A-mong the clay they hym dyffoule;
On hym they werë so cruel,
The bar hyde halp [[halpe St.]] neuéradel;
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ffor thys oldë wekkys tweyne
Gan hym cerche, and ek constreyne;
In euery place they han hym souht;
They took hys good, they leffte hym nouht,
Line 13604
And to hym dydë gret disesse.
And to me yt was noon ese
To beholdyn and to se [(St. transposes these lines.]]
Ther tyranye, ther cruelte; [(St. transposes these lines.]]
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And trew(ë)ly [[trewly C., St.]] yt sat me sore,
That the folk I spak off yore
Halp nat hyr lord, but hym forsook,
And, noon hed off hym [[hym om. St.] they took,
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But in hys mescheff lefft hym sool;
And lyk as he hadde ben a ffool,
They scorned hym, and haddë game,
And gan lawhen at hys shame; [[6 lines blank in MS. for an Illumination.]]
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They halp hym nouht, but leet hym be
In hys grete aduersyte,
Markede hym in hys mescheff, [Stowe folio 240a]
Ther he lay bounden as a theff,
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Scornynge at hys bak behynde.
And swych folkys men may fynde
In many place (yiff yt be souht);
Whan a man ys to mescheff brouht,
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And falle in-to aduersyte,
fful fewë frendys than hath he;
At mescheff, they hym for-sake, [folio 207b]
And but a Iape off hym they make,
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Al be yt so, that they beforn
Wer supported and vp born
By hys lordshepe, in ther degre.
Whan he stood in prosperyte,
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Than they woldë make hem strong,
To stonde with hym in ryht and wrong,
With false behestys (as I ha told,)
In al hys werkys make hym bold,
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