327. _coude he_, he knew; _coude_ is the pt. t. of _konnen_, to know, A. S.
_cunnan_.
328. _medlee cote_, a coat of mixed stuff or colour. In 1303, we find
mention of 'one woman's surcoat of _medley_'; see Memorials of London, ed.
Riley, p. 48.
329. _ceint of silk_, &c., a girdle of silk, with small ornaments. The
_barres_ were called _cloux_ in French (Lat. _clavus_), and were the usual
ornaments of a girdle. They were perforated to allow the tongue of the
buckle to pass through them. 'Originally they were attached transversely to
the wide tissue of which the girdle was formed, but subsequently were round
or square, or fashioned like the heads of lions, and similar devices, the
name of _barre_ being still retained, though improperly.'--Way, in
Promptorium Parvulorum; s. v. _barre_. And see _Bar_ in the New English
Dictionary. Gower also has: 'a ceinte of silk'; C. A. ed. Pauli, ii. 30.
Cf. A. 3235, and Rom. of the Rose, 1085, 1103.
_ceint_, O. F. _ceint_, a girdle; from Lat. _cinctus_, pp. of _cingere_, to
gird.