The complete works of John Gower, volume 2 : $b The English worksGower, John
General
The complete works of John Gower, volume 2 : $b The English works
Gower, John
Poetry
The first hand of this MS. is cramped and ugly, varying a good
deal in size, the second is neat and uniform. The text is late
and full of mistakes, and the spelling bad, even such forms
as ‘loves,’ ‘beres,’ ‘gos’ being quite common for ‘loveth,’
&c., and often _-et_ or _-ut_ as a participle termination,
‘despeyret,’ ‘resignet,’ ‘weddut,’ ‘cleput,’ &c. A certain
interest attaches to the MS. however from the fact that it
seems to be clearly independent of F as well as of the KH₃
group. While agreeing with F completely in form of text, and
supporting it also as a rule against the mistakes of KH₃, it
has a considerable number of readings which belong to the
first recension uncorrected type, and in other cases it agrees
specially with B. Instances of the former are to be found
in Prol. 159, i. 8, 1839, 2423, 2801, 3027, ii. 961, 1200,
1441, 3306, 3516, iii. 68, 626, 2056, v. 1698, 2500, 3376,
vi. 543, 1151, 1631, vii. 1490, _Latin verses after_ 1640 and
1984, 5104, viii. 510, 2342, 2925, &c. These, with others of
a similar kind, scattered through the whole book, seem to be
of the nature of accidental survivals, a first recension copy
(the remote ancestor of W) having been altered by collation
with one resembling F. W agrees with apparent mistakes of F and
the rest of the third recension in some passages, as iii. 446,
iv. 2867, 2973, vii. 5135, viii. 1069, 1999, but supports what
is apparently the true reading against them in Prol. 1078, i.
1068, ii. 2299, 2537, iii. 1605, v. 2906, &c. In most of these
last instances W merely remains in agreement with the first
recension, where F, &c. depart from it, therefore its testimony
may be of an accidental character.
The list of Mayors and Sheriffs of Chester on the first pages has
perhaps some local interest, as it is contemporary and probably
made by a responsible person. Comparing it with that given in
Ormerod’s _Hist. of Cheshire_, we find several differences, as
‘Ric. Sadler’ for ‘Rich. Smith’ as one of the Sheriffs of 1475,
‘John Monkesfelde, Rob. Pleche,’ Sheriffs for 1478, ‘Mathewe
Hewse’ for ‘Mathew Johnson,’ 1479, ‘Rychard Kir e’ for ‘Rich.
Barker,’ 1492. The same pages have some notes about current
historical events, as (under 1469), ‘The which yere were hedet
the lorde Wellybe and the lorde Well. his son for the grete
insurreccion and rysing of the Comyns of the Counte of Lyncolne.
Also the same yere entred our Souereyne and moste noble Prince
Kynge Edward now reynynge,’ &c. Under 1470 is a note of the
battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, and at 1476 the record of a
visit to Chester of ‘our Souereigne lorde Prince,’ who stayed
there from Christmas to Easter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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