At þe dredeful dome · whan dede shullen rise,

And comen alle bifor cryst acountis to zelde,

How pow laddest þi lyf here. and his lawes keptest,

And how pow dedest day bi day pe dome wil reherce;
A poke ful of pardoun þere ne prouinciales lettres,

I

Theigh 3e be founde in þe fraternete of alle pe foure ordre
And haue indulgences double-folde · but if dowel 30w help,
I sette 30wre patentes and 30wre pardounz⚫ at one pies hel
For-pi I conseille alle cristene to crye god mercy,
And Marie his moder⚫ be owre mene bitwene,

Pat god gyue vs grace here · ar we gone hennes,
Suche werkes to werche while we ben here,

I

20

Explicit visio willelmi de petro plowman.

CRITICAL NOTES.

The text is printed exactly as it stands in MS. Laud 581, excepting in the ›llowing instances, where improvements have been suggested by a collation f the text with several other MSS. See note to prol. 39 just below.

Prologue, 1. 20. Here we must read putten, as in 1. 23; but the Laud AS. has put in this line.

34. giltles is taken from the text printed by Crowley. The MSS. have ynneles.

39. The words is luciferes hyne are omitted in MS. Laud, but are found n the MS. in Trinity College, Cambridge, and in many others. I shall in uture denote the Laud MS. by the letter L; the Trinity College MS. by T; MS. Rawlinson Poet. 38, by R; the Oriel MS. by O; and the Camridge folio MS. (Dd. 1. 17) by C.

41. belies; so in T; but most MSS., including LCO, read bely. bagges; L has bagge, but TCO have the plural form.

67. myschief; misspelt mychief in L.

99. consistorie; so in TCO; spelt constorie in L.

140. answered; so in CTO; but LR have the present tense, answeres. I may here note that when two or three MSS., as CTO, are mentioned together, I give the spelling of the one which stands first.

147. The form myd (found in MS. T) suits the alliteration; but L and others read with.

151. MSS. LT omit the second hem; but it occurs in RCO, and should be retained.

179. L omits it, which is retained in all the other MSS.

186. L has croupe instead of crope, which is the reading in R; C has crepe; T. has cropen.

197. The curious (West-Midland) spelling mannus is found both in L and R; other MSS. read mannes.

215. money is misspelt monoy in L in this place, but is rightly spelt elsewhere in our MS.

224. longe; so in TCO; but L has dere. MSS. of the A-class read longe.

226. and is miswritten a in L; MS. C has an, which is very com

monly used instead of and, and shews that the final d was frequently n sounded.

Passus I, 1. 37. The words pat leef is to pi soule Leue not pi likam a wrongly omitted in LTC; but they are found in RO, and in MSS. of th A-class. The omission was clearly due to the repetition of the word likar

41. sueth; so in R. The other readings hardly make sense; they areseest, L; seep, TO; seip in MS. L. 4. 14 in the Cambridge University Librar Many MSS. of the A-class read schendeth, which means harm. Sueth mea pursue.

81. kenne; so in TCRO; L corruptly has kende.

107. muryer; so in CT. In L it is curiously spelt murger, and in murgur.

139. The Latin quotation is evidently a hexameter, and hence quod the right reading; but nearly all the MSS. (including L) have quia. Th reading quod is adopted from a MS. in the Cambridge University Library of which the class-mark is Ff. 5. 35.

145. For worche (which occurs in C and O) MS. L reads worcheth, whic produces a false concord; worcheth is plural, but pow is singular.

150. plante. MSS. of the A-class shew this to be the right reading. MS L and most others of the B-class have plente.

Passus II, 1. 27. In the Latin quotation, LTO have bonus instead o bona. The latter occurs in C.

59. Our MS. has chaffre here; but see Prol. 1. 31.

87. For borghe, the reading in C and R, L has the false spelling borgthe Two MSS., T and O, have burghe. Borghe, burghe are various spellings of the word now spelt borough or burgh.

116. weddynges; so in TRO; L has wendynges. 118. engendred; so in TO; LCR read engendreth. 165. flaterere; so in TCRO; but L has flatere.

175. deuorses. In both LR we find deuoses, by a curious omission of C has deuorses, T diuorces, and O deuorces.

the r.

227. mynstralles. This is of course right, but MS. L has mynstalles (omitting r) both here and in a later passage.

Passus III, 1. 17. L omits wil, retained in RT.

48. Instead of ful, as in other MSS., L has wel.

73. ne; so in TCR; L has no.

95. thynke; miswritten thynko in L.

97. brenne; so in TCO; preferable to berne in L.

