[1] See Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. I., and Kirkpatrick's History of Religious Orders in Norwich, pp. 109, 113. (The Athenæum, Nov. 25, 1876; p. 688.)
[2] Rolls of Parliament, i. 234, 448.
[3] For authorities, see Riley's Memorials of London, pp. xxxiii, xxxiv.
[4] See The Athenæum, Nov. 19, 1893, p. 704.
[5] Life-Records of Chaucer (Chaucer Soc.), p. 128; The Athenæum, Jan. 29, 1881, p.165. From membrane 17 of the Fine Roll, 4 Edw. II.; Parliamentary Writs, vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 30.
[6] The same, p. 126; from mem. 13 of the Coram Rege Roll of Hilary, 19 Edw. II. (1326).
[7] Riley, Mem. London, p. xxxiii.
[8] From Richard Chaucer's will (below); see p. xiv.
[9] Inferred from law-proceedings (below); and cf. note 5, above. Thomas Stace was appointed collector of customs on wine at Ipswich in 1310; Parl. Writs, vol. ii. pt. 2.
[10] Thomas Heyroun, by his will dated April 7, 1349, and proved in the Hustings Court of the City of London, appointed his brother [i. e. his half-brother], John Chaucer, as his executor. In July of the same year, John Chaucer, by the description of 'citizen and vintner, executor of the will of my brother Thomas Heyroun,' executed a deed relating to some lands. See Morris's Chaucer, i. 93, or Nicolas, Life of Chaucer, Note A; from the Records of the Hustings Court, 23 Edw. III.
[11] In December, 1324, Richard and Mary Chaucer declared that they had 'remained in full and peaceful possession of the said wardship [of John Chaucer] for a long while, namely, for one year.' See Life-Records (as in note 5), p. 126.
[12] Riley, Mem. London, p. xxxiii.
[13] Placitorum Abbreviatio, temp. Ric. I.—Edw. II., 1811; p. 354, col. 2; The Athenæum, Jan. 29, 1881, p. 165.
[14] I. e. Laurence, the man of Geoffrey Stace.
[15] They did not really succeed in this; it was disproved.
[16] As they were trying to make out a case, it is clear that John Chaucer was still just under twelve on Dec. 3, 1324, when they abducted him.
[17] Rolls of Parliament, ii. 14. Mr. Rye prints 'nulson' in place of 'unkore.'
[18] See the Calendar of Wills in the Hustings Court, by R.R. Sharpe, vol. i. p. 591.
[19] Here Sir H. Nicolas inserts '13th of July,' which I do not understand. His own Chronology of History correctly tells us that the day of St. Thomas the Martyr is Dec. 29, which in 1349 fell on Tuesday. The Monday after it was Jan. 4, 1350; the 23rd year of Edw. III. ended Jan. 24, 1350.
[20] Hustings Roll, Guildhall; see The Athenæum, Dec. 13, 1873, p. 772; The Academy, Oct. 13, 1877, p. 364. The joint names of John and Agnes Chaucer occur in 1354, and later, in 1363 and 1366.
[21] See below, under the date 1381; and The Athenæum, Nov. 29, 1873, p. 698; Dec. 13, 1873, p. 772.
[22] Timbs, Curiosities of London, p. 815.
[23] See a document printed in full in The Academy, Oct. 13, 1877, p. 364.
[24] Rymer's Fœdera, vol. ii. pt. iv. p. 23.
[25] Original Writs of Privy Seal in the Rolls House (Nicolas).
[26] Riley; Memorials of London, p. xxxiii.
[27] See The Athenæum, Dec. 13, 1873, p. 772; Nov. 19, 1892, p. 704; and The Academy, Oct. 13, 1877, p. 364. Perhaps his father's death enabled Chaucer to marry; he was married in 1366, or earlier.
[28] 'Bartholomeus atte chapel, ciuis et vinitarius Londinie, et Agnes, uxor eius, ac uxor quondam Johannis Chaucer, nuper ciuis et vinitarii dicte ciuitatis.'—Communicated to The Academy (as in note 27) by W. D. Selby.
[29] It is needless to multiply instances. Dante speaks of 35 years as being 'the middle of life's journey'; and Jean de Meun (Le Testament, ed. Méon, iv. 9) says that a man flourishes till he is 30 or 40 years old; after which he does nothing but languish (ne fait que langorir).
[30] Life-Records of Chaucer, p. 97 (Chaucer Soc.); Fortnightly Review, Aug. 15, 1866.
[31] Johnes, tr. of Froissart, bk. i. c. 206.
[32] The same, c. 207.
[33] Certainly not Retiers, near Rennes, in Brittany, more than 200 miles on the other side of Paris, as suggested by Sir H. Nicolas. Froissart mentions 'Rhetel' expressly. 'Detachments from the [English] army scoured the country.... Some of them went over the whole country of Rhetel;' bk. i. c. 208.
[34] The Athenæum, Nov. 22, 1873; p. 663. From the Wardrobe Book, 63/9, in the Record Office.
[35] He was lodging at Guillon, in Burgundy, from Ash-Wednesday (Feb. 18) until Mid-lent (March 12); Fr. bk. i. c. 210.
