3223. _eight-e-ten-e_ has four syllables; cf. B. 5. Tyrwhitt read it as of
_two_ syllables, and inserted _I gesse_ after _she was_. He duly notes that
the words _I gesse_ are 'not in the MSS.'
3226. 'And considered himself to be like.' Tyrwhitt has _belike_, which he
probably took to be an adverb; but this is a gross anachronism. The adv.
_belike_ is unknown earlier than the year 1533.
3227. _Catoun_, Dionysius Cato; see note to G. 688. But Tyrwhitt notes,
that 'the maxim here alluded to is not properly one of Cato's; but I find
it (he says) in a kind of Supplement to the Moral Distichs entitled
_Facetus_, int. Auctores octo morales, Lugd. 1538, cap. iii.
"Duc tibi prole parem sponsam moresque venustam,
Si cum pace velis vitam deducere justam."'
He refers to the catalogue of MSS. in Trin. Coll. Dublin, No. 275 (under
_Urbanus_, another name for _Facetus_); and to Bale, Cent. iii. 17, and
Fabricius, Bib. Med. Aetatis.
3230. Note _is_, in the singular. 'Crabbed age and youth cannot live
together';--_Passionate Pilgrim_.
3235. _ceynt_, girdle; _barred_, adorned with cross stripes. Warton could
not understand the word; but a _bar_ is a transverse stripe on a girdle or
belt, as in A. 329, which see.
3236-7. _barm-clooth_, lap-cloth, i. e. an apron 'over her loins.' _gore_,
a triangular slip, used as an insertion to widen a garment in any
particular place. The apron spread out towards the bottom, owing rather, it
appears, to inserted 'gores' below than to pleats above. Or the pleats may
be called gores here, from their triangular shape. [99] Cf. A. S.
_g[=a]ra_, an angular projection of land, as in Kensington _Gore_.
'_Gheroni_, the _gores_ or gussets of a smocke or shirt'; Florio's Ital.
Dict. See note to B. 1979, and the note to l. 3321 below.
3238. _brouded_, embroidered; cf. B. 3659, Leg. Good Women, 227. _Of_ in l.
3240 means 'with.'
3241. _voluper_, lit. 'enveloper' or 'wrapper'; hence, kerchief, or cap. In
l. 4303, it means a night-cap. In Wright's Vocabularies, it translates Lat.
_calamandrum_ (568, 28), _inuolutarium_ (590, 28), and _mafora_ (594, 19).
In the Prompt. Parv. we find: '_volypere_, kerche, _teristrum_'; and in the
Catholicon, '_volyper_, caliend[r]um.' In Baret's Alvearie, h. 596, we
find: 'A woman's cap, hood, or bonet, _Calyptra_, _Caliendrum_.' The tapes
of this cap were 'of the same suit' as the embroidery of her collar, i. e.
were of black silk.
3245. _smale y-pulled_, i. e. partly plucked out, to make them narrow,
even, and well-marked.
3247. Tyrwhitt at first had '_for_ to see,' but corrected it to '_on_ to
see,' i. e. to look upon. Cf. Leg. Good Women, 2425.
3248. _pere-ionette_, early-ripe pear. Tyrwhitt refers us to a F. _poire
jeunette_, or an Ital. _pero giovanetto_, i. e. very young pear-tree; but I
believe the explanation is as imaginary as are these terms, which I seek
for in vain. I take it that he has been misled by a false etymology from F.
_jeune_, Ital. _giovane_, young, whereas the reference is to the early-ripe
pear called in O. F. _poire de hastivel_ (F. _hâtiveau_); see _hastivel_ in
Godefroy. The corresponding E. term is _gennitings_, applied to apples, but
applicable to pears also; and I take the etymology to be from F. _Jean_,
John, because such apples and pears ripen about St. John's day (June 24),
which is very early. Cotgrave has: '_Hastivel_, a soon-ripe apple, called
the St. John's apple.' Littré, s. v. _poire_, has: 'La poire appellée à
Paris _de messire Jean_ est celle qu'en Dauphiné et Languedoc l'on nomme
_de coulis_.' Lacroix (Manners, &c. during the Middle Ages, p. 116) says
that, in the thirteenth century, one of the best esteemed pears was the
_hastiveau_, which was 'an early sort, and no doubt the golden pear now
called St. Jean.' Finally, we learn from Piers Plowman, C. xiii. 221, that
'pere-Ionettes' were very sweet and very early ripe, and therefore very
soon rotten; see my note to that line. The text, accordingly, compares this
young and forward beauty to the _newe_ (i. e. fresh-leaved) early-ripe
pear-tree; and there is much propriety in the simile. Of course, this
explanation is somewhat of a guess; and perhaps I may add another possible
etymology, viz. from _jaune_, yellow, with reference to the golden colour
of the pear. Cf. _jaulnette_, in Cotgrave, as a name for St. John's wort,
and the form _floure-jonettis_ in the King's Quair, st. 47.
