SALOP.

(About A.D. 1340.)

WILLIAM AND THE WERWOLF.

Hit tidde after on a time, as tellus oure bokes,
As pis bold barn his bestes blypeliche keped,
pe riche emperour of Rome rod out for to hunte,
In pat faire forest feipely for to telle;

Wip alle his menskful meyné, þat moche was & nobul;
Pan fel it hap, þat þei founde ful sone a grete bor,
& huntyng wip hound & horn harde alle sewede;
Pe emperour entred in a wey evene to attele,
To have bruttenet pat bore, & pe abaie seppen,
But missely marked he is way & so manly he rides,
Pat alle his wies were went, ne wist he never whider;
So ferforth fram his men, feply for to telle,
Pat of horn ne of hound ne migt he here sowne,
& boute eny living lud lefte was he one.1

HEREFORDSHIRE.

(About A.D. 1300.)

Pilke that nullep azeyn hem stonde
Ichulle he habben hem in honde.

He is papejai in pyn that beteth me my bale,
To trewe tortle in a tour, y telle the mi tale,
He is thrustle thryven in thro that singeth in sale,
The wilde laveroc ant wolc ant the wodewale,
He is faucoun in friht dernest in dale,
Ant with everuch a gome gladest in gale,
From Weye he is wisist into Wyrhale,
Hire nome is in a note of the nyhtegale.

In a note is hire nome, nempneth hit non,
Whose ryht redeth roune to Johon.2

Morris, Specimens of Early English, p. 243.

2 Percy Society, Vol. IV. 26. See the Preface to this volume,

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

(About A.D. 1300.)

pus come, lo! Engelond into Normannes honde.

And pe Normans ne coupe speke po bote her owe speche,

And speke French as dude atom, and here chyldren dude also teche.

So pat heymen of þys lond, pat of her blod come,

Holdep alle pulke speche, pat hii of hem nome.

Vor bote a man coupe French, me tolp of hym wel lute.

Ac lowe men holdep to Englyss, and to her kunde speche zute.

Ich wene per ne be man in worid countreyes none,

Pat ne holdep to her kunde speche, bote Engelond one.

Ac wel me wot vorto conne bothe wel yt ys,

Vor pe more pat a man con, pe more worp he ys.1

THE ENGLISH PALE IN IRELAND.

(About A.D. 1310.)

Jhesu, king of heven fre,

Ever i-blessid mot thou be!
Loverd, I besech the,

to me thou tak hede,

From dedlich sinne thou gem me,

while I libbe on lede;

The maid fre, that bere the

so swetlich under wede,

Do us to se the Trinité,

al we habbeth nede.

where the writer of this poem is

proved to be a Herefordshire

man. He here mentions the Wye. He in this piece stands for he (illa). The two detached lines at the beginning come from the version of the Harrowing of Hell, in the same manuscript.

1 Hearne's Robert of Gloucester, I. 364.

that

piece, we might readily gather, even if history did not help us, the early English settlers in Ireland came, not from Chester, but from Bristol and from ports near Bristol. The Wexford dialect is said to be very like that of Somerset and Dorset.

2 Do., p. 242. The chabbe (ich habbe) reminds us of Edgar's dialect in Lear, and of the Somersetshire ballads in Percy's Reliques. The word bad (malus) occurs in this piece, which made its first appearance in Robert of Gloucester: it is also found in the Handlyng Synne.

OXFORDSHIRE.

(About A.D. 1340.)

That is fro old Hensislade ofre the cliff into stony londy wey; fro the wey into the long lowe; fro the lowe into the Port-strete; fro the strete into Charewell; so aftir strem til it shutt eft into Hensislade-De Bolles, Couele, et Hedyndon. Thare beth hide londeymere into Couelee. Fro Charwell brigge andlong the streme on that rithe. . . . This privilege was idith in Hedington myn owne mynster in Oxenford. There seint alle that fredome that any fre mynstre

Frideswide

frelubest

mid teme

mid sake and mid socna, mid tol and and in felde and alle other thinge and belyveth and byd us for quike and alle other bennyfeyt.1

KENT.

(A.D. 1340.)

Aye pe vondigges of pe dyeule zay pis pet volgeþ. 'Zuete Jesu pin holy blod pet pou sseddest ane pe rod vor me and vor mankende: Ich bidde pe hit by my sseld avoreye pe wycked vend al to mi lyves ende. zuo by hit.'

pis boc is Dan Michelis of Northgate y-write an Englis of his ozene hand, pet hatte: Ayenbite of inwyt. And

Kemble, Codex. Dipl., III. 329. This charter is a late forgery, and seems much damaged. The proper names in it will be recognised by Oxford men.

is of pe boc-house of saynt Austines of Canterberi, mid

Holy archanle Michael.

M. C. C. Saynt Gabriel and Raphael.

Ye brenge me to po castel.

Per alle zaulen varep wel.

Lhord Jhesu almigti kyng. þet madest and lokest alle þyng. Me pet am pi makyng. to pine blisse me pou bryng. Amen.

Blind and dyaf and alsuo domb. Of zeventy yer al vol rond. Ne ssolle by drage to pe grond. Vor peny vor Mark ne vor pond.1

1

MIDDLESEX.

(A.D. 1307.)

Of Syr Edward oure derworth kyng,
Iche mette of him anothere faire metyng.
Me thought he rood upon an asse,
And that ich take God to witnesse;
Ywonden he was in a mantell gray,
Toward Rome he nom his way,
Upon his hevede sate a gray hure,
It semed him wel a mesure.

Into a chapel I cum of ure lefdy,
Jhe Crist her leve son stod by,
On rod he was an loveliche mon,
Als thilk that on rode was don.
He unneled his honden two.

Whoso wil speke myd me Adam the marchal
In Stretforde Bowe he is yknown and over al.

Ayenbite of Inwyt (Early English Text Society), page 1. Here we must read s for z, sh for ss, and ƒ for v.

P