Juliana Berners

"Where so ever ye fare by fryth or by fell: My dere chylde take hede how Trystam doo you tell. How many manere bestys of venery there were: Lysten to your dame and she shall you lere. Four manere of bestis of venere there are: The fyrste of theym is the harte: the seconde is the hare: The boore is one of tho: the wulfe and not one mo."

"And where that ye come in playne or in place: I shall you tell whyche ben bestys of en chace: One of theym is the bucke: a nother is the doo: The foxe and the marteron: and the wylde roo: And ye shall my dere chylde other bestys all: Where so ye theym fynde Rascall ye shall them call."

"A faythfulle frende wold I fayne finde, To fynde hym there he myghte be founde; But now is the worlde wext so unkynde, Yet frenship is fall to the grounde; (Now a frende I have founde) That I woll nother banne ne curse, But of all frendes in felde or towne, Ever, gramercy, myn own purse."

"I aske this question, which ben the meanes and the causes that enduce a man in to a merry spyryte: truly to my best dyscrecon it semeth good dysportes and honest gamys in whom a man joyeth without any repentance after. Thenne followeth it that gode dysportes and honest gamys ben cause of mannys fayr aege and longe life. And therefore now woll I chose of foure good dysportes and honest gamys, that is to wyte; of huntynge: hawkynge: fysshynge: and foulynge. The beste to my symple dyscrecon whyche is fysshynge: called anglynge, with a rodde and a lyne and an hoke: and thereof to treate as my symple wytte may suffice."

"Also ye shall not be ravenous in takyng of your sayd game as to moche at one tyme...whyche lyghtly be occasyon to dystroye your owne dysporte and other mennys also. As whan ye have suffycyent mese ye sholde coveyte nomore as at that tyme. Also ye shall besye yourselfe to nourysh the game in all that ye maye: and to destroye all such thynges as ben devourers of it."

"From an abbess disposed to turn author, we might more reasonably have expected a manual of meditations for the closet, or select rules for making salves, or distilling strong waters. But the diversions of the field were not thought inconsistent with the character of a religious lady of this eminent rank, who resembled an abbot in respect of exercising an extensive manorial jurisdiction, and who hawked and hunted in common with other ladies of distinction...The second of these treatises is written in rhyme. It is spoken in her own person; in which, being otherwise a woman of authority, she assumes the title of dame. I suspect the whole to be a translation from the French and Latin...The barbarism of the times strongly appears in the indelicate expressions which she often uses; and which are equally incompatible with her sex and profession."