Part 6
[Sidenote: Hugh of Lincoln.] Fo: 96. pa: 2. vppon these woordes, “O hughe of Lincolne sleyne also, &c.” You saye, that in the 29. H. 3. eightene Jewes were broughte fro{m} Lincolne, and hanged for crucyfyinge a childe of eight yeres olde. Whiche facte was [in] the 39. H. 3. so that yo{u} mighte verye well haue sayed, that the same childe of eighte yeres olde was the same hughe of Lincolne; of whiche name there were twoe, viz. thys younger Seinte Hughe, and Seinte Hughe bishoppe of Lincolne, whiche dyed in the yere 1200, long before this litle seinte hughe. And to prove [that] this childe of eighte yeres olde and that yonge hughe of Lincolne were but one; I will sett downe two auctoryties out of Mathewe Paris and Walsinghame, whereof the fyrste wryteth, that in the yere of Christe 1255, beinge the 39. of Henrye the 3, a childe called Hughe was sleyne by the Jewes at Lyncolne, whose lamentable historye he delyvereth at large; and further, in the yere 1256, being 40. Hen. 3, he sayeth, Dimissi sunt quieti 24 Judei à Turri London, qui ibidem infames tenebantur compediti pro crucifixione sancti Hugonis Lincolniæ: All whiche Thomas Walsingham, in Hypodigma Neustriæ, confirmeth; sayinge, A^o. 1255. Puer quidam Christianus, nomine HUGO, à Judeis captus, in opprobriu{m} Christiani nominis crudelitèr est crucifixus.
[Sidenote: “Where the sunne is in his ascensione,” a good reading.] Fo: 86. pa: 8. (Where the sunne is in his ascensione, &c.) You will us to reade for the same,
Ware the soone in his ascensione Ne fynde you not replete of humors hotte, For yf yt doe, &c.
But, savinge correct{i}one, the former sence is good: for these woordes: Where the sonne is in his ascensione, must haue relat{i}one to the woordes of the verse before,
Ye be righte colericke of complex{i}one,
and then is the sence, that she [_the fair Pertelote_] willed hym to purge, for that he was righte (that is, extremelye and in the highest degree) collericke of complex{i}one, where (whiche signyfyeth when) the sonne is in his ascent{i}one. Wherefore he must take heede, that he did not fynde hym repleate (at that tyme of the sonnes being in his ascent{i}one) of hoote humors, for yf he did, he sholde surelye haue one ague. And this will stand with the woordes Where the sonne is in his ascentione, taking where for when, as yt is often vsed. But yf yo{u} mislyke that gloosse, and will begyn one new sence, as yt is in some written copyes, and saye, Ware the sonne in his ascentione ne fynde you not repleate, &c. yet yt cannott bee that the other wordes, (for yf yt doo,) canne answer the same, because this pronoune relative (yt) cannot haue relat{i}one to this worde (you) which wente before in this lyne, Ne fynde yo{u} not repleate of humors hotte. So that yf you nowe will nedes reade ware for where, yet the other parte of the followinge verse must nedes be, “for yf you doe,” and not “for yf yt dooe;” vnleste you will saye that this woorde (yt) must haue relat{i}one to these woordes, (the sonne in his ascentione,) whiche yt cannott have, those woordes goinge two lynes before, and the pronowne (you) interposed betwene the same and that his correlative (yt.) Wherefore these woordes, (for yf yt doe,) must nedes stande as they did before, though you will correcte “Where the sonne &c.” and saye “Ware the sonne &c.” W{hi}che yf you will nedes haue, you must correcte the rest in this sorte:
Ware the sonne in his ascentione that yt fynde you not repleat of humors hotte, for yf yt do, &c.
But this correct{i}one (savinge, as I sayed, correct{i}one) semeth not so good as the former texte.
[Sidenote: Kenelm slain by Queen Drida.] Fol: 86. pa: 2. Vppon these woordes, (Lo, in the lyfe of Kenelme we reade,) you saye that Kenelme was sleyne by his sister Quenda, whiche sholde be Quendrida; as Williame of Malmsberye and Ingulphus have. Whiche Quendrida dothe signyfye Quene Drida; as the author of the Antiquyties of Seint Albons and of the Abbottes thereof (supposed to be Mathewe Paris) dothe expounde yt. for that auctor, speakinge of the wyfe of Offa the greate kinge of Mercia, (a wicked and proude womanne because she was of the stocke of Charles the greate,) dothe saye, that she was called Drida, and being the kings wyfe was termed Quendrida, id est, Regina Drida.
