The Digital Index of Middle English Verse
Found Records:Oxford, Balliol College 354
Number 2533-4
Number 5224-2
Number 4984-1
Number 4229-3
Number 1599-2
Number 6640-5
6. p. 206
Whoso will beware of purchasing‘Twelve points for purchasers of land to look to’, sometimes
attributed to Sir John Fortescue — ten or twelve couplets
Number 5203-2
Number 3514-1
Number 979-3
Number 1601-2
10. pp. 261-282
God that died upon a treeThe Siege of Rouen, ascribed to John Page, sometimes inserted into the prose
Brut — in couplets
Number 2777-3
Number 3134-1
Number 3829-1
Number 3870-1
Number 631-2
Number 822-1
16. pp. 313-314
Benedicta sit sancta trinitasThe Sacrament of Matrimony — seven 8-line stanzas (ababbcbc) including
refrain, ‘Quod Deus coniunxit homo non separet’
Number 1724-1
Number 1691-1
Number 3356-1
Number 1137-1
Number 6820-3
Number 6824-1
Number 6819-3
Number 2453-1
Number 603-1
Number 5608-1
26. p. 334
Therefore be thine own friendVerses urging reader to know thyself — 44 lines in eight-line stanzas
with refrain, ‘And know thyself wysely I rede’
Number 3112-1
Number 3588-9
Number 560-1
Number 4778-2
Number 6709-4
31. p. 340
3 Wit hath wonder that reason ne tell can‘
Sensus miratur que racio dicere nescit’, etc., often
ascribed to Reginald Pecock (see
Babington (1860)
XBabington, Churchill.
The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy, by Reginald
Pecock.
2 vols.
Rolls Series
19 (1860; repr. Kraus, 1966)
, 2.623) — two
couplets
Number 6621.7-2
Number 5794-1
Number 2662-1
Number 1433-1
Number 835-3
Number 3009-1
Number 3133-1
Number 1820-1
39. p. 352
1 He bore him up he bore him downA Corpus Christi carol — six couplets and burden: ‘Lulley lulley
lulley lulley / The fawcon hath born my mak away’
Number 4335-1
Number 4420-1
41. pp. 353-360
Problems of old likeness and figuresJohn Lydgate, ‘The Chorle and the Birde’ — fifty-four stanzas
rhyme royal including 2-stanza envoy, plus one 8-line ‘Verba translatoris’
(ababbcbc)
Number 5918-1
42. pp. 360-362
Throughout a palace as I gan pass‘The Lamentacioun of the Duchess of Glossester’ (1447) — 13
eight-line stanzas including refrain: ‘All women may be ware by
me’
Number 4256-1
Number 4118-1
Number 1999-1
Number 1251-1
46. p. 374
1 Fair maiden who is this bairnA carol of the Nativity — four quatrains (aabb) and four-line burden
(aaaa): ‘Mater ora filium / Vt post hoc exilium / Nobis donet gaudium /
Beatorum omnium’
Number 6121-1
47. p. 374
2 Upon a lady fair and brightA song of the Virgin Mary — four five-line stanzas (ababc) including
refrain, ‘Newell’ or ‘Nowell’ plus burden (cc): ‘Newell
newell newell newell / I thank a maydyn euery dele’
Number 633-2
48. p. 374
3 As I went in a merry morningA carol with refrain, ‘Timor mortis conturbat me’ —
seven quatrains (aaab) including this refrain, and burden (bb): ‘In what state
that ever I be / Timor mortis conturbat me’
Number 695-1
49. pp. 374
4-375
At a place where he me setA carol of Hunting — three 5-line stanzas (aaabb) including refrain,
‘We shall have game and sport ynow’ plus burden: ‘As I walked by a
forest side / I met with a foster he bad me abide’
Number 2357-1
Number 181-1
51. p. 375
2 A virgin pureA Nativity carol — four 5-line stanzas (abccb in which first and third
lines have leonine rhyme) including refrain, ‘Deo gracias’, plus burden (bb
with medial rhyme): ‘Now let vs syng both more & lesse / Of Criste commyng Deo
gracias’
Number 6358-1
52. pp. 375
3-376
When Jesu Christ baptized wasAn Epiphany carol — four quatrains (aaab) including refrain,
‘Hic est filius meus dilectus ipsum audite,’ plus burden (bb):
‘Ihesus autem hodie / Egressus est de virgine’
Number 2192-1
Number 1320-1
Number 6699-2
Number 1863-2
Number 1039-1
Number 6520-2
58. p. 402
While the foot warmethA proverbial saying, translating ‘Calceus ignescit quando pes igne
calescit’ — one couplet
Number 53-3
Number 2072-2
60. p. 402
Hope ne were / Heart bursten wereA proverbial couplet [
Tilley (1950)
XTilley, Morris Palmer.
