l. 39 (p. 18). _Wolde therfore this erthe on this erthe on this hertly thinke_, is superior to the exaggeratedly long line in Lamb. 40, but both are inferior to MS. Rawl. P., ll. 53, 54, where the correct rime is preserved: thinkynge : risynge : rekenynge : kynge. l. 47. _Lord God that erthe madist & for the erthe suffredist peynys ille._ It is difficult to determine what was the original form of this line. The readings of the other texts which have the verse are as follows:-- (_Harl. 4486, 33_) Now Lorde that madyst for erthe & sufferdyst paynes ille. (_Lamb. 48_) O þou Lord that madist þis erþe for þis erþe & suffridist heere peynes ille. (_Rawl. P. 125-6_). Lord God that erthe tokist in erthe And suffredist paynes ful stille. Possibly MS. Laud has transposed the _and_, and the correct reading should be _that erthe madist for the erthe & suffredist paynes ille_, in which case Harl. 4486 has merely omitted the first _erthe_, while the other two texts have modified the older version. #Page 24.# #MS. Porkington 10.# _Erthe upon Erthe_ is preceded by the two following stanzas:-- Lo wordly folk{es} thouȝ þ{is} p{ro}cese of dethe Be not swete, ne synke not i{n} your mynde. Whe{n} age co{m}myþ & schorteth is her brethe, And dethe co{m}myþ, he is not far behynde; The{n} her dyscressio{n} schal wel knov & fynde That to have mynd of deþ it is ful nesseserry, Ffor deth wyl co{m}e; dovtl{es} he wyl not long tarry. Of what estate ȝe be, ȝovng or wold, That redyth vppon þ{is} dredful storrye, As in a myrrovr her ȝe may be-holde The ferful ende of al your joy & glorie; Therfor þ{is} mat{er} redvs vs to yovr memory:-- Ȝe þ{at} syttyþ nowe hye vppon þe whele, Thynke vppo{n} yovr end, & alle schal be we[le]. The MS. is in Lord Harlech’s library at Brogyntyn (formerly Porkington) near Oswestry, Salop. #Page 28.# #MS. Balliol 354.# l. 48. _Go to seynt Poulis, & see þer the portratowre._ Cf. Stow, _Survey of London_, 1598: ‘There was also one great cloister on the north side of this church (St. Paul’s), environing a plot of ground, of old time called Pardon churchyard . . . About this cloister was artificially and richly painted the Dance of Machabray, or Dance of Death, commonly called the Dance of Paul’s; the like whereof was painted about St. Innocent’s cloister at Paris, in France. The metres or poesy of this dance were translated out of French into English by John Lidgate, monk of Bury, and with the picture of death leading all estates, painted about the cloister, at the special request and in the dispence of Jenken Carpenter, in the reign of Henry V.’ _Ibid._ ‘John Carpenter, townclerk of London, in the reign of Henry V, caused with great expense to be curiously painted upon board, about the north cloister of Paule’s, a monument of Death leading all estates, with the speeches of Death, and answer of every state. This cloister was pulled down 1549.’