Poem of the Pel

Poem of the Pel
Knyghthode and Bataile
"The Attack of the Pel, A.D. 1300" (1842)
Author(s)	John Neele
Ascribed to	Robert Parker
Patron	Viscount Beaumont
Date	1458-1460
Genre	Fencing manual
Language	Middle English
Manuscript(s)	MS 243 (1458-1460) Cotton MS Titus A xxiii (ca. 1500) Ashmole MS 45 II (ca. 1500)
Concordance by	Michael Chidester
Website	Digital Index of Middle English Verse

The so-called "Poem of the Pel" is a section of the 15th century English war book Knyghthode and Bataile ("Knighthood and Battle"), written between 1458 and 1460 by John Neele; this treatise is itself an elaborate verse paraphrase of Flavius Vegetius Renatus' treatise on warfare De re militari (ca. 390). The poem has often been misattributed to Robert Parker due to its many similarities to Parker's contemporary work On Husbondrie. There are three known copies of the text, an archetype (the MS 243) and two 16th century copies (the Cottonian MS Titus A.xxiii and the Ashmole MS 45, part II).

The "Poem of the Pel" forms part of a longer passage in the text about individual martial training, one of the few texts from this period that treats this topic. The complete section is listed below; note that only the six stanzas beginning with the second on fol. 5v discuss the actual training of swordsmanship, and these are what most practitioners recognize as the 'poem'.

