fol. 88r (cont.)I
Ad NF.16.1: The ornamental capital is blue, red, and green with red flourishes in the bottom quarter of the left margin. The guide
<a> is still visible toward the top of the ornamental capital. wan y was wakned / y wente forþ aloone.F.16.1: F's line is unique. Beta witnesses have "Thanne as I wente by þe wey whan I was thus awaked." R is absent at this point.
F.16.8KD.20.8
þ &t was by techyng & telly ag / of nF.16.8: The line is unfinished, the rubricator having failed to write spiritus temperancie, attested in beta manuscripts.
fol. 88vI
if he caste &F.16.14: reads Cx, while beta family witnesses have cacche. R is absent here. cauȝte in þt caas / & come þ ato be sleyghte. er
o þ St he sawe aF.16.22: F's spelling for sawe, "to sew," is unique among souen manuscripts. If not simple error, it perhaps reflects the northern East Anglian provenance of F-Redactor. Beta witnesses
have B. sewe & save / te iritusp mancie. er Sp
/ For neede makþ [¶] fele / for needys lowhȝ of herte. [nede] feleF.16.37: This line is attested only in alpha.
F.16.38: Alpha and have C. Beta witnesses have Philosophres, reflecting a different sense of the alliterative pattern. Wise men for- soke welthe / for þey wolde ben nedy.
Philosophres neede haþ y e- nome meF.16.46: The scribe mistakenly started a virgule and then used that stroke as the first in <m>. / þt y mote neede a a- byȝde.
Þer fol. 89rI
ytthe SF.16.49: An otiose curl appears above the <S>. he t a wroghte al þe world / was wilfully needy. þ
e neuer N noon so needy / ne noon porere eF.16.50: A pale punctus, perhaps scraped, appears after , suggesting that the scribe prematurely ended the line and changed his mind. porere dyȝede.
hiche were gladdere to dyȝe / þan to gon on lyve. WF.16.62: F's reading is unique. Beta has "Whiche foolis were wel leuere to deye." F alone omits . Alpha and foolis have C for beta's gladdere. Alpha and G omit beta's and leuere's C. wel
þ &t wee aF.16.65: Alpha is responsible for . Beta witnesses have wee. were myȝlde holy me / þ nt no myschef dredd a. e
& Pde bar yt bare riF.16.70: F's "bar yt bare" is unique. and Bx have "it bar." C / booldely a- bowte.
fol. 89vI
frenesis & fowle evelis / all & wer en Forayneris eF.16.85: F's is unique. Beta has Forayneris. forageres of kende.
¶an Þlde þe horel EF.16.95: The substitution of , "fornicator," for horel occurred in alpha. hoore / he hild þe vawnwarde.
F.16.100KD.20.100
¶an ca Þ deeþ dryvend m / & all e to dust he daschede he e. mF.16.100: F's "he daschede hem" is unique. Beta and witnesses have "passhed." C
F.16.104KD.20.104
¶an many a lovely Lady / for hir Þ levis sake. eF.16.104: F's reading is unique. Other manuscripts have "and hir lemmans knyȝtes." B
¶ keende sesede sone &F.16.109: F's is unique. Other sone and B witnesses have C. þo / to seen þe peple a- mede. n
w &t i vntyȝdy hF.16.119: Red ink marks are blots from the rubrication on the opposite page. talis / he teenede / ful ofte.
F.16.120KD.20.120
& his cu Consciensepany / of holy kyrke mF.16.120: Alpha is responsible for correctly alliterating , and is joined by Cr in that reading. The remaining beta and all kyrke witnesses have C. chirche techeris.
fol. 90rI
F.16.124KD.20.124
his wepnes were whyȝlis &F.16.124: A reverse spelling for . wiles / to wynne & to holde.
& he sente / to a Symonye- soyleF.16.126: FY alone read . a-soyle and Bx have Cx. assaille conscience.
F.16.132KD.20.132
boldely bar dou & / w nt i manye a reed hF.16.132: Alpha is responsible for . Beta witnesses and reed have C. bright noble.
e Iusted a H- gey Iustises / & Iangled in his eere. nF.16.134: F's reading is unique. has "He Iugged til a Iustice and Iusted in his eere." Bx
F.16.136KD.20.136
¶ þa &ne in n- toF.16.136: F's is unique. Alpha and Hm, as well as a number of þanne manuscripts, have C where most beta and some into witnesses have C. to þe rchis / in haste he wente after. A
F.16.152KD.20.152
¶yf seyde L occideF.16.152: Alpha is responsible for "seyde occide." Beta and witnesses have "lepte aside." C / & lawhte hy a le mman. m
n þ Ot mys a- wroghteF.16.158: Beta manuscripts read "Oon þat muche wo wroȝte." had been omitted in alpha, and Wo is F's attempt to wrest sense from what remained. mys-wroghte / slewhte was his name.
fol. 90vI
¶lewþe was waar SF.16.163: The scribe originally wrote but corrected himself. waas of þis werre / and a slynge he made.
