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56. Religious treatise, in prose. fol. 219'.

Beg. Dere frende, wit þ" wele, þat pe ende and pe soueraynte of perfeccione.

57. Moral Poem. fol. 222.

Beg. pi joy be ilke a dele to serue thi Godd to paye.

Imperfect at the end, as is the next piece at the beginning, a folio having been

here torn out.

Beg.

58. Treatise on Active and Contemplative Life, fol. 223.

menne þat ware in prelacye, and oper also þat ware haly temporalle menne.

59. Prose religious treatise. fol. 229b.

Beg. Wit thou wele, dere frende, þat þof þou had neuer done syne.

60. Of Sayne Joh'n pe euaungelist. fol. 231.

Beg. Of alle mankynde þat he made, þat maste es of myghte,

And of pe molde merkede and mesured that tyde.

An alliterative poem in stanzas of fourteen lines each, of which the third, fifth, and seventh rhyme, and the second, fourth, sixth and eighth. At the close are six shorter lines, of which the first, second, fourth and fifth rhyme, and the third and sixth.

61. Prose tract on Prayer. fol. 233b.

Beg. Prayng es a gracyous gyfte of owre Lorde Godd.

62. De gracia Dei. fol. 240.

Beg. Off Goddis grace stirrand and helpand.

63. Hic incipit quedam reuelacio. A Reuelacyone schewede to ane holy womane now one late tyme. fol. 250.

Beg. Alle manere of thyng þat es by-gunne.

This revelation is stated to have occurred on St. Lawrence's day, 1422, which may assist in determining the age of the Manuscript.

64, 65. Two hymns, in Latin. fol. 258.

66. Here bygynnys Sayne Jerome Spaltyre; in Latin. fol. 258.

Adjoined are various Latin prayers. On the margin of fol. 266 is written in a hand of the sixteenth century, "Dorythy Thornton."

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67. Religio Sancti Spiritus religio munda. fol. 271.

Beg. Off the Abbaye of Saynte Spirite, that es in a place that es callede
Conscyence. A, dere brothir and systirs.

This is the well-known treatise of the "Abbaye of the Holy Goste," generally ascribed by bibliographers to John Alcock, bishop of Ely, who died about 1498. That this statement is erroneous, appears not only from the presumed date of the present MS., but by the fact, that there is a copy of the treatise in the Vernon MS. Bodleian Library, written in the reign of Richard the Second, before Alcock was born! Among the MSS. preserved in the library at Lambeth, No. 432, art. 2, a copy of this treatise is attributed to Richard Hampole, and this statement is not unlikely to be the true one.

68. A religious Poem. fol. 276".

Beg. The begynnyng es of thre.

69. Ista oracio que sequitur est de vii. gaudia (sic) beate Marie virginis, per sanctum Thomam et Martirem, Cantuariensem episcopum edita. fol. 277. 70. Anoper Salutacioune tille oure Lady, of hir fyve Joyes; in Latin. fol. 2776. 71. Ane Antyme to pe Fadir of heuene, wt a Colett; in Latin. fol. 278. 72. Anoper anteme of pe passyoune of Criste Thesu; in Latin. fol. 278. 73. A Colecte of grete pardone oon to Crist Jhesu; in Latin. fol. 278. 74. Latin hymn to Christ. fol. 278b.

At the top of the page is written, "Thorntone. Misereatur mei Deus!” 75. A Preyere to pe wounde in Crystis syde; in Latin. fol. 278. 76. Memento, homo, quod sinis (sic) es, a Poem in four-line stanzas, each of which rhymes with the same syllable. fol. 279.

Beg. Erthe owte of erth: es wondirly wroghte,

Erthe hase getyn one erthe: a dignyte of noghte.

77. Hic incipit liber de diuersis medicinis, et primo, pro capite, ff. 280-314b. Beg. For werke and vanyte ine pe hede.

This treatise is imperfect, the latter leaves having been wholly or partly torn away. The authority of the Rector of Oswaldkirk is often referred to by the compiler, and the names of Magister Will. de Excestre and Syr Apiltone are also

cited.

The scribe and compiler of this volume, Robert de Thornton, is stated by Mr. Laing to have held some situation in the cathedral of Lincoln, and afterwards to have become archdeacon of Bedford, and to have died in May, 1450. The internal h

evidence of the volume is altogether against such a supposition. From the general contents it appears evidently to have been compiled by a native of Yorkshire, and in all probability by a member of the family of Thornton, which was seated in the Wapontake of Rydale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in whose possession it remained till the close of the sixteenth century, as appears by the entries on ff. 194 and 266. Compare the pedigree of Thornton in MS. Harl. 6070, fol. 11, in which the same family names occur. The mention of the Rector of Oswaldkirk and Syr Apiltone concur to prove this conjecture, since Oswaldkirk and Appleton both lie in the same immediate district. Ritson's supposition (Bibl. Poet., p. 107.), that the compiler of the MS. was the same person as Robert de Thornton, Prior of Bardney, in Lincolnshire, is improbable, but it is possible that he may have been the same who was Vicar of Silkeston in the Deanery of Doncaster, in the year 1425. See MS. Add. 11,400, p. 55.