[36] This is well worth notice; it shews that it took several days to travel to Canterbury, even for a king who was anxious to return to his own land. In Froissart, bk. iv. c. 118, is an account of two knights who stopped at the same places. See Temp. Preface to the Cant. Tales, by F. J. Furnivall, p. 129.
[37] Johnes, tr. of Froissart, bk. i. c. 213.
[38] Johnes, tr. of Froissart, bk. i. c. 213. The Wyf of Bathe (see Cant. Tales, Prol. 465) once went on a pilgrimage to Boulogne. Chaucer probably did the same, viz. in the last week of October, 1360.
[39] Exchequer, Q. R. Wardrobe Accounts, 39/10; Life-Records, p. xvii.
[40] Rot. Pat. 40 Edw. III. p. 2, membrane 30. The title 'domicella camerae' implies that she was married; N. and Q., 8 S., iii. 355.
[41] Issue Rolls of the Exchequer, Mich., 42 Edw. III.; Nicolas, Note DD.
[42] This exception is incorrect. In the Issue Roll of Thomas de Brantingham, (for 1370), p. 359, it is noted that Philippa Chaucer received 10 marks (i. e. for the whole year), on Nov. 7, 1370.
[43] Here Nicolas inserts 'like herself'; this assumes her identity with 'Philippe Chausy,' which seems to be right; see p. xxi.
[44] Issue Rolls of the Exchequer; Roll for Easter, 10 Ric. II.; Issue Roll, Mich., 44 Edw. III.; ed. Devon, 1835; p. 359.
[45] Writ of Privy Seal, dated March 10, 43 Edw. III., 1369. It mentions Philippa Chaucer, 'damoiselle,' and Philippa Pykart, 'veilleresse.' See Nicolas, life of Chaucer, Note EE.
[46] The Athenæum, Nov. 22, 1873; p. 663.
[47] Register of John of Gaunt, vol. i. fol. 159b; Notes and Queries, 7 Ser., v. 289; Trial-Forewords, p. 129.
[48] The same, vol. i. fol. 195b; N. and Q., 7 S., v. 289.
[49] The same, fol. 90; N. and Q. (as above).
[50] Issue Roll, Easter, 50 Edw. III.; N. and Q. (as in note 48).
[51] Register of John of Gaunt, vol. ii. foll. 33b, 49, 61; Nicolas, Note DD.
[52] Issue Roll, Mich., 8 Ric II., Sept. 20.
[53] Rymer's Fœdera, new ed.; vol. iii. p. 829. (G.)
[54] Issue Rolls of the Exchequer; Michaelmas, 42 Edw. III. (1367); Easter, 42 Edw. III. (1368); see Nicolas, Notes B and C. On Nov. 6, 1367, it is expressly noted that he received his pension himself (per manus proprias).
[55] Issue Rolls; Michaelmas, 43 Edw. III. (Nicolas.)
[56] Rymer's Fœdera; vol. iii. p. 845. The names of many of those who accompanied the Duke are printed in the same volume, pp. 842-4; but the name of Chaucer is not among them.
[57] The Athenæum, Nov. 29, 1873; p. 698. Exch. L. T. R. Wardrobe, 43 Edw. III. Box A. no. 8. (Ch. Soc., Trial-Forewords, p. 129).
[58] Exch. Q. R. Wardrobe, 64/3; leaf 16, back. See The Athenæum, Nov. 22, 1873, p. 663. A similar entry occurs in 1372; and again in 1373.
[59] Exch. Q. R. Wardrobe, 40/9. (Ch. Soc., Trial-Forewords, p. 129).
[60] Rot. Pat. 44 Edw. III. p. 2. m. 20. (G.)
[61] Issue Rolls of Thomas de Brantingham, 44 Edw. III., ed. F. Devon, 1835; p. 289.
[62] The same; p. 19.
[63] Issue Rolls, 45-47 Edw. III.
[64] The Athenæum, Nov. 22, 1873; p. 663.
[65] Rot. Franc. 46 Edw. III. m. 8. (G.) See Rymer's Fœdera, new edition, vol. iii. p. 964.
[66] Issue Roll, Michaelmas, 47 Edw. III., 1373. See Nicolas, Note D. In this document Chaucer is called 'armiger.'
[67] Issue Roll, Michaelmas, 48 Edw. III., 1374. See Nicolas, Note E. The Foreign Accounts, 47 Edw. III. roll 3, include Chaucer's accounts for this journey from Dec. 1, 1372, to May 23, 1373.
[68] The same.
[69] Much of Sir H. Nicolas's argument against this reasonable supposition is founded on the assertion that Chaucer was 'not acquainted with Italian'; which is now known to be the reverse of the truth. He even urges that not a single Italian word occurs in Chaucer's writings, whereas it would have been absurd for him to use words which his readers could not understand. Nevertheless, we find mention of a 'ducat in Venyse'; Ho. Fame, 1348.
[70] Rot. Pat., 48 Edw. III., p. i. m. 20. (G.) See Rymer's Fœdera, new ed. vol. iii. p. 1001.
