252, 253. Between these two lines the Hengwrt MS. inserts the two lines
marked 252 _b_ and 252 _c_, which are omitted in the other MSS., though
they certainly appear to be genuine, and are found in all the black-letter
editions, which follow Thynne. In the Six-text edition, which is here
followed, they are not counted in. Tyrwhitt both inserts and numbers them;
hence a slight difference in the methods of numbering the lines after this
line. Tyrwhitt's numbering is given, [28] at every tenth line, within marks
of parenthesis, for convenience of reference. The sense is--'And gave a
certain annual payment for the grant (to be licensed to beg; in consequence
of which) none of his brethren came with his limit.'
_ferme_ is the mod. E. _farm_; cf. 'to _farm_ revenues.'
253. _sho_, shoe; not _sou_ (as has been suggested), which would (in fact)
give _a false rime_. So also 'worth his olde _sho_'; D. 708.
The friars were not above receiving even the smallest articles; and
_ferthing_, in l. 255, may be explained by 'small article,' of a farthing's
value. See l. 134.
'For had a man slayn al his kynne,
Go shryve him at a frere;
And for lasse then _a payre of shone_
He wyl assoil him clene and sone!'
Polit. Poems, ed. Wright; i. 266.
'Ever be giving of somewhat, though it be but a cheese, or a piece of
bacon, to the holy order of sweet St. Francis, or to any other of my [i. e.
Antichrist's] friars, monks, canons, &c. Holy Church refuseth nothing, but
gladly taketh whatsoever cometh.'--Becon's Acts of Christ and of
Antichrist, vol. iii. p. 531 (Parker Society). And see the Somp. Tale, D.
1746-1751.
254. _In principio._ The reference is to the text in John i. 1, as proved
by a passage from Tyndale (Works, ed. 1572, p. 271, col. 2; or iii. 61,
Parker Soc.):--'Such is the limiter's saying of _In principio erat verbum_,
from house to house.' Sir Walter Scott copies this phrase in The Fair Maid
of Perth, ch. iii. The friars constantly quoted this text.
256. _purchas_ = proceeds of his begging. What he acquired in this way was
greater than his _rent_ or income. '_Purchase_, ... any method of acquiring
an estate otherwise than by descent'; Blackstone, _Comment._ I. iii. For
_rente_, see l. 373.
We find also:
'My purchas is theffect of al my rente'; D. 1451.
'To winne is alway myn entent,
_My purchas is better than my rent_.'
Romaunt of the Rose, l. 6837;
where the F. original has (l. 11760)--'Miex vaut mes porchas que ma rente.'
257. _as it were right_ (E. Hn. &c.); _and pleye as_ (Hl.). The sense
is--'and he could romp about, exactly as if he were a puppy-dog.'
258. _love-dayes._ 'Love-days (_dies amoris_) were days fixed for settling
differences by umpire, without having recourse to law or violence. The
ecclesiastics seem generally to have had the principal share in the
management of these transactions, which, throughout the Vision of Piers
Ploughman, appear to be censured as the means of hindering justice and of
enriching the clergy.'--Wright's Vision of Piers Ploughman, vol. ii. p.
535. [29]
'Ac now is Religion a rydere, and a rennere aboute,
A ledere of _love-dayes_,' &c.
Piers Ploughman, A. xi. 208, ed. Skeat; see also note to P. Pl. ed. Skeat,
B. iii. 157. The sense is--'he could give much help on love-days (by acting
as umpire).' See ll. 259-261.
As to _loveday_, see Wyclif, Works, ed. Matthew, pp. 172, 234, 512; and the
same, Works, ed. Arnold, ii. 77; iii. 322; Paston Letters, ed. Gairdner, i.
496; Titus Andronicus, i. 1. 491. In the Testament of Love, bk. i. (ed.
1561, fol. 287, col. 2) we find--'What (quod she) ... maked I not a
_louedaie_ betwene God and mankind, and chese a maide to be nompere
[_umpire_], to put the quarell at ende?'
260. _cope_, a priest's vestment; a cloak forming a semicircle when laid
flat; the _semi-cope_ (l. 262) was a short cloak or cape. Cf. Pierce the
Ploughman's Crede, ll. 227, 228:--
'His _cope_ that biclypped him, wel clene was it folden,
Of _double-worstede_ y-dyght, doun to the hele.'
This line is a little awkward to scan. _With a thred-_ constitutes the
first foot; and _povre_ is _povr'_ (cp. mod. F. _pauvre_).
261. 'The kyng or the emperour myghtte with worschipe were a garnement of a
frere for goodnesse of the cloth'; Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 50.
263. _rounded_, assumed a round form; used intransitively, _presse_, the
mould in which a bell is cast; cf. l. 81.
264. _lipsed_, lisped; by metathesis of _s_ and _p_. See footnote to l.
273. _for his wantownesse_, by way of mannerism.