A godlie dreame compiled by Elizabeth Melvill, Ladie Culros younger, at the request of a friend.

A godlie dreame compiled by Elizabeth Melvill, Ladie Culros younger, at the request of a friend.

Table of contents

Title page

A GODLY DREAME.

A VERIE COMFORTABLE SONG.

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A GODLIE DREAME, Compiled by Elizabeth Melvill, Ladie Culros younger, at the request of a Friend.

Introite per angustam portam: nam lata est via quae ducit ad interitum.

AH

EDINBVRGH, Imprinted by Andro Hart, ANNO DOM, 1620.

A GODLY DREAME.

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VPon a day, as I did mourne full sore,

For sundry things wherwith my soule was grieued,

My griefe increased, and grewe more and more:

I comfort fled, & could not be relieued,

With heauinesse my heart was so mischieued:

I loath'd my life, I could not eate nor drinke:

I might not speake, nor looke to none that liued,

But mus'd alone, and diuers things did thinke.

This wretched world did so molest my minde,

I thought vpon this false and Yron age:

And how our heartes were so to vice inclinde,

That Sathan séemde most fearfullie to rage,

Nothing on earth my sorrow could asswadge:

I felt my sinne most stronglie to increase,

I grieued the Spirit, that wont to be my pledge,

My soule was plung'd into most déepe distresse.

All merrinesse did aggrauate my paine,

And earthly ioyes did still increase my woe:

In companie I could no wise remaine,

But fled resort, and so alone did goe.

[Page] My sillie soule was tossed to and fro

With sundrie thoughts, which troubled me full sorè:

I preas'd to pray, but sighes our set me so,

I could doe nought, but groane, and say no more.

The trickling teares aboundantlie ran downe:

Mine heart was eas'd when I had mourn'd my fill.

Then I beganne my Lamentation,

And said, O Lord, how long is it thy will,

That thy poore Sainctes shall be afflicted still?

Alas! How long shall subtile Sathan rage?

Make haste, O Lord, thy promise to fulfill:

Make hast to ende our painfull Pilgrimage.

Thy sillie Sainctes are tossed to and fro:

Awake, O Lord, why sléepest thou so long?

We haue no strength against our cruell fo,

In sighes and sobbes now changed is our song.

The World preuailes, our enemies are strong.

The Wicked rage, but we are poore and weake.

O! shewe thy selfe, with spéed reuenge our wrong.

Make short these daies, euen for thy Chosens sake.

Lord Iesus come and saue thine owne Elect,

For Sathan séekes our simple soules to stay.

The wicked World doth stronglie vs infect:

Most monstrous sinnes increase doe day by day.

Our loues growes cold, our zeale is worne away:

Our faith is faild, and wée are like to fall.

The Lyon roares, to catch vs as a prey:

Make hast, O Lord, before we perish all.

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These are the daies, which thou so long foretold,

Should come before this wretched world should end

Now Uice aboundes, and Charitie growes cold:

And euen thine owne most stronglie do offend:

The Deuill preuailes, his forces he doth bend,

If it could be to wrack thy Children deare:

But we are thine, therefore some succour send:

Receiue our soules, we wearie wandring héere.

What can we do? we clogged are with sinne,

In filthie vice our senselesse soules are drownde.

Though we resolue, we neuer can beginne,

T'amend our liues, but sinne doth still abound.

UUhē wilt thou come? whē shal thy trumpet sound?

UUhen shall we sée that great and glorious Day?

O saue vs, Lord, out of that pit profound,

And reaue vs from that loathsome lump of clay.

Thou knowst our harts, thou seest our whole desire,

Our secret thoughtes they are not hid from thée.

Though we offend, thou knowst we strangely tire.

To beare this weight, our spirit would faine be frée.

Alas, O Lord, what pleasure can it bée,

To liue in sinne? that sore doth presse vs downe.

Oh! giue vs winges, that we aloft may flie,

And ende the sight, that we may weare the crowne.

Before the Lord when I had thus complainde,

My minde grew calme, mine heart was then at rest:

Though I was faint, from foode yet I refrainde,

And went to Bede, because I thought it best.

[Page] With heauinesse my spirit was sore opprest.