Treatise

Poem of the Pile

Incomplete Modernizion by Benjamin "Casper" Bradak	Cambridge Version (1458-1460) Open for editing	London Version (ca. 1500)	Oxford Version (ca. 1500)
	[5r] Vegetius it is, that I entende Aftir to goon in lore of exercise, Besechinge hem that fynde a faut, amende It to the best, or me tamende it wise ; As redy wil I be with my seruyce Tamende that, as ferther to procede. Now wel to go, the good angel vs lede.
	First is to lerne a chiualerys pace, That is to serue in journey & bataile ; Gret peril is, if they theryn difface, That seyn : our enemye wil our oste assaile And jumpe light ; to goon is gret availe, And XX Ml. pace in howrys fyve Wel may they goon, and not goon ouer blyve.
	And wightly may thei go IIII Ml. moo, But faster and they passe, it is to renne ; In rennyng exercise is good also, To smyte first in fight, and also whenne To take a place our footmen wil, forrenne, And take it erst ; also to serche or sture, Lightly to come & go, rennynge is sure.
	Rennynge is also right good at the chace, And forto lepe a dike, is also good, To renne & lepe and ley vppon the face, That it suppose a myghti man go wood And lose his hert withoute sheding blood ; For myghtily what man may renne & lepe, May wel devicte and saf his party kepe.
	[5v] To swymme is eek to lerne in comer season ; Men fynde not a brigge as ofte as flood, Swymmyng to voide and chace an oste wil eson ; Eeke aftir rayn the ryueres goth wood ; That euery man in thoost can swymme, is good. Knyght, squye, footman, cook & cosynere And gnome & page in swymmyng is to lere.
The discipline and exercise of the fight was this: To have a pole or pile upright Of a man’s height, thus the old and wise do write With this a bachelor, or a young knight Shall first be taught to stand, and learn to fight And with a fan of double weight he takes as his shield And a double-weight mace of wood to wield.	Of fight the disciplyne and exercise Was this: To haue a pale or pile vpright Of mannys hight, thus writeth olde and wyse ; Therwith a bacheler, or a yong knyght Shal first be taught to stonde & lerne fight ; A fanne of doubil wight tak him his shelde, Of doubil wight a mace of tre to welde.
This fan and mace, either of which are of double weight Of shield, swayed in conflict or battle, Shall exercise swordsmen, as well as knights, And no man, as they say, will be seen to prevail, In the field, or in castle, though he assail, Without the pile, being his first great exercise, Thus write warriors old and wise.	This fanne & mace, which either doubil wight is Of shelde & sword in [con]flicte or bataile, Shal exercise as wel swordmen as knyghtys, And noo man (as thei seyn) is seyn prevaile In felde or in gravel thoughe he assaile That with the pile nath first grete exercise ; Thus writeth werreourys olde & wyse.
Have each his pile or pole up-fixed fast And, as it were, upon his mortal foe: With mightiness the weapon must be cast To fight strong, that none may escape On him with shield, and sword advised so, That you be close, and press your foe to strike Lest your own death you bring about.	Have vche his pile or pale vpfixed faste, And, as in werre vppon his mortal foo, With wightynesse & wepon most he caste To fighte stronge, that he ne shape him fro,— On him with shild & sword avised so, That thou be cloos, and prest thi foo to smyte, Lest of thin owne deth thou be to wite.
Impeach his head, his face, have at his gorge Bear at the breast, or spurn him on the side, With knightly might press on as Saint George Leap to your foe; observe if he dare abide; Will he not flee? Wound him; make wounds wide Hew off his hand, his leg, his thighs, his arms, It is the Turk! Though he is slain, there is no harm.	[6r] Empeche his hed, his face, have at his gorge, Bere at the breste, or s[e]rue him on the side With myghti knyghtly poort, eue as Seynt George, Lepe o thi foo, loke if he dar abide ; Wil he nat fle, wounde him ; mak woundis wide, Hew of his honde, his legge, his thegh, his armys ; It is the Turk : though he be sleyn, noon harm is.
And to thrust is better than to strike; The striker is deluded many ways, The sword may not through steel and bones bite, The entrails are covered in steel and bones, But with a thrust, anon your foe is forlorn; Two inches pierced harm more Than cut of edge, though it wounds sore.	And forto foyne is better then to smyte ; The smyter is deluded mony oonys, The sword may nat throgh steel & bonys bite, Thentrailys ar couert in steel & bonys, But with a foyn anoon thi foo fordoon is ; Tweyne vnchys entirfoyned hurteth more Then kerf or ege, although it wounde sore.
In the cut, the right arm is open, As well as the side; in the thrust, covered Is side and arm, and though you be supposed Ready to fight, the thrust is at his heart Or elsewhere, a thrust is ever smart; Thus it is better to thrust than to carve; Though in time and space, either is to be observed.	Eek in the kerf, thi right arm is disclosed, Also thi side ; and in the foyn, couert Is side & arm, and er thou be supposed Redy to fight, the foyn is at his hert Or ellys where, a foyn is euer smert ; Thus better is to foyne then to kerve ; In tyme & place ereither is tobserue.