III. MS. DOUCE, now in the Bodleian Library. It consists of eleven folios of coarse paper, written in a large, inelegant, but very legible character, in the reign of Edward the Fourth. The guide-lines for the scribe have been ruled with a rough plummet, and at the bottom of each leaf is a series of signatures in red, beginning with a. i., and ending with b. iii. The large initial letter at the commencement is coarsely colored with red. There are about thirty lines on a page, and no punctuation is used except in the middle of a line. On the inside of the cover appears the autograph of "J. Baynes, Grey's Inn, 1781."

IV. PORKINGTON MS. No. 10. A small quarto volume, written on vellum and paper, in the reign of Edward the Fourth. ff. 211. Its Contents are as follows: 1. Secundum Anticos Grecorum. fol. 1.

Beg. The man þat falleþ syke he fyrst day of eny moneþ.

This tract consists of rules for sickness or health on certain days; the lucky and unlucky days; rules for the weather; natures of the planets, etc.; and concludes with a short chronology, from the beginning of the world to the battle of Agincourt, in 1415.

2. A Calendar of the days, hours, and minutes in each montu. fol. 4. On fol. 4b occur the names of Griffyth Owen of the county of Carnarvon, and of John Williams, petty constable of the parish of Llanarmon.

3. A Table of the hours of day and night. fol. 5b.

4. Rules regarding Nativities; in Latin. fol. 6.

5. Explanation of a Calendar made A.D. 1463 (which is missing); of the feast-days, hours of the day, altitude of the sun, etc. fol. 6.

6. Rules for venesection, etc., with a figure. fol. 7.

7. A Table of Eclipses, calculated for the years 1462-1481. fol. 7.
8. For knowlege of the impressions concerning þe wedyr, fol. 8h.

Beg. Fyrst it ys to know pt that the eyere ys deuyded.

9. For to know in what sygne and degre pe mone ys. fol. 11.
10. Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle. fol. 12.

Printed in the present volume, Append. No. I. There is no title to this romance in the MS. A leaf is out of place between ff. 14 and 15, which ought to be fol. 66.

11. Here begynnythe a schorte tretice for a manne to knowe wyche tyme of the yere hit is best to graffe or to plante treys, and also to make a tre to bere a maner frute of diuerys colourys and odowrys, w1 many othere thyngys. fol. 27. Beg. When the mone is in tauro, hit is good to plante treys of pepyns.

12. Some other receipts of the same nature, which may be part of the same treatise. fol. 32.

13. Here begynnythe the crafte of lymnynge of bokys, etc. fol. 33.

Beg. To temper vermelone to wryte ther w1, grynde vermelone one a stone.

At the end is added on a scroll the name of the scribe or compiler, “H. Hattun.”

14. A Poem without title; in six-line stanzas. fol. 53.

Beg. Louely lordynges, ladys lyke,

Wyues and maydyns ryallyke.

15. The Tale of Ten Wives; an amusing but indelicate Poem, in stanzas of six lines. fol. 56b.

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16. Complaint of a Lover, in four-line stanzas. fol. 59b.

Beg. Lord, how schalle I me complayne.

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18. Vision of St. Philibert, or Disputation between the Body and the Soul;

in stanzas of seven lines; translated from the Latin. fol. 63b.

Beg. The fadyr of pytte and most of myserycorde.

19. Moral Poem, in stanzas of five long lines and one short one. fol. 79. Beg. Erthe vppon erth is woundyrly wrozte.

A much enlarged copy of the poem in the Lincoln MS. A. 1. 17. fol. 279. 20. Mourning of the Hare. fol. 81b.

Beg. Bi a forrest as I gane fare.

A much better and fuller copy than that printed in Hartshorne's Metrical Tales, p. 165; from MS. More, Ff. v. 48.

21. The Knyžte his wyfe, in couplets. fol. 83.

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24. Poetical address to the Virgin; in four-line stanzas. fol. 87.
Beg. Off alle pe bryddus pt euer zeyt were.

25. For pe molde pt ys fallone doune; a receipt in prose. fol. 89b.

26. Several more receipts of a similar description. fol. 90.

27. Her begynnethe pe lyfe of pe glorus uergyne seynt Katryne, pe wyche lyffe was wrytyne of Athanaysus, pe gret doctor; in prose. fol. 91.

Beg. In be grete cite of Alexandyr ther was a kynge.

28. A strange prosaical medley; in the form of an epistle. fol. 129.

Beg. A, syre, A, 3e syr, and 3e, syr Johne.

29. Be trewe, and holde pt ze have hyzt; in stanzas of eight lines. fol. 130.
Beg. Be trewe, and holde pt 3e haue hyžte.

30. A similar poem, by the same author. fol. 130.
Beg. A, dere God, haue I deservyd this.

31. Here bethe the Stacyons of Rome; in prose. fol. 132.
Beg. In Rome bethe iic. paresche churchs.

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