rex. we sagh his starne ryse in the eest 1 , That* shall be kyng of man and best 1 , fTor thy, lord, we haue not cest, Syn that 1 we wyst 1 , 382 with oure gyftys, riche and? honest, To bere that 1 blyst. 384 (65) {jus rex. lord', when that 1 starne rose vs beforne, Ther by we knew that 1 chyld was borne. herodes. Out, alas, I am forlorne fTor euer mare ! 388 I wold! be rent and al to-torne fTor doyH and care ! 390 (66) Alas, alas, I am furl wo ! Syr kyngys, syt downe, & rest you so, By scrypture, syrs, what 1 say ye two 1 [To the doctors.] w^t7ioutten lytt ; 394 what ye can say ther to let se now tytt. 396 (67) These kyngT/s do me to vnderstand, That 1 borne is newly, in this land, for a pro- phecy of any such king. They pro- mise a speedy answer, Townclcy Plays. XI V. Offering of the Magi. 153 A kyng that 1 shaH weld' so and sand ; Thay teH me so ; 400 And therfor, syrs, I yon commaunde youre hookys go to, 402 (68) And looke grathly, for any thyng, If ye fynd oghfr of sich a kyng. jprimiiia consultus & doctov. If shaH be done at 1 yonre . ^yciyng, By hym me boght 1 , 406 And soyn we shari yon tythyng?/s bryng If we fynd? oghtt. 408 (69) ijus conswftus & doctor. Soyn shaH we wyt, lord, if I may, If oghtt be wretyn in oure lay. hei'od 1 . Now, masters, therof I yon pray On aH manere. 412 primus conswZ^us. Com f urth, let vs assay Onre book?/s both in fere. 414 (70) ijns consultus. Ceitys, sir, lo, here fynd? I weH wretyn in a prophecy, how that 1 profetft Isay, That 1 nener begyld?, 418 Tellys that 1 a madyn of hir body ShaH bere a chyld*. 420 (71) j?rimus consw^us. And also, sir, to yon I teH The meruellest 1 thyng that euer fell, Hyr madynhede with hir shaH dwell, As dyd beforne ; 424 That child shaH hight ' emanueH ' when he is borne. 426 (72) «)'us conswZAis. lord, this is sothe, securely, wytnes the profett Isay. 1 herod. Outtt, alas ! for doyH I dy, long or my day ! 430 ShaH he haue more pauste then I *? A, waloway ! 432 1 The expected ryme acta is turnd into aba. & consult their books together. The 2nd doctor finds a prophecy in Isaiah of a virgin bearing a son. The 1st doctor says He shall be called Emmanuel. [Fol. 51, a. Sig. I. i.j Herod laments. 154 He bids them look where the boy shall be born. The doctors must be quick or Herod will go mad. They say that accord- ing to the prophet Micah a duke shall come forth from Beth- lehem. Therefore in Bethlehem is the king born. Herod curses them for their news. They bid him read for him- self. It is so written down. Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. (73) Alas, alas, I am forlorne ! I wold? be rent 1 and at! to torne ; Bot 1 looke yit 1 , as ye dycl' belbrne, ffor luf of me ; 436 And. teH me where that 1 boy is borne ; Onone lett se. 438 (74) £>ri??ius consz^us. AH redy, lord, with mayn & mode. herod. haue done belyf 1 , or I go wode ; And, cevtys, that 1 gadlyng wer* as good haue greuyd me noght 1 ; 442 I sharl se that 1 brodeH bloode, By hym that 1 me has boghf ! 444 (75) ijus consuUxxs. Micheas the prophett, wzt7iOutten nay, how that he tellys I sharl you say ; In bedlem, land of Iuda, As I say you, 448 Out of it 1 a duke sharl spra ; Thus fynd we now. 450 (76) primus consultus. Syr, thus we lyiid? in prophecy : Therfor we say you, securely, In bedlem, we say you truly, Borne is that 1 kyng. 454 herodl. The devviH hang you high to dry, ffor this tythyng ! 456 (77) And cevtys ye ly ! it may not be ! ijus consultus. lord, we wytnes it truly ; here the sothe youre self may se, If ye can rede. 460 he?*od l . A, waloway ! furl wo is me ! The dewirl you spede ! 462 (78) primus consultus. lord, it 1 is sothe, aH that we say, We fynde it wretyn in oure lay. Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 155 herod 1 . Go hens, harloth/s, in twenty l dewiH way, {fast 1 and belyfe ! Mighty mahowne, as he weH may, lett you neue?* thryf e ! (79) Alas, wherto were I a crowne 1 Or is cald of greatt renowne 1 I am the fowlest borne downe That euer was man ; And? namely with a fowH swalchon, 466 468 Herod curses all the more. That 1 no good can. 472 474 (80) 478 480 [Turns to the kings.] 484 486 Alas, that euer I shuld be knyght, Or holdyn man of mekyll myghfr , If a lad shuld* reyfe me my right AH thus me fro ; Myn dede ere shuld I dyght, Or iV were so. (81) ye nobyH kyng?/s, harkyns as heynd ! ye shaH haue saue condyth to weynd ; Bot 1 com agane with me to leynd, Syrs, I you pray; ye shall me fynd a faythfuH freynd, ^If ye do swa. (82) If it 1 be sothe, this new tythyng, Som worship wold I do that 1 kyng, Therfor I pray you that ye bryng Me tythyng?/s soyn. j?vimus rex. AH redy, lord, at youre bydyng It shalbe doyn. [The kings mount their horses.'] (83) ijus rex. Alas, in warld? how haue we sped ! wdiere is the lyght that vs has led 1 Som clowde, for sothe, that 1 starne has cled ffrom vs away ; In strong stowre now ar we sted : what 1 may we say 1 1 MS. xx. 490 496 498 He laments his fate. [Pol. 51, b.] Alas that a lad should reive his right from him. He gives the kings a safe- conduct, but bids them come to him again. If this news be true he would fain do that king some wor- ship. Jaspar pro- mises to do his bidding. Melchior notes that the star has disappeared. 156 Towneley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. Melchior curses Herod, th rough whose guile they have lost sight of the star. Jaspar sug- gests that they pray to the lord whose birth the star be- tokens, that he show it to them again. Melchior's prayer. Balthasar's prayer. [Fol. 52, a. Sig. I. ij.] The star re- appears, & he expresses Ins love & hope. (84) iijvLS rex. wo worth herode, that 1 cursyd wyght ! wo worth that tyrant 1 day and nyght ! ffor thrugh hym haue we lost 1 that 1 sight, And for his gyle, 502 That* shoyn to vs with bemys bright within a whyle. 504 here lyghtys the Icyngjs of thare horses. (85) primus rex. lordyng?/s, I red* we pray aft thre To that 1 lord, whose natynyte The starne betokyned that we can se, AH with his wyll ; , 508 pray we specyally that 1 he wold' show it vs vntyrl 510 here Jcnele aE thre Jcyngys downe. 1 (86) ijus rex. Thou chyld*, whose myght 1 no tong may teH, As thou art lord of heuen and heH, Thy nobyH starne, ernanuerl, Thou send vs yare ; 514 That 1 we may wytt 1 by fyrth and feH how we shaH fare. 516 (87) iijus rex. A, to that chyld be euer honoure, That in this tyd has stynt oure stoure, And lent vs lyght to oure socoure, On this manere ; we loue the, lord of towne and towre, holly in fere. here ryse thay aR vp. (88) we owe to loue hym ouer all thyng, That thus has send vs oure askyng ; Behold?, yond starne has made stynyng, Syrs, securly ; 526 Of this chyld? shall we haue knowyug, I hope, in hy. 528 1 "the " has been inserted in the MS. after " all " by a later hand, but seems unnecessary. 520 522 Towndey Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 157 (89) ijws rex. lordyngys dere, drede thar vs noglit, Oure greatt trauell tyll end is broght ; yond? is the place that we haue soght ffrom far cuntre ; yond is the chyld? that 1 aH has wroght, Behold? and se ! 532 534 Melchior re- cognizes that their travel is at an end & the child near at hand. (90) u)'us rex. I red we make offeryng, aH: thre, vnto this chyld! of greatt 1 pauste, And worship hyra with gyftys fre That 1 we haue broght ; Oure boytt 1 of bayH ay wyH he be, weH haue we soght 1 . 538 540 (91) [They enter the house.'] primus rex. hayH be thou, maker of aH kyn thyng ! That 1 boytt 1 of aH oure bayH may bryng ! In tokyn that 1 thou art oure kyng, And shalbe ay, 544 Eesayf this gold? to myn offeryng, prynce, I the pray. 546 (92) ?)'us rex. hayH, ouercomer of kyng and of knyghf ! That 1 fourmed fysh, and fowyH in flyght 1 ! lfor thou art 1 godz's son most of myght 1 , And aH weldand, I bryng the rekyls, as is right 1 , To myn orferand. 550 552 (93) iijus rex. hayH, kyng in kyth, cowrand on kne ! hayH, oone-fold* god? in persons thre I In tokyn that 1 thou dede shalbe, By kyndly skyH, To thy grauyng this myr of me Resaue the tyH. (U) Maria. Syr kjngys, make comforth you betweyn, And merueH not 1 what 1 it may niene ; 556 558 Balthasar proposes to make their offerings at once. Jaspar offers the child gold in token of his king- ship. Melchior offers in- cense in token of his godhead. Balthasar offers myrrh in token of his death. Mary tells them of her child's 158 Towncley Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. might. She is his mother & yet a clean maid. Mary bids them pro- claim this wherever they go. [Fol. 52, b.] She Messes the kings. Jaspar says they have made a good journey. Melchior says they have rested little, let them take a sleep he- fore they go. Here is a litter ready for them. Balthasar bids the others get to bed first. This chyld?, that on me borne has bene, AH bayrt may blyn ; 562 I am his moder, and madyn clene withoutten syn. 564 (95) Therfor, lordyng?/s, where so ye fare, Boldly looke ye teH ay whare how I this blyst 1 of bosom bare, That 1 bestt shalbe ; 568 And madyn cleyn, as I was are, Thrugri his pauste. 570 (96) And truly, syrs, looke that 1 ye trow That 1 othere lord is none at-lowe ; Both man and beesfr to hym shall bowe, In towne and feyld ; 574 My blyssyng, syrs, be now -with you where so ye beyld?. 576 (97) primus rex. A, lordyng?/s dere ! the sothe to say, we haue made a good Iornay ; we loue this lord, that 1 shall last ay with outten ende ; 580 he is oure beyld', both nyghtt and day, where so we weynd. . 582 (98) ijus rex. loidyngys, we haue traueld* lang, And restyd haue we lytyU emang, ffor-thi I red now, or we gang, with aH oure mayn 586 et vs fownde a slepe to fang ; Then were I fayn ; 588 (99) ffor in greatfr stowres we haue ben sted. lo, here a lytter redy cled. ^'us rex. I loue my lord ! we haue weH sped?, To rest 1 with wyn ; 592 lordyng?/s, syn we shall go to bed, ye shall begyn. [They sleep: an angel appears above.] Tmmidey Plays. XIV. Offering of the Magi. 159 (100) Angelus. Syr curtes kyngv/s, to me take tent, And turne by tyme or ye be tenyd \ ffrom god bis self thus am I sent To warne you, as youre faythfutt freynd, bow herode kyng has malyce mentf, And sbapys with shame you for to sbeynd And so that 1 ye no harmes hent, By othere ways god wyH ye weynd Into youre awne cuntre ; And if ye ask hym boyn, ffor this dede that ye haue done, youre beyld* ay wyH he be. [Exit] 598 G02 606 An angel warns tlie kings of Herod's evil designs. He bids them return home by another way. (101) ^>ri??zus rex. wakyns, wakyns, lordyng/ys dere ! Cure d welly ng is no longer here ; An angeH spake tyH vs in fere \ Bad vs, as heynd, That we ne shuld', on no manere, home by herode weynd. 610 612 Jaspar wakes the others & tells them the angel's message. (102) ijus rex. AH myghty god in trynyte, with hart 1 enterely thank I the, That 1 thyn angeH send tyH vs thre, And kend vs so, Oure fals fo man for to fle, That 1 wold' vs slo. (103) iijus rex. We aght 1 to loue hym more and myn, That 1 comly kyng of aH man-kyn; I rew fuH sore that 1 we shaH twyn On this manere ; ffor co??^men we haue, with mekyH wyn, By wayes sere. (104) primus rex. Twyn must vs nedys, syrs, permafay, And ilk on weynd' by dyuers way ; Melchior thanks the Trinity for this warn- ing. [Fol. 53, a. QIQ Sig. I. iij.J 618 Balthasar is sorry they 622 must part. 624 Jaspar says they must take their 160 Towneley Plays. XV. The Flight into Egypt. divers ways, & bids the others fare- well. Melchior finds his road & com- mends the other kings to heaven. Balthasar also departs, 1 .raying God's help against the fiend. 628 630 This wyH me lede, the sothe to say, To 1 my cuntre ; ffor-thy, lorclyngi/s, now haue good day ! God with you be ! (105) ijus rex. Cerfa/s, I must* pas by se and sand ; This is the gate, I vnderstand, That 1 wyH: me lede vnto my laud The right* way ; To god of heuen I you co??imaunde, And haue good day ! (106) iijus rex. This is the way that I must 1 weynd ; Now god till vs his socoure send, And he, that 1 is withoutten end And ay shalbe, Saue vs from fowndyng of the feynd, ffor his pauste. 642 Explicit oblacio trium Magoram. 634 636 640 An angel bids Joseph awake, & warns him to flee from danger. [Fol. 53, b.] XV. • Incipit fugacio Iosep & Mane in egipfwm. [13 stanzas of 13 lines, abab aab aab, cbc ; 1 of 12 lines abab aab aa cbc] Angelus. Angelus. [Dramatis Personae : Josephus. Maria. (i) Jesus.} A wake, Ioseph, and take intent ! Thou ryse, and slepe nomare ! If thou WyH saue thy self vnshent 1 ffownde the fast 1 to fare ; I am an angeH to the sent 1 , ffor thou shaH no harmes henfr, To each the outfr of care. If thou here longer lent, ffor rewth thou mon repent, 1 MS. ty. Towncley Plays. XV. The Flight into Egypt. 1G1 And rew it wonder saiv. Ioseph. A ! niygntffuH god, what 1 euer this inenf, so swete of toyn 1 1 (2) Angelus. lo, Ioseph, if is I, An angeH send to the. Ioseph.. we ! leyf, I pray the why 1 what 1 is thy wyH with me 1 Angelus. hens behufys the hy, And take with the mary, Also hir chyld so fre ; ffor herode dos to dy AH knaue chyldren, securly, with in two yere that* be Of eld?. Ioseph.. Alas, fuH wo is me ! where may we bey Id' 1 10 Joseph won- ders at this sound so sweet of tune, 13 & why an angel is sent to him. 17 20 23 26 The angel bids him flee, with Mary and her child, for Herod will kill all knave-chil- dren under two years. (3) Angelus. TyH egypp shall thou fare with aH the myghfr thou may ; And, Ioseph, hold? the tbare, tyH I wyll the at 1 say. Joseph. This is a febyU fare, A seke man and a sare To here of sich a fray ; My bonys ar bursyd and? bare ffor to do ; I wold? if ware Comen my last 1 day TyH ende ; I ne wote which is the way ; how shall we weynde 9 30 He is to go to Egypt and stay there till warned to return. Joseph grumbles, he is old and knows not oo the way. 3G 39 Angelus. Ther of haue thou no drede; weynd furth, & leyf thi dyn ; The way he shaU you lede, the kyng of aH man-kyn. The angel says the king of all manki»d shall lead . „ him, but 4o Joseph still Note the absence of ryme. T. PLAYS. 162 Towneley Plays. XV. The Flight into Egypt. thinks on his Ioseph.. That 1 heynd til vs take hede, ifebieness. ffor I had lytyH nede Sicrl bargans to begyn ; 46 No wonder if I wede, I that 1 may do no dede ; how shuld I theder wyn 49 ffor eld? I am fuH bare and thyn, And aH vnweld; 52 (5) Joseph is My fors me falys to fare, 1 [Mary ivith her Dale advances.] Mary. He and sight 1 that 1 I shuld' se. tells her they ^/r must flee. Mary, my darlyng dere, I am fuH wo for the ! 56 Maria. A, leyf Ioseph, what 1 chere 1 youre sorow on this manere It 1 mekiH meruels me. 59 Ioseph. Oare noyes ar neghand? nere If we dweft longer here ; ffor-thi behofes vs fie, 62 And flytt. Maria. Alas ! how may this be 1 what 1 euer menys if 1 65 (6) [Foi. 54, a. Ioseph. It menys of sorow enoghe. Maria. A, dere Ioseph, how so ? Sig. I. 4.] angel has Ioseph. As I lay in a swogh, An warned him that Herod ffuH sad slepand and thro, 69 Eson. 1 ^ An angeH to me drogh, As blossom bright 1 on bogh, And told betwix vs two, 7 2 That 1 herode wroght 1 greatfr wogh, And aH knaue children slogh In land that 1 he myght 1 to, 75 That 1 feynd ! And he thy son wold? slo And shamely sheynd. 78 1 The rynie needs ' fere.' Towncley Plays. XV. The Might into Egypt. 163 (7) Maria. My son 1 alas, for care ! who may my doyllys dyH % wo worth fals herode are ! my son why shuld' he spytt % Alas ! I lurk and dare ! To slo this barne I bare, what 1 wight 1 in warld* had wyft % his haif shuld be fuH sare Sichon for to fare, That* neuer yifr dyd yH, Ne thoghtt. Ioseph. Now leyfe mary, be styH ! This helpys noght ; (8) If is no boytt to grete, truly wzt/ioutten trayn ; Oure bayH if may not boytt x bot weft more make oure payn. Maria. Alas ! how shuld? I lete 1 My son that 1 is so swete Is soght for to be slayn ; ffuft gryle may I grete, My fomen and I mete ; Tell me, Ioseph, witJi mayn, youre red. Ioseph. Shortly swedyft vs this swayn, And fle hys clede. (9) Maria, his ded wold I not se, ffor all this warld? to wyn ; Alas ! fuH wo were me, In two if we shuld* twyn ; My chyld* so bright of ble, To slo hym were pyte, And a fuH hedus syn. Dere Ioseph, what 1 red ye 1 Ioseph. TyH egyp weynd shaft we ; 82 85 95 98 108 111 Mary is aghast at Herod's wickedness. Joseph says this helps 9 1 nought. Mary asks his counsel. 101 Joseph bids her swaddle the child ~\f)A and flee. 1 The ryme needs • bete ' or ' bey tt, ' remedy 164 Towneley Plays. XV. The Flight into Egypt. They are to go to Egypt. There is nothing to say, but pack up quickly. [Fol. 54, b.] Mary calls to God to pro- tect them. She is full of woe. Joseph says he may well be also. Why will not death slay him? Young men should be- ware, for wedding is making him all wan. ffor-thi let be thi dyn And cry. Maria, how shall we theder wyn 1 Iosepfr. ffulle weft wote I ; (10) The best wyse that 1 we may hast vs outt 1 of this here. Ther is noght els to say bot 1 tytt 1 pak vp oure gere ; ffor ferd of this affray, lett vs weynd hens away, Or 1 any do vs dere. Maria. Greatt god, as he weH: may, That 1 shope both nyght 1 and day, ffrom wandreth he vs were, And shame ; My chyld? how shuld* I bere So far from hame 1 (ii) Alas ! I am full wo ! was neuer wyght 1 so wyH ! IosepU. God wote I may say so, I haue mater ther tyH ; ffor I may vnyth go To lede of land sich" two ; No wonder if I be wyH, And sythen has many a f o. A, why wyH no ded me slo % My lyfe I lyke yH And sare ; he that 1 aH doyls may dyH, he keyli my care ! (12) So wyH a wyght as I, In warld* was neuer man ; howsehold* and husbandry ffuH sore I may it 1 ban ; That 1 bargan dere I by. yong men, bewar, red I : wedyng makys me aH wan. 114 117 121 124 127 130 134 137 140 143 147 150 Toivnelcy Plays.' XV. The Flight into Egypt. 165 Take me tlii brydyH, mary ; Tent* thou to that page grathly with aH: the craft 1 thou can ; And may he that this warld* began, 1 wysh vs the way ! (13^ Maria. Alas, full wo is me ! Is none so wyH as I ! My hart 1 wold breke in thre, My son to se hym dy. Iosepfc.. we ! leyf mary, lett 1 be, And nothyng drede thou the, Bot 1 hard? hens lett vs hy ; To saue thi foode so fre, ffast 1 furth now lett vs fle, Dere leyf ; To mete with his enmy, It 1 were a greatf myschefe, (14) And that 1 wold? I not wore, 2 Away if we myght wyn ; My hart 1 wold? be fuH sore, 3 In two to se you twyn. TyH egypp lett 1 vs fare ; This pak, tyH I com thare, To bere I shall not 1 blyn : ffor-thi haue thou no care ; If I may help the mare, Thou fynd?/s no fawte me in, I say. God blys you more and myn, And haue now all good day ! Explicit fug acio Iosep § marie in egvptum. 153 156 Mary's heart ■\ nr\ would break lOU in three to see her son die. 163 166 168 172 175 178 181 Joseph com- forts her, but they must flee quickly. He will hear the pack and help her all he can. [Fol. 55, a.] ] MS. beban. [ 2 ? wold?... ware,] [ 3 ? wold'...sare.] 166 Townele?) Plays. XV L Herod the Great. Herod's nn senger begins a ranting speech to the people They must attend to him or they will take harm. Herod sends them greet- ing and com- mands them to be obedi- ent to him. Any treason shall be paid for twelve thousand fold. He is now abashed (XVI.) Incipit magims Herodes. [57 nine-lined stanzas, aaaab cccb, {no. 6, has aaaaa ccca) with central rymes marlct by bars.] Nuncius. Herodes. Primus Miles. Secundus Miles. [Dramatis Personae. Tercius Miles. Primus Consultus. Secundus Consultus. (i) Prima Mulier. Secunda Mulier. Tercia Mulier.] Nuncius. Moste myghty mahowne / meng you with myrth ! Both of burgh and of towne / by fellys and by fyrtfi, Both kyng with crowne / and barons of brith, That 1 radly wyH rowne / many greatt 1 gritn ShaH be happ. 5 Take tenderly intent 1 what 1 sondys ar sent 1 , Els h amies shall ye hent 1 , And lothes you to lap. 9 (2) Herode, the heynd kyng / by grace of mahowne, Of Iury, Iourmontyng / sternly with crowne, On ]yfe that 1 ar lyfyng / in towre and in towne, Gracyus you gretyng / cowimaundys you be bowne At 1 his bydyng; 14 luf hym with lewte, drede hym, that 1 doughty ! he charges you be redy lowly at 1 his lykyng. 18 (3) What 1 man apon mold? / menys hym agane, Tytt teyn shaH be told, knyght 1 , sqwyere, or swayn ; Be he neuer so bold / byes he that bargan, Twelf thowsand fold / more then I sayn Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 167 May ye trast ; he is worthy wonderly, Selcouthly sory ; ffor a boy that 1 is borne her by Standys he abast 1 . (4) • A kyng thay hym call / and that 1 we deny ; how shuld! it 1 so fali / greatt 1 meraeR haue I ; Therfor ouer aH / Shall I make a cry, That 1 ye busk not to braft / nor lyk'e not 1 to ly This tyde ; Carpys of no kyng Bot herode, that lordyng, Or busk to youre beyhlyng, youre heedys for to hyde. (5) He is Kyng of Kyngys / Kyndly I Knowe, Chefe lord of lordyng?/s / chefe leder of law, Ther wat?/s on his wjngys / that bold* bost 1 wyH blaw, Greatt 1 dukys downe dyngv/s / ffor his greatt aw, And hym lowtys. Tuskane and turky, All Inde and Italy, CecyH and surry, Prede hym and dowtys. (6) ffrom paradyse to padwa / to mownt flascon ; firom egyp to mantua / vnto k emp tow ne ; ffrom sarceny to susa / to grece it abowne ; Both normondy and norwa / lowtys to his crowne ; his renowne Can no tong teH, fTrom heuen vnto hell ; Of hym can none spell Bot 1 his cosyn mahowne. (7) he is the worthyest 1 of aH / barnes that 1 are borne ; ffree men ar his thrall / f uH teynfully torne ; Begyn he to braH / many men each skorne ; Obey must 1 we aH / or els be ye lorne '■£■ 6 about a now bom boy, 27 32 36 n 45 wbo is called a king. No king must be spoken of but Herod. 50 54 [Fol. 55, b.] He recites Herod's kingdoms. Only his cousin Mahound can avail a.uainst him. All men must obey him or be lost. 168 Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great He is now coming and must be wel- comed wor- shipfully. He greets Herod, and says lie has called for silence for him. The people talk of a king and won't cease chattering. Herod says he will tame their talking. [Fol. 56, a.] He begins to rant, and 1 lids them hearken on pain of broken bones and skinning. They are not to speak or •stir, till he has said his say. Attt onys. 59 Downe dyng of youre knees, AH that 1 hym seys, Dysplesyd he beys, And byrkyn many bonys. 63 (8) here he commys now, I cry / that lord? I of spake ; ifast 1 afore wyH I hy / radly on a rake, And welcom hym worshipfully / laghyng with lake, As he is most worthy / and knele for his sake So low; 68 Downe dernly to fall, as renk most 1 ryaH : hayH, the worthyest 1 of aH ! to the must* I bow ! [Herod advances."] 72 (9) hayH, luf lord ! lo / thi letters haue I layde ; I haue done I couth do / and peasse haue I prayd ; MekyH more therto / opynly dysplayd ; Bofr romoure is rasyd so / that 1 boldly thay brade Emangis thame ; 77 Thay carp of a kyng, thay seasse not* sich chateryng. herodes. Bofr I shaH tame thare talkyng, And let 1 thame go hang thame : 81 (10) Styntt, brodels, youre dyn / yei, euerychon ! I red that 1 ye harkyn / to I be gone, ffor if I begyn / I breke ilka bone, And puH fro the skyn / the carcas anone, yei, perde ! 86 Sesse aH this wonder, and make vs no blonder, ffor I ryfe you in sonder, Be ye so hardy. 90 (ii) Peasse both yong and old / at 1 my bydyng, I red, ffor I haue aH in wold* / in me stand^s lyfe and dede ; who that 1 is so bold / I brane hym thrugh the hedc ; Speke not* or I haue told / what 1 I wiH in this stede ; Towncley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 169 ye wote nott 95 AH that* I wiH mefe ; Styr not 1 bot 1 ye haue lefe, fTor if ye do, I clefe you small as flesh to pott. 90 (12) My myrthes ar turned to teyn / my mekenes into Ire, His mirth is J J , • 7 • x p p turned to And all for oone I weyn / wwi-m 1 tare as tyre. grief because May I se hym. -with eyn / I shall gyf hym his hyre ; whose hones _ _ . T _. i>nii ne would Bot 1 I do as I meyn / I were a iu±i iewde syre break if he T -, A i could catch In wonys ; 1U4 him, had I that 1 lad in hand, As I am kyng in land, I shuld with this steyH brand Byrkyn aH his bonys. 108 (13) My name spryng?/s far and nere / the doughtyest, men me caH, That 1 euer ran with spere / A lord and kyng ryaH \ what ioy is me to here / A lad to sesse my stall ! He is so If I this crowne may bere / that 1 boy shall by for aH. tales that t i i q "by God's I anger; 113 dear nails'* I wote not 1 what 1 dewiH me alys, i^eno^ Thay teyn me so with talys, longer. That 1 by gottys dere nalys, I wyH peasse no langer. 117 (14) what 1 dewiH ! me thynk I brast 1 / ffor anger and for teyn ; He fears that kings are going to break their promise < returning I teH you, 122 A boy thay sayd thay soght 1 , with offeryng that 1 thay broght 1 ; It 1 mefys my hart 1 right noght 1 To breke his nek in two. 126 (15) Bot 1 be thay past 1 me by / by mahowne in heuen, i f th ey have I shaH, and that 1 in hy / set aH on sex and seuen ; I trow thyse kyng?/s be past 1 / that 1 here with me has beyn ; Ji,; " [i " Thay p?*omysed me fuH fast / or now here to be seyn, break the ffor els I shuld haue cast / an othere sleght 1 , I weyn ; passed by 170 Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. hi in, he will set all things at sixes and sevens. [Fol. 56, b.] Trow ye a kyng as I / wiU snfrre thaym to neuen Any to haue mastry / hot* my self fuH euen % Nay, leyfe ! The dewiH me hang and draw, If I that loseU knaw, Bot 1 I gyf hym a blaw, That lyfe I shall hym reyfe. 131 135 (16) if any one ffor parels yit 1 I wold' / wyst 1 if thay were gone ; them, Herod And ye therof her told / I pray you say anone, report to" ° ffor and thay be so bold / by god that syttys in trone, The payn can not 1 be told / that 1 thay shall haue ilkon, ffor Ire ; Sich panys hard neuer man teH, ffor vgly and for feH, That 1 lucyfere in heU Thare bonys shall aH to-tyre. 140 144 The first knight tells him that the kings have passed by another way. Herod blames his knights for not having spied them. (17) primua Miles. Lord, thynk not 1 iH if I / teH you how thay ar past 1 ; I kepe not 1 layn, truly / Syw thay cam by you last 1 , An othere way in hy / thay soght 1 , & that 1 fuH fast. Herodes. why, and ar thay past 1 me by 1 j we ! outt 1 ! for teyn I brast 1 ! we! fy! 149 fly on the dewiH ! where may I byde 1 Bot 1 fyght 1 for teyn and al to-chyde 1 ! Thefys, I say ye shuld haue spyde And told when thay went 1 by ; 153 They grumble at his threats. (18) ye ar knyghtys to trast 1 ! / nay, losels ye ar, and thefys ; I wote I yelde my gast / so sore my hart 1 it 1 grefys. Seeimdus Miles, what nede you be abast? / ther ar uo greatt 1 myschefys ffor these maters to gnast. / Tem'us Miles. why put ye sich reprefys MS. alto chvde. Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 171 withowW cause 1 Thus shuld ye not 1 thretfc vs, vngaynly to bete vs, ye shuld not 1 reliett vs, withoutt othere sawes. (19) herodt. ffy, losels and lyars ! / lurdans ilkon ! Tratoures and well wars ! / knafys, bot 1 knyght?/s none ! had ye bene woth youre eres / thus had thay nut 1 gone ; Gett 1 I those land lepars / I breke ilka bone ; ffyrst 1 vengeance Shall I se on thare bonys ; If ye bycle in these wonys I shall dyng you with stony s, yei, ditizance doutance. (20) I wote not where I may sytf / for anger & for teyn ; we haue not done aH yit 1 / if if be as I weyn ; ffy ! dewift ! now how is it % j as long as I haue eyn I think not 1 for to fiytt / bot 1 kyng I wiH be seyn ifor euer. Bot 1 stand I to quart 1 , I teH you my hart, I shall gar thaym start, Or els trust 1 me neuer. 158 162 167 171 176 180 (21) primus Miles. Syr, thay went sodanly / or any man wyst, Els had mett 1 we, yei, pe?xly / and may ye tryst 1 . Secxmdiis Miles. So bold* nor so hardy / agans oure lyst, was none of that 1 company / durst 1 mete me with fyst ffor ferd*. 185 Tercius Miles. IH durst 1 thay abyde, Bot 1 ran thame to hyde ; Might I thaym haue spyde, I had made thaym a herd. 189 (22) what couth Ave more do / to saue youre honoure 1 primus Miles, we were redy therto / and shal be ilk howrc. hero&. Now syn it 1 is so / ye shall haue fauoure; Go where ye wyH, go / by towne and by towre, Ilerod still abuses them. If they con- tinue like this he will ding the in with stones, "ditizance doutance." He does not mean to flit himself, but will make men see that he is king. [Fol. 57, a.] The knights boast what they would have done had they met the kings. What could they do more to save Herod's honour '{ 172 Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. He forgives them ; and calls his privy council. He bids his clerks en- quire in Virgil, in Homer, and everywhere but in legend — in Boece and tales but not in ser- vice-books — as to this talk of a maiden and her child. The first councillor quotes the prophecy of Isaiah as to the birth of Emmanuel. The second quotes the prophecy of the birth of a king at Bethlehem. Goys hens ! I haue maters to meH with my preuey counseH ; Clerkys, ye bere the beH, ye must 1 me encense. [The Soldiers retire.] 194 [The Council advance.] 198 (23) 203 207 Herod rages at them, and Oone spake in myne eere / A wonderful! talkyng, And sayde a madyn shuld? bere / anothere to be kyn Syrs, I pray you inquere / in ail wrytyng, In vyrgyH, in honiere / And all other thyng Bot 1 legende ; [They look at their books.] Sekys poece tayllys ; lefe pystyls and grales ; Mes, matyns, noght 1 avalys, AH these I defende ; (24) I pray you tell heyndly / now what* ye fynde. primus consultus. Truly, sir, p7*ophecy / If is not H blynd ; we rede thus by Isay / he shalbe so kynde, That 1 a madyn, sothely / which neuer synde, ShaH hym bere : " virgo concipiet, JSTatimqwe pariet 1 ; " " Emannett " is hete, his name for to lere, (25) " God is with vs," that 1 is forto say. Secundus consultus. And othere says thus / tryst me ye may: " Of bedlem a gracyus / lord shall spray, That 1 of Iury myghtyus / kyug shalbe ay, lorclmyghty; And hym shall honoure both kyng and emperoure." herodes. why, and shuld I to hym cowre? Nay, ther thou lyys lyghtly ! (26) fly ! the dewiH the spede / and me, bot 1 I drynk onys ! This has thou done in dede / to anger me for the nonys ; 212 216 221 99 r > Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 173 bids the "dottypols" fly and throw 1 heir hooks into the water. Unless he have ven- geance on this lad he can live no longer. And thou, knafe, thou thy mede / shall haue, by zokys [Foi. 57, i>.] dere bonys ! Thou can not 1 half thi crede ! / outt, thefys, fro my wonys ! fl^Jmafys ! 230 fry, dotty-pols, with youre hookys ! Go kast thaym in the brookys ! with sich wylys and cvokys My wytt 1 away rafys ! 234 (27) hard I neuer sich a trant 1 / that 1 a knafe so sleght Shuld? com lyke a santt / and refe me my right ; Nay, he shall on slant 1 / I shall kyH hym downe stryght * war ! I say, lett 1 me pant / now thynk I to fyght ffor anger ; 239 My gutty s wiH outt 4 thryng Bot I this lad hyng ; without^ 1 haue a vengyng, I may lyf no langer. 243 (28) Shuld a carU in a kafe / bot 1 of oone yere age, Thus make me to rafe 1 j primus consz^us. Syr, peasse this outrage ! A- way let ye wafe / aH sich langage, youre worship to safe / is he oglit* bot 1 a page Of a yere 1 248 we two shall hym teyn with oure wyttys betweyn, That 1 , if ye do as I meyn, he shaH dy on a spere. 252 (29) Secundus consultus. ffor drede that 1 he reyn / do as we red ; Thrug. outt bedlem 1 / and ilk othere stede, Make knyghtys ordeyn / and put vnto dede AH knaue chyldren / of two yerys brede, And with-in ; 257 This chyld* may ye spyrl Thus at 1 youre awne wiH. Herodes. Now thou says here tyU A right 1 nobyH gyn ! 261 1 Assonant to 'reyne/ 'chyldren.' The council- lors bid him put away all such lan- guage, and they shall find him a remedy. Let him bid his knights slay all chil- dren at Beth- lehem and elsewhere under two years old and this child must die. 174 Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. (30) Herod If I lyf in land / good lyfe, as I hope, right noble This dar I the warand / to make the Pope. 1 five's he will 0, my hart is rysand / now in a glope ! councillor ffor this nobyll tythand / thou shart haue a drope wSe'hr 11 " Of my good grace ; 2G6 caS!es a a V nd Marky*, rentys, and powndys, lands. Greatt 1 castels & groundys ; Thrugh ali sees and sandys I gvf the the chace. [The Council retires.] 270 (31) Herod bids Now wyll I procede / and take veniance: liis higssgii- ger call the AH the flowre of knyghthede / caH to legeance ; flower of liis ^ , T ,,,,«, ., ' -, • knights. Bewshere, I the bjd A J iv may the avance. Nuncius. lord, I shaH me spede / and bryng, perchaunce, To thy syght. [Herod retires. Knights advance.'] [Foi. 58, a.] hark, knyghtys, I you bryng The messen- here new tythyng ; ger bids the J J & J knights vnto herode kyng hasten to . Herod, hast with an youre myght ! 27 9 (32) armed and in In aH the hast 1 that 1 ye may / in armowre fuH bright 1 , array. In youre best aray / looke that 1 ye be dighf. primus Miles, why shuld we fray ? / Secundus Miles. this is not 1 ali right. Tercius Miles. Syrs, withoutten delay I drede that 1 we fight. Nuncius. I pray you, • 284 As fast 1 as ye may, com to hym this day. primus Miles, what 1 , in oure best 1 aray 1 Nuncius. yei, syrs, I say you. 288 (33) ijus Miles. Somwhat is in hand / what euer it meyn. iij Miles. Tarry not for to stand / ther or we haue beyn. [Herod advances.] Nuncius. kyng herode ali weldand / weH be ye seyn ! youre knyghta/s ar comand / in armoure fun sheyn, 1 This word is erased in the MS. 3 The ryme needs ' bede.' Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 175 At 1 youro wyH. 293 pri??ms Miles. hayH. dughtyest 1 of aft ! The first -^ J ' o J knight hails we are comen at 1 youre caR Herod, ifor to do what we shall, youre lust to fullfyH. 297 (34) herod. welcom, lordyngys, Iwys / both greatt and smaH ! j^m^f the The cause now is this / that I send for you afi : boy who ' d must he A lad, a knafe, borne is / that 1 shuld? be kyng ryatt ; kmetl - Bot 1 1 kyH hym and his / I wote I brast my gaH ; Therfor, Syrs, 302 Veniance shaU ye take, AH for that lad' sake, And men I shall you make where ye com ay where, syrs. 306 (35) To bedlem loke ye go / And aH the coste aboute, The knights J ° ' are to go to AH knaue chyldren ye slo / and lordv/s, ye shalbe stoute ; Bethlehem Of yeres if they be two / and within, of aH that 1 rowte aboutsand On ]yfe lyefe none of tho / that 1 lygys in swedyH clowte, knave-chii- T .. dren under 1 red you ; 311 two years of Spare no kyns bloode, lett aft ryn on floode, If women wax woode ; I warn you, syrs, to spede you ; 315 (36) hens ! now go youre way / that ye were thore. ijus Miles. I wote we make a fray / bof I wyH go before. The knights iijus Miles. A, thynk, syrs, I say / I mon whett lyke a bore, obedience. primus Miles. Sett 1 me before ay / good enogh for a skore ; hayH heyndly ! 320 we shaH for youre sake make a dulfuH lake. • her odes. Now if ye me weft wrake ye shall fynd me freyndly. [Exit Herod.'] 324 (37) ijus Miles. Go ye now tyft oure noytt / and handy ft thaym weyft. iijus Miles. I shaft pay thaym on the cote / begyn I to reyft. [First Woman and Child advance.] 176 [Fol. 58, b.] They see a woman coming. The first knight tells her not to take it ill if he kill her child. The woman remon- strates. She attacks the knight, but her boy is slain. Towneky Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. primus Miles, hark, felose, ye dote / yonder co?>miys vnceyH ; I hold 2 here a grote / she lykys me not weyH Be we parte ; [To the Woman.] 329 Dame, thynk it 1 not 1 yH, thy knafe if I kyrl. prima Mulier. what, thefe ! agans my wyU ? lord, kepe hym in qwarte ! 333 (38) ^ri??zus Miles. Abyde now, abyde / no farther thou gose. prima Mulier. Peasse, thefe ! shall I chyde / and make here a nose 1 jmmus Miles. I shall reyfe the thy pryde / kyH we these boyse ! prima Mulier. Tyd may betyde / kepe wett thy nose, ffals thefe ! 338 haue on loft 1 on thy hode. primus Miles, what 1 , hoore, art 1 thou woode 1 [Kills the Child.] prima Mulier. Outt, alas, my chjldijs bloode ! Outt, for reprefe ! 342 (39) Alas for shame and syn / alas that I was borne ! Of wepyng who may blyn / to se hir chylde forlorne *? My comfortrl and my kyn / my son thus alto torne ! veniance for this syn / I cry, both euyn and morne. Secundus Miles. weH done ! 347 [Seeond Woman and Child advance.] Com hedyr, thou old stry ! that 1 lad of thyne shall dy. Seennda Mulier. Mercy, lord, I cry ! It 1 is myn awne dere son. 351 (40) The same */us Miles. No mercy thou mefe / it 1 mendys the not, mawd ! tTrouihbS 6 Secwnda Mulier. Then thi skalp shall I clefe ! / lyst thou be clawd 1 lefe, lefe, now by lefe ! / Secundus Miles. peasse, byd I, bawd ! Secmida Midier. fTy, fy, for reprefe ! fy, full of frawde ! She laments over him and calls for vengeance. tween a second woman and the second knight. Townelcy Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 177 No man ! 356 haue at 1 thy tabard, harlot 1 and holard ! Thou shall not 1 be sparde ! I cry and I ban ! [He hills the boy.] 360 (41) Outtt ! morder ! man, I say / Strang tratoure & thefe ! she, also, Out 1 ! alas ! and waloway ! / my child that 1 was me lefe ! vengeance My luf , my blood, my play / that 1 neue?* dyd man grefe ! dered son. " Alas, alas, this day ! / I wold? my hart shuld* clefe In sonder ! 365 veniance I cry and carl, on herode and his knyght?/s aH ! veniance, lord*, apon thaym fall, And mekyH warldys wonder ! 369 (42) Tercius Miles. This is well wroght 1 gere / that 1 euer Th e third may be; \_Tliird woman and child advance.] the g cWidof Comys hederward here ! / ye nede not to lie ! mother. Tercia Mulier. wyH ye do any dere / to my chyld' and me % iijus Miles, he shall dy, I the swere / his hart blood shall thou se. iija mulier. God for-bede ! 374 Thefe ! thou shedys my chjldys blood ! [He kills the boy.] she laments Out 1 , I cry ! I go near wood ! Alas ! my hart 1 is aH on flood, To se my chyld* thus blede ! 378 (43) By god, thou shall aby this dede that thou has done. [ Fo i. 59j a- Terw'us Miles. I red the not 1 stry / by son and by moyn. lg * ' 1 "-' iij-d Midler, haue at 1 the, say I ! / take the ther a foyn ! Out 1 on the I cry / haue at thi groyn and attacks An othere ! 383 This kepe I in store. Tercms Miles. Peasse now, no more ! Tei-cia Mulier. I cry and I rore, Out 1 on the, mans mordere ! 387 (44) Alas ! my bab, myn Innocent 1 / my fleshly get 1 ! for sorow She cries for That 1 god me clerly sent / of bales who may me borow 1 T. plays. n him till he cries "Peace now, no more." vengeance. 178 Townehy Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. The first knight bids the women gooff. They are frightened now, says the second knight. The third knight pro- poses to tell their ex- ploits to Herod. The first, claims to have done the best. They boast to Herod of having mur- dered many thousands, they are worthy a reward. Thy body is aH to-rent 1 / I cry both euen and morow, veniance for thi blod' thus spent 1 / out ! I cry, and horow ! primus Miles. Go lightly ! 392 Gett 1 out 1 of thise wonys ! ye trattys, all at 1 onys, — Or by cokys dere bonys I make you go wyghtly ! [The mothers retire.] (45) Thay ar flayd now, I wote, thay wiH not 1 abyde. 397 Secxmdus Miles, lett vs ryn f ote hote / now wold' I we hyde, And teH of this lott / how we haue betyde. Tevcms Miles. Thou can do thi note / that 1 haue I aspyde ; Go iuvth. now, 401 TeH thou herode oure tayH ! ffor aU oure avayR, I teH you, saunce fay 11, he wyH vs alow. 405 (40) primus Miles. I am best 1 of you aH / and euer has bene ; The deuyR haue my sauR / bot 1 I be fyrst 1 sene ; It 1 fyttys me to caR / my lord, as I wene. ijus Miles, what 1 nedys the to braR 1 / be not so kene In this anger ; 410 I shaH say thou dyd best 1 , saue myself, as I gest. primus Miles, we ! that 1 is most 1 honest. Tercius Miles, go, tary no langer ! 414 (47) [They approach Flerorf.] primus Miles. hayR herode, oure kyng / fuH glad may ye be ! Good tythyng we bryng / harkyn now to me ; we haue mayde rydyng / thrugh outt lure : weH wyt ye oone thyng / that 1 morderd? haue we Many thowsand?/s. 419 //us Miles. I held* thaym fuH hote, I payd them on the cote ; Thare dammys, I wote, Neuer bynde them in bandys, 423 (48) n/us Miles, had ye sene howl fard/ when I cam emang them ! Ther was none that 1 I spard / bot lade on and dang them. Towneley Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. 179 I am worthy a rewarde / where I was emmgys them. [Foi. 59, b.] I stud and I stard / no pyte to hang them had I. 428 lierodes. Now, by myghty mahowne, That is good of renowne ! If I here this crowne ye shall haue a lady 432 (49) Ilkon to hym laycl, and wed at 1 his wyU. Herod pro- J J J misesthem primus Miles. So haue ye lang savde / do somwhat 1 thertyH ! each a lady n " 1 1 . , „ to wed at his ijws Miles. And I was neuer nayde / ior good ne for yti. will. iijixs Miles, ye might 1 hold* you well payde / oure lust 1 to fulfyH, Thus thynk me, 437 with tresure vntold, If it 1 lyke that 1 ye wold, The third Both syluer and gold, gests a gift To gyf vs greatt 1 plente. 441 silver. (50) herodes. As I am kyng crownde / I thynk it 1 good right ! Herod says a Ther goys none on grownde / that 1 has sich a wyght 1 ; thousand A hundreth thowsand pownde / is good wage for a knyght, good wage r\ e i i / i-ii. for a knight, Oi pe?2iiys good ana rownde / now may ye go light 1 and pro with store ; 446 And ye knyghtys of oures ShaH haue castels and towres, Both to you and to youres, ffor now and euer more. 450 (51) pv'wms Miles, was neuer none borne / by downes ne by The knights dalys, Nor yit 1 vs beforne / that 1 had sich avalys. ijus Miles, we haue castels and corne / mych gold in oure malys. iijus Miles. IV wyH neuer be worne / withoutt 1 any talys ; hayH heyndly ! 455 hayH lord ! hayH kyng ! we ar furth foundyng ! herod. Now mahowne he you bryng where he is lord freyndly ; 459 mises castles and towers as well as money. rejoice at their wealth, J 80 Toivnelcy Plays. XVI. Herod the Great. Herod thanks Mahound that he'inay stand in peace. Each of the knights shall have a thou- sand marks —next time he comes. He is not troubled by the blood he has shed. His gall now is all of sugar. [Pol. 60, a. Sig. K. 2.] He need not despair now, for the boy must be killed. 144,000 have been slain : never was tliere such a murder. (52) Now in peasse may I stand / I thank the, mahowne ! And gyf of my lande / that loughs to my crowne ; Draw therfor nerehande / both of burgh and of townc ; Markys ilkon a thowsandc / when I am bowne, Shaft ye haue. 464 I shalbe furl fayn To gyf that 1 I sayn ! wate when I com agayn, And then may ye craue. 468 (53) I sett 1 by no good? / now my hart 1 is at easse, That 1 I shed so mekyH blodo / pes aft my ryehes ! if or to se this node / from the fote to the nese Mefys nothing my mode / I lagft that I whese ; A, mahowne ! 473 So light is my sauft, that aft of Sugar is my gall ; I may do what 4 I shall, And bere vp my crowne. 477 (54) I was castyn in care / so frightly afrayd, T'ot* I thar not dyspare / for low is he layd That I most dred are / so haue I hym flayd ; And els wonder ware / and so many strayd In the strete, 482 That oone shuld be harmeles, and skape away hafles, where so many chyldes Thare balys can not 1 bete. 486 (S3) A hundreth thowsand, I watt 1 / and fourty ar slayn, And four thowsand ; ther-at / me aght to be fayn ; Sich a morder on a flat / shall neuer be agayn. had I had bot oone bat H / at 1 that 1 lurdan So yong, 491 If shuld' haue bene spokyn how I had me wrokyn, were I dede and rotyn, with many a tong. 495 Townclcy Plays. XVII. The Purification of Mary. 181 (5G) Tims shaH I tecfi knauys / ensampyH to take, In thare wyttys that 1 rauys / sich mastre to make : AH wantones wafys / no langage ye crak ! No sufferan you sauys / youre nekkys shaH I sbak In soncler ; • 500 No kyng ye on caH Bot on herode the ryali, Or els many oone shall Apon youre bodys wonder. 504 (57) ffor if I here it 1 spokyn / when I com agayn, youre branys bese brokyn / therfor be ye bayn ; Nothyng bese vnlokyn / it 1 shalbe so playn ; Begyn I to rekyn / I thynk aH dysdayn ffor daunche. 509 Syrs, this is my counseH — Bese not to crueH, Bot adew ! — to the deuyH ! I can nomore f rau^ch ! 513 Explicit Magnus Herodes. Let knaves take ex- ample by it, and call no man king but Herod. If he hear them speak of any other lie will knock their brains out. But now he ' ' can no more French." (XVII.) Incipit Purificaczo marie. [10 eight-line stanzas aaab cccb ; 10 six-line aab ccb ; and one, line.] [Dramatis Personae. Symcon. Primus Angelus. Symeon. Sccundas Angelas. Josephus. Maria. JesicsJ] (i) Tghtftirl god, thou vs glad ! That 1 heuen and erthe and aH has mayd< Bryng vs to blys that 1 neuer shaft fade, As thou weri may ; And thynk on me that 1 is vnweld — lo ! so I hobyli aH on held?, That 1 vnethes may I walk for eld — ■ Now help, lord, adenay ! M [Fol. 60, b.] Simeon prays to God to remember him in Ins old age. 182 Towneley Plays. XVII. The Purification of Mary. (2) He wonders Bot yitt I merueH, both euyn and morne, good men of Of old* elders that* were beforne, old be safe or -,,,,,„ , lost. wheder tnay be sate or lorne, where thay may be ; 12 AbeH, noye, and abraham, Dauid, danieH, and balaam, And aH othere mo by name, Of sere degre. 16 (3) He thanks I thank the, lord, with good intent, giving him Of aH thy sond thou has me sent*, 5fe. 0Dc That* thus long tyme my lyfe has lent, Now many a yere ; 20 ffor aH ar past* now oonly bof I ; I thank the, lord god alrayghty ! ffor so old? know I none, sothly, Now lyfyng here. 24 (4) He knows no ffor I am old symeon : man so old ~ , , , c , T as himself: bo old on lyie know 1 none, he be feeble. That is mayde on flesh and bone, In aH medyH-erd. 28 No wonder if I go on held : The feuyrs, the riyx, make me vnweld ; Myn armes, my lymmes, ar stark for eld', And aH gray is my berd. 32 (5) Myn ees are woren both marke and blynd ; Myn and is short, I want wynd? ; Thus has age dystroed my kynd, And reft niyght£->' aH ; 36 His own Bot shortly mon I weynd away ; awaywrn what tyme ne when/1 can not say, soon come. ffor it is gone fuH many a day Syn dede began to caH. 40 (6) [Foi. 6i, a. Ther is no warke that I may wyrk, - ' Bot oneths craH I to the kyrk ; Be I com home I am so irk Towneky Plays. XVII. The Purification of Many. 183 That farther may I noght ; Eot settys me downe, and grankys, and gronys, And lygys and restys my wery bonys, And aft nyght after grank?/s and goonys, On slepe tyft I be broght. (7) Eot neuer the les, the sothe to say, If I may nather, by nyght ne day, ffor age nather styr ne play, Nor make no chere, yit if I be neuer so old*, I myn f uft well that 1 prophet?/s told, That now ar dede and layde furl cold, Sythen gone many a yere. (8) Thay sayde that god , furl of myght, Shuld* send his son from heuen bright, In a madyn for to light, Co??imen of dauid kyn ; flesh and bloode on hyr to take, And becom man for oure sake, Our redempcyon for to make, That 1 slayn were thrugh syn. (9) Bot, lord, that vs thy grace has hight, Send me thy sond, both day and nyght, And graunt me grace of lyfys light, And let 1 me neuer de, To thou sich grace to me send, That 1 I may handyft hym in my hend, That 1 shaft cum oure mys to amend, And se hym with myn ee. (10) J>ri??^us angelus. Thou, symeon, drede the noght ! My lord, that thou has long besoght, ffor thou has rightwys beyn, Thyn askyng has he grauntyd the, with outen dede on lyfe to be To thou thy cryst 1 haue seyn. 44 48 56 He can do no work save church- going, and when he conies back from that all his bones ache. Yet feeble as age has made him, he re- members the words of the dead pro- phets, who foretold the birth of God's Son for man's re- demption. 60 64 He prays : God that he may not die till he has held this Child in his hand. 6S 72' An angel announces the granting of his 75 prayer. 78 184 Towneley Plays. XVII. The Purification of Mary. A second angel tells him he shall find God's Son in the Temple. Symeon praises God for His goodness. [Fol. 61, b.] He will pnt on his vest- ment in honour of that king, for welcome shall that Lord be to him, who shall make men free. The bells ring so solemnly he thinks it must be for the coming of the Lord. (ii) Secxmdus angelus. Than symeon, harkyn a space ! I bryng the tythyngz/s of solace ; ffor-thy, ryse vp and gang 81 To the temple ; thou shaH fynd thore Godys son the before, That thou has yernyd lang. 84 (12) Symeon. Louyd be my lord! in wyH and thoght, That his seruant forgett?/,-? noght, when that 1 he seys tyme ! 87 well is me that I shaH dre TyH I haue sene hym with myn ee, And no longe?