[71] Writ of Privy Seal (in French); 18 Apr. 1 Ric. II. (1378); see Nicolas, Note K.
[72] Memorials of London, ed. Riley, p. 377. See § 26 below, p. xxxviii.
[73] Rot. Pat., 48 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 7, in Turri Londinensi; see Fœdera, new ed. vol. iii. p. 1004. (G.)
[74] Rot. Pat., 49 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 8.
[75] Calendarium Inquisitionum post Mortem, 46 Edw. III. no. 58.
[76] Rot. Claus., 1 Ric. II., m. 45. (G.) The petition, in French, is printed in full in Liber Custumarum, ed. Riley, ii. 466.
[77] Rot. Pat. 49 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 4. (G.) Calend. Inquis. post Mortem, 49 Edw. III., part 2, no. 40. A solidate of land is supposed to be a quantity of land (Blount suggests 12 acres) yielding 1s. of yearly rent. Sole means 'a pond'; see Pegge's Kenticisms. Soles is the name of a manor in Bonnington, not far from Chillenden, about half-way between Canterbury and Deal.
[78] Issue Roll, Mich., 50 Edw. III.
[79] Receiver's Accounts in the Office of the Duchy of Lancaster, from Mich. 1376 to Mich. 1377; see Nicolas, Note F.
[80] Rot. Pat., 50 Edw. III., p. i. m. 5. (G.)
[81] Issue Roll, Mich., 51 Edw. III.; see Nicolas, Note G.
[82] Rot. Franc., 51 Edw. III., m. 7. (G.)
[83] Issue Roll, Mich., 51 Edw. III.; see Nicolas, Note H.
[84] Issue Roll, Easter, 51 Edw. III.; Nicolas, Note I; Trial-Forewords, p. 131.
[85] Rymer's Fœdera, new ed., vol. iii. p. 1073 (in French).
[86] The same, p. 1076 (in French).
[87] Rot. Franc., 51 Edw III., m. 5. (G.)
[88] Issue Roll, Easter, 51 Edw. III. 'Galfrido Chaucer armigero regis misso in nuncium in secretis negociis domini Regis versus partes Francie.' See Nicolas, Note I.
[89] In 1377, Easter fell on March 29, Ash Wednesday on Feb. 11, and Shrove Tuesday on Feb. 10.
[90] Wardrobe Accounts of 50 and 51 Edw. III. (Nicolas).
[91] The same.
[92] Rymer's Fœdera, vol. vii. p. 184.
[93] Fine Roll, 1 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 11; Athenæum, May 26, 1888, p. 661.
[94] This appears from the Patent of May 1, 1388, by which Chaucer's pensions were assigned to John Scalby; see Rot. Pat., 11 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 1.
[95] Rot. Pat., 11 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 1 (as in the last note); Writ of Privy Seal (in French), Apr. 18, 1 Ric. II. (see Nicolas, Note K); Issue Roll, Easter, 1 Ric. II. (May 14; see Nicolas, Note L).
[96] Issue Roll, Easter, 1 Ric. II., (as above).
[97] Rot. Franc., 1 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 6.
[98] The same; see Nicolas, Note M.
[99] Issue Roll, Easter, 1 Ric. II.; Trial-Forewords, p. 131; Nicolas, Note L.
[100] Issue Roll, Mich., 2 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note N.
[101] Issue Roll, Easter, 2 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note O.
[102] Issue Roll, Mich. 3 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note P.
[103] The same; Easter, 3 Ric. II.; see the same, Note Q.
[104] The same; 4 Ric. II.; see the same, Note R.
[105] The Athenæum, Nov. 29, 1873, p. 698. From the Close Roll of 3 Ric. II. And see the whole matter discussed at length in Trial-Forewords, pp. 136-144 (Ch. Soc.).
[106] Issue Roll, 4 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note R; Devon's Issues of the Exchequer, 1837, p. 315.
[107] Godwin's Life of Chaucer, iv. 284.
[108] Thynne's Animadversions, &c., ed. F. J. Furnivall, p. 12, note 2; cf. The Athenæum, Nov. 29, 1873, p. 698.
[109] Issue Roll, Mich., 5 Ric. II.; see Notes and Queries, 3rd Ser. viii. 367.
[110] Rot. Pat., 5 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 15. (G.)
[111] For these payments, see Issue Roll, Easter, 5 Ric. II.; in Notes and Queries, 3rd Ser. viii. 367.
[112] Issue Rolls, Easter, 5 and 6 Ric. II.; see N. and Q. (as above).
[113] Issue Roll, Mich., 7 Ric. II.; ib. It was usual to make up accounts at Michaelmas; which may explain 'the year late elapsed.'
[114] Issue Roll, Easter, 7 Ric. II.; ib.
[115] Rot. Claus., 8 Ric. II., m. 30. (G.)
[116] Notes and Queries, 3 S. viii. 368; The Athenæum, Apr. 14, 1888; p. 468.
[117] The Athenæum, Jan. 28, 1888; p. 116.
[118] Rot. Pat., 8 Ric. II., p. 2. m. 31. (G.)
