The Birmingham posies

[ppfuf]

A few weeks ago I posted about the group of posies on the Princeton (Taylor MS 19) set of trenchers. That grouping turns out to be a difficult group to place within a "family" as it has considerable overlap with several other groups.

The posies on the Birmingham set of trenchers, however, have hardly any overlap with other groups. I've named this grouping of posies after the set of trenchers visible online at the website of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, England; and also described in Pinto, Edward H. 1961. The Pinto collection of wooden bygones: a short guide, with illustrations. Oxhey Woods House, Middx: [E.H. Pinto].  40 p., [8] p. of plates : ill.)

The same grouping of posies are also on trenchers in the British Museum 1888,1110.43.b-l, the National Museums of Liverpool accession numbers 53.114.449 and M5999, and the Museum of London A7383 a-g. Two other sets of this grouping are described in the literature.

4 of the posies are male-voiced, 2 are female-voiced and the remaining 6 are neutral.  4 are anti-woman accusing her of dominance, greed, shrewishness, and lust.  4 advise against marriage, and 0 are for marriage.

A quiet life is better than gold

Though goods [in] great store your coffers hold.

Yet rather death I do beseech

Than for my master to wear no breeches.

 ---

Content yourself with your place in life;

And send no poor person from your gate,

For why this council I give to you?

[So you will] learn to die and die to live.

 ---

Hard are your circumstances, if you do not thrive,

Your fortune is to have wives five:

And every one better than other,

God send you good luck, I wish you no other.

 ---

If that Diana's follower you are,

And still have kept your virginity;

Seek not to enslave your virgin life

In marriage with a cruel wife.

 ---

If you would prefer the married life

Choose a wife suitable for your life.

For women's hearts are set on pride

And poverty's purse cannot abide.

 ---

Judge not ill of your spouse, I you advise,

It has been spoken by them that are wise.

The one Judge above in time to come,

Shall judge the world both Father and Son.

 ---

Though hungry meals be put in a pot

Yet conscience clear kept without a spot

Does keep your body in quiet rest [better]

Than he who has thousands in a chest.

 ---

What needs, such cares oppress your thought?

For fortune, faith, your circumstance is naught. 

A shrew your chance is for to keep,

But better a shrew, say, than a sheep.

 ---

You grasp after dead men’s shoes,

But barefoot are you like to go.

Content yourself and do not stew,

For fortune says it must be so.

 ---

You hope for marriage more than three [other people]

Leave off your hopes, it will not be.

Your muck will breed your heart such care,

That death will come or you beware.

 ---

Your fortune is full long to live,

For nature does long life [to] you give.

But once a week you will be sick,

And have a sullen ague’s fit.

 ---

Your goods fairly got by knowledge & skill,

Will help your hungry bags to fill.

But riches gained by lying drift,

Will run away as streams very swift.

Comments

[doll-paparazzi.livejournal.com]

I thought your talk at the Symposium was really interesting. Is there anyway I can get any notes from you emailed?

It sort of sparked me to think about writing something about pottery, it's forms and usages. I have a feeling people think that's really easy, but it's not per the question that was brought up. Plates were used in some cultures, but it's the archelogiest that screw things up... not really the culture. It's fairly interesting actually if you look at the Museum of London how many "dishes" there are as aposed to bowls in their medieval and earlier sections. A dish, to us, is so vague. I think, really... can't you just take a leap and say it's a bowl or a plate if it's flatter? No, I guess they don't want to make a mistake.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the paper is much less interesting without the pictures. But if you click the "trenchers" tag in my lj (http://ppfuf.livejournal.com/tag/trenchers) some of the information has been blogged about there. There's also a bunch of links to see some of the sets I didn't get to talk about.

You're certainly right about the archeologists making things more confusing, rather than less, by calling everything a "dish".

[doll-paparazzi.livejournal.com]

Not all of them do, but a surprisingly a lot of them do, especially in England. I realized when I started talking in front of everyone that I probably shouldn't have started that up as it's a far longer answer. ::sigh::

I also think we give archaeologists more credit than we should. At least for pottery and what I've read. Perhaps you might have seen blaring mistakes they've made as well when you've been researching, but I don't honestly think it's their fault as they aren't potters and don't know all the various techniques, terms or forms. While I am digressing here, one of the biggest mistakes I noticed (and others have as well) was Egyptian/French/English archaeologist finding some blue beads and blue pottery (turquoise in color) in a tomb and thought "AH! Faience pottery!" And labeled it as such. It wasn't. Faience is another name for Maiolica/Tin glazed pottery. This was what us potters call Egyptian Paste, which is a self glazing clay (basically). It doesn't work the same as faience and to this day, it is still sometimes referred to by the wrong name (which makes me crazy). :3

[doll-paparazzi.livejournal.com]

BTW, thanks for the link! I'll get to it.