Part 9

Thy prayer so commended to God, have a care To wash hands and face, and to combing thy hair. And then for the school bethink thou to go, The secrets of God the better to know. In entering to school, let eyes be upcast, To God for His blessings, formerly past, To endue thee with godliness, virtue and piety, Sent thee from heaven from God in His Deity: For without His help can nothing be done, Nothing be finished, nothing begun. Then mark thou with diligence being so provided, What shall at school be said or decided. Let not thy thoughts go wandering about, And not minding thy practice, abroad for to scout: And answer with shamefastness what is required, For modesty in youth is chiefly desired. Deserve not correction, as near as thou mayest, Nor to thy schoolmaster give any distaste, Nor yet thy companions, or school-fellows kind: Observe what I speak, and bear it in mind. Be ready to teach, and not to confute Thy schoolfellows’ arguments, when you dispute. Let Christ have His library placed in thy heart, And ever of Scriptures be reading a part. Let all be well-measured what thou shalt read, Not posting away with’t, or making much speed; For haste overthroweth the mind and the wit, Eschew and abandon then things so unfit. If all at an instant thou not comprehend, To-morrow seek further, thy fault to amend. Desire of authors to read of the choice, Of such as for eloquence carry the voice, As Cicero, Sallust, Gellius[352] and Terence, Quintilian and others, great authors of reverénce. Observe all with care and diligent ear, Thy learning the greater shall grow and appear.

THE CHARGE OF CHILDREN IN GOING FROM SCHOOL AND COMING

In going from school, observe it full well, In streets stand not staring, nor tales see thou tell, What hath been at school said, spoken or done Among thy companions; but home get thee gone. And unto thy parents see duty thou do, With reverent carriage and modesty too, Not bold or unmannerly, gentle and mild, And show them the office of a dutiful child. If that thou have time, ere dinner begin, Rehearse to thyself the lesson or thing Thou heard’st at the school, let time be well noted, The deeper with wisdom thy brains will be quoted.

LAYING THE CLOTH, AND MAKING READY THE TABLE

Be sure to be ready the board to prepare At times as accustomed; with diligent care, The table-cloth first see fairly be spread, Fair trenchers, clean napkins, the salt and the bread. Let glasses be scoured in country guise With salt and fair water, and ever devise The place most convenient where they may stand, The safest from breaking, and nearest at hand.

[Here follow several graces and maxims.]

DEMEANOUR IN SERVING AT THE TABLE

Stand straight upright, and both thy feet together closely standing; Be sure on’t, ever let thine eye be still at thy commanding.

Observe that nothing wanting be which should be on the board. Unless a question movéd be, be careful—not a word.

If thou do fill or give the drink, with duty set it down; And take it back with manlike cheer, not like a rustic clown.

If on an errand thou be sent, make haste and do not stay; When all have done, observe the time, serve God and take away.[353]

When thou hast done and dinéd well, remember thou repair To school again with carefulness; be that thy chiefest care.

And mark what shall be read to thee, or given thee to learn; That apprehend as near as may be; wisdom so doth warn.

With steadfast eye and careful ear, remember every word Thy schoolmaster shall speak to thee, as memory shall afford.

Let not thy brows be backward drawn, it is a sign of pride. Exalt them not, it shows a heart most arrogant, beside.

Nor let thine eyes be glumly[354] down cast, with a hanging look, For that to dreamers doth belong, that goodness cannot brook.

Let forehead joyful be and full, it shows a merry part, And cheerfulness in countenance, and pleasantness of heart.

Nor wrinkled let thy countenance be, still going to and fro, For that belongs to hedgehogs[354] right; they wallow even so.

Nor imitate with Socrates[354] to wipe thy snivelled nose Upon thy cap, as he would do, nor yet upon thy clothes.

But keep it clean with handkerchief provided for the same, Not with thy fingers or thy sleeve; therein thou art to blame.

Blow not aloud as thou shalt stand, for that is most absurd, Just like a broken-winded horse; it is to be abhorred.

Nor practice snufflingly to speak, for that doth imitate The brutish stork[355] and elephant, yea, and the wauling[356] cat.

If thou perforce do chance to sneeze, then backwards turn away From presence of the company wherein thou art to stay.

Thy cheeks with shamefaced modesty dipped in Dame Nature’s dye, Not counterfeit nor pufféd out—observe it carefully.

