ii. 373), aptly cites a passage from Gower which is quite explicit as to

the sense of the phrase. See Gower, Conf. Amantis, bk. viii. ed. Pauli, iii. 299. We there read that a knight was honoured by a king, by being set at the head of the middle table in the hall.

'And he, _which had his prise deserved_, After the kinges owne word, Was maad _beginne a middel bord_.'

The context shews that this was at supper-time, and that the knight was placed in this honourable position by the marshal of the hall.

Further illustrations are also given by Warton, ed. 1840, i. 174, footnote, shewing that the phrases _began the dese_ (daïs) and _began the table_ were also in use, with the same sense. I can add another clear instance from Sir Beves of Hamptoun, ed. Kölbing, E. E. T. S., p. 104, where we find in one text (l. 2122)--

'Thow schelt this dai be priour, And beginne oure deis' [_daïs_];

where another text has (l. 1957) the reading--

Palmer, thou semest best to me, Therfore men shal worshyp the; _Begyn the borde_, I the pray.'

[7] See also the New Eng. Dictionary, s. v. _Board_; Hartshorne's Metrical Tales, pp. 72, 73, 215, 219; Early Popular Poetry, ed. Hazlitt, i. 104; Todd's Illustrations, p. 322. Even in Stow's Survey of London, ed. Thoms, p. 144, col. 2, we read how--'On the north side of the hall certain aldermen _began the board_, and then followed merchants of the city.'

Another explanation is sometimes given, but it is wholly wrong.

53, 54. _Pruce._ When our English knights wanted employment, 'it was usual for them to go and serve in Pruce, or Prussia, with the knights of the Teutonic order, who were in a state of constant warfare with their heathen neighbours in _Lettow_ (Lithuania), _Ruce_ (Russia), and elsewhere.'--Tyrwhitt. Cf. Gower, Conf. Amant. ii. 56.

The larger part of Lithuania now belongs to Russia, and the remainder to Prussia; but in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the natives long maintained their independence against the Russians and Poles (Haydn, Dict. of Dates).

_reysed_, made a military expedition. The O. F. _reise_, sb., a military expedition, was in common use on the continent at that time. Numerous examples of its use are given in Godefroy's O. F. Dict. It was borrowed from O. H. G. _reisa_ (G. _Reise_), an expedition. Pron. (reized).

Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed. 1840, ii. 210, remarks--'Thomas duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Edw. III, and Henry earl of Derby, afterwards Henry IV, travelled into Prussia; and, in conjunction with the grand Masters and Knights of Prussia and Livonia, fought the infidels of Lithuania. Lord Derby was greatly instrumental in taking Vilna, the capital of that country, in the year 1390. Here is a seeming compliment to some of these expeditions.' Cf. Walsingham, Hist., ed. Riley, ii. 197. Hackluyt, in his Voyages, ed. 1598, i. 122, cites and translates the passage from Walsingham referred to above. However, the present passage was written before 1390; see n. to l. 277.

In an explanation of the drawings in MS. Jul. E. 4, relating to the life of Rd. Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (born 1381, died 1439), I find--'Here shewes how erle Richard from Venise took his wey to _Russy_, _Lettow_, and Velyn, and Cypruse, Westvale, and other coostes of Almayn toward Englond.'--Strutt, Manners and Customs.

56-8. _Gernade_, Granada. 'The city of Algezir was taken from the Moorish King of _Granada_ in 1344.'--T. The earls of Derby and Salisbury assisted at the siege; Weber, Met. Rom. iii. 306. It is the modern _Algeciras_ on the S. coast of Spain, near Cape Trafalgar.

_Belmarye_ and _Tramissene_ (Tremezen), l. 62, were Moorish kingdoms in Africa, as appears from a passage in Froissart (bk. iv. c. 24) cited by Tyrwhitt. Johnes' translation has--'Tunis, Bugia, Morocco, Benmarin, Tremeçen.' Cf. Kn. Tale, l. 1772 (A. 2630). Benmarin is called _Balmeryne_ in Barbour's Bruce, xx. 393, and _Belmore_ in the Sowdone of Babylon, 3122. The Gulf of Tremezen is on the coast of Algiers, to the west.

_Lyeys_, in Armenia, was taken from the Turks by Pierre de Lusignan [8] about 1367. It is the _Layas_ mentioned by Froissart (see note to l. 51) and the modern _Ayas_; see the description of it in Marco Polo, ed. Yule, i. 15. Cf. 'Laiazzo's gulf,' Hoole's tr. of Ariosto's Orlando; bk. xix. l. 389.

_Satalye_ (Attalia, now Adalia, on the S. coast of Asia Minor) was taken by the same prince soon after 1352.--T. See Acts xiv. 25.

_Palatye_ (Palathia, see l. 65), in Anatolia, was one of the lordships held by Christian knights after the Turkish conquest.--T. Cf. Froissart, bk. iii. c. 23.

59. _the Grete See._ The Great Sea denotes the Mediterranean, as distinguished from the two so-called inland seas, the Sea of Tiberias and the Dead Sea. So in Numb. xxxiv. 6, 7; Josh. i. 4; also in Mandevile's Travels, c. 7.

60. _aryve_, arrival or disembarkation of troops, as in the Harleian and Cambridge MSS. Many MSS. have _armee_, army, which gives no good sense, and probably arose from misreading the spelling _ariue_ as _arme_. Perhaps the following use of _rive_ for 'shore' may serve to illustrate this passage:--

'The wind was good, they saileth blive, Till he _took lond_ upon the _rive_ Of Tire,' &c. Gower, Conf. Amant. ed. Pauli, iii. 292.

_be_ = _ben_, been. Cf. _ydo_ = _ydon_, done, &c.

62. _foghten_ (f[o,]uhten), pp. fought; from the strong verb _fighten_.

63. 'He had fought thrice in the lists in defence of our faith'; i. e. when challenged by an infidel to do so. Such combats were not uncommon. _slayn_, slain, _hadde_ must be supplied from l. 61.

64. _ilke_, same; A. S. _ylca_.

65. _Somtyme_, once on a time; not our 'sometimes.' See l. 85.

66. _another hethen_, a heathen army different from that which he had encountered at Tremezen.

67. _sovereyn prys_ (suv·rein priis), exceeding great renown.

69. 'As courteys as any mayde'; Arthur, ed. Furnivall (E. E. T. S.), l. 41. Cf. B. 1636.

70. _vileinye_, any utterance unbecoming a gentleman. Cf. Trench, English Past and Present, ch. 7, on the word _villain_.

71. _no maner wight_, no kind of person whatever. In M. E. the word _maner_ is used without _of_, in phrases of this character.

72. _verray_, very, true. _parfit_, perfect; F. _parfait_. _gentil_, gentle; see D. 1109-1176.

74. 'His horses were good, but he himself was not gaudily dressed.' _Hors_ is plural as well as singular. In fact, the knight had _three_ horses; one for himself, one for his son, and one for the yeoman. Perhaps we should read--'but hé ne was not gay,' supplying _ne_ from Hl. and Hn. This makes _he_ emphatic; and we may then treat the _e_ in _god-e_ as a light extra syllable, at the caesural pause; for doing which there is ample authority. [9]

75. _fustian_; see Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 224. _gipoun_ (jipuu·n), a diminutive of _gipe_, a tight-fitting vest, a doublet; also called a _gipell_, as in Libeaus Disconus, 224. See Fairholt, s. v. _fustian_, and s. v. _gipon_. The O. F. _gipe_ (whence F. _jupe_) meant a kind of frock or jacket. _wered_ is the A. S. _werede_, pt. t. of the weak verb _werian_, to wear. It is now strong; pt. t. _wore_. See l. 564.

76. This verse is defective in the first foot, which consists solely of the word _Al_. Such verses are by no means uncommon in the Cant. Tales and in the Leg. of Good Women. Pron. (al· bismut·erd widh·iz ha·berjuu·n). 'His doublet of fustian was all soiled with marks made by the habergeon which he had so lately worn over it.' _Bismotered_ has the same sense as mod. E. _besmutted_.

_habergeoun_, though etymologically a diminutive of _hauberk_, is often used as synonymous with it. 'It was a defence of an inferior description to the hauberk; but when the introduction of plate-armour, in the reign of Edward III, had supplied more convenient and effectual defences for the legs and thighs, the long skirt of the hauberk became superfluous; from that period the _habergeon_ alone appears to have been worn.'--Way, note to Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 220.

'And Tideus, above his _Habergeoun_, A _gipoun_ hadde, hidous, sharpe, and hoor, Wrought of the bristles of a wilde Boor.' Lydgate, Siege of Thebes, pt. ii.

See the Glossary to Fairholt's Costume in England, s. v. _Habergeon_; and, for the explanation of _gipoun_, see the same, under _gipon_ and _gambeson_. For a picture of a _gipoun_, see Boutell's Heraldry, ed. Aveling, p. 67.

77, 78. 'For he had just returned from his journey, and went to perform his pilgrimage' (which he had vowed for a safe return) in his knightly array, only without his habergeon.

THE SQUYER.

79. _squyer_ = esquire, one who attended on a knight, and bore his lance and shield. See Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, Introd. § 8. 'Esquires held land by the service of the shield, and were bound by their fee to attend the king, or their lords, in the war, or pay escuage.'--Strutt, Manners and Customs, iii. 15. And see Ritson, Met. Romances, iii. 345.

As to the education and accomplishments of a squire, see note to Sir Topas, B. 1927.

80. _lovyere_, lover. The _y_ in this word is not euphonic as in some modern words; _lovyere_ (luv·yer) is formed from the verb _lovi-en_, A.S. _lufian_, to love.

_bacheler_, a young aspirant to knighthood. There were bachelors in arms as well as in arts. Cf. The Sowdone of Babylone, 1211. [10]

81. _lokkes_, locks (of hair). _crulle_ (krull'), curly, curled; cf. Mid. Du. _krul_, a curl. In mod. E., the _r_ has shifted its place. In King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 4164, we find--'And his lokkes buth noght so crolle.' _as they_, &c., as if they had been laid in an instrument for curling them by pressure. Curling-tongs seem to be meant; or, possibly, curling-papers. For _presse_, cf. l. 263.

82. _yeer_. In the older stages of the language, _year_, _goat_, _swine_, &c., being neuter nouns, underwent no change in the nom. case of the plural number. We have already had _hors_, pl., in l. 74.

_I gesse_, I should think. In M. E., _gesse_ signifies to judge, believe, suppose, imagine. See Kn. Tale, l. 192 (A. 1050).

83. _of evene lengthe_, of ordinary or moderate height.

84. _deliver_, active. Cotgrave gives: '_delivre de sa personne_, an active, nimble wight.'

85. _chivachye._ Fr. _chevauchée_. 'It most properly means an expedition with a small party of _cavalry_; but is often used generally for any military expedition.'--T. We should call it a 'raid.' Cf. H. 50.

87. _born him wel_, conducted himself well (behaved bravely), considering the short time he had served.

88. _lady grace_, lady's grace. Here _lady_ represents A. S. _hlæfdigan_, gen. case of _hlæfdige_, lady; there is therefore no final _s_. See l. 695, and G. 1348. Cf. the modern phrase 'Lady-day,' as compared with 'Lord's day.'

89. 'That was with floures swote enbrouded al'; Prol. to Legend of Good Women, l. 119; and cf. Rom. Rose, 896-8. _Embrouded_ (embruu·ded _or_ embr[o,]u·ded), embroidered; from O. F. _brouder_, variant of _broder_, to embroider; confused with A. S. _brogden_, pp. of _bregdan_, to braid. _mede_, mead, meadow.

91. _floytinge_, playing the flute. Cf. _floute_ (ed. 1532, _floyte_), a flute; Ho. of Fame, 1223. Hexham gives Du. '_Fluyte_, a Flute.'

96. 'Joust (in a tournament) and dance, and draw well and write.'

97. _hote_, adv. hotly; from _hoot_, adj. hot. _nightertale_, night-time, time (or reckoning) of night. So also _wit nighter-tale_, lit. with night-time, Cursor Mundi, l. 2783; _on nightertale_, id. 2991; _be_ [by] _nychtyrtale_, Barbour's Bruce, xix. 495. The word is used by Holinshed in his account of Joan of Arc (under the date 1429), but altered in the later edition to 'the dead of the night'; it also occurs in Palladius on Husbandry, ed. Lodge, bk. i. l. 910; and in The Court of Love, l. 1355. Cf. Icel. _náttar-tal_, a tale, or number, of nights; and the phrase _á náttar-þeli_, at dead of night.

98. _sleep_, also written _slep_, _slepte_. Cf. _weep_, _wepte_; _leep_, _lepte_, &c.; such verbs, once strong, became weak. See l. 148; and Kn. Ta. 1829 (A. 2687).

100. _carf_, the past tense of _kerven_, to carve (pp. _corven_). The allusion is to what was then a common custom; cf. E. 1773; Barbour's Bruce, i. 356. _biforn_, before; A. S. _biforan_. [11]

THE YEMAN.

101. _Yeman_, yeoman. 'As a title of service, it denoted a servant of the next degree above a _garson_ or groom.... The title of _yeoman_ was given in a secondary sense to people of middling rank not in service. The appropriation of the word to signify a small landholder is more modern.'--Tyrwhitt. In ed. 1532, this paragraph is headed--'The Squyers yoman,' so that _he_ (in this line) means the Squire, as we should naturally suppose from the context. Tyrwhitt, indeed, objects that 'Chaucer would never have given the son an attendant, when the father had none'; but he overlooks the fact that both the squire and the squire's man were necessarily servants to the knight, who, in this way, really had _two_ servants; just as, in the note to l. 74, I have shewn that he had _three_ horses. Warton, Strutt, and Todd all take this view of the matter, as might be expected. For further information as to the status of a _yeoman_, see Blackstone; Spelman's Glossary, s. v. _Socman_; Strutt, Manners and Customs, iii. 16; the Glossary to the Babees Book, ed. Furnivall; Waterhous, Comment. on Fortescue's De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, ed. 1663, p. 391; &c.

_na-mo_, no more (in number). In M. E., _mo_ relates to number, but _more_ to size; usually, but not always; see l. 808.

102. _him liste_, it pleased him. _liste_ is the past tense; _list_, it pleaseth, is the present. See note on l. 37.

103. Archers were usually clad in 'Lincoln green'; cf. D. 1382.

104. _a sheef of pecok-arwes_, a sheaf of arrows with peacocks' feathers. Ascham, in his Toxophilus, ed. Arber, p. 129, does not say much in favour of 'pecock fethers'; for 'there is no fether but onely of a goose that hath all commodities in it. And trewelye at a short but, which some man doth vse, the _pecock fether_ doth seldome kepe vp the shaft eyther ryght or level, it is so roughe and heuy, so that many men which haue taken them vp for gaynesse, hathe layde them downe agayne for profyte; thus for our purpose, the goose is best fether for the best shoter.' In the Geste of Robyn Hode, pr. by W. Copland, we read--

'And every arrowe an ell longe With _peacocke_ well ydight, And nocked they were with white silk, It was a semely syght.'

