1058. I cannot find that there is any such word as _prill_ (as in Th.) or
_prile_ (as in G.) in any suitable sense; the word required is clearly
_prikke_. As it was usual to write _kk_ like _lk_, the word probably
looked, to the eye, like _prilke_, out of which _prille_ may have been
evolved. Numerous mistakes have thus arisen, such as _rolke_ for _rokke_ (a
rock) in Gawain Douglas, and many more of the same kind. M. Michel here
quotes an O. F. proverb--'Poignez vilain, il vous oindra: Oignez vilain, il
vous poindra.'
1068. Read _aryved_, for the Fr. text has _arives_; cf. Ho. Fame, 1047.
1079. _bend_, band, strip; as used in heraldry.
1080. Read _améled_, as in Speght; of which _enameled_ is a lengthened
form, with the prefix _en-_. It signifies 'enamelled.' Palsgrave gives a
good example. 'I _ammell_, as a goldesmyth dothe his worke, _Iesmaille_.
Your broche is very well amelled: _vostre deuise est fort bien esmaillee_.'
See _Ameled_ in the New Eng. Dict. See also the long note in Warton (sect.
xiii, where this passage is quoted) on enamelling in the middle ages. He
cites the Latin forms _amelitam_ and _amelita_ in the sense 'enamelled,'
and shews that the art flourished, in particular, at Limoges in France.
1081. _of gentil entaile_, of a fine shape, referring to her neck,
apparently; or it may refer to the collar. Halliwell quotes from MS. Douce
291 'the hors of gode _entaile_,' i. e. of a good shape. Cf. _entaile_, to
shape, in l. 609 above; and see l. 3711.
1082. _shet_, shut, i. e. clasped, fastened. _Chevesaile_, a collar;
properly, the neckband of the robe, as explained in the New E. Dict. Though
it does not here occur in the Fr. text, it occurs below in a passage which
Chaucer does not exactly translate, though it answers to the 'colere' of l.
1190, q.v. There seems to be no sufficient reason for explaining it by
'necklace' or 'gorget,' as if it were a separable article of attire. It
answers to a Lat. type _capitiale_, from _capitium_, the opening in a tunic
through which the head passed; which explains how the word arose.
1089. The right word is _thurte_, which the scribe, not understanding, has
turned into _durst_; both here, and in l. 1324 below. _Thurte him_ means
'he needed,' the exact sense required. The use of the dative _him_ is a
clear trace of the use of this phrase.
The idea that a gem would repel venom was common; see P. Plowman, B. ii.
14, and my note.
1093. _and Fryse_, and Friesland. Not in the original, and merely added for
the rime.
1094. _mourdaunt_, mordant, chape, tag. Halliwell explains it 'the tongue
of a buckle,' which is probably a guess; it is often mentioned as if it
were quite distinct from it. It was probably 'the metal chape or tag fixed
to the end of a girdle or strap,' viz. to the end _remote_ from the buckle;
see Fairholt's 'Costume.' Godefroy explains it in the same way; it
terminated the dependent end of the girdle; and this explains how it could
be made of a stone. Warton, in a note on this passage (sect. xiii.), quotes
from a wardrobe roll, in which there is mention of one hundred garters 'cum
boucles, barris, et pendentibus de argento.'
1103. _barres_, bars; fixed transversely to the satin tissue of the girdle,
and perforated to receive the tongue of the buckle. See note to Prol. A
329.
1106. 'In each bar was a bezant-weight of gold.' A _bezant_ was a gold
coin, originally struck at Byzantium, whence the name. It 'varied in weight
between the English sovereign and half-sovereign, or less'; New E. Dict.
1117. The false reading _ragounces_ is easily corrected by the original. In
Lydgate's Chorle and Bird, st. 34, we find:--'There is a stone which called
is _iagounce_.' Warton rather hastily identifies it with the jacinth.
Godefroy says that some make it to be a jacinth, but others, a garnet.
Warnke explains _iagunce_ (in Marie de France, Le Fraisne, 130) by 'ruby.'
1120. _carboucle_, carbuncle; see notes to Ho. Fame, 1352, 1363.
