Make We Merry More and Less: An Anthology of Medieval English Popular Literature

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Selected and introduced by Douglas Gray. Edited by Jane Bliss. Conceived as a companion volume to the well-received 'Simple Forms: Essays on Medieval English Popular Literature' (2015), 'Make We Merry More and Less' is a comprehensive anthology of popular medieval literature from the twelfth century onwards. Uniquely, the book is divided by genre, allowing readers to make connections between texts usually presented individually. This anthology offers a fruitful exploration of the boundary between literary and popular culture, and showcases an impressive breadth of literature, including songs, drama, and ballads. Familiar texts such as the visions of Margery Kempe and the Paston family letters are featured alongside lesser-known works, often oral. This striking diversity extends to the language: the anthology includes Scottish literature and original translations of Latin and French texts. The illuminating introduction offers essential information that will enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the chosen texts. Each of the chapters is accompanied by a clear summary explaining the particular delights of the literature selected and the rationale behind the choices made. An invaluable resource to gain an in-depth understanding of the culture of the period, this is essential reading for any student or scholar of medieval English literature, and for anyone interested in folklore or popular material of the time. The book was left unfinished at Gray's death; it is here edited by Jane Bliss. Acknowledgements xv Abbreviations xvi Editor’s Preface xvii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Voices from the Past 15 A. Snatches and Snippets 16 i) ‘Merie sungen the muneches binnen Ely’ 16 ii) A secular lullaby, ‘Wake wel, Annot’ 17 iii) Fragments of a Dance song: ‘Atte wrastlinge’, ‘At the ston-castinges’ 17 From a Worcester Cathedral MS 17 iv) ‘Ne saltou, levedi’ 17 v) ‘Ich habbe ydon al myn youth’ 17 vi) ‘Dore, go thou stille’ 17 vii) A lament, quoted in a lawsuit: ‘Wela! qua sal thir hornes blau’ 17 viii) From the Red Book of Ossory: ‘Alas! How shold y singe’ 18 ix) ‘Whenne bloweth the brom’ 18 B. Scenes and Events from Chronicles and Letters 18 Chronicles 18 x) ‘there arose suche a sprynggynge and welling op of waters’ [1336] 18 xi) The Plague of 1348 18 ‘And in the xxiii yere of his regne, in the este parteys’ 18 ‘In this same yere [1352], and in the yere afore’ 19 xii) A Storm [1364] ... and a Great Frost [1435] 20 xiii) A Lynching [1427] 20 xiv) An Affray against the Lombards [c. 1458] 21 xv) Religious Unrest at Evesham [1377] 22 xvi) A Heretic Venerated [1440] 22 ‘The xix yeer of kyng Harri’ 22 ‘The Bishop of Salisbury murdered’ [1450] 23 xvii) A Portent [1440] 23 xviii) Roger Bolingbroke, Necromancer [1440] 23 Letters; Paston Letters 24 xix) News from a Wife [1448] 24 xx) Another Dispute [c. 1451] 25 xxi) Local News [1453] 25 xxii) A Wife’s Suggestions [c. 1459] 26 xxiii) A Husband in playful mood [1465] 26 xxiv) A Son’s Requests [1471] 27 xxv) A Valentine Letter [1477] 28 C. Popular Beliefs 29 xxvi) The Shipman’s Vision [1457] 29 xxvii) Ghostly Battles [1365] 30 from Walter Map xxviii) A Wife Rescued 31 xxix) A Fairy Lover 31 xxx) Herla and his Troop 33 Charms 34 xxxi) ‘Whatt manere of ivell thou be’ 34 xxxii) For the Nightmare 35 xxxii a) A charm for staunching blood 36 xxxiii) Prognostications: ‘Giff sanct Paullis day be fair and cleir’ 36 Prophecies 36 xxxiv) ‘Woe to the Red Dragon’ 36 xxxiv a) ‘Then schal Cadwaladre Conan calle’ 37 xxxv) Prophecia Merlini 38 xxxvi) ‘When the cocke in the north hath bilde’ 38 D. Popular Religion 39 Prayers 39 xxxvii) ‘Moder of God, wich did lappe thy swete babe’ 39 xxxviii) Prayer to a Guardian Angel 39 xxxix) from Richard de Caistre’s prayer 40 From The Book of Margery Kempe 41 xl) A Visionary Meditation 