MS. Sloane 1986, about 1460. The text is either very corrupt, or the
style is as rough as possible, lacking even the essentials of grammar.
It contains many Scotch words, and has certainly suffered in its rhymes,
and probably in its sense through English copyists. The author
apparently remembered the institution of a custom at the court of John
of Gaunt; hence it seems likely that he wrote before 1420.
p. 81. _Bakes._ Perhaps rolls into a ball or moulds, as this is a stage
of baking.
p. 81. _Wallowing_, _i.e._, rolling the morsel about.
p. 83. _Chare._ From the O. E. verb _to turn_; hence, a turn either at
play as here (trick) or at work, as in the compound _charwoman_.
p. 85. _Cross-Christ thee speed._ The same oath occurs in _Sir Gawayne
and the Green Knight_, l. 762; but I do not remember it elsewhere. The
order of the first two words is commonly _Christ-cross_, as in
“Christ-cross-row” (alphabet). The inversion is possibly a sign of
translation from the French.
p. 86. _On both knees._ So in _Liber Faceti_.
“Quando Deo servis utrumque genu sibi flecte;
Ast homini solum reliquum teneas sibi recte.”
p. 88. _The adder._ “The nedder,” as the text puts it quaintly, in the
old, correct form. The serpent in _Genesis_.
p. 88. _Mysloset._ Apparently from the root _lose_; hence, to lose
amiss, _i.e._, to lead astray; but the form appears to be passive, not
active. Perhaps the idea is that the serpent himself was _lost_ for his
wickedness; but this seems far-fetched.
p. 89. _Solace ... makes._ One of the many traces of Scotch. The
original rhyme must have been _mas_.
p. 90. _St. Ambrose._ Archbishop of Milan, 340-97. He wrote an ethical
treatise _De Officiis Ministrorum_, in imitation of Cicero’s _De
Officiis_; but whether or not this injunction is found therein, it
occurs in almost the same words in _Liber Faceti_:—
“Si videas aliquem casurum siue cadentem,
Non ride: sed ei te prebe compatientem.”
p. 90. _More and less._ If _at_ means _that_, the sense is, that
everybody understands it; but the context seems to call for the meaning:
that you yourself do not fully understand.
p. 91. _Opens his lip._ Text:—
“Lest men say to gossip or couth (friend),
Yonder is a man without mouth.”
p. 91. _To staunch_, &c. So in _Liber Faceti_:
“Si videas fratres inter se bella gerentes,
Neutri confer opem; sed eorum corrige mentes.”
p. 92. _Three oxen_, &c. Another proverbial voicing of “Two’s company,
three’s none.”
p. 93. _Red man_, _i.e._, red-haired. Presumably this distrust of
red-haired people as treacherous was based on the old tradition that
Judas was red-haired.
p. 93. _His courtesy_, &c. The meaning is: he must needs be discourteous
who stirs fingers and toes, &c.
p. 96. _Stocks with him._ Doubtless, because the castle gate would be
the most conspicuous place of punishment.
p. 96. _What he will deem._ What judgment he will pronounce by law.
p. 96. _Wesselle clothes._ The meaning is not clear. Dr. Furnivall
suggests _vessel-cloths_; but the phrase is still doubtful unless it
alludes to ecclesiastical coverings, which, however, would not be in the
porter’s keeping, and which would certainly not be sold. Possibly,
_wassail-clothes_, _i.e._, garments kept perhaps for occasions of
special revelry; or, it may be, the sense is that the porter must keep a
look-out that vessels _and_ clothes, in general, be not stolen and sold
by servants or others.
p. 96. _Sits with him_, &c., _i.e._, he chooses his own companions.
p. 97. _Four pence apiece._ Dr. Furnivall found statutes against
excessive prices, but no stipulation of the sum mentioned. Perhaps it
was the fixed price in the author’s shire. It is cheap enough, only four
shillings, at the outside.
p. 97. _Cupboard._ Probably that in which the canopies and curtains were
stored when not in use.
