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Harley MS 7578
- Record Id:
- 040-002053434
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002053434
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000984.0x0001e5
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100195247245.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 7578
- Title:
-
Middle English verse, including ballads by Chaucer and Lydgate; 'The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwart' by Alexander Montgomerie; 'Nebuchadnezzar's Fierie Furnace'; the 'Annals of Oskell'; grammatical exercises in Latin and Greek; Old songs of Durham
- Scope & Content:
-
Miscellany compiling pages from a number of other manuscripts, which vary greatly in size and period. Major sections within the miscellany are f. 1 (verse and prose on the Ten Commandments and Seven Deadly Sins), ff. 2-20 (various ballads and other verse, some by Chaucer and Lydgate), f. 21 (a small leaf of paper with inscriptions by Robert Church), ff. 22-33 ('The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwart,' by Alexander Montgomerie, copied by John Rutherfurd), ff. 34-57 ('Nebuchadnezzar's Fierie Furnace,' in a 16th-century hand), ff. 58-63 (the 'Annals of Oskell'), ff. 64-82 (Humfrey Wanley's notebook (?), containing grammatical texts in Latin and Greek), ff. 84-117 (Old songs of Durham), ff. 118-[129] (post-medieval sheet music).
Contents:
1. (f. 1r): The Ten Commandments in 10 stanzas of Middle English verse. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3687. Heading (f. 1r): '[D]ecem dycuntur mandata tria pertenent ad deum septem vero ad proximum primum est Non habebys deos alyos'. Incipit (f. 1r): 'Thow schalte lufe godde wyth herte entere / wyth all þy sawle and all þy myght'.
2. (ff. 1r-v): Prose text on the Seven Deadly Sins.
3. (ff. 2r-13r): Sayings of Old Philosophers (Liber Proverbium). See Boffey and Edwards 2005, nos. 1729 and 3487. Incipit (f. 1r): '[T]o calle theim whiche have no suffisance / The dulle appalled myndes to redresse / In whom no feith ys ne trewe affiance / But be variant of no stablenesse'. Colophon (f. 13r): 'Explicit Liber Proverbiorum'.
4. (ff. 13v-14v): 'The Compleynte unto Pite' by Geoffrey Chaucer. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 2756. Incipit (f. 13v): '[P]itee that I have sought so yoore / with herte sore ful of hevy peine / That in this worlde was no wight woer / with oute the deth and if I shal not fayne'. Colophon (f. 14v): 'Balade'.
5. (ff. 15r-v): Ballads by Geoffrey Chaucer. Presented as a single, continuous text. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, nos. 122 and 1635. Incipit (f. 15r): 'Al holly youres with outhen others parte / wherfore I wisse that I ne can ne may / By service chaungen thus of al suche arte / The servynge I desire for ever and ay'.
6. (ff. 15v-16r): 'Complainte to my Lodesterre'. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 1269. Incipit (f. 15v): 'Of gretter cause may no wight him compleyne / Than y for love hath me sette in swiche caas / That lasse ioye and more encrese of payne / Ne hath no man wherfore I crye allas'.
7. (ff. 16r-17r): Ballads: a warning against lechery and 'Gentilesse' by Geoffrey Chaucer. Presented as a single, continuous text. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, nos. 285 and 3348. Incipit (f. 16r): 'Burgeys thou haste so blowen atte the Cole / That alle thy rode is from thine face a goon / And haste do so many doo shotte and I stoole / That fleesh uppon thy carkeys is theyre noon'.
8. (ff. 17r-v): 'Lak of Stedfastnesse' by Geoffrey Chaucer. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3190. Incipit (f. 17r): 'Somme tyme worlde was stedfast and stable / That manye worde was obligacion / And nowe it is so fals and so disteynable / That worde and dede as in conclusion'.
9. (f. 17v): 'Newfangelnesse', sometimes attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 2029. Incipit (f. 17v): 'Madame for youre newe fangelnesse / many a servaunt have ye put oute of grace / I take my leefe of youre unstadfastnesse / ffor wele I wote while I have lyve & space'.
10. (ff. 17v-18v): 'Beware of Doublenesse' by John Lydgate. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3656. Incipit (f. 17v): 'This worlde is false of variaunce / In every thinge whoo taketh hede / That feith and truste and alle constaunce / exiled been this is no dreede'.