I fell on sléepe: And so againe me thought,

I made my moane: and so my griefe increast:

And from the Lord with teares I succour sought.

Lord Iesus, come, saide I, and ende our griefe,

My spirit is vext, the captiue would be frée.

All vice aboundes, now send vs some reliefe.

I loath to liue, I wish dissolu'd to bee.

My spirit doeth long, and thirsteth after thée.

As thirstie ground requires a showre of raine,

Mine heart is drie: as fruitlesse barren frée

I féele my selfe: How can I héere remaine?

With sighes and sobbes as I did solament,

Into my dreame I thoght there did appeare,

A sight most swéete, which did mée well content,

An Angel bright, with visage shining cleare,

With louing lookes, and with a smiling cheare:

He asked me, Why art thou thus so sad?

Why groan'st thou so? what dost thou dwining here,

With carefull cries, in this thy bailfull Bed?

I heare thy sighes, I sée thy trickling teares,

Thou séemst to be in some perplexitie:

What mean thy mones: what is yt thing thou fears?

Whom would thou haue, in what place would yu be?

Faint not so fast in thine aduersitie.

Mourne not so sore, sith mourning may not mend:

Lift vp thine heart declare thy griefe to me,

Perchance thy paine bringes pleasure in the end.

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I sigh'd againe, and said, Alas, for wo,

My griefe is great, I can it not declare:

Into this earth I wander to and fro.

A Pilgrime poore, consum'd with sighing sore.

My sinnes, alas, increase doe more and more.

I loath my life, I wearie wandring here,

I long for Heauen, mine Heritage is there.

I long to liue with my Redéemer deare.

Is this the cause? said he rise vp anone,

And follow me, and I shall be thy guide:

And from thy sighes leaue off, thine heauie mone:

Refraine from teares, and cast thy care aside:

Trust in my Strength and in my Word confide,

And thou shalt haue thine heauie heartes desire:

Rise vp with spéede, I may not long abide,

Great diligence this matter doeth require.

My soule rejoc'd to heare his sword so swéete,

I looked vp, and saw his Face most fayre:

His countenate reuiu'd my wearie spirite,

Incontinent I cast aside my care:

With humble heart I prayd him to declare

What was his Name? He answered me againe,

I am thy God, for whome thou sigh'st so sore,

I now am come, thy teares are not in vaine.

I am the Way, I am the Trueth, and Life,

I am thy spouse, that bringes thée store of grace:

I am thy Lord, that soone would end thy strife,

I am thy Loue, whome thou wouldst faine imbrace.

[Page] I am thy joye, I am thy rest and peace:

Rise vp anone, and follow after mée,

I shall thée lead into thy dwelling place,

The Land of rest, thou long'st so sore to sée.

With joyfull heart I thanked him againe,

Readie am I, said I, and well content,

To follow thée; for héere I liue in paine:

A wretch vnworth, my daies are vainelie spent:

Not one is just, but all are fiercelie bent,

To runne to vice. I haue no force to stand,

My sinnes increase, which makes mée sore lament:

Make hast, O Lord, I long to sée that Land.

Thine haste is greaf, he answerd me againe:

Thou thinkst thée there, thou art transported so.

That pleasant place must purchast be with paine,

The way is straite, and thou hast farre to go.

Art thou contenttd wander to and fro?

Through great Desarts, throgh water, & throgh fire?

Through thorns and briers, and many dangers mo?

What sayest thou now? Thy feeble flesh will tire.

Alas, said I, although my flesh be weake,

My spirit is strong, and willing for to flie.

O leaue me not, but for thy mercies sake

Performe thy word, or els for doole I die.

I feare no paine, since I should walke with thée:

The way is long, yet bring me through at last,

Thou answerst well, I am content, said hée,

To be thy guide, but see thou gripe me fast

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Then vp I rose, and made no more delay,

My feeble armes about his neck I cast:

He went before, and still did guide the way,

Though I was weake, my spirit did follow fast,

Through mosse & mire, throgh ditches déep we past,

Through pricking thorns, throgh water & throgh fire,

Throgh dreadfull dennes, he made mine hart agast:

He bare me vp, when I began to fire.

