abaist, 343; assay, 83, 105; array-, 35; availe, 130; bataile, 339; faith, 163; lay, 138, 267, 315; payde, 77; place, 160, 204, 286; pray-, 15, 421, 427, prai-, 145, 191, 447; saint, 10, 323, 331, 380, 391; traitur, 389; uaines, 433.

2. OF. a: ensaumple, 9, maumet-, 276, 309, 395, mawmet, 299, 333.

3. OF. au: bycaus, 21.

4. OF. ie: conciens, 178.

5. OF. ou: cours, 337; pouer, 408; pouste, 3; power, 316; spows, 135, 248; stoutly, 386; vowches, 255.

6. OF. o: counsail(1), 86, 208, cownsail, 60, 129; flowre, 73.

7. OF. oy: noyis, 43.

8. OF. ui: fruit, 131.

V.

METRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VERSIONS.

The metrical analyses here given of the central versions of this edition are in the main illustrative, each, of a group of legends. The Southern and Midland type is represented by MS. Ash. 43, the prevailing type in the Northern legends by MS. Cott. Tib. E. VII. In contrast to the uniformity of the long-line couplets of the South, is the variety in line length, stress, and strophaic arrangement, of the later Northern group. For this reason the meter of MS. Cott. Tib. E. VII. does not stand as an analysis of so characteristic a form for the legend, though it was an easy and therefore a popular rime-form for a great variety of literary productions of the 14th century.

I. METRE.

MS. ASHMOLE 43.

1. Latin Septenary (Schipper, Eng. Met., I. §§ 113-115), iambic, 4+3 stress, in couplets with an equal proportion of masculine and feminine end-rime; usually masculine cæsura. Several lines in this version are French Alexandrine (Schipper, I. § 54), 3+3 stress, usually masculine cæsura, riming, masculine or feminine, with its adjacent septenary.

The standard line, most free from irregularities of contraction and elision, reads as follows:

8 Gerláns & trésours ál of gólde||þe hére néxt hirẹ líche.
110 þing þét ne mái him súlue hélp||hou mái it hélpe þé.
I33 Cecile, vor héo wómman wás|atóm heo móst abide.
134 Ac þís breþéren þát werẹ mén||abóute wénde wíde.
I35 & wén me mártred cristenmen budér he wólde gón.
136 & stélẹ to wén hi mígte bést||& búrie hém anón.

so also l. 7, 16, 36, 40, 41, 63, 64, 68, 72, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 111, 114, 123, 126, 128, 129, 133, 137, 144, 173, 175, 177, 190, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 210, 220, 227, 235, 240, 243, 245, 251, 254, 255, 256.

Beside the lines reducible by slurring and elision to the above type, the following have an irregular number of syllables, . 31, 58, 75, 104, 106, 119, 124, 126, 127, 151, 152, 153, 161, 162, 171, 180, 201, 203, 205, 207, 228, 253. These vary from five l. 27, and six (l. 58, 104, 127, 153, 180, 203), to eleven (l. 75, 152) syllables in the first hemistich, and from three (. 153) to nine (/. 126) in the second hemistich.

Probable Alexandrines are the lines:

27 Líf þou wólt, lefmón||þat ích ileúe þís.
58 Seyn Vrban hím nom vp||& gan hím uorþ léde.
104 "Le" sédẹ valérián||wel mé bi-hóueþ só.
107 po sédẹ þis hóli máide||tybórs leué broþér.
138 Ho máde hem só hardíto bén þeempérours fón.
146 & tóke þat wás awór]||& no sémblance nádde.
180 pis þré holí martírs||to-gáderę heo búrede anón.
203 Wén þou mígt deb géuelme þénch bí pur rígt.
257 þis wás two hóndred gér||& þré & twénti rígt.
258 Aftér þat oúr lord wás||In ís modér alígt.

Also 153, 204, 207, 232.
Some of these (. 27, 58, 153, 173, 180,
203,) MS. Laud. enlarges to septenary form.'