'In the Liber Compotis Garderobæ, sub an. 4 Edw. II., p. 53, is this entry--Pro duodecim flechiis cum pennis de pauone emptis pro rege de 12 den., that is, For twelve arrows plumed with peacock's feathers, bought for the king, 12 d.... MS. Cotton, Nero c. viii.'--Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, bk. ii. ch. i. § 12. In the Testamenta Eboracensia, i. 419, 420 (anno 1429), I find--'Item lego ... j. shaffe of pakok-fedird arrows: also I wyte them a dagger harnest with sylver.' The latter phrase illustrates l. 114 below. See further in Warton's note on this passage; Hist. E. Poet. 1840, ii. 211. [12]

106. _takel_, lit. 'implement' or 'implements'; here the set of arrows. For _takel_ in the sense of 'arrow,' see Rom. Rose, 1729, 1863. 'He knew well how to arrange his shooting-gear in a yeomanlike manner.' Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, bk. ii. c. 1. § 16, quotes a ballad in which Robin Hood proposes that each man who misses the mark shall lose 'his _takell_'; and one of the losers says--'Syr abbot, I deliver thee myne _arrowe_.' Fairholt (s. v. _Tackle_) quotes from A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hood--

'When they had theyr _bowes_ ibent, Their _tacles_ fedred fre.'

In the Cursor Mundi, l. 3600, Isaac sends Esau to hunt, saying:--'Ga lok thi _tacle_ be puruaid.' Cotgrave gives--'_Tacle_, m. any (headed) shaft, or boult whose feathers be not waxed, but glued on.' Roquefort says the same.

107. The sense is--'His arrows did not present a draggled appearance owing to the feathers being crushed'; i. e. the feathers stood out erect and regularly, as necessary to secure for them a good flight.

109. _not-heed_, a head closely cut or cropped. Cf. 'To _Notte_ his haire, _comas recidere_'; Baret's Alvearie, 1580. Shakespeare has _not-pated_, i. e. crop-headed, 1 Henry IV, ii. 4. 78. Cooper's Thesaurus, 1565, has:--'_Tondere_, to cause his heare to be _notted_ or polled of a barbour'; also, 'to _notte_ his heare shorte'; also, '_Tonsus homo_, a man rounded, polled, or _notted_.' Cotgrave explains the F. _tonsure_ as 'a sheering, clipping, powling, _notting_, cutting, or paring round.' Florio, ed. 1598, explains Ital. _zucconare_ as 'to poule, to _nott_, to shave, or cut off one's haire,' and _zuccone_ as 'a shauen pate, a _notted_ poule.' And more illustrations might be adduced, as e.g. the explanation of _Nott-pated_ in Nares' Glossary. In later days the name of Roundhead came into use for a like reason. Cf. 'your _nott-headed_ country gentleman'; Chapman, The Widow's Tears, Act i. sc. 4.

110. 'He understood well all the usage of woodcraft.'

111. _bracer_, a guard for the arm used by archers to prevent the friction of the bow-string on the coat. It was made like a glove with a long leathern top, covering the fore-arm (Fairholt). See it described in Ascham's Toxophilus, ed. Arber, pp. 107, 108. Cf. E. _brace_.

112. For a description of 'sword and buckler play,' see Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, bk. iii. c. 6. § 22; Brand, Pop. Antiquities, ed. Ellis, ii. 400.

114. _Harneised_, equipped. 'A certain girdle, _harnessed_ with silver' is spoken of in Riley's Memorials of London, p. 399, with reference to the year 1376; cf. Riley's tr. of Liber Albus, p. 521. 'De j daggar harnisiat' xd.'; (1439) York Wills, iii. 96. 'De vj paribus cultellorum harnesiat' cum auricalco. xvjd.'; ibid. 'A dagger harnest with sylver'; id. i. 419. And see note to l. 104.

115. _Christofre._ 'A figure of St. Christopher, used as a brooch.... The figure of St. Christopher was looked upon with particular reverence [13] among the middle and lower classes; and was supposed to possess the power of shielding the person who looked on it from hidden dangers'; note in Wright's Chaucer. This belief is clearly shewn by a passage in Wright's History of Caricature. It is of so early an origin that we already meet with it in Anglo-Saxon in Cockayne's Shrine, p. 77, where we are told that St. Christopher 'prayed God that every one who has any relic of him should never be condemned in his sins, and that God's anger should never come upon him'; and that his prayer was granted. There is a well-known early woodcut exhibiting one of the earliest specimens of block-printing, engraved at p. 123 of Chambers' Book of Days, vol. ii, and frequently elsewhere. The inscription beneath the figure of the saint runs as follows:--

'Christofori faciem die quacunque tueris Illa nempe die morte mala non morieris.'

Hence the Yeoman wore his brooch for good luck. St. Christopher's day is July 25. For his legend, see Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, ii. 48; &c. _shene_; see n. to l. 160.

116. Riley, in his Memorials of London, p. 115, explains _baldric_ as 'a belt passing mostly round one side of the neck, and under the opposite arm.' In 1314, a baldric cost 12d. (same reference). See Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 29.

117. _forster_, forester. Hence the names Forester, Forster, and Foster.

THE PRIORESSE.

118. 'A nunne, y wene a pryores'; Rob. of Brunne, Hand. Synne, 7809.

120. In this line, as in ll. 509 and 697, the word _se-ynt_ seems to be dissyllabic. Six MSS. agree here; and the seventh (Harleian) has _nas_ for _was_, which keeps the same rhythm. Edd. 1532, 1550, and 1561 have the same words, omitting _but_.

_seynt Loy. Loy_ is from _Eloy_, i. e. St. _Eligius_, whose day is Dec. 1; see the long account of him in Butler's Lives of the Saints. He was a goldsmith, and master of the mint to Clotaire II., Dagobert I., and Clovis II. of France; and was also bishop of Noyon. He became the patron saint of goldsmiths, farriers, smiths, and carters. The Lat. _Eligius_ necessarily became _Eloy_ in O. French, and is _Eloy_ or _Loy_ in English, the latter form being the commoner. The Catholicon Anglicum (A.D. 1483) gives: '_Loye_, elegius (_sic_), nomen proprium.' Sir T. More, Works, ed. 1577, p. 194, says: '_St. Loy_ we make an horse-leche.' Barnaby Googe, as cited in Brand, Pop. Antiq. i. 364 (ed. Ellis), says:--

'And _Loye_ the smith doth looke to horse, and smithes of all degree, If they with iron meddle here, or if they goldesmithes bee.'

There is a district called _St. Loye's_ in Bedford; a _Saint Loyes_ chapel [14] near Exeter; &c. Churchyard mentions 'sweete _Saynct Loy_'; Siege of Leith, st. 50. In Lyndesay's Monarchè, bk. ii. lines 2299 and 2367, he is called 'sanct _Eloy_.' In D. 1564, the carter prays to God and Saint Loy, joining the names according to a common formula; but the Prioress dropped the divine name. Perhaps she invoked _St. Loy_ as being the patron saint of goldsmiths; for she seems to have been a little given to a love of gold and corals; see ll. 158-162. Warton's notion, that _Loy_ was a form of _Louis_, only shews how utterly unknown, in his time, were the phonetic laws of Old French.

Many more illustrations might be added; such as--'_By St. Loy_, that draws deep'; Nash's Lenten Stuff, ed. Hindley, p. xiv. 'God save her and _Saint Loye_'; Jack Juggler, ed. Roxburgh Club, p. 9; and see _Eligius_ in the Index to the Parker Society's publications.

We already find, in Guillaume de Machault's Confort d'Ami, near the end, the expression:--'Car je te jur, par _saint Eloy_'; Works, ed. 1849, p. 120.

The life of St. Eligius, as given in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, contains a curious passage, which seems worth citing:--'St. Owen relates many miracles which followed his death, and informs us that _the holy abbess_, St. Aurea, who was swept off by a pestilence, ... was advertised of her last hour some time before it, by a comfortable vision of _St. Eligius_.' See also Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, 3rd ed., p. 728.

There is, perhaps, a special propriety in selecting _St. Loy_ for mention in the present instance. In an interesting letter in _The Athenæum_ for Jan. 10, 1891, p. 54, Prof. Hales drew attention to the story about St. Eligius cited in Maitland's Dark Ages, pp. 83-4, ed. 1853. When Dagobert asked Eligius to swear upon the relics of the saints, the bishop _refused_. On being further pressed to do so, he burst into tears; whereupon Dagobert exclaimed that he would believe him _without an oath_. Hence, to swear by St. Loy was to swear by one who refused to swear; and the oath became (at second-hand) no oath at all. See Hales, Folia Literaria, p. 102. At any rate, it was a very mild one for those times. Cf. Amis and Amiloun, 877:--'Than answered that maiden bright, And swore "by Jesu, ful of might."'

121. _cleped_, called, named; A. S. _cleopian_, _clypian_, to call. Cf. Sir David Lyndesay's Monarchè, bk. iii. l. 4663:--

'The seilye Nun wyll thynk gret schame Without scho callit be _Madame_.'

122. 'She sang the divine service.' Here _sér-vic-è_ is trisyllabic, with a secondary accent on the last syllable.

123. _Entuned_, intoned. _nose_ is the reading of the best MSS. The old black-letter editions read _voice_ (wrongly).

_semely_, in a seemly manner, is in some MSS. written _semily_. The _e_ is here to be distinctly sounded; _hertily_ is sometimes written for _hertely_. See ll. 136, 151. [15]

124. _faire_, adv. fairly, well. _fetisly_, excellently; see l. 157.

125. _scole_, school; here used for _style_ or pronunciation.

126. _Frensh._ Mr. Cutts (Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, p. 58) says very justly:--'She spoke French correctly, though with an accent which savoured of the Benedictine convent at Stratford-le-Bow, where she had been educated, rather than of Paris.' There is nothing to shew that Chaucer here speaks slightingly of the French spoken by the Prioress, though this view is commonly adopted by newspaper-writers who know only this one line of Chaucer, and cannot forbear to use it in jest. Even Tyrwhitt and Wright have thoughtlessly given currency to this idea; and it is worth remarking that Tyrwhitt's conclusion as to Chaucer thinking but meanly of Anglo-French, was derived (as he tells us) from a remark in the Prologue to the Testament of Love, _which Chaucer did not write_! But Chaucer merely states a _fact_, viz. that the Prioress spoke the usual Anglo-French of the English court, of the English law-courts, and of the English ecclesiastics of the higher rank. The poet, however, had been himself in France, and knew precisely the difference between the two dialects; but he had no special reason for thinking _more highly_ of the Parisian than of the Anglo-French. He merely states that the French which she spoke so 'fetisly' was, _naturally_, such as was spoken in England. She had never travelled, and was therefore quite satisfied with the French which she had learnt at home. The language of the King of England was quite as good, in the esteem of Chaucer's hearers, as that of the King of France; in fact, king Edward called himself king of France as well as of England, and king John was, at one time, merely his prisoner. Warton's note on the line is quite sane. He shews that queen Philippa wrote business letters in French (doubtless Anglo-French) with 'great propriety.' What Mr. Wright means by saying that 'it was similar to that used _at a later period_ in the courts of law' is somewhat puzzling. It was, of course, not _similar to_, but the _very same_ language as was used _at the very same period_ in the courts of law. In fact, he and Tyrwhitt have unconsciously given us the view entertained, not by Chaucer, but by unthinking readers of the present age; a view which is _not_ expressed, and was probably not intended. At the modern Stratford we may find Parisian French inefficiently taught; but at the ancient Stratford, the very important Anglo-French was taught efficiently enough. There is no parallel between the cases, nor any such jest as the modern journalist is never weary of, being encouraged by critics who ought to be more careful. The 'French of Norfolk' as spoken of in P. Plowman (B. v. 239) was no French at all, but _English_; and the alleged parallel is misleading, as the reader who cares to refer to that passage will easily see.

'Stratford-at-Bow, a Benedictine nunnery, was famous even then for its antiquity.'--Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, p. 233. It is said by Tanner to have been founded by William, bp. of London, before 1087; but Dugdale says it was founded by one Christiana de Sumery, and [16] that her foundation was confirmed by King Stephen. It was dedicated to St. Leonard.

_unknowe_, short for _unknowen_, unknown.

127. _At mete._ Tyrwhitt has acutely pointed out how Chaucer, throughout this passage, merely reproduces a passage in his favourite book, viz. Le Roman de la Rose, ed. Méon, l. 13612, &c., which may be thus translated:--'and takes good care not to wet her fingers up to the joints in broth, nor to have her lips anointed with soups, or garlic, or fat flesh, nor to heap up too many or too large morsels and put them in her mouth. She touches with the tips of her fingers the morsel which she has to moisten with the sauce (be it green, or brown, or yellow), and lifts her mouthful warily, so that no drop of the soup, or relish or pepper may fall on her breast. And so daintily she contrives to drink, as not to sprinkle a drop upon herself ... she ought to wipe her lip so well, as not to permit any grease to stay there, at least upon her upper lip.' Such were the manners of the age. Cf. also Ovid, Ars Amatoria, iii. 755, 756.

129. _wette_, wet; pt. t. of _wetten_. _depe_, deeply, adv.

131. Scan--'Thát | no dróp | e ne fill | e,' &c. The _e_ in _drópe_ is very slight; and the caesura follows. _Fille_ is the pt. t. subjunctive, as distinct from _fil_, the pt. t. indicative. It means 'should fall.'

132. _ful_, very. _lest = list_, pleasure, delight; A. S. _lyst_.

133. _over_, upper, adj. 'The over lippe and the nethere'; Wright's Vocab. 1857, p. 146. _clene_ (klae·n[*e]), cleanly, adv.

134. _ferthing_ signifies literally a fourth part, and hence a small portion, or a spot. In Caxton's Book of Curtesye, st. 27, such a spot of grease is called a 'fatte ferthyng.'

_sen-e_, visible, is an adjective, A. S. _ges[=e]ne_, and takes a final _-e_. This distinguishes it from the pp. _seen_, which is monosyllabic, and cannot rime with _clen-e_. The fuller form _y-sen-e_ occurs in l. 592, where it rimes with _len-e_.

136. 'Full seemlily she reached towards her meat (i. e. what she had to eat), and certainly she was of great merriment (or geniality).'

_Mete_ is often used of eatables in general, _raughte_ (rauht[*e]), pt. t. of _rechen_, to reach.

137. _sikerly_, certainly, _siker_ is an early adaptation of Lat. _securus_, secure, sure. _disport_; mod. E. _sport_.

139-41. 'And took pains (endeavoured) to imitate courtly behaviour, and to be stately in her deportment, and to be esteemed worthy of reverence.'

144. _sawe_, should see, happened to see (subjunctive).

146. _Of_, i. e. some. _houndes_ (huundez), dogs. 'Smale whelpes leeve to ladyse and clerkys'; Political, Relig. and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 32; Bernardus de Cura Rei Familiaris, ed. Lumby, p. 13.

147. _wastel-breed_. Horses and dogs were not usually fed on _wastel-breed_ or cake-bread (bread made of the best flour), but on coarse lentil bread baked for that purpose. See Our English Home, pp. 79, 80. [17] The O. F. _wastel_ subsequently became _gastel_, _gasteau_, mod. F. _gâteau_, cake. Cf. P. Plowman, B. vi. 217, and the note; Riley, Memorials of London, p. 108.

