Chapter 1

CAXTON'S BOOK OF CURTESYE

Printed at Westminster about 1477-8 A.D. and Now Reprinted, with Two Ms. Copies of the Same Treatise, from the Oriel Ms. 79, and the Balliol Ms. 354

Edited by

FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL, M.A.

Editor of 'The Babees Book, Etc.' ('Manners and Meals in Olden Time'), Etc. Etc.

London: Published for the Early English Text Society by Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, Amen House, E.C. 4

1868 (reprinted 1882, 1898, 1932)

PREFACE

Though no excuse can be needed for including in our Extra Series a reprint of a unique Caxton on a most interesting subject, yet this Book of Curtesye from Hill's MS. was at first intended for our original series, I having forgotten lately that Caxton had written to 'lytyl Iohn,' though some months back I had entered the old printer's book for my second collection of Manners and Meals tracts for the Society. After the copy of Hill--which Mr W.W. King kindly made for his fellow-members--had gone to press, Mr Hazlitt reminded me of the Caxton, and its first and last lines in Mr Blades's admirable book showed that Hill's text was the same as the printed one. I accordingly went to Cambridge to copy it, and there, before tea, Mr Skeat showed me the copy of _The Vision of Piers Plowman_ which the Provost and Fellows of Oriel had been good enough to lend him for his edition of 'Text B.' Having enjoyed the vellum Vision, I turned to the paper leaves at its end, and what should they contain but an earlier and better version of the Caxton that I had just copied part of?[1] I drank seven cups of tea, and eat five or six large slices of bread and butter, in honour of the event;[2] and Mr Skeat, with his never-failing kindness, undertook to copy and edit the Oriel text for the Society. With three texts, therefore, in hand, I could not well stick them at the end of the Postscript to the _Babees Book, &c._,[3] and as I wanted Caxton's name to this Book of Curtesye to distinguish it from what has long been to me THE Book of Courtesy,--that from the Sloane MS. 1986, edited by Mr Halliwell for the Percy Society, and by me for our own E.E.T.S.--and as also Caxton's name is one 'to conjure withal,' I have, with our Committee's leave, made this little volume an Extra Series one, and called it Caxton's, though his text is not so good as that of the Oriel MS.

[Footnote 1: Mr Bradshaw was kind enough to copy the rest, and to read the whole of the proof with Caxton's original.]

[Footnote 2: I must be excused for not having found the poem before, as it is not in the Index to Mr Coxe's Catalogue. In the body of the work it is entered as "A father's advice to his son; with instructions for his behaviour as a king's or nobleman's page. ff. 88, 89, 78. Beg.

"Kepeth clene and leseth not youre gere."]

[Footnote 3: The Treatises in _The Babees Book, &c._, and the Index at the end, should be consulted for parallel and illustrative passages to those in Caxton's text.]

On this latter point Mr Skeat writes:

"The Oriel copy is evidently the best. Not only does it give better readings, but the lines, as a rule, run more smoothly; and it has an extra stanza. This stanza, which is marked 54, occurs between stanzas 53 and 54 of the other copies, and is of some interest and importance. It shows that Lidgate's pupil, put in mind of Lidgate's style by the very mention of his name, introduces a ballad of three stanzas, in which every stanza has a burden after the Lidgate manner. The recurrence of this burden no doubt caused copyists to lose their place, and so the stanza came to be omitted in other copies. Its omission, however, spoils the ballad. Both it and the curious lines in Piers Ploughmans Crede,

"For aungells and arcangells / all Þei whijt vseÞ And alle aldermen / Þat ben _ante tronum_,

"i.e. all the elders before the throne, allude to Rev. iv. 10. This Crede passage has special reference to the _Carmelites_ or _White_ Friars.

"The first two leaves of the Oriel copy are misplaced inside out at the end; but this is not the only misarrangement. The poem has evidently been copied into this MS. from an older copy having a leaf capable of containing _six stanzas at a time_; which leaves were out of order. Hence the poem in the Oriel MS. is written in the following order, as now bound up, Stanzas 11 (l. 5)-18, 25-30, 37-42, 19-24, 49-54, 31-36, 43-48, 55-76, 8-11 (l. 4), 4 (l. 5)-7, 1-4 (l. 4)."

