The babees book, Aristotle's A B C, Urbanitatis, Stans puer ad mensam, The lvtille childrenes lvtil boke, The bokes of nurture of Hugh Rhodes and John Russell, Wynkyn de Worde's Boke of keruynge, The booke of demeanor, The boke of curtasye, Seager's Schoole of vertue, &c. &c. with some French and latin poems on like subjects, and some forewords on education in early England. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ...

In nomine patris, god kepe me / et filij for charite, Et spiritus sancti, where that y goo by lond or els by see! an vsshere y Am / ye may beholde / to a prynce of highe degre, þat enioyethe to enforme & teche / alle þo thatt wille thrive & thee [do, get on.] , Line 4 Of suche thynges as here-aftur shalle be shewed by my diligence To them þat nought Can / with-owt gret exsperience; Therfore yf any man þat y mete withe, þat [? þat = nought can.] for fawt of necligence, y wylle hym enforme & teche, for hurtynge of my Conscience. Line 8 To teche vertew and connynge, me thynkethe hit charitable, for moche youthe in connynge / is baren & fulle vnable; þer-fore he þat no good can / ne to noon wille be agreable. he shalle neuer y-thryve / þerfore take to hym a babulle. Line 12

Line 12

As y rose owt of my bed, in a mery sesoun of may, to sporte me in a forest / where sightes were fresche & gay, y met with þe forster / y prayed hym to say me not nay, þat y mygh[t] walke in to his lawnde [The Lawnd in woodes. Saltus nemorum. Baret, 1580. Saltus, a launde. Glossary in Rel. Ant., v. 1, p. 7, col. 1; saltus, a forest-pasture, woodland-pasture, woodland; a forest.] where þe deere lay. Line 16 as y wandered weldsomly [at will. A.S. wilsum, free willed.] / in-to þe lawnd þat was so grene, þer lay iij. herdis of deere / a semely syght for to sene; y behild on my right hand / þe son þat shon so shene; y saw where walked / a semely yonge man, þat sklendur was & leene; Line 20 his bowe he toke in hand toward þe deere to stalke; y prayed hym his shote to leue / & softely with me to walke. þis yonge man was glad / & louyd with me to talke, he prayed þat he myȝt withe me goo / in to som herne [A.S. hirne, corner. Dan. hiörne.] or halke [Halke or hyrne. Angulus, latibulum; A.S. hylca, sinus. Promptorium Parvulorum and note.] ; Line 24 þis yonge man y frayned [AS. fregnan, to ask; Goth., fraihnan; Germ., fragen.] / with hoom þat he wonned þan, "So god me socoure," he said / "Sir, y serue my|self / & els noon oþer man." "is þy gouernaunce good?" y said, / "son? say me ȝiff þow can." "y wold y were owt of þis world" / seid he / "y ne rouȝt how sone whan." Line 28

Line 28 "Sey nought so, good son, beware / me thynkethe þow menyst amysse; for god forbedithe wanhope, for þat a horrible synne ys, þerfore Son, open thyn hert / for peraventure y cowd the lis; [AS. lis remissio, lenitas; Dan. lise, Sw. lisa, relief.] "when bale is hext / þan bote is next" / good sone, lerne welle þis." Line 32 "In certeyn, sir / y haue y-sought / Ferre & nere many a wilsom way to gete mete [for me to] a mastir; & for y cowd nouȝt / euery man seid me nay, y cowd no good, ne noon y shewde / where euer y ede day by day but wantoun & nyce, recheles & lewde / as Iange|lynge as a Iay." Line 36

"Now, son, ȝiff y the teche, wiltow any thynge [folio 171b] lere? wiltow be a seruaunde, plowȝman, or a laborere, Courtyour or a clark / Marchaund / or masoun, or an artificere, Chamburlayn, or buttillere / pantere or karvere?" Line 40

"The office of buttiler, sir, trewly / pantere or chamburlayne, The connynge of a kervere, specially / of þat y wold lerne fayne alle þese connynges to haue / y say yow in certayn, y shuld pray for youre sowle nevyr to come in payne." Line 44

"Son, y shalle teche þe withe ryght a good wille, So þat þow loue god & drede / for þat is ryght and skylle,

and to þy mastir be trew / his goodes þat þow not spille, but hym loue & drede / and hys commaundementȝ dew / fulfylle. Line 48 The furst yere, my son, þow shalle be pantere or buttilare, þow must haue iij. knyffes kene / in pantry, y sey the, euermare: On knyfe þe loves to choppe, anothere them for to pare, the iij. sharpe & kene to smothe þe trenchurs and square. [In Sir John Fastolfe's Bottre, 1455, are "ij. kerving knyves; iij. kneyves in a schethe, the haftys of every (ivory) withe naylys gilt . . . j. trencher-knyfe." Domestic Arch., v. 3, p. 157-8. Hec mensacula, a dressyng-knyfe, p. 256; trencher-knyves, mensa|culos. Jn. de Garlande, Wright's Vocab. p. 123.] Line 52 alwey thy soueraynes bred thow choppe, & þat it be newe & able; se alle oþer bred a day old or þou choppe to þe table; alle howsold bred iij. dayes old / so it is profitable; and trencher bred iiij. dayes is convenyent & agre|able. Line 56 loke þy salte be sutille, whyte, fayre and drye, and þy planere for thy salte / shalle be made of yverye / þe brede þerof ynches two / þen þe length, ynche told thrye; and þy salt sellere lydde / towche not thy salt bye. Line 60 Good son, loke þat þy napery be soote / & also feyre & clene, bordclothe, towelle & napkyn, foldyn alle bydene. bryght y-pullished youre table knyve, semely in syȝt to sene; and þy spones fayre y-wasche / ye wote welle what y meene. Line 64