Sometime we clamb on craigie mountaines hie,

And sometime slaide on vglie brayes of sande:

They were so stay, that wonder was to sée.

But when I fearde, he held me by the hand,

Through thick & thin through sea, & eke throgh land:

Through great Desartes we wandred on our way.

When I was weake, and had no strength to stand,

Yet with a looke he did refresh me aye.

Through waters great we were compeld to wade,

Which were so déepe, that I was like to drowne:

Sometime I sanke; but yet my gracious guide

Did draw me vp halfe dead, and in a swowne.

In Woods most wilde, and farre from anie Towne,

We thrusted through, the Briers together stack:

I was so weake, their strength did beat me downe,

That I was forc'd for feare to flée aback.

Courage, said he, thou art mid-way and more:

Thou mayst not tire, nor turne aback againe.

Hold fast thy gripe, on me cast all thy care:

Assay thy strength, thou shalt not fight in vaine.

[Page] I told thee first, That thou shouldst suffer paine.

The nearer Heauen, the harder is the way.

Lift vp your heart, and let your hope remaine,

Since I am guide thou shalt not goe astray.

Forward wee past, on narrow brigs of trée,

Ouer waters great, which hiddeoustie did roare.

There lay below that fearefull was to see,

Most vglie Beastes, which gaped to deuoure.

Mine head grew light, and troubled verie sore:

Mine heart did feare, my féete began to slide:

But when I cryde he heard me euermore,

And helpt me vp: O blessed be my Guide.

Wearie I was, and thought to sit at rest:

But he said, Nay, thou mayst not sit nor stand.

Hold on thy course, and thou shalt finde it best,

If thou destrst to sée that pleasant land.

Though I was weake, I rose at his command,

And held him fast. At length he let me sée

That pleasant place, that seemde to be at hand,

Take courage now, for thou art neare, said hee.

I looked vp into that Castle faire,

Glistring like Golde, and shining Siluer bright.

The statelie Towre did mount aboue the aire:

They blinded me, they cast so great a light.

Mine heart was glad to sée that joyfull sight.

My voyage then I thought was not in vaine:

I him besought to guide me there aright,

With many vowes, Neuer to tire againe.

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Though thou be neare, the way is verie hard,

Said he againe, therefore thou must be stout:

Faint not for feare, for cowardes are debard,

That haue none heart to goe their voyage out.

Pluck vp thine heart, and gripe me fast about,

Out through this trance together we must go:

The way is low, remember for to lout,

If this were past, we haue not many mo.

I held him fast, as hée did giue command,

And through the trance together then wée went:

Where in the mides great prickes of Yron did stand:

Wherewith my féet were all betorne and rent.

Take courage now, said hée and bée content

To suffer this, the pleasure comes at last.

I answerd not but ranne incontinent

Out ouer the fire, and so the paine was past.

When this was done, mine heart did dance for joy,

I was so neare, I thought my voyage ended:

I ranne before, and sought not his conuoy.

Nor askt the way, because I thought I knew it.

On stately stepps, most stoutly I ascended.

Without his help I thought to enter there.

Hée followed fast, and was right sore offended,

And hastily did draw me downe the staire.

What hast? said hée, Why ranne thou so before?

Without mine help thinkest thou to climbe to hie?

Come downe againe, thou yet must suffer more,

If thou desirst that dwelling place to sée,

[Page] This statelie staire, it was not made for thée:

Holdst thou that course, thou shalt be thrust aback.

Alas, said I, long wandring wearied mée,

Which made me runne, the nearest way to take.

Then he began to comfort me againe,

And said, My friend, thou must not enter there:

Lift vp thine heart, thou yet must suffer paine,

The last assault of force it must be sore.

This goodlie way, although it séeme so faire,

It is too high, thou canst not climbe so stay:

But looke below, beneath a statelie staire,

And thou shalt sée another kinde of way.

I looked downe, and saw a pit most black,

Most full of smoke, and flaming fire most fell.

That vglie sight made me to flée aback:

I feard to heare so manie shout and yell.

I him besought, that he the trueth would tell:

Is this, said I, the Papists purging place?