1137. That is, he would have expected to be accused of a crime equal to
theft or murder, if he had kept in his stable such a horse as a hackney.
The F. text has _roucin_, whence Chaucer's _rouncy_, in Prol. A 390.
1148. I. e. as if his wealth had been poured into a garner, like so much
wheat. _daungere_ here means 'parsimony.'
1152. I. e. Alexander was noted for his liberality.
1163. _to hir baundon_, (so as to be) at her disposal.
1182. _adamaunt_, lodestone; _leyd therby_, laid beside it.
1188. The form _sarlynysh_ (in G.) evidently arose from the common mistake
of reading a long _s_ as an _l_. The right reading is, of course,
_Sarsinesshe_, i. e., Saracenic, or coloured by an Eastern dye. Compare the
mod. E. _sarsnet_, a derivative from the same source.
1190. Her neck-band was thrown open, because she had given away the brooch,
with which she used to fasten it.
1199. The knight is said to be _sib_, i. e., akin, to king Arthur, because
of the great celebrity of that flower of chivalry.
1201. The reading _gousfaucoun_ is a queer mistake; the scribe seems to
have thought that it meant a goshawk! But the sense is war-banner.' See
_Gonfanon_ in my Etym. Dict.
1215. _at poynt devys_, with great exactness, with great regularity; cf. l.
830. The same expression occurs in the Ho. of Fame, 917.
1216. _tretys_, long and well-shaped; hence this epithet, as applied to the
nose of the Prioress; see Prol. A 152. See ll. 932, 1016.
1227. _bistad_, bestead; i. e. hard beset.
1232. _sukkenye_, an E. adaptation of the O.F. _sorquanie_. Cotgrave has:
'_Souquenie_, f. a canvas Jacket, frock, or Gaberdine; such a one as our
Porters wear.' Mod. F. _souquenille_, a smock-frock. It was therefore a
loose frock, probably made, in this case, of fine linen. For a note in the
glossary to Méon's edition says that linen was sometimes the material used
for it; and we are expressly told, in the text, that it was _not_ made of
hempen hards. Cf. Russ. _sukno_, cloth.
1235. _rideled_, 'gathered,' or pleated; F. _coillie_. Not 'pierced like a
riddle,' as suggested in Bell's Chaucer, but gathered in folds like a
curtain or a modern surplice; from O.F. _ridel_ (F. _rideau_), a curtain.
Cf. 'filettis, and wymplis, and _rydelid_ gownes and rokettis, colers,
lacis,' &c.; Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 41. Hence, in ll. 1236, 7, the statement
that every point was in its right place; because it was so evenly gathered.
1240. 'A _roket_, or _rochet_, is a loose linen frock synonymous with
_sukkenye_. The name is now appropriated to the short surplice worn by
bishops over their cassocks.'--Bell.
1249, 50. _Al hadde he be_, even if he had been. As the French copy
consulted by Warton here omitted two lines of the original, Warton made the
singular mistake of supposing that, in l. 1250, Chaucer intended 'a
compliment to some of his patrons.' But William de Lorris died in 1260, so
that the _seignor de Gundesores_ was 'Henry of Windsor,' as he was
sometimes termed[287], i. e. no other than Henry III; and the reference was
probably suggested by the birth of prince Edward in 1239, unless these two
lines were added somewhat later.
1263. _avenant_, comely, graceful; see the New E. Dict.
1282. The absolutely necessary correction in this line was suggested by Ten
Brink, in his Chaucer Studien, p. 30.
1284. _volage_, flighty, giddy; see Manc. Ta. H 239.
1294. I should like to read--'They ne made force of privetee'; pronounced
_They n' mad-e_, &c. But _no fors_ is usual.
1321. _his thankes_, willingly; see Kn. Ta. A 1626, 2107.
1324. _durst_ is an error for _thurte_; see note to l. 1089.
1334. For _hadde_ (which gives no sense), read _bad_; confusion of _b_ and
_h_ is not uncommon. And for _bent_, read _bende it_; see l. 1336.
1341. Some mending of the text is absolutely necessary, because _shette_ is
altogether a false form; the pp. of _sheten_, to shoot, is _shoten_. The
suggested emendation satisfies the conditions, and makes better sense. So,
in l. 1343, read _wol me greven_.
