520 Notes on the Early Literature of Flodden Field. 



" That noble Erie the white Lyon" was the Earl of Surrey : a 

 white lion being the badge of the Howard family. 



Next to be noticed is the fine alliterative poem called " Scotish : 

 Ffeilde " : contained in the famous folio M.S., of Bishop Percy, 

 which was published a few years back— in 1867 — under the editor- 

 ship of Messrs Hales and Furnivall, A very short description 

 must suffice. It is in two " ffits," containing in all 422 lines, all 

 of which, after the 130th line, are devoted to a description of 

 James's ill-fated campaign ; and the editors inform us that 

 '' this piece is, with the exception of the imperfect copy latply 

 printed by the Chetham Society, now for the first time printed." 

 This imperfect copy, having been printed from a M.S. found 

 among the muniments at Lyme, is referred to as the Lyme M.S. 

 From this poem Bishop Percy gives some quotations in his Essay 

 on Alliterative Metre, in Vol. ii. of his 'Eeliques,' and remarks 

 that " the author seems to have been present at the battle from 

 his speaking in the first person plural " e. g. 



" Then we tild downe oner tents : tbat told were a 1000. " 

 " We blanked them with bills : through all their bright armor." 

 " We mett him in the Midway : & mached him full even." 

 North-country expressions drop now and then from his pen ; for 

 instance, 'peertly,' in line 121 ; 'they fettled them to flye,' in 

 lines 183, 388; 'fettered in a-ray' in line 234, for ' fettled in 

 a-ray,' in Lyme M.S., and ' there company was clemmed ' in line 

 253. That he was a devoted adherent of the Stanleys the poem 

 itself is sufficient evidence ; as to his estimate of himself and his 

 place of abode, we are informed in the concluding lines that 

 he was a gentleman by lesu : that this jest made, 

 which say but as he sayd : forsooth, & noe other, 

 att Bagily that beame : his bidding place had. 

 Bishop Percy offers a very probable correction of the above quo- 

 tations, * which sayth but as he sawe,' and it is to be hoped that 

 the shade of the * gentleman by Jesu' acquiesces therein. 



A note by Mr Furnivall on the above passage is as follows : — 

 " Baggily Hall is situated about three miles from Stockport in 

 Cheshire, but on the borders of Lancashire. It is believed to be 

 the most ancient of the timber houses of Lancashire and Cheshire, 

 and the remains of it are in a very dilapidated state. The only 

 part of the old house now remaining is the hall," of the interior 

 of which (of the 14th century) a view is given in Domestic Archi- 

 tecture of the Middle Ages, vol. ii. opp. p. 236, whence the extract 

 above is taken. On p. 237 it is stated that the village of 



