From the first recorded instance of the word ‘fart’ in English, to nuanced vignettes of sexual power dynamics, the numerous Middle English lyrics that have survived down the centuries, often scribbled in the margins of more ‘serious’ texts, offer a vivid snapshot of everyday medieval life. In the tenth episode of Medieval Beginings, Irina and Mary analyse several of these short, fleeting verses, probably set to music, and consider their possible origins and purpose, their delicious ambiguity, and their equivocal relationship to the sacred manuscripts in which they've been found.This is an extract from the episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts here: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps here: lrb.me/closereadingsIrina Dumitrescu is Professor of English Medieval Studies at the University of Bonn and Mary Wellesley as a historian and author of Hidden Hands: The Lives of Manuscripts and their Makers.Some of the lyrics discussed in this episode can be found with music online:Sumer is icumen in:https://www.luminarium.org/medlit/medlyric/cuckou.phpI Have a Yong Susterhttps://www.luminarium.org/medlit/medlyric/suster.phpMaiden in the morhttps://www.luminarium.org/medlit/medlyric/maideninthemoor.php Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.