H. AQUILE PULLUS Etc. (p. [344])
The word ‘Prophecia’ in the margin seems to be intended to recall the supposed prophecy of Merlin about the ‘filius (or pullus) aquilae’ (Archaeol. xx. p. 257, Adam of Usk’s Chronicle, p. 133).
These four lines immediately follow the Cronica Tripertita in the Glasgow and Hatton MSS., and are themselves followed by two quotations from the Psalms (lxxxviii. 23, xl. 3):
‘Nichil proficiet inimicus in eo, et filius iniquitatis non apponet nocere ei.’
‘Dominus conseruet eum, et viuificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat cum in animam inimicorum eius.’
In the Trentham MS. we have the lines ‘H. aquile pullus,’ and the above quotations, subjoined to the first eight lines of ‘O recolende,’ as part of the dedication of the Cinkante Balades: see vol. i. p. 336.
1. aquile pullus: Henry is called so because his father was named John and used the eagle as one of his cognisances: cp. Adam of Usk, p. 24, ‘pullus aquile, quia filius Iohannis.’ The reference is to a prophecy, one form of which is quoted by the editor of Adam of Usk’s Chronicle, p. 133. For the use of the eagle by John of Gaunt see Sandford’s Genealogical History, p. 249.
2. colla. The reading of S may be supported by reference to Vox Clamantis, vi. 876, where our author in borrowing from the Aurora substitutes ‘bella’ for ‘corda’ or ‘colla.’
3. aquile ... oleum: this is the oil produced for Henry’s coronation, which was said to have been miraculously delivered to Thomas à Becket in a vial enclosed within an eagle of gold, and deposited by him in the church of St. Gregory at Poitiers. It was said to have been brought to England by Henry, first duke of Lancaster, and to have been delivered by him to the Black Prince. Thus it came into the possession of Richard II, who is said to have worn it constantly about his neck. He had desired to be re-anointed with this oil, but archbishop Arundel had refused to perform the ceremony (Annales Henrici IV, pp. 297-300, Eulog. Hist. contin. iii. 380).
O RECOLENDE, Etc. (p. [345])