XLII Doomsday
Hic incipit dies Judicii, et Jhesu descendente cum Michaele et Gabriele Archangeletis Michaelus dicet, etc.
Michael. Surgite! alle men aryse,
Venite ad judicium!
ffor now is sett the hyȝ justyce,
And hath assygnyd the day of dome.
Rape ȝow redyly to this grett assyse,
Bothe grett and smalle, alle an sum,
And of ȝour answere ȝow now avyse,
What ȝe xal sey whan that ȝe cum,
ȝowre ansuere ffor to telle;
ffor whan that God xal ȝow appose,
Ther is non helpe of no glose,
The trewthe fful trewlye he wyl tose,
And send ȝow to hevyn or helle.
Gabryelle. Bothe Pope, prynce, and prysste with crowne,
Kynge and caysere, and knyhtes kene,
Rapely ȝe renne ȝour resonys to rowne,
ffor this xal be the day of tene.
Nowther pore ne ryche of grett renowne,
Ne alle the develys in helle that bene
ffrom this day ȝow hyde not mowne,
ffor alle ȝour dedys here xal be sene
Opynly in syght.
Who that is fowndyn in deedly gylte,
He were bettyr to ben hylte,
In endeles helle he xal be spylte,
His dedys his deth xal dyght.
Omnes resurgentes subtus terram clamavit “Ha! a! a! ha! a! a! ha! a! a!” Deinde surgentes dicat, “ha! a! a!” etc.
Ha! a! a! cleve asundyr ȝe clowdys of clay,
Asundyr ȝe breke and lete us pas:
Now may oure songe be, wele away,
That evyr we synnyd in dedly trespas!
Omnes demones clamant.
Harrow and owt! what xal we say?
Harraw we crye, owt and alas!
Alas! harrow! is this that day,
To endles peyne that us must pas?
Alas! harrow and owt! we crye.
Omnes animæ resurgentes dicant, etc.
A! mercy, Lorde! ffor oure mysdede,
And lett thi mercy sprynge and sprede!
But, alas! we byden in drede,
It is to late to aske mercye.
Deus. Venite benedicti,
My bretheryn alle,
Patris mei
ȝe childeryn dere;
Come hedyr to me to myn hyȝ halle,
Alle tho myn suterys and servauntes be;
Alle tho ffowle wyrmys ffrom ȝow falle,
With my ryght hand I blysse ȝow here.
My blyssynge burnyschith ȝow as bryght as beralle,
As crystalle clene it clensyth ȝow clere,
Alle ffylth ffrom ȝow ffade.
Petyr, to hevyn ȝatys thou wende and goo,
The lokkys thou losyn and hem undo,
My blyssyd childeryn thou brynge me to,
Here hertys for to glade.
Petrus. The ȝatys of hevyn I opyn this tyde:
Now welcome, dere bretheryn, to hevyn i-wys;
Com on, and sytt on Goddys ryght syde,
Where myrthe and melody nevyr may mys.
Omnes Salvati. On kne we crepe, we gon, we glyde,
To wurchepp oure Lorde that mercyful is;
ffor thorwe his woundys that be so wyde,
He hath brought us to his blys.
Holy Lorde, we wurcheppe the!
Deus. Welcome ȝe be in hevyn to sitt,
Welcum, fro me xul ȝe nevyr flitt,
So sekyr of blys ȝe xul be ȝitt,
To myrthe and joye welcum ȝe be!
Animæ dampnandum. Ha! ha! mercy, mercy, we crye and crave,
A! mercy, Lorde, for oure mysdede!
A! mercy, mercy, we rubbe! we rave!
A! help us, good Lord, in this nede!
Deus. How wolde ȝe, wrecchis, any mercy have?
Why aske ȝe mercy now in this nede?
What have ȝe wrought ȝour sowle to save?
To whom have ȝe don any mercyful dede,
Mercy for to wynne?
