Old English poems, written in the third quarter of the 15th cent. (?)

File

MS. Douce 78

Held at the Weston Library

Comprises:

(fol. 1) On Fortune and her wheel, with the refrain 'Leste that Fortune turne hure whele', or something similar: beg. (imperfect) 'ȝutte y se but fewe canne sece.'
(fol. 1v) Hymn to the Virgin, with the refrain 'Quia amore langueo', beg. 'In a tabernacle': ascribed to John Lydgate
(fol. 3) A Lament of the Virgin: beg. 'As reson rywlyde my rechyles mynde.'
(fol. 5) The Complaint of Christ: beg. 'This is Crystis owne complaynte.'
(fol. 7v) Medical recipes, in prose
(fol. 18) Poem, beg. 'O thou pereles Prynce of Peese.'
(fol. 19) Poem on the Battle of Jerusalem: beg. 'Lysteneth all that bethe a lyve': a leaf or more is lost after fol. 70, and the poem ends in the middle of fol. 71v, apparently unfinished, with 'Sere hereth nowe': and fols. 72-5 belong to the same poem: which was at one time ascribed to Adam Davy, and even Lydgate.

With the armorial bookplate of Owen (Salusbury) Brereton (d. 1798).

Dates

77 Leaves

MS. Douce 78

Falconer Madan, et al., A summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the Quarto series (7 vols. in 8 [vol. II in 2 parts], Oxford, 1895-1953; reprinted, with corrections in vols. I and VII, Munich, 1980), vol. IV, no 21652

Our best descriptions for medieval items in this collection are in Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries under MSS. Douce.

On paper, imperfect

8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

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