[Sidenote: Master Speight mistaketh his almanack.] Fo: 87. p: 1. Vppon these woordes of “Taurus was fortye degrees and one,” you saye that this place ys misprinted, as well in not namynge of the sygne, as of the misreckonynge of the degrees, that the two and twentye of Marche the sunne is in Aries, and that but eleven degrees or thereaboutes, and hathe in all but thirtye degrees. In whiche, in semynge to correcte the former printe (whiche in truthe deseruethe amendement, but not in that order,) you seme to mee to erre, as farre as heauen and yerthe, in mistakinge Chaucers meanynge and his woordes, as well for the daye of the monthe, as for the signe. for where yo{u} suppose that Chaucere meanethe the two and twentithe daye of Marche, you mistake yt. for although yt should be the 22 of the monthe, as the printed booke hathe; yet canne yt not be the 22 daye of Marche, but must of necessytye be the two and twentythe of Aprille: and so the signe Taurus trulye named. But first I must saye, the number of the dayes are misprinted, for where yt is twentye dayes and two, yt must be (and so are my written copies) thirtye dayes and two, whiche must be the seconde of Maye, as yo{u} shall well see by the woordes of Chaucer, for whether yowe recken thirtye two dayes, withe the truthe, as hathe the written copye, or xxii dayes, withe the printe: yet must yo{u} begynne to recken them from after the last of Marche. for so dothe Chaucer, sayinge Marche was compleate, in these woordes:
When the month in whiche the worlde began, That hight Marche, when God first made man, Was complete, and passed were also Since Marche byganne, &c.
Wherebye yo{u} see, that yo{u} must begynne to recken the nomber of dayes from the tyme of marche complete; and then woulde the signe fall out to be in Taurus. Yf yo{u} holde yo{u} to the printe (for the 22 daye after Marche, which is the 22 daye of Aprill in which the sonne is aboute xi degrees in Taurus;) or to the written copye of thirtye two dayes, (w{hi}che is the seconde of maye at what tyme the sonne ys also aboute some xxi degrees in Taurus;) the signe is not misreckoned or misnamed, as yo{u} suppose. nether canne these woordes, since Marche beganne, helpe you to recken them from the begynnynge of Marche, (as you seme to doo;) because they muste answere and be agreable to the former wordes of Chaucer, w{hi}che sayethe M{ar}che was complete, and, for that we shoulde not dobte thereof, he addethe also farther, And passed were also since Marche beganne; where the worde beganne ys mysprinted for be gonne, that is, since marche be gonne, this word begonne being put for is gonne, or gonne bye, or departed. so that the genuyniell sence hereof is, When march was complete, and also were passed, since march is gonne, or gonne by, or departed. for, in many olde inglishe woordes, this syllable (be) is sett before to make yt moore signyficante and of force, as for moone we saye bemone, for sprincled, besprincled; for dewed, bedewed, &c. as in this case for gonne ys sett downe begonne. But although there be no misnaminge of the [Sidenote: The degrees of the signe are misreckoned, not the signe itself.] signe; yet yt is true the degrees of the signes are misreckoned, the error whereof grewe, because the degree of the signe, is made equall with the degree of the sonne ascended above the Horizon, beinge at that tyme xli degrees in heighte from the Horizon. But to remedye all this, and to correcte yt accordinge as Chaucer sett yt downe in myne and other written copies; and that yt may stande w{i}th all mathematicall proport{i}one, whiche Chaucer knewe and observed there, the print must be corrected after those written copies (whiche I yet holde for sounde till I maye disprove them) having these woordes:
when that the month in whiche the worlde beganne, that hight Marche, when god first made manne, was complete, and passed were also since marche begonne thirty dayes and two: befell that Chanteclere in all his pride, his seven wives walkinge him beside, cast vp his eyen to the bright sonne, that in the signe of Taurus had yronne Twentye degrees and one and somewhat moore; And knewe by kynde and by noone other loore That yt was pryme, and crewe with blisful steven: The sunne, quoth he, is clomben vp on heaven Fortye degrees and one, and moore, ywis, &c.
