Ther dukys, and erlys, lorde and barone, Now gracious God he save owre kynge, Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria. 25 30 VI. THE NOT-BROWNE MAYD. HE sentimental beauties of this ancient ballad have always recommended it to readers of taste, notwithstanding the rust of antiquity which obscures the style and expression. Indeed if it had no other merit than the having afforded the groundwork to Prior's Henry and Emma, this ought to preserve it from oblivion. That we are able to give it in so correct a manner, is owing to the great care and exactness of the accurate editor of the Prolusions, 8vo. 1760; who has formed the text from two copies found in two different editions of Arnolde's Chronicle, a book supposed to be first printed about 1521. From the copy in the Prolusions the following is, printed, with a few additional improvements gathered from another edition of Arnolde's book* preserved in the public library at Cambridge. All the various readings of this copy will be found here, either *This (which my friend Mr. Farmer supposes to be the first edition) is in folio; the folios are numbered at the bottom of the leaf, the song begins at folio 75. The poem has since been collated with a very fine copy that was in the collection of the late James West, Esq.; the readings extracted thence are denoted thus, "Mr. W" received into the text, or noted in the margin. The references to the Prolusions will shew where they occur. In our ancient folio MS.* described in the preface, is a very corrupt and defective copy of this ballad, which yet afforded a great improvement in one passage. See v. 310. It has been a much easier task to settle the text of this poem, than to ascertain its date. The ballad of the Nutbrowne Mayd was first revived in The Muses Mercury for June, 1707, 4to. being prefaced with a little Essay on the old English Poets and Poetry; in which this poem is concluded to be near 300 years old," upon reasons which, though they appear inconclusive to us now, were sufficient to determine Prior, who there first met with it. However, this opinion had the approbation of the learned Wanley, an excellent judge of ancient books. For that whatever related to the reprinting of this old piece was referred to Wanley, appears from two letters of Prior's preserved in the British Museum (Harl. MSS. No. 3777). The editor of the Prolusions thinks it cannot be older than the year 1500, because, in Sir Thomas More's tale of The Serjeant, &c., which was written about that time, there appears a sameness of rhythmus and orthography, and a very near affinity of words and phrases with those of this ballad. But this reasoning is not conclusive, for if Sir Thomas More made this ballad his model, as is very likely, that will account for the sameness of measure, and in some respect for that of words and phrases, even tho' this had been written long before; and as for the orthography, it is well known that the old printers reduced that of most books to the standard of their own times. Indeed it is hardly probable that an antiquary like Arnolde would have inserted it among his historical collections, if it had been then a modern piece; at least he would have been apt to have named its author. But to shew how little can be inferred from a resemblance of rhythmus or style, the Editor of these volumes has in his ancient folio MS. a poem on the victory of Flodden-field, written in the same numbers, with the same alliterations, and in orthography, phraseology, and style nearly resembling the Visions off Pierce Plowman, which are yet known to have been composed above 160 years before that battle. As this poem is a great curiosity, we shall give a few of the introductory lines: "Grant gracious God, grant me this time, That I may say, or I cease, thy selven to please [* Hales and Furnivall's edition, vol. iii. p. 174.] 1 I will carpe of kings, that conquered full wide, With regard to the date of the following ballad, we have taken a middle course, neither placed it so high as Wanley and Prior, nor quite so low as the editor of the Prolusions; we should have followed the latter in dividing every other line into two, but that the whole would then have taken up more room than could be allowed it in this volume. [The edition of Richard Arnold's Chronicle (1521) mentioned above, is the second; and the first, which is undated, was printed at Antwerp in 1502. This edition is described in Brydges' Censura Literaria (vol. vi. p. 114), where the Nut-Brown Maid is printed. A copy from the Balliol MS. 354, of about the same date, is printed in Percy's folio manuscript, ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. iii. p. 174. Warton will not allow that the poem was written before the beginning of the sixteenth century, but as Percy says, it is highly improbable that an antiquary would insert a modern piece in his miscellany of curiosities. Percy has inserted the following note in his folio MS.: "From the concluding words of this last stanza ['but men wold that men shold be kind to them eche one, yett I had rather, god to obay it should seem that the author was a woman." Mr. Skeat remarks that the part of the fourth stanza before the woman speaks, and the first two verses, are still more conclusive on this point. On the other side it is noticeable that the author speaks as a man at line 353: "... that we may To them be comfortable; ' but this may only be a blind. Few readers will agree with Percy's estimate of Prior's poem, and Henry and Emma is now only remembered because of its connection with the Nut-Brown Maid. Warton justly points out how the simplicity of the original is decorated, dilated, and consequently spoilt by Prior, who crowds his verses with zephyrs, Chloe, Mars, the Cyprian deity, &c. Such lay figures as these are quite out of keeping with the realities of this most exquisite poem. [* Folio Manuscript, ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. i. p. 212.] One instance of Prior's inability to appreciate the beauties of his original will be sufficient. The tender allusion at v. 232-3 : "O my swete mother, before all other For you I have most drede," followed by the reflection: "But nowe adue! I must ensue is entirely omitted by the later poet, who changes into "To shorte my here, a bowe to bere, "Wanting the scissors, with these hands I'll tear (If that obstructs my flight) this load of hair." The Nut-Brown Maid has always been highly popular (a proof of the good taste of the people), and in consequence it figures in Captain Cox's collection described by Laneham. Another proof of its popularity is the existence of various parodies, one of which is of very early date. It was a common practice in the sixteenth century to turn ordinary ballads into religious songs. The New Nutbrowne Maid, printed by John Skot about 1520, reprinted by George Isted in 1820 for the Roxburghe Club, and again reprinted by Dr. Rimbault for the Percy Society (vol. iv.), 1842, is an instance of this practice. It is a close parody of the original, and purports to be "upon the passion of Cryste." The he and she are changed to Maria the mayde and Jesus. Another version is given in the Percy folio MS. (ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. ii. p. 334), which is entitled A Jigge. The incidents are vulgarized, "but," Mr. Hales observes," the beauty of the original is too great to be altogether destroyed, however rude the hands that handle it. Something of the charm of the Nut Brown Maid lingers around this Jig."] B E it ryght, or wrong, these men among1 To love them wele; for never a dele* For late a man do what he can, Theyr favour to attayne, * Yet, yf a newe do them persue, Theyr first true lover than Laboureth for nought; for from her3 thought He is a banyshed man. I say nat nay, but that all day It is bothe writ and sayd That womans faith is, as who sayth, All utterly decayd; But, neverthelesse, ryght good wytnèsse In this case might be layd, That they love true, and continùe : Recorde the Not-browne Mayde: Which, when her love came, her to prove, To her to make his mone, Wolde nat depart; for in her hart She loved but hym alone. My friend Mr. Farmer proposes to read the first lines thus as a Latinism: "Be it right or wrong, 'tis men among, On women to complayne." Ver. 2. Woman, Prolusions and Mr. West's copy. V. 11. her, i.e. their. [1at intervals, sometimes. 2 not a bit. 3 their.] |