Notes to the Canterbury Tales.

'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.

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.'

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 ȝimstanes 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. stēm, 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.

'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.

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, 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 tēon, to educate.

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.

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, but all with madens, the faireste cowlde be gottyn, and always marede them ryght well."'

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.'

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.

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

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.

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

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, 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.'

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.

'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;

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.

'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.

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.

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 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 Fœdera, 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 Fœdera, 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.

285. Clerk, a university student, a scholar preparing for the priesthood. It also signifies a man of learning, a man in holy orders. See 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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):—

'Sanguineus.

Largus, amans, hilaris, ridens, rubeique coloris,

Cantans, carnosus, satis audax, atque benignus:

multum appetit, quia calidus; multum potest, quia humidus.'

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.

'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.

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.

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. snīwan.

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.

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.'

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.

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 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.

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.

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. 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).

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.

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 þām.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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. lād, a way, a course, the sb. whence the verb to lead is derived. It is itself derived from A. S. līðan, to travel.

410. We find actual mention of a vessel called the Maudelayne 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.

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):—