9. MS. Addit. 12044 (B. M.). On vellum; five stanzas to the page. Last leaf gone; ends at V. 1820. Not a good copy. In III. 17, it has 'Comeued hem,' an obvious error for 'Comeueden,' which is the true reading. In V. 8, it has 'golden dressed,' error for 'golden tressed.' Note this correct form 'golden'; for it is miswritten as 'gold' or 'golde' in nearly all other copies.
The next four are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
10. Arch. Seld. B. 24 is the Scottish MS., dated 1472, described in the Introduction to the Minor Poems, where it is denoted by 'Ar.,' and fully collated throughout the Legend of Good Women, where it appears in the foot-notes as 'A.' It seems to be the best of the Oxford MSS., and has some good readings. In III. 17, it has 'Commeued tham' for Commeueden,' which is near enough for a MS. that so freely drops inflexions; and the line ends with 'and amoreux tham made.' In III. 49, it correctly preserves 'gladness.'
11. MS. Rawlinson, Poet. 163. Not a very good copy. It omits the Prologue to Book III. At the end is the colophon:—
| 'Tregentyll | Heer endith the book of Troylus and of Cresseyde | Chaucer.' |
I take 'Tregentyll' to be the scribe's name[[67]]. Besides the 'Troilus,' the MS. contains, on a fly-leaf, the unique copy of the Balade to Rosemounde, beneath which is written (as in the former case) 'tregentil' to the left of the page, and 'chaucer' to the right; connected by a thin stroke. See my 'Twelve Facsimiles of Old English MSS.'; Plate XII.
12. MS. Arch. Seld. supra 56. Small quarto, 8 inches by 5½, on paper; vellum binding; writing clear. A poor copy. The grammar shews a Northern dialect.
13. MS. Digby 181. Incomplete; nearly half being lost. It ends at III. 532—'A certayn houre in which she come sholde.' A poor copy, closely allied to the preceding. Thus, in III. 17, both have moreux for amoreux; in III. 2, both have Adornes; in III. 6, both absurdly have Off (Of) for O; and so on.
14. MS. L. 1, in St. John's College, Cambridge. A fair MS., perhaps earlier than 1450. Subjoined to the Troilus is a sixteenth century copy of the Testament of Creseide. Quarto; on vellum; 10 inches by 6½; in 10 sheets of 12 leaves each. Leaf g 12 is cut out, and g 11 is blank, but nothing seems to be lost. It frequently agrees with Cp., as in I. 5, fro ye; 21, be this; 36, desespeyred; 45, fair ladys so; 70, Delphicus; 308, kan thus. In I. 272, it correctly has: percede; in 337, nouncerteyne. In II. 734, it agrees with H.; 735 runs—'And whan hem list no lenger, lat hem leue'; a good line. In II. 894, it has 'mosten axe,' the very reading which I give; and in II. 968, stalkes.
15. MS. Phillipps 8252; the same MS. as that described in my preface to the C. text of Piers the Plowman, p. xix, where it is numbered XXVIII.