Primus diabolus. Mercy? nay, nay, they xul have wrake,
And that on here fforehed wyttnes I take,
ffor ther is wretyn with letteris blake,
Opynly alle here synne.
Deus. To hungry and thrusty that askyd in my name,
Mete and drynke wolde ȝe ȝeve non;
Of nakyd men had ȝe no shame,
ȝe wold nott vesyte men in no preson;
ȝe had no peté on seke nor lame,
Dede of mercy wold ȝe nevyr don;
Un herborwed men ȝe servyd the same,
To bery the deed pore man wold ȝe not gon;
These dedys doth ȝow spylle.
ffor ȝoure love was I rent on rode,
And for ȝour sake I shed my blode:
Whan I was so mercyfulle and so gode,
Why have ȝe wrought aȝens my wylle?
Secundus Diabolus. I fynde here wretyn in thin fforheed,
Thou were so stowte and sett in pryde,
Thou woldyst nott ȝeve a pore man breed,
But ffrom thi dore thou woldyst hym chyde.
Tertius diabolus. And in thi face here do I rede,
That if a thryfty man com any tyde,
ffor thrust thow he xulde be deed,
Drynk from hym thou woldyst evyr hyde;
On covetyse was alle thy thought.
Primus diabolus. In wratthe thi neybore to bakbyte,
Them for to hangere was thi delyte,
Thou were evyr redy them to endyte;
On the seke man rewyst thou nought.
Secundus diabolus. Evyr more on envye was alle thi mende,
Thou woldyst nevyr vesyte no presoner;
To alle thi neybores thou were unkende,
Thou woldyst nevyr helpe man in daunger.
Tertius diabolus. The synne of slauthe thi sowle xal shende,
Masse nore mateynes woldyst thou non here,
To bery the deed, man, thou woldyst not wende,
Therfore thou xalt to endles ffere;
To slowthe thou were ful prest.
Primus diabolus. Thou haddyst rejoyse in glotonye,
In dronkesheppe and in rebawdye,
Unherborwyd with velonye
Thou puttyst from here rest.
Secundus diabolus. Sybile Sclutte, thou ssalte sewe,
Alle ȝour lyff was leccherous lay;
To alle ȝour neybores ȝe wore a shrewe,
Alle ȝour plesauns was leccherous play.
Goddys men ȝe lovyd but fewe;
Nakyd men and ffebyl of array
ȝe wolde nott socowre with a lytel drewe,
Nott with a thred, the sothe to say,
Whan they askyd in Godys name.
Omnes dampnandi. A, mercy, Lord! mekyl of myght,
We aske thi mercy and not thi ryght,
Not after oure dede so us quyth,
We have synnyd, we be to blame.
Deus...........
..........
..........
Notes
Page 1, line 6. With pleys ful glad.] In the Promptorium Parvulorum is given the following curious analysis of the different kinds of plays and players:—“Pley, ludus; pley, or somyr game, spectaculum; pley that begynnythe with myrthe and endythe with sorowe, tragedia; pley that begynnythe with sorow and endythe with myrthe, comedia; pleyare, lusor; pleyare that alwey wyl pley, ludibundus; pleyar at the bal, pililudius; pleyyng garment, ludix; pleyyng place, diludium.”—MS. Harl. 221, fol. 129. Chaucer gives us the same definition of tragedy in the prologue to The Monkes Tale:—
Tragedie is to sayn a certain storie,
As olde bookes maken us memorie,
Of him that stood in gret prosperitee,
And is y-fallen out of high degree
Into miserie, and endeth wretchedly.