Keep close thy mouth, for why? Thy breath may hap to give offence, And other worse may be repaid for further recompense.

Nor put thy lips out like a fool, as thou would’st kiss a horse, When thou before thy betters art, and what is ten times worse,

To gape in such unseemly sort, with ugly, gaping mouth, Is like an image picturéd[357] a-blowing from the south.

Which to avoid, then turn about, and with a napkin hide That gaping, foul deformity, when thou art so aside.

To laugh at all things thou shalt hear is neither good nor fit; It shows the property and form of one with little wit.

To bite the lip, it seemeth base, for why? To lay it open, Most base, dissembling doggedness, most sure, it doth betoken.

And so to bite the upper lip doth most uncomely show; The lips set close[358] (as like to kiss), in manner seem not so.

To put the tongue out wantonly and draw it in again, Betokens mocking of thyself, in all the eyes of men.

If spitting chance to move thee so thou canst it not forbear, Remember, do it modestly, consider who is there.

If filthiness or ordure thou upon the floor do cast, Tread out and cleanse it with thy foot—let that be done with haste.

Thy head, let that be combed and trimmed, let not thy hair be long; It is unseemly to the eye, rebukéd by the tongue.

If in thy tale thou hammering[359] stand, or coughing twixt thy words, It doth betoken a liar’s smell—that’s all that it affords.

To belch or bulch like Clitipho,[360] whom Terence setteth forth, Commendeth manners to be base, most foul and nothing worth.

If thou to vomit be constrained, avoid from company, So shall it better be excused, if not through gluttony.

Keep white thy teeth and wash thy mouth with water pure and clean; And in that washing, mannerly observe and keep a mean.

And be not like a slothful wight, delighted to hang down Thy head, and lift the shoulders up, nor with thy brows to frown.

To carry up the body fair is decent and doth show A comely grace in any one, wherever he doth go.

To hang the head on any side doth show hypocrisy; And who shall use it, trust him not—he deals with policy.

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And in thy sitting use a mean, as may become thee well, Not straddling, no, nor tottering, and dangling like a bell.

Observe in courtesy to take a rule of decent kind: Bend not thy body too far forth, nor back thy leg behind.

In going, keep a decent gait, not feigning lame or broken, For that doth seem but wantonness, and foolishness betoken.

Let thy apparel not exceed to pass for sumptuous cost, Nor altogether be too base, for so thy credit’s lost.

Be modest in thy wearing it, and keep it neat and clean, For spotted, dirty or the like is loathsome to be seen.

This for thy body may suffice, how thou must ordered be, Now at the church thou shalt observe, to God how all must be.

[Then follows _How to Behave Thyself at the Church_, much as in _Seager_, p. 154.]

NOT TO WALK IN THE CHURCH

In seat sit thou quiet, and walk not about, For ’tis most unseemly, without any doubt. ’Tis fit in a fair, or in some market-town, And not in God’s house for to walk up and down.

The church is ordained for sermons, orations, And prayers divine for the soul’s recreations. And not like a playhouse, unhallowed to be, Despising the reverence to God’s Majesty.

Give ear most attentive to what thou shalt find, For God’s word is light to the godly in mind. Great ease cometh (out of the reverent text) For troubled in heart and in conscience perplexed.

Do all this with duty and reverend heart, And God will reward thee full well for thy part. Observe well the times, for to stand or to kneel, The more inward ease of thy heart shalt thou feel.

To kneel on the ground with one knee alone, Is even as comely as though it were none. How can thy devotion be hearty and sound, If thou do refuse to lay knees to the ground?

’Tis like to the soldier, who mockingly came, Saluting our Saviour, and gave Him the name (Hail King of the Jews) his knee was so bent, Not with any duty, nor godly intent.

If thou in the church alone chance to be, Still let heart and thy tongue be so free, As never to cease; but with due veneration, To call to the Lord with unfeigned contemplation.

Let neither thy tongue be talking nor tattling, Nor settle of any thing to be a-prattling, Nor let thine eyes walk, nor cast them about, For of that devotion there is a great doubt.