148. The syllable _she_ is here very light; _she if oon_ constitutes the third foot in the line. After _she_ comes the caesural pause. _weep_, wept; A. S. _w[=e]op_.

149. _men smoot_, one smote. If _men_ were the ordinary plural of _man_, _smoot_ ought to be _smiten_ (pl. past); but _men_ is here used like the Ger. _man_, French _on_, with the singular verb. It is, in fact, merely the _unaccented_ form of _man_. _yerde_, stick, rod; mod. E. _yard_. _smerte_, sharply; adv.

151. _wimpel._ The _wimple_ or _gorger_ is stated first to have appeared in Edward the First's reign. It was a covering for the neck, and was used by nuns and elderly ladies. See Fairholt's Costume, 1885, ii. 413; Ancren Riwle, ed. Morton, p. 420.

_pinched_, gathered in small pleats, closely pleated.

'But though I olde and hore be, sone myne, And poore by my clothing and aray, And not so wyde a gown have as is thyne, So small _ypynched_ and so gay, My rede in happe yit the profit may.' Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, ed. Wright, p. 15.

152. _tretys_, long and well-shaped. From O. F. _traitis_, Low Lat. _tractitius_, i. e. drawn out; from L. _trahere_. Chaucer found the O. F. _traitis_ in the Romaunt of the Rose, and translated it by _tretys_; see l. 1216 of the E. version. Cf. _fetis_ from _factitius_; l. 157. _eyen greye._ This seems to have been the favourite colour of ladies' eyes in Chaucer's time, and even later. Cf. A. 3974; Rom. Rose, 546, 862; &c. 'Her eyen _gray_ and stepe'; Skelton's Philip Sparowe, 1014 (see Dyce's note).

'Her eyes are _grey as glass_.'--Two Gent. of Verona, iv. 4. 197.

'Hyr forheed lely-whyht, Hyr bent browys blake, and hyr _grey eyne_, Hyr chyry chekes, _hyr nose streyt_ and ryht, Hyr lyppys rody.'--Lives of Saints, Roxburgh Club, p. 14.

'Wyth _eyene graye_, and browes bent, And yealwe traces [_tresses_], and fayre y-trent, Ech her semede of gold; Hure vysage was fair and _tretys_, Hure body iantil and pure _fetys_, And semblych of stature.'--Sir Ferumbras, l. 5881.

'Dame Gaynour, with hur _gray een_.' Three Met. Romances, ed. Robson, p. 22.

'Hys _eyen grey_ as crystalle stone';--Sir Eglamour, l. 861.

'Put out my _eyen gray_';--Sir Launfal, l. 810.

[18]

156. _hardily_ is here used for _sikerly_, certainly; so also in E. 25.

_undergrowe_, undergrown; i. e. of short, stinted growth.

157. _fetis_ literally signifies 'made artistically,' and hence well-made, _feat_, neat, handsome; cf. n. to l. 152. M. E. _fetis_ answers to O. F. _faitis_, _feitis_, _fetis_, neatly made, elegant; from Lat. _factitius_, artificial.

_war_, aware; 'I was _war_' = I perceived.

159. _bedes._ The word _bede_ signifies, (1) a prayer; (2) a string of grains upon which the prayers were counted, or the grains themselves. The beads were made of coral, jet, cornelian, pearls, or gold. A _pair_ here means 'a set.' 'A _peire of bedis_ eke she bere'; Rom. Rose, 7372.

'Sumtyme with a portas, sumtyme with a _payre of bedes_.' Bale's King John, p. 27; Camden Soc.

_gauded al with grene_, 'having the _gawdies_ green. Some were of silver gilt.'--T. The _gawdies_ or _gaudees_ were the larger beads in the set. 'One payre of beads of silver with riche _gaudeys_'; Monast. Anglicanum, viii. 1206; qu. by Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. i. 403. 'Unum par de _Iett_ [jet] gaudyett with sylver'; Nottingham Records, iii. 188. 'A peyre bedys of jeete [_get_], gaudied with corall'; Bury Wills, p. 82, l. 16: the note says that every eleventh bead, or _gaudee_, stood for a Paternoster: the smaller beads, each for an Ave Maria. The common number was 55, for 50 Aves and 5 Paternosters. The full number was 165, for 150 Aves and 15 Paternosters, also called a Rosary or Our Lady's Psalter; see the poem on Our Lady's Psalter in Horstmann, Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge, 1881, pp. 220-4. '_Gaudye_ of beedes, _signeau de paternoster_.'--Palsgrave. Cower (Conf. Amant., ed. Pauli, iii. 372) mentions 'A paire of bedes blacke as sable,' with 'gaudees.' See _Gaudia_ and _Precula_ in Ducange. _Gaudee_ originally meant a prayer beginning with _Gaudete_, whence the name; see _Gaudez_ in Cotgrave.

160. _broche_ = _brooch_, signified, (1) a pin; (2) a breast-pin; (3) a buckle or clasp; (4) a jewel or ornament. It was an ornament common to both sexes. The brooch seems to have been made in the shape of a capital A, surmounted by a crown. See the figure of a silver-gilt brooch in the shape of an A in the Glossary to Fairholt's Costume in England. The 'crowned A' is supposed to represent _Amor_ or _Charity_, the greatest of all the Christian graces. 'Omnia uincit amor'; Vergil, Eclog. x. 69. Cf. the use of AMOR as a motto in the Squyer of Lowe Degree, l. 215.

_heng_, also spelt _heeng_, hung, is the pt. t. of M. E. _hangen_, to hang. Cf. A. S. _h[=e]ng_, pt. t. of _h[=o]n_, to hang.

_shene_ (shee·n[*e]), showy, bright. Really allied, not to _shine_, but to _shew_. Cf. mod. E. _sheen_, and G. _schön_.

161. _write_ is short for _writen_ (writ·en), pp. of _wryten_ (wrii·ten), to write. [19]

THE NONNE AND THREE PREESTES.

163. _Another Nonne._ It was not common for Prioresses to have female chaplains; but Littré gives _chapelaine_, fem., as an old title of dignity in a nunnery. Moreover, it is an office still held in most Benedictine convents, as is fully explained in a letter written by a modern Nun-Chaplain, and printed in Anglia, iv. 238. See also N. and Q. 7 S. vi. 485; The Academy, Aug. 23, 1890, p. 152.

164. The mention of _three priests_ presents some difficulty. To make up the twenty-nine mentioned in l. 24, we only want _one_ priest, and it is afterwards assumed that there was but _one_ priest, viz. the Nonnes Preest, who tells the tale of the Cock and Fox. Chaucer also, in all other cases, supposes that there was but _one_ representative of each class.

The most likely solution is that Chaucer wrote a character of the Second Nun, beginning--

'Another Nonne with hir hadde she That was hir chapeleyne'--

and that, for some reason, he afterwards suppressed the description. The line left imperfect, as above, may have been filled up, to stop a gap, either by himself (temporarily), or indeed by some one else.

If we are to keep the text (which stands alike in all MSS.), we must take '_wel_ nyne and twenty' to mean '_at least_ nine and twenty.'

The letter from the Nun-Chaplain mentioned in the last note shews that an Abbess might have as many as _five_ priests, as well as a chaplain. See Essays on Chaucer (Ch. Soc.), p. 183. The difficulty is, merely, how to reconcile this line with l. 24.

THE MONK.

165. _a fair_, i. e. a fair one. Cf. 'a merye' in l. 208; and l. 339.

_for the maistrye_ is equivalent to the French phrase _pour la maistrie_, which in old medical books is 'applied to such medicines as we usually call sovereign, excellent above all others'; Tyrwhitt. We may explain it by 'as regards superiority,' or, 'to shew his excellence.' Cf. 'An stede he gan aprikie · wel _vor the maistrie_'; Rob. of Glouc. l. 11554 (or ed. Hearne, p. 553).

In the Romance of Sir Launfal, ed. Ritson, l. 957, is a description of a saddle, adorned with 'twey stones of Ynde Gay _for the maystrye_'; i. e. preëminently gay.

Several characteristics of various orders of monks are satirically noted in Wright's Political Songs, pp. 137-148.

166. _out-rydere_, outrider; formerly the name of an officer of a monastery or abbey, whose duty was to look after the manors belonging to it; or, as Chaucer himself explains it, in B. 1255--

'an officere out for to ryde To seen hir graunges and hir bernes wyde.

[20]

In the Visitations of the Diocese of Norwich, 1492-1532, ed. Jessop (Camden Soc.), pp. 214, 279, the word occurs twice, as the name of an officer of the Abbey of St. Benet's, Hulme; e.g. 'Dompnus Willelmus Hornyng, _oute-rider_, dicit quod multa edificia et orrea maneriorum sunt prostrata et collapsa praesertim violentia venti hoc anno.'

The Lat. name for this officer was _exequitator_, as appears from Wyclif, Sermones, iii. 326 (Wyclif Soc.). I am indebted for these references and for the explanation of _out-rydere_ to Mr. Tancock; see his note in N. and Q. 7 S. vi. 425. The same vol. of Visitations also shews that, in the same abbey, another monk, 'Thomas Stonham tertius prior' was devoted to hunting; 'communis venator ... solet exire solus ad venatum mane in aurora.' There is also a complaint of the great number of dogs kept there--'superfluus numerus canum est in domo.' In the Rolls of Parliament (1406), vol. iii. p. 598, the sheriffs collect payments for the repair of roads and bridges 'par lour Ministres appellez Outryders'; N. and Q. 8 S. ii. 39. Note that this fully explains the use of _outryders_ in P. Plowman, C. v. 116.

_venerye_, hunting; cf. A. 2308. 'The monks of the middle ages were extremely attached to hunting and field-sports; and this was a frequent subject of complaint with the more austere ecclesiastics, and of satire with the laity.'--Wright. See Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, bk. i. c. 1. §§ 9, 10; Our Eng. Home, p. 23. From Lat. _uenari_, to hunt.

168. _deyntee_, dainty, i. e. precious, valuable, rare; orig. a sb., viz. O. F. _deintee_, dignity, from Lat. acc. _dignitatem_. Cf. l. 346.

170. _Ginglen_, jingle. (The line is deficient in the first foot.) Fashionable riders were in the habit of hanging small bells on the bridles and harness of their horses. Wyclif speaks of 'a worldly preest ... in pompe and pride, coveitise and envye ... with fatte hors, and jolye and gaye sadeles, and bridelis _ryngynge be the weye_, and himself in costy clothes and pelure' [fur]; Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 519, 520.

In Richard Cuer de Lion, l. 1517, we read of a mounted messenger, with silk trappings--

'With fyve hundred belles ryngande.'

And again, at l. 5712--

'His crouper heeng al full off belles.'

'Vincent of Beauvais, speaking of the Knights Templars, and their gorgeous horse-caparisons, says they have--in pectoralibus campanulas infixas magnum emittentes sonitum'; Hist. lib. xxx. c. 85 (cited by Warton, Hist. E. P. i. 167). See B. 3984; and Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 13; also Englische Studien, iii. 105.

172. _Ther as_ = where that. _keper_, principal, head, i. e. prior. _celle_, cell; a 'cell' was a small monastery or nunnery, dependent on a larger one. '_Celle_, a religious house, subordinate to some great [21] abby. Of these _cells_ some were altogether subject to their respective abbies, who appointed their officers, and received their revenues; while others consisted of a stated number of monks, who had a prior sent them from the abby, and who paid an annual pension as an acknowledgment of their subjection; but, in other matters, acted as an independent body, and received the rest of their revenues for their own use. These _priories_ or _cells_ were of the same order with the abbies on whom they depended. See Tanner, Pref. Not. Monast. p. xxvii.'--Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, p.326. Cf. note to l. 670, and especially the note to D. 2259.

173. _The reule_ (rule) _of seint Maure_ (St. Maur) and that of _seint Beneit_ (St. Benet or Benedict) were the oldest forms of monastic discipline in the Romish Church. St. Maur (Jan. 15) was a disciple of St. Benet (Dec. 4), who founded the Benedictine order, and died about A.D. 542.

174. Note that _streit_, mod. E. _strait_, A. F. _estreit_, from Lat. _strictus_, is quite distinct from mod. E. _straight_, of A. S. origin.

175. The Harl. MS. reads, 'This ilke monk leet forby hem pace' (_error for_ leet hem forby him pace?), 'This same monk let them pass by him unobserved.' _hem_ refers to the rules of St. Maur and St. Benet, which were too _streit_ (strict) for this 'lord' or superior of the house, who preferred a milder sort of discipline. _Forby_ is still used in Scotland for _by_ or _past_. _pace_, pass by, remain in abeyance; cf. _pace_, pass on, proceed, in l. 36. _hem_, them; originally dat. pl. of _he_.

176. _space_, course (Lat. _spatium_); 'and held his course in conformity with the new order of things.'

177. _yaf not of_, gave not for, valued not. _yaf_ is the pt. t. of _yeven_ or _yiven_, to give.

_a pulled hen_, lit. a plucked hen; hence, the value of a hen without its feathers; see l. 652. In D. 1112, the phrase is 'not worth a _hen_.' Tyrwhitt says, 'I do not see much force in the epithet _pulled_'; but adds, in his Glossary--'I have been told since, that a hen whose feathers are pulled, or plucked off, will not lay any eggs.' Becon speaks of a 'polled hen,' i. e. pulled hen, as one unable to fly; Works, p. 533; Parker Soc. It is only one of the numerous old phrases for expressing that a thing is of small value. See l. 182. I may add that _pulled_, in the sense of 'plucked off the feathers,' occurs in the Manciple's Tale; H. 304. And see Troil. v. 1546.

_text_, remark in writing; the word was used of any written statement that was frequently quoted. The allusion is to the legend of Nimrod, 'the mighty hunter' (Gen. x. 9), which described him as a very bad man. 'Mikel he cuth [much he knew] o sin and scham'; Cursor Mundi, l. 2202. It was he (it was said) who built the tower of Babel, and introduced idolatry and fire-worship. All this has ceased to be familiar, and the allusion has lost its point. 'We enjoin that a priest be not a hunter, nor a hawker, nor a dicer'; Canons of King Edgar, translated; no. 64. See my note to P. Plowman, C. vi. 157. [22]

179. _recchelees_ (in MS. E.) means careless, regardless of rule; but 'a careless monk' is not necessarily 'a monk out of his cloister.' But the reading _cloisterless_ (in MS. Harl.) solves the difficulty; being _a coined word_, Chaucer goes on to explain it in l. 181. See the quotation from Jehan de Meung in the next note.

179-81. This passage, says Tyrwhitt, 'is attributed by Gratian (_Decretal._ P. ii. Cau. xvi. q. l. c. viii.) to a pope Eugenius: _Sicut piscis sine aqua caret vita, ita sine monasterio monachus._' Joinville says, 'The Scriptures do say that a monk cannot live out of his cloister without falling into deadly sins, any more than a fish can live out of water without dying.' Cf. Piers Plowman, B. x. 292; and my note.

