(now yours) is really made up from two different books; or whether the last colophon by purporting to be Pynson's (though really Middleton's) has not misled you. "My safest direction (in the country) is, Lodge Farm, near St. Alban's. I am, dear Sir, "Your most obedient servant, "SIR, GEO. MASON." Oct. 9, 1786. "The original edition of Juliana Bernes's book, printed at St. Alban's, 1486, should most probably begin with a blank leaf, which blank leaf Mr. Mason's copy has not; but what seems to be the beginning of the book is printed on signature (a 11), a, b, c, have eight leaves each, d only four, with a blank page at the end of the last, the book of hauking being finished at the bottom of the first page of d's fourth leaf. Hunting begins with signature e; both e and ƒ have eight leaves each, and contain the whole of Hunting; but the last page is here also vacant. At the beginning of 'Coote Armuris,' the signatures re-commence with (a 1), which perhaps induced Mr. Ames to call this the second book, and to include both Hauking and Hunting in the first. This second set of signatures reaches to (f 10), but the letters preceding ƒ have only eight leaves each: the last side of (f 10) is also blank. There is no numbering of pages, nor catch-words. The principal initials (of which none are wanting in Mr. M.'s copy) are clearly supplied by the pen, chiefly in red ink, but sometimes in black, or more properly blue. The introduction to the first book is literally this: In so moch that gentill men and honest persones have greete delite in Hauking, and desire to have the maner to take haukys; and also how and in waat wyse they shulde gyde theym ordynateli; and a to knaw the gentill termys in communyng of theyr haukys; and to understonde theyr sekeneses and enfirmitees; and also to knawe medicines for theym according; and mony notabull termys that had ben used i' hawkyng both of their haukys, and of the fowles that their hawkys shall sley. Therfore thys book fowlowyng in a dew forme shewys veri knawlege of suche plesure to gentill men and p'sones disposed to se it.' "The variations from Ames are in italics. At the A he has inserted how. In folowyng for fowlowyng, perhaps he designedly rectified a mis-spelling. "The Introduction to the book of Hunting stands thus: 'Lyke wise as i' the booke of hawkyng aforesayd are writyn and noted the termys of plesure belongyng to gentill men havyng delite therin. In the same maner thys booke folowy ng shewith, to sych gentile personys the maner of huntyng for all maner of beestys, wether thay be beestys of venery, or of chace, or rascall. And also it shewith all the termys co'venyent, as well to the howndys as to the beestys aforsayd. And in certayn ther be many dyverse of thaym, as it is declared in the boooke folowyng.' The triple ono is in italics, being in my opinion an error of the press. "Mr. "Mr. Ames' quotation from the Introduction to the third book should have been printed thus: Here in thys booke folowyng is determyned the lynage of Coote Armuris: and how gentilmen shall be knowyn from ungentill men, &c.' "Mr. Ames's next quotation, Of the ofspring,' has only two deviations,-who for whom, and land for londe. But all the commas should be omitted, and the semi-colon after profettys be changed to a full stop. The &c. too is an error, as the quotation goes to the end of the paragraph, which paragraph is towards the bottom of the first side of leaf (a 11.) "Towards the bottom of the first side of leaf (b 1) occurs the the paragraph intitled, A gentylman spirituall. Ther is a gentylman a churle sone a preste to be made and that is a spirituall gentylman to God and not of blode. Butt if a gentylmanny's sone be made preste he is a gentylman both spirituall and temperall. Criste was a gentilman of his moder behalve and bore cotarmure of aunseturis. The .. Evangelist berith wittenese of Cristis warkys in the Gospel, with all thapostilles. They were Jewys and of gentylmen come by the right lyne of that worthy conqueroure Judas Machabeus bot that by succession of tyme, the kynrade fell to poverty after the destruccion of Judas Machabeus. and then they fell to laboris and ware calde no gentilmen. And the .. doctoris of holi chirch Seynt Jerom Ambrose Augustyn and Gregori war gentilmen of blode and of cotarmures.' "The colophon concludes the last page of (f 9), but reaches little lower than the middle of it, thus: Here in thys boke afore ar contenyt the bokys of haukyng and huntyng with other plesuris dyverse as in the boke apperis and also of Cootarmuris a nobull worke. And here now endyth the boke of blasyng of armys, translatyt and compylyt togedyr at Seynt albons, the yere from thincarnacion of oure Lorde