a picture of John Lydgate with the initials of the website
The Testament of John Lydgate:
Long Melford Verses

HomeAbout the ArchiveAbout John LydgateWorksManuscriptsAbout this ManuscriptEditorial ApparatusContactVisualization

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

Decoration
Download XML
Data Dictionary
Fifth Panel1
Compare Witnesses: •
Sey to oure soules [...] thou art [...] helthe •
heryng this voys after we shal [...]sue •
scoure that place from al gostly felthe2 •
and vices all from thens doremewe3 •
thyn holy gost close in that little mewe4 •
parte not lyghtly make suche cheuesaunce •
to encrese in vertu5 and vices to eschewe •
and or we deye [...]e shrift hosell & [..........] •
Notes
  1. In Bodleian Laud 683, BL Harley 218, and BL Harley 2255, where this is verse 68, the is prefaced with the Latin "dic anime mee salus tua ego sum" [“Say to my soul, you are my salvation”], from Psalm 34:3. It is part of a five-stanza sequence treated in this manner in those texts, but only three of the verses appear at Long Melford. ↩
  2. The “re” in “scoure” is visible, as are the remnants of the initial “s.” Remnants of the second glyph indicate “c” rather than “k,” making “scoure” the reading. Remnants of the top stroke of he long “s” can be seen in the third glyph of the word “gostly,” making that the intended spelling. Likewise, the second glyph in the final word is an “e,” making the spelling “felthe.” ↩
  3. While the manuscript witnesses place a space between “do” and “remewe,” the version of “r” following the “o” at Long Melford indicates that the scribe rendered this as a single word. ↩
  4. While the manuscript witnesses place a space between “do” and “remewe,” the version of “r” following the “o” at Long Melford indicates that the scribe rendered this as a single word. The final glyph and the top portion of the second to last word are missing, but the rhyme scheme and bottom portion of the minims indicate this is “little mewe.” ↩
  5. The remnants of the text indicate an initial “v” followed by a “t.” The “er” is indicated via the abbreviation mark above the initial glyph. ↩

Creative Commons License
The transcription of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. All rights to the images, however, are reserved as a courtesy to the Church of the Holy Trinity, Long Melford, which partially relies on donations for its upkeep. Please contact the editor with any requests.