P. 9, l. 17. Mevelyd.] So in the MS., but probably it ought to be mervelyd.
P. 17, l. 10. Dele the comma after the word dwere.
P. 19. The Creation.] Bagford has preserved in MS. Harl. 5931, v. 13, a printed bill of the latter end of the seventeenth century, wherein it is stated that “at Crawley’s show at the Golden Lion, near St. George’s Church, during the time of Southwark-fair, will be presented the whole story of the old creation of the world, or Paradice Lost, yet newly reviv’d, with the addition of Noah’s flood.” See Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes, ed. Hone, p. 166. The specimen 272 in the same volume is still more curious, and shows that the performances of mysteries, howbeit in a very different state, were continued in England up to a much later period than is usually believed: —
“By Her Majestie’s permission. At Heatly’s booth, over against the Cross Daggers, next to Mr. Miller’s booth, during the time of Bartholomew-Fair, will be presented a little opera, called The old creation of the world, newly reviv’d, with the addition of the glorious battle obtained over the French and Spaniards by his Grace the Duke of Marlborough. The contents are these:—
1. The creation of Adam and Eve.
2. The intreagues of Lucifer in the garden of Eden.
3. Adam and Eve driven out of paradice.
4. Cain going to plow, Abel driving sheep.
5. Cain killeth his brother Abel.
6. Abraham offering his son Isaac.
7. Three wise men of the East guided by a star, who worship him.
8. Joseph and Mary flew away by night upon an ass.
9. King Herod’s cruelty; his men’s spears laden with children.
10. Rich Dives invites his friends, and orders his porter to keep the beggars from his gate.
11. Poor Lazarus comes a begging at rich Dives’s gate, and the dogs lick his sores.
12. The good angel and death contend for Lazarus’s life.
13. Rich Dives is taken sick and dieth. He is buried in great solemnity.
14. Rich Dives in hell, and Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, seen in a most glorious object, all in machines descending in a throne, guarded with multitudes of angels, with the breaking of the clouds, discovering the palace of the sun, in double and treble prospects, to the admiration of all spectators. Likewise several rich and large figures, with dances, jiggs, sarabrands, anticks, and country dances between every act: compleated with the merry humours of Sir John Spendall and Punchanello, with several other things never yet exposed. Perform’d by Mat. Heatly. Vivat Regina!”
In Braithwayte’s “Strapado for the Devil,” 8vo. Lond. 1615, p. 161, there is an allusion to the performance of Mysteries in London in ancient times:—
“Saint Bartlemews, where all the pagents showne,
And all those acts from Adam unto Noe
Us’d to be represent.”
P. 19, l. 1. Ω.] In MS., oo.
P. 22, l. 8. And make the man Adam.] A marginal note on the verso of fol. 74 informs us that Adam was created on the tenth of the calends of April.
P. 27, l. 24. For to hide.] Dr. Marriott, the editor of A Collection of English Miracle Plays, 8vo. Basel, 1838, quotes a play entitled, The Travailes of the three English Brothers, 4to. Lond. 1607, to show that an exact representation of the primitive state of our forefathers in the garden of Eden was exhibited on the English stage “as late as the close of the sixteenth century.” This is an absurd misrepresentation, and has been founded on an erroneous interpretation of a passage in the play above-mentioned, which is spoken by Kemp, the actor, in a conversation with Sir Anthony Sherley. According, however, to one of the stage directions in the Chester Mysteries, Adam and Eve stabunt nudi et non verecundabuntur; so that, joined with the present passage in the Coventry Mysteries, there is at least some ground for believing that such was actually the case at an earlier period.11
Dr. Marriott’s mistake has been already noticed by the Rev. A. Dyce, in his interesting introduction to Kemp’s Nine Daies Wonder, reprinted for the Camden Society, p. xv; and I take the opportunity of introducing in this place some particulars relating to Kemp, which throw a new light upon his history, more especially in relation with the above-mentioned play, and proves that the introduction of the comic actor, and his interview with Sherley, was strictly founded upon fact. The authors of the play, indeed, assert in their prologue their intention of
“Clothing our truth within an argument,
Fitting the stage and your attention;
Yet not so hid but that she may appeare
To be herselfe, even truth.”