Where they affirme, that sillie soules do dwell,

To purge their sinnes, before they rest in peace.

The braine of man most warelie did inuent,

That purging place, he answerd me againe:

For gréedinesse together they consent,

To say, That soules in torments must remaine,

While gold and goods relieue them of their paine.

O spitefull spirits, which did the same begin!

O blinded Beastes! your thoughts are all in vaine:

By Blood alone did cleanse the soule from sinne.

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This pit is Hell; where through thou now must go:

There is the way that leades thée to thy Land.

Now play the man: thou néedst not tremble so,

For I shall help and hold thée by the hand.

Alas, said I, I haue no force to stand,

For feare I faint, to sée that vglie sight.

How can I come amongst that bailfull band?

Oh, help me now, I haue no force nor might.

Oft haue I heard, That they that enter héere,

In this great golfe, shall neuer come againe.

Courage, said hée, haue I not bought thée deare?

My precious Blood it was not shed in vaine,

I saw this place, my soule did taste this paine,

Ere euer I went into my Fathers glore.

Through must thou go, but thou shalt not remaine,

Thou néedst not feare, for I shall goe before.

I am content to doe thy whole command,

Said I againe, and did him fast imbrace:

Then louinglie he held me by the hand,

And in we went into that fearefull place.

Hold fast thy gripe, said he, in any case.

Let me not slip what euer thou shalt sée:

Dread not the death, but stoutlie forward preásse,

For death nor hell shall neuer vanquish thée.

His words so swéet did cheare mine heauie heart,

Incontinent I cast my care aside.

Courage, said he, play not a cowardes part:

Though thou be weake, yet in my strength confide.

[Page] I thought mée blest, to haue so good a guide.

Though I was weake, I knew that hee was strong.

Under his wings I thought mee for to hide,

If anie there should preasie to doe mée wrong.

Into that pit when I did enter in,

I saw a sight, which made mine heart agast:

Poore damned soules, tormented sore for sinne,

In flaming fire were frying verte fast:

And vglie spirites. And as I had them past.

Mine heart grew faint, and I beganne to tirè.

Ere I was ware one griped mée at last.

And held me high aboue a flaming fire.

The fire was great, the heate did pierce me sore,

My faith grew weake, my gripe was very small:

I trembled fast, my feare grew more and more.

Mine handes did shake, that I him held withall.

At length they loosed: then I began to fall,

And cride aloude, and caught him fast againe.

Lord Iesus, come, and rid me out of thrall.

Courage, said he, now thou art past the paine.

UUith this great feare I started, and awoke▪

Crying aloude, Lord Iesus, come againe.

But after that no kinde of rest I tooke:

I preas'd to sléepe, but it was all in vaine.

I would haue dreamde of pleasure after paine,

Because I know I shall it finde at last.

God grant my Guide may still with me remaine:

It is to come that I belieu'd was past.

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This is a Dreame, and yet I thought it best,

To write the same and kéepe it still in minde:

Because I knew there was none earthlie rest

Preparde for vs, that haue our hearts inclinde

To séeke the Lord: we must be purgde and finde:

Our drosse is great, the fire must trie vs sore.

And yet our God is mercifull and kinde,

He shall remaine, and help vs euermore.

The way to Heauen, I sée, is verie hard:

My Dreame declares, that we haue farre to goe.

We must be stout, for cowardes are debard.

Our flesh of force must suffer paine and wo.

These dririe wayes, and many dangers mo.

Awaite for vs: we can not liue in rest.

But let vs learne, since we are warned so.

To cleaue to Christ, for he can help vs best.

O sillie soules, with paine so sore opprest,

That loue the Lord, and long for Heauen so hie:

Change not your mindes, for ye haue chose the best.

Prepare your selues, for troubled must ye bée.

Faint not for feare in your aduersitie:

It is the way that leades you vnto life.

Suffer a while, and ye shall shortly sée

The Land of rest, when ended is your strife.

In Wildernesse ye must be tride a while.

Yet forward preasse, and neuer flée aback:

Like Pilgrimes poore, and Strangers in exile.

Through faire and foule your journey ye must take,

[Page] The Deuill, the World, and all that they can make,

Will send their force to stop you in the way:

Your flesh will faint, and sometime will grow stack,

Yet come to Christ, and he shall help you aye.

