EXPERIENCE

Sir I thank you thereof heartily And I am as glad of your company As any man living. Right far sir I have ridden & gone And seen strange things many one In affryk / europe and India Both est & west I have been far ̄ North also and seen the south sterr ̄ Both by see and land And been in sundry Nations with people of dyuers conditions From hens theder to goo Sir as for all such questions Of towns to know the sytuacyon How ferr ̄ they be a sunder And other points of cosmogryfy you shall never learn then more surely Then by that fugure yonder For who that figure did First devise It seemeth well he was wise And perfect in this S yens For both these and land also Lie true and joust as they should do I know by experyens. ¶I wot not ¶Doubtless right nobly done ¶Sir this is ynglande lying here And this is skotla ̄ de y to Joineth him never Compassed a bout every where with the occian see Round ¶And next from them westwardly Here by him self alone does lie Ireland that wholesome ground ¶Here than is the narrow seey To Calyce and Boleyne the next weigh And Flanders in this ꝑte Here lies France next him joining And Spain ̄ southward from ̄ the ̄ S sta ̄ dynge And Portugal in this quart This country is called Italy Behold where Room in y e myddꝭ does lie And Naples here be yond And this little See that here is Is called the Gulf of Uenys And here venys does stand ¶As for almain lies this way Here lies Denmark and norway And northward on this side There lies Iselonde where me ̄ do Fish But be yond that so cold it is No man may there abide ¶This See is called the great Occyan So great it is that never man Could tell it sith the world began Till now within this .xx. year westward be found new lands That we never harden tell of before this By writing nor other means yet many now have been there ¶And that country is so large of room Much longer than all christendom without fable or gyle For dyuers mariners have it tried And sailed Straight by the cost side Above .v. thousand mile ¶But what continued ̄ modytes be within No man can tell nor well Imagine But yet not long a go Some men of this country went By the kings noble consent It for to search to that intent And could not be brought thereto ¶But they that were they venteres Have cause to curse their mariners Falls of promise and dissemblers That falsely them be trayed which would take no pain to sail farther Than their own list and pleasure wherefore that voyage and dyuers other Such kaytyffes have destroyed ¶Oh what a thing had be than if that they that be english men Might have been the First of all That there should have take possession And made First building & habytacion A memory perpetual And also what and honourable thing Both to the realm and to the King To have had his dominion extending There into so far a ground which the noble King of late memory The most wise prince the .vij. Herry Caused First for to be found ¶And what a great meritoryouse deed It were to have the people instructed To live more virtuously And to learn to know of men the manner And also to know God their maker which as yet live all beastly For they neither know God nor the devil Nor never harden tell of heaven nor hell writing nor other scripture But yet in the stead of God almyght The honour the soon for his great lygg For that does them great pleasure ¶Building nor house they have no ̄ at all But wodes / cotꝭ / and cauys small No marvel though it be so For they use no manner of iron Neither in tole nor other weapon That should help them thereto ¶Copper they have which is found In dyuers places above the ground yet they dyg not therefore For as I said they have non yryn whereby they should in the earth mine To search for any wore ¶Great haboundauace of woddꝭ there be Most part vyr and pine apple tre Great riches might come thereby Both pyche and tar and soap asshys As they make in the eest lands By brynnynge thereof only ¶Fish they have so great Plenty That in hauyns take and slain they be with stauys withouten fail Now frenchmen & other have fou ̄ de the trade That yearly of Fish there they lad A above and .C. sail ¶But in the south part of that country The people there go naked always The land is of so great he e And in the north part all the clothes That they were / is but bestꝭ skins They have no neither feet But how the people First began In that country or whence they cam For clerks it is a question Other things more I have in store That I could tell thereof but now no more Till a neither season ¶Than ̄ will I torn a gain to my matter Of Cosmogryfy where I was err ̄ Behold take heed to this ¶Loo eastward beyond y e great occyan Here entereth the see