* hyne. 90 (13) Louyd be my lord in heuen, That 1 thus has by his angerl steuen warnyd me of his commjng I 93 Therfor wiU I with intent putt 1 on me my vestment, In worship of that kyng. 96 (14) he shalbe welcom vnto me : That 1 lord shaH make vs alle fre, kyng of aH man-kyn ; 99 fr'or with his blood he shaft vs boroo Both fro catyfdam & from soroo, That 1 was slayn thrugh syn. 102 Tunc pulsauimt. (15) A, dere god ! what 1 may this be 1 ? Oure bellys ryng so solemply, fTor whom soeuer it is ; 1 05 Now certys, I can not vnderstand, Bot 1 if my lord god aH weldand Be commen, that 1 aH shaH wyse. 108 (16) This noyse lyghtyns fuH weH myn hart 1 ! Shalt I neuer rest, and I haue quart, Or I com ther onone ; 111 Towneley Plays. XVII. The Purification of Mary. 185 Now weft were I and it so were, ffor sich noyse hard I neuer ere ; Oure bellys ryng by thare oone ! 114 [Joseph, with two doves, and Mary, -with Iter baby, advance.'] (17) Ioseph. Mary, it 1 begynnys to pas, ffourty dayes syn that 1 thou was Delyuer of thy son ; To the temple I red we draw. To clens the, and fulfyH the law, As oure elders were won. (18) Therfor, mary, madyn heynd, Take thi chyld' and let vs weynd The tempyH vntyrl ; And we shaH with vs bryng Thise turtyls two to oure offryng, The law we wiU fulfyll. (19) Maria. Ioseph, that wyH I fuH weH, That 1 the law euery deyH * Be f ulfyllyd in me. Lord, that 1 aH myght?/s may, Gyf vs grace to do this day That 1 it be pleassyng to the ! Angeli cantant ; simeon \the rest is illegible]. (20) primus angelus. Thou, symeon, rightwys and trew, Thou has desyred both old and new, To haue a sight of cryst ihesu As prophecy has told ! Oft has thou prayd to haue a sight Of hym that 1 in a madyn light 1 ; here is that chyld of mekyrl myght, Now has thou that thou wold. (21) Secimdus angolxxs. Thou has desyryd it most of aH. 1 117 120 123 126 129 132 The bells are ringing of themselves. Joseph bids Mary draw near the Temple, 136 140 taking her Child with her, and they will bring two doves for an offering. Mary is well pleased to fulfil all the Law. The first Angel an- nounces to Simeon that this is the Child whom he longed to see. 1 The end of this Play, and the beginning of the next, are wanting, two leaves of the manuscript being lost. 186 Towneley Plays. XVIIL The Play of the Doctor, [Fol. 62, a.] The Doctors talk of the prophecy of Emmanuel. Habakkuk had foretold the rod that should spring from the root of Jesse. (XVIIL) [17 eight-line stanzas ab ab ab ab ; 33 four-line ab ab ; 2 couplets and one line of Latin.] Primus Magistcr. Secundus Magistcr. [Dramatis Personae. Tercius Magistcr. Jesus. (i) Maria. Joscphus. [Secundus Magister.] That a madyn a barn shuld? bere ; And his name thus can thay teli, ffro the tyme that he born were, he shalbe callyd emanueH ; 4 (2) Counselloure, and god of strengthe, And wonderfurl also ShaH he be callyd, of brede and lenghthe As far as any man may go. 8 (3) iijus r/?agister. Masters, youre resons ar right good, And wonderfull to neuen, yit fynde I more by abacuk ; Syrs, lysten a whyle vnto my steuen. 12 (4) Oure bayli, he says, shaH turn to boytt, her-afterward som day ; A wande shaH spryng fro Iesse roytt, — The certan sothe thus can he say, — 1G (5) And of that 1 wande shaH spryng a flourc, that 1 shali spryng vp f uH hight : Ther of shaH com furl swete odowre, And therapon shali rest* and lyght 20 (6) ' The holy gost, fuH mych of myghf ; The goost 1 of wysdom and of wytt, ShaH bey Id his nest, with mekyH right 1 , And in if brede and sytt. 24 Toiwuley Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. 187 (7) _pri??ius ?rcagiste?\ Bot when trow ye this prophecy Shalbe fulfyllyd in decle, That here is told so openly, As we in scrypture rede % 28 (8) ?)'us magister. A greatt merueH for sothe it is, To vs to here of sich mastry ; A madyn to bere a chyld, Iwys, w/t7iout mans seyde, that 1 were ferly. 32 (9) iijus ??2agiste?*. The holy gost shaH in hyr lyght, And kepe hir madynhede f uH clene ; whoso may byde to se that sight 1 Thay ther not drede, I wene. 36 (10) primus magister. Of aH thise prophetv/.s wyse of lore That 1 knew the prophecy, more and les, was none that told the tyme before, when he shuld? com to by vs peasse. 40 (ii) Secxmdus ???agister. wheder he be commen or not ]STo knowlege haue we in certayn ; Bot he shall com, that dowt we not 1 ; ffuH prcphetys haue prechyd it 1 fuH playn. 44 (12) u)'us wagiste?*. Mekyft I thynk that 1 thise prophetys Ar holden to god, that 1 is on hight, That haue knowyng of his behetys, And for to teH of his mekyH myght. 48 The first Doctor won- ders when this shall be fulfilled. They discuss the con- ception by the Holy Ghost. None of the prophets were told the time of these things, He may be come or not, but of His coming they have no doubt. Tunc venit ihesus. 1 (13) J7iesus. Masters, luf be with you lent 1 , And mensk be vnto this mene3e ! primus 7?zagister. Son, hens away I wold thou went, ffor othere haft in hand haue we. Jesus greets them. The first KO doctor says o£ they are busy. 1 MS. ihc : as it rymes with 'thus,' 'vs,' it is always expanded i ihcsws. 138 Towncley Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. The second Doctor says they have other things to do than to play with children. [Fol. 62, b. J But the third bids Jesus listen to their speech, that He may learn by it. Jesus says He has no need to learn of them. The first Doctor thinks He is too young to know their laws "by clergy." They bid Him sit to be examined. Jesus says the Holy Ghost has given Him power to teach. (14) ij\is magistQY. Son, whosoeuer the hyder sent, Thay were not wyse, thus teli I the ; ffor we haue othere tayllys to tent Then now with barnes bowrdand to be. 56 (15) Terdus magister. Son, thou lyst oght lere / To lyf by moyses lay ; Com heder, and thou shall here / The sawes that we Avyli say ; 58 (16) ffor in som mynde if may the bryng To here oure sawes red by rawes. Ihesus. To lere of you nedys me no thyng, ffor I knaw both youre dedys & sawes. 62 2^ri?/2us magister. hark, yonder barn with his bowrdyng ! he wenys he kens more then he knawys ; Nay, cevtys, son, thou art 1 ouer ying By clergy yit to know oure lawes. 66 (H) 7/iesus. I wote as welt as ye / how that youre lawes was wroght. Secnndus magister. Com sytt ! soyn shall we se, / ffor certys so semys it noght. 68 (18) TerciuB magister. It 1 were wonder if any wyght vntiH oure resons right shuld reche ; And thou says thou has in sight 1 Oure lawes truly to teli and teche. 72 /Aesus. The holy gost has on me lyghf , And anoynt 1 me lyke a leche, And gyffen to me powere and myght The kyngdom of heuen to preche, 76 (19) Seeundus magister. whens euer this barne may be That shewys thise novels new 1 Ihesus. Certan, syrs, I was or ye, And shaH be after you. 80 Towneley Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. 189 (20) primus magister. Son, of thi sawes, as we haue ceytf, And of thi wytt is wonder thyng ; Hot neuer the les fully I feyH That 1 it may fayH in wyrkyng ; 84 ffor dauid demys euer ilk deytt, And thus he says of chylder ying, " Ex ore infancium & lactencium, perfecisti laude??z." Of thare mowthes, sayth dauid, wele, Oure lord he has perfourmed louyng. 88 (21) Neuer the les, son, yit shuld thou lett her for to speke in large ; ffor where masters ar mett, Chylder wordys ar not to charge. 92 (22) ' ffor, ceitys, if thou wold neuer so fayn Gyf all thi lyst to lere the law, Thou art nawther of myght ne mayn To know it, as a clerk may knaw. 96 Utesus. Syrs, I say you in certan, That sothfast shaH be aH my saw ■ And powere haue I plene and playn, To say and answere as me aw. "100 (23) primus ??iagister. Masters, what 1 may this mene 1 MerueH, methynk, haue I where euer this barne has bene That carpys thus conandly. 104 (24) ASecunc?us magister. In warld as wyde as Ave haue went ffand we neuer sich ferly fare ; Ceitys f I trow the barn be sent Sufferanly to salfe our sare. 108 Ihesus. Syrs, I shaH preue in youre present AH the sawes that I sayde are. Tetcius magister. which callys thou the fyrst co??jmaunde- mentt And the most, in moyses lare % 112 The first Doctor re- members the text, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected praise," yet thinks Jesus should not speak so boldly before masters, for it is im- possible for Him to know the Law like a clerk. Jesus says He has power to answer as He ought. [Fol. 63, a.] The Doctors are astonish- ed at His words. The third Doctor asks Him which is the first command- ment, and the chief, in Moses' Law. 190 Towncley Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. (25) Jesus bids 77^esus. Syrs, synthen ye syt on raw, from their And liafe youre hookys on brede, books. , , let se, syrs, m youre saw how right that 1 ye can rede. 116 (26) The first primus magister. I rede that this is the fyrst bydyng that the S f?rst That moyses told' vs here vntyH ; command- n , 1 . , .,, ,, ment is to lionoure tni god ouer ilka thyng, honour God. ^.^ ^ ^ ^ and ^ ^ ^ R . j 2Q And aH thi hart in hym shall: hyng, Erly and late, both lowde and styli. Ihesus. ye ned e none othere booky s to bry ng, ' Bot fownd this to fulfyfi ; 124 (27) Jesus says The seconde may men prof e second is to And clergy knaw therby ; neighbour, youre neyghburs shaH ye lofe Right as youre self truly. 128 (28) i illegible. [Thise] l commaunded moyses tyH aH men In his commaundes clere ; On these two In thise two bydyngys, shaH ye ken, hangaffthe n y n gy s a & the l aw we a ght H to lere. 132 law# who so fulfylles thise two then with mayn and mode and good manere, he fulfyllys truly aH ten That 1 after thaym folovvs in fere. 136 (29) Then shuld we god honowre "with aH oure myghf and mayn, And luf weH ilk neghboure Eight as oure self certayn. 140 (30) primus magister. Now, son, synthen thou has told vs two, which ar the aght, 2 can thou oght say 1 Ihesus. The thyrd bydys, " where so ye go, That ye shaH halow the holy day ; 144 The Doctor asks, What are the other eight? 2 MS. viii. Tmimeley Plays. X VIII. The Play of the Doctors. 191 (31) ffrom bo Jely wark ye take youre rest ; youre household, looke the same thay do, Both wyfe, chyld, seruande, and beest 1 ." The fourt 1 is then in weytt and wo (32) " Thi fader, thi moder, thou shall honowre, Not 1 only with thi reuerence, Bot 1 in thare nede thou thaym socoure, And kepe ay good obedyence." (33) The fyft bydys the "no man slo, Ne harme hym neuer in word ne dede, "Ne suffre hym not* to be in wo If thou may help hym in his nede." (34) The sext bydys the "thi wyfe to take, Bot 1 none othere lawfully ; lust 1 of lechery thou fie and fast forsake, And drede ay god where so thou be." (35) The seuen l bydys the "be no thefe feyr, Ne nothyng wyn with trechery ; Oker, ne symony, thou com not 1 nere, Bot 1 conscyence clere ay kepe truly." (36) The aght 2 hyddys the " be true in dede, And fals wytnes looke thou none berc ; looke thou not ly for freynd ne syb, lest 1 to thi sauH that it do dere." (37) The neyn 3 hyddys the " not 1 desyre Thi neghburs wyfe ne his women, Bot 1 as holy kyrk wold it were, Right so thi purpose sett it H in." (38) The ten 4 hyddys the "for nothyng Thi neghburs goodys yerne wrongwysly ; his house, his rent 1 , ne his hafyng 1 , And crysten fayth trow stediastly." 148 152 156 1G0 164 168 172 [Fol. 63, b.] Jesus an- swers (3) to keep the holy day hallowed, (4) honour and succour father and mother, (5) kill nor harm no man, (6) take thy own wife, but none other, 3 MS. vii. (7) to win nothing by theft, treach- ery, usury or simony, 2 MS. viij. (8) bear no false wit- ness, 3 MS. ix. (9) desire no man's wife, 4 MS. x. (10) covet no man's goods. 176 192 Totuneley Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. These are the ten command- ments. 1 overlined later. The second Doctor won- ders at the knowledge of Jesus. The third fears the people will praise Him more than themselves : but is re- buked by the first. Mary is in great trouble : they have sought Jesus everywhere, but cannot find Him. [Fol. 64, a.] Joseph would fain know if He is about the Temple. 180 (39) Tims in tabyls, sliari ye ken, Oure lord 1 to moyses wrate ; Thise ar the commaundment'^ ten, who so will lely layt. (40) Secundus magister. Behald how lie lege oure lawes, And leryd neuer on booke to rede ! Hurl soteH sawes, me thynk, he says, And also true, if we take hede. 181 Tera'us ??mgister. yei, lett hym furth on his wayes, ffor if he dwell, withoutten drede The pepyH wiH ful soyn hym prayse well more then vs, for all oure dede. 188 (41) primus magister. Nay, nay, then wyrk we wrang ! sich spekyng wiU we spare ; As he cam let hym gang, And mefe vs, not no mare. 192 Tunc venient 1 Ioseph et 1 maria, & dicet Maria ; (42) Maria. A, dere Joseph ! what* is youre red % Of oare greatt bayll no boytt may be ; My hart 1 is heuy as any lede, My semely son to I hym se. Now haue we soght 1 in euery sted, Both vp and downe, thise dayes thre ; And wheder he be whik or dede yit 1 wote we not 1 ; so wo is me ! (43) Iosepfr. Sorow had neuer man mare ! Bot mowr[n]yng, mary, may not amend ; ffarther do I red we fare, To god som socoure send. (44) Abowtt 1 the tempyH if he be oghf, That wold I that 1 we wyst this nyght. Maria. A, cert?/s, I se that 1 Ave have soght 1 ! In warld was neuer so semely a sight 1 ; 196 200 204 208 TowneUy Plays. XVIII. The Play of the Doctors. 193 lo, where he sytta/s ! se ye hym noght 1 Amang^s yond masters mekyii of myght 1 Joseph. Blyssyd be he vs heder broght 1 ! In land now lyfys there none so light. (45) Maria. Now dere Joseph, as haue ye seyH, Go furth and fetche yonre son and myne ; This day is goyn nere ilka devil, And we haue nede for to go hien. Joseph, with men of myght can I not 1 meH, Then aH my traueH mon I tyne ; I can not with thaym, that wote ye weH, Thay are so gay in furrys fyne. (46) Maria. To thaym youre erand? forto say, Surely that thar ye drede no deyH ! Thay wiH take hede to you alway Be cause of eld*, this' wote I weyH. Ioseph. when I com ther what 1 shall I say % tfor I wote not 1 , as haue I ceyH ; Bot thou wiH haue me shamyd for ay, ffor I can nawthere crowke ne knele. (47) Maria. Go we togeder, I hold? it 1 best 1 , Vnto yond worthy wyghfa/s in wede ; And if I se, as haue I rest, That 1 ye wiH not 1 , then must 1 1 nede. Joseph. Go thou and tell thi tayH fyrst, Thi son to se wiH take good hede ; weynd furth, mary, and do thi best 1 , I com behynd, as god me spede. (48) Maria. A, dere son, Ihesus ! 1 sythen we luf the alone, 1 whi dos thou tyH vs thus, And gars vs make this mone ? (49) Thi fade?* and I betwix vs two, Son, for thi luf has lykyd yH, 212 216 220 224 228 232 236 240 Joseph blesses God for enabling them to find Jesus. Mary bids Joseph fetch Jesus, but he is afraid of meddling with men of might, gay in fine furs. Mary says they will respect his age. Joseph asks what he is to Bay. Mary will go with him and speak, if he won't. Joseph makes her go first. Mary asks Jesus why He has done thus to them ? 1 Written as one line with central ryme in MS., and so to end of Play. T. PLAYS. O 194 Towneley Plays. X VIII. The Play of the Doctors. [Fol. 64, b.] His father and she have sought Him weep- ing. Jesus says He must fulfil His Father's works. [Mary ?] will think well on all saws. Joseph bids Jesus come home with them. He bids farewell to the Doctors, who bless Him, predict that He shall prove a good swain, and welcome Him to live with them. Jesus says He must obey His friends. we haue the soght both to and fro wepeand sore, as wyghtis wyH. Ihesus. wherto shuld ye, moder, seke me so 1 Oft tymes it has bene told* ye tyH My fader warkys, for wele or wo, Thus am I sent for to fulfyH. (50) 1 Thise sawes, as haue I ceyH, I can weH vnderstonde, I shall thynk on them weyH To fownd what 1 is folowand. (51) IosepK Now sothly, son, the sight of the has comforthed vs of aH oure care ; Com furth, now, with thi moder and me ! At 1 nazareth I wold we ware. Ihesus. Be leyf then, ye lovdjngys fre! ffor with my freyndys now wyii I fare. j9ri??ms raagister. Son, where so thou shall abyde or be 244 248 252 256 God make the good man euer mare. 2G0 (52) Secimdus magister. No wonder if thou, wife, Of his fyndyng be fayn ; he shaH, if he haue lyfe, prefe to a fuH good swayn. 264 (53) Tercms magister. Son, looke thou layn, for good or yH, The nojttys that we haue nevened now ; And if thou lyke to abyde here styH, And with vs won, welcom art 1 thou. 268 Ihesus. Gramercy, syrs, of youre good >vyHr ! No longer lyst I byde with you, My freyndys thoght I shall f ulfyH, And to thare bydyng baynly bow. 272 (54) Maria. ffuH weH is me this tyde, Now may we make good chere. Ioseph. No longer wyH we byde ; ffar weH aH folk in fere. 276 Expl\i\cit Pagina Doctomm. 1 This stanza must be assigned to Maiy, see Luke iii. 51. Townelcy Plays. XIX. Iohn the Baptist:. 195 (XIX.) Incipit Ioha?mes bapt&ftz. [Dramatis Personae. Johannes. Primus Angelus. Secundus Angelus. Jesus,] [35 eight-line stanzas ab ab ab ab, and 1 four-line ab ab.] JoJmnnes. (1) &od, that 1 mayde both more and les, Heuen and erth, at his awne wyH, And merkyd man to his lyknes, As thyng that 1 wold his lyst ffulfyri, Apon the erth he send lightnes, Both son and moyne lymett thertyH, He saue yon aH from synfulnes, And kepe you clene, both lowd and stytt. (2) Emang prophetys then am I oone That 1 god has send to teche his law, And man to amend, that 1 wrang has gone, Both with exampyft and with saw. My name, for sothe, is baptyst 1 Iohn, My fader zacary ye knaw, That 1 was dombe and mayde great mone, Before my byrth, and stode in awe. (3) Elezabeth my moder was, Awntt 1 vnto mary, madyn mylde ; And as the son shynys thorow the glas, Cevtys, in hir wombe so dyd hir chyld?. Yit 1 the lues inqueryd me has If I be cryst ; thay ar begyld, For ihesus shal amend mans trespas, That 1 with freylte of fylthe is fylyd. I am send bot messyngere ffrom hyrn that 1 alkyn mys may mend ; I go before, bodword to bere, 12 16 John prays God to save the specta- tors from sin. [Fol. 65, a. Sig. 1. 1.] He is a pro- phet, Bap- tist John, son of Zachary and Elizabeth. 20 The Jews have asked if he be Christ. 24 He is only the messen- ger and fore- ganger And 1 as forgangere am I send, 1 MS. As. 28 196 to prepare His ways. These Jews shall crucify Christ as a traitor or thief, not for His guilt but our good. He baptises with water, but Christ with the Holy Ghost. He is un- worthy to loose Christ's shoestring. He praises God for His bounty, and for send- ing His Son to save man's sold. Towneley Plays. XIX. Iohn the Baptist. his wayes to wyse, his lawes to' lere, Both man and wyfe that 1 has offende. fEuH mekyU barett mon he here, Or tyme he hane broght 1 aH tyH ende, (5) Thise lues shaH hyng hym on a roode, Man's sauH to hym it 1 is so leyfe, And therapon shaH shede his bloode, As he were tratoure or a thefe, Not 1 for his gylfr bot for oure goode, Because that we ar in myschefe ; Thus shaH he dy, that 1 frely foode, And ryse agane tyH: oure relefe. (6) In water clere then baptyse I The pepyH that 1 ar in this coste ; Bot he shaH do more myghtely, And baptyse in the rmly.goost; And with the bloode of his body wesh oure synnes both leste and moost, Therfor, me thynk, both ye and I Agans the feynde ar welt endoost. (?) I am not worthy for to lawse The leste thwong that long?/s to his shoyne ; Bot god almyghty, that 1 aH knawes, In erth thi wiH if must 1 be done. I thank the, lord, that 1 thi sede sawes Emong mankynde to groyf so sone, And euery day that on erth dawes Jfeydys vs with foode both euen and none. (8) we ar, lord, bondon vnto the, To luf the here both day and nyght, nor thou has send thi son so fre To saue mans sault that 1 dede was dight Thrugh adam syn and eue foly, That 1 synnyd thrugh the feynd^'s myght ; Bot 1 , lord, on man thou has pyte, " And beyld thi barnes in heuen so bright. 32 36 40 U 48 56 60 64 Totvnchy Plays. XIX. lohn the Baptist. 197 (9) primus a?igelus. harkyn to me, thou lohn baptyst ! The ffader of heuen he gvetys the weyti, nor he has fon the true and tryst, And dos thi dever euery deyft ; 68 wyt thou weft his will thus ist, Syn thou art 1 stabyft as any steyft, That thou shaft baptyse ihesu cryst In iiume Iordan, mans care to bey ft 72 An angel announces to him that he shall bap- tise Christ in Jordan. (10) Ioharmes. A, dere god ! what* may this be 1 I hard a steuen, bof noght I saw. primus angelus. lohn, if is I that 1 spake to the ; To do this dede haue thou none aw. 76 Iolmunes. Shuld I abyde to he com to me % That* that 1 shaft neuer be, I traw ; I shaft go meyt that lord so fre, As far as I may se or knaw. 80 [Fol. 65, b.] John says he will go meet Christ. (ii) Secuudus angelus. Nay, lohn, that 1 is not weft syttand; his fader wift thou must 1 uedys wyrk. primus a?igelus. lohn, be thou here abydand, Bofr when he commys be then not 1 yrk. 84 Ioh&imes. By this I may weft vnderstand. That 1 child er shuld be broght to kyrk, ffor to be baptysyd in euery land ; To me this law yit 1 is it 1 myrk. 88 But he is bidden to await His coming. Hence he understands that children should be brought to church to be baptised. (12) Secimdvis angelus. lohn, this place if is pleassyng, And if is callyd Hume Iordan ; here is no kyrk, ne no bygyng, Bof where the fader wyft orclan, 92 If is godys wyft and his bydyng. Iohannes. By this, for. sothe, weft thynk me than his warke to be at his lykyng, And ilk folk pleasse hym thaf thay can. *96 The second angel shows him that Jordan is to be the place, though there is neither church nor building there. 198 Townclcy Plays. XIX. lohn the Baptist. (13) John yields Sen I must 1 nedys his lyst 1 f ulfyH himself to , , ,, , , , Christ's win he shaft be 176100111 vnto me ; be. ie I yeld me holy to his wiH, where so euer I abyde or be. 100 I am his semande, lowd and styll, And messy ngere vnto that 1 fre; whethere that 1 he wiH saue or spyH I shaft: not 1 gruch in no degre. 104 & 1 (14) Jesus comes 77/esus. Iohn, god?/s seruand and prophete, to be bap- __ „( _ ' & f . , tised in clear My fader, that 1 is vnto the dere, WfltfiF has send me to the, weft thou wytt, To be baptysyd in water clere ; 108 ffor reprefe vnto mans rytt 1 The law I wiH f ulfyfi right 1 here ; My fader ordynance thus is it, And thus my wyft is that 1 it were. 112 (15) I com to the, baptym to take, To whome my fader has me sent 1 , with oil and with oyle and creme that 1 thou shal make cream lere- y^fo that* worthi sacrament 1 . 116 And therfor, Iohfi, it 1 not* forsake, Bot 1 com to me in this present 1 , ffor now wiH I no farther rake Or I haue done his commaundement. 120 (16) John is IoJisumes. A, lord ! I loue the for thi commyng ! christ*s° wm, I am redy to do his wiH, aMght may In word, in wark, in aft kyn thyng, w King v what 1 soeuer he sendys me tyft ; 1 24 This bewteose lord to bryng to me, his awne seruande, this is no skyft, A knyght 1 to baptyse his lord kyng, My pauste may it? not 1 fulfyft. 128 Christ to hold him excused, for he dare not touch His blessed Towneley Plays. XIX. Iohn the Baptist. 199 (17) And if 1 were worthy He asks fTor to fulfyH this sacrament, I haue no cownyng, securly, To do it 1 after thyn) intent 1 ; 132 And therfor, lord, I ask mercy ; body - hald? me excusyd as I haue ment 1 ; I dar not 1 towche thi blyssyd body, My hart 1 wiH neuer to it 1 assent 1 . 136 (18) Ihesus. Of thi cownyng, John, drede the noglit ; [Fo i. 66 , a. My fader his self he wiH the teche ; Sig - l 2 ' ] he that 1 aH this warld* has wroght 1 , Godwin he send the playnly f orto preche ; 110 eaci ' he knawys mans hart 1 , his dede, his thoght ; he wotys how far mans myght 1 may reche, Therfor hedir haue I soght 1 ; My fader lyst 1 may none appeche. Ill . (19) Behold, he sendys his angels two, In tokyn I am both god and man ; Thou gyf me baptym or I go, ™ t n ur t uble And dyp me in this flume Iorclan. 118 Sen he wyli thus, I wold wytt who Durst 1 hj?n agan stand 1 Iohn, com on than, And baptyse me for freynde or fo, And do it 1 , Iohn, right 1 as thou can. 152 (20) primus angelus. Iohn, be thou buxom and right 1 bayn, T he first And be not gruchand in no thyng ; jolnob? Me thynk thou aght to be ful layn for God has 1/0 J given him ffor to fulfyH my lord/5 bydyng 156 power - Erly and late, with moyde and mayn, Therfor to the this word I bryng, My lord has gyffen the powere playn, And drede the noght 1 of thi conyng. 160 sending two angels in token of His 200 Towneley Plays. XIX. John the Baptist. The second angel bids John baptise God's dear child here sent to him. he (21) seifdys the here his awne dere The first shows that Jesus has come to ful- fil the Law. John trem- bles and quakes and will not touch Jesus Avith his hand, but will not lose his meed. He baptises Jesus in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and begs His blessing. He anoints Him also Secimdus angelws. chylde, Thou welconi hym and make hym chore, Born of a madyn meke and mylde, That 1 frely foode is made thi fere ; 164 with syn his moder was neuer fylde, Ther was neuer man neghyd hyr nere, In word ne wark she was neuer wylde, Therfor hir son thou baptyse here. 168 (22) Primus angelus. And, securly, I wiH thou knaw whi that 1 he commys thus vnto the ; he co??zmys to fulfyH the law, As pereles prynce most of pauste ; 172 And therfor, Iohn, do as thou awe, And gruch thou neuer in this degre To baptyse hym that 1 thou here saw, flor wyt 1 thou weH this same is he. 176 (23) Johannes. I am not 1 worthy to do this dede ; Neuer the les I wiH be godys seruande ; Bot 1 yit 1 , dere lord, sen I must 1 nede, I wiH do as thou has co??raiaunde. 180 I tremyH and I whake for drede ! I dar not towclie the with my hande, Bot, cevtys, I wiH not lose my mede ; Abyde, my lord, and by me stande. 184 (24) [He baptises Jesus.] I baptyse the, Ihesu, in hy, In the name of thi fader fre, In nomine patfris & filii, Sen he wiH that it so be, 188 Et 1 spiritus altissimi, And of the holy goost on he ; I aske the, lord, of thi mercy, here after that 1 thou wold blys me. 192 (25) here I the anoynt also with oyle and crenie, in this intent, Towneley Plays. XIX. Iohn the Bcvpiid. 201 That 1 men may wit, where so thay go, This is a worthy sacrament 1 . Ther ar sex 1 othere and no mo, The which thi self to erthe has sent, And in true tokyn, oone of tho, The fyrsf on the now is if spent. 2 (26) Thou wysh me, lord, if I do wrang ; My will if were f orto do weytt ; I am ful ferd yif ay emang, If I dyd right I shuld done knele. Thou blys me, lord, hence or thou gang, So thaf I may thi frenship fele ; I haue desyryd this sight ful lang, ffor to dy now rek I no dele. (27) iftesus. This beesf, Iohn, thou here with the, If is a beesf furl blyst \ hie tradaft ei agnum dei. Iohn, if is the lamb of me, Beesf none othere ist ; If may were the from aduersyte, And so looke thaf thou tryst ; By this beesf knowen shall thou be, Thaf thou arf Iohn baptyst. (28) lohajmes. ffor I haue sene the lamb of god which weshys away syn of this warld*, And towchid hym, for euen or od, My harf therto was ay ful hard, ffor thaf it shuld be better trowed, An angeH had me nerehand mard, Bof he thaf rewlys ali with his rod he blys me when I draw homward. 196 200 201 208 212 216 220 221 with oil and cream. This is the first of the Seven Sacra- ments. He prays the Lord pardon him if he do [Fol. 66, b.] Christ de- livers to him His Lamb as a token. John prays he may be blest as he draws "home- ward." 1 MS. vj originally, but the v has been erased. 2 Stanza 25 has been struck through, evidently after the Reform- ation, because Seven Sacraments are named ; and in the margin is added, in a later hand, " corectyd & not playd." 202 Towneley Plays. XIX. lohn the Baptist. Jesus pro- mises bliss to him, and to all who believe this tale and saw Him not yet glorified. '(29) Ihesus. I graunt the, lohn, for tlii trauale, Ay lastand ioy in blys to byde ; And to arl those that 1 trowys this tayH, And saw me not 1 yit 1 gloryfyde. I shalbe boytt 1 of aH thare bayH, And send them socoure on every syde; My fader and I may thaym auayR, Man or woman that 1 leyff/ys thare pryde. 228 232 He bids John go forth and preach to the people. (30) Bot 1 , lohn, weynd thou furth and preche Agans the folk that 1 doth amys ; And to the pepyH the trow the thou teche ; To rightwys way look thou tham avys, And as far as thi wyt 1 may reche Byd thaym be bowne to byde my blys ; ffor at 1 the day of dome I shaH thaym peche That 1 herys not 1 the nor trowys not 1 this. 236 240 He Himself must die for their sins, and He now bids John farewell and blesses Him. (31) Byd thaym leyfe syn, for I it 1 hate ; ffor it 1 I mon dy on a tre, By prophecy ff uH weli I wate ; My mode?* cevtys that 1 sight 1 mon se, That 1 sorowfuH sight 1 shaH make hir maytt, ffor I was born of hir body, ffarweli lohn, I go my gaytt; I blys the with the trynyte ! 244 John thanks God for His grace. (32) Ioharmes. Almyghty god in persons thre, AH in oone substance ay ingroost, I thank the, lord in mageste, ffader and son and holy goost ! Thou send thi son from heuen so he, To mary mylde, into this cooste, And now thou send//s hym vnto me, fTor to be baptysid in this oost 1 . 252 !56 Towneley Plays. XIX. Iohn the Baptist. 203 (33) ffarweH ! the frelyst that 1 eue?' was fed ! ffarweH ! floure more fresh t\\zn floure de lyce ! ffarweH ! stersman to theym that 1 ar sted In stormes, or in desese ]yse ! Thi mode?* was madyn and wed ; ffarweH ! pereles, most 1 of pryce ! ffarweH ! the luflyst 1 that 1 euer was bred ! Thi moder is of heH emprise. (34) ffarweH ! blissid both bloode and bone ! ffarweH ! the semelyst 1 that euer was seyn ! To the, ihesu, I make my mone ; ffarweH ! comly, of cors so cleyn ! ffarwel ! gracyouse gome ! where so thou gone, fful mekiH grace is to the geyn • Thou leyne vs lyffyng on thi lone, Thou may vs 111 end e more the?^ we weyn. (35) I wyH go preche both to more and les, As I am chargyd securly ; Syrs, forsake youre wykydnes, Pryde, envy, slowth, wrath, and lechery, here gods se?Tiice, 1 more & lesse ; Pleas god with prayng, thus red I ; Be war when deth comys with dystres, So that 1 ye dy not sodanly. (36) Deth sparis none that 1 lyf has borne, Therfor thynk on what I you say ; Beseche youre god both euen and morne you for to saue from syn that day. Thynk how in baptym ye ar sworne To be god-as seruand/s, withoutten nay ; let neuer his luf from you be lorne, God bryng you to his blys for ay. Amen. Explicit Idhxsxn.es Baptists. 268 272 276 280 284 288 John apos- trophizes Jesus. 260 His mother OCA isEm P reSS 264 of Hell. He is the seemliest that ever was seen. [Fol. 67. a. Big. 1. 3.] He preaches to the people to forsake sin. Death spares none, so let them not lose God's love. 1 The words " God's service, more and hand, the original words having been erased. later 204 Toionclcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Pilate calls for silence. He is the grandsir of Great Mahound, and is called Pilate. He can make_ or mar a man, like^ men of court now. XX. Incipit Ccwspiraczo. 1 [2 thirteen-line stanzas nos. 97, 100, ab ab ab abc, dddc ; 1 twelve, no. 16 ab abb cbcb, abc ; 7 nine-line, nos. 1-5, aaaab cccb ; nos. 99, 102, ab abc dddc ; 24 eight-line, most ab ab ab ab, no. 6 aaaab aab, no. 107, ab abb cbc, no. 117 ab ab cb cb ; 90 fours ab ab ; 46 couplets. Pilatus. Cayphas. Anna. Primus Miles. Secundus Miles. Pilatus. [Dramatis Personae. Judas. S. Johannes. Petrus. Paterfamilias. Jesus. (i) Andreas. Simeon. Thadeus. Trinitas. Marcus Miles.] P eas, carles, I commaunde 2 / vnconand I carl you ; I say stynt 1 and stande / or four! myglit befall you. ffro this burnyshyd brande / now when I behald you, I red ye be shunand / or els the dwiH skald you, At 1 onys. 5 I am kyd, as men knawes, leyf leder of lawes ; Seniours, seke to my sawes, nor bryssyng of youre bonys. 9 (2) ye wote not wel, I weyn / what wat is co?mnen to the towne, So comly cled and cleyn / a rewler of great renowne ; In sight 1 if I were seyn / the granser of great mahowne, My name pylate has beyn / was neuer kyiig with crown e More wor[thy] ; 14 My wysdom and my wytt, In sete here as I sytt, was neuer more lyke it H , My dedys thus to dyscry. 1 8 (3) ffor I am he that may / make or mar a man ; My self if I it say / as men of cowrte now can ; 1 In the MS. Conspiracio is followed by the letter c. 2 The bars / marking the central rymes are represented in the MS. by dots : Tovmchy Plays. XX. The, Conspiracy. 20i Supporte a man to day / to-morn agans hym than, On both parties thus I play / And fenys me to ordan The right ; 23 Bot 1 aH fals indytars, 1 Quest 1 mangers and Iurers, And aH thise fals out rydars, Ar welcom to my sight. 27 (i) More nede had I rieuer / of sich seruand now, I say you, So can I weH consider / the trowth. I most displeas you, And tlierfor com I hedyr / of peas therfor I pray you ; Ther is a lurdan ledyr / I wold not shuld dysmay you, A bowtt ; 32 A prophete is he prasyd, And great vnright has rasyd, Bot 1 , be my banys her blasid, his deth is dight no dowtt. (5) he pfechys the pepyH here / that fature fals ihesus, That 1 if he lyf a yere / dystroy oure law must vs ; And yit 1 I stand in fere / so wyde he wyrkys vertus, No fawtf can on hym here / no lyfand leyde tyH us ; Bott sleyghtys Agans hym shall be soght, that 1 aH this wo has wroght ; Bot on his bonys it shaH be boght, So shaH I venge oure rightys. (6) That 1 fatoure says that 1 thre / shuld euer dwell in oone godhede, That 1 euer was and shaH be / Sothfast in man hede ; he says of a madyn born was he / that 1 neuer toke mans 3G 41 45 And that 1 his self shaH dy on tre / and mans sawH out of preson lede ; let hym alone, 50 If this be true in deyd, his shech shaH spryng and sprede, And ouer com euer ylkone. 53 1 MS. "indydytars." False in- dictors, questmon- gers, jurors, and all these false outriders are dear to him. [Fol. 67, b.] He has heard of a lazy rascal praised as a prophet. If He live a year He will destroy their law, but yet Pilate is in fear of Him. This fellow says that three per- sons shall dwell in one godhead, that He was born of a maiden, and shall be crucified. 206 Touiwley Plays* XX. The Conspiracy. Cayphas asks Pilate's advice as to hideous harms (?) Cayphas. Syr pilate, prynco of mekyH price, that preuyd is withouttcn pere, And lordyng?/s that oure laws in lyse, on oure law now must vs lere, And of oure warkys we must 1 be wyse, or els is all oure welthe in were, Therfor say sadly youre auyse, of hedus harmes that we haue here, 57 61 (3) arising from Towchyns that tratoure Strang, that strong , , , . , , o traitor. that 1 makys this beleyf, fiior if he may thus furth gang, It 1 wiH ouer greatly grefe. 65 Anna sup- ports him. Pilate says they must find some privy point to mar Christ's might. (9) Anna, Sir, oure folk ar so afrayd, thrugh lesyns he losys oure lay ; Som remedy must be rayd, . so that he weyncl* not 1 thus away. pilatus. Now eertan, syrs, this was werl sayd, and I assent, right as ye say, Som preuay poynt 1 to be puruayd To mar his myght 1 if [that] we may ; (10) And therfor, sirs, in this present, What poynt so were to prase, let aH be at 1 assent 1 , let se what ilk man says. 69 73 77 Cayphas and Anna en- large on the danger from Christ. (ii) Cayphas. Sir, I haue sayde you here beforne his soteltyes and* greiys to sare ; he turnes oure folk both euen & morne, and ay mak^s mastres mare & mare. Anna. Sir, if he skape it were great skorne ; to spyll hym tytt we wirl not 1 spare, ffor if oure lawes were thus-gat?/s lorne, men wold say it were lake of hire. 81 85 Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 207 (12) pilatus. ffor certan, syrs, ye say right 1 weyH ffor to wyrk witterly ; Bot 1 yit soni fawt must 1 we feyH, wherfor that 1 he shuld dy ; (13) And therfor, sirs, let se youre saw, ffor what* thyng we shuld hym slo. Cayphas. Sir, I can rekyn you on a raw a thowsand wonders, and weH moo, Of crokyd men, that we weH knaw, how graythly that 1 he gars them go, And euer he legys agans oure law, tempys oure folk and turnys vs fro. 89 93 97 rFol. 68, a. Sig. 1. 4.j Pilate says they must find some fault for which He is to die. Cayphas says Christ straightens the crooked, and is always tempting the people from the law. Anna, lord, dom and defe in oure present delyuers he, by downe & day 11 ; what huvtys or ha[r]mes thay hent, ffuH hastely he mtikys theym hayH. And for sich wark?/s as he is went of ilk welth he may avayH, And vnto vs he tokys no tent, hot 1 ilk man trowes vnto his tayH. 101 105 He takes no heed unto them. (15) Pilatus. yei, dewiH ! and dos he thus as ye weH here wytnes 1 sich fawte fall to vs, be oure dom, for to redres. 109 Pilate says he must re- dress this. (16) Cayphas. And also, sir, I haue hard say, an other noy that 1 neghys vs nere, he wiH not 1 kepe oure sabate day, that 1 holy shuld be haldyn here ; Bot forbedys far and nere to wyrk at 1 oure bydyng. Pilatus. Now, by mahowns bloode so dere, he sliaH aby this bowrdyng ! 113 117 Also, Cay- phas says Christ breaks the Sabbath. 208 Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Anna says Christ calls Himself heaven's King. Pilate will make Christ pay dearly for this. The knights recall the raising of Lazarus. The people think Jesus God's Son. Pilate com- mands knight and knave to he forward to slay Him. 125 129 what dewiH wiH he be there 1 this hold I great 1 hethyng. Anna. Nay, nay, well more is ther ; he callys hym self heuens kyng, 121 (17) And says that he is so myghty aH rightwytnes to rewH and red. pilatus. By mahowns blood, that shall he aby with bytter baylls or I ett bred ! primus Miles, lord, the loth lazare of betany that lay stynkand in a sted, vp he rasyd bodely the fourfr day after he was ded. (18) Secundus Miles. And for that he hym rasyd, that had lyne dede so long a space, The people hym full mekyH prasyd? ouer all in euery place. 133 (19) Anna. Emang?/s the folke has he the name that 1 he is go&ys son, and* none els, And his self says the same that his fader in heuen dwelles ; 137 That 1 he shall rewrl both wyld? and tame ; of aH sich maters thus he mels. Pilatus. This is the dwylis payn ! 1 who trowys sich talys as he tels? 141 (20) Cayphas. yis, lord, hane here my hand 1 , and ilk man beyld^/s hym as his brother ; Sich whaynt cantelys he can, lord, ye knew neuer sich an othere. 145 (21) Pilatxis. why, and wotys he not 1 that I haue bold men to be his bayn 1 I commaunde both knyght and knaue sesse not to that lad be slayn. 149 assonance with tame, kc. Toteneley Plays. XX. The, Conspiracy. 209 (22) pxmms Miles. Sir pylate, mefe you now no mare, 1 The first bott mese youre hart and mend youre mode ; they will ffor bot if that loseH lere oure lare x in tn e eS and leyf his gawd?/s, he were as goode ; 153 ffor in oure tempyH we wiH not spare [Foi. 68, b.] to take that loseH, if he were woode. Pilatus. In oure tempyH % the dwiH ! what dyd he thare 1 Pilate is that shall he by, by mahou??s blode ! 157 ms being /f)o\ there. Secxmdus Miles, lord, we wist not* youre wyH; if the ., -, , knights had with wrang ye vs wyte ; known this had ye so told vs tyH, have Sen we shuld haue takyn hym tyte. 161 Je ^hefore. (24) Pilatus. The dwiH, he hang you high to dry ! Pilate orders whi, wold ye lese oure lay 1 mediate Go bryng hym heder hastely, so that he weynd not 1 thus away. 165 Cayphas. Sir pilate, be not to hasty, Cayphas bot 1 suffer ouer oure sabote day ; wait till In the mene tyme to spyr and spy next alb- mo of his meruels, if men may. 169 they may* (25) Anna, yei, sir, and when this feste is went, then shaH his craftys be kyd. Pilatus. Cei'tys, syrs, and I assent Pilate ffor to abyde then, as ye byd. 173 Tunc vend Iudas. spy on Jesus. agrees. (26) Iudas. Masters, myrth be you emang, judas greets and mensk be to this meneye ! badly re^ Cayphas. Go ! othere gat?/s thou has to gang ceived. with sorow; who send after the'? 177 Iudas. Syrs, if I haue done any wrang, at 1 youre awne bydyng wiH I be. Pilatus. Go hence, harlot, hy mot 1 thou hang ! where in the dwiH hand had we the 1 181 1 MS. more, lore. T. PLAYS. P 210 Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Cayphas says Judas should ask leave before intruding. Judas knows they mean to take his "Master." Pilate bids them lay hands on him for his "Master's" sake. Cayphas ' orders him to be buffeted. Judas offers to sell Jesus. Pilate is ready to hear him. Anna, asks who he is. He is Judas who has dwelt long with Jesus. 189 193 197 (27) Tudas. Goode sir, take it to no grefe j for my menyng it 1 may avayll. Anna, we, lad, thou shuld ask lefe to com in sich counsayH. 185 (28) Iudas. Sir, aH youre counserl weft 1 I ken ; ye mene my master for to take. Anna. A ha ! here is oone of his men that thus vnwynly gars vs wake. Pilatus. la hand on hym, and hurl hym then emsmgys yon, for his master sake ; ffor we haue maters mo then ten, that weH more myster were to make. (29) Cayphas. Set on hym buffettys sad, Sen he sich mastrys mase, And teche ye sich a lad to profer hym in sich a' place. (30) Iudas. Sir, my profer may both pleas and pay to aH the loidys in this p?-esent. Pilatus. we ! go hens in twenty 2 dwiH way ! we haue no tome the for to tent. 201 Iudas. yis, the profete that has lost youre lay by wonder wark?/s, as he is went, If ye wiH sheynd hym as ye say, to seH hym you I wyH assent. 205 (31) Pilatus. A, sir, hark ! what says thou 1 let se, and shew thi skyli. Iudas. Sir, a bargan bede I you, by if if ye will. 209 (32) Anna, what is thi name 1 do teH in hy, if we may wit if thou do wrang. Iudas. Iudas scariotb, so hight I, that with the profet has dwellyd lang. 213 MS. will. 2 MS. xx. Toivnelcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 1'ilatu.s. Sir, thou art welcom witterly ! say what thou wiH vs here emang. Iudas. Not els bot if ye witl: hym by ; do say me sadly or I gang. (33) Cayphas. yis, freynd, in fathe witt we noght els ; bot hartely say how that bargan may be, and we shaH make the pay. (34) Anna. Iudas, forto hold the hayH, And for to feH aH fowtt defame, looke that 1 thou may avow thi sayli ; then may tliou be withoutten blame. Iudas. Sir, of my teyn gyf ye neuer taytt, so that 1 ye haue hym here at hame ; his bowrdyng has me broght in bayH, and ceitys his self shaH haue the same. (35) Cayphas. Sir pylate, tentys here tyH, and lightly leyf it noght 1 , Then may ye do youre wyH of hym that ye haue boght 1 . (36) Anna, yei, and then may we be bold fro aH the folk to hald hym fre ; And hald hym hard with vs in hold, right 1 as oone of youre meneye. pilatus. Now, Iudas, sen he shalbe sold, how lowfes thou hym 1 belyfe let se. Iudas. ffor thretty x pennys truly told, or els may not* that bargan be ; (37) So mych garfr he me lose, malycyusly and yli ; Therfor ye shaH haue chose, to by or let be styH. 217 221 225 229 233 237 241 211 Judas re- peats his offer to sell Jesus. Cayphas and Anna are willing to buy, but Judas must explain more. [Fol. a.] Judas says Jesus has brought him trouble, and shall have trouble Himself. Cayphas and Anna ex- hort Pilate to listen. Pilate in- quires the price of Jesus ; Judas asks thirty pence, so much had Jesus made him lose. 245 1 MS. xxx. 212 TovmeUy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Anna asks how Jesus made him lose it. Judas tells how in Simon's house (38) Anna. Gart 1 he the lose ? I pray the, why % teH vs now pertly or thou pas. Iudas. I shall you say, and that in hy, euery word right as it 1 was. In symon house with hym sat I with othere mene^e that 1 he has ; A woman cam to company, callyng hym " lord " ; sayng, " alas ! " 249 253 a woman brought precious ointment, (39) ffor synnes that 1 she had wroghf she wepyd sore always ; And an oyntment 1 she broghf, that 1 precyus was to prayse. 257 and poured it upon Jesus. (40) She weshyd hym with hir terys weytt, and sen dryed hj?n with hir hare ; This fare oyntment, hir bale to beytt, apon his hede she put 1 it thare, That 1 it ran aH abowte his feytt ; I thoght it 1 was a ferly fare, The house was fuH of odowre sweytt ; then to speke myght 1 I not 1 spare, 261 2G5 Judas had never seen such fine ointment. (41) ffor, ceitys, I had not 1 seyn none oyntment 1 half so fyne ; Ther-at my hart 1 had teyn, sich tresoure for to tyne. 269 He said at the time it was worth three hun- dred pence, which might have been given to the poor, out of which lie would have kept thirty for himself. (42) I sayd it was worthy to seH thre hundreth pens in oure present 1 , ffor to parte poore men emell ; bot 1 will ye se wherby I ment 1 The tent 1 parte, truly to teH, to take to me was myne intent 1 ; ffor of the tresure that to vs fell, the tent 1 parte ewer with me went 1 ; 273 277 Townclcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 213 285 289 (43) And if thre 1 hundreth be right told, the tent* parte is euen thryrty ; Eight so he shalbe sold* ; say if ye wiH hym by. 281 (44) Pilatus. Now for certan, sir, thou says right wele, sen he wate the with sich a wrast, ffor to shape hym som vncele, and for his bostf be not abast. Anna. Sir, aii thyn askyng euery dele here shaft thou hafe, therof be trast ; Bot looke that 1 we no falshede fele. Iudas. sir, with a profe may ye frast ; (45) Aft that I haue here hight I shall fulfill in dede, And weft more at my myght, In tyme when I se nede. 293 (46) Pilatus. Iudas, this spekyng must be spar, and neuen iV- neuer, nyght ne day ; let 1 no man wyt where that we war, for ferdnes of a fowH enfray. 297 Cayplias. Sir, therof let vs moyte no mare ; we hold vs payde, take ther thi pay. [Giving him money.'] Iudas. This gart 1 he me lose lang are ; now ar we euen for onys and ay. 301 (47) Anna. This forwarde wiH not fay ft, therof we may be glad ; Now were the best counsayrl, in hast that we hyni had?. 305 (48) Pilatxis. we shall hym haue, and that in hy, nuH hastely here in this haft. Sir knyght?/s, that ar of dede dughty, [To the knights.] stynt neuer in stede ne start, 309 1 MS. iij. So for these thirty pence he will sell Jesus. Pilate praises him. Anna pro- mises what he asks. [Fol. 69, b.] Judas pro- mises to make good his offer. Pilate en- joins secrecy. Cayphas pays Judas, who says he is now even with Jesus. Anna asks how they may best take Jesus. 214 Toiuneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Pilate bids his knights bring the false "fatur" at once. John asks Jesus where He will eat His Pass- over. He bids John and Peter go to the city, there they shall meet a man bearing water, who will lend a room for them to eat it in. They meet the "pater- familias," who offers them a room in which to make their "mangery." Bot looke ye bryng hym hastely, that 1 fatur fals, what 1 so "befaii. pximws, Miles. Sir, be not abast 1 therby, ffor as ye bycl wyrk we shaft. 313 [All retire : then Jesus & his disciples advance.] Tunc dicet sanctus Ioh&mnes. (49) Iohzni\es apostolus. Sir, where wiR ye youre pask ette 1 Say vs, let vs dight youre mete. j%esus. Go furth, Iohn and peter, to yond cyte ; 317 321 325 329 333 Tunc pergent Iohsames & petrus ad Cluitatem, & oouiet eis ho?no, &c. Sir, oure master the prophett commys behynde in the strete ; And of a chamber he you prays, To ete and drynk ther-in with easse. 337 paterfamilias. Sirs, he is welcom vnto me, and so is art his company ; with aH my hart and aH my wiH is he welcom me vntyH. 341 lo, here a chambre fast by, Ther-in to make youre mangery, when ye com ther, ye shaH then se In the strete, as tyte, a man beryng water in a can ; The house that 1 he gose to grith, ye shaH folow and go hym with ; The lord of that house ye shaH fynde, A sympyH man of cely kynde ; To hym ye shaH speke, and say That I com here by the way ; Say I pray hym, if his wiH be, A lytyH whyle to ese me, That 1 I and my dyscypyls aH myght rest a whyle in his haH, That* we may ete oure paske thore. petrus. lord, we shaH hy vs before, To that we com to that 1 cyte ; youre paske shaH ordand be. Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 215 353 I shal warand fare strewed ; it shukJ? not els to you be shewed'. 345 Tunc parent Ioh&mies & petrus mensam, Johannes. Sir, youre mett is redy bowne, [Jesus enters.] wiH ye wesh and syt downe 1 Ihesus. yei, gyf vs water tyH cure hande, take we the grace that god has send ; 349 Commys furth, both oone and othere ; If I be maste?* I wiH be brothere. Tune comedent, & Iudas porrujit manum in discum cum. Ihesu. Iudas, what* menys thou ? Iudas. No thyng, lord, bot 1 ett 1 with you. Ihesus. Ett on, brether, hardely, for oone of you snarl [me] betray. 1 Petrus. lord, who euer that be may, lord, I shaR neuer the betray ; Dere master, is it oght I % Ihesus. Nay thou, peter, certanly. Ioh an lies. Master, is oght 1 I he then 1 Ihesus. Nay, for trowth, Iolm, I the ken. 361 Andreas. Master, am oght [I] that shrew ? Ihesus. Nay, for sothe, thou andrew. Simon. Master, then is oght 1 1 Ihesus. Nay, thou Simon, securly. 