And that this shoulde be mente xxxij dayes after Marche, and the seconde of Maye, there be manye reasons, besides those that Chaucer nameth; which are, that the sonne was not farre from the middle of his ascent{i}one, and in the signe Taurus. ffurther, since I am now in Chantecler’s discourse, I must speake of one woorde in the same, deservinge correct{i}one, w{hi}che I see you overslipped; and because I thinke yo{u} knewe not what to make of yt, (as in dede by the printinge few menne canne vnderstande yt,) I will sett downe the correct{i}one of the same; [Sidenote: Mereturicke is a corruption of Merecenrycke, or the kingdom of Mercia.] being the worde Mereturicke, farr corrupted for Mercenricke, in saxon Meþecenþÿke which is the kingdome of Mercia, for so was Kenelme the sonne, and Kenulphus the father, both kinges of Mercia; the one reignynge 36 yeres, and the other murdred by his sister Quendrida, as ys before noted. And that yt is the kingdome of Mercia, the etymon of the woorde doth teache; for þÿk in the saxon tonge signyfyethe a kingdome; meþcen signyfyethe markes or boundes or marches of Countryes. So that Mercenricke is regnu{m} Merciæ, or the kingdome of Mercia, or of the boundes so called, because almost all the other kingdoms of the saxons bounded vppon the same, and that lykewise vppon them, since that kingdome did lye in the middle of England, and conteyned most of the shires thereof.
[Sidenote: Pilloures of silver borne before Cardinalls.] Fo: 90. pa: 2. for pilloure you will vs to reade Pellure, signifyinge furres. but althoughe the Clergye ware furres, and some of them had their outwarde ornamentes thereof when they came to their service, as the Chanons had their Grey amises; yet in this place, to shewe the proude and stately ensignes of the Clergye, he there nameth the popes crowne, and the Cardinalls pilloures, yf I be not deceved. for euery cardinall had, for parte of his honorable ensignes borne before hym, certein silver pillers; as had Cardinall Wolsey, in the tyme of kinge Henrye the eighte, and Cardinall Poole, in my memory. So that pilloure in that place is better than pellure, because pilloures were a note of more pride and maiestye (againste whiche the Plowmanne dothe enveye in those woordes,) than in the weringe of furres.
[Sidenote: Liketh best the old reading of “change of many manner of meates.”] Fo: 90. pa: 2. for these wordes, with change of many manner of meates, yo{u} wolde have vs reade, They eate of many manner of meates. Touchinge whiche, althoughe the sence stande well, yet sure Chaucer followeth this matter in many staues together with this preposit{i}one (cu{m}, with,) and this coniunctione (et, and;)--as, “With pride misledd the poore, and with money filled manye a male, &c.” so he contynuethe yt still with that prepositione, “with change of many meates;” w{hi}che is as good as the other, for euery one knoweth Chaucers meanynge to be that they eate of many meates, when they haue change of many meates; for why sholde they haue change of meates, but for varyetye to please the palates taste in eatynge. [Sidenote: And also the old reading of “myters” more than one or two for the sake of the meter.] In the next staffe, (for myters moe then one or two) you teache vs to reade, “myters they weare mo then one or two;” whiche, me thinkethe, nedeth not. For the wearinge of their myters is included in these woordes, And myters more then one or two. W{hi}che wordes are curteyled for the verse his cause, that the same mighte kepe an equall proport{i}one and decorum in the verse, whiche would be lengthened one foote or sillable moore than the other verses, yf your readinge shoulde stande. But yf yo{u} saye, that in this and other thinges I am overstreyghte laced and to obstinatlye bente to defende the former printed editione, in that I woulde rather allowe one imperfecte sence, and suche as must be vnderstoode, when yt ys not fully expressed, than a playne style, I will answere withe a grounde of the lawe, quod frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora, and quod subintelligitur non deest. Wherefore yt is nedelesse to make that playner by addit{i}one of woordes, when yt maye be as well conceyved in any reasonable mens vnderstandinge without such addit{i}one. But on these and suche petit matters, I will not nowe longe insiste, (being things of no greate momente,) vntill I haue further examyned more written copyes to trye, whether wee shall reade the olde texte or your newe correctione.
