ben maysters icalled, That the Maysters be called defended he tho gentill Jesus ... purly defended (1115). (574). to brenne the bodye in a bale of Thou shalt be brent in balefull fijr (667). fyre (1234). Thei shulden nou[gh]t after the They nolde nat demen after the face ... demen (670). face (714). Thei schulden delven and diggen Threshing and dyking fro town to and dongen the erthe, town, And mene mong-corn bred to her With sory mete, and not half y-now mete fongen (785). (1043). He mi[gh]te no maistre ben kald, Maysters be called defended he tho for Crist that defended (838). (1115). The Crede is written in alliterative verse; and it will be observed that alliteration is employed in the Tale very freely. Another peculiarity in the Tale may here be noticed, viz. the use of the same rime, _fall_ or _befall_, throughout Part I, with the exception of ll. 205-228. Indeed, in the first line of Part II, the author apologizes for being unable to find any more rimes for _fall_, and proceeds to rime upon _amend_ throughout that Part. In Part III, he begins to rime upon _grace_ in the first two stanzas, but soon abandons it for the sake of freedom; however, at l. 1276, he recurs to _grace_, and continues to rime upon it till the end. It is clear that the author possessed considerable facility of expression. We can date these pieces approximately without much error. The proceedings against Walter Brute, expressly alluded to in the Crede, l. 657, lasted from Oct. 15, 1391, to Oct. 6, 1393, when he submitted himself to the bishop of Hereford. We may well date the Crede about 1394, and the Tale (which probably soon followed it, as the author repeats some of his expressions) about 1395[13].