561. In Chaucer's Tale of Melibeus (B. 2383) we find--'Thou shalt also
eschewe the conseiling of folk that been dronkelewe; for they ne can no
conseil hyde; for Salomon seith, Ther is no privetee ther-as regneth
dronkenesse'; and see B. 776. The allusion is to Prov. xxxi. 4: 'Noli
regibus, O Lamuel, noli regibus dare uinum; quia nullum secretum est ubi
regnat ebrietas.' This last clause is quite different from that in our own
version; which furnishes, perhaps, a reason why the allusion here intended
has not been perceived by previous editors.
563. _namely_, especially. Tyrwhitt's note is as follows: 'According to the
geographers, Lepe was not far from Cadiz. This wine, of whatever sort it
may have been, was probably much stronger than the Gascon wines, usually
drunk in England. La Rochelle and Bordeaux (l. 571), the two chief ports of
Gascony, were both, in Chaucer's time, part of the English dominions.
'Spanish wines might also be more alluring upon account of their great
rarity. Among the Orders of the Royal Household, in 1604, is the following
(MS. Harl. 293, fol. 162): "And whereas, in tymes past, Spanish wines,
called Sacke, were little or noe whit used in our courte, and that in later
years, though not of ordinary allowance, it was thought convenient that
noblemen ... might have a boule or glas, &c. We understanding that it is
now used as common drinke ... reduce the allowance to xii. gallons a day
for the court,"' &c. Several regulations to be observed by London vintners
are mentioned in the Liber Albus, ed. Riley, pp. 614-618. Amongst them
is--'Item, that white wine of Gascoigne, of la Rochele, of Spain, or other
place, shall not be put in cellars with Rhenish wines.' See also note to l.
565.
564. _To selle_, for sale; the true gerund, of which _to_ is, in
Anglo-Saxon, the sign. So also 'this house _to let_' is the correct old
idiom, needing no such alteration as some would make. Cf. Morris, Hist.
Outlines of Eng. Accidence, sect. 290, subsect. 4. Fish Street leads out of
Lower Thames Street, close to the North end of London Bridge. The Harleian
MS. alone reads _Fleet Street_, which is certainly wrong. [281] Considering
that Thames Street is especially mentioned as a street for vintners (Liber
Albus, p. 614), and that Chaucer's own father was a Thames Street vintner,
there can be little doubt about this matter. The poet is here speaking from
his own knowledge; a consideration which gives the present passage a
peculiar interest. _Chepe_ is Cheapside.
565. This is a fine touch. The poet here tells us that some of this strong
Spanish wine used to find its way mysteriously into other wines; not (he
ironically suggests) because the vintners ever mixed their wines, but
because the vines of Spain notoriously grew so close to those of Gascony
that it was not possible to keep them apart! _Crepeth subtilly_ = finds its
way mysteriously. Observe the humour in the word _growing_, which expresses
that the mixture of wines must be due to the proximity of the vines
producing them in the vineyards, not to any accidental proximity of the
casks containing them in the vintners' cellars. In fact, the different
kinds of wine were to be kept in different cellars, as the Regulations in
the Liber Albus (pp. 615-618) shew. 'Item, that no Taverner shall put
Rhenish wine and White wine in a cellar together.' 'Item, that new wines
shall not be put in cellars with old wines.' 'Item, that White wine of
Gascoigne, of la Rochele, of Spain, or other place shall not be put in
cellars with Rhenish wines.' 'Item, that white wine shall not be sold for
Rhenish wine.' 'Item, that no one shall expose for sale wines counterfeit
or mixed, made by himself or by another, under pain of being set upon the
pillory.' But pillories have vanished, and all such laws are obsolete.
570. 'He is in Spain'; i. e. he is, as it were, transported thither. He
imagines he has never left Cheapside, yet is far from knowing where he is,
as we should say.