THE ROWLEY POEMS

by

Thomas Chatterton


BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE


The text of this edition of The Rowley Poems is taken
from a facsimile of the 3rd Tyrwhitt edition ( 1778),
edited and with an introduction by Maurice Hare,
published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1911.


EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION.


I. CHATTERTON'S LIFE AND DEATH AND THE GENESIS OF THE
ROWLEY POEMS.


THOMAS CHATTERTON was born in Bristol on the 20th of
November 1752. His father -- also Thomas -- dead three
months before his son's birth, had been a subchaunter
in Bristol Cathedral and had held the mastership in a
local free school. We are told that he was fond of
reading and music; that he made a collection of Roman
coins, and believed in magic (or so he said), studying
the black art in the pages of Cornelius Agrippa. With
all the self-acquired culture and learning that raised
him above his class (his father and grandfathers before
him for more than a hundred years had been sextons to
the church of St. Mary Redcliffe) he is described as a
dissipated, 'rather brutal fellow'. Lastly, he appears
to have been 'very proud', self-confident, and self-
reliant.

Of Chatterton's mother little need be said. Gentle and
rather foolish, she was devoted to her two children
Mary and, his sister's junior by two years, Thomas the
Poet. Of these Mary seems to have inherited the
colourless character of her mother; but Thomas must
always have been remarkable. We have the fullest
accounts of his childhood, and the details that might
with another set down as chronicles of the nursery will
be seen to have their importance in the case of this
boy who set himself consciously to be famous when he
was eight, wrote fine imaginative verse before he was
thirteen, and killed himself aged seventeen and nine
months.

Thomas, then, was a moody baby, a dull small boy who
knew few of his letters at four; and was superannuated
-- such was his impenetrability to learning -- at the
age of five from the school of which his father had
been master. He was moreover till the age of six and a
half so frequently subject to long fits of abstraction
and of apparently causeless crying that his mother and
grand mother feared for his reason and thought him 'an
absolute fool'. We are told also by his sister -- and
there is no incongruity in the two accounts -- that he
early displayed a taste for 'preheminence and would
preside over his playmates as their master and they his
hired servants'. At seven and a half he dissipated his
mother's fear that she had borne a fool by rapidly
learning to read in a great black-letter Bible; for
characteristically 'he objected to read in a small
book'. In a very short time from this he appears to
have devoured eagerly the contents of every volume he
could lay his hands on. He had a thirst for knowledge
at large -- for any kind of information; and as the
merest child read with a careless voracity books of
heraldry, history, astronomy, theology, and such other
subjects as would repel most children, and perhaps one
may say, most men. At the age of eight we hear of him
reading 'all day or as long as they would let him',
confident that he was going to be famous, and promising
his mother and sister 'a great deal of finery' for
their care of him when the day of his fame arrived.
Before he was nine he was nominated for Colston's
Hospital, a local school where the Bluecoat dress was
worn and at which the 'three Rs' were taught but very
little else, so that the boy, disappointed of the hope
of knowledge, complained he could work better at home.
To this period we should probably assign the delightful
story of Chatterton and a friendly potter who promised
to give him an earthenware bowl with what inscription
he pleased upon it -- such writing presumably intended
to be 'Tommy his bowl' or 'Tommy Chatterton'. 'Paint
me', said the small boy to the friendly potter, 'an
Angel with Wings and a Trumpet to trumpet my Name over
the World.'

At ten he was making progress in arithmetic, and it
should be mentioned that he 'occupied himself with
mechanical pursuits so that if anything was out of
order in the house he was set to mend it'. At school he
read during play hours and made few friends, but those
were 'solid fellows', his sister tells us; while at
home he had appropriated to himself a small attic where
he would read, write and draw pictures -- a number of
which are preserved in the British Museum -- of knights
and churches, and heraldic designs in red and yellow
ochre, charcoal, and black-lead. In this attic too he
had stored -- though at what date is uncertain -- a
number of writings on parchment which had a rather
singular history. In the muniment room of St. Mary
Redcliffe, the church in which Chatterton's ancestors
had served as sextons, there were six or seven great
oak chests, of which one, greater than the others and
secured by no fewer than six locks, was traditionally
called 'Canynges Cofre' after William Canynge the
younger, with whose name the erection and completion of
St. Mary's were especially associated. These had
contained deeds and papers dealing with parochial
matters and the affairs of the Church, but some years
before Chatterton's birth the Vestry had determined to
examine these documents, some of which may have been as
old as the building itself. The keys had in the course
of time been lost, and the vestrymen accordingly broke
open the chests and removed to another place what they
thought of value, leaving Canynge's Coffer and its
fellows gutted and open but by no means void of all
their ancient contents. Such parchments as remained
Chatterton's father carried away, whole armfuls at a
time, using some to cover his scholars' books and
giving others to his wife, who made them into thread-
papers and dress patterns.

In the house to which Mrs. Chatterton had moved upon
her husband's death there was still a sufficient number
of these old manuscripts to make a considerable trove
for the boy who, then nine or ten years old, had first
learnt to read in black-letter and was in a few years
to produce poetry which should pass for fifteenth
century with many well-reputed antiquaries. It was no
doubt on blank pieces of these parchments that he
inscribed the matter of the few Rowley documents which
he ever showed for originals. We have the account of a
certain Thistlethwaite, one of the 'solid lads' with
whom Chatterton had made friends at school, that his
friend Thomas in the summer of 1764 told him 'he was in
possession of some old MSS. which had been found
deposited in a chest in Redcliffe Church, and that he
had lent some or one of them to Thomas Phillips' -- an
usher at Colston's, an earnest and thoughtful man fond
of poetry, and a great friend of Chatterton's. 'Within
a day or two after this,' (Thistlethwaite wrote to Dean
Milles,) 'I saw Phillips . . . who produced a MS. on
parchment or vellum which I am confident was " Elenoure
and Juga" [1] a kind of pastoral eclogue afterwards
published in the Town and Country Magazine for May
1769. The parchment or vellum appeared to have been
closely pared round the margin for what purpose or by
what accident I know not... The writing was yellow and
pale manifestly as I conceive occasioned by age.'

This was the beginning of the Rowley fiction -- which
might be metaphorically described as a motley edifice,
half castle and half cathedral, to which Chatterton all
his life was continually adding columns and buttresses,
domes and  spires, pediments and minarets, in the shape
of more poems  by Thomas Rowley, (a secular priest of
St. John's, Bristol); or by his patron the munificent
William Canynge (many times Mayor of the same city), or
by Sir Thibbot Gorges, a knight of ancient family with
literary tastes; or by good Bishop Carpenter (of
Worcester) or John à Iscam (a Canon of St. Augustine's
Abbey, also in Bristol); together with plays or
portions of plays which they wrote -- a Saxon epic
translated -- accounts of Architecture -- songs and
eclogues -- and friendly letters in rhyme or prose. In
short, this clever imaginative lad had evolved before
he was sixteen such a mass of literary and quasi-
historical matter of one kind or another that his
fictitious circle of men of taste and learning (living
in the dark and unenlightened age of Lydgate and the
other tedious post-Chaucerians) may with study become
extraordinarily familiar and near to us, and was
certainly to Chatterton himself quite as real and vivid
as the dull actualities of Colston's Hospital and the
Bristol of his proper century.

Chatterton's own circle of acquaintance was far less
brilliant. His principal patrons were Henry Burgum and
George Catcott, a pair of pewterers, the former vulgar
and uneducated but very ambitious to be thought a man
of good birth and education, the latter a credulous,
selfish and none too scrupulous fellow, a would-be 
antiquary, of whom there is the most delightfully
absurd description in Boswell's Johnson. The biographer
relates that in the year 1776 Johnson and he were on a
visit to Bristol and were induced by Catcott to climb
the steep flight of stairs which led to the muniment
room in order to see the famous 'Rowley's Cofre'.
Whereupon, when the ascent had been accomplished,
Catcott 'called out with a triumphant air of lively
simplicity "I'll make Dr. Johnson a convert" (to the
view then still largely obtaining that Rowley's poems
were written in the fifteenth century) and he pointed
to the "Wondrous chest"."There" said he with a bouncing
confident credulity "There is the very chest itself"!'
After which 'ocular demonstration', Boswell remarks,
'there was no more to be said.' It was to such men as
these that Chatterton read his 'Rouleie's' poems.
Another of his audience was Mr. Barrett, a surgeon, who
collected materials for a history of Bristol, which,
when published after the boy-poet's death, was found to
contain contributions (supplied by Chatterton) in the
unmistakable and unique 'Rowleian' language -- valuable
evidence about old Bristol miraculously preserved in
Rowley's chest.

We hear also of Michael Clayfield, a distiller, one of
the very few men in Bristol whom Chatterton admired and
respected; of Baker, the poet's bedfellow at Colston's,
for whom Chatterton wrote love poems, as Cyrano de
Bergerac did for Christian de Neuvillette, to the
address of a certain Miss Hoyland -- thin, conventional
silly stuff, but Roxane was probably not very critical;
of Catcott's brother, the Rev. A. Catcott, who had a
fine library and was the author of a treatise on the
Deluge; of Smith, a schoolfellow; of Palmer an
engraver, and a number of others -- mere names for the
most part. Baker, Thistlethwaite and a few more were
contemporaries of the poet, but the rest of the circle
consisted mainly of men who had reached middle age --
dullards, perhaps, who condescended to clever
adolescence, whom Chatterton certainly mocked bitterly
enough in satires which he wrote apparently for his own
private satisfaction, but whom he nevertheless took
considerable pains to conciliate as being men of
substance who could lend books and now and then reward
the Muse with five shillings. For Burgum the poet
invented, and pretended to derive from numerous
authorities (some of which are wholly imaginary), a
magnificent pedigree showing him descended from a Simon
de Seyncte Lyse alias Senliz Earl of Northampton who
had come over with the Conqueror. To this he appended a
portion of a poem not included in this edition,
entitled the 'Romaunte of the Cnyghte', composed by
John de Bergham about A.D. 1320. It was some years
before Mr. Burgum applied to the College of Heralds to
have his pedigree ratified, but when he did so he was
informed that there had never been a de Bergham
entitled to bear arms.

With a second instalment of the genealogical table were
copies of the poems called The Tournament and The
Gouler's (i. e. Usurer's) Requiem, which are printed in
this volume. Mr. Burgum was completely taken in, and,
exulting in his new-found dignity, acknowledged the
announcement of his splendid birth with a present of
five shillings. It is worthy of notice that the
pedigree made mention of a certain Radcliffe Chatterton
de Chatterton, but Burgum's suspicions were not aroused
by the circumstance.

In July 1765, that is to say when the boy was aged
about 13, the authorities of Colston's Hospital
apprenticed him to John Lambert, a Bristol attorney. He
had chosen the calling himself, but it was not long
before the life became intolerable to him. It was
arranged that he should board with Lambert, and the
attorney made him share a bedroom with the foot-boy and
eat his meals in the kitchen. Further, though his
sister has recorded that the work was light, the
practice being inconsiderable, Lambert always tore up
any writing of Chatterton's that he could find if it
did not relate to his business. 'Your stuff!' he would
say. Nevertheless he admitted that his apprentice was
always to be found at his desk, for he often sent the
footman in to see. And no doubt on some of these 
occasions Chatterton was copying the legal precedents
of which 370 folio pages, neatly written in a well-
formed handwriting, remain to this day as evidence of
legitimate industry. At other times he was certainly
composing poems by Rowley.

Perhaps at this point it would be well to give some
account of Chatterton's method in the production of
ancient writings. First it seems he wrote the matter in
the ordinary English of his day. Then he would with the
help of an English-Rowley and Rowley-English Dictionary
(which he had laboriously compiled for himself out of
the vocabulary to Speght's Chaucer, Bailey's Universal
Etymological Dictionary, and Kersey's Dictionarium
Anglo-Britannicum) translate the work into what he
probably thought was a very fair imitation of fifteenth
century language. His spelling Professor Skeat
characterizes as 'that debased kind which prevails in
Chevy Chase and the Battle of Otterbourn in Percy's
Reliques, only a little more disguised.' Percy's
Reliques were not published till 1765, but it is
natural to suppose that Chatterton when he was 'wildly
squandering all he got On books and learning and the
Lord knows what', and thereby involving himself in some
little debt, would have bought the volume very soon
after its publication. Finally as to the production of
'an original'. We have two accounts; one of which
represents the pseudo-Rowley rubbing a parchment upon a
dirty floor after smearing it with ochre and saying
'that was the way to antiquate it'; the other, even
more explicit, is the testimony of a local chemist, one
Rudhall, who was for some time a close friend of
Chatterton's. The incident in which Rudhall appears is
worth relating at length.

In the month of September 1768 an event of some
importance occurred at Bristol -- a new bridge that had
been built across the Avon to supersede a structure
dating from the reign of the second Henry being
formally thrown open for traffic. At the time when this
was the general talk of the city Chatterton had left
with the editor of Felix Farley's Bristol Journal a
description of the 'Fryars passing over the Old Bridge
taken from an ancient manuscript'. This account was in
the best Rowleian manner, with strange spelling and
uncouth words, but for the most part quite intelligible
to the ordinary reader. The editor accordingly
published it (no payment being asked) and great
curiosity was aroused in consequence, Where had this
most interesting document come from? Were there others
like it? The Bristol antiquaries, rather a large body,
were all agog with excitement. Ultimately they
discovered that the unknown contributor, of whom the
editor could say nothing more than that his 'copy' was
subscribed Dunelmus Bristoliensis, was Thomas
Chatterton the attorney's apprentice. Now the amazing
credulity of these learned people is one of the least
comprehensible circumstances of our poet's strange
life. For on being asked how he had come by his MSS. he
refused at first to give any answer. Then he said he
was employed to transcribe some old writings by 'a
gentleman whom he had supplied with poetry to send to a
lady the gentleman was in love with' -- the excuse
being suggested no doubt by the case of Miss Hoyland
and his friend Baker. Finally when, as we can only
conclude, this explanation was disproved or
disbelieved, he announced that the account was copied
from a manuscript his father had taken from Rowley's
chest. And this explanation was considered perfectly
satisfactory.

Yet it seemed obvious that the antiquaries would demand
to see the manuscript, and Chatterton, contrary to his
usual practice of secrecy, called upon his friend
Rudhall and, having made him promise to tell nothing of
what he should show him, took a piece of parchment
'about the size of a half sheet of foolscap paper',
wrote on it in a character which the other did not
understand, for it was 'totally unlike English', and
finally held what he had written over a candle to give
it the 'appearance of antiquity', which it did by
changing the colour of the ink and making the parchment
appear 'black and a little contracted'. Rudhall, who
kept his secret till 1779 (when he bartered it for 10,
to be given to the poet's mother, at that time in great
poverty), believed that no one was shown or asked to
see this document. Why, it is impossible to say.

