Royal MS 18 D V

JOHN LYDGATE, Fall of Princes (cf. 18 D. IV). A quire of eight leaves after f. 184 (bk. viii, ch. xiii, l. 176- ch. xxv, 1. 14) and two leaves after f. 210 (bk. ix, ch. xxxiii, 1. i-ch. xxxiv, 1. 217) have been lost and supplied in a 16th cent. hand. The text, as in 18 B. XXXI has a lacuna of seven lines in the story of Theseus at bk. i, ch. viii, 11. 503-509, and like that MS. and the 1558 edition it omits the thirty-nine stanzas of epilogue beg. 'Right reuerent prince, with support of your grace', which are given in the ed. of 1554, fol. ccxvii. Blanks are left for chapter headings, but the beginnings of books are not specially marked. Prologue begins:-

'He that whilom dyd his diligence The book of Bochas in Frenssh to translate.' Poem begins:-

'Whan John Bochas considerid had and sou[]t The woful fall of myghti conquerous (sic).' Vellum; ff. 217. 161/2 in. x 11 in. Second half of XV cent. Double columns, of 42 lines. Gatherings of 8 leaves (xxiv lost, xxvii wants two, replaced in each case), with catchwords.' Sec. fol. 'As thei had'. Illuminated border at f. 1; initials to each chapter, &c., stanza initials flourished in gold or red and blue. At the end of the poem proper (f. 216 b) and before Bochas' rehearsal are illuminated the arms, within a Garter, of H[enry] P[ercy, 4th Earl of Northumberland,] in much the same style as in 18 D. II, f. 62, but with more elaborate quarterings, viz. quarterly of five, 1st Percy and Lucy as in 18 D. II, 2nd az., five fusils conjoined in fess or, for Percy ancient, 3rd barry of six, or and vert, a bendlet gu., for Poynings, 4th gu., three lions passant in pale arg., a bend az., for Fitzpayn, 5th or, 3 piles conjoined in base az., for Bryan. In the corners are badges, viz., 1st a crescent enclosing a shackle-bolt for Percy, 2nd a crowned key for Poynings, 3rd a bugle-horn for Bryan, 4th a sheathed falchion for Fitzpayn (cf. W. H. D. Longstaffe, 'Old heraldry of Percy', in Archaeologia Aeliana, New Ser., iv, 1860, p. 157). Notes on f. 32, &c., refer to 'the other booke', i.e. 18 D. IV, and both probably belonged to John, Lord Lumley, though his name is not inscribed. Lumley cat. f. 202; cat. of 1666 f. 12; not in CMA.