The thornie cares of this deceitfull life,

Will reut your hearts and make your souls to bléed:

Your flesh and spirit will be at deadly strife,

Your cruell foe will hold you still in dread,

And throw you downe, yet rise againe with spéed.

And though yée fall, yet lye not loytring still:

But call on Christ, to help you in your néed,

Who will not faile his promise to fulfill.

In floods of woe when yée are like to drowne,

Yet climbe to Christ, and gripe him verie fast:

And though yée sinke, and in the déep fall downe,

Yet crie aloude, and he will heare at last.

Dread not the death nor bée not sore agast,

Though all the earth against you should conspire,

Christ is your guide: and when your paine is past,

Yée shall haue joye aboue your heartes desire.

Though in this earth ye shall exalted be,

Feare shall be left, to humble you withall:

For if ye climbe on toppes of Mountaines hie:

The higher vp, the nearer is your fall:

Your honey swéet shall mixed be with gall.

Your short delight shall end with paine and griefe.

Yet trust in God, for his assistance call:

And he shall help, and send you soone reliefe.

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Though waters great doe compasse you about,

Though Tyrants threat, though Lions rage & rore,

Defie them all, and feare not to winne out:

Your Guide is neare, to help you euermore,

Though prickes of yron doe pricke you verie sore,

As noysome luttes, which séeke your soules to stay:

Yet crie on Christ, and hee shall goe before:

The nearer Heauen, the harder is the way.

Runne out your race, yée must not faint nor tire,

Nor sit, nor stand, nor turne aback againe,

If yee intend to haue your heartes desire.

Preasse forward still, although it were with paine:

No rest for you, so long as yée remaine,

As Pilgrimes poore, into this loathsome life.

Fight out your fight, it shall not be in vaine,

Your rich reward is worth a greater strife.

If after teares yée liue a while in joye,

And get a taste of that Eternall glore,

Bée not secure, nor slip not your conuoy:

For if ye doe, yee shall repent it sore.

Hée knowes the way, and hée shall goe befor.

Climbe you alone, yee shall not misse a fall.

Your filthie flesh, it must be troubled more,

If ye forget vpon your God to call.

If Christ bée gone although yée séeme to flie,

With golden winges, aboue the Firmament:

Come downe againe, yée shall not better bée:

That pride of yours yée shall right sore repent.

[Page] Then hold him fast, with humble heart aye bent.

To follow him, although through Hell and Death,

Hée went before his soule was torne and rent,

For your desertes, hée felt his Fathers wrath.

Though in the ende yée suffer torments fell,

Cleaue fast to him, that felt the same before:

The way to Heauen, must be through death and hel.

The last assault will trouble you full sore.

The Lyon then most cruellie will roare:

His time is short, his forces hée will bend.

The greater strife, the greater is your glore:

Your paine is short, your joye shall neuer ende.

Rejoyce in God, let not your courage faile,

Yée chosen Sainctes, that are afflicted héere.

Though Sathan rage, hée neuer shall preuaile.

Fight to the ende, and stoutlie perseuere:

Your God is true, your blood is to him deare.

Feare not the way, since Christ is your conuoy.

When clouds are past, the weather wil grow cleere:

Yee sow in teares, but yée shall reape in joye.

But death and hell haue lost their cruell sting,

Your Captaine Christ hath made them all to yeeld.

Lift vp your heartes, and praises to him sing:

Triumph for ioye, your enemies are kilde.

The Lord of Hostes, that is your Strength & Shield,

The Serpents head hath stoutlie trodden downe:

Trust in his strength, passe forward in the field:

Ouer come in fight, and ye shall weare the crowne.

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The King of kinges, if hée bée on our side,

Wée néede not feare: who dare against vs stand?

Into the field may we not boldlie hide,

When hée shall help vs with his mightis hand?

Who sits aboue, and rules both Sea and Land:

Who with his breath doth make the hilles to shake:

The Hostes of Heauen are armde at his command,

To fight the field, when we appeare most weake.

