The Reynes Extracts - An Epilogue

Here is the second of the Reynes extracts – I have previously blogged about the other A Speech of Delight.  This second fragment is an epilogue – perhaps to the same play, but it could easily be for any play of the period – a generic plea to the audience to forgive the players if they weren’t any good and not report them if they’d fluffed their lines – and some productions had strict rules over the players of plays, with fines exacted for being incompetent.  This short epilogue also mentions a church ale, which follows on from the production, suggesting both play and the ale were fundraisers for the local church.  One of the things we see with small scale medieval playing was it was often done to raise money for specific causes – the church roof for example.  Times don’t change.  I'm planning to use this speech in a production next year, popping it onto a play that doesn't have a proper ending.  That way this little speech will get to live in the real world once again - possibly the first time in a production for many hundreds of years.

listen to ‘An Epilogue - A Medieval Fragment’ on Audioboo

An Epilogue

Now worshipful sovereigns that sittyn here in sith

Lords and ladies and Franklins in fay

With all manner of obeisance we recommend us right

Pleasantly to your persons that present be in play.

And for your suffering silence that ye have kept this day

In playing of our play without any resistance

Dearly we thank you with might as we may

And for your laudable listening in good audience

That we have had this day.

And if we have passed any point in our playing

Or moved any matters in our saying

That should be to your persons displeasing

We beseech you report it not away.

For truly our intent was well to do

And if any fault be there found in it is our negligency

And short time advisement cause it also

For little time of learning we have had sickerly

And every man is not expert in eloquency

To utteryn his matter gaily unto your audience.

Wherefore we beseech you of your great gentry

The best to report of us in our absence

In every ilke a place.

Sovereigns all insame [in company]

Ye that are come to see our game

We pray you all in Gods name

To drink ere ye pass.

For an ale is here ordained by a comely assent

For all manner of people that appearyn here this day

Unto holy church to the increasement

All that exceedeth the costs of our play.

A Speech of 'Delight'

Sometimes history is a bitch.  A tiny fragment of a play appears from no where and it's beautiful and lovely and interesting and that's all you get.  A Speech of 'Delight' is one such bittersweet pill.  It is one of two bits of medieval drama known as the Reynes extracts, dating to sometime in the late fifteenth century.  It is a chunk of dialogue by a character in (probably) a morality play – a character called Delight.  He (most probably young, as he is called a lad) is in conversation with other characters about his nature – and another character (female) hopes out loud that he isn’t someone interested in the 'holy'.  Which he isn't as Delight tells us how he delights in the world, on physical pleasures and the beauty of the world around it.  This would, in the original play, almost certainly have been a bad thing – being too attached to the physical world rather than the spiritual - his delight in the world probably leading to temptations and sin.  But, whilst a proud figure, it is also a really rather lovely speech – taken out of context it’s a joyful account of what the world has to offer.  Beautiful scenery, animals and, towards the end, beautiful women – which contains my favourite part of the speech.  Sadly, when he has finished introducing himself, he stops talking and, apart from an even shorter epilogue to the piece (to be looked at later), we know no more about it.

Below is the text I performed on my radio show, which I have recorded again as a dialogue.  I’ve made modernisations to the text, trying to leave in as much that is comprehensibly old as possible.  

We open with an exchange of dialogue – but without any indications who is speaking what.  Delight obviously enters to other characters already on stage.  The group already onstage is mostly male, but contains a woman.  In my recording I've had her speak both the opening lines and the reply, but it is possible that another male of the group speaks the first three lines instead.  You could cut it up a number of ways - but this is the most logical.

listen to ‘A Speech of 'Delight' - A Medieval Fragment’ on Audioboo

Enter DELIGHT

UNKNOWN CHARACTER/S:  

Lo, here is a lad light

All fresh I you plight

Gallant and jolly.

DELIGHT:  Will ye know what I hight?

My name, sirs, is Delight.

UNKNOWN CHARACTER (FEMALE):

I hope not full holy!

DELIGHT:

Holy, quoth she?  Nay, let be!

By Christ, it accordeth not with me

But sport, mirth and play

Me rejoiceth for to see

The world’s wonders and vanity

Therein delight I ay.

For me semet it is to delight

To behold the firmament light

The course of stars to ken

The sun with his beams bright

The moon how he refulsyth the night

The planets in her circumference ren.

The skies in her colours rake

The therke [dark] sladdes of clouds black -

This rejoiceth me above.

Then of the earth delight I take

To see the florent woods their leaves shake

The rivers running by, there in divers fishes move.

I see these high hills where is the wholesome air

Beneath, the redolent meadows with their flowers fair

The therke mists how it ascends

In the valleys of the corns ilke air

I see divers fowls to the woods repair

There sweetly singing me mekyl amends.

I see in these gay gardens, where wholesome herbs spring

There pererys [pear-trees], the pomerys [orchards], the vines that sweet fruits bring

The red roses and the lilies white

I see in the great sea there, ships ever sailing

Also how it ebbit and flowit and fishes there in swimming

The waves how they waltyr [roll] and see the qwall [whales or similar] fight.

In the hore heaths I see the hare start

The forant dear hunted, the buck and the hart

And the swift greyhounds run;

The fox hunted with hounds in the great covert

The swift flight of hawks, the fowls revert

The falconers running through thick and through thin.

Also I am greatly delightand

In fair course swiftly runand

In harneys [armour] glidring bright;

Stately houses beheldand

Glassed with stories glassand

Pinnacles full of flags gloriously dight.

Precious array, that pleaseth me greatly,

The sweet musician in divers melody

The comeliness of each creature

And the beauty of women specially

With their white paps, popped up prately –

They passeth all other, as me semet in sure.

Me seeing now these salacious siths

Therefore in them all my delight is

So sovereignlyche [supremely] aboven all

This world so preciously pight is

Therein delight I with all mine mirth is

As for well most special.