Click in the field, then press CTRL+C to copy the HTML code
<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=365767" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Jus Primae Noctis</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">(In medieval times, the right of the<br>Lord of the Manor to spend the first night<br>with a peasant's bride) .</div><div style="margin:10px 0">John and Jayne at the altar stood, <br>To put up their wedding banns, <br>In the Church at Haversham, Holy Cross<br>On Sir Robert de Courcy's lands, <br>When a clatter of hooves on the cobblestones<br>Brought dread to the open door, <br>As the Lord of the Manor came striding in<br>And planted his feet on the floor.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He looked at the two with a great disdain, <br>His hand on his scabbard sword, <br>His knights stood silent across the nave, <br>Not one would utter a word.<br>His voice rang out in that hallowed place<br>As Jayne cowered down, distress'd, <br>'I come to claim the Lord's First Right<br>By the power jus primae noctis.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He strolled so arrogant down the aisle, <br>Of the Hereford Village Kirk, <br>Then drew his sword with a wicked smile, <br>With the tip of it, lifted her skirt, <br>'Her legs are fine, I can tell you that, '<br>He said to John with a sneer, <br>But John had averted his eyes to the floor<br>As his eyes were beginning to tear.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">De Courcy turned, and he walked away<br>Up the aisle to the Norman doors, <br>Then turned at last with a final command<br>That would end their short discourse, <br>'You'll place yourself at my mercy, then, <br>And leave your husband denied, <br>You'll make your way to the castle gate<br>On the night that the knot is tied! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">John had cursed as they rode away, <br>The priest was more reserved, <br>'You should think it an honour, young man, ' he said, <br>That your bride will be well served.<br>With luck, you may get a blue-blood son, <br>And honours will come his way, <br>Sir Robert has twenty or more in the town<br>That are blessed in the usual way.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Jayne knew, of course, it would come to this, <br>She had seen with her sister Jone, <br>Carried away to the castle gate, <br>And weep all the way back home.<br>She'd watched her belly grow big with child<br>While her man had cursed and sworn, <br>'Til the day she lay on a bale of hay<br>As the child arrived, still-born.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Meanwhile, in Bristol, came a ship<br>That had sailed from Gascony, <br>Dropping a sickening sailor there<br>With its wines and its armoury, <br>The sailor staggered up streets outside, <br>And fell in the tavern door, <br>Infected all that were drinking there, <br>As the pestilence came ashore.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">It spread at the rate of a raging fire<br>That nothing could halt or douse, <br>The abscesses in the armpits made<br>Their way from house to house, <br>The plague ran on through the countryside<br>And arrived at Haversham, <br>On the day of the wedding of John and Jayne<br>Though they didn't know it then.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">There was just one victim on that day, <br>A woman who stayed at home, <br>She watched as her flesh grew puffy, as<br>The boils grew down below, <br>She sent a note to her sister, said<br>'I'll not be there at the feast, <br>But I have a gift I'll give to you, <br>It's the least I can do... the least! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That evening, out by the castle gate<br>A woman was led inside, <br>De Courcy sat in the dark, and watched<br>As she knelt by the Lord's bedside, <br>She knelt in shadows, and then she wept<br>And he watched as she disrobed, <br>Then stood quite naked beside his bed<br>For the lord to touch and probe.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He pulled her onto the bed and grasped her<br>Close to his body there, <br>And then she laughed, it was not the laugh<br>Of a bride caught in despair, <br>The moon shone bright through the chamber then<br>And he shrank from the woman's moan, <br>She was covered in blood and pustules, said: <br>'Not Jayne - but her sister Jone! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He screamed for his knights, who pulled her off, <br>Then spilt her blood on the floor, <br>Cut off her head, then shrank in dread<br>At the sight of her festering sores, <br>The plague ran right through the castle then, <br>Spared not one knight or horse, <br>While John and Jayne in the forest lay<br>Til the plague had run its course.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=David+Lewis+Paget">David Lewis Paget</a><div class=q>
<img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share">
<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=365767" data-title="Jus Primae Noctis de David Lewis Paget" data-description="(In medieval times, the right of the
Lord of the Manor to spend the first night
with a peasant's bride) .

John and Jayne at the altar stood, 
To put up their wedding banns, 
In the Church at Haversham, Holy Cross
On Sir Robert de Courcy's lands, ..."></div>
</div>
</div>