Wyclif (Works, ed. Matthew), p. 449, has a similar remark:--'For, as they seyn that groundiden [_founded_] these cloystris, thes men myghten no more dwelle out ther-of than fizs myghte dwelle out of water, for vertu that they han ther-ynne.' The simile is very old; in The Academy, Nov. 29, 1890, Prof. Albert Cook traced it back to Sozomen, Eccl. Hist. bk. i. c. 13 (Migne, Patr. Graec. 67. 898):--[Greek: tous men gar ichthuas elege tên hugran ousian trephein, monachois de kosmon pherein tên erêmon. episês te tous men xêras aptomenous to zên apolimpanein, tous de tên monastikên semnotêta apolluein tois astesi prosiontas.] And in The Academy, Dec. 6, 1890, Mr. H. Ellershaw, of Durham, shewed that it occurs still earlier, in the Life of St. Anthony (c. 85) attributed to St. Athanasius, not later than A.D. 373:--[Greek: hôsper hoi ichthues enchronizontes têi xêrai gêi teleutôsin; houtôs hoi monachoi bradunontes meth' humôn kai par' humin endiatribontes ekluontai.]

Moreover, the poet was thinking of a passage in Le Testament de Jehan de Meung, ed. Méon, l. 1166:--

'Qui les voldra trover, si les quiere en leur cloistre ... Car ne prisent le munde la montance d'une oistre.'

i. e. 'whoever would find them, let him seek them in their cloister; for they do not prize the world at the value of an oyster.' Chaucer turns this passage just the other way about.

182. _text_, remark, saying (as above, in l. 177). _held_, esteemed.

183. 'And _I_ said.' This is a very realistic touch; as if Chaucer had been talking to the monk, obtaining his opinions, and professing to agree with them.

184. _What_ has here its earliest sense of _wherefore_, or _why_.

_wood_, mad, foolish, is frequently employed by Spenser; A. S. _w[=o]d_.

186. _swinken_, to toil; whence '_swinked_ hedger,' used by Milton (Comus, l. 293). But _swinken_ is, properly, a strong verb; A. S. _swincan_, pt. t. _swanc_, pp. _swuncen_. Hence _swink_, s., toil; l. 188.

187. _bit_, the 3rd pers. sing. pres. of _bidden_, to command. So also _rit_, rideth, A. 974, 981; _fynt_, findeth, A. 4071; _rist_, riseth, A. 4193; _stant_, standeth, B. 618; _sit_, sitteth, D. 1657; _smit_, smiteth, E. 122; _hit_, hideth, F. 512.

187, 188. _Austin_, St. Augustine. The reference is to St. Augustine [23] of Hippo, after whom the Augustinian Canons were named. Their rule was compiled from his writings. Thus we read that 'bothe monks and chanouns forsaken the reules of Benet and Austyn'; Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 511. And again--'Seynt Austyn techith munkis _to labore with here hondis_, and so doth seint Benet and seynt Bernard'; Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 51. See Cutts, Scenes and Characters, &c.; ch. ii. and ch. iii.

189. _a pricasour_, a hard rider. _priking_, hard riding (l. 191).

190. Cf. 'Also fast so the fowl in flyght'; Ywaine and Gawin, 630.

192. _for no cost_, for no expense. Dr. Morris explains _for no cost_ by 'for no reason,' and certainly M. E. _cost_ sometimes has such a force; but see ll. 213, 799, where it clearly means 'expense.'

193. _seigh_, saw; A. S. _s[=e]ah_, pt. t. of _s[=e]on_, to see.

_purfiled_, edged with fur. The M. E. _purfil_ signifies the embroidered or furred hem of a garment, so that _purfile_ is to work upon the edge. _Purfiled_ has also a more extended meaning, and is applied to garments overlaid with gems or other ornaments. '_Pourfiler d'or_, to _purfle_, tinsell, or overcast with gold thread,' &c.: Cotgrave. Spenser uses _purfled_ in the Fairy Queene, i. 2. 13; ii. 3. 26. Cf. note to P. Plowman, C. iii. 10.

194. _grys_, a sort of costly grey fur, formerly very much esteemed; O. F. _gris_, Rom. de la Rose, 9121, 9307; Sir Tristrem, l. 1381. 'The _grey_ is the back-fur of the northern squirrel'; L. Gautier, Chivalry (Eng. tr.), p. 323. Such a dress as is here described must have been very expensive. In 1231 (Close Roll, 16 Hen. III.), king Henry III. had a skirt (_iupa_) of scarlet, furred with red _gris_. See Gloss. to Liber Custumarum, ed. Riley, s. v. _griseum_, p. 806.

In Lydgate's Dance of Macabre, the Cardinal is made to regret--

'That I shal never hereafter clothed be In _grise_ nor ermine, _like unto my degree_.'

The Council of London (1342) reproaches the religious orders with wearing clothing 'fit rather for knights than for clerks, that is to say, short, very tight, with excessively wide sleeves, not reaching the elbows, but hanging down very low, lined with fur or with silk'; see J. Jusserand, English Wayfaring Life (1889). Cf. Wyclif, Works, ed. Matthew, p. 121.

'This worshipful man, this dene, came rydynge into a good paryssh with a x. or xii. horses _lyke a prelate_'; Caxton, Fables of Æsop, &c.; last fable; cf. l. 204 below.

196. 'He had an elaborate brooch, made of gold, with a love-knot in the larger end.' _love-knotte_, a complicated twist, with loops.

198. _balled_, bald. See Specimens of Early English, ii. 15. 408.

199. _anoint_, anointed; O. F. _enoint_, Lat. _inunctus_.

200. _in good point_, in good case, imitated from the O. F. _en bon point_. Cotgrave has: '_En bon poinct_, ou, _bien en poinct_, handsome: faire, fat, well liking, in good taking.' [24]

201. _stepe_, E. E. _steap_, does not here mean _sunken_, but _bright_, burning, fiery. Mr. Cockayne has illustrated the use of this word in his Seinte Marherete, pp. 9, 108: 'His twa ehnen [semden] _steappre_ þene steorren,' his two eyes seemed _brighter_ than stars. So also: 'schininde and schenre, of [gh]imstanes _steapre_ then is eni steorre,' shining and clearer, brighter with gems than is any star; St. Katherine, l. 1647. The expression 'eyen gray and _stepe_,' i. e. bright, has already been quoted in the note to l. 152. So also 'Eyyen _stepe_ and graye'; King of Tars, l. 15 (in Ritson, Met. Rom. ii. 157); and again, 'thair een _steep_'; Palladius on Husbandry, bk. iv. l. 800. Cf. _stemed_ in the next line; and see l. 753.

202. _stemed as a forneys of a leed_, shone like the fire under a cauldron. Here _stemed_ is related to the M. E. _st[=e]m_, a bright light, used in Havelok, 591. Cf. 'two _stemyng_ eyes,' two bright eyes; Sir T. Wiat, Sat. i. 53. _That_ refers to _eyen_, not to _heed_.

A kitchen-copper is still sometimes called a _lead_. As to the word _leed_, which is the same as the modern E. _lead_ (the metal), Mr. Stevenson, in his edition of the Nottingham Records, iii. 493, observes--'That these vessels were really made of _lead_ we have ample evidence'; and refers us to the Laws of Æthelstán, iv. 7 (Schmid, Anhang, xvi. § 1); &c. He adds--'The _lead_ was frequently fixed, like a modern domestic copper, over a grate. The grate and flue were known as a _furnace_. Hence the frequent expression--_a lead in furnace_.' See also _led_ in Havelok, l. 924; and _lead_ in Tusser's Husbandrie, E. D. S.

203. _botes souple_, boots pliable, soft, and close-fitting.

'This is part of the description of a smart abbot, by an anonymous writer of the thirteenth century: "Ocreas habebat in cruribus quasi innatae essent, sine plica porrectas."--MS. Bodley, James, no. 6. p. 121.'--T. See Rom. of the Rose, 2265-70 (vol. i. p. 173).

205. _for-pyned_, 'tormented,' and hence 'wasted away'; from _pine_. The _for-_ is intensive, as in Eng. _forswear_.

THE FRERE.

208. _Frere_, friar. The four orders of mendicant friars mentioned in l. 210 were:--(1) The Dominicans, or friars-preachers, who took up their abode in Oxford in 1221, known as the Black Friars. (2) The Franciscans, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209, and known by the name of Grey Friars. They made their first appearance in England in 1224. (3) The Carmelites, or White Friars. (4) The Augustin (or Austin) Friars. The friar was popular with the mercantile classes on account of his varied attainments and experience. 'Who else so welcome at the houses of men to whom scientific skill and information, scanty as they might be, were yet of no inconsiderable service and attraction. He alone of learned and unlearned possessed some knowledge of foreign countries and their productions; he alone was acquainted with the composition and decomposition of bodies, with the art of distillation, [25] with the construction of machinery, and with the use of the laboratory.' See Professor Brewer's Preface to Monumenta Franciscana, p. xlv; and, in particular, the poem called 'Pierce the Ploughman's Crede,' and the satirical piece against the Friars entitled Jack Upland, formerly printed with Chaucer's Works. Several pieces against them will also be found in Political Poems, ed. Wright (Record Series); and there are numerous outspoken attacks upon them in Wyclif's various works, as, e.g. in the Select Eng. Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 366, and in his Works, ed. Matthew, p. 47. See also the chapter on Friars in the E. translation of Jusserand, Eng. Wayfaring Life; p. 293.

Many of the remarks concerning the Frere are ultimately due to Le Roman de la Rose. See The Romaunt of the Rose, ll. 6161-7698; in vol. i. pp. 234-259.

_wantown_, sometimes written _wantowen_, literally signifies untrained, and hence wild, brisk, lively. _wan-_ is a common M. E. prefix, equivalent to our _un-_ or _dis-_, as in _wanhope_, despair; _towen_ or _town_ occurs in M. E. writers for well-behaved, well-taught; from A. S. _togen_, pp. of _t[=e]on_, to educate.

_merye_, pleasant; cf. M. E. _mery wether_, pleasant weather.

209. _limitour_ was a begging friar to whom was assigned a certain district or _limit_, within which he was permitted to solicit alms; it was also his business to solicit persons to purchase a partnership, or _brotherhood_, in the merits of their conventual services. See Tyndale's Works, i. 212 (Parker Soc.); and note to P. Plowman, B. v. 138. Hence in later times the verb _limit_ signifies to beg.

'Ther walketh now the _limitour_ himself, In undermeles and in morweninges; And seyth his matins and his holy thinges As he goth in his _limitacioun_.' Wife of Bath's Tale; D. 874.

210. _ordres foure_, four orders (note to l. 208). _can_, i. e. 'knows.'

211. _daliaunce and fair langage_, gossip and flattery. _daliaunce_ in M. E. signifies 'tittle-tattle' or 'gossip.' The verb _dally_ signifies not only to loiter or idle, but to play, sport. Godefroy gives O. F. '_dallier_, v. a., railler.'

212. 'He had, at his own expense, well married many young women.' This is less generous than might appear; for it almost certainly refers to young women who had been his concubines. As Dr. Furnivall remarks in his Temporary Preface, p. 118--'the true explanation lies in the following extract from a letter of Dr. Layton to Cromwell, in 1535 A. D., in Mr. Thos. Wright's edition of Letters on the Suppression of the Monasteries (Camden Soc.), p. 58: [At Maiden Bradley, near Bristol] "is an holy father prior, and hath but vj. children, and but one dowghter mariede yet of the goodes of the monasterie, trystyng shortly to mary the reste. His sones be tall men, waittyng upon him; and he thankes Gode a never medelet with marytt women, [26] but all with madens, the faireste cowlde be gottyn, and _always marede them ryght well_."'

214. _post_, pillar or support, as in Troil. i. 1000. See Gal. ii. 9.

216. _frankeleyns_, wealthy farmers; see l. 331. _over-al_, everywhere.

217. _worthy_, probably 'wealthy'; or else, 'respectable.' Cf. l. 68.

219. The word _mór-e _occupies the fourth foot in the line; cf. n. to l. 320. It is an adj., with the sense of 'greater.'

220. _licentiat._ He had a licence from the Pope 'to hear confessions, &c., in all places, independently of the local ordinaries.'--T. The _curate_, or parish priest, could not grant absolution in all cases, some of which were reserved for the bishop's decision. See Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 394.

224. _wiste to han_, knew (he was sure) to have.

_pitaunce_ here signifies a mess of victuals. It originally signified an extraordinary allowance of victuals given to monastics, in addition to their usual commons, and was afterwards applied to the whole allowance of food for a single person, or to a small portion of anything.

225. 'For the giving (of gifts) to a poor order.' _povre_, O. F. _povre_, poor; cf. _pover-ty_. See _pov-re_ in l. 232.

226. _y-shrive_ = _y-shriven_, confessed, _shriven_. The final _n_ is dropped; cf. _unknowe_ for _unknowen_ in l. 126.

227. _he dorste_, he durst make (it his) boast, i. e. confidently assert.

_avaunt_, a boast, is from the O. F. vb. _avanter_, to boast, an intensive form of _vanter_, whence E. _vaunt_.

230. _he may not_, he is not able to. _him sore smerte_, it may pain him, or grieve him, sorely.

232. _Men moot_, one ought to. Here _moot_ is singular; cf. l. 149.

233. _tipet_, a loose hood, which seems to have been used as a pocket. 'When the Order [of Franciscans] degenerated, the friar combined with the spiritual functions the occupation of pedlar, huxter, mountebank, and quack doctor.' (Brewer.) 'Thei [the friars] becomen pedderis [pedlars], berynge knyues, pursis, pynnys, and girdlis, and spices, and sylk, and precious pellure and forrouris [_sorts of fur_] for wymmen, and therto smale gentil hondis [_dogs_], to gete love of hem, and to haue many grete yiftis for litil good or nought.'--Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 12. As to the _tipet_, cf. notes to ll. 682, 3953.

In an old poem printed in Brewer's Monumenta Franciscana, we have the following allusion to the dealings of the friar:--

'For thai have noght to lyve by, they wandren here and there, And dele with dyvers marche, right as thai pedlers were; Thei dele with pynnes and knyves, With gyrdles, gloves for wenches and wyves, Ther thai are haunted till.'

In a poem in MS. Camb., Ff. 1. 6, fol. 156, it is explained that the limitour craftily gives 'pynnys, gerdyllis, and knyeffis' to wommen, in order to receive better things in return. He could get knives for [27] less than a penny a-piece. Cf. 'De j. doss. cultellorum dict. penyware. xd.'; York Wills, iii. 96.

Women used to wear knives sheathed and suspended from their girdles; such knives were often given to a bride. See the chapter on _Bride-knives_ in Brand's Popular Antiquities.

_farsed_, stuffed; from F. _farcir_. Cf. E. _farce_.

236. _rote_ is a kind of fiddle or 'crowd,' not a hurdy-gurdy, as it is explained by Ritson, and in the glossary to Sir Tristrem. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 10. 3; iv. 9. 6; Sir Degrevant, l. 37 (see Halliwell's note, at p. 289 of the Thornton Romances). See my Etym. Dictionary.