But dramatic critics have not given much credit to these professions of honesty. Mr. Dyce even doubts the fact of Kemp having made a journey on the continent, and considers the notice in The Returne from Pernassus of his “dancing the morrice over the Alpes,” to be only a “sportive allusion to his journey to Norwich.” In his Nine Daies Wonder, however, he announces his intention of setting out shortly on a “great journey,” and in his dedication he seems to allude to a projected journey to Rome. I have recently discovered a passage in a contemporary diary, which proves that Kemp actually met with Sir Anthony Shirley at Rome, and that his “great journey” was not a very profitable speculation. It is as follows:—“1601, Sept. 2. Kemp, mimus quidam, qui peregrinationem quandam in Germaniam et Italiam instituerat, post multos errores et infortunia sua reversus: multa refert de Anthonio Sherly equite aurato, quem Romæ (legatum Persicum agentem) convenerat.”—MS. Sloan. 392, fol. 401. William Parry, who was with Shirley in Russia, returned to England in the middle of September, 1601, as we learn from the account published by Hackluyt; and it is therefore very probable that Kemp was the first who brought the news of his proceedings in Persia and Russia. An account of Shirley’s adventures was published at London in 1613, and a very circumstantial relation by Manwaring is in MS. Sloan. 110, but neither of these contain the slightest notice of Kemp’s interview with the ambassador. What we have given above is, however, quite sufficient to establish its truth, and “the travell to Rome with the return in certain daies,” mentioned in Rowley’s Search for Money, 1609, doubtlessly alludes to the same circumstance: and would also seem to imply that he had accomplished his homeward journey in a short time. Mr. Rimbault has also kindly favoured me with a copy of the following song from an old MS. in his possession by Thomas Weelkes, entitled, Ayres or fantasticke spirites, which was printed with some variations in 1608:
“Since Robin Hood, Maid Marian,
And little John are gone-a,
The hobby-horse was quite forgot,
When Kempe did dance alone-a.
He did labour after the tabor
For to dance: then into France
He tooke paines
To skip it;
In hope of gaines
He will trip it,
On the toe,
Diddle, diddle, doe.”
11 John of Salisbury thus complains of the indelicacy of actors:—“Quorum adeo error invaluit, ut a præclaris domibus non arceantur, etiam illi qui obscenis partibus corporis, oculis omnium eam ingerunt turpitudinem, quam erubescat videre vel Cynicus.”—De Nugis Curialium, lib. i. cap. 8, edit. 1639, p. 34.
P. 31, l. 8. Flammea.] Sic in MS. pro flammeo.
P. 37, l. 8. Showe.] So in MS., but perhaps shove, which would complete the rhyme.
P. 38, l. 28. Never.] This word is added to the MS. in a more recent hand.
P. 46, l. 28. This schypp for to make.] A marginal note informs us that “Noe schyp was in lenght ccc. cubytes, in brede ffyfty, and the heythe thretty: the flode 15. above hyest montayne.”
P. 59, l. 16. Perhaps this line would be more properly printed thus:—
“What is your wylle, Lord, fayn wold I wete.”
P. 59, l. 30. The comaundment of thi Lord God.] It is almost unnecessary to remark that this and the following line are quite distinct from the stanza, and are intended as a translation of the Latin given above.
P. 61, l. 1. Assumens.] Sic in MS. pro assumes.
P. 61, l. 19. Sanctificet.] Sic in MS. pro sanctificetur.
P. 62, l. 32. Makaberis.] Sic in MS. pro mæchabaris.
P. 64, l. 6. Bos.] Sic in MS. pro bovem.
P. 65, l. 13. For to dwelle.] Add a semicolon at the end of this line.
P. 70. The Barrenness of Anna.] This pageant is founded on the apochryphal gospel of the Birth of Mary. The same story is also found in the Protevangelion of James.