365 phil'ppus. Is it oght I that shuld do that dede 1 Ihesus. Nay, philyp, withoutten drede. Thadeus. was it oght I that hight thadee % lacobus. Or we two Iamys 1 Ihesus. Nay none of you is he; 369 Bot 1 he that 1 ett with me in dysh, he shall my body betray, Iwys. Iudas. what then, wene ye that 1 I if am % Ihesus. Thou says sothe, thou berys the blame ; 373 Ichon of you shall this nyght ifbr sake me, and fayn he myght. Iohsiuues. Nay certys, god forbeyd that euer shuld we do that deyd ! 377 1 This betray is evidently meant to ryme with hardely. John tells Jesus the meat is ready. He bids the disciples eat with Him. [Fol. 70, a.] One of them shall betray Him. 35/ First Peter, then seven others ask, "Is it I?" It is he that eats with Jesus in the dish. "Wene ye, that I it am?" asks Judas, and is told he says sooth. All shall forsake Jesus. 216 Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Peter says petrus. If aH, master, forsake the, he will never . flee from saati 1 neuer iro the fie. and is told Ihesus. Peter, thou shall thryse apon a thraw sake Him fforsake me, or the cok craw. 381 cockcrow. Take vp this clothe and let vs go, fibr we haue othere thyng?/s at do. hie lauet pedes discipulorum. Jesus begins Sit aH downe, and here and sees, to wash the disciples* ffor I shaH wesh youre feet on knees. 385 feet. J Ett mittens aquam in peluim veniV ad petrum. Peter at first Petrus. lord, shuld thou wesh f eyttt myne 1 thou art* my lord, and I thy hyne. Ihesus. why I do it thou wote not 1 yit, peter, herafter shall thou wytfr. 389 Petrus. Nay, master, I the heytt, thou shaH neuer wesh my feytt. Ihesus. Bot I the wesh, thou mon mys parte with me in heuens blys. 393 hut after- Petrus. Nay, lord, or I that 1 forgo, that head wesh heede, hsmdys, and feytt also, maybe Ihesus. ye ar clene, bott not 1 all; that* shall be sene when tyme shaH fall ; 397 who shaH be weshyn as I weyn, he thar not 1 wesh his feytt clene ; And for sothe clene ar ye, bof not 1 aH as ye shuld? be. 401 [Foi. 70, b.] I shaH you say take good hede whi that 1 1 haue done the dede ; Jesus ex- ye caH me master and lord, by name ; plains the „ ,, up t lesson of ye say full weR, for so I am ; humility. g ea -^ yyrffa \ 0I( [ an d master, to you wold knele to wesh youre fete, so must ye wele. 407 (50) Now wote ye what 1 I haue done ; EnsampyH haue I gyffen you to ; Let each loke ye do so eft 1 sone ; oTheVs^eet. Ichon of you wesh othere fete, lo ! 411 Toivnclcy Flays. XX. The Conspiracy. 217 (51) ffor he that 1 sera and is, for sothe, as I say yon, Not 1 more then his lord* he is, to whonie he seruyce owe. (52) Or that 1 this nyght be gone, Alone wili ye leyf me ; ffor in this nyght 1 ilkon ye shaH fro me fie ; (53) ffor when the hyrd is smeten, the shepe shaH fle away, Be skaterd wyde and byten ; the p?"opheto/s thus can say. (54) Petrus. lord, if that I shuld dy, fforsake the shaH I noghtt. JViesus. ffor sothe, peter, I say to the, In so great 1 drede shaH thou be broghf, (55) That 1 or the cok haue crowen twyse, thou shali deny me tymes thre. Petrus. That 1 shaH I neuer, lord, Iwys ; ere shaH I with the de. (56) Iliesus. Now loke youre hart?/s be grefyd noghtf, nawthere in drede ne in wo ; Bot 1 trow in god, that 1 you has wroght 1 , and in me trow ye also ; (57) In my fader house, for sothe, is many a wonnyng stede, That 1 men shaH haue aftyr thare trowthe, soyn after thay be dede. (58) And here may I no longer leynd, bot 1 I shaH go before, And yit 1 if I before you weynd, ffor you to ordan thore, 415 419 423 427 431 435 439 For tlie servant is not more than the lord. Jesus re- peats that they will forsake Him. When the herdsman is smitten the sheep flee. Peter says he will not forsake Jesus, but is told that ere the cock crow twice he will deny Him thrice. Let them not be grieved, in His Father's house are many " woning stedes." He goes be- fore to or- dain for them there. 443 218 Townchy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. (59) He will I shall com to you agane, come to them again. and take you to me, That 1 where so euer I am 1 , ye shall be with me. 447 He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He will not leave them helpless. The world shall not s( Him, but they shall. In heaven they shall know that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. He in them, and they in Him. (60) And I am way, and sothe-fastnes, and* lyfe that 1 euer shalbe ; And to my fader co?wmys none, Iwys, hot 1 oonly thorow me. (61) I wiH not 1 leyf you aH helples, as men withoutten freynd, As faderles and modeiies, thof aH I fro you weynd ; (62) I shall com eft to you agayn : this warld? shatt me not 1 se, Bot 1 ye shaft se me weH certan, and lyfand shaH I be. (63) And ye shaft lyf in heuen ; Then shall ye knaw, Iwys, That 1 I am in my fader euen, and my fader in me is. (64) And I in you, and ye in me, and ilka man therto, My co??zmaundement that 1 kepys trule, and after it 1 wiH do. 451 455 459 463 467 (65) Let them be glad of His going. Now haue ye hard what I haue sayde ; I go, and com agayn ; [Foi. n, a.] Therfor loke ye be payde, and also glad and f ayn ; 471 assonance with agane. Toivneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 219 (66) ffor to my fader I weynd ; ffor more then I is he ; I let you wyttt , as faythfuH freynd, or that 1 it done be, (67) That 1 ye may trow when it* is done ; nor cerfa/s, I may noght now Many thyng?/s so soyn at 1 this tyme speake with you ; (68) ffor the prynce of this warld is co??zmyn, and na powere has he in me, Bofr as that 1 aH the warld within may both here and se, (69) That 1 1 owe luf my fader to, Sen he me hyder sent 1 , And aH thyngys I do after his co??imaundemenf . 475 479 483 For He goes to His Father. There are many things He may not say to them now; for the prince of this world is coming, that all may see His obedi- ence to Hi Father. 487 (70) Ryse ye vp, ilkon, and weynd we on oure way, As fast as we may gone, to olyuete, to pray. (71) Peter, Iamys, and thou Iohn, ryse vp and folow me ! My tyme if coramys anone ; Abyde styll here, ye thre. (72) Say youre prayers here by-neth, that ye faH in no f owdyng ; My sawH is heuy agans the deth and the sore pynyng. Tunc orabitt, & dicef, 491 495 499 Let them go to Olivet to pray. He bids Peter, James, and John follow Him and pray. His soul is heavy against death. 220 Townelcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Jesus prays. He finds the disciples sleeping, and bids them watch against the fiend. He will pray for them. He prays again. Again finds them sleep- ing. He prays a third time. (73) ffader, let this great payn be styH, And pas away fro me ; Bot not 1 , fader, at 1 my wyli, bot 1 thyn fulfyllyd be. & reuevtet ad dtscipvdos. (74) Symon, I say, slepys thou 1 awake, I red you aH ! The feynd ful fast salys you, In wan-hope to gar you faH ; (75) Bot 1 I shaH pray my fader so » that 1 his myght shall not dere ; My goost is prest therto, my flesh is seke for fere. & itexum orauit. (76) ffader, thi son I was, of the I aske this boyn ; If 1 This payn may not pas, fader, thi wiH be doyn! & reuertet ad discipxflos. (77) Ye slepe, brether, yit I see, it 1 is for sorow that 1 ye do so ; Ye haue so long wepyd for me that ye ar masyd and lappyd in wo. & tercio orabiti : (78) Dere fader, thou here my wyli ! this passyon thou put 1 fro me away ; And if I must 1 nedys go ther-tyH, I shall fulfill thi wyH to-day ; (79) Therfor this bytter passyon if I may not 1 put by, I am here redy at thi doiri ; thou comforte me that am drery ! 503 507 511 515 519 523 52' m margin. Tovmclcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 221 (80) Trinitas. My comforte, son, I shaH the tett, of thyngys that* feH by reson ; As lucyfer, for syn that feH, betrayed eue with his fals treson, 531 Adam assent 1 his wyfe vntyH ; the wekyd goost then askyd a bone which has hurt mankynde futt yH ; this was the wordy s he askyd soyn : 535 (31) AH that 1 euer of adam com holly to hym to take, with hym to dwell, withoutten dome, In payn that 1 neue?' shaH slake, 539 (82) ' To that 1 a chyld* myght 1 be borne of a madyn, and she wemles, As cleyn as that 1 she was beforne, as puryd syluer or shynand glas ; 1 543 (83) To tyme that 1 childe to deth were dighf, and rasyd hym self apon the thryd* day, And stenen to heuen thrugh his awne myght 1 . who may do that 1 bot 1 god veray % ' 547 (84) ' Sen thou art 1 man, and nedys must dee, and go to heH as othere done, Bot 1 that 1 were wrong, withoutten lee,. that 1 godys son there shuld won 551 (85 In payn with his vnder-lowte ; wytt 1 ye weH withoutten weyn, when oone is borod', aH shaH owtt 1 , and borod be from teyn. [Jesus returning to the (86) disciples.] litems. Slepe ye now and take youre rest ! my tyme is nere co??zmand ; Awake a whyle, for he is next 1 that 1 me shaH gyf into synners hand. 559 [All retire : Pilate, etc. advance.] 1 ? assonance with wemles, or originally gles? The Trinity strengthens Him. Through Adam's sin, all that came from Adam were doomed [Fol. 71, b.] till a child might he born of a pure maiden, be done to death, rise the third day, and ascend to heaven, as God. As man Jesus must go to Hell, but as God He may not stay there, and "when one is bor- rowed all shall out." Jesus bids His dis- ciples sleep 222 Towncley Plays. XX. The, Conspiracy. Pilate calls for silence. lie may do what he will. And will break the neck of any- one who interrupts. He calls on Judas to keep his promise. Judas asks for the help of the knights. They must lay hands on Him Whom he shall kiss. (87) Pilatns. Peas ! I commaunde you, carles vnkynde, to stand as styH as any stone ! In donyon depe he shalbe pynde, that 1 wiH not 1 sesse his tong anone ; 563 (88) ffor I am gouernowre of the law ; my name it 1 is pilate ! I may lightly gar hang you or draw, I stand in sich astate, 567 (89) To do what 1 so I will. and therfor peas I byd you arl ! And looke ye hold you still, and with no brodels braH, 571 (90) TyH we haue done oure dede ; who so mak?/s nose or- cry, his nek I shall gar blede, with this I bere in hy. 575 (91) To this tratoure be take, that 1 wold dystroy oure lawe, Iudas, thou may it 1 not 1 forsake, take hede vnto my sawe. , 579 (92) Thynk what 1 thou has doyn, that 1 has thi master sold? ; Performe thi bargan soyn ; thou has thi money takyn and told'. 583 (93) Iudas. Ordan ye knyghty/s to weynd with me, Eichly arayd in rewyH and rowtt 1 ; And aH my couandys holden shall be, So I haue felyship me abowte. 587 (94) Pilatus. wherby, Iudas, shuld we hym knaw, If we shall wysely wyrk, Iwys? ffor som of vs hym neuer saw. Iudas. lay hand on hym that 1 I shall kys. 591 Towneley . Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. (95) Pilatus. haue done, sir knyghtys,and kythe youre strengthe, And wap you wightly in youre wecle ; Seke ouer aH, both brede and lengthe ! Spare ye not 1 , spende and spcde ! 595 (96) "We haue soght hym les and more, And falyd ther we haue farn ; Malcus, thou sharl weynd before, [To MalcJws] And bere with the a light* lantarne. 599 (97) Malcus Allies. Sir, this Iornay I vndertake with aH my myght* and mayn. If I shuld, for mahowns sake, here in this place be slayn, 603 Crist 1 that 1 prophett for to take, we may be arl fuH fayn. Oure weppyns redy loke ye make, to bryng hym in mekyH grame 1 Thisnyght 1 . , 608 Go we now on oure way, oure mastres for to may ; Oure lantarnes take with vs alsway, And loke that 1 thay be light ! G12 (98) Secwndus Miles, Sir pilate, prynce pereles in pari, of aH men most 1 myghty merked on mold', we ar euer more redy to com at 1 thi caH, and bow to thi bydyng as bachlers shold*. 2 616 (99) Bot 1 that 1 prynce of the apostyls pupplyshed beforne, Men caH hym crist 1 , comen of dauid kyn, his lyfe fuH sone shalbe forlorne, If we haue hap hym forto wyn. haue done ! 621 ffor, as euer ete I breede, or I styr in this stede I wold stryke of bis hede; lord, I aske that 1 boyne. 625 1 assonance with fayn, &c. 2 MS. sliuld. 223 Pilate bids the knights seek out Jesus. [Fol. 72, a.] Malchus is to go before with a lantern. Malchus is ready to die for Mahound's sake, if he may take Christ. The second knight bids Pilate fare- well. As sure as he eats bread, he will strike off Christ's head. 224 Towneley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. The first knight pro- mises Pilate speedy ven- Three such knights as they are would bind the devil ! Pilate salutes them as courteous kaisers of Cain's kind. and bids them bring Jesus safe and sound to him. Jesus bids Peter arise, for Judas if? coming. (100) primus miles. That 1 boyn, lord, thou vs bede, and on hym wreke the sone we shall ; tiro we haue lade on hym good spede ; he shall no more hym godys son caH. 629 we shall marke hym truly his mede ; by mahowne most 1 , god. of aH, Siche thre knyghtys had lytyH drede To bynde the dwiH that we on caH, In nede ; 634 ffor if thay were a thowsand mo, that* prophete and his apostels also with thise two hand^/s for to slo, had I lytyH drede. 638 (101) pilatus. Now curtes kasers of kamys kyn, most* gentyH of lure to me that 1 I fynde, My comforth from care may ye sone wyn, if ye happely may hent that vnheynde. 642 (102) Bof go ye hens spedely and loke ye not 1 spare ; My frenship, my fortherans, shall euer with you be ; And mahowne that 1 is myghfuH he menske you euermare ! Bryng you safe and sownde with that brodeH to me ! In place 647 where so euer ye weynd, ye knyght?ys so heynde, Sir lucyfer the feynde he lede you the trace ! [All retire, Jesus & his (103) disciples advance.] 7/i'esus. Byse vp, peter, and go with me, and folowe me withoutten stryf e ; Iudas wakys, and slepys not 1 he • he commjs to betray me here belyfe. 655 (104) wo be to hym that 1 hvyngys vp slauwder ! he were better his dethe to take ; Bot 1 com furth, pete?*, and tary no langere : 1 lo, where thay com that 1 wiH me take ! 659 1 assonance with slaunder. Towncley Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 225 671 675 (105) Judas. Rest welt, master, ifresus fre ! I pray the that* thou wold kys me enys ; I am commen to socoure the ; thou art aspyed, what so if menys. 663 (106) Uiesxis. Iudas ! whi niakys thou sich a brayde 1 trowys thou not 1 I knowe thi wiH 1 with kyssyng has thou me betrayd : that* shall thou rew som tyme ful yU. 667 (107) whome seke ye, syrs, by name 1 [To the Knights.] Secimdus Miles, we seke ihesu of nazarene. J7^esus. I kepe not my name to layn ; 1 lb, I am here, the same ye mene ; Bot 1 whome seke ye with vvepyns kene 1 Primus Miles. To say the sothe, and not to ly, we seke ihesu of nazarene. iftesus. I told you ere that 1 it 1 was I. (108) Malcus. Dar no man on hym lay hand 1 I shall each hym, if I may ; A flateryng foyH has thou bene lang, 2 bot 1 now is co?w,men thyn endyng day. 679 (109) Petrus. I wold be dede within short space or I shuld se this sight 1 ! [Cuts of Mai elms' ear.] Go, pleyn the to sir cayphas, and byd hym do the right 1 ! 683 (110) Malcus. Alas, the tyme that 1 I was borne, or today com in this stede ! My right 1 ere I haue forlorne ! help, alas, I blede to dede ! 687 (in) IJiesus. Thou man, that 1 menys thi hurt so sare, com heder, let 1 me thi wouwele se ; Take me thi ere that 1 he of share : In nomine p«£ris hole thou be ! 691 1 assonance with name. 2 assonance with hand. T. PLAYS. [Fol. 72, 1).] Judas asks Jesus to kiss him. Jesus says that He knows Judas' intent. He asks the knights whom they seek. "Jesus of Nazarene." Malehus boasts that he will catch Jesus. Peter cuts off his ear and bids him complain to Sir Cayphas. Malehus laments. Jesus re- stores his ear. -226 Townelcy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. Malchus is again eager to take Jesus. Jesus ad- monishes Peter and re- proaches the knights, but asks them to let his "fel- lows" go. The knights bring Jesus to Pilate. [Fol. 73, a. Sig. M. 1.] in which He surpasses Caesar and Herod. (112) Malcus. Now am I hole as I was ere, My hurt 1 is neuer the wars ; Therfor, felows, drawe me nere ! the dwiH hym spede that 1 hym spars ! 695 (113) Ihesus. Therfor, peter, I say the this, my wiH it 1 is that* ari men witten : Put 1 vp thi swerde and do no mys, for he that* smytys, he shalbe smytcn. 699 (114) ye knyghfa/s that* be cowmen now here, thus assemblyd in a rowte, As I were thefe, or thefys fere, with wepyns com ye me abowte ; 703 (115) Me thynk, for sothe, ye do furl yH . thus for to seke me in the nyght 1 ; Bot what 1 penance ye put 1 me tyH, ye let 1 my felows go with gryth. 707 (116) Secxmdus Miles. Lede hym furth fast by the gate ! hangyd be he that sparis hym oght ! Primus Miles, how thynk the, sir pilate, bi this brodeH that 1 we haue broght 1 i 711 (117) Pilatus. Is he the same and the self. I say, that 1 has wroght 1 vs this care 1 It 1 has bene told', sen many a day, sayngys of hym fuH sare. 715 It 1 was tyH vs greatt woghe, fTrom dede to lyfe thou rasyd lazare • Sen stalkyd stylly bi the see swoghe ; both domb and defe thou salfyd from sare. 719 (118) Thou passys cesar bi dede, or sir h erode oure kyng. Secmidus Miles, let deme hym fast 1 to dede, and let 1 for no kyn thyng. 723 / TowneUy Plays. XX. The Conspiracy. 227 (119) Primus Miles. Sen he has forfett agans oure lawe, let vs deme hym in this stede. Pilatns. I wiH not 1 assent 1 vnto youre saw ; * 727 731 735 739 I can ordan well better red. (120) Malcus. Better red 1 yei dwiH ! how so 1 then were oure sorow lastand ay ; And he thus furth shuld go, he wold dystroy oure lay. (121) wold ye all assent to me, this bargan shuld be strykyn anone ; By nyghtertayH dede shuld he be, arid tiH oure awnter stand ilkon. (122) Pilatus. Peasse, harlotk's, the dwiH you spede ! wold ye thus preualy morder a man % Malcus. when euery man has red his red, let 1 se who better say can. (123) Pilatas. To cayphas hull loke fast* ye wyrk, And thider right 1 ye shaH hym lede ; he has the rewH of holy kyrk, lett 1 hym deme hym whyk or dede ; (124) ffor he has wroght agans oure law, ffor-thi most 1 skyH can he ther on. Secxmdiis Miles. Sir, we assent 1 vnto youre saw ; Com furth, bewshere, and lett vs gone. (125) Malcus. Step furth, in the wenyande ! wenys thou ay to stand styH ? Nay, luskand loseH, lawes of the land ShaH fayH bot we haue oure wiH ; (126) Out 1 of my hand^s shaH thou not 1 pas ffor aH the craft 1 thou can ; TiH thou com to szV cayphas, Saue the shaH no man. Explicit Capcio Ihesu. 755 74: 747 [To Jesus.] 51 The knights clamour for His death. Pilate knows a better rede. Malchus is furious. Pilate is unwilling murder to and will send Him to Cayphas, who has the rule of Holy Church. Malchus brings Jesus to Cayphas with much abuse. 228 Townelcy Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. [Pol. 73, b.] The first Torturer hurries Jesus to Anna and Sir Cayphas, with threats. The second reproaches Him as a deceiver of the people. Primus Tortor. Sccundus Tortor. They join in reviling Jesus. He shall rue being called a saint. Better had he held His clatter ! Cayphas. Anna. (XXI.) Incipft Coliphizacw. [Dramatis Personae. Jesus. Froicard.] [50 nine-line stanzas, aaaab cccb. The aaaa lines have central rymes, marked by bars /.] Primus tortor. (1) Do Io furtn, Io ! / and trott 1 on a pase ! To anna wilt we go / and sir cayphas ; witt 1 thou well of thaym two / gettys thou no grace, Bott euerlastyng wo / for trespas thou has so mekiH. 5 Thi mys is more then euer gett?/s thou grace fore ; Thou has beyn l ay- whore ffuH fals and fuH fekyH. 9 (2) Secxmdus tortor. It 1 is wonder to dre / thus to be gaugyng j we haue had for the / mekiH hart 1 stangyng ; Eof at last shall we be / out 1 of hart 1 langyng, Be thou haue had two 2 or three / hetys worth a hangyng ; No wonder ! 1 4 Sich wyles can thou make, gar the people farsake Oure lawes, and thyne take ; thus art 1 thou broght 1 in blonder. 18 (3) Pri??zus tortor. Thou can not 1 say agaynt / If thou be trew ; Som men hold^/s the sant 1 / and that shaH thou rew"; flare wordy s can thou paynt 1 / and lege lawes new. SecundvLS tortor. Now be ye ataynt 1 / for we witi persew On this mater. 23 Many wov&ys has thou saide Of which we ar not 1 well payde ; As good that 1 thou had halden still thi clater. 27 1 " beyn " ovcrlined later. 2 MS. ij. Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. 229 mimus tortor. It 1 is better syti still / then rise vp and faH ; "Better sit Thou has long had thi wiH / and made many brail ; rise up and At 1 the last 1 wold thou spiH / and for-do vs alt, If we dyd neuer ytt. / . Secxmdus tortor. I trow not, he shall They are T " . . 09 ready to lndure lV ; &* accuse Him — . •• it! -u themselves. ftor if other men ruse hym, we shall accuse hym ; his self shall not excuse hym ; To you I insure it 1 , 36 (5) with no legeance. / They owe „ Til 1 Jesus a jprimus tortor. iayn wold he wynk, grudge for Els falys his covntenance ; / I say as I thynk. they have Secundus tortor. he has done vs greuance / therfor shall j^g wit h he drynk ; haue he mekiH myschaunsce / that 1 has gart vs swynke [Foi. 74, a. T 11 A\ Sig.M.2.] In walkyng, 41 That 1 vnneth may I more. pvimus tortor. Peas, man, we ar thore ! I shall walk in before, And tell of his talkyng. -\Tliey come to Cayplias (6) and Anna.~\ haiU, syrs, as ye sytt / so worthi in wonys ! They greet whi spyrd ye not 1 yit / how we haue fame this onys ? AnS, and" Secxmdus tortor. Sir, we wold fayn witfr / aH wery ar oure tiie?rjour-° bonys ; ney ' we haue had a fytt / right 1 yH for the nonys, So tarid?. 50 Cayphas. Say, were ye oght 1 adred 1 were ye oght 1 wrang led 1 Or in any strate sted % Syrs, who was myscaryd 1 54 (7) Anna. Say, were ye oght in dowte / for fawte of light 1 As ye wached ther owte 1 j Primus tortoT. sir, as I am true knyghtf, Of my dame sen I sowked / had I neuer sich a nyght 1 ; Myn 1 een were not 1 lowked / to-geder right 1 230 Tovmcley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. Their trouble is well spent since they have brought in this traitor. Sen morowe ; Bot 1 yit 1 I thynk it 1 weH sett, Sen we with this tratoure met 1 ; Sir, this is he that 1 forfett And done so mekiH sorow. 59 63 (8) He teaches a Cayphas. Can ye hym oght apeche 'I / had he any ferys 1 Secimdus tortor. he has bene for to preche / fuH many long yeris ; And the people he teche / a new law. primus tortor. syrs, heris ! As far as his witt 1 reche / many oone he lerys ;, when we toke hym, 68 we faunde hym in a yerde ; Bofr when I drew out 1 my swerde, his dyscypyls wex ferde, And soyn thay forsoke hym. 72 He said He could de- stroy the temple and build a new one on the third day. He "lies for the whet- stone" and must be given the prize. (9) Secundus tortor. Sir, I hard hym say he cowthe dystroew / oure tempyH so gay, and sithen held a new / on the thrid day. Cayphas. how myght 1 that 1 be trew ? / it toke more aray ; The masons I knewe / that 1 hewed it 1 , I say, so wyse ; 77 That 1 hewed ilka stone. jprimus tortor. A, good sir, lett hym oone ; he lyes for the quetstone, I gyf hym the pryce. 81 (10) Secundus tortor. The halt 1 rynes, the blynd sees / thrugh his fals wyles ; 1 Thus he gettis many fees / of thym) he begyles. IFoi. 74, b.] Primus tortor., he rases men that 1 dees / thay seke hym be myles ; And euer thrugh his soceres / oure sabate day defyles 1 MS. lyes. Towneley Plays. XXL The Buffeting. 231 / Euermore, sir. 86 He works Secxmdus tortov. This is his vse and his custom, feSmddoea To heytt the defe and the dom), Sabbath. the where so euer he com ; I teH you before, sir. 90 (ii) Primus tortov. Men caH hym / a prophete and godis He is called p -I God's Son, son oi heuen; sets not a he wold fayn downe bryng / oure lawes bi his steuen. c£sar nS and Secmidus tortov. yit 1 is ther anothere thyng / that 1 I hard whoelcused hym neuen, g£* he settys not a fie wyng / bi sir cesar f uH euen ; he says thus ; 95 Sir, this same is he that excusyd with his sotelte A woman in avowtre ; ffuH weH may ye trust vs. 99 (12) Primus tortov. Sir lazare can he rase / that 1 men may persaue, He raised when he had lyne fower * dayes / ded in his grauu ; uses such" 1 AH men hym prase / both master and knaue, Sfmen^*' Such wychcraft 1 he mase. / praise Him ' /Secundus tortov. If he abowte waue Any langere, 104 his warkys may we ban ; ffor he has turned many man Sen the tyme he began, And done vs great 1 hangere. 108 (13) V Pvimus tortov. he wiH not leyfe yit / thof he be culpabyH ; Men caH hym a prophete / a lord fuH renabyH. Sir cayphas, bi my wytt / he shuld be dampnabiU, Eot 1 wold ye two, as ye sytt / make it 1 ferine and stabyH T he first Tn o-Prl Pr • 11 Q Torturer io geaei , 11,5 oallson ffor ye two, as I traw, Sf A h n a na to May defende arl oure law ; f^ nd the . That 1 mayde vs to you draw, And bryng this loseli heder. 117 1 MS. iiij. 232 Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. If Jesus reign any more their laws are ruined. (14) Secundus tortor. Sir, I can teH you before / as myght I be maryd, If he reyne any more / oure lawes ar my scary d. Pri??zus tortor. Sir, opposed if he wore / he shuld be fon waryd; That* is weH seyn thore / where he has long tarid And walkyd. 122 he is sowre lottyn : Ther is somwhat 1 forgottyn ; I shaH thryng out. the rottyn, Be we haue ari talkyd. 126 Cayphas examines Jesus. [Pol. 75, a. Sig. M. 3.] (15) Cayphas. Now fare myght 1 you faH / for youre talkyng ! ffor, CQitijs, I my self shaH / make examynyng. [To Jesus.'] harstow, harlott 1 , of aH '? / of care may thou syng ! How durst thou the carl / aythere emperoure or kyngl I do fy the! 131 what the dwiH doyst 1 thou here % Thi dedys wiH do the dere ; Com nar and rowne in myn eeyr, Or I shaH ascry the. 135 He is furious that Jesus does not answer. (16) Illa-hayH was thou borne ! / harke ! says he oghft agane % Thou shaH onys or to-morne / to speke be furl fayne. This is a great 1 skorne / and a fals trail e ; Now wols-hede and out-home / on the be tane ! Vilefature! 140 Oone worde myght thou speke ethe, yitt myght 1 it 1 do the som letht, Et 1 omftis qui tacet 1 hie consentire videtur. 144 (17) Speke on oone word / right 1 in the dwyllys name ! where was thi syre at 1 bord / when he met 1 with thi dame 3 what 1 , nawder bowted ne spurd / and a lord of name ! Speke on in a torde / the dwiH gif the shame, Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. 233 / Sir sybre ! Perde, if thou were a kyng, yit 1 myght 1 thou be ridyng ; ffy on the, fundlyng ! Thou lyhjs bot 1 bi brybre. (18) Lad, I am a prelate / a lord in degre, Syttys in myn) astate / as thou may se. knyght?/s on me to wate / in dyuerse degre ; I myght 1 thole the abate / and knele on thi kne In my present ; As euer syng I mes, whoso kepis the lawe, I gess, he gettis more by purches Then bi his fre rent. (19) The dwiH: gif the shame / that* euer I knew the ! Nather blynde ne lame / wiH none persew the ; Therfor I shall the name / that 1 euer shali rew the, kyng copyn in oure game / thus shall I indew the, ffor a fatur. Say, dar thou not 1 speke for ferde? I shrew hym the lerd, weme ! the d willy s durt 1 in thi berd, vyle fals tratur ! - 1 4 J He abuses Jesus as a foundling, 153 and reminds Him of his own power. Who has the law in Jus keeping lias a "better purchase than rent" (wins more by his pro- fession than by his lands). 158 162 167 171 Jesus is King Coppin (King Empty- Skein). (20) Though thi lyppis be stokyn / yit 1 myght 1 thou say, mom ; He Great 1 wordzs has thou spokyn / then was thou not dom. Be it 1 hole worde or brokyn / com, owt 1 with som, Els on the I shall be wrokyn / or thi ded com AH outt. Aythere has thou no wytt, Or els ar thyn) eres dytt 1 ; why bot 1 herd thou not yit 1 1 So, I cry and I showte. 180 76 will have vengeance on Him for His silence. [Fol. 75, b.] (21) Anna. A, s^'r, be not 1 yH payde / though he not answere ; he is inwardly flayde / not 1 right 1 in his gere. 234 Toioneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. Anna begs Cayphas to be less violent. Cayphas is bursting to give Jesus a blow. Cayphas. No, bot 1 the wordw he has saide / doth my hart 1 great 1 dere. Anna. Sir, yit 1 may ye be dayde. / Cayphas. nay, vvhils I lif nere. Anna. Sir, amese you. 185 Capyhas. Now fowli myght 1 hym befall ! Anna. Sir, ye ar vexed at aft, And pe?*auentur he shall here after pleas you ; 189 (22) we may bi oure law / examyn) hym fyrst. Cayphas. Bot 1 I gif hym a blaw / my hart will brist. Anna. Abyde to ye his purpose knaw. / If he may not strike off His head, he will not eat till Jesus is in the stocks. Anna reminds Cayphas he is a man of holy church, nay, bot I shall out thrist / ye will not, I tryst, 194 198 Cayphas. Both his een on a raw Anna. Be so vengeabyH ; Bot 1 let me oppose hym. Cayphas. I pray you, and sloes hym. Anna. Sir, we may not 1 lose hym Bot 1 we were dampnabiH. _ (23) Cayphas. he has adyld his ded / a kyng he hym calde ; war ! let me gyrd of his hede ! / Anna. I hope not 1 ye wold ; 1 Bot 1 sir do my red / youre worship to hald?. Cayphas. Shatt I neuer ete bred / to that 1 he be staid In the stokys. 203 Anna. Sir, speke soft and styH, let vs do as the law wiH. Cayphas. Nay, I myself shall hym kyH, And murder with knokys. 207 (24) Anna. Sir, thynk ye that 1 ye ar / a man of holy kyrk, ye shuld be oure techer > 2 / mekenes to wyrk. Cayphas. yei, bot 1 aH is out of har / and that shall he yrk. Anna. AH soft 1 may men go far / oure lawes ar not 1 myrk, 1 The ryme needs ' wald. ' 2 The ryme needs ' techar. ' Towneley Plays. \ XXI. The Buffeting. 235 I weyn ; 212 and they must pro- le oure WOldys ar bustllS, ceed by law. Et hoc nos volunius Quod de lure possumus : ye wote what I meyn ; 216 (25) It 1 is best that 1 we trete hym / with farenes. Cayphas. We, nay ! Anna. And so myghfr we gett hym / som word for to say, [Foi. 76, a. Cayphas. war ! let me bett H hym ! / Anna. syr, do away ! ft'or if ye thus thrett hym / he spekys not this day. Bot 1 herys ; 221 He will ex- , , tit amine Jesus wold ye sesse and abyde, himself. I shuld take hym on syde And inquere of his pryde, how he oure folke lerys. 225 (26) Cayphas. he has reuyd ouer lang / with his fals lyys, The law will And done mekyrl wrang / sir cesar he defyes ; Hiintogo Therfor shaH I hym hang / or I vp ryse. dThTs^' Anna. Sir, the law will not he gang / on nokyn wyse he^sta 1 !? Vndemyd; 230 lished - Bott fyrsfr wold I here what 1 he wold answere ; Bofr he dyd any dere why shuld he be flemyd 1 234 (27) And therfor examynyng / ffyrst wiH I make,, Sen that he callys hym a kyng. / Cayphas. bof he that* forsake Cayphas I shaH gyf hym a wryng / that his nek shaH crak. threatens. Anna. Syr, ye may not hym dyng / no word yit he spake, That I wyst 1 . 239 hark, felow, com nar ! [To Jesus.] wyH thou neuer be war 1 I haue merueH thou dar Thus do thyn awne lyst. 243 236 Townclcy Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. Anna asks Jesus if He is God's Son, and is answered. Cayphas says they need no more witness. [Pol. 76, b.] Let him put Jesus to death at once. Anna says they have no power to kill. (28) Bot 1 I shaH do as the law wyH / if the people ruse the ; Say, dyd thou oght this yH 1 / can thou oght excuse the 1 why standi thou so styH / when men thus accuse the 1 ffor to hyng on a hyH / hark how thay ruse the To dam. 248 Say, art 1 thou godi/s son of heuen, As thou art 1 wonte for to neuen 1 IIiqsus. So thou says by thy steuen ; And right 1 so lam; 252 (29) ffor after this shall thou se / when that [I] do com downe In brightnes on he / in clowdys from abone,. Cayphas. A, iH myghf the feete be / that 1 broght 1 the to towne ! Thou art 1 worthy to de ! / say, thefe, where is tin crowne 1 Anna. Abyde, sir, 257 let vs lawfully redres, Cayphas. we nede no wytnes, hys self says expres ; whi shuld I not 1 chyde, sirl 261 (30) Anna, was ther neuer man so wyk / bott he myght 1 amende, when it com to the pryk / right 1 as youre self kend. Cayphas. Nay, sir, bot 1 I shaH hym styk / euen with myn awne hend; ffor if he reue and be whyk / we ar at 1 an end, AH sam ! 266 Therfor. whils I am in this brethe, let 1 me put hym to deth. Anna. Sed nobis non licet 1 Interficere quemquam. 270 (31) Sir, ye wote better then I / we shuld slo no man. Cayphas. his dedys I defy / his warkv/s may we ban, Therfor shaH he by. / Anna. . nay, on oder wyse than, And do it 1 lawfully. / Cayphas. as how ? Anna. tel you I can. r Toicncley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. Caiphas. let se. 275 Anna. Sir take tent to my sawes ; Men of temporal! lawes Tliay may deme sicli cause. And so may not 1 we. 279 (32) Cayplias. My hart is full cold / nerehand that 1 1 swelt ; ffor talys that ar told / I bolne at my belt, Vnethes may it 1 hold / my body, an ye it felt 1 ; yit 1 wold I gif of my gold / yond tratoure to pelf ffor euer. 284 Anna. Good sir, do as ye hetf me. Caiphas. whi shall he oner-sett 1 me? Sir anna, if ye lett me ye do not 1 youre deuer. 288 (33) Anna. Sir, ye ar a prelate. / Cayplias. so may I weH seme, My self if I say if. / Anna. be not to breme ; Sich men of astate / shuld no men deme, bot 1 send them to pilate / the temporal! law to yeme has he ; 293 he may best 1 threte hym, And aH to rehete hym ; It 1 is shame you to bete hym Therfor, sir, let 1 be. 297 (34) Cayplias. fry on hym and war ! / I am oute of my gate ; say why stand^/s he so far > . / Anna. sir, he cam bot 1 late. Cayplms. No, bot 1 I hane knyghta/s that 1 dar / rap hym on the pate. Anna, ye ar bot 1 to skar / good sir abate, And here ; 302 what 1 nedys you to chyte 1 what nedys you to fly te 1 If ye yond man smyte, ye ar irregulere. 306 237 Men of tem- poral laws must judge such a matter. Cayplias says if Anna hinders him he is not doing his duty. Anna pro- poses to send Jesus to Pilate. Cayplias wants to set his knights on Jesus ; Anna re- monstrates. 238 Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. ( « >) Cayphas laments he was ever made a clerk, that [Fol. 77, a.] he may not beat Jesus himself. Anna con- sents to the knights buffeting Jesus They assure Cayphas they will not spare Him. Cayphas. lie that 1 fyrst made me clerk / and taght 1 me my lare, On bookys for to barke / the dwiH gyf hym care ! Anna. A, good sir, hark ! / sicli wordys myght ye spare. Cayphas. Els myght 1 I hane made vp wark / of yond? harlot and mare, perde! 311 Bot ceitys, or he hens yode, If wold do me som good To se knyghtys knbk his hoode with knokys two or thre. 315 (36) ffor sen he has trespast / and broken oure law, let 1 vs make hym agast / and set hym in awe. Anna, sir, as ye haue hast 1 / it* shalbe, I traw. Com and make redy fast 1 / ye knyghtys on a raw, youre arament 1 ; 320 And that kyng to you take, And with knokys make hym wake. Cayphas. yei, syrs, and for my sake Gyf hym good payment 1 . 324 (37) ffor if I myght 1 go with you / as I wold that I myght, I shuld? make myn avowe / that 1 ons or mydnyghf I shuld make his heede sow / wher that 1 I hyt right. Primus tortov. Sir, drede you not now / of this cursed wight To day, 329 ffor we shaH so rok hym, and with huEettys knok hym. Cayphas. And I red that ye lok hym, That 1 he ryn not 1 away, 333 (38) ffor I red not we mete / if that 1 lad skap. Socimdus tortor. Sir, on vs be it / bot we clowt 1 weH his kap. Cayphas. wold ye do as ye heytt / it 4 were a fayr hap. primus tortov. Sir, see ye and sytt 1 / how that we hym knap, Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. 239 Ooixeffeste: 338 They ask him to bless Bot or we go to tins thyng, them with • 3_i n > s rm ff- Sayn vs, lord, with thy ryng. Cayphas Cayphas. Now he shall haue my blyssyng hffSSng That H knok?/s hym the best. 342 who buffets best. (39) Secundus tortov. Go we now to oure noyte / with this fond foyH. primus tortov. we shall teche hym, I wote / a new play The first Torturer 01 yoyri, sends Fro- And hold hym fuH hote / frawrord, a stoyH stool. °Fro- , i ward and Go ietcn VS ! the other ffroward. "We, dote ! / now els were it doyH And vnneth ; 347 ffor the wo that he shall dre let hym knele on his kne. /Secundus tortov. And so shall he for me ; Go fetche vs a light buffit. 351 (40) ffroward. why must he sytt H soft / with a mekitt mys- but are told , they can Channce, buffet Jesus That 1 has tenyd vs thus oft 1 / ' more easily ' pvinms tortov. sir, we do it for a skawnce ; If he stode vp on loft / we must hop and dawnse As cokys in a croft 1 . / [F°i. 7", b.] ffroward). Now a veniance Com on hym ! 356 Good skiH can ye shew, if He be As feH I the dew ; haue this, bere if, shrew ! ffor soyn shall we fon hym. 360 («) Secundus tortov. Com, sir, and syt downe / must 1 ye They bid i t n Jesus sit. be prayde I lyke a lord of renowne / youre sete is arayde. primus tortov. we shall preue on his crowne / the word ys he has sayde. SecmidviS tortov. Ther is none in this towne / I trow, be iH payde 240 Towneley Plays. XXL The Buffeting. All His kin Of his sorow, 3G5 rescue Him. Bot the fader that 1 hym gate. primus tortov. Now, for oght 1 that 1 1 wate, Ail his kyn commys to late his body to borow. 3G9 (42) They send Secxmdus tortov. I wold we were onwarde. / a veil to primus tortov. bot 1 his een must be hyd. with. Secnndus tortov. yei, bot 1 thay be well spard / we lost 1 that 1 we dyd ; Step furth thou, froward ! / ffroivar&. what is now betyd % primus tortov. Thou art 1 euer away ward. / ffro'warck. haue ye none to byd Bot me 1 374 I may syng ylla-hayH. /SecuncZus tortov. Thou must get vs a vayH. ffrowar&. ye ar euer in oone tayH. primus tortov. Now iH myght 1 thou the ! 378 (43) weH had thou thi name / for thou was euer curst. Froward ffroivardl. Sir, I myght 1 say the same / to you if I durst? : quarrels •■. _ . . with them, yit 1 my hyer may 1 clame / no penny 1 purst H ; I haue had mekyH shame / hunger and thurst, 1 In youre seruyce. 383 pri??zus tortov. Not oone word so bold ! ffroward 1 . why, it is trew that 1 1 told ! ffayn preue it 1 1 wold. Sec\mdus tortor. Thou shalbe cald to peruyce. 387 But brings the veil. (44) ffroward. here a vayH haue I fon / I trow it will last. pri??zus tortov. Bryng it hycler, good son / that 1 is it 1 that 1 I ast. ffroward. how shuid* it be bon 1 J SQCxmdxis tortor. abowte his headc cast, primus tortov. yei, and when it is weH won / knyt 1 a knot 1 fast . » MS. thrust. Towneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. 241 I red. 392 Theyblind- . „ ' fold Jesus. ffroward. Is if weyti i Secundus tortor. yei, knaue. jjrowardt. what 1 , weyn ye that I rafe 1 Cryst curs myght he haue That 1 last bond his head ! 396 (45) primus tortor. Now sen he is blynfold* / I faH to begyn, The tor - And thus was I counseld / the mastry to wyn. [Foi. 78, a.] Secundus tortor. Nay, wrang has thou told / thus shuld? turers vie . , . , with each th0U COm in ! other in ffroward. I stode and beheld* / thou towchid* not 1 the m^ g skyn, Bot fowH. 401 pvhnus tortoi. how wiH thou I do 1 Secundus tortor. On this manere, lo ! ffroward. yei, that 1 was weH gone to, Thar start 1 vp a cowH. 405 (46) pri??zus tortor. Thus shall we hym refe / aH his fonde talys. Secundus tortor. Ther is noght 1 in thi nefe / or els thi hart 1 falys. ffroward. I can my hand vphefe / and knop out 1 the skalys. ^>ri??zus tortor. God?/*' forbot 1 ye lefe / bot set in youre nalys On raw. 410 Sit vp and prophecy. and bid Him ffroward Bot 1 make vs no ly. ^S te Secundus tortor. who smote the last 1 % Him last - primus tortor. was if 1 1 ffroward. he wote nof, I traw. 414 (+7) jprimus tortor. ffast to sir cayphas /. go we togeder. 1 Secundus tortor. Byse vp with iH grace / so com thou They bring i i Him again n hyder. to sir ffroward. If semys by his pase / he groches to go thyder. Caiaphas - primus tortor. we haue gyf en hym a glase / ye may consyder, 1 The ryme needs ' togyder. ' T. PLAYS. R 242 Toivneley Plays. XXI. The Buffeting. The tor- turers boast that they have almost killed Jesus. Caiaphas bids them take Jesus to Pilate, yeif fears lest Pilate may be bribed to acquit Him. [Fol. 78, b.] After up- braidiug Anna he starts off to follow them. To kepe. 419 Seeandus tortor. Sir, for his great 1 boost, with knok?/s he is indoost. ffrowardl. In fayth, sir, we had almost knokyd 1 hym on slepe. 423 (48) Gayphas. Now sen he is well bett / weynd on youre gate, And teH: ye the forfett 1 / vnto air pylate ; ffor he is a luge sett 1 / emaiig men of state, And looke that 1 ye not? let. / primus tortor. Com furth, old crate, Be lyfe ! 428 we shaH lede the a trotft. ijus tortov. lyft* thy feete may thou not. ffroiuard 1 . Then nedys me do notfr Bot 1 com after and dryfe. 432 (49) Cayphas. Alas, now take I hede ! / Anna. why mowrne ye so 1 Cayphas. ffor I am euer in drede / wandreth, and wo, lestt pylate for mede / let 1 ihesus go ; Bot* had I slayn hym indede / with thise handys two, At onys, 437 AH had bene qwytt than ; Bot 1 gyitys marres many man. Bot 1 he deme the sothe than, The dwiH haue his bonys ! 441 (SO), Sir anna, aH I wyte you this blame / for had ye not 1 beyn, I had mayde hym furl tame / yei, stykyd hym, I weyn, To the hart 1 f uH wan 2 / with this dagger so keyn. Anna. Sir, you must shame / sich wordys for to meyn Emang men. 446 Cayphas. I wiH not dwerl in this stede, Bot 1 spy how thay hym lede, And persew on his dede. ffare werl ! 450 Explicit, Coliph imcio. 1 MS. 'knokyp.' 2 Assonant to 'fame, shame.' Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 243 Pilatus. Primus Turtor. Sccundus Torlor. Tcrcius Tortor. (XXII.) Incipit Fflagellacio. [Dramatis Personae. Primus Consultus. Secondus Consultus. Jesus. Johannes Apostolus. Maria. Maria Magdalene. Maria Jaeobi. Symon. ] Pilate rages, boasting himself full of subtlety and guile, and there- fore called ' ' mali actoris." [49 stanzas ; 4 of 13 lines, ab ab ab ab c, dddc ; 1 of 12 lines, aab ccb, bb dd bb ; 24 of 9 lines, aaaab cccb ; 13 of 8 lines, aab aab bb ; 2 of 6 lines, aaaa bb ; 4 of 4 lines, aaaa 1 ; 1 of 4 Zmes, aa bb.] Pilatus. (1) Peasse at 1 my bydyng, ye wyghtys in wold ! Looke none be so hardy to speke a word bot 1 1, Or by mahowne most 1 myghty, maker on mold, With this brande that I bere ye shaH bytterly aby. -1 Say, wote ye not 1 that I am pylate, perles to behold ? Most 1 doughty in dedys of dukys of the Inry; In bradyng of batels I am the most 1 bold', Therfor my name to you wiri I dyscry, Xo mys. ' 9 I am furl of sotelty, ffalshed, gyll, and trechery ; Therfor am I namyd by clergy As mali actoris. 13 (2) ffor like as on both sydys the Iren the hamer makith playn, [Foi. 79, a.] So do I, that 1 the law has here in my kepyng ; The right 1 side to socoure, cevtys, I am furl bayn, If I may get therby a vantege or wynyng ; 1 7 Then ,to the fals parte I turne me agayn, ffor I se more YayH wiH to me be risyng ; Thus euery man to drede me shalbe furl fayn, And aH faynt of thare fayth to me be obeyng, 1 All the aaaa lines have central rymes, markt here by bars. In judging he inclines first to the right, then to the wrong, for the sake of bribes. 244 Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. Truly. 22 AH fals endytars, Quesfr-gangars, and Iurars, And thise oufr-rydars Ar welcom to me. 26 (3) He means to Bot 1 this prophete, that 1 has prechyd and puplyshed so playn pretend to ^ . J . . . t . ._ . be Christ's Gristen law, crist 1 thay can hym m oure cuntre ; finally to Bot 1 oure prynces fuH prowdly this nyght 1 haue hym tayn, ftuH tytt to be dampned he shall be hurlyd byfore me ; I shaft fownde to be his lreynd vtward, in certayn, And shew hym fare cowntenance and word?/s of vanyte ; Bot 1 or this day at 1 nyght 1 on crosse shall he be slayn, Thus agans hym in my hart 1 1 bere great 1 enmyte ffuH sore. 35 ye men that 1 vse bak-bytyng?/s, and rasars of slanderyngys, ye ar my dere darlyng?/s, And mahowns for euermore. 39 Nothing ffor no thyng in this warld dos me more greie more than to Then for to here of crist 1 and of his new lawes ; ciuist and To trow that he is godv/s son my hart 1 wold aH to-clefe, Though he be neuer so trew both in dedys and in sawes. Therfor shaH he suffre mekiH myschefe, . And aH the dyscypyls that vnto hym drawee ; ffor ouer aH solace to me it 1 is most 1 lefe, The shedyng of cristen bloode, and that 1 aH I«,ry knawes, I say you. 48 My knyghta/s fuH swythe Thare strengthes wiH thay kyth, And bryng hym be-lyfe ; lo, where thay com now ! 52 (5) The first tor- pvbnus tortor. I haue ron that 1 I swett / from sir herode turer arrives , bringing oure kyng [Foi. 79, b.] With this man that 1 wiH not 1 lett / oure lawes to downe Jesus, as kryng ', he has done so mych forfett 1 / of care may he syng ; Thrugh dom of air pylate he gettys / an yH endyng Tu'ivnclcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. And sore ; 57 The great 1 waxkys he has wroghft Sharl serae hym of noghtt, And bot 1 thay be dere boght 1 lefe me no more. 61 (6) Bot 1 make rowme in this rese / I byd yon, belyfe, And of yonre noys that 1 ye. sesse / both man and wyfe ; To sir pylate on dese / this man wiH we dryfe, his dede for to dres / and refe hym his lyfe This day ; 66 Do draw hym forward ! whi stand ye so bakward 1 Com on, sir, hyderward, As fast 1 as ye may ! • 70 (?) Secimdus tortor. Do pnH hym a-rase / whyls we be gangyng ; I shaft spytt 1 in his face / though it be fare shynyng ; Of vs thre gettys thon no grace / thi dedys ar so noyng, Bofr more sorow thou hase / oure myrth is incresyng, STo lak. 75 ffelows, aft in hast 1 , with this band that 1 wiH last 1 , Let 1 vs bynde fast Both his band?/s on his bak. 79 (8) Teicius tortov. I shaft lede the a dawnce/ Vnto sir pilate haft; Thou betyd an yft chawnce / to com emangys vs aft. Sir pilate, with yonre cheftance / to you we cry and call That 1 ye make som ordynance / with this brodeft thrall, Byskyft; This man that 1 we led* On crosse ye put 1 to ded. Pilahis. what ! with outten any red % That 1 is not 1 my wyft ; (9) Bot 1 ye, wysest 1 of law / to me ye be tendand : This man withoutten awe / which ye led in a band. Nather in dede ne in saw / can I fynd with no wrang, wherfor ye shuld hym draw / or bere falsly on hand 84 88 The great works Jesus lias done shall serve Him nothing. He bin's the people make room, and hurries Jesus on. The second torturer threatens Jesus, and binds His hands be- hind Him. The third torturer calls on Pilate to crucify Jesus. Pilate pre- tends to take Jesus' part, and sum- mons his counsellors. 246 It will be a shame if Jesus be killed. Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. With i& ye say he turnes oure pepyrl, ye caH hym fals and fekyrl ; w-dvldys shame is on you mekyH This man if ye spyrl. 93 97 Herod [Fol. 80, a.]l could find no fault in Him. Let Him go ! (10) Of aii thise causes ilkon / which, ye put 1 on hym, Herode, truly as stone / coud fynd with nokyns gyn Nothyng herapon / that 1 pent 1 to any syn ; why shuld I then so soyn / to ded here deme hym 1 Therfor 102 This is my counseli, I wiH not 1 with hym merl ; let hym go where he wyH ffor now and euermore. 106 The first Counsellor urges that Jesus has called Him- self a king. Pilate re- minds Jesus of His power. (") Primus consultus. Sir, I say the oone thyng / w?'t^out any mys, he callys his self a kyng / ther he none is ; Thus he wold downe bryng / oure lawes, I-wys, with his fals lesyng / and his quantys, This tyde. Pilatus. herk, felow, com nere ! Thou knowes I haue powere To excuse or to dampne here, In bayH to abyde. 115 111 ) (12) Jesus says Ihesus. Sich powere has thou noght 1 / to wyrk thi wirl the power is r . o / J given him by tllUS with me, the Trinity. Bott from my fader that is broght 1 / oone-fold god in pe?'sons thre. Pilatus. Certys, it is fallen weH in my thoght 1 / at this tyme, as weH wote ye, A thefe that 1 any felony has wroghft / to lett hym skap or go fre 1 At the beginning of this page of the MS., is a large initial letter D, which, however, has no connection with the ensuing text. To'Wiiclcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 247 Away: 120 Pilate offers to release Therfor ye lett hym pas. Jesus be- i ^x iiii cause of the primus tortor. -Nay, nay, hot 1 barabas ! Feast, but 1 . . J the first tor- And UiesUS in this case turer asks To deth ye dam) this day. 124 bas. ' (13) pilatas. Syrs, looke ye take good hede / his cloysse ye Pilate bids Spoyft hym fro, Jesus and scourge ye gar his body blede / and bett hym blak and bloo. Him. Secvmdus tortor. This man, as myght I spede / that 1 has wroght vs this wo, how "Iudicare" comys in crede / shaH we teche, or we go, ' AHsoyne. 129 haue bynd to this pyllar. Tercius tortor. why stand?/s thou so far ] primus tortor. To bett 1 his body bar I haste, withoutten hoyne. 133 (14) Seeundus tortor. Now faH I the fyrst* / to flap on hys hyde. The tor- 111X1 /it turers vie Tercius tortor. My hartt wold an to-bryst 1 / bot 1 I myght with each other in tytt hym glycle. cruelty. primus tortor. A swap fayn, if I durst 1 / wold I lene the this tyde. Secuudus tortor. war ! letf me rub on the rust 1 / that* the bloode downe glyde As swythe. 138 Tercius tortor. haue att ! primus tortor. Take thou that ! Secuudus tortor. I shaH lene the a flap, My strengths for to kythe. 