COUNCIL

OF

The Percy Society.

President,

THE RIGHT HON. LORD BRAYBROOKE, F.S.A.

W. HARRISON AINSWORTH, Esq.

THOMAS AMYOT, Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A.

ROBERT BELL, Esq.

WILLIAM HENRY BLACK, Esq.

BOLTON CORNEY, Esq., M.R S.L.

T. CROFTON CROKER, Esq. F.S.A., M.R.I.A.

J. H. DIXON, Esq.

FREDERICK WILLIAM FAIRHOLT, Esq. F.S.A.

JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL, Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A.

J. S. MOORE, Esq.

EDMUND PEEL, Esq.

T. J. PETTIGREW, Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A.

JAMES PRIOR, Esq. F.S.A., M.R.I.A.

WILLIAM SANDYS, Esq. F.S.A.

THOMAS WRIGHT, Esq. M A., F.S.A., Treasurer & Secretary.

PREFACE.

THE following very curious collection of old English Songs and Carols is printed verbatim from a manuscript at present in the possession of the Editor. It appears by the writing and language to have been written in the latter half of the fifteenth century, probably during the period intervening between the latter end of the reign of Henry VI, and the beginning of that of Henry VII; a date which is confirmed by the fact that the few other copies of songs in this collection that occur elsewhere, are invariably found in manuscripts of the reign of Henry VI or of the age immediately following.

This manuscript has in all probability belonged to a professed minstrel, who sang at festivals and merry makings, and it has therefore been thought to merit publication entire, as giving a general view of the classes of poetry then popular. A

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rather large proportion of its contents consists of carols and religious songs, such as were sung at Christmas, and perhaps at some other of the great festivals of the church; and these are interesting illustrations of the manners and customs of the age. Another class of productions, in which this manuscript is for its date peculiarly rich, consists of drinking songs, some of which are singular in their form and not wanting in spirit. The collection also contains a number of those satirical songs against the fair sex, which were so common in the middle ages, and which have a certain degree of importance as showing the condition of private society among our forefathers. In addition to these three classes, the manuscript contains a few short moral poems, which also are not without their peculiar interest.

Manuscript collections of songs like the present, of so early a date, are of great rarity. The only one with which I am acquainted, which may be considered of exactly the same character, is the MS. Sloane, No. 2593, in the British Museum, which has generally been ascribed to the reign of Henry VI. On a comparison of the contents of the two manuscripts, it has been found that a few of the pieces printed in the present volume are found in the Sloane MS., and they have been indicated in the notes; one or two are also found