PLOWMAN

Here I may walk and wander to and from But I see not them which I would speak to so did I neither good nor substancy all For thy foolish and pyuysh opinion was because of the great dominion Of the lands and rends where to thou wast boar which thine ancestors had long time before Thou thynkyst thy self a gentleman to be Ant that is a foolish reason seemeth ne For when adam dolf and eve span who was then a gentleman But then cam the churl and gederyd good And there began First the gentle blood And I think verily you do believe That we cam all of adam and eve Then to speak by reason great possessions Make no gentlemen but gentle conditions That is the cause and best reason why One should be called a gentleman truly And forthermor mark well this reason then If a ma ̄ nis ancestors have be gentlemen And virtuous and good to command well That ought to be reputed never adell To the praise of the child which does refuse Such good continued ̄ dycyons & the continued ̄ trary use But he ought to be dispraised the more Because his ancestors hath showed him before A precedent of gentleness & virtue which good example he doth not infew For the gentleness of hysblode clery In him does decay & utterly die So he that vsyth continued ̄ dycyons virtuous Though that his ancestors were vicious Ought not to be dispraised therefore But ought to be honoured & praised the more Then if thou Wilt look honoured to be Be cause of thy blood then mark well & see The vylyst beggar that goes by the door Had you not both one God & creature you cam of one First stok & ꝓgenye Both of adam & eve you will not deny The beggar & thou were both do wtles Lonseyuyd & born infylth & uncleanness Thy blood & the beggars of one colour be Thou art as apt to take seknes as he if thou be in the body wounded Thy flesh is as ill as his to be helyd Alas I have known many or this So proud of their birth that all theyrlyffys would give them to no labour nor learning which brought them to miserable ending That in poverty wretchedly did die Or fallen to theft & hanged therefore full hie So I Say virtue & good continued ̄ dycyons than Is that which maketh the very gentleman And though the fadyr may bequeath to his son High to S riches his land & his possess yond yet may he nothyr give nor vequeth Unto him in no wise after his death His virtue nor his gentle continued ̄ dyeyons They can not descend as other possessions And if thou Wilt be a gentleman needs Thou must than use virtue & gentle deeds One cause there of is for lak of learning They ꝑseyue not the reason of the thing Another is be cause there be many That call them self gentlemen unworthy which life voluptuously & bestial And do no good in the world at all But lyse in pride sloth & vnthrystynes And be cause they have no manner goodness Nor ꝓperte nor virtue in them where by Any man should think them any praise worthy Therefore they seek for continued ̄ mendacyon Of the actꝭ that their ancestors have done if I should tell the the verey cause true It is because they love no such virtue which virtue & gentle continued ̄ dycyons should be Longing to gentlemen of ꝓperte By goggꝭ sweet body thou liest falsely All possessions began turst of tyranny For when people began First to increase Some gafe them self all to Idylnes And would not labour but take by violence That other men got by labour & diligence Than they that laboured were fain to gyfe Them ꝑt of their gettingꝭ in peas of life Or ellꝭ for their lands money a portion So possessions began by extortion And when such extorsyoners had oppressed The labouring people than they ordained And made laws marvelous strait & hard That their heyrꝭ might enjoy it afterwards So the law of inhetyaunce was First begun which is a thing agains all good reason That any inherytaunce in the world should be ¶By thy reason no nothyr thing is meant But a good deed upon and evil intent when men for love or pryd do such good deeds The devil therefore shall quit the ̄ their medys Nay Much Ill continued ̄ myth thereof I shall prove how For these men that be of great possessions Unto their blood have such affections If any land like them that lies nigh them Of their poor neghbors they will destroy them Or by extort means they will them compel The land for half the worth to them to fell And when they lake money they will alway Ever borrow & never Willing to pay And when they shall die you see the exꝑience Few of them have remors of continued ̄ syens To make any manner restytucyon Of any land so wrongfully gotton Many be good and worshipful also And many charitable deeds they do Byld churchys & amend the hie ways Make alms howsys & help many decays But some be couerous & full falsely Get their good is by dysseyt & usury And when they have a .M. li. in their coffers They will rathyr suffer their neyghbers To starve for hunger & cold & to die Or they will gyfe to help them a penny And yet more over when any of them be Promoted to rule or authority They disdain all learning law & reason And Jug all by will & affection yet gentlemen & the rich marchauntꝭ that be Use Much more vice & iniquyte Nay I Say not so that is not my thought I am not yet so foolish nor so mad For I know many good though some be bade yet some will suffer his dettꝭ unpaid to be And die and Ieoꝑd his soul rather than he wyil any of his landꝭ mynysh and impair That should after his death come to his heir And some of them so proud be of their blood And use small virtue and do little good But gyfe all their myndys and their study To opprese the poor people by tyrrany And some of them think this for a surete It is the most honour to them that can be To the able for to do extortion And to maintain it without punycyon what thou proud horeso ̄ foal who ̄ dost thou knave I trow thou woldist a good blow or two have with a good whypstoke to tech the courtesy what Wilt thou wage battle by & by now That shall I prove Straight I make God avow Nay marry it is a cause to make them merry To walk such a proud fool is but