The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

¶ Here biggynneth the Prioresse tale of

¶ Alma redemptoris mater

Ther was in Asye / in a greet Citee Amonges cristen folk a Iewerye Sustened / by a lord / of that contree ffor foul vsure / and lucre of vileynye [turpe lucrum] Line 1681 Hateful / to Crist and to his compaignye And thurgh the strete / men m[ygh¹]te ryde & wende ffor it was free / and o[ ......... [[MS torn]] ] Line 1684

¶ A litel scole / of cristen folk ther stood [folio 210b] Doun at the ferther ende / in which ther weere Children an heepe / ycomen of cristen blood That lerned in that scole / yeer by yere Line 1688 Swich manere doctrine / as men vsed there This is to seyn / to syngen and to rede As smale children doon / in hir childhede Line 1691

¶ Among thise children / was a wydwes sone A litel clergeon / .vij. yeer of age That day by day / to scole was his wone And eek also / wher as he say thymage Line 1695 Of Cristes moder / hadde he in vsage As hym was taught to knele adoun and seye His Aue Marie / as he goth by the weye Line 1698

[6-text p 184] Line 1698

¶ Thus hath this wydwe / hir litel sone ytaught Oure blisful lady / Cristes moder deere To worshipe ay / and he forgat it naught ffor sely child / wol alwey soone lere Line 1702 But ay / whan I remembre / of this matere Seint Nicholas / stant euere in my presence ffor he so yong to Crist dide reuerence Line 1705

¶ This litel child / his litel book lernynge As he sat in the scole / at his prymer He Alma redemptoris / herde synge As children / lerned hir Antiphoner Line 1709 And as he dorste / he drow hym ner and ner And herkned ay / the wordes and the note Til he the firste vers / koude al by rote Line 1712

Nat wiste he / what this latyn was to seye. ffor he so yong and tendre was of age But on a day / his felawe gan he preye Texpounden hym this song in his langage Line 1716 Or telle hym why / this song was in vsage This prayde he hym/ [. . . . . [[MS is torn away]] ] struen and declare [. . . . . [[MS is torn away]] ]re

¶ His felawe / which þat elder was than he [folio 211a] Answerde hym thus / this song I haue herd seye Was maked / of oure blisful lady free Hir to salue / and eek hire for to preye Line 1723 To been oure helpe / and socour / whan we deye I kan namoore / expounde in this matere I lerne song I kan but smal gramere Line 1726

¶ And is this song maked in reuerence Of Cristes moder / seyde this Innocent Now certes / I wol do my diligence To konne it al / er Cristemasse is went Line 1730

[6-text p 185] Line 1730 Thogh þat I / for my Prymer shal be shent And shal be beten / thries in an houre I wol it konne / oure lady for to honoure Line 1733

¶ His felawe taughte hym / homward priuely ffro day to day / til he koude it by rote And thanne he soong it / wel and boldely ffro word to word / acordyng with the note Line 1737 Twyes a day / it passed thurgh his throte To scoleward / and homward / whan he wente On Cristes moder / set was his entente Line 1740

As I haue seyd / thurgh out the Iuerye This litel child / as he cam to and fro fful murily / wolde he synge and crye O Alma redemptoris / euere mo Line 1744 The swetnesse / his herte perced so Of Cristes moder / that to hir to preye He kan nat stynte / of syngyng by the weye Line 1747

¶ Oure firste foo / the Serpent Sathanas That hath in Iewes herte / his waspes nest Vp swal and seyde / o Hebrayk peple allas Is this to yow / a thyng that is honest Line 1751 That swich a boy / shal walken As hym lest In youre despit and synge of [. . . . . [[MS torn]] ]h sentence Which is agayns / oure l[. . . . . [[MS torn]] ] Line 1754

¶ ffro thennes forth / the Iewes han conspired [folio 211b] This Innocent out of this world to chace An homycide / ther-to han they hired That in an Aleye / at a priuee place Line 1758 And as the child / gan for by for to pace This cursed Iew / hym hente / and heeld hym faste And kitte his throte / and in a pit hym caste Line 1761

[6-text p 186] Line 1761

¶ I seye / that in a wordrobe / they hym threwe Wher as thise Iewes / purgen hir entraille O cursed folk of herodes / al newe What may / youre yuel entente yow auaille Line 1765 Mordre wol out / certeyn it wol nat faille And namely / ther as thonour of god shal sprede The blood out cryeth / on youre cursed dede Line 1768

¶ O martir sonded to virginitee Now maystow syngen / folwyng euere in oon [

¶ legamus Apocalipsim Iohannis / et ibi reperimus agnum super montem syon & cum illo.Cxliiij. Milia signatorum &c qui cantant canticum nouum &c.

¶ Isti sunt qui cum mulieribus se non coinquinauerunt virgines autem permanserunt /. Hii sunt qui secuntur agnum quocumque vadit &c. [MS, leaf 211, back.]