Jhu' Crist. M. CCCC. LXXX VI.' "This is all the colophon in that page; but in the next (first of f 10) is, Hic finis div'soru' gen'osis valde utilia' ut intue'tib' pateb't.' The St. Alban's arms: Sanctus Albanus.' "This figure has all white lines, which are here sketched with black ink; but the whole ground of it (here blank) is red; and this is all the foundation Mr. Ames had for saying 'Printed in various inks. For the Latin words are all printed in the same black letter with the rest of the book. But if (as is most likely) Mr. Ames meant to say, that the whole book was printed in various inks,' this can only relate to a few words in diverse parts of the Poem on Hunting printed in red; unless indeed he supposes the initials printed, which should seem very improbable to any body that inspects the book*. "P. S. Since my writing the letter to Mr. Herbert, I have observed that a 'Mort d'Arthur' makes part of No. 2483 in • Messrs. Nichols and Spilsbury, who did separately inspect it at Mr. B. White's, announced the initials to be printed. W. H. West's West's Catalogue (by Wyllyam Coplande, no date). Also the same Edition makes an article by itself in the Harleian Catalogue, vol. III. No. 3506. "Mr. Herbert takes notice of only one Edition by Crowley of Pierce Plowman's Visions, though Crowley's second Edition of the same year (1550) is much more common than the first; which indeed may well be, as Bishop Percy says there are two different impressions of this second Edition, and points out the difference. See his Dissertation on Pierce Plowman in second volume of Ballads, and the note." 66 "DEAR SIR, Lodge Farm, Nov. 6, 1786. My copy of your first volume being at my town-lodging, and the St. Alban's book here, makes it impossible for me to collate the places you mention till I go to town; but I will contrive to take the St. Alban's book with me, that two journeys may not be necessary before I could send you an answer. I intend getting to town some time on Monday the 13th, and shall be at home for two hours from half-past five, and also on Tuesday the 14th, for about three quarters of an hour, commencing a little before ten in the morning. You see, I shall have most time Monday afternoon, and should be happy in your company to tea at my lodging, No. 50, Essex-street. "You may leave the Froissart for me at Mr. B. White's: I have promised him a sight of it, to compare with a copy now in his possession, which I think you should see. You have a little mistaken my assertion about W. Middleton's Edition: I did not suppose it a pirated Pynson throughout, but only observed, that all the second volumes have Pynson's colophon, and no mention of Middleton.' I agree with your opinion, that Middleton printed the whole; but think you should have added the circumstance of Middleton's name never occurring in the final colophon, verbally copied from Pynson's Edition; for by your silence on this head, a contrary opinion seems to be implied. When I wrote to you before on this subject, I had no idea of what I now take to be the case, viz. that Froissart has been printed three times. First, by Pynson (my own copy); second, by somebody after Pynson, retaining both his colophons, but not the form of the latter (now at Mr. White's); third, by Middleton, always copying Pynson's last colophon. Now, if this supposition is not true, the practice of perfecting copies from various Editions must have been more general than can well be imagined. "At the time of Mr. Beauclerk's sale I was not aware of any difference of form in Pynson's final colophon; and so took no notice about it; much less was I aware of it at the time of Mr. West's Sale, but could learn the circumstance from the gentleman who bought that copy (Mr. Martin, of Worcestershire). "I am, dear Sir, your faithful servant, GEO. MASON." Letters Letters of Mr. MASON and Mr. SAMUEL PEGGE*, on the Glossary to Hoccleve's Poems. "As the first Editor of any of Hoccleve's Works, it is thought that Mr. Mason should bring forward every thing that tends to develope the history of a man who has written so much, and is yet so little known; viz. his extraction (by inference), his situation in life, his connections, his religious opinions (which have been unjustly doubted), together with his habits, and even his foibles, which he frankly confesses. He seems to have preserved the acquaintance of his more early days, and perhaps Sir Henry Somer was one, among several others not to be discovered. Those persons of more elevated rank appear to have allowed him a poetical access, at a time when few, so far from composing metrical prose, could hardly write at all. He seems to have been, by his own confession, an extravagant