MS. Bodl. Rolls 22
Summary Catalogue no.: 30445
Contents
Twenty stanzas of 14 lines each (with acrostics). Versification: ababababccdccd
In the latter part is an acrostic giving the words 'Katerina. Ricardus. Spaldyng.'
Five stanzas of eight-lines each. The opening letters of each stanza combine to spell out 'MARIA'. The last six lines of the poem form the acrostic 'Pipwel' (see Provenance below), with the acrostic lightly drafted for a rubricator
Physical Description
Hand(s)
Ruth Kennedy notes that the roll was intended to be a neat and formal copy of the poem, and that Item 1 is in a current Anglicana book hand. In contrast, Item 2 was added in 'a shaky semitextura hand' at the foot of the parchment roll ('Pipwel's St Mary', Notes and Queries, 51 [2004], pp. 106–109 at p. 106)
History
Provenance and Acquisition
On the basis of the acrostic 'Pipwel' in the last 6 lines of Item 2, MLGB3 suggests a link with Pipewell, Northamptonshire, Cistercian abbey of St Mary the Virgin (?). However, Ruth Kennedy argues that both the authorial and the scribal relicts show clear evidence of south Lincolnshire dialects' ('Spalding’s Alliterative Katherine Hymn: A Guild Connection from the South-East Midlands?', Viator 35 [2004] pp. 455-482, at p. 456). Reflecting on the scribal and authorial dialect of the text, Kennedy suggests 'Pipwel' refers to Pipwell Manor, close to Holbeach by the sea wall in Holland, Lincolnshire. This latitude, closer to that of Stafford, Derby and Nottingham than that of Coventry and Northamptonshire, would, according to Kennedy, account for some of the Northern forms and orthography in the poem ('Pipwel's St Mary', Notes and Queries, 51 [2004], pp. 106–109 at p. 106)
Date of acquisition not known; presumably after 1695 (see Summary Catalogue, V, p. 802).
Record Sources
Digital Images
Digital Bodleian (1 image from 35mm slides)
Bibliography
Online resources:
Online edition of Item 1 and Item 2:
Printed editions of Item 2:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2025-03-20: Description revised to incorporate all the information in the Summary Catalogue (1905)