As an instance of a word improved by the Oriel text, may be cited the '_brecheles_ feste' of Caxton's and Hill's texts, l. 66, and l. 300,

ffor truste ye well ye shall you not excuse ffrom _brecheles feste_, & I may you espye Playenge at any game of rebawdrye.--_Hill_, l. 299-301.

Could it be 'profitless,' from A.-Sax. _bréc_, gain, profit; or 'breechless,' a feast of birch for the boy with his breeches off? The latter was evidently meant, but it was a forced construction. The Oriel _byrcheley_ set matters right at once.

Another passage I cannot feel sure is set at rest by the Oriel text. Hill's and Caxton's texts, when describing the ill-mannered servant whose ways are to be avoided, say of him, as to his hair, that he is

Absolon with disheveled heres smale, lyke to a prysoner of saynt Malowes,[1] _a sonny busshe able to the galowes_.--_Hill_, l. 462.

[Footnote 1: An allusion to the strong castle built at St Malo's by Anne, Duchess of Bretayne.--Dyce.]

For the last line the Oriel MS. reads,

_a sonny bush myght cause hym to goo louse_,

and Mr Skeat says,--"This is clearly the right reading, of which _galowes_ is an unmeaning corruption. The poet is speaking of the _dirty_ state of a bad and ill-behaved servant. He is as dirty as a man come out of St Malo's prison; a sunny bush would cause him to go and free himself from minute attendants. A 'sunny bush' probably means no more than a warm nook, inviting one to rest, or to such quiet pursuits as the one indicated. That this is really the reading is shown by the next stanza, wherein the poet apologizes for having spoken too bluntly; he ought to have spoken of such a chase by saying that he goes _a-hawking_ or _a-hunting_. Such was the right euphemism required by 'norture.'"

If this is the meaning, we may compare with it the old poet's reproof to the proud man:

Man, of Þi schuldres and of Þi side Þou mi3*te hunti luse and flee: of such a park i ne hold no pride; Þe dere nis nau3*te Þat Þou mighte sle.

_Early English Poems_, ed. F.J.F., 1862, p. 1, l. 5.

and remember that one of the blessings of the early Paradisaical _Land of Cokaygne_ is:

Nis Þer flei, fle, no lowse, In cloÞ, in toune, bed, no house.

_Ib._, p. 157, l. 37-8.

We may also compare the following extract about Homer's death from "Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues in Spanish and English: Profitable to the Learner, and not vnpleasant to any other Reader. By _John Minsheu_, Professor of Languages in London. 1623," p. 47.

"F ... a foole with his foolishnesse framed in his owne imagination may giue to a hundred wise men matter to picke out.

"I, So it hapned to the Poet Homer, that as he was with age blinde, and went walking by the sea shoare, & heard certaine Fishermen talking, that at that time were a _lowsing_ themselues, and as he asked them, what fish they caught, they vnderstanding that he had meant their lice, they answered, Those that we [1]haue, we seeke for, and those that we [2]haue not wee finde, but as the good Homer could not see what they did, and for this cause could not vnderstand the riddle, it did so grieue his vnderstanding to obtaine the secret of this matter, which was a sufficient griefe to cause his death."

[Footnote 1: i. Haue in their clothes. i. lice.]

[Footnote 2: i. Haue not in hand.]

But the subject is not a very pleasant one for discussion, though the occupation alluded to in the Oriel Text must have been one of the pastimes of many people in Early England.