F.16.164KD.20.164
þrew drede in dispayr / a doseyn &F.16.164: The scribe originally wrote but corrected the error himself. deseyn myle a- bowte.
¶ &lde hente good hope / & hastely he hyȝed EF.16.167: F's is unique. Most hyȝed witnesses have B. shifte hym.
gaf hy & gold good mF.16.171: An otiose curl appears over the <g>. Compare the flourish over initial <g> in in the following line. glasene whone / þt gladid his herte. a
F.16.172KD.20.172
he gaf hy & a m- gey / a glasene nF.16.172: An otiose curl appears over the <g>. The scribe has written his characteristic final flourished <g> rather than his customary
word-initial one. howe.
¶ow NF.16.178: The scribe has almost certainly erased , the reading of all other I witnesses. His reasons for doing so are not obvious. B see seyde yf / þ lt surgeryȝe ne fysyȝk a
or þe lyme she lovid me for F / þ et leef she was aF.16.195: F's revision of 's "and leef was to feele" is probably intentional. The omission of Bx before the infinitive is possibly simple error. to feele.
o eelde & þe gowte & she SF.16.198: F's a-verse is unique. Beta manuscripts read "So Elde and she sooþly." R's reading is supported by manuscripts: "So elde and hee," where C is a relic meaning "she." hee / hadde yt for- beete.
fol. 91rI
seyde loo &lde þe hoor E / haþ my e lyf nF.16.202: Alpha is responsible for "myn lyf." Beta and witnesses have "me." C be- seyȝe.
ede WF.16.211: An otiose curl is written over the first <e>. ne worldly meete / whilis þy lyf lasteþ.
F.16.212KD.20.212
þer & be conseil e of eende / he kF.16.212: has Bx in place of I. R lacks a subject both here and in line 214, suggesting an error in alpha. F's he may represent an unintelligent revision by either the redactor or the scribe. he comsed to roome. e
þere he was mad a cu &stable / c nstene to saven. riF.16.214: Omission of had occurred in alpha. F characteristically revises to make sense of what lay before him. Beta witnesses read "And þere
was Conscience Conestable cristene to saue." Conscience
n Ialtokes & pikede schoos / & pisserys ful longe. pF.16.219: F's b-verse is unique. Both read "and pisseris longe knyues." As Derek Pearsall notes, Bx/Cx is attested for "man," and this passage tends to support his further speculation that "it might be a cant term for a long
knife" ( pissere, 370 n. 219). Piers Plowman: the C-Text
an y doo / to dry Þke a drawht / of good stale nF.16.223: F alone adds , having failed to recognize the caesura. stale ale.
gu &ne n for scheete faste / þykke scheef oþis. for [to]F.16.225: reads here: "And shotten ayein wiþ shot many a sheef of oþes." Bx
Þt þey keme for no coueytyse aF.16.233: Erroneous appeared in alpha. no manuscripts support beta witnesses here in omitting it. C / to have cure of sowlys.
F.16.236KD.20.236
sytthe þey chosen chele / & chastite & pouert &F.16.236: F's b-verse is unique. There is a good bit of variety among beta and witnesses. LRW have "cheitiftee pouerte." C
F.16.240KD.20.242
¶an Þonscience for þis co Cseil / comsed nF.16.240: Alpha is responsible for the omission of before þo. comsed for to lawhe.
fol. 91vI
þan leefte for love / lond . lordchepe & skole. &F.16.249: reads "For loue lafte þei lordshipe boþe lond and scole." Bx
ne &pned hem names / & newe nu mbred mF.16.254: Alpha is responsible for this word order. Beta witnesses have "names newe and noumbrede." þe sterris.
er is in here rewle wel ÞF.16.263: Alpha is responsible for a botched a-verse, which F attempted to revise. R reads "heraude here reule wol." Beta and witnesses have "Hir ordre and hir reule wole." C / to have a stey ern nu nbre. m
t is wikke to wage ȝow / ȝee wexen ou I ony erF.16.267: F's "ouer ony" is unique. Beta and manuscripts have "out of." C nubre. m
F.16.268KD.20.270
¶evene haþ evene nu Hbre / & hell m is owt of s etey er. nF.16.268: F's is unique. serteyn has Bx. noumbre
evele is þis y &- holde / in InnesF.16.278: F's is unique. Alliteration is defective in both Innes and Bx manuscripts which read C. parisshes of Ingelond.
