This is an excerpt from The Lay Folks Mass Book, a verse poem from the 14th/15th century, originally written in Middle English.
Each Sunday I post a short excerpt, transcribed into modern English for ease of reading, and harmonised from the 4 surviving versions which are in different dialects and with some variations in text.
Notes on the transcription: like German, the letter “e” on the end of words is often pronounced. In general, modern English has dropped all these so in transcribing it I have generally followed modern English which means that in most cases the rhyme and meter work. But occasionally, I have put letters in square brackets where required for the verse, or sometimes separated the endings with a hyphen to indicate that they should be pronounced as a separate syllable.
Most of the words have a modern English equivalent which is very similar, but where that doesn’t happen I have put the meaning in [ ].
One important word: the term for Mass in middle English is Messe, with the “e” pronounced, as in German. I have generally written it as Mess for the sake of the rhyming.
The text used is the one published by Thomas Frederick Simmons in 1879 and reprinted in 1968.
The high altar at Selby Abbey, Yorkshire.
In a book find I of ane
Dom Jeremy1 was his name
A devout man and relig-i-ous,
In his book he speak-es thus:
That thou at Mess no ianglyng2 make.
Great example he sets thereto,
What it is full ill to do:
Also he tells the manere [manner]
How thou should the Mess[e] hear.
When the priest says, or if he sing,
To him thou give good hearkening:
When he prays in privat-e,
Time of praying is then to be.
Sometimes it is said that medieval people did not pay attention in Mass, that they had no idea of what was going on. This poem undermines that claim all through; the actions of the traditional Mass, as we still see today, are such that if you do not follow every word, you know where you are in the Mass.
Medieval writers, such as the Jeremy mentioned here, wrote devotional texts for the people to help them at Mass. Most of these have not survived; this is a rare survival.
Do see the footnote about the word “ianglying” which we can pronounce as “jangling”; it refers to all kinds of attention-seeking behaviour. This can be in terms of dress, appearance, positioning in the church, ostentatious praying, etc. We are all equal before God, we are all sinners and our presence in church is about God, not ourselves. The biblical precept of women veiling in church may be related to this isue.
The guidance here is that we are to listen whenever the priest is speaking; when he prays privately, we are to pray with him (and sometimes for him, as we will see next week).
1 It’s not clear who this is but the mention of him in the next line as a religious suggests he was a monk or canon, known to the writer and medieval people generally
2 This word refers not just to talking but ostentatious and attention-seeking behaviour. In the medieval poem “The Pricke of Conscience”, we read:
When thou in kirk [church] makes ianglyng
Or thinks in vain anything;
Be it without, be it within,
That it is a venial sin.
In the 16th century the word still existed, spelt and pronounced “jangling”.
Beautiful. This period, when private devotions became more popular, seemed almost like a proto-Liturgical Movement, encouraging deeper understanding of and liturgical piety in the Mass. "Ianglyng" is still quite a problem today.
Could you tell me what the designs are on the steps of the Selby Abbey altar? They are fascinating.