42 xli) A Pilgrim with a Crooked Back 43 xlii) A Visiting Priest Reads to Her 44 xliii) A Fire at Lynn 45 xliv) A Woman who was Out of her Mind 46 xlv) A Conversation with Christ 47 xlvi) Margery’s Own Tale 48 Chapter 2: Ballads 51 A. Medieval and Early Modern Ballads 55 i) Judas 55 ii) Saint Stephen and Herod 58 iii) The Battle of Otterburn 60 B. From PFMS 64 iv) Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly 64 v) A Gest of Robyn Hode 77 vi) Sir Aldingar 87 vii) Glasgerion 90 C. Some Later Ballads 93 viii) Fair Annie 93 ix) The Three Ravens 95 x) Thomas the Rhymer 96 Chapter 3: Romances 101 i) Havelok 103 ii) Sir Orfeo 108 iii) Emaré 113 iv) Octavian 118 v) Sir Gowther 120 vi) Chevelere Assigne 122 vii) The Turke and Gowin 124 viii) Sir Lambewell 125 ix) Thomas of Erceldoune 127 Chapter 4: Tales and Legends 133 A. Anecdotes and Tales in Chronicles 135 i) Siward 135 ii) Gunnhild 136 B. Moral Tales, Exempla 137 iii) The Cursed Dancers 137 iv) A Merry Poor Man 138 v) Alexander and the Pirate 139 vi) Envy in Little Girls 139 vii) A Lecherous Woman carried off to Hell 139 viii) The Weeping Puppy 140 ix) Pope Joan 141 x) An English Witch 142 C. Local Legends 143 From Gervase of Tilbury 143 xi) Peak Cavern 144 xii) Laikibrais, St Simeon’s Horn and a mysterious Dog 145 xiii) Wandlebury Ring 146 xiv) A Mysterious Drinking Horn 147 D. More ‘free-standing’ Literary Examples 148 xv) Hereward 148 xvi) The Childe of Bristowe 150 E. Religious Tales and Saints’ Legends 157 xvii) Mary of Nemmegen 157 xviii) Saint George and the Dragon 159 xix) Saint Julian 159 xx) A Saintly Fool 160 xxi) The Virgin Mary saves a Thief 161 Chapter 5: Merry Tales 163 i) The Tale of the Basyn 164 ii) The King and the Hermit 168 iii) Rauf Coilyear 174 iv) The Freiris of Berwick 178 v) Kynd Kittok 190 vi) The Wright’s Chaste Wife 191 vii) Noodle Stories: 200 The Man who had a Goose 200 Penning the Cuckoo 200 Runaway Cheese 201 A Demonic Grasshopper 201 German Merry Tales: 202 viii) Howleglass would fly 202 ix) The Parson and the Bishop’s Lady 202 Early Sixteenth-Century Jests: 204 x) Wedded Men at the Gates of Heaven 204 xi) No Welshmen in Heaven 205 Chapter 6: Animal Tales 207 A. Man and Animal; Animals in histories, Cats and adages 210 i) The Fox 211 ii) The Cat 212 iii) Animals in Adages 213 iiia) Animal Proverbs 214 B. Fables, and Stories of Reynard 215 iv) Bozon’s The Goshawk and the Owl 215 Examples from Caxton 216 v) The Rat and the Frog 216 vi) The Eagle and the Fox 216 vii) The Lion and the Rat 217 viii) The Cat and the Rat 218 Fox Tales 218 ix) Tybert the Cat is tempted 218 x) The Fox and the Wolf in the Well 219 Foxes in Songs 224 xi) A Fox Carol 224 xii) The False Fox 225 C. Animals in Exempla or Moral Stories 227 xiii) Adulators rewarded, Truth Tellers condemned 227 xiv) The World’s Glory 228 xv) Saint Jerome’s Lion and the Ass 228 xvi) Silent Bribes: the Cow and the Ox 230 xvii) Swallows 230 xviii) Malevolent Mice 231 xix) A Mouse and a Cat 231 xx) Theft cannot be Hidden 232 xxi) Animals Know that Theft is Sinful 232 D. Further Literary examples 232 xxii) Bird on Briar 233 xxiii) Foweles in the Frith 233 xxiv) I have Twelve Oxen 234 Bird Debates 234 xxv) The Thrush and the Nightingale 235 xxvi) The Owl and the Nightingale 237 xxvii) The Hare’s Lament 239 Chapter 7: Proverbs and Riddles 243 A. Proverbs recorded in Manuscripts and Prints 246 i) Proverbs of Alfred 246 ii) From The Book of St Albans 247 iii) From Richard Hill’s book 247 iv) Miscellaneous Proverbs 248 B. Proverbs in Literary Texts 248 v) The Owl and the Nightingale 248 C. Proverbs in Verses, or Adages 251 vi) Balade attributed to Squire Halsham 251 vii) Keep Thy Tongue 251 Proverbs in Epitaphs 252 viii) ‘Farewell, my frendis! The tide abidith no man’ 252 ix) Graunde Amour’s fictional epitaph 253 x) Adages as embodiments of ancient wisdom 253 xi) Solomon and Marcolfus 254 D. Riddles 255 xii) From the Demaundes Joyous 255 xiii) A Puzzle: ‘Water frosen’ 256 