237. _yeddinges_, songs embodying some popular tales or romances. In Sir Degrevant, l. 1421, we are told that a lady 'song yeddyngus,' i. e. sang songs. For singing such songs, he was in the highest estimation. From A. S. _geddian_, to sing. Cf. P. Plowman, A. i. 138:--'Ther thou art murie at thy mete, whon me biddeth the _yedde_.'

_prys_ answers both to E. _prize_ and _price_; cf. l. 67.

239. _champioun_, champion; i. e. a professional fighter in judicial lists. Cf. P. Plowman, C. xxi. 104; and see Britton, liv. i. ch. 23. § 15.

241. _tappestere_, a female tapster. In olden times the retailers of beer, and for the most part the brewers also, appear to have been females. The _-stere_ or _-ster_ as a feminine affix (though in the fourteenth century it is not always or regularly used as such) occurs in M. E. _brewstere_, _webbestere_, Eng. _spinster_. In _huckster_, _maltster_, _songster_, this affix has acquired the meaning of an agent; and in _youngster_, _gamester_, _punster_, &c., it implies contempt. See Skeat, Principles of Etymology, pt. i. § 238. Cf. _beggestere_, female beggar, 242.

242. _Bet_, better, adv.; as distinguished from _bettre_, adj. (l. 524).

_lazar_, a leper; from _Lazarus_, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus; hence _lazaretto_, a hospital for lepers, a lazar-house.

244. 'It was unsuitable, considering his ability.'

246. 'It is not becoming, it may not advance (profit) to deal with (associate with) any such poor people.' Cf. Rom. of the Rose, 6455, 6462; and note to P. Plowman, C. xiii. 21.

247. The line is imperfect in the first foot.

_poraille_, rabble of poor people; from O. F. _povre_, poor.

248. _riche_, i. e. rich people.

249, 250. 'And everywhere, wherever profit was likely to accrue, courteous he was, and humble in offering his services.'

251. _vertuous_, (probably) energetic, efficient; cf. _vertu_ in l. 4.

252, 253. Between these two lines the Hengwrt MS. inserts the two lines marked 252 _b_ and 252 _c_, which are omitted in the other MSS., though they certainly appear to be genuine, and are found in all the black-letter editions, which follow Thynne. In the Six-text edition, which is here followed, they are not counted in. Tyrwhitt both inserts and numbers them; hence a slight difference in the methods of numbering the lines after this line. Tyrwhitt's numbering is given, [28] at every tenth line, within marks of parenthesis, for convenience of reference. The sense is--'And gave a certain annual payment for the grant (to be licensed to beg; in consequence of which) none of his brethren came with his limit.'

_ferme_ is the mod. E. _farm_; cf. 'to _farm_ revenues.'

253. _sho_, shoe; not _sou_ (as has been suggested), which would (in fact) give _a false rime_. So also 'worth his olde _sho_'; D. 708.

The friars were not above receiving even the smallest articles; and _ferthing_, in l. 255, may be explained by 'small article,' of a farthing's value. See l. 134.

'For had a man slayn al his kynne, Go shryve him at a frere; And for lasse then _a payre of shone_ He wyl assoil him clene and sone!' Polit. Poems, ed. Wright; i. 266.

'Ever be giving of somewhat, though it be but a cheese, or a piece of bacon, to the holy order of sweet St. Francis, or to any other of my [i. e. Antichrist's] friars, monks, canons, &c. Holy Church refuseth nothing, but gladly taketh whatsoever cometh.'--Becon's Acts of Christ and of Antichrist, vol. iii. p. 531 (Parker Society). And see the Somp. Tale, D. 1746-1751.

254. _In principio._ The reference is to the text in John i. 1, as proved by a passage from Tyndale (Works, ed. 1572, p. 271, col. 2; or iii. 61, Parker Soc.):--'Such is the limiter's saying of _In principio erat verbum_, from house to house.' Sir Walter Scott copies this phrase in The Fair Maid of Perth, ch. iii. The friars constantly quoted this text.

256. _purchas_ = proceeds of his begging. What he acquired in this way was greater than his _rent_ or income. '_Purchase_, ... any method of acquiring an estate otherwise than by descent'; Blackstone, _Comment._ I. iii. For _rente_, see l. 373.

We find also:

'My purchas is theffect of al my rente'; D. 1451.

'To winne is alway myn entent, _My purchas is better than my rent_.' Romaunt of the Rose, l. 6837;

where the F. original has (l. 11760)--'Miex vaut mes porchas que ma rente.'

257. _as it were right_ (E. Hn. &c.); _and pleye as_ (Hl.). The sense is--'and he could romp about, exactly as if he were a puppy-dog.'

258. _love-dayes._ 'Love-days (_dies amoris_) were days fixed for settling differences by umpire, without having recourse to law or violence. The ecclesiastics seem generally to have had the principal share in the management of these transactions, which, throughout the Vision of Piers Ploughman, appear to be censured as the means of hindering justice and of enriching the clergy.'--Wright's Vision of Piers Ploughman, vol. ii. p. 535. [29]

'Ac now is Religion a rydere, and a rennere aboute, A ledere of _love-dayes_,' &c.

Piers Ploughman, A. xi. 208, ed. Skeat; see also note to P. Pl. ed. Skeat, B. iii. 157. The sense is--'he could give much help on love-days (by acting as umpire).' See ll. 259-261.

As to _loveday_, see Wyclif, Works, ed. Matthew, pp. 172, 234, 512; and the same, Works, ed. Arnold, ii. 77; iii. 322; Paston Letters, ed. Gairdner, i. 496; Titus Andronicus, i. 1. 491. In the Testament of Love, bk. i. (ed. 1561, fol. 287, col. 2) we find--'What (quod she) ... maked I not a _louedaie_ betwene God and mankind, and chese a maide to be nompere [_umpire_], to put the quarell at ende?'

260. _cope_, a priest's vestment; a cloak forming a semicircle when laid flat; the _semi-cope_ (l. 262) was a short cloak or cape. Cf. Pierce the Ploughman's Crede, ll. 227, 228:--

'His _cope_ that biclypped him, wel clene was it folden, Of _double-worstede_ y-dyght, doun to the hele.'

This line is a little awkward to scan. _With a thred-_ constitutes the first foot; and _povre_ is _povr'_ (cp. mod. F. _pauvre_).

261. 'The kyng or the emperour myghtte with worschipe were a garnement of a frere for goodnesse of the cloth'; Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 50.

263. _rounded_, assumed a round form; used intransitively, _presse_, the mould in which a bell is cast; cf. l. 81.

264. _lipsed_, lisped; by metathesis of _s_ and _p_. See footnote to l. 273. _for his wantownesse_, by way of mannerism.

THE MARCHANT.

270. _a forked berd._ In the time of Edward III. _forked beards_ were the fashion among the franklins and bourgeoisie, according to the English custom before the Conquest. See Fairholt's Costume in England, fig. 30.

271. _In mottelee_, in a motley dress; cf. l. 328.

273. _clasped_; fastened with a clasp fairly and neatly. See l. 124.

274. _resons_, opinions. _ful solempnely_, with much importance.

275. 'Always conducing to the increase of his profit.' _souninge_, sounding like, conducing to; cf. l. 307. Compare--'thei chargen more [care more for] a litil thing that _sowneth_ to wynnyng of hem, than a myche more [greater] thing that _sowneth_ to worchip of God'; Wyclif, Works, ed. Arnold, ii. 383. 'These indulgencis ... done mykel harme to Cristen soulis, and _sownen_ erroure ageynes the gospel'; id., iii. 459. Cf. Chaucer's Doctour's Tale, C. 54; also P. Plowman, C. vii. 59, x. 216, xii. 79, xxii. 455. The M. E. sb. _soun_ is from F. _son_, Lat. acc. _sonum_.

276. _were kept_, should be guarded; so that he should not suffer from [30] pirates or privateers. 'The old subsidy of tonnage and poundage was given to the king for the safeguard and custody of the sea 12. Edw. IV. c. 3.'--T.

'The _see_ wel _kept_, it must be don for drede.' A Libell of English Policie, l. 1083.

In 1360, a commission was granted to John Gibone to proceed, with certain ships of the Cinque Ports, to free the sea from pirates and others, the enemies of the king; Appendix E. to Rymer's Foedera, p. 50.

_for any thing_, i. e. for any sake, at any cost. The A. S. _thing_ is often used in the sense of 'sake,' 'cause,' or 'reason.' _For_ in Chaucer also means 'against,' or 'to prevent,' but not (I think) here.

277. _Middelburgh and Orewelle._ '_Middelburgh_ is still a well-known port of the island of Walcheren, in the Netherlands, almost immediately opposite Harwich, beside which are the estuaries of the rivers Stoure and _Orwell_. This spot was formerly known as the port of _Orwell_ or _Orewelle_.'--Saunders, p. 229.

This mention of Middelburgh 'proves that the Prologue must have been written not before 1384, and not later than 1388. In the year 1384 the wool-staple was removed from Calais and established at Middelburgh; in 1388 it was fixed once more at Calais; see Craik's Hist. of Brit. Commerce, i. 123.'--Hales, Folia Literaria, p. 100. This note has a special importance.

278. 'He well knew how to make a profit by the exchange of his crowns' in the different money-markets of Europe. _Sheeldes_ are crowns (O. F. _escuz_, F. _écus_), named from their having on one side the figure of a shield. They were valued at half a noble, or 3s. 4d.; Appendix E. to Rymer's Foedera, p. 55. See B. 1521.

279. _his wit bisette_, employed his knowledge to the best advantage. _bisette_ = used, employed. Cf. Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. v. 297:--

'And if thow wite (know) nevere to whiche, ne whom to restitue [the goods gotten wrongfully] Bere it to the bisschop, and bidde hym, of his grace, _Bisette_ it hymselue, as best is for thi soule.'

281, 282. 'So ceremoniously (_or_, with such lofty bearing) did he order his bargains and agreements for borrowing money.' A _chevisaunce_ was an agreement for borrowing money on credit; cf. B. 1519; also P. Plowman, B. v. 249, and the note. From F. _chevir_, to accomplish; cf. E. _achieve_.

284. _noot_ = _ne_ + _woot_, know not; so _niste_ = _ne_ + _wiste_, knew not.

THE CLERK.

285. _Clerk_, a university student, a scholar preparing for the priesthood. It also signifies a man of learning, a man in holy orders. See [31] Anstey's Munimenta Academica for much interesting information on early Oxford life and studies.

_Oxenford_, Oxford, as if 'the ford of the oxen' (A. S. _Oxnaford_); and it has not been proved that this etymology is wrong.

_y-go_, gone, betaken himself.

287. Hence 'Leane as a rake' in Skelton, Philip Sparowe, l. 913; 'A villaine, leane as any rake, appeares'; W. Browne, Brit. Past. bk. ii. song 1.

290. 'His uppermost short cloak (of coarse cloth).' The syllable _-py_ answers to Du. _pije_, a coarse cloth; cf. Goth. _paida_, a coat. Cf. E. _pea_-jacket. See D. 1382; P. Plowman, B. vi. 191; Rom. Rose, 220.

292. 'Nor was he so worldly as to take a (secular) office.' Many clerks undertook legal employments; P. Plowman, B. prol. 95.

293. 'For it was dearer to him to have,' i. e. he would rather have.

_lever_ is the comparative of M. E. _leef_, A. S. _l[=e]of_, lief, dear.

294. The first foot is defective: Twen | ty bo | kes, &c.

296. In the Milleres Tale, Chaucer describes a clerk of a very opposite character, who loved dissipation and played upon a 'sautrye' or psaltery. See A. 3200-20.

_fithel_ is the mod. E. _fiddle_. _sautrye_ is an O. F. spelling of our _psaltery_.

297. _philosophre_ is used in a double sense; it sometimes meant an alchemist, as in G. 1427. The clerk knew philosophy, but he was no alchemist, and so had but little gold.

298. _Hadde_, possessed; as _hadde_ is here emphatic, the final _e_ is not elided. So also in l. 386.

301. Chaucer often imitates his own lines. He here imitates Troil. iv. 1174--'And pitously gan for the soule preye.' _gan_, did.

302. _yaf him_, 'gave him (money) wherewith to attend school.' An allusion to the common practice, at this period, of poor scholars in the Universities, who wandered about the country begging, to raise money to support them in their studies. Luther underwent a similar experience. Cf. P. Plowman, B. vii. 31; also Ploughman's Crede, ed. Skeat, p. 71.

305. 'With propriety (due form) and modesty.'

307. _Souninge in_, conducing to; cf. note to l. 275 above.

THE MAN OF LAWE.

309. _war_, wary, cautious; A. S. _wær_, aware. Cf. l. 157.

310. _at the parvys_, at the _church-porch_, or portico of St. Paul's, where the lawyers were wont to meet for consultation. See Ducange, s. v. _paradisus_, which is the Latin form whence the O. F. _parvis_ is derived. Also the note in Warton, Hist. E. Poet., ed. 1840, ii. 212; cf. Anglia, viii. 453. And see Rom. of the Rose. 7108, and the note.

315. _pleyn_, full; F. _plein_, Lat. acc. _plenum_. Cf. _pleyn_, fully, in l. 327. [32]

320. _purchasing_, conveyancing; _infect_, invalid. 'The learned Sergeant was clever enough to untie any entail, and pass the property as estate in fee simple.'--W. H. H. Kelke, in N. and Q. 5 S. vi. 487.

The word _might-e_ occupies the fourth foot in the line.

323, 324. 'He was well acquainted with all the legal cases and decisions (or decrees) which had been ruled in the courts of law (lit. had befallen) since the time of William the Conqueror.' _In termes hadde he_, he had in terms, knew how to express in proper terms, was well acquainted with.

325. _Therto_, moreover. _make_, compose, draw up, draught.

326. _pinche at_, find fault with; lit. nip, twitch at.

327. _coude he_, he knew; _coude_ is the pt. t. of _konnen_, to know, A. S. _cunnan_.

328. _medlee cote_, a coat of mixed stuff or colour. In 1303, we find mention of 'one woman's surcoat of _medley_'; see Memorials of London, ed. Riley, p. 48.

329. _ceint of silk_, &c., a girdle of silk, with small ornaments. The _barres_ were called _cloux_ in French (Lat. _clavus_), and were the usual ornaments of a girdle. They were perforated to allow the tongue of the buckle to pass through them. 'Originally they were attached transversely to the wide tissue of which the girdle was formed, but subsequently were round or square, or fashioned like the heads of lions, and similar devices, the name of _barre_ being still retained, though improperly.'--Way, in Promptorium Parvulorum; s. v. _barre_. And see _Bar_ in the New English Dictionary. Gower also has: 'a ceinte of silk'; C. A. ed. Pauli, ii. 30. Cf. A. 3235, and Rom. of the Rose, 1085, 1103.

_ceint_, O. F. _ceint_, a girdle; from Lat. _cinctus_, pp. of _cingere_, to gird.

THE FRANKELEYN.

331. Fortescue (De Laudibus Legum Angliae, c. 29) describes a franklin to be a _pater familias--magnis ditatus possessionibus_; i. e. he was a substantial householder and a man of some importance. See Warton, Hist. E. Poet., ed. 1840, ii. 202; and Gloss. to P. Plowman.

