1766. 'Murder will out'; a proverb; see B. 4242.
1769. _Souded to_, confirmed in. From O. F. _souder_, Lat. _solidare_,
whence E. _solder_. Wyclif's later version has--'hise leggis and hise feet
weren _sowdid_ togidere'; Acts, iii. 7. The reference in ll. 1770-5 is to
Rev. xiv. 3, 4.
1793. _Iesu._ This word is written 'Ihu' in E. Hn. Cm.; and 'ihc' in Cp.
Pt. Ln.; in both cases there is a stroke through the _h_. This is
frequently printed _Ihesu_, but the retention of _h_ is unnecessary. It is
not really an _h_ at all, but the Greek [Eta], meaning _long e_ ([=e]). So,
also, in 'ihc,' the _c_ is not the Latin _c_, but the Gk. C, meaning
[Sigma] or _s_; and _ihc_ are the first three letters of the word [Greek:
IÊSOUS] = [Greek: iêsous] = iesus. _Iesu_, as well as _Iesus_, was used as
a nominative, though really the genitive or vocative case. At a later
period, _ihs_ (still with a stroke through the _h_) was written for _ihc_
as a contraction of _iesus_. By an odd error, a new meaning was invented
for these letters, and common belief treated them as the initials of three
Latin words, viz. Iesus Hominum Salvator. But as the stroke through the _h_
or mark of contraction still remained unaccounted for, it was turned into a
cross! Hence the common symbol I.H.S. with the small cross in the upper
part of the middle letter. The wrong interpretation is still the favourite
one, all errors being long-lived. Another common contraction is _Xpc._,
where _all_ the letters are Greek. The _x_ is _ch_ ([chi]), the _p_ is _r_
([rho]), and _c_ is _s_, so that _Xpc_ = _chrs_, the contraction for
_christus_ or Christ. This is less common in decoration, and no false
interpretation has been found for it.
1794. _inwith_, within. This form occurs in E. Hn. Pt. Ln.; the rest have
_within_. Again, in the Merchant's Tale (E. 1944), MSS. E. Hn. Cm. Hl. have
the form _inwith_. It occurs in the legend of St. Katharine, ed. Morton, l.
172; in Sir Perceval (Thornton Romances), l. 611; in Alliterative Poems,
ed. Morris, A. 970; and in Palladius on Husbandry, ed. Lodge, iii. 404. Dr.
Morris says it was [180] (like _utwith_ = without) originally peculiar to
the Northern dialect. See the Glossary, and the note to l. 2159 below (p.
202).
1805. _coomen_; so in E. Hn.; _comen_ in Pt. Cp. But it is the past tense =
came. The spelling _comen_ for the _past_ tense plural is very common in
Early English, and we even find _com_ in the singular. Thus, in l. 1807,
the Petworth MS. has 'He come,' equivalent to 'coom,' the _o_ being long.
But _herieth_ in l. 1808 is a _present_ tense.
1814. _nexte_, nighest, as in Kn. Ta. A. 1413. So also _hext_ = highest, as
in the Old Eng. proverb--'When bale is hext, then bote is next,' i. e.
'when woe is highest, help is nighest.' _Next_ is for _neh-est_, and _hext_
is for _heh-est_.
1817. _newe Rachel_, second Rachel, as we should now say; referring to
Matt. ii. 18.
1819. _dooth for to sterve_, causes to die. So also in l. 1823, _dide hem
drawe_ = caused them to be drawn.
1822. Evidently a proverb; compare Boeth. bk. iv. pr. 1. 37-40 (vol. ii. p.
93); and note to P. Plowman, C. v. 140.
1826. The body occupied the place of honour. 'The bier, if the deceased had
been a _clerk_, went into the chancel; if a layman, and not of high degree,
the bearers set it down in the nave, hard by the church-door'; Rock, Ch. of
our Fathers, ii. 472. He cites the Sarum Manual, fol. c.
1827. _the abbot_; pronounced _thabbòt_. _covent_, convent; here used for
the monks who composed the body over which the abbot presided. So in
Shakespeare, Hen. VIII, iv. 2. 18--'where the reverend abbot, With all his
_covent_, honourably received him.' The form _covent_ is Old French, still
preserved in _Covent Garden_.
1835. _halse_; two MSS. consulted by Tyrwhitt read _conjure_, a mere gloss,
caught from the line above. Other examples of _halse_ in the sense of
_conjure_ occur. 'Ich _halsi_ þe o godes nome' = I conjure thee in God's
name; St. Marherete, ed. Cockayne, p. 17. Again, in Joseph of Arimathie,
ed. Skeat, l. 400--
'Vppon þe hei[gh]e trinite · I _halse_ þe to telle'--
which closely resembles the present passage.
1838. _to my seminge_, i. e. as it appears to me.