142 (15) Tercius tortor. Where on seruys thi prophecy / thou terl [Pol- so, b.] vs in this case, And arl thi warkys of greats mastry / thou shewed in They scoff dyuers place 1 ? primus tortor. Thyn apostels fuH radly / ar run from the a rase, Thou art 1 here in oure baly / withoutten any grace 248 Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. They would scourge Jesus to death, but for Pilate. They call to mind His miracles — His turning water into wine and walking on the sea, His healing a leper and the Cen- turion's son, His giving sight to a blind man on the way from Jericho. Of skap. 147 Sscmidxis tortor. Do, rug him. Tercius tortov. Do, dyng hym. pmnus tortoY. Nay, I myself shuld kyH hym Bot 1 for sir pilate. 151 (16) Syrs, at the ffeste of architreclyn / this prophete he was ; Ther turnyd he water into wyn / that day he had sich grace, his apostels to hym can enclyn / and other that 1 ther was ; The see he past bofr few yeres syn / it 1 lete hym walk theron apase AtfwyH; . 156 The elemeritys aft bydeyn, And wyndes that ar so keyn, The firmamente, as I weyn, Ar hym obeyng tyli. 160 (17) ijus. tortor. A lepir cam fuH fast / to this man that 1 here standys, And prayed hym, in aH hast / of bayH to lowse his bandys ; his traueU was not 1 wast / though he cam from far landys ; This p?'ophete tyrl hym past 1 / and helyd hym with his hand?/s, ffuH blythe. 165 The son of Century on, ffor whom his fader made greatt 1 mone. Of the palsy he helyd anone, Thay lowfyd hym oft 1 sythe. 169 (18) n/us tortoY. Sirs, as he cam from iherico / a blynde man satt by the way; To hym walkand with many mo / cryand to hym thus can he say, " Thou son of dauid, or thou go / of blyndnes hele thou me this day." Ther was he helyd of arl his wo / sich wonders can he wyrk aH way Townelcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 249 At WyH ; 174 Jesus can he rasys men from detfi to lyfc, dead and And castys out* devyls from tliame oft sythe, devils, seke men cam to hym fuH ryfe, He helys thaym of aH yfi. 178 (19) primus tortoT. ffor aH thise dedys of great louyns / fower l But the first * torturer re- thyng?/s I haue fond certanly, members -i'ii* i i / • i i tllAt (1) Jric ffor which he is worthy to hyng : / oone is oure kyng that 1 claimed to , , , , be king, (2) he WOld be ; healed the _ .. n •!• i iti,, ,1-it sick on the Oure sabbot day in his wyrkyng / he lettys not to liele the Sabbath, [3) , . said He seke truly ; would de- he says onre temple he shaH downe bryng / and in thre 2 temple and daies byg it 1 in hy again in AH hole agane ; 183 He'caii/on Syr pilate, as ye sytt 1 , crucify looke wysely in youre wytt ; Jesus * Dam ihesu. or ye flytt On crosse to snffre his payne. 187 (20) pilatus. Thou man that suffurs aft this yH / "Why "WyH [Foi.si, a. thou Vs rio mercy cry I Slake thy hart 1 and thi greatt 1 wyH / whyls on the we Pilate bids .. , Jesus work haue rnastry ; some Of thy greatt warkes shew vs som skyH ; / men caH the kyng, thou teH vs why ; wherfor the lues seke the to spyH / the cause I wold? knowe wytterly, perdee ; 192 Say what 1 is thy name, Thou lett for no shame, Thay putt on the greatt blame, He himself f would re- Els myght [thou] skap for me. 196 lease Him. (21) Secxmdns Conmltus. Syr pilate, prynce peerles / this is The first -. Counsellor my red, alleges That 1 he skap not harmeles / hot do hym to ded : to Peking™ he cals hym a kyng in euery place / thus wold he ouer led Oure people in his trace / and oure lawes downe tred 1 MS. iiij. apparently a mistake for iij. 2 MS. iij. 250 The knights and people are crying for His crucifixion. Towndey Plays. XXII. The Scourging. By skyli ; 201 Syr, youre knyghtes of good lose, and the pepyH with oone voce, To hyng hym hy on a crosse Thay cry and caH you vntyH. 205 Pilate asks why they will not obey their king? The third torturer answers that Csesar is their kinc (22) pilatus. Now certys, this is a wonder thyng / that H ye wold bryng to noght hym that is youre lege lordyng / In faith this was far soghf ; Bofr say, why make ye none obeyng / to hym that all has wroght 1 Textiles TortoY. Sir, he is oure chefe lordyng /sir Cesar so worthyly wroght On mold. 210 pylate, do after vs, And dam to deth ihesus Or to sir Cesar we trus, And make thy frenship cold. 214 Pilate washes his hands, and bids them take Jesus and crucify Him. (23) 2)ilat\is. Now that 1 I am sakles / of this bloode shall ye see ; Both my h&ndys in expres / weshen saH be ; This bloode bees dere boghfr I ges / that 1 ye spiH so frele. jprimus tortov. we pray it 1 faH endles / on vs and oure meneye, vfith wrake. 219 pilatus. Now youre desyre fulfyll I shall ; Take hym emangs you aH, On crosse ye put that 1 thrall, his endyng ther to take. 223 The tor- turers exult. (24) primus tortoi. Com on ! tryp on thi tose / without any f enyng ; Thou has made many glose / with thy fals talkyng. Secundus toiioi. we ar worthy greatte lose / that thus has broght 1 a kyng {from sir pilate and othere fuse / thus into oure ryng, Toivneky Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 251 wttAoutt any hoyne. 228 As Jesus ii i calls Him- Sirs, a kyng he hym cals, self a king, Therfor a crowne hym befals. have a Teicius tortor. I swere by aH myn elder sauls, I sliaii if ordan soyne. 232 (25) piimus tortov. Lo ! here a crowne of thorne / to perch [Foi. si, b.] his brane within, putt on his hede with skorne/ and gar thyrH the skyn. They crown Secxmdus tortov. hayrl kyng ! where was thou borne / sich thorns and , . „ „ mock Hiin. worship for to wyn l we knele aH the beforne / and the to grefe wirl we not blyn, That 1 be thou bold' ; 237 ISTow by niahownes blood e ! Ther wirl no mete do me goode To he be hanged on a roode, And his bones be cold'. 241 (20) pnmus tortor. Syrs, we may be fayn / ffor I haue fon They find a tree for a a tree, cross, and I teH you in certan / it 1 is of greatt 1 bewtee, make ready. On the which he shaH sufTre payn / be feste witJi nales thre, Ther shaH nothyng hym gayn / ther on to he dede be, I insure it ; 246 Do, bryng hym hence. Secxmdus tortov. Take vp oure gere and defence. Tevcius tortov. I wold spende aH my spence To se hym ones skelpt. 250 (27) pvhnns tortov. This cros vp thou take / and make the The first tor- redy bowne ; Jesusbei Withoutt gruchyng thou rake / and bere if thrugh" the M^wni mourn for Him. Mary, thi moder, I wote wiH make / great mowrnyng and mone, But for thy fals dedys sake / shortly thou salbe slone, 1 1 This line is added by a later hand. 252 Toiuneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. The people of Bethle- hem and Jerusalem shall wonder at Jesus to day. John laments for Jesus. He must tell Mary and the other women. [Fol. 82, a. Sig. n. 2.] He greets Mary and shows he has bad news. Mary asks her son be slain. No nay ; 255 The pepyH of bedlem, and gentyls of Ierwsalem, All the comoners of this reme, shall wonder on the this day. 259 (28) [John and the Holy Women appear on another part of the stage.] Ioharmes apostolus. Alas ! for my master moste of myght 1 , That 1 yester euen with lanterne bright* before Caiphas was broght ; 262 Both peter and I sagh that sight 1 , And sithen we fled away fnH wight 1 , when lues so wonderly wroght; 265 At 1 morne thay toke to red, And fals witnes furth soght, 1 And demyd hym to be dede, That 1 to thaym trespaste noghtf, 1 267 ' (29) Alas ! for his modere and othere moo, My moder and hir syster also, Sat sam with syghyng sore ; 270 Thay Wote nothyng of aH this wo, Therfor to tell thaym wiH I go, Sen I may mend no more. 273 If he shuld dy thus tyte And thay vnwarned wore, I were Worthy to wyte ; I wiH go fast 1 therfor. 275 (30) [Goes to the women.] God saue you, systers aH in fere ! Dere lady, if thi wiH were, I must 1 teH tythyng?/s playn. 278 Maria. Welcom, Iohn, my cosyn dere ! how farys my son sen thou was here % That 1 wold I wyt fuH fayn. 281 /Cannes. A, dere lady with youre leyff, The trouth shuld no man layn, Ne with god?/s wiH thaym grefe. if Maria. whi, Iohn, is my son slayn? 283 1 These two lines, and the corresponding ones in the next five stanzas, are written as four in the MS. Toionelcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 253 (31) loh&rmes. Nay lady, I saicle not so, Bot 1 ye me myn he told vs two And tliaym that with vs wore, 286 how he with pyne shulcl pas vs fro, And efte shuld com vs to, To amende oure syghyng sore ; 269 It 1 may not 1 stand in stede To sheynd youre self therfore. Maria magdalene. Alas ! this day for drede ! Good Iohn, neven this no more ! 291 (32) Speke preualy I the pray, ffor I am ferde, if we hir flay, That 1 she wiH ryn and rafe. 294 Iohamws. The sothe behowys me nede to say, he is damyd to dede this day, Ther may no sorow hym safe. 297 Maria Iacdbi. Good Iohn, teU vnto vs two What thou of hir wiH crafe, And we wiH gladly go And help that thou it haue. 299 (33) IohsaciTies. Systers, youre mowrnyng may not 1 amende ; And ye wiH ever, or he take ende, Speke with my master free, 302 Then must ye ryse and with me weynd', And kepe hym as he shaH be kend Withoutt yond same cyte ; 305 If ye wiH nygh me nere, Com fast 1 and felowe me. M&ria. A, help me, systers dere ! That 1 I my son may see. 307 (34) Maria Magdalene. Lady, we wold weynd fuH fayn, Hertely With aH oure myght 1 and mayn, youre comforth to encrese. 310 Maria. Good Iohn, go before and frayn. /o/z.annes. Lo, where he comraes vs euen agayn with aH yond mekyH prese ! 313 AH youre mowrnyng in feyr / may not his sorow sese. Maria. Alas, for my son dere, / that 1 me to moder chese ! [They meet Jesus.] 315 John re- minds her of the words oi Jesus as to His death and coming again. Mary Mag- dalen and Mary the mother of James hid him break the news first to them. He tells them Jesus is con- demned. [Fol. 82, b.] If they would speak to Him again, they must make haste. Mary bids John go hc- fore them. 254 Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. (35) Mary would Alas, dere son for care / I se thi body blede ; Son's cross. My self I will for-fare / for the in this great drede, This cros on thi shnlder bare / to help the in this nede, I wiH it 1 bere with greatt hart 1 sare / wheder thay wiH the lede. 319 Jesus*saysit Ifresus. This cros is large in lengthe / and also bustus is too heavy • ,_ •,-, for her. With all; If thou put to thi strengthe / to the erthe thou mon downe faH. 321 (36) Maria. A dere son, thou let me / help the in this case ! et inclinabit crucem ad m&trem suaux. Uiesus. lo, moder, I teH it* the / to bere no myght 1 thou hase. Mary bids Maria. I pray the, dere son, it 1 may so be / to man thou Him have . . , . . pity on Him- gll thi grace, On thi self thou haue pyte / and kepe the from thi foyse. i 325 (3ft Jesus says Ihesus. ffor sothe, moder, this is no nay / on cros I must He must die and rise dede Ore, ma™ ° And' from deth ryse on the thryd day / thus prophecy says by me ; Mans sauH that 1 I luffyd ay / I shall redeme securly, Into blis of heuen for ay / I shall it 1 bryng to me. 329 (38) The other Maria Magdalene. It is greatt sorow to any wyght / Ihesus, lament. to se with lues keyn, [Foi. 83, a. How he in dyuerse payns is dight / ffor sorow I water both Sig - N - 3J myn)eeyn. 331 Maria Iacobi. This lord that is of myglif / clyd neuer yrl truly, Thise lues thay do not 1 right 1 / if thay deme hym to dy. (39) Maria Magdalene. Alas ! what 1 shall we say ! / ihes?^s that is so leyfe, 334 To deth thise lues this day / thay lede with paynes fuH grefe. 1 The ryme needs fayse,' foes. Their hearts will cleave for sorrow. Towneley Plays. XXII. The Scourging. Maria Iacobi. He was furl true, I say / though thay dam hym as thefe, Mankynde he lufed aH way / for sorow my hart witl clefe. 337 (40) Ihesus. ye doghters of Ieimalem / 1 byd you wepe nothyng Jhlm Snt for me, for them- selves and Bott for youre self and youre barn-teme / behald I teH |*eir chii- you securle, Sore paynes ar ordand for this reme / in dayes herafter for to be ; youre myrth to bayH it* shaH downe streme / in euerj place of this cyte. 341 (41) Childer, certf/s, thay shaH blys / women baren that 1 neuer child bare, And pappes that 1 neuer gaf sowke, Ivvys / thus shaH thare hartys for sorow be sare ; The montayns hy and thise greatt hyllys / thay shali byd fail apon them thare, flor my bloode that 1 sakles is / to shede and. spyH thay wiH not spare. 345 Secundus tortov. walk on, and lef e thi vayn carpyng / it 1 The second ' J rj o l torturer bids shaH not saue the fro thy dede, Him cease tit- in Tii ^ 1S va * n wheder thise women cry or syiig / for any red* that 1 thay talking. can red'. 347 (42) Tevcius tortov. Say wherto abyde we here abowte, The other rm -7 • 7 1 torturers Thise qwenes with scremyng and wa/i snowte i threaten the May no man thare wovdys stere 1 350 pamua tortov. Go home, thou casbald', with that clowte ! Or, by that 1 lord I leyfe and lowte, Thou shaH by iV fuH dere ! 353 Maria Magdalene. This thyng shaH venyance caH / on you holly in fere. Secundus tortov. Go, hy the hens w T ith aH / or yli hayH cam thou here ! z'yus tortov. let aH this bargan be / syn aH oure toyles ar The third -, p torturer before; hurries This tratoure and this tre / I wold* fuH fayn were thore. 256 Townelcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. The third torturer sees that Jesus cannot bear the cross. They bid Simon eas Him of it. Simon says he is on a great journey. [Fol. 83, b.] The first tor- turer presses him for pity's sake, but Simon alleges his haste. The second torturer says that Jesus must be dead by noon, and Simon must needs help them. Simon still excuses him- self. //us tortoi. If nadys not hym. to harli / this cros dos hym greatt dere, Bot yonder commys a carll / shaH help hym for to here. [Enter Simon of Gyrene.'] (43) tjfus tortor. That 1 shaH we soyn se on assay. herk, good? man, wheder art* thou on away ? Thou walkes as thou were wrath. 362 Symon. Syrs, I haue a greatt Iornay That 1 must be done this same clay, Or els it wiH me skathe. 365 T&rcius tortor. Thou may with lytyH payn / easse hym and thi self both. 1 Simon\ Good syrs, that 1 wold I fayn / bot 1 for to were furl loth. 1 (44) primus tortor. ^Nay, nay ! thou shaH fuH soyn be sped ; lo here a lad that 1 must 1 be led' fTor his yH dedys to dy, And he is bressed and aH for bled, That 1 makys vs here thus stratly sted ; we pray the, sir, for-thi, That 1 thou wiH take this tre / bere it 1 to caluary. Symon). Good sirs, that may not 1 be / ffor fuH greatt haste haue I, (45) No longere may I hoyn. ijus tortor. In fayth thou shaH not 1 go so soyn fTor noght 1 that thou can say This dede must 1 nedys be done, And this carll be dede or noyn, And now is nere myd day ; And therfor 1 help vs at 1 this nede / and make vs here no more delay. SymonK I pray you do youre dede / and' let 1 me go my way ; 383 (46) And I shaH com fuH soyn agane, To help this man with aH my mayn, 1 The ryme needs ' bath, lath.' tary 367 370 373 375 378 381 Tu'umclcy Plays. XXII. The Scourging. 257 Af youre awne wyH. 386 idjus tortov. what 1 and wold? thou trus with sicli a trane 1 The tortur- JSay fatur, thou shaH be furl fayn, Simon. & m This forward to fulfyH ; 389 Or, by the inyghf of mahowne ! / thou shaH lyke if fuft yH. primus, tortov. Tytf, let 1 dyng this dastard dovvne / bof he lay hand ther tyH. 391 (47) Symon\ Cevtys, that 1 were vnwysely wroghf, To beytf me bot if I trespasf oghf Ay there in worcle or dede. 394 (/us tortov. Apon thi bak it shaH be broghf , He shall Thou berys it wheder thou wiH or noghf ! Cross, Dew r yH ! whom shuld we drede % 397 wiiiorno. And therfor take it 1 here belyfe / And bere if furth, good specie. Symonl If helpys nof here to strife / bere if behoues me Simon sees , „ _ _ he must bear nede ; 399 it, (48) And therfor, syrs, as ye haue sayde, and is well content to lo help this man I am well payde, help Christ. As ye wold thaf it were. 402 iijviB tortov. A, ha ! now ar we righf arayde, bof loke oure gere be redy grade, To wyrk when we com there. 405 primus tortov. I warand aH redy / oure toyles both moore [Foi. 84, a., andles, Sig - N - 4 - 1 And sir symon truly / gose on before with cros. 407 (49) Tevcius tortov. Now by mahowne, oure heuen kym? The tortur- t ii n . , ers hurry to 1 wold thaf we were m thaf stede their work, where we myghf hym on cros bryng. Step on before, and furth hym lede A trace. 412 primus tortov. Com on thou ! ijus tortov. Put on thou ! iij u.8 tortor. I com fasf after you, And folowse on the chace. 416 Explicit Flar/eJlacio. T. PLAYS. S 258 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. Pilate calls for silence, with threats. Those who interrupt him, he will tame on the gallows, or beat them. (XXIII.) Sequitur Processus cruris. [Dramatis Personae Pilatus. Quartus Tortor. Zongeus. Primus Tortor. Jesus. Josephus. Secundus Tortor. Maria. JVichodemus.] Tercius Tortor. Johannes. [1 thirteen-line stanza, abab cbcbd ccd ; 9 eleven-line, no. 38 aab ccb bd bbd, nos. 39, 40, 45, 70, 71, 72 aab aab be bbc, nos. 53 and 54 aaab cccb dbd ; 1 ten-line, no. 52, aaab cccb, cb ; 1 nine- line, no. 57, aaaab cccb ; 5 eight-line, no. 1 abab abab, no. 51 abab aaab, nos. 50, 56 and 65 aaab cccb ; 1 seven-line, no. 3, aa bbc be ; 71 six-line, nos. 62, 63, 6Q, 68, 69 aaaab b, the rest aab ccb ; 3 five-line, nos. 59, 61, 67 aaab b ; 6 four-line, no. 44 ab ba, 49, 55, 58, 60 and 64 aaaa ; 1 three-line, no. 90, and 7 couplets.] pilatus. (1) PEasse I byd euereich Wight ! Stand as styH as stone in WaH, Whyls ye ar present in my sight, That none of you clatter ne carl ; 4 ffor if ye do, youre dede is dighfr* I warne it you both greatt and smari, With this brand burnyshyd so bright 1 , Therfor in peasse loke ye be aH. 8 (2) What ! peasse in the dwillys name ! harlott?/s and dustard?/s arl bed one ! On galus ye be maide furi tame, The%s and mychers keyn ! 12 wiH ye not peasse when I bid you 1 by mahownys bloode, if ye me teyn, I shaH ordan sone for you, paynes that neuer ere was seyn, And that anone ! 17 Be ye so bold' beggars, I warn you, ffurl boldly shaH I bett you, To heU the dwiH shaH draw you, Body, bak and bone. 21 Townelaj Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. (3) -I am a lord that 1 mekiH is of mygVif , prynce of aH Iury, sir pilate I bright, Nexti kyng herode grettyst of alt ; Bowys to my byddyng both greatt and small, Or els be ye shentt ; 26 Therfor stere youre. tonges, I warn you aH, And vnto ys take tent. 28 V ! ' (4) primus tortor. AH peasse, aH peasse, emang you aH ! And herkyns now what shaH befaH Of this fals chutTer here ; 31 That 1 with his fals quantyse, hase lett hymself as god wyse, Emang^/s vs many a yere. 34 (5) he eals hym self a prophett, And says that he can bales bete, And make aH thyngys amende ; Bot or oght lang wytt we shaH wheder he can bete his awne bale, Or skapp out of oure hende. (6) Was not this a wonder thyng, That he durst caH hym self a kyng And make so greatt 1 a lee 1 43 Bot 1 , by mahowne ! whils I may lyf, Those prowde wordes shaH I neuer forgyf, TyH he be hanged on he. 46 (7) Secmidxis tortor. hys pride, fy, we sett 1 at 1 noght 1 , Bot ich man now kest in his thoght, And looke that we noght wante ; 49 ffor I shaH fownde, if that I may, By the order of knyghtede, to day To cause his hart pante. 52 (8) T&scius tortor. And so shaH I with aH my myghf, Abate his pride this ylk nyghf, 259 [Pol. 84, b.l His name is Pilate. He is second only to King Herod. The 1st torturer bids the people listen to what shall befall Jesus, "this false chuff er," who says He can mend all evils. „,_ Can He now o I mend His 40 He called Himself a king, and shall not be forgiven His pride till He be hanged for it. The 2nd torturer will make Christ's heart pant this day. 260 Towneley Plays. XXIII. Tlie Crucifixion. The 3rd torturer says that Jesus can do a foul deed when He will. The 4th bids them see that they have all they need to fasten Jesus with. [Pol. 85, a.] They have hands, hammer and nails. .. All His " niawmen- try " shall not serve Him now. They arrive at Calvary, and prepare for their "play." And rekyn hym a crede ; 55 Lo, he letys he cowde none yH, Bof he can ay, when he wyH, Do a fuH fowH dede. 5S (9) Quartus tortor. yei felows, ye, as haue I rest 1 ! Emangi/s vs all I red we kestt To bryng this thefe to dede ; 61 Loke that 1 we haue that we shuld nate, ffor to hald* this shrew strate. primus tortor. That was a nobytt red ! 64 (10) Lo, here I hane a bande, If nede be to bynd his hande ; This thowng, I trow, wiH last. 67 Secuiadus tortor. And here oone to the othere syde, That shall abate his pride, Be it 1 be drawen fast 1 . 70 (ii) iijus tortoi. lo, here a hamere and nales also, ffor to festen fast oure foo To this tre, fuH soyn. 73 mjus tortoi. ye ar wise, withoutten drede, That so can help youre self at nede, Of thyng that* shuld be done. 76 (12) primus tortor. Now dar I say hardely, he shall with aH his mawmentry No longere vs be teH. 79 ijus tortox. Syn pilate hase hym tyH vs geyn, haue done, belyfe ! let it be seyn how we can wifh hym meH. 82 (13) iijvLS tortoi. Now ar we at the montc of caluarye ; haue done, folows, and let now se how we can with hym lake. V '- 85 it? jus, tortoi. yee, for as modee as he can loke, he wold haue turnyd an othere croke Myghf he haue had the rake. 88 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. 261 (14) primus tortor. In fayth, syr, sen ye callycl you a kyng, you must prufe a worthy thyng That 1 falles vnto the were; 91 ye must lust in tornamente ; Bot 1 ye sytt fast els be ye shentt, Els downe I shall you here. 94 As Jesus calls Him- self a king, He must joust in tournament, and sit fast on His Cross. (15) Sticmidiis tortor. If thou be godys son, as thou tellys, Thou can the kepe ; how shuld thou ellys ? Els were it merueft greatt 1 ; And bot if thou can, we wiU not trow That thou hase saide, bot 1 make the mow when thou syttys in yond sett 1 . (16) iijus tortov. If thou be kyng we shall thank adyH, ffor we shaH sett the in thy sadyH, ff or faHvng be thou bold*. I hete the weH thou bydys a shaft* ; Bot 1 if thou sytt 1 weH thou had better laft The tales that thou has told?. (17) iiijus tortox. Stand? nere, felows, and let se how we can hors oure kyng so fre, By any craft 1 ; Stand thou yonder on yond syde, And we shaH se how he can ryde, And how to weld* a shaft 1 . (18) primus tortor. Sir, commys heder and haue done. And wyn apon youre palfray sone, ffor he [is] redy bowne. If ye be bond tiH 'hym, be not wrothe, ffor be ye secure we were fuH lothe On any wyse that 1 ye feH downe. (19) Secmidus tortor. knyt thou a knott, with aH tlii streriglit 1 , ffor to draw this arine on lengthe, If He be God's Son, He can A _ guard Him- 97 self. 100 103 106 109 112 115 118 They will set Him in His saddle, and He need not fear a fall. Let them see how they can horse their King! [Fol. 85, b.] His palfrey is ready, and He must be bound to it. M2 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. They draw out Christ's anus, bind them with ropes, and nail them ; hold down His knees, draw down the legs hard, pierce them, and nail them. TyH it com to the bore. 121 Tevcius tortov. Thou madd^/s, man, bi this light ! It 1 wantys, tyli ich mans sight 1 , Othere half span and more. 124 (20) Quartus tortov. yit 1 drawe owt this arme and fest it fast 1 , with this rope that well wiH last, And ilk man lay hand to. 127 primus tortov. yee, and bynd thou fast 1 that band ; we shaH go to that 1 othere hand And loke what 1 we can do. 130 (21) ijuB tortov. Do dryfe a nayrl ther thrugh outft, And then thar vs nothyng doutt, ffor it wiH not brest 1 . 133 iijus tortov. That shaH I do, as myght I thryfe ! nor to clynke and for to dryfe, Therto I am furl prest 1 ; 136 (22) So lett it styk, for it is wele. iiijus tortov. Thou says sothe, as haue I cele ! Ther can no man it mende. j>?ri??2us tortov. hald downe his knees. $ecun<#us tortov. his norysh" yede neuer better to ; Lay on aH your hende. (23) Tevcius tortov. Draw out hys lymmes, let se, haue at ! m)*us tortov. That was weH drawen that that; ffare faH hym that so puld ! ffor to haue getten it to the marke, I trow lewde man ne clerk ISTothyng better shuld. (24) pv'imus tortov. hald it 1 now fast thor, And oone of you take the bore, And then may it 1 not 1 fay 11. ij us tortov. That shaH I do withoutten drede, As euer myght I weft spede, hym to mekyH bayH. 139 that shaH I do. 142 145 148 151 154 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. 2R3 (25) Tercius tortov. So, that is well, it will not brest H , [Foi. 86, a.] Bot let now se who dos the best* to puinhe with any slegthe of hancle. 157 gEfJjjj iiijus tortor. Go we now vnto the othere ende ; a rope - ffelowse, festt on fast youre hende, And puH weH at this band. 160 (26) primus tortor. I red, felowse, by this wedyr, At first •L, . „ . ,. all pull to- lhat 1 we draw all ons togedir, gether. And loke how it wyH fare. 163 ijna tortor. let now se and lefe yonre dyn ! And draw we ilka syn from syn ; ffor nothyng let vs spare. 166 (27) iiius tortor. Nay, felowse, this is no cram 1 But the J J ' ' & 3rd and 4th we wiH no longere draw aH sam, torturers So mekiH haue I asspyed. 169 oneissham- iiijus tortor. No, for as haue I blys ! Som can twyk, who so it is, Sekys easse on som kyn syde. 172 (28) primus tortor. If is better, as I hope, The 1st pro- On by his self to draw this rope, each man . , , , pulls by hiin- And then may we se 175 self. who it is that 1 ere while AH his felows can begyle, Of this companye. 178 (29) Secuudus tortor. Sen thou wiH so haue, here for me ! They vie how draw I, as myght thou the % other^n 5 Tercius tortor. Thou drew right wele. 181 haue here for me half a foyte ! quartus tortor. wema, man ! I trow thou doyte ! Thou flyt it neuer a dele ; 184 (30) Bot haue for me here that I may ! priwras tortor. WeH drawen, son, bi this day ! pulling. 264 Towneley Plays. XXIIL The Crucifixion. The tortur- ers excite each other to pull the Cross to the mark. Hold still there ! Now to bore the hole for the Cross to stand in ! [Fol. 86, b.] They call to one another to lift the Cross, and set it in the mortice. Thou gose weH to thi warke ! 187 Secxmdus tortor. yit efte, whils thi hande is in, puH therat 1 with som kyn gyn. iijus tortor. yee, & bryng it to tliQ marke. 190 (31) quarhis tortor. puH, pull ! primus tortor. haue now ! ijuB tortor. let se ! w/us tortov. A ha ! mj'us tortor. yit a draght! primus tortor. Therto with aH my maght. ^/us tortor. A, ha ! hold still thore ! 193 iijus tortor. So felowse ! looke now belyfe, which of you can best dryfe, And I shaH take the bore. 196 (32) Quartus tortor. let me go therto, if I shaH ; I hope that 1 I be the best mershaH ffor [to] clynke it right. 199 do rase hym vp now when we may, ffor I hope he & his pal fray ShaH not twyn this nyght 1 . 202 (33) £>ri??2us tortor. Com hedir, felowse, & haue done ! And help that this tre sone To lyft with aH youre sleghtt. 205 ijus tortor. yit let vs wyrke a whyle, And noman now othere begyle To iV be broghtt on heghfr. 208 (34) iijus tortor. ffelowse, fest on aH youre hende, ffor to rase this tre on ende, And let se who is last 1 . 211 iiijus tortor. I red we do as that he says ; Set we the tre in the mortase, And ther wiH it stand fast 1 . 214 (35) primus tortor. Yp with the tymbre. Secxmdus tortor. a, it hcldys ! ffor hym that aH this warld weldys Townclcy Plays: XXIII. The Crucifixion. 265 put fro the with thi hande ! 217 iijus tortor. hald? euen emang?/s vs all. iiijus tortor. yee, and? let it into the mortase faH, ffor then wiH it best stande. 220 Let it drop into the mor- tice : it will stand then. (36) primus tortor. Go we to it 1 and be we strong, And rase if, be it neuer so long, Sen that it is fast bon. 223 ?)'us tortor. Vp with the tymbre fast on en do ! iijus tortor. A felowse, fayr faH youre hende ! iiijus tortor. so sir, gape agans tJie son ! 226 They lift it into place, and mock Jesus. (37) primus tortor. A felow, war thi crowne ! ^/us tortor. Trowes thou this tymbre witi oght downe ? iijus tortor. yit help that it were fast. 229 mj'us tortor. Shog hym weH: & let vs lyfte. primus tortor. ffuH shorte shalbe his thryfte. ijus tortor. A, it stand?/s vp lyke a mast 1 . (38) Ihesus. I pray you pepyH that passe me by, That lede youre lyfe so lykandly, heyfe vp youre hartys on hight ! Behold' if euer ye sagh body Buffet & bett thus blody, Or yit thus dulfully dight 1 ; In warld was neuer no wight That suffred half so sare. My mayn, my mode, my myght, Is noght bot sorow to sight 1 , And comforth none, bot 1 care. cfoct It stands up <->o~i like a mast. 235 238 Jesus calls to them that pass by to see how He suffers. !43 (39) My folk, what haue I done to the, That 1 thou aH: thus sharl tormente me 1 Thy syn by I fuH sore, what haue I greuyd the 1 answere me, That 1 thou thus nalys me to a tre, And aH for thyn erroure ; [Fol. *r, a.] What have I done to 246 thee, My folk, that thou tor- mentest Me thus ? 2-19 2G6 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. How shalt thou atone for this dis- honour thou doest Me ? Beasts and birds have their resting places, but God's Son has only His shoulder to lay His head I have made thee in My likeness, and thou re- payest Me thus. By this guiltless suffering I buy Adam's blood. where shall thou seke socoure 1 This mys how shali thou amende? 251 when that thou thy saveoure Dryfes to this dyshqnoure, And nalys thrugh" feete and hende ! 254 (40) AH creatoures that kynde may kest, Beestys, hyrdys, ail haue thay rest, when thay ar wo begon ; 257 Bofr godys son, that 1 shnld? he "best, base not where apon his hede to rest, Bot on his shuder bone. 260 To whome now may I make my mone 1 when thay thus martyr me, And sakles wiH me slone, And beete me Mode and bone, That my brethere shuld? be ! 265 (41) what kyndnes shuld? I kythe theym to 1 haue I not done that I aght to do, Maide the to my lyknes 1 268 And thou thus refys me rest & ro, And lettys thus lightly on me, lo ! Sich is thi caty fnes. 271 (42) I haue the kyd kyndnes, / Ynkyndly thou me quytys ; Se thus thi wekydnes ! / loke how thou me dyspytys ! 273 («) Gyltles thus am I put to pyne, Not* for [my] mys, man, bot for thyne, Thus am I rent on rode ; 276 ffor I that tresoure wold? not tyne, That I markyd* & made for myne, Thus by I adam blode, 279 (U) That 1 sonkyn was in syn, with none erthly good ; Bot 1 with my flesh and blode That 1 lothe was for to wyn. 283 Townelcy Plays. XXIII. i The Crucifixion. 267 (45) My brethere that I com for to by, The brethren I came to save have hanged Me thus ; has hanged? me here thus hedusly, And freyndt/s fyncle I foyn ; 286 Thus haue thay dight 1 me drerely, And ari by-spytt me spytusly, As helples man in won. 289 [Fol. 87, b.] Bofr, fader, that syttys in trone, but, Father, forgive them fforgyf thou them this gylt, this guilt, they know I pray to the this boyn, not what they do. Thay wote not what thay doyn, Nor whom thay haue thus spy It. 294 (46) primus tortor. yis, what we do full weli we knaw. The tortur- ous tortor. yee, that shall he fynde within a thraw. 296 know well /An \ enough what {*() they are £Y/us tortor. JS"ow, with a myschaunce tyH his cors, wenys he that we gyf any force, what dwiH-so euer he ayH? 299 iiijus tortor. ffor he wold tary vs arl day, Of his dede to make delay I terl you, sansfayH. 302 (48) primus tortor. lyft vs this tre emanges vs aH. They lift the ijus tortor. yee, and let it into the mortase fall, let it tail And that shall gar hym bresfr. 305 the mortice, ..... -iiij_pi i £ ^ to make His n^us tortor. yee, and a« to-ryie hym lym from lyni. body burst iiijus tortor. And it wiH breke ilk ionte in hym. let se now who dos best. 308 (49) [Mary advances.] Maria. Alas ! the doyH I dre / I drowpe, I dare in drede ! Mary ia- Whi hyngys thou, son, so hee? / my bayll begynnes to her Son's brede. Alt blemyshyd is thi ble / I se thi body blede ! In warld, son, were neuer we / so wo as I in wede. 312 (50) My foode that I haue fed, In lyf longyng the led, ffuii stratly art thou sted Emanges thi foo-men feH ; 316 agony. 268 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. No tongue can tell her grief at her child's suffering. Sick sorow forto se, My dere barn, on the, Is more mowrnyng to me Then any tong may teH. 320 How may she look on His face and body thus disfigured ! (51) Alas ! thi holy hede hase not wheron to helde ; Thi face with blode is red, Was fare as floure in f eylde ; how shuld I stand? in sted To se my barne thus blede % Bett as bio as lede, And has no lym to weylde ! 324 328 His hands LFol. 88, a.] and feet are nailed, His skin torn, His sides stream with blood. (52) fTestynd both hand?/s and feete With nalys full vnmete, his woundes wrynyng wete, Alas, my childe, for care ! ffor aH rent is thi hyde ; I se on aythere syde Teres of blode downe glide Ouer aH thi body bare. Alas ! that euer I shuld byde And se my feyr thus fare ! 332 336 338 John shares in her grief for her Son, who was a good Master to him and many more. (53) Iohoxmes. Alas, for doyH, my lady dere ! AH for-changid is thi chere, To see this prynce withoutten pere Thus lappyd aH in wo ; he was thi fode, thi faryst foine, Thi luf, thi lake, thi lufsom son, That high on tre thus hyngys alone with body blak and bio ; Alas ! To me and many mo A pood master he was. [John advances, .] 342 346 349 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. 269 (54) Bofr, lady, sen it is his wiH But Jesus The prophecy to f lllfyH, pain by His That mankynde in sy[n] not spirl therefore she should slake her sorrow. ffor theym to thole this payn ; 353 And with his dede raunson to make, As p?'ophetys beforn of hym spake, fibr-thi I red? thi sorowe thou slake, Thi Wepyng may not gayn ; 357 In sorowe Oure boytt he byes fuH bayn, 1 Ys aH from bale to borowe. 1 360 (55) Maria. Alas! thyn een as cristali clere / that shoyn as Maryia- . i , , meats SOn m Sight, afresh. That lufly were in lyere / lost thay haue thare light, And wax aH faed in fere / aH dym then ar thay dight ! In payn has thou no pere / that is withoutten pight. 364 (56) Swete son, say me thi thoght, She calls on ., 1 Jesus to tell what wonders has thou wrognt her why He endures To be in payn thus broght 1 , these things. Thi blissed blode to blende ] 368 A son, thynk on my wo ! whi wiil thou fare me fro 1 On mold 1 is noman mo That may my myrthes amende. 372 (57) Iohaames. Comly lady, good and couth, / filiyw wold I [FoL 88, b.] comfortfi the; S/Lrof Me mynnys my master with mowth, / told vnto his menyee j^ ™° a r s d t of That 1 he shuld? thole fuH mekiH payn / and dy apon a tre, Hi ? death L •> I j y » and resur- And to the lyfe ryse vp agayn, / apon the thryd day shuld action, it be ffuH right ! 377 ffor-thi, my lady swete, Stynt a while of grete ! Oure bale then will he bete As he befor has hight. 381 1 These favo lines are written as one in the MS. 270 Toivncley Plays. XXIII. The, Crucifixion. Mary is mad with her grief; she sees the robe she gave Jesus all rent. She laments for her come- ly child, and calls on maids and wives to weep with her. John says it is His love which makes Jesus suffer thus for us. [Fol. 89, a., Sig. O. 1.] Mary thinks she has lived too long. (58) Maria. Mi sorow it is so sad / no solace may me safe ; Mowrnyng mak?/s me mad / none hope of help I hafe ; I am redles and rad / ffor ferd that I mon rafe ; Noght may make me glad / to I be in my grafe. 385 (59)i To deth my dere is dryffen, his robe is aH to-ryffen, That of me was hym gyffen, And shapen with my sjdys ; 389 Thise lues and he has stryffen / That aH the bale he hydys. (60) Alas, my lam so mylde / whi wiH thou fare me fro Emang thise wulfes wylde / that wyrke on the this wo ? ffor shame who may the shelde / ffor freynd?/s has thou fo ! Alas, my comly childe / whi wiH thou fare me fro ? 394 (61)i Madyns, make youre mone ! And wepe ye, wyfes, euerichon, with me, most wrich, in wone, The childe that 1 borne was best ! My harte is styf as stone / That for no bayH wirl brest. 399 (62) Iolmnnes. A, lady, weH wote I / thi hart is full of care when thou thus openly / sees thi childe thus fare ; luf gars hym rathly / hym-self wiH he not spare, Ys aH fro baiH to by / of blis that ar fuH bare 403 ffor syn. My lefe lady, for-thy / Of mowrnyng loke thou blyn. 405 (63) Maria. Alas ! may euer be my sang / Whyls I may lyf in leyd ; Me thynk now that I lyf to lang / to se my barne thus blede ; lues wyrke with hym aH wrang / wherfor do thay this dedel lo, so hy thay haue hym hang /thay let for no drede : 409 Whi so his fomen is he emang 1 ? / ~No freynde he has, bof fo. 411 1 These stanzas, as well as No. 67, are really six-line stanzas, aaab ab. Toivnclcy Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. 271 (64) My frely foode now farys me fro / what shall worth on me 1 what shall Thou art warpyd aH in wo / and spred here on a tre her when her jv, n , i A -i a child is thus ffuH hee / 414 tortured? I mowrne, and so may mo / That 1 sees this payn on the. (65) Ioh&imes. Dere lady, weH were me John would fain comfort If that I myght comfortn the ; her. ffor the sorow that 1 I see Sherys myn harte in sondere ; 419 when that I se my master hang With bytter paynes and Strang, Was neuer wight 1 with wrang Wroght 1 so niekiH wonder. 423 (66) Maria. Alas, dede, thou dwellys to lang! / whi art thou Maryup- , . , „ n braids Death hid iro me % for going to Who kend the to my childe to gangl / aH hlak thou andnot'siay- i i'ii ing her also. mak^/s his ble; Now witterly thou wyikys wrang / the more I wiH wyte the, Bofr if thou will my harte stang / that I myght with hym dee 427 And byde ; Sore syghyng is my sang, / ffor thyrlyd? is his hyde ! 429 (67) A, dede, what has thou done 1 / with the wiH I moytt sone, Sen I had childer none bot oone / best 1 vnder son or moyn ; ffreyndys I had fuH foyn / that gars me grete and qrone God grant 4V u , 99 her to live null SOre. 433 noinoro. Good lord, graunte me my boyn / and let me lyf no more ! (68) GabrieH, that good / som tyme thou can me grete, o Gabriel, how have And then I vnderstud / thi wovdys that were so swete ; thy promises ' „ to me been 13ot now thay meng my moode / nor grace thou can me hete, fulfilled? To bere aH of my blode / a childe oure baiH shuld? bete with right 1 ; Now hyngys he here on rude / Where is that thou me highf? (69) AH that thou of blys / hight 1 me in that stede, ffrom myrth is faren omys / and yit I trow thi red ; 442 272 Toivncley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. Mary cries Thi counceii now of this / my lyfe how shaH I lede [Foi. 89, b.] "When fro me gone is / he that was my hecle 444 My dede now comen it is / My dere son, haue mercy ! 44 G (70) IJiesus. My moder mylde, thou chaunge thi chere ! hyng sere, Jesus bid llGI' CGH.SG from the Sease of thi sorow and si pains Him It sy ttys vnto my hart f uH sare 1 more than rm ^ t nc t His own. lhe sorow is sharp i simre here, to^aveman- Bot doyH thou drees, my moder dere, Me marters mekiH mare. 1 Thus will my fader I fare, To lowse mankynde of bandys ; his son WiH: he not 1 spare, To lowse that bon was are ffuH fast in iejndys hand?/s. 449 452 457 (71) The fyrst cause, moder, of my co?ftmyng Was for mankynde myscarying, To salf thare sore I soght 1 ; Let her cease Therfor, moder, make none mowrnyng, in g , and let Sen mankynde thrugh my dyyng John and she _ -. . . . ,,., , •,. be as son May thus to blis be boght 1 . Woman, wepe thou right noght ! Take ther Iohn vnto thi chylde ! Mankynde must nedys be boght, And thou kest, cosyn, in thi thoght ; Iohn, lo ther thi moder mylde ! 460 463 468 He calls on mankind to repay His suffering with stead- fastness. (72) Blo and blody thus am I bett, Swongen with swepys & aH to-swett, Mankynde, for thi mysdede ! ffor my luf lust when Wold thou lett, And thi harte sadly sett, Sen I thus for the haue blede 1 471 474 1 MS. sore. more. Townehy Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. 273 Sich lyf, for sothe, I led*, That vnothes may I more ; This suffre I for thi nede, To marke the, man, thi mede : Now thryst I, wonder sore. (73) primus tortor. Noght hot hold? thi peasse ! Thon shall haue drynke within a resse, My self shalbe thy knaue ; haue here the draght that I the hete, And I shaH warand it is not swete, On aH the good I haue. (74) Sexundus tortor. So syr, say now aH youre wiH ! ffor if ye couth haue holden you styH ye had not had this brade. Tercius tortor. Thou wold aH gaytt be kyng of lues, Bot by this I trow thou rues AH that 1 thou has sayde. (75) iiijus tortor. he has hym rused' of great prophes, That 1 he shuld make vs tempylles, And gar it cleyn downe faH ; And yit 1 he sayde he shuld? it 1 rase As well as it was, within thre dayes ! he lyes, that wote we aH ; (76) And for his lyes, in great dispyte we wiH departe his cloth yng tyte, Bot he can more of arte. jprimus to?ior. yee, as euer myght I thryfe, Soyn wiH we this mantyH ryfe, And ich man take his parte. (77) ijus tortor. how wold* thou we share this clothe 1 iijus tortor. Nay forsotfre, that were I lothe, Then were if aH-gate spylt ; Bot assent thou to my saw, lett 1 vs aH cutt draw, And then is none begylt 1 . T. PLAYS. 479 482 485 488 491 494 497 500 503 506 509 Jesus thirsts. The 1st torturer offers Him a bitter drink. The others mock Him by recalling His words: — His claim of kingship, His boast [Fol. 90, a. Sig. O. 2. J of destroying the temple, and raising it in three days. In despite of His lies they will divide His clothes be- tween them. There is one garment too good to be cut : for this they will draw lots. 274 Towneley Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. The 4th torturer wins the gar- ment, and the 1st offers to buy it of him. They see an inscription newly writ- ten on the Cross, and guess it is by Pilate. They go to look at it. It is in He- brew, Latin, and Greek, and hard to expound. The 3rd torturer is the best "Latin wright," and explains it as Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. (78) m)' us tortor. how so befall ys now wytt I draw ! This is myn by comon law, Say not ther agayn. 512 primus tortor. Now sen if may no better be, Chevich the with it for me, Me thynk thou art ful fayn. 515 (79) ijus tortor. how felowse, se ye not yond skraw 1 It 1 is writen yonder within a thraw, Now sen that we drew cut. 518 iijilB tortor. There is noman that is on lyfe Bot it were pilate, as myght I thrife, That durst it ther haue putt. 521 (80) m/us tortor. Go we fast and let* vs loke what is wretyn) on yond boke, And what it 1 may bemeyn. 524 primus, tortor. A the more I loke theron A the more I thynke F fon ; AH is not 1 worth a beyn. 527 (81) •y us tortor. yis, for sothe, me thynk I se Theron writen langage thre, Ebrew and latyn 530 And grew, me thynk, writen theron, ffor it 1 is hard for to expowne. iijus tortor. Thou red, by appolyn ! 533 (82) m/us tortoY. yee, as I am a trew knyght, I am the best latyn wright Of this company ; 53G I will go withoutten delay And teH you what it is to say ; Behald', syrs, witterly ! 539 (83) yonder is wretyn) " ihesu of nazareyn [Foi. 9Q,b.j lie is kyng of lues," I weyn. Towneley Plays. XXIII. TJie Crucifixion. 27; ^>iimus tortor. A ! that is writen) wrang 1 . 542 Secrmdus tortor. he callys hym so, bot he is none. iijus tortor. Go we to pilate and make oure mone ; haue done, and dwell not lang. 545 (84) [They approach Pilate.'] pilate, yonder is a fals tabyH, . Theron is wryten noght bot fabyH ; Of Ines he is not kyng ! ,548 he callys hym so, bot he not is : It 1 is falsly writen, Iwys, This is a wrangwys thyng. 551 ■ (85) Pilatus. Boys, I say, what meH ye you ? As it is writen shall it be now-, I say certane ; 554 Quod scriptu??i scripsi, That same wrote I, What gadlyng gruches ther agane? 557 (86) quartus tortov. Sen that he is man of law / he must nedys haue his wiR ; I trow he had not writen that saw / without som p?*opre skyH. (87) primus tortor. yee, let it hyng aboue his hede, It shall not saue hym fro the dede, Noght that he can write. 562 ijus tortor. Now yHa hale was he borne. iijus tortor. Ma-fay, I teH his lyfe is lorne, he shalbe slayn as tyte. 565 (88) If thou be crist, as men the caH, Com downe emang?/s vs aH, And thole not thies myssaes. 568 m)'us tortor. yee, and help thi self that we may se, And we shaH aH trow in the, what soeuer thou says. 571 (89) pri??zus tortor. he cals hym self good of myght, Bot I wold se hym be so wight The tortur- ers think the inscription wrong, and complain to Pilate. Pilate will have none of their meddling. The tortur- ers think Pilate, as a lawyer, must know best. At any rate it won't save Jesus from death. They bid Him come down from the Cross, and save Himself. 276 Townelcy Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. could raise Laza- rus, but cannot help Himself. To do sich a clede he rasyd lazare out of his delfe, Bot he can not help hym self, Now in his greatt nede. 574 577 Jesus cries to God. The tortur- ers mis- understand Him. [Fol. 91, a. Sig. O. 3.] Jesus com- mends His soul to the Father. The tortur- ers make Longeus, a blind knight, pierce His side with a spear. (90) Ihesn. hely, hely, lamazabatany ! My god, my god, wherfor and why has thou forsakyn me % (91) tjus tortor. how ! here ye not, as well as T, how he can now on hely cry Apon his wyse 1 Tereius tortor. yee, ther is none hely in this countre ShaH delyuer hym from this mene3e, On nokyns wyse. (92) iiijus tortor. I warand you now at the last That he shall soyn yelde the gast, ffor brestyn is his gall. Ihesu. Now is my passyon broght tyH ende ! ffader of heuen, in to thyn hende I betake my sauH ! (93) primus tortor. let one pryk hym with a spere, And if that it do hym no dere Then is his lyfe nere past*. ijus tortor. This blynde knyght may best do that". longeus. Gar me not do bot I wote what 1 . iijus tortor. Not bot put vp fast. 580 583 586 589 592 595 598 Longeus receives his sight, and craves for- giveness for wounding the body of Jesus. (94) longeus. A, lord, what may this be 1 Ere was I blynde, now may I se ; Godys son, here me, ihesu ! ffor this trespas on me thou rew. ft'or, lord, othere men me gart, that I the stroke vnto the hart : I se thou hyngys here on hy, And dyse to fulfyH the prophecy. 602 606 TotL'nclcy Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. *±Li (95) iiijus tortor. Go we hence and leyfe hyrn here, ffor I shaH be his borghe to-yere he felys no more payn ; 609 ffor hely ne for none othere man AH the good tha euer he wan Gettys not 1 his lyfe agayn. 612 [Exeunt Tortor es. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus advance."] (96) Joseph. Alas, alas, and walaway ! That euer shuld I abyde this day, To se my master dede ; 615 Thus wykydly as he is shent, with so bytter tornamente, Thrugh fals lues red CIS (97) Xychodeme, I wold we yede To sir pilate, if we myght spede, his body for to craue ; 621 I will fownde with art my myght, ffor my seruyce to aske that knyght his body for to graue. 624 (98) Niclwdemus. Ioseph, I will weynde with the ffor to do that 1 is in me, ffor that body to pray ; 627 ffor oure good will and oure trauale I hope that it mon vs avaylt here afterward som day. 630 (99) Joseph. Syr pylate, god the saue ! [They go to Pilate.} Graunte me that I craue, If that it be thi wiU. 633 pilatus. Welcom, Ioseph, myght thou be ! what so thou askys I graunte it the, So that it be skyH. 636 (100) Iosepfc. ffor my long seruyce I the pray Graunte me the body — say me not nay — The 3rd torturer says they may leave Jesus now, for none may briny Him to life again. Joseph of Arimathea laments the death of Jesus. He proposes to Nicode- mus that they beg leave of Pi- late to bury the body. Nicodemus will go with him. [Fol. 91, b.] Joseph asks a boon ; Pilate grants it Townel&y Plays. XXIII. The Crucifixion. Joseph's boon is that he may bury Jesus. He thanks Pilate for granting it, and himself draws the nails from the Cross, while Nico- demus up- holds the body of Jesus. They wrap the body, and bear it to the tomb. Of ihesu, dede on rud. 639 pilatus. I graunte weH if he ded be, Good leyfe shall thou haue of me, Do with hym what thou thynk gud. 642 (101) Ioseph. Gramercy, syr, of youre good grace, That 1 ye haue graunte me in this place ; Go we oure way : [They return to Calvary.~\ 645 Nychodeme, com me furth with, ffor I my self shall be the Smyth. The nales out for to dray. 648 (102) JSttchodemus. Ioseph, I am redy here To go with the with furl good chere, To help the at my myght ; 651 puH furth the nales on aythere syde, And I sharl hald? hym vp this tyde ; Nicodeinus prays that Christ, who died and rose again, may bless the spectators. A, lord, so thou is dight 1 ! (103) 654 Ioseph. help now, felow, with aft thi myght 1 , That he were wonden and weH dight, And lay hym on this bere ; Bere we hym furth vnto the kyrke, To the tombe that I gard wyrk, Sen full many a yere. (104) Nichodemus. It shaH be so with outten nay. he that dyed on gud fry day And crownyd was with thorne, Saue you aH that now here be ! That lord that 1 thus, wold? dee And rose on pasche morne. QQG Explicit crucifixio Christi. 