The present volume contains a reproduction [2] in black
and white of the original MS. of Chatterton's 'Accounte
of W. Canynges Feast'. This was written in red ink. The
parchment is stained with brown, except one corner, and
the first line written in a legal texting hand. The
ageing of his manuscript of the Vita Burtoni, to take a
further instance, was effected by smearing the middle
of it with glue or varnish. This document was also
written partly in an attorney's regular engrossing [3]
hand. During the next four years Chatterton
'transcribed' a great quantity of ancient documents,
including Ælla, a Tragycal Enterlude -- far the finest
of the longer Rowleian poems -- the Songe to Ælla and
The Bristowe Tragedy (the authorship of which last he
appears in an unguarded moment to have acknowledged to
his mother). He told her also that he had himself
written one of the two poems Onn oure Ladies Chyrche --
which one, Mrs. Chatterton could not remember [4], but
if it was the first of the two printed in this edition
it was a strange coincidence indeed that led him to
repudiate the antiquity of the only two Rowley poems
which are really at all like 'antiques'-- Professor
Skeat's convenient expression. The two Battles of
Hastings were written during this period, and it
appears that Barrett the surgeon, on being shown the
first poem, was for once very insistent in asking for
the original, whereupon Chatterton in a momentary panic
confessed he had written the verses for a friend; but
he had at home, he said, the copy of what was really
the translation of Turgot's Epic -- Turgot was a Saxon
monk of the tenth century -- by Rowley the secular
priest of the fifteenth. This was the second Battle of
Hastings as printed in this book. Again this strange
explanation, so laboured and so patently disingenuous,
was accepted without comment though probably not
believed. And if it appears matter for surprise that
there should ever have been any controversy about the
authorship of the Rowley writings, in view of the lad's
admission that he had written three such signal pieces
as the Bristowe Tragedy, the first Battle of Hastings,
and Onn oure Ladies Chyrche, it must be considered that
the production of the greater part of the poems by a
poorly educated boy not turned seventeen would
naturally appear a circumstance more surprising than
that such a boy should tell a lie and claim some of
them as his own.

With his acknowledged work, as with Rowley, Chatterton
by dint of continued application was making good
progress. In 1769 he had become a frequent contributor
to the Town and Country Magazine, to which he sent
articles on heraldry, imitations of Ossian (whom he
very much admired) and various other papers; and in
December of this year he wrote to Dodsley, the well-
known publisher, acquainting him that he could 'procure
copies of several ancient poems and an interlude,
perhaps the oldest dramatic piece extant, wrote by one
Rowley, a Priest in Bristol, who lived in the reign of
Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth * * * If these 
pieces would be of any service to Mr. Dodsley copies
should be sent.' The publisher returned no answer.
Chatterton waited two months, then wrote again and
enclosed a specimen passage from Ælla. He could procure
a copy of this work, he wrote, upon payment of a guinea
to the present owner of the MS. Again Mr. Dodsley lay
low and said nothing, and so the incident closed.

Dodsley having failed him, Chatterton next took the
bolder step of writing to Horace Walpole, who must have
been much in his mind for some years before his sending
the letter. Some one has made the ingenious suggestion
that a consideration of Walpole's delicate
connoisseurship sensibly coloured Chatterton's account
of the life of Mastre William Canynge. More than this,
his delight in the Mediaeval -- the Gothic -- and his
content with what may be termed a purely
impressionistic view of the past, was singularly akin
to the Bristol poet's own outlook on these matters.
Walpole had further some three years before this time
indulged in the very harmless literary fraud of
publishing his Castle of Otranto as a translation from
a mediaeval Italian MS., only confessing his own
authorship upon the publication of the second edition.
To Walpole then Chatterton addressed a short letter
enclosing some verses by John à Iscam and a manuscript
on the Ryse of Peyncteyning yn Englande wroten by T.
Rowleie 1469 for Mastre Canynge [5] with the suggestion
that it might be of service to Mr. Walpole 'in any
future edition of his truly entertaining anecdotes of
painting'. This drew from the connoisseur one of the
politest letters [6] that have been written in English,
in which the simple and elegant sentences expressed
with a very charming courtesy the interest and
curiosity of its author. He gave his correspondent 'a
thousand thanks'; 'he would not be sorry to print ' (at
his private press) 'some of Rowley's poems'; and added
-- which reads strangely in the light of what follows -
- 'I would by no means borrow and detain your MS.' Now
Chatterton's Peyncteyning yn Englande is the clumsiest
fraud of all the Rowley compositions, with the single
exception of a letter from the secular Priest which
exhibits the exact style and language of de Foe's
Robinson Crusoe.[7] Professor Skeat has pointed out
that the Anglo-Saxon words, which occur with tolerable
frequency in the Ryse, begin almost without exception
with the letter A, and concludes that Chatterton had
read in an old English glossary, probably Somners, no
farther than Ah. Walpole however 'had not the happiness
of understanding the Saxon language,' and it was not
until after he had received a second letter from
Chatterton, enclosing more Rowleian matter both prose
and verse, that he consulted his friends Gray and
Mason, who at once detected the forgery. If, as seems
certain, Elinoure and Juga was among the pieces sent,
it was inevitable that Gray should recognize lines 22-
25 of that poem as a striking if unconscious
reminiscence of his own Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
Now Walpole had some years before introduced Ossian's
poems to the world and his reputation as a critic had
suffered when their authenticity was generally
disputed. Accordingly he wrote Chatterton a stiff
letter suggesting that 'when he should have made a
fortune he might unbend himself with the studies
consonant to his inclination'; and in this one must
suppose that he was actuated by a very natural
irritation at having been duped a second time by an
expositor of antique poetry, rather than by any
snobbish contempt for his correspondent, who had
frankly confessed himself an attorney's apprentice.
Chatterton then wrote twice to have his MS. returned,
asserting at the same time his confidence in the
authenticity of the Rowley documents. Walpole for some
reason returned no answer to either application, but
left for Paris, where he stayed six weeks, returning to
find another letter from Chatterton written with
considerable dignity and restraint -- a last formal
demand to have his manuscript returned. Where upon,
amazed at the boy's 'singular impertinence', the great
man snapped up both letters and poems and returned them
in a blank cover -- that is to say without a word of
apology or explanation. He might have acted otherwise
if he had been a more generous spirit, but an attempt
had been made to impose upon him which had in part
succeeded, and he can hardly be blamed for showing his
resentment by neglecting to return the forgeries. One
may notice in passing that when Chatterton, more than a
year later, committed suicide there were not wanting a
great many persons absurd enough to accuse Walpole of
having driven him to his death -- a contemptible
suggestion. Yet the connoisseur's credit certainly
suffers from the fact that he gave currency to a false
account of the transaction in the hope of concealing
his first credulity. [8]

We now come to the circumstance which procured
Chatterton's release from his irksome apprenticeship --
his threat of suicide. He had often been heard to speak
approvingly of suicide, and there is a story, which
has, however, little authority, that once in a company
of friends he drew a pistol from his pocket, put it to
his head, and exclaimed 'Now if one had but the courage
to pull the trigger!' This anecdote -- if not in fact
true -- illustrates very well the gloomy depression of
spirit which alternated with those outbursts of
feverish energy in which his poems were composed. And
he had much to make him miserable when with a change of
mood he lost his buoyancy and confidence of ultimate
fame and success. His ambition was boundless and his
audience was as limited in numbers as in understanding.
He was as proud as the poor Spaniard who on a bitter
day rejected the friendly offer of a cloak with the
words 'A gentleman does not feel the cold', and his
pride was continually fretted. He was keenly conscious
of the indignity of his position in Lambert's kitchen;
he seems to have been pressed for money, and though he
'did not owe five pounds altogether' he probably
smarted under the thought that all his hard work, all
the long nights of study and composition in the
moonlight which helped his thought, could not earn him
even this comparatively small sum. Again, he was not
restrained from a contemplation of suicide by any
scruples of religion -- for he has left his views
expressed in an article written some few days before
his death. He believed in a daemon or conscience which
prompted every man to follow good and avoid evil; but -
- different men different daemons -- his held self-
slaughter justified when life became intolerable; with
him therefore it would be no crime. Wilson suggests too
that the boy who had read theology, orthodox and the
reverse, held to the common eighteenth century view
that death was annihilation; and this may well have
been the case. One thing at any rate is certain, that
Chatterton on the 14th of April 1770 left on his desk a
number of pieces of paper filled with a jumble of
satiric verse, mocking prose, and directions for the
construction of a mediaeval tomb to cover the remains
of his father and himself. Part of this strange
document was headed in legal form -- 'This is the last
Will and Testament of me Thomas Chatterton', and
contained the declaration that the Testator would be
dead on the evening of the following day -- 'being the
feast of the resurrection'. The bundle was dated and
endorsed 'All this wrote between 11 and 2 o'clock
Saturday in the utmost distress of mind'. Now while one
need not doubt that the distress was perfectly genuine,
it is tolerably certain that Chatterton intended his
master to find what he had written and draw his own
conclusions as to the desirability of dismissing his
apprentice. The attorney (who is represented as timid,
irritable, and narrow-minded)[9] did in fact find the
document, was thoroughly frightened, and gave the boy
his release. He was now free to starve or earn a living
by his pen -- so no doubt he represented the
alternative to his mother. He must go to London, where
he would certainly make his fortune. He had been
supplying four or five London journals of good standing
with free contributions for some time past, and had
received it appears great encouragement from their
editors. He gained his point and started out for the
great city.

His letters show that he called upon four editors the
very day he arrived. These were Edmunds of the
Middlesex Journal; Fell of the Freeholder's Magazine;
Hamilton of the Town and Country Magazine; and Dodsley
-- the same to whom he had sent a portion of Ælla -- of
the Annual Register. He had received, he wrote, 'great
encouragement from them all';  'all approved of his
design; he should soon be settled.' Fell told him later
that the great and notorious Wilkes 'affirmed that his
writings could not be the work of a youth, and
expressed a desire to know the author'. This may or may
not have been true, but it is certain that Fell was not
the only newspaper proprietor who was ready to exchange
a little cheap flattery for articles by Chatterton that
would never be paid for.[10]

We know very little about Chatterton's life in London 
-- but that little presents some extraordinarily vivid
pictures. He lodged at first with an aunt, Mrs.
Ballance, in Shoreditch, where he refused to allow his
room to be swept, as he said 'poets hated brooms'. He
objected to being called Tommy, and asked his aunt 'If
she had ever heard of a poet's being called Tommy' (you
see he was still a boy). 'But she assured him that she
knew nothing about poets and only wished he would not
set up for being a gentleman.' He had the appearance of
being much older than he was, (though one who knew him
when he was at Colston's Hospital described him as
having light curly hair and a face round as an apple;
his eyes were grey and sparkled when he was interested
or moved). He was 'very much himself' -- an admirably
expressive phrase. He had the same fits of absent-
mindedness which characterized him as a child. 'He
would often look stedfastly in a person's face without
speaking or seeming to see the person for a quarter of
an hour or more till it was quite frightful.' We have
accounts of his sitting up writing nearly the whole of
the night, and his cousin was almost afraid to share a
room with him 'for to be sure he was a spirit and never
slept'.

He wrote political letters in the style of Junius --
generally signing them Decimus or Probus -- that kind
of vague libellous ranting which will always serve to
voice the discontent of the inarticulate. He wrote
essays -- moral, antiquarian, or burlesque; he
furbished up his old satires on the worthies of
Bristol; he wrote songs and a comic opera, and was
miserably paid when he was paid at all. None of his
work written in these veins has any value as
literature; but the skill with which this mere lad not
eighteen years old gauged the taste of the town and
imitated all branches of popular literature would
probably have no parallel in the history of journalism
should such a history ever come to be written.

His letters to his mother and sister were always gay
and contained glowing accounts of his progress; but in
reality he must have been miserably poor and ill-fed.

In July he changed his lodgings to the house of a Mrs.
Angel, a sacque maker in Brook Street, Holborn; the
dead season of August was coming on and probably he
wanted to conceal his growing embarrassment from his
aunt, who might have sent word of it to his mother at
Bristol.

His opera was accepted -- it is a spirited and well
written piece -- and for this he was paid five pounds,
which enabled him to send a box of presents to his
mother and sister bought with money he had earned. He
had dreamed of this since he was eight. But his Balade
of Charitie -- the most finished of all the Rowley
poems -- was refused by the Town and Country Magazine
about a month before the end; which came on August
24th. He was starving and still too proud to accept the
invitations of his landlady and of a friendly chemist
to take various meals with them. He was offended at the
good landlady's suggestion that he should dine with
her; for 'her expressions seemed to hint' (to hint)
'that he was in want' -- no cloak for Thomas
Chatterton! He could have borrowed money and gone back
to Bristol, but there are many precedents for beaten
generalissimos falling on their swords rather than
return home defeated and disgraced. How could he
return? He had set out so confidently; had boasted not
a little of his powers, and had satirized all the good
people in Bristol de haut en bas. Think of the jokes
and commiserations of Burgum, Catcott, and the rest!
'Well, here you are again, boy; but of course we knew
it would come to this!' He could not endure to hear
that.

Accordingly on Friday the 24th August 1770 he tore up
his manuscripts, locked his door, and poisoned himself
with arsenic.

Southey, Byron, and others have supposed that
Chatterton was mad; it has been suggested that he was
the victim of a suicidal mania. All the evidence that
there is goes to show that he was not. He was very far-
sighted, shrewd, hard-working, and practical, for all
his imaginative dreaming of a non-existent past; and
this at least may be said, that Chatterton's suicide
was the logical end to a very remarkably consistent
life.

Chatterton's character has suffered a good deal from
three accusations vehemently urged by Maitland and his
eighteenth-century predecessors. The first is that the
boy was a 'forger'; the second that he was a free
thinker; the third that he was a free-liver.

To examine these in turn: the first admits of no denial
as a question of fact, but justification may be pleaded
which some will accept as a complete exculpation and
others perhaps will hardly comprehend.

Chatterton could only produce poetry in his fifteenth-
century vein; his imagination failed him in modern
English. No one who has any appreciation of Rowley's
poems will consider that the African Eclogues are for a
moment comparable with them. If he was to write at all
he must produce antiques, and, as it happened, interest
had been aroused in ancient poetry, largely by the
publication of Percy's Reliques and of the spurious
Ossian. Appearing at this juncture, then, as ancient
writings taken from an old chest, his poems would be
read and their value appreciated; while no one would
trouble to make out the professed imitations -- not by
any means easy reading -- of an attorney's apprentice.
Probably if an adequate audience had been secured in
his lifetime, Chatterton would have revealed the secret
when it had served its purpose -- just as Walpole
confessed to the authorship of Otranto only when that
book had run into a second edition.

To the second count of the indictment no defence is
urged. Chatterton was too honest and too intelligent to
accept traditional dogmatics without examination.

Finally, he was no free-liver in the sense in which
that objectionable expression is used. Rather he was an
ascetic who studied and wrote poetry half through the
night, who ate as little as he slept, and would make
his dinner off 'a tart and a glass of water'. He was
devoted to his mother and sister and to his poetry; and
what spare time was not occupied with the latter he
seems to have spent largely with the former. The
attempt to represent him as a sort of provincial Don
Juan -- though in the precocious licence of a few of
his acknowledged writings he has even given it some
colour himself -- cannot be reconciled with the
recorded facts of his life.

Equally ill judged is that picture which is presented
by Professor Masson and other writers less important --
of a truant schoolboy, a pathetic figure, who had
petulantly cast away from him the consolations of
religion. Monsieur Callet, his French biographer, knew
better than this: 'Il fallait l'admirer, lui, non le
plaindre', is the last word on Chatterton.


