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A Mumming at Hertford:
British Library Additional 29729 Verses

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f.138 recto
Folio 136 VersoFolio 137 RectoFolio 137 VersoFolio 138 RectoFolio 138 VersoFolio 139 RectoFolio 139 VersoFolio 140 Recto

Decoration
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Folio 138 Recto
Compare Witnesses: •
Koude yff hir list / bere here of wytnesse •
wordes strockes / vnhappye and harde grace •
with sharpe nayles kraccchynge1 •
I meane thus whan the distaffe is broke •
with ther fystes wyues wylle wroke •
ɲ
blessed the men / that cane in such offence •
mekely suffer / take all in pacyence •
tender such wyfely pulgatory •
heuen for ther mede to raygne ther in glorye •
god graunt all husbandys that be in this place •
to wyn so heuen / for his holy grace •
ɲ
next in order / thys bocher stoute and bould •
that killed hath / bulles and bores olde •
rhia bartellniew2/ for all his brod knyffe •
yet durst he neuer with his sturdy wyffe •
in no mater holde champartye •
and yff he did / she wolde anon defye •
his pompe3 his pryd with a sterne thought •
and sodenly setten hym at nought •
though his bely were rounded lyche an ocke •
she would not fayle / to gyue the fyrst stroke •
for proude pernelle / lyche a champyon •
wolde leue hir puddinges / in agreat cawdron •
suffer them boylle / and take of them non hede •
but with hir skumer reche hym on the heued •
she would paye hym and make no delaye •
byd hym goo pley hym a twenty deuell weye •
she was no cowarde found at suche a nede •
hir fyst full oft made his chekes bled •
what quarell euer that he agaynst hur sett •
she cast hyr not / to dye in his debte •
she made no talle / but qwytt hym by and by •
his quarter sowde / she payde hym faythfully •
and his wagis with all hur beste entente •
she made ther of no assyne ment •
ɲ
4Seke thome5tinker6 with all his pannes olde •
and alle the wynes of banbury that he solde •
his fryth hys hamour hys bagge portatyffe •
bare vp his arme / when he foughte with his wyffe •
he founde for hast7 ne better bokeler •
vponn his cheke / the distaffe cam so nere •
demonstrando •
the tynker •
Notes
  1. The scribe appears to have added a superflous "c" glyph here. Trinity R.3.20 has "kracching." ↩
  2. Bracketed on each side. ↩
  3. This looks, at first glance, like "un" rather than "m' based on the number of possible minims. Comparison with other "p" glyphs in this manuscript, however, show that the scribe consistently begins the p with a mark to the left of the initial descender. Thus, what the scribe is doing is completing the m, then carrying the stroke up to the initial position of the following "p." A similar upstroke after the final minim can be seen in "hym" in the following line. ↩
  4. This looks similar to an et, rather than the 'n' the scribe uses throughout, but its position in the manuscript suggests that it's meant to serve the same function. Interestingly, the EETS edition (and Trinity R.3.20 as its exemplar) has "Eeke" whereas this manuscript obviously has "seke." ↩
  5. Bracketed on both sides. ↩
  6. Bracketed on the left. ↩
  7. The EETS edition and Trinity R.3.20 have "haste," which is likely what was intended. Compare with the "st in "cast" at line 20 of the section above. ↩

The work on this manuscript witness was generously supported by a ZKS-Lendrum Fellowship in the Scientific Study of Manuscripts and Inscriptions at the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham University. The transcription of this work is owned by the editor and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images are (c) British Library Board (British Library Additional MS 29729) and rights are reserved.