called mediterran Of .ij.M. mile of length The Soudans country lies here by The great Turk on y e north side does lie A man of marvelous strength ¶This said north ꝑte is called europa And this south ꝑte called Africa This eest ꝑte is called India But this new landꝭ found lately Been called america by cause only Americus did First them find ¶Loo Ihrfin lies in this country And this be yond is the read see That moses makes of mention This quarter is India minor And this quarter India Mayor The land of prester John ̄ ¶But northward this way as you see Many other strange regions there be And people that we not know But eastward on the see side A prince there is that rulyth wide Called the Cane of catowe ¶And this is called the great eest see which goes all a long this weigh Towards the new lands again But whither that see go thither directly Or if any wilderness between them do lie No man knoweth for certain But these ewe landꝭ by all cosmografye From the cane of catous land Can ̄ not lie Little past a thousand mile But from those new landꝭ me ̄ ma ail plain Eastward & cum ̄ to englam ̄ de again ̄ e where we began ere while ¶Lo all this partly of the earth which I Have here discryuyd openly The north part we do it call But the south ꝑte on the other side is as large as this full and as wide which we know nothing at all ¶Nor whither y most ꝑte be land or see Nor whither he people that there be Be besty l or conning Nor wh that r that y know God or no No owe that y believe nor what they do Of this we know no hynge Lo is not this a thing wooderfull How that ¶For thou hast ever so leude a ꝓperte Science to despise and yet thou art he That nought canst nor nought Wilt lere ¶Tom continued per quoth a a wise Queen styo ̄ herdly ¶Now I am full glad that he is gone ¶why what doubt have you therein found Think you the earth should not be round Or else how suppose you ¶And likewise from the south to north ¶yes that I can well prove For this you know as well as I you see the north star in the sky Mark well you shall vnethe it spy That ever it does remove ¶But this I assure you if you go Northward and hundredth mile or two you shall think it riseth And how that it is never approached The point over the top of your head which is called your zenyth ¶yet if you go the other weigh Southward .x. or .xii. days Journey you shall then think anon It descended and come more nigh The sercle ꝑtynge the earth and sky As you look Straight with your eye which is called your orison ¶But you may go southward so far That at the last that same star will seem so far down right Clear under neth your orison That sight thereof can you have non The earth will stop your sight ¶This ꝓuyth of necessity That the earth must needs round be This conclulsyon does it try ¶you doubtless sail northward rise it will And sail southward it falls Still And that prouyth the see round ¶you that I know right well As thus mark well when y see is clear That no storm nor wawe thero ̄ does peer This mariners can tell ¶Than if a fire be made on night Upon the shore that gyveth great light And a ship in the see far They in the top the fire see shall And they on hache nothing at all yet they on haunches be nerr ̄ ¶Also on the see where men be sailing Far From land they see nothing But the water and the sky yet when they draw the land more never Than the hill tops Begin to apere Still the never more hie and hie As though they were Still growing fast Out of the see till at last when they come the shore to They see the hill top foot and all which thing so could not be fallen But the see lay round also ¶Than you shall have it more plainly declared If you ave great desire For here loo by mine instrumentis I can show the plain exꝑimentꝭ ¶with all my Heart it shall be done But for the First conclusion That I spoke of the fire Be this the S ey that is so round And this the fire upon the ground And this the ship that is here you know well that a man's sight Can never be but in a line right ¶Mark well than may not y to ma ̄ nis eye ¶with argyng here their foe y That is not worth iij. straws ¶I love not this whoreson losophers Nor this great continued ̄ nyng extromers That tell how far it is to the stars I hate all manner conning I would you knew it I am Ignorance A lord I am of greater pusans Than the King of yngland or France you the grettyst lord living ¶I have seruau ̄ tꝭ at my retynew That long to me I assure you Here with in ynglande That with me yngnorance dwell Still And term of life continued ̄ tynew will A above v C. thousand ¶Sir I thank you thereof heartily But I assure you feythfully I have small courage here to tarry As long as this man is here