debauchee in early life, and to have ended in a diseased, impotent, old man. S. PEGGE." "Mr. Mason perfectly agrees with Mr. Pegge, that as much should be said about Hoccleve's Life as can be vouched for; and with regard to his situation, connections, religious opinions, and habits, he thinks he has gone considerably into them. With regard to his extraction, that (as Mr. Pegge observes) can only be gathered by inference from some northern phrases. Mr. Mason has already observed on the proverb of shooing the goose being called Scottish, and will there add some additional remarks in consequence of Mr. Pegge's suggestion. Considering the age to which Hoccleve probably arrived, Mr.M.cannot agree with Mr. Pegge in thinking him then diseased or impotent. To write a Poem to the Duke of York at 80, is rather a contradiction to supposing him so; and surely he might well want spectacles at that age. G. MASON." "Mr. PEGGE's Reasons for supposing that HOCCLEVE was of Northern Extraction. [Callets.] A callet is a scolding woman; and calletting is scolding in the North of Yorkshire, and in Northumberland. It is used by Shakspeare; but is not found in the Glossaries either to Chaucer or Spenser. It is [Grede.] Sometimes written greet and greit-to weep. na play where ane greits, and another laughs.' Scottish Proverb. [Tweye.] Twice. Twy is in ordinary use in the North. [Waar.] For beware, is used in the North. [Wage.] For wages, as we now speak. This singular is in constant use Northerly. *Son of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Pegge, the venerable Antiquary; and father of Sir Christopher Pegge, M. D. Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford.-Mr. Mason closes the Preface to "Hoccleve's Poem," with thankful acknowledgment of having received many very useful hints communicated by the judicious Author of the "Curialia." -Mr. Pegge was also Author of the entertaining "Anecdotes of the English Language," and of "Curialia Miscellanea; or, Anecdotes of Old Times, Regal, Noble, and Gentilitial." VOL. IV. [Laid [Laid his knife.] In the vulgar language of Yorkshire the run of a man's table is called a Knife-gate, i. e. your knife shall always have a free passage to my table; a knife being antiently part of every man's personal appendages. [Thick.] Plentiful, abundant. A Northern word, and not applying to the substance, but to the number of the thing spoken of. Thick as Hops' is a pretty general expression, [Feel a Taste.] Peculiar to the North, where they also say feel a smell. [Old.] Great. The Saxon positive, of which Alder is the comparative. It is several times used by Shakspeare. [Kuss.] A Kiss. This word remains in the North of England. [Lyte.] Is a strong Northern word. Used both for a little of any thing; or a few, in things that go by tale. [Shoo the goos.] A Scottish proverbial expression found in Ray's Collection, to import any unnecessary employment. The Scots have another saying, 'It is na mair pittie to see a woman greit, nor to see a goose go bare-fit.' Ray. Another Scottish phrase occurs in Hoccleve, A dumb man wan never land.' S. P." "Mr. Mason begs leave to observe, that many words and phrases now only used in the extremities of the kingdom, were formerly general in every part of it. Mr. Manning will tell you, that in remote parts of the island the common people to this day talk better Saxon than English. This is rather a bar to drawing any positive inference from the use of a few words to the author's extraction. Grede, twey, and lite, are Chaucerian: kuss is in Gower, and occurs often in Caxton's Proud Lady of Love.' Waar is only that gemination of vowel so common in this MS. and also in Mandevile, and in the original Edition of Juliana Barnes. The word suppowaill is in Wintown's Chronicle, and it is also in Hardinge's, and suppoaill is used by Lydgate as well as Hoccleve. Sappoweling is also in the proclamation for apprehending Sir John Oldcastle. Can we say that these words are peculiarly either Scotch or English?" "Hir wit were in hir heele.] Probably a Scottish proverbial saying, though not found in Kelly's Collection. There is one not unlike it, viz. It goes as much into my Heart as my Heel,' i. e. it does not affect me at all. S. P." "In the Glossary, it is thought that more than mere initials would be better, in some cases, as, Sp. (instead of S.) for Spenser. Tyrw. (instead of T.) for Tyrwhitt. Fort. (instead of F.) for Fortescue on Monarchy. Lydg. (instead of L.) for Lydgate. M. V. (and not M. alone) for Maundeville's Voyage. Ly. Dict. (for Lye's Dictionary) adding Manning's Edit. Pr. Parv. Promptorium Parvalorum, printed 1499. Robt. Gl. (Robert of Gloucester), published by Hearne.... Doug. |