Page:A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages.djvu/441

 a?id Se?2timeJ2ts. 42 1 / lulll not oute of thh towtte, But I Jia've my go£ippes cveryechone (every one) One foote further I luill not gone (^n). They /hall not droiune, by Sante John, And I maye Ja-ve ther life ! They loven me full ivel, by Chrijie ! But thout lett them into they cheljie, Elks (otherwise) roiue noive ivher the le'ifte (where you like), And gette thee a neiue iviffe. It is to be fuppofed that Noah, when he wanted her, had found her with her goffips in the tavern. At laft, Noah's three fons are obliged to drag their mother into the " boat," when a fcene occurs which appears thus briefly indicated in the text, — Noye. Wdckome, iv'iffe, into this botte ! Noye's Wiffe. Ha-ue thou that for thy note! [she beats lilm.] Noye. Ha, ha ! marye, this is hotte ! It is good for to be fill. The converfation of thefe " goflips," when they met, was loofe and coarfe in the extreme, and, as defcribed in contemporary writings, the praftice even of profane fwearing prevailed generally among both fexes to a degree which, to our ears, would found perfe6tly frightful —it was one of the vices againft which the moralilb preached moll: bitterly. Life, indeed, in fpite of its occafional refinement in the higher ranks of fociety, was elTentially coarfe at this period, and we can hardly conceive much delicacy of people who dieted as, for infiance, the family of the earl of Northum- berland are reported to have done in the houfehold book, compiled in 15 1 2, which was publilhed by bifliop Percy. I only give the breakfaft allowances, which, on flefli-days, were "for my lord and my lady," a loaf of bread "in trenchers," two manchets (loaves of fine meal), one quart of beer (or, as we fliould now call it, ale), a quart of wine, half a chine of mutton, or a chine of beef boiled ; for " my lord Percy and Mr. Ihomas Percy"