xiv) An Ambiguous Riddle: ‘I have a hole above my knee’ 256 E. Riddle Challenges 256 xv) The Devil and the Maid 256 xvi) King John and the Bishop 258 F. Poetic Uses of Enigma 262 xvii) ‘I have a yong suster’ 262 xviii) ‘Byhalde merveylis: a mayde ys moder’ 264 xix) ‘A God, and yet a man?’ 264 xx) ‘Mirabile misterium’ 264 xxi) ‘Erthe toc of erthe’ 265 xxii) ‘In the vaile of restles mynd’ 265 G. Enigma in Narrative 267 xxiii) The Corpus Christi Carol 268 Chapter 8: Satire 271 A. Snatches: Popular Satire in Action 273 i) ‘Maydenes of Engelande, sare may ye morne’ 273 ii) ‘Now raygneth pride in price’ 274 iii) Scottish Derision 274 B. The Wickedness of the World 274 iv) Now the Bisson Leads the Blind 274 v) Where is Truth? 275 vi) Abuses of the Age 276 vii) Sir Penny is a Bold Knight 276 viii) London Lickpenny 278 C. Particular Abuses and Wicked Deeds 282 ix) A Good Medicine for Sore Eyes 282 x) These Friars 283 xi) Thou that Sellest the Word of God 284 D. Against Particular Groups or Individuals 285 xii) Against the Rebellious Scots [1296] 285 xiii) A Scottish song against Edward I when he besieged Berwick 286 xiv) Black Agnes at the siege of Dunbar [1388] 286 xv) The Execution of Sir Simon Fraser 286 xvi) Revenge for Bannockburn 288 xvii) The Fall of Suffolk [1450] 289 E. Parody and Burlesque 291 xviii) The Land of Cokaygne 291 xix) The Tournament of Tottenham 294 Chapter 9: Songs 301 Snatches of Oral Songs 303 i) ‘Bon jowre, bon jowre a vous!’ 303 ii) ‘Of every kune tre’ 305 iii) ‘Al nist by the rose, rose’ 305 iv) ‘Mayden in the mor lay’ 305 v) ‘Ich am of Irlaunde’ 307 vi) ‘Me thingkit thou art so lovely’ 307 vii) ‘Westron wynde when wyll thow blow?’ 307 viii) ‘Sing, cuccu nu! Sing cuccu!’ 307 Christmas and New Year 308 ix) ‘Make we mery both more and lasse’ 308 x) The Boar’s Head 309 xi) The Holly and the Ivy 309 xii) ‘What cher? Gud cher!’ 310 Merriment throughout the Year 311 xiii) God speed the Plough 311 xiv) ‘We ben chapmen light of fote’ 313 Drinking Songs 314 xv) ‘How, butler, how! Bevis a towt!’ 314 xvi) ‘Bryng us in good ale’ 315 Amorous Encounters; Men and Women 316 xvii) ‘Hey, noyney! I wyll love our Ser John’ 316 xviii) ‘How, hey! It is non les’ 317 xix) ‘Hogyn cam to bowers dore’ 318 xx) ‘Say me, viit in the brom’ 320 Miscellaneous Songs 320 xxi) ‘I have a gentil cok’ 320 xxii) ‘I have a newe gardyn’ 321 Nonsense Verse 322 xxiii) ‘Whan netilles in winter bere rosis rede’ 322 xxiv) ‘Hay, hey, I wyll have the whetston and I may’ 323 Religious Songs 324 xxv) ‘Nou goth sonne under wod’ 324 xxvi) ‘Adam lay ibowndyn’ 325 xxvii) ‘Levedie, I thonke the’ 325 xxviii) ‘Can I not syng but ‘hoy’ ’ 326 xxix) ‘Lullay, myn lykyng’ 329 xxx) ‘Mery hyt ys in May morning’ 329 Chapter 10: Drama 331 i) The Killing of Abel The Entrance of Cain (Wakefield/Towneley) 333 ii) Noah and his Wife A Flyting (Wakefield/Towneley) 335 iii) Herod (Coventry) 340 iv) The Trial of Joseph and Mary (N-Town) 341 v) The Play of the Sacrament (Croxton) 342 vi) Wyt and Science 345 vii) Youth 346 viii) Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham 349 ix) Robin Hood and the Friar 351 Appendix 357 Afterlife, containing additions to some but not all the preceding chapters 357 1. (corresponding to ch. 1, Voices from the Past) 357 i) The Lykewake Dirge 358 ii) A Prophecy (from Thomas Rymour) 359 2. (for ch. 2, Ballads) 361 iii) Sir Patrick Spens 361 iv) Tam Lin 363 v) The Cherry-Tree Carol 368 vi) Brown Robyn’s Confession 370 vii) Hugh of Lincoln 371 viii) Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar 373 3. (for ch. 3, Romance) 377 ix) How Bevis slew a dreadful Dragon 377 4. (for ch. 5, Merry Tales) 379 x) Dr Johnson imitates a Kangaroo 379 5. (for ch. 9, Songs) 379 xi) ‘Down in yon forest there stands a hall’ 380 xii) ‘The heron flew east, the heron flew west’ 380 xiii) The Seven Virgins 381 6. (for ch. 10, Drama) 383 xiv) The Oxfordshire Saint George Play 383 Bibliography 387 Primary Texts 387 Secondary Texts 394