The Prioresses Tale ends with an apostrophe to young Hugh of Lincoln “sleyn also with cursed Jewes, as it is notable,” and a request that he should pray for us “sinful folk unstable.” Amen.
Bishop Percy, in his Reliques of Ancient Poetry, has preserved the Scottish ballad of The Jew’s Daughter, which turns on an incident bearing a close resemblance to Chaucer’s tale, although it seems to be based on the alleged murder at Trent, in 1475, of a boy called Simon.[127] The name of the victim, on the legend reaching England, may quite easily have been changed into the familiar Hugh. The Scottish version is as follows:
“The rain rins doune through Mirry-land toune,
Sae dois it doune the Pa:
Sae dois the lads of Mirry-land toune,
Quhan they play at the ba’.
Than out and cam the Jewis dochter,
Said, Will ye cum in and dine?
‘I winnae cum in, I cannae cum in,
Without my play-feres mine.’”