II. THE VALUE OF ROWLEY'S POEMS -- PHILOLOGICAL AND
LITERARY.


As imitations of fifteenth-century composition it must
be confessed the Rowley poems have very little value.
Of Chatterton's method of antiquating something has
already been said. He made himself an antique lexicon
out of the glossary to Speght's Chaucer, and such words
as were marked with a capital O, standing for
('obsolete,') in the Dictionaries of Kersey and Bailey.
Now even had his authorities been well informed, which
they were not by any means, and had Chatterton never
misread or misunderstood them, which he very frequently
did, it was impossible that his work should have been
anything better than a mosaic of curious old words of
every period and any dialect. Old English, Middle
English, and Elizabethan English, South of England
folk-words or Scots phrases taken from the border
ballads -- all were grist for Rowley's mill. It is only
fair to say that he seldom invented a word outright,
but he altered and modified with a free hand. Professor
Skeat indeed estimates that of the words contained in
Milles' Glossary to the Rowley Poems only seven per
cent. are genuine old words correctly used. The
Professor in his modernized edition is continually
pointing out with kindly reluctance that such and such
a word never bore the meaning ascribed to it -- that
because, for instance, Bailey had explained Teres major
as a smooth muscle of the arm it was not therefore any
legitimate inference of Chatterton's that tere
(singular form) meant a muscle and could be translated
'health'. Only occasionally does one find the note
(written with an obviously sincere pleasure) 'This word
is correctly used'. Of course it was impossible that
Chatterton should have produced even a colourable
imitation of fifteenth-century poetry at a time when
even Malone -- for all his acknowledged reputation as
an English Scholar -- could not quote Chaucer so as to
make his lines scan. The Rowley Poems and Percy's
Reliques mark the beginning of that renascence of our
older poetry so conspicuous in the time of Lamb and
Hazlitt. Before this epoch was the Augustan age, much
too well satisfied with its own literature to concern
itself with an unfashionable past.

But, after all, however absurd from any historical
point of view the language and metres of the boy-poet
may be, at least he invented a practicable language
which admirably conveyed his impression of the latest
period of the middle ages -- that after-glow which
began with the death of Chaucer. Chatterton's  poetry
is a pageant staged by an impressionist. It cannot be
submitted to a close examination, and it is all wrong
historically, yet it presents a complete picture with
an artistic charm that must be judged on its own
merits. An illusion is successfully conveyed of a dim
remote age when an idle-strenuous people lived only to
be picturesque, to kill one another in tourneys, to
rear with painful labour beautiful elaborate
cathedrals, and yet had so much time on their hands
that they could pass half their lives cracking
unhallowed sconces in the Holy Land and, in that part
of their ample leisure which they devoted to study,
spell 'flourishes' as 'Florryschethe'. But if any one
still anxious for literal truth should insist --'Is not
the impression as false as the medium that conveys it?
Were the middle ages really like that? Is it not a fact
that the average baron stayed at home in his castle
devising abominable schemes to wring money or its
equivalent from miserable and half-starved peasants?'--
such a one can only be answered with another question:
'Is Pierrot like a man, and has it been put beyond
question that Pontius Pilate was hanged for beating his
wife?' The Rowley writings are -- properly considered -
- entirely fanciful and unreal. They have many faults,
but are seen at their worst when Chatterton is trying
to exhibit some eternal truth. There is a horrible (but
perfectly natural) didacticism -- the inevitable
priggishness of a clever boy -- which occasionally
intrudes itself on his best work. Thus that charming
fanciful fragment which begins --

As onn a hylle one eve sittynge
At oure Ladie's Chyrche mouche wonderynge

embodies this truism fit for a bread-platter -- or to
be the 'Posy of a ring' -- 'Do your best'.

Canynges and Gaunts culde doe ne moe.

And the poet's boyishness demands still further
consideration. He has a crude violence of expression
which is apt to shock the mature person -- some of the
descriptions of wounds in the two Battles of Hastings
would sicken a butcher; while in another vein such a
phrase as

Hee thoughte ytt proper for to cheese a wyf;
And use the sexes for the purpose gevene.
(Storie of William Canynge)

has an absurd affectation of straightforward good sense
divested of sentiment which could not appeal to any one
on a higher plane of civilization than a medical
student.

And this is easily explicable if only it is borne in
mind that the Rowley poems were written by a boy, and
that such lovely things as the Dirge in Ælla suggest a
maturity that Chatterton did not by any means perfectly
possess. In some respects he was as childish (to use
the word in no contemptuous sense) as in others he was
precocious. And it is a thousand pities that the
difficulties of Chatterton's language and the peculiar
charm and invention of his metrical technique cannot be
appreciated till the boyish love of adventure, delight
in imagined bloodshed, and ignorance of sentimental
love, have generally been left behind. Nothing -- to
give an example -- could be more frigid than the
description of Kennewalcha --

White as the chaulkie clyffes of Brittaines isle,
Red as the highest colour'd Gallic wine

(an unthinkable study in burgundy and whitewash, Battle
of Hastings, II, 401); nothing, on the other hand, more
vivid, more obviously written with a pen that shook
with excitement, than

The Sarasen lokes owte: he doethe feere, &c.
(Eclogue the Second, 23.)

Soe wylle wee beere the Dacyanne armie down;
And throughe a storme of blodde wyll reache the
champyon crowne.
(Ælla, 631.)

Loverdes, how doughtilie the tylterrs joyne!
(Tournament, 92.)

In fine, there is no poet, one may boldly declare,
whose pages are so filled with battle, murder and
sudden death, as Chatterton's are; and this is perhaps
the clearest indication he gives of immaturity.

But if his ideas were sometimes crude and boyish they
were not by any means always so; he has flashes of
genius, sudden beauties that take away the breath. A
better example than this of what is called the sublime
could not be found:

See! the whyte moone sheenes onne hie;
Whyterre ys mie true loves shroude;
Whyterre yanne the mornynge skie,
Whyterre yanne the evenynge cloude.
(Ælla, 872.)

and, from the Songe bie a Manne and Womanne,

I heare them from eche grene wode tree,
Chauntynge owte so blatauntlie,
Tellynge lecturnyes to mee,
Myscheefe ys whanne you are nygh.
(Ælla, 107.)

Did ever shepherd's pipe play a prettier tune?

He has some fine martial sounds, as for instance:

Howel ap Jevah came from Matraval
(Battle of Hastings, I, 181.)

He rarely employs personifications, but no poet used
the figure more convincingly. The third Mynstrelle's
description of Autumn is a lovely thing, and one will
not easily forget his Winter's frozen blue eyes --
though unfortunately that is not in Rowley.

His art was essentially dramatic, and he has some fine
dramatic moments, as for example when the Usurer
soliloquizing miserably on his certain ultimate
damnation suddenly cries out

O storthe unto mie mynde! I goe to helle.
(Gouler's Requiem.)

The word 'storthe' is a good example of Chatterton's
use of strange words. The effect of a sudden outcry
which it produces would be lost in a modernized version
which rendered it 'death'.

Mr. Watts-Dunton in his article on Chatterton in Ward's
English Poets speaks of his extraordinary metrical
inventiveness and of his ultimate responsibility for
such lines as these --

And Christabel saw the lady's eye
And nothing else she saw thereby
Save the boss of the shield of Sir Leoline tall
Which hung in a murky old niche in the wall --

the anapaestic dance of which breaks in upon the normal
iambic movement of the poem with a natural dramatic
propriety. He compares too The Eve of St. Agnes with
the Excelente Balade of Charitie, remarking that it was
only in his latest work that Keats attained to that
dramatic objectivity which was 'the very core and
centre of Chatterton's genius'.

Another writer, Mr. Thomas Seccombe, speaks of his
'genuine lyric fire, a poetic energy, and above all an
intensity remote from his contemporaries and suggestive
(Cimabue is his antique and primitive manner is
suggestive of Giotto and Angelico) of Shelley and
Keats. '

Chatterton's influence on the great body of poets of
the generation succeeding his own was very considerable
-- Mr. Watts-Dunton indeed declares him to have been
the father of the New Romantic School -- and the
affection with which Keats, Coleridge, Wordsworth and
many others regarded him was extraordinary. He was
their pioneer, who had lost his life in a heroic
attempt to penetrate the dull crassness of the mid-
eighteenth century.

He had great originality and the gift of an intense
imagination. If he is sometimes crude and immature in
thought and expression -- if his images sometimes weary
by their monotony -- it is accepted that a poet is to
be judged by his highest and not his lowest; and
Chatterton's best work has an inspiration; a singular
and unique charm both of thought and of music that is
of the first order of English poetry.


III. BIBLIOGRAPHY.


A great deal more has been written about Chatterton
than it is worth anybody's while to read. To begin
with, there are all the volumes and pamphlets
concerning themselves with the question whether the
Rowley poems were written by Chatterton or by Rowley,
or by both (Chatterton adding matter of his own to
existing poems written in the fifteenth century), or by
neither. It may be said that these problems were not
conclusively and finally solved till Professor Skeat
brought out his edition of Chatterton in 1871.

Then again there are the various lives of the poet; for
the most part mere random aggregations of such facts,
true or imagined, as fell in the editor's way, filled
out with pulpit commonplaces and easy paragraphs
beginning 'But it is ever the way of Genius . . .'.
Professor Wilson's Chatterton: a Biographical Study is
as final in its own way as Professor Skeat's two
volumes. It is a scholarly compilation of all previous
accounts, very well digested and arranged. Moreover,
the Professor has for the most part left the facts to
tell their own story; and thus his book is free from
such absurdities as the sentimental regrets of Gregory
and Professor Masson that Chatterton was led into a
course of folly ending in suicide through being
deprived of a father's care. Such a father as
Chatterton's was!

While premising that any one who wishes to learn the
facts of the boy-poet's life -- his circumstances and
surroundings -- can find them all set forth in
Professor Wilson's book: while equally if he is
interested in the pseudo-Rowley's language,
philologically considered, he will find this
elaborately examined in Professor Skeat's second
volume; it has been thought that the following
bibliography of books dealing with various aspects of
the poet which were read and valued in their day may be
found of interest to students of literary history.


1598. Speght's edition of Chaucer, the glossary of
which Chatterton used in the compilation of his Rowley
Dictionary.

1708. Kersey's Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum, and
1737. Bailey's Universal Etymological Dictionary. (8th
Enlarged Edition.) Bailey is largely copied from
Kersey, but Chatterton certainly used both dictionaries
in making his antique language.

1777. Tyrwhitt's edition of the Rowley poems. Tyrwhitt
was Chatterton's first editor and in his edition many
of the poems were printed for the first time. 'The only
really good edition is Tyrwhitt's.' 'This exhibits a
careful and, I believe, extremely accurate text . . .
an excellent account of the MSS. and transcripts from
which it was derived. It is a fortunate circumstance
that the first editor was so thoroughly competent.'
(Professor Skeat, Introd. to Vol. II of his 1871
edition.)

1778. Tyrwhitt's third edition, from which the present
edition is printed. With this was printed for the first
time 'An appendix. . . tending to prove that the Rowley
poems were written not by any ancient author but
entirely by Thomas Chatterton'.

1780. Love and Madness by Sir Herbert Croft. This
strange book deserves a brief description as it is the
source of almost all our knowledge of Chatterton.

A certain Captain Hackman, violently in love with a
Miss Reay, mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, and stung
to madness by his jealousy and the hopelessness of his
position, had in 1779 shot her in the Covent Garden
Opera House and afterwards unsuccessfully attempted to
shoot himself. Enormous public interest was excited,
and Croft -- baronet, parson, and literary adventurer -
- got hold of copies which Hackman had kept of some
letters he had sent to the charming Miss Reay. These he
published as a sensational topical novel in epistolary
form, calling it Love and Madness. This is quite worth 
reading for its own sake, but much more so for its 49th
letter, which purports to have been written by Hackman
to satisfy Miss Reay's curiosity about Chatterton. As a
matter of fact Croft, who had been very interested in
the boy-poet and had collected from his relations and
those with whom he had lodged in London all they could
possibly tell him, wrote the letter himself and
included it rather inartistically among the genuine
Hackman-Reay correspondence. Amongst other valuable
matter, this letter 49 contains a long account of her
brother by Mary Chatterton. -- (See Love letters of Mr.
Hackman and Miss Reay, 1775-79, introduction by Gilbert
Burgess; Heinemann, 1895.)

1774-81. Warton's History of English Poetry, in Volume
II of which there is an account of Chatterton.

1781. Jacob Bryant's Observations upon the Poems of T.
Rowley in which the authenticity of those poems is
ascertained. Bryant was a strong Pro-Rowleian and
argues cleverly against the possibility of Chatterton's
having written the poems. He shows that Chatterton in
his notes often misses Rowley's meaning and insists
that he neglected to explain obvious difficulties
because he could not understand them. Bryant is the
least absurd of the Pro-Rowleians.

1782. Dean Milles' edition of the Rowley poems -- a
splendid quarto with a running commentary attempting to
vindicate Rowley's authenticity. Milles was President
of the Society of Antiquaries and his commentary is
characterized by Professor Skeat as 'perhaps the most
surprising trash in the way of notes that was ever
penned'.

1782. Mathias' Essay on the Evidence. . . relating to
the poems called Rowley's -- he is pro-Rowleian and
criticizes Tyrwhitt's appendix.

1782. Thomas Warton's Enquiry. . . into the Poems
attributed to Thomas Rowley -- Anti-Rowleian.

1782. Tyrwhitt's Vindication of his Appendix. Tyrwhitt
had discovered Chatterton's use of Bailey's Dictionary
and completely refutes Bryant, Milles, and Mathias. It
may be observed in passing that though Goldsmith upheld
Rowley, Dr. Johnson, the two Wartons, Steevens, Percy,
Dr. Farmer, and Sir H. Croft pronounced unhesitatingly
in favour of the poems having been written by
Chatterton: while Malone in a mocking anti-Rowleian
pamphlet shows that the similes from Homer in the
Battle of Hastings and elsewhere have often borrowed
their rhymes from Pope!

1798. Miscellanies in Prose and Verse by Edward Gardner
(two volumes). At the end of Volume II there is a short
account of the Rowley controversy and, what is more
important, the statement that Gardner had seen
Chatterton antiquate a parchment and had heard him say
that a person who had studied antiquities could with
the aid of certain books (among them Bailey) 'copy the
style of our elder poets so exactly that the most
skilful observer should not be able to detect him.
"No," said he; "not Mr. Walpole himself."' But perhaps
this should be taken cum grano.

1803. Southey and Cottle's edition in three volumes
with an account of Chatterton by Dr. Gregory which had
previously been published as an independent book.
Southey and Cottle's edition is very compendious so far
as matter goes, and contains much that is printed for
the first time. Gregory's life is inaccurate but very
pleasantly written.

1837. Dix's life of Chatterton, with a frontispiece
portrait of Chatterton aged 12 which was for a long
time believed to be authentic. No genuine portrait of
Chatterton is known to be in existence; probably none
was ever made. Dix's life, not a remarkable work in
itself, has some interesting appendices; one of which
contains a story -- extraordinary enough but well
supported -- that Chatterton's body, which had received
a pauper's burial in London, was secretly reburied in
St. Mary's churchyard by his uncle the Sexton.

1842. Willcox's edition printed at Cambridge; on the
whole a slovenly piece of work with a villainously
written introduction.

1854. George Pryce's Memorials of Canynges Family;
which contains some notes of the coroner's inquest on
Chatterton's body, which would have been most
interesting if authentic, but were in fact forged by
one Gutch.

1856. Chatterton: a biography by Professor Masson -- 
published originally in a volume of collected essays;
re-published and in part re-written as an independent
volume in 1899. The Professor reconstructs scenes in
which Chatterton played a part; but it is suggested
(with diffidence) that his treatment is too
sentimental, and the boy-poet is Georgy-porgied in a
way that would have driven him out of his senses, if he
could have foreseen it. The picture is fundamentally
false.

1857. An Essay on Chatterton by S. R. Maitland, D.D.,
F.R.S., and. F.S.A. A very monument of ignorant
perversity. The writer shamelessly distorts facts to
show that Chatterton was an utterly profligate
blackguard and declares finally that neither Rowley nor
Chatterton wrote the poems.