[119] Issue Roll, Easter, 8 Ric. II.; see Notes and Queries, 3rd Ser. viii. 368.
[120] 'Ful ofte tyme he was knight of the shire'; Cant. Ta., A 356. It was usual, but not necessary, for such knights to reside within their county (Nicolas, Note S).
[121] Rot. Claus., 10 Ric. II., m. 16 d.
[122] See Annals of England, Oxford, 1876; p. 206. Sir Nicholas Brembre had been Lord Mayor of London for the three preceding years, 1383-5.
[123] Printed in Godwin's Life of Chaucer; in The Scrope and Grosvenor Roll, ed. Nicolas, i. 178; and in Moxon's Chaucer, p. xiii.
[124] An error for Rethel, near Rheims; see above, footnote 33.
[125] Letter-book in the Guildhall, discovered by Prof. Hales; see The Academy, Dec. 6, 1879, p. 410, and Hales, Folia Litteraria, p. 87. In Riley's Memorials of London, p. 469, is recorded a resolution by the corporation to let no more houses situated over a city-gate.
[126] Rot. Pat., 10 Ric. II., p. 1. m. 5 and m. 9. Perhaps this new Controller was a descendant of the Henry Gisors who was Sheriff of London in 1328.
[127] It was once a fashion to ascribe his misfortunes to the part he was supposed to have taken with respect to a quarrel in 1384 between the court party and the citizens of London regarding John of Northampton, who had been Mayor in 1382. There is no evidence whatever to shew that Chaucer had anything to do with it, beyond an unauthorised and perhaps false interpretation of certain obscure passages in a piece called The Testament of Love, which (as is now known) he certainly did not write!
[128] Issue Roll, Easter, 10 Ric. II.
[129] Issue Rolls, Easter, 10 Ric. II.; Mich, and Easter, 11 Ric. II.
[130] Rot. Pat., 11 Ric. II., p. 2. m. 1. (G.) Nicolas remarks that a John Scalby, of Scarborough in Yorkshire, was one of the persons of that town who were excepted from the king's pardon for insurrection in October, 1382; Rot. Parl. vol. iii. p. 136. (Scalby is the name of a village near Scarborough.)
[131] Cf. 'at Eltham or at Shene'; Leg. Good Women, 497; but this passage is of an earlier date.
[132] Rot. Pat., 13 Ric. II., p. 1. m. 30. (G.)
[133] The Athenæum, Jan. 28, 1888; p. 116; Trial-Forewords, p. 133.
[134] Originalia, 13 Ric. II, m. 30; Trial-Forewords, p. 133.
[135] The Athenæum, Feb. 7, 1874; p. 196.
[136] Collinson, Hist, of Somersetshire, iii. 54-74; The Athenæum, Nov. 20, 1886, p. 672; Life-Records (Chaucer Soc.), p. 117.
[137] Rot. Pat., 14 Ric. II., m. 33; Issue Roll, Easter, 13 Ric. II. (G.); Trial-Forewords, p. 133.
[138] The Athenæum, Feb. 7 and 14, 1874, pp. 196, 227; Life-Records (Ch. Soc.), p. 5.
[139] Rot. Pat., 14 Ric. II., p. 2. m. 24: 'quem dilectus serviens noster Galfridus Chaucer clericus operationum nostrarum sub se deputavit'; &c. 'Clericus' is here literal; 'clerk' of the works.
[140] Afterwards Sheriff of London, viz. in 1417-8 (Fabyan).
[141] Archæologia, vol. xxxiv. 45.
[142] Rot. Pat., 15 Ric. II., p. 1, m. 27; see Godwin, Life of Chaucer, iv. 67.
[143] Issue Rolls, Mich. and Easter, 15 Ric. II.; and Easter, 16 Ric. II.
[144] Rot. Pat., 17 Ric. II., pt. 2. m. 35; printed in full in Godwin's Life of Chaucer, and again in Furnivall's Trial-Forewords to the Minor Poems, p. 26.
[145] Issue Roll, Mich., 18 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note U.
[146] Issue Rolls, Mich. and Easter, 18 Ric. II., and Mich., 19 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Notes U, V, and W.
[147] Rot. Claus., 19 Ric. II. m. 8 d.
[148] Issue Roll, Mich., 21 Ric. II. See Nicolas, Note X.
[149] Issue Roll, Mich., 21 Ric. II. See Nicolas, Note X.
[150] The Athenæum, Sept. 13, 1879; p. 338.
[151] Rot. Pat., 21 Ric. II., p. 3. m. 26. (G.)
[152] Issue Roll, Easter, 21 Ric. II. See Nicolas, Note Y.
[153] The Athenæum, Jan. 28, 1888; p. 116.
[154] Rot. Pat., 22 Ric. I., p. 1. m. 8. (G.)
[155] Issue Roll, Mich., 22 Ric. II.; see Nicolas, Note Z.
[156] Rot. Pat., 1 Hen. IV., p. 1. m. 18; and p. 5. m. 12. (G.)
[157] See Issue Roll, Easter, 1 Hen. IV.; in Nicolas, Note BB.