A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the 16th and 17th
Centuries.
Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1950
, H 605] translating
‘
Si spes non esset cor ruptum sepe fuisset’
Number 3703-1
Number 1891-1
Number 1841-2
Number 6521-3
64. p. 402
1 While the grass growethA proverbial saying, translating ‘Gramen dum crescit equus in moriendo
quiescit’ — one couplet
Number 5880-1
Number 5000-1
Number 2084-1
Number 2503-1
Number 1271-1
Number 3164-1
Number 55-1
Number 6465-2
72. p. 419
2 When thou art at RomeVerses exhorting reader to conform to his surroundings — two couplets
translating ‘Cum fueris Rome…’
Number 759-3
Number 1140-1
Number 5880-2
Number 900-1
Number 37-1
Number 6266-2
78. p. 420
01 When Adam delved and Eve spanA proverbial saying employed by John Ball in the Wat Tyler insurrection (1381);
also found in German, Dutch, etc. Cf. 1596, lines 98-99; 3921, lines 1-4; also many
early chronicles. For further references, cf.
Meech (1940)
XMeech, Sanford Brown.
“A Collection of Proverbs in Rawlinson MS D 328.”
Modern Philology
38 (1940-41): 113-32
,
130.
Number 2263-1
Number 1828-1
80. p. 420
03 He is no good swainA proverbial couplet [
Tilley (1950)
XTilley, Morris Palmer.
A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the 16th and 17th
Centuries.
Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1950
, S 1022]
Number 1111-1
Number 2440-1
Number 6052-2
Number 1863-3
Number 193-1
Number 6457-1
Number 6521-4
87. p. 420
10 While the grass growethA proverbial saying, translating ‘Gramen dum crescit equus in moriendo
quiescit’ — one couplet
Number 5415-1
Number 6699-3
Number 2021-1
Number 3179-1
Number 1765-1
Number 599-1
Number 2274-2
94. pp. 432-434
I shall you tell a full good sportThe Gossips’ Meeting — twenty-five 6-line stanzas (aaabbc) with
‘Good gossips myn’ refrain and burden: ‘Hoow gossip myne gossip myn /
Whan will we go to the wyne / Good gossipes [myn]’
Number 1170-4
Number 1893-1
Number 1519-1
Number 3990-1
Number 2659-1
99. p. 439
2 In twenty year of age remember we everyoneThe Four Ages of Man — four monorhyming quatrains and six-line burden:
‘So dye shall then / All cristyn men / No man wottith his tyme ne when / Wherfor
thow may / Yf thou behye / Thynk non other but thou shalt dye’
Number 2144-3
Number 761-1
101. pp. 440-446
Be it right or wrongThe Notbrowne Mayde — in 18-line stanzas or 6-line stanzas with
alternating refrains, ‘He is a banysshed man’ and ‘She loved but hym
alone’
Number 4810-4
102. p. 446
Serve thy God trulyPrecepts in -ly — usually two quatrains, but sometimes in expanded
versions
Number 2988-2
Number 1867-6
Number 6341-2
Number 3375-1
Number 118-2
Number 1492-2
108. p. 459
1 Gaude maria Christs MotherJohn Audelay, A hymn of the Five Joys — six 8-line stanzas with burden:
‘Aue maria now say we so / Moder & maydon was neuer non
mo’
Number 1180-2
Number 1468-1
Number 1485-2
Number 5691-2
112. p. 461
1 This flower is fair and fresh of hueJohn Audelay, The Flower of Jesse, a song in praise of the Virgin Mary —
seven six-line stanzas (aaaabb) and burden: ‘There is a floure spr[u]ng of a tre /
The rote þerof is callid jesse / A floure of pryce / Þer is non seche in
paradise’
Number 2641-1
113. p. 461
2 In this time Christ hath us sentA Christmas carol — five quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Make we mery
in hall & bowr / Thys tyme was born owr savyower’
Number 3128-2
Number 3350-2
115. p. 462