1869. Professor D. Wilson's Chatterton: a Biographical
Study, and
1871. Professor W. W. Skeat's Poetical Works of Thomas
Chatterton (in modernized English) of which mention has
been made above.

1898. A beautifully printed edition of the Rowley poems
with decorated borders, edited by Robert Steele.
(Ballantyne Press.)

1905 and 1909. The works of Chatterton, with the Rowley
poems in modernized English, edited with a brief
introduction by Sidney Lee.

1910. The True Chatterton -- a new study from original
documents by John H. Ingram. (Fisher Unwin.)

Besides all these serious presentations of Chatterton
there are a number of burlesques -- such as Rowley and
Chatterton in the Shades (1782) and An Archaeological
Epistle to Jeremiah Milles (1782), which are clever and
amusing, and three plays, two in English, and one in
French by Alfred de Vigny, which represents the love
affair of Chatterton and an apocryphal Mme. Kitty Bell.

The whole of Chatterton's writings -- Rowley,
acknowledged poems, and private letters, have been
translated into French prose. Œuvres complètes de
Thomas Chatterton traduites par Javelin Pagnon,
précéedes d'une Vie de Chatterton par A. Callet (1839).
Callet's treatment of Chatterton is very sympathetic
and interesting.

Finally for further works on Chatterton the reader, is
referred to Bohn's Edition of Lowndes' Bibliographer's
Manual -- but the most important have been enumerated
above.


IV. NOTE ON THE TEXT.


This edition is a reprint of Tyrwhitt's third (1778)
edition. The reference numbers in text and glossary,
which are often wrong in 1778, have been corrected;
line-numbers have been corrected when wrong, and added
to one or two poems which are without them in 1778, and
the text has been collated throughout with that of 1777
and corrected from it in many places where the 1778
printer was at fault. These corrections have been made
silently; all other corrections and additions are
indicated by footnotes enclosed in square brackets.


V. NOTES.

1.The Tournament, lines 7-10.

Wythe straunge depyctures, Nature maie nott yeelde, &c.
'This is neither sense nor grammar as it stands' says
Professor Skeat. But Chatterton is frequently
ungrammatical, and the sense of the passage is quite
clear if either of the two following possible meanings
is attributed to unryghte.

(1) = to present an intelligible significance otherwise
than by writing -- as 'rebus'd shields' do (un-write);

or (2) = to misrepresent (un-right).

With pictures of strange beasts that have no
counterpart in Nature and appear to be purely fantastic
('unseemly to all order') yet, none the less make known
to men good at guessing riddles ('who thyncke and have
a spryte') what the strange heraldic forms express --
without use of written words ('unryghte ') -- or
(taking the second meaning of unryghte -- misrepresent)
present with a disregard of truth to nature.

2. Letter to the Dygne Mastre Canynge, line 15.

Seldomm, or never, are armes vyrtues mede, (that is to
say, coats of arms).
Shee nillynge to take myckle aie dothe hede

i.e. 'She unwilling to take much aye doth heed'; 'which
is nonsense' says Prof. Skeat. But the sentence is an
example of ellipse, a figure which Chatterton affected
a good deal, and fully expressed would run 'She -- not
willing to take much, ever doth heed not to take much',
which would of course be intolerably clumsy but
perfectly intelligible.

3. Ælla, line 467.

Certis thie wordes maie, thou motest have sayne &c.

Prof. Skeat 'can make nothing of this' and reads
'Certes thy wordes mightest thou have sayn'.

A simple emendation of maie to meynte would give very
good sense.

4. Ælla, line 489.

Gyf I weelde notte the deadlie sphere adeene

Tyrwhitt has sphere -- evidently a mistake in the MS.
for spere which he overlooked. It is not included in
his errata. In the 1842 edition the meaning 'spear' is
given in a footnote.

5. Englysh Metamorphosis.

Prof. Skeat was the first to point out that this piece
is an imitation of The Faerie Queene, Bk. ii, Canto X,
stanzas 5-19.

6. Battle of Hastings, II, line 578.

To the ourt arraie of the thight Saxonnes came

Prof. Skeat explains ourt as 'overt' and observes that
it contradicts thight, which he renders 'tight'. But
really there is not even an antithesis. Ourt arraie is
what a military handbook calls 'open order' and thight
is 'well-built', well put together (Bailey's
Dictionary). The Saxons were well-built men marching in
open order.


VI. APPENDIX:
BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE ARGUMENTS USED IN THE ROWLEY
CONTROVERSY.


(Taken mainly from Gregory's Life of Chatterton.)


Against Rowley.

1. So few originals produced -- not more than 124
verses.

2. Chatterton had shown (by his article on Christmas
games, &c.) that he had a strong turn for antiquities.
He had also written poetry. Why then should he not have
written Rowley's poems?

3. His declaration that the Battle of Hastings I was
his own.

4. Rudhall's testimony.

5. Chatterton first exhibited the Songe to Ælla in his
own handwriting, then gave Barrett the parchment, which
contained strange textual variations.

6. Rowley's very existence doubtful.
William of Worcester, who lived at his time and was
himself of Bristol, makes no mention of him, though he
frequently alludes to Canynge. Neither Bale, Leland,
Pitts nor Turner mentions Rowley.

7. Improbability of there being poems in a muniment
chest.

8. Style unlike other fifteenth century writings.

9. No mediaeval learning or citation of authority to be
found in Rowley; no references to the Round Table and
stories of chivalry.

10. Stockings were not knitted in the fifteenth century
(Ælla). MSS. are referred to as if they were rarities
and printed books common.

11. Metres and imitation of Pindar absurdly modern.

12. Mistakes cited which are derived from modem
dictionaries (Tyrwhitt).

13. Existence of undoubted plagiarisms from
Shakespeare, Gray, &c.


For Rowley.

1. Chatterton's assertion that they were Rowley's, his
sister having represented him as a 'lover of truth from
the earliest dawn of reason'.

2. Catcott's assertion that Chatterton on their first
acquaintance had mentioned by name almost all the poems
which have since appeared in print (Bryant).

3. Smith had seen parchments in the possession of
Chatterton, some as broad as the bottom of a large-
sized chair. (Bryant.)

4. Even Mr. Clayfield and Rudhall believed Chatterton
incapable of composing Rowley's poems.

5. Undoubtedly there were ancient MSS. in the 'cofre'.

6. Chatterton would never have had time to write so
much. He did not neglect his work in the attorney's
office and he read enormously.

7. Chatterton made many mistakes in his transcription
of Rowley and in his notes to the poems. (Bryant's main
contention.)

8. If Leland never mentioned Rowley it is equally true
he says nothing of Canynge, Lydgate, or Occleve.


For Rowley.

1. The poems contain much historical allusion at once
true and inaccessible to Chatterton.

2. The admitted poems are much below the standard of
Rowley.

3. The old octave stanza is not far removed from the
usual stanza of Rowley.

4. If Rowley's language differs from that of other
fifteenth century writers, the difference lies in
provincialisms natural to an inhabitant of Bristol.

5. Plagiarisms from modem authors may in some cases
have been introduced by Chatterton but in others they
are the commonplaces of poetry.


Against Rowley.

1. No writings or chest deposited in Redcliffe Church
are mentioned in Canynge's Will.

2. The Bristol library was in Chatterton's time of
general access, and Chatterton was introduced to it by
Rev. A. Catcott (Warton).

3. Facts about Canynge may be found in his epitaph in
Redcliffe Church; and the account of Redcliffe steeple
-- (which had been destroyed by fire before
Chatterton's time) came from the bottom of an old print
published in 1746.

4. The parchments were taken from the bottom of old
deeds where a small blank space was usually left --
hence their small size.


NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

1. An extraordinary production for a boy of twelve, but
we need not suppose that if 'Elenoure and Juga' were
written in 1764 and not published until 1769 no
alterations and improvements were made by its author in
the period between these dates.

2. From the engraving in Tyrwhitt's edition.

3. See Southey and Cottle's edition, quoted in Skeat,
ii, p. 123.

4. Dean Miles has a delightful account of the reception
accorded to Rowley in the Chatterton household. Neither
mother nor sister would appear to have understood a
line of the poems, but Mary Chatterton (afterwards Mrs.
Newton) remembered she had been particularly wearied
with a 'Battle of Hastings' of which her brother would
continually and enthusiastically recite portions.

5. Wilson believed that Chatterton never sent the Ryse,
&c., at all (see page 173 of his Chatterton: A
Biographical Study), but this is disposed of by the
fact that the Ryse of Peyncteyning is the only piece of
Chatterton's which contains Saxon words.

6. March 28th, 1769.

7. An account of Master William Canynge written by
Thos. Rowley Priest in 1460. Skeat, Vol. III, p 219; W.
Southey's edition, Vol. III, p. 75. See especially the
last paragraph.

8. See Letters of Horace Walpole, edited by Mrs. Paget
Toynbee (Clarendon Press). Vol. XIV. pp. 210, 229 Vol.
XV, p. 123.

9. But attorneys are seldom 'in regrate' with the
friends of Poetry.

10. Masson's reconstruction of the scene between
Chatterton and the editor of the Freeholder's Magazine
is very convincing (see his Chatterton: a Biography, p.
160).

11. Almost everything that we know of Chatterton in
London was ascertained by Sir H. Croft and printed in
his Love and Madness (see Bibliography).


TITLE PAGE OF 1778 EDITION


POEMS


SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN AT BRISTOL,

BY THOMAS ROWLEY, AND OTHERS,

IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.


THE THIRD EDITION;


TO WHICH IS ADDED

AN APPENDIX,

CONTAINING SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE LANGUAGE OF THESE
POEMS;

TENDING TO PROVE,

THAT THEY WERE WRITTEN, NOT BY ANY ANCIENT AUTHOR,

BUT ENTIRELY BY THOMAS CHATTERTON.


LONDON:

Printed for T. PAYNE and SON,

at the MEWS-GATE.


MDCCLXXVIII.


PREFACE.


THE Poems, which make the principal part of this
Collection, have for some time excited much curiosity,
as the supposed productions of THOMAS ROWLEY, a priest
of Bristol, in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV.
They are here faithfully printed from the most
authentic MSS that could be procured; of which a
particular description is given in the Introductory
account of the several pieces contained in this volume,
subjoined to this Preface. Nothing more therefore seems
necessary at present, than to inform the Reader shortly
of the manner in which these Poems were first brought
to light, and of the authority upon which they are
ascribed to the persons whose names they bear.

This cannot be done so satisfactorily as in the words
of Mr. George Catcott of Bristol, to whose very
laudable zeal the Publick is indebted for the most
considerable part of the following collection. His
account of the matter is this: "The first discovery of
certain  MSS having been deposited in Redclift church,
above three centuries ago, was made in the year 1768,
at the time of opening the new bridge at Bristol, and
was owing to a publication in Farley's Weekly Journal,
1 October 1768, containing an Account of the ceremonies
observed at the opening of the old bridge, taken, as it
was said, from a very antient MS. This excited the
curiosity of some persons to enquire after the
original. The printer, Mr. Farley, could give no
account of it, or of the person who brought the copy;
but after much enquiry it was discovered, that the
person who brought the copy was a youth, between 15 and
16 years of age, whose name was Thomas Chatterton, and
whose family had been sextons of Redclift church for
near 150 years. His father, who was now dead, had also
been master of  the free-school in Pile-street. The
young man was at first very unwilling to discover from
whence he had the original; but, after many promises
made to him, he was at last prevailed on to
acknowledge, that he had received this, together with
many other MSS, from his father, who had found them in
a large chest, in an upper room over the chapel on the
north side of Redclift church."

Soon after this Mr. Catcott commenced his acquaintance
with young Chatterton [1], and, partly as presents
partly as purchases, procured from him copies of many
of his MSS. in prose and verse. Other copies were
disposed of, in the same way, to Mr. William Barrett,
an eminent surgeon at Bristol, who has long been
engaged in writing the history of that city. Mr.
Barrett also procured from him several fragments, some
of a considerable length, written upon vellum [2],
which he asserted to  be part of his original MSS. In
short, in the space of about eighteen months, from
October 1768 to April 1770, besides the Poems now
published, he produced as many compositions, in prose
and verse, under  the names of Rowley, Canynge, &c. as
would nearly fill such another volume.

In April 1770 Chatterton went to London, and died there
in the August following; so that the whole history of
this very extraordinary transaction cannot now probably
be known with any certainty. Whatever may have been his
part in it; whether he was the author, or only the
copier (as he constantly asserted) of all these
productions; he appears to have kept the secret
entirely to himself and not to have put it in the power
of any other person, to bear certain testimony either
to his fraud or to his veracity.

The question therefore concerning the authenticity of
these Poems must now be decided by an examination of
the fragments upon vellum, which Mr. Barrett received
from Chatterton as part of his original MSS., and by
the internal evidence which the several pieces afford.
If the Fragments shall be judged to be genuine, it will
still remain to be determined, how far their
genuineness should serve to authenticate the rest of
the collection, of which no copies, older than those
made by Chatterton, have ever been produced. On the
other hand, if the writing of the Fragments shall be
judged to be counterfeit and forged by Chatterton, it
will not of necessity follow, that the matter of them
was also forged by him, and still less, that all the
other compositions, which he professed to have copied
from antient MSS., were merely inventions of his own.
In either cafe, the decision must finally depend upon
the internal evidence.

It may be expected perhaps, that the Editor should give
an opinion upon this important question; but he rather
chooses, for many reasons, to leave it to the
determination of the unprejudiced and intelligent
Reader. He had long been desirous that these Poems
should be printed; and therefore readily undertook the
charge of superintending the edition. This he has
executed in the manner, which seemed to him best suited
to such a publication; and here he means that his talk
should end. Whether, the Poems be really antient, or
modern; the compositions of Rowley, or the forgeries of
Chatterton; they must always be considered as a most
singular literary curiosity.


NOTES TO THE PREFACE


1. The history of this youth is so intimately connected
with that of the poems now published, that the Reader
cannot be too early apprized of the principal
circumstances of his short life. He was born on the
20th of November 1752, and educated at a charity-school
on St. Augustin's Back, where nothing more was taught
than reading, writing, and accounts. At the age of
fourteen, he was articled clerk to an attorney, with
whom he continued till he left Bristol in April 1770.

Though his education was thus confined, he discovered
an early turn towards poetry and English antiquities,
particularly heraldry. How soon he began to be an
author is not known. In the Town and Country Magazine
for March 1769, are two letters, probably, from him, as
they are dated at Bristol, and subscribed with his
usual signature, D. B. The first contains short
extracts from two MSS., "written three hundred years
ago by one Rowley, a Monk," concerning dress in the age
of Henry II.; the other, "ETHELGAR, a Saxon poem," in
bombast prose. In the same Magazine for May 1769, are
three communications from Bristol, with the same
signature, D. B. viz. CERDICK, translated from the
Saxon (in the same style with ETHELGAR), p. 233.--
Observations upon Saxon heraldry, with drawings of
Saxon atchievements, &c. p. 245.-- ELINOURE and JUGA,
written three hundred years ago by T. ROWLEY, a secular
priest, p. 273. This last poem is reprinted in this
volume. In the subsequent months of 1769 and 1770 there
are several other pieces in the same Magazine, which
are undoubtedly of his composition.