	This fanne & mace ar ay of doubil wight, That when the Bacheler hath exercise Of hevy gere, and aftir taketh light Herneys, as sheeld & sword of just assise, His hert avaunceth, hardynes tarise. My borthon is delyuered, thinketh he, And on he goth, as glad as he may be.
	[6v] And ouer this al, exercise in armys The doctour is to teche and discipline, For double wage a wurthi man of armys Was wont to take, if he wer proved digne Aforn his prince, ye, tymes •VIII• or •IX• ; And whete he had, and barly had the knyght That couthe nat as he in armys fight.
	Res publica right commendabil is, If chiualers and armys there abounde, For, they present, may nothing fare amys, And there thei are absent, al goth to grounde ; In gemme, in gold, in silk be thei fecounde, It fereth not ; but myghti men in armys, They fereth with the drede of deth & harmys.
	Caton the Wise seith : where as men erre In other thinge, it may be wel amended ; But emendatioun is noon in were ; The cryme doon, forthwith the grace is spended, Or slayn anoon is he that there offended Or putte to flight, and euer aftir he Is lesse worth then they that made him fle.
	But turne ageyn, Inwit, to thi preceptys ! With sword & sheld the lerned chiualer At pale or pile, in artilaunce excepte is ; A dart of more wight then is mester, Take him in honde, and teche hym it to ster, And caste it at that pile, as at his foo, So that it route, and right vppon hym go.
	[7r] Of armys is the doctour heer tattende, That myghtily this dart be take & shake, And shot as myghtily, forthright on ende, And smyte sore, or nygh, this pile or stake ; Herof vigour in tharmys wil awake And craft to caste & smyte shal encrece ; The wrreours thus taught, shal make peax.
	But bachilers, the thriddle or firthe part, Applied ar to shote in bowes longe With arrows ; heryn is doctryne & art, The stryngys vp to breke in bowes stronge, And swift and craftily the taclis fonge, Starkly the lifte arm holde with the bowe, Drawe with the right, and smyte, and ouerthrowe.
	Set hert & eye vppon that pile or pale, Shoot nygh or on ; and if so be thou ride On hors, is eek the bowys bigge vp hale ; Smyte in the face or breste or bak or side, Compelle fle, or falle, if that he bide. Cotidian be mad this exercise, On fote & hors, as writeth olde wise.
	That archery is grete vtilitee, It nedeth not to telle eny that here is ; Caton, therof in bookys writeth he, Among the discipline of chiualerys, And Claudius, that werred mony yeres, Wel seide, and Affricanus Scipio With archerys confounded ofte his foo.
	[7v] Vse eek the cast of stoon with slynge or honde ; It falleth ofte, if other shot ther noon is, Men herneysed in steel may not withstonde The multitude & myghti caste of stonys ; It breaketh ofte & breseth flesh & bonys, And stonys in effecte are euerywhere, And slyngys ar not noyous forto bere.
	And otherwhile in stony stede is fight, A mountayn otherwhile is to defende, An hil, a toun, a tour, and euery knyght And other wight may caste stoon on ende. The stonys axe, if other shot be spende, Or ellys thus : save other shot with stonys, Or vse hem, as requireth, both atonys.
	The barbulys that named ar plumbatys, Set in the sheld [is] good to take fyve, That vsed hem of old, wer grete estatys ; As archerys, they wolde shote and dryve Her foo to flight, or leve him not alyve ; This shot commended Dioclisian  his Coemperour Maxymyan.
	The Chualers and werreourys alle, Quicly to lepe on hors, and so descende Vppon the right or lyft side, if it falle, That exercise is forto kepe an ende ; Vnarmed first, and armed thenne ascende, And aftir with a spere or sword & shelde, This feet is good, when troubled is the felde.
	[8r] And •LX• pounde of weght it hade to bere And go therwith a chiualerys pace, Witaile & herneysing and sword & spere, Frely to bere ; al this is but solace ; Thinge exercised ofte in tyme & space, Hard if it be, with vse it wil ben eased, The yonge men herwith beth best appesed.
	And exercise him vche in his armure, As is the gise adayes now to were, And se that euery peece hernys be sure, Go quycly in, and quyk out of the gere And kepe it cler, as gold or gemme it were ; Corraged is that hath his hernys bright, And he that is wel armed, dar wel fight.
	To warde & wacche an oste it is to lerne Both holsom is that f[v]lly and necessary, Withinne a pale an oste is to gouerne, That day & nyght safly theryn they tary And take reste, and neuer oon myscary ; For faute of wacch, ha worthi not myscheved Now late, and al to rathe ? Is this nat preved ?

Copyright and License Summary

For further information, including transcription and translation notes, see the discussion page.

Work	Author(s)	Source	License
Translation	Benjamin "Casper" Bradak	Man yt Wol
Cambridge Version	Anonymous	Allpoetry.com
London Version
Oxford Version

Additional Resources

• Strutt, Joseph. The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England. Ed. William Hone. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly, 1876. ISBN 978-1145708389
• Vegetius Renatus, Plublius Flavius. Knyghthode and Bataile: A XVth Century Verse Paraphrase of Flavius Vegetius Renatus' Treatise. "De Re Militari". Ed. Dyboski, Roman; Arend, Zygfryd Marjan. London: Early English Text Society, 1936; reprinted London: Oxford University Press, 1971. ISBN 978-0859916943