The Life of Saint Werburge of Chester :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Life of Saint Werburge of Chester

By Henry Bradshaw. Englisht. A.D. 1513, printed by Pynson A.D. 1521, and now re-edited by Carl Horstmann

Bradshaw, Henry

Here begynneth the holy lyfe and history of saynt werburge / very frutefull for all christen people to rede.

The Prologe of .J. T. in the honour & laude of saint Werburge / and to the prayse of þe translatour of the legende folowynge.

Here foloweth the lyfe of the gloryous virgyn saynt werburge / also many miracles that god hath shewed for her. / & fyrst the prologe of the auctour.

[Whan Phebus had ronne his cours in sagittari]

[BOOK I.]

II.

[BOOK II.]

A balade to the auctour.

An other balade.

An other balade to saynt werburge.

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How the false Werbode complayned vpon Vulfade and Ruffyn to kynge Vulfare by malyce and enuy / and was the cause of theyr dethe. Ca. xi.

147

This wycked Werebode / the bedyll of Belyall,
The minister of myschef / & sergeaunt of sathanas,
Consyderynge he was / despysed of them all
And sore rebuked / for his outragyous trespas,
He brenned in enuy / as a man without grace,
Cast in his mynde / how he myght wroken be
Vpon her bretherne / by some subtylte.

148

Euer from that tyme / he lay in wayte,
Sekynge occasyons / on them to complayne;
Dayly ymagyned / with subtyll deceyte
Them to subdue / and cause to be slayne,
Attendynge oportunyte / to take them in a trayne,
By the false entysement / of his mayster Belyall
Prompte to all myschefe / as dyscyple naturall.

149

In fauour of his prynce / by crafte he hym brought
(As now is in custome)—with false flatery

Some please theyr mayster / and that is ryght nought;
So dyd this Werebode / by subtyll polycy:
His vengeable mynde / was hymselfe to magnyfy
And vtterly to lose / these prynces twayne
Or destroye hym-selfe / by mysfortune playne.

150

Lyke as Archythofell / chefe counselour to absalon,
Sundry tymes moeued hym / vnto varyaunce,
And with kynge Assuerus / in fauour was Amon
Counseylynge hym euer / vnto great myschaunce:
In lyke cause Werbode / moeued to vengeaunce
Was chefe counseler / to Vulfer the kynge;
Whiche brought hym-selfe to shame / and euyll endynge.

151

The elder prynce, Vulfade / in his dysporte
Vsed haukynge, huntynge / for a past-tyme;
But vnto huntynge namely / was his resorte
Euery day in the morowe / longe afore pryme.
And as it fortuned / vpon a tyme,
A myghty harte reysed was / coursed a longe space;
Whome Vulfade pursued / with pleasure and solace.

152

This harte sore strayned / ranne for his socour,
As all deer done / of theyr propryte,
To a well with water / after his great labour
Hym to reconforte / and the more fressher be,
Wherby saynt Cead / had his oratorye.
The wylde harte there lay / full secrete and styll
And suffered this holy man / to do all his wyll.

153

This blessed bysshop, moeued with pyte,
Couered this sayd harte / with bowes and leues also,
Put a small corde / aboute his necke, trule,
And after commaunded hym spedly to go
To the wylde woodes / whens he came fro,

His pasture to seke. / for saynt Cead knewe truly
It was a sygne folowynge / of some great mysery.

154

(As Bede wytnesseth) this holy confessour
Was bysshop of Lychefelde / and Couentre;
Whiche for the loue of our sauyour
In wyldernesse dwelled / all solytarye,
Contented with fruytes / of the wylde tree,
With rootes / herbes / water / for his sustentacyon,
Endurynge penaunce / with due contemplacyon.

155

This venerable prynce / ensuynge this great harte
Approched to his cell / with great dylygence,
Tenderly requyrynge / where and in what parte
This harte escaped / so ferre out of presence.
This holy man answered / with all reuerence:
‘Beestes / byrdes / fowles / I kepe none at all,
But I knowe the instructour / of thy helthe eternall.