1 1 MS. xpi. 657 660 663 Townelcy Plays. XXIV. The Talents. 279 (XXIV.) Incipit Processus taleratorwm. [Dramatis Personae. Pilalus. I Secundus Tortor, j Tercius Tortor. Primus Tortor. j| (Spyll-payn) \ Consultus.] [2 ten-line stanzas, no. 5 aaaaab cccb, %o. 54 ab aab cdbcb ; 8 ?n'%. Euen this same nyght ; 100 Of me and of my felowse two with whom this garmente shali go ; bot sir pilate must go therto, I swere you by this light. 104 (14) Whoever ffor whosoeuer may get thise close, gets these , ,, i i i clothes may he ther neuer rek where he gose, w&lk fesr- lessiy, for ffor he semys nothyng to lose, him from If so be he theym were. 108 bot now, now, felose, stand on rowme, ffor lie co??imes, shrewes, vnto this towne, And we wiH aH togede?* rowne, so semely in oure gere. 112 (15) The 2nd Secwndus tortor. war, war ! and make rowme, lowX^st ^ I wffl with m J felose rown e, in hot haste. ^ R( j j gj^jj j^ na p fry m on t j ie crowne That stzmdys in my gate ; 116 I wiH lepe and I will skyp As I were now out of my wytt ; Almost my breke thay ar beshyt ffor drede I cam to late. 120 (16) [Foi. 93, b.] Pott, by mahowne ! now am I here I The most shrew, that dar I swere, That ye shall fynde aw where, Towneley Plays. XXIV. The Talents. 283 SpyH-payn in fayth I hightt. I was at caluery this same day, where the kyng of lues lay, And ther I taght hym a newe play, Truly, me thoght it right. 124 128 His na*nc Spill-pain. (17) The play, in fayth, it was to rowne, That he shuld* lay his hede downe, And sone I bobyd hym on the crowne, That gam me thoght was good, when we had played with hym oure fyH, Then led we him vnto an hyrr, And ther we wroght with hym oure will, And hang hym on a rud?. 13: 136 He has borne his part in torturing Jesus. (18) Nomore now of this talkyng, Boft the cause of my co???myng ; Both on ernest and on hethyng This cote I wold' I had ; ffor if I myght this cote gett, Then wold I both skyp and lepe, And ther to fast both drynke and ete, In fayth, as I were mad. 140 144 The cause of his coming is that lie al- so is anxious to get the coat. (19) Tevcius tortor. war, war ! within thise wones, ffor I com rynyng arl at ones ! I haue brysten both my balok stones, So fast hyed I hedyr ; And ther is nothyng me so lefe As murder a mycher* and hang a thefe : If here be any that cloth" me grefe I shall them thresh top;edir. 148 152 The 3rd torturer comes in as hurriedly as the others. (20) ffor I may swere with mekiH wyn I am the most* shrew in aH myn kyn, That is from this towne vnto lyn, He is the greatest shrew from this town to Lynn. 284 Towneley Plays. XXIV. The Talents. He and his lo, here my felowse two ! 156 fellows are . come to di- Now ar we thre commen) in vide the . „ . , coat. A new gam lorto begyn, This same cote forto twyn, Or that we farther q;o. 160 o v (21) He proposes Bot to sir pilate prynce I red that we go hy, Pilate, but And present hym the playnt how that we ar stad ; see that Bot this gowne that 1 is here, I say you for-thy, not take the By myghty mahowne I wold not he had?. 164 gown him- self. ^ [Foi. 94, a.] pv'wms tortor. I assent to that sagh, by myghty mahowne ! The others Let vs Weynde to sir pilate withoutten any fabyH ; Bot syrs, bi my lewte, he gettys not this gowne; Vnto vs thre it were right p?'ophetabyli ; Spili-payn what says thou ] 169 (23) Secundus tortor. youre sawes craftely assent I vnto. primus tortor. Then wiH I streght furth in this place, And speke with sir pilate word?/s oone or two, ftbr I am right semely and fare in the face ; And now shaH we se or we hence go. 174 (24) They ask the Tercius tortor. Sir, I say the, by my lewtee, S U pifate°, r where is sir pilate of pryce 1 Gonsultus. Sir, I say the, as myght I the, he lyg^s here in the dewyH seruyce. 178 and are told he lies there in the devil's service, (25) but shall be jpvimus tortor. with that* prynce — fowll myght he fafi- waked. " Must we haue at do. Consultus. I shaH go to hym and eatf, And loke what ye wiH say hym to. 182 (26) Pilate bids My lord, my lorde ! pilatus. what, boy, art thou nyse 1 carl nomore, thou has callid twyse. Consultus. my lord' ! 186 the Coun sellor call him no more Towneley Plays. XXIV. The Talents. 285 (27) jrilatus. what mytyng is that that liievys me in my mynde % Pilate asks Consultus. I, lord, youre counselloure, pight in youre saw. any disaffec- pilatus. Say ar ther any catyffv/^ combred that ar vnkynde % told'"no." Consultus. Nay, lord, none that I knawe. 190 (28) 2nlatus. Then noy vs nomore of this noyse ; you carles vnkynde, who bad you caH me 1 By youre mad* maters I hald? you bot boyes, And that 1 shaH ye aby, els fowrl myght befall me. I shaH not dy in youre dett ! Bewshere, I byd< the vp thou take me, And in my sete softly loke that thou se me sett. 194 197 He is angry at being dis turbed, but takes hi seat in his hall. (29) Now shaH we wytft, and that in hy, If that saghe be trew that 1 thou dyd say ; If I fynde the With lesyng, lad. thou shall aby, ffiorto meH in the maters that 1 pertenyth agans the lay. [Fol. 94, b.] (30) Consultus. Nay, sir, not so, withoutten delay, The cause of my callyng is of that 1 boy bold?, ffor it is saide sothely now this same day, That 1 he shuld dulfully be dede, Certayn ; Then may youre cares be furl cold? If he thus sakles be slayn. 202 T he Coun- sellor tells him that Je- sus is dead. 206 208 (31) pilatus. ffare and softly, sir, and say not to far ; Sett the with sorow, then semys thou the les, And of the law that thou leggys be wytty and war, lest I greue the greatly with dyntys expres ; ffals f atur, in fay th I sharl slay the ! Thy reson vnrad I red the redres, Or els of thise maters loke thou nomore meH the. 21? 215 Pilate bids the Counsel- lor not to meddle in these mat- ters. and exalts the value of his own ad- 286 Towneley Plays. XXIV. The Talents. (32) The Counsel- Consultus. Why shuld I not meH of those maters that lor upbraids T , , , , n Pilate, 1 naue you taghti Thoug ye be prynce peerles withoutt any pere, were not my wyse wysdom youre wyttys were in waght ; And that is seen expresse and playnly right here, And done in dede. 220 (33) pilatus. Why, hoy, bot has thou sayde 1 Consultus. yee, lorde. Piiateiaughs pilatus. Therfor the devyH the spede, thou carle vnkyn de not knowing Sich felowse myght weli be on rowme ! kings? 1 ° y e knaw not the comon cowrs that longys to a kyng. 1 225 (34) The 1st primus tortor. Mahowne most myghtfuH, he mensk you torturer cer- * . .,-, tines that witA mayn, Slate con- m Sir pilate pereles, prynce of this prese ! nowXa'd? And saue y ou ) s ^ r > syttand semely suffrayn ! we haue soght to thy sayH no sayng to sessej 229 Bot certyfie sone ; ye wote that ye demyd this day apon desse, we dowte not his doyng, for now is he done. 232 (35) Pilate is glad pilatus. je ar welcom, Iwys, ye ar worthy ay war ; but bids Be it fon so of that fatur, in fayth then am I fayne. [Foi. 95, a.] Secimdus tortor. we haue markyd that mytyng, nomore them keep shall he mar; we prayed you, sir pilate, to put hym to payn, 236 And we thoght it weli wroght. pilatus. lefe syrs, let be youre laytt and loke that ye layn ; flor nothyng that may be nevyn ye it noght. 239 (36) The 3rd Tevcius tortor. Make myrtn of that mytyng full mekyH torturer asks if Pilate we may, clothes. And haue lykyng of oure lyfe for los of that lad ; Bot, syr pilate peerles, a poynt I the pray ; hope ye with hethyng that harnes he had ■ 243 1 % assonance to " vnkyn de." Towncky Plays. XXIV. The Talents. 287 To hold that was hys 1 Pilate at pi , ,i i it once claims PilatUs. That appontys vnto mo, maia ! art thoa mad I them. I ment that no mytyng shuld' meH hym of this. 246 (37) primus tortov. Mefe the not, master, more if he meH, The 1st ■*■ torturer ob- ffor thou shall parte from that pelfe, thar thou not pleyte. jects, n ii J! n and Pilate jpilatus. yit styrt not farer for noght that 1 ye ieri ; then asks I aske this gowne of youre gyfte, it is not so greatt, 250 as a gift. And yit may it agayn you. Secxmdus tortov. how, aH in fageyng % in fayth" I know of youre featte, ffor it fallys to vs four fyrst wiH I frayn you. 253 (38) pilatns. And I myster to no maner of mans bot myn. The 3rd Tevcius tortor. yee, lord, let shere it in shredys. proposes to joilatus. Xow that hald I good skyH ! take thou this, & pTeces! nt0 thou that, & this shaH be thyne, 257 (39) And by lefe and by law this may leyfe styH. primus tortov. lordyng ! I weyn it is wrang, The . -i torturer for- 01 this gOOd, swears the here I forswere hertely / by mahownes blood ; andfcWSi ffor was I neuer so happy / by mayn nor by mode, cTScYrs.^ 6 To wyn with sich sotelty / to my Ijiys fode, As ye ken; 372 Thise dysars and thise hullars, Thise cokkers and thise bollars, And all purs-cuttars, Bese well war of thise men. 376 (57) Secxmdxis tortor. ffy, fy, on thise dyse / the deviH I theym The second 4._i_„ i commits the taKe - dice to the vnwytty, vnwyse / With thaym that Wold lake ; [Foi. 97, a. As fortune assyse / men wyH she make ; lg ' hir maners ar nyse / she can downe and vptake ; devil. For- . , - oon tune delights And rycn 381 to set men o,, , up and cast She turnes vp-so-downe, them down. And vnder abone, Most 1 chefe of renowne She castas in the dyche. 385 (58) By hir meanes she makys / dysers to seH, dicers Sif As thay sytt and lakys / thare come and thare cateH ; catSa nd 292 Townehy Plays. XXIV. The Talents. Then they cry out and want to fight. The third torturer traces loss and oft- times man- slaughter to dicing. Let them leave such vanity and serve God. Pilate praises the torturers and dis- misses them with a French blessing. 390 394 Then cry thay and crakkys / bowne vnto bateH, his hyppys then bak^/s / no symnerl ffor hote. Bot fare weH, thryf te ! Is ther none other skyfte Bot syfte, lady, syfte 1 Thise dysars thay dote. (59) Teicius totiot. what co??imys of dysyng / I pray you hark after, Bot los of good? in lakyng / and oft tymes mens slaghter ! Thus sorow is at partyng / at metyng if ther be laghter ; I red leyf sich vayn thyng / and serue god herafter, ffor heuens blys ; 399 That lord? is most myghty, And gentyllyst of Iury, we helde to hym holy ; how thynk ye by this 1 403 (60) pilatus. weli worth you all thre, most doughty in dede ! Of all the clevkys that I knaw, most conyng ye be, By soteltes of youre sawes, youre lawes forto lede ; I graunt you playn powere and frenship frele, I say; 1 Dew vows [garde], mon senyours ! Mahowne most myghty in castels and towres he kepe you, loidjugys, and art youres, And hauys aH gud day. Explicit pwcessus talentorxxm. 408 412 1 i. e. Dieu vous [garde], monseigneurs ! 2'owneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 293 (XXV.) Incipit extracczo Mtimaxum, &c. [29 eight-line stanzas abababab ; 1 six-line (no 18) aab aba ; 40 four-line abab ; 4 couplets.] {Dramatis Personae. Ihesus. Adam. Eva. Simeon. Johannes Baptista. Moyses. Ribald. Belzebub. David. Sathanas. Ysaias.] inesus. M iTtesus. (1) "y fader me from "blys has send Till erth for mankynde sake, Adam mys forto amend, My deth nede must I take. (2) , I dwellyd ther thryrty yeres and two, And somdele more, the sothe to say ; In anger, pyne, and mekyH wo, I dyde on cros this day. (3) Therfor tiH hell now WiH I go, To chalange that is myne ; Adam, eue, and othere mo, Thay shaH no longer dweH in pyne. w The feynde theym wan "With trayn a Thrugh fraude of earthly fode, I haue theym boght agan With shedyng of my blode. (5) And now I wiH that stede restore, which" the feynde f eH fro for syn ; Som tokyn wiH I send before, with myrth to gar thare gammes begyn. (6) A light 1 1 wiH thay haue To know I wiH com sone ; My body shaH abyde in graue TiH aH this dede be done. 12 16 Jesus"re- counts how He has "been born, ministered, and died for man's salva- tion. He mustnow rescue His own from hell. He will send thither a 1 light as a token of His coming. 20 24 294 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. (7) Adam calls Adam. My brether, herkyn vnto me here ! his brethren _ .. .. ,.-1-1,1 ■, ■, to listen : he More nope oi helth neuer we had ; S66S tokens of solace. Fower thowsand 1 and sex hundreth 2 yere haue we bene here in darknes stad ; 28 Now se I tokyns of solace sere, A gloryous gleme to make vs glad, Wher thrugfi I hope that help is nere, That sone shaH slake oure sorowes sad. 32 (3) Eve, too, Eua. Adam, my husband heynd, light as a This menys solace certan ; Sich light can on vs leynd In paradyse fuH playn. 36 (9) Isaiah re- Isaias. Adam, thrugh thi syn calls Adam's ' ° J first sin, here were we put to dwell, This wykyd place within ; The name of it is hell ; 40 here paynes shaH neue?* blyn, That wykyd ar and fell, loue that lord with wyn, his lyfe for vs wold sell. 44 Et cantent omnes "saluator mundi," pwnum versum. (10) and his own Adam, thou well vnderstand the hght y ° I am Isaias, so crist me kende. coLVSem I spake of folke in darknes walkand, indarSes?. I saide a Hght shuld* on theym lende ; 48 [Foi. 98, a. This light is all from crist commancle lg * ' That 1 he till vs has hedir sende, Thus is my poynt proved in hand', as I before to fold' it kende. 52 (ii) Simeon*. So may I tett of farlys feyH, ffor in the tempyH his fiejndys me fande, Me thoght daynteth" with hym to deyH, I halsid hym homely with my hand ; 56 1 MS. iiij M 1 . 2 MS. vi C. Toivneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 295 I saide, lord, let thi seruand?/s leyH pas in peasse to lyf lastande ; Now that myn eeyn has sene thyn hele no longer lyst I lyf in lande. (12) This light thou has purvayde ffor theym that lyf in lede ; That 1 1 before of the haue saide I se it is fulfillyd in dede. 60 Simeon re- members Christ's pre- sentation in the Temple and his own "Nunc dimittis." He now sees the light which he then fore- told. 64 (13) Iohsumes baptists,. As a voce cryand I kend The wayes of crist, as I weft can ; I baptisid hym with both myn hende in the water of flume Iordan ; The holy gost from heuen discende As a white dowfe downe on me than ; The fader voyce, oure myrthes to amende, Was made to me lyke as a man ; (14) " yond is my son," he saide, "and which me pleasses fuli welt," his light is on vs layde, and commys oure karys to kele. (15) Moyses. Now this same nyghtt lernyng haue I, to me, moyses, he shewid his myght, And also to anothere oone, hely, where we stud on a hiH: on hyght ; As whyte as snaw was his body, his face was like the son for bright 1 , Noman on mold? was so myghty grathly durst loke agans that light* ; (16) And that same light here se I now shynyng on vs, certayn, where thrugh truly I trow that we shall sone pas fro this payn. 68 72 76 John the Baptist re- calls the Baptism of Christ and the voice from Heaven. Christ's light come? to assuage their cares. Moses re- calls the Transfigura- tion and the wondrous light there 80 shown. 84 That same light he see now. 88 296 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. Rybald is full of fore- boding that the souls will escape. He bids Beelzebub bind them. They are crying on Christ and say He will save them. (17) RybaM. Sen fyrst that heH was mayde / And I was put therin, Sich sorow neuer ere I had* / nor hard I sich a dyn ; My hart hegynnys to brade / my wytt waxys thyn, I drede we can not be glad / thise saules mon fro vs twyn. (18) how, belsabub ! bynde thise boys, 1 / sich harow was neuer hard in heH. Belzabub. Out*, rybaldU thou rores, / what is betyd? can thou oght teH ? Rybald. whi, herys thou not this vgly noyse % 2 thise lurdans that in lymbo dweH 2 Thay make menyng of many Ioyse, 3 and Muster myrthes theym emeH. 3 98 (19) Belzabub. Myrth ? nay, nay ! that poynt is past, more hope of helth shall thay neuer haue. RybaM. They cry on crist full fast, And says he shall theym saue. (20) 102 [Foi. 98, b.] Beelzabub. yee, though he do not, I shaH, ffor they ar sparyd in specyaH space ; whils I am prynce and pryncypaH they shaH neuer pas out of this place. CaH vp astarot and anabaH To gyf vs counsel* in this case ; Belt, berith, and bellyaH, To mar theym that sich mastry mase. Beelzebub bids him call up Astaroth and other devils, 106 110 and tell Satan, and bid him bring Lucifer. Jesus calls for the gates to be raised. (21) Say to sir satan oure syre, and byd hym bryng also Sir lucyfer, lufly of lyre. Rybaldl. AH redy lord* I go. 114 JT/iesus. Attollite portas, principes, vesfras & eleuamini porte eternales, & mtroibit rex glorie. 1 Originally ' ' oure bowys " (and probably "bende"). 2 & 3 These and following lines are single lines with central rymes. Towncley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 297 (22) RybaM. Out, harro, out ! what deviH is he That callys hym kyng ouer vs aH ? hark belzabub, com ne, ffor hedusly I hard hym call. Belzabub. Go, spar the yates, yH mot thou the ! And? set the waches on the waH ; If that brodeH com ne "With vs ay won he shall ; 119 123 Rybald cries to Beelze- bub, who bids him lock the gates and set watches, (23) And if he more caH or cry, To make vs more debate, lay on hym hardely, And make hym go his gate. 127 and to fall upon Jesus if He calls again. (24) Dauid. Nay, with hym may ye not fyght, ffor he is king and conqueroure, And of so mekiH myght, And styf in euery stoure ; Of hym commys aH this light that shynys in this bowre ; he is fuH fers in fight, worthi to wyn honoure. 131 135 David warns him that they may not fight with Jesus, Who is King and Con- queror. (25) Belzabub. honowre ! harsto, harlot, for what dede ] Alle erthly men to me ar thrall ; That lad that thou callys lord* in lede he had neuer harbor, house, ne haH. 139 Beelzebub claims all earthly men as his thralls. (26) how, sir sathanas ! com nar And hark this cursid rowte ! Sathanas. The deviH you aH to-har ! "What 1 ales the so to showte ] And me, if I com nar, thy brayn bot I bryst owte ! Belzabub. Thou must com help to spar, we ar beseged* abowte. 143 He calls Satan, who asks what is the matter. Beelzebub says they are 147 besieged. .298 Tovmeley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. Satan bids them see that Jesus does not (27) _ Sathanas. Besegyd aboute ! whi, who durst be so bold! for drede to make on vs a fray 1 Belzahube. It is the lew that Iudas sold* ffor to be dede this othere day. 151 Sathanas. how ! in tyme that tale was told, that trature trauesses vs aH-way ; he shalbe here fuH hard in hold, bot loke he pas not, I the pray. 155 Beelzebub says Jesus has far other thoughts. Satan defies Jesus. [Fol. 99, a. Sig. P. 3.] He coun- selled the Jews to kill Him, (28) Belzdbub. Pas ! nay, nay, he wiH not weynde ffrom hens or it be war ; he shapys hym for to sheynd AH her! or he go far. (29) Sathanas. ny, faturs ! therof shall he fayH, ffor ali his fare I hym defy ; I know his trantes fro top to tayH, he lyrics by g&wdys and glory. Therby he broght furth of oure bayH The lath lazare of betany, Bot to the lues I gaf counsayH That thay shuld cause hym dy ; 59 163 167 and per- suaded Judas to carry out the agree- ment. (30) I enterd ther into Iudas, that forward to fulfyH, Therfor his hyere he has, AH wayes to won here styll. 171 (31) Rybaid asks RybaM. Sir sathan, sen we here the say Satan, as ■%,-,•* , this is his thou and the lues were at assent, hope's' to And wote he wan the lazare away Jesus ? that vnto vs was taken to tent, hopys thou that thou mar hym may to Muste?* the malyce that he has ment 1 ffor and he refe vs now oure pray we wiH ye witt or he is went. 175 179 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 299 (32) Sathanas. I byd the noght abaste, Satan en- bot boldly make you bowne, him. ° With toyles that ye intraste, And dyng that dastard downe. 183 Ihesus. Attollifce portas, principes, xestras, &c. Jesus calls (33) Rybaid. Outt, harro ! what harlot is he that sayes his kyngdom shalbe cryde 1 dauid. That may thou in sawter se, David re- " calls his pro- for of this prynce thus ere I saide ; 188 phecyof (34) I saide that he shuld? breke Christ's youre barres and bandys by name, And of youre wark^/s take wreke ; now shall thou se the same. 192 (35) iT&esus. ye prynces of heH open youre yate, Jesus sum- And let my folk furth gone ; to open the A prynce of peasse shall enter therat wheder ye wiH or none. 196 (36) Rybal&. What art thou that spekys so 1 Rybaid and ,, . , _ , _ , r , .\ .. Beelzebub Ihesus. A kyng of blys that night mesus. defy mm. Rybal&. yee, hens fast I red thou go, And meH the not with vs. 200 (37) Belzabub. Oure yates I trow wiH last, thay ar so strong I weyn ; Bot if oure barres brast, ffor the they shall not twyn. 204 (38) Ihesus. This stede shall stand' no longer stokyn ; Jesus bursts -., t , -n the bars to open vp, and let my pepiH pas. the dismay RybaM. Out, harro ! oure bayH is brokyn, of Rybaid. and brusten ar all oure band^s of bras ! 208 300 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. Beelzebub laments. Satan re- proaches the devils for not over- throwing Christ, [Fol. 99, b.] and calls for his own armour. He chal- lenges Je! Who an- nounces His mission to save the prisoners. (39) Belzabub. harro ! oure yates begyn to crak ! In sonder, I trow, they go, And heH:, I trow, wiH alt to-shak ; Alas, what I am wo ! 212 (40) RybaM. lymbo is lorne, alas ! sir sathanas com vp ; This wark is wars then it was. Sathanas. yee, hangyd he thou on a cruke 1 ! 216 (41) Thefys, I bad ye shuld* be bowne, If he maide mastres more, To dyng that dastard? downe, sett hym both sad and sore. 220 (42) Belzabub. To sett hym sore, that is sone saide ! com thou thi self and seme hym so ; we may not abyde his bytter brayde, he wold vs mar and we were mo. 224 Sathanas. ffy, f ature ! wherfor were ye flayd ? haue ye no force to flyt hym fro ? loke in haste my gere be grayd, my self shaft to that gadlyng go. 228 (43) how ! thou belamy, abyde, with aH: thi boste and beyr ! And tett me in this tyde what mastres thou m&kys here. 232 (a) Ihesus. I make no mastry bot for myne ; I wiH theym saue, that 1 shall the sow ; Thou has no powere theym to pyne, bot 1 in my pryson for thare prow 236 here haue they soriornyd, noght as thyne, bot in thi wayrd, thou wote as how. Sathanas. why, where has thou bene ay syn, that neuer wold negh theym nere or now? 240 1 assonance with e up. ' Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 301 (45) I^esus. Now is the tyme certan The ordained My fader ordand her for, come. &S That thay shuld* pas fro payn, In blys to dwell for euermore. 244 (46) Sathanas. Thy fader knew I well by syght, Satan asks how the son he was a wright, his meett to wyn; of Joseph Mary, me mynnys, thi moder hight, so mighty? . the vtmast ende of all thy kyn ; 248 Say who made the so mekiH of myght 1 Jfeesus. Thou wykyd feynde, lett he thi dy[n] ! Jesus re- „ , , ,' . , . veals that my fader wonnes in heuen on night, He is God's In blys that neuer more shall blyn ; 252 (47) I am his oonly son, / his f orward? to fulfyH, Togeder wiH we won, / In sonder when we wyfr. 254 (48) Sathan\ Goddys son ! nay, then myght thou be glad, for no cateH thurt the craue ; Bot thou has lyffyd ay lyke a lad, In sorow, and as a sympiH knaue. 258 (49) Ihesus. That 1 was for the hartly luf I had He has con- Vnto mans sauH, it forto saue, Godhead to And forto make the masyd and mad', soIis^nd' S And for that reson rufully to rafe. 262 gjg (50) My godhede here I hyd In mary, moder myne, where it shall neuer be kyd to the ne none of thyne. 266 (51) Sathan). how now 1 this wold I were told? in towne ; thou says god is thi syre ; I shall the prove by good reson thou mojttys as man dos into myre. 270 302 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. Satan claims To breke thi byddyng they were furl bowne, the souls as . . . , , , , , And soyn they wroght at my desyre ; God's enemies. [Fol. 100, a. Sig. P. 4.] Jesus re- minds him of the pro- phecies of His coming. Satan quotes Solomon and Job to show that once in hell there is no release. ffrom paradise thou putt theym downe, In heH here to haue thare hyre ; (52) And thou thy self, by day and nyght, taght euer aH men emang, Euer to do reson and right, And here thou wyrkys aH wrang. (53) Ihesus. I wyrk no wrang, that 1 shall thou wytt, if I my men fro wo wiH wyn ; My propheta/s playnly prechyd if, AH the noytys that I begyn ; They saide that I shuld be that ilke a In heH where I shuld intre in, To saue my seruand?/s fro that pytt where dampnyd saullys shaH syt for syn. (54) And ilke true prophete tayH shalbe fulfillid^ in me ; I haue thaym boght fro bayU, in blis now shall they be. (55) Sathanas. Now sen thou lyst to legge the lawes, thou shalbe tenyd or we twyn, ffor those that thou to witnes drawes ff uH euen agans the shaft begyn ; As salamon saide in his sawes, who that ones commys heH within he shall neuer owte, as clevkys knawes, therfor, belamy, let be thy dyn. (56) lob thi seruande also In his tyme can tell That nawder freynde nor fo shall fynde relese in heH. 274 282 286 290 294 298 302 1 assonance with ' it. Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 303 (57) Ihesus. he sayde fuH soyth, that shaH thou se, In heft shalbe no relese, Bot of that place then ment he where synfuH care shaH euer encrese. 306 In that bayH ay shaH thou be, where sorowes seyr shaH neuer sesse, And my f olke that were most fre shaH pas vnto the place of peasse ; 310 (58) ffor they were here with my wiH, And so thay shaH furtn - weynde ; Thou shaH thiself fulfyH euer wo withoutten ende. 314 (59) Sathan\ Whi, and wiH thou take theym all me fro ? then thynk me thou art vnkynde ; Nay, I pray the do not so ; Vmthynke the better in thy mynde ; 318 Or els let me with the go, I pray the leyffe me not behynde ! 77iesus. Nay, tratur, thou shaH won in wo, and tiH a stake I shaH the bynde. 322 (60) Sathan\ Now here I how thou menys emang, with mesure and malyce forto meH ; Eot sen thou says it shalbe lang, yit som let atr-wayes with vs dwell. 326 Ihesus. Yis, wytft thou weH, els were greatt 1 wrang ; thou shaH haue caym that slo abeH, And arr that hastes theym self to hang, As dyd Iudas and architopheH ; 330 (61) And daton and abaron / and aH of thare assent, Cursyd tyrantt?/s euer ilkon / that me and myn tormente. (62) And aH that wiH not lere my law, That I haue left in land* for new, That m.akys my commyng knaw, And aH my sacramenta/s persew ; 336 Jesus an- swers that there is no release from the eternal hell in which the devil shall be kept, but these souls shall depart to bliss. that they may be left, or that he, too, may go. Jesus says he shall keep some souls, such as Cain and Judas, and all who will not learn His law. 304 Towneley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. [Fol. 100, b.] He will judge these worse than the Jews. Satan is pleased with the bargain. He will go east and west and make men sin. Jesus tells him he shall be fast bound. Satan sinks into hell, Rybald re- viling him. Jesus sum- mons forth His chil- dren. Adam gives thanks. My deth, my rysyng, red by raw, "Who trow thaym not thay ar vntrewe ; vnto my dome I shall theym draw, And luge theym wars then any lew. 340 (63) ' And thay that lyst to lere / my law, and lyf therby, ShaH neuer haue harmes here, / bot welth as is worthy. 342 (64) Sathanas. Now here my hand, I hold* me payde, thise poynto/s ar playnly for my prow ; If this be trew that thou has saide, we ShaH haue mo then we haue now ; Thies lawes that thou has late here laide, I shaH theym lere not to alow ; If thay myn take thay ar betraide, and I shaH turne theym tytt I trow. (65) I shaH walk eest, I shaH walk west, and gar theym wyrk weH war. iftesus. Nay feynde, thou shalbe feste, that thou shaH flyt no far. 354 (66) Sathan\ ffeste] fy ! that were a wykyd treson ! belamy, thou shalbe smytt. Ihesus. DeviH, I commaunde the to go downe 346 350 into thi sete where thou shaH syt. Sathan\ Alas, for doyH and care ! I synk into hett pytt ! Rybald:. Sir sathanas, so saide I are, now shaH thou haue a fytt. (67) 7/iesus. Com now furth, my ehilder aH, I forgyf you youre mys ; With me now go ye shaH to Ioy and endles blys. (68) Adam, lord, thou art fuH mekyH of myght, that mekys thiself on this manere, To help vs aH as thou had vs hight, when both forfett I and my fere ; 358 362 366 370 TovMcley Plays. XXV. The Deliverance of Souls. 305 here haue we dwelt 1 withoutten light Fower thousand 1 and sex 2 hundreth yere ; Now se we by this solempne sight 1 how that thi mercy m&kys vs dere. 374 (69) Eua. lord, we were worthy / more tornament^/s to tast ; Thou help vs lord with thy mercy / as thou of myght is mast. (70) Iohannes. lord, I loue the inwardly, that me wold' make thi messyngere, Thi commyng in erth to cry, and tech thi fayth to folk in fere ; 380 Sythen before the forto dy, to bryng theym bodword that be here, how thay shuld haue thi help in hy, now se I aH those poynt?/s appere. 384 (71) Moyses. Dauid, thi prophete trew, oft tymes told* vnto vs, Of thi commyng he knew, and saide it shuld? be thus. 388 (72) Dauid. As I saide ere yit say I so, 11 ne derelinquas, domine, Anim&m meam in inferno ; " "leyfe neuer my saull, lord, after the, 392 In depe heH wheder dampned* shall go ; suffre thou neuer thi sajntys to se The sorow of thaym that won in wo, ay fuH of fylth, and may not 1 fle." 396 (73) Moyses. Make myrth both more and les, and loue oure lord we may, That has broght vs fro bytternes In blys to abyde for ay. 400 (74) ysaias. Therf or now let vs syng to loue oure lord ihesus ; Vnto his blys he wiH vs bryng, Te deum laudamus. 404 Explicit extraccio animarum ah inferno. T. PLAYS. This sight comes to them after 4600 years of darkness. i MS. iiij Ml. 2 MS. vj. Eve con- fesses they deserved more punish- ment. The Baptist gives thanks to Christ for having made him His messenger. Moses re- calls the prophecies of David, who repeats his prayer that his soul be not left in hell. [Fol.l01,a.] Moses and Isaiah unite in exhorta- tion to love God. 306 Toivneley Plays. XX VI. The Besurrection of the Lord. XXVI. Resurreccfo domtni. Pilate calls for silence on pain of hanging. He is Pilate, who has punished Jesus. Let watch be kept if any follow His words. Pilatus. Caiaphas. Centurio. Anna. Primus Miles. [Dramatis Personae. Secundus Miles. Tercius Miles. Quartus Miles. Angeli, Primus & Secundus. Iliesus. Maria Magdalene. Maria Jacobi. MariauSalomee. [1 eleven-line stanza, no. 11, aaab ab acb cb ; 1 nine-line, no. 101 ab abbbc be ; 4 eight-line, no. 7 aaab cccb, nos. 95, 99, 100 aab aab cc ; 93 six-line stanzas, nos. 51-3 aaab cb, no. 73 ababec, no. 96 aab aab, the rest aaab ab ; 1 three-line, no. 97 aab ; 1 couplet, no. 24.] pilatus. (1) PEasse, I warne you, woldys in wytt 1 ! And stances on syde or els go sytt 1 , ffor here ar men that 1 go not yit 1 , And lordys of nie[kiH] myght ; 4 "We thynk to abyde, and not to flyttt, I tell you euery wyghfr. 6 (2) Spare youre spech, ye brodels bold, And sesse youre cry till I haue told? What that my worship wold, here in thise wonys ; whoso that 1 wyghtly nold ffull hy bese hanged his bonys. (3) wote ye not that I am pilate, That 1 satt 1 apon the Iustyce late, At caluarie where I was att This day at 1 morne % I am he, that 1 great 1 state, That lad has aH to-torne. Now sen that lothly loseH is thus ded, I haue great 1 ioy in my manhede, Therfor wold I in ilk sted It 1 were tayn hede, 22 If any felowse felow his red, , Or more his law wold lede. 24 10 12 16 18 Towneley Plays. XXVI. Tlie Resurrection of the Lord. 307 (5) ffor and I knew it 1 , cruelly his lyfe bees lost, and that shortly, that he were better hyng ful hy On galow tre ; 28 Therfor ye prelates shuld aspy If any sich be. 30 (6) As I am man of myght?/s most, If ther be any that blow sich bost, with tormentys keyn bese he indost ffor euermore ; 34 The deviH to heft shaH harry hys goost, Bot I say nomore. 36 (7) Caiplias. Sir, ye thar nothyng be dredand, ffor centurio, I vnderstand, youre knyght is left abydand Eight 1 ther behynde ; 40 We left hyni ther, for man most wyse, If any rybaldt/s wold oght ryse, To sesse theym to the next assyse, And then forto make ende. 44 Tunc veniet centurio velut miles equit&ns. (8) Centurio. A, blyssyd lord adonay, 1 what may this nierueH sygnyfy That here was shewyd so openly vnto oure sight, 48 When the rightwys man can dy that 1 ihesus hight 1 1 50 (9) heuen it shoke abone, Of shynyng blan both son and moyne, And dede men also rose vp sone, Outt of thare grafe ; 54 And stones in waH anone In sonde?- brast and clafe. 56 1 This stanza is written as three lines in the MS, with central rhymes. [Fol. 101, b.] If they do Pilate will kill them, and the devil harry their ghost to hell. Caiaphas says the Cen- turion has been left behind to arrest ribalds. The Cen- turion pon- ders on the signs that accompanied the death of Jesus. 308 Toioneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. The princes were wrong, and Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Birds in the air and fish in the sea knew that their Lord was being put to death. [Fol. 102, a.] He ex- - changes greetings with Pilate, who asks his news. The Cen- turion says they have sinned in slaying a righteous (10) Ther was seen many a full sodan sight, Oure prynces, for sothe, dyd nothyng right, And so I saide to theym on hight, As it is trew, 60 That he was most of myght, The son of god, ihesu. 62 (ii) ffowlys in the ayer and iisn in floode, That day changid thare mode, when that he was rent on rode, That lord veray ; 66 ffuR weH thay vnderstode That he was slayn that 1 day. 68 Therfor right as I meyn / to theym fast wiH I ryde, To wyt withoutten weyn / what they wiH say this tyde Of this enfray ; 71 I wiH no longer abyde bot fast ride on my way. 73 (12) God saue yon, syrs, on euery syde ! Worship and welth in warld so wyde 1 pilatus. Centurio, welcom this tyde, Oure comly knyghfr ! 77 Centurio. God graunt you grace weH forto gyde, And rewH you right 1 . 79 (13) pilatus. Centurio, welcom, draw nere hand ! TeH vs som tythyngt/s here emang, nor ye haue gone thrughoutt oure land, ye know ilk dele. 83 Centurio. Sir, I drede me ye haue done wrang And wonder yH. 85 (14) Cayphas. wonder yli ? I pray the why % declare that to this company. Centurio. So shall I, sir, full securly, with aH my niayn : 89 The right wys man, I meyn, hym by that ye haue slayn. 91 Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Resumction of the, Lord. 309 (15) pilatus. Centurio, sese of sich saw : ye ar a greatt man of oure law, And if we shnld any wytnes draw, To vs excuse, 95 To rnayntene vs euermore ye aw, And noght refuse. 97 (16) Centurio. To mayntene trowth is weii worthy ; I saide when I sagh hym dy, That it was god?/s son almyghty, That hang thore ; . 101 So say I yit and abyd?/s therby, fTor euermore. 103 (17) Anna, yee, sir, sich resons may ye rew, Thou shuld not neuen sich notes new, Bot thou couth any tokyns trew, vntiH vs teft. 107 Centurio. Sich wonderful! case neuer ere ye knew As then befeH. 109 (18) Cayphas. we pray the teH vs, of what thyng ? Centurio. Of elyment^/s, both old' and ying, In thare manere maide greatt mowrnyng, In ilka stede; 113 Thay knew by contenaunce that thare kyng was done to dede. 115 (19) The son for wo it waxed aft wan. The moyn and starnes of shynyng blan, And erth it tremlyd as a man Began to speke ; 119 The stone, that neuer was styrryd or than, In sonder brast and breke ; 121 Pilate re- bukes him. The Cen- turion main- tains it was God's Son they cruci- fied. Annas asks for a proof. The Cen- turion re- counts the mourning of the elements as for their kins. (20) And dede men rose vp bodely, both greatt and small. pilatus, Centurio, be war with aH ! ye wote the clerk?/s the clypp?/-? it call 310 Towneley Plays. XX VI. The Resurrection of the Lord. Pilate says Sich sodan sight ; 125 call such a That son and nioyne a seson shall eclipse. lak of thare light. 127 (21) [Foi. 102, h.] Cayphas. Sir, and if that dede men ryse vp bodely, The dead xhat may be done thrugh socery, may arise d ° " through Therfor nothyng we sett therby, sorcery. J & J ' that be thou bast. 131 Centurio. Sir, that I saw truly, That shall I euermore trast. 133 (22) The Ceii- Not for that ilk warke that ye dyd wyrke, his eyes, and Not oonly for the son wex myrke, SanXn'f Bot how the vayH rofe in the kyrke, XT^of ffayn wyt I wold. 137 the Temple. jpHafas. A, sich tayles fuH sone wold make vs yrke, if thay were told. 139 (23) Pilate bids harlot ! wherto co7?imys thou vs emang Mm oegone. ^ ^ l QSjngys vs to fang % Weynd f urth ! hy myght thou hang, Vylefatur! 143 Cayphas. Weynd furth in the Wenyande, And hold styH thy clattur. 145 (24) Centurio. Sirs, sen ye set not by my saw, / haues now good day ! God lene you grace to knaw / the sothe aH way. 147 (25) Anna, with draw the fast, sen thou the dredys, ffor we shall weH mayntene oure de&ys. pilatus. Sich wonderfuH resons as now xe&ys were neuer beforne, 151 Cayphas. To neuen this note nomore vs nedys, th°e U matS h • nawder euen nor morne, 153 He takes his leave. Caiaphas woi the up. (26) Bot forto be war of more were That afterward myght do vs dere, Therfor, sir, whils ye ar here Towncley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. 311 vs aH emam 157 They must consult Avyse you of thise sawes sere together. how thay wiH stand. 159 (27) ffor iliesus saide fuH openly Jesus pro- phesied that He should rise again Vnto the men that yode hym by, A thyng that grevys aH Iury, the third day. And right so may, 163 That he shuld* ryse vp bodely within the thryde day. 165 (28) If it be so, as myght I spede, They must guard The latter dede is more to drede against this. Then was the fyrst, if we take hede And tend therto ; 169 Avyse you, sir, for it is nede, the best 1 to do. 171 (29) Anna. Sir, neuer the les if he saide so, [Fol. 103, a.] he hase no myght to ryse and go, Annas thinks the Eot his dyscypyls steyH his cors vs fro disciples ■will steal the And bere away ; 175 body. That were titt vs, and othere mo, A fowH enf ray. 177 (30) Then wold the pepyfr say euerilkon The tomb, That he were rysen hym self alon, therefore, should be Therfor ordan to kepe that stone watched by knights. with knyghta/s heynd, 181 To thise thre, 1 dayes be commen and gone - And broght till ende. 183 (31) pilatus, Now, cevtys, sir, full weH ye say, And for this ilk poynt to puruay I shaH, if that I may ; he shaH not ryse, 187 Pilate [Nor none shaH wyn hym thens away agrees. of nokyns wyse. 189 1 MS. iij. 312 Tovmeley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. Pilate bids his knights guard the body of Jesus, that no traitor steal it. They express their readi- ness with boasts, (32) Sir knyghta/s, that ar of dedys dughty, And chosen for chefe of cheualry, As I may me in you any, By day and nyght, ye go and kepe ihesu body with aH youre myght ; (33) And for thyng that be may, kepe hym weH vnto the thryd day, That no tratur steyH his cors you fray, Out of that sted; ffor if ther do, truly I say, ye shaft be dede. (34) primus Miles, yis, sir pilate, in certan, we shall hym kepe with aH oure mayn ; Ther shall no tratur with no trayn SteyH hym vs fro ; Sir knyghtys, take gere that best may gayn, 193 195 199 201 And let vs go. 205 20> (35) and take up their station round the tomb, still boasting. Secundus Miles, yis, cevtys, we are aH redy bowne, we shaH hym kepe till youre renowne ; On euery syde lett vs sytt downe, we aH in fere ; 211 And I shaH fownde to crak his crowne whoso commys here. 213 (36) jmmus Miles, who shuld be where, fayn wold I wytt. Secuiidus Miles. Euen on this syde wylt I sytt. Tercius Miles. And I shaH fownde his feete to flytt. iiijus miles, we ther shrew ther ! 217 Now by mahowne, fayn wold I wytt who durst com here 219 (37) [Pol. 103, b.] This cors with treson forto take, ffor if it were the burnand drake Of me styfly he gatt 1 a strake, Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. 318 223 [The soldiers sleep : Jesus rises.'] 225 Tunc cantabunt angeli " Christus 2 resurgens" & postea dicet ihesus. haue here my hand ; To thise thre 1 clayes be past 1 , This cors I dar warand. (38) Ihesus. Erthly man, that I haue wroght, wightly wake, and slepe thou noght ! with bytter bayH I haue the boghf, . To make the fre ; 229 Into this dongeon depe I soght And aH for luf of the. 231 (39) Behold how dere I wold the by ! My wound^/s ar weytt and aH blody ; The, synfuH man, fuH dere boght I With tray and teyn ; 235 Thou fyle the noght eft for-thy, Now art thou cleyn. 237 (40) Clene haue I mayde the, synfuii man, With wo and wandreth I the wan, ffrom harte and syde the blood out 1 ran, Sich was my pyne ; Thou must me luf that thus gaf than My lyfe for thyne. (41) Thou synfuH man that by me gase, Tytt vnto me thou turne thi face ; Behold* my body, in ilka place how it was dight 1 ; AH to-rent and aH to-shentt, Man, for thy plight. 249 (42) With cordes enewe and ropys toghe The lues feH my lymmes out-drogh, iror that I was not mete enoghe vnto the bore ; 253 with hard stownd?/s thise depe wound?/.s- Tholyd I thefore. 255 1 MS. iij. 2 MS> X p S# They will warrant the safety of the body for these three days. Jesus calls men to re- member what He has done for them. Let them not defile them- selves now He has cleansed them. 241 243 Let them look on His torn and . h, wounded -i47 body. 314 Toivneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. (43) His pains A crowne of thorne, that is so kene, and shame „, , , „ were ail lnay set apon my nede tor tene, man, Two thefys hang thai me betwene, AH for dyspyte ; 259 This payn ilk dele thou shall wyt wele, May I the wyte. 261 (44) Behald my shankes and my knees, Myn armes and my thees ; [Foi. 104, a.] Behold me weH, looke what thou sees, Bot sorow and pyne ; 265 Thus was I spylt, man, for thi gylt, And not for myne. 267 (45) And yit more vnderstand thou shaH ; In stede of drynk thay gaf me gall, AseH thay menged it with all, The lues feH; . 271 to save his The payn I haue, tholyd I to saue Kii. r ° m Mans sauH from hell. 273 (46) Behold* my body how lues it dang with knotta/s of whyppys and scorges Strang ; As stremes of weH the bloode out sprang On euery syde ; 277 knottes where thay hyt, weH may thou wytt, Maide wound?/-s wyde. 279 (47) And therfor thou shaU vnderstand In body, heed, feete, and hand, ffour hundreth wound?/s and fyue 1 thowsand here may thou se ; 283 And therto neyn 2 were delt f uH euen ffor luf of the. 285 Behold? on me noght els is lefte, And or that thou were fro me refte, AH thise paynes wold I thole efte 1 MS. v. 2 MS. ix. Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. 315 And for the dy ; here may thou se that I luf the, Man, faythfully. (49) Sen I for luf, man, boght the dere, As thou thi self the sothe sees here, I pray the hartely, with good chere, luf me agane ; That it lyked me that I for the tholyd aH this payn. (50) If thou thy lyfe in syn haue led, Mercy to ask be not adred ; The leste drope I for the bled Myght clens the soyn, AH the syn the warld with in If thou had done. (51) I was well wrother with Iudas ffor that he wold not ask me no grace, Then I was for his trespas That he me sold ; I was redy to shew mercy, Aske none he wold?. (52) lo how I hold myn armes on brede, The to saue ay redy mayde ; That I great luf ay to the had, well may thou knaw ! Som luf agane I wold* fuH: fayn Thou wold me shaw. 1 (53) Bot luf noght els aske I of the, And that thou f ownde fast syn to fle ; pyne the to lyf in charyte Both nyght and day ; Then in my blys that neuer shall mys Thou shall dwell ay. 1 MS. shew. 289 291 301 303 307 309 313 315 319 321 Man may see how great is the love of Jesus for him. Let him then love Jesus 295 again, 297 and ask for the mercy which can cleanse from all sin. Jesus was ready to show mercy even to Judas, would he but have asked it. [Fol. 104, b.] He only asks for man's love. 316 Tovmeley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. Those who will cease from sin and ask mercy- He will feed on His own body, the bread which by five words be- comes His flesh. Mary Mag- dalen la- ments the death of Jesus. Mary Jacobi faints to think of His wounds. (54) ffor I am veray prynce of peasse, And synnes seyr I may releasse, And whoso wiH of synnes seasse And mercy cry, v 325 I grauntt theym here a measse In brede, myn awne body. 327 (55) 1 [That ilk veray brede of lyfe Becommys my fleshe in wov&ys fyfe ; who so it resaues in syn or stryfe Bese dede for euer ; 331 . And whoso it takys in rightwys lyfe Dy shall he neuer. 1 ] [Jesus retires, and the three (56) Maries advance."] Maria Magdalene. Alas ! to dy with doyH am I dyght ! In warld was neuer a wofuller wight, I drope, I dare, for seyng of sight That I can se ; 337 My lord, that mekirl was of myght, Is ded* fro me. 339 (57) Alas ! that I shuld se hys pyne, Or that I shuld' his lyfe tyne, ffor to ich sore he w T as medecyne And boytte of aH ; 343 help and hold* to euer ilk hyne To hym wold call. 345 (58) Maria Iacobi. Alas ! how stand I on my feete when I thynk on his wound?/s wete ! lhesus, that was on luf so swete, And neuer dyd yH, 349 Is dede and grafen vnder the grete, withoutten skyft. • 351 (59) Maria solomee. withoutten skyH thise lues ilkon That lufly lord thay haue hym slone, And trespas dyd he neue?* none, 1 Crossed out with red ink (after the Reformation ?). Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. In nokyn sted? ; 355 To whom shall we now make onre mone % Onre lord is ded. (60) Maria Magdalene. Sen he is ded, my systers dere, weynd we will with full good chere. with oure anoyntmentz/s fare and clere That we haue broght, 361 ffor to anoyntt his woundys sere, That lues hvm wiwht. 363 Mary Salome asks to whom may .,-_ they make 00 1 their moan now Jesus is dead ? The Mag- dalene pro- poses that they go and anoint His wounds. (61) Maria laeooi. Go we then, my systers fre, ffor sore me longis his cors to see, Bot I wote neue?* how best 1 may be ; help haue we none, 367 And which shall of vs systers thre remefe the stone % 369 (62) Maria salomee. That do we not bot we were mo, ffor it is hogh and heuy also. Maria, Magdalene. Systers, we thar no farther go Ke make mowrnyng ; 373 I se two syt where we weynd to, In whyte clotbyng. 375 (63) Maria laeooi. Certa/s, the sothe is not to hyde, The graue stone is put besyde. Maada salomee. Ceitys, for thyng that may betyde, !Now wiH we weynde 379 To late the luf, and with hym byde, that was oure frevnde. 381 [Fol. 105, a. Sig. Q. 1.] The others wonder how they shall move the heavy stone. The Mag- dalene sees two sitting by the tomb in white clothing. (64) j;ri??ius angelus. ye mowrnyng women in youre thoght 1 , here in this place whome haue ye soght 1 Mkna Magdalene. Ihesu that vnto ded was broght, Oure lord so fre. 385 Seexmd.ns angelus. Ceitys, women, here is he noght ; Com nere and se. 387 The angels tell the women that Jesus is not there. Jesus is risen, and shall be found in Galilee. 318 Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Besurrection of the Lord. (65) jpri??zus angelus. he is not here, the sothe to say, The place is voyde ther in he lay ; The sudary here se ye may was on hym layde ; 391 he is rysen and gone his way, As he yon sayde. 393 (66) JSecundus angelus. Euen as he saide so done has he, he is rysen thragh his panste ; he shalbe fon in galale, In fleshe and fell ; 397 To his dyscypyls now weynd ye, And thns thaym teH. 399 (67) Maria Magdalene. My systers fre, sen it is so, That he is resyn the deth thus fro, As saide till vs thise angels two, Oure lord and leche, 403 As ye haue hard 1 where that ye go Loke that 1 ye preche. 405 (68) Mania Iacohi. As we haue hard so shall we say ; Mare, oure syster, haue good day ! .Maria Magdalene. Now veray god, as he well may, The Mag- dalene bids the others preach what they have heard. [Fol. 105, b.] She again laments Christ's suf- ferings. Man most of myght, he wysh you, systers, weH in youre way, And rewle you right. (69) Alas, what shall now worth on me 1 My catyf hart wyli breke in thre when that I thynk on that ilk bodye how it was spy It ; Thrugh feete and handy s nalyd was he Withoutten) gylt. (70) withoutten gylt then was he tayn, That lufly lord, thay haue hym slayn, And tryspas dyd he neuer nane, 409 411 415 417 Tovmeley Plays. XXVI. T7ie Resurrection of the Zord. 319 Ne yit no mys ; 421 it was for 11.1. x i her guilt He It was my gylt he was iorfcayn, suffered, for And nothing his. 423 own. (71) how myght I, hot I lufyd that swete That for me suffred woxmdys wete, Sythen to be grafen vnder the grete, Sich kyndnes kythe ; 427 Ther is nothyng tiH that we mete may make me blythe. [The loomen retire, and the (72) soldiers then ivake.] primus Miles. Outt, alas ! what shall I say 1 The soldiers r ' J discover the where is the cors that here in lay 1 disappear- ance of the Secxmdus Miles, what alys the man 1 he is away body, and 17 ^ crv harrow \ That we shnld tent ! 