332. _dayes-ye_, daisy; A. S. _dæges [=e]age_, lit. eye of day (the sun).

333. 'He was sanguine of complexion.' The old school of medicine, following Galen, supposed that there were four 'humours,' viz. hot, cold, moist, and dry (see l. 420), and four complexions or temperaments of men, viz. the sanguine, the choleric, the phlegmatic, and the melancholy. The man of sanguine complexion abounded in hot and moist humours, as shown in the following description, given in the Oriel MS. 79 (as quoted in my Preface to P. Plowman, B-text, p. xix):-- [33]

'_Sanguineus._ Largus, amans, hilaris, ridens, rubeique coloris, Cantans, carnosus, satis audax, atque benignus: multum appetit, quia calidus; multum potest, quia humidus.'

334. _by the morwe_, in the morning.

_a sop in wyn_, wine with pieces of cake or bread in it; see E. 1843. See Brand, Antiq. (ed. Ellis), ii. 137. Later, _sop-in-wine_ was a jocose name for a kind of pink or carnation; id. ii. 91.

In the Anturs of Arthur at the Tarnewathelan, st. 37, we read that

'Thre soppus of demayn [i. e. paindemayn] Wos broght to Sir Gaua[y]n For to comford his brayne.'

And in MS. Harl. 279, fol. 10, we have the necessary instruction for the making of these sops. 'Take mylke and boyle it, and thanne tak yolkys of eyroun [_eggs_], ytryid [_separated_] fro the whyte, and hete it, but let it nowt boyle, and stere it wyl tyl it be somwhat thikke; thenne cast therto salt and sugre, and kytte [_cut_] fayre paynemaynnys in round soppys, and caste the soppys theron, and serve it forth for a potage.'--Way, in Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 378. The F. name is _soupe au vin_. See also Ducange, s. v. _Merus_.

335. _wone_, wont, custom; A. S. _wuna_, _ge-wuna_.

_delyt_, delight; the mod. E. word is misspelt; _delite_ would be better.

336. 'A very son of Epicurus.' Alluding to the famous Greek philosopher [died B. C. 270], the author of the Epicurean philosophy, which assumed pleasure to be the highest good. Chaucer here follows Boethius, bk. iii. pr. 2. 54: 'The whiche delyt only considerede Epicurus, and iuged and establisshed that delyt is the sovereyn good.' Cf. Troil. iii. 1691, v. 763; also E. 2021.

340. '_St. Julian_ was eminent for providing his votaries with good lodgings and accommodation of all sorts. [See Chambers' Book of Days, ii. 388.] In the title of his legend, Bodl. MS. 1596, fol. 4, he is called "St. Julian the gode herberjour" (St. Julian the good harbourer).'--Tyrwhitt. His day is Jan. 9. See the Lives of Saints, ed. Horstmann (E. E. T. S.); also Gesta Romanorum, ed. Swan, tale 18; Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and Leg. Art, ii. 393.

341. _after oon_, according to one invariable standard; 'up to the mark'; cf. A. 1781, and the note. A description of a Franklin's feast is given in the Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 170.

342. _envyned_, stored with wine. 'Cotgrave has preserved the French word _enviné_ in the same sense.'--Tyrwhitt.

343. _bake mete_ = _baked meat_; the old past participle of _bake_ was _baken_ or _bake_, as it was a strong verb. _Baked meats_ = meats baked in _coffins_ (pies). Cf. Hamlet, i. 2. 180.

344. _plentevous_, plenteous, plentiful; O. F. _plentivous_, formed by adding _-ous_ to O. F. _pleintif_, adj. abundant; see Godefroy's O. F. Dict. [34]

345. The verb _snewed_ may be explained as a metaphor from snowing; in fact, the M. E. _snewe_, like the Prov. Eng. _snie_ or _snive_, also signifies _to abound, swarm_. Camb. MS. reads 'It snowede in his mouth of mete and drynk.' Cf. 'He was with yiftes [presents] all _bisnewed_'; Gower, C. A. iii. 51. From A. S. _sn[=i]wan_.

347. _After_, according to; it depended on what was in season.

348. _soper_ (supee·r), supper; from O. F. infin. _soper_; cf. F. 1189.

349. _mewe._ The _mewe_ was the place where the hawks were kept while moulting; it was afterwards applied to the _coop_ wherein fowl were fattened, and lastly to a place of confinement or secrecy.

350. _stewe_, fish-pond. 'To insure a supply of fish, stew-ponds were attached to the manors, and few monasteries were without them; the moat around the castle was often converted into a fish-pond, and well stored with luce, carp, or tench.'--Our English Home, p. 65.

_breem_, bream; _luce_, pike, from O. F. _luce_, Low Lat. _lucius_.

351. _Wo was his cook_, woeful or sad was his cook. We now only use _wo_ or _woe_ as a substantive. Cf. B. 757, E. 753; and 'I am _woe_ for 't'; Tempest, v. 1. 139.

'Who was _woo_ but Olyvere then?'--Sowdone of Babyloyne, l. 1271. Rob. of Brunne, in his Handlyng Synne, l. 7250, says that a rich man's cook 'may no day Greythe hym hys mete to pay.'

_but-if_, unless.

351, 352. _sauce--Poynaunt_ is like the modern phrase _sauce piquante_. Cf. B. 4024. 'Our forefathers were great lovers of "piquant sauce." They made it of expensive condiments and rare spices.'--Our English Home, p. 62.

353. _table dormant_, irremoveable table. 'Previous to the fourteenth century a pair of common wooden trestles and a rough plank was deemed a table sufficient for the great hall.... Tables, with a board attached to a frame, were introduced about the time of Chaucer, and, from remaining in the hall, were regarded as indications of a ready hospitality.'--Our English Home, p. 29. Most tables were removeable; such a table was called a _bord_ (board).

355. _sessiouns._ At the Sessions of the Peace, at the meeting of the Justices of the Peace. Cf. '_At Sessions_ and at Sises we bare the stroke and swaye.'--Higgins' Mirrour for Magistrates, ed. 1571, p. 2.

356. _knight of the shire_, the designation given to the representative in parliament of an English county at large, as distinguished from the representatives of such counties and towns as are counties of themselves (Ogilvie). Chaucer was knight of the shire of Kent in 1386.

_tym-e_ here represents the A. S. _t[=i]man_, pl. of _t[=i]ma_, a time.

357. _anlas_ or _anelace_. Speght defines this word as a _falchion_, or wood-knife. It was, however, a short two-edged knife or dagger usually worn at the girdle, broad at the hilt and tapering to a point. See the New Eng. Dictionary; Liber Albus, p. 75; Knight, Pict. Hist. of England, i. 872; Gloss. to Matthew Paris, s. v. _anelacius_; Riley's [35] Memorials of London, p. 15. The etymology is unknown; I _guess_ it to be from M. E. _an_, on, and _las_, a lace, i. e. 'on a lace,' a dagger that hung from a lace attached to the girdle. Cf. A. S. _bigyrdel_ (just below); and 'hanging on a laas' in l. 392.

_gipser_ was properly a pouch or budget used in hawking, &c., but commonly worn by the merchant, or with any secular attire.--(Way.) It answers to F. _gibecière_, a pouch; from O. F. _gibe_, a bunch (Scheler). In Riley's Memorials of London, p. 398, under the date 1376, there is a mention of 'purses called _gibesers_.' In the Bury Wills, p. 37, l. 16, under the date 1463, we find--'My best _gypcer_ with iij. bagges.' The A. S. name was _bigyrdel_, from its hanging _by the girdle_, as said in l. 358; it occurs in the A. S. version of Matt. x. 9; and in P. Plowman, B. viii. 87.

358. _Heng_ (or _Heeng_), the past tense of _hongen_ or _hangen_, to hang.

_morne milk_ = morning-milk; as in A. 3236. 'As white as milke'; Ritson's Met. Romances, iii. 292.

359. _shirreve_, the _reve_ of a _shire_, governor of a county; our modern word _sheriff_.

_countour_, O. Fr. _comptour_, an accountant, a person who audited accounts or received money in charge, &c.; ranked with pleaders in Riley's Memorials of London, p. 58. It occurs in Rob. of Gloucester, l. 11153. In the Book of the Duch. 435, it simply means 'accountant.' Perhaps it here means 'auditor.' 'Or stewards, _countours_, or pleadours'; Plowman's Tale, pt. iii. st. 13.

360. _vavasour_, or _vavaser_, originally a sub-vassal or tenant of a vassal or tenant of the king's, one who held his lands in fealty. '_Vavasor_, one that in dignities is next to a Baron'; Cowel. Strutt (Manners and Customs, iii. 14) explains that a _vavasour_ was 'a tenant by knight's service, who did not hold immediately of the king _in capite_, but of some mesne lord, which excluded him from the dignity of baron by tenure.' Tyrwhitt says 'it should be understood to mean the whole class of middling landholders.' See Lacroix, Military Life of Middle Ages, p. 9. Spelt _favasour_ in King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, l. 3827. A. F. _uauassur_; Laws of Will. I. c. 20. Lit. 'vassal of vassals'; Low Lat. _vassus vassorum_.

THE HABERDASSHER AND OTHERS.

361. _Haberdassher._ Haberdashers were of two kinds: haberdashers of small wares--sellers of needles, tapes, buttons, &c.; and haberdashers of hats. The stuff called _hapertas_ is mentioned in the Liber Albus, p. 225.

362. _Webbe_, properly a male weaver; _webstere_ was the female weaver, but there appears to have been some confusion in the use of the suffixes _-e_ and _-stere_; see Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. v. 215: 'mi _wyf_ was a _webbe_.' Hence the names _Webb_ and _Webster_. Cf. [36] A. S. _webba_, m., a weaver; _webbestere_, fem. _tapicer_, upholsterer; F. _tapis_, carpet.

363. _liveree_, livery. 'Under the term "livery" was included whatever was dispensed (_delivered_) by the lord to his officials or domestics annually or at certain seasons, whether money, victuals, or garments. The term chiefly denoted external marks of distinction, such as the _roba estivalis_ and _hiemalis_, given to the officers and retainers of the court.... The Stat. 7 Hen. IV expressly permits the adoption of such distinctive dress by fraternities and "_les gentz de mestere_," the trades of the cities of the realm, being ordained with good intent; and to this prevalent usage Chaucer alludes when he describes five artificers of various callings, who joined the pilgrimage, clothed all _in o lyveré of a solempne and greet fraternité_.'--Way, note to Prompt. Parv., p. 308. We still speak of the Livery Companies.

_And they were clothed alle_ (Elles., &c.); _Weren with vss eeke clothed_ (Harl.) The former reading leaves the former clause of the sentence without a verb.

364. _fraternitee_, guild: see English Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. xxx, xxxix, cxxii. Each guild had its own livery; Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 412.

365. _gere_, gear, apparel. _apyked_, signifies cleaned, trimmed, like Shakespeare's _picked_. Cotgrave gives as senses of F. _piquer_, 'to quilt,' and 'to stiffen a coller.'

366. _y-chaped_, having _chapes_ (i. e. plates or _caps_ of metal at the point of the sheath or scabbard). Tradesmen and mechanics were prohibited from using knives adorned with silver, gold, or precious stones. So that Chaucer's pilgrims were of a superior estate, as is indicated in l. 369. Cf. _chapeless_, Taming of the Shrew, iii. 2. 48.

370. _deys_, _dese_, or _dais_ (Fr. _deis_, from Lat. _discum_, acc.), is used to denote the raised platform which was always found at the upper end of a hall, on which the high table was placed; originally, it meant the high table itself. In modern French and English, it is used of a canopy or 'tester' over a seat of state. Tyrwhitt's account of the word is confused, as he starts with a false etymology.

_yeld-halle_, guild-hall. See _Gildhall_ in the Index to E. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith.

371. _that he can_, that he knows; so also _as he couthe_, as he knew how, in l. 390. This line is deficient in the first foot.

372. _shaply_, adapted, fit; sometimes comely, of good _shape_. The mention of _alderman_ should be noted. It was the invariable title given to one who was chosen as the head or principal of a guild (see English Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. ciii, 36, 148, 276, 446). All these men belonged to a fraternity or guild, and each of them was a fit man to be chosen as head of it.

373. 'For they had sufficient property and income' (to entitle them to undertake such an office).

376. _y-clept_, called; pp. of _clepen_; see l. 121. [37]

377. _And goon to vigilyes al bifore._ 'It was the manner in times past, upon festival evens, called _vigiliæ_, for parishioners to meet in their church-houses or church-yards, and there to have a drinking-fit for the time. Here they used to end many quarrels betwixt neighbour and neighbour. Hither came the wives in comely manner, and they which were of the better sort had their mantles carried with them, as well for show as to keep them from cold at table.'--Speght, Gl. to Chaucer.

THE COOK.

379. _for the nones_ = _for the nonce_; this expression, if grammatically written, would be _for then once_, M. E. _for þan anes_, for the once, i. e. for the occasion; where the adv. _anes_ (orig. a gen. form) is used as if it were a sb. in the dat. case. Cf. M. E. _atte_ = _atten_, A. S. _æt þ[=a]m_.

381. _poudre-marchaunt tart_ is a sharp (tart) kind of flavouring powder, twice mentioned in Household Ordinances and Receipts (Soc. Antiq. 1790) at pp. 425, 434: 'Do therto _pouder marchant_,' and 'do thi flessh therto, and gode herbes and _poudre marchaunt_, and let hit well stew.'--Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, iii. 180. See _Powder_ in the Glossary to the Babees Book.

'_Galingale_, which Chaucer, pre-eminentest, economioniseth above all junquetries or confectionaries whatsoever.'--Nash's Lenten Stuff, p. 36, ed. Hindley. _Galingale_ is the root of sweet cyperus. Harman (ed. Strother) notices three varieties: _Cyperus rotundus_, _Galanga major_, _Galanga minor_; Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, pp. 152, 216. See also Marco Polo, ed. Yule, ii. 181; Prompt. Parv., p. 185, note 4; Rogers, Hist. of Agriculture and Prices, i. 629; &c. And see Dr. H. Fletcher Hance's and Mr. Daniel Hanbury's Papers on this spice in the Linnæan Society's Journal, 1871.

382. _London ale._ London ale was famous as early as the time of Henry III., and much higher priced than any other ale; cf. A. 3140.

_Wel coude he knowe_, he well knew how to distinguish. In fact, we find, in the Manciple's Prologue (H. 57), that the Cook loved good ale only too well.

384. _mortreux_ or _mortrewes_. There were two kinds of 'mortrews,' 'mortrewes de chare' and 'mortrewes of fysshe.' The first was a kind of soup in which chickens, fresh pork, crumbs of bread, yolks of eggs, and saffron formed the chief ingredients; the second kind was a soup containing the roe (or milt) and liver of fish, bread, pepper, ale. The ingredients were first stamped or brayed in a _mortar_, whence it probably derived its name. Lord Bacon (Nat. Hist. i. 48) speaks of 'a _mortresse_ made with the brawne of capons stamped and strained.' See Babees Book, pp. 151, 170, 172; Liber Cure Cocorum, ed. Morris, pp. 9, 19; and the note to P. Plowman, C. xvi. 47. This line, like ll. 371 and 391, is deficient in the first foot.