Pluck vp your heartes, yée are not left alone,

The Lambe of God shall lead you in the way:

The Lord of Hostes, that reignes on royall Throne,

Against your foes his Banner will display,

The Angels bright shall stand in good array,

To hold you vp: yée néed not feare to fall,

Your enemies shall flée, and bée your prey:

Yée shall triumph, and they shall perish all.

The joye of Heauen is worth a moments paine:

Take courage then lift vp your hearts on hie.

To judge the Earth when Christ shall come againe,

Aboue the cloudes yée shall exalted bée.

A Crowne of Ioye, and true Felicitie,

Awaites for you, when finisht is your fight.

Suffer a while, and yée shall shortlie sée,

A Glore most great, and infinite of weight.

Prepare your selues, bée valiant men of warre,

And thrust with force out through the narrow way:

Hold on your course, and shrinke not back for feare,

Christ is your guide, yée shall not goe astray.

[Page] The time is neare, bée sober, watch, and pray,

Hee sées your teares, and hée hath laid in store,

A rich reward, which in that joyfull day,

Yée shall receiue, and reigne for euermore.

Now to the King that create all of nought;

The Lord of Lordes, that rules both land and sea:

That sau'd our soules, and with his blood vs bought,

And vanquisht Death, triumphing on a Trée:

Unto the great and glorious Trinitie,

That saues the Poore, and doeth his owne defend:

Bée Laude and Glore, Honour and Majestie,

Power and Praise: Amen, World without end.

FINIS.

A VERIE COMFORTABLE SONG.

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To the tune of Shall I let her goe?

AWay vaine World, bewitcher of mine heart:

My sorrow showes, my sinnes make mée to smart.

Yet will I not despaire, But to my God repare:

Hée hath mercie aye, Therefore will I pray:

Hée hath mercie aye, and loues mée,

Though by his humbling hand hée proues mée.

Away, away, too long thou hast mée snarde,

I will not lose more time, I am preparde:

Thy subtile sleightes so slée, They haue deceiued me:

Thogh they swéetly smile. Smoothly they begyle,

Though they swéetlie smile, Suspect them:

The simple sort they fyle, Reject them.

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Once more, away, shewes loath the world to leaue,

Bids oft, away, with her that holdes mée slaue.

Loath I am to forgoe, That swéet alluring foe:

Since thy wayes are vaine, Shal I them cetaine?

Since thy wayes are vaine. I quite thée:

Thy pleasures shall no more delite mée.

A thousand times, away, oh: stay no more.

Swéet Christ mée saue, lest subtile sinne deuoure.

Without thine helping hand, I haue no force to stād.

Lest I turne aside, Let thy grace mée guide:

Lest I turne aside, Draw neare mée,

And when I call for help, Lord, heare mée.

What shall I doe? Are all my pleasures past?

Shall worldlie lustes now take their leaue at last?

Yea, Christ these earthly toys, Shal turn to heauēly joys:

Let ye world be gone, Ile loue Christ alone:

Let the world hée gone, I care not,

Christ is my Lord alone, I feare not.

FINIS.

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Psal. 51. verse. 10.

Create in mee a cleane heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

DEVS NON DESPICIES F·W COR CONTRITVM ET HVMILIATVM

Vers. 17.

The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit: A contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Information about this book

Title statement

A godlie dreame compiled by Elizabeth Melvill, Ladie Culros younger, at the request of a friend.

Colville, Elizabeth Melvill, Lady Colville of Culros, fl. 1603.

Edition statement

1620

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A07427

ID [STC]

STC 17814

ID [STC]

ESTC S1302

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

22108051

ID [OCLC]

ocm 22108051

ID [VID]

25083

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A07427)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 25083)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 1732:4)

Source

— A godlie dreame compiled by Elizabeth Melvill, Ladie Culros younger, at the request of a friend., Colville, Elizabeth Melvill, Lady Colville of Culros, fl. 1603..

Extent

[23] p. : ill.

Imprinted by Andro Hart,. Edinburgh :: 1620.. (In verse.) (Includes "A verie comfortable song, to the tune of Shall I let her goe?") (Signatures: A⁸ B⁴.) (Imperfect: tightly bound, with print show-through.) (Reproduction of original in the British Library.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

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Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.