John Audelay's warning to future book thieves

John Audelay was a priest and poet in the early 15th century who wrote approximately 68 religious poems and Christmas carols that have survived. Little else is known about him other than that he lived at Haughmond Abbey in Shropshire where he died sometime after 1426 reportedly at an advanced age and there is a reference to him living in London in 1417. His last written work was an introduction to a collection of poems warning future readers not to steal or deface his work.

a) Original version;
"No mon this book he take away,
Ne kutt owt no leef, y say for why;
For hyt is sacrilege, sirus, y ȝow say,
He beth accursed in the dede truly;
if ye wil have any copi,
Askus leeve and ye shul have,
To pray for hym specialy,
That hyt made our soules to save,
Jon the blynde Awdelay
The furst prest to the Lord Strange he was,
Of thys chauntre here in this place
That make thys bok by Goddus grace,
Deef, syk, blynd, as he lay,
Cujus anime propicietur Deus.

b) Modern translation;
"None must take this book away
Or cut out any page, I'll tell you why;
For it is sacrilege, sirs, I tell you
He will be accursed in the deed;
If you would have a copy
Ask leave, and you will have,
To pray especially for him
That made it [the book] to save your souls
John the blind Audelay;
He was the first priest to the Lord Strange
Of this chantry
That made this book by the grace of God
As he lay deaf, sick, and blind
On whose soul God have mercy.

Caedmon's Hymn with Modern Translation

Written sometime between 657-680 a.d. by Caedmon, an Anglo-Saxon lay brother and herdsman living at Whitby Abbey who claimed the verses came to him in a dream. Upon presenting the full work the Abbot made him a full monk and he continued to write other works which have not been found. Little else is known of him including when he he lived or died, it is also not clear but he may have been sainted at some point. Considered a major work of Old English literature.

a) Original (using modern letters);

Nu scylun hergan
hefaenricaes uard,
metudæs maecti,
end his modgidanc,
uerc uuldurfadur
swe he uundra gihwaes,
eci dryctin
or astelidæ
he aerist scop.

aelda barnum
heben til hrofe,
haleg scepen.
tha middungeard
moncynnæs uard
eci dryctin
æfter tiadæ
firum foldu
frea allmectig

b) English translation;

Now [we] must honour
the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect,
and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory[39]
— as he, the eternal lord,
established
the beginning of wonders.

He, the holy creator,
first created heaven as a roof
for the children of men.

Then the guardian of mankind
the eternal lord,
the Lord almighty
afterwards appointed
the middle earth,
the lands, for men.'