a picture of John Lydgate with the initials of the website
A Mumming for the Mercers of London:
Trinity R.3.20 Verses

HomeAbout the ArchiveAbout John LydgateWorksManuscriptsAbout this ManuscriptEditorial ApparatusContactVisualization

f.85 verso
Folio 85 Recto (Page 171)Folio 85 Verso (Page 172)Folio 86 Recto (Page 173)Folio 86 Verso (Page 174)Folio 87 Recto (Page 175)

Decoration
Download XML
Data Dictionary
Folio 85 Verso (Page 172)
Compare Witnesses: •
desgysing made to Estfeld þane •
✧Moost1 migħty lord / Iubyter þe greet •
Whos mansyoun / is ouer þe sonnes beem •
Ffrome thens þat Phebus / witħ his fervent heet •
Reflecteþe his ligħt / vpon þe swyfft streeme •
Of Ewfratees / towardes Ierusalem •
Dovne coosteying / as bookys maken mynd •
By lubyes landes / thorugħe Ethyope and Ynde •
• Iubiter i. omnia iubens2 •
• Phebus i. Sol3 •
Eufrates is oon of þe foure floodes •
of paradys •
Conveyed dovne / where Mars in Cyrrea •
haþe bylt his palys / vponn þe sondes rede •
And she Venus / called Cytherrea •
On parnaso / witħ Pallas ful of drede •
And parseus / witħ his furyous steede •
Smote on þe Roche / where þe muses dwelle •
Til þer sprange vp / al sodeynly a welle •
• mars is god of batyle •
• Venus is called þe goddesse of love and4 •
she is called Cytherea after Cytheron •
þe hiłł wher she is worshiped •
• Perseus is a knigħt whicħ þat5 roode vponn •
an hors þat was called pegase •
Called þe welle of / Calyope6 •
Mooste auctorysed amonges þees Cyryens •
Of Whicħ þe poetes / þat dwelle in þat cuntree •
And oþer famous Rethorycyens •
And þey þat cleped beon Musycyens •
Ar wont to drynk of þat7 hoolsome welle •
Whicħ þat alle oþer / in vertu doothe excelle •
• þe nyen Muses dwelle bysyde ellyconn8 •
þe welle wheecħe beon9 þe nyen sustres10 •
of Musyk and of eloquences and Calyope •
is oone of hem. •
Where Bacus dwelleþe / besydes þe Ryver11 •
Of ryche Thagus / þe grauełłys alle of gold •
Whicħ gyveþe a ligħt / agens the sonne12 cleer •
So fressħe so sheene / þat hit may not beo tolde •
Where Bellona haþe bylt a stately hoolde •
In al þis worlde / I trowe þer is noon lyche •
Of harde Magnetis / and dyamandes ryche •
•• Bacus is cleped god of wyne • Thagus13 •
is a Ryver of whicħ þe gravelles and þe •
sandes beon of golde •
And of þat welle / drank some tyme Tulius •
And Macrobye / ful famous of prudence •
Ovyde also / and eke Virgilius •
And Ffraunceys Petrark myrrour14 of eloquence15 •
Johan Bocas also / flouring in saᵽyence •
•• Tulius a poete and a Rethorisyen of Rome. •
Macrobys an olde philosofre •Ovyde and •
Virgilius weren olde poetes þat oon of •
Rome þat oþer of Naples . a fore þe tyme •
of cryst16•• ffraunceys petrark was a •
Notes
  1. The initial was performed at a later date and the original initial and verse marker was partially erased in order to do so ↩
  2. "Jupiter ruling in all things." ↩
  3. "Phoebus is the Sun" ↩
  4. There is a glyph next to "love" here, but it is not clear what the glyph stands for. It appears to be a tironian et, with stroke and a curved suspension mark over it, written over the terminating mark used for marginalia throughout. BL. Add. 29729 also has the tironian "et" as well. The EETS edition does not note this glyph at all. ↩
  5. BL Add. 29729, the other extant witness of this work, does not have this word. ↩
  6. This word appears to be bracketed on both sides, but based on the practice in most other places in this witness I think it more likely what we're seeing is a combination of the virgule and the line-ending otiose mark we see terminating some lines. ↩
  7. There is an otiose mark crossing the bottom of the thorn here. ↩
  8. There is a suspension over the terminal glyph, which is not recognized in the EETS or TEAMS editions. ↩
  9. There is what appears to be a supension mark over the "n" here, which would make the word "beonn." This mark is quite light, though, and the way that "beon" is written (see the next marginal note, for example) elsewhere suggests that it is meant to be otiose. ↩
  10. The terminal glyph is quite poorly formed, but appears to be a terminal "s" with a suspension mark between it and the prior glyph, a "t," which would make the word "sustres" as expected. ↩
  11. MacCraken does not capitalize "river" in the EETS edition, but comparison with "ryche" in line two of this verse and "ravisshe" in line five of verse six suggests it should more properly be capitalized. ↩
  12. there is an otiose mark in the shape of a plus over the e in "sonne." At first glance it appears that it might be a suspension mark, but the existing glyphs make that unlikely. ↩
  13. Rather than the single stroke that indicates a new marginal note in other places this note begins with two strokes, then the explanatory note regarding Bacchus. After that note, there is a single stoke, then the explanatory note regarding Thagus. MacCraken, when rendering this note in the EETS edition, has combined them and added an "and." ↩
  14. The suspension mark here suggests that this is meant to be a double "r." BL Add. 29729 has "myrrour," but the EETS edition is "myrour." ↩
  15. The third glyph could be an o or an e based on other examples in the manuscript. It appears to be closer to the box form o, however. ↩
  16. There's a mark to the left of "of" here, but since the reference to Petrarch is prefaced with it's own mark this mark appears to be otiose. ↩
  17. There is a suspension mark over the t here, but I believe it is likely meant to be attached to the previous glyph, "n." As such, it would be "daunte" or "dannte" rather than "dante." BL Additional 29729 has "daunt" here so I beleve it to be "dannte" ↩

The work on this manuscript witness was generously sponsored 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 owned by the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge and are provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.