But, sires, by cause I am a burel man,
At my bigynnyng first I yow biseche,
Have me excused of my rude speche.
I lerned nevere rethorik, certeyn;
Thyng that I speke, it moot be bare and pleyn.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Franklin’s Prologue. The Franklin announces at the beginning of his Prologue that he is an uneducated man. He appeals to the other pilgrims to excuse him for his vulgar speech and lack of eloquence. That which he speaks in his tale must be bare and plain, he says.