The book itself, _Lytill Johan_, is by a disciple of Lydgate's--see l. 366, p. 36-7--and contains, besides, the usual directions how to dress, how to behave in church, at meals, and when serving at table, a wise man's advice on the books his little Jack should read, the best English poets,--then Gower, Chaucer, Occleve, and Lydgate,--not the Catechism and Latin Grammar. It was very pleasant to come off the directions not to conveye spetell over the table, or burnish one's bones with one's teeth, to the burst of enthusiasm with which the writer speaks of our old poets. He evidently believed in them with all his heart; and it would have been a good thing for England if our educators since had followed his example. If the time wasted, almost, in Latin and Greek by so many middle-class boys, had been given to Milton and Shakspere, Chaucer and Langland, with a fit amount of natural science, we should have been a nobler nation now than we are. There is no more promising sign of the times than the increased attention paid to English in education now.

But to return to our author. He gives Chaucer the poet's highest gift, Imagination, in these words,

what ever to say he toke in his entente, his langage was so fayer & pertynante, yt semeth vnto manys heryng _not only the worde, but veryly the thyng_. (l. 343.)

And though the writer has the bad taste to praise Lydgate more than Chaucer, yet we may put this down to his love for his old master, and may rest assured that though the cantankerous Ritson calls the Bury schoolmaster a 'driveling monk,' yet the larking schoolboy who robbed orchards, played truant, and generally raised the devil in his early days (_Forewords to Babees Book_, p. xliv.), retained in later years many of the qualities that draw to a man the boy's bright heart, the disciple's fond regret. We too will therefore hope that old Lydgate's

sowle be gon (To) the sterred paleys above the dappled skye, Ther to syng _Sanctus_ insessavntly Emonge the mvses nyne celestyall, Before the hyeste Iubyter of all. (l. 381-5.)

In old age the present poem was composed (st. 60, p. 42-3); 'a lytill newe Instruccion' to a lytle childe, to remove him from vice & make him follow virtue. At his riper age our author promises his boy the surplusage of the treatise (st. 74, p. 50-1); and if a copy of it exists, I hope it will soon fall in our way and get into type, for 'the more the merrier' of these peeps into old boy-life.

On one of the grammatical forms of the Oriel MS., Mr Skeat writes:

"It is curious to observe the forms of the imperative mood plural which occur so frequently throughout the poem in the Oriel copy. The forms ending in _-eth_ are about 31 in number, of which 17 are of French, and 14 of A.S. origin. The words in which the ending _-eth_ is dropped are 42, of which 18 are of French, and 24 of A.S. origin. The three following French words take _both_ forms; _avyse_ or _avyseth_, _awayte_ or _awayteth_, _wayte_ or _wayteth_; and the five following A.S. words, _be_ or _beth_, _kepe_ or _kepeth_, _knele_ or _knelyth_, _loke_ or _loketh_, _make_ or _maketh_. Thus the poet makes use, on the whole, of one form almost as often as the other (that is, supposing the scribe to have copied correctly), and he no doubt consulted his convenience in taking that one which suited the line best. It is an instance of what followed in almost every case of naturalization, that A.S. inflections were added to the French words quite as freely as to those of native origin. Both the _-eth_ and _-e_ forms are commonly used without the word _ye_, though. _Be ye_ occurs in l. 58. In the phrase _avise you_ (l. 78), _you_ is in the accusative."

Commenting also on l. 71 of Caxton and Hill, Mr Skeat notices how they have individualised the general 'child' of the earlier Oriel text:

"71. Here we find _child_ riming to _mylde_. In most other places it is _Johan_. The rime shows that the reading _child_ is right, and _Johan_ is a later adaptation. The Oriel MS. never uses the word _Johan_ at all; it is always _child_."

I may remark also, that on the question lately raised by Mr Bradshaw, 'who before Hampole,[1] or after him, used _you_ for the nominative as well as the correct _ye_,' Hill uses both _you_ and _ye_, see l. 47, 51, 52, &c., though so far as a hasty search shows, Lydgate, in his Minor Poems at least, uses _ye_ only, as do Lord Berners in his _Arthur of Lytil Brytayne_, ab. 1530, the Ormulum, Ancren Riwle, Genesis and Exodus, William of Palerne, Alliterative Poems, Early Metrical Homilies, &c.[2]

[Footnote 1: _Pricke of Conscience_, p. 127, l. 4659; and p. xvii.]