433 ■pnmviS Miles. Ryse vp and se. Secimdus miles. harrow ! thefe ! for ay I cownte vs shent ! 435 (73) Teicius miles, what devyrl alys you two sich nose and cry thus f orto may 1 Secrnidus Miles, ffor he is gone. 1 Teicius Miles. Alas, wha? 439 Secmidus Miles, he that here lay. Teicius Miles, harrow! deviH! how swa gat he away ? 441 (74) Quartns miles, what, is he thus-gat?/s from vs went, The fals tratur that here was lentt, That we truly to tent had vndertane 1 445 They fear Certanly I teH vs shent punished. holly ilkane. 447 (75) primus Allies. Alas, what shall I do this day Sen this tratur is won away % And safely, syrs, I dar well say he rose alon. 451 Secxmdus Miles, wytt sir pilate of this enfray we mon be slone. 453 1 "go" is needed to ryme with "two." 320 Toivneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. The second soldier him- self saw Jesus go. [Fol. 106, £ Sig. Q. 2.] They think they must invent some lie, as that a thousand armed men stole the body. The fourth soldier is hold to tell Pilate what has really happened. (76) Quartus Miles, wote ye well he rose in dede 1 JSecundus Miles. I sagh myself when that he yede. primus Miles, when that he styrryd out of the steed None couth it ken. 457 Quartus Miles. Alas, hard hap was on my hede emang aH men. 459 (77) Tercius Miles, ye, bot wyt sir pilate of this dede, That we were slepand when he yede, we mon forfett, withoutten drede, AH that we haue. 463 Quartus Miles, we must make lees, for that is nede, Oure self to saue. 465 (78) primus Miles. That red I weH, so myght I go. Secundus Miles. And I assent therto also. Tevcius Miles. A thowsand shaH I assay, and mo, weH armed ilkon, 469 Com and toke his cors vs fro, had vs nere slone. 471 (79) Quartus miles. Nay, certe/s, I hold ther none so good As say the sothe right as it stude, how that he rose with mayn and mode, And went his way ; 475 To sir pilate, if he be wode, Thus dar I say. 477 (80) primus Miles, why, and dar thou to sir pilate go with thise tythyng?/s, and teH hym so % Secundus Miles. So red I that we do also, we dy bot oones. 481 Teicius Miles & omues. Now he that wroght vs aH this wo wo worth his bones ! 483 (81) Quartus Miles. Go we sam, sir knyghti/s heynd', Sen we shaH to sir pilate weynd, I trow that we shaH parte no freynd, Toivneley Plays. XXVI., The Resurrection of the Lord. 321 Or that we pas. \ They come to Pilate.] 487 The first , 11 11 -n i -n i soldiergreets primus Miles. Now and I shall tell ilka word till ende, Pilate and '"".,. Aor\ the priests. right as it was. 4oy (82) Sir pilate, prynce withoutten peyr, Sir Cayphas and Anna both in fere, And aH the lordys aboute yon there, To neuen by name ; 493 Mahowne you saue on sydys sere ffro syn and shame. 495 (83) pilatus. ye ar welcom, oure knyghtys so keyn, Pilate asks A mekiH myrth now may we meyn, Bot teH vs som talkyng vs betwene, How ye haue wroght. 499 jprimus Miles. Oure walkyng, lord, withoutten wene, Is worth to noght. 501 (84) Cayphas. To noght 1 ? alas, seasse of sich saw. Theyteii 9ir ° him the Sec\md\xs Miles. The prophete ihesu, that ye weH knaw, prophet is Is rysen, and went 1 fro vs on raw, with mayn and myght. 505 pilatus. Therfor the deviH the aH to-draw, He re- proaches vyle recrayd knyght ! 507 them. (85) what ! combred cow&rdys I you caH ! lett ye hym pas fro you aH ] Teicius Miles. Sir, ther was none that durst do bot small They plead when that he yede. 511 ng Quartus Miles, we were so f erde we can d?owne faH, And qwoke for drede. 513 (86) [Fol. 106, b.] primus miles, we were so rad, euerilkon, when that he put besyde the stone, we quoke for ferd, and durst styr none, And sore we were abast. 517 pilatus. whi, bot rose he bi hym self alone ? j eS us rose Secundus miles, ye, lord, that be ye trast, 519 atone!™ 86 T. PLAYS. Y 822 Towneky Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord, There was a wondrous melody when He rose. Pilate asks the advice of Caiaphas. Annas counsels him to re- ward the soldiers, and make them tell another story. Pilate bids them say 10,000 men in good array stole the body from them. (87) we hard neuer on euyn ne morne, Nor yit oure faders vs beforne, Sich melody, myd-day ne rnorne, As was maide thore. 523 pilatus. Alas, then ar oure lawes forlorne ffor euer more ! 525 (88) A, devirl ! what sharl now worth of this 1 This warld farys with quantys ; I pray you, Cayphas, ye vs wys Of this enfray. 529 Caiphas. Sir, and I couth oght by my clergys, ffayn wold I say. 531 (89) Anna. To say the best for sothe I sharl ; It shalbe p?*ofett for vs aft, yond knyght?/s behovys thare vrovdys agane carl, howheismyst; 535 we wold not, for thyng that myght befarl, That no man wyst : 537 (90) And therfor of youre curtessie Gyf theym a rewarde for-thy. pilatus. Of this counserl werl paide am I, It shalbe thus. 541 Sir knyghta/s, that ar of dedys doghty, Take tent tiH vs ; 543 (91) herkyns now how ye sharl say, where so ye go by nyght or day ; Ten thowsand 1 men of good aray Cam you vntirl, 547 And thefyshly toke his cors you fray Agans youre wiH. 549 (92) loke ye say thus in euery land, And therto on this couande Ten thowsand pounds 2 haue in youre hande 1 MS. XM 1 . " 2 XWli. Townehy Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. 323 559 561 To you re rewarde ; 553 And my frenship, I vnderstande, ShaH not be sparde ; 555 (93) Bot loke ye say as we haue kende. primus miles, yis, sir, as mahowne me mende, In ilk contree where so we lende By nyght or day, where so we go, where so we weynd, Thus shall we say. (94) pilatus. The blyssyng of mahowne be with you nyght? and day ! [Pilate and the soldiers retire. Mary and Jesus advance^ Maria magdalene. Say me, garthynere, I the pray, If thou bare oght my lord away ; Tell me the sothe, say me not nay, where that he lyys, 566 And I shaH remeue hym if I may, On any kyn wyse. 568 (95) Ihesus. woman, why wepys thou 1 be styH ! whome sekys thou 1 say me thy wyH, And nyk me not with nay. 571 Maria Magdalene, ffor my lord I lyke fuH yH ; The stede thou bare his body tyH TeH me I the pray ; 574 And I shaH if I may / his body bere with me, Vnto myn endyng day / the better shuld I be. 576 (96) Ihesus. woman, woman, turn thi thoght ! wyt thou weH I hyd hym noght, Then bare hym nawre with me ; 579 Go seke, loke if thou fynde hym oght. Maria Magdalene. In fayth I haue hym soghft, Bot nawre he wiH fond* be. 582 (97) i&esus. why, what was he to the / In sothfastnes to say 1 Maria Magddlene. A ! he was to me / no longer dwell I may. Ihesus. Mary, thou sekys thy god, and that am I. 585 He gives them i> 10,000 as their reward. They pro- mise com- pliance, and are dis- missed. [Fol. 107, a. Sig. Q. 3.] Mary Mag- dalene asks the Gardener if He knows where her Lord's body is? She has sought but cannot find Him. Jesus reveals Himself. 324 Towneley Plays. XXVI. The Resurrection of the Lord. Mary wor- ships Jesus. He bids her not to touch Him, but to bear His commands to His dis- ciples. Mary pro- mises obedi- ence, and rejoices at having seen the Lord. [Fol. 107, b.] (98) Maria Magdalene. Rabony, my lord so dere ! Now am I hole that thou art here, Suffer me to negh the nere, And kys thi feete ; 589 Myght I do so, so welt me were, ffor thou art swete. 591 (99) Ihesus. Nay, mary, neghe thou not me, ffor to my fader, tell I the, yit stevynd I noght ; 594 TeH my brethere I shall be Before theym aH in trynyte whose wiH that I haue wroght. 597 To peasse now ar thay boght / that prysondl were in pyne, wherfor thou thank in thoght / god, thi lord and myne 599 (100) Mary thou shaH weynde me fro, Myn erand shaH thou grathly go, In no fowndyng thou faH ; 602 To my dyscypyls say thou so, That wilsom ar and lappyd in wo, That I thaym socoure shaH. 605 By name peter thou caH / and say that I shaH be Before hym and theym aH / my self in galyle. 607 (101) Maria Magdalene, lord, I shaH make my vyage to teH theym hastely j ffro thay here that message thay wiH be aH mery. 611 This lord was slayn, alas for-thy, ffalsly spylt, noman wyst why, whore he dyd mys ; 614 Bot with hym spake I bodely, ffor-thi co??zmen is my blys. 616 (102) Mi blys is co?wmen, my care is gone, That lufly haue I mett alone ; I am as blyth in bloode and bone Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. 325 As euer was wight 1 : 620 He is risen . that was Kow is he resyn that ere was slone, slain. Mi hart is light*. 622 (103) I am as light as leyfe on tre, ffor ioyfuH sight that I can se, ffor well I wote that it was he My lord ihesu ; 626 he that betrayde that fre sore may he rew. 628 (104) To salyle now wiH I fare, She will go ° J ' to Galilee And his dyscyples each from care : and release , , .,, the disciples I wote that thay win mowrne no mare, from care. Commyn is thare blys ; 632 That worthi childe that mary bare he amende youre mys. 634 Explicit resurreccio domini. XXVII. Peregrini. 3 [2 nine-line stanzas, no 4 aaaab cccb, no. 30 ababc dddc ; 5 eight- line, abababab ; 6 seven-line, nos. 39, 59 abab ede, the rest ababc be ; 40 six-line, aaab ab ; Q four -line, abab ; 1 couplet] [Dramatis Personae : Cleophas Lucas Jesus.] Cleophas. (1) lmyghty god, ihesu ! ihesu Cleophas Thafr borne was of a madyn fre, Jesus. Thou was a lord and prophete trew, whyls thou had lyfe on lyfe to be 4 Ernang?/s thise men ; yH was thou ded, so wo is me that I it ken ! 7 1 "fysher pagent" is written underneath the title in a later hand. 326 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. Why was man so blind as to slay his Lord? [Fol. 108, a. Sig. Q. 4.] Luke laments the death of man's physician. They recall how Jesus was tortured by the Jews. (2) I ken it weH that thou was slayn Oonly for me and all mankynde ; Therto thise lues were fuH bayn. Alas ! why was thou, man, so blynde 11 Thi lord to slo 1 On hym why wold thou haue no mynde, bot bett hym bio 3 14 (3) Blo thou bett hym bare / his brest thou maide all blak, his woundes all wete thay ware / Alas, withoutten lak ! 16 Lucas. That lord, alas, that leche / that was so meke and mylde, So weH that couth vs preche / with syn was neuer f ylde ; he was fuH bayn to preche / vs aH from warkes wylde, his ded it wiH me drech, / ffor thay hym so begylde , This day ; 21 Alas, why dyd thay so To tug hym to and fro ? ffrom hym wold thay not go To his lyfe was away. 25 (5) Cleopfras. Thise cursyd lues, euer worth thaym wo ! Oure lord, oure master, to ded gart go, AH sakles thay gart hym slo Apon the rode, 29 And forto bete his body blo Thay thoght fuH good. 31 (6) Lucas. Thou says fuH sothe, thay dyd hym payn, And therto were thay euer fayn. Thay wold no leyf or he was slayn And done to ded ; 35 ffor-thi we mowrne with mode and mayn, with rufuH red. . 37 (7); Cleoplias. yee, rufully may Ave it rew, ffor hym that was so good and trew, That thrugh the falshede of a lew Towneley Plays. XX VII. The Pilgrims. 327 was thus betrayd • Therfor oure sorow is euer new, Oure ioy is layd. (8) Lucas, Cextys, it was a wonder thyng That thay wold for no tokynyng, Ne yit for his techyng, Trast in that trew ; Thay myght haue sene in his doyng ffuH great vertu. (9) Cleqphas. ffor aH that thay to hym can he answard neuer with yee, ne nay, Bot as a lam rrieke was he ay, ffor aH thare threte ; he spake neuer, by nyghtt ne day, jSTo wordes greatte. (10) Lucas. AH if he wor withoutten plight, Vnto the ded yit thay hym dight ; If he had neuer so rnekiH myght he suffred alt ; he stud as still, that bright, As stone in waH. (li) Cleop&as. Alas, for doyH ! what was thare skyH That precyous lord so forto spiH 1 And he seruyd neuer none yH In worde, ne dede ; Bot prayd for theym his fader tiH To ded when that he yede. 41 Their own sorrow is ever fresh. They marvel at the un- belief of the Jews, 47 49 53 55 65 67 and the meekness of Jesus. 59 He stood still as stone in wall. 61 How could the Jews slay Him ? (12) Lucas. When I thynk on his passyon, And on his moder how she can swoyn, To dy nere am I bowne, ■ffor sorow I sagh hir make ; Vnder the crosse when she fell downe, ffor hir son sake. 71 73 [Fol. 108, b.] The remem- brance of His mother's sorrow makes them ready to die. 328 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. The blows of the Jews made His body blue. (13) Cleophas. Me thynk my hart is fuR of wo when I sagfr hym to ded go ; Th[e] wekyd lues thay were so thro To wyrk hym woghe, his fare body thay maide fuH bio with strokes enoghe. 77 79 (14) When He asked for drink they gave Him vinegar and gall. Lucas. Me thynk my hart droppys all in bloode when I sagh hym hyng on the roode, And askyd a drynk, with fuH mylde mode, Eight than in hy ; AseH and gall, that was not 1 good, Thay broght hym then truly. (15) No man ever Cleophas. was neuer man in no-kyns steede suffered half r "1 as much. That suffred half so greatfr mysdede As he, to ded or that he yede, Ne yit the care ; ffor-thi full careful! is my red where soeuer I fare. (16) Lucas, where so I fare he is my mynde, Bot when I thynk on hym so kynde, how sore gyltles that he was pyynde Apon a tre, Vnethes may I hold? my mynde, So sore myslyk?/s me. Mc venit 2nesus m apjp&tatu peiegrini. (17) Jftesus. Pylgrymes, whi make ye this mone, And walk so rufully by the way 1 haue ye youre gates vngrathly gone 1 Or what you alys to me ye say. (18) what wordes ar you two emange, That ye here so sadly gang % To here theym eft 1 fuH sore I lang, 83 85 89 91 95 97 Jesus asks why they walk so sor- rowfully ? 101 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. here of yow two ; It semys ye ar in sorow Strang, here as ye go. (19) Cleophas. what way, for shame, man, has thou tayn That thou wote not of this affray % Thow art a man by the alane, Thow may not pleasse me to my pay. (20) /hesus. I pray you, if it be youre will, Those Wordys ye wold? reherse me tyH ; ye ar ail heuy and lykys yH here in this way ; If ye wiH now shew me youre [wyll] I wold you pray. (21) Lucas. Art thou a pilgreme thi self alone, walkand in contry bi thyn oone, And wote not what is commen and gone within few dayes 1 Me thynk thou shuld make mone, And wepe here in thi wayes. (22) i^esus. whi, what is done can ye me say In this land this ylk day 1 Is ther fallen any affray In land awre whare V If ye can, me teH I you pray, Or that I farthere fare. (23) Cleophas. why, knowys thou not what thyng is done here at lemsalem. thus sone, Thrugn" wykyd lues, withoutten hone, And noght lang syn 1 nor the trewe prophete make we this mone, And for his pyne. (24) Lucas, yee for ihesu of nazarene, That was a prophete true and clene, In word, in wark, fuH meke, I wene, 105 107 111 115 117 329 He desires to know what are they talking of? Cleophas asks how it is He has not heard of this affray ? [Fol. 109, a.] Jesus asks them to tell Him. Luke cannot believe He has not heard. 121 123 Jesus again asks to be told. 127 129 133 135 They tell Him they are mourn- ing the death of a prophet, Jesus of 'Nazarene.' 330 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. They found Him ever true. The Jews put Him to death, crucifying Him a mile hence. They expect Him to come again to life, but know not whether He be risen or no. [Fol. 109, b.] Jesus will expound the prophets to them. And that f onde we ; 139 And so has he fuH: long bene, As mot I the, 141 (25) To god and to the people bath ; Therfor thise daies he has takyn skath, Vnto the ded, withoutten hagh, Thise lues hym dight ; 145 ffor-thi for hym thus walk we wrath By day and nyght. 147 (26) Cleophas, Thise wykyd lues trayed hym with gyle To thare high preest?/s within a whyle, And to thare prynces thay can hym fyle, withoutten drede ; 151 Apon a crosse, noght hens a myle, To ded he yede. 153 (27) Lucas, we trowyd that it was he truly his awne lyfe agane shuld by, As it is told in prophecy Of Cristas doyng ; 157 And, c&ctys, thay wiH neuer ly ffor nokyns thyng. 159 (28) ffro he was of the crosse tayn he was layde f utt sone agane In a graue, vnder a stane, And that we saw ; ' 163 wheder he be rysen and gane yit we ne knaw. 165 (29) Ihesus. Pilgremes, in speche ye ar fuli awth, That shall I weH declare you why, ye haue it hart, and that is rawth, ye can no bette?' stand therby, 169 Thyng that ye here ; And prophetys told it openly On good manere. 172 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. 331 (30) Thay saide a childe there shuld be borne it was fore- m •> •> 1 T ■ t0M that He To by mankynde combrycl in care ; should lie Thus saide dauid here beforne earth and And othere prophetys wyse of lare, power. AnddanieH; 177 Som saide he ded shuld be, And ly in erth by dayes thre, And sithen, thrugh his pauste, Byse vp in flesh and fell. 181 (31) Cleophas. Now, sir, for sothe, as god me saue, The disciples ■* ' ' ' & > tell of the women has flayed vs in oure thoght ; report of ° ° 7 the women, Thay saide that thay were at his graue, And in that sted? thay faunde hym noght, 185 Bot saide a light Com downe with angels, and vp hym broght Ther in thare sight 1 . 188 (32) we wold not trow theym for nothyng, dfsSStedft, If thay were ther in the mornyng, we saide thay knew not his rysyng when it shuld be ; 192 Bot som of vs, without dwellyng, wenttt theder to se. 194 (33) Lucas, yee, som of vs, sir, haue beyn thare, And faunde it as the women saide, 1 Out of that sted that cors was fare, And also the graue stone put besyde, 198 we se with ee ; The teres outt of myn ees can glyde, ffor dovH I dre. 201 (34) ifcesus. ye foyles, ye ar not stabyH ! JS25£ where is youre witt, I say 1 them - wilsom of hart ye ar vnabyH And outt of the right way, 205 1 assonance to "besyde," "glyde." but found it was true. 332 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. Jesus knew that Judas should be- tray Him. Did not the prophets foretell His death and resurrection? [Fol. 110, a ] Christ must needs suffer thus, and then enter into bliss. Cleophas thanks Jesus for His words 213 217 ffor to trow it is no fabyH that at is fallen this same day. he wyst, when he sat at his tabiH, that Iudas shuld hym sone betray. 209 (35) Me thynk you aH vntrist to trow, both in mode and mayn, AH that the prophet^s told to you before, it is no trane. Told? not thay what 1 wyse and how That cryst 1 shuld suffre payn 1 And so to his paske bow To entre tiU his ioy agane. (36) Take tent to moyses and othere mo, that were prophet?/,* trew and good ; Thay saide ihesus to dec? shuld go, And pynde be on roode ; Thrugh the lues be maide furl bio, his wound?/s rynyng on red blode ; Sithen shuld he ryse and furth. go before, right as he yode. _ (37) Crist' behovid to suffre this, fforsothe, right as I say, And sithen enter into his blys vnto his fader for ay, Euer to won with hym and his, where euer is gam and play ; Of that myrth shaH he neuer mys ffro he weynde hens away. (38) Cleojplias. Now, sir, we thank if fuH oft sythes, the co??imyng of you heder ; To vs so kyndly kythes the prophecy aH to geder. 23T (39) i7iesus. By leyfi 2 now, sirs, for I must weynde, ffor I haue far of my iornay. lucas. Now, sir, we pray you, as oure freynde, 221 225' 229 233 Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. 333 AH nyght 1 to abyde for charite, 241 Luke prays And take youre r[est] ; Him to stay with them At morne more prest then may ye be this night, to go fuH prest. 244 (40) Cleophas. Sir, we you pray, for godys sake, This nyght penance with vs to take, With sich chere as we can make, And that we pray ; 248 we may no farthere walk ne wake, Gone is the day. 250 (41) Lucas. Dwell with vs, sir, if ye myght, ffor now if 1 waxes to the nyght, The day is gone that was so bright, No far thou shaH ; 254 promising Him meat and drink for His good tale. Mete and drynk, sir, we you hight fifor thi good tale. 256 (42) Ihesus. I thank you both, for sothe, in fere, Jesus says At this tyme I ne may dwell here, He may not rest with I haue to walk in wayes sere, them. where I haue hight ; 260 I may not be, withoutten were, With you aH nyght. 262 (43) Cleophas. Now, as myght I lyf in qwarte, They entreat At this tyme wiH we not parte, Him. Bot if that thou can more of arte Or yit of lare ; 266 Vnto this cyte, with good harte, Now let vs fare. 268 (a) Lucas. Thou art 1 a pilgreme, as we ar, This nyght shaH thou fare as we fare, Ee it les or be it 1 mare Thou shaH assay ; 272 Then to-morne thou make the yare [Fol. 110, b.] To weynde thi Way. 274 MS. is. Towneley Plays. XXVII. The Pilgrims. Jesus con- sents to abide awhile. They invite Him to sit down and eat. They are amazed at His sudden disappear- ance in "breaking bread. (45) Ihesus. ffreyndys, forto fulfill youre wilt I wiH abyde with" you awhyle. Cleophas. Sir, ye ar welcom, as is skyH, To sicn as we haue, bi sant gyle. 278 (46) Lucas. Now ar we here at this towne, I red that we go sytt vs downe, And forto sowpe we make vs bowne, Now of oure focle ; 282 We haue enogh, sir, bi my crowne, Of godys goode. 284 Tunc parent rriensamx (47) Cleophas. lo, here a borde and clothe ]aide, And breed theron, aH redy graide ; Sit we downe, we shalbe paide, And make good chere ; 288 It is bot penaunce, as we saide, That we haue here. 290 Tunc recumbent & sedebit ihesus in medio eorum, tunc benedicet ihesus panem. & franget in tribus p&Ttibus, & postea euanebit ab oculis eorum ; & dicet lucas, (48) Lucas, wemmow ! where is this man becom, Eight here that sat betwix vs two 1 he brake the breed and laide vs som ; how myght he hens now fro vs go 294 At his awne lyst 1 It was oure lorde, I trow right so, And we not wyst. 297 (49) Cleophas. When went he hens, whedir, and how, What I ne wote in warld so wyde, ffor had I wyten, I make a vowe, he shuld haue byden, what so betyde ; 301 (50) Bot it were ihesus that with vs was, Selcowth me thynke, the sothe to say, Towneley Plays. XXV II. The Pilgrims. Thus preualy from vs to pas, I wist neuer when he went away, we were fuH blynde, euer alas ! I teH vs now begylde for ay, ffor speefr and bewte that he has Man myght hym knaw this day. 305 309 They hold themselves beguiled for not having recognised Him. (51) Lucas. A, dere god, what 1 may this be 1 Eight 1 now was he here by me ; Now is this greatt vanyte, he is away : We ar begylyd, by my lewte, So may we say. (52) Cleophas. where was oure hart, where was oure thoght So far on gate as he vs broght, knawlege of hym that we had noght In aH that tyme 1 So was he lyke, bi hym me wroght, TiH: oon pylgryme. (53) Lucas. Dere god, why couth we hym not knawe 1 so openly aH on a raw The tayles that he can till vs shaw, By oone and oon) ; And now from vs within a thraw Thus sone is gone. 313 315 (54) Cleophas. I had no knawlege it was he, Bot for he brake this brede in thre, And delt it here to the and me With his awne hande ; When he passyd' hence we myght not se, here syttande. (55) Lucas. Wee ar to blame, yee, veramente, That we toke no better tente whils we bi the way wente 319 321 325 [Fol. Ill, a.] He was s like to a pilgrim. 327 331 333 They blame themselves for not taking more heed. 336 Toivneley Plays. XXVII. The, Pilgrims. With hym that stownd? ; 337 knowlege of hym we myght haue hentt, Syttyng on growndl. 339 (56) They knew Cleoplws. ffro he toke breede f uH weH: I wyst, Him as soon .,,,., .,_■,. » as He took And brake it here witn his awne fyste, and brake it. And laide it vs at his awne lyst, As we it hent ; 343 I knew hym then, and sone it kyst with good' intente. 345 (57) Lucas. That 1 we hym knew wist he weH enogh, Therfor aH sone he hym with-drogh, ffro he saw that we hym knogh, with in this sted; 349 I haue ferly what way and how Away that he shuld glyde. 1 351 (58) Cleophas. Alas, we war fuH myrk in thoght, bot we were both fuH wiH of red! ; Man, for shame whi held? thou noght when he on borde brake vs this breede 1 355 (59) he soght the prophecy more and les And told it vs right in this sted', how that he hym self was With wykid lues broght to ded', 359 And more ; we witt go seke that kyng That suffred wonndes sore. 362 (60) They will go i UC as. Byse, go we hence fro this place, to Jerusalem J ? o r > To lemsalem take we the pace, And teH oure brethere aH the case, I red right thus ; 366 ffrom ded? to lyfe when that he rase he apperyd tiH vs. 368 1 assonance to "sted." and tell the brethren. Towndey Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. 337 (61) Cleophas. At levusalem I vnderstande, [Foi. in, b.] Ther hope I that they be dwelland, In that countre and in that land We shall theym mete. 372 Weynd we furth, I dar warandf, Right in the strete. 374 (62) lucas. let vs not tary les ne mare, Bot on oure feete fast lett vs fare ; I hope we shall be cachid fro care ffuH sone, Iwys ; 378 That blyssid childe that marie bare Graimtt you his blys. 380 Expliciimb peregrini. They will be sure to meet them there. XXVIII. Thomas Indie. 1 [Dramatis Personae. Maria Magdalene. Quartus Apostolus. \ Octavus Apostolus. Paulus. Quintus Apostolus. Novenus Apostolus. Petrus. Sextus Apostolus. Decimus Apostolus. Tercius Apostolus. Septimus Apostolus. Thomas Apostolus. [10 six-line stanzas, aab aab ; 72 four-line no. 5, abab, the rest (with central rymes), aaaa ; and 1 triplet, with central rymes, no. 14.] Maria Magdalene. (1) HAyH brether ! and god be here ! I bryng to amende youre chere, Trisfr ye it 1 and knawe ; 3 he is rysen, the soth to say, I met hym goyDg bi the way, he bad me teH it you. 6 (2) petrus. Do way, woman, thou carpys wast ! It is som spirite, or els som gast ; Othere was it noght ; 9 1 This Play was originally entitled " Resurreccfc'o dommi," the title being written in large letters with red ink as nsual ; the alter- ation to "Thomas Indie" is in small letters and black ink. T. PLAYS. Mary Mag- dalene brings news of Christ's Resurrec- tion. 338 Towneley Plays. XX VII I. Thomas of India. Peter can- not believe a dead man has risen to life. Paul recalls Jesus' suffer- ings. Mary must be wrong. Mary bids them put away their heresy. She saw and [Fol. 112, a.] spake with Jesus. Peter re- proves her. Paul tells her ' there is no trust in woman's Women are like apples in hoard, fair to look on, rotten at the core. we may trow on nokyns wyse That ded man may to lyfe ryse ; This then is oure thoght. 12 (3) paulus. It may be sothe for mans mede, The lues maide hym grymly blede Thrugh feete, handz/s, and syde ; 15 "With nayles on rode thay dyd hym hang, wherfor, woman, thou says wrang, As myght I blys abide. 18 (4) Maria Magdalene. Do way youre threpyng ! ar ye wode % I sagh hym that dyed on roode, And with hym spake with mo wth ; 21 Therfor you both, red I, putt away your heresy, Tryst it stedfast and cowth. 24 (5) petrus. Do way, woman ! let be thi fare, fTor shame and also syn ! If we make neuer sich care his lyfe may we not wyn. 28 . (6) paulus. And it is wretyn in oure law 1 Ther is no trust in womans saw, No trust faith to belefe ; 31 fTor with thare quayntyse and thare gyle Can thay laghe and wepe som while, And yit nothyng theym grefe.' 34 (?) In oure bookes thus fynde we wretyn, AH manere of men weH it wyttyn, Of women on this wyse ; 37 Till an appyH she is lyke — Withoutten faiH ther is none slyke — In horde ther it lyse, 40 (8) Bot if a man assay it wittely, It is full roten inwardly At the colke within ; 43 Towneley Plays. XXV1IL Thomas of India. 31 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 They are irresponsible creatures. We will believe when we see, but not on a woman's word. Mary pro- tests the truth of her story. Wlierfor in woman is no laghe, ffor she is withoutten agne, As crist me lowse of syn. (9) Therfor trast we not trystely, Bot if we sagr! it witterly Then wold we trastly trow ; In womans saw affy we noght, ffor thay ar fekiH in word and thoght, This make I myne avowe. (10) Maria magdalene. As be I lowsid of my care, It is as trew as ye stand thare, By hym that is my brothere. petrus. I dar lay my heede to wed, Or that we go vntiH onre bed That we shall here anothere. (ii) paulus. If it be sothe that we here say, Or this be the thrid day x The sothe then mon we se. Maria magdalene. Bot it be sothe to trow, As ye mon here, els pray I you ffor fals that ye hold me. (12) jpetrus. Waloway ! my lefe deres / 2 there I stand in this peter begins , , alamenta- Sted, tionfor sicn sorow my hart sheres / for rewth I can no red ; sen that mawdleyn witnes beres / that ihesus rose from ded, Myn ees has letten salt teres / on erthe to se ym trede. 68 (13) Bot alas ! that euer* I woke / that careful! catyf nyght, When I for care and cold qwoke / by a fyre burnyng fuH bright, When I my lord ihesu f orsoke / ffor drede of womans myght ; [Foi. 112, b.] A rightwys dome I wirl me loke / that I tyne not that semely sight, 72 1 The words "be the " have been inserted in the MS. at a later date. 2 The bars at all the central rymes are not in the MS. Alas that he denied Him. 340 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. He had vowed faith- fulness, and yet denied knowledge of his Master. Alas that they all for- sook Him. Paul prays that they may see Him. (14) Bot euer alas ! what was I wode ! / myght noman be abarstir ; I saide if lie nede be-stode / to hym shuld none be trastir ; I saide I knew not that good / creature my master. 75 (15) Alas ! that 1 we fro the fled / that we ne had with the gane ; 1 When thou with lues was sted / with the was dwelland nane, 1 Bot forsoke the that vs fed / for we wold not be tayn ; we were as prysoners sore adred / with lues forto be slayn. 79 (16) paulus. JSTow ihesu, for thi lyfe swete / who hath thus mastryd the 1 That in the breede that we ey tt / thi self gyffen wold be ; And sythen thrugh handys and feytt / be nalyd on a tre ; G-rauntt vs grace that we may yit 1 / thi light in manhede se. 83 Tunc venit ihes^s et cantat "pax vobis et non tardabit,. liec est dies quam. fecit clommus." (17) The third Tevcius apostolus. This is the day that god maide / arl be apostie U s rt give we glad and blythe, the n appe°ar- Tlie hol y § ost before vs«glad / fTuH softly on his sithe ; Jesu ° f -^ e( ^ dothyng apon he had / and blys to vs can kith ; softly on the erthe he trade / ffiulle myklly [he did] 2 lythe. 87 (18) Quartus apostolus. This dede thrugh god is done / thus in aH oure sighte. Mighty god, true kyng in trone / Whose son in marye light, send vs, lord, thi blissid bone / As thou art god of myght, Sothly to se hym sone / and haue of hym a sight. 91 Iterum venit ihesus, & cantat, "pax vobis & now tardabitP' 1 MS. gone, none. % Originally "vs/' Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. 341 (19) Quintus apostolus. Who so commys in godch's name / ay The fifth blissid mot he be ! desires to Mightfuli god shelde vs fro shame / In thi moder name the body in n o which He mane ; 9o died. Thise wykid lues wiH vs blame / Thou grauntt vs for to se The self body and the same / the which that died on tre. (20) Zfresus. peasse emang?/s you euer ichon ! / it is I, drede Jesus ap- pears, and yOU noght, bids them That was wonte with you to gone / and dere with ded feel His flesh , ,, ft ,_ and bone. you bognt. vl Grope and fele flesh and bone / and fourme of man weH wroght ; Sich thyng has goost none / loke wheder ye knawe me oght 1 . 99 (21) [Fol. 113, a. My rysyng fro dede to lyfe / shall no man agane moytt ; T 1S f ' + -h Behold my woundes fyfe / thrugh h&udys, syde, and foytt ; behold His To ded can luf me dryfe / and styrryd my hart roytt. which men Of syn who wiH hym shryfe / thyes wound?/s shalbe his healed of boytt. 103 Sm " (22) ffor oon so swete a thyng / my self so lefe had wroght, He did Man sawH, my- dere derlyng / to bateH was I broght ; Jjf™! soul, ffor it thay can me dyng / to bryng out of my thoght, Jot iove. at On roocle can thay me hyng / yit luf forgate I noght. 107 (23) luf makys me, as ye may se / strenkyllid* with blood so Love caused , His death red. \ and resur- luf gars me haue hart so fre / it opyns euery sted ; is sweeter luf so fre so dampnyd me / it drofe me to the ded ; luf rasid? me thrug his pauste / it is swetter then med. Ill than mead. (2i) wytterly, man, to the I cry / thou yeme my fader fere, Let not men Thyn awne sawH kepe cleynly / whyls thou art wardan sou^winch "U prp . He has IUUb ■> . bought so slo it not with thi body / synnyng in synnes sere, 114 dearl y- On me and it thou haue mercy / for I haue boght it dere. 342 Toivneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. Jesus asks the apostles for some meat. The sixth apostle gives Him roasted fish and honeycomb. (25) Mi dere freynd^/s, now may ye se / for soth that [it] is I That dyed apon the roode tre / and sythen rose bodely ; That it aH-gat?/s sothfast be / ye shall se hastely ; Of youre mett gif ye me / sich as ye haue redy. 119 paratm mensa, & offerat vi us apostolus fauum mellis & jpiscem, dicendo. (26) sextus apostolus, lord, lo here a rostid fish / and a comb of hony laide fuH fare in a dish / and fuH honestly ; here is none othere mett bot this / in all oure company, Bot weH is vs that we haue this / to thi lykyng only. 123 (27) Jesus asks His Father to bless the meat. IJiesus. Mi dere fader of heuen / that maide me borne to be Of a madyn withontten steven / and sithen to die on tre, ffrom ded to lif at set stevyn / rasid me thrugh thi paustee, with the wordys that I shaH neven / this mette thou blis thrugh me. 127 (28) He blesses it In the fader name and the son / and the holy gast, [Foi. ii3, b.] Thre persons to knaw and com / in oone godhede stedfast ; I gif this mett my benyson / thrugh wordys of myghtys mast; 130 Now wiH I ette, as I was won / my manhede eft to tast in the name of the Trin- ity, and bids the apostles eat also. (29) My dere freyndys lay hand tiH / eytfa/s for charite ; I ette at my fader wiH / at my wiH ette now ye. That I ette is to fulfill / that writen is of me In moyses law, for it is skytt / ffulfiilyd that it be. 135 (30) He reminds Myn ye noght that I you told' / in certan tyme and sted', He had fore- When I gaf myself to wold 2 / to you in fourme of bred', death and W That my body shuld be sold? / my bloode be spylt so red ; This [co]rs gravyn ded' and cold' / the thrid day ryse fro ded? 139 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. 343 (31) youre hartes was fuliiilyd with drede / whyls I haue fro Let them , believe what yOU bene ; they have The rysyng of my nianhede / vnethes wold* ye weyn \ their eyes. Of trouth now may ye spede / thorow stedfast word^/s and cleyn. leyf freynd?/s, trow now the dede / that ye with ees haue sene. 143 (32) ye haue forthynkyng and shame / for youre dysseferance, He forgives I forgif you the blame / in me now haue affyance ; biSTthem The folk that ar with syn lame / preche theym to repent- pentanceto ance, sinners > fforgif syn in my name I enioyne theym to penance. 147 (33) The grace of the holy gost to wyn / resaue here at me ; hie respirat in eos. The which shall neuer blyn. / I gif you here pauste ; giv i n g them whom in erth ye lowse of syn / in heuen lowsyd shall be, bSand And whom in erthe ye bynd ther-in / In heuen bonden be loose * he. 151 hie discedet ah eis. (34) Septimus apostolus. Ihesu crist in trynyte / Ihesu to cry The seventh and PflW apostle dnu Ldn, cries on That borne was of a madyn fre / thou saue vs synfuH aH ! Svethem ffor vs hanged apon a tre / drank aseH and gafi, SaS£ Thi seruand?/s saue fro vanyte / In wanhope that we not faH. 155 (35) Octauus apostolus. Brethere, be we stabyH of thoght 1 / T he eighth wanhope put we away, SfflSrrf Of mysbelefe that we be noght 1 / for we may sany say thought. he that mankynde on rood boght / fro dede rose the thryd day; we se the wound^/s in hym was wroght / aH blody yit were thay. 159 344 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of Iiidia. (36) The ninth Nouenus apostolus, he told vs fyrst 1 he shuld? "be tayn / apostle re- . , „ .. calls Christ's And for mans syn shuld dy, and P theTr eS Be ded and beryd vnder a stayn / and after ryse vp bodely • fuimmen . j^ ow j s h e q UV k f ro grafe gan x / lie cam and stode vs by, [Fol. 114, a. ... Sig. r. 2.] And lete vs se ilkan 1 / the Wound?/s of his body. 163 (37) ^ The tenth, Decimus, apostolus. Deth that is so kene / ihesu ouer exults in ' Christ's coin en has, over death. As he vs told, yit may we mene / fro ded how he shuld* Thomas has pas ; Him. Ihesu stode witnes betwene / that 1 with hym dwelland? Thomas comes on lamenting the suffer- ings and death of Christ. AH his dyscyples has hym sene / safe oonly thomas. 167 (38) Thomas. If that I prowde as pacok go, / my hart is f uH of care; If any sorow myght a man slo / my hart in sonder it share ; Mi life wyrkys me aH this wo / of blys I am full bare, yit wold I nawthere freynde ne fo / wyst how wo me ware. 171 (39) Ihesu, my lyfe so good / ther none myght better be, None wysere man then better food / nor none kyndere then he ; The lues haue nalyd his cors on rood / nalyd with nales thre, And* with a spere thay spylt his blood / great sorow it was to se. 175 (40) To se the stremes of blood ryn / weH more then doyU it was, sich great payn for mans syn / sich doyHfurl ded* he has ; I haue lyfid withoutten wyn / sen he to ded can pas, ffor he was fare of cheke and chyn / for doyU of ded? alas ! Mcpevgit ad disdpu\os. 1 MS. gon, ilkon. Towncley Plays. XXV11I. Thomas of India. 345 (41) Myshty god for to dyscryfe / that neuer dyed, ne shall, Thomas wo and wandretfi from you dryfe / that ye not therin fall, other dis- petrus. he the saue with wound?/s fyfe / his son ihesu to teiis e iiim e of ,, too the Resur- Catt, LoZ rection. That 1 rose from deth to lyfe / and shewyd hym tiH vs all. (42) Thomas, whannow, peter ! art 1 thou mad 1 I on lyfe who Thomas 1 I J thinks Peter was hym lyke ! mad, and reminds him ffor his deth I am not glad / for sorow my hart wiH breke, howhefor- That with the lues he was so stad / to dec! they can hym wreke : Thou hym forsoke, so was thou rad / when they to the can speke. 187 (43) paulus. let be, leyf brothere thomas / and turne thi thoght Paul tells of , , . Christ's belyte, appearance ffor the thryd day ihesus rase / fleshly fro ded to lyfe ; TiH vs aH he cam a pase / and shewyd his wound?/s fyfe, And lyfyng man, and etten hase / hony takyn of a hyfe. (44) Thomas. Let be for shame ! apartly / ffantom dyssauys [Pol. 114, b.] the ! Thomas ye sagh hym not bodely / his gost it myght well be, deceived, fforto glad youre hartes sory / in youre aduersyte; 194 he lutTyd vs weH and faythfully / therfor sloes sorow me. (45) Teicius apostolus. Thou wote, thomas / and sothe it was, a third and oft has thou hard say, , raSSs the how a fysh swalod ionas / thre dayes therin he lay ; Jonah 6 ° f yit gaf god hym myght to pas / whyk man to wyn away ; Myght not god that sich myght has / rase his son apon the thryd day 1 199 (46) Thomas. Man, if thou can vnderstand / cryst saide his self, mynnys me, That aH lokyn was in his hande / aH oone was god and he! 346 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. The fourth, The son wax marke, aH men seand / when he died? on the fifth, and ' sixth tre, toconvince Therfor am I full sore dredand* / that who myght his Thomas of , , , * ° ^ nn the reality of DOOte be. 203' Christ's /A>7\ appearance. \*') Quartus apostolus. The holy gost in marye light / and in hir madynhede Godd^'s son she held? and dight / and cled hym in manhede ; ffor luf he wentt as he had hight / to fight withoutten drede; When He when he had termynd that fight / he skypt outt of his had finished , ~~-. the fight He wede. 207 skipped out /d.R\ of the body \*°/ Sothed Thomas. If he skypt outt of his clethyng / yit thou Him » grauntys his cors was ded? ; It was his cors that maide shewyng / vnto you in his sted ; fforto trow in youre carpyng / my hart is hevy as led ; his dede me hvyngys in great mowrneyng / and I with- outten) red. 211 (49) rescued the Quintus apostolus. The gost went to heH a pase / whils souls in , -, i hell, and the cors lay slayn, in His body. And broght the sawles from sathanas / for which he suffred* payn ; The thryd day right he gase / right vnto the cors agayn, Mighty god and man he rase * / and therfor ar we fayn. 215 (50) Thomas. AH sam to me ye flyte / youre resons fast ye shawe, Bot tell me a skyH perfyte / any of you on raw ; 217 when cryst cam you to vysyte / as ye teH me with saw, A whyk man from a spyryte / wherby couth ye hym knaw 1 (51) Sextus apostolus. Thomas, vnto the anone / herto answere IwiH; Man has both flesh and bone / hu, hyde, and hore thertiH ; sich thyng has goost none / thomas, lo, here thi skyH ; GodcU's son toke of mary flesh and bone / what nede were els thertiH? 223 1 MS. rose. Towneley Plays. XXV III. Thomas of India. 347 (52) Thomas. Thou has answerd me ffuH Wele / and 1 Ml [Foi. 115, a. a> mynnys me, Slg - R - 4,] J J ' Christ had That as Ionas thre dayes was / In a fysh in the see, prophesied J ' J His rising, so shuld he be, and bene has / in erth by dayes thre, usta^ Jonah- pas fro ded, ryse, and rase / as he saide done has he. 291 1 The rymes of this stanza should be in ane : stane, nane, gane, slane. as a type. 350 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. (69) Thomas asks Thomas. Geitys, that worde I harde hyni say / and so S&G& narde ye hym aH, deS. tlW Bot for nothyng trow I may / that it so shuld befall, That he shuld ryse the thrid day / that dranke aseH and gaH: sen he was god and ded lay / from ded' who myght hym call? 295 (70) Ortauus apostolus. The fader that hym sent / rasid hym that was ded, he comforth vs in mowrnyng lent / and counseld vs in red ; he bad vs trow with good intent / his rysyng in euery sted ; Thyne absens gars thi sauH be shent / and msikys the heuy as led. 299 (71) Thomas. Thou says soth, harde and heuy / am I to traw that ye me say ; Mi hardnes I trow skilfully / for he told vs thus ay, That his fader was euer hym by / for aH bot oon were thay; That he rose bodely / for nothyng trow I may. 303 The Father that sent Him raised Him. But Thomas still dis- believes a bodily rising. (72) Noueims apostolus. May thou not trow withoutten mo / for sothe, that it was he 1 Thomas wherto shuld we say so 1 / then wenys thou fals we be. Thomas. I wote youre hartes was fuH wo / and fownd with vanyte ; 306 If ye swere aH and ye were mo / I trow it not or that I se. Nothing will con- vince him but to feel Christ's "wounds. (73) Dechnus apostolus. Thomas, of errowre thou blyn / and tiU vs turne thi mode ; Trow his rysyng by dayes threyn / sen he died on the rode. Thomas. Noght bot I myght my fyn ger wyn / in sted as nayle stode, And his syde my hande put in / ther he shed his hart bloode. 311 Towneley Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. 351 (74) Ihesws. Brethere aH, "be with you peasse ! / leaffe stryfe Jesus ap- pears and that I10W is here ! bids Thomas Thomas, of thyn errowre seasse / of sothe Witnes thou here ; putt thi hande in my syde, no fres / ther longews put his spere ; loke my rysyng be no les / let no wan-hope the dere. 315 (75) Thomas. Mercy, ihesu, rew on me / my hande is blody of Thomas J I » cr j eg f or thi blode ! mercy. Mercy, ihesu, for I se / thi myght that I not vnderstode ! Mercy, ihesu, I pray the / that for aH: synfuH died on roode ! Mercy, ihesu, of mercy fre / for thi goodnes that is so goode ! 319 (76) kest away my staf wirl I / and with no wepyn gang ; [Foi. ii6, h.] Mercy will I caH and cry / ihesu that on roode hang ; ^ayhff Rew on me, kyng of mercy / let me not cry thus lang ! staff ' Mercy, for the velany / thou tholyd on lues with wrang. (77) Mi hat will I kest away / my mantiH sone onone, hat, and vnto the poore help it may / for richere knawe I none. Mercy will I abyde, and pray / to the ihesu, alone ; My synfuH: dede I rew ay / to the make I my mone. 327 (78) Mercy, ihesu, lorde swete / for thi fyfe woundt/s so sare, 1 Thou snared thrugh hand?/s and feete / thi semely side a spere it share ; Mercy, ihesu, lord, yit / for thi moder that the bare ! 330 Mercy, for the teres thou grett / when thou rasid lazare ! (79) Mi gyrdiH gay and purs of sylk / and cote away thou shall ; gay girdle, whils I am werere of swylke / the longere mercy may I caH. and coat, ' Ihesu, that soke the madyns mylk / ware noght bot clothes sooner come r ,, to Christ's 01 pail, mercy. Thi close so can thai fro the pyke / on roode thay left the small. 335 1 MS. sore. 352 Towmhy Plays. XXVIII. Thomas of India. Thomas cries for forgiveness. Jesus fore- tells the general resurrec- tion, when the faithless shall be damned, and the faithful and alms- givers have heaven as their reward. He promises Thomas heaven for his tears and repentance. But blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe. (80) Mercy, ihesu, honoure of man / mercy, ihesu, mans socoure ! Mercy, ihesu, rew thi leman / mans sauH, thou boght fuH soure ! Mercy, ihesu, that may and can / forgif syn and be socoure ! Mercy, ihesu, as thou vs wan / forgif and gif thi man honoure. 339 (81) Ih esus. None myght bryng the in that wytt / for oght that thay myght say, To trow that I myght flytt / fro ded to lyfe to wyn away ; My sauii and my cors haue knytt / a knott that last shaii ay; 342 Thus shaH I rase, well thou wytt / ilk man on domesclav. (82) Who so hath not trowid right / to hefl: I shaH theym lede, Ther euer more is dark as nyght / and greatt paynes to drede ; Those that trow in my myght / and luf well almus dede, Thai shall shyne as son bright / and heuen haue to thare mede. 347 (83) That blys, thomas, I the hete / that is in heuen cytee, ffor I se the sore grete / of the I haue pytee ; Thomas, for thi teres wete / thi syn forgifTen be, Thus shall synfutt thare synnes bete / that sore haue grefyd me. 351 (84) Thomas, for thou felys me / and my woundes bare, Mi risyng is trowed in the / and so was it not are; AH that it trowes and not se / and dos after my lare, Euer blissid mot thay be / and heuen be theym yare! 355 Explicit Thomas Indie. Towneley Plays. XXIX. The LorcPs Ascension. 353 XXIX. Ascencio Domini, et cetera. [1 thirteen-Une stanza, no. 57, ababb, cbcd, eeed : 6 tivelve-line, no. 1 abab cbcb dcdc, nos. 6-10 ababb, cbcb, dcd ; 1 nine-line, no. 58, aaaab, cccb ; 16 eight-line, nos. 17-20, aaab cccb, 45-48 aaab aaab, no. 49, abab caca, nos. 50 and 64 abab, acac, nos. 61, 65-8 abab abab ; 1 seven-line, no. 16 aab cccb ; 5 six-line, nos. 11-13, 15, aa, bb, cc, no. 14, aaaa, bb ; 37 four-line, no. 32 aa bb, the rest ab ab.] Thomas. Johannes Apostolus. Symon. Petrus. [Dramatis Personae : Ihesus. Andreas. Jacobus. Philippus. Maria. Matheus. Angeli 1 & 2 etc,] Tliomas. (1) BRethere aH, that now here bene, fforgett 1 my lorde yit may I noght ; I wote not what if may mene, Bot more I Weyn ther wiH be wroght. 4 /Cannes apostolus. My lord' ihesus wift wyrk his wiU, pleatt we neuer agans his thoght, ffor vs ne wyrkes, as it is skyll, his hand-warke that he has wroght. 8 symon. Apon his wordes wiH I ryst that he his self saide vs vntiH, As stedfastly on hym to tryst, Mystrust we neuer for goode ne iii. 12 (2) petrus. In heuen and erthe his myght may be, his wytt and his will also ; The holy gost, brethere, ment he, thus wiH he neuer fro vs go. 1 6 (3) ffourty dayes now drawes nere sen his resurreccyon complete ; Afore that wiH he appere, thus sodanly not lefe vs yett. 20 T. PLAYS. A A Thomas, ■ John, Simon and Peter, express their faith and ex- pectation. 354 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The, Lord's Ascension. (4) They will In bethany here let vs abyde, Bethany to We knaw not yit what may befall ; await what , , . , i , i may befall, peraventur it may betyde, he shall fuH well comforth vs aH. 24 (5) [Foi. 117, b.] J/iesus. peasse now, my dere freyndys ! pears aJd P easse be witn J™ euer and a Y ! peace. them n?or ** a ^ wrang?/s amendys ; peasse brethere, sam I say ! 28 (6) He bids Brethere, in hartes be nothyng heuy them be of ' J o J good cheer. what tyme that I from you am gone, He must go T , „ . . from them, 1 must go irom you sone, m hy, but will send , , ,-, -, , on the Holy bot neuer the les make ye no mone; 61 comfort° ffor I shall send to you anone the holy gost, to comforth you, you to wysh in euery wone I shaH you terl what-wyse and how. 36 It shalbe for youre prow that I thus-gat?/s shall do ; It has been saide or now My fader must I to. 40 (7) with hym must I abide and dwell, ffor so it is his wiH ; ffor youre comforth thus I you teH, be ye stedfast for good or iH. 44 L ®* th ® 1 ? Abide me here right on this hiH abide His re- ° turn on this to that I com to you agane, this forwarde must I nedys fulfill, I wiH no longer fro you lane ; 48 And therfor loke that ye be bayn, and also trew and stedfast, ffor who soeuer you oght frayn when that I am past. . 52 hie recedit. Towneley Plays. XXIX. The, Lord's Ascension. 