2. The cæsura: The principal cæsura occurs regularly after the fourth foot, immediately following an accented syllable. Not infrequently a final -e that may or may not be elided occurs before the cæsura. See l. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23, 33, 36, 39, 41, 48, 51, 61, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 81, 88, 90, 94, 100, 105, 107, 108, 110, 115, 122, 123, 124, 128, 130, 132, 142, 147, 148, 153, 156, 157, 161, 172, 173, 174, 178, 185, 186, 188, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 200, 202, 203, 206, 215, 220, 221, 222, 225, 227, 231, 233, 237, 239, 240, 241, 243, 250, 260. An extra syllable other than -e at the end of the first hemistich, forming a feminine cæsura is found in,

31 Lif ich ise þat in folie lóuest||an noþer þen me.

50 & sede pat cicile him sende þúder||to esce cristendom.

102 Non we bep verst of slepe awáked||nou we mowe uerst ise.
192 To clepe me fol þat am þi máistre||ne suxstou my poer.

A secondary cæsura may be detected in the following, in the first member:

1 Séyn Cecíle | of nóble kúnnẹ||ibóre wás at róme.

15 "Suéte héorte" | quáþ þis máidẹ||“ uor loúe þat þou hást to mé.

There may be two cæsuras in the first member:

73 "Witeb þís" | he sédẹ | In tréwe lóue||wiþ chást bodí & cléne.
89 "Broþér" | he séde | "hóu geþ þís "||þis týme óf þe gére.

One cæsura may occur in the second member:

92 I né miste hém verísore smulme bench | ben ích nou đó.
113 Séyn cecílę him cústę anón|" léuę tybórs" heo séde.

These examples may be multipled.

27. "Lif þóu wilt," séyde Valérián, þat ích I-léue pís,
58. Seint úrban nóm him vp agén,llánd gan hím forp léde.

153. In héruest whán be swýnkeres móweþlfair schef and goód and
173. Opón be mórue, to bé maumêts pis gode men were brouth
180. pesé pre holy mártíréslige búrede to-gýdere anón
203. Sebe pou mygth glue dep and no liflime pinkþ bé pur rygtte,

rype

3. Enjambement: There is apparently little effort to lighten the metrical effect of the poem by the running-on of the first to the second hemistich, or of line to line. One probable example of the run-on line is,

143 "Síre, we wólde," quebẹ bís oþér, "þát we wúrþí wére

144 Hor knáues uórte hábbẹ ibé þat gé lette quélle þére.

and the following may fairly be regarded as examples of the running-on of the first hemistich.

153 In héruest wén hi mówe váir corn répe

258 Aftér þat oúr lord wás in ís modér alígt.

The poem is somewhat lightened by the inversions of the conversational passages. Considerable shifting of word stress is unavoidable, in words both of Germanic and Romance origin. An incomplete list follows:-Jústice, 137, Jústicé, 161, Justíce, 149, 172, 175; Cécile, 167, Cecíle, 67, 69, 133, Cécilé 113; bróþer, 95, 114. bropér. 82, 107; léfmon, 27, lefmón, 20; Vrbán, 40, 51, 66, 129, Vrban, 58; Týbors, 82, 87, 107, 131, Tibórs, 111, 127; Valérián, 52, 60, 79, 81, 95, Válerían, 57, 117; þorú, 97, þóru, 5; schollép, 155, schúllep, 156. The metre allows the retention of the French pronunciation in richesse, 6.

4. Arsis and Thesis: The acephalous line is a frequent type produced by the omission of the first thesis:

21 Váste hé stont hér by mé||& íf he úndergéte.

23 pát he nólde hárde smyte||& bý-nymę þé þi mígte.
56 Hór wiþ wíte vésteméns||a súyþẹ uair wrít he bér.

so also . 1, 14, 15, 19, 21, 23, 27, 33, 39, 46, 56, 61, 66, 82, 87, 93, 99, 119, 124, 127, 131, 140, 143, 156, 157, 159, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 182, 185, 198, 200, 206, 207, 212, 224, 228, 242, 244, 250, 256.