2 Man have in mind how here beforeOf Divine Mercy — six quatrains (aaab) + burden (bb): ‘Aske
þou mercy whill þou may’, and burden (bb): ‘Man assay assay assay
/ and aske mercy quyls þat þu may’
Number 3412-1
116. p. 463
1 Mary flower of flowers allA Christmas carol — seven quatrains (aaab) including refrain,
‘Puer natus est nobis’, plus burden: ‘Now syng we wyth joy
and blys / Puer natus est nobis’
Number 702-1
Number 1320-2
Number 5477-1
Number 1486-2
120. p. 464
2 Gabriel that angel brightAnnunciation carol — five quatrains (aaab) including refrain,
‘Regina celi letare,’ plus burden (bb): Now synge we syng we
‘Regina celi letare’
Number 3-1
Number 6020-2
122. p. 465
1 To thee now Christs dear darlingHymn to St. John the Evangelist — four quatrains (abac) including
refrain, ‘Amice Christi Iohannes’, plus burden(dc): ‘Pray for
vs to the prince of peace / Amice Crysty Iohannes’
Number 204-2
123. p. 465
2 About the field they piped full rightThe Angels appearing to the Shepherds, a carol — seven quatrains (abab)
including refrain, ‘Terly terlow tirly terlow’, plus burden (bb):
‘Tyrly tirlow tirly terlow / So merily the sheperdis began to
blow’
Number 608-2
124. p. 465
3 As I lay upon a nightA carol of the Annunciation — five quatrains (aaab) including refrain,
‘Redemptoris mater’ plus burden (bb): ‘Now syng we all in
fere / Alma redemptoris mater’
Number 2481-2
125. p. 466
1 In Bethlehem that fair cityA Christmas carol — four quatrains each ending with a Latin line, and
burden: ‘To blys God bryng vs al & sum / Christe redemptor
omnium’
Number 5566-1
126. p. 466
2 There is a blossom sprung of a thornAn Epiphany carol — nine quatrains (aaab) with refrain, ‘Deo
Patri sit gloria’ and burden: ‘Alleluya alleluia / Deo Patri sit
gloria’
Number 5653-1
127. p. 467
1 This blessed babe that thou hast bornA carol of the Passion — five six line stanzas (aaaabb) including
refrain, ‘Mari moder cum and se / Thy swet son nayled on a tre’ plus burden
(bb): ‘Mary moder cum and se / Thy swet son nayled on a tre’
Number 4099-1
128. p. 467
2 O worthy Lord and most of mightA macaronic song to Christ — four quatrains (abab) with Latin
caudae and burden (bb): ‘Into this world now ys cum / Christe,
redemptor omnium’
Number 3379-1
129. p. 467
3 Man that in earth abides hereA song of the Host — three five-line stanzas with refrain
‘Mirabile’, plus burden (bb): ‘Mirabile misterium /
In forme of bred ys Godis son’
Number 3059-1
130. p. 468
1 Let no man come into this hallA carol of Christmas sports — three quatrains (aaab) and burden:
‘Make we mery bothe more & lasse / ffor now ys þe tyme of
crystymas’
Number 3081-1
Number 3413-2
Number 5459.4-1
133. pp. 469-470
The shepherd upon a hill he satThe song of Wat the Shepherd — ten 8-line stanzas (aaaabbbb; except 1st
stanza which has 9 lines, aaaaabbbb) with refrain, ‘For in hys pype he made so
mych joy’ and burden: ‘Can I not syng but hoy / Whan the joly sheperd made
so mych joy’
Number 1971-1
Number 2306-1
135. p. 471
I was born in a stall / Between beasts twoThe Story of Christ’s Sufferings — thirteen quatrains (abab) and
burden: ‘Shall I moder shall I / Shall I do soo / Shall I dye for mannys sake /
And I never synned thereto’
Number 5-2
136. p. 472
A babe is born our bliss to bringA dialogue between the Virgin Mary and her Child — eleven quatrains
(aaab) plus burden (cc): ‘Now synge we with angelis / Gloria in
excelsis’
Number 4930-1
137. p. 473
