236 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



Ex. 12. A Song against the Monks/ Dialect of Mercia. 



Freeres, f reeres, wo t^ be I 



ministri malorum, 

 For many a mannes soule bring- ge 



ad poenas infernorum. 



There are many poems in which the first half-verse is in English and 

 the second in Latin. 



The septenar couplet with riming caesuras is very common in 

 English of every period, and is usually written in quatrain stanzas. 

 The romancers, however, rarely used it ; still, examples can be found 

 in the metrical romances. 



Ex.13. Sir Ferumbras.' Supposed date 1377. Lines 2401-2. 



Wanne hQ day him was a-falle 



& tyme was come to walke, 

 Maubj'n toward he castel walle 



pryuyliche gan him stalke : 



This measure continues through line 3410 

 to be Southern. 



Ex. 14. The Five Joys of the Yiro-in.^ 



The dialect is thought 

 Southern dialect. Stanza 5. 



he king | ]?at wes of ]?e ! ibore. i, 



to heouene he he vette. 

 To hare blisse II }?at wes f or-l6re. * 



and bl hym seolue sette. 

 Vor 1 he hedde he | Icore. 



wel veyre he ]?e grette. 

 B]y]?e I were Jju | ]?er-v6re. 



ho engles he imette. 



This stanza is of frequent occurrence ; in the Southern dialect 

 both with and without feminine* rimes, in the Xorthern dialect 

 more often with masculine rimes. 



Ex. 15. The Duty of Christians.' 



o — u Or 



u 



u — u — u 



u 



(J uu— — u — 



u 



U — o — u 



o 



u — o — o 



u 



U O u 



u 



u — o — o 



u 



o u o 



u 



o 



o — o 



u — o 



— o u 



o 



— o — o 



o — o 



U 



o 



O 1» 



O — u 



— o — o 



u 



o u 



^J o u <5 ababababs 



This is upon the model of Ex. 5, 



1 Schipper, vol. 1, p. a50. 2 e. E. T. S. Xo. 34. 3 E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 87. 



* I shall not attempt to solve the problem of the syllabification of unstressed final e. 

 In general, I believe it to have been pronounced in the South, and silent in the North, 

 but it was pronounced over a wider area in the earlier centuries under review than in 

 the later, and was at all times subject to various rules and to the exigencies of prosody. 



5 E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 141. 

 • 6 The metrical scheme as printed is not quite right. At the end of each of the even 

 lines (2, 4, 6, 8) there should be added a breve (u), 



