Dilligence, They have nae law exceptand consuetude, Pauper. Ane consuetude agains the common-weal Where will ye find that law, tell gif ye To take three kye frae ane poor husband man : Ane for my father and for my wife another, mother. Dilligence. Hald thy tongue, man, it seems that thou were manged; Speak thou of priests, but doubt thou will be hanged. Pauper. By Him that bore the cruel crown of thorn, Dilligence. Be sure of priestis thou will get nae sup port. Pauper. I am Sir Robert Rome-raker, Admitted by the Pape: Whilk ye shall see and grape:1 Without that they debate it. With our fair false flattery: But now, alas! our great abusion Of all credence now I am quite, That reads the New Testament. Dool fall the brain that has it wrought, Sae fall them that the book hame brought: Gif that be true, the fiend receive the That Martin Luther, that false loun,4 sort! 3 Sae sen I see I get no other grace, I will lie down and rest me in this place. [PAUPER lies down in the field, and PARDONER enters.] Pardoner. Bona dies! Bona dies! Devout people, good day, I say you. Till I be with you knowen : Gif all the sooth were showen. I Mad, deranged. 2 Without. 3 The order. Though ye have nae contrition, With help of books and bells. Was slain into Balquhidder. Of good hemp soft and sound : Whilk bare his holy bell: He shall never gang to hell, Without he be of Belial born; Maisters, trow ye that this be scorn? Come win this pardon, come. Who loves their wives not with their heart, I have power them for till part: Me think you deaf and dumb. Has none of you crust wicked wives, That holds you untill sturt and strives, Come take my dispensation: Of that cumber5 I shall make you quite, Howbeit yourselves be in the wyte, And make ane false narration. Come, win the pardon; now let see, For meal, for malt or for money, For cock, hen, goose, or gryce Of relicts, here I have ane hunder. Why come ye not? this is ane wonder I trow ye be not wise. separated, much to their mutual satisfaction, by the performance of a ceremony of the coarsest possible description. Then the Pardoner's boy, Wilkin, makes his appearance, and gives us a peep into the secret of relic manufacture.] Wilkin. Hoaw! maister, hoaw! Where are ye now? Pardoner. I am here, Wilkin, widdie fow.1 Wilkin. Sir, I have done your bidding, For I have found here ane great horse bone, Ane fairer saw ye never none, Upon dame Flesher's midding. [Here shall PAUPER rise and rax him.] Pauper. What thing was yon, that I heard crack 3 and cry? I have been dreamand and drivland of my kye. With my right hand my whole body I sain,4 Saint Bride, Saint Bride, send me my kye again! I see standand yonder ane holy man, And thou shall have my pardon even frae Maister, sen ye have tane frae me my cunzie, 2 sunzie ;3 hand. With ropes, and relics, I shall thee sain My merchandise shew me, withouten again; Of gut, or gravel, thou shall never have Or to the bishop I shall pass and plenzie,♦ In Saint Andrews, and summon you to the senzie.5 pain: Now win the pardon, limmer, or thou art lost. Pardoner. Pardoner. What craves thou carl? methinks thou art not wise. Pauper. I crave my groat, or else my merchandise. I gave thee pardon for ane thousand year. How shall I get that pardon, let me hear? Stand still and I shall tell the haile story: Now, be content, ye are ane marvellous man. Pauper. Ane thousand years of pardon I thee give. Shall I get naething for my groat till than? It was THIS learned ecclesiastic is more dis- | inconstancy of court favour. tinguished as a prose writer and scholar, probably during his temporary alienation from court that Lindsay, in the "Complaint of the Papyngo,” describes him as than as a poet; and there is no reason for supposing that he cultivated poetry to any great extent. Neither the date nor the place of his birth are knownHaddington and Berwick shires are the only places even suggested. The date of his matriculation at St Andrews, 1508, gives the nearest approximation as data for estimating the time of his birth. He completed his education at the University of Paris, where he took his degree of doctor of divinity. He himself states that he was in the service of James V. from his infancy, as clerk of his accounts, but that he experienced the request of the King. For the former, which only extended to the first five books, he was paid £36, and for the latter £78. But besides these payments, he was promoted to the Archdeaconry of Moray, and, about the same time, was made a Canon of Ross. The translation of Boece was printed soon after it was written, but the year is not given in the title-page or elsewhere. Livy remained in MS. till 1822, when it was published in the complete edition of his works edited by Maitland, from the MS. in the Advocate's Library. These two works, says Dr Irving, "exhibit the most ample specimen of ancient Scottish prose that has descended to our times, and are distinguished beyond most others by their fluency and neatness of style; nor can we peruse these translations without being convinced that the writer's learning and talents had qualified him for original compositions." The "Epistle to James V.," which prefaces Boece's History, is written with a manly boldness and dignity, which is creditable to both the King and the author. It also conveys a high idea of his skill and taste in the art of poetical composition. Bellenden was strenuously opposed to the Reformation; but having gone to Rome, he is said to have died there in 1550, before that mighty current of religious and political thought had swept away that ecclesiastical system which, if all its priesthood were Bellendens, would at least have presented a more venerable aspect to posterity. |