fol. 8v (cont.)I
NOwF.4.1: The ornamented capital is produced in red and green ink with flourishes in red to within an inch of the top of the written
space. is Meede þe Mayde / & no mo of alle.
fol. 9rI
& if she wirche be my wit / & my wille folwe.F.4.7: IIIIus with red flourishes is written in the top right margin to indicate the passus.
F.4.8KD.3.8
I wil for-gyve hire þe gyltisF.4.8: Alpha is responsible for plural gyltis. Beta manuscripts have gilt. / so me god helpe.
He took Meede by þe myddil / & menteF.4.10: F alone has this probably original reading. We have not determined whether it represents F-Redactor's (or F-Scribe's) intelligent
conjecture or (as Kane and Donaldson have proposed) his access to a pre-archetypal manuscript. hire to chambre.
F.4.20KD.3.19
For al consyecysconsye[n]cys craft / or castF.4.20: Alpha is responsible for this word order. Beta manuscripts have "cast or craft." / as y trowe.
F.4.24KD.3.23
Ryngis with rubyes / & rycchesseF.4.24: Alpha is responsible for rychesse. Beta manuscripts have richesses. ful thykke.
Shal no lewidnesse lettyn / þo clerkysF.4.33: Alpha is responsible for clerkys. Beta manuscripts have leode. þat y lovye.
Þat he worþF.4.34: Bx reads "That he ne worþ first auaunced . . . ." The negative was omitted in alpha. first a-vauncyd / for y am wel be-knowe.
Þere þat konynge clerkys / shulle knokkek[l]okkeF.4.35: F supplies non-sensical knokke to replace klokke, "limp," an unfamiliar word which appears only in Piers Plowman. by-hyȝnde.
To Meede þatF.4.37: Beta witnesses read þe, exactly what Langland's usual formula would suggest. However, R has þis, and alpha may simply have had a thorn without the suspended <s>, <t>, or <e>. Mayde / & meelyde þese wordis.
fol. 9vI
F.4.52KD.3.51
¶ Ȝee wiste y þat quod Meede / þer is[n]is wyndowe ne awhter.F.4.52: This line and the following one correspond roughly to A 3.50-51. Alpha omits eleven lines attested by beta witnesses. Possibly the addition of this line and the next reflects
alpha's attempts to restore material missing in his exemplar from his memory of A. Beta reads as follows:
Wiste I þat quod þat womman I wolde noȝt spare
For to be youre frend frere and faile yow neuere
While ye loue lordes þat lecherie haunten
And lakkeþ noȝt ladies þat louen wel þe same
It is a freletee of flessh ye fynden it in bokes
And a cours of kynde wherof we comen alle
Who may scape þe sclaundre þe scaþe is soone amended
It is synne of þe seuene sonnest relessed
Haue mercy quod Mede of men þat it haunteþ
And I shal couere youre kirk youre cloistre do maken
Wowes do whiten and wyndowes glazen.
Wiste I þat quod þat womman I wolde noȝt spare
For to be youre frend frere and faile yow neuere
While ye loue lordes þat lecherie haunten
And lakkeþ noȝt ladies þat louen wel þe same
It is a freletee of flessh ye fynden it in bokes
And a cours of kynde wherof we comen alle
Who may scape þe sclaundre þe scaþe is soone amended
It is synne of þe seuene sonnest relessed
Haue mercy quod Mede of men þat it haunteþ
And I shal couere youre kirk youre cloistre do maken
Wowes do whiten and wyndowes glazen.
& do peynte me & myn name / a-pertly þere-InneF.4.54: The line is unique to F. Beta reads "Do peynten and portraye and paie for þe makynge." F is possibly influenced by A's "Þat I ne shulde make or mende & myn name writen."
Ne awhter do peynte / for pompe of þe peple.F.4.58: The line is unique to F. Beta reads "An auenture pride be peynted þere and pomp of þe world."
F.4.60KD.3.68
Boþe þe coost & þy coueytyse / & who þe catel awhte.F.4.60: F omits the following lines from Bx:
Forþi I lere yow lordes leueþ swiche werkes
To writen in wyndowes of youre wel dedes
Or to greden after goddes men whan ye delen doles
On auenture ye haue youre hire here and youre heuene als.
The lines are missing from H as well.
Forþi I lere yow lordes leueþ swiche werkes
To writen in wyndowes of youre wel dedes
Or to greden after goddes men whan ye delen doles
On auenture ye haue youre hire here and youre heuene als.