[158] Godwin, Life of Chaucer, iv. 365, where the document is printed; Hist. MSS. Commission, i. 95.
[159] Issue Roll, Mich., 1 Hen IV.; see Nicolas, Note AA.
[160] Issue Roll, Easter, 1 Hen. IV.; see Nicolas, Note BB.
[161] Stowe's Survey of London, ed. Thoms, p. 171; Nicolas, Life of Chaucer.
[162] Rot. Pat., 1 Hen. IV., p. 1. m. 10.
[163] Rot. Pat., 4 Hen. IV., m. 19; Rot. Parl. iv. 178 b.
[164] Rot. Pat., 12 Hen. IV., m. 34.
[165] Rot. Norman., 5 Hen. V., m. 7; ed. 1835, p. 284.
[166] Rot. Parl. vol. iv. p. 35.
[167] Rot. Pat., 12 Hen. IV., m. 7.
[168] It actually begins by quoting two lines from the Knightes Tale, A 1785-6; so it is later than 1386. There is at least one non-Chaucerian rime, viz. at l. 61, where gren-e (dissyllabic in Chaucer) rimes with the pp. been. See p. 39 below.
[169] The seal has lately been re-examined by experts, after application to the Record Office by Dr. Furnivall. See Archæologia, xxxiv. 42, where an engraving of the seal is (inexactly) given, and the deed is printed at length.
[170] Collinson, Hist. of Somersetshire, iii. 54-74; Life-Records, p. 117.
[171] MS. in Lincoln College, p. 377, quoted in Chalmers' English Poets, vol. i. p. x; Letter by Prof. Hales to the Athenæum, Mar. 31, 1888; Hales, Folia Litteraria, p. 109; Lounsbury, Studies, i. 108.
[172] So says Nicolas; 'evidently' means that such is the most likely explanation. The O. F. roe (Lat. rota) means 'a wheel'; and roet is its diminutive.
[173] She is described as 'the most renowned Lady Katherine de Roelt [error for Roet or Roett] deceased, late Duchess of Lancaster,' and as having had 'divers inheritances in the county of Hainault,' in Rot. Pat., 13 Hen. IV., p. 1. m. 35; see Rymer's Fœdera, viii. 704, and the Account of the Swynford family in the Excerpta Historica, p. 158. Nicolas, Note CC.
[174] This seems to be the sole trace of Sir Payne Roet's existence.
[175] The Testament of Love was greatly relied upon by Godwin and others. They thence inferred that Chaucer was mixed up with the dispute as to the appointment of John of Northampton to the mayoralty of London in 1382; that he was imprisoned; that he fled to Zealand; that he was in exile for two years; that, on his return, he was sent to the Tower for three years, and not released till 1389; with more rubbish of the same sort. However, it so happens that Chaucer did not write this piece (see p. 35, note 4). More than this, I have lately discovered that the initial letters of the chapters form an acrostic, which reads thus: Margaret of virtw, have merci on tsknvi. The last word may be an anagram for Kitsvn, i. e. Kitson; it is certainly not an anagram for Chaucer. See my letter in The Academy, Mar. 11, 1893, p. 222.
[176] Sir H. Nicolas says that some have inferred that Chaucer was living near Oxford in 1391, and refers to Ast. prol. 7, which mentions 'oure orizonte.' We are not justified in drawing such an inference.
[177] Prof. Lounsbury includes H. F. 995, where the poet declines to be taught astronomy (under the most uncomfortable circumstances) because he is 'too old.' Any man of thirty (or less) might have said the same; the passage tells us nothing at all.
[178] Sir H. Nicolas says that, in L. G. W. 189, he alludes to his poem called The Flower and the Leaf. But that poem is not his, though its title was doubtless suggested by the expressions which Chaucer there uses.
[179] Mr. Wright printed his text from MS. Reg. D. vi. Dr. Furnivall gives these passages from MS. Harl. 4866, in his edition of Hoccleve's Minor Poems, p. xxxi. I give a corrected text, due to a collation of these copies, with very slight alterations.
[180] Or, and lerned lyte or naught (MS. Harl. 4866).
[181] So Harl.; Reg. Of rethoryk fro vs; to Tullius.
[182] Both MSS. have hyer (= higher); an obvious error for heyr (= heir).
[183] I think not; it is too short. I take it to be a small pen-knife in a sheath; useful for making erasures. So Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, s. v. Anelace; Fairholt, on Costume in England, s. v. Knives.
[184] I see no reason for placing this after 1372; surely ll. 36-56 (from Dante) are a later insertion. Observe 'us wrecches' in G. 32, and 'Me wrecche' in G. 58. These parallel lines must (I think) have once been in closer proximity.
[185] It is not very likely that he ever finished his translation, when we consider his frequent habit of leaving his works incomplete, and the enormous length of the French text (22074 lines in Méon's edition).
[186] By the spelling malady(e), I mean that the word must be pronounced malady in the text, whereas the Chaucerian form is malady-ë in four syllables. And so in other cases.
[187] Doubtless the author meant to employ the form quoynt or coint; but Chaucer has queynt, Cant. Ta. A 2333, G 752.
