2*76 Charles Davidson — Eyiglish Mystery Plays. 



Before line 201, Satan exclaims, 



Yee, hangyd he thou on a cruke. 



Before stanza 26, Sathanas. Whi, and wille thou take theym alle me fro? 



Then thynk me thou art vnkynde ; 

 Nay I pray the do not so, 

 Vmthynke the better in thy mynde. 

 Or els let me with the go, 

 I pray the leyfe me not behynde. 

 Jesus. Nay tratur, thou shalle won in wo. 

 And tille a stake I shalle the bynde. 



This serves for the expansion of a favorite motive. Before line 

 349, a substitution of four verses by Jesus for two by Satan. 



Satan. Alias ! for dole, and care, 

 I synke in to helle pitte. 



Jesus. Com now furthe my childer alle, 

 T f orgyf you youre mys ; 

 "Withe me now go ye shalle 

 To joy and endles blys. 



These excerpts are evidently full double quatrain stanzas in four 

 cases, viz: before stanzas 5, 9, and 26, and in stanza 12. Before 

 stanza 17 are two half stanzas, and single half -stanzas occur before 

 lines 198 and 349. I think it safe to conclude that the play was 

 written in double quatrain stanzas. 



Whether these stanzas were composed of 4-stress verses is a more 

 difficult question. These excerpts are prevailingly 3-stressed, but our 

 redactor often reduces 4-stress lines to 3-stress by dropping adverbs, 

 connectives, and unimportant words ; thus in stanza 25, lines 2, V, 

 and 8, and in a notable way lines 198-200. 



I do not think that structural alliteration was present, though this 

 author sometimes effaced it beyond recognition. I conclude from 

 the above considerations that the play was not a Northern play. 



The redactor followed his own judgment also in the matter of ex- 

 cision. It is not necessar}^ to quote the lines of the York play that 

 he dropped. They are, inclusive, lines 15-18, stanza 3 entire, lines 

 51-2, 55, 58, 60, 122, 124, 127-8, 181, 183, 339-40, 343-4, 347-8. 



In some few particulars the W text is more accurate than the Y ; 



Y, line 370— 



Ofte tymes tolde vntill vs, 



is assigned with the remainder of stanza 31 to 'John Baptista.' In 

 his mouth it lacks point, as he is a new-comer to hell. W gives the 

 last four lines of the stanza, including this line, to Moses, which 

 makes the line in character. Y, line 113, gives A for the proper name 

 which W gives as Anaballe. Y, line 135, reads by blunder of the 

 scribe 'lady' where W writes correctly *lad.' The aid that W can 