156

‘By this brute beest / thou shall perceyue well
The sacramentes of holy chyrche euerychone,
To encrese thy byleue / by our ghostly counsell,
And so to be baptysed / and haue remyssyon:
By dyuers brute beestes / for mannes saluacyon
Our lorde hath shewed / secretes mystycall
To his electe persones / by grace supernall.

157

‘To Noe came conforte / after the great deluge
By a douue / bryngynge a braunche of Olyue;
To the prophet Hely / a rauen dyd refuge,
Brought hym his sustenaunce / and saued his lyue;
Vnto saynt Eustach / full memoratyue
Our lorde appered / in a hartes lykenes,
To whome he obeyed / gladly with mekenes.’

158

Of whiche examples / prynce Vulfade gladde was,

Thankynge god and saynt Cead / that he thyder come,
And sayd: ‘holy father / fulfylled with grace,
If ye can supply / my instaunte petycyon
That the sayd harte / myght retourne hyder soone
Whiche is now in wyldernesse / vnto our presence,
Than to your doctryne / I wyll gyue fully credence.’

159

Saynt Cead vnto prayer / deuoutely went:
And the wylde harte / frome the wood came hastely
With the corde in his necke / apperynge euydent,
And in theyr presence / stode full ryght soberly.
‘My sone,’ than he sayd / ‘byleue than stedfastly.
Vnderstande ye may / all thynge possyble is
To a faythfull persone / that perfytely byleuys.’

160

Vulfade, conforted / and in the fayth probate,
Fell downe to his fete / with humble deuocyon,
Desyrynge baptym / to be regenerate
Vnto our sauyour / for his soules saluacyon.
Saynt Cead blessed / the well that season
And baptysed this prynce / in name of the trynyte,
Was preest and godfather / for want of companye.

161

This chrysten prynce / taryed with hym all nyght
In fastynge / prayer / and medytacyon,
And was refresshed / naturally in syght
With bodyly and ghostly sustentacyon;
The next day receyued / the holy communyon,
With lycence departed / to his father agayne;
The harte to the forest / recoursed, certayne.

162

The thyrde day after / his brother Ruffyn,
Folowynge the same harte / by deuyne prouydence,
Was well instructed / in ghostly doctryne,
Baptysed by saynt Cead / & communed with reuerence,
And, as it fortuned / by playne experyence,

Of all the proces done / to the elder brother
All thynge dyd happe / ryght so to the other.

163

Afore this season / chrystes fayth moost gracyous
Thrugh this lande / was preched in eue[r]y place
By bysshop Fynane / and Ierumannus—
Whiche Ieruman of eest-Englande / fyrst byssop was,
And with saynt Ermenylde / came hyder by grace;
yet fully conuerted / was not Mersee regyon
Clene frome ydolatry / vnto this season.

164

These forsayd prynces / conuerted newly
By blessed Cead / to chrysten relygyon,
Dayly to hym resorted / for counseyll ghostly,
To encreace in vertue / and holy perfeccyon;
With lycence pretended / they wolde togyder come
Vnto his oratory / from the kynges hall,
Vnder colour of Huntynge / as they dyd it call.

165

And as it is wryten / in holy scrypture
‘Who-so is a sure frende / loueth stedfastly,
And who is enemy / putteth dylygent cure
Myschefe to accomplysshe / moost studyously:’
The false Werebode, suspectynge / euydently
The newe conuersyon / of these prynces twayne,
Prepared hym craftely / to take them in a trayne.

166

He watched on them / secretely euery day,
To knowe theyr resorte / and vnto what place,
Lyke as a hounde folowynge / these prynces to bytray,
Or a dogge dothe a dere / by sent of the chas.
Whan he had perceyued / how all thynge was,
He compased in mynde / by false inuencyon
To complayne to the kynge / for theyr destruccyon.

