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The Testament of John Lydgate:
Long Melford Verses

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East Wall (View Model)
First PanelSecond PanelThird PanelFourth PanelFifth PanelSixth Panel

Fifth Panel
Compare Witnesses:
And [....] myn [...] to put at a preff
t[.] [.....] [.......] [....] [...] [..] [....] [..] [.....]1
[........] [...] [.] [...] [...] [..] [.....] [..] [...] [.....]
w[....] had so [.....] [........] [...] [....] [....]2
w[...] he not frely wyth me to paradys3
haue this in mynde this is myn guyse4
all repentaunt to bryng theym toblys
for whom my blood i gaf in sacrifice
Notes
  1. This line and the line following are almost entirely missing from the panel. Enough remains to indicate that the initial letter of the second line is “t” and there are some slight remnants of the letter forms, but not enough to determine the intended spellings.
  2. As with the two lines above, this line is largely too damaged to discern the spelling. The unique diagonal minims of the scribe’s “w” can be seen in the remnants of the initial letter, as can the form of the initial “h” of the second word, the minims of the following “a,” and a slight portion of the left-leaning ascender of the final “d.” The minim and hooked ascender for the “s” in the third word, and its following “o,” complete what can be made out from the remnants on the panel.
  3. The line is damaged, but except for the initial and final two words is still largely legible. The otiose mark and bottom finishing stroke of the “t” in the seventh word, a slight bit of the descender in the initial position of the eighth, the lower portion of the final three letters (including the descender of the “y”), and the manuscript witnesses all aid in determining spelling here.
  4. While damaged, the second word can be determined via the finishing strokes of the initial “t,” the slight portion of the descender of the “h” that remains, and the terminal “s.” Compare it with the fifth word, also “this.” The third word has the remains of the single minim for “i” with the remnant of an abbreviation mark above it.