11. (ff. 19r-v): 'A Prayer for King Henry VI and his Queen and the People' by John Lydgate. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 2218. Incipit (f. 19r): 'Moost souveranie lord o blessith crist Ihesu / ffrom oure ennemy delivere us and oure foon / Unthr whoos grace and unther whose vertu / we been assureth [where] so we ride or goon'. Colophon (f. 19v): 'Explicit'.
12. (f. 20r): Stanza excerpted from the Fall of Princes by John Lydgate. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 674. Incipit (f. 20r): 'Desceit descayveth and shal be desceyvede / ffor by disceit who is disceyvable / Though his deceyte be not aperceyvede / To a desceyvence desceyt is retornable'.
13. (f. 20r): Four things that make a man fall from reason, sometimes attributed to John Lydgate. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 4230. Heading (f. 20r): 'Quatuor infatuant honor etas femina vinum'. Incipit (f. 20r): 'worshipe women wine unwisely age / Maketh men to foune for lake of theire resoune / Elde cuaseth dulnesse and dotage / worshipe cuaseth chaunge of condicione'.
14. (f. 20r): Short verse texts, apparently presented together. Heading (f. 20r): 'Proverbe of Chaucers'. Two riddles sometimes attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3914. Incipit (f. 20r): 'What shulde these clothes thus many folde lo this hote somers day'. Ryme royal stanza. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3504. Incipit (f. 20r): 'The worlde so wide the eyre so remuable / The sely man so litel of stature'. Stanza excerpted from 'Tyed with a Line'. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, no. 3436. Incipit (f. 20r): 'The more I goo the ferthr I am be hinde / The ferthir be hinde the nere my weies ende'.
15. (f. 20v): Six stanzas of an ABC by Geoffrey Chaucer. See Boffey and Edwards 2005, 239. Incipit (f. 20v): 'Almighty and amerciable Queene / To whome that alle the worlde fleeth for socoure'.
16. (f. 22r-33r): 'The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwart' by Alexander Montgomerie (early 1550s-1598). Heading (f. 20r): 'Polwart and Montgomrie'. Incipit (f. 22r): 'Montgomrie to Polwart / Polwart [g]e peip like a mouse amongest thornes / Na cuning [g]e keip Polwart [g]e peip'.
17. (ff. 34r-57v): 'Nebuchadnezzar's Fierie Furnace,' a play. It had formerly been paginated pp. 321-68. Heading (f. 34r): 'Nebuchadnezzars Fierie Furnace'. Incipit of Dramatis Personae (f. 34r): 'The speakers . 1. King Nebuchadnezzar. 2. the princes . 3. The Governours'. Incipit of Prologue (f. 34r): 'A prayer. / My spirit o Lord make free of fleshly lets / That I may climb thy sacred cabinets'. Incipit (f. 34r): 'King Nebuchadnezzar. Wee Gods on earth should climb supernall stories, / wee should acchieve great things to grace our glories'. Ends imperfectly at the bottom of f. 57v, where a catchword indicates the presence of at least one more additional quire. Explicit (f. 57v): 'So resen at last these dueties become failling, / Nothing is heard but mourning and bewailling'.
18. (ff. 58r-63v) The 'Annals of Oskell,' a verse history of the Stanley family of Lathom Manor in Lancashire. It had formerly been paginated pp. 1-12. Prose dedicatory preface. Heading (f. 58r): 'To the worshipfull his most respected ffrende Gab. heskethe'. Incipit (f. 58r): 'The sillye Aesse ashamed of his longe eares would closelye cover them with a silken hood to hyde theire naturall deformetye'. Verse prologue. Heading (f. 58v): 'To the reader'. Incipit (f. 58v): 'The credits strange, that wee to strangers gyve / there doubtfull deeds, with us of worthie note'. Explicit (f. 59r): 'but ere this tale, be orderlye dyspatched / I just yow tell, with whom first Stanley matched. Colophon (f. 59r): 'Thine Theamr / ffatique Annales Oskelli, Stanleo in que / panduntur blande, non his quae ficta leguntur'. Text in verse. Incipit (f. 59r): 'Lathom to Orme, by right doth succeede / to Lathom a childe, but whose not decreede / whiche for his heire he childes adopted / thinkynge it was, by the heavens soo allotted / That hellishe hagge, where she abrode doth range / in kyngdome, province, Cytie, or in towne / dyscorde, I meane, she all to worst dothe change / devidinge frendes, and monarkes pullinge downe'. Ends imperfectly, in the middle of a stanza. Explicit (f. 63v): 'This Amureth, that most ambytious Turke / well sees, that whilest they doubtfullie consult'.