NECESSARY RULES TO BE OBSERVED FOR THE GUIDING OF CHILDREN IN THEIR APPAREL AND OTHERWISE

Let not children have their pleasures in the ordering of their garments. Some delight to have them jagged and cut; but such fantasticness ought to be reformed by wiser and elder, considering their foolishness is beyond measure, if all may be done at their pleasure; and ancient writers repute them out of their wits and madmen that favour it.

Again, painted and gawdy apparel is not so fantastic in children’s eyes; but as costly to the parents’ purses, whereby ancient writers proclaim such parents fellow-fools with their children.

The modesty and decency of the vestments of children are strong and good, not curious to the eye alone: and such as are clean and without foulness or filthiness: which after the estate and means of the parents ought to be principal, so long as by the craftsman it be made with reasonable and good form and fashion.

HOW TO ORDER A CHILD IN HIS DIET FOR DRINK

For a child to make the beginning of his dinner drink, is a good way to breed him up to drunkenness. Especially, if he take it for wanton custom, and not for necessity of thirst. It is dishonest to be suffered, and annoysome to the health of the body of a child.

Let not a child drink after he hath supped hot broth, immediately upon it; much less, if he have been fed with milk.

Let not a child drink above twice or thrice at the most at one meal, and that gently, and not without reason: who bestoweth wine and beer on his child beyond reason, deformeth and abuseth him more by dishonouring his reason, and provoking him to an unreasonable diet.

TO MODERATE THE APPETITE OF A CHILD FROM SAUCINESS AND BEING LIQUORISH

Socrates being old, would not drink of the first cup; for why? His brain was light, and the first drink is ever the most fuming and overcoming.

If thy child be set with his betters, let his hand be last in the dish. And that he do it not at all, unless he be first bidden. Neither suffer your children to put their hands or fingers into broths, sauces, caudles, or such like, at the table especially. Otherwise, let correction bridle their wantonness.

If he be of sensible years, let him forbear his fingers in a dish, and use a knife without choosing at his pleasure; for it is unseemly.

Homer often reprehendeth sauciness in these or such-like words. They boldly put their hands into the meat that is set before them. And as it is unseemly to a liquorish person to train his hands to every side of the dish, so is it more vile to turn the best morsel towards thyself.

To gnaw bones belongeth chiefly to dogs, but it is a civil thing to pick them clean with a knife.

The licking of a dish belongeth to cats and dogs and not to children nor men, be the relics never so sweet, and betokeneth liquorishiness, not manners.

To drink or speak with meat in the mouth, is uncivil and dangerous withal.

Let the children rise from the board when Nature is sufficed, either by asking leave, or withdrawing themselves.

Let children bear away with them their trenchers, saluting their parents, and first the chief in the company, then the rest.

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[The book concludes with various graces, a morning prayer, _A Prayer for Children ere they go to School_ (_to be said_), and the following prayer:—]

A PRAYER TO BE SAID BY CHILDREN AFTER THEY HAVE STUDIED, AT THEIR GOING TO BED

I give thee most humble and hearty thanks, O most generous and blessed Father of Heaven, in that it hath pleased Thee, of Thy most gracious goodness, to hear my request. O Lord, still give me grace to go onward in understanding and knowledge, that I may ever more praise Thy Holy Name, and grant me Thy grace to amend my life, and to return unfeignedly unto Thy service. And forasmuch as no creature can breathe without Thy protection and favour, vouchsafe to extend Thy mercies unto me this night, that I may peaceably and quietly take that rest, which Thou hast appointed for the refreshment of my body and mind, the night and darkness being by Thy goodness ordained, as a time convenient to take the same in, and to cease from our bodily labours. And grant unto me (O Lord my God) who of myself am neither able to lie down, nor being laid able to rise up, Thy especial assistance and help, that I may repose myself and receive (at Thy merciful hands) sweet and comfortable rest, not according to the greediness of corrupt nature, but as shall be most expedient for the comfort and refreshing of my wearied body and mind, that both may be strengthened and enabled to go forward with that study and exercise, which Thou hast ordained and appointed for me. Lastly, grant me true repentance for my sins, bless and defend, my parents, brethren, sisters, kinsfolk, neighbours, and others, whom Thou would’st I should commend to Thy fatherly protection, wheresoever they remain, and for the more true and zealous calling unto Thee for these things, give me grace in faith to say that prayer which Thy Son Jesus Christ hath taught me, saying “O our Father which art in Heaven,” &c.