167

‘My synguler goode lorde / and moost pryncypall,’

Sayd this Werebode / the fals traytour,
‘Pleaseth your goodnes / and grace specyall
To my supplycacyon / to be a protectour.
ye haue two prynces / myghty in honour,
Whiche are my lordes / and euer shalbe,
If they wolde be true / to your soueraynte.

168

‘They haue refused— / the more pyte is,
your auncyent lawes / and sectes euerychone,
And with your lycence / haue done yet more amys:
For now they be subiecte / to a newe relygyon,
Vtterly refusynge / your decrees and olde custome,
Folowynge the counseyll / and mynde of a senyor,
Called bysshop Cead / theyr specyall auctor.

169

‘your strayte commaundymentes / they dayly despyce,
And purpose, I tell you / in secretenes,
Vnto your persone / to do moche preiudyce,
To murther or poyson you / shortly, doubtles,
And so for to reygne / and gouerne your ryches,
Bytwene them twayne / to dyuyde your lande,
By fals conspyracy / as ye shall vnderstande.’

170

With these false tales / and many other mo
The kynge was moeued / to malyce and yre,
By his compleccyon / as he was wont to do,
More cruell than a beest / as feruent as the fyre;
Depely affyrmynge / that dethe shulde be theyr hyre,
If he myght take them / in any place
They shulde be slayne / and suffer withouten grace.

171

In the morowe after / whan Phebus began to clere,
The kynge toke Werbode / with hym secretly,
To try out the truthe / and how it wolde appere,
Wheder his prynces / were gone to the oratory;
If it were so / he sende hym pryuely

To gyue them knowlege / of his entent,
For to remoeue / from his hasty Iudgment.

172

The father had pyte / vpon his chyldren naturall,
Wolde not haue slayne them / the sothe to say;
Wherfore he sende / the seruaunt of Belyall
To conuay them fro thens / some other way.
The kynge knewe hym-selfe / not able that day
To refrayne his yre / and cruell hastynesse,
Gyuen to hym of nature / in suche great dystresse.

173

This wycked Werebode / came to the oratory
And sawe these prynces / in great deuocyon;
Counceyled his message / by malyce and enuy,
Retourned to the kynge / hastely and soone,
Newly complaynynge / by fals ymagynacyon
A hundreth-folde worse / than at the fyrst tyme,
With new addycyons / to brynge them to ruyne.

174

And whan the kynge / approched nygh the cell,
Herynge the complayntes / of this fals knyght,
The chyldren perceyued / a voyce ryght well,
Cessed of theyr prayers / and came forth full ryght.
On whome whan Vulfere / had ones a syght,
He was sore moeued / as hote as the fyre
Agaynst his

P. her.

chyldren / that loued hym entyre.

175

But by the malyce / and wycked temptacyon
Of the deuyll / mannes olde mortall enemy,
And what by the false crafty suggestyon
Of Wycked Werebode / fulfylled with enuy,
And by his owne hastynesse / and cruell fury,
These prynces were slayne / Vulfade and Ruffyn—
Now gloryous martyrs / reygnynge in heuyn.

176

After whan kynge Vulfer / approched his castell

And vnneth was entred / into his hall,
Incontynently a spyryte / the false fende of hell,
Entred fals Werebode / afore the people all,
Inwardly hym vexed / with peynes contynuall,
That his armes and handes / he dyd horrybly tere—
Whiche sodayne vengeaunce / all the courte dyd fere.

177

He rored and yelled / lyke a wylde bull,
Shewed all the myschefe / malyce and enuy
Done agaynst the martyrs / with a mynde yrefull—
So sore constrayned / with peynes greuously.
The deuyll ceased not / his dolours to multyply
Tyll his fylthy soule / compelled sore was
For to expyre / for his hydeous trespas.