THE PROPHESY OF MERLIN (MAGDALENE COLL.

MS)
The Prophesy of Merlin (Magdalene Coll. MS)
Edited by James M. Dean
Originally Published in Medieval English Political Writings
Kalamazoo, Michigan: Western Michigan University for TEAMS, 1996
(Magdalene Coll. Cambridge MS 1236 fol. 91r)
When feythe fayleth in prestys sawys,

sayings; (se

e note)
And lordys wyll be londys lawys,

law of t

he land
And lechery is prevy solas,

secret

comfort
And robbery ys goode purchas:
booty
5
Than shall the londe of Albeon
e note)
Be turned into confusion.
When Goneway shall on Curtays call,

Britain; (se

(se

e note)
Then Wallys shall rayke and hastely ryse;

Wales; wander; rebel; (se

e note)
Then Albeon Skottlonde shall to hem fall;
e note)
10
Then waken wonders in every wyse.
way
The rede Irlonde fox shall ryse with all
e note)
With glayvys grownde, and gare men to agryse
e note)
To fell and fende oure fomen all;
enemies
Sevyn shall sytt in youre asyse. 1
; trial

(se

(se
(se
kill; thwart;
Seven

THE PROPHESY OF MERLIN (MAGDALENE COLL. MS): FOOTNOTES

1 With sharpened swords, and men ready to terrorize

THE PROPHESY OF MERLIN (MAGDALENE COLL. MS): NOTES

1 When feythe fayleth. Versions of this lyric - identified as "Chaucer's Proverb
s" - were regularly
printed in earlier editions of Chaucer. Richard Morris's edition contains the fo
llowing lyric:
Qwan prestis faylin in her sawes,

And Lordis turnin Goddis lawes

Ageynis ryght;
And lecherie is holdin as privy solas,
And robberie as fre purchas,
Bewar than of ille!
Than schall the Lond of Albion
Turnin to confusion,
As sumtyme it befelle.
As printed in The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, rev. ed. (London: Bell, 18
75), vol. 6, p.
307. Skeat prints a similar version of this poem from Caxton's edition of Chauce
r, as the first one of
the "Sayings" (or proverbs) of Chaucer:
Whan feyth failleth in prestes sawes,
And lordes hestes ar holden for lawes,
And robbery is holden purchas,
And lechery is holden solas,
Then shal the lond of Albyon
Be brought to grete confusioun.
See Skeat's Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 7 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1897)
, p. 450.
4 purchas. Skeat glosses purchas as "bargain." It is that which is acquired.
7 Goneway . . . Curtays. Perhaps Gone-Away and Courtesy, allegorical figures of
rudeness and
politeness respectively. That is, when Rudeness calls upon Courtesy. Another pos
sibility: Goneril
and Cordelia from the King Lear story (Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the King
s of Britain
book 2, chapters 11-14).
7-14 When Goneway . . . in youre asyse. RHR prints five and one-half lines of th
is lyric in his
notes to the Trinity College Dublin version of "When lordes wille is londes law.
" I supply variants
from RHR's text in the notes below.
8 Wallys. Wales. The poet mentions three Celtic regions: Wales, Scotland (line 9
), and Ireland (line
11).
9 Albeon Skottlonde. A pleonasm for Scotland or northern Britain.
11 rede Irlonde fox. So MS; RHR (in his partial transcription) rede londe. Perha
ps a reference to
Robert I "the Bruce" (reigned 1306-29), who had red hair and who was noted for h
is duplicity and
self-serving policies. This cryptic line also perhaps alludes to the Battle of B
annockburn (1314). It
might, however, refer to John Comyn the Red, who defeated Edward I's forces at R
oslin in 1301.
Robert Bruce murdered the Red Comyn during a parley at the Greyfriars' church, D
umfries, in
1306.
12 glayvys grownde. So MS; RHR glaringe grounde. RHR's transcription breaks off

with these
words.