Line 64 looke þow haue tarrers [An Augre, or wimble, wherewith holes are bored. Terebra & terebrum. Vng tarriere. Baret's Alvearie, 1580.] two / a more & lasse for wyne; wyne canels [A Cannell or gutter. Canalis. Baret. Tuyau, a pipe, quill, cane, reed, canell. Cotgrave. Canelle, the faucet [l. 68] or quill of a wine vessel; also, the cocke, or spout of a conduit. Cot.] accordynge to þe tarrers, of box fetice & fyne; also a gymlet sharpe / to broche & perce / sone to turne & twyne, with fawcet [A Faucet, or tappe, a flute, a whistle, a pipe as well to con|ueigh water, as an instrument of Musicke. Fistula . . Tubulus. Baret.] & tampyne [Tampon, a bung or stopple. Cot. Tampyon for a gon—tampon. Palsg.] redy / to stoppe when ye se tyme. Line 68 So when þow settyst a pipe abroche / good [sone,] do aftur my lore: iiij fyngur ouer / þe nere chyne [The projecting rim of a cask. Queen Elizabeth's 'yeoman drawer hath for his fees, all the lees of wine within fowre fingers of the chine, &c.' H. Ord. p. 295, (referred to by Halliwell).] þow may percer or bore; with tarrere or gymlet perce ye vpward þe pipe ashore, and so shalle ye not cawse þe lies vp to ryse, y warne yow euer more. Line 72 Good sone, alle maner frute / þat longethe for seson of þe yere, Fygges / reysons / almandes, dates / buttur, chese [? This may be butter-cheese, milk- or cream-cheese, as contrasted with the 'hard chese' l. 84-5; but butter is treated of separately, l. 89.] / nottus, apples, & pere, Compostes [Fruit preserves of some kind; not the stew of chickens, herbs, honey, ginger, &c., for which a recipe is given on p. 18 of Liber Cure Cocorum. Cotgrave has Composte: f. A condiment or compo|sition; a wet sucket (wherein sweet wine was vsed in stead of sugar), also, a pickled or winter Sallet of hearbes, fruits, or flowers, condited in vinegar, salt, sugar, or sweet wine, and so keeping all the yeare long; any hearbes, fruit, or flowers in pickle; also pickle it selfe. Fr. compote, stewed fruit. The Recipe for Compost in the Forme of Cury, Recipe 100 (C), p. 49-50, is "Take rote of persel. pasternak of rasens. scrape hem and waische hem clene. take rapis & cabochis ypared and icorne. take an erthen panne with clene water, & set it on the fire. cast all þise þerinne. whan þey buth boiled, cast þerto peeris, & parboile hem wel. take þise thyngis up, & lat it kele on a fair cloth, do þerto salt whan it is colde in a vessel; take vinegur, & powdour, & safroun, & do þerto, & lat alle þise þingis lye þerin al nyȝt oþer al day, take wyne greke and hony clarified to|gidur, lumbarde mustard, & raisouns corance al hool. & grynde pow|dour of canel, powdour douce, & aneys hole. & fenell seed. take alle þise þingis, & cast togydur in a pot of erthe. and take þerof whan þou wilt, & serue forth."] & confites, chare de quynces / white & grene gyngere;

and ffor aftur questyons, or þy lord sytte / of hym þow know & enquere. Line 76 Serve fastynge / plommys / damsons / cheries / and grapis to plese; [folio 172a] aftur mete / peeres, nottys / strawberies, wȳneberies, [? not A.S. winberie, a wine-berry, a grape, but our Whin|berry. But 'Wineberries, currants', Craven Gloss.; Sw. vin-bär, a currant.] and hardchese, also blawnderelles, [Blandureau, m. The white apple, called (in some part of England) a Blaundrell. Cotgrave.] pepyns / careawey in comfyte / Compostes [See note to l. 75.] ar like to þese. aftur sopper, rosted apples, peres, blaunche powder, [Pouldre blanche. A powder compounded of Ginger, Cinnamon, and Nutmegs; much in use among Cookes. Cotgrave. Is there any authority for the statement in Domestic Architecture, v. l, p. 132; that sugar 'was sometimes called blanch powdre'? P.S.— Probably the recollection of what Pegge says in the Preface to the Forme of Cury, "There is mention of blanch-powder or white sugar," 132 [page 63] . They, however, were not the same, for see No. 193, p. xxvi-xxvii. On turning to the Recipe 132, of "Peeris in confyt," p. 62-3, we find "whan þei [the pears] buth ysode, take hem up, make a syrup of wyne greke. oþer vernage with blaunche powdur, oþer white sugur, and powdour gyngur, & do the peris þerin." It is needless to say that if a modern recipe said take "sugar or honey," sugar could not be said "to be sometimes called" honey. See Dawson Turner in Howard Houeshold Books.] your stomak for to ese. Line 80