386. _mormal_, a cancer or gangrene. Ben Jonson, in imitation of [38] this passage, has described a cook with an 'old _mortmal_ on his shin'; Sad Shepherd, act ii. sc. 2. Lydgate speaks of 'Goutes, _mormalles_, horrible to the sight'; Falls of Princes, bk. vii. c. 10. In Polit. Religious and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 218, we are told that the sin of Luxury 'ys a lyther _mormale_.' In Skelton's Magnificence, l. 1932, Adversity is made to say--'Some with the _marmoll_ to halte I them make'; and it is remarkable that Palsgrave gives both--'_Mormall_, a sore,' and '_Marmoll_, a sore'; the latter being plainly a corrupt form. See also Prompt. Parvulorum, p. 343, note 5. In MS. Oo. i. 20, last leaf, in the Camb. Univ. Library, are notices of remedies 'Por la maladie que est apele _malum mortuum_.' The MS. says that it comes from melancholy, and shows a broad hard scurf or crust.

387. _blank-manger_, a compound made of capon minced, with rice, milk, sugar, and almonds; see Liber Cure Cocorum, ed. Morris, p. 9. Named from its white colour.

THE SHIPMAN.

See the essay on Chaucer's Shipman in Essays on Chaucer, p. 455.

388. _woning_, dwelling; from A. S. _wunian_, to dwell.

_by weste_ = _westward_. A good old expression, which was once very common as late as the sixteenth century.

389. Dartmouth was once a very considerable port; see Essays on Chaucer, p. 456. Compare the account of the Shipman's Gild at Lynn; E. Gilds, p. 54.

390. _rouncy_, a common hackney horse, a nag. Cf. _Rozinante_. '_Rocinante_--significativo de lo que habia sido cuando fué _rocin, antes_ de lo que ahora era.' Don Quijote, cap. 1. 'From _Rozin_, a drudge-horse, and _ante_, before.' Jarvis's note. The O. F. form is _roncin_; Low Lat. _runcinus_. The _rouncy_ was chiefly used for agricultural work; see Essays on Chaucer, p. 494.

_as he couthe_, as he knew how; but, as a sailor, his knowledge this way was deficient.

391. _a goune of falding_, a gown (robe) of coarse cloth. The term _falding_ signifies 'a kind of frieze or rough-napped cloth,' which was probably 'supplied from the North of Europe, and identical with the woollen wrappers of which Hermoldus speaks, "_quos nos appellamus Faldones_."'--Way. '_Falding_ was a coarse serge cloth, very rough and durable,' &c.; Essays on Chaucer, p. 438. In MS. O. 5. 4, in Trinity College, Cambridge, occurs the entry--'Amphibulus, vestis equi villosa, anglice _a sclauayn or faldyng_'; cited in Furnivall's Temporary Preface, p. 99. In 1392, I find a mention of 'unam tunicam de nigro _faldyng_ lineatam'; Testamenta Eboracensia, i. 173. Hence its colour was sometimes black, and the Shipman's gown is so coloured in the drawing in the Ellesmere MS.; but see A. 3212. See the whole of Way's long note in the Prompt. Parvulorum. [39]

392. _laas_, lace, cord. Seamen still carry their knives slung.

394. _the hote somer._ 'Perhaps this is a reference to the summer of the year 1351, which was long remembered as the dry and hot summer.'--Wright. There was another such summer in 1370, much nearer the date of this Prologue. But it may be a mere general expression.

395. _a good felawe_, a merry companion; as in l. 648.

396-8. 'Very many a draught of wine had he drawn (stolen away or carried off) from Bordeaux, cask and all, while the chapman (merchant or supercargo to whom the wine belonged) was asleep; for he paid no regard to any conscientious scruples.'

_took keep_; cf. F. _prendre garde_.

399. _hyer hond_, upper hand.

400. 'He sent them home to wherever they came from _by water_,' i. e. he made them 'walk the plank,' as it used to be called; or, in plain English, threw them overboard, to sink or swim. However cruel this may seem now, it was probably a common practice. 'This battle (the sea-fight off Sluys) was very murderous and horrible. Combats at sea are more destructive and obstinate than upon land'; Froissart's Chron. bk. i. c. 50. See Minot's Poems, ed. Hall, p. 16. In Wright's History of Caricature, p. 204, is an anecdote of the way in which the defeat of the French at Sluys was at last revealed to the king of France, Philippe VI., by the court-jester, who alone dared to communicate the news. 'Entering the King's chamber, he continued muttering to himself, but loud enough to be heard--"Those cowardly English! the chicken-hearted English!" "How so, cousin?" the king inquired. "Why," replied the fool, "because they have not courage enough _to jump into the sea_, like your French soldiers, who went over headlong from their ships, leaving them to the enemy, who had _no inclination to follow them_." Philippe thus became aware of the full extent of his calamity.' And see Essays on Chaucer, p. 460.

402. _stremes_, currents. _him bisydes_, ever near at hand.

403. _herberwe_, harbour; see note to l. 765. _mone_, moon, time of the lunation.

_lodemenage_, pilotage. A pilot was called a _lodesman_; see Way's note in Prompt. Parv. p. 310; Riley's Memorials of London, p. 655; Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, 1488. Furnivall's Temporary Preface, p. 98, gives the Lat. form as _lodmannus_, whence _lodmannagium_, pilotage, examples of which are given. Sometimes, _lodesman_ meant any guide or conductor, as in Rob. of Brunne, Handlyng Synne, 9027; Monk of Evesham, ed. Arber, p. 106. M. E. _lode_ is the A. S. _l[=a]d_, a way, a course, the sb. whence the verb to _lead_ is derived. It is itself derived from A. S. _l[=i]ðan_, to travel.

404. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 5394--'Qui cercheroit jusqu'en Cartage.'

408. _Gootland_, Gottland, an island in the Baltic Sea.

409. _cryke_, creek, harbour, port.

410. We find actual mention of a vessel called the _Maudelayne_ [40] belonging to the port of Dartmouth, in the years 1379 and 1386; see Essays on Chaucer, p. 484. See also N. & Q. 6 S. xii. 47.

THE DOCTOUR.

415. _astronomye_, (really) astrology. See Saunders on Chaucer, p. 111; Warton, Hist. E. Poet. (1840), ii. 202.

415, 416. _kepte_, watched. The _houres_ are the astrological hours. He carefully watched for a favourable star in the ascendant. 'A great portion of the medical science of the middle ages depended upon astrological and other superstitious observances.'--Wright. 'A Phisition must take heede and aduise him of a certaine thing, that _fayleth not, nor deceiueth_, the which thing Astronomers of Ægypt taught, that by coniunction of the bodye of the Moone with sterres fortunate, commeth dreadful sicknesse to good end: and with contrary Planets falleth the contrary, that is, to euill ende'; &c.--Batman upon Bartholomè, lib. viii. c. 29. Precisely the same sort of thing was in vogue much later, viz. in 1578; see Bullein's Dialogue against the Feuer Pestilence (E. E. T. S.), p. 32.

416. _magik naturel._ Chaucer alludes to the same practices in the House of Fame, 1259-70 (vol. iii. p. 38):--

'Ther saugh I pleyen Iogelours . . . . . . And clerkes eek, which conne wel Al this _magyke naturel_, That craftely don hir ententes To make, _in certeyn ascendentes_, Images, lo! through which magyk To make a man ben hool or syk.'

417. The _ascendent_ is the point of the zodiacal circle which happens to be ascending above the horizon at a given moment, such as the moment of birth. Upon it depended the drawing out of a man's horoscope, which represented the aspect of the heavens at some given critical moment. The moment, in the present case, is that for making images. It was believed that images of men and animals could be made of certain substances and _at certain times_, and could be so treated as to cause good or evil to a patient, by means of magical and planetary influences. See Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, lib. ii. capp. 35-47. The sense is--'He knew well how to choose a fortunate ascendant for treating images, to be used as charms to help the patient.'

'With Astrologie joyne elements also, To _fortune_ their Workings as theie go.' Norton's Ordinall, in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum, p. 60.

420. These are the _four_ elementary qualities, hot, cold, dry, moist; [41] Milton, Par. Lost, ii. 898. Diseases were supposed to be caused by an undue excess of some one quality; and the mixture of prevalent qualities in a man's body determined his complexion or temperament. Thus the _sanguine_ man was thought to be hot and moist; the _phlegmatic_, cold and moist; the _choleric_, hot and dry; the _melancholy_, cold and dry. The whole system rested on the teaching of Galen, and was fundamentally wrong, as it assumed that the 'elements,' or 'simple bodies,' were four, viz. earth, air, fire, and water. Of these, earth was said to be cold and dry; water, cold and moist; air, hot and moist; and fire, hot and dry. They thus correspond to the four complexions, viz. melancholy, phlegmatic, sanguine, and choleric. Each principal part of the body, as the brain, heart, liver, stomach, &c., could be 'distempered,' and such distemperance could be either 'simple' or 'compound.' Thus a simple distemperature of the brain might be 'an excess of heat'; a compound one, 'an excess of heat and moisture.' See the whole system explained in Sir Thos. Elyot's Castel of Helthe; at the beginning.

422. _parfit practisour_, perfect practitioner.

424. _his bote_, his remedy; A. S. _b[=o]t_, a remedy; E. _boot_.

426. _drogges._ MS. Harl. _dragges_; the rest _drogges_, _drugges_, drugs. As to _dragges_ (which is quite a different word), the Promptorium Parvulorum has '_dragge_, dragetum'; and Cotgrave defines _dragée_ (the French form of the word _dragge_) as 'a kind of digestive powder prescribed unto weak stomachs after meat, and hence any jonkets, comfits, or sweetmeats served in the last course for stomach-closers.'

_letuaries_, electuaries. '_Letuaire, laituarie_, s. m., électuaire, sorte de médicament, sirop'; Godefroy.

429-34. Read _th'oldë_. 'The authors mentioned here wrote the chief medical text-books of the middle ages. Rufus was a Greek physician of Ephesus, of the age of Trajan; Haly, Serapion, and Avicen (Ebn Sina) were Arabian physicians and astronomers of the eleventh century; Rhasis was a Spanish Arab of the tenth century; and Averroes (Ebn Roschd) was a Moorish scholar who flourished in Morocco in the twelfth century. Johannes Damascenus was also an Arabian physician, but of a much earlier date (probably of the ninth century). Constanti[n]us Afer, a native of Carthage, and afterwards a monk of Monte Cassino, was one of the founders of the school of Salerno--he lived at the end of the eleventh century. Bernardus Gordonius, professor of medicine at Montpellier, appears to have been Chaucer's contemporary. John Gatisden was a distinguished physician of Oxford in the earlier half of the fourteenth century. Gilbertyn is supposed by Warton to be the celebrated Gilbertus Anglicus. The names of Hippocrates and Galen were, in the middle ages, always (or nearly always) spelt Ypocras and Galienus.'--Wright. Cf. C. 306. Æsculapius, god of medicine, was fabled to be the son of Apollo. Dioscorides was a Greek physician of the second century. See the long note in Warton, 1871, ii. 368; and the account in Saunders' [42] Chaucer (1889), p. 115. I may note here, that Haly wrote a commentary on Galen, and is mentioned in Skelton's Philip Sparowe, l. 505. There were three Serapions; the one here meant was probably John Serapion, in the eleventh century. Averroes wrote a commentary on the works of Aristotle, and died about 1198. Constantinus is the same as 'the cursed monk Dan Constantyn,' mentioned in the Marchaunt's Tale, E. 1810. John Gatisden was a fellow of Merton College, and 'was court-doctor under Edw. II. He wrote a treatise on medicine called _Rosa Anglica_'; J. Jusserand, Eng. Wayfaring Life, (1889), p. 180. Cf. Book of the Duchess, 572. Dante, Inf. iv. 143, mentions 'Ippocrate, Avicenna, e Gallieno, Averrois,' &c.

'Par Hipocras, ne Galien,... Rasis, Constantin, Avicenne'; Rom. de la Rose, 16161.

See Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 393.

439. 'In cloth of a blood-red colour and of a blueish-grey.' Cf. 'robes de _pers_,' Rom. de la Rose, 9116. In the Testament of Creseide, ed. 1550, st. 36, we find:--

'Docter in phisike cledde in a scarlet gown, And furred wel as suche one oughte to be.'

Cf. P. Plowman, B. vi. 271; Hoccleve, de Reg. Princ. p. 26.

440. _taffata_ (or _taffety_), a sort of thin silk; E. _taffeta_.

_sendal_ (or _cendal_), a kind of rich thin silk used for lining, very highly esteemed. Thynne says--'a thynne stuffe lyke sarcenett.' Palsgrave however has '_cendell_, thynne lynnen, _sendal_.' See Piers Plowman, B. vi. 11; Marco Polo, ed. Yule (see the index).

441. _esy of dispence_, moderate in his expenditure.

442. _wan in pestilence_, acquired during the pestilence. This is an allusion to the great pestilence of the years 1348, 1349; or to the later pestilences in 1362, 1369, and 1376.

443. _For_ = because, seeing that. It was supposed that _aurum potabile_ was a sovereign remedy in some cases. The actual reference is, probably, to Les Remonstrances de Nature, by Jean de Meun, ll. 979, 980, &c.; 'C'est le fin et bon or potable, L'humide radical notable; C'est souveraine medecine'; and the author goes on to refer us to Ecclus. xxxviii. 4--'The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.' Hence the Doctor would not abhor gold. And further--'C'est medecine _cordiale_'; ib. 1029. To return to _aurum potabile_: I may observe that it is mentioned in the play called Humour out of Breath, Act i. sc. 1; and there is a footnote to the effect that this was the 'Universal Medicine of the alchemists, prepared from gold, mercury, &c. The full receipt will be found in the Fifth and last Part of the Last Testament of Friar Basilius Valentinus, London, 1670, pp. 371-7.' See also Thomson's Hist. of Chemistry, vol. i. p. 164; Burton's Anat. of Melancholy, pt. 2. sec. 4. mem. 1. subsec. 4. [43]

THE WYF OF BATHE.

445. _of bisyde_, &c., from (a place) near Bath, i. e. from a place in its suburbs; for elsewhere she is simply called the Wyf of Bathe.

446. 'But she was somewhat deaf, and that was her misfortune.' We should now say--'and it was a pity.'

447. _clooth-making._ 'The West of England, and especially the neighbourhood of Bath, from which the "good wif" came, was celebrated, till a comparatively recent period, as the district of cloth-making. Ypres and Ghent were the great clothing-marts on the Continent.'--Wright. 'Edward the third brought clothing first into this Island, transporting some families of artificers from _Gaunt_ hither.'--Burton's Anat. of Mel. p. 51. 'Cloth of Gaunt' is mentioned in the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 574 (vol. i. p. 117).

_haunt_, use, practice; i. e. she was so well skilled (in it).

448. _passed_, i. e. surpassed.