p. 98. _Liveries._ Not uniforms, but _deliveries_, _i.e._, of rations,
or, as in this case, fuel for their own rooms.
p. 98. _Holly keen_, _i.e._, it filled the fireplace like an arbour from
Good Friday until All Hallows Day.
p. 99. _On his yard score_, _i.e._, make notes by a sort of tally on the
wood.
p. 99. _Six pence_, about five shillings to-day. According to Russell,
four ordinary persons made up a “mess.”
p. 99. _The cause he has it in score_, _i.e._, if the cook quarrels
about the expense, or the panter wants extra bread (reward) brought on.
In cases of dispute, the steward was referred to.
p. 100. _Shall harbour_, _i.e._, the marshal has charge of all other
officers, except the usher in the chamber. John Russell combined the two
functions.
p. 100. _Gentleman_, _yeoman-usher_, _i.e._, two, of different social
standing.
p. 100. _Make litter._ The making of a pallet-bed I understand as
follows. The mattress is nine feet by seven, made of loose straw, for
the most part; but with a sort of framework on all four sides, made of
bundles (wisps) of straw to keep the sides firm and the great mass of
straw in its place; and the whole is to be kept level. Text: _On legh
unsunken_, which seems to mean, not in hills and dales.
p. 101. _As a man by the neck_, _i.e._, the button was put into a loop
resembling a noose. The end of the line is not clear. Perhaps (1) the
man hangs light as the flesh drops from his bones on the gallows; (2)
the button hangs light because it has no body; (3) the adjective was
dragged in for the rhyme.
p. 102. _Boards_, _trestles_, &c. For the chamber only, as I understand
it, the hall having its own groom.
p. 104. _In strong stead_ (text, _styd_) _on pallet he lay_. The line is
certainly corrupt, and I can make no sense of it. From the context I
gather that _lay_ is the present optative of the verb meaning to place,
not the past tense of _lie_. _He_ seems to refer to the servant, as in
the next line, and not to the master who is already “winking.” In that
case _In_ (Sc., _ane_?) _strong stead_ must represent something that he
places on the pallet—what, I do not know.
p. 105. _Many are false._ So often in the romances of the time.
p. 105. _Wax so green._ Seemingly the steward’s accounts were kept first
on tablets, and afterwards copied into books.
p. 106. _Surveyor._ His duty was to examine the dishes and see that
everything was right before it went to the table.
p. 112. _Duke John’s house._ As his father was king, the man referred to
must be John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who died 1399.
p. 112. [_Wide_]. The passage seems corrupt. The text says:—
“The selvage to the lord’s side within,
And down shall hang that other may win.”
p. 118. _Starven._ Starved is still used, dialectically, to mean, nearly
dying of cold.
p. 119. _Will eat._ Russell, in his directions to the carver, specifies
choice bits, as the wings (first left, then right) of capon or hen; the
legs of quail, lark or pigeon; of fawn, kid, lamb, first the kidney,
then the rib; shoulder, then rib of pork, sides of rabbit or hare, &c.
p. 119. _Lief and dear._ This seems to mean only that he might, if he
liked, keep a choice bit for a stranger.
SYMON’S LESSON OF WISDOM FOR
ALL MANNER CHILDREN
MS. Bodley 832, fol. 174, about 1500. It seems to be unique, and of the
author or copyist I know nothing.
p. 123. _Wall._ The passage suggests Lydgate’s poem, giving an account
of his school-days, especially:—
“Ran into gardens, apples there I stole,
To gather fruits spared hedge nor wall,
To pluck grapes in other men’s vines
Was more ready than for to say matins.”
p. 124. _Schate._ The context seems to demand the meaning fence; but the
nearest to the form given here seems to be the Scotch _skathie_.
p. 125. _When he is passed._ The allusion seems to be to a middle-class
boy in a cathedral school, who, as a chorister perhaps, would be
familiar with the bishop’s presence, to whom therefore the reference
would be pertinent and vivid.