Social life in Britain from the conquest to the reformation / compiled by G.G. Coulton.

  • George Gordon Coulton
Date:
1918
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Social life in Britain from the conquest to the reformation / compiled by G.G. Coulton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    selfe. They delyte in theyr owne : They love not peace. In that lond is plentuous ground, mery woodes, moyst rvvers and wells, many flockes of beastes. There ben erthe tyllers, for quantite of the place, inow. 3 IRELAND Trevisa’s Higden, I. 331 if., abbreviated as before. Hig den’s chief authority here is Giraldus Cambrensis. Irland is an iland grettest after Bretayne, and streccheth north from Brendans hilles anon to the ylond Columbyna, and conteyneth eighte dayes jorneis, evrich jorney of fourty mile. (p. 333.) The lond is not playne; but ful of mountaynes and of hilles, of wodes, of mareys, and of mores: the lond is nesche1, reyny, and wyndy, and lowe by the see syde, and with ynne hilly and sondy. There is grete plente of noble pasture and of lese; therfore bestes most ofte be dreve out of thir lese, leste they fede them self to ful and schende them¬ self, and they moste ete at thir owne will. Men of that lond haveth here hele2 alwey, and straunge men haveth ofte a perilous fluxe by cause of moysture of mete ; there cowes flesche is holsom and swynes flesch unholsom. Men of that lond haveth no fevere, but onliche the fevere agu, and that wel silde-whanne. Therfore the holsomnesse and helthe of that lond and the clennesse withoute venyme is worth all the boost and richesse of treen, of herbes, of spicerie of riche clothes, and precious stones of the est londes. Hit semeth that the helthe of that lond is bycause that there is noght gret passynge and exces in [cold] nother in hete....In this lond beeth mo kyn than oxen, more pasture than corne, more gras than seed. There is grete plente of samon, of lampreys, of eles, and of other see fisch; of egles, of cranes, of pekokes, of corlewes, of sperhaukes, of goshaukes, and of* gentil faucouns, and of wolfes, and of wel schrewed mys3. There beth attercoppes4, bloodsoukers, and enettes5 that dooth noon harm. There beeth veyres6 litel of body and ful hardy 1 soft. 2 health. 3 mice. 4 spiders. 5 newts. c weasels.
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