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Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland is in Late Medieval Books.
Qwhene off Atholle the Erle Dawy En Kilblene wes slayne all wtrely
QWHEN Schyre Andrewe off Murrawe herd,
How rudly the Erle Dawy ferd
Wyth his men, he wes all angry,
And thoucht to rays the sege in hy.
Than all thame gaddryd he,
That on sowth-halffe the Scottis Se
He mycht purches off armyd men:
The Erle Patryke come till hym then:
Wyth hym bathe Ramsay and Prestown
And othir sere off gret renowne;
Willame off Dowglas als wes thare
Wyth his gud men, that worthy ware,
And othir sere, qwhill thai war then
Welle aucht hundyr off fychtand men:
The floure off that half the Scottis Se
At that tyme in his Court had he.
Thai rade on thare way sa fast,
Qwhill thai have the Mownth sawffly past.
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The Erle herd off his cummyng welle,
And departyde swa fra the castelle:
Till Kylblene strawcht the way tuk he,
And lugyd thare hys gret menyhé
At the est end, rycht in the way.
And rycht befor thame, qwhar thai lay,
At the Halle off Logyrothwane
Schyr Andrew his herbry has tane.
Syne come till hym fra Kildrwmy
Thre hundyr, I trow wycht and hardy,
That comfort his men [a] gret thyng;
And he wes glade off thare cummyng.
So in his cumpany wes ane
Jhon off the Crag, that [hade] bene tane
Wyth the Erle, and suld his rawnsown pay
Apon the morne, that wes his day:
He sayd to the lordis in prewaté,
Gyve thai wald trow his cownsalle, he
Suld throw the wode a redy way,
Enwerown quhare thare fays lay
And behynd, bryng thaim on welle nere,
Or thai owcht off thaire cummyng suld here.
And he fullfillyd all, that he hycht;
For swne efftyr the mydnycht
To Dey he led thaim, and thare thai
Fand in the wode a redy way:
That way thai went, qwhill that thai ware
Passyd thare fays a mylle and mare.
Endlang the wode war wayis twa;
The Erle in the umast lay off tha:
The Scottis men held the tothir way;
Syne owrthort to that way held thai.
Thare hors thai levyd thare ilkane,
Syne to thare fays on fut ar gane,
That off thare come wyst nakyn thyng.
Bot syne welle swne in the dawyng
Thare dyscuverouris gat on thaim sycht,
That wyth all hy, that evyr thai mycht,
Warnyt the Erle; and he in hy
Gert trwmpe, and warnyt his cumpany:
Fand in the wode a redy way:
That way thai went, qwhill that thai ware
Passyd thare fays a mylle and mare.
Endlang the wode war wayis twa;
The Erle in the umast lay off tha:
The Scottis men held the tothir way;
Syne owrthort to that way held thai.
Thare hors thai levyd thare ilkane,
Syne to thare fays on fut ar gane,
That off thare come wyst nakyn thyng.
Bot syne welle swne in the dawyng
Thare dyscuverouris gat on thaim sycht,
That wyth all hy, that evyr thai mycht,
Warnyt the Erle; and he in hy
Gert trwmpe, and warnyt his cumpany:
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Willame off Dowglas, that had then
The waywarde wyth the wychtast men,
That ware in all thare cumpany,
Qwhen that he sawe the Erle Dawy
Stand wyth his men arayid swa,
Hys spere in bathe his handis can ta
And kest it owrthort, and can say, "
Standis lordis a stownd; " and thai,
That war in till his cumpany,
Murmuryde tharoff all prewely.
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Qwhen the Erle [ Dawy ] saw, that thai
Stwde swa, in hy he brak aray,
And cryid, " Hey! apone thame tyte,
For thai ar welle nere dyscumffyte. "
Than till a fwrde downe can thai ga:
And qwhen the Dowglas saw thaim do swa,
He sayde, " Now we. " But mare lete,
Thai strawcht thare speris, and thai thaim mete
In to the fwrd. Robert Bradey,
Ane hardy knycht, thare gert thai dey.
Amang thaim strakis gret thai gave.
Wyth that Schyr Andrewe off Murrawe
Com in on syd so sturdely
Wyth thame all off his cumpany,
That in thare cummyng, as thai say,
Thai bare down buskis in thare way.
Fra he assemblyde abade nane;
The comownys all the flycht has tane.
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| Thare by an ake deyd Erle Dawy, | There, by an oak, died Earl David, |
| And syndry off his cumpany: | And several of his company. |
| Schyre Waltyr Cwmyn als wes slayne; | Sir Walter Comyn was also slain; |
| And Schyre Thomas Brown wes tayne; | And Sir Thomas Brown was taken prisoner, |
| That syne wes hevyddyt hastily: | Who afterwards was beheaded hastily. |
| It semyd thai luwyd hym noucht grettumly. | It seemed they did not love him very greatly. |
| Thare by an ake deyd Erle Dawy, | There, by an oak, died Earl David, |
| And syndry off his cumpany: | And several of his company. |
| Schyre Waltyr Cwmyn als wes slayne; | Sir Walter Comyn was also slain; |
| And Schyre Thomas Brown wes tayne; | And Sir Thomas Brown was taken prisoner, |
| That syne wes hevyddyt hastily: | Who afterwards was beheaded hastily. |
| It semyd thai luwyd hym noucht grettumly. | It seemed they did not love him very greatly. |
Schyr Robert Meyhneis till Canmore
Went, qwhare he wonnand wes before:
Thiddyr he went, and in a pele
He sawffyt hym and his menyhé welle.
And syne apon the tothir day
He tretyd, and come to thare fay.
Thare war bot fewe slayne in that fycht,
For the wode held thame owt off sycht:
And thai fled als so hastyly,
That away gat the mast party.
This fycht on Saynctandrewys day,
Or on [the] evyn, as thai say,
As I devys, here strykyn was.
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Off this fycht qwhilum spak Thomas
Off Ersyldowne, that sayd in derne,
Thare suld mete stalwartly stark and sterne:
He sayd it in his prophecy;
Bot, how he wyst it, wes ferly