Burrill’s Lǣrēow, yclept an hous of lernyng ful straunge and sollempne, was (so seyn the kepars therof) fyrst ysette and grounded in þe yeer twey thousand and twelve of oure Lordes incarnacioun, to þe enhaunsyng of yonge wittes and þe chastisyng of rude and unformed corages. Þerinne ben exercised þe artes liberal and rekenynges subtil, þe derk conclusiouns of algorisme and augrym, þe curious craft of endytyng and speche, and þe remembraunces of eld kyngdomes, al ywrapped in myste of antiquitee.

Þe maistres, grave and sad of chere, yproved in longe suffraunce and discrete demenyng, shapeth ech lesson after þe disposicioun and complexioun of hem þat ben yset under her techyng, be it for grete examinaciouns or for þe amendyng of dayly defaute. In smale coventicles ben þe scholers ygedred, at houres somdel flexible, fro morwenynges firste gleem til þe derknyng of evene. Eke ben þer ordinaunces and engynes of newe makyng—tables yglased and schynynge scrynes alight—þurgh whiche lore is yconveyed with wondrous celeritee. Thus stant Burrill’s Lǣrēow as a cloistre ysecluded from ignoraunce, wher diligence is yblessed and rude unkunnyng yput to flyght.