3. Two illuminations precede, as before; one of which represents the sailors throwing the prophet Jonas into the sea, the other depicts the prophet in the attitude of preaching to the people of Nineveh. The poem is in the same metre as the last, and commences at fol. 83.
It is occupied wholly with the story of Jonas, as applicable to the praise of meekness and patience; and ends on fol. 90.
4. The Romance intitled Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyȝt follows, fol. 91. Prefixed is an illumination of a headless knight on horseback, carrying his head by its hair in his right hand, and looking benignly at an odd-eyed bill-man before him; while from a raised structure above, a king armed with a knife, his queen, an attendant with a sabre, and another bill-man scowling looks on. Here and elsewhere the only colours used are green, red, blue, and yellow. It ends on fol. 124b., and at the conclusion, in a later hand, is written “Hony soit q̃ mal penc,” which may, perhaps, allude to the illumination on the opposite page, fol. 125, representing the stolen interview between the wife of the Grene Knyȝt and Sir Gawayne. Above the lady’s head is written:
Mi mind is mukel on on, þat wil me noȝt amende,
Sum time was trewe as ston, & fro schame couþe hir defende.
It does not appear very clearly how these lines apply to the painting. Two additional illuminations follow; in the first of which Gawayne is seen approaching the Grene Chapel, whilst his enemy appears above, wielding his huge axe; and in the second Sir Gawayne, fully equipped in armour, is represented in the presence of king Arthur and queen Guenever, after his return to the court.
The third and concluding portion of the Cotton volume extends from fol. 127 to fol. 140b, inclusive, and consists of theological excerpts, in Latin, written in a hand of the end of the thirteenth century. At the conclusion is added Epitaphium de Ranulfo, abbate Ramesiensi, who was abbot from the year 1231 to 1253, and who is erroneously called Ralph in the Monasticon, vol. ii. p. 548, new ed.
[ CONTRACTIONS USED IN THE GLOSSARY.]
The letters A. B. C. refer severally to the poems, entitled by me, “The Pearl,” “Cleanness,” and “Patience.”