MS. Porkington 10, p. 135 back, about 1460-70 contained a variant form The Good Wife Would a Pilgrimage, i.e., before she sets out for the Holy Land, she leaves instructions for her daughter. This version (printed in Queene Eliz. Achad.) is interesting for its proverbs:
“The loth (hated) child behoves lore,
And lief child much more.”
“Seldom mosseth the stone,
That oft is turned and wend.”
“A fool’s bolt is soon shot
And doth but little good.”
“When deed is done, it is too late;
Beware of ‘Had I wist.’”
A third version was printed in 1597 under the title, The Northern Mother’s Blessing. Written nine years before the death of G. Chaucer. Together with it a short poem: The Way to Thrift. This contains several different and interesting stanzas.