59. _deys_, raised platform, as at English feasts. But this is in Marco
Polo too; see vol. iii. p. 473. Cf. Kn. Tale, l. 1342 (A. 2200); and note
to Prol. l. 370.
63. In a similar indirect manner, Chaucer describes feasts, &c. elsewhere:
see Kn. Ta. 1339 (A. 2197); Man of Lawes Tale, B. 701-707. And Spenser
imitates him; F. Q. i. 12. 14; v. 3. 3.
67. _sewes_, seasoned broths. '_Sewes_ and potages'; Babees Book, ed.
Furnivall, p. 151, l. 523; cf. p. 149, l. 509.
68. Mr. Wright's note on the line is--'It is hardly necessary to observe
that _swans_ were formerly eaten at table, and considered among the
choicest ornaments of the festive board. Tyrwhitt informs us that at the
intronization of Archbp. Nevil, 6 Edward iv, there were "Heronshawes
iiijc." [i. e. 400]; Leland's Collectanea, vi. 2: and that at another feast
in 1530 we read of "16 _Heronsews_, every one 12_d_"; Peck's Desiderata
Curiosa, ii. 12.' _Heronsew_ is derived from A. F. _heronceau_, variant of
_heroncel_. Godefroy gives _herouncel_, from the Liber Custumarum, i. 304
(14 Edw. II.), and the pl. _heroncaulx_ in an account dated 1330. Cotgrave
only has 'Haironneau, a young heron,' and 'Hairon, a heron, herne,
_herneshaw_.' Halliwell quotes 'Ardeola, an _hearnesew_' from Elyot's Dict.
1559, and the form _herunsew_ from Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 88. Certainly
_heronsewe_ is the name of a bird, not of a dish, as some have guessed, by
comparing the _sewes_ in l. 67. In fact, the word _heronsew_ (for heron) is
still used in Swaledale, Yorkshire. And in Hazlitt's old Plays (The
Disobedient Child), vol. ii. p. 282, we have--
'There must be also pheasant and swan;
There must be _heronsew_, partridge, and quail.'
See the quotations in Nares; also Notes and Queries, 1st Ser. iii. 450,
507; iv. 76; vii. 13; Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 152, l. 539. Cf.
_handsaw_, for _hernshaw_, in Hamlet, ii. 2. _Heroncel_, or _-ceu_, or
_-ceau_, is simply the diminutive form; so also, _lioncel_, or _lionçeau_,
as a diminutive of _lion_.
70. _som mete_; viz. 'horses, dogs, and Pharaoh's rats.' See vol. iii. p.
474.
73. _pryme_; the word _prime_ seems to mean, in Chaucer, the first quarter
of the day, reckoned from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M.; and more particularly, the
_end_ of that period, i. e. 9 A.M. In the Nonne Prestes Tale, B. 4387, the
cock crew at _prime_, or 9 A.M. So here, the Squire says it is 9 o'clock,
and he must proceed quickly with his story. The word is used in different
senses by different writers. [374]
75. _firste_, first design or purpose. I believe this reading is right. MS.
Harl. has _purpos_, which will not scan: unless _my_ be omitted, as in
Tyrwhitt, though that MS. retains _my_. MSS. Cp. Ln. insert _purpos_ as
well as _firste_, making the line too long: whilst Hn. Cm. Pt. agree with
the text here given, from MS. E.
76. The second syllable in _after_ is rapidly pronounced, and _thridde_ is
a dissyllable.
78. _thinges_, pieces of music. Minstrelsy at feasts was common; cf. Man of
Lawes Tale, B. 705; March. Tale, E. 1715.
80. The incident of a man _riding_ into the hall is nothing uncommon. Thus
we have, in the Percy Folio MS. ii. 486, the line--
'The one came _ryding into the hall_.'
Warton observes--'See a fine romantic story of a Comte de Macon who, while
revelling in his hall with many knights, is suddenly alarmed by the
entrance of a gigantic figure of a black man, mounted on a black steed.
This terrible stranger, without receiving any obstruction from guards or
gates, rides directly forward to the high table, and, with an imperious
tone, orders the count to follow him--Nic. Gillos. Chron. ann. 1120.'
Alexander rode into a hall up to the high table, according to the romance,
ed. Weber, