_pitaunce_ here signifies a mess of victuals. It originally signified an
extraordinary allowance of victuals given to monastics, in addition to
their usual commons, and was afterwards applied to the whole allowance of
food for a single person, or to a small portion of anything.
225. 'For the giving (of gifts) to a poor order.' _povre_, O. F. _povre_,
poor; cf. _pover-ty_. See _pov-re_ in l. 232.
226. _y-shrive_ = _y-shriven_, confessed, _shriven_. The final _n_ is
dropped; cf. _unknowe_ for _unknowen_ in l. 126.