[2874]. Symme at the Style. Whit.
[2881]. To Wy and to Wynchestre | I wente to the feyre. Warton (Hist. of Eng. p. ii, 55, edit. 1840) supposes Wy to be Weyhill, in Hampshire, "where a famous fair still subsists." In fact it is one of the greatest fairs in England, lasting ten days. For anecdotes of the celebrity of the great fair at Winchester in former times, and for some interesting observations on fairs in general, see Warton, loc. cit.
[2933]. The Roode of Bromholm. At the Priory of Bromholm, in Norfolk, there was a celebrated cross, said to be made of fragments of the real cross, and much resorted to by pilgrims. It was brought from Constantinople to England in 1223. The history of this cross, and the miracles said to have been performed by it at Bromholm, are told by Matthew Paris (p. 268). In the MS. Chronicle of Barthol. de Cotton, it is recorded at the date 1223, "Eo tempore Peregrinatio de Bromholm incepit."
[2949]. Frensshe ... of Northfolk. Norfolk, it would appear by this, was one of the least refined parts of the island.
[3030]. In this part of the poem, the smaller variations between the present text and Whitaker's are very numerous. After this line, the following passage is inserted:—
With false wordes and writes
Ich have wonne my goodes,
And with gyle and glosynge
Gadered that ich have;
Meddled my merchaundise,