98. L omits pat, retained in other MSS.

107. L. omits pe, found in RTO, in the last two of which it is spelt pee.

127. L omits the second and, found in TRO.

187. L omits it, found in TRO.

227. Quod; so in TCRO; L has Quatz.

251, 269. moneie; so in C; L has mone.

252. receperunt; so in O; most MSS. (L included) have recipiebant. 304. other, R; corruptly spelt orther in L.

322. smytheth, TO; smyteth in L; smithie, R.

337, 338. she; so in TC; L corruptly has 3e.

Passus IV. After 1. 9 the MSS. of the B-class have lost a line, retained in the MSS. of the A-class, and in Crowley's printed text. It is

Of Mede and of other mo⚫ and what man shal her wed.

24. rit O; ryt T; rydes C; badly spelt ritte in L.

27. for pei; retained in TO; L omits.

128. byzonde; spelt byzende in L.

186. ribbes; so in the Vernon MS. (A-text); guttes, L and MSS. of B-class. Passus V, l. 13. were; so in T; but most MSS. have was.

29. felice; so in TRCO; spelt filice in L.

76. schrifte; L has scrifte; but see 1. 124.

105. poeple; L has pople here, but poeple in the next line.

108. baren; so in O; T has beren; L has bar.

143. han; so in T; L omits han, and some MSS. insert it before the

word persones, to the detriment of the sense.

154. suffre; so in most MSS., but spelt soeffre in L.

189. Heruy; so in most MSS., but LCR have Henri or henry.

212. paknedle; so in most MSS., but L has batnedle.

213. pynned. Badly spelt pyned in L.

214. hadde; omitted in LR, but supplied in other MSS.

224. no; so in other MSS., L has na.

232. Repentedestow; so in T; L has Repentestow. 236. The first be is omitted in L, by mistake.

253. L has Lenestow, but T has Lentestow.

272. L has telleth, by mistake; tellest is in TCR.

273. This line is from the Cambridge MS.; L omits it.

280, 281. For the first haue LR have hath, and for Ben they have Is.

I follow CTO.

291. L omits quasi, but it is in TCOR.

312. For she, L has he, by a slip. Cf. 1. 310.

338. From the Oriel MS. and C; LTR omit this line.

357. stumbled; so in TCO; trembled, L; tremled, R.

370. wif; so in TO; witte, L; wit, C.

388. L omits to, which occurs in TCO.

434. L omits pe, which occurs in TCO. 440. fernyere; so in TC; L has farnere.

441. forzete; miswritten fozete in L.

447. haue is supplied from C; in TO we find haue I; L omits it. 448. quod; so in R; miswritten quia in L, which spoils the scansion. 514. nos; not in L; supplied from R.

549. fifty; so in TCO; fourty in LR. Cf. Pass. vi. 85.

557. of hym; supplied from R; LTCO omit.

569. Supplied from C and O; omitted by LTR.

586. hatte; so in CR; hizte, W. L has hat, which is the sing. form.

590. fees; so in TCR; foes, L; foos, O.

600. With; so in TRO; L. has Wit.

611. wayne. The word may also be read wayue in the MSS.

612. cunctis, C; cuntis, L; only R retains iterum.

613. cliket; so in TC; LR have clikat.

623. cliketed; so in C; spelt clikated in L.

627. aren; so in R; L has ar.

Passus VI, 1. 6. wolde; so in TO; LR have wil.

9. L omits be before sakke; the other MSS. retain it.

49. This line is from C; LTRO omit it.

138. or, TCRO; and, L; in the first instance.

147. no3t, TCO; LR omit it.

180. ribbes; so in the Vernon MS., others have guttes.

206. L omits to, which other MSS. retain.

223. hem; so in RO; LT have hym.

228. y-worthe; so in T; LR have the inferior spelling aworthe; CO have worthe. For vindicta, all the MSS. have vindictam.

229. wilt; so in TCO; L has wil.

230. biloue; so in TCO; bilow in L; bylowe in R.

243. L omits hym by mistake.

323. L omits the r in hiderward, by mistake.

325. 3ere; so in E; zeer in O; LTC omit it.

Passus VII, l. 16. þis; so in TCO; LR have pus.

25. wynnynge; miswritten wynnyge in L.

76. LR omit the first tua, which TCO retain.

77. In the Latin quotation, for Deo (as in T), LCRO have Deum.

83. In the quotation, exegissem is from CR; L has exigerem; TO have exigere. The last word, illam,

the Vulgate.

not in the MSS. I have supplied it from

88. LTR omit querens panem; OC retain it.

94. And; miswritten A in L.

115. But; so in TCO; L and R have pat.

137. In the quotation, Eice (the old spelling of Ejice) is from O; LTRC

wrongly have Ecce.

183. ten; so in CRO; LT have x.

187. dede; so in TCR; L has ded.