10. Bratt: coarse cloak; Anglo-Saxon, “bratt.” The word is
still used in Lincolnshire, and some parts of the north, to
signify a coarse kind of apron.
11. Long on: in consequence of; the modern vulgar phrase “all
along of,” or “all along on,” best conveys the force of the
words in the text.
12. Annualere: a priest employed in singing “annuals” or
anniversary masses for the dead, without any cure of souls;
the office was such as, in the Prologue to the Tales, Chaucer
praises the Parson for not seeking: Nor “ran unto London,
unto Saint Poul’s, to seeke him a chantery for souls.”
13. Mortify: a chemical phrase, signifying the dissolution of
quicksilver in acid.