P. 73, l. 27. Catando.] Sic in MS. pro cantando.
P. 75, l. 10. Offens.] Place a colon after this word.
P. 79. Mary in the Temple.] This pageant is also founded on the apochryphal gospel of the Birth of Mary.
P. 81, l. 22. Explexendo.] Sic in MS. pro amplexendo.
P. 83, l. 28. For.] Perhaps fere.
P. 84, l. 29. Dele the comma after the word “bretheryn.”
P. 88, l. 13. In your name Maria.] Lydgate, in MS. Harl. 2255, fol. 141, has given three similar acrostics of the name of the blessed Virgin.
P. 94, l. 29. So.] Perhaps yow.
P. 94, l. 31 to p. 95, l. 22. This is added to the MS. in a more recent handwriting.
P. 97, l. 20. Episcopus comyth, thens Joseph.] Owing to this line being inserted in the MS. as a stage direction, and the deficiency of the metre, it has been arranged erroneously. It should be as follows:—
Episcopus. Comyth thens.
Joseph. Sere, he may evyl go, &c.
P. 99, l. 13. Foreschyth.] So in MS. for floreschyth.
P. 101, l. 8. Sere, xalle ffulffyl.] The pronoun I is probably omitted before the word xalle.
P. 105. The Salutation and Conception.] Part of the argument of this pageant may be found in the apocryphal gospel of the Birth of Mary. The incident of the council of the Trinity is given in the Speculum Vitæ Christi, and in Lydgate’s Life of the Virgin.
P. 105, l. 22. Babys.] Probably balys.
P. 112, l. 16. This name Eva is turnyd Ave.] Compare MS. Harl. 2255, fol. 140, a poem in praise of the Virgin:
Heyl sterre of Jacob, glorie of Israelle!
Eva transfformyd the lettrys wel out sought;
Into thy closet whan that Gabryelle
With this wourd Ave hath the tydynges brought.
P. 113, l. 17. But I aske it xal be do.] The word how has probably been omitted after aske.
P. 114, l. 31. Bemys.] Mr. Collier, Hist. Dram. Poet. ii. 176, writes bennys, and considers that the word means benedicites. I confess I do not see the necessity of such an explanation, for it appears simply to signify beams, and there was doubtlessly some contrivance to represent them on the stage.
P. 117. Joseph’s Return.] This pageant is founded upon the apochryphal gospel of the Birth of Mary.
P. 124. The Visit to Elizabeth.] This pageant is founded upon the Protevangelion of James.
P. 130, l. 12. Leve.] Dele the semicolon after this word.
P. 131. The Trial of Joseph and Mary.] This pageant is likewise founded upon the narrative in the Protevangelion of James.
P. 131, l. 6. Alle the rowte.] The subsequent enumeration of names was obviously inserted, observes Mr. Collier, “for the sake of producing merriment among the spectators.” A somewhat similar list of names occurs in Cocke Lorelles Bote, among which I find two, viz., Pers Potter and Phyllyp Fletcher, that are also in this list. Hone, Marriott, and Collier, who have quoted this very singular part of these mysteries, place it at the end of the preceding pageant, but the reason for the change I have made will be sufficiently obvious on perusal.
P. 131, l. 25. And loke ye rynge wele in your purs.] This is important, as showing that money was collected for the performances. The author of a very curious sermon against miracle-plays generally, in a MS. of the fourteenth century, preserved in the parish library of St. Martin’s in the Fields, expressly complains of the money that was spent in this manner:—“So this myraclis pleyinge is verré witnesse of mennus averice and coveytise byfore, that is maumetrie, as seith the apostele, for that that thei shulden spendyn upon the nedis of ther neyeboris, thei spenden upon the pleyis, and to peyen ther rente and ther dette thei wolen grucche, and to spende two so myche upon ther pley thei wolen nothinge grucche. Also to gideren men togidere to bien the derre ther vetailis, and to stiren men to glotonye, and to pride and boost, thei pleyn thes myraclis, and also to han wherof to spenden on these myraclis, and to holde felawschipe of glotonye and lecherie in sich dayes of myraclis pleyinge, thei bisien hem beforn to more gredily bygilen ther neybors, in byinge and in sellyng; and so this pleyinge of myraclis now on dayes is werré witnesse of hideous coveytise, that is maumetrie.”—Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. ii., p. 54.