19. (ff. 65r-75r): Series of sentences on Latin vocabulary. Each is introduced with the word or words being compared, which are then distinguished in their meaning and connotation. Heading (f. 65r): 'Voces Differentiales'. Incipit: '1 Aries / Est aries oculi, ferri, bellique caterva / 2 ffretum, mare, pontus, aequor. / Dum fremit esse fretum, dicas; mare quod sit amarum; / Pontus, ponte caret; sed ab aequo, dicitur aequor'.
20. (ff. 76r-78v): Definitions of Greek prepositions. Heading (f. 76r): 'Additamenta e Possessij Syntaxi iis quae apud Cambdenem occurrunt de Prepositione'. Refers to the Institutio Graecae grammatices compendiaria in usum regiae scholae Westmonasteriensis by William Camden (1551-1623). Incipit: (f. 76r): 'Ἐν. / Inter. ἐν ἀγαθοῖς. Inter bonos. / Apud. ἐν ἑατῷ εἶναι. apud se esse / Motum ad locum cum Dativo. κάππεσον ἐν Λήμνω / Decidi in Lemnum. scil: Ego Vulcanus. / ἐν δέοντι. opportune loco et tempore'.
21. (ff. 79r-v): Clichés employing the comparative. Heading (f. 79r): 'Adagia quae apud Butlerum de Rhetorica occurrunt'. Incipit (f. 79r): '1 Japeto. 2 Cronos 3 Titanibus, 4 Chao, et 5 Saturno antiquior'.
22. (ff. 79v-80r): Notes on Latin meter. Heading (f. 79v): 'De pedis generibus'.
23. (f. 81r): Notes on Homeric epithets, in Greek with Latin explanations. Heading: 'Epitheta sumuntur ab'.
24. (f. 82r): List of Humfrey Wanley's expenses. Heading (f. 82r): 'Moneys laid out by me since I have been an Apprentice'.
25. (ff. 84-116v): Old songs of Durham. Single part of part-songs,, motets, anthems, hymns and instrumental ensembles, mostly anonymous, apparently connected with the neighbourhood of Durham. Time of Elizabeth I (f. 110v). Only one part remains, though some of the pieces were written for as many as 5 voices. The songs are as follows:f. 84. '[Whether of these tow] Lytell byrdes flatterith most.' Imperfect. f. 85. 'My lady is a prety on.'ff. 86b-89. 'Ave, Domyna, Sancta Marya'; for 3 voices, by H[ugh] Astone. Motet. Treble part only.f. 89. 'Why dyde the Gentels frett and fweme,' {by J. Shepherd}. Single part of anthem.f. 90. 'Ponder my wordes, Lorde,' {by J. Shepherd}. Single part of anthem.f. 91v. 'Geve to the Lorde, ye potentates,' {by J. Shepherd}. Single part of anthem.f. 92. Piece unnamed. Single parts of an instrumental composition, written, probably for 5 viols.f. 92. 'Lores [? que vous] voules.' Single parts of an instrumental composition, written, probably for 5 viols.f. 92v. Piece unnamed. In 5 parts. Single parts of an instrumental composition, written, probably for 5 viols.f. 93v. 'When trewth is tryed.'f. 94. 'O come, let us synge unto the Lord' (?contra-tenor part). Single part of portion of Church Service.f. 98. 'We knowleg thee to be the Lord.' Single part of portion of Church Service.f. 100v. 'Hey downe, downe, downe,...these women all.' 'Mr Heath.' Printed by Ritson, , 1790, p. 134. f. 103. 'In Creat, when Dedylus fyrst began.' Imperfect.f. 103v. ‘I, wofull, wretchyd wight’ (for 3 voices, tenor part). Single part of hymn.f. 103v. ‘Reioyse, O prysoners‘ (words only). Hymn.f. 104. ‘Er[r]avi sicut oves‘ (contra-tenor part). Anonymous. Single part of motet.f. 104. ‘Jesus Nazarenus.’ ‘Clemens[? non Papa].’ ib. Single part of motet.f. 104v. ‘Ad Dominum, cum tribularer‘ (5 voices). ‘ — More.’ Single part of motet.f. 105. ‘Sagitte potentes.’ Anonymous. Single part of motet.f. 105v. 'If I be wanton, I wotte welle why.'f. 106. 'Alone walking and oft musing' containing allusions to many towns and villages to the north and west of Durham.f. 111. 'Ty the mar[e], tomboy.' Printed by Ritson, op. cit. p. 130. {Robert Johnson in manuscript.}f. 114. 'Aryse, aryse, aryse, I say.'f. 114v. 'That of wysse men maykes worsse then swyne.' f. 115. 'In nomine Domini.' Single parts of an instrumental compositions, written, probably for 5 viols.f. 115v. 'Houghe the tankerd' ('triplex' part).f. 116. 'What tyme Appelles.' f. 116. 'I may well banne that I poor Nanne.'f. 116v. 'Take hede bytyme.' f. 116v. 'Fylle the poot (sic), mayd.' Printed by Ritson, op. cit. p. 136. f. 117. 'Prepare yow, prepare you, time werith awaye.' 'Wylliam Mundye.' Single part of anthem.