855 (8) petrus. fTuH heuy in hart now may we be that we oure master sail forgo, Bot neuer the les yit saide he he wold not dwell fuH lang vs fro. What wonder is if we be wo, thus sodanly shall oure master mys, And masters on lyfe haue we no mo that in this warld shuld vs wys. he wiH pas f urth to blys, and leyfe vs here behynde, No merueH now it is if we mowrne now in oure mynde. (9) Andreas. In oure mynde mowrne we may, as men that masyd ar and mad, And yit also, it is no nay, we may be blythe and glad, Because of tythyng?/s that we had?, that his self can vs say ; he bad be blythe and noght adrad, flior he wold not be long away. Bot yit 1 both nyght and day oure hartes may be fuH sore, As me thynk, by my fay, ffor wordes he saide lang ore. (10) Thomas, lang ore he saide, fuH openly, that he must nedys fro vs twyn, And to his fader go in hy, to Ioy of heuen that neuer shaH blyn ; Therfor we mowrne, both more and myn, And mery also yit may we be ; he bad vs all, both outt and in, be glad and blythe in ich degre, And saide that com shuld? he to comforth vs kyndly ; Bot yit heuy ar we to we hym se truly. 56 60 64 Peter, Andrew, and Thomas think on the woi i.s of Jesus, but cannot help mourning His de- parture. 68 72 76 80 84 356 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. [Fol. 118, a.] James and Philip mourn also, though they remember Jesus' pro- mises. Jesus ap- pears and comforts them. If they love Him, they will he glad that He is going to His Father. (ii) Iacobus. With ee wold we hym se / oure saveoure crist, godAys son, That dyed apon a tre / yit trewe I that we mon 1 : 90 Now god grauntt vs that boyn / that with his bloode vs boght, To se hym in his throne / as he maide aH of noght ; 1 his will now has he wroght / and gone from vs away, As he noght of vs roght / and therfor mowrne we may. 94 (12) philippics. We may mowrne, no merueH why / for we oure master thus shaft mys, That shaH go fro vs sodanly / and we ne wote what cause is, 1 96 Neuer the les the sothe is this / he saide that he shuld com agane To bryng vs aH to blys / therof may we be fane. 1 That commyng will vs mych gane / and oure saules aH saue, And put vs fro that payn / that we were lyke to haue. 100 (13) Ihesus. herkyns to me now, euer ichon) / and here what I will say, ffor I must nedys fro you gone / for thus my fader wiH allway, 1 102 And therfor peasse be with you ay / where so ye dwell in wone, And to saue you fro aH fray / my peasse be with you blood and bone. 1 I lefe it you bi oon and oone / noght 1 as the warld* here dos, It shalbe true as any stone / to defende you fro youre foos. (i*) let not youre hartes be heuy / drede not for any kyns thyng, ye haue harde me say fuH playnly / I go, and to you am I commyng. 108 If ye luf me, for-thi / ye shuld* be glad* of this doyng, ffbr I go fuH securly / to my fader, heuyns kyng ; 1 The which, without lesyng / is mekiH more then I, Therfor be ye thus trowyng / when aH is endid fully. 112 1 The end-ryme of this couplet is the centre-ryme of the next couplet. Toivneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. 357 (15) ye haue bene of mysbilefe / hard of harte and also of wiH ; He T6 r To theym that 1 my rysyng can prefe / no credence wold* ye Jhem for gif theym till ; ! 114 wl™' Mary mawdlayn saide you tiH / that I was rysyn, bot ye ne wold hir trow for good or ili / the trouth ali if she told. 1 sich" harmes in hartes ye hold / and vnstedfast ye ar, ye trowid no man of mold / witnes of my rysyng that bare; (16) Therfor ye shaH go tech / in all this warld so wyde, and bids And to aH: the people preche / Who baptym wiU abyde, [Fol. us, t>.] And trowe truly 121 preach throughout Mi detne and rysyng, the world. , . , Those that and also myn vpstevynyng, believe shall And also myn agane-co??zmyng, thay shalbe saue suerly. 125 be saved, (17) And Who trowys not this an d those That now rehersyd is, no?damnId. he shalbe dampned, Iwys, ffor veniance and for wreke. 129 The faithful rpi £ ,i liir shall cast out lokyns, lor sothe, shaH bene devils, speak Of those that trow, withoutten weyn ; tongues^ Devyls shaH thay kest out cleyn, And with new tongas speke. 133 (18) Serpentes shaH thay put away, be proof And venym^s drynk, bi nyght and day, serpents and ShaH not noy theym, as I say ; heai°the an And where thay lay on hand?/s 137 Of seke men far and nere, Thay shalbe hole, withoutten dere, Of aH sekenes and sorowes sere, Euer in alkyn land?/s. 141 1 The end-ryme of this quartlet or couplet is the centre-ryme of the next couplet. sick. 358 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. Jesus bids the Apostles abide in Jerusalem for His Father's promise. They are to baptize men in every land, in the Holy Spirit. (19) And therfor now I byd that ye Go not from ierosolyme, Bot abide the behest of my fader fre In land ay whore, That ye haue hard here of me ; ££or Iohn baptist 1 , dere in degre, In water forsoth baptysid me Now here before; (20) And ye certan in euery coste shall baptise in the holy goost, Thrug vertue of hym that is the moost lord god of myght, within few dayes now folowyng ; And herof merueH ye nothyng, ffor this shalbe his awne wyrkyng, shewyd in youre sight. & recedit db eis. 145 149 153 157 Peter, Andrew, and James renew their mourn- ing. They are in fear of the Jews. (21) petrus. fiarlee may we fownde and fare for myssyng of oure master ihe-sz/s ; Oure hsutys may sygh and be fuH sare, thise lues with wreke thay waten vs. 161 (22) Vs to tray and teyn ar thay abowte bi nyght and day ; ffor ihesu that is so seldom sene, as masid men mowrne we may. 165 (23) [Foi. 119, a.] Andreas. Mowrnyng makys vs masid and mad ? , as men that lyff in drede ; ffuH comforthles ar we stad? for myssyng of hym that vs shuld* lede. 169 (24) Iacohus. Thise lues that folow thare faythles will, and denied oure master to be ded, With mayn and mode they wold hym spiH, if thay wist how, in towne or sted. 173 Toivneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. 359 (25) Iohsames. let keep vs fro thare carpyng kene, and com bot lytyH in thare sight ; Oure master will com when we leest weyn, he wiH vs rewle and red* fuH right. 177 (26) Thomas. Of this carpyng now no more, It drawes nygh the tyme of day ; At oure mette I wold we wore, he sende vs socowre that best may. 181 (27) Maria, socowre sone he wiH you sende, If ye truly in hym wiH traw ; youre mone mekely wiH he amende, My brethere dere, this may ye knawe. 185 (28) The hestys hyghly that he me hight he has f ulfillid in worde and dede ; he gabbyd neuer bi day nor nyght, ffor-thi, dere brethere, haue no drede. 189 (29) Matheus. Cextys, lady, thou says f uH wele ; he wiH vs amende, for so he may ; we haue fon sothe euerilka dele AH that euer we hard hym say. 193 (30) Ihesus. peter, and ye my derlyngys dere, As masid men me thynk ye ar ; holly to you I haue shewyd here To bryng youre hartys from care ; 197 (31) In care youre hartys ar cast, And in youre trowth not trew ; In hardnes youre hsutys ar fast, As men that no wytt knew. 201 (32) sende was I for youre sake / fro my fader dere, mesh and blode to take / of a madyn so clere ; sythen to me ye soght / and holly felowid me, Of wonders that I haue wroght / som haue I letten you se. John has faith in Jesus' coming. Mary speaks of the faith- fulness of her Son. Jesus ap- pears and exhorts them again. [Pol. 119, b.] 360 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. He recalls His mighty works, contrasts Mary's faith with their doubts, and reminds John that she is en- trusted to his care. Philip asks to he shown the Father. Jesus answers, He who sees Me, sees the Father. (33) The dombe, the blynde as any stone, I helyd ther I cam by, The dede I rasid anone, Thrugh my myght truly ; (34) And othere wark?/s, that wonderfurl wore, I wroght wisely bef or you aH ; My payn, my passion, I told before, holly thrug outt as it shuld faH ; (35) Mi rysyng on the thryd day, As ye bi tokyns many oone haue sene ; youre trouth truly had bene away had not my blissid moder bene. (30) In hir it restyd aU this tyde, youre ded?/s ye ow greatly to shame ; here may ye se my wound?/s wyde, how that I boght you out 1 of blame. (37) Bot, Iohn, thynk when I hang on rud That I betoke the mary mylde ; kepe hir yit with stabuH mode, she is thi moder and thou hir childe. (38) loke thou hir luf , and be hir freynde, and abide with hir in weH and wo, ffor to my fader now wiU I weynde, thar none of you ask wheder I go. (39) pJiilipjpus. lord, if it be thi wiU, shew vs thi fader we the pray ; we have bene with the in good and ill, and sagh hym neuer nyght ne day. (40) Ihesus. philipp, that man that may se me he seys my fader fuH of myght ; Trowys thou not he d welly s in me and I in hym if thou trow right 1 209 113 217 221 225 229 233 237 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. 361 (41) In his howse ar dyuerse place, He pro- ip mises them 1 go to oman ior you now ; the Holy ye shall aH be fulfillyd with grace, the holy goost I shall sende you. 241 (42) [Fol. 120, a.] he shaH you in youre hartys wyse In worde and dede, as I you say ; With aU my hart I you blys — My moder, my brethere, haue aH good day ! 245 Tunc vadit ad ascende?id\im. (43) ffader of heuen, with good intent, P rays to the ° Father, I pray the here me specyally ; ffrom heuen tiH erth thou me sent Thi name to preche and claryfy. 249 (44) thi witt haue I done, aH and som, In erthe wiH I no longere be ; Opyn the clowdes, for now I com and bids the In ioy and blys to dwell with the. 253 to receive Him. & sic ascendit, cantcmtibus angelis " Ascendo ad pa.tr em meum" (45) pvimus angelus. ye men of galylee, Angels pro- wherformerueiiye? £ a c ™f ' n s , hevyn behold* and se how ih.esus vp can weynde 257 vnto his fader fre, where he syttys in maieste, With hym ay for to be In blys withoutten ende. 261 (46) And as ye sagh hym sty and foretell T , -, , His return to Into heuen on hy, judge the In flesh and ferl in his body ffrom erthe now here, 265 362 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. Right so shaH he, securly, Com downe agane truly, with his woundys blody, To deme you all in fere. 269 (47) He is God secunrZus angelus, MerueH haue no wightf , No wonder of this sight, ffior it is thrugh his myght, That all thyng may. 273 "What so he wiH by day or nyght, In heii, niedyii-erth, and on hight, Or yit in derknes or in light, withoutten any nay ; 277 (48) ffor he is god aH-weldand?, heuen and heH, both se and sand, wod and water, fowH, fysh and land*, AH: is at his wiH ; 281 he hald?/s aH thyng in his hand that in this warld* is lyfand, Then ned?/s ye noght be meruelland. primus angelus. And for this skyrl, 285 (49) [Foi.i20,b.] Eyght as he from you dyd weynde and shall so com agane he shaH, come again ° ' in judgment. I n the same manere at last ende, To deme both greatt and small. 289 secxmdus angelus. Who so his byddyng wiH obey, And thare mys amende, With hym shaH haue blys on hy, And won ther withoutten ende. 293 (50) And who that wyrk amys, And theym amende wiH neuer, shaH neuer com in heuen blys, Bot to heH banyshed for euer. 297 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. 363 Maria. A selcouth sight yonder now is, Behold? now, I you pray ! A clowde has borne my chylde to blys, Mi blyssyng bere he euer and ay ! 301 (51) Bot, son, thynk on thi moder dere, That thou has laf t emang?/s thi foes ! swete son, lett me not dwell here, let me go with the where thou goes. 305 (52) Bot, Iohn, on the is aH my trast, I pray the forsake me noght. Iohsames. lefe marye, be noght abast, ffor thi wiH shall ay be wroght. 309 (53) here may we se and fuH weH knaw That he is god most of myght ; In hym is good, we trawe, holly to serue hym day and nyght. 313 (54) jpetrus. A meruellous sight is yone, That he thus sone is taken vs fro ; fro his fomen is he gone with outten help of othere mo. 317 (55) Matheus. Where is iUesus, oure master dere, that here with vs spake right now 1 Iacobus. A wonderful! sight, men may se here, my brethere dere, how thynk you? 321 (56) Thomas, we thynk it wonder aH, that oure master shuld thus go ; After his help I red we caH, That we may haue som tokyn hym fro. 325 (57) Bartholomews. A more merueH men neuer saw then now is sene vs here emang ; ffrom erth till heuen a man be draw With myrth of angeH sang. 329 Mary calls on her as- cended Son. She bids John not to forsake her. He comforts her. The disciples marvel at the ascension of Jesus. [Fol. 121, a. Sig. S. 1.] 364 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. Alone and suddenly Jesus as- cended from them. 334 338 ffrom vs, me thynk, he is fuH lang, 1 and yit longere I trow he wiH; Alas ! my hart it is so Strang 1 that I ne may now wepe my fiH Anone. A wonder sight it was to se When he stevyd vp so sodanly To his fader in maieste, Ey his self alone. (58) Matheus. Alon, for sothe, vp he went / into heuen tiH his fader, And noman wyst what he ment / nor how he dyd of no manere, so sodanly he was vp hent / in flesh and feii fro erth vp here ; he saide his fader for hym sent / that maide vs aH to be in dwere This nyght ; Neuer the les fuH weH wote we As that he wiH so must it be, ffior aH thyng is in his pauste, 343 And that is right. 347 (59) Mary blesses her Child. Maria. AH myghty god, how may this be 1 a clowde has borne my childe to blys ; Now bot that I wote whede?* is he, my hart wold breke, weH wote I this. (60) his stevynyng vp to blys in hy, it is the sourc of aH my Ioyes ; Mi blyssyng, barne, light on thi body ! let neuer thi mode?* be spylt with lues. (61) Take me to the, my son so heynd, and let me neuer with lues be lorne ; For His sake help, for my son luf, Iohn, son kynde, help her. for ferde that I with lues be tome. 351 May He save her from the Jews. 355 359 MS. long, strong. Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. 365 363 367 371 Mi flesh it quakes as lefe on lynde, to shontt the showres sharper then thorne ; help me, Iohn, if thou be kynde, my son myssyng maikys me to mowrne. (62) Ioharmes. youre seruande, lady, he me maide, and bad me kepe you ay to qweme ; Blythe were I, lady, myght I the glad', and with my myght I shaH the yeme. (63) Therfor be ferd for nokyn thyng for oght that lues wold do you to ; I shaH be bayn at youre byddyng, as my lorde bad, your seruande lo ! (64) Maria. Glad am I, Iohn, Whils I haue the ; more comf orth bot my son can I none craue ; so covers thou my care, and carpys vnto me, whils I the se, euer am I safe. Was none, safe my son, more trusty to me, therfor his grace saH neue?* fro the go ; he shaH the qwyte, that died on a tre, weH mend?/s thou my mode, when I am in wo. (65) simon. let hy vs fro this hiH, and to the towne weynde for fere of the lues, that spites ar & prowde ; With oure dere lady, I red that we weynd, and pray tiH hir dere son, here apon lowde. To hir buxu??zly I red* that we bende, syn hir dere son fro vs is gone in a clowde, And hertely in hast haylse we that heynde, To oure master is she moder, semely in shrowde. (66) A, marie so mylde, the myssid we haue ; Was neuer madyn so menskfuH here apon molde As thou art, and moder cleyne, bot this wold we craue, If this were ihesu, thi son, that Iudas has sold*, 391 She is trembling like a leaf. 375 379 383 387 John com- forts her. He will be at her bid- ding. [Fol. 121, b.] Mary feels safe with him. Her Son will requite him. Simon pro- poses to go to the town for fear of the Jews. They must show rever- ence to Mary as their Master's mother. 366 Towneley Plays. XXIX. The Lord's Ascension. Shew vs the sothe, vs aH may it saue ; we pray the, dere lady, layn that thou nold, He asks if He who as- cended was Jesus, whom Bot speli vs oure spyryng, or els mon we raf e, Bot thou witterly vs wysh, so fayn wyt we wold. 395 Mary pro- claims that He who was born of her bosom, was God and Man, and bids them teach this. (67) Maria, peter, andrew, Iohn, and Iamys the gent, Symon, Iude, and bartilmew the bold, And aH my brethere dere, that ar on this bent, Take tent to my tayU, tiH that I haue told? Of my dere son, what I haue mentt, That hens is hevyd* to his awne hold ; he taght you the trouthe, or he to heuen went ; he was borne of my bosom as his self wold?. (68) he is god and man that stevynd into heuen ; preche thus to the pepyH that most ar in price. Sek?/s to thare savyng, ye apostilles eleven, To the lues of lemsalem as youre way lyse, say to the cyte as I can here neuen, teH: the wark?/s of my son warly and wyse ; Byd theym be stedfast & lysten yowr steuen, or els be thay dampned as men full of vyce. ***** 399 403 407 411 Here is a gap of 12 leaves, in the MS., from Sig. s. 1. to sig. t. 6. Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 367 XXX. [Iudicium.] [42 nine-line stanzas ; aaaab, cccb ; 23 eight-line, ab, ab, ab, ab ; 2 six-line, no. 63, ababab, no. 2 aab, ccb ; 9 four-line, aaaa, 1 no. 65, ab ab ; 5 couplets and 2 lines of Latin.] [Incomplete.] [Dramatis Personae. Primus Demon. Secundus Demon. Tutiuillus. Jesus. Primus Bonus. Secundus Bonus. Tercius Bonus. Quartus Bonus. ] Malus. Secundus Malus. Tercius Malus. Quartus Malus. Primus Angelus. [Secundus Malus. ~\ (1) fTuH darfe has bene oure deede / for thi ccwzmen is oure care ; This day to take oure mede / for nothyng may we spare. Alas, I harde that home / that callys vs to the dome, AH that euer were borne / thider behofys theym com. 4 May nathere lande ne se / vs fro this dome hide, ffor ferde fayn wold? I fie / bot I must nedys abide ; Alas, I stande great aghe / to loke on that Iustyce, Ther may no man of lagh / help with no quantyce. 8 vokettys ten or twelfe / may none help at this nede, Bot ilk man for his self / shall answere for his dede. 10 (2) Alas, that I was borne ! I se now me beforne, That lord with Wound^s f yf e ; 1 3 how may I on hym loke, That falsly hym forsoke, When I led synf uH lyf e 1 1 6 (3) Tercius, malus. Alas, carefuH catyfys may we ryse, sore may we wryng oure handz/s and wepe ; ffor cursid and sore covytyse dampnyd be we in heH full depe. 20 1 The aaaa lines have central rymes markt here by bars / not in the MS. [Fol. 122, a.} Secundus Malus la- ments. The horn has sounded that calls to Judgment. No lawyer nor advocate- may save men by quibbles. Each must answer for himself. 368 Toiuneley Plays. XXX. Tine, Judgment. works. Tercius Ma- Koght we neuer of godws seruyce, lus bemoans ,°. ° * J ' his coramaundement?/s wold we not kepe, Bot oft tymes maide we sacrifice to sathanas when othere can slepe. (*) Alas ! now wakyns aH oure were, oure wykyd W&vkys can we not hide, Bot on oure hakys we must theym here, that will vs soroo on ilka syde. Oure dedys this day wiH do vs dere, Oure domysman here we must abide, And iejndys, that will vs felly fere, thare pray to haue vs for thare pride. (5) Brymty before vs be thai broght, oure ded?/s that shall dam vs bidene ; That eyre has harde, or harte thoght, that mowthe has spokyii), or ee sene, That foote has gone, or hande wroght, in any tyme that we may mene ; ffhiH: dere this day now bees it boght. alas ! vnborne then had I bene ! 24 28 32 All that ear has heard or heart thought, mouth spoken or eye seen, is now brought before them. 36 40 (6) QuarUxs, malus. Alas, I am forlorne ! / a spytus blast here blawes ! I harde weH bi yonde home / I wote wherto it drawes ; I wold I were vnborne / alas ! that this day dawes ! Now mon be dampnyd this morne / my warkys, my ded?/s, my sawes. 44 (7) Now bees my curstnes kyd / alas ! I may not layn AH that euer I dyd* / it bees put vp fuH playn. That I wold? fayn were hyd* / my synfull word^/s and vayn, ffhiH new now mon be rekynyd / vp to me agayn. 48 (8) [Pol. 122, b.] Alas ! fayn wold I fle / for ded?/s that I haue done, He would Bot that may now not be / I must abyde my boyn ; I trowed neuer to have sene this dredfull day thus soyn ; Alas ! what shall I say When he sitti/s in his trone 1 52 Quartus Ma- lus has heard the horn. Would he were un- born ! His wicked- ness is known, and may not be hid. Toivneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 369 (9) To se his Wound^s bledande / this is a dulfuH case ; Alas ! how shaH I stand / or loke hym in the face 1 How shall So cuxtes I hym fand / that gaf me life so lang a space ; Christ's Mi care is all command' / alas ! where was my grace 1 ? 56 (10) Alas ! caty%s vnkynde / where on was oure thoght % Alas ! where on was oure mynde / so wykyd wark?/s we WroghU 58 To se how he Was pynde / how dere oure luf he boght, Alas ! we were fuH blynde / now ar we wars then noght'. (ii) Alas ! my couetyse / myn yH wiH, and myn Ire ! Mi neghbur to dispise / most was my desyre ; 62 Alas for his I demyd euer at my deuyse / me thoght I had no peyre, ness, and an With my self sore may I grise / now am quyt my hyre. (12) Where I was wonte to go / and haue my Wordys at will, Now am I set fuH thro / and fayn to hold' me still ; I went both to and fro / me thoght I did 1 neuer iH, Mi neghburs for to slo / or hurt withoutten skiH. 68 (13) Wo worth euer the fader / that gate me to be borne I That euer he lete me stir / bot that I had bene f orlorne ; Cursed be Warid be my moder / and warid be the morne mother, and That I was borne of hir / alas, for shame and skorne I 72 was born ! (14) ^primus angelus, cum. gladio. stand not togeder, parte in two ! The first ii i n , i • i i angel .parts air sam snaH ye not be in blys • the good Oure lorde of heuen wiU it be so, bad. for many of you has done amys ; 76 On his right hand ye good shaH go, the way tiH heuen he shaH you wys ; ye wykid? saules ye weynd hym fro, on his left hande as none of his. 80 (15) Zftesus. The tyme is cowmen, I wiH make ende, j eS us takes my fader of heuen wiH it so be, SrtiT yto Therfor tiH erthe now wiH I weynde, my self to sytt in maieste. 84 T. PLAYS. B B 370 Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. He comes, in His body, to deal judg- ment. [Fol. 123, a.] The first demon has heard the horn : at the sound of it his bonds broke asunder. The second demon shook for dread; but all his grinning helped no- thing. They tell each other of their fright Their gear must be got ready, for they are like to have war. Doomsday is come, and the souls have fled from hell. To dele my dome I wiH discende, this body wiH I bere with me, how it was dight mans mys to amende aH mans kynde ther shall it se. 88 (16) pximus demon). Oute, haro, out, out! / harkyn to this home, I was neuer in dowte / or now at this morne ; So sturdy a showte / sen that I was borne hard I neuer here abowte / in ernyst ne in skorne, A wonder ! 93 I was bonde fuH fast In yrens for to last, Bot my band?/s thai brast And shoke aH in sonder. 97 (17) secundus demon. I shoterd and shoke / I herd sich a rerd, When I harde it I qwote / for aH that I lerd, Bot to swere on a boke / I durst not aperd ; I durst not loke / for aH medirl-erd, ffutt payH ; 102 Bot gyrned and gnast, my force did? I frast, Bot I wroght aH wast, It 1 myght not auayH. 106 (18) primus demon). It was like to a trumpe / it had sich a sownde ; I feH on a lumpe / for ferd that I swonde. secunJus demon. There I stode on my stumpe / I stakerd that stownde, There chachid I the crumpe / yit held? I my grounde halfe nome. Ill primus demon. Make redy oure gere, we ar like to haue were, ffor now dar I swere That domysday is comme ; 115 (19) ffor aH oure saules ar wente / and none ar in heH. secundus demon. Bot we go we ar shente / let vs not dweH, Towneley Plays. XXX. The, Jitdgment. 371 It sittys you to tente / in this mater to meH, The second As a pere in a parlamente / what case so bef eH ; the first that It is nedefuH 120 to the Court, That ye tente to yonre awne, to ParEa- r What draght so "be drawne, If the courte be knawen the luge is right dredfuH. 124 (20) primus demon, ffor to stand? thus tome / thou gars me grete. Up Watiing -, -, ,.ii, Street will 6'ecunaus demon, let vs go to this dome / vp watlyn strete. be the way, primus demon. I had leuer go to rome / yei thryse, on my would rather - make three iete, pilgrimages Then f orto grefe yonde grome / or with hym forto mete ; ffor wysely 129 he spekys on trete, his paustee is grete, bot begyn he to threte he \6kys fuH grisly. 133 (21) Eot fast take oure rentals / hy, let vs go hence ! They must ffor as this f als / the great sentence. books with secune?us demon. Thai ar here in my dais / fast stand We [Foi. 123, i>.] to fence, them, to give Agans thise dampnyd sauls / Without repentence, against the And lust. 138 souls! 6 primus demon, how so the gam crokys, Examyn oure bokys. secuntZus demon, here is a bag fuH, lokys, of pride and of lust, 142 (22) Of Wraggers and wrears / a bag fuH of brefes, They have Of carpars and cryars / of mychers and thefes, aifkinds of Of lurdans and lyars / that no man lefys, sinners. Of fly tars, of flyars / and renderars of reffys ; This can I, 147 Of alkyn astates that go bi the gatys, Of poore pride, that god h&tys, Twenty so many. 151 372 Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. The first demon asks if there is anger in their bill; if so, his fellow shall have a drink. There is anger and treachery too. Is there anything recorded against the feminine gender? More rolls fnll than he can carry. The second demon is praised as a good ser- vant, and bids his master hurry. Had Dooms- day been de- layed, they must have built hell bigger. (23) primus demon), peasse, I pray the, be stiH / I laghe that I kynke, Is oght Ire in thi bili / and then shaH thou drynke. secxmdus demon, sir, so mekiH iH will / that thai wold' synke Thare foes in a fyere still / bot not aH that I thynke dar I say, 156 Eot before hym he prase hym, behynde he mys-sase hym, Thus dowbitt he mase hym, thus do thai today. 160 (24) primus demon\ has thou oght Writen there / of the femynyn gendere? secundfas demon, yei, mo then I may bere / of rolles forto render ; Thai ar sharp as a spere / if thai seme bot slender ; Thai ar euer in were / if thai be tender, ytifetylcJ; 165 she that is most meke, When she semys fuH seke, she can rase vp a reke if she be weH nettyldl. 169 (25) primus demon. Thou art the best hyne / that euer cam beside vs. secundus demon, yei, bot go we, master myne / yit wold I we hyde vs ; Thai haue blowen lang syne / thai wiH not abide vs ; We may lightly tyne / and then wilt ye chide vs Togeder. 174 primus demon. Make redy oure tolys. ffor we dele with no fo}ys. secundus demon, sir, aH cleikys of oure scolys ar bowne furth theder ; 178 (26) Bot, sir, I tell you before / had domysday oght taridl We must haue biggid? heH more / the warld is so warid. Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 373 primus demon. Now gett we do whirl store / of bodys The first . ,, demon myscand* thinks of the To the soules where thai wore / both sara to be harrid. souls to be secun7 _ hell, that the Aseuer; 61 1 porter has Oure porter at heH yate worked. Is haldyn so strate, vp erly and downe late, he rystys neuer. 376 (48) primus demon. Thou art pereles of tho / that euer yit The two . T demons knew 1, make their when I WiH may I go / if thou be by ; Judgment 6 r\ stkt j. i Hall, with GO We now, We two. / their rolls Secundus demon. syr, I am redy. primus demon. Take oure rolles also, / ye knawe the cause "Why • do com 381 And tent welt this day. Secxmdus demon, sir, as weH as I may. Primus Demon. Qui vero mala In ignem eternum. 385 (49) iftesus. Ilka creatoure take tente , Jesus an- What bodworde I shall you bryng, advent as This wykyd warld* away is wente, tojudg^™ 6 and I am commyn as crownyd kyng -, 389 Mi fader of heuen has me downe sente, to deme youre dedys and make endyng ; Commen is the day of Iugemente, of sorrow may euery synfuH syng. 393 (50) The day is commen of catyfnes, The day is ■n n ,, . -, come, a day an those to care that ar vncleyn, of dread and The day of bateH and bitternes, trull long abiden has it beyn ; 397 The day of drede to more and les, of Ioy, of tremlyng, and of teyn, Ilka wight that wikyd is may say, alas this day. is seyn ! 401 Tunc expandit manws suas & ostendit eis Wlnera sua. joy. 380 Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. He shows the wounds by which He bought bliss for men. He recalls the scourg- ing, the cross, the crown of thorns, the spear that pierced Him, (51) here may ye se my Wonndys wide that I suffred for youre mysdede, Thrugfr harte, hede, fote, hande and syde, not for my gilte bot for youre nede. Behald? both bak, body, and syde, how dere I boght youre broder-hede, Thise bitter paynes I wold? abide, to by you blys thus wold* I blede. (52) Mi body was skowrgid? withoutten skiH, also ther furl throly was I thrett ; On crosse thai hang me on a hill, bio and blody thus was I bett ; With crowne of thorne thrastyn furl iH, A spere vnto my harte thai sett ; Mi harte blode sparid thai not to spiH. man, for thi luf wold? I not lett. (53) The lues spytt on me spitusly, thai sparid? me no more then a thefe ; When thai me smote I stud stilly, agans thaym did I nokyns grefe. Beholde, mankynde, this ilk am I, that for the suffred sich myschefe, Thus was I dight 1 for thi foly, man, loke thi luf was me fuH lefe. (54) [Pol. 126, b.] Thus was I dight thi sorow to slake ; man, thus behovid the borud* to be ; In aH my wo toke I no wrake, my wiH it was for luf of the. Man, for sorow aght the to qwake, this dredfuH day this sight to se ; AH this suffred I for thi sake. the con- tumely of the Jews and His own patience. All this He suffered for man; what has man suffered for Him? 405 409 413 417 421 425 say ; man, What suffred' thou for me 1 429 433 Tunc vertens se ad bows, dicit Mis. Toivneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 381 (55) Mi blissid barnes on my right hande, youre dome this day thar ye not drede, ffor ail youre ioy is now co??imande, youre life in likyng shall ye lede. Commes to the kyngdom ay lastand, That you is dight for youre good dede, ffuH blithe may ye be there ye stand, ffor mekitt in heuen bees youre mecle. 437 441 The good are sum- moned to bliss. (56) When I was hungre ye me fed*, To slek my thrist ye war fuH fre ; When I was clothles ye me cled*, ye Wold? no sorowe on me se ; In hard 1 prison When I was sted? On my penance ye had pyte ; ffuH seke when I was broght in bed, kyndly ye cam to comforth me. 445 449 They have fed Hi in when He was hungry, slaked His thirst, clothed Him, visited Him in prison and sickness, (57) When I was wiH and weriest ye harberd me furl esely, fTuH glad then were ye of youre gest, Ye plenyd my pouerte fur! pitusly ; Belife ye broght me of the best, And maide my bed there I shuld* ly, Therfor in heuen sharl be youre rest, In ioy and blys to beld* me by. 453 given Him shelter and sympathy ; therefore they shall rest with .-„ Him in ^ ' heaven. (58) pxhnus bonus, lord, When had thou so mekiH nede ? hungre or thrusty, how myght it be ? #ecuncZus bonus. When was oure harte fre the to feede? In prison When myght We the se *? 461 Tercius bonus. When was thou seke, or wantyd wede ? To harbowre the when helpid we 1 Quartus bonus. When had thou nede of oure f ordede ? when did we aH this dede to the ? 465 When did they thus succour 'Him? the good ask. [Fol. 127, a. Sig. V. 3.] 382 Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. Jesus tells them they succoured Him in help- ing the needy. He casts forth the wicked to dwell for ever in dole. (59) Ihesus. Mi blissid barnes, I shaH you say what tyme this dede was to me done ; When any that nede had nyght or day, Askyd you help and had it sone ; youre fre harte saide theym neuer nay, Erly ne late, myd-day ne noyn, As ofte-sithes as thai wold 1 pray, Thai thurte hot aske and haue thare boyn. Tunc dicet malis. (60) ye cursid* catyfs of kames kyn, That neuer me comforthid! in my care, Now I and ye for euer shall tvvyn, In doyH to dwell for euer mare ; youre bitter bayles shall neuer blyn That ye shall thole when ye com thare, Thus haue ye seruyd for youre syn, ffor derfe de&ys ye haue doyn are. 469 473 477 481 (61) Him froS ed When I nad myster of mete and drynke, their gate when He had Catyfs, ye chaste me from youre yate ; need of food; w h e n ye were set as syres on bynke I stode ther oute wery and Wate, yit none of you Wold 1 on me thynke, To haue pite on my poore astate ; Therfor to heH I shaH you synke, WeH ar ye worthy to go that gate. 485 489 would not look how He fared in prison ; drove Him with blows from their doors. (62) When I was seke and soryest ye viset me noght, for I was poore ; In prison fast when I was fest wold! none of you loke how I foore ; When I wist neuer where to rest With dyntys ye drofe me from youre doore, Bot euer to pride then were ye prest, Mi flesh, my bloode, ye oft for-swore. 493 497 Towneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 383 (63) Clothles, When that I was cold', That nerehande for you yode I nakyd, Mi myschefe sagfr ye many folde, Was none of you my sorowe slakyd ; Bot euer f orsoke me, yong and olde, Therfor shall ye now be forsakyd. (64) ' primus mains, lorde, when had thou, that aH has, hunger or thriste, sen thou god is 1 1 When was that thou in prison was 1 When was thou nakyd or harberles 1 Secundus mains. When myght we se the seke, alas ! and kyd the aH this vnkyndnes 1 iijus malus. When was we let the helples pas 1 When dyd ye the this wikydnes 1 (65) m)'us malus. Alas, for doyH this day ! alas, that euer I it abode ! Now am I dampned for ay, this dome may I not avoyde. (66) Ihesus. Catyfs, alas, ofte as it betyde that nedefuH oght askyd in my name, ye harde thaym noght, youre eeres was hid*, youre help to thaym was not at hame ; To me was that vnkyndnes kyd, therfor ye bere this bitter blame, To the lest of myne when ye oght dyd, to me ye dyd the self and same. 501 503 50^ 511 [Fol. 127, b.} As they for- sook Him, so shall they now he for- saken. When, they ask, have they shown Him this un- kindness ? 515 519 523 (One begins his lament, ere he hears the answer.) Jesus tells them the unkindness they showed to the needy was shown to Him. - Tunc dicet bonis. (67) Mi chosyn childer, co?mnes to me ! With me to dwell now shaH ye weynde, Ther ioy and blys euer shall be, youre life in lykyng for to leynde. 527 He sum- mons the good to dwell with Him in bliss. Tunc dicet malis. 1 Originally 'es,' no doubt. 384 Towneley Plays. XXX The Judgment. The wicked are doomed to hell. ye warid Wighta/s, from me ye ne, In heH to dwell withoutten ende ! Ther shall ye noght bot sorow se, And sit bi sathanas the feynde. 531 The devils begin to drive them. (68) jprimus demon. Do now furthe go, 1 / trus, go we hyne ! vnto endles wo / ay-lastand pyne ; Nay, tary not 1 so / we get ado syne, secun^us demon, byte byder warde, bo / barry ruskyne ! War oute ! 536 The meyn shall ye nebyH, And I shall syng the trebiH, A revant the devitt TiH aH this bole rowte. 540 They may curse the day they were [Fol. 128, a. Sig. V. 4.] born. Where now are their gold, their retinue, and their finery ? / (69) Tutiuillus. youre lyfes ar lorne / and commen is youre care; ye may ban ye were borne / the bodes you bare, And youre faders beforne / so cursid* ye ar. primus demon), ye may wary the morne / and day that ye ware Of yonre moder 545 ffirst borne forto be, ffor the wo ye mon dre. Secundns demon). Ilkone of you mon se sorow of oder. 549 (70) Where is the gold* and the good / that ye gederd togedir ? The mery menee that yode / hider and thedir ? Tutiuillus. Gay gyrdyls, iaggid hode / prankyd gownes, whedir 1 haue ye wit or ye wode / ye broght not hider Bot sorowe, 554 And youre synnes in youre nekkys. primus demon. I beshrew thaym that rekkys ! he comes to late that bekkys youre bodyes to borow. 558 1 MS. go furthe. Toivneley Plays. XXX. The Judgment. 385 They were sturdy and proud, find- ing faults in others and forgetting their own. 563 567 braided their neighbours, were pouchers of pence, gluttonous and greedy. (71) Secxmdus demon\ Sir, I Wold' cut thaym a skawte / and make theyto. be knawne ; Thay were sturdy and hawte / great boste haue thai blawne ; youre pride and youre pransawte / What wili it gawne % ye tolde ilk mans defawte / and forgate youre awne. Tutmillus. moreouer Thare neghburs thai demyd, Thaym self as it semyd, Bot now ar thai flemyd ffrom sayntys to recouer. (72) primus demon). Thar neghburs thai towehid / With They up wordy s fuH iH, The warst ay thai sowchid /and had no skiU. sevmidus demon). The pe?znys thai powchid / and held? thaym stiH ; The negons thai mowchid / and had no wili ffor hart fare ; 572 Bot riche and iH-dedy, Gederand and gredy, sore napand and nedy youre godys forto spare. 576 (73) Tutiuillus. ffor aH that ye spard / and dyd extorcyon, ffor youre childer ye card / youre heyre and youre son, Now is art in oureward / youre yeres ar ron, It is co??£inen in vowgard / youre dame malison, To bynde it ; ye set bi no cursyng, Ne no sich smarl thyng. primus demon. No, bot prase at the partyng, ffor now mon ye fynde it. (74) youre leyfys and youre females / ye brake youre wedlake ; [Foi. 12s, b.] Terl me now what it vales / aH that mery lake 1 se so falsly if- falys. / secuncZus demon. syr, I dar vndertake Thai wiH teH no tales / bot se so thai quake The wealth they laid up for their children is now in the devil's keep- ing. 581 585 They broke their wed- lock. What avails their merriment now? T. PLAYS. C C 38G Towneley Plays. XXX. The, Judgment. Now they ffor moton ; are quaking and dumb, ne that to that gam gose, Now namely on old? tose. Tutiuillus. Thou held? vp the lose, That had I forgotten. 590 594 They shall dwell in pitch and tar, with no respite. (75) j?rimus demon, sir, I trow thai be dom / somtyme were fuH melland ; WiH: ye se how thai glom. / secundus demon, thou art ay telland; Now shall thai haue rom / in pyk aud tar euer dwelland, Of thare sorow no some / bot ay to be yelland In oure fostre. 599 Tutiuillus. By youre lefe may We mefe you 1 primus demon, showe furth, I shrew you ! >Sccuik7us demon, yit to-nyght shall I shew you A mese of iH ostre. 603 The devils carry them off, with threats. (76) cursid forsworne / and aft that Tutiuillus. Of thise here leyndys, Blaw, wolfr/s-hede and oute-horne / now namely my freyndys. primus demon. Ilia haift were ye borne / youre awne shame you shcynctys, That shaH ye fynde or to morne. / secundus demon. com now with iejndys To youre angre ; 608 youre de&ys you dam ; Com, go we now sam, It is common youre gam, Com, tary no lauge?\ 612 (77) primus bonus. We loue the, lorde, in alkyn thyng, That for thyne awne has ordancl thus, That we may haue now oure dwellyng In heuen blis giffen vnto vs. 616 Toivncley Plays. XXXI. Lazarus. Therfor fuH boldly may we syng On oure way as we trus ; Make we aH myrtn" and louyng With te deu??i laudamus. G20 Explicit Indicium. 387 The right- eous give thanks to God. XXXI. Incipit Lazarus. [47 couplets ; 4 ten-line stanzas, aaaa 1 bbbc be; 1 nine-line (no. rF i 12 9 j a ] 11), aaaa bbc be; 7 eight-line, four ab ab ab ab, two abab bebe, one ab ab ba ba ; 3 six-line, aaab ab ; 1 five-line, aab ab.] [Dramatis Pcrsonae. Jesus. \ Johannes. Martha. Lazarus.] Pctrus. | Thomas. | Maria. \ (i) j%esus. Commes now, brethere, and go Witn" me ; We Will pas furtfr vntiH Iude, To betany wiH we Weynde, 2 To vyset lazare that is oure freynde. 2 4 Gladly I wold? we with hym speke, T tell you sothely he is seke. petrus. I red? not that 1 ye thider go, The lues halden you for thare fo ; 8 I red ye com not in that stede, ffor if ye do then be ye dede. Ioh&nnes. Master, trist thou [not] on the Iue, ffor many day sen thou thaym knewe, 1 2 And last tyme that we were thore We wenyd tilt haue bene ded* therfor. Thomas. When we were last in that 1 contre, This othere day, both thou and we, 16 Jesus pro- poses to go to Bethany to visit Lazarus, who is ill. Peter, John, and Thomas dissuade Him for fear of the Jews. 1 The aaaa lines have central rymes markt here with bars (not in the MS). 2 These lines are transposed in the MS. , and the letters a and b are placed opposite them in the margin to indicate their proper order. 388 Towneley Plays. XXXI. Lazarus. Jesus tells them Lazar- us is fallen asleep ; they must go to make that knight awake. If he sleep he will mend, Peter thinks. [Pol. 129, b.] Jesus tells them plainly Lazarus is dead. Thomas says the disciples will share Jesus' peril and go with Him. Martha tells Jesus Lazar- us is dead. He shall rise and live again, Jesus says. Yes, at Doomsday, Martha answers. Jesus says, ' ' I am the Resurrection and the Life." We wenyd that thou ther shuld haue bene slayn ; Will thou now go thicle?* agane % Ihesus. herkyn, breder, and takys kepe ; lazare oure freynde is fallyn on slepe ; 20 The way tiH hym now wiH we take, To styr that knyght and gar hym wake. petrus. Sir, me thynke it were the best To let hym slepe and take his rest ; 24 And kepe that no man com hym hend, nor if he slepe then mon he mend. Ihesus. I say to you, With outten faytf, JSTo kepyng may tiH hym avaitt, 28 ISTe slepe may stand hym in no stede, I say you sekerly he is dede ; Therfor I say you now at last 1 leyfe this speche and go we fast. 32 Thomas. Sir, What so euer ye bid vs do We assent vs weH ther to ; I hope to god ye shaH not fynde None of vs shall lefe behynde ; 36 rfor any pareH that may befali Weynde we With oure master aH. Martha, help me, lorde, and gif me red ! lazare my broder now is dede, 40 That was to the both lefe and dere ; he had not dyed had thou bene here. Ihesus. Martha, martha, thou may be fayn, Thi bro there shaH rise and lif agayn. 44 Martha, lorde, I wote that he shaH ryse And com before the good iustyce ; ffor at the dredfutt day of dome There mon ye kepe hym at his come, 48 To loke What dome ye WiH hym gif ; Then mon he rise, then mon he lyf. Ifiesus. I Warne you, both man and wyfe, That I am rysyng, and I am life ; 52 And Whoso truly trowys in me, That I was euer and ay shaH be, Oone thyng I shaft hym gif, Though he be dede yit shaH he lif. 56 T&ioneley Plays. XXXL Lazarus. 389 say thou, Woman, trowys thou this % Martha, yee, for sothe, my lorde of blys, Ellys were I greatly to mysprase, ffor aH is sothe-fast that thou says. Ihesus. Go teli thi sister mawdlayn That I com, ye may be fayn. [Martha goes to Martha. Sister, lefe this sorowful bande, Oure lorde commys here at hawdr, And his apostyls with hym also. Maria. A, for god?/s luf let me go ! Blissid* be he that sende me grace, That I may se the in this place. lorde, mekiri sorow may men se Of my sister here and me ; We ar heuy as any lede, ffor our broder that thus is dede. had thou bene here and on hym sene, dede for sothe had he not bene. Ihesus. hider to you commen we ar To make you comforth of youre care, Bot loke no fayntyse ne no slawtfi. Bryng you oute of stedfast 1 trawthe, Then shali I hold? you that I saide. lo, where haue ye his body laide 1 Maria, lorde, if it be thi WiH, I hope be this he sauers iH, ffor it is now the ferth 1 day gone sen he Was laide vnder yonde stone. Ihesus. I told* the right now ther thou stode that thi trawth shuld* ay be goode, And if thou may that fulfiH: AH bees done right at thi wilt. 60 Mainj.'] 64 68 72 84 88 Martha believes, and is bidden to fetch her sister Magdalene. [Fol. 130, a.] Mary tells Jesus of their sorrow. Jesus is come to 7 6 comfort them. 80 He asks where the body is laid. Et lacnmatus est ihesus, dicens. (2) ffader, I pray the that thou rase lazare that was thi hyne, And bryng hym oute of his mysese And oute of heH pyne. 1 MS. iiij. Jesus prays to the Father for Lazarus. 92 390 Toivneley Plays. XXXI. Lazarus. Let his days be in- creased. He bids Lazarus come forth, and be stripped of his grave- clothes. Lazarus gives thanks to Jesus, for raising him from hell. Not the mightiest on earth, king or knight, can escape death. When I the pray thou says aH wayse Mi witt is sich as thyne, Therfor WiH we now eke his dayse, To me thou wiH inclyne. (3) Com furth, lazare, and stand vs by, In erth shaH thou no langerc ly ; Take and lawse hym foote and hande, And from his throte take the bande, And the sudary take hym fro, And aH that gere, and let hym go. w lazarus. lorde, that aH thyng maide of noght, louyng be to thee, That sich Wonder here has Wroght, Gretter may none be. When I was dede to heH I soght, And thou, thrugh thi pauste, Kasid me vp and thens me broght, Behold and ye may se. (5) Ther is none so styf on stede, Ne none so prowde in prese, Ne none so dughty in his dede, Ne none so dere on deese, No kyng, no knyght, no Wight in wede, ffrom dede haue maide hym seese, JSTe flesh he was wonte to fede, It shaH be Wormes mese. 96 100 102 106 110 114 118 [Fol. 130, b. (6) youre dede is Wormes coke, youre myrroure here ye loke, And let me be youre boke, youre sampiH take by me ; 122 ffro dede you cleke in cloke, sich shaH ye aH be. 124 (7) Ilkon in sich aray / With dede thai shaH be dignt, And closid colde in clay / Wheder he be kyng or knyght ; Townelcy Plays. XXXI. Lazarus. 391 ffor aH his garmontes gay / that semoly were in sight, For ail their his flesh shaH frete away / With many a wofuH wight. 128 SKrflMh*' Then wo fully sieh wightys eaten away. ShaH gnawe thise gay knyghtys, Thare lunges and thare lightys, Thare harte shaH frete in sonder ; 132 Thise masters most of myghtys Thus shaH thai be broght vnder. 134 (8) Vnder the erthe ye shaH / thus carefully then cowche ; They shall The royfe of youre haH / youre nakyd nose shaH towche ; hail that Nawther great 1 ne smaH / To you wiH knele ne crowche ; nose^haii A shete shaH be youre paH / sich todys shaH be youre roof, for e nowcbe; 138 sEand* Todys shaH you dere, | e J d e ^ or ffeyndys wiH you fere, youre flesh that fare was here Thus rufully shaH rote ; In stede of fare colore sich band?/s shaH bynde youre throte. 144 (9) youre rud that was so red / youre lyre the lylly lyke, They shall Then shaH be wan as led / and stynke as dog in dyke ; dead dogs, Wormes shaH in you brede / as bees dos in the byke, breed in And ees out of youre hede / Thus-gate shaH paddok?/s pick'out a 3 pyke; 148 theireyes ' To pike you ar preste Many vncomly beest, Thus thai shaH make a feste Of youre flesh and of youre blode. ffor you then sorows leste The moste has of youre goode. 154 (10) youre goody s ye shaH forsake / If ye be neuer so lothe, They may And nothing With you take / Bot sich a wyndyng clothe • ££ thlm lg youre Wife sorow shaH slake / youre chylder also both, w^mg 1 vnnes youre mynnyng make / If ye be neuer so wrothe ; 158 sheet ' Thai myn you with nothyng That may be youre helpyng, 392 Wife and children will forget them and pay for no masses for their souls. [Fol. 131, a.] Trust not friend, wife, or child ; executors are always unfaithful. Let them amend while they may. When they are dead it will be too late ; no wealth may save them then. The rich man's wealth be- longs to God, Towneley Plays. XXXI. Lazarus. Nawther in mes syngyng, Ne yit with almus dede ; Therfor in youre leuyng Be wise and take good hede. 164 (ii) Take hede for yon to dele / Whils ye ar on life, Tmstneuer freynd?/s frele l / Nawthere of childe then wife; ffor sectures ar not lele / Then for yonre good WiH stryf e ; To by youre saules hele / There may no man thaym shrife. . 168 To shrife no man thaym may, After youre endyng day, youre sauH for to glad? ; youre sectures wiH swere nay, And say ye aght more then ye had. 173 (12) " Amende the, man, Whils thou may, let neuer no myrthe fordo thi mynde ; Thynke thou on the dredefuH day When god shall deme arl mankynde. 177 Thynke thou farys as dothe the wynde ; This warlde is wast & wiH away ; Man, haue this in thi mynde, And amende the Whils that thou may. 181 (13) Amende the, man, whils thou art here, Agane thou go an othere gate ; When thou art dede and laide on bere, Wyt thou weH thou bees to late ; 185 ffor if art the goode that euer thou gate Were delt for the after thi day, In heuen it wolde not mende thi state, fforthi amende the Whils thou may. 189 (14) If thou be right ryaH in rente, As is the stede standyng in stall, In thi harte knowe and thynke 2 That thai ar goddys goody s aH. 193 1 These words, "Trust neuer fteyndys frele," are hardly legible. 3 The assonance wants "tlienke." Towneley Plays. XX XII. The Hanging of Judas. 393 he myght haue maide the poore and small As he that heggys fro day to day ; and must be accounted for. Wit thou weft acoimt?/s gif thou shaft, Therfore amende the whils thou may. 197 (15) And if I myght with you dwelt Lazarus has heard and To teft you aft my tynie, seen many a marvel. ffuft mekift cowthe I teft That I haue harde and sene, 201 Of many a great merueft, sich as ye wolde not wene, In the paynes of heH There as I haue bene. 205 (16) Bene I haue in wo, Therf or kepe you ther fro ; Let them be warned by his suffer- "Whilst ye lif do so ings, If ye wiH dwell with hym That can gar you thus go, And hele you litrl and lym. 211 (17) he is a lorde of grace, Vmthynke you in this case, And pray hym, fuft of myght, and pray to the gracious he kepe you in this place And haue you in his sight. 