The lines are missing from H as well.
F.4.64KD.3.75
For þus biddis þe gospel / good men dosdo[n]F.4.64: F has missed the point, substituting a finite form for the required infinitive. þerafter.
For þo are men vponF.4.69: Alpha is responsible for vpon. Beta manuscripts have on. moolde / þat mest harm wirche.
Ne bowhte no bargayn / be þeF.4.75: This alpha reading is shared by BmBoCot; most other beta manuscripts have ye. fulle serteyn.
Gyftys / or ȝeris-gyftys / be-cause of here offyȝs.F.4.89: Alpha is responsible for offyȝs, a reading shared by H. Beta manuscripts have plural offices.
fol. 10rI
F.4.108KD.3.119
For she is of fair shapF.4.108: F's reading is unique. Beta manuscripts read "fayn of þi felaweshipe." / for to ben þyn make.
& þo þat tristne on trewþe / she treyȝeþ hem ofte.F.4.113: F's line is unique. Bx reads "Trust of hire tresor trayeþ ful manye."
Boþe wyvis & wedewis / & wantowne wenchis.F.4.114: The b- verse is unique to F. Bx reads "wantounnesse she techeþ."
She takþ MasonysF.2.122: F's reading "She takþ Masonys" is unique. Other manuscripts have "To Monkes." F also uniquely has & twice in place of Bx's to. & Menstralys / & Meselys in heggys.
F.4.132KD.3.143
For she copeþ þe Comyssarie / & klokiþF.4.132: klokiþ, "provides with a cloak." This is the first instance we have found of the finite form of this verb. OED's earliest citations are from the early sixteenth century, while the only MED citation is a participial adjective dated c. 1450 in the related sense "encased, enclosed." alle hise clerkys.
fol. 10vI
F.4.140KD.3.151
& to have lemannysF.4.140: F alone begins the line with & and omits and lotebies. / alle here lyf-dayes.
F.4.144KD.3.155
By Iesus with hire Iewelis / þeF.4.144: Alpha is responsible for þe. Beta manuscripts have youre. Iustises she shendiþ.
For poore men have no powher / to pleyne þeyhȝ þey smerte.F.4.157: F omits the following line from Bx: "Swich a maister is Mede among men of goode."
THanneF.4.158: A small guide <t> for the rubricator appears to the top left of the finished <T>. mornede Meede / & made mychil sorwe.F.4.158: F combines and reconfigures Bx's b-verse with the a-verse of the following line. Bx reads as follows:
Thanne mournede Mede and mened hire to þe kynge
To haue space to speke spede if she myȝte.
Thanne mournede Mede and mened hire to þe kynge
To haue space to speke spede if she myȝte.
& þatF.4.166: Alpha is responsible for þat. Beta manuscripts lack it. þou knowist Consience / y can not with þe chyde.
For truly y kyllyde neuere knyghtF.4.175: Alpha is responsible for knyght. Beta manuscripts have kyng. / ne contrivede þat dede.
F.4.176KD.3.188
Ne dyde as þou demest me / y doo it on þe dede.F.4.176: F has picked up dede from the preceding line. Bx has kynge.
fol. 11rI
But þou þy-selve sothly / þou shamedist hym ofte.F.4.178: The top of the page has a five-line illustration with a human head at the left end of a decorated tube and a lion's head
at the right end. The drawing incorporates the ascenders from the text.
¶ & with-outyn pyte þou pylour / pore men þou robbedist.F.4.183: An otiose curl appears over the <o>.
Þe leeste brolle of þis londF.4.193: The substitution of lond for Bx's blood is owed to alpha. / a baronys peere.
To levyn so his LordshepeF.4.195: The scribe initially wrote Lordchepe and then corrected the <c> to <s>. Cf. F4.67, 10.561. / for a lytyl syluer.
Þorghȝ ȝiftys have ȝoomenF.4.202: Alpha is responsible for ȝoomen. Beta manuscripts have yonge men. / to ȝeerne & to ryȝde.
& beggerys for here beggyngF.4.207: Alpha is responsible for beggyng. Beta manuscripts have biddynge. / byddyn for men meede.
& men þat techen chyldryn / craven of hem meede.F.4.210: A pointing finger is added in the margin by a later hand.