In April 1770 he left Bristol and came to London, in
hopes of advancing his fortune by his talents for
writing, of which, by this time, he had conceived a
very high opinion. In the prosecution of this scheme,
he appears to have almost entirely depended upon the
patronage of a set of gentlemen, whom an eminent author
long ago pointed out, as not the very worst judges or
rewarders of merit, the booksellers of this great city.
At his first arrival indeed he was so unlucky as to
find two of his expected Mæcenases, the one in the
King's Bench, and the other in Newgate. But this little
disappointment was alleviated by the encouragement
which he received from other quarters; and on the 4th
of May he writes to his mother, in high spirits upon
the change in his situation, with the following
sarcastic reflection upon his former patrons at
Bristol. "As to Mr.-- , Mr.-- , Mr.-- , &c. &c. they
rate literary lumber so low, that I believe an author,
in their estimation, must be poor indeed! But here
masters are otherwise. Had Rowley been a Londoner
instead of a Bristowyan, I could have lived by copying
his works."

In a letter to his sister, dated 30 May, he informs
her, that he is to be employed "in writing a voluminous
history of London, to appear in numbers the beginning
of next winter." In the mean time, he had written
something in praise of the Lord Mayor (Beckford), which
had procured him the honour of being presented to his
lordship. In the letter just mentioned he gives the
following account of his reception, with some curious
observations upon political writing: "The Lord Mayor
received me as politely as a citizen could. But the
devil of the matter is, there is no money to be got of
this side of the question.-- But he is a poor author
who cannot write on both sides.-- Essays on the
patriotic side will fetch no more than what the copy is
sold for. As the patriots themselves are searching for
a place, they have no gratuity to spare.-- On the other
hand, unpopular essays will not even be accepted; and
you must pay to have them printed: but then you seldom
lose by it, as courtiers are so sensible of their
deficiency in merit, that they generously reward all
who know how to dawb them with the appearance of it."

Notwithstanding his employment on the History of
London, he continued to write incessantly in various
periodical publications. On the 11th of July he tells
his sister that he had pieces last month in the Gospel
Magazine; the Town and Country, viz. Maria Friendless;
False Step; Hunter of Oddities; To Miss Bush, &c. Court
and City; London; Political Register, &c. But all these
exertions of his genius brought in so little profit,
that he was soon reduced to real indigence; from which
he was relieved by death (in what manner is not
certainly known), on the 24th of August, or thereabout,
when he wanted near three months to complete his
eighteenth year. The floor of his chamber was covered
with written papers, which he had torn into small
pieces; but there was no appearance (as the Editor has
been credibly informed) of any writings on parchment or
vellum.

2. One of these fragments, by Mr. Barrett's permission,
has been copied in the manner of a Fac simile, by that
ingenious artist Mr. Strutt, and an engraving of it is
inserted here. Two other small fragments of Poetry are
printed in this volume. See the Introductory Account.
The fragments in prose, which are considerably larger,
Mr. Barrett intends to publish in his History of
Bristol, which, the Editor has the satisfaction to
inform the  Publick, is very far advanced. In the same
work will be inserted A Discorse on Bristowe, and the
other historical pieces in prose, which Chatterton at
different times delivered out, as copied from Rowley's
MSS.; with such remarks by Mr. Barrett, as he of all
men living is best qualified to make, from his accurate
researches, into the Antiquities of Bristol.


INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNT OF THE SEVERAL
PIECES CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.


ECLOGUE THE FIRST.

ECLOGUE THE SECOND.

ECLOGUE THE THIRD.

These three Eclogues are printed from a MS. furnished
by Mr. Catcott, in the hand-writing of Thomas
Chatterton. It is a thin copy-book in 4to. with the
following title in the first page. "Eclogues and other
Poems by Thomas Rowley, with a Glossary and Annotations
by Thomas Chatterton."

There is only one other Poem in this book, viz., the
fragment of "Goddwyn, a Tragedie," which see below.


ELINOURE AND JUGA.

This Poem is reprinted from the Town and Country
Magazine for May 1769, p. 273. It is there entitled,
"Elinoure and Juga. Written three hundred years ago by
T. Rowley, a secular priest." And it has the following
subscription; "D. B. Bristol, May, 1769." Chatterton
soon after told Mr. Catcott, that he (Chatterton)
inserted it in the Magazine.

The present Editor has taken the liberty to supply
(between hooks) the names of the speakers, at ver. 22
and 29, which had probably been omitted by some
accident in the first publication; as the nature of the
composition seems to require, that the dialogue should
proceed by alternate stanzas.


VERSES TO LYDGATE.

SONGE TO ÆLLA.

LYDGATE'S ANSWER.

These three small Poems are printed from a copy in Mr.
Catcott's hand-writing. Since they were printed off,
the Editor has had an opportunity of comparing them
with a copy made by Mr. Barrett from the piece of
vellum, which Chatterton formerly gave to him as the
original MS. The variations of importance (exclusive of
many in the spelling) are set down below: [1]


THE TOURNAMENT.

This Poem is printed from a copy made by Mr. Catcott,
from one in Chatterton's hand-writing.

Sir Simon de Bourton, the hero of this poem, is
supposed to have been the first founder of a church
dedicated to oure Ladie, in the place where the church
of St. Mary Ratcliffe now stands. Mr. Barrett has a
small leaf of vellum (given to him by Chatterton as one
of Rowley's original MSS.), entitled, "Vita de Simon de
Bourton," in which Sir Simon is said, as in the poem,
to have begun his foundation in consequence of a vow
made at a tournament.


THE DETHE OF SYR CHARLES BAWDIN.

This Poem is reprinted from the copy printed at London
in 1772, with a few corrections from a copy made by Mr.
Catcott, from one in Chatterton's hand-writing.

The person here celebrated, under the name of Syr
Charles Bawdin, was probably Sir Baldewyn Fulford, Knt.
a zealous Lancastrian, who was executed at Bristol in
the latter end of 1461, the first year of Edward the
Fourth. He was attainted, with many others, in the
general act of Attainder, 1 Edw. IV., but he seems to
have been executed under a special commission for the
trial of treasons, &c. within the town of Bristol. The
fragment of the old chronicle, published by Hearne at
the end of Sprotti Chronica, p. 289. says only; "Item
the same yere (1 Edw. IV.) was takin Sir Baldewine
Fulford and behedid att Bristow." But the matter is
more fully stated in the act which passed in 7 Edw. IV.
for the restitution in blood and estate of Thomas
Fulford, Knt. eldest son of Baldewyn Fulford, late of
Fulford, in the county of Devonshire, Knt. Rot. Pat. 8
Edw. IV. p. 1. m. 13. The preamble of this act, after
stating the attainder by the act 1. Edw. IV. goes on
thus: "And also the said Baldewyn, the said first yere
of your noble reign, at Bristowe in the there of
Bristowe, before Henry Erle of Essex William Hastyngs
of Hastyngs Knt. Richard Chock William Canyng Maire of
the said towne of Bristowe and Thomas Yong, by force of
your letters patentes to theym and other directe to
here and determine all treesons &c. doon withyn the
said towne of Bristowe before the vth day of September
the first yere of your said reign, was atteynt of
dyvers tresons by him doon ayenst your Highnes &c." If
the commission sate soon after the vth of September, as
is most probable, King Edward might very possibly be at
Bristol at the time of Sir Baldewyn's execution; for,
in the interval between his coronation and the
parliament which met in November, he made a progress
(as the Continuator of Stowe informs us, p. 416.) by
the South coast into the West, and was (among other
places) at Bristol. Indeed there is a circumstance
which might lead us to believe, that he was actually a
spectator of the execution from the minster-windows as
described in the poem. In an old accompt of the
Procurators of St. Ewin's church, which was then the
minster, from xx March in the 1 Edward IV. to 1 April
in the year next ensuing, is the following article,
according to a copy made by Mr. Catcott from the
original book.


Item for washynge the church  payven ageyns Kynge
Edward 4th is comynge} iiij d. ob.


ÆLLA, a tragycal enterlude.

This Poem, with the Epistle, Letter, and
Entroductionne, is printed from a folio MS. furnished
by Mr. Catcott, in the beginning of which he has
written, "Chatterton's transcript. 1769." The whole
transcript is of Chatterton's hand-writing.


GODDWYN, a Tragedie.

This Fragment is printed from the MS., mentioned above,
in Chatterton's hand-writing.


ENGLYSH METAMORPHOSIS.

This Poem is printed from a single sheet in
Chatterton's hand-writing, communicated by Mr. Barrett,
who received it from Chatterton.


BALADE OF CHARITIE.

This Poem is also printed from a single sheet in
Chatterton's hand-writing. It was sent to the Printer
of the Town and Country Magazine, with the following
letter prefixed:

"To the Printer of the Town and Country Magazine.

SIR,
If the Glossary annexed to the following piece will
make the language intelligible; the Sentiment,
Description, and Versification, are highly deserving
the attention of the literati.

July 4, 1770.
D. B."


BATTLE OF HASTINGS, No 1.
BATTLE OF HASTINGS, No 2.

In printing the first of these poems two copies have
been made use of, both taken from copies of
Chatterton's hand-writing, the one by Mr. Catcott, and
the other by Mr. Barrett. The principal difference
between them is at the end, where the latter has
fourteen lines from ver. 550, which are wanting in the
former. The second poem is printed from a single copy,
made by Mr. Barrett from one in Chatterton's hand-
writing.

It should be observed, that the Poem marked No 1, was
given to Mr. Barrett by Chatterton with the following
title; "Battle of Hastings, wrote by Turgot the Monk, a
Saxon, in the tenth century, and translated by Thomas
Rowlie, parish preeste of St. Johns in the city of
Bristol, in the year 1465.-- The remainder of the poem
I have not been happy enough to meet with." Being
afterwards prest by Mr. Barrett to produce any part of
this poem in the original hand-writing, he at last
said, that he wrote this poem himself for a friend; but
that he had another, the copy of an original by Rowley:
and being then desired to produce that other poem, he,
after a considerable interval of time, brought to Mr.
Barrett the, poem marked No 2, as far as ver. 530 incl.
with the following title; "Battle of Hastyngs by
Turgotus, translated by Roulie for W. Canynge Esq." The
lines from ver. 531 incl. were brought some time after,
in consequence of Mr. Barrett's repeated sollicitations
for the conclusion of the poem.


ONN OURE LADIES CHYRCHE.

ON THE SAME.

The first of these Poems is printed from a copy made by
Mr. Catcott, from one in Chatterton's hand-writing.

The other is taken from a MS. in Chatterton's hand-
writing, furnished by Mr. Catcott, entitled, "A
Discorse on Bristowe, by Thomas Rowlie." See Note 2 to
the Preface.


EPITAPH ON ROBERT CANYNGE.

This is one of the fragments of vellum, given by
Chatterton to Mr. Barrett, as part of his original MSS.


THE STORIE OF WILLIAM CANYNGE.

The 34 first lines of this poem are extant upon another
of the vellum-fragments, given by Chatterton to Mr.
Barrett.

The remainder is printed from a copy furnished by Mr.
Catcott, with some corrections from another copy, made
by Mr. Barrett from one in Chatterton's hand-writing.
This poem makes part of a prose-work, attributed to
Rowley, giving an account of Painters, Carvellers,
Poets, and other eminent natives of Bristol, from the
earliest times to his own. The whole  will be published
by Mr. Barrett, with remarks, and large additions;
among which we may expect a complete and authentic
history of that distinguished citizen of Bristol, Mr.
William Canynge. In the mean time, the Reader may see
several particulars relating to him in Cambdens
Britannia, Somerset. Col. 95.-- Rymer's Fœdera, &c.
ann. 1449 & 1450.-- Tanner's Not. Monast. Art. BRISTOL
and WESTBURY.--  Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 634.

It may be proper just to remark here, that Mr.
Canynge's brother, mentioned in ver. 129, who was lord
mayor of London in 1456, is called Thomas by Stowe in
his List of Mayors, &c.

The transaction alluded to in the last Stanza is
related at large in some Prose Memoirs of Rowley, of
which a very incorrect copy has been printed in the
Town and Country Magazine for November 1775. It is
there said, that Mr. Canynge went into orders, to avoid
a marriage, proposed by King Edward, between him and a
lady of the Widdevile family. It is certain, from the
Register of the Bishop of Worcester, that Mr. Canynge
was ordained Acolythe by Bishop Carpenter on 19
September 1467, and received the higher orders of
Subdeacon, Deacon, and Priest, on the 12th of March,
1467, O.S. the 2d and 16th of April, 1468,
respectively.


ON HAPPIENESSE, by WILLIAM CANYNGE.

ONNE JOHNE A DALBENIE, by the same.

THE GOULER'S REQUIEM, by the same.

THE ACCOUNTE OF W. CANYNGE'S FEASTE.

Of these four Poems attributed to Mr. Canynge, the
three first are printed from Mr. Catcott's copies. The
last is taken from a fragment of vellum, which
Chatterton gave to Mr. Barrett as an original. The
Editor has doubts about the reading of the second word
in ver. 7, but he has printed it keene, as he found it
so in other copies. The  Reader may judge for himself
by examining the Fac Simile in the opposite page.

With respect to the three friends of Mr. Canynge
mentioned in the last line, the name of Rowley is
sufficiently known from the preceding poems. Iscamm
appears as an actor in the tragedy of Ælla, p. 66. and
in that of Goddwyn, p.174.; and a poem, ascribed to
him, entitled "The merry Tricks of Laymington," is
inserted in the "Discorse of Bristowe." Sir Theobald
Gorges was a knight of an antient family seated at
Wraxhall, within a few miles of Bristol [See Rot. Parl.
3 H. VI. n. 28. Leland's Itin. vol. VII. p. 98.] He has
also appeared above as an actor in both the tragedies,
and as the author of one of the Mynstrelles songes in
Ælla. His connexion with Mr. Canynge is verified by a
deed of the latter; dated 20 October, 1467, in which he
gives to trustees, in part of a benefaction of .500 to
the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, "certain jewels of
Sir Theobald Gorges Knt." which had been pawned to him
for .160.


NOTES.


Verses to Lydgate.

In the title for Ladgate, r. Lydgate.

ver. 2. r. That I and thee.

     3. for bee, r. goe.

     7. for fyghte, r. wryte.


Songe to Ælla,

The title in the vellum MS. was simply "Songe toe
Æelle," with a small mark of reference to a note below,
containing the following words --"Lord of the castelle
of Brystowe ynne daies of yore." It may be proper also
to take notice, that the whole song was there written
like prose, without any breaks, or divisions into
verses.

ver. 6. for brastynge, r. burstynge.

    11. for valyante, r. burlie.

    23, for dysmall, r. honore.


Lydgate's answer.

No title in the vellum MS.

ver. 3. for varses, r. pene.

antep.  for Lendes, r. Sendes.

ult.    for lyne, r. thynge.


Mr. Barrett had also a copy of these Poems by
Chatterton, which differed from that, which Chatterton
afterwards produced as the original, in the following
particulars, among others,


In the title of the Verses to Lydgate.

        Orig. Lydgate       -- Chat. Ladgate.

ver. 3. Orig. goe.          -- Chat. doe.

     7. Orig. wryte.        -- Chat. fyghte.


Songe to Ælla.

ver. 5. Orig. Dacyane       -- Chat. Dacya's.

        Orig. whole lockes  -- Chat. whole hayres.

    11. Orig. burlie        -- Chat. bronded.

    22. Orig. kennst        -- Chat. hearst.

    23. Orig. honore        -- Chat. dysmall.

    26. Orig. Yprauncynge   -- Chat. Ifrayning.

    30. Orig. gloue.        -- Chat. glare.


ADVERTISEMENT.


The reader is desired to observe, that the notes at the
bottom of the several pages, throughout the following
part of this book,. are all copied from MSS. in the
hand-writing of Thomas Chatterton.


ECLOGUE THE FIRST.