[Footnote 2: Mr Skeat holds that in the various reading _3*ow drieth_ from the Univ. Coll. Oxford MS. (of the early part of the 15th century) to the Vernon MS. _þou drui3*est_, l. 25, Passus 1, of the Vision of Piers Plowman, the 3*ow is an accusative, "exactly equivalent to the Gothic in the following passage--'_hwana_ þaursjai, gaggai du mis, i.e. _whom_ it may thirst, let him come to me.' John vii. 37. I conclude that 3*ow is accusative, not dative. The same construction occurs in German constantly, '_es dürstet mich_' = it thirsts me, I thirst."]

The final _d_, _f_, _t_, of Hill's MS., often have a tag to them. As they sometimes occur in places where I judge they must mean nothing, I have neglected them all. Every final _ll_ has a line through it, which may mean _e_. Nearly every final _n_ and _m_ has a curly tail or line over it. This is printed _e_ or _[=n]_, though no doubt the tail and line have often no value at all. The curls to the _r_s are printed _e_, because _ther_ with the curly _r_, in l. 521, Hill, rimes to _where_ of l. 519.

At the end of Caxton's final _d_ and _g_ is occasionally a crook-backed line, something between the line of beauty and the ordinary knocker. This no doubt represents the final _e_ of MSS., and is so printed, as Mr Childs has not the knocker in the fount of type that he uses for the Society's work. Caxton's _[=n]_ stands for _u_n in the _-aunce_, _-aunte_, of words from the French. No stops or inverted commas have been put to Caxton's text here, but the stanzas and lines have been numbered, and side-notes added.

"The _Book of Curtesye_," says Mr Bradshaw, "is known from three early editions. The first, without any imprint, but printed at Westminster by Caxton ab. 1477-78,[1] the only known copy of which is here reproduced. The second (with the colophon 'Here endeth a lytyll treatyse called the booke of Curtesye or lytyll John. Emprynted atte Westmoster') is only known from a printer's proof of two pages[2] preserved among the Douce fragments in the Bodleian. It must have been printed by Wynkin de Worde in Caxton's house ab. 1492. In the third edition it was reprinted at the end of the _Stans puer ad Mensam_ by Wynkin de Worde ab. 1501-1510. The Cambridge copy is the only one known to remain of this edition."

[Footnote 1: In his type No. 2, _Blades_, ii. 63.]

[Footnote 2: In Caxton's type No. 5, _Blades_, ii. 235 (not 253 as in Index).]

I have no more to say: but, readers, remember this coming New Year to do more than last for what Dr Stratmann calls "the dear Old English." Think of Chaucer when his glad spring comes, and every day besides; forget not Langland or any of our early men:

reporte & revyue _th_e lawde of the_m_ th_a_t were famovs i_n_[1] owr_e_ langage, these faders dere, whos sowles i_n_ blis, god et_er_nall avaunce, _th_at lysten so[2] owr_e_ langage to enhavnce!

(_Hill_, l. 430-4.)

[Footnote 1: Founders of, _Oriel_ MS.]

[Footnote 2: some, _Hill_; so, _Oriel_.]

_3, St George's Square, N.W.

15 Dec., 1867._

The Book of Curtesye.

[The Book of Curtesy.]

[_From the Oriel MS. lxxix._]

[1]

Lytle childe, sythen youre tendre infancie Stondeth as yett vndir yndyff[e]rence, To vice or vertu to moven[1] or Applie, 3 [Sidenote 1: MS. coorven] And in suche Age ther is no prouide_n_ce, Ne comenly no sadde intelligence, But ryght as wax receyueth printe and figure, So chylder ben disposed of nature,

[2]

Vice or vertu to Folowe and ympresse In mynde; and therfore, to stere and remeve You from vice, and to vertu thou[1] dresse, 10 [Sidenote 1: _Read_ you] That on to folow, and the other to eschewe, I haue devysed you this lytill newe Instrucc_i_on according to your_e_ age, Playne in sentence, but playner in langage. 14

(_Richard Hill's Commonplace Book, or Balliol MS. 354, ffl C lx._)

[Sidenote: _Hill's Text._]

Here begynnyth lytill[e] Ioh_a_n.

