Ce oï dire en reprovier,
Que l'en ne puet fere espervier
En nule guise _d'ung busart_.
bosten (A.S.) _to boast_. _part. past_, y-bosted, 351
bote-lees (A.S.) 381, _without remedy_
botenen (A.N.) _to button_. +_part. past_, y-botend, 468, _buttoned_
bothe (A.S.) _both_. The genitive, botheres, _of both_, occurs. hir
botheres myghtes, 340, _the might of both of them_. hir botheres right,
371, _the right of each of them_.
botrasen (A.N.) 113, _to make buttresses to a building_
bouchen (A.N.) 5, _to stop people's mouths (?)_
bouken (A.S.) 274, 306, _to buck (clothes)_
bour (A.S.) _a bower, chamber_
bourde (A.S.) _a game, joke_
bourdynge (A.N.) 297, _jesting_
bourn, _g._ bournes (A.S.) _a stream or river_
bowe (A.S.) 112, _a bough, branch_
bown (A.S.) 37, _ready_
boy (A.S.) 6 (?)
boye (A.S.) 214, _a lad servant_
breden (A.S.) _to breed_. _pret. pl._ bredden
brede (A.S.) _breadth_
breed (A.S.) _bread_
breeth (A.S.) 388, _breath_
breken (A.S.) _to break, tear_. _pret. s._ brak, 388. _part. pas._
y-broken, broke, y-broke, 416
breme (A.S.) 241, _vigorous, fierce, furious_. Chaucer, C. T. l. 1701,
speaking of Arcite and Palamon, says they--"foughten breme, as it were
bolles two," _fought as fiercely as two bulls_. In the Romance of Sir
Amadas (Weber, p. 250) a person is described as coming "lyke a breme bare,"
_like a fierce boar_. It appears to be most commonly applied to animals. In
the Towneley Mysteries, p. 197, Anna says to Cayphas, "Be not to breme,"
_be not too fierce_
brennen, brenne (A.S.) 360, _to burn_. _pret. s._ brende, 367. _part. pas._
brent
bresten (A.S.) _to burst_, _pret. s._ brast, 127
brevet (A.N.) 5, _a little brief or letter_
brewestere (A.S.) 14, 47, _a woman who brews_
brid, _pl._ briddes (A.S.) _a bird_
bringen (A.S.) _to bring_. _pret. s._ broughte, broghte. _part. past_,
y-brought, broght, 235
brocage (A.N.) 33, 289, _a treaty by a broker or agent_. It is particularly
applied to treaties of marriage, brought about in this way. In Chaucer's
Romance of the Rose, l. 6971, Fals Semblant says,--
I entremete me of _brocages_.
I maken pece, and mariages.
So in the Miller's Tale (C.T. 3375), it is said of Absolon,
He woweth hire by mene and by _brocage_,
And swor he wolde ben hir owne page.
That is, he wooed her by the agency of another person, whom he employed to
persuade her to agree to his wishes.
broches (A.N.) _brooches, jewels_.
broches, 362, _matches_ (?)
brocour (A.N.) 31, 32, 45, 84, _a seller, broker, maker of bargains_
broke (A.S.) _a brook_
brok, _pl._ brokkes (A.S.) 119, _an animal of the badger kind_
brol (A.S.) 55, 494, 495, _a child, brat_. Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii, 177:--
Whan hi commith to the world, hi doth ham silf sum gode,
Al bot the wrech _brol_ that is of Adamis blode.
brood (A.S.) _broad_
brotel (A.S.) 153, _weak, brittle, unsteady_
+brothels (A.S.) 496, _wretches, men of bad life_. In the Coventry
Mysteries (Ed. Halliwell, p. 308), the term is applied to the damned who
suffer punishment in hell:--
In bras and in bronston the _brethellys_ be brent,
That wene in this werd my wyl for to werke.
In another play in the same collection, p. 217, it is applied to the woman
taken in adultery:--
Com forthe, thou bysmare and _brothel_ bolde.
brouke (A.S.) 209, _to enjoy, use, to brook_
brugg, _pl._ brugges (A.S.) _a bridge_
bruneste (A.S.) _brownest_
buggen, bugge (A.S.) 412, _to buy_. _pres. pl._ biggen. _pret._ boughte.
_part. act._ buggynge, 410
bummen (A.S. ?) 90, _to taste_ (?)
burde (A.S.) 44, 404, _a maiden, damsel, lady_
burdoun (A.N.) 108, _a staff_
burel (A.N.) _a kind of coarse brown woollen cloth_. burel clerkes, 191.
Tyrwhit (Glos. to Chaucer) thinks this means _lay clerks_. In the
Canterbury Tales, l. 7453, the friar says:--
And more we se of Goddis secré thinges,
Than _borel folk_, although that thay ben kinges,
We lyve in povert and in abstinence,
And _borel folk_ in riches and dispence.