WHANNE Englonde, smeethynge[1] from her lethal[2] wound;
From her galled necke dyd twytte[3] the chayne awaie,
Kennynge her legeful sonnes falle all arounde,
(Myghtie theie fell, 'twas Honoure ledde the fraie,)
Thanne inne a dale, bie eve's dark surcote[4] graie
Twayne lonelie shepsterres[5] dyd abrodden[6] flie,
(The rostlyng liff doth theyr whytte hartes affraie[7],)
And wythe the owlette trembled and dyd crie;
Firtse Roberte Neatherde hys sore boesom stroke,
Then fellen on the grounde and thus yspoke.                    10

ROBERTE.

Ah, Raufe! gif thos the howres do comme alonge,
Gif thos wee flie in chase of farther woe,
Oure fote wylle fayle, albeytte wee bee stronge,
Ne wylle oure pace swefte as oure danger goe.
To oure grete wronges we have enheped[8] moe,
The Baronnes warre! oh! woe and well-a-daie!
I haveth lyff, bott have escaped soe,
That lyff ytsel mie Senses doe affraie.
Oh Raufe, comme lyste, and hear mie dernie[9] tale,
Comme heare the balefull[10] dome of Robynne of the Dale.      20

RAUFE.

Saie to mee nete; I kenne this woe in myne;
O! I've a tale that Sabalus[11] mote[12] telle.
Swote[13] flouretts, mantled meedows, forestes dygne[14];
Gravots[15] far-kend[16] arounde the Errmiets[17] cell;
The swote ribible[18] dynning[19] yn the dell;
The joyous daunceynge ynn the hoastrie[20] courte;
Eke[22] the highe songe and everych joie farewell,
Farewell the verie shade of fayre dysporte[22]:
Impestering[23] trobble onn mie heade doe comme,
Ne on kynde Seyncte to warde[24] the aye[25] encreasynge dome. 30

ROBERTE.

Oh! I coulde waile mie kynge-coppe-decked mees[26]
Mie spreedynge flockes of shepe of lillie white,
Mie tendre applynges[27], and embodyde[28] trees,
Mie Parker's Grange[29] far spreedynge to the syghte,
Mie cuyen[30] kyne[31], mie bullockes stringe[32] yn fighte,
Mie gorne[33] emblaunched[34] with the comfreie[35] plante,
Mie floure Seyncte Marie[36] shotteyng wythe the lyghte,
Mie store of all the blessynges Heaven can grant.
I amm duressed[37] unto sorrowes blowe,
Ihanten'd[38] to the peyne, will lette ne salte teare flowe.   40

RAUFE.

Here I wille obaie[39] untylle Dethe doe 'pere,
Here lyche a foule empoysoned leathel[40] tree,
Whyche sleaeth[41] everichone that commeth nere,
Soe wille I fyxed unto thys place gre[42].
I to bement[43] haveth moe cause than thee;
Sleene in the warre mie boolie[44] fadre lies;
Oh! joieous I hys mortherer would slea,
And bie hys syde for aie enclose myne eies.
Calked[45] from everych joie, heere wylle I blede;
Fell ys the Cullys-yatte[46] of mie hartes castle stede.       50

ROBERTE.

Oure woes alyche, alyche our dome[47] shal bee.
Mie sonne, mie sonne alleyn[48], ystorven[49] ys;
Here wylle I staie, and end mie lyff with thee;
A lyff lyche myn a borden ys ywis.
Now from een logges[50] fledden is selyness[51]
Mynsterres[52] alleyn[53] can boaste the hallie[54] Seyncte,
Now doeth Englonde weare a bloudie dresse
And wyth her champyonnes gore her face depeyncte;
Peace fledde, disorder sheweth her dark rode[55],
And thorow ayre doth flie, yn garments steyned with bloude.    60


NOTES TO ECLOGUE THE FIRST


1. Smething, smoking; in some copies bletheynge, but in
the or~al as above.
2. lethal, deadly.
3. twytte, pluck or pull.
4. surcote, a cloke, or mantel, which hid all the other
dress.
5. shepsterres, shepherds.
6. abrodden, abruptly, so Chaucer, Syke he abredden dyd
attourne.
7. affraie, affright.
8. enheped, added.
9. dernie, sad.
10. balefull, woeful, lamentable.
11. Sabalus, the Devil.
12. mote, might.
13. swote, sweet.
14. dygne, good, neat, genteel.
15. gravots, groves, sometimes used for a coppice.
16. far-kend, far-seen.
17. Errmiet, Hermit.
18. ribible, violin.
19. dynning, sounding.
20. hoastrie, inn, or public-house.
21. eke, also.
22. dysporte, pleasure.
23. Impestering, annoying.
24. warde, to keep off.
25. aye, ever, always.
26. mees, meadows.
27. applynges, grafted trees.
28. embodyde, thick, stout,
29. Parker's Grange, liberty of pasture given to the
Parker.
30. cuyen, tender.
31. kyne, cows.
32. stringe, strong.
33. gorne, garden.
34. emblaunched, whitened.
35. comfreie, cumfrey, a favourite dish at that time.
36. floure Seyncte Marie, marygold.
37. duressed, hardened.
38. Ihanten'd, accustomed.
39. obaie, abide. This line is also wrote,  Here wyll I
obaie until dethe appere,  but this is modernized.
40. leathel, deadly.
41. sleaeth, destroyeth, killeth.
42. gre, grow.
43. bement, lament.
44. boolie, much-loved, beloved.
45. calked, cast out, ejected.
46. Cullys-yatte, the portcullis, which guarded the
gate, on which often depended the castle.
47. dome, fate.
48. my sonne alleyn, my only son.
49. ystorven, dead.
50. logges, cottages.
51. selyness, happiness.
52. Mynsterres, monasterys.
53. alleyn, only.
54. hallie, holy.
55. rode, complexion.


ECLOGUE THE SECOND.

SPRYTES[1] of the bleste, the pious Nygelle sed,
Poure owte yer pleasaunce[2] onn mie fadres hedde.

Rycharde of Lyons harte to fyghte is gon,
Uponne the brede[3] sea doe the banners gleme[4];
The amenused[5] nationnes be aston[6],
To ken[7] syke[8] large a flete, syke fyne, syke breme[9].
The barkis heafods[10] coupe[11]the lymed[12] streme;
Oundes[13] synkeynge oundes upon the hard ake[14] riese;
The water slughornes[15] wythe a swotye[16] cleme[17]
Conteke[18] the dynnynge[19] ayre, and reche the skies.        10

Sprytes of the bleste, on gouldyn trones[20] astedde[21],
Poure owte yer pleasaunce onn mie fadres hedde.

The gule[22] depeyncted[23] oares from the black tyde,
Decorn[24] wyth fonnes[25] rare, doe shemrynge[26] ryse;
Upswalynge[27] doe heie[28] shewe ynne drierie pryde,
Lyche gore-red estells[29] in the eve[30]-merk[31] skyes;
The nome-depeyncted[32] shields, the speres aryse,
Alyche[33] talle roshes on the water syde;
Alenge[34] from bark to bark the bryghte sheene[35] flyes;
Sweft-kerv'd[36] delyghtes doe on the water glyde.             20

Sprites of the bleste, and everich Seyncte ydedde,
Poure owte youre pleasaunce on mie fadres hedde.

The Sarasen lokes owte: he doethe feere,
That Englondes brondeous[37] sonnes do cotte the waie.
Lyke honted bockes, theye reineth[38] here and there,
Onknowlachynge[39] inne whatte place to obaie[40]
The banner glesters on the beme of daie;
The mittee[41] crosse Jerusalim ys seene;
Dhereof the fyghte yer corrage doe affraie[42]
In baleful[43] dole their faces be ywreene.[44]                30

Sprytes of the bleste, and everich Seyncte ydedde,
Poure owte your pleasaunce on mie fadres hedde.

The bollengers and cottes[45], soe swyfte yn fyghte,
Upon the sydes of everich bark appere;
Foorthe to his offyce lepethe everych knyghte,
Eftsoones[46] hys squyer, with hys shielde and spere.
The jynynge shieldes doe shemre and moke glare[47]
The dotheynge oare doe make gemoted[48] dynne;
The reynyng[49] foemen[50], thynekeynge gif[51] to dare,
Boun[52] the merk[53] swerde, theie seche to fraie[54] theie
blyn[55].40

Sprytes of the bleste, and everyche Seyncte ydedde,
Powre oute yer pleasaunce onn mie fadres hedde.

Now comm the warrynge Sarasyns to fyghte;
Kynge Rycharde, lyche a lyoncel[56] of warre,
Inne sheenynge goulde, lyke feerie[57] gronfers[58] dyghte[59]
Shaketh alofe hys honde, and seene afarre.
Syke haveth I espyde a greter starre
Amenge the drybblett[60] ons to sheene fulle bryghte;
Syke sunnys wayne[61] wyth amayl'd[62] beames doe barr
The blaunchie[63] mone or estells[64] to gev lyghte.           50

Sprytes of the bleste, and everich Seyncte ydedde,
Poure owte your pleasaunce on mie fadres hedde.

Distraughte[65] affraie[66], wythe lockes of blodde-red die,
Terroure, emburled[67] yn the thonders rage,
Death, lynked to dismaie, dothe ugsomme[68] flie,
Enchasynge[69] echone champyonne war to wage.
Speeres bevyle[70] speres; swerdes upon swerdes engage;
Armoure on armoure dynn[71], shielde upon shielde;
Ne dethe of thosandes can the warre assuage,
Botte salleynge nombers sable[72] all the feelde.              60

Sprytes of the bleste, and everych Seynte ydedde,
Poure owte youre pleasaunce on mie fadres hedde.

The foemen fal arounde; the cross reles[73] hye;
Steyned ynne goere, the harte of warre ys seen;
Kyng Richarde, thorough everyche trope dothe flie,
And beereth meynte[74] of Turkes onto the greene;
Bie hymm the floure of Asies menn ys sleene[75]
The waylynge[76] mone doth fade before hys sonne;
Bie hym hys knyghtes bee formed to actions deene[77]
Doeynge syke marvels[78], strongers be aston[79].              70

Sprytes of the bleste, and everych Seyncte ydedde,
Poure owte your pieasaunce onn mie fadres hedde.

The fyghte ys wonne; Kynge Rycharde master is;
The Englonde bannerr kisseth the hie ayre;
Full of pure joie the armie is iwys[80]
And everych one haveth it onne his bayre[81];
Agayne to Englonde comme, and worschepped there,
Twyghte[82] into lovynge armes, and feasted eft[83];
In everych eyne aredynge nete of wyere[84],
Of all remembrance of past peyne berefte.                      80

Sprites of the bleste, and everich Seyncte ydedde,
Syke pleasures powre upon mie fadres hedde.

Syke Nigel sed, whan from the bluie sea
The upswol[85] sayle dyd daunce before his eyne;
Swefte as the withe, hee toe the beeche dyd flee,
And founde his fadre steppeynge from the bryne.
Lette thyssen menne, who haveth sprite of loove,
Bethyncke untoe hemselves how mote the meetynge proove.


NOTES TO ECLOGUE THE SECOND.

1. Sprytes, Spirits, souls.
2. pleasaunce, pleasure.
3. brede, broad.
4. gleme, shine, glimmer.
5. amenused, diminished, lessened.
6. aston, astonished, confounded.
7. ken, see, discover, know.
8. syke, such, so.
9. breme, strong.
10. heafods, heads.
11. coupe, cut.
12. lymed, glassy, reflecting.
13. oundes, waves, billows.
14. ake, oak.
15. slughorne, a musical instrument, not unlike a
hautboy.
16. swotye, sweet.
17. cleme, sound.
18. conteke, confuse, contend with.
19. dynnynge, sounding.
20. trones, thrones.
21. astedde, seated.
22. gule, red.
23. depeyncted, painted.
24. Decorn, carved.
25. fonnes, devices.
26. shemrynge, glimmering.
27. Upswalynge, rising high, swelling up.
28. heie, they.
29. estells, a corruption of estoile, Fr. a star.
30. eve, evening.
31. merk, dark.
32. nome-depeyncted, rebus'd shields; a herald term,
when the charge of the shield implies the name of the
bearer.
33. alyche, like.
34. alenge, along.
35. sheene, shine.
36. sweft-kerv'd, short-lived.
37. brondeous, furious.
38. reineth, runneth.
39. Onknowlachynge, not knowing.
40. obaie, abide.
41. mittee, mighty.
42. affraie, affright.
43. balefull, woeful.
44. ywreene, covered.
45. bollengers and cottes, different kinds of boats.
46. Eftsoones, full soon, presently.
47. glare, glitter.
48. gemoted, united, assembled.
49. reynyng, running.
50. foemen, foes.
51. gif, if.
52. boun, make ready.
53. merk, dark.
54. fraie, engage.
55. blyn, cease, stand still.
56. lyoncel, a young lion.
57. feerie, flaming.
58. gronfer, a meteor, from gron, a fen, and fer, a
corruption of fire; that is, a fire exhaled from a fen.
59. dyghte, deckt.
60. drybblett, small, insignificant.
61. wayne, carr.
62. amayl'd, enameled.
63. blaunchie, white, silver.
64. estells, stars.
65. Distraughte, distracting.
66. affraie, affright.
67. emburled, armed.
68. ugsomme, terribly.
69. Enchasynge, encouraging, heating.
70. bevyle, break, a herald term, signifying a spear
broken in tilting.
71. dynn, sounds.
72. sable,  blacken.
73. reles, waves.
74. meynte, many, great numbers.
75. sleene, slain.
76. waylynge, decreasing.
77. deene, glorious, worthy.
78. marvels, wonders.
79. aston, astonished.
80. ywis,  certainly.
81. bayre, brow.
82. twyghte, plucked, pulled.
83. eft, often.
84. wyere, grief, trouble.
85. upswol, swollen.


ECLOGUE THE THIRD

Wouldst thou kenn Nature in her better parte?
Goe, serche the logges[1] and bordels[2] of the hynde[3];
Gyfe[4] theye have anie, itte ys roughe-made arte,
Inne hem[5] you see the blakied[6] forme of kynde[7].
Haveth your mind a lycheynge[8] of a mynde?
Woulde it kenne everich thynge as it mote[9] bee;
Woulde ytte here phrase of the vulgar from the hynde,
Wythoute wiseegger[10] wordes and knowlache[11] free,
Gyf soe, rede thys, whych Iche dysporteynge[12] pende,
Gif nete besyde, yttes rhyme maie ytte commend.                10

MANNE

Botte whether, fayre mayde do ye goe,
O where do ye bend yer waie?
I wile knowe whether you goe,
I wylle not be asseled[13] naie.

WOMANNE

To Robyn and Nell, all downe in the Delle,
To hele[14] hem at makeynge of haie.

MANNE

Syr Rogerre the Parsone hav hyred mee there,
Comme, Comme, lette us tryppe ytte awaie;
We'lle wurche[15] and wylle synge, and wylle drenche[16] of
stronge Beere,
As longe as the merrie sommers daie.                           20

WOMANNE

Howe harde ys mie dome to wurch!
Moke is mie woe:
Dame Agnes whoe lies ynne the Chyrche,
With birlette[17] golde;
Wythe gelten[18] aumeres[19] stronge ontolde,
What was shee moe than me, to be soe?