26. (ff. 118r-[129v]): Sheet music with staves and musical notation in in an early 17th century hand, as follows: ff. 118-123. Short pieces for Lute, including a Pavan (f. 118v), and three Galliards (ff. 119v, 120v, and 121), the two latter by 'Coprario' (John Cooper) and 'Allfonsus' (? Alfonso Ferrabosco, jun.). f. 124r. Page ruled with staves, inscribed with the name of Francis Cartwright, of Langley, co. Derby, gentleman; and below it that of John Vaughan, of co. Hereford, gentleman, 1655.ff. 124v-125r and 126v-[129v]. Pages ruled with staves but otherwise blank.
Decoration: Pen sketch of an abacus and pencil sketches of castle towers (f. 64r). One large red initial (f. 20v).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002053434", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 7578: Middle English verse, including ballads by Chaucer and Lydgate; 'The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwart' by Alexander Montgomerie;…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002053434 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 7578 : Middle English verse, including ballads by Chaucer and Lydgate; 'The Flyting of Montgomerie and Polwart' by Alexander… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[7590]/040-002053434
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_7578 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English
English, Middle
Greek, Ancient
Latin - Scripts:
- Greek
Latin - Start Date:
- 1400
- End Date:
- 1700
- Date Range:
- 1400-1700
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Dimensions: 310 x 210 mm.
Foliation: ff. 127 (ff. [i-iv] and [128-34] are unfoliated modern paper flyleaves; ff. [128-29] are unfoliated paper leaves ruled with musical staves, but otherwise blank).
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house binding.
The manuscript has been bound together from a number of other manuscripts. The characteristics of these individual sections are listed below:
Folio 1: parchment.
Dimensions: 285 x 210 mm (text space: 240 x 180 mm).
Script: Gothic cursive, 15th century.
Folios 2-20: parchment.
Dimensions: 285 x 210 mm (text space: 210/215 x 80/90 mm).
Script: Gothic cursive, 15th century.
Folio 21: paper.
Dimensions: 120 x 150 mm.
Script: Gothic cursive, 16th century.
Folios 22-33: paper.
Dimensions: 300 x 185 mm (text space: 285 x 140mm).
Script: Gothic cursive, 16th century (John Rutherfurd).
Folios 34-57: paper.
Dimensions: 210 x 155 mm (165/170 x 90/105 mm).
Script: 17th century.
Folios 58-63: paper.
Dimensions: 200 x 150 mm (175 x 90 mm).
Script: Gothic cursive, 16th century.
Folios 64-82: paper.
Dimensions: 145 x 190 mm.
Script: c. 1687 (Humfrey Wanley).
Folios 84-117: paper.
Dimensions: 145 x 200 mm (ruled staff: 115 x 180 mm).
Script: Gothic cursive, 16th century.
Folios 117-[129]: paper.
Dimensions: 295 x 195 mm (ruled staff: 235 x 155 mm).
Script: 17th century.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England.
Provenance:
John Rutherfurd (16th century): colophon on f. 33r: 'Sriptum per me iohanem rutherfurd / cum manu mea et non aliena / finnis amen'; inscriptions on f. 33v: 'John rutherfurd his book', 'John rutherfurd his buik'.
Thomas Oldcorne (16th century): inscriptions on f. 117v.
