3509. _labbe_, chatterbox, talkative person. In P. Plowm. C. xiii. 39, we
find the phrase 'ne _labbe_ it out,' i. e. do not chatter about it, do not
utter it foolishly. In the Romans of Partenay, ed. Skeat, 3751, we find: 'a
_labbyng_ tonge'; and Chaucer has elsewhere: 'a _labbing_ shrewe,' E. 2428.
Sewel's Du. Dict. (1754) gives: '_labben_, or _labbekakken_, to blab,
chat'; also '_labbekak_, a tattling gossip, a common blab'; and '_labbery_,
chat, idle talk.'
3512. _him_, i. e. Christ. The story of the Harrowing (or despoiling) of
Hell by Christ is derived from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, and is a
favourite and common subject in our older authors. It describes the descent
of Christ into hell, after His crucifixion, in order to release the souls
of the patriarchs, whom He takes with Him to paradise. It is given at
length in P. Plowman, Text C. Pass. xxi; and was usually introduced into
the mystery plays; see the Coventry Mysteries, the York Plays, &c. See also
Cursor Mundi, 17,863; Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 12; &c.
3516. 'On Monday next, at the end of the first quarter of the night,' i. e.
about 9 P.M. Cf. ll. 3554, 3645.
3530. See Ecclesiasticus, xxxii. 24 [Eng. version, 19]; this was not said
by 'Solomon,' but by Jesus, son of Sirach. It is quoted again in the Tale
of Melibeus; B. 2193.
3539. 'The trouble endured by Noah and his company.' _Noë_ is the form in
the Latin Vulgate version. The allusion is to the intentionally comic scene
introduced into the mystery plays, as, e. g. in the Chester Plays, the
Towneley Plays, and the York Plays, in which Noah and his sons
(_felawshipe_) have much ado to induce Noah's wife to enter the ark; and,
in the course of the scene, she gives Noah a sound box on the ear.
3548. _kimelin_, a large shallow tub; especially one used for brewing; see
Prompt. Parv. p. 274; and _Kimnell_ in Miss Jackson's Shropshire Glossary.
3554. _pryme_, i. e. about 9 A.M. See note to F. 73.
3565. This shows that the hall was open to the roof, with cross-beams, and
that the stable was attached to it, between it and the garden.
3590. _sinne_, i. e. venial sin; see I. 859, 904, 920.
3598. Evidently a common proverb.
3616. It is obvious that the first foot is defective.
3624. _His owne hand_, with his own hand. Tyrwhitt points out the same
idiom in Gower, ed. Pauli, ii. 83:--
'The craft Minerve of wolle fond
And made cloth _her owne hond_.'