Spryte of Segowen speeketh.

Spryte of Elle speeketh.
Swythyn, yee sprytes, forsake the bollen floude,
And browke a sygthe wyth mee, a syghte enfyne;
Welle have I vended myne for Danyshe bloude,
Syth thys greete structure greete mie whaped eyne.
Yee that have buylden on the Radclefte syde,
Tourne there your eyne and see your workes out-
vyde.

Spryte of Bythrycke speeketh.

What wondrous monumente! what pyle ys thys!
That byndes in wonders chayne entendemente!
That dothe aloof the ayrie skyen kyss,
And seemeth mountaynes joined bie cemente,
From Godde hys greete and wondrous storehouse.

sente.

Fulle welle myne eyne arede ytte canne ne bee,
That manne could reare of thy!ke agreete ex-
tente,

A chyrche so bausyn fetyve as wee see:
The flemed cloudes disparted from it flie,
Twylle bee, I wis, to alle eternytye.

Elle's spryte speeketh.

Were I once moe caste yn a mortalle frame,
To heare the chauntrie songe sounde ynne myne
To heare the masses to owre holie dame, [eare,
To viewe the cross yles and the arches fayre!
Through the halfe hulstred sylver twynklynge
glare

Of yon bryghte Moone in foggie mantles dreste,
I must contente the buyldynge to aspere,
Whylste ishad cloudes the hallie syghte arreste.
Tyll as the uyghtes growe wayle I flie the lyghte,
O were I manne agen to see the syghte!
There sytte the canons; clothe of sable hue
Adorne the boddies of them everie one;
The chaunters whyte with scarfes of woden blewe,
And crymson chappeaus for them toe put onne,
Wythe golden tassyls glyttrynge ynne the Sunne;
The dames ynne kyrtles alle of Lyncolne greene,
And knotted shoone pykes of brave coloures done:
A fyner syghte yn sothe was never seen.

Byrtonne's spryte speeketh.

Inne tyltes and turnies was mie dear delyghte,
For manne and Godde hys warfare han renome;
At everyche tyltynge yarde mie name was hyghte,

I beare the belle awaie whereer I come.
Of Redclifte chyrche the buyldynge newe I done,
And dyd fulle manie holie place endowe,
Of Maries house made the foundacyon,
And gave a threescore markes to Johnes hys toe.
Then clos'd myne eyne on Erthe to ope no moe,
Whylst syx moneths mynde upon mie grave was
doe.

Full gladde am I mie chyrche was pyghten down,
Syth thys brave structure doth agrecte myne eye.
Thys geason buyldynge limedst of the towne,
Like to the donours soule, shalle never die;
But if percase Tyme, of hys dyre envie, [stone;
Shalle beate ytte to rude walles and throckes of
The faytour traveller that passes bie

Wylle see yttes royend aunty aunte splendoure
shewne

Inne the crasd arches and the carvellynge,
And pyllars theyre greene heades to Heaven rear-
ynge.

Bestoykynge golde was once myne onlie toie,
Wyth ytte mie soule wythynne the coffer laie;
Itte dyd the mastrie of mie lyfe emploie,
Bie nyghte mie leman and mie jubbe bie daye.
Once as I dosynge yn the wytch howre laie,
Thynkynge howe to benym the orphyans breadde,
And from the redeless take theyre goodes awaie,
I from the skien heare a voyce, which said,
"Thou sleepest, but loe Sathan is awake;" [take.
Some deede thats holie doe, or hee thie soule wylle

I swythyn was upryst wyth feere astounde;
Methoughte yn merke was plaien devylles felle:
Strayte dyd I nomber twentie aves rounde,
Thoughten full soone for to go to Helle.
[telle,
In the morne mie case to a goode preeste dyd
Who dyd areede mee to ybuild that daie
The chyrche of Thomas, thenne to pieces felle.
Mie heart dispanded into Heaven laie:
Soon was the sylver to the workmenne given,-
Twas beste astowde, a karynte gave to Heaven.
But welle, I wote, thie causalles were not soe,
Twas love of Godde that set thee on the rearynge
Of this fayre chyrch, O Canynge, for to doe
Thys lymed buyldynge of so fyne appearynge:
Thys chyrch owre lesser buyldyngs all owt-dary-
inge,

Lyke to the Moone wythe starres of lyttle lyghte;
And after tymes the feetyve pyle reverynge,
The prynce of chyrches buyiders thee shall hyghte;
Greete was the cause, but greeter was the effecte,
So alle wyll saie who doe thys place prospect.

and fyre.