¶ Lytell[e] Iohan, sith yo_u_r tender_e_ enfancye Stondyth as yet vnder_e_ Indyfference To vyce or vertu to mevyn or applie, & in suche age _ther_[1] ys no p_ro_vydence, 4 Ne come_n_ly no sage Intelygence, But as wax receyvith prynt or fygure, So chyldren bene disposed of nature

[Footnote 1: The _th_ is the same as the _y_.]

¶ Vyce or vertu to folowe, & enpresse 8 In mynde; & _ther_for to styre & remeve you frome vice, & to vertu addresse, That on to folow, & _tha_t o_ther_ to eschewe, I haue devysed you this lytill[e] newe 12 Instrucc_i_on[1] accordyng vnto yo_u_r age, playn In sentence, but playner_e_ In langage.

[Footnote 1: The mark of contraction is over the _n_: t.i. the _n_ has its tail curled over its back like a dog's.]

[The Book of Courtesye.]

[_Caxton's Text._]

[1]

[Sidenote: Leaf 1 a.]

Lytyl Iohn syth your tendre enfancye Stondeth as yet vnder / in difference [Sidenote: As Infancy is indifferent] To vice or vertu to meuyn or applye 3 [Sidenote: whether it follows vice or virtue,] And in suche age ther is no prouidence Ne comenly no sad_e_ Intelligence But as waxe resseyueth prynte or figure So children ben disposid_e_ of nature 7

[2]

Vyce or vertue to folowe and_e_ enpresse In mynde / and_e_ therfore / to styre & remeue You from vice / and_e_ to vertue addresse 10 That one to folowe / and that other teschewe I haue deuysed you / this lytyl newe [Sidenote: I have written this new treatise to draw you from vice, and turn you to virtue.] Instrucc_i_on / acordyng_e_ vnto your age Playne in sentence / but playner in la_n_gage 14

* * * * *

THE ORIEL TEXT.

[3]

Taketh hede therfore and herkyn what I say, And yeueth therto hooly your_e_ adu_er_tence, Lette not your_e_ eye be here and your_e_ hert away, 17 But yeueth herto your_e_ besy diligence, And ley aparte alle wantawne insolence, Lernyth to be vertues and well thewid; Who wolle not lere, nedely must be lewid. 21

[4]

Afore all thyng, fyrst and principally, In the morowe when ye[1] shall vppe ryse, [Sidenote 1: MS. he.] To wyrship god haue in your_e_ memorie; 24 Wyth cristis crosse loke ye blesse you thriese, Youre pater-nosteir seyth in devoute wyse, Aue maria wyth the holy crede, Than alle the after the bettir may ye spede. 28

[5]

And while ye be Abouten honestely To dresse your_e_-self and don on your_e_ aray, Wyth your_e_ felawe well and tretably 31 Oure lady matens Avyseth that you say, And this obseruaunce vseth eu_e_ry day, Wyth prime and owris, and wythouten drede The blyssed lady woll graunte you your_e_ mede. 35

[Sidenote: _Hill's Text._]

¶ Take hede _ther_for, & harken what I saye, & geve _ther_to yowr_e_ good advertence, 16 lette not yo_u_r ere be here, & yo_u_r herte awaye, But pute you _ther_to besy delygence, Laying a-p_ar_te all[e] wanton Insolence, lernyd to be v_er_tuvs & well[e] thewed; 20 who will[e] not lerne, nedely he must be lewed.

