Play 34, BURIAL; GUARDING OF THE SEPULCHER: FOOTNOTES

1 Because truly the Son of God was he (compare Matthew 28:54)

2 That would be neither to your honor or advantage

3 And a hundred? Fie on a hundred and a hundred [more] as well

4 Then Pilate, Cayphas, Annas, and all the knights will go to the sepulcher and say

Play 34, BURIAL; GUARDING OF THE SEPULCHER: EXPLANATORY NOTES

Abbreviations: MED: Middle English Dictionary; OED: Oxford English Dictionary; PP: Passion Play, ed. Meredith (1990); S: N-Town Play, ed. Spector (1991); s.d.: stage direction.

4 Loosely translated in the following line. Compare Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39, and Luke 23:47.

57 Baramathie. As Meredith notes, possibly from the Latin, "ab Aramathie" (PP, p. 214n1099). Could also be from the Hebrew "bar," meaning "son of."

82 no ned his bonys to breke. See John 19:33, where the Evangelist is mindful of the Passover Feast (Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12), where no bone of the Paschal meal is to be broken. John, with the unique reference to the Agnus Dei (John 1:29), looks upon this moment of the Crucifixion as a step toward the Eucharist's displacing the Passover Feast.

114–51 N-Town is the only English version that mentions rewards for Nicodemus' and Joseph of Arimathea's good deeds. It is possible that these lines reflect the work of local religious guilds, e.g., to bury the dead.

154–57 The loving courtesy of Mary's "farewell gentle princes" quatrain reflects the queen-of-courtesy tone of Pearl and some of the Marian lyrics of the fourteenth century, but is unusual in drama. Mary's beautiful and moving farewell to Joseph and Nicodemus serves as a farewell to her son as well, as her benediction turns attention toward the new day, a day in which Adam and Eve and the patriarchs recover bliss, but also in which the true value of Mary will be honored. See also 35.121–36.

182–84 Meredith observes that the knights' names, except for Affraunt, agree with the list in Reynes' Commonplace Book (1470–1500) (p. 257). Arfaxat is from Genesis 10:22, but the other names are from romances (PP, p. 217n1224–26). See Spec­tor's note to 34.182–205, which traces the names and behavior to the Nor­thern Passion and MS Ashmole 61, as cited by Horstmann ("Nachträge zu den Le­gen­den"). Spector cites parallels between Northern Passion and lines 34, 194–97, 200–05, 214–25, and 302–25.

209, s.d. Meredith notes that, in spite of the stage direction, the knights should not leave the playing place (PP, p.218n1251sd), but it could very well be that the tomb is outside or at the edge of the playing place, and above ground. Note that in 36.157–58, the stone covering the tomb seems to be atop the grave. (See note below.)

219 Jakke and Gylle. Common forms for John or James and Gillian, such common names that they stand for any or every boy and girl (OED, MED).

Play 34, BURIAL; GUARDING OF THE SEPULCHER: TEXTUAL NOTES

Abbreviations: Bl: Ludus Coventriae, ed. Block (1922); PP: Passion Play, ed. Meredith (1990); S: N-Town Play, ed. Spector (1991); s.d.: stage direction; s.n.: stage name.

5–8 MS: large play number 34 written in right margin.

37, s.n. ARIMATHEA. MS: Ara . . . m, remainder lost in a hole and cropped.

41 goon. MS: god goon.

73, s.n. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. MS: Joseph ab, remainder cropped.

76 request. MS: resquest. First written as rest, then corrected.

106 maydonys. So PP, S. MS, Bl: mayndonys.

113 MS: written to right of line 110, not metrical.

121, s.d. he. MS: omitted, but added for clarity by PP and S. PP further notes that Mary's sudden appearance in this stage direction attests to the incor­poration of several source materials (p. 216n1163sd).

146, s.n. MS: Nichodem, remainder cropped.

157, s.d. MS: to the left of this stage direction are Nota ("Note") and Incipit hic ("Be­gin here") in the hand of a reviser. It is possible that this section was per­formed at some later point as a Resurrection play (PP, p. 216–17n1200).
Cayphas. MS: Go Cayphas.

165 ageyn. So PP, S. MS, Bl: agey.

166–97 MS: scribe compressed two lines on each line, probably to accommodate a new quire which begins with the next folio.

182 MS: Nota hic written at left of the line by a reviser.

194 MS: no capitulum.

199–35.297 MS: sometimes the knights as speakers' names are denoted by a number (e.g., i^us Miles), sometimes by their names, and sometimes both. The main scribe's scheme (i.e., Arfaxat, as Knight 1; Ameraunt, as Knight 2; Cos­dram, as Knight 3; and Affraunt, as Knight 4) actually causes problems. A reviser decided that it would make more sense if Ameraunt were Knight 1 and Arfaxat were Knight 2. I am following the reviser's assig­nations.

202 honderyd. MS: written as C each time.

209, s.d. MS: letter canceled before out.

214, s.n. MS: reviser has written j^us before s.n.

216, s.n. MS: reviser has written ij^us before s.n.
216 MS: this line has replaced So mote I the I wole be at the h.

220, s.n. MS: reviser has written ^iijus before s.n., Affraunt 4.

222, s.n. MS: reviser has written iiij^us before s.n.
222 MS: So mote I the I wole be at the h between lines 215 and 216.

Before 225 MS: catchword Syr pilat at bottom of fol. 189v.

226 MS: Nota written by a reviser to the left of the line, possibly to denote the new quire V, or possibly a prompt note for Pylat.

231 graffe. MS: a letter has been canceled before.

After 231 Capital V at the bottom of fol. 190r in a different hand. Pilatus written faint­ly below and to the right in a different hand.

254, s.n. MS: Pilatus, possibly corrected from Pilatas.

256 This. So MS, Bl, PP. S: Ther.

262–301 MS: two lines are written as one, but the stanzas should be short-lined octaves.

268, s.d. seyn. MS: n cropped.

270, s.n. AFFRAUNT. MS: Affraunt 4.
270 grownnde. MS: tyde grownnde.

274 lefft. MS: second f written over a t.

278, s.n. COSDRAM. MS: Cosdram 3.

286, s.n. AMERAUNT. MS: Ameraunt i^us altered to ij^us by reviser (?).

293 MS: above schapyn schonde, a reviser has written sle fre and bonde.

294, s.n. ARFAXAT. MS: Arfaxat 2^us altered to 1^us by reviser (?).

296 wete. MS: letters are obscured.

302–25 MS: three lines are compressed into one. In addition, these lines are written as short-lined sestets, an unusual stanzaic form in the MS.
302, s.n. AMERAUNT. MS: i^us Miles.
302 MS: has capitulum, as have lines 308, 314, and 320.

308, s.n. ARFAXAT. MS: ij^us Miles.

314, s.n. COSDRAM. MS: 3^us Miles.

320, s.n. AFFRAUNT. MS: 4^us Miles.

After 325 MS: no break between plays.