1348. In ll. 1461, 1582, the F. _vergier_ is translated by _yerde_. So
here, and in l. 1447 (as Dr. Kaluza suggests) we must read _yerde in_, to
make sense. The scribe easily turned _yerde in_ into _gardin_, but ruined
the sense by it. So in l. 1366, _yerde_ would be better than _gardin_.
1359. _greet foisoun_, a great abundance (of them).
1361. _notemygge_ is the form given in the Prompt. Parv. In Sir Topas,
1953, _notemuge_ occurs in all the seven MSS. See note to the same, B 1950,
which explains _clow-gelofre_, i. e. clove, and _setewale_, i. e., zedoary.
1363. The form _alemandres_ is justified by the Fr. text, which has
_Alemandiers_. The O. F. for 'almond' was at first _alemande_, before it
was shortened to _almande_; see _Almond_ in the New E. Dict. The sense is
'almond-trees.'
1369. _parys_ or _paris_ is a stupid blunder for _paradys_, as the Fr. text
shews. It was a well-known term. Cotgrave has '_Graine de paradis_, the
spice called Grains.' Philips explains _Paradisi grana_ as 'cardamum-seed.'
Compare the quotation from Langham in the New E. Dict., s. v. _Cardamom_.
_Canelle_ (in l. 1370) is 'cinnamon.'
1374. _coyn_ is the word which has been twisted into _quin_; and the pl.
_quins_ has become the sing. _quince_.
1377. _aleys._ 'Aley [adapted from O. Fr. _alie_, _alye_ (also _alis_),
mod. Fr. _alise_, _alize_, from O. H. G. _eliza_, mod. G. _else_(_beere_);
the suppression of the _s_ in the O. Fr. is anomalous.] The fruit of the
Wild-Service tree'; New E. Dict. No other example of the word is known in
English. _bolas_, bullace; the rime is only a _single_ one.
1379. _lorer_, laurel; miswritten _lorey_ in G.; cf. l. 1313 above, where
_loreres_ is miswritten _loreyes_.
1384. Compare the tree-lists in Parl. Foules, 176, and in the Kn. Ta. A
2921.
1385. I should read _Pyn, ew_, instead of _Fyn ew_; only we have had _pyn_
already, in l. 1379.
1391. Imitated in the Book Duch. 419; again, l. 1401 is imitated in the
same, 429.
1397, 8. The rimed words must needs be _knet_, _set_, as in the Parl.
Foules, 627, 628.
1405. _claperes_, burrows. '_Clapier_, m. A clapper of conies, a heap of
stones, &c., whereinto they retire themselves'; Cotgrave. See _Clapper_ in
the New E. Dict.
1414. _condys_, conduits; Fr. text, _conduis_. Godefroy gives numerous
examples of _conduis_ as the pl. of O. F. _conduit_, in the sense of
safe-conduct, &c. So, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 91, we find:--'Thise uif
wytes byeth ase uif _condwys_,' i. e. these five wits (senses) are as five
channels. _by devys_, by contrivances (l. 1413).
1420. _vel-u-et_ is here a trisyllabic word; and the _u_ is a vowel, as in
A. F. _veluet_. The mod. E. _velvet_ arose from misreading the _u_ as a
_v_. The Prompt. Parv. has also the form _velwet_. So in Lydgate, Compl. of
the Black Knight, l. 80: 'And soft as vel-u-et,' &c.
1426. _as mister was_, as was need, as was necessary.
1447. As _garden_ makes no sense here, Kaluza reads _yerde in_; see note to
l. 1348.
1448. _estres_ (F. text, _l'estre_), inner parts; see Rev. Ta. A 4295, and
the note.
1453. _at good mes_, to advantage, from a favourable position; Fr. _en_
_bel leu_. In l. 3462, the phrase translates F. _en bon point_. _Mes_
(_Lat. missum_) is an old Anglo-French hunting-term, answering (nearly) to
mod. E. _shot_. Thus, in Marie de France, Guigemar, 87:--'Traire voleit, si
_mes_ ëust,' he wished to shoot, if he could get a good shot. See Ducange,
ed. 1887, ix. 270, for two more examples.
