The General Prologue Folio 6v 2 of 9 folios
Twenty bokes clad / in blak and in rede
A nota on the left margin, it looks like the same ink as the text.
Of Aristotle / and his philosophie
Than riche robes / or fethil or sautrie
But al be it though / he were a Philosophre
300
Ȝet had he but litel / gold in his coffre
But al þ at he / from his frendis hent
On bokes and on lernyng / he it spent
And bisily gan / for the Soules pray
Soules : The s is a long s; the stem is made by a forking assender from the feet to the head into two strokes. Probably indication of capital letter as all the capital in this hand have otious strokes in loops
Of hem / þ t ȝaf hī / wherwith to scoley
305
Of stody tok he / most cure and hede
Nouȝt a word spak he / more than was nede
And þ t was seide / in for me and reuer ence
And short and quyk / & ful of heigh sentence
Sownynger tue / was his speche
310
And gladly wold he lerne / and gladly teche
A Sergeaū t of lawe / there was / war & wys ¶ A Sergeant of Lawe
That ful often had ben / at Parvys
That was ful riche / of excellence
Discrete he was / and of gret reuer ence
315
He semed swicħ / his wordes were so wyse
Iustice had he be / ful often in assise
Bothe by patent / and pleyn comissioū
For his science / and his heigh renoū
Of fees and robes / had he many on
320
So grete a purchasor / was nowher non
Al was fee simple / to hī in effect
His pr chasyng / myght nat ben / in suspect
Nowher so besy aman . as he there nas
And ȝet he semed / besiere than he was
325
In ter mes had he cas / and domes alle
That fro þ e tyme / of kyng wiƚƚ / weren falle
Ther to he coude endyte / and make a thyng
There coude noman pynche / at his writyng
And euer y statut coude he / pleynly by rote
330
He rod but homely / in a Medlee Cote
Medlee : The M is traced as a cursive m with the minims attached not traced separately, this seems to be a scribal preference for writing capital letters.
Girt wt a seynt of silk / wt barres smale
Of his array / telle I / no lengere tale
A Frankeleyn þ er e was / in this compaignye ¶ A Frankeleyn;
Whyt was his berd / as is the daysye
335
Of his complexion / he was sangweyn
Wel loued he by the morwe / a soppe in wyn
To lyue in delyt / was euer e his wō ne