[188] Courtepy rimes with sobrely; Cant. Ta. prol. 289.
[189] As to awry (or awry-e?), we have little evidence beyond the present passage.
[190] Enemy rimes with I, Cant. Ta. A 1643, royally, id. 1793; &c.
[191] As it is the natural instinct of many critics to claim for themselves even small discoveries, I note that this paragraph was written in July, 1891, and that the curious, but not very important fact above announced, was first noticed by me some three months previously.
[192] The calculation is as follows. A quire of 16 pages, at 24 lines a page, contains 384 lines. Three such quires contain about 1152 lines, which, added to 5810 (in A and B), bring us to l. 6962 (say, 6964). In the fourth quire, if A, B, C, &c., be successive pages, these pages contained the lines following. A, 6965-6988; B, 6989-7012; C, 7013-36; D, 7037-60; E, 7061-84; F, 7085-7108; G (25 lines), 7109-33; H (25 lines), 7134-7158; I (25 lines), 7159-7183; K (25 lines), 7184-7208; L, 7209-32; M, 7233-56; N, 7257-80; O, 7281-7304; P, 7305-28; Q, 7329-52.
[193] I have been greatly assisted in this matter by D. Donaldson, Esq., who gave me some beautifully executed photographic copies of three pages of the MS., which I have shewn to many friends, including Mr. Bond and Mr. Thompson at the British Museum.
[194] The allusion to prince Edward, 'son of the lord of Windsor' (see note to l. 1250), is not in all the copies; so it may have been added afterwards. Edward I. was not born till 1239.
[195] Some copies are dated 1814; but I can detect no difference in them, except that the later copies have an additional frontispiece.
[196] The Legend of Good Women is here meant: and 'xxv.' is certainly an error for 'xix.'
[197] Printed separately in the present edition, in vol. iii.
[198] Of course I mean that dy-e is the Chaucerian form; the author of the Lamentation pronounced it differently, viz. as dy.
[199] See the excellent treatise by Dr. E. Köppel entitled 'Laurents de Premierfait und John Lydgates Bearbeitungen von Boccaccios De Casibus Virorum Illustrium'; München, 1885.
[200] Not Ovid, but Statius; Lydgate makes a slip here; see note to IV. 245.
[201] In Lydgate's Lyfe of St. Albon, ed. Hortsmann, l. 15, this line appears in the more melodious form—'The golden trumpet of the House of Fame.'
[202] Hoccleve's poem entitled 'Moder of God' is erroneously attributed to Chaucer in two Scottish copies (Arch. Seld. B 24, and Edinb. 18. 2. 8). But it occurs among 16 poems, all by Hoccleve, in a MS. in the collection of the late Sir Thos. Phillipps, as already noted in § 1 above. A few of these poems (not including the 'Moder of God') were printed from this MS. in the edition of some of 'Occleve's Poems' by G. Mason, in 1796.
[203] Printed 'Six couplets'; clearly a slip of the pen.
[204] They are printed in full below, on p. 46.
[205] i. e. the Parliament of Foules.
[206] La Belle Dame sans Merci, a poem translated from the French originally written by 'Maister Aleyn,' chief secretary to the King of France. Certainly not by Chaucer; for Alain Chartier, the author of the original French poem, was only about four years old when Chaucer died. Moreover, it is now known that the author of the English poem was Sir Richard Ros. See p. 35, note 2.
[207] All in Caxton's edition of the Minor Poems, described above, p. 27.
[208] Both in the small quarto volume described above, p. 27.
[209] Speght added three more pieces, but they are also found in ed. 1550 and ed. 1542, at the end of the Table of Contents; see below, p. 45, nos. 66-8.
[210] Jack Upland is in prose, and in the form of a succession of questions directed against the friars.
[211] I have often made use of a handy edition with the following titlepage: 'The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, with an Essay on his Language and Versification and an Introductory Discourse, together with Notes and a Glossary. By Thomas Tyrwhitt. London, Edward Moxon, Dover Street, 1855.' I cannot but think that this title-page may have misled others, as it for a long time misled myself. As a fact, Tyrwhitt never edited anything beyond the Canterbury Tales, though he has left us some useful notes upon the Minor Poems, and his Glossary covers the whole ground. The Minor Poems in this edition are merely reprinted from the black-letter editions.
[212] Probably copies slightly differ. The book described by me is a copy in my own possession, somewhat torn at the beginning, and imperfect at the end. But the three missing leaves only refer to Lydgate's Storie of Thebes.
[213] I print in italics the names of the pieces which I reject as spurious. In the case of The Romaunt of the Rose, the first 1705 lines are genuine; but the rest, which is spurious, is more than three-fourths of the whole. See p. 1 above.
[214] I. e. the folios are misnumbered. Piece 8 begins with fol. ccxliiii, which is followed by ccxlvj (sic), ccxli (sic), ccxli (repeated), ccxlii, and ccxliii; which brings us to 'ccxliiii' over again.
[215] Marked Fol. cclxxvj by mistake.
[216] Nos. 28-30 are in no previous edition.
[217] Stowe did not observe that this had occurred already, in the midst of poem no. 33.