P. 135, l. 13. To set a cokewolde on the hye benche.] This appears to be an allusion to the old ballad of The Cokwoldes Daunce, or similar production. King Arthur was represent as giving the first place at table, or a seat on the high bench on the daïs, to men of this order—
“Than seyd thei all at a word,
That cokwoldes schuld begynne the bord,
And sytt hyest in the halle.”
P. 137, l. 15. “Fayr chylde, lullay,” sone must she syng.] Lullay is a very common burden to the old nursery songs, one of the oldest of which is preserved in MS. Harl. 913, and has been printed by Ritson. Sharp has printed the following, which, as belonging to a Coventry pageant, will be appropriately introduced in this place:—
Lully, lulla, thow littell tiné child;
By, by, lully, lullay, thow littell tyné child:
By, by, lully, lullay.
O, sisters too,
How may we do
For to preserve this day
This pore yongling,
For whom we do singe
By, by, lully, lullay.
Herod the king,
In his raging
Chargith he hath this day
His men of might,
In his owne sight,
All yonge children to slay.
That wo is me,
Pore child for thee,
And ever morne and say.
For thi parting,
Nether say nor singe
By, by, lully, lullay.
P. 139, l. 16. Now, sere.] This line ought to be pointed thus,
“Now, sere, evyl thedom com to thi snowte!”
The ignorant transcriber of the MS. has written “Thedom” as a proper name, which is an evident absurdity.
P. 140, l. 30. Whylle that it dede snow.] The story of the child of snow was very popular in the middle ages, and is often alluded to. It is briefly told in Latin verse by Geoffrey de Vinsauf, Nov. Poetr. ap. Leyser, Hist. Poet. Med. Æv. pp. 901, 903; and at greater length in a French fabliau of the thirteenth century, printed in the collection of Méon, tom. iii. p. 215, analysed in Legrand d’Aussy, tom. iii. p. 84. It occurs at a later period in the celebrated collection, entitled Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (ed. Le Roux de Lincy, Paris, 1841, tom. i. p. 153), and in many other similar works composed in Italy and France.
P. 145. The Birth of Christ.] The Protevangelion of James is the authority for this pageant.
P. 146, l. 1. It is clepyd a chery tre.] This fable of the cherry tree is the subject of a well known Christmas carol, which has been printed by Hone, Ancient Mysteries Described, p. 90. See also Collier’s Hist. Dram. Poet. vol. ii. p. 179.
P. 153, l. 2. Ulverando.] Sic in codice MS., sed forte ululando.
P. 158, l. 29. This songe begynne.] In old miniatures the shepherds are often represented playing on bagpipes.
P. 168, l. 13, to p. 170, l. 31. This is added to the original manuscript in a more recent hand.
P. 192, l. 9. Lyke as the sunne doth pers the glas.] “He lyted within her as the sonne-shyne thurgh the glas.”—MS. Sloan. 3160, fol. 38.
P. 199, l. 1, to p. 200, l. 30. This is added to the manuscript in a more recent hand.
P. 199, l. 8. He.] Probably ye.
P. 199, l. 24. Ys.] Probably your.
P. 210, l. 5. I xal the shewe many a ceté.] It will be observed that, in the enumeration of countries which follows, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are mentioned, with the omission of England, a proof, perhaps, that the writer had transferred the scene of action into his own country.
P. 217, l. 9. Indeploydo.] So in MS. for in diploide, a Latinized form from the Greek word διπλοις, a double robe; see Glos.
P. 222, l. 17. Jhesus.] This is erased in the MS., and the word “doctor” substituted in a more recent hand.
P. 235, l. 28. Ther he doth lyve in cave.] For lyve read lyne. The same expression occurs at p. 227, l. ult.
P. 239, l. 16. Berere of lyth.] i. e., Lucifer.
P. 242, l. 7. With syde lokkys.] “Over thin eyn and thin here” is here inserted in the MS.
P. 245, l. 16. Prose.] So in MS., but perhaps it ought to be profe.
P. 262, l. 17. With wyld hors lete hym be drawe.] This mode of punishment was very common in the middle ages. It is again alluded to at p. 290.