F.4.216KD.3.228
F.4.216: This ornamental capital, more elaborate than the one at 4.158, is red with green flourishes. A small guide <t> is visible
in its midst. Than seyde þe kyng to consience / by crist as me þynkiþ.
fol. 11vI
Domine quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo atque quis requiescet in monte sancto eius . imocensi[nn]ocens manibus & mundo corde.F.4.223: F significantly augments the tag. Bx ends after tuo.
Er restyn on þyn holy hillis / þus askedeF.4.225: Alpha is responsible for askede. Beta manuscripts have askeþ. dauyd.
But en-formeþ pore men / to pursue trewþe.F.4.231: F omits Bx's "Qui pecuniam suam non dedit ad vsuram et munera super innocentem."
& with-outyn Meede doon hem good / & trew menF.4.233: Alpha is responsible for trew. Beta manuscripts have truþe. F alone adds men. helpe.
F.4.239: An X appears in the left margin by this line. In quorum manibus iniquitates sunt dextra eorum repleta est muneribus.
F.4.241: Note is written in the left margin by a later hand along with a pointing finger, probably marking the passage and no one line. He shal a-byȝe it bytterly / if þe book be trewe.
It isF.4.249: Alpha is responsible for the omission of a before Permvtacioun. Permvtacioun apertly / a peny-worþ / for a-noþir.
F.4.256KD.3.265
Þou be buxum at myF.4.256: RF agree against beta family manuscripts which read his. byddyngge / his wille to fulfylle.
Boþe wyvis & wydewis / & wommen with chylde.F.4.259: F alone has "with chylde." Other manuscripts read "and children."
fol. 12rI
For Meede ne for mone / mak no þynþyn[g] on lyve.F.4.262: Bx fails in alliteration, and F has revised to provide alliteration on nasalization. Bx reads "For Mede ne for monee loke þow destruye it." Cx also revises the b-verse, but differently.
F.4.268KD.3.277
& al his seed / for þat synne / synfully þan endede.F.4.268: Alpha is responsible for the preterite endede, a lection shared with Hm. Other beta manuscripts have ende(n).
F.4.280KD.3.289
& .o. cristene kyng / shal kepen al þe frape.F.4.280: Other B witnesses have the relatively pedestrian b-verse variants "kepen hem echone" or "kepen hem alle."
Shal no moore meede be mayster / so mychil as heF.4.281: he, "she." Alpha preserves this form. All beta witnesses read she. is nowþe.
F.4.292KD.3.301
& swich peesF.4.292: Alpha is responsible for the omission of a before pees. a-mong þe peple / & parfyȝt trewþe.
F.4.296KD.3.305
/ [¶] & alle þat beryn baselarde / orF.4.296: The initial character could be either an <e> or an <o>. Both forms appear in the manuscript. brod-swerd or lawnce.
fol. 12vI
Or spynne or sprede dunk / or leseF.4.302: Alpha is responsible for lese. Beta manuscripts have correctly alliterating spille. hym-selue with slewþe.
Þan worþ trewe tunge / a tydy man / þat tenede men ofte.F.4.314: A series of misunderstandings lies behind F's reading. Bx reads "me neuere." That in turn has been redivided to "men euere" and then translated to "men ofte."
F.4.316KD.3.324
& what smeþ þat ony smythieF.4.316: Alpha is responsible for smythie. Beta manuscripts have smyteth or smyþeþ. / he shal be smyte þer-wiþ.
F.4.319: The left margin is cropped, leaving "..te" in the hand with italic <e>. A second annotator has written "nota" again, and
a possibly original nota brevigraph appears inside a bracket for 319-20. For þer shul be sixe sunnes & a ship / & half a shef of arwis.
& þe sarsynes for þe syghte þerofF.4.321: Alpha is responsible for "þe syghte þerof," while beta manuscripts have "þat siȝte." / shulle syngyn Gloria in excelsis.
But þis tyxt þat ȝee have told / ȝee takyn nout þe ende.F.4.339: The b-verse is unique to F. Bx reads "were good for lordes."
F.4.340KD.3.347
But ȝee faile a konynge clerk / þat can þe leef wel turne.F.4.340: The b-verse is unique to F. Bx reads "þat kouþe þe leef han torned."
fol. 13rI
A ful teeneful tyxt of þat tale / þat ȝee to me pitte.F.4.342: F omits two lines and re-arranges others, melding KD3.349 and 3.351. Bx reads as follows:
A ful teneful text to hem þat takeþ Mede
Animam autem aufert accipientium &c.