1458. _Pepyn_; the F. text says 'Charles, the son of Pepin.' Charles the
Great, who died in 814, was the son of Pepin Le Bref, king of the Franks,
who died in 768.
1469. This story of Narcissus is from Ovid, Met. iii. 346.
1470. _in his daungere_, within his control; in l. 1492, _daungerous_ means
'disdainful.' See note to l. 1049.
1498. The right spelling is _vilaynsly_; it occurs in the Pers. Tale, I
279; and the adj. _vilayns_ in the same, I 627, 715, 854.
1517, 18. The right spellings are _sene_, adj., visible, and _shene_, adj.,
showy, bright.
1525. _bere_, bore; but it is in the subjunctive mood; A. S. _b[=æ]re_.
1537. _warisoun_, reward; F. _guerredon_. But this is not the usual sense;
it commonly means healing, cure, or remedy; see _Guarison_ in Cotgrave.
However, it also means provision, store, assistance; whence it is no great
step to the sense of 'reward.' To 'winne a warisun' is to obtain a reward;
Will. of Palerne, 2253, 2259. Cf. note to l. 886.
1550. _scatheles_, without harm. There is actually a touch of humour here;
the poet ran no risk of falling in love with such a face as his own.
1561. _welmeth up_, boils up, bubbles up; from A. S. _wylm_, a spring.
1564. _For moiste_, because it was moist, because of its moisture. The adj.
has almost the force of a sb. Cf. note to l. 276.
1591. _entrees_ is, of course, a blunder for _estres_, as the F. text
shews. See l. 1448 above, where _estres_ rightly occurs, to represent F.
_l'estre_. _accuseth_, reveals, shews; see the New Eng. Dict.
1604. 'That made him afterwards lie on his back,' i. e. lie dead (F.
_mors_). The alteration of _lye_ to _ligge_ in MS. G. is a clear example of
the substitution of a Northern form.
1608. Here _laughyng_ is a very queer travesty of _loving_, owing to a
similarity in the sound. But the F. text has _d'amer_, which settles it.
1621. _panteres_, nets; see Leg. of Good Women, 131, and the note.
1624. _lacche_, trap. The usual sense is 'the latch of a door'; but the
sense here given is clearly caught from the related verb _lacchen_, which
sometimes meant to catch birds. Thus in P. Plowman, B. v. 355, we find
'forto lacche foules,' i. e. to catch birds. We must not confuse _lacche_,
as here used, with _lace_, a snare.
1641. We must read _syked_, not _sighede_, in order to rime with
_entryked_. Observe that _syketh_ rimes with _entryketh_ in the Parl. of
Foules, 404. Further, as the rime is a double one, the word _have_ must be
inserted, to fill up the line. It is in the Fr. text, 'tant en _ai_ puis
souspire.'
1652. _enclos_, enclosed; a French form, used for the rime. Cf. _clos_, in
the same sense; The Pearl, l. 2.
1663. Speght made the obvious correction of _be_, for _me_.
1666. _My thankes_, with my goodwill; cf. _his thankes_, l. 1321.
1673. _gret woon_, a great quantity.
1674. _roon_ (in place of _Rone_); F. text, _sous ciaus_, 'under the
skies.' Bell suggests that there is a reference to the river Rhone, and to
the roses of Provence. But the prep. _in_ must mean 'in' or 'upon'; and as
roses do not grow on a river, but upon bushes, perhaps _roon_ answers to
Lowland Scotch _rone_, a bush; see Jamieson. Thus Henrysoun, Prol. to Moral
Fables, l. 15, has:--'The roisis reid arrayit on _rone_ and ryce'; and G.
Douglas has _ronnis_, bushes. _In Roon_ might mean 'in Rouen'; spelt _Roan_
in Shakespeare.
1677. _moysoun_, size; Cotgrave has: '_Moyson_, size, bignesse, quantity';
from Lat. _mensionem_, a measuring. See P. Plowman, C. xii. 120, and my
note. Not connected with _moisson_, harvest, as suggested in Bell.