'Hit cometh by kynde of gentil blode
To cast away al heuynes
And gadre to-gidre wordes good
The werk of wisedom berith witnes
Et sic est finis ****.'
The first of these sayings was probably a bit of popular rime, of the character quoted in Shakespeare's King Lear, iii. 2. 81. Shakespeare calls his lines Merlin's prophecy; and it has pleased the editors of Chaucer to call the first six lines Chaucer's Prophecy[[234]]. They appear in Bell's Chaucer, vol. iii. p. 427, in an 'improved' form, not worth discussing; and the last eight lines are also printed in the same, vol. iv. p. 426. Why they are separated, is mysterious. Those who think them genuine may thank me for giving them Caxton's spelling instead of Speght's.
[§ 13]. Pieces added in Morris's Edition, 1866.
In Morris's edition are some pieces which either do not appear in previous editions, or were first printed later than 1700.
69. Roundel; pr. in vol. vi. p. 304. The same as Merciless Beaute; here printed as no. XI. It first appeared, however, in Percy's Reliques of English Poetry. See p. [80] below.
70. The Former Age; pr. in vol. vi. p. 300, for the first time. Here printed as no. IX. See p. [78].