21G Lord for protection. Amen. Explicit Lazarus. (XXXII.) Suspencio Iude. 1 [Incomplete ; 16 six-line stanzas, aaab ab.] [Fol. 131, b.l (i) [Judas.] Alas, alas, & walaway ! Judas waryd & cursyd I have beyn ay ; laments. 1 This poem is added in a more modern hand than the others, apparently about the commencement of the sixteenth century. His father's name was Beuben, his mother's Sibaria. When he was be- gotten his mother dreamed that there lay in her side a lump of sin which should destroy all Jewry. 394 Tovmeley Plays. XXXII. The Hanging of Judas. I slew my father, & syn by-Lay My moder der ; And falsly, aftur, I can betray Myn awn) mayster. 6 (2) My fathers name was ruben, right ; Sibaria my moder hight ; Als he her knew apon a nyght Ail fleshle, In her sleyp she se a sighte, A great ferle. 1 2 (3) her thoght ther lay her syd wz't/i-in A lothly lumpe of fleshly syn, Of the which distruccion schuld begyn Of aH Iury ; That Cnrsy4 Clott of Camys kyn, fforsoth, was I. 18 <*) Dreyd of that sight mad her awake, & ail hir body did tremyH & qwake ; her thoght hir hert did all to-brake — No wonde?" was — the first[e] word my moder spake was alas, alas ! 24 (5) Alas, alas ! sche cryed faste, •with that, on weping owt sche braste : My father wakyd? at the laste, & her afranyd ; Sche told hym how she was agaste, & nothyng 1 laynyd? r 30 (6) my father bad, " let be thy woo ! my Cowncel is, if hit be soo, A child be gettyn betwixt hus too, Doghter or son, lett hit neuer on erth[e] go, Bot be fordon. 36 She told his father her dream, and he re- solved that if a child were born he should be destroyed. Towneley Plays. XXXII. The Hanging of Judas, 395 (!) bettur hit is fordon) to be then hit fordo both the & me ; ffor in a while then schaH we se, & fuH weii knaw, wheder that swevyns be vanite or on) to traw." (8) The tyme was comyn that I was borne, os my moder sayd beforn ; Alas, that I had beyn forlorn With-Jn hir syd ! for ther then spronge a sehrewid thorn) That spred fuH wyd. O) for I was born with owtyn grace, Thay me namyd & Callyd Indas ; The father of the child ay hays Great petye ; He myght not thoyle afor his face My deth to se. (10) My ded to se then myght he noght ; A lytyH lep he gart be wroght, & ther I was in bed [i-]broght & bondon faste ; To the salt se then thay soght, & In me Caste. (ii) The wawes rosse, the wynd[e] blew ; That I was Cursyd fuH well thai knew ; The storme vnto the yle me threw, That ly till botte ■ And of that land my to-name drew, Iudas skariott. (12) Thor os wrekke in sand I lay, The qweyn Com passyng ther away, With hir madyns to sport & play ; U 60 66 They would soon know if dreams were vain or true. 42 Judas was born. 48 His father would not have him killed in his sight, but had him cast into the sea. The waves and wind rose, and the storm threw him on the isle whence he was called Iscariot. 396 Toivnelcy Plays. XX XI J. The Hanging of Judas. The queen found him there as she came to play with her maidens, and passed him off on the king as her own son. The king made a feast. Two years afterwards the queen bore a fair son. And prevaly A child she fond in slyk aray, & had ferly. (13) Neuer-the-lesse sche was weH payd, And on hir lap[pe] sche me layd ; Sche me kissid & with me playd, ffor I was fayre ; " A child god hays me send," sche sayd, " to be myn ayre." (14) Sche mad me be to norice done, And fosterd as her awn[e] sone, And told the kyng that sche had gone AH the yer witJi child ; And with fayr word?/s, as Werner Con, sche hym begild. (15) Then the kyng gart mak a fest To aH the land [right] of the best, ffor that he had gettyn) a gest, A swetly thyng 1 , When he wer ded & broght to rest, that myght be kyng 1 . (16) Sone aftur with in yer[e]s too, In the land hit befeH: soo, The qweyn hir selff with child Can goo ; A son sche bayr ; A fayrer child? from tope to too Man neuer se ayre. * * * * 72 78 84 90 96 finis huius [in a later hand.] •SZ/o8 '9u^ojq •£z£\ 112 floor ; 36/436, floated. Flone, HO/324, dart: see Thoner-flone, lightning. Floo, 26/115, flow. Flume, 197/72, river. Flyt, n/303 ; 29/223, flee, shift ; 73/ 284, flee trom, avoid. Flyte, 17/293, quarrel. Flyx, 182/ 30, flux, diarrhoea. Foche, 71/221, fetch. Fode, 96/365 ; 268/343, offspring : see Foode. Foine, 268/343, product, treasure. Fon, 274/526, am bewildered. Fon, 47/218, found ; 96/353, fool. Fon, 239/360, seize, take. Fone, 26/99, f ew - Foode, 91/178, offspring, child ; 196/ 39, young man. Foore, 122/ 196, fared. For, I9/354, because. Forbot, IO2/38, forbidding. Force, I9/374, power, strength ; i no force,' no matter. Fordo, 26/114, ruin, destroy. T. PLAYS. For-fare, 234/317, destroy. Forfett, 230/62, transgressed; 242/ 425, offence, penalty (?) Forgungere, 195/28, foregoer. Forgeyn, 49/285, forgiven. For-rakyd, 124/256, overdone with walking. Fors, 65/32, might, power. Forshapyn, 136/6 19, transformed. Forspokyn, 136/6 13, enchanted. Forth, 52/24, carry out, execute. For-thi, IO/45, For-thy, 27O/405, there- fore. Forthynk, 94/299 ; 24/354, repent, be sorry. Forthynkyng, 343/ 144, repentance. Forwakyd, I24/253, exhausted with watching. Forward, 289/322, agreement, promise. Foryeldys, I2I/171, requites. Fostre, 386/599, care, protection. Fott, 2O/392, fetch. Found, 41/53; Fownde, 358/158, prove, try, seek. Fow[n]dyng, 219/497, temptation. Fowre, 74/305, fared. Foyde, 139/720, child, offspring: see Foode. Foyll, 225/678, fool ; 5/137, foal. Foyn, I77/381, thrust. Foyne, 125/28i, few: see Fone. Foyte, 263/i82, foot, 12 inches. Frast, 28/183 ; 41/5 3, inquire of, try. Fray, I75/317, attack, alarm, fright; 312/198, from. Frayes, 65/42, affrays, rows. Frayn, 9I/185, question, ask. Fre, sb. 32/310, free, noble, liberal being, God. Freke, 289/322, warrior, man. Frele, 392/i66, frail. Frely, 49/ 27 7 5 139/ 7 2o ; 196/ 39 , noble. Fres, 35I/314; Frese, 34/391, fear. Fresh : as fresh as an eel, 127/356. Frog, 289/3H, frock, Christ's gown. Froskis, 73/284, frogs. Fry, 25/66, children, descendants. Fryggys, 377/316, animals, beings (?) Fun, 65/43, found Fylyd, 90/159, defiled, copulated with. Fynd, 94/272, put, clothe. Fyrth, 156/5 15, forest. Fytt, 59/104, song, stanza. D D 402 Glossarial Index, Gab, 347/243, deceive. Gad, I3/149, £'° quickly to and fro. Gadlyng, 8O/84, fellow. Gam, 3/84, pleasure, sport. Ganstand, 44/i28, withstand, oppose. Garn, 32/298, yarn. Garray, 7GI/377, armed force; 134/ 564, commotion, row. Gars, IO/44, causes. Gart, 43/104, made. Garthynere, 323/563, gardener. Gate, 52/29, going, path. Gawdis, 65/41, tricks, habits. Gaytt-door, 126/328, street door. Gedlyngis, 10/ 14, fellows: see Gad- lyng. Geld, 89/134, barren. Gent, 366/396, gentle, well-born. Gere, 3O/245, gear, tools. Ges, sb. 15/231, guess. Gessen, 74/315, Goshen. Get, 46/ 1 88, offspring, progeny. Gett, 376/287, mode, fashion. Geyn, 203/270, given. Glase, 241/4i8, gloss, polishing. Glase, 126/316, chance, risk. Glom, 386/596, frown, are gloomy. Glope, I74/264, surprise. Glose, I29/413, falsehood. Gnast, I7O/157, gnash, be troubled. Goderhayll I 107/226, good luck ! Gog, IO/44, God. Gome, 203/269, m:m - Goonys, 183/47, yawn. Grade, 257/404; Graide, 234/ 2 86, prepared. Grafen, 3I6/350, buried. Grales, I72/205, gradual, part of the Mass. Grame, 25/89, anger. Gramercy, 98/20, many thanks. Gramery, IO8/242, grammar, learning. Grankys, I83/45, groan. Granser, 204/ 12, grand sire. Grath, 37/482, (?) favour, readiness. Grauyng, 157/5 57, burial. Grayd, 3OO/227, prepared : see Grade. Grayth, 55/103, prepare. Graythly, 207/95, readily. Grefyd, 21 7/432, grieved. Greme, 54/73, anger, harm : see Grame. Gresys, 8/238, herbs, plants. Grete, 5O/38, weeping, to weep ; 316/ 350, grit, stone. Grew, 274/531, Greek. Grewys, 378/352, turns to horror (?) Grith, I66/4, peace, security: see Gyrth. Grofen, 74/326, grown (?) Groflyngis, 46/203, groveling, face downwards. Grome, 371/128, groom, boy. Gropyng, 347/243, feeling, handling. Groved, 15/199, grew. Growne, II4/432, snout (?) Groyf, 196/54, grow (?) Gruch, I98/104, grudge, murmur. Grufe, 37/463, grow (?) Gryle, I63/99, shrilly, keenly. Grymly, 338/ 14, cruelly, terribly. Gryse, 48/254, feel horror, shudder. Gryssed, IO6/189, grassed, covered with grass. Gryth, 226/707, peace, security : see Gyrth. Gyll, 243/1 1, guile. Gyn, 26/128, contrivance, engine. Gyrd, 136/622, strike, cut. Gyrth, 8O/54, peace, security : see Gryth. Gyse, 127/341, plan (?) Had I wyst, II9/93, had I known, before I played the fool. Hafles, I8O/484, unhurt (?) Haft, I87/52, affairs, business. Hafyng,191/i75, possessions, property. Hagh, 33O/144, consideration. Hak, I3I/476, go on, behave, make uproar (?) Halsid, 294/56, embraced, fondled. Hamyd, H7/15, crippled, lamed. Handband, 5O/33, covenanted portion. Hap, I3O/434, wrap up. Har (to-har), 297/142, harry, drag. Har, 234/2IO, hinge. Harbar, 1 24/245 ; Harbor, 297/ 139, lodging, dwelling. Hardely, 19/463, boldly, certainly. Harll, 256/358, drag. Harlottis, IO/22, rascals. Harnes, 1 28/392, brains. Harnes, 43/ 118, equipment. . Haro ! I7/275, help ! Harrer, II/55, quicker. Harsto, 297/136; Harstow, 2O/386, hearest thou. Hast, 238/318, asked, ordered : see Ast. Hat, IO/15, i s called. Hathennes, 79/26, heathendom. Glussarial Index. 403 Hatters, 133/543, confound it ! Hawvell, 378/337, noise, jabber (?). Apparently mere gibberish, like the rime-word lawvell. Haylse, 365/386, salute. Haytt, 123/227, hot. He, 37/469, high. Hek, I26/305, hatch, wicket-gate. Hekis, IO/47, hay-racks (?) Held, 181/6, eld, old age. Helme, 35/420, rudder. Hend, 388/25, near. Hend, 9/262, hand. Hent, 35/420, take, seize. Here, 12/ 100, here is. Heris, 7/198, hear thou. Het, 46/190, promised ; Hetis, 51/52, promises ; Hete, 352/348, promise. Hething, 281/86, scorn, contempt. Hevyd, 366/401, lifted. Heyle, 87/45, healing, salvation. Heynd, 62/174, gracious. Heytt, 73/298, promised : see Het. Hien, 193/2 16, hence. Hight, 3/71, (be) called; 24/46, pro- mised. Ho, 35/411, cry ho! stop. Hogh, 317/371, high,(?) read 'hegli.' Hoill, 9/7, hole. Hoket, 374/233, 234; 377/312, ridi- cule (?), or(r') difficulty, obstacle. Holard, I77/358, debauchee. Holgh, 1 8/3 10, empty, hollow. Humely, 294/56, familiarly. Hone, I3/133, delay. Hore, IO4/132, hair(?), sheep. Hostyld, 348/263, lodged. Hote, 53/46, promise, vow. Houer, 75/363, tarry. Hoylle, 34/388, whole, contented. Hoyne, 32/8o, delay :. see Hone. Hoyse, 2I/436, hose. Hu, 346/221, hue (?) Hud, 288/283, hood. Hufe, 37/461, delay. Hullars, 29I/373, lechers. Hurlyd, 244/30, driven forcibly ; 377/ 316, covered with bristles. Hy, IO/43, hasten ; in hy, in haste. Hyght, 8I/107, promise. Hyghtynd, 90/68, set high, lifted up, exalted. Hyne, 53/54, servant ; 1 84/90, hence(?) Hyrdis, 66/62, shepherds. Hyte ! H/55, gee up I go on I Ich, Icha, 4/106, each, every. Ich, who be ich?, I22/207. Ichon, 26/ii2, each one. Ilk, 62/183, same. Ilka, 63/2U, each, every. Indoost, 242/421, flogged, loaded on the back. Indytars, 205/24, inditers, writers. Infude, IOO/89, pour into, endow. Ingroost, 202/250, engrossed, included, comprehended. Innocent, sb. I77/388. Inqueryd, 195/21, inquired of, asked. Intraste (in traste), 299/i82, trust in. Irk, I82/43, weary, disinclined for exertion. Irregulere, 237/306, out of rule, unjust. 1st, 201/212, is it. Janglis, 9/6; chatters; Jangyls, I3/134, chatterest. Jape, 123/221, jest. Jawvell, 378/337, wrangling = javel, chavel, jaw. Jelian Jovvke, 377/317, Gillian Clown (?) Jourmontyng, 166/n, governor (?) Jues, 65/35, Jews. Keill, 32/300; Keyle, 26/u8, cool, allay. Kelles, 375/26o, cauls, nets. Kend, II/72, taught ; 62/193, known. Kepe, 253/304, await, meet (?) ; 388/ 19, heed. Kest, 266/255, cast, reckon up. Knafe, 2O/382 ; Knave, 134/5 54, boy, servant. Knakt, 137/659, mt it °^ san g- Knap, 238/337, knock, strike. Knop, 24I/408, stud with knobs. Knyt, 36/451, knit, closed. Koket, 374/235, cock, aside. Kon, 4/91, know. Kun thank, 65/30, give thanks. Kyd, 2/45 ; 266/272, made known, shown. Kynd, 50/42, kindred, family. Kynke, 372/152, double up, tie myself in a knot. Kyppys, 134/557, seizes, snatches. Kyth, 54/67, kith, kindred, native country. Kythe, 54/95 ; 266/266, show. 404 Glossarial Index. Laft, 2GI/105, have left, relinquished. Laghe, 339/44, law. Lak, G8/118; Lake, H5/465 ; 385/ 587, play, game. Lakan, I24/242, plaything. Lake, 56. 206/8 5. lack. Lane, 334/48, hide ; see Layn. Langett, 29/224, strap, thong. Langyd, 11 7/42, longed, wished. Lap, 287/265, rag. Lappyd, II6/4 ; Lapt, 128/368, wrapped up, involved. Lare, 76/194, lore, learning. Large, in, I89/90, at large, fully. Late, 9O/137, seek, inquire. Lath, 298/165, hateful, hideous ; see Layth. Law, 67/8 1, low. Lawd, 6I/143, lay, unlearned. Lawdys, 121/ 180, praises, part of the Matins Service. Lawvell, 378/338, blasphemy (?) Lay, Layse, 66/48, law, laws. Layn, 45/169, hide, deny. Layt, 192/i8o, seek, look for. Layth, 87/63, hateful, hideous. Laytt, 286/238, search (?) Leasse, 6/158, falsehood. Leche, 12/83, physician. Lede, 287/265, man. Leder, 3I/289 ; Ledyr, 121/147, evil, bad. Lefe, H/65 ; Leif, 11/68, dear. Lege, 192/i 8 1, alleges, quotes. Leghe, 33/38, lie, falsehood. Leif, 15/195, remain. Leke, 5/129, leek. Lele, 36/446, loyal. Lely, 192/i8o, loyally. Lelyst, 288/296, most loyal, f;iirest. Lemman, 87/65, dear onc (V. Mary). Lemyd, HO/316, shone. Lent, 96/352, remained. Lenys, 13/ 11 8, lends. Lep, 395/56, basket. Lerd, 233/ 169, taught Lere, 45/159, teach. Leryd, 72/239, learnt. Les, 5/i2o; Lese, 7/194, falsehood : see Leasse. Lese, 209/163, lose. Lesyns, 2O6/67, lyings, falsehoods. Letherly, 121/ 171, badly (cheap and nasty). Letht, 232/142 ; lithe, mitigation. Lett, I89/89, hinder, desist, stop > 259/33, thought, esteemed. Letys, 260/56, thinks. Leuer, 47/217, rather : see Leyffer. Leuerd, 287/265, delivered, given. Leueryng, 107/2 17, dish of liver (?): see Levyr. Levyn, 33/346, lightning. Levyr, 35/399, liver. Lewde, 139/707, unlearned, lay. Lewte, 41/50, loyalty. Leyde, 24/48, people, nation ; 4/82, lead. Leyf, 5/126, dear : see Leif. Leyfe, 4/i 11, leave, abandon ; 85/234, pleased, willing. Leyffer, were I, 42/84, I had rather. Leyfys, 385/586, darlings, loves. Leyn, 12/ii2, lean. Leyn, 12/i 15, lend. Leynd, 68/140, remain, linger. Leynyd, 53/37, leaned, inclined. Lig, 1 8/326, lie. Lightness, 195/5, light. Ligis, 15/220, lies : see Lig. List, H/59, pleases. Lith, 2/26, light ; 393/21 1, joint. Lofe, 3/75, praise. Lofyni', I2/103, praising, praise : see Lovyng. Loghe, 281/86, laughed. Lone, 293/271, loan. Long, 35/399, lungs. Longys, 3/8 1, belongs. Lonys, IO7/230, loins. Looke, I23/219, look favourably or^ save. Loppys, 74/306, insects, fleas. Lome, 66/76, lost. Lose, 250/2O2, praise, repute. Losell, 72/242, scamp, worthless man. Lote, I29/409, noise. Loth, 2O8/126, loathsome, hateful, hideous : see Lath. Lothes, I66/9, injuries. Lottyn, 232/123, looking: see Sowre- loten. Louf, 42/56, love : see Luf. Loutt, 28O/49, bow the head : see Lowt. Lovyng, 3/62, praise. Lowde, and styll, 190/122, in all con- ditions. Lowfes, 2II/239, valuest. Glossarial Index. 405 Lowfyd, 248/i69, praised. Lovvked, 229/58, locked, closed. Lowt, 2I/434, bow the head. Luddokys, 377/314, buttocks. Luf, 21/434, love. Lufe, 37/462, hand, palm. Lufly, 3/72, lovely. Lullay, syng, 130/442. Lurdan, 72/239, lowt, lazy person, Luskand, 227/750, hiding, sneaking. Lyere, 269/362 ; face, countenance : see Lyre. Lyght, 6O/115, descend; I27/337, delivered (in childbirth); chepe, 16/ 236, I2I/170, light, cheap bargain. Lykance, 281/56, liking, pleasure. Lykandly, 265/234, pleasantly. Lykyng, 74/316, pleasure. Lynage, 69/143, lineage. Lynde, 97/368, lime-tree. Lyre, 65/24, face, countenance : see Lyere. Lyst, 65/24, pleasure, liking. Lyte, 85/225 ; Lytt, I52/394, flaw, error. Lythe, 340/87, go, travel. Lytter, 158/590, bed. Ma-fay ! 275/564, my faith ! Make, 7/187, mate, wife; 2I/442, match, equal. Malison, 19/355, malediction, curse. Malys, I79/453, bags, wallets. Mangery, 214/343, feast. Mangyng, IO7/232, eating, meal. Mar, 27/129, hinder. Mare, 238/310, nightmare, goblin. Marke, I82/33, dark, dim. Maroo, I3O/436, companion, mate. Mase, 68/135, makes, does. Masid, 358/i65, 166; 359/195, mazed, dazed. Mastre, 3/8i ; 65/34; 223/6io, lord- ship, superiority. Masyd, 220/5IO, dizzy, stupid. Mawgre, 287/270, ill-will, displeasure. Mawmentry, 26O/78, idolatry. May, 8O/70, maiden ; 223/6 10, make. Mayll-easse, 1 32/48 5, discomfort, sick- ness. Mayn, 163/ioi ; 265/241, power, strength. Maytt, 202/245, dejected, sorrowful. Measse, 34/389, mess, dish. Med, 341/i 1 1, mead, honey-drink. Mede, 17/294, reward. Medill-erd, 26/ioo, earth, world. Medys, 2/31, midst. Mekill, I6/237, much. Mell, 24/44, speaks (of); 260/82, meddle. Melland, 386/595, speaking, talking. Mene, I4I/37, indicate, point out. Menee, Menye, 23/22, household, company. Meng, 166/ 1, "mingle; 271/437, disturb, trouble. Menged, 4I/31, disturbed, troubled ; 314/270, mixed. Menske, 82/140, dignify, honour. Menskfull, 360/389, honourable. Ment, 40/i5, a i m ed at, aspired to; 45/174, signilied, intended. Menys, 225/688, bemoans. Merely, 77/419, merrily. Merkyd, 195/3, marked. Mershall, 264/198, farrier. Mes, 172/2o6, Mass. Mese, 209/I5I, soothe. Mesel, I6/264, leprous. Mett, H5/484, measured. Mevid, 39/542, moved. Meyne, 12/iu, mean, middling. Meyne, Mene 12/113, complain, moan. Mo, 6/163 ; Moo, 8/237, more. Mode, I8O/472, mind, mood. Modee, 260/86, proud, courageous. Mold, 243/3, earth, ground. Mom, 70/i88, mutter. Mompyns, 107/2 10, teeth: 'mone- pynnes,' Lydgate. Mon, I6/265, must. Mop, II5/467 ; 139/724, bundle, baby. Moren, IOI/39, morning. Mortase, 264/213; 267/304, mortice, notch for the Cross to rest in. Mos, 376/288, moss, for padding folk's shoulders. Mot, I6/254, must. Mow, 26I/99, grimace. Mowchid, 380/571, preyed, pilfered (?) Moyne, 195/6, moon. Moyte, 213/298, discuss, moot. Moytt, 27I/430, plead. Moyttys, 3OI/270, slippest, goest astray. Muf, 70/i88, speak indistinctly. Muster, 298/177, punish (?) Mychers, 258/ 12, pilferers. Mydyng, 34/376, dunghill. 406 Glossarial Index. Myld, sb. 94/28i, gentle maiden, Mary. Myn, 26/112, less; 39/551, remember. Myn, 291/361, Mynnyng, 391/i 5 8, memory, remembrance. Myr, 157/557, myrrh. Myrk, 197/88, dark. Mys, 39/551, suffering; 195/26, evil. Mysfoundyng, 347/242, mistaken en- deavour, mistake. Mysprase, 389/59, blame. Myssaes, 275/569, (?) discomforts. Myster, IO7/231, need, require. Mytyng, H5/477, little one. Napand, 385/575, napping, catching, griping. Nar, 43/225 ; I24/246, nigh, nearer. Nate, 260/62, use. Nately, I2I/158, quickly. Nawder, 14/ 193, neither. Nawre, 323/579, nowhere. Nawther, 1 32/504, neither. Ne, 297/n8, nigh, near. Neemly, 1 23/271, nimbly. Nefe, 24I/407, fist. Negh, 7/201, go nigh, approach. Negons, 385/571, misers. Neld, 13/123, needle. Nere-hand, 49/286, almost. Nese, 132/488, nose (?) Nesh, I33/545, soft, tender. Neuen, 23/13, name, relate; 194/266, speak of. Newys, 14/189, renews. Nokyns, 246/99, no kind of. Nold, 360/ 1 1, would not. Nome, 370/i 1 1, numb, benumbed. None, 32/317, noon. Nonys, the, 133/527 = then onys, then once, the nonce. Nores, 132/496; Norice, 396/79; Norysh, 262/141 ; nurse. Nose, 9/i 1, noise. Note, 31/264, occupation, business ; 34/368, contention. Novels, 38/508, news. Nowche 391/138, brooch. Noy, 39/532, Noah. Noyes, 77/397, annoyances, hurts. Noynyng, <281/65, noon-tide. Noytis, 69/154; HO/306; 194/266, notes, things : see Note. Nyfyls, 377/323, trivialities. Nyghtertayll, 227/734, night-time. Nyk, 323/571, deny. ! Nyll, IO6/198, will not. 0, l/i, omega. Oker, I9I/163, usury. Okerars, 376/297, usurers. Oneths, I82/42, scarcely: see Unethes. Onone, 4/99, anon, immediately. Ons, 238/326 ; Onys, 29/207, once. Oone-fold, 157/554, one. Oost, 202/256, host, company. Oostre, 32/329, hostelry, inn. Or, 196/32, before. Ordaud, 26/119, ordain, make. Ore, 355/76, before, ago ; see Are. Ostre, 386/603, entertainment. Other-gatis, 13/I2I, otherwise. Ouerlaide, 32/306, covered, flooded. Ouertwhart, IO2/48, athwart, across. Out-horne, 232/139, nue ar >d cry. Owe, 91/178, owns. Oy> Oyes, 21/416, hear, listen, oh yes ! (call for silence). Paddokys, 39I/148, toads (or frogs). Paide, 3I/283 ; Payde,80/6i, satisfied. Pall, 323/613, royal robe, Paramoure, 25/8o, as a lover. Parels, nO/136, perils (?) Pask, 214/314, Passover. Pauste, 41/32, power. Pay, 76/373, satisfy, please ; I75/326, beat. Payde, 21 8/470, pleased. Paynt, 117/28, painted, ornamented. Peche, 2O2/239, impeach. Pelt, 237/283, knock, thrust. Pent, 246/ioo, belonged. Perch, 25I/233, pi ei 'ce. Perles, 243/5, peerless. Permafay, 8O/67, by my faith. Pertly, 212/247, quickly, boldly. Peruyce, 24O/387, church-porch. Peyre, 369/63, equal. Pight, 269/364, doubt (?) Pight, 285/ 1 88, fixed (?) Pik, 26/127, pitch. Pike-harnes, IO/37, plunderer of armour. Pilus, 376/290, folk with padded shoulders. Playn, 292/4o8 ; Plene, 1 89/99. ful] - Plenyd, 38I/453, complained, be- moaned. Plete, IO6/204 5 Pleyte, 287/248, plead. Plight, 327/56; Plyght, 88/91, guilt. Glossarial Index. 407 Ply, 28I/58, bend. Po, II7/37, peacock. Poece, 172/204, poet's (not Boece, as in margin). Pose, II3/423. catarrh, cold. Powderd, 107/2 16, salted. Poynt, 83/i6i, condition, danger. Prankyd, 376/288, embroidered, be- decked. Pransawte, 385/56i, prancing, showing off. Praty, 11 5/477, pretty. Prayse, 212/257, appraise, value. Prease, 65/ 19, crowd, throng : see Prese. Prefe, 72/255, prove. Prese, 253/313, crowd, throng. Prest, 22O/510, rpady, prompt. Preualy, 253/292, privately. Preue, 151/338, private. Preuate, 80/ 125, privity, secret. Propyce, 54/ioo, propitious. Prouand, IO/45, provender, food. Prow, I4/163, profit. Purs-cuttars, 291/375, purse-cutters. Purst, IO7/209, put away. Purvaye, 89/553, provide. Purveance, 11 7/33, provision, equip- ment. Pyk, 31/282, pitch. Pynd, 33/332, pinned, confined. Pynde, 47/220, pained, punished. Pyue, 29/227, punishment. Pystyll, 119/ioo, epistle. Quantyse, 66/65, skill, wisdom. Quarrell, 19/367, square bolt of a cross- bow. Quarte, 19/368, safety. Quell, 66/65, kill. Queme, 2/42, agreeable, pleasant. Querestur, 373/209, chorister. Quest-dytars, 373/i85, inquest- or inquiry-holders. Quest-mangers, 205/25, inquest- or in- quiry-holders. Quetstone, 230/8o, whetstone. Queyd, 82/117, bad 7 un. Qwantt, I35/593, clever, qunint. Qweasse, 1 32/487, wheeze, breathe. Qwelp, II3/425, whelp. Qweme, 360/365, please. Qwenes, 255/349, women. Qweyn, 83/164, woman. Qvvite ; H/52, requite. Pad, I2I/175; 27O/384, afraid. Radly, 77/401 ; I68/65, readi y, speedily. Rate, 21/423, raves ; 27O/384, rave. Ragman (roll of), 374/224, document with seals. Rake, I68/65, course, path; 198/i 19, wander, go, Rake, 260/88, rack, torture. Rap, 237/300, hit, knock. Rase, 36/429, race, rush. Rathly, 27O/402, quickly, promptly. Raunson, 269/354, ransom. Raw, II9/109, 1- o w 5 bne. Rawth, 330/i68, ruth, pity. Rayd, 206/68, set in array, arranged. Recrayd, 321/507, recreant. Red, advice, plan. Rede, 4/iu, advice, counsel; 7/202, command. Redles, 27O/384, without counsel. Reepe, 1 6/235, sheaf. Refe, 245/65, rob, deprive of. Reffys, 371/146, thefts, spoil, plunder. Refys, 266/269, robbest of. Rehett, 171/i6i, rebuke. Rek, I6/247, care thou, heed thou. Reke, 372/i68, smoke. Rekyls, I48/237, incense. Rekys, 5/129, care: see Hek. Reme, 252/258, realm, kingdom. Ren, 57/25, run J ^ ve - Rennbyll, 231/no, reasonable. Renderars, 371/146, restorers. Renk, 1 68/70, man, warrior. Rentals, 371/134, rents (?) Rerd, 26/ioi, sound, noise. Res, 48/255 ; Resse, 273/481, race, rush. Rese, 245/62, crowd. Reue, 08/74, rob, plunder. Rew, 63/224. nie } be merciful. Rewyll, 222/585, order, line, row. Reyde, 7/114, advise, counsel: see Rede. Reyf, 83/174, deprive of, rob from : see Reue. Reyll, 125/274, set about it. Reynand, 26/m, running. Ro, 3O/237 ; 266/269, quiet, repos°. Roght, 78/il ; 368/21, cared, recked. Rok, 33/338, distaff. Rok, 238/330, shake, agitate. Rose, I2/95, praise, glorify. Rost, cold, 2I/421, cold roast meat. 408 Glossarial Index. Roton, 107/221, rotten. Route, 32/305, roaring- noise. Rowne, 82/n8, whisper. Rowte, I75/309, company. Royse, 4/in, praise. Roytt, 341/io2, root. Rud, 39I/145, redness of complexion. Rude, 27I/440, rood, cross. . Rug, 248/148, rock, agitate, shake. Runk, 82/ii8, whisper, talk. Ruse, 229/33, rose, praise. Rused, 273/492, praised, celebrated. Ryfe, 13/153, tear, split. Ryfe, IO3/96, widely. Ryffen, 13/ 141, torn, Ryke, IO3/92, realm. Rynes, 230/82, runs. Rype, 132/51-5, examine. Ryst, 65/47, rising, insurrection. Rytt, I98/109, disobedience (?) Sadly, 206/6o, firmly, seriously. Sagh, 56/ 1 6, saying : see Sawe. Sakles, 250/2 15, innocent. Salys, 22O/506, assails. Sam, 22/445, together. Samyne, 11 2/398, same. Sangre, H3/430, song. Santis, 4O/555, saints. Saunce, 103/ 112, without. Sawe, 112/68; Sayes, pi. 55/ioy, saying, speech. Say, 323/563, tell. Sayll, 286/229, hal] - Sayne, 43/ 107, bless ; Saynyd, 55/ 106, blessed. Saynt, 1 23/209, show off (?) Seasse, 6/182, seize, give possession, install. Sectures, 392/ 167, executors. Securly, 34/372, surely. Sekir, I7/295 5 Sekyr, 8/249, sure. Selcowth, 67/103, strange, wonderful. Seme, 4/107, II2 '■> Semys, 4/ioo, 104, suit, befit. Sen, 212/259, since : see Sithen. Seniors, 204/8. Sere, 8/255, several, separate. Sese, 4/i 14, cease. Sew, 77/403, pursue. Seyll, 32/301, happiness. Seymland, 29/21 1, semblance, appear- ance. Seyr, 8/239, various, separate : see Sere. Share, 351/329, cut, pierced. Shech, 2O0/52, speech, doctrine (?) Shene, 143/99, beautiful. Shent, 8/221, disgraced, destroyed. Sheynd, 76/376, destroy. Shog, 265/230, shake up and down. Shon, 46/200, avoid, escape. Shontt, 365/36i, avoid, escape. Shope, I4/174, shaped, made. Shoterd, 370/98, shuddered. Shoyn, 13/i 53, shoes; 269/361, shone. Shrew, I9/341, curse. Shrogys, I2O/455, shrubs, brushwood. Shyld, 99/71 ; Outt-shyld, out- shelled (? L. inanes). Shyre, I8/317, clear. Sithe, 340/85, journey. Sithen, 12/103, afterwards, since. Sitt, 5/147, P ain - Skar, 237/301, cross, angry (?) Skard, I24/289, scared, timid, Skarthis, 105/ 160, fragments. Skathe, 53/51, injury, loss. Skaunce, 2O/401 ; Skawnce, 239/353, joke, make-believe. Skawde, 1 35/596, scold. Skawte, 385/559, blow, thrust. Skayll, IO8/249, bowl, drinking-vessel. Skelp, 32/323, blow. Skete, 63/221, quickly. Skill, 6/260, reason. Skraw, 274/5 16, scroll. Skryke, 3O/232, screech. Skyfte, 292/392, shift, trick. Skyllys, 44/133, reasons: see Skill. Slake, 249/i89, loose, set free, humble. Slape, 2I/414, slippery, crafty. Slefe, 117/28, sleeve. Sleght, 169/i2i, scheme, trick: see Slyght. Slegthe, 263/157, sleight, contrivance. Slo, 19/371, slay. Sloghe (of-sloghe, ?) 128/385 (?) Slokyn, 138/677, quench. Slyght, 27/137, skill (?), 130/433, trick, contrivance. Slyk, 396/71, sleek, smooth. Slyke, 3O/233, such. Slythys, 120/122, slides. Smeke, 1 7/286, smoke. Snek, I26/306, latch. Snoke-horne, 80/8o, sneaking fellow. Soferand, 65/22, sovereign. Sogh, IO9/274, sow. Sole, 34/391, hall. Glossarial Index. 409 Somdele, 293/6, somewhat. Sond, 122/202, messenger. Sone, 63/221, soon. Soriornyd, 3OO/237, sojourned. Sory, 31/264, miserable. Sotell, G7/83, subtle, clever. Sothen, IO7/224, sodden, boiled. Sothfast, truthful. Sothle, 38/496, truly. Sow, 238/327, sound ; 3OO/234, follow : see Sowys. Sowde, HO/312, sounded. Sowll, IO5/152, sauce, relish. Sowre-loten, II9/102; -lottyn, 232/ 123, sour-looking. Sowys, 73/283, follows. Soyne, 11 8/50, soon. Spar, 26/128, shut, keep; 27/130, beam, spar ; 213/294, spare, scanty. Spart, IO9/271, spare it(?) Sparyd, 296/ -104, enclosed, shut up. Spell, II3/412, speak. Spence, 251/249, expense, cash. Spill, 42/87, kill; 89/129, be de- stroyed. Spir, 373/2o6, ask : see Spyr. Spitus, 35/416, spiteful. Spra, 154/449 5 Spray, 172/2 19, sprout, spring, rise. Spreyte, 6/168, spirit. Sprote, 17/290, sprout. Spyll, 89/129, be destroyed. Spyr, 47/226, ask, enquire. Stad, 294/28, placed. Staid, 234/202, installed, set. Stall, 33/345, station. Stangyng, 228/n, stinging. Stanys, IO/47, stones. Stard, 179/427, stared (?) Stark, 31/268, stiff. Starnes, 2/50, stars. Sted, 7/206, stand, stop; 29/199, placed, situated. Stede, 2/38, place. Stegh, 53/37, ladder. Stenen (or steuen, steven), 22I/546, ascend : see Stevyd. Stere, 235/350, move ; 259/27, govern, control. Stere- tre, 36/433, tiller. Stersman, 293/259, pilot, guide. Steven, M/175, voice. 1 The surname Sybry, Sibrce is common the name may have rendered it celebrated, in here.— II. B. Stevyd, 364/336, ascended : sec Stenen (for Sieuen). Stcvynd, 324/594, ascended. Stokyn, 299/205, fastened, shut up. Stold, 39/525, fixed. Stone-styll, I23/232 ; 125/28o. Store, II4/456, stock. Stott, 133/518, bullock. Stoure, 297/I3I, tumult, battle. Stowke, 377/315, stook, pile of sheaves. Stownd, 336/337, moment, time. Stowndys, 313/254, fits of pain. Stowre, 155/497, trouble, vexation. Strayd, I8O/481, strewed. Strenkyllid, 341/ 108, sprinkled. Strete, 52/7, road, way. Strewyd, 62/194, scattered, destroyed. Strut, 57/i5, swelling, contention (?) Stay, 176/348, hag. Sty, I9/365, path, way ; 36I/262, ascend. Stynt, 6/ 16 1, cease. Stynyng, 156/525, rising, ascension. Stythe, 54/96, strong. Sudary, 3I8/390, napkin. Sufferan, 6/173; Suffrane, 8O/81, sovereign. Swa, 155/486, so. Swalchon, 155/473, scamp. Swap, 247/136, stroke, cut. Swayn, 6O/124, countryman, labourer. Swedyll, I3O/432 ; 135/598, swaddle, wrap up. Swelt, 133/525, become faint. Swepys, 272/470, whips, scourges. Swevyn, 1 28/384, dream, vision. Swogh, 162/68, swoon; 226/718, soughing, sound. Swongen, 272/470, beaten. Swylke, 35I/333, such. Swyme, IO/27, dizziness. Swynk, 29/195, labour, toil. Swythe, 77/404, quickly. Syb, I9I/167, relative. Sybre, 233/149, a term of abuse. 1 Symnell, 292/389, sort of tine bread. Syne, 30/228, afterwards. Synthen, I9O/113, since. Sythes, 332/234, times. Tabard, I77/357, short sleeveless coat. Talent, 83/157, service, disposal. in Yorkshire. Perhaps some malefactor of so that it may have been half -jocularly put 410 Glossarial Index. Tarid, 229/5o, delayed (?) Tase, H6/185, tak es. Tayll, 58/64, number. Temporal (law), 237/292, secular. Ten, IO/21, teeth. Tend, H/73, tenth, tithe. Tendand, 245/89, attending. Tent, 3/291; 371/221, attend; take tent, I/21 1 ; I46/185, & lve attention ; 3/478, tenth. Tenys, I39/736, tennis. Tethee, 28/ 186, tetchy, touchy, testy. Teyn, 29/2 10, be vexed, injured ; 123/ 218, vex, injure; 39/533, vexation, injury. Teynd, 5/144, tenth : see Tend. Teynfully, I67/56, cruelly. Thame, 2I/420, them. Thar, 1 7/293 ; 43/ii7, is necessary. Tharmes, 128/391, bowels, bellies, children. Tharne, 149/272 ; Tharnys^ 22/191, lack. Thaym, 2O/412, them: see Thame. The, 32/328, prosper. Thee, 54/90, thigh. Ther, 282/ 106, must : see Thar. Thew, I4/185 ; 374/229, morals, man- ners, service. Tho, 30/228, them. Thole, I26/306, bear, suffer. Thoner-flone, HO/324, thunder-dart, lightning-. Thoyle, 395/53, suffer: see Thole. Thrafe, I5/197, bundle, sheaf. Thrall, 22/464, slave. Thrang, IOI/47, throng, company. Thraw, IO/30, short space of time. Thrawes, 348/250, throes. Threpe, 121/i68, contradict, argue. Thro, I62/69, strongly, deeply ; 328 76, bold, eager. Throle, 29I/357, boldly, severely. Throng, II2/416, pressed together. Thrug, 341/i 1 1, through. Thryng, 1 73/240, throng, press. Thurgh, 349/281, coffin. Thurt, 3OI/256, needed [=fallaii]: see Thar. Thwang, 123/2U, be flogged. Thyrll, 251/234, pierce; Thyrlyd, 27I/429, pierced. Till, 6I/151, to, unto. To, 266/268, according to, in, after. To, 6O/152 ; 119/io8 ; 270/385, till. To-draw, 32I/506, pull to pieces. Tollare, 374/21 1, tax-gatherer. Tome, I33/547, empty ; 2IO/201, leisure. Ton, U6J177, taken. To-name, 395/65, surname. To-tyre, 170/ 144, tear in pieces. Toute, 3/63 fundament ; 1 1/63,64, arse. Toyles, 257/406, tools. Trace, 249/2oo, track. Trade, 340/87, trod. Trane, 95/330; Trayn, 1 63/93, trick, deceit, stratagem. Trant, I73/235, trick. Trast, 4I/54, trusty. Tratrys, 178/394, trotts, old women. Trauell, 13/ 152, labour. Trauesses, 298/153, traverses, thwarts. Traw, 12/115, trow, believe (see Trow) ; 58/77, true Tray, 39/533, affliction, grief; 358/i62. betray. Trew as Steele, 26/i20. Tristur, 373/2o8, tryst, station. Trone, I/9, throne. Trow, I8/320, believe. Trowage, 84/198, fealty, allegiance. Trewth, 14/159, faith, belief. Trus, 3I/316, pack up; 6I/152, go away, be off. Trussell, I4/170, bundle. Tup, IO4/117, ram. Twyfyls, 377/324, twirls, curls (?) Tvvyk, 263/I7I, twitch. Twyn, I8/325, 159/625, divide, sepa- rate. Tyde, 22/470, time, season. Tydely, 31/291, quickly. Tyme, IO/26, befall, happen. Tymely, adv. 133/524, early. Tynde, IOI/39, lost: see Tynt. Tyne, 11 5/467, tiny. Tyne, 36/441 ; 339/72, lose. Tynt, 5/149, lost- Tyre, 149/285, tear, fight : see To-tyre. Tyte, H/53 ; Tytt, 313/245, quickly. Tythand, 55/113, 128, tidings. Tythingis, 6I/163; 320/479, tidings. Tytter, 73/293, quicker, sooner : see Tyte. Umbithynke, 5/123, bethink, meditate on. Umshade, 89/128, shade around, over- shadow. Glossarial Index. 411 Umthynke, 303/318, meditate : see Umbithynke. Unbayn, 29 1/356, unready, disobedient. Unburnyd, Hl/362. Unbychid, 291/356, disorderly (?) Unceyll, IOO/3, uuliappiness. Unconand, 204/i, ignorant. Undeniyd, 235/230, unjudged. Under-lowte, 221/5 52, inferiors, sub- jects. Undughty, 291/368, unprofitable. Unetlies, 181/7 ; Unothes, 273/476, scarcely, hardly. Unfylyd, III/366, unclefiled. Ungayn (at), 2O/379, inconveniently. Ungrathly, 96/341, unsuitably. Unheynde, 224/642, discourteous, rude man (Jesus). Unnes, 391/i 5S, scarcely : see Unetlies. Unquart, 99/72, render unsafe, harass. Unrad, 285/214, imprudent. Unrid, 24/40; Unryde, 100/u, cruel, enormous. Unsoght, 26/97, unatoned for, irrecon- ciled. Untill, 2I/426, unto. Untrist, 332/2IO, untrusty. Unweld, I82/5; Unwelde, 91 /i 71, im- potent. Unwynly, 2IO/189, unpleasantly. Unyth,164/i35, scarcely : see Unetlies. Upstevynyng, 357/123, ascension. Utward, 244/31, outwardly. Vales, 285/587, avails, is worth. Vantege, 243/ 17, advantage. Vanys, 4/in, vain, empty. Vayll, 243/i9, avail, gain. Veray, I44/119, truly. Veryose, IO7/236, verjuice. Vokettys, 367/9, advocates. Vowgard, 385/580, (?) place of security. Wafe, 2I/430, wander (?) Waght, 286/218 ; 29O/329, a bad way. Walk-mylne, 377/314, fulling mill. Walteryng, I24/236, rolling about. Wan, I3/139, won > acquired • 21 ^44, faint. Wandreth, 24/40, misfortune. Wane, 102/62, waggon. Wanhope, 22O/507, despair. Wap, 223/593, wrap ; 289/ 3 i 4) blow; ' at a wap,' in a moment. War, 43/113, aware; IO/25, 29, an exclamation, a hunter's cry. Wardan, 341/i 13, keeper, guardian. Wared, 5O/14; Waris, 5O/14, cursed, curses : see Warrie. Warkand, 52/8, aching. Warldis, 13/150, world's, wordly. Warloo, 137/640; Warlovv, 71/232, sorcerer, traitor, devil. Warly, 366/409, warily (or wary)(?) Warpyd, 271/4 13, cast. Warrie, 6/156, curse. Wars, 1 6/2 50, worse. Warte, 375/252, spend it. Wary, 29/208, curse : see Warrie. Waryson, 79/44, treasure, reward. Wast, 95/332, waste, void. Wat, IO/14, man - Wate, 382/485, wet. Wate, 36/444, know; Wayte, H8/75, knows : see Wote. Wate, 213/283, tricked. Waten, 358/ 161, watch. Wathe, 37/486, hunting, prey. Waue, 231/io3, move to and fro. Wawghes, 36/426, waves. Wayrd, 3OO/238, ward,' guardianship. We! H/53; 3/147, an exclama- tion. Wed, 339/56, pledge. Wede, 139/731, garments ; I62/47, be mad, rage. Weders, 36/451, storms. Wedyng, H9/92, wedding, marrying (the evils of). Weft, 21/435, weft, woven stuff: " Ill-spun weft ay comes foul out." Weld, 44/126, wield, rule; Weldand, 38/494, wielding, ruling. Welke, 348/261, walked. Welland, 75/344, boiling, bubbling. Welner, I28/387, well-near, almost. Welthly, 6/185, ha Pl'y 3 delightful. Wem, 87/37, spot, stain. Wemayl I3/148, an exclamation, Oh ! by God ! see We ! Weniles 221/541, spotless. Wemo! 15/198 ; Wemmow! 334/291, Oh ! by God ! see We I Wemcy ! Wend, 8/250, thought, supposed. Wene, 83/165, believe, suppose : see Weyn. Wenyand, 15/226, waning of the moon, unlucky time. Wenys, 13/ 149, thinkest. 412 Glossarial Index. Were, 41/22, doubt; 69/151, defend, save. Weyn, vb. 2O/387, believe, suppose; sb. 67/io8 ; 221/553, doubt. Weynd, 13/ 132, go. Wha? 319/439, who? Wbake, 62/182, quake, tremble. Whannow, 345/ 184, what now. Whartfull, 52/29, sa ^ e an( ^ sound. Whaynt, 2O8/144, quaint, clever. Wheme, 58/62, please. Whik, 134/548 ; Whyk, 236/265, living. Wbyr, IO4/117, be quiet. Whystyll, wett hyr, II9/103, drunk beer, &c. Whyte, 125/294, requite, suffer for it. Wight, 252/264, nimbly ; see Wyghtiy. Wilsom, 324/6o4, bewildered. Wish, 142/72, guide, direct. Wist, 43/89, knew. Wit, 43/96, know. Wite, vb. 1 8/322, blame. Wittely, 338/41, wisely. Wode, 19/350, mad : see Wood. Wogh, 39/533, evil, harm. Wold, 57/32, wielding, dominion, power. Wols-hede, 232/139, wolf's-head, outlawry. Wone, 4/93, dwell ; 46/196, wont, accustomed to do. Won, 24O/391, wound. Wonden, 278/656, wrapped. Wone, 13/n6, custom, habit; 'in wone,' habitually; 6/184, habita- tion. Wonnyng, a. 6/180, dwelling. Wood, I4/173 5 Woode, 14/ 159, mad. Worth, 292/404, become, be to ; ' well worth,' farewell I Worthely, 6/184, worthy, stately. Wote, I9/375, know. Woth, 35/416, peril. Wragers, IO2/58 ; Wragger, 371/143, wranglers. Wrake, 27/138, injury, vengeance. Wrast, 69/150, wrest, twist. Wrears, 37 1/143, wrigglers, twisters: see Wiyers. Wrieli, 270/397, wretched. Wright, 3OI/246, carpenter. Wrightry, 30/2 50, carpentry, work- manship. Wrokyn, 4O/276, avenged. Wrongwosly, 58/58, wrongfully. Wryers, IO2/58 ; 371/143, wrigglers, twisters. Wryng, sb. 235/237, twist. Wrytt, 59/ 106, writing, scripture. Wyghtiy, 178/396 ; Wightly, 223/593 5 nimbly, quickly. Wyk, 236/262, wicked. Wyle, 71/233, wile, delude with sorcery. Wyll of reede, 8O/75, wild in counsel, bewildered. Wyn, 6/185, joy; 23/24, g cr , move. Wyn, 283/153, labour, contention (? pleasure). Wynk, 15/227, sleep. Wys, 58/49; Wyse, 82/122, teach, show, point out, guide. Wysh, 85/240, guide, direct : see Wys and Wish. Wyte, 95/332, impute; 252/278, be blamed. Wytterly, 58/59, surely, certainly. Yai, II/51, yea. Yare, 44/i2i, ready ; 156/5 14, quickly. Yate, 53/40, gate. Yede, 75/342, went : see Yode. Yeld, 5A/135, recompense. Yelp, 32/321, boasting. Yeme, 237/292, take care of, carry out; 341/ii2, observe, regard. Yerde, 230/69, garden. Yerdys, 93/248, rods, wands. Yere-tyme, 1 5/200, (?) ear-time, plow- ing-time ; or the proper season, time of year. Yerne, 191/ 174, yearn for, covet. Yheme, 58/6i, observe, keep holy. Ylahayll ! 72/258, bad luck to you ! Yode (MS. yede), 4I/29, went. Yowthede, 90/ 165, youth. Yoyll, 239/344, Yule, Christmas. Yrk, 197/84, unwilling, weary. INDEX OF NAMES, OF PERSONS, PLACES, ETC. (This does not pretend to be complete. The name of an Actor is often given only at his or her first appearance. — F. J. F.) / Abacuk, 87/49; 186/n, Habakkuk. Abel, H/57, &c; I82/13 Abiram, BO3/331 Abraham, 40/ 1 ; Play of, p. 40—49 ; I82/13 Adam, 7/198; 8/226, &c; is gone to hell, 41/41, for 5000 years and more, 86/12; 294/25; 304/367 Adonav, 307/45 ; God. Andrew, St., IOO/294 ; 21 5/362 ; 355/ 65 ; 366/396 Angel, 1st bad, 4/io8 ; 2nd. 5/n8 Angel, lstgood, 4/in ; 2nd, 4/114 Angels, 48/257; 159/595; I6I/14; 183/73, &c; 197/75, 317/ 3 8 2 , 386, &c. ; 36I/254 ; 369/73 Anna, wife of Caiaphas, 206/66, &c. Anna, 229/55 ; 3II/172, &e. Annuneiation, Play of the, p. ,86 — 97 Apostles, the Twelve, p. 337 — 352 Araby, 144/ 120 ; 151 ^363 Architophell, 303/330 Arcliitriclyn, the Feste of, 248/152 Ascension, Christ's, Play of, p. 353 —366 Atus, King, Pilate's father, 279/19 Bad men on Doomsday, p. 367 — 369, 383 Balaam, I47/205, 22 4 ; I82/14 Balthasar, the 3rd Mage, 144/133; 145/159 Baptist, John the, 195/i 3 : see John the B. Bartholomew, St., 368/326; 366/396 Bedlem, 137/665, Bethlehem. Belzabub, 296/99, & c. Bethany, 354/21 Bethlehem, HO/302; Bedleme, 110/ 33o Bonus, good man, 1-4 ; p. 381 ; 386/613 Boys, 9/1 ; 44/149; 70/202 ; 7I/206 ; IO6/179 Buffeting, Christ's, the Play of, p. 228 —242 Burning bush, Hl/360 Caiaphas, 206/54, &c. ; 229/51, &c. Cain, IO/25 (Cam, I6/245, I7/285, &c. ; Cay me, 1 7/287) Calvary, 26O/83, &c. ; 281 J78, 81 Came, Noah's 3rd son, 27/142 ; 39/528 Capyle, oure hen, H8/67 Cayphas, 229/51, &c. ; 308/86 Cecyll, I67/44, Sicily. Centuryon, 248/i66 ; 307/38, 45, &c. Cesar Augustus, Play of, p. 78 — 85 ; his Counsellors, 79/46 ; 8O/64 Cesar, Sir, 235/227 Cherubyn, 3/6 1 ; 7/204 Children, the Three, Hl/352 Christ, 223/6i8 : see Jesus. Cleophas, 325/ 1, &c. ; 348/26 1 Coliphizacio, the Play of Christ's Buf- feting, p. 228—242 Coll (the 1st Shepherd, I3O/449), an( * his maroo (mate), I3O/436 Commandments, the Ten, p. 58, 59, p. 190, 191 Conspiracy against Christ, Play of the, p. 204—227 Copyn, King, 233/ 1 66, K. Empty- skein (?) Counsel lers and Doctors, Herod's, 153/405, 415, &c. ; I72/209, 218 Counsellors, Pilate's, 246/ 107 ; 249/ 199; 284/179 Crooked Thorn, the, I29/403. Perhaps the Shepherds' Thorn of Mapplewell, S. Yorkshire, three miles N.W. of Barnsley. 414 Index of Names. Crucifixion of Christ, the Play of the, p. 258—278 Daniel, p. 63, 64; 87/49; 182/i4, Dathan, 303/33 1 David, p. 59—61; 87/48, 58; 111/ 338; I82/14 ; 297/128 ; 3O0/389 Daw, the 3rd Shepherd, I2I/154: see Pastor. Deliverance of Souls from Hell by- Christ, the Play of the, p. 293—305 Demons, 1 and 2, 5/132, 150 Demons at the Judgment, p. 370 — 379 Doctors in the Temple, Play of the, p. 186—194 Doomsday, Play of, p. 367—387 Down, IO/29, Cain's horse, = Dun (?) Ebrew, 274/530 Esrypt, I6I/27 Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, .195/17 Elizabeth, Mary's ' Cosyn,' 89/134; Play of, p. 97—100 Emanuel, 153/42 5 ; I86/4 England, 127/353 Esau, 5O/19; 55/125 Eve, 7/198 ; 8/231, &c. ; 294/33 ; 305/ 375 Eanuell, 55/no, Peniel, Penuel. Fisher's Pageant, the Pilgrims, p. 325 —337 Flagellacio, the Play of Christ's Scourging, p. 243 — 257 Flascon, Mount, I67/46 Floods and storms, I2O/127, J 28 Froward, Caiaphas's man, 239/345, &c. Gabriel, Angel, 87/53 ; % 8 l77, & c. Galilee, 87/55 Garcio, ' a mery lad,' 9/i ; IO/38 : 20/ 385, &c. Gersen, 65/35; Gessen, 74/315; Goshen. Glovers' pageant, p. 9 — 22 God, l/i; 6/162; 25/73; 19/342; 42/ 60; 52/13; 67/109; 8G/1 Gog, 14/172, God. Good Friday, 278/662 Gotham, the fools of, 106/ 180 Grece, 1 67/48 Greenhorn and Gryme IO/25, Cain's horses. Grew, 274/531, Greek. Gudeboure at the Quarell Hede, 19/ 367 Gyb, the 1st Shepherd, IO2/83 (Gyg, IO5/169) Gyll, Mak's wife, I3I/149; 132/5 14 Harrer, II/55, Cain's horse. Harrowing Hell, Play of, p. 293—305 Hely, Moses's mate, 295/79, Elijah, Elias. Herod, 140/i Herod the Great, Play of, p. 166—181 Heth, 50/42 Hob-over-the-wall, I7/297 Holy Ghost, 1 86/21 Horbery, I3O/455, Horbury, West Riding, Yorkshire, 4 m. S.W. of Wakefield. Home, John, 103/84, 134/563 Inde, I67/43, India. India, St. Thomas of; the Play of, p. 337—352 Isaac, 43/92, &c. ; Play of, p. 49 — 51 ; 49/278, &c. Isaiah, 294/37 ; 305/4OI Isay, 87/47, Isaiah ; Isae, in/335 Israel, folk of, 56/i ; 59/ioi ; 7O/196 Italy, 167/43 Jack Cope, a horse-man, IOI/17 Jacob, 52/13 ; 49 /6 ; Play of, p. 52— 56; 147/2o6 Jak, boy, IO5/169; 106/179 James, St., 215/369 ; 356/89, &c - ; 366/396 Japhet, 27/142; 39/528 Jaspar, the 1st Mage, 143/8$ ; 144/i28 Jelian Jowke, 377/317, Gillian Clown. Jeromy, 87/48, Jeremiah. Jerusalem, 336/ 3 64 ; 337/369; 358/ 143 ; 366/396 Jesse, 59/97 ; Hl/349 Jesus in the Temple, I87/49 '•> baptized, 200/85; before betrayal, 2U/316 Jesus, 254/320, &c. ; 260/233, &c. 293/1, &c. ; 296/U5; 313/226 323/569 ; 328/ 9 8 ; 340/84 ; 351/ 3 i2 356/ioi; 369/81, &c. ; 379/386 387/1 Jesus of Nazarene, 225/674 Jesus of Nazareyn, kyng of lues, 274/ 540, 541 ; 329/136 Jettyr, Bishop, 67/99 — i. e. Jethro. Jewry, 243/6; 279/i5 ; 394/i6 Index of Names. 415 Job, 302/299 John Home, the 2nd Shepherd, 103/ 84 John, the Apostle, 214/314, &c. ; 215/ 376 ; 252/26o, &c. ; 268/339, &c. John the Baptist, Play of, 195/203 ; 295/65 ; 305/377 ; 358/i 47 John, St., 365/ 3 64; 366/396; 387/1 1 Jonas, 349/289 Jordan, River, 197/72 Joseph and Mary ; Play of their flight into Egypt, p. 160 — 165 Joseph, Mary's husband, 87/59 ; 90/ 155, &c. ; 185/U5 ', 193/201 Joseph of Arimathea, 277/613, &c. Judah, 93/243 Judas, I27/351; 209/174, &c. ; 215/ 352; 222/584; 303/33O; 315/304 Judas, poem of; his story, p. 393 — 396 Jude, St., 366/396, 397 Judea, 279/20 Judicare, 247/128 Judicium, the Last Judgment ; Play of the, p. 367— 387 Jure, 224/640, Jewry, Jews. Kamys kyn, 224/639, Cain's kin. Kemp town, I67/47, ? not part of Brighton, or in Devon, or Norfolk. Kings or Magi, the Three, Jaspar, Melchior, Balthasar; Play of, p. 140—160 j Knights, Herod's, I7O/145, 156, 158; Pilate's, 208/ 1 26 Latyn, 274/530; 'the best Latynwright,' 274/535 Lazarus of Bethany, 2O8/126 Lazarus, Play of, p. 387—383 Lazarus, rises, p. 390 Lemyng, IO/42, Cain's horse. Lightfoot, lad, 8I/97 Ltsters' or Dyers' Play, p. 64—78 Lo'igeus, the blind knight, who pricks Jesus with a spear, p. 276 Lucas, 348/261, St. Luke. Lucifer, 3/77; &c. ; 8/250; 23/i6 Luke, St., 326/17, &c. Magdalene, Mary, p. 212 : see Mary M. Magi, Offering of the ; Play of, p. 140 —160 Mahowne, 82/127, &(t >- ; 166/ 1 ; 204/ 12 ; 78/9 ; Mahouns, 244/39, gods. Mak, who cheats the Shepherds, 122/ 190, &c. m Mak's wife Gyll, 1 25/297, &'. ; 131/ 459; I32/514 Malchus, 223/6oo ; 225/684, &c. ; 225/ 676 ; 227/738, 748 Mall, IO/41, Cain's mare. Mains, 1 — 4, at Doomsday, p. 367 — ■ 369, p. 383 Mantua, 1 67/47 Marcus, IOO/294, St. Mark. Martha, 388/39 Mary Magdalene, 253/3o8, &c. ; 316/ 333 ; 323/563 ; 337/i Mary, Martha's sister, 389/66 Mary, mother of St. James, 253/298, &c. ; 3I6/346 Mary Salome, 3I6/352, &c. Mary, Virgin, 87/6o ; 89/107, &c. ; 97/ 1; II5/485; 140/737; 162/ 57 ; 185/ 127 ; 192/193 ; 252/279, &c - ; 267/ 309, &c. ; 359/182 ; John and, 130/ 443 Matthew, St., 359/190 Melchior, the 2nd Mage, I43/103; 144/122 Messengers, Herod's, 142/65 > 148/2 59, I5I/332; I66/1 Micheas the prophett, I54/445, Micah - Moll counting her sheep, IO5/152 — ■ 160 Morell, IO/42 ; II/55, Cain's horse. Moses, p. 56—59 ; 59/891 ; 67/89, &c ; 87/47; 190/II8, 129; 295/77; 305/ 385 Nabugodhonosor, Hl/351, Nebuchad- nezzar. Nazareth in Galilee, 87/55 Nicholas, St., 120/ii8 Nicodemus, 277/625. &c. Noah, 23/i, &c. ; 182/i 3 Noah's wife, 28/191, &c. ; his 3 sons, 32/318—322, &c. ; 39/523—525; their wives, 33/354 — 361 Normandy, 1 67/49 Norway, 1 67/49 Nuncius, Augustus's, 8I/106 Onazorus, 109/292,=Nazora3us (?) Padua, 167/46 Paginae Pasiorum, p. 100 — 140 Paradise, 1 67/46 Pasch (Easter) morn, 278/666 41G Index of Names. Pastor I, 100/ 1 (Gyb, IO2/83) ; IT, (John Home, IO3/84), IOI/46 ; IIT, (Slow-pace, 104/ 125) ; IO4/134 ; 116/1, &c. Paterfamilias, 214/338 Paul, St., 338/29 Peter, St., 214/3 1 6 ; 215/356; 337/7; 353/13, &c. ; 366/396 ; 387/7 Pharaoh, Play of, p. 64—78 ; ! his Knights or Soldiers, 65/25 '■> 66/53 5 71/234 Philip, St., 215/366 ; 356/95 ; 36O/230 Pila, Pilate's mother, 279/i9 Pilate, 204/1, &c. ; 222/560; 243/ 1, &c. ; 258/1, &c. ; 275/552; 306/i, &c. Pilate's knights, p. 312, 319, &c. Pilgrims (apostles to whom -Christ appears), Play of the, p. 325 — 337 Pope, the, 174/263 Pownce Pilate, 279/21 ; Pontius P. Processus Crucis, the Play of the Crucifixion, 258—278 Processus Talentorum, the Play of the Talents (playing for Christ's coat), p. 279—292 Prophets, Phty of the, p. 56—64 Purification of Mary, Play of the, p. 181—185 Rachel, 54/75 Rebecca, 56/41 Reuben, father of Judas, 394/7 Rome, 371/127 Rybald in Hell, 296/89, 95, &c. Saba, I5I/363 Sabbath day, 249/i8i Sacraments, Seven, 2OI/196, 197 Sarceny, I67/48, Saracen-land. Sathanas, 22/467 ; 297/142, &c. ; 377/ 326 Scourging, the Play of Christ's, p. 243—257 Shem, 27/142; 39/528 Shepherd's Plays I, p. 100—116; II, .p. 116—140 Sibaria, mother of Judas, 394/8 Sibilla propheta, p. 61—63 ; 87/50 Simeon, 181/j, &c. ; 294/53 Simon, St., 215/364, &c. ; 22O/504 ; 257/392, &c; 353/9; 365/38o; 366/ 396 Sirinus; Sir Syryn, 8I/99 ; 82/127,130, Cyrenius, of St. Luke (?) Slow-pace, the 3rd Shepherd, IO4/125 Stott, IO/41, Cain's horse (?) Strevyn, St., I28/383, for Stevyn, Stephen (?) Surry, 1 67/44, Syria. Susa, 167/48 Suspensio Jude, p. 393 — 396 Sybyll sage, 87/50 ; p. 61—63 Talents, the Play of the, p. 279—202 (casting Dice for Christ's coat). Tars, I5I/363, Tarsus. Thaddeus, 215/368 Thomas, St., 353/i, &c. ; 387/i5 Thomas, St., of India; Pftiy of/ p. 337 —352 Thomas of Kent, St., I3I/458 Torturers of Christ, the two, p. 228, &c. ; p. 243, 244, &c. ; p. 259, &c. ; p. 281 ; the third, 245/8o, &c. ; p, 259, &c. ; wins Christ's coat, 290/337 Trinity, the, 22I/528 Turky, 167/42 Tuskane, I67/42. Tuscany. Tuti villus 373/206; 375/249; P- 384 —386 Wakefeld, 1 Watlyn strete, 371/ 126 White-home, IO/42, Cain's ox (?) Women, St. Paul on, p. 338, 389 Women, their children killed by Herod's soldiers, I76/342, &c. Zachary, Elizabeth's husband, 89/136, and John the Baptist's father, I95/14 R< chard Clay