Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Gaelic Maundeville (Author: John Maundeville)
paragraph 57
Long and narrow is the town of Bethlehem, and good are the walls and the dykes that surround it; and at one time its name was Ephrata. On the east side of that town is a full fair church whereon are many towers, and belfries, and battlements, strongly and firmly built; and within that church are four and twenty pillars of marble the fairest and strongest that thou hast ever seen. And between that church and the city is a
p.39
beautiful lawn full of rose with its blossom, and its name is the Field of the Flower. There was a beautiful maiden in that city condemned to be burnt alive for committing fornication manifestly (?), and much firewood was collected around her, and fire was put on every side there. ‘O God of all powers’, saith the girl, ‘if thou seest that a lie hath been told of me, save and succour me!’ As soon as she had finished speaking, the firewood and the branches took earth, and roots and leaves and red roses grew on the part that was ablaze, and roots and leaves and white roses on the part that blazed not. So that was the first rose that came into the world, and thus the maiden was saved by God's miracles.