Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 4768

DIMEV 4768

IMEV 3064

NIMEV 3064

Saint Thomas the holy man under the earth lay

The Translation of St. Thomas of Canterbury — seventy-four lines (appendix to the Life of St. Thomas in the South English Legendary)

Title(s): South English Legendary

Subjects: Thomas of Canterbury, saint

Versification: — two-line — aa

Bibliographic Ghosts: Oxford, Bodleian Library Bodley 779 (SC 2567)

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Ashmole 43 (SC 6924), ff. 259-260

First Lines:

Seynt Thomas þis holi mon vnder erþe lai
Ar he ischrined were mony along dai…

Last Lines:

…Nou ihesu for þe swete loue þat seynt Thomas on þoȝte
Bringe ous to þulke Ioie þat he so dere abouȝte

2.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Laud misc. 108 (SC 1486), ff. 87v-88

First Lines:

Seint thomas þis holi man onder eorþe he lay
Are þat he ischrined were wel mani a long dai…

Last Lines:

…Nov Iesu crist for þulke loue þat Seint Thomas on þouȝte
Ȝyue us part of þulke Ioie þat he so deore a bouȝte

Note: Continues after 6687 as if part of same text.

Editions:

Horstmann, Carl, ed. The Early South-English Legendary. EETS o.s. 87 (1887; repr. 1987): 175-7.

3.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Laud misc. 463 (SC 1596), ff. 156va-157rb

First Lines:

SEint thomas þe holyman vnder eorþe lay
Er þat he shrined was many a long day…

Last Lines:

…Nou Ihesu for þe swete loue þat seint thomas on thoughte
Bring vs to þilk ioye þat he so deore boughte

Attributed Title: Explicit legenda sanctorum in lingua Anglicana (f. 157rb)
Translation of St Thomas

4.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Rawlinson poet. 225 (SC 14716), f. 95

First Lines:

Seynt thomas þe holy marter vnder erthe he lay
Er he schryuyd was many a long day…

Last Lines:

…Now ihesu crist þat was of marie born And for þe loue of seynt thomas
Vn to þin ioy graunte vs to comen & to sen þin gloriouse face

Attributed Title: Here be gynnis the translacioun after his holy martir doom
þat he was out if his toumbe doun & put in to schrine of grey marbil ston (f. 95), Explicit iste liber (at the end)

5.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Rawlinson poet. 225 (SC 14716), f. 33v

6.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Addit. C.38 (SC 30236), ff. 33-34

First Lines:

Seint Thomas þe holi man vndir þe erthe lay
Er he shryned were many a longe day…

Last Lines:

…Nou ihesu for þe suete loue þat seint Thomas on thought
Bringe us to þat ioie þat he so deere abought

Attributed Title: de translatione eiusdem (f. 33v)

7.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Addit. 3039, ff. 104v-105v

First Lines:

Sayne Thomas þis haly man vnder erth he lay
Or þat he schriuede was ful many a longe day
ffor he lay neghen & fourty ȝere & halfe a ȝere in erth þor
& aboute viij dayes als so or he of erth taken wore…

Last Lines:

…Now swete ihesu for thomas lufe þat þe had ay in thoght
Brynge vs til þat ilk ioy þat he ful dere has boght

8.Source: Cambridge UK, Corpus Christi College 145, ff. 217v-218

First Lines:

Seynt Thomas þys holy man onder eorþe lay
Er þat he ysshryned were manye a lang day…

Last Lines:

…Nou ihesu [for] þe swete loue þat seynt Thomas on þouȝte
Brynge vs to þulke Ioie þat he so dure bouȝte

Editions:

D’Evelyn, Charlotte, and A. J. Mill, eds. The South English Legendary: Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS. 145 and British Museum MS. Harley 2277, with variants from Bodley MS. Ashmole 43 and British Museum MS. Cotton Julius D.ix. EETS o.s. 235 (1959), 236 (1956); repr. 1967: 2.690.

9.Source: Cambridge UK, Magdalene College Pepys 2344, p. 528

First Lines:

Seint Thomas þe holy man vnder þe eorþe lay
Ar he yschryued were many a long day…

Last Lines:

…[ ] al þe Countre þer aboute in tounes wyde and longe
[ ]te [ ]þe al þat ffolk þat þer com vnderffonge…

Note: First 26 lines only, due to missing folios at end of volume.

Attributed Title: Translacio Sancti Thome Martire (RT)

10.Source: Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.25 (605), ff. 214-215

First Lines:

SEint thomas þis holy man vnder erþe lay
Or he schryned were many a longe day…

Last Lines:

…Now ihesu for þe swete loue þat seint thomas on þoȝt
bringe ous to þulke Ioie þat he so dere bouȝt

Attributed Title: Thomas Cantuarensis (RT)

11.Source: London, British Library Cotton Cleopatra D.IX, ff. 148v-149v

First Lines:

SEint Thomas þis holi man vnder eorþe lai
Er he ischrinede were mani a longe dai…

Last Lines:

…Nou Iesu for þe swete loue þat seint Thomas on þouȝte
Bringe ous alle to þulc ioie þat he so dere bouȝte amen

Note: Folio number reflects the most recent foliation.

12.Source: London, British Library Cotton Julius D.IX, f. 165v

13.Source: London, British Library Egerton 2810 [olim Allan of Darlington], f. 163v

14.Source: London, British Library Harley 2277, f. 226

Editions:

Black, William Henry. “The Life and Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket.” Percy Society 19. London: Richards, 1846.

15.Source: London, British Library Stowe 949, ff. 141v-144

First Lines:

Seynt Thomas þis holy man vnder erþe lay
Er þan he yschryned were many along day…

Last Lines:

…Now ihesus for þulke loue þat Seynt Thomas in þe þouhte
ȝiue vs part of þulke loue þat he so der abouhte

Note: Brown and Robbins (1943)

XCarleton Fairchild Brown, and Rossell Hope Robbins. The Index of Middle English Verse. New York: Printed for the Index Society by Columbia University Press, 1943

records this as beginning on f. 141r; the scribe leaves 9 lines blank on f. 142 before 4586 begins at the top of f. 142v.

Editions:

Mätzner, Edouard Adolf Ferdinand. Altenglische Sprachproben, I: Poesie. Berlin: Wiedmann, 1867: 192.