3251. 'With silk tassels, and pearls (or pearl-shaped knobs or buttons)
made of the metal called _latoun_.' Such is Tyrwhitt's simple explanation.
In Riley's Memorials of London, p. 398, we find that a man was accused of
having 'silvered 240 buttons of _latone_ ... for [100] purses.' The notes
in Warton are doubly misleading, first confusing _latoun_ with _cheklatoun_
(which are unconnected words), and then quoting the expression 'perled
cloth of gold,' which is another thing again. As to _latoun_, see note to
C. 350, and cf. A. 699, B. 2067, &c.
3254. _popelote_, darling, poppet. Not connected with _papillon_, but with
F. _poupée_ and E. _puppet_. Halliwell gives: '_Poplet_, a term of
endearment, generally applied to a young girl: _poppet_ is still in common
use.' Cotgrave has: '_Popelin_, masc. a little finicall darling.' Godefroy
gives: '_poupelet_, m. petit poupon.'
3256. Wright says: 'The gold noble of this period was a very beautiful
coin; specimens are engraved in Ruding's Annals of the Coinage. It was
coined in the Tower of London [as here said], the place of the principal
London mint.' It was worth 6s. 8d., and first coined about 1339. See C.
907, and note.
3258. 'Sitting on a barn.' Repeated in C. 397.
3261. _bragot_, a sweet drink, made of ale and honey fermented together;
afterwards, the honey was replaced by sugar and spice. See _Bragget_ in New
E. Dict. The full receipt for 'Braket' is given in Strutt, Manners and
Customs, iii. 74; it contained 4 gallons of ale to a pint of honey. In
1783, it was made of ale, sugar, and spices, and drunk at Easter; Brand,
Pop. Antiq. i. 112. Spelt _bragot_, Palladius on Husbandry, p. 90, l. 812;
&c. Of British origin; Welsh _bragawd_; cf. O. Irish _brac_, later
_braich_, malt. See also the note on _Bragott_ in the Catholicon, ed.
Herrtage.
3262. Cf. 'An appyll-hurde, _pomarium_'; Catholicon Anglicum.
3263-4. These two lines are cited by Dryden with approval, in the Preface
to his Fables, as being 'not much behind our present English.' We are
amazed to find that Dryden condemns Chaucer's lines as unequal; and coolly
remarks that 'equality of numbers ... was either not known, or not always
practised in Chaucer's age.' The black-letter editions which Dryden read
were, in fact, full of misspelt words; but even in them, he might have
found plenty of good lines, if he had not been so prejudiced and (to say
the truth) conceited.
3268. _prymerole_, primrose; as in Gower, C. A. iii. 130. _pigges-nye_,
pig's eye, a term of endearment; pig's eyes being (as Tyrwhitt notes)
remarkably small. Cf. 'Waked with a wench, pretty peat, pretty love, and my
sweet pretty _pigsnie_'; Peele, Old Wives' Tale, ed. Dyce (1883), p. 455,
col. 1. And see Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 28, ii. 97, 104. In fact, it is
common. Brand, quoting Douce (Illust. of Shak. ii. 151), says that
'Shadwell not only uses the word _pigsney_ in this sense, but also
_birdsney_ [bird's eye]; see his Plays, i. 357, iii. 385.' See also
_pigsney_ in Todd's Johnson, where one quotation has the form _pigs eie_.
_An ye_ became _a nye_; hence the pl. _nyes_, and even _nynon_ (= eyne), as
in Halliwell. See note to P. Plowman, C. xx. 306, where _bler-eyed_, i. e.
blear-eyed, appears as _bler-nyed_ in the B-text.
3269. _leggen_, to lay. Tyrwhitt has _liggen_, to lie, which is but poor
grammar. [101]
3274. _Oseneye_, Oseney, in the suburbs of Oxford, where there was an Abbey
of St. Austin's Canons; cf. l. 3666.
3286. _harrow_ (Pt. _harowe_), a cry for help, a cry of distress; O. F.
_haro_, _harou_, the same; see Godefroy. Cf. ll. 3825, 4307.
'_Primus Demon._ Oute, haro, out, out! harkyn to this horne'--&c. Towneley
Mysteries, Surtees Society, p. 307 (in the Mystery of "_Judicium_.") So in
the Coventry Mysteries, we have:--
'_Omnes demones clamant._ Harrow and out! what xal we say?
harrow! we crye, owt! And Alas!
Alas, harrow! is þis þ_a_t day?...
Alas, harrow! and owt! we crye.'
(Play of _Judgment_.)
'My mother was afrayde there had ben theves in her house, and she kryed out
_haroll alarome_ (F. elle sescria _harol alarme_)'; Palsgrave, s. v.
_crye_, p. 501. See _Haro_ in Littré, _hara_ in Schade. Cf. l. 3825; and
the note in Dyce's Skelton, ii. 274.
3291. I. e. St. Thomas of Canterbury.