William Walker (17th century): inscriptionns on ff. 2r and 18v: 'Will and Walke aright / Will: Walker'.
Robert Church (17th century): inscriptions on f. 21r: 'By Me Robbe Church'.
Francis Cartwright (17th century): inscriptions on f. 124r: 'Be it knowne vnto all men by theis presente That I ffrancis Cartwright of Langely in the Countie of Derbie gentleman'.
John Vaughan (17th century): inscription on f. 124r: 'be it knowne unto all men by these presents that John Vaughan off the county off Herefford gentleman 1655'.
James Mickleton (b. 1688, d. 1719): owned ff. 84-117 until 1718, when he gave them to Humfrey Wanley (see Wright 1972): inscription (f. 117v): '17 February 1717/18. This book given to Jumfrey Wanley by James Mickleton of Grayes Inns Esqu. containing a Collection of Old Songs used within & about the Bishoprick of Durham'.
Humfrey Wanley (b. 1672, d. 1726), Old English scholar and librarian: wrote ff. 63-81 (see Wright 1972), at around age 15: inscription on f. 64r: 'Humfrey Wanley his book, in the y [torn away] / our Lord, God 1687. Juni the 20'.
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, henrietta Cavendish Harley, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.
Joseph Ritson (b. 1752, d. 1803), antiquary: a description of ff. 84-117 in his hand: '7578. an oblong paper-book, given, in 1717/18, to Mr. Wanley, by James Mickleton esquire of Grays-inn, containing the treble part of a collection of old songs, &c. set to musick, used within and about the bishop of Durham, in the time of queen Elizabeth, imperfect [cancelled] with the names of the composers: imperfect'.
- Administrative Context:
- England
- Publications:
-
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-1812), III (1808), pp. 538-39 (no. 7578).
Odd Texts of the Minor Poems, ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall, Chaucer Society, 1st ser., 23, 60, 2 vols (London: Trübner, 1868, 1880). I, pp. 251-60.
Henry Noble MacCracken, The Lydgate Canon: Appendix to the Philological Society's Transactions, 1907-9 (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1908), p. xxi.
Eleanor P. Hammond, Chaucer: A Bibliographical Manual (New York: Macmillan, 1908), pp. 330-31.
Aage Brusendorff, The Chaucer Tradition (Copenhagen, 1925), pp. 280-81.
Nebuchadnezzar's Fierie Furnace, ed. by Margaret Rösler, Materials for the Study of Old English Drama, 12 (Louvain: Uystspruyst, 1930).
Carleton Brown and Rossell Hope Robbins, The Index of Middle English Verse (New York: Columbia, 1943), nos. 231, 239, 551, 674, 1635, 2029, 2218, 2626, 2756, 3190, 3348, 3437, 3487, 3504, 3656, 3687, 3749, 3914, 4230.
J. Burke Severs, 'Two Irregular Chaucerian Stanzas', Modern Language Notes, 64 (1949), 306-09.
George B. Pace, '"Lak of Stedfastnesse"', Studies in Bibliography, 4 (1951/1952), 105-22.
R. H. Bowers, 'A Middle English "Rake's Progress" Poem', Modern Language Notes, 70 (1955), 396-98.
Rossell Hope Robbins, 'A Warning Against Lechery', Philological Quarterly, 35 (1956), 90-96.
John Ward, 'Music for a Handefull of Pleasant Delites', Journal of the American Musicological Society, 10, no. 3 (1957), 141-50 (p. 167).
George B. Pace, 'The Chaucerian "Proverbs"', Studies in Bibliography, 18 (1965), 41-48.
A. I. Doyle and George B. Pace, 'A New Chaucer Manuscript', Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 83 (1968), 22-34 (pp. 29-32).
C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 239, 341-46.
Bradford Y. Fletcher, 'Printer's Copy for Stow's "Chaucer"', Studies in Bibliography, 31 (1978), 184-201 (pp. 188-90).
Letters of Humfrey Wanley: Paleographer, Anglo-Saxonist, Librarian 1672-1726, ed. by P. L. Heyworth (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), pp. xxxvi, 363.
Julia Boffey and A. S. G. Edwards, A New Index of Middle English Verse (London: British Library, 2005), nos. 122, 239, 285, 674, 1269, 1635, 1729, 2029, 2218, 2756, 3190, 3348, 3436, 3487, 3504, 3656, 3687, 3914, 4230.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)