[218] Miscalled Fol. cccxxxix. Also, the next folio is called cccxlviij., after which follows cccxlix., and so on.
[219] In the Preface to Morris's Chaucer, p. x, we are told that the editor took his copy of this poem from Thynne's edition of 1532. This is an oversight; for it does not occur there; Stowe's edition is meant.
[220] 'Thomas Occleve mentions it himself, as one of his own compositions, in a Dialogue which follows his Complaint, MS. Bodley 1504.'—Tyrwhitt.
[221] See Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 52. Cf. Englische Studien, x. 206.
[222] I have found the reference. It is Shirley who says so, in a poetical 'introduction'; see MS. Addit. 16165, fol. 3.
[223] It runs thus:—'Quod loue, I shall tel thee, this lesson to learne, myne owne true seruaunte, the noble Philosophicall Poete in Englishe, which euermore hym busieth & trauaileth right sore, my name to encrease, wherefore all that willen me good, owe to doe him worship and reuerence both; truly his better ne his pere, in schole of my rules, coud I neuer finde: He, quod she, in a treatise that he made of my seruaunt Troilus, hath this matter touched, & at the full this question [of predestination] assoiled. Certainly his noble saiyngs can I not amend; in goodness of gentil manlich spech, without any maner of nicitie of starieres (sic) imaginacion, in wit and in good reason of sentence, he passeth al other makers'; ed. 1561. (Read storieres, story-writer's.)
[224] Hoccleve appeals to St. Margaret, in his Letter of Cupid, st. 6 from the end. Lydgate wrote 'the Lyfe of St. Margarete.' I have a strong feeling that the poem is one of Lydgate's. Lines 24-26 seem to be imitated from Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, ll. 197-9.
[225] I leave this sentence as I wrote it in 1888; shortly afterwards, the attribution of no. 57 to Chaucer received confirmation from a note in the Phillipps MS. See p. 75.
[226] There is another copy of The Craft of Lovers in MS. Harl. 2251. It is there dated 1459.
[227] I. e. Joan of Navarre, who was married to Henry IV in 1403.
[228] A good French Virelai is one by Eustace Deschamps, ed. Tarbé, 1849; i. 25.
[229] See remarks on this poem in The New English, by T. L. Kington Oliphant, i. 402.
[230] It is much to be regretted that Prof. Morley, in his new edition of his English Writers, still clings to the notion of 'the Court of Love' being Chaucer's. It is sufficient to say that, after 1385, Chaucer's poems are of a far higher order, especially as regards correctness of idiom and rhythm. Our knowledge of the history of the English language has made some advance of late years, and it is no longer possible to ignore all the results of linguistic criticism.
[231] A great peculiarity of this poem is the astonishing length, of the sentences. Many of them run to fifty lines or more. As to the MS., see Thynne's Animadversions, ed. Furnivall, 1875, p. 30. A second MS. is now in the British Museum (Addit. 10303), also written about 1550.
[232] The authoress had an eye for colour, and some knowledge, one would think, of heraldry. There is a tinsel-like glitter about this poem which gives it a flashy attractiveness, in striking contrast to the easy grace of Chaucer's workmanship. In the same way, the authoress of 'The Assembly of Ladies' describes the colours of the dresses of the characters, and, like the authoress of 'The Flower and the Leaf,' quotes occasional scraps of French.
[233] Plesir may be meant, but Chaucer does not use it; he says plesaunce.
[234] It is so termed in a table of contents in MS. Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 3. 15, which (as noted on p. 45) contains all three of the pieces here numbered 66, 67, and 68.
[235] The copy of no. XXI. in MS. Fairfax 16 has not been printed. I made a transcript of it myself. There is another unprinted copy in MS. Harl. 7578. I also copied out nos. XII., XXII., XXIII.
[236] Called 'Cm.' in the footnotes to vol. iv.
[237] There are two copies in MS. P.; they may be called P 1 and P 2.
[238] I make but little use of the copies in the second group.
[239] Two copies; may be called T 1 and T 2.
[240] Two copies; F 1 and F 2. The copy in P. is unprinted.
[241] Two copies; P 1 and P 2.
[242] Also a Balade, beginning 'Victorious kyng,' printed in G. Mason's edition of Occleve, 1796; as well as The Book of Cupid, which is another name for the Cuckoo and Nightingale.
[243] Unless they were composed, as Shirley says, by one Halsham, and adopted by Lydgate as subjects for new poems; see pp. 48, 57.
[244] i. e. in the ballad-measure, or 7-line stanzas.
[245] One page of this, in Shirley's writing, has been reproduced in facsimile for the Chaucer Society.
[246] This page has been reproduced, in facsimile, for the Chaucer Society.
[247] It is also twice attributed to Chaucer in MS. P.
[248] I follow the account in Morley's English Writers, 1867, ii. 204; the name is there given as de Guilevile; but M. Paul Meyer writes De Deguilleville.
[249] Morley says 1330; a note in the Camb. MS. Ff. 6. 30 says 1331.
