Prologus de visione Petri Plowman
fol. 77rI
R.P.0: Fols. 77r and 80v are both very faded with considerable bleed-through from their opposite sides. In a few cases, the midline punctus elevatus must simply be inferred because the fading makes it indistinct though still visible. Moreover, the bottom and outer margins of all eight sides bound in Lansdowne 398 (77r-80v) are severely cropped. More than one hundred lines at the beginning of the Prologue (= KD Prol.1-124) as well as the end of Passus 1 and the beginning of Passus 2 (= KD1.141 through KD2.40) have been lost from MS R since the early eighteenth century (at the latest). It is likely, but unproveable, that the event behind this loss also accounts for the fact that the surviving first few leaves of MS R (usually referenced as Oxford, Bodleian MS Rawlinson Poetry 38) are now bound into a completely different codex, London, British Library MS Landsowne 398. For more information, see Introduction, I.10."
R.P.8KD.P.132
Sum rex sum princeps · veutrum[n]eutrumR.P.8:
The form of the <v> in veutrum is slightly blurred, but
there is no possibility of transcribing it as <n>. This is a unique error in
R. fortasse deinceps . A light brown brace in the right margin
links RP.8-14. There is also some evidence of light brown underlining of the a-verses in
RP.9-14, but it may be merely the ruling, which is quite visible on this side.
Nudum visR.P.11:
Alpha reads vis. All beta family manuscripts read ius with the C archetype (a few C copies agree with alpha). a te vestireR.P.11:
Alpha is responsible for vestire, though the reading is shared
by H. All authoritative Beta witnesses have vestiri, which is
also the reading of the C version. wltR.P.11: R's wlt is a common English scribal spelling for Latin vult; it appears to have resulted from an association between the customary
phonetic value assigned to Latin initial <v> (= /w/) and a popular sense of the origin
of the <w> graph itself as a "double v." Because many other European languages, as
well as Latin, had no <w> graph, and foundries therefore omitted the form from
standard typographic templates, English printers often resorted to using the digraph
<vv> to represent English <w> till the end of the seventeenth century. Cf. R.7.65: (wltis), R.12.71:, and R.15.43: (both wlt). pietate .
Si visR.P.13:
Alpha reads vis. All beta family manuscripts read ius. nudatur nudo de iure metatur .
R.P.16KD.P.140
And to þe angel an heiȝ answeresR.P.16:
Only L agrees with R in this reading; F and all other beta manuscripts agree on the preterite
form, answerde. after .
¶ And þanne gan alle aR.P.19:
R offers two unique readings in this line: (1) where the beta copies have þe comune(s), R reads a
comoune; (2) where beta attests in vers, R has in a vers. F's reading of this line is completely erratic.
comoune crie in a vers of latyn .R.P.19: Immediately hereafter, alpha omits a line present in beta:
To þe kynges conseille construe ho-so wolde.
To þe kynges conseille construe ho-so wolde.
And pleyedR.P.26: There is a small hole in the parchment here,
causing the <d> of pleyed to be written slightly above the rest of
the line. with hem periliousely and possed hem aboute .
R.P.28KD.P.153
And ȝif we grucchen his gammenR.P.28: R's phrase here is unique; beta and the C
version attest of his game(n), while F reads his wille. he wille greue vs alle .
fol. 77vI
A raton of renoun
moste resonableR.P.33: R shares this reading with Hm and with the C
version; beta and F read renable. of tonge .
The rubricating scribe managed to touch each of the first characters on this side in red, at
least so far as cropping permits us to judge. None of the initials survives in whole, but we
have marked initials as rubricated where sufficient fragments remain to verify that
fact.
Seyde for a souereyne helpe
to hem alle .R.P.34: In place of alpha's hem alle, beta reads hym-selue.
Boþe in warayne and in waste
whare þaym lef lykeþ .R.P.38: There is considerable variation in attestation for the
final phrase. F reads hem best lykeþ. Some of the beta copies show hem-self liked; others read hem leue liketh.
R.P.40KD.P.165
Were þere abellea
belle on here bye by IhesusR.P.40:
Beta witnesses have Ihesu. The C manuscripts are
divided, a majority reading with beta but a significant minority, in both major branches,
agreeing with alpha. as me thenketh .
And hangen it vp-on þe
cattes hals þan here we mowen .R.P.45: Alpha lacks the following two lines attested
by beta witnesses and by Cx:
Where he ritt or rest or renneth to playe
And ȝif him list for to laike þenne loke we mowen.
Where he ritt or rest or renneth to playe
And ȝif him list for to laike þenne loke we mowen.
R.P.48KD.P.175
¶ Alle þe route of þeR.P.48:
The second þe in this line is R's unique addition. The first þe is an alpha variant (beta has þis). The C
manuscripts are divided on this reading, a majority of the X family agreeing with beta, while
a majority of the P family agrees with alpha. ratones to þis
resoun þei assented .
