'And where the jolly troop had led the round,
The grass unbidden rose, and mark'd the ground.'
On the subject of Fairies, see Keightley's Fairy Mythology, and similar
works. Tyrwhitt notes that few old authors tell us so much about them as
Gervase of Tilbury.
866. _limitours_, limiters; see A. 209, and the note; D. 1711; P. Plowman,
B. v. 138, C. xxiii. 346; Massingberd, Eng. Reformation, p. 110.
868. The number of mendicant friars in England, during the latter half of
the fourteenth century, was indeed large. In Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold,
iii. 400, we read that 'now ben mony thousand of freris in Englond'; and,
at p. 511, that they were, 'as who seith, withoute noumbre.' In P. Plowman,
C. xxiii. 269, Conscience accuses the friars of waxing 'oute of numbre,'
and reminds them that 'Hevene haveth evene numbre, and helle is withoute
numbre.'
869. The occurrence here of _three consecutive lines_ (869-871) in which
the first foot is deficient, consisting only of a single accented syllable,
is worth notice. The way in which Tyrwhitt 'amends' these lines is most
surprising. He inserts _and_ five times, and his first line defies
scansion, though I suppose he made _hall's_ a monosyllable, and _kichen-es_
trisyllabic, whereas it plainly has but two syllables. Here is his result.
'Blissing halles, chambres, kichenes, _and_ boures,
Citees _and_ burghes, castles highe _and_ toures,
Thropes _and_ bernes, shepenes, _and_ dairies,
This maketh that ther ben no faeries.'
Note that he actually seems to have read _dairies_ and _faeries_ as [315]
riming _dissyllabic_ words! In which case the last of these four lines
would have but _four_ accents! But the rime merely concerns the two _final_
syllables of those quadrisyllabic words. The riming of the two _former_
syllables is unessential, and for the purpose of rime, accidental and
otiose.
MS. Pt. admits _and_ before _boures_; and MS. Hl. admits _and_ before
_toures_ and _dairies_ (which does not alter the character of the lines).
With these exceptions, all the seven MSS. omit all the five _and's_
inserted by Tyrwhitt; and, in fact, they are all of them superfluous.
For the benefit of those who are but little acquainted with this
peculiarity of Middle English metre, I cite _four consecutive lines_ of a
similar character from Lydgate's Siege of Thebes, ll. 1239-1242:--
'Drogh | the brydyl from his horses hede,
Let | hym goon, and took no maner hede,
Thorgh | the gardyn that enclosed was,
Hym | to pasture on the grene gras.'
There are plenty more of the same kind in the same poem; e. g. 1068, 1081,
1082, 1089, 1103, 1107, 1116, 1120, 1122, 1123, 1140, 1141, 1151, &c., &c.,
all printed in Specimens of English from 1394-1579, ed. Skeat, pp. 28-34.
For similar lines in Hoccleve, see the same, p. 16, st. 604, l. 6; st. 605,
l. 2; p. 20, st. 622, l. 2; p. 21, st. 624, l. 4.