344. ~wattled cotes~: enclosures made of hurdles, _i.e._ frames of
plaited twigs. _Cote_, _cot_, and _coat_ are varieties of the same word
= a covering or enclosure.
345. ~oaten stops~: see _Lyc._ 33, "the _oaten_ flute"; 88, "But now my
_oat_ proceeds"; 188, "the tender stops of various _quills_." The
shepherd's pipe, being at first a row of oaten stalks, "the oaten pipe,"
"oat," etc., came to denote any instrument of this kind and even to
signify "pastoral poetry." The 'stops' are the holes over which the
player's fingers are placed, also called vent-holes or "ventages"
(_Ham._ iii. 2. 372). See also note on 'azurn,' l. 893.
346. ~whistle ... lodge~, _i.e._ the sound of the shepherd calling his dog
by whistling. Or it may be used in the same sense as in _L'Alleg._ 63,
"the ploughman _whistles_ o'er the furrowed land."
347. ~Count ... dames~: comp. _L'Alleg._ 52, "the cock ... Stoutly struts
his _dames_ before"; 114, "Ere the first cock his matin rings."
Grammatically, 'count' (infinitive) forms with 'cock' the complex object
of 'might hear.'
349. ~innumerous~, innumerable (Lat. _innumerus_). Comp. _Par. Lost_, vii.
455, "_Innumerous_ living creatures"; ix. 1089.
350. ~hapless~, unfortunate. Many words, such as happy, lucky, fortunate,
etc., which strictly refer to a person's hap or chance, whether good or
bad, have become restricted to good hap: in order to give them an
unfavourable meaning a negative prefix or suffix is necessary.
With reference to the word _fortune_, Max Müller says: "We speak of good
and evil fortune, so did the French, and so did the Romans. By itself
_fortuna_ was taken either in a good or a bad sense, though it generally
meant good fortune. Whenever there could be any doubt, the Romans
defined _fortuna_ by such adjectives as _bona_, _secunda_, _prospera_,
for good; _mala_ or _adversa_ for bad fortune ... _Fortuna_ came to mean
something like chance."