¶ Afore all[e] thyng, & pryncypally In the mornyng wha_n_ ye vp ryse, To worship god haue in memory; 24 w_i_t_h_ cryst_is_ crosse loke ye blesse ye thryse, yo_u_r pater_e_ nost_er_ say i_n_ devoute wyse, Aue maria / w_i_t_h_ the holy crede; The_n_ all[e] _th_e day the bett_er_ shall ye spede. 28

¶ And while ye dresse yo_u_r selfe, honestly To dresse yo_u_r selfe & do on yo_u_r araye, w_i_t_h_ yo_u_r felowe well[e] & tretably Owr_e_ lady matens loke _tha_t you say; 32 And this obs_er_vance vse ye eu_er_y day, w_i_t_h_ pryme & owers w_i_t_h_-owt drede. _th_e blessyd lady will quyte you yo_u_r mede.

CAXTON'S TEXT.

[3]

Take hede therfore / and herkne what I saye [Sidenote: Attend therefore to what I say.] And_e_ gyue therto / your good_e_ aduertence Lete not your ere be here & your herte awaye 17 But put ye therto / besy diligence Leyng_e_ aparte al wantown Insolence Lerneth to be vertuous / and wel thewed_e_ [Sidenote: Learn good manners.] Who wil not lerne / nedely he must be lewed 21

[4]

[Sidenote: Leaf 1 b.]

Afore alle thing_e_ / and_e_ principally In the morenyng_e_ / whan ye vp rise [Sidenote: On rising,] To worshipe god_e_ / haue in memorie 24 With crystes crosse / loke ye blesse you thrise [Sidenote: cross yourself,] Your pater noster / saye in deuoute wyse [Sidenote: say your Pater Noster, Ave, and Creed.] Aue maria / with the holy crede Thenne alle the day / the better shal ye spede 28

[5]

And while that ye be aboute honestly To dresse your self / & do o[=n] your araye [Sidenote: While dressing,] With your felawe / wel and tretably 31 Oure lady matyns / loke that ye saye [Sidenote: say our Lady's Matins,] And_e_ this obserua[=n]ce / vse ye every daye With pryme and ouris / withouten drede [Sidenote: Prime, and Hours.] The blessid_e_ lady / wil quyte you your mede 35

* * * * *

THE ORIEL TEXT.

[6]

Kembe your_e_ hede and loke ye kepe hit clene, Your_e_ eris twayne suffre not foule to be; In your_e_ visage wayteth no spotte be sene, 38 Purge your_e_ nase, let hit not combred be Wyth foule matiers Ayenst all oneste, But wyth bare hande no matier from hit feche, For that is a foule and an vncurtays teche. 42

[7]

Youre handes wassheth, that is an holsom thyng, Youre nayles loke they be not geet blake, Suffre hem not to ben ouer long growyng; 45 To your_e_ aray good hede I warne you take, That manerly ye seet hit vp and make, Your_e_ hode, your_e_ gowne, your_e_ hose, and eke your_e_ scho, Wyth all array longyng your_e_ body to. 49

[8]

Kepeth clene and leseth not your_e_ gere, And or ye passen oute of your_e_ loggyng, Euery garment that ye schulle vppon you were, 52 Awayteth welle that hit be so syttyng As to your_e_ degre semeth moost on accordyng; Than woll men sey, 'for soth this childe is he That is well taught and loueth honeste.' 56

[Sidenote: _Hill's Text._]

[Sidenote: ffl C lx back.]

¶ Kembe yo_u_r hede, & loke you kepe yt clene; 36 yo_u_r eres twayn suffre not fowle to be; In yo_u_r wysage loke no spote be sene; purge yo_u_r nose; lett no ma_n_ in yt se The vile matter; yt ys none honeste; 40 Ne w_i_t_h_ yo_u_r bare hond no fylth fro_m_ yt feche, ffor _tha_t ys fowle, & an vncurtoys teche.

¶ Yo_u_r hond_is_ wasshe; yt ys an holsom thyng; yo_u_r naylis loke they be not gety blake, 44 Ne suffre not the_m_ over longe growyng. To yo_u_r A-raye I warne you good hede take, Manerly & ffyte loke you yt make; yo_ur_ hood / gown_e_ / hosen / & eke yo_u_r sho, 48 w_i_t_h_ all yo_u_r araye longyng yo_u_r body to.