450. _to the offring._ In the description of the missal-rites, Rock shews how the bishop (or officiating priest) 'took from the people's selves their offerings of bread and wine.... The men first and then the women, came with their cake and cruse of wine.' So that, instead of money being collected, as now, the people went up in order with their offerings; and questions of precedence of course arose. The Wife insisted on going up first among the women. See Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. 2. 33, 149.

453. _coverchief_ (_keverchef_, or _kerchere_, _kerché_). The _kerchief_, or covering for the head, was, until the fourteenth century, almost an indispensable portion of female attire. See B. 837; Leg. of Good Women, l. 2202.

_ful fyne of ground_, of a very fine texture. See Pierce the Ploughman's Crede, l. 230, which means 'it was of fine enough texture to take dye in grain.'

454. _ten pound._ Of course this is a playful exaggeration; but Tyrwhitt was not justified in altering _ten pound_ into _a pound_; for a pound-weight, in a head-dress of that period, was a mere nothing, as will be readily understood by observing the huge structures represented in Fairholt's Costume, figs. 125, 129, 130, 151, which were often further weighted with ornaments of gold. Skelton goes so far as to describe Elinour Rummyng (l. 72)--

'With clothes upon her hed That wey a _sowe of led_.'

Cf. Pierce the Ploughman's Crede, l. 84, and the note; Stubbes, Anatomy of Abuses, 1585, pp. 63, 70, 72; or ed. Furnivall, pp. 69, 74, 76.

457. _streite y-teyd_, tightly fastened. See note to l. 174.

_moiste_, soft--not 'as hard as old boots.' So, in H. 60, _moysty ale_ is new ale. [44]

460. _chirche-dore._ The priest married the couple at the church-porch, and immediately afterwards proceeded to the altar to celebrate mass, at which the newly-married persons communicated. As Todd remarks--'The custom was, that the parties did not enter the church till that part of the office, where the minister now goes up to the altar [or rather, is directed to go up], and repeats the psalm.' See Warton, Hist. Eng. Poet. 1871, ii. 366, note 1; Anglia, vi. 106; Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. pt. 2. 172; Brand's Antiquities, ed. Ellis, ii. 134. And see D. 6.

461. _Withouten_ = besides. _other companye_, other lovers. This expression (copied from Le Rom. de la Rose, l. 12985--'autre companie') makes it quite certain that the character of the Wife of Bath is copied, in some respects, from that of _La Vieille_ in the Roman de la Rose, as further appears in the Wife's Prologue.

462. _as nouthe_, as now, i. e. at present. The form _nouthe_ is not uncommon; it occurs in P. Plowman, Allit. Poems, Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight, &c. A. S. _n[=u] ð[=a]_, now then.

465. _Boloigne._ Cf. 'I will have you swear by our dear Lady of Boulogne'; Gammer Gurton's Needle, Act 2, sc. 2. An image of the virgin, at Boulogne, was sought by pilgrims. See Heylin's Survey of France, p. 163, ed. 1656 (quoted in the above, ed. Hazlitt).

466. _In Galice_ (Galicia), at the shrine of St. James of Compostella, a famous resort of pilgrims in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As the legend goes, the body of St. James the Apostle was supposed to have been carried in a ship without a rudder to Galicia, and preserved at Compostella. See Piers Plowman, A. iv. 106, 110, and note to B. Prol. 47; also Eng. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. 172, 177.

_Coloigne._ At Cologne, where the bones of the Three Kings or Wise Men of the East, _Gaspar_, _Melchior_ and _Balthazar_, are said to be preserved. See Coryat's Crudities; Chambers, Book of Days, ii. 751.

467. 'She knew much about travelling.'

468. _Gat-tothed_ = _gat-toothed_, meaning gap-toothed, having teeth wide apart or separated from one another. A _gat_ is an opening, and is allied to E. _gate_. The Friesic _gat_, Dan., Du., and Icel. _gat_, and Norweg. _gat_, all mean a hole, or a gap. Very similar is the use of the Shropshire _glat_, a gap in a hedge, also a gap in the mouth caused by loss of teeth. Example: 'Dick, yo' bin a flirt; I thought yo' wun (_were_) gwein to marry the cook at the paas'n's. Aye, but 'er'd gotten too many _glats_ i' the mouth for me'; Miss Jackson's Shropshire Wordbook. 'Famine--the _gap-toothed_ elf'; Golding's Ovid, b. 8; leaf 105. It occurs again, D. 603. [_Gat-toothed_ has also been explained as _goat-toothed_, lascivious, but the word _goat_ appears as _goot_ in Chaucer.] Perhaps the following piece of 'folk-lore' will help us out. 'A young lady the other day, in reply to an observation of mine--"What a lucky girl you are!"--replied; "So they used to say I should be when at school." "Why?" "Because my teeth were set _so far apart; it was a sure sign I should be lucky and travel_."'--Notes & Queries 1 Ser. [45] vi. 601; cf. the same, 7 Ser. vii. 306. The last quotation shews that the stop after _weye_ at the end of l. 467 should be a mere semicolon; since ll. 467 and 468 are closely connected.

469. _amblere_, an ambling horse.

470. _Y-wimpled_, covered with a wimple; see l. 151.

471. _targe_, target, shield.

472. _foot-mantel._ Tyrwhitt supposes this to be a sort of _riding-petticoat_, such as is now used by market-women. It is clearly shewn, as a blue outer skirt, in the drawing in the Ellesmere MS. At a later time it was called a _safe-guard_ (see Nares), and its use was to keep the gown clean. It may be added that, in the Ellesmere MS., the Wife is represented as riding astride. Hence she wanted 'a pair of spurs.'

474. _carpe_, prate, discourse; Icel. _karpa_, to brag. The present sense of _carp_ seems to be due to Lat. _carpere_.

475. _remedyes._ An allusion to the title and subject of Ovid's book, Remedia Amoris.

476. _the olde daunce_, the old game, or custom. The phrase is borrowed from Le Roman de la Rose, l. 3946--'Qu'el scet toute la vielle dance'; E. version, l. 4300--'For she knew al the olde daunce.' It occurs again; Troil. iii. 695. And in Troil. ii. 1106, we have the phrase _loves daunce_. Cf. _the amorouse daunce_, Troil. iv. 1431.

THE PERSOUN.

478. _Persoun of a toun_, the parson or parish priest. Chaucer, in his description of the parson, contrasts the piety and industry of the secular clergy with the wickedness and laziness of the religious orders or monks. See Dryden's 'Character of a Good Parson,' and Goldsmith's 'Deserted Village'; also Wyclif, ed. Matthew, p. 179.

482. _parisshens_, parishioners; in which _-er_ is a later suffix.

485. _y-preved_, proved (to be). _ofte sythes_, often-times; from A. S. _s[=i]ð_, a time.

486. 'He was very loath to excommunicate those who failed to pay the tithes that were due to him.' 'Refusal to pay tithes was punishable with the lesser excommunication'; Bell. Wyclif complains of 'weiward curatis' that 'sclaundren here parischenys many weies by ensaumple of pride, enuye, coueitise and vnresonable vengaunce, so cruely cursynge for tithes'; Works, ed. Matthew, p. 144 (cf. p. 132).

487. _yeven_, give; A. S. _gifan_. _out of doute_, without doubt.

489. _offring_, the voluntary contributions of his parishioners.

_substaunce_, income derived from his benefice.

490. _suffisaunce_, a sufficiency; enough to live on.

492. _lafte not_, left not, ceased not; from M. E. _leven_.

493. _meschief_, mishap, misfortune.

494. _ferreste_, farthest; superl. of _fer_, far. _muche_, great. _lyte_, small; A. S. _lyt_, small, little. [46]

497. _wroghte_, wrought, worked; pt. t. of _werchen_, to work.

498. The allusion is to Matt. v. 19, as shewn by a parallel passage in P. Plowman, C. xvi. 127.

502. _lewed_, unlearned, ignorant. _Lewed_ or _lewd_ originally signified the people, laity, as opposed to the clergy; the modern sense of the word is not common in Middle English. Cf. mod. E. _lewd_, in Acts xvii. 5. See _Lewd_ in Trench, Select Glossary.

503-4. _if a preest tak-e keep_, if a priest may (i. e. will) but pay heed to it. St. John Chrysostom also saith, 'It is a great shame for priests, when laymen be found faithfuller and more righteous than they.'--Becon's Invective against Swearing, p. 336.

507. _to hyre._ The parson did not leave his parish duties to be performed by a stranger, that he might have leisure to seek a chantry in St. Paul's. See Piers Plowman, B-text, Prol. l. 83; Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, ed. Wright, pp. 51, 52; Spenser, Shep. Kalendar (May).

508. _And leet_, and left (not). We should now say--'_Nor_ left.' So also, in l. 509, _And ran_ = Nor ran. _Leet_ is the pt. t. of _leten_, to let alone, let go.

509. Here again, _së-ynt_ is used as if it were dissyllabic; see ll. 120, 697.

510. _chaunterie_, chantry; an endowment for the payment of a priest to sing mass, agreeably to the appointment of the founder. 'There were thirty-five of these chantries established at St. Paul's, which were served by fifty-four priests; Dugd. Hist. pref. p. 41.'--Tyrwhitt's Glossary. On the difference between a _gild_ and a _chantry_, see the instructive remarks in Eng. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. 205-207, 259.

511. 'Or to be kept (i. e. remain) in retirement along with some fraternity.' I do not see how _with-holde_ can mean 'maintained,' as it is usually explained. Cf. _dwelte_ in l. 512, and _with-holde_ in G. 345.

514. _no mercenarie_, no hireling; see John x. 12, where the Vulgate version has _mercenarius_.

516. _despitous_, full of _despite_, or contempt; cf. E. _spite_.

517. _daungerous_, not affable, difficult to approach. Cf. Rom. of the Rose, l. 591:--'Ne of hir answer _daungerous_'; where the original has _desdaigneuse_. _digne_, full of dignity; hence, repellent. 'She was as _digne_ as water in a dich,' A. 3964; because stagnant water keeps people at a distance.

519. _fairnesse_, i. e. by leading a fair or good life. The Harleian MS. has _clennesse_, that is, a life of purity.

523. _snibben_, reprimand; cf. Dan. _snibbe_, to rebuke, scold; mod. E. _snub_. In Wyclif's translation of Matt, xviii. 15, the earlier version has _snybbe_ as a synonym for _reprove_.

_nones_; see l. 379, and the note.

525. _wayted after_, looked for. See line 571.

526. _spyced conscience_; so also in D. 435. _Spiced_ here seems to signify, says Tyrwhitt, nice, scrupulous; for a reason which is given [47] below. It occurs in the Mad Lover, act iii. sc. 1, by Beaumont and Fletcher. When Cleanthe offers a purse, the priestess says--

'Fy! no corruption....

_Cle._ Take it, it is yours; Be not so _spiced_; 'tis good gold; And goodness is no gall to th' conscience.'

'Under pretence of _spiced_ holinesse.'--Tract dated 1594, ap. Todd's Illustrations of Gower, p. 380.

'Fool that I was, to offer such a bargain To a _spiced-conscience_ chapman! but I care not, What he disdains to taste, others will swallow.' Massinger, Emperor of the East, i. 1.

'Will you please to put off Your holy habit, and _spiced conscience_? one, I think, infects the other.' Massinger, Bashful Lover, iv. 2.

The origin of the phrase is French. The name of _espices_ (spices) was given to the fees or dues which were payable (in advance) to judges. A 'spiced' judge, who would have a 'spiced' conscience, was scrupulous and exact, because he had been prepaid, and was inaccessible to any but large bribes. See Cotgrave, s. v. _espices_; Littré, s. v. _épice_; and, in particular, Les Oeuvres de Guillaume Coquillart, ed. P. Tarbé, t. i. p. 31, and t. ii. p. 114. (First explained by me in a letter to The Athenaeum, Nov. 26, 1892, p. 741.)

527. 'But the teaching of Christ and his twelve apostles, that taught he.'

528. Cf. Acts, i. 1; Gower, Conf. Amant. ii. 188.

THE PLOWMAN.

529. _Plowman_; not a hind or farm-labourer, but a poor farmer, who himself held the plough; cf. note to P. Plowman, C. viii. 182. _was_, who was.

530. _y-lad_, carried, lit. led. Cf. prov. E. _lead_, to cart (corn).

531. _swinker_, toiler, workman; see l. 186. Cf. _swink_, toil, in l. 540.

534. _though him gamed or smerte_, though it was pleasant or unpleasant to him.

536. _dyke_, make ditches, _delve_, dig; A. S. _delfan_. Chaucer may be referring to P. Plowman, B. v. 552, 553.

541. _mere._ People of quality would not ride upon a mare.

THE MILLER.

545. _carl_, fellow; Icel. _karl_, cognate with A. S. _ceorl_, a churl. See A. 3469; also A. 1423-4. This description of the Miller should be compared with that in A. 3925-3940. [48]

547. 'That well proved (to be true); for everywhere, where he came.'

548. _the ram._ This was the usual prize at wrestling-matches. Tyrwhitt says--'Matthew Paris mentions a wrestling match at Westminster, A. D. 1222, at which a ram was the prize.' Cf. Sir Topas, B. 1931; Tale of Gamelyn, 172, 280.

549. _a thikke knarre_, a thickly knotted (fellow), i. e. a muscular fellow. Cf. M. E. _knor_, Mid. Du. _knorre_, a knot in wood; and E. _gnarled_. It is worth notice that, in ll. 549-557, there is no word of French origin, except _tuft_.

550. _of harre_, off its hinges, lit. hinge. 'I horle at the notes, and heve hem al of herre'; Poem on Singing, in Reliq. Antiquae, ii. 292. Gower has _out of herre_, off its hinges, out of use, out of joint; Conf. Amant. bk. ii. ed. Pauli, i. 259; bk. iii. i. 318. Skelton has:--'All is out of harre,' Magnificence, l. 921. From A.S. _heorr_, a hinge.

553. Todd cites from Lilly's _Midas_--'How, sir, will you be trimmed? Will you have a beard like a _spade_ or a bodkin?'--Illust. of Gower, p. 258.

554. _cop_, top; A. S. _copp_, a top; cf. G. _Kopf_.

557. _nose-thirles_, lit. nose-holes; mod. E. _nostrils_.

559. _forneys._ 'Why, asks Mr. Earle, should Chaucer so readily fall on the simile of a _furnace_? What, in the uses of the time, made it come so ready to hand? The weald of Kent was then, like our "black country" now, a great smelting district, its wood answering to our coal; and Chaucer was Knight of the Shire, or M.P. for Kent.'--Temporary Preface to the Six-text edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, p. 99.

560. _Ianglere_, loud talker.

_goliardeys_, a ribald jester, one who gained his living by following rich men's tables, and telling tales and making sport for the guests. Tyrwhitt says, 'This jovial sect seems to have been so called from _Golias_, the real or assumed name of a man of wit, towards the end of the twelfth century, who wrote the Apocalypsis Goliæ, and other pieces in burlesque Latin rhymes, some which have been falsely [?] attributed to Walter Map.' But it would appear that _Golias_ is the sole invention of Walter Map, the probable author of the 'Golias' poems. See Morley's Eng. Writers, 1888,