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As will be seen by referring to the collation published in my earlier article, Powis consistently agrees with Haward against all other texts. However, stanzas 18 and 22, in particular, contain readings in which it pairs with Harley 7317, the third A-group text, against Haward. At line 76 (72) the Powis reading implies an anatomical impossibility: in all other versions of the poem the insult is directed much more plausibly by Knight to the signior. A particularly striking variant is "Tu Quoque" (l. 77 [28.25]) for Haward's "Togate." Here "Togate" definitely makes better sense as well as preserving the meter. At l. 103 (91) Haward's "ouerladed" is likewise better than Powis's "o're headed": on the other hand the Powis reading could easily be the source, through the loss of "o'," of the "retarded" of the remaining texts. The scribe is to be congratulated on preserving the correct spelling for the Marquis D'Angeau referred to in l. 111 (92.3), Haward (who should have known better) having corrupted him to "Ansou."
Another point of interest is the spelling "Seignior" in line 4 of Powis, after which it is replaced by "Signior." Haward carefully writes "Seigneur" in the first section and in the title of the "Additions," and "Seignior" in the rest of the "Additions." "Seignor" is used throughout Harley 7317. The B-version manuscripts all use "Signior" as their predominant form; however, as mentioned in my earlier article, the "Seig" variant recurs sporadically in Harley 7319 and in three of the Cameron scriptorium texts. While granting that Restoration scribes were more likely to be familiar with French than Italian, it seems clear that the "Seig" spelling was that of the ancestor.
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