1228. Referring to the common proverb--'As fain as a fowl [bird] of a fair
day'; cf. l. 1241 below, A. 2437, G. 1342.
1233. _Daun_, Dan, for Lat. _Dominus_, corresponding to E. _sir_, as in
'Sir John,' a common title for a priest. Cf. B. 3119.
1244. _Shoop him_, lit. shaped himself, set about, got ready. Cf. P.
Plowman, C. i. 2, xiv. 247, and the notes.
1245. _Brugges_, Bruges; which, as Wright remarks, was 'the grand central
mart of European commerce in the middle ages.' Cf. P. Plowman, C. vii. 278,
and the note.
1256. _graunges_, granges; cf. notes to A. 3668, and A. 166.
1260. _Malvesye_, Malmsey; so named from _Malvasia_, now _Napoli di
Malvasia_, a town on the E. coast of Lacedaemonia in the Morea. See note in
the Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 206, where _Malvasia_ is explained as
the Ital. corruption of _Monemvasia_, from Gk. [Greek: monê embasia],
single entrance; with reference to its position.
1261. _Vernage._ In the Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 203, _vernage_ is
said to be a red wine, bright, sweet, and somewhat rough, from Tuscany and
Genoa, and other parts of Italy. The Ital. name is _vernaccia_, lit. the
name of a thick-skinned grape. The information in this note and the
preceding one is drawn from Henderson's History of Ancient and Modern
Wines, 1824: which see.
1262. _volatyl_, wild fowl, game; here used as a collective plural, to
represent Lat. _uolatilia_. Littré quotes: 'Tant ot les _volatiles_
chieres'; Roman de la Rose, 20365. Wyclif has _al volatile_ to translate
_cunctum_ [169] _uolatile_, Gen. vii. 14; also _my volatilis_ in Matt.
xxii. 4, where the Vulgate has _altilia_. Cf. F. _volaille_.
1278. _passed pryme_, past 9 A.M. See notes to A. 3906, F. 73; and cf. B.
1396.
1281. _his thinges_, the things he had to say; cf. F. 78. It 'means the
divine office in the Breviary, i. e. the psalms and lessons from scripture
which, being absent from the convent, he was bound to say privately'; Bell.
_curteisly_, reverently. See note to l. 1321 below.
1287. _under the yerde_, still subject to the discipline of the rod. As
girls were married at a very early age, this should mean 'still quite a
child.' Cf. _as hir list_ in l. 1286. And see E. 22. See Ælfric's Colloquy
(Wright's Vocab. ed. Wülker, p. 102), where the boy says he is still _sub
uirga_, on which the A.S. gloss is _under gyrda_. F. _sous la verge_
(Littré).
1292. _appalled_, enfeebled, languid; see F. 365.
1293. _dare_, lie motionless. This is the original sense of the word, as in
E. Friesic _bedaren_. So also Low G. _bedaren_, to be still and quiet; as
in _dat weer bedaart_, the weather becomes settled; _een bedaart mann_, a
man who has lost the fire of youth. Du. _bedaren_, to compose, to calm. The
rather common M.E. phrase _to droupe and dare_ means 'to sink down and lie
quiet,' like a hunted animal in hiding; hence came the secondary sense 'to
lurk' or 'lie close,' as in the Prompt. Parv. Cotgrave has F. _blotir_, 'to
squat, skowke, or lie close to the ground, like a _daring_ lark or
affrighted foul.' Hence also a third sense, 'to peer round,' as a lurking
creature that looks out for possible danger. The word is common in M.E.,
and in many passages the sense 'to lie still' suits better than 'lurk,' as
it is usually explained.
1295. _Were_, 'which might be,' 'which should happen to be'; the relative
is understood. _forstraught_, distracted. Such is evidently the sense; but
the word occurs nowhere else, and is incorrect. As far as I can make it
out, Chaucer has coined this word incorrectly. The right word is _destrat_
(vol. ii. p. 67, l. 1), from O.F. _destrait_, pp. of _destraire_, to tear
asunder (as by horses), to torment, fatigue (Godefroy). Next, he turned it
(1) into _forstrait_, pp. of _forstraire_ (_fortraire_ in Cotgrave), to
purloin; and (2) into _forstraught_, as if it were the pp. of an A.S.
*_for-streccan_, to stretch exceedingly. Thus, he has made one change by
altering the prefix, and another by misdividing the word and substituting
English for French. A similar mistake is seen in the absurd form
_distraught_, used for 'distracted,' though it is, formally, equivalent to
_dis-straught_, as if made up of the prefix _dis_- and the pp. of
_strecchen_, to stretch. An early instance occurs in Lydgate's Minor Poems,
ed. Halliwell, p. 206, where we find '_Distrauhte_ in thouhte,' i. e.
distracted in thought, mad. There is much confusion between the E. prefixes
_for-_, _fore-_, and the F. _fors-_, _for-_. Chaucer has _straughte_
(correctly), as the pt. t. of _strecchen_, in A. 2916.