After describing the life of the child during its earliest infancy, Bibbesworth goes on to tell how it is to be taught French as soon as it can speak, "that it may be better learned in speach and held up to scorn by none":
Quaunt le enfes ad tel age
Ke il set entendre langage,
Primes en Fraunceys ly devez dire
Coment soun cors deyt descrivere,
Pur le ordre aver de moun et ma,
Toun et ta, soun et sa,
better lered
Ke en parlole seyt meut apris
scorned
E de nul autre escharnys.
In accordance with this programme the parts of the human body, which almost invariably forms the central theme in this type of manual, are enumerated. Special care is taken to distinguish the genders and cases, to teach the children "Kaunt deivunt dire moun et ma, soun et sa, le et la, moy et jo . . .," and to explain how the meaning of words of similar sound often depends on their gender:
lippe and an hare
Vous avet la levere et le levere,
a pound a book
Et la livere et le livere.
La levere si enclost les dens;
Le levere en boys se tent dedens;
La livere sert en marchaundye;
Le livere nous aprent clergye.
Throughout Bibbesworth seizes every opportunity to point out distinctions of gender of this kind, regardless, it appears, of the difference between the definite and indefinite articles. When the pupil can describe his body, the teacher proceeds to give him an account of "all that concerns it both inside and out" ("kaunt ke il apent dedens et deores"), that is of its clothing and food:
Vestet vos draps mes chers enfauns,
Chaucez vos brays, soulers, e gauns;
Mettet le chaperoun, covrez le chef, etc.
—a passage which illustrates the practical nature of the treatise, Bibbesworth's aim being to teach children to know the properties of the things they see ("les propretez des choses ke veyunt").
When the child is clothed, Bibbesworth next feeds him, giving a full account of the meals and the food which is provided, and, by way of variety, at the end of the dinner, he teaches his pupil the names given to groups of different animals, and of the verbs used to describe their various cries. ("Homme parle, cheval hennist," etc.). By this time the child is ready to observe Nature, and to learn the terms of husbandry,[38] and the processes by which his food is produced. From the fields he passes to the woods and the river, where he learns to hunt and to fish, subjects which naturally lead to the introduction of the French names of the seasons, and of the beasts and birds that are supposed to present themselves to his view.
During the whole of this long category the verse form is maintained, and the intention of avoiding a vocabulary pure and simple is manifest. How superior this method was to the more modern lists of words separated from the context is also evident. Besides giving a description of all the objects with which the child comes in contact, and of all the actions he has to perform, as well as examples for the distinctions of genders and of moy and jo—difficulties for which he makes no attempts to draw up rules—Bibbesworth claims for his work that it provides gentlemen with adequate instruction for conversational purposes ("tot le ordre en parler e respoundre ke checun gentyshomme covent saver"). And as he did not wish to neglect any of the items of daily life, he finally gives a description of the building of a house and various domestic arrangements, ending with a description of an old English feast with its familiar dish, the boar's head:
Au primer fust apporté
a boris heued
La teste de un sengler tot armé,
the snout wit baneres of flurs
E au groyn le colere en banere;
E pus veneysoun, ou la fourmenté;
Assez par my la mesoun
tahen of gres tyme
De treste du fermeyson.
Pus avyent diversetez en rost,
Eit checun autre de cost,
Cranes, pokokes, swannes
Grues, pounes, e cygnes,
Wilde ges, gryses (porceaus), hennes,
Owes, rosées, porceus, gelyns;
Au tercez cours avient conyns en gravé,
Et viaunde de Cypre enfundré,
De maces, e quibibes, e clous de orré,
Vyn blanc e vermayl a graunt plenté.
wodekok
Pus avoyunt fesauns, assez, et perdriz,
Feldefares larkes
Grives, alowes, e pluviers ben rostez;
E braoun, e crispes, e fritune;
Ke soucre roset poudra la temprune.
Apres manger avyunt a graunt plenté
Blaunche poudre, ou la grosse dragé,
Et d'autre nobleie a fusoun,
Ensi vous fynys ceo sermoun;
Kar de fraunceis i ad assez,
De meynte manere dyversetez,
Dount le vous fynys, seynurs, ataunt
A filz Dieu vous comaund.
Ici finest la doctrine monsire Gauter De Byblesworde.