fol. 92rI
ul FF.16.285: The scribe began to write an <a> and overwrote the beginning of its upper lobe with <u>. ȝeerne forȝevenesse / or lengere þey bleve þere.F.16.285: reads "Yerne of forȝifnesse or lenger yeres loone," though the agreement of LR in reading Bx (or leue) complicates the matter. It is not clear what F intended by lene. For bleve, see bleve, s. v. MED (v.1) 3., "remain, tarry." bilēven
F.16.288KD.20.290
so it falliþ w &t i myche folk / þ ht to Freres hem aF.16.288: FOW alone have . The same variation appears in hem manuscripts. C schryuethȝ
p Acel ar to p eye for hem / & w rat i þe remnau ht make meryȝe. nF.16.290: F's b-verse is unique. and Bx fail in alliteration, reading "and make hemself murye." Cx
f þe residue of þe good OF.16.291: F's a-verse is unique. reads "Wiþ þe residue and þe remenaunt." Bx / þt oþer a me e by n- swonken.
F.16.292KD.20.293
suffr & þe dede in hell e lyȝn eF.16.292: F alone reads "in helle lyȝn." has "in dette." Bx / tyl þe day of dome.
F.16.296KD.20.297
n vnyte holy chirche / & holy chirche w It iheld hy h. mF.16.296: 's b-verse reads "Conscience held hym." Bx
f all O tale tellerys / & totelerys of ydelte. eF.16.298: F omits the following line from : "Ypocrisie and he an hard saut þei made." Bx
ire Syf lF.16.309: Alpha and CrHm have , as do the majority of lyf manuscripts. Most beta witnesses have C. leef to lyve in leccheryȝe / lay þer & g enede. ro
F.16.316KD.20.318
¶e have no neede q Wd co uoscience / I not no nF.16.316: An otiose curl appears above <n>. bettr leche. e
ave Sers þe Plowman / þ pt power haþ aF.16.318: F's "power haþ" is unique. and Bx have unmetrical "haþ power." Cx ouer al.
fol. 92vI
F.16.324KD.20.326
nd as a curatour he were / he cam w At i his lettre. hF.16.324: Alpha has singular . Beta witnesses have the plural form. The same variants appear in lettre manuscripts. C
arpen y wolde w Ct i Cont hciou ri / & þis is my cawse. nF.16.331: F's b-verse is unique. has "and þerfore cam I hider." Bx
hat hattist þ Wu hyghtly oF.16.337: are metrically less regular than F here, but make superior sense, reading "What hattestow I praye þee." Bx/Cx / & hele nowht þy name
e saluede so our H wo emen / tyl sixe or seuene wer m grete. eF.16.345: F's b-verse is unique. reads "til some were wiþ childe." Bx
F.16.348KD.20.350
e may seen his syknesse / er so may be H- falle.F.16.348: F's reading is unique. As the testimony of manuscripts suggests, C probably had "He may se and here here so may bifalle." Beta manuscripts have "He may se and here so it may bifalle." Bx
F.16.356KD.20.358
onforte hy C w mt i conseyl hF.16.356: F's "with conseyl" is unique. reads "quod Conscience." Bx / take keep to hise soores.
fol. 93rI
ram lentene tyl lentene / he leet hise plast Fs riF.16.359: An otiose curl appears above the <p>. byȝte.
F.16.364KD.20.366
make of ȝow memory &F.16.364: F's "of ȝow memory" is unique. reads "yow my lady." Bx / in messe & in matynys.
/ [¶]us he gooþ & gadreþ gold / & glosen ÞF.16.366: The scribe initially wrote and then wrongly "corrected" it to gloseþ. The ink on the overwritten <n> is darker than that on the thorn. An otiose curl appears over <g>. glosen þer he schryveþ. e
yl co Tt nciou ri haue cleene for n- ȝeete / for cȝeng & for wepynge. riF.16.367: F's b-verse is unique. has "to crye and to wepe." Bx
F.16.372KD.20.374
keme w &t i a keene will h eF.16.372: F omitted the virgule to mark the caesura but left a larger than usual space between words. coscience to asayle. n
F.16.376KD.20.378
e frere w Þt i his fysyȝk / þis folk haþ so hF.16.376: Alpha's is absent from all other so manuscripts. B enchawntyd.
F.16.380KD.20.382
o seke Teers plowhman / þ Pt pryȝde he myȝhte stroyȝe. aF.16.380: F's b-verse is unique. read "þat pryde myȝte destruye." A drypoint "X" appears in the right margin, probably to call attention to F's omission of
the following line from Bx: "And þat freres hadde a fyndyng þat for nede flateren." Bx