MANNE

I kenne Syr Roger from afar,
Tryppynge over the Lea,
Ich ask whie the loverds[20] son
Is moe than mee.                                               30

SIR ROGERE

The sweltrie[21] sonne dothe hie apace hys wayne[22].
From everich beme, a seme[23] of lyfe doe falle;
Swythyn[24] scille[25] oppe the haie uponne the playne,
Methynckes the cockse begynneth to gre[26] talle:
Thys ys alyche oure doome[27], the great, the smalle,
Moste withe and be forwyned[29] by Deathis darte;
See the swote[30] flourette[31] hathe noe swote at alle;
Itte wythe the ranke wede berethe evalle[32] parte,
The cravent[33], warriour, and the wyse be blent[34]:
Alyche to drie awaie, with those thele did bemente[35].        40

MANNE

All-a-Boon[36] Syr Priest, all-a-boon,
Bye yer preesteschype nowe saye unto mee:
Sir Gaufryd the knyghte, who lyveth harde bie,
Whie should hee, than me
Bee moe greate,
Inne honnoure, knyghtehoode and estate?

SIR ROGERE

Attourne[37] thine eyne arounde thys haied mee,
Tentyflie[38] loke arounde the chaper[39] delle[40];
An answer to thie barganette[41] here see,
Thys welked[42] flouertte wylle a leson telle                  50
Arist[43], it blew[44], itte florished, and dyd welle,
Lokeynge ascaunce[45] upon the naighboure greene,
Yet with the deigned[46] greene, yttes rennome[47] felle,
Eftsonnes[48] ytte shronke upon the daie-brente[48] playne,
Didde not yttes loke, whilest ytte there dyd stonde,
To croppe ytte in the bodde move somme drede honde.

Syke[50] ys the waie of lyffe: the loverds[51] ente[52],
Mooveth the robber hym therfor to slea: [53]
Gyf thou has ethe[54], the shadowe of contente,
Believe the trothe[55], theres none moe haile[56] yan thee:    60
Thou wurchest[57]; welle, canne thatte, a trobble bee?
Slothe moe wulde jade thee, than the roughest daie,
Couldest thou the kivercled[58] of soughlys[59] see,
Thou wuldst eftsoones[60] see trothe, inne whatte I saie;
Botte lette mee heere thie waie offe lyffe; and thenne
Heare thou from mee the lyffs of odher menne.

MANNE.

I ryse wythe the Sonne,
Lyche hym to dryve the wayne[61]
And eere mie wurche is don
I synge a Songe or twayne.[62]                                 70

I followe the plough tayle,
Wythe a long jubb[63] of ale.
Botte of the Maydens, oh!
Itte lacketh notte to telle;

Syr Preeste mote notte crie woe,
Culde hys bull do as welle
I daunce the beste heiedeygnes[64],
And foile the wysest feygnes.

On everych Seynctes his daie,
Wythe the mynstrelle[67] am I seen,                            80
All a footeynge it awaie,
Wythe maydens on the greene
But oh! I wyshe to be moe greate,
In rennome, tenure and estate.

SIR  ROGERRE.

Has thou ne sene a tree uponne a hylle,
Whose unliste[68] braunces[69] rechen far toe syghte;
Whan fuired[70] unwers[71] doe the heaven fylle,
Itte shaketh deere[72] yn dole[73] and moke affryghte:
Whilst the congeon[74] flowrette abessie[75] dyghte[76],
Stondeth unhurte, unquaced[77] bie the storme;                 90
Syke is a picte[78] of lyffe: the manne of myghte,
Is tempest-chaft[79]: hys woe greate as hys forme
Thieself a flourette of a small accounte,
Wouldst harder felle the wynde, as hygher thee dydste mount.


NOTES TO ECLOGUE THE THIRD

1. logges, huts.
2. Bordels, cottages
3. Hynde, servant, slave, peasant.
4. gif, if.
5. hem, a contraction of them.
6. blakied, plain.
7. kynde, nature.
8. lycheynge, liking.
9. mote, might. The sense of this line is, would you
see everything in its primæaval state.
10. wiseegger, philosopher.
11. knowlache, wisdom.
12. dysporteynge, sporting.
13. asseled, answered.
14. hele, help.
15. wurche, work.
16. drenche, drink.
17. birlette, a hood, or covering for the back of the
head.
18. gelten, guilded.
19. aumeres, borders of gold and silver, on which was
laid thin plates of either metal interchanged, not
unlike the present spangled laces.
20. loverd, lord.
21. sweltrie, sultry.
22. wayne, car.
23. seme, seed.
24. swythyn, quickly, presently
25. scille, gather
26. gre, grow
27. doome, fate.
28. withe, a contraction of wither.
29. forwyned, dried.
30. swote, sweet.
31. flourette, flower.
32. evalle, equal.
33. Cravent, coward.
34. blent, ceased, dead, no more.
35. bemente, lament.
36. All-a-boon, a manner of asking a favour.
37. Attourne, turn.
38. Tentyflie, carefully
39. chaper, dry, sun-burnt.
40. delle, valley.
41. barganette, a song, or ballad.
42. arist, withered.
43. Arist, arisen, or arose
44. blew, blossomed.
45. ascaunce, disdainfully.
46. deigned, disdained.
47. rennome, glory.
48. Eftsoones, quickly.
49. daie-brente burnt.
50. Sycke, such.
51. Loverds, lord's.
52. Ente, a purse or bag.
53. slea, slay.
54. ethe, ease.
55. trothe, truth.
56. haile, happy.
57. wurchest, workest.
58. kivercled, the hidden or secret part of.
59. soughlys, souls.
60. eftsoones, full soon, or presently.
61. wayne, car.
62. twayne, two.
63. jubb, a bottle.
64. heiedeygnes, a country dance, still practiced in
the North.
65. foile, baffle
66. feygnes, a corruption of feints.
67. a minstrel is a musician.
68. unliste, unbounded
69. braunces, branches.
70. fuired, furious
71. unwers, tempests, storms.
72. deere, dire.
73. dole, dismay.
74. Congeon, dwarf.
75. abessie, humility.
76. dyghte, decked.
77. unquaced, unhurt.
78. picte, picture.
79. tempest-chaft, tempest-beaten.


ELINOURE AND JUGA.


ONNE Ruddeborne[1] bank twa pynynge Maydens sate,
Theire teares faste dryppeynge to the waterre cleere;
Echone bementynge[2] for her absente mate.
Who atte Seyncte Albonns shouke the morthynge[3] speare.
The nottebrowne Elinoure to Juga fayre
Dydde speke acroole[4], wythe languishment of eyne,
Lyche roppes of pearlie dew, lemed[5] the quyvryng brine.

ELINOURE.

O gentle Juga! heare mie dernie[6] plainte,
To fyghte for Yorke mie love ys dyghte[7] in stele;
O maie ne sanguen steine the whyte rose peyncte,               10
Maie good Seyncte Cuthberte watche Syrre Roberte wele.
Moke moe thanne deathe in phantasie I feele;
See! see! upon the grounde he bleedynge lies;
Inhild[8] some joice[9] of lyfe, or else mie deare love dies.

JUGA.

Systers in sorrowe, on thys daise-ey'd banke,
Where melancholych broods, we wyll lamente;
Be wette wythe mornynge dewe and evene danke;
Lyche levynde[10] okes in eche the odher bente,
Or lyche forlettenn[11] halles of merriemente,
Whose gastlie mitches[12] holde the traine of fryghte[13],     20
Where lethale[14] ravens bark, and owlets wake the nyghte.

[ELINOURE.]

No moe the miskynette[15] shall wake the morne,
The minstrelle daunce, good cheere, and morryce plaie;
No moe the amblynge palfrie and the horne
Shall from the lessel[16] rouze the foxe awaie;
I'll seke the foreste alle the lyve-longe daie;
Alle nete amenge the gravde chyrche glebe[17] wyll goe,
And to the pallante spryghtes lecture[18] mie tale of woe.

[JUGA.]

Whan mokie[19] cloudis do hange upon the leme
Of leden[20] Moon, ynn sylver mantels dyghte;                  30
The tryppeynge Faeries weve the golden dreme
Of Selyness[21], whyche flyethe wythe the nyghte;
Thenne (botte the Seynctes forbydde!) gif to a spryte
Syrr Rychardes forme ys lyped, I'll holde dystraughte
Hys bledeynge claie-colde corse, and die eche daie ynn thoughte.

ELINOURE.

Ah woe bementynge wordes; what wordes can shewe!
Thou limed[22] ryver, on thie linche[23] maie bleede
Champyons, whose bloude wylle wythe thie waterres flowe,
And Rudborne streeme be Rudborne streeme indeede!
Haste, gentle Juga, tryppe ytte oere the meade,                40
To knowe, or wheder we muste waile agayne,
Or wythe oure fallen knyghtes be menged onne the plain.


Soe sayinge, lyke twa levyn-blasted trees,
Or twayne of cloudes that holdeth stormie rayne;
Theie moved gentle oere the dewie mees[24],
To where Seyncte Albons holie shrynes remayne.
There dyd theye fynde that bothe their knyghtes were slayne,
Distraughte[25] theie wandered to swollen Rudbornes syde,
Yelled theyre leathalle knelle, sonke ynn the waves, and dyde.


NOTES TO ELINOURE AND JUGA.

1. Rudborne, (in Saxon, red-water), a River near Saint
Albans, famous for the battles there fought between the
Houses of Lancaster and York
2. bementynge, lamenting.
3. morthynge, murdering.
4. acroole, faintly.
5. lemed, glistened.
6. dernie plainte, sad complaint.
7. dyghte, arrayed, or cased.
8. inhild, infuse.
9. joice, juice.
10. levynde, blasted.
11. forletten, forsaken.
12. mitches, ruins.
13. fryghte, fear.
14. lethale, deadly or deathboding.
15. miskinette, a small bagpipe.
16. lessel, in a confined sense, a bush or hedge,
though sometimes used as a forest.
17. chyrche glebe, church-yard.
18. lecture, relate.
19. mokie, black.
20. leden, decreasing.
21. Seleyness, happiness.
22. limed, glassy.
23. linche, bank.
24. mees, meeds.
25. Distraughte, distracted.


SONGE TO AELLA, LORDE OF THE CASTEL OF BRYSTOWE YNNE
DAIES OF YORE


To JOHNE LADGATE.
[Sent with the following Songe to Ælla.]

WELL thanne, goode Johne, sythe ytt must needes be soe,
Thatt thou & I a bowtynge matche must have,
Lette ytt ne breakynge of oulde friendshyppe bee,
Thys ys the onelie all-a-boone I crave.

Rememberr Stowe, the Bryghtstowe Carmalyte,
Who whanne Johne Clarkynge, one of myckle lore,
Dydd throwe hys gauntlette-penne, wyth hym to fyghte,
Hee showd smalle wytte, and showd hys weaknesse more.

Thys ys mie formance, whyche I nowe have wrytte,
The best performance of mie lyttel wytte.                       
10


SONG


OH thou, orr what remaynes of thee,
Ælla, the darlynge of futurity,
Lett thys mie songe bolde as thie courage be,
As everlastynge to posteritye.

Whanne Dacya's sonnes, whose hayres of bloude-redde hue
Lyche kynge-cuppes brastynge wythe the morning due,
Arraung'd ynne dreare arraie,
Upponne the lethale daie,
Spredde farre and wyde onne Watchets shore;
Than dyddst thou furiouse stande,                              10
And bie thie valyante hande
Beesprengedd all the mees wythe gore.

Drawne bie thyne anlace felle,
Downe to the depthe of helle
Thousandes of Dacyanns went;
Brystowannes, menne of myghte,
Ydar'd the bloudie fyghte,
And actedd deeds full quent.

Oh thou, whereer (thie bones att reste)
Thye Spryte to haunte delyghteth beste,                        20
Whetherr upponne the bloude-embrewedd pleyne,
Orr whare thou kennst fromm farre
The dysmall crye of warre,
Orr seest somme mountayne made of corse of sleyne;
Orr seest the hatchedd stede,
Ypraunceynge o'er the mede,
And neighe to be amenged the poynctedd speeres;
Orr ynne blacke armoure staulke arounde
Embattel'd Brystowe, once thie ground;
And glowe ardurous onn the Castle steeres;                     30

Orr fierye round the mynsterr glare;
Lette Brystowe stylle be made thie care;
Guarde ytt fromme foemenne & consumynge fyre;
Lyche Avones streme ensyrke ytte rounde,
Ne lette a flame enharme the grounde,
Yylle ynne one flame all the whole worlde expyre.


The underwritten Lines were composed by JOHN LADGATE, a
Priest in London, and sent to ROWLIE, as an Answer to
the preceding Songe of Ælla.

HAVYNGE wythe mouche attentyonn redde
Whatt you dydd to mee sende,
Admyre the varses mouche I dydd,
And thus an answerr lende.

Amongs the Greeces Homer was
A Poett mouche renownde,
Amongs the Latyns Vyrgilius
Was beste of Poets founde.

The Brytish Merlyn oftenne hanne
The gyfte of inspyration,                                      10
And Afled to the Sexonne menne
Dydd synge wythe elocation.

Ynne Norman tymes, Turgotus and
Goode Chaucer dydd excelle,
Thenn Stowe, the Bryghtstowe Carmelyte,
Dydd bare awaie the belle.

Nowe Rowlie ynne these mokie dayes
Lendes owte hys sheenynge lyghtes,
And Turgotus and Chaucer lyves
Ynne ev'ry lyne he wrytes.                                     20


THE TOURNAMENT. AN INTERLUDE.


[ENTER AN HERAWDE.

HERAWDE

THE Tournament begynnes; the hammerrs sounde;
The courserrs lysse[1] about the mensuredd[2] fielde;
The shemrynge armoure throws the sheene arounde;
Quayntyssed[3] fons[4] depictedd[5] onn eche sheelde.
The feerie[6] heaulmets, wythe the wreathes amielde[7],
Supportes the rampynge lyoncell[8] orr bear;
Wythe straunge depyctures[9], Nature maie nott yeelde,
Unseemelie to all orderr doe appere,
Yett yatte[10] to menne, who thyncke and have a spryte[11A]
Makes knowen thatt the phantasies unryghte.                    10

I, Sonne of Honnoure, spencer[11B] of her joies,
Muste swythen[12] goe to yeve[13] the speeres around;
Wythe advantayle[14] & borne[15] I meynte[16] emploie,
Who withoute mee woulde fall untoe the grounde.
Soe the tall oake the ivie twysteth rounde;
Soe the neshe[17] flowerr grees[18] ynne the woodeland shade.
The woride bie diffraunce ys ynne orderr founde;
Wydhoute unlikenesse nothynge could bee made.
As ynn the bowke[19] nete[20] alleyn[21] cann bee donne,
Syke[22] ynn the weal of kynde all thynges are partes of onne. 20

[Enterr SYRR SYMONNE DE BOURTONNE.

Herawde[23], bie heavenne these tylterrs staie too long.
Mie phantasie ys dyinge forr the fyghte.
The mynstrelles have begonne the thyrde warr songe,
Yett notte a speere of hemm[24] hath grete mie syghte.
I feere there be ne manne wordhie mie myghte.
I lacke a Guid[25], a Wyllyamm[26] to entylte.
To reine[27] anente[28] a fele[29] embodiedd knyghte,
Ytt getts ne rennome[30] gyff hys blodde bee spylte.
Bie heavenne & Marie ytt ys tyme they're here;
I lyche nott unthylle[31] thus to wielde the speare.           30

HERAWDE

Methynckes I heare yer slugghornes[32] dynn fromm farre.