] The white lamb celestial quod she Of which / the grete Euaungelist Seint Iohn Line 1772 In Pathmos wroot which seith þat they þat gon Biforn this lamb / and synge a song al newe [carnaliter] That neuere fflesshly / womman they ne knewe Line 1775

¶ This poure wydwe / awaiteth al that nyght After hir litel child / but he cam noght ffor which as soone / as it was dayes lyght With face pale / of drede and bisy thoght Line 1779 She hath at scole / and ellis where hym soght Til fynally / she gan so fer espie That he last seyn was / in the Iewerie Line 1782

¶ With modres pitee / in hir brest enclosed She goth / as she were half out of hir mynde To euery place / wheras she hath supposed By liklyhede / hir litel child to fynde Line 1786 And euere / on Cristes moder / meke and kynde She cryde / and at the laste [. . . . . [[MS torn]] ] she wroghte [. . . . . [[MS torn]] ]ghte Line 1789

She frayneth / and she prayeth pitously [folio 212a] To euery Iew / that dwelte in thilke place To telle hire / if hir child / wente oght forby They seyde nay / but Ihesu of his grace Line 1793

[6-text p 187] Line 1793 Yaf in hir thought in with a litel space That in that place / after hir sone she cryde Wher he was casten / in a pit bisyde Line 1796

¶ O grete god / that parfournest thy laude By mouth of Innocentz / lo here thy myght This gemme of chastitee / this Emeraude And eek of martirdom / the Ruby bright Line 1800 Ther he with throte ycoruen / lay vpright He Alma redemptoris / gan to synge So loude / that al the place gan to rynge Line 1803

¶ The cristen folk that thurgh the strete wente In coomen / for to wondre vp on this thyng And hastily / they for the Prouost sente He cam anon / with outen tariyng Line 1807 And herieth Crist that is of heuene kyng And eek his moder / honour of mankynde And after that the Iewes leet he bynde Line 1810

¶ This child / with pitous lamentacion Vp taken was / syngynge his song alway And with honour / of greet procession They carien hym / vn to the nexte Abbay Line 1814 His moder swownyng by his beere lay Vnnethe myghte / the peple that was there This newe Rachel / bryngen fro his beere [¶ Rachel plorans filios suos noluit consolari &c.]

¶ With torment and with shameful deth echon This Prouost dooth thise Iewes for to sterue That of this mordre wiste / and that anon He nolde / no swich cursednesse obserue Line 1821 Yuel shal haue / that yuel wol disserue Ther fore with wilde hors [he di [[MS torn]] ]de hem drawe And after that he [. . . . . [[MS torn]] ] Line 1824

[6-text p 188] Line 1824

¶ Vp on his beere / ay lyth this Innocent [folio 212b] Biforn the chief Auter / whil the masse laste And after that the Abbot with his Couent Han sped hem / for to buryen hym ful faste [

// de puero qui cantauit/ de gloriosa virgine // de maria quicquid sciuit puer cantans enutriuit; Maternam inopiam

// hunc Iudeus nequam strauit domo sua quem humauit; Diram per Inuidiam

// Mater querens hunc vocauit hic in terra recantauit; Solita preconia

// Puer liber mox exiuit Mortis reos lex puniuit; Iudeos &c.

] Line 1828 And whan they / holy water/ on hym caste Yet spak this child / whan spreynd was holy water And song O alma redemptoris mater Line 1831

¶ This Abbot which þat was an holy man As monkes ben / or ellis oghten be This yonge child / to coniure he bigan And seyde / o deere child I halsen thee Line 1835 In vertu / of the holy Trinitee Tel me / what is thy cause for to synge Sith þat thy throte is kit to my semynge Line 1838

¶ My throte is kit vn to my nekke boon Seyde this child / and as by wey of kynde I sholde haue dyed / ye longe tyme agoon But Ihesu crist as ye in bokes fynde Line 1842 Wol þat his glorie laste / and be in mynde And for the worshipe / of his moder deere Yet may I synge / O alma / loude and clere Line 1845

¶ This welle of mercy / Cristes moder swete I loued alwey / as after my konnynge And whan þat I my lyf sholde forlete To me she cam / and bad me for to synge Line 1849 This Antheme / verraily in my deiynge As ye han herd / and whan þat I had songe Me thoughte / she leyde a greyn vp on my tonge Line 1852

¶ Wherfore I synge / and synge moot certeyn In honour / of that blisful mayden free Til fro my tonge / of taken is the greyn And after that thus seyde she to me Line 1856

[6-text p 189] Line 1856 My litel child / now wil I fecche thee Whan þat the greyn is f[rom t [[MS torn]] ]hy tonge ytake Be nat ag[. . . . . [[MS torn]] ] Line 1859 ¶ This holy monk this Abbot hym mene I [folio 213a] His tonge out caughte / and took awey the greyn And he / yaf vp the goost ful softely And whan this Abbot hadde this wonder seyn Line 1863 Hise salte teerys / trikled doun as reyn And gruf he fil / al flat vp on the grounde And stille he lay / as he had leyn ybounde Line 1866 ¶ The Couent eek/ lay on the pauement Wepynge / and heryen cristes moder deere And after that they ryse / and forth been went And toke awey this martir / from his beere Line 1870 And in a toumbe / of Marbilstones cleere Enclosen they / this litel body swete Ther he is now / god leue vs for to meete Line 1873 ¶ O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln / slayn also With cursed Iewes / as it is notable ffor it is / but a litel while ygo Preye eek for vs / we synful folk vnstable Line 1877 That of his mercy / god so merciable On vs / his grete mercy multiplie ffor reuerence / of his moder Marie. Amen. [6-text p 190] Line 1880

¶ Here endeth / the Prioresse tale.