As stopped ryvers alwaies ryse moe bygher,
And rammed stones bie opposures stronger bee;
So thie whan vanquyshed dyd prove moe dyre,
And for one peysan theie dyd threescore slee.
From them of Denmarques royalle bloude came I,
Weile myghte I boaste of mie gentylytie.

The pypes maie sounde and bubble forth mie
And tellen what on Radclefte syde 1 dyd: [name,
Trinytie Colledge ne agrutche mie fame,
The fayrest place in Brystowe ybuylded.
The royalle bloude that thorow mie vaynes slydde
Dyd tyncte mie harte wythe manie a noble

thoughte;

Lyke to mie mynde the mynster yreared,
Wythe noble carvel workmanshyppe was wroughte.
Hie at the deys, lyke to a kynge on's throne,
Dyd I take place and was myself alone.

But thou, the buylder of this swotie place,
Where alle the say nctes in sweete ajunctyon stande,
A verie Heaven for yttes fetyve grace,
The glorie and the wonder of the lande, [hande,
That shewes the buylders mynde and fourmers
To bee the beste that on the Erthe remaynes;
At once for wonder and delyghte commaunde,
Shewynge howe muche hee of the godde reteynes,

Canynge the great, the charytable, and good,
Noble as kynges, if not of kyngelie bloude.

Spryte of Framptone speeketh.

Brystowe shall speeke mie name, and Radclefte toe,

For here mie deeds were goddelye everychone;
As Owdens mynster bie the gate wylle shewe,
And Johnes at Brystowe what mie workes han done.
Besydes anere howse that I han begunne;
Butte myne comparde to thyssen ys a groffe:
Nete to bee mencioned or looked upon,
A verie punelstre or verie scoffe;
Canynge, thie name shall lyven be for aie,
Thie name ne wyth the chyrche shall waste awaie,

I dyd fulle manie reparatyons give,
And the bonné Hommes dyd fulle ryche endowe;
As tourynge to mie Godde on Erthe dyd lyve,
So alle the Brystowe chronycles wylle shewe.
But all my deedes wylle bee as nothynge nowe
Syth Canynge have thys buyldynge fynyshed,
Whych seemeth to be the pryde of Brystowe,
And bie ne buyideyng to bee overmatched :
Whyche aie shalle laste and bee the prayse of
[alle,

And onlie in the wrecke of nature falle.

there erecte and builde a chyrche to owre Ladye: allgate there stoode anigh Lamyngtonnes Ladies chamber hee then encountred vygorously, and bore syrre Ferrars horse and man to the grounde, remaynynge konyge, victore knyght of the jouste, ande settynge atte the ryghte honde of k. Edwarde. Inde m.cclxxxxi hee performed hys vowen ybuylden a godelye chyrche from a pattern of St. Oswaldes abbyes chyrche, and the day of our Lordes natyvyty m.ccc.i. Gylbert de Sante Leonfardoe byshope of Chychestre dyd dedicate it to the Holie Vyrgynne Marye moder of Godde."]

Enter an HLRAWDE.

THE tournament begynnes; the hammerrs sounde;
The courserrs lysse about the mensuredd fielde;
The shemrynge armoure throwes the sheene
arounde;

Quayntyssed fons depicted onn eche sheelde,
The teerie heaulmets, wythe the wreathes amielde,
Supportes the rampynge lyoncell orr beare,
Wythe straunge depyctures, nature maie nott
[yeelde,
Unseemlie to all orderr doe appere,
Yett yatte to menne, whothyncke and have a spryte,
Makes knowen thatt the phantasies unryghte.
I, sonne of honoure, spencer of her joies,
Muste swythen goe to yeve speeres arounde;
Wythe advantayle' and borne' I meynte emploie,

the

"In the notes adventayle is interpreted armour,
and borne burnish. In this passage there seem to
be several mistakes. The transcriber has expressed
the former word with a d, adventayle and advan-
tayle: in which, if there be any propriety, he was,
I believe, little aware of it. The true spelling is
supposed to be aventayle, from the French avant. It
was some part of a suit of armour which projected;
and this might have been known from Skinner.
Aventaile: credo a Franco-Gallico jam obsoleto,
aventail; prætentura ferrea: googvidov: ab ad-
verbio avant. A like account is afforded by Du
Cange; but neither of them define precisely what
However from the ac-
piece of armour it was.
counts which are uniformly given of it, we may
be assured that it was something which stood for-
ward; and is therefore supposed by Du Cange to
be anterior armaturæ pars. In the MSS. of Wil-
liam and the Werwolf, mention is made of the
bero seizing upon a person with whom he is en-
gaged in fight, which circumstance is thus de-
scribed:

William thant witli by the aventayle him hente,
To have with his swerd swapped of his heade.

