4149. _querrour_, a quarrier, stone-cutter; see _quarrieur_ in Cotgrave.
4176. _ginne_, war-engine, _skaffaut_, scaffold; a wooden shed on wheels,
to protect besiegers. See the description of one, called 'a sow,' employed
at the siege of Berwick in 1319, in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 597-600;
together with other sundry 'scaffatis' in the same, l. 601.
4191. _Springoldes_ (F. _perrieres_, from Lat. _petrariae_), engines for
casting-stones; spelt _spryngaldis_ in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 247. From O.
F. _espringale_, a catapult; from G. _springen_, to spring.
4195. _kernels_, battlements; F. text, _creniaus_. Cf. P. Plowm. C., viii.
235; B. v. 597.
4196. _arblasters_ (answering to Lat. _arcuballistra_), a variant form of
_arblasts_ or _arbalests_ (answering to Lat. _arcuballista_), huge
cross-bows, for discharging missiles. See _Arbalest_ in the New E. Dict.
4229. _for stelinge_, i. e. to prevent stealing.
4248. _distoned_, made different in tone, out of tune. Cotgrave gives:
'_Destonner_, to change or alter a tune, to take it higher or lower.'
4249. _Controve_, compose or invent tunes, _foule fayle_, fail miserably.
4250. _horn-pypes_, pipes made of horn; but the F. text has _estives_,
pipes made of straw. _Cornewayle_ is doubtful; some take it to mean
Cornwall; but it was more probably the name of a place in Brittany. A note
in Méon's edition of Le Roman de la Rose, iii. 300, suggests 'la ville de
_Cornouaille_, aujourd'hui _Quimper-Corentin_, qui est en basse Bretagne.'
The F. text has _Cornoaille_.
4286. _vekke_, an old woman; as in l. 4495. Cf. Ital. _vecchia_, the same;
but it is difficult to see how we came by the Ital. form.
4291. Some late editions read _expert_, which is clearly right; _except_
gives no sense. _Expt_, with a stroke through the _p_, may have been
misread as _except_.
4300. F. 'Qu'el scet toute la vielle dance'; see Prol. A 476.
4322. The old reading gives no sense; the corrected reading is due to Dr.
Kaluza. It means 'I weened to have bought it very knowingly'; F. Ges
cuidoie avoir achetés, I weened to have bought them. _Ges = Ge les_, i. e.
_les biens_, the property. See note to l. 4352.
4333. For _also_ perhaps read _als_, or _so_.
4352. _wend,_ for _wende_, weened, supposed; F. cuidoie.