WOMEN.
Reading edition
[Lambeth MS. 306, leaf 135.]
Wome{n)}, wome{n)}, loue of wome{n)}, make bare purs with some me{n)}, Some be nyse as a nonne hene,[1] 4Ȝit al thei be nat soo. some be lewde, some all be schrewde; Go schrewes wher thei goo. 8Su{m~} be nyse, and some be fonde, And some be tame, y vndirstonde, And some cane take brede of a manes hande,[2] Yit all thei be nat soo. 12[Some be lewde, &c.] [leaf 135, back] Some cane part with-outen hire, And some make bate in eueri chire, And some cheke mate with oure Sire, 16Yit all they be nat so. Some be lewde, and sume be schreuede, go wher they goo. 20Som be browne, and some be whit, And some be tender as a ttripe, And some of theym be chiry ripe, Yit all thei be not soo. 24Sume be lewde, and some be schrewede, go wher they goo. Some of the{m~} be treue of love 28Benetħ þe gerdel̴l̴, but nat above, And in a hode aboue cane chove, Yit all thei do nat soo. Some be lewde, 32and some be schreude, go where they goo. Some cane whister, & some cane crie, Some cane flater, and some can lye, 36And some cane sette þe moke awrie, Yit all thei do nat soo. Sume be lewde, and sume be schreuede, 40go where thei goo. He that made this songe full good, Came of þe nortħ and of þe sother{n)} blode, And some-what kyne to Roby{n)} Hode, 44Yit all we be nat soo. Some be lewde, and some be schrewede, go where they goo. 48Some be lewde, some be [s]chrwde, Go where they goo. Explicit.
P.S.—This Poem was printed by Mr Halliwell in Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i., p. 248, and reprinted by Mr Thomas Wright, at p. 103 of his edition of Songs and Carols for the Percy Society, 1847. As, besides minor differences, the reprint has manne, and the original nanne, for what I read as nonne, l. 3, while both have withowte for with oure, l. 15, and accripe for a ttripe, l. 21 (see Halliwell's Dictionary, "accripe, a herb?"), I have not cancelled this impression. The other version of the song, from Mr Wright's MS. in his text, pp. 89-91, differs a good deal from that given above.