[Sidenote: The lordes sonne of Windsore is in the French Romant of the rose, but is there spelled Guindesores.] Fo: 122. pa: 2. The lordes sonne of Windsore.) Vppon these woordes you saye, this maye seme strange bothe in respecte that yt is not in the frenche, as also for that there was no lorde Windsore at those dayes. But yt semeth to me moore strange that these woordes shoulde seme strange to yo{u}, not to bee in the frenche, where yo{u} shall fynde them. For thus hathe the frenche written Romante, as maye appere in the old frenche vsed at the tyme when the Romante was composed, in this sorte:
Pris a Franchise lez alez Ne sai coment est apelles, Biaus est et genz, se il fust ores Fuiz au seign{eur} de Guindesores:
Whiche is thus englished: Next to Franchise went a young bacheler, I knowe not howe he was called, he was fayre and gentle, as yf he had byn sonne to the lorde of Windsore. Where in olde frenche this word fuiz (vsed here as in manye places of that Booke) is placed for that whiche we wryte and pronounce at this daye for filz or fitz, in Englishe sonne. and that it is here so mente, you shall see in the Romante of the Roose turned into proese, moralized, by the french Molinet, and printed at Paris in the yere 1521, who hathe the same verses in these woordes in proese. A Franchise s’estoit prins vn ieune Bacheler de qui ne scay le nome, fors bell, en son temps filz du seigneure de Guindesore. Whiche yo{u} mighte have well seene, had you but remembered their orthographie, and that the latyne, Italiane, frenche, and spanyshe have no doble w, as the Dutche, the Englishe, and such as haue affynytye with the Dutche, since they vse for doble w (a letter comone to vs) these two letters Gu, as in Gulielmus, which we wryte Willielmus; in guerra, which we call and writte warre, in Gualterus, which we write Walter; in guardeine, which we pronounce and write wardeyne; and suche lyke; accordinge to whiche in the frenche yt is Guindesore for Windesore. [Sidenote: Master Thynne knoweth not clearly why the Baron should be called of Windsor.] for your other coniectures, whye that Chaucer sholde inserte the loordes sonne of Windesore, they are of [{no}?] great momente, neque adhuc constat that Chaucer translated the Romante, whene Windsore Castle was in buildinge. for then I suppose that Chaucer was but yonge; whereof I will not stande at this tyme, no moore than I will that there was no lord Windsore in those dayes; althoughe I suppose that sir William Windsore, being then a worthye knighte and of great auctorytye in Englande and in the partes beyond the seas under the kinge of Englande, mighte be lord Windsore, of whom the Frenche tooke notice, being in those partes, and by them called seigneure de Windesore, as euery gouerno{r} was called seigneure emongst them. But whether he were a Baron or no in Englande, I cannott yet saye, because I haue not my booke of Somons of Barons to parliamente in my handes at this instante.
[Sidenote: The ordeal was not tryall by fier only, but also by water, nor for chastity only, but for many other matters.] Fo: 171. pa: 2. by ordall, &c. Vppone whiche yo{u} write thus. “Ordalia is a tryall of chastytye, throughe the fyre, as did Emma, mother of the Confessor, or ells over hoote burnynge culters of yrone barefotte, as did Cunegunde, &c.” But in this describinge definit{i}one, you have commytted manye imp{er}fect{i}ons. first, that ordell was a tryall by fyre, w{hi}che is but a species of the ordell; for ordaliu{m} was a tryall by fyre and water: secondlye, that yt was a tryall of Chastitye whiche was but parcell thereof; for the ordale was a tryall for manye other matters. [Sidenote: The fyery ordeal was by going on hote shares and cultors, not going through the fyre. The mother of Edward confessor passed over nine burnynge shares.] Thirdlye, yo{u} saye yt was by goinge throughe the fyre. when the fyery ordale was onlye by goinge one hoote shares or cultores, or by holdinge a hoote pece of yrone in the hande, and not going through the fyre. fourthlye, that Emma, mother to Edwarde the confessor, receued this tryall by goinge through the fyre: But she passed not through the fyre as you bringe her for one example of your ordale but passed barefotte vppone nyne burnynge shares, fowr for her selfe, and fyve for Alwyne Bishoppe of Winchester, with whome she was suspected with incontynencye, whiche historye you maye see at large in Ranulphus Higden, in his policronicone li: 6. ca: 23, and in other auctors; of whiche ordale I colde make a longe and no commone discourse; of the manner of consecrating the fyre and water, how yt was vsed emongst the saxons before, and the normans since, the Conqueste, and of many other thinges belonging vnto yt. but I will passe them ouer, and only deliuer to you a thinge knowen to fewe, [Sidenote: The ordeal taken away by the court of Rome, and after by Henry III.] how this ordale was contynued in Englande in the tyme of kinge Johne, as appereth in Claus. 17. Johīs, m. 25, vntill yt was taken awaye by the courte of Rome; and after that, in Englande, by the auctorytye of kinge Henrye the thirde, whereof you shall fynde this recorde in the towre Patente. 3. H. 3. mem. 5, where yt speakethe of iudgmente and tryall by fyer and water to be forbydden by the Churche of Roome, and that yt sholde not be vsed here in Englande; as apperethe in the woordes of that record: Illis vero qui mediis criminibus vectati sunt, et quibus competeret iudiciu{m} ignis vel aquæ si non esset prohibitum, et de quibus si regnum nostru{m} abiurarent, nulla fieret postea, maleficiendi suspitio, regnu{m} nostru{m} abiurent &c.