FINIS

NOTES

THE BABEES’ BOOK

MS. Harleian 5086, fols. 86-90, about 1475, ends, “Learn or be lewd.” First printed by Dr. Furnivall. Nothing is known of the author. Written in _rhyme royal_, five-stress lines in seven-line stanzas, arranged ababbcc. The treatise is noteworthy chiefly in that it seems to be addressed to young princes, and the MS. dates from the time when Edward V. and Richard of York were boys. As it is more tedious than quaint in the original, it has been rendered into prose.

p. 1. _Facet._ For author and title, see _Introduction_, p. xii. It was printed very frequently in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, both separately and in connection with seven similar works, two of them also attributed to John Garland, under the title: _Auctores Octo Opusculorum cum commentariis_, &c.; _Videlicet Cathonis_, _Theodoli_, _Faceti_, _Cartule alias de Contemptu Mundi_, _Thobiadis_, _Parabolarum Alani_, _Fabularum Esopi_, _Floreti_. The English author seems to have borrowed little besides the name and the introduction,

“Cum nihil utilius humane credo saluti Quam rerum nouisse modos et moribus uti.”

p. 2. _Babies._ Children much older than those we associate with the word. Apparently it was used like the Spanish _menino_ (French _menin_, introduced from Spain, 1680) to mean, “young man of good family.”

p. 2. _Ease in learning_, _i.e._, because it was in verse.

p. 2. _Lady Facetia._ Apparently the author’s feminine of Facetus (perhaps through confusion with _facetiæ_, jokes), because courtesy was usually personified as a woman. In the _Tesoretto_, the chief virtue is Larghezza (liberality), upon whom Courtesy attends, together with Good-Faith and Valour, over against the masculine qualities, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice.

p. 3. _Bele._ Fr. _belle_, beautiful. Not common in English (see N.E.D.) until the seventeenth century.

p. 6. _Trencher._ Originally, a slice of wholemeal bread, four days old, upon which food was served. Later, it was made of wood.

p. 8. _Where they ought to be._ In a knife-rack or case? See Wright, _Domestic Manners and Customs_, p. 464.

THE A B C OF ARISTOTLE

MS. Lambeth 853, fol. 30, about 1430, written without breaks; Harl. 5086, fol. 70b, and Harl. 1304, fol. 103, about 1450 (printed in _Queene Eliz. Achad._). It is needless to say that nothing of the sort is found in Aristotle; the author is unknown. The introduction is in connected alliterative verse (lacking in Harl. 5086, and expanded into a generalised religious discourse in Harl. 1304).

p. 10. _Elenge._ See N.E.D. on this rare word. Its two originally distinct meanings (1) long, hence, tedious, and (2) lonely, remote, combine to form a third meaning, melancholy.

URBANITATIS

MS. Cotton Caligula, A ii, fol. 88, 1446-60. Author unknown. Apparently first printed by Dr. Furnivall. The Duke of Norfolk, grandfather of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, was among the young henchmen at the court of Edward IV., brought up on “the booke of urbanitie.”

p. 13. _Good manners_, &c. William of Wykeham was more curt in his motto for Winchester College: “Manners makyth man.”

p. 14. _Close your hand_, &c., _i.e._, one hand over the over, to keep a secret.

p. 14. _Had I wist._ Proverbial. See notes on _The Good Wife_, p. 186, below.

p. 15. _Let your right shoulder_, &c., _i.e._, keep a step behind him to the left.

THE LITTLE CHILDREN’S LITTLE BOOK

MSS. Harl. 541, fol. 210, and Egerton 1995, about 1480. Sub-title _Edyllys be_. _Edyllys_ may be the O. E. _æthele_, German _edel_, meaning _noble_; but the sentence is then incomplete. Ends “Quod Whytyng.” Whether he was author or scribe I do not know, more probably the latter. I have kept the rhyme in this version, because it is at once shorter and more interesting than the other.

p. 16. _Seven Arts._ The quadrivium: arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy; and the trivium: grammar, rhetoric, logic.

p. 16. _When Gabriel ... meet._ It is interesting to note that a medieval writer connected courtesy with the worship of Mary, even although he includes no precepts which touch upon what we call chivalry to-day.

p. 16. _Villainy._ The French equivalent of churlishness; what Russell calls “simple conditions.”