sport & Gam ̄ e why what better pastime her canst thou have Then to here one to call and other knave And see such a proud fool walked w to a whip Nay I will try it how so ever he will Be it w to words or dedꝭ I will answer him Still For be God if he will not be continued ̄ tent To be continued ̄ cludyd by good argument I will continued ̄ clud him one way or that I goo Or I shall ꝓue it on his pate that shall I do Nay I would thou knewist thou foolish lad I am neither mad nor drunken yet For mine opinion I have well ꝓuyd it By substantial reason and argument That inheritance is not convenient And showed better reasons than thou canst do But such men as have great rentꝭ and landꝭ And no estate but term of their lyuys And every thing theron will nourish and save For the great zeal & love that they only have To the continued ̄ mine wealth of their country And for God sake lo these people be they That be worthy to have possessions And such people of virtuous conditions And no neither should be chosen governors & they should have la ̄ dꝭ to maintain their honours Term of their lyuys as long as they take pain For the continued ̄ mine wealth this is good reason plain So that noman ought to have any land But such as be apt and have charge in hand For the continued ̄ mine wealth as pryncys and rulers Bysshoppꝭ curatꝭ preachers and teachers Iugges ministers and other officers That of the continued ̄ mine wealth be executers And valyant men of the chivalry That be bound to defend the people daily Such men as be apt to all such thyngꝭ Should have landꝭ to maintain their lyffyngꝭ So inheritance is not beseeming To let them have landꝭ that Can ̄ do no such thing Nor I think it not reasonable neither One man to life by labour of and neither For ych man is born to labour truly As a bird is to fle naturally Nor a man ought not to have such liberty To lefe landꝭ to his child where by that he Shall lust for to life in sloth & gloteny Compelled to do nought but life voluptuously Then this great myschef should follow of hit Oft times they should rule that have lyttyll wit Or disposed to be proud & covetous Or to life after their lustis voluptuous which if such men had authority Many thyngꝭ no doubt mys ordered should be where Justice should be / there would be tyranny where peas should be war debate & envy So there is no good reason that I can see To prove that any inheritance should be Thou answerest me now even like a foal As some of these fond clerks that go to scole when one putteth of them a subtle question Of phylozophy to be provide by reason when they have all their wits & reason spend And can not tell how their part to defend Than they will allege some authority Of the laws or else of deuynite which in no wise men may deny And yet you know well that of phylozophy The principles oft contraryant be Unto the very groundꝭ of deuynite For the phylozophers agree here unto Quod mu ̄ dus fuit semper ab eterno And deuynys quod in principio oim Creavit deus terram et celum But thou dydest promise openly even now Only by natural reason to prove how That inheritance ought for to be had Nay I have yet reasons last whereby I can ꝓue my self of us all most gentleman That neither of you both can void by reason Then to you both answer me this short clause Is not ge ̄ till continued ̄ dycyons the most pri ̄ cypall cause To make one to be a gentleman How sayest than to pride wrath & e ̄ nuy what is meekness pacyens & charity what is covetous & liberality what is gloteny sloth & lechery what abstynens good business & chastity Sith you have grau ̄ ytyd this I shall prove plain I am a gentleman so is none of your ayn First for pride your rayme ̄ to showeth what you be L. I. For you will never be content except that you Have the finest cloth & silk for to were Of oryent colours & all your gere So costly / your housys guilt gloriously As though you would therein your self deify you covet evermore goodꝭ landꝭ & rend what so ever you get yet never content wrathful you be moved to anger anon And envious disdaining every man And as for me I am content alway with a poor cottage & simple array I disdain no man & yet patiently Can suffer to be called knave and not angry Sometime I call him knave again in hast And when I have said my anger is passed you have your beddys so pleasant & soft wherein you ease your self to long and to oft which maketh your bodies so tender to be that you can not endure labour like me with no manner course food you will be fede But with pleasand wynys & most whytest breed with flesh & Fish most dylycate & fat All frutꝭ & spices that can be got And when you have had such pleasant refections To assuage your carnal insurrections what so ever she be wife wedow or maid If she come in the way she shall be assayed Nay by cokkꝭ body I use no sych life For I am content with black maud my wife Trow you y to I care for these nise proud pri ̄ mys These pai ̄ tied popagays that hold up their chynnꝭ And look so smoterly as who say they would Have every ma ̄ woo them that does them behold Tote man for all sych venereal work As good is the foul as the fair in the dark yet thou answerest to no reason's of mine you but I delight no such vanytese worldly I delight neither in sloth nor gloteny I dyg and delf & labour for my living Never ydyll but somewhat ever doing Daily I ren and go bear sweet & swynk I eat brown breed and drink small drink Content w to course meat what so ever it be so it quench the hunger it suffysyth me These points I use which I have rehearsed now Be not these gentle conditions I pray you what I would do then you can not tell It is not to purpose but this I wot well Sith that I use my life in such good manner whyth such gentle conditions exp ̄ ssyd here More than you both do Still continuing And sith that gentle conditions is the thing To make a gentleman the cause principal wherein I use my life most of us all who can by any reason deny than But that I am of us all most gentleman why sirs than will you deꝑt & be gone