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A Mumming for the Mercers of London:
British Library Additional 29729 Verses

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f.132 verso
Folio 132 VersoFolio 133 RectoFolio 133 VersoFolio 134 Recto

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Folio 132 Verso
Compare Witnesses: •
william estfeld •
meresar mayre •
anno domini •
1430 also þe •
second tyme •
mayre anno •
14381 •
here folowythe A letar made in wyse of balad by daun •
Johnn lydgat, brought by a pursyvaunt in wyse of •
momers dysguysyd to fore þe mayre of london estfeld •
vpon the twelffthe nyght of cristmasse ordeyned Ry2 •
ally by the worthy merciers citesens of london. •
m3oste mighty lord Iubyter the gret4 •
whos mansion is over the sonnes beme •
from thens that phebus with his fervent heat •
Reflecythe5 his lyght vpon þe swyfte streme •
of efrates towardes Jerusaleme6 •
downe costynge as bokes makyn mynde •
by lubyes7 londes / thrughe ethiopeand ynde •
Iubiter .i. omnia iubens •
phebus .i. sol •
efrates is one of þe four •
fludes of paradise •
Conveyed downe / wher mars in cyria •
hathe bylt his palays / vpon þe sondes rede •
And she venus / callid cithera •
on parnaso / with pallas full of drede •
and percius with his furious stede •
smot a on the roche / wher þe musis dwell •
tyll ther sprange vp / sodenly a well •
mars is god of batayll •
venus is callyd þe godes of •
love / and she is callyd cithera •
aftar cithera þe hyll wher •
she is worshipyd •
percius is a knyght which •
rode vpon a hors that was •
callyd pegacie8 •
Notes
  1. ODNB reference: https://www-oxforddnb-com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-52172 ↩
  2. Word continues below. There are no marks indicating the split ↩
  3. Space for an initial "M" was left but the illuminator never added the initial. The guide letter is still visible, however. ↩
  4. Unlike Trinity R.3.20, the other extant witness of this work, "Jubyter" has not been underlined here. The associated note still exists in the right-hand margin, however. ↩
  5. While usually in this manuscript "t" and "c" can be determined by the height of the ascender and the severity of the hook to the right in this witness the two forms are very similar. ↩
  6. Bracketed on the right. ↩
  7. Trinity R.3.20 underlines "lubyes," suggesting that the exemplar did so as well, but neither extant witness has a marginal note for the reader. ↩
  8. Bracketed on the right. ↩

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.