P. 54

We find that he laid hold of a particular part of the armour, such as most facilitated his cutting off the head of the enemy. This therefore must have been part of the helmet; and that part especially which was most prominent and liable to be seized upon; and this I take to have been the beaver. There were several sorts of helmets of different denominations; and I imagine that one of them was styled aventaile or adventaile, from a moveable beaver, which was made to slide up and down. The name was given from its affording, when the beaver was up, an opening to the air for respiration; and seems to have been derived, not from

Who withoute mee woulde fall untoe the grounde,
Soe the tall oake the ivie twysteth rounde;
Soe the neshe flowerr grees ynne the woodeland
shade.

The worlde bie diffraunce ys ynne orderr founde;
Wydhoute unlikenesse nothynge could bee made.
As ynn the bowke nete alleyn cann bee donne,
Syke ynn the weal of kynde ail thynges are partes
of onne.

avant but from ad and ventus, or ventilo; from whence
was formed the French word aventail. Du Cange
quotes from Rymer's Fœd. an order tom 8. p. 384.
Tredecim loricas, quinque aventailles, quadraginta
arcus, &c. The beaver of an helmet projected be-
yond the helm, and stood hollow; so that it gave
an opportunity for a person to lay hold of it and
to force the head of his enemy downward. From
hence I am induced to think, that an adventailwas
properly that fore part of the helmet, the beaver,
it afforded an opening to
this beaver, was put up,
but which often gave name to the whole. When
breathe more freely, and to receive fresh air; which
opening was from thence styled a ventail from ven-
tilo. When Eneas was healed of his wound by
lapis, and was returning completely armed to
battle, he embraced his son who stood by his side,
and kissed him; which is thus described by Gawin
Douglas.

Ascaneus zoung tendirly the ilk place
With all his harues belappit dyd embrace,
And thro his helms ventall a lytell we
Him kissit.

P. 425, 1. 18.

It is expressed after the same manner in an an-
cient poem quoted by Mr. Warton. Hist. of Eng.
Poetry v. 1.p. 163.

Upon his shoulders a shelde of steele,
With the lybardes painted wele,
And heline he had of ryche entayle,
Trusty and trewe was his ventayle.

From His. of Richard Coeur de Lion.

There is a passage in the interlude of Ælla, where
the adventaile is mentioned in conjunction with
the helmet.

Who haveth trodden downe the adventayle
And tore the heaulmes from heads of myckle
myghte.

v. 469.

Ventale or ventall, a vent-hole and breathing part of a helmet: a Fr. ventaille. Gloss. to Gawin Douglas. Hence I imagine that the beaver and the helmet itself had the name of adventail and aventail from being constructed in such a manner as to afford occasionally such an opening.

2 Borne. By this word is signified a kind of gorget or breast-plate expressed more commonly burn and byrn; from the byrna of the Saxons. Bynna, lorica. Sax. Dict. In the laws of K. Athelstan In the laws also of k. Ina, a burn mention is made of a person having a burn and helm. c. 72. Olai Veand sword are spoken of, c. 55. It was sometimes expressed bryne and bryn'a. Brynia, lorica, hringa brynia, lorica annulis ferreis concatenata. relii. Lex Sueo-Goth. It is taken notice of by Du Cange as it is differently exhibited. Brunea,

I take the challenge; squyre, mie launce and stede.

I, Bourtonne, take the gauntlette; forr mee staie. 5 Unauthorized and unintelligible.

6 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.

Nowe, nowe, syrr knyghte, attoure thie beeveredd

I have borne downe, and efte doe gauntlette thee.
Swythenne begynne, and wrynn thie shappe orr

Gyff thou dyscomfytte, ytt wylle dobblie bee.
[Bourtonne and Burghamm tylteth.Berghamme falls.