And þat is þe tail of þe text of þat ye shewed.
A ful teneful text to hem þat takeþ Mede
Animam autem aufert accipientium &c.
And þat is þe tail of þe text of þat ye shewed.
& þeyȝ ȝe wynne worchepe / & of meF.4.343: Alpha is responsible for me. Beta manuscripts have Mede. have þe victorye.
Þanne y comawnde þe quod þe kyng / F.4.350: The scribe inexplicably left a space of 13 mm after kyng. We have interpreted the flourish following <g> as a virgule since one does not otherwise appear. Consyence he seyde.
For he shal rewle my rewhme / & reede me to þe beste.F.4.353: F, like most B manuscripts, lacks the following line attested in YCr 23OC2 as well as in versions A and C: "Of Mede and of mo oþere what man shal hire wedde."
For he wil makyn . we he to trewþeF.4.366: The reading to trewþe is unique to F. Bx reads twies. er he be þere.
Whiche Maystryes on erthe / Meede þe Maide makeþ.F.4.369: Alpha is responsible for the word order of this line. Beta manuscripts read "Whiche maistries Mede makeþ on þis erþe."
F.4.380KD.4.37
For þey gyve nowht god / nowht .o. goos feedre.F.4.380: F transposes this line with the Latin quotation.
fol. 13vI
ÞerforeF.4.386: Alpha is responsible for the omission of Reson before lete. lete hem ryde / þo ryche men by hem-selue.
F.4.400KD.4.54
Ne no ferthyng þerfore / for nowhtF.4.400: Alpha and LM read nowht. Other beta manuscripts have ouȝt. y cowhde pleete.
Also he meynteneþ hise men / to moþerem[u]rþere myn heuuys.F.4.401: The spelling heuuys for hewen, "servants," occurred in alpha. What the immediate scribe thought he was writing is a matter of speculation, since the combination
<uu> never again appears in the English text. F is unique in reading moþere.
F.4.408KD.4.62
Þat wrong was a wykkid wyght / & wroghte mycheF.4.408: The scribe initially wrote muche and then corrected to his usual form. sorwe.
F.4.412KD.4.66
Þeyhȝ / pees with his powher / pleygned hym ofte.F.4.412: F omits the following lines from Bx:
Tho wan Wisdom and sire waryn þe witty
For þat wrong hadde ywroȝt so wikked a dede
And warnede wrong þo with swich a wis tale
Whoso wercheþ by wille wraþe makeþ ofte.
Tho wan Wisdom and sire waryn þe witty
For þat wrong hadde ywroȝt so wikked a dede
And warnede wrong þo with swich a wis tale
Whoso wercheþ by wille wraþe makeþ ofte.
fol. 14rI
A-non he comaundid a Cunstable / to caste hym in stokkis.F.4.427: The correction with interlinear in is inserted in brown ink, but the caret is written in red.
Þat Meede myghte be his paramour This curious revision of Bx reflects one of the scribal editor's more bizarre moments. Bx reads as follows:
Som men radde Reson to haue ruþe on þat shrewe
And to counseille þe kyng and Conscience after
That Mede moste be maynpernour Reson þei bisouȝte. / resoun þey be-sowte.
Som men radde Reson to haue ruþe on þat shrewe
And to counseille þe kyng and Conscience after
That Mede moste be maynpernour Reson þei bisouȝte. / resoun þey be-sowte.
& Clerkene coueytyse / cloþe wel þe PoPo[re & fede]F.4.461: At least one character is erased after Po. Bx reads "to clothe þe pouere & fede." The b-verse is heavy, and we cannot be certain that the F-Redactor would have concurred
with Bx.
fol. 14vI
F.4.476KD.4.134
¶ & ȝit quodF.4.476: The scribe has written the abbreviation for <ra> above the usual brevigraph for "quod." Reeson be þe roode / y shal rewþe[no] rewþe have.
fol. 15rI
Who þat wylneþ Meede to wyve / For welthe of wordly goodis.F.4.505: The scribe wrote a large red V in the top right margin to indicate the passus.
F.4.508KD.4.166
For alle þe comonys of þe cowrtF.4.508: An otiose curl appears over the <c>. / callide hire asa[n] hoore.
¶ I am al redy quod Resoun / to reste with ȝow euere.F.4.534: F omits Bx's "So Conscience be of oure counseil I kepe no bettre."
Explicit Passus Quartus.