Line 80 Bewar at eve [['at eve' has a red mark through as if to cut it out]] / of crayme of cowe & also of the goote, þauȝ it be late, of Strawberies & hurtilberyes / with the cold Ioncate, [Ioncade: f. A certaine spoone-meat made of creame, Rose|water and Sugar. Cotgrave.] For þese may marre many a man changynge his astate, but ȝiff he haue aftur, hard chese / wafurs, with wyne ypocrate. [See the recipe to make it, lines 121-76; and in Forme of Cury, p. 161.] Line 84 hard chese [Muffett held a very different opinion. 'Old and dry cheese hurteth dangerously: for it stayeth siege [stools], stoppeth the Liver, engendereth choler, melancholy, and the stone, lieth long in the stomack undigested, procureth thirst, maketh a stinking breath and a scurvy skin: Whereupon Galen and Isaac have well noted, That as we may feed liberally of ruin cheese, and more liberally of fresh Cheese, so we are not to taste any further of old and hard Cheese, then to close up the mouth of our stomacks after meat, p. 131.] hathe þis condicioun in his operacioun: Furst he wille a stomak kepe in the botom open, the helthe of euery creature ys in his condicioun; yf he diete hym thus dayly/he is a good conclusioun. Line 88 buttir is an holsom mete / furst and eke last, [

In youth and old age. Muffett says, p. 129-30, "according to the old Proverb, Butter is Gold in the morning, Silver at noon, and Lead at night. It is also best for children whilst they are growing, and for old men when they are declining; but very un|wholesom betwixt those two ages, because through the heat of young stomacks, it is forthwith converted into choler [bile]. The Dutchmen have a by-Verse amongst them to this effect

Eat Butter first, and eat it last,And live till a hundred years be past.'

] For he wille a stomak kepe / & helpe poyson a-wey to cast, also he norishethe a man to be laske / and evy humerus to wast, and with white bred/he wille kepe þy mouthe in tast. Line 92

Line 92 Milke, crayme, and cruddes, and eke the Ioncate, [See note to l. 82.] þey close a mannes stomak / and so dothe þe possate; þerfore ete hard chese aftir, yef ye sowpe late, and drynk romney modoun, [See 'Rompney of Modon,' among the sweet wines, l. 119.] for feere of chekmate. [Eschec & mat. Checke-mate at Chests; and (metaphorically) a remedilesse disaster, miserie, or misfortune. Cot.] Line 96 beware of saladis, grene metis, & of frutes rawe for þey make many a man haue a feble mawe. þerfore, of suche fresch lustes set not an hawe, For suche wantoun appetites ar not worth a strawe. Line 100 alle maner metis þat þy tethe on egge doth sette, take almondes þerfore; & hard chese loke þou not for-gette. hit wille voide hit awey / but looke to moche þerof not þou ete; for þe wight of half an vnce with-owt rompney is gret. Line 104 Ȝiff dyuerse drynkes of theire fumosite haue þe dis|sesid, Ete an appulle rawe, & his fumosite wille be cesed; mesure is a mery meene / whan god is not dis|plesed; abstynens is to prayse what body & sowle ar plesed. Line 108 Take good hede to þe wynes / Red, white / & swete, looke euery nyȝt with a Candelle þat þey not reboyle / nor lete; euery nyȝt with cold watur washe þe pipes hede, & hit not forgete, & alle-wey haue a gymlet, & a dise, [? ascia, a dyse, Vocab. in Reliq. Ant. v. 1, p. 8, col. 1; ascia, 1. an axe; (2. a mattock, a hoe; 3. an instrument for mixing mortar). Diessel, ofte Diechsel, A Carpenter-axe, or a Chip-axe. Hexham.] with lynnen clowtes smalle or grete. Line 112

Line 112 Ȝiff þe wyne reboyle / þow shalle know by hys syngynge; þerfore a pipe of coloure de rose [? The name of the lees of some red wine. Phillips has Rosa Solis, a kind of Herb; also a pleasant Liquor made of Brandy, Sugar, Cinnamon, and other Ingredients agreeable to the Taste, and comfortable to the Heart. (So called, as being at first prepared wholly of the juice of the plant ros-solis (sun-dew) or drosera. Dict. of Arts and Sciences, 1767.)] / þou kepe þat was spend in drynkynge the reboyle to Rakke to þe lies of þe rose / þat shalle be his amendynge. [folio 172b] Ȝiff swete wyne be seeke or pallid / put in a Romp|ney for lesynge. [See note, l. 31.] Line 116