R.P.52KD.P.179
Ne hangen it aboute his halsR.P.52: Beta reads þe cattes hals. Alpha's his
hals is also the reading of the C version. alle
englond to wynne .
¶ Þouȝ we had
I-culledR.P.58:
In place of alpha's (had I-culled), beta
witnesses read either kulled (LMCO) or killen (CrWHmG).
The C version agrees on this reading with alpha. þe cat
yut schulde þere cum an-othere .
fol. 78rI
Ve terre vbi puer est rex . For may no renk noR.P.65:
F omits R's double negative and beta reads þer reste
in place of R's no reste. reste haue
for ratones by nyȝte . —
It
is unclear why the scribe's lineation went wrong here (running together the Latin quotation
with half the following English line, so that the b-verse ended up relegated to a line of its
own). It seems likely that the problem is related to a larger problem of textual order
between KDProl.188 and 197 in Bx (See Kane-Donaldson, p. 176, for their
editorial reasoning on re-ordering this passage). However, there is no evidence that the R
scribe had any clue about the source of the problem. The <f> at the head of RP.66 is
not capitalized, but it is touched in red, and the small + in the left margin is probably
irrelevant; similar marks are found beside most lines that were to have been boxed in red
(unnoted in this edition).
And þouȝ it costed meR.P.78: R's it costed me agrees in substance with FG, which also
read a simple preterite. Beta has it had cost(n)e(d) me. The alpha reading
is also that of the C version. catel beknowen it
InoldeI nolde .
But suffre as hym-selfR.P.79: There
is an ink dot (smaller than a punctus) immediately after hym-self. From
the lack of spacing, it appears to be accidental. wolde to do as hym liketh
.
¶
What þis meteles by-mene þeR.P.82:
Unfortunately, R's hand often fails to distinguish þ from y. As was the judgment of Kane-Donaldson, our guess here, judging by proximate
renderings of both characters, is that R intended þe; if that was, in
fact, the scribe's intention, the resulting reading is unique error; the other B copies read ȝe. men þat ben myrie .
Deuyne ye ne dar I nouȝtR.P.83:
F rephrases this a-verse extensively; in place of R's ne dar I nouȝt,
beta reads for I ne dar, a phrase that agrees completely with the reading
of the C version. by dere god in heuene
R.P.84KD.P.211
¶R.P.84: The paraph marker for this
strophe was either partially erased or badly rubbed.
Ȝeet houed þere an hundreth in houues of silke
Seriauntz it semede atR.P.85:
R's at (cf. R2.11) is formally unique among the B
witnesses, which uniformly attest the expected þat; one C manuscript (Dc) shows the same clipped form as R's. Otherwise all agree with Bx. serueden at þe barre .
Pletedden for penies and pondresR.P.86:
Beta reads poundes (which is also the reading of Ax
and Cx) while F has pownded. R's reading, which was
misconstrued by Kane-Donaldson and Schmidt as poudres, is unique among the
B witnesses (manuscript E in the A tradition also
attests ponderys). MED, s. v.
ponder, defines pondres as "balance scales" or
"weights," but the variant is almost certainly scribal. þe lawe .
Þan gete a mumme of here mouth her mony hem byR.P.89: In place of alpha's er, beta
copies read til or but. Only R adds hem after mony. Later in this half-line, most B witnesses read be, but LMCY attest were. Among
the C manuscripts, most P family witnesses agree with beta's til, while a majority of the X family agrees with alpha's er. However, at the end of the half-line, the C families fragment
their allegiances, most of the P group (and four of the X group — P2CotLcBo) now aligning with the more widely attested B reading,
be, while some of the best X witnesses read wer(e),
agreeing with LMCY. Both sets of variants were already attested in various A copies. I-shewed
R.P.96KD.P.223
Of alle libbyngeR.P.96: Beta reads alkin libbyng. The entire line is missing from
the A and C versions, but it is witnessed in Z (MS Bodley 851), where the phrasing in question is identical to that
found in alpha. laboreres lopen forthe somme .
fol. 78vI
And dryueth forth here dayes hereR.P.98:
Cf. R's here dayes here with F's þe fayre day and
beta's þe longe day. Beta's reading agrees with that of the A version, while the reading of R closely parallels that of Cx (= here days). . with deu vous saue dam
emme .
Whitt wyne of osey and of gascoyneR.P.102:
R's of gascoyne is deficient in length and alliteration to complete a full
half-line, but it is substantively the same as the reading of the P family of C manuscripts. F has wyn of Gaskoyne, which essentially agrees with
both the X family reading in the C tradition and with Ax. Beta reads, more explicitly, red wyn of Gascoigne. .
Of þe ryn and þe rochelR.P.103: Beta reads and of þe Rochel. This is also the reading of Ax and Cx. þe rost to defye .