[250] Edited by Mr. W. Aldis Wright for the Roxburghe Club in 1869; see p. 164 of that edition. And see a note in Warton's Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed. Hazlitt, 1871, vol. iii. p. 67.
[251] See Furnivall's Trial Forewords, pp. 13-15, and p. 100, for further information.
[252] The initial E stands for et. See next note.
[253] The initial C stands for cetera. It was usual to place &c. (= et cetera) at the end of the alphabet.
[254] Chaucer speaks of writing compleintes; Cant. Ta. 11260 (F. 948).
[255] Cf. 'this eight yere'; Book of the Duchesse, 37.
[256] 'Philippa Chaucer was a lady of the bedchamber, and therefore married, in 1366'; N. and Q. 7 S. v. 289.
[257] But Ten Brink (Sprache und Verskunst, p. 174) dates it about 1370-1372.
[258] 'O ye Herines, nightes doughtren three'; Troilus, last stanza of the invocation in bk. iv.
[259] Most of the passages which he quotes are not extant in the English version of the Romaunt. Where we can institute a comparison between that version and the Book of the Duchess, the passages are differently worded. Cf. B. Duch. 420, with R. Rose, 1393.
[260] i. e. y-treted, treated.
[261] See l. 647. The royal tercel eagle is, then, Richard II; and the formel eagle is Queen Anne; the other two tercel eagles were her other two suitors. See Froissart, bk. ii. c. 86.
[262] Rather, 1382. Ch. could not have foretold a year's delay.
[263] It is quite impossible that the poem can refer, as some say, to the marriage of John of Gaunt in 1359, or even to that of de Coucy in 1364; see Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 70. It is plainly much later than the Book of the Duchess, as the internal evidence incontestably shews.
[264] I leave the remarks upon this poem as I first wrote them in 1888. Very soon afterwards, Dr. Furnivall actually found the ascription of the poem to Chaucer in MS. Phillipps 9053. I think this proves that I know how to estimate internal evidence aright. MS. Phillips 9053 also completes the poem, by contributing an additional stanza, which, in MS. Harl. 78, has been torn away.
[265] mix.
[266] fleeces.
[267] hushed, silent.
[268] rewards.
[269] shed.
[270] dug.
[271] lumps.
[272] See Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, p. 116; and see above, pp. 55, 56.
[273] The critics who brush aside such a statement as this should learn to look at MSS. for themselves. The make-up of this MS. shews that it is essentially a Chaucer-Lydgate MS.; and Merciless Beautee is not Lydgate's. To weigh the evidence of a MS., it must be personally inspected by such as have had some experience.
[274] Middle-English roundels are very scarce. I know of one by Hoccleve, printed by Mason in 1796, and reprinted in Todd's Illustrations, p. 372; and there is a poor one by Lydgate, in Halliwell's edition of his Minor Poems, p. 10. Two more (one being by Lydgate) are given in Ritson, Anc. Songs, i. 128, 129.
[275] I do not think, as some have guessed, that 'Tregentil Chaucer' means 'Tres gentil Chaucer.' Those who think so had better look at the MS. I see no sense in it; nor do I know why tres should be spelt tre.
[276] A similar note was made in MS. Cotton, Otho. A. xviii., now destroyed. Todd printed the poem from this MS. in his Illustrations of Chaucer, p. 131; it belongs to the 'first group.'
[277] high head.
[278] admonishes.
[279] weighed down.
[280] The poem must have been written not many years before 1413, the date of the accession of Henry V. In 1405, the ages of the princes were 17, 16, 15, and 14 respectively. Shirley's title to the poem was evidently written after 1415, as John was not created Duke of Bedford until that year.
[281] See Furnivall's edition of Borde's Introduction of Knowledge, E. E. T. S., 1870. At p. 31 of the Forewords, the editor says there is no evidence for attributing 'Scoggins Iests' to Borde.
[282] Froissart, bk. iv. c. 105 (Johnes' translation).
[283] See Johnes' translation of Froissart, 1839; ii. 612-7.
[284] It would be decent, on the part of such critics as do not examine the MSS., to speak of my opinions in a less contemptuous tone.
[285] Unless, which is more probable, the Parliament of Foules reproduces, nearly, two lines from the present poem.
[286] Perhaps 'tofore' means 'for use in,' or 'to be presented in'; and 'November' was some special occasion.
[287] As, e. g. in the curious satirical ballad 'Against the King of Almaigne,' printed in Percy's Ballads, Series II. Book I, and in Wright's 'Political Songs,' p. 69. Henry was also called Henry of Winchester, from the place of his birth.
[288] The thief is the Ribauld; the ploughboy, the Labourer; the apothecary, the Physicien; the soldier, the Garde; the tailor, the Marchaunt; the tinker, the Smyth. Only two are changed.
[289] Koch instances góddes in the Envoy to Scogan, 15, which he assumes was góddis. Not at all; it is like Chaucer's rime of clérkes, derk is; the -es being unaccented. This could never produce goddís, and still less goddísse.
[290] In old French, a tard means 'slowly, late'; later French drops a, and uses tard only.
[291] Voto, 'hollow, voide, empty'; Florio.
[292] The MS. has And for Than (wrongly).