BOURTONNE

Ah! swythenn[34] mie shielde & tyltynge launce bee bounde[35].
Eftsoones[36] beheste[37] mie Squyerr to the warre.
I flie before to clayme a challenge grownde. [Goeth oute

HERAWDE

Thie valourous actes woulde meinte[38] of menne astounde;
Harde bee yer shappe[39] encontrynge thee ynn fyghte;
Anenst[40] all menne thou berest to the grounde,
Lyche the hard hayle dothe the tall roshes pyghte[41].
As whanne the mornynge sonne ydronks the dew,
Syche dothe thie valourous actes drocke[42] eche knyghte's hue. 40

THE LYSTES. THE KYNGE. SYRR SYMONNE DE BOURTONNE, SYRR HUGO 
FERRARIS, SYRR RANULPH NEVILLE, SYRR LODOVICK DE CLYNTON, SYRR
JOHAN DE BERGHAMME, AND ODHERR KNYGHTES, HERAWDES, MYNSTRELLES,
AND SERVYTOURS[43].

KYNGE

The barganette[44]; yee mynstrelles tune the strynge,
Somme actyonn dyre of auntyante kynges now synge.

MYNSTRELLES.

Wyllyamm, the Normannes floure botte Englondes thorne,
The manne whole myghte delievretie[45] hadd knite,[46A]
Snett[46B] oppe hys long strunge bowe and sheelide aborne
Behesteynge[48] all hys hommageres[49] to fyghte.
Goe, rouze the lyonn fromm hys hylted[50] denne,
Lett thie floes[51] drenche the blodde of anie thynge bott menne.

Ynn the treed forreste doe the knyghtes appere;
Wyllyamm wythe myghte hys bowe enyronn'd[52] plies[53]         50
Loude dynns[54] the arrowe yn the wolfynn's eare;
Hee ryseth, battent[55] roares, he panctes, hee dyes.
Forslagenn att thie feete lett wolvynns bee,
Lett thie floes drenche theyre blodde, bott do ne bredrenn slea.

Throwe the merke[56] shade of twistynde trees hee rydes;
The flemed[57] owlett[58] flapps herr eve-speckte[59] wynge;
The lordynge[60] toade ynn all hys passes bides;
The berten[61] neders[62] att hymm darte the stynge;
Styll, slylle, hee passes onn, hys stede astrodde,
Nee hedes the daungerous waie gyff leadynge untoe bloodde.     60
The lyoncel, fromme sweltrie[63] countries braughte,
Coucheynge binethe the sheltre of the brierr,
Att commyng dynn[64] doth rayse hymselfe distraughte[65],
He loketh wythe an eie of flames of fyre.
Goe, sticke the lyonn to hys hyltren denne,
Lette thie floes[66] drenche the blood of anie thynge botte menn.

Wythe passent[67] steppe the lyonn mov'th alonge;
Wyllyamm hys ironne-woven bowe hee bendes,
Wythe myghte alyche the roghlynge[68] thonderr stronge;
The lyonn ynn a roare hys spryte foorthe sendes.               70
Goe, slea the lyonn yan hys blodde-steyn'd denne,
Botte bee thie takelle[69] drie fromm blodde of odherr menne.

Swefte fromm the thyckett starks the stagge awaie;
The couraciers[70] as swefte doe afterr flie.
Hee lepethe hie, hee stondes, hee kepes att baie,
Botte metes the arrowe, and eftsoones[71] doth die.
Forslagen atte thie fote lette wylde beastes bee,
Lett thie floes drenche yer blodde, yett do ne bredrenn slee.

Wythe murtherr tyredd, hee sleynges hys bowe alyne[72]
The stagge ys ouch'd[73] wythe crownes of lillie flowerrs      80
Arounde theire heaulmes theie greene verte doe entwyne;
Joying and rev'lous ynn the grene wode bowerrs.
Forslagenn wyth thie floe lette wylde beastes bee,
Feeste thee upponne theire fleshe, doe ne thie bredrenn slee.

KYNGE.

Nowe to the Tourneie[74]; who wylle fyrtse affraie[75]?

HERAULDE.

Nevylle, a baronne, bee yatte[76] honnoure thyne.

BOURTONNE.

I clayme the passage.

NEVYLLE.

I contake[77] thie waie.

BOURTONNE.

Thenn there's mie gauntlette[78] onn mie gaberdyne.[79]

HEREHAULDE.

A leegefull[80] challenge, knyghtes & champyonns dygne[81],
A leegefull challenge, lette the slugghorne sounde.            90

[Syrr Symonne and Nevylle tylte.

Nevylle ys goeynge, manne and horse, toe grounde.

[Nevylle falls.

Loverdes, how doughtilie[82] the tylterrs joyne!
Yee champyonnes, heere Symonne de Bourtonne fyghtes,
Onne he hathe quacedd[83] assayle[84] hymm, yee knyghtes.

FERRARIS.

I wylle anente[85] hymm goe; mie squierr, mie shielde;
Orr onne orr odherr wyll doe myckle[86] scethe[87]
Before I doe departe the lissedd[88] fielde,
Mieselfe orr Bourtonne hereupponn wyll blethe[89].
Mie shielde.

BOURTONNE

Comme onne, & sitte thie tylte-launce ethe[90],
Whanne Bourtonn fyghtes, hee metes a doughtie foe.            100

[Theie tylte. Ferraris falleth.

Hee falleth; nowe bie heavenne thie woundes doe smethe[91];
I feere mee, I have wroughte thee myckle woe[92].

HERAWDE.

Bourtonne hys seconde beereth to the feelde.
Comme onn, yee knyghtes, and wynn the honnour'd sheeld.

BERGHAMME.

I take the challenge; squyre, mie launce and stede.
I, Bourtonne, take the gauntlette; forr mee staie.
Botte, gyff thou fyghteste mee, thou shalt have mede[93]
Somme odherr I wylle champyonn toe affraie[94];
Perchaunce fromme hemm I maie possess the daie,
Thenn I schalle bee a foemanne forr thie spere.               110
Herehawde, toe the bankes of Knyghtys saie,
De Berghamme wayteth forr a foemann heere.

CLINTON.

Botte longe thou schalte ne tend[95]; I doe thee fie[96],
Lyche forreying[97] levynn[98], schalle mie tylte-launce flie.

[Berghamme & Clinton tylte. Clinton fallethe.

BERGHAMME.

Nowe, nowe, Syrr Knyghte, attoure[99] thie beeveredd[100 ] eyne,
I have borne downe, and efte[101] doe gauntlette thee.
Swythenne[102] begynne, and wrynn[103] thie shappe[104] orr myne;
Gyff thou dyscomfytte, ytt wylle dobblie bee.

[Bourtonne & Berghamm tylteth. Berghamme falls.

HERAWDE.

Symonne de Bourtonne haveth borne downe three,
And bie the thyrd hathe honnoure of a fourthe.                120
Lett hymm bee sett asyde, tylle hee doth see
A tyltynge forr a knyghte of gentle wourthe.
Heere commethe straunge knyghtes; gyff corteous[105] heie[106]
Ytt welle beseies[107] to yeve[108] hemm ryghte of fraie[109].

FIRST KNYGHTE.

Straungerrs wee be; and homblie doe wee clayme
The rennome[110] ynn thys Tourneie[111] forr to tylte;
Dherbie to proove fromm cravents[112] owre goode name,
Bewrynnynge[113] thatt wee gentile blodde have spylte.

HEREHAWDE.

Yee knyghtes of cortesie, these straungerrs, saie,
Bee you fulle wyllynge forr to yeve hemm fraie?               130

[Fyve Knyghtes tylteth wythe the straunge Knyghte, and bee
everichone[114] overthrowne.

BOURTONNE.

Nowe bie Seyncte Marie, gyff onn all the fielde
Ycrasedd[115] speres and helmetts bee besprente[116],
Gyff everyche knyghte dydd houlde a piercedd[117] sheeld,
Gyff all the feelde wythe champyonne blodde bee stente[118],
Yett toe encounterr hymm I bee contente.
Annodherr launce, Marshalle, anodherr launce.
Albeytte hee wythe lowes[119] of fyre ybrente[120],
Yett Bourtonne woulde agenste hys val[121] advance.
Fyve haveth fallenn downe anethe[122] hys speere,
Botte hee schalle bee the next thatt falleth heere.           140

Bie thee, Seyncte Marie, and thy Sonne I sweare,
Thatt ynn whatte place yonn doughtie knyghte shall fall
Anethe[123] the stronge push of mie straught[124] out speere,
There schalle aryse a hallie[125] chyrches wall;
The whyche, ynn honnoure, I wylle Marye calle,
Wythe pillars large, and spyre full hyghe and rounde.
And thys I faifullie[126] wylle stonde to all,
Gyff yonderr straungerr falleth to the grounde
Straungerr, bee boune[127]; I champyonn[128] you to warre.
Sounde, sounde the slughornes, to bee hearde fromm farre.     150

[Bourtonne & the Straungerr tylt. Straunger falleth.

KYNGE.

The Mornynge Tyltes now cease.

HERAWDE.

Bourtonne ys kynge.
Dysplaie the Englyshe bannorre onn the tente;
Rounde hymm, yee mynstrelles, songs of achments[129] synge;
Yee Herawdes, getherr upp the speeres besprente[130];
To Kynge of Tourney-tylte bee all knees bente,
Dames faire and gentle, forr youre loves hee foughte;
Forr you the longe tylte-launce, the swerde hee shente[131];
Hee joustedd, alleine[132] havynge you ynn thoughte.
Comm; mynstrelles, sound the strynge, goe onn eche syde,
Whylest hee untoe the Kynge ynn state doe ryde.               160 

MYNSTRELLES.

Whann Battayle, smethynge[133] wythe new quickenn'd gore,
Bendynge wythe spoiles, and bloddie droppynge hedde,
Dydd the merke[134] woode of ethe[135] and rest explore,
Seekeynge to lie onn Pleasures downie bedde,
Pleasure, dauncyng fromm her wode,
Wreathedd wythe floures of aiglintine,
Fromm hys vysage washedd the bloud;
Hylte[136] hys swerde and gaberdyne.

Wythe syke an eyne thee swotelie[137] hymm dydd view,
Dydd soe ycorvenn[138] everrie shape to joie,                 170

Hys spryte dydd chaunge untoe anodherr hue,
Hys armes, ne spoyles, mote anie thoughts emploie.
All delyghtsomme and contente,
Fyre enshotynge[139] fromm hys eyne,
Ynn hys arms hee dydd herr hente[140],
Lyche the merk-plante[141] doe entwyne.

So; gyff thou lovest Pleasure and herr trayne,
Onknowlachynge[142] ynn whatt place herr to fynde,
Thys rule yspende[143], and ynn thie mynde retayne;
Seeke Honnoure fyrste, and Pleasaunce lies behynde.           180


NOTES TO THE TOURNAMENT.

1. lysse, sport, or play.
2. mensuredd, bounded, or measured.
3. Quayntyssed, curiously devised.
4. fons, fancys or devices.
5. depictedd, painted, or displayed.
6. feerie, fiery.
7. amielde, ornamented, enameled.
8. lyoncell, a young lion.
9. depyctures, drawings, paintings.
10. yatte, that.
11A. spryte, soul.
11B. spencer, dispenser.
12. swythen, quickly.
13. yeve, give.
14. advantayle, armer.
15. borne, burnish.
16. meynte, many.
17. neshe, young, weak, tender.
18. grees, grows.
19. bowke, body.
20. nete, nothing
21. alleyn, alone
22. syke, so.
23. herawde, herald.
24. hemm, a contraction of them.
25. Guid, Guie de Sancto Egidio, the most famous tilter
of his age.
26. Wyllyamm, William Rufus.
27. reine, run.
28. anente, against.
29. fele, feeble.
30. rennome, honour, glory.
31. unthylle, useless.
32. slugghorne, a kind of claryon.
33. dynn, sound.
34. swythenn, quickly.
35. bounde, ready.
36. Eftsoones, soon.
37. beheste, command.
38. meinte, most.
39. shappe, fate, or doom.
40. anenst, against.
41. pyghte, pitched, or bent down.
42. drocke, drink.
43. servytuours, servants, attendants.
44. barganette, song, or ballad.
45. delievretie, activity. 
46A. knite, joined.
46B. snett, bent.
47. aborne, burnished.
48. behestynge, commanding.
49. hommageres, servants.
50. hylted, hidden.
51. floes, arrows.
52. enyronn'd, worked with iron.
53. plies, bends.
54. dynns, sounds.
55. battent, loudly.
56. merke, dark, or gloome.
57  flemed frighted.
58. owlett, owl.
59. eve-speckte, marked with evening dew.
60. lordynge, standing on their hind legs.
61. berten, venemous.
62. neders, adders.
63. sweltrie, hot, sultry.
64. dynn, sound, noise.
65. distraughte, distracted.
66. floes, arrows.
67. passent, walking leisurely.
68. roghlynge, rolling.
69. takelle, arrow.
70. couraciers, horse coursers.
71. eftsonnes, full soon.
72. alyne, across his shoulders.
73. ouch'd, garlands of flowers being put round the
neck of the game, it was said to be ouch'd, from ouch,
a chain, worn by earls round their necks.
74. Tourneie, Turnament.
75. affraie, fight, or encounter.
76. yatte, that.
77. contake, dispute.
78. gauntlette, glove.
79. gaberdyne, a piece of armour.
80. leegefull, lawful.
81. dygne, worthy.
82. doughtilie, furiously.
83. quacedd, vanquished.
84. assayle, oppose.
85. anente, against.
86. myckle, much.
87. scethe, damage, mischief.
88. lissedd, bounded.
89. blethe, bleed.
90. ethe, easy.
91. smoke.
92. woe, hurt, or damage.
93. mede, reward.
94. affraie, fight or engage.
95. tend, attend or wait.
96. fie, defy.
97. forreying, destroying.
98. levynn, lightening.
99. attoure, turn.
100. beeveredd, beaver'd,
101. efte, again.
102. Swythenne, quickly.
103. wrynn, declare.
104. shappe, fate.
105. corteous, worthy.
106. heie, they.
107. beseies, becomes.
108. yeve, give.
109. fraie, syght.
110. rennomme, honour.
111. Tourneie, Tournament.
112. cravents, cowards,
113. bewrynnynge, declaring.
114. everichone, every one.
115. ycrassed, broken, split.
116. besprente, scatter'd.
117. piercedd, broken, or pierced through with darts.
118. stente, stained.
119. lowes, flames.
120. ybrente, burnt.
121. val, healm.
122. anethe, beneath.
123. anethe, against.
124. straught, stretched out.
125. hallie, holy.
126. faifullie, faithfully.
127. boune, ready.
128. champyonn, challenge.
129. achments, atchievements, glorious actions.
130. speres besprente, broken spears.
131. shente, broke, destroyed.
132. alleine, only, alone.
133. smethynge, smoaking, steaming.
134. merke, dark, gloomy.
135. ethe, ease.
136. hylte, hid, secreted.
137. swotelie, sweetly.
138. ycorvenn, moulded.
139. enshotynge, shooting, darting.
140. hente, grasp, hold.
141. merk-plante, night-shade.
142. Onknowlachynge, ignorant, unknowing.
143. yspende, consider.


BRISTOWE TRAGEDIE: OR THE DETHE OF SYR CHARLES BAWDIN.

THE featherd songster chaunticleer
Han wounde hys bugle horne,
And tolde the earlie villager
The commynge of the morne.

Kynge EDWARDE sawe the ruddie streakes
Of lyghte eclypse the greie;
And herde the raven's crokynge throte
Proclayme the fated daie.

"Thou'rt ryght," quod hee, "for, by the Godde
That syttes enthron'd on hyghe!                                10
CHARLES BAWDIN, and hys fellowes twain,
To-daie shall surelie die.

Thenne wythe a jugge o