[Sidenote: The stork bewrayeth not adultery but wreaketh the adultery of his owne mate.] Fo: 246. pa: 1. speaking of the storke, you saye that Chaucers woordes “wreaker of adulterye” shoulde rather bee “bewrayer of Adulterye;” w{hi}che in truth accordinge to one propryetye of his nature may be as you saye, but according to another propryetye of his nature, yt sholde be “the wreaker of Adulterye,” as Chaucer hathe; for he ys a greater wreaker of the adulterye of his owne kynde and female than the bewrayer of the adulterye of one other kynde, and of his hostesse one the toppe of whose howse he harborethe. for Aristotle sayeth Bartholomeus de proprietatibus reru{m} li: 12. cap. 8. with many other auctors, that yf the storke by any meanes perceve that his female hath brooked spousehedde, he will no more dwell with her, but stryketh and so cruelly beateth her, that he will not surcease vntill he hathe killed her yf he maye, to wreake and revenge that adulterye.
These and suche lyke in my conceyte are worthye to be touched in your Annotac{i}ons, besides other matters whiche you haue not handled; whereof (because tyme requirethe after all this tedious treatyce to drawe to one ende) I will not now treate; but onlye speake a little moore of fyve especiall thinges, woorthye the animadvers{i}one, of which the fyrste ys, [Sidenote: The plowman’s tale is wrong placed.] that yo{u} make the Plowmans tale to go next before the persons tale, suffering the persons corrupted prologue to passe with this begynnynge, “By that the plowmanne had his tale ended,” when all written copies, (whiche I coulde yet see,) and my fathers editione, haue yt, “By that the mancyple had his tale ended.” And because my father colde not see by any Prologues of thee other tales, (whiche for the most parte shewe the dependancye of one Tale vppone one other,) where to place the plowmans tale, he putt yt after the persons tale, whiche, by Chaucers owne woordes, was the laste tale; as apperethe by the persons prologue, where the hooste sayethe, that “euery manne had tolde his Tale before.” So that the plowmans tale must be sett in some other place before the manciple and persons tale, and not as yt ys in the last edit{i}one.
[Sidenote: Chaucer’s proper works should be distinguished from those adulterat and not his.] One other thinge ys, that yt would be good that Chaucers proper woorkes were distinguyshed from the adulterat and suche as were not his, as the Testamente of Cressyde, the Letter of Cupide, and the ballade begynnynge “I have a ladye where so she bee,” &c. whiche Chaucer never composed, as may sufficientlye be proved by the things themselves.
[Sidenote: There were three editions of Chaucer before William Thynne dedicated his to Henry VIII.] The thirde matter ys, that in youre epistle dedicatorye to Sir Roberte Cecille, yo{u} saye, “This Booke whene yt was first published in printe was dedicate to kinge Henrye the eighte.” But that is not soo. for the firste dedicatione to that kinge was by my father, when diverse of Chaucers woorkes had byn thrise printed before; whereof two editions were by Will{ia}m Caxtone, the firste printer of Englande, who first printed Chaucers Tales in one columne in a ragged letter, and after in one colume in a better order; and the thirde edit{i}one was printed, as farre as I remember, by Winkin de Worde or Richarde Pynson, the seconde and thirde printers of Englande, as I take them.[11] [Sidenote: The first editions being very corrupt, William Thynne augmented and corrected them.] Whiche three edit[i]ons beinge verye unperfecte and corrupte occasioned my father (for the love he oughte to Chaucers learnynge) to seeke the augmente and correct{i}one of Chaucers Woorkes, w{hi}che he happily fynyshed; the same being, since that tyme, by often printinge much corrupted. of this matter I sholde have spooken first of all, because yt is the first imperfect{i}one of your paynfull and comendable labors: Yet because the proverb ys better late than never, I hold yt better to speake of yt here then not at all.
[Footnote 11: _Caxton_, 1475-1481-2. _Wynkyn de Word_, 1495-1498.]
[Sidenote: Master Speight hath omytted many auctors vouched by Chaucer.] The fourthe thinge ys, that, in the catalogue of the auctors, you haue omytted many auctors vouched by chaucer; and therefore did rightlye intitle yt, moost, and not all, of the auctors cited by Geffrye Chaucer.
[Sidenote: It should be Harlottes, and not Haroldes.] The fyfte matter ys in the Romante of the Roose, fo. 144, that the worde Haroldes in this verse,
My kinge of Haroltes shalte thou bee,
must, by a mathesis or transpositione of the letters, be Harlotes, and not Haroltes, and the verse thus,
My kinge of Harlottes shalt thou bee