1 So blessed a sight it was to seeDialogue between the Virgin Mary and her Child — eight quatrains aaab and
six-line last stanza ababaa with refrain, ‘Myn own dere moder syng lulley’
and burden: ‘Lulley Jhesu lulley lulley / Myn own dere moder syng
lulley’
Number 5729.2-2
138. pp. 473
2-474
This lovely lady sat and sangDialogue between the Virgin Mary and her Child — seven l0-line stanzas
(ababccdeed) including refrain, ‘To syng by by lully lulley’ plus 7-line
burden (aaabccb): ‘This enders nyght / I sawe a sight / A sterre as bryght / As
any day / & euer a monge / A maydyn songe / Lylley by by lully
lulley’
Number 2309-1
139. p. 474
I was with pope and cardinalWell is he that has enough and can say, ‘Whoa!’ — four
quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Forsothe I hold hym well and withowt woo / That hath
ynowgh and can say whoo’
Number 6141-2
140. p. 475
1 Vices be wild and virtues lameA song on the Abuses of the Age — six quatrains (aaab) plus burden (bb):
‘God þat sittith in trinite / Amend this world yf thy will
be’
Number 1521-1
141. pp. 475
2-476
Glorious God had great pityA Christmas carol — six 7-line stanzas (aaabccb) plus burden:
‘Synge we with myrth ioye and solas / In honowr of this
cristemas’
Number 5652-1
142. p. 476
1 This babe to us that now is bornA Christmas carol — five six-line stanzas (ababcc) with three-line
refrain, ‘And thus it is / forsothe iwys / He askyth nouth but that is hys’
and burden: ‘Now may we syngyn as it is / Quod puer natus est
nobis’
Number 3113-1
Number 6402-1
144. p. 477
1 When Saint Stephen was at JerusalemA carol for St. Stephen’s Day — five quatrains with refrain
element, ‘…lapidauerunt stephanum’ and burden: ‘Nowe syng
we both all & sum / Lapidauerunt stephanum’
Number 5220-1
Number 1495-1
146. p. 478
1 Gaude to whom Gabriel was sentA song of the Five Joys — five quatrains (abab) and burden: ‘Gawde
for thy ioyes five / Mary moder maydyn & wyff’
Number 4261-1
147. p. 478
2 On Christs day I understandA song of Christ, an Ear of Wheat — five quatrains (aaab) and burden
(bb): ‘A blessid byrd as I you say / Þat dyed & rose on good
fryday’
Number 5821-1
148. pp. 478
3-479
Thou dearest disciple of Jesu ChristAn orison to St. John the Evangelist — five quatrains (aaab) with Latin
caudae and burden: ‘Pray for vs to the trinite / Johannes christi
care’
Number 2435-1
Number 1358-1
150. p. 479
2 For His love that bought us all dearA song of Christ the Fleur-de-lys — four quatrains including refrain,
‘can the flowr de lyce’ (aaab) plus burden (bb): ‘Synge we all for
tyme it is / Mary hath born the flowre-de-lice’
Number 2683-1
151. p. 480
1 Into this world this day did comeA song of the Nativity — four quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘I pray
you be mery & synge with me / In worship of cristys nativite’
Number 5952-3
152. p. 480
2 Tidings true there become newA song of the Annunciation — 4 stanzas, 1st and last with 6 lines (abbccc
and abcbdd), middle two with 8 lines (abcbdbeb) plus burden (ff): ‘Newell newell
newell newell / This ys þe salutacion of Gabryell’
Number 6423-1
153. p. 481
1 When that my sweet son was thirty winter oldA song of the Passion by the Virgin Mary — five monorhyming quatrains and
burden: ‘O my harte is woo mary she sayd so / For to se my dere son dye &
sonnes haue I no mo’
Number 5392-1
154. pp. 481
1-482
The Mass is of so high dignityAgainst swearing by the Mass — six quatrains (aaaa) and burden (bb):
‘Y concell yow both more and lasse / Beware of swerynge by the