p. 17. _Beginning ... think._ This kind of rhyme, not uncommon in the fifteenth century, seems to indicate a pronunciation as in the cockney _nothink_.

p. 17. _Mess._ Here _food_, but sometimes _table_ (Latin _mensa_), and again _group of people at a table_, as used still in the expression “officers’ mess.”

p. 17. _Fault._ Text: that thy salt holds—which the rhyme shows to be corrupt.

p. 18. _Work._ Text: keep—changed for the rhyme.

p. 18. _Fingers_, _i.e._, not with thy knife? Or has a negative been omitted?

p. 19. _No drop be seen._ So Chaucer’s _Prioress_. See _Introduction_, p. xvi.

p. 19. _Behind no man’s back._ There was perhaps originally an idea of greed, or, it may be, of possible tampering with the drink, behind the prohibition.

p. 20. _Jill._ From Gillian, once a common name for women.

p. 20. _The same._ Text: in same (German _zusammen_) together.

p. 21. _Cumbered with no fiends._ This fear was very real in the Middle Ages, and was fostered by such stories as _Robert the Devil_, _Sir Gowther_, and ballads of supernatural beings.

THE YOUNG CHILDREN’S BOOK

MS. Ashmole 61 (Bodleian Library), fol. 20, about 1500.

p. 21. _Seven Sciences_, _i.e._, knowledges, hence Arts. The introduction is nearly identical, but very few of the maxims agree.

p. 22. _What you get with your hands._ One of the many allusions which suggest adaptation to the middle class. Others are to buying and selling, to getting your money honestly, &c. The stress upon morals rather than manners is perhaps due to the same cause.

p. 25. _At the school._ The inference seems to be that they would learn manners there.

p. 25. _Quoth Kate._ The same name occurs at the end of the three next poems as they appear in MS. Ashmole 61. It is probably a corruption, unless we have here one of the rare instances of a woman copyist. _Cato_ suggests itself as the most likely original; and in this way. He was undoubtedly identified with the _Wise Man_, as appears from the _Luytel Caton_ of the Vernon MS. (see p. 189, below). Accordingly, _Quod Cato_ might have stood at the end of this poem, and have become confused with Kate from Katharine or Catherine.

STANS PUER AD MENSAM

This must have been a popular form of the maxims, as many MSS. still exist. The translation is made from MS. Lambeth 853, fol. 150, about 1430, with occasional references to Harl. 2251, fol. 153 (148), about 1460(?). A much longer and more tedious (250 lines, instead of 99) version was printed by Dr. Furnivall in _Queene Eliz. Achad._, from MS. Ashmole 61. This last quotes _Grostum Caput_, _i.e._, Grossetete, and refers several times to “Dr. Palere,” of whom nothing seems to be known. The Ashmole version, however, contains several interesting points not mentioned in the other two:—

“Thy elbow and arms have in thy thought, Too far on the table do them not lay.”

“And if thou see any man reading a letter, Come not too nigh him for dread of blame.”

“And if thou go with any man in field or in town, By wall or by hedge, by palace or by pale, To go without (outside) him, look thou be bown (ready), And take him betwixt thee and that same wall; And if thou meet him, look thou be sure That thou go without him, and leave him next the wall.”

“Stare not on a strange man too much, be thou ware.”

“Nor never mock an old man, though he be old.”

Various other MSS. are (1) Jesus College, Cambridge (Q.T. 8, printed by Wright & Halliwell, in _Reliquiæ Antiquæ_, I., 156-58), (2) Cotton Caligula A ii, Harl. 4011, Lansdowne 699, Additional 5467, &c. It was printed once by Caxton, and several times by Wynkyn de Worde.

The only reason for considering John Lydgate as the author lies in the attribution to him in the last stanza (see next page).

p. 27. _Indict._ Text: edwite, modern, twit.

p. 30. _Ah, little ballad_, &c. The Harl. text reads:

“Go, little bill, barren of eloquence, Pray young children that thee shall see or read, Though thou be compendious of sentence, Of thy clauses for to take heed, Which to all virtue shall their youth lead. Of the writing, though there be no date, If aught be amiss in word, syllable, or deed, Put all the default upon John Lydgate.”

HOW THE GOOD WIFE TAUGHT HER DAUGHTER