P. 275, l. 28. Xad.] So in MS., but probably shad, as I do not find x for sh in any similar case.
P. 289, l. 20. Takyn his schaffalde.] We have an early notice of these vehicles in Chaucer, in the Milleres Tale, where he speaks of the “joly” clerk Absolon—
“Somtime to shew his lightnesse and maistrie
He plaieth Herode on a skaffold hie.”
The parish-clerks, says Tyrwhit, had always a principal share in the representation of mysteries. See notes to Canterbury Tales, v. 3384, Sharp’s Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries, p. 17, and Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. 322.
P. 297, l. 13. Et cantabit gallus.] This was accomplished by one of the company, and a proficiency in the imitation was probably aimed at and accomplished. Among the accounts published by Mr. Sharp is the following entry:—“Paid to Fawston for coc croyng, iiij. d.”—Dissertation, p. 36.
P. 313, l. 4. Whi spekest not me to.] A great deal of this is merely paraphrased from the vulgate. Pilate “seide to Jhesu, of whenis art thou? but Jhesus gaf noon answere to him. Pilat seith to him, spekist thou not to me, wost thou not that I have power to crucifie thee, and I have power to delivere thee.”—John, chap. xix, Wickliffe’s version.
P. 329. The Descent into Hell.] The oldest mystery in the English language is founded on this subject, a very popular theme, the principal authority for which is the gospel of Nicodemus. It is related in Piers Ploughman, ed. Wright, p. 385-393.
The print of Christ harrowing hell, published by Hearne, and the unique illustration which it affords to two passages in Shakespeare, are too well known to require a more particular notice.
P. 338. The Resurrection.] The writer of the sermon against mysteries before quoted is very severe on the performance of so sacred a subject as the present. “In the dayes of ceremonial religion,” says Lambarde, “they used at Wytney to set foorthe yearly in manner of a shew or interlude, the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Chryste, partly of purpose to draw thyther some concourse of people that might spend their money in the towne, but chiefly to allure by pleasant spectacle the comon sort to the likinge of Popish maumetrie; for the which purpose, and the more lyvely thearby to exhibite to the eye the hole action of the Resurrection, the pristes garnished out certein smalle puppets, representinge the persons of Christe, the watchmen, Marie, and others, amongest the which one bare the parte of a wakinge watcheman, who, espiinge Christ to arise, made a continual noyce, like to the sound that is caused by the metinge of two styckes, and was thereof comonly called Jack Snacker of Wytney.”—Dictionarium Angliæ Topographicum et Historicum, Lond. 1730, p. 459.
P. 346, l. 11, 12.
Harde gatys have I gon,
And peynes sofryd many on.
These lines bear a very remarkable resemblance to two others in the early mystery of the Harrowing of Hell, recently printed, and would lead us to think that the author of the Coventry play had had the other in his recollection:—
“Hard gates havy gon,
Sorewen soffred mony on.”—p. 15.
P. 361, l. 27. To stey to my fadyr.] “Touche me not yet, for I have not yet stied up to my fadir; but go to my brethren and seie to them, I stie to my fadir and to youre fadir, to my God and to youre God.”—John, xx. Wickliffe’s translation.
P. 362, l. 21. But now in herte.] This and the following twenty-one lines are repeated in the MS. in a different hand.
P. 383. The Assumption of the Virgin. The whole of this pageant is written in a more recent hand, of the time, I should think, of Henry VIII. It will be observed that this composition differs considerably from the other plays.
P. 402, l. 1. Clamavit.] The Latinity throughout the MS. is very bad, but I have suffered it generally to remain as a criterion of the reliance to be placed upon the MS. text.