By the omission of the first thesis of the second hemistich, two accented syllables come together:

30 In clánnessę ichúlle þi wílle dó||ál aftér þi réd.
34 pou móst byléue on ihésu críst||& icrístned bé.

54 & móre tiraúnt þen ény wólf||ás a lómb þus milde.

So also . 31, 44, 53, 58, 60, 61, 75, 81, 82, 105, 107, 108, 109, 121, 127, 139, 143, 145, 146, 149, 152, 153, 164, 186, 187, 189, 206, 209, 213, 215, 218, 222, 237, 238, 239, 241, 247.

An arsis and a thesis are wanting in the second hemistich of the following lines:

124 Fól he wére þat ít wolde lése ||vor ény stríf.

153 In héruest wén hi mówe|váir corn répe.

201 A wréchẹ caróinẹ þou mígtẹ geuẹ déþ||þat wél schort ís.

205 & wén þou déþes sérgaunt árt||deþ þí lord ís.

252 Vpe is poer þér-Innẹ wérę idó||In álle wíse.

A trisyllabic measure, produced by doubling the thesis, must frequently be employed to reduce the redundancy of the line. (Ellis, E. E. Pron. p. 334.)

5 Þóru híre fréndes stréngbẹ||ispóused heo wás to a mán.

12 Let lórd myn hértẹ un-wémmed bé||þat Iné be confoúnded nógt. 93 Só vol ícham óf þis smúl||& so múchẹ it is ín my þógt. 125 An wén þer ís so múri líf||þat we schúllẹp her-áfter auónge. Other instances may be found in l. 13, 28, 31, 33, 35, 40, 45, 52, 57, 62, 672, 70, 77, 78, 86, 912, 933, 1063, 112, 118, 119, 120, 1252, 130, 131, 1523, 154, 155, 163, 170, 171, 174, 183, 187, 188, 191, 202, 207, 2083, 215, 216, 219, 226, 228, 230, 233, 234, 237, 248, 250, 253.

2

5. Elisions: A final vowel occurring before a vowel or aspirate h before a vowel, in another word, is usually elided. Syncope is illustrated in the metre by the following: werde 7, tristįliche 18, togadere 180, caroine 196, 201, creature 223, louest 25, seop 25, clepep 52, ouer 62, lilion 71, welluwe 75, tokẹnep 77, 78, schollẹp 84, neuere 90, poer 189, 252. Syncope in preterite endings in I. 5, 48, 102, 135, 145, 180. Heo is frequently slurred as in l. 2, 3, 5, 180, 230, 231, 233. Diæresis is found in conseïl 17, wardeÿn 20, vestëmens 56, emperoürs 140, sergäunt 205, penc ̈p 203, iugëment 142, 221.

Final -e:

The following classification of the use of final -e in MS. Ash. 43 is made on the basis of Ellis' enumeration and suggestions for the study of Chaucer. (E. E. Pron. p. 339-42.)

In many cases an allowance must be made for a possible double reading of the lines. In doubtful cases the choice here given has been influenced by grammatical and rhetorical stresses, and by reference to MS. Laud, 108.

(a) Final -e was elided before a following vowel: /. 7, 12, 19 (89 times).

Doubtful cases: ll. 29, 173, 218, 237, 253, 260.

(b) Final -e was elided before h: ll. 3, 32, 50 (47 times). Doubtful cases: l. 4, 14, 19, 33, 53, 110, 132, 166, 184, 222.

(c) Final -e, when the sign of an oblique case, was elided before a consonant: /. 1, 3, 10 (68 times).

Final -e, when the sign of an oblique case, was not elided before a consonant: /. 12, 13, 14 (39 times).

(d) Final -e, when the sign of verbal inflection, was elided: Il. 2, 3, 4 (66 times).

Final -e, when the sign of verbal inflection was not elided: /. 7, 27, 28 (39 times).