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

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

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Folio 133 Verso
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And so forthe downe / his Iourney can devyse •
In Aquarye / whan phebus shon full shene •
forthe by passyng þe gret gulffe of venyse •
and sayled forthe soo / all þe ryver of gene •
In which see regnythe þe myghty quene •
callyd cyrces goddesse / of naturs salte •
wher nymphes syng / her honor to exalte •
•• phebus in aquario is as •
myche to say as than the •
sonne is in that signe •
•• cyrces is a goddes of the •
see / which turnethe men •
in to lyknese of bestes and •
nymphes ben goddesses of •
small ryvers •
And ther he saughe / as he gan approche •
with in a boke / a fissher drewe his nette •
on the ryght syde / of a crystall Rooche •
fyshe was ther none / for þe draucht was lette •
and on the one syde / ther were letters sette •
that sayd this in frenche / this rayson grande travayle •
this aunswer next in order nulle avayle1 •
Than saylyng forthe / bysyd many a rokk •
he gane full fast for to haste hym downe •
thorow þe daunger / and streytes of marokk •
passyng þe parrylous / ourraat2 of arragon •
so forthe by spaygne / goyng envyron •
thoroughe out the reas and rokes of brytaynge •
the brettyshe3 / tyll þat he dyd attayne •
Thorughe that lakk4 / callyd of portland •
and toward calys / holdyng his passage •
lest goodwyn sandes / by grace of gods hand •
havyng his wynd to his avantage •
the weder clere / þe stormes lefft ther rage •
entryng the see / of brutes albyon •
now cawlyd themse / thourghe all this regyon •
And in a ffeeld / that drwghe in to the este •
besyd an yland / he sawght a shyp wnlade •
whiche had sayled / full fer toward the weste •
the cabon peyntyd / withe flowres freshe and glade •
and lettars frenche / þat feynt wyll ne faade •
taunt haute bas / que homme soyt •
touz Ioures regracyer dieux doyt •
Notes
  1. Bracketed on the left. ↩
  2. Trinity R.3.20 has "curraat" here, which seems more accurate, but "c" elsewhere in the manuscript is not closed in the way the initial glyph is here. ↩
  3. The word "see," present in Trinity R.3.20, has been omitted here. ↩
  4. Trinity R.3.20 has þilk sakk ↩

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.