THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE, SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manuscript
British Library MS Sloane 1983 B, leaf 13 (seventeenth century ?).
Edition
Furnivall, Frederick J., ed. Jyl of Breyntfords Testament . . . and Other Short Pieces. London: Printed for private circulation by Taylor & Co., 1871. Pp. 40-41.
THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE, NOTES
Abbreviations: F: Frederick J. Furnivall; MS: British Library MS Sloane 1983 B, leaf 13.
1 with. MS: wt. The scribe abbreviates three words: "with," "that," and "sir." F has added the missing letters, as have I.
2 understanding. MS: undestanding. F has provided the missing consonant.
4-7 The husband's lack of sexual interest which sets up the joke constitutes a denigration of conjugal duty; in medieval marriage both partners are obligated by their vow of consent to pay the conjugal debt even when the other is unwilling. See Chaucer's The Parson's Tale on the second cause of "assemble": "Another cause is to yelden everich of hem to oother the dette of hire bodies, for neither of hem hath power of his owene body" (X[I]940).
6 the2. MS: te.
7 wanted. MS: wnted.
10 let us be pairted. The marriage could be annulled for one partner's neglect of the other's sexual needs. Sexual abstinence between spouses (spiritual marriage) needed to be mutually agreed upon as in the case of Cecilia and Valerius in Chaucer's The Second Nun's Tale or the marriage contract between Mary and Joseph in the Corpus Christi plays.
10-11 taiken it ill to me. That is, "you would think ill of me if I satisfied nature in the wrong way."
11-12 pillar of repentance. A public means of humiliation for allegedly unfaithful wives.
14 could. MS: ould. F's emendation.
16-17 The three goods of marriage - procreation, satisfaction of nature, and avoiding fornication - are named as evidence of the extent of the husband's neglect. Compare The Parson's Tale (X[I]939-42) on the three goods of marriage, the first two of which are chaste.
21 they. MS: the.
22 forgoing. MS: forging. I have followed the emendation made by F to maintain sense and syntax.
MUSSHO VETICH. This phrase may be understood as it is translated in the narrative, i.e., doe this way. It is also quite possible that it is nonsensical, a phrase meant to implicate the Irish. It appears in the printed edition in capital letters.
25 Vale. A Latin term meaning "farewell."
26-27 McBaire. F: Mr Baire. Whether this is a narrative originating in Scotland and attributed to someone named McBaire is unclear. The ellipses replicate those found in F's edition.