Symon's Lesson of Mysedome for all [From MS. Bodl. 832, leaf 174.] [The Rev. J. R. Lumby has kindly sent me the following amusing 'lesson of wysedome' to 'all maner chyldryn', signed Symon, which he found in the Bodleian. Mr G. Parker has read the proof with the MS. Lydgate sinned against most of its precepts. It makes the rod the great persuader to learning and gentleness.] All maner chyldryn, ye lyften & lere A leffon of wyfedome pat ys wryte here! My chyld, y rede pe be wys, and take hede of pis ryme! 4 Old men yn prouerbe fayde by old tyme 'A chyld were beter to be vnbore 12 That thou may be pe beter man. 16 But hold vp þy hedde & fpeke a-lowde; Do of þy hode and bow thy kne, And wayfch thy handes & þy face, 20 And be curteys yn euery place. 1 Compare "Better vnfedde then vntaughte" in Seager's Schoole of Vertue, above, p. 348, l. 725. 2 thee Children, attend! You'd be better unborn than untaught. You mustn't have your own way always. Tell the truth, don't be froward, hold up your head, take off your hood when you're spoken to. Wash your hands and face. Be courteous. Don't throw stones at dogs and hogs. Mock at no one. Don't swear. Eat what's given you, and don't ask for this and that. Honour your father and mother: kneel and ask their blessing. Keep your clothes clean. Don't go bird'snesting, or steal fruit, or throw stones at men's windows, or play in church. Don't chatter. Get home by daylight. Keep clear of fire and water, and the edges of wells and brooks. And where pou comyft, with gode chere And loke pou fpeke no lowde worde. And, chyld, wyrfhep thy fader and thy moder, And, chyld, caft no ftonys ouer men hows, In holy chyrche on holy dayes. And, chyld, y warne pee of anoper thynge, Loke pou come home by lyght of day. 1 Cp. Lydgate's Tricks at School, Forewords, p. xliv. And when pou ftondyft at any fchate', 56 By ware and wyfe pat pou cacche no stake, For meny chyld with-out drede Ys dede or dyffeyuyd throw ywell hede. Chyld, kepe thy boke, cappe, and glouys, 60 And al thyng þat þee behouys; And but pou do, pou fhat fare the wors, Chyld, make pou no mowys ne knakkes Iff pou eny gode man or woman mete, 72 And bydde, "god fpede dame or fere!" This leffon pat pou not for-gete, For hyt is femely to euery mannys chylde,— 76 And namely to clerkes to be meke & mylde. And, chyld, ryfe by tyme and go to fcole, And fare not as Wanton fole, And lerne as faft as pou may and can, 80 For owre byfchop is an old man, And per-for pou moft lerne faft Iff pou wolt be byffhop when he is paft. Chyld, y bydde pe on my bleffyng 84 That pou for-zete nat pis for no thyng, But pou loke, hold hyt wel on by mynde, meaning. Skathie, a fence. Jamieson. Skaith, hurt, harm. Halliwell. 'A mychare seems to denote properly a sneaking thief. Way. Prompt., p. 336. Mychare, a covetous, sordid fellow. Jamieson. Fr. pleure-pain: m. A niggardlie wretch; a puling micher or miser. Cotgrave. (leaf 175.) Take care of your book, cap, and gloves, or you'll be birched on your bare bottom. Don't be a liar or thief, or make faces at any man. When you meet any one, lower your hood Be meek to clerks. Rise early, go to school, and learn fast if you want to be our bishop. Attend to all these things, for a good child needs learning, leaf 175 b.) and he who hates the child spares the 101. As a spur makes a horse go, so a rod makes a child learn and be mild. So, children, do well, and you'll not get a sound beating. May God keep you good! For pe beft pu fhalt hyt fynde; For, as þe wyfe man fayth and preuyth, 88 A leve chyld, lore he be-houyth; And as men fayth þat ben leryd, He hatyth pe chyld þat fparyth pe rodde; 92 Off prouerbis and wyfedomes, ho wol loke, 96 To lerne welle hys leffon, and to be myld." God graunt yow grace fo to preferue yow. Symon. Amen! The Birched School-Boy OF ABOUT 1500 A.D. (From the Balliol MS. 354, fl. ij С xxx.) [As old Symon talks of the rod (p. 400, ll. 90, 62), as Caxton in his Book of Curtesye promises his 'lytyl John' a breechless feast, or as the Oriel MS. reads it, a 'byrchely' one,' & as the Forewords have shown that young people did get floggings in olden time, it may be as well to give here the sketch of a boy, flea-bitten no doubt, with little bobs of hazel twigs, that Richard Hill has preserved for us. Boys of the present generation happily don't know the sensation of unwelcome warmth that a sound flogging produced, and how after it one had to sit on the bottom of one's spine on the edge of the hard form, in the position recommended at College for getting well forward in rowing. But they may rest assured that if their lot had fallen on a birching school, they'd have heartily joined the school-boy of 1500 in wishing his and their masters at the devil, even though they as truant boys had been 'milking ducks, as their mothers bade them.'] hay hay! by this day! what avayleth it me thowgh I say nay? I wold ffayñ be a clarke; but yet hit is a strange werke;" the byrchyn twyggis be so sharpe, hit makith me haue a faynt harte. what avaylith it me thowgh I say nay? On monday in the mornyng whañ I shall rise 1 See Caxton's Book of Curtesye, in the Society's Extra Series, 1868. 2 Compare the very curious song on the difficulty of learning singing, in Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 291, from Arundel MS. 292, leaf 71, back. See Rhodes, p. 72, 1. 61; and Seager, p. 338, 1. 110. Learning is strange work; the birch twigs are so sharp. I'd sooner go 20 miles than go to school on Mondays. |