♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Aug. U, 1885. 



Coventry 1 



n the X' 



•j pagent Cryst xal be born, 

 Of that joy auDgelys xnl synge, 

 And telle the shepherdys in that morn 

 The blysseful byrth of that Kyng. 

 The shepherdys xal come hym befforn,' 

 With reverena and with worchepyng, 

 Ffor he xal savyn that was forlorn, 

 And graunt ns lyfE evyn more lestyng, 

 I wys, 

 This gle in grythe 

 Is mater of myrthe, 

 Now Crystys byrthe, 



Bryng us to his blya ! 



Chesteb Banes. 

 And nexte to this, you, bowchers of this citie, 

 The storie of Sathan, that Christe woulde needes tempte, 

 Set out as accostamablie have yee 

 The devil! in his fethers all ragger and rente. 



COVEXTET BaXES. 



In the xxth pagent alle the develys of helle, 

 They gadere a parlement, as ye xal se. 

 They h?ve grete doute the trewth to telle. 

 Of Cryst Jhesu whath he xnlde be. 

 They seiide Sathan, that ffynde so ffolle, 

 Cryst for to tempte in fele degre : 

 We xal yow shewe, if ye wyl dwelle. 

 How Cryst was temptyd in synnys thre 



Of the deyvl Sathane ; 

 And how Cryst answeryd onto alle. 

 And ma 'he ffende awey to falle, 

 As we bet^ may this shewe we xalle, 



Thorwe grace of God and man. 



Chester Baxes. 

 Ton, ffletehers, boweyers, cowpers, stringers, iremongers, 

 See soberly ye make of Christes dolefnll death. 

 His sconrginge, his whippinge, his blonde shedde, and 

 And all the paines he suffered till the last passion of his 



breath : 

 Lordinges, in this storye consisteth our cheeffe ffayth. 



Coventry Banes. 

 In the XXX pagent thei bete out Crystes blood, 

 And nayle hym al nakyd upon a rode tre, 

 Betwen ij thevys, i-wys they were to wood (very mad) 

 They hyng Cryst Jhesu, gret shame it is to se. 

 Tij wurdys Cryst spekyth hangyng upon the rode. 

 The weche ye xal here alle tho that wyl ther be. 

 Than doth he dye ffor cure allether* good ; 

 His modyr doth se that syth, gret mornyng makyth she, 



ffor sorwe she gynnyth to swowne. 

 Seynt John evyn ther as I yow ply the. 

 Doth chere onre lady with al his mythe, 

 And to the temple anon forth rythe, 



He ledyth here in that stownde (time). 

 Chester Banes. 

 As our beleeffe is that Christe, after his passion. 

 Descended into hell, but what he did in that place, 

 Thongh our authonr sett fourth after his opinion. 

 Yet creditt you the best learned, those doth he not disgrace : 

 We wishe that of all sortes the beste you ymbrace ; 

 You, cookes, with your carriage see that you doe well 

 In pagente sett out the harrowinge of hell. 



Coventry Banes. 

 In the xxxiiij pagent xal Maryes thre 

 Sebe Cryst Jhesu in his grave so coolde ; 

 An aungel hem telly th that aresyn is he ; 

 And whan that this tale to them is tolde. 

 To Crystes dvscyplis with wurdvs fful fre. 

 They telle these tydynges with"brest ful bolde. 

 Than Petyr and John, as ye xal se, 

 Down rennyn in hast over lond and wolde. 



The trewth of this to have. 

 Whan thei ther comyn, as I yow say. 

 He is gon ffrom undyr clay. 

 Than ther wytnesse anoon that day, 



He lyth not in his grave. 



* Genitive plura 



)f aU. 



(trouble and harm) 



The last verse of tte Chester Banes, after citing the words 

 of Jesus to the righteous at Doomsday, closes with lines 

 touching in their simplicity, and in the prayer for the 

 salvation of tho spectators which they utter : — 

 To which rest of wayes and selestiall habitation 

 Grante us free passage, that all together wee, 

 Accompanied with angells and endlesse delectation, 

 Maye contynually lande God and prayse that King of 

 Glorye. 

 The Coventry prologue ends with a prayer and business 

 announcement in combination, reminding us of the 

 notices from modern pulpits accompanying the benedic- 

 tion : — 



Now have we told yow alle be-dene (obediently) 

 The hool mater that we thynke to play ; 

 Whan that ye come, ther xal ye sene 

 This game wel pleyd in good aray. 

 Of holy wrytte this game xal bene. 

 And of no fablys be no way. 

 Now God them save from trey and tene 

 Ffor us that prayth upon that day. 

 And gwyte them wel ther mede. 

 A Sunday nest, yf that we may, 

 At vj of the belle we gynne oure play. 

 In N. towne, wherfore we pray, 

 That God now be yonre spede. 

 Amen. 

 In all the pageants of the Creafio 

 popular legend of the fall of Lucifer from heaven * was 

 introduced. God appears, declaring himself 

 Alpha et o 



The first and last also : 

 One God in trinyte.t 

 and receives the adoration of the angels, who sing 

 " Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Sabaoth " before him. 

 That the plays were accompanied by music is evident 

 from the stage directions, and from the pieces collected 

 both by Mr. Sharp and Miss Toulmin Smith, as also from 

 the entries in the records of the Coventry guilds extracted 

 by the former. E.g. — 



14.51. Itm. payd to the mynstrells viii s. 



1471. Itm. spend on mynstrells dinr and thr sop on Corps x' 



1477. It.* payd to the wayts for pypyng v s. 



Itm. payde to hym that playde on the flute iis, vi d. 

 But the specimens have neither much melody nor value, 

 and can only be imperfectly translated from the old nota- 

 siyus of semibreves, minims, and the 

 riiiLjels' song, God descends from his 

 \\ hereupon Lucifer usurps his throne 

 i-orship of the angels. ^ The loyal and 

 and the dispute is ended by the 

 the arch-traitor and his 

 follow: 



DetLS. Thus Luoyfere ffor the mekyl pryde, 

 I bydde the ffalle from hefne to helle ; 

 And alle tho that holdvn on thi syde, 

 In my blysse nevyr more to dwelle. 



Lucyfcr. At thy byddyng thi wyl I werke. 

 And pas fro joy to peyne smerte, 

 Now I am a devyl ful derke 



That was an aungelle bryht.§ 



* Partly based on Isaiah xiv. 13, 14 ; Revelations xii. 7-9 ; and 

 the words of Jesus, " I saw Satan like lightning fall from heaven," 

 Luke X. 18. In his fall to the abyss of hell he broke his leg like 

 Hephaistos when hurled from heaven by Zeus, and hence in Aryan 

 myths the legend of the lame devil (diuble boiteui:). 



t In the Chester variant the Deity asserts his power and glory 

 in alliterative rhyme, and calls himself " Prince principall proved in 

 my perpetuall provydence." 



I Hie Dens recedit a suo solio et Lucifer sedebit in eodem solio. 

 — Tnwneley Mysteries. " Creatio," p. 3. 



§ Coventry Mysteries, p. 21. 



like. \U.-r tliL- 



anddemiaid.s the'v 

 rebellious disagrei 

 return of the Deity, -^ 

 from hea 