masse’
Number 889-1
Number 2275-1
Number 3776-1
Number 766-1
158. p. 483
1 Be merry and suffer as I thee viseSuffer and be Merry — five quatrains (aaab) and 2-line burden (bb):
‘He is wise so most I goo / That can be mery & suffer woo’
Number 495-1
159. p. 483
2 An old sad saw unknown uncastCast not away thine Old for New — four 5-line stanzas (aaabb) including
refrain, ‘…elles most we drynk as we brew’, and burden (aa): ‘An
old sawe hath be fownd trewe…’
Number 6098-2
160. pp. 483
3-484
Under a forest that was so long‘Asay þi frend or þu haf nede’ — six quatrains
(abab) including refrain, ‘Asay a frend or þu haue nede’, plus burden
(bb): ‘Man be ware & wise in dede / & assay a frend or þou haue
nede’
Number 596-1
161. p. 484
1 As I came walking by the way / I saw a sight seemly to seeA song of the Angels appearing to the Shepherds — four 8-line stanzas
(ababbcbc) including a Latin refrain, ‘Veritas de terra orta est’
plus burden (cc): ‘Man move thy mynd and ioy this fest / Verytas de terra orta
est’
Number 5740-1
162. p. 484
2 This night there is a child bornA Christmas carol — four quatrains (aaab) with refrain, ‘Verbum
caro factum est’ and burden: ‘All this tyme this songe is best /
Verbum caro factum est’
Number 3400-2
163. p. 503
Many a man blames his wife pardieWomen will have their word — fourteen quatrains (aaab) including refrain,
‘In villa’ plus burden (b): ‘In villa In villa quid
vidistis in villa’
Number 2256-1
164. p. 504
1 I saw a dog seething souseA nonsense carol of ‘tall stories’ — seven quatrains (aaab)
and burden: ‘Hay hey hey hey / I will haue the whetston and I
may’
Number 997-1
Number 96-1
166. p. 505
A little tale I will you tellStrife in the house! a carol — fourteen quatrains (aaab) including
refrain, ‘At þe townys end’ plus burden (cc): ‘Alas sayd þe
gudman thi ys an hevy lyff / And all ys well þat endyth well said þe gud
wyff’
Number 2035-1
167. p. 506
1 Hogyn came to bowers doorOld Hogyn and his Girl Friend, a ribald lyric — six 6-line stanzas, with
refrain ‘Hum ha trill go bell’ in lines 4 and 6 of each stanza
Number 410-1
Number 4404-1
169. p. 506
3 Pride is out and pride is inA song against Pride — five quatrains (aaab) and burden (bb): ‘Man
be war er þu be wo /Þink on pride & let hym goo’
Number 2497-2
170. p. 507
1 In every place ye may well seeThe excellence (or not!) of women — ten quatrains (aaaa) with burden:
‘Of all creatures women be best / Cuius contrarium verum
est’
Number 4956-2
171. pp. 507
2-508
Some be merry and some be sadCarol on the different kinds of women — six 6-line stanzas (aaabccb)
including refrain, ‘Yet all be not so / For sum be lewde & sum be shrewed / Go
shrew wher so euer ye go’, and burden (dd): ‘Women women love of women /
Makeþ bare pursis wiþ sum men’.
Number 6384-2
Number 1957-1
Number 2039-1
174. pp. 509
2-510
Holly beareth berries red enoughHolly against Ivy — four monorhyming quatrains and burden: ‘Nay nay
ive it may not be iwis / For holy must haue the mastry as the maner
is’
Number 2696-1
175. p. 510
1 Is there any good man hereA Minstrel’s Greeting — six 8-line stanzas (aaabcccb) and 3-line
burden: ‘Bon jowre bon jowre a vous / I am cum vnto this hows / Vith par la pompe
I say’
Number 1501-1
176. pp. 510
2-511
Gentle butler belle amiFill the Bowl, Butler — five 5-line stanzas (aaabb) including refrain and
burden: ‘How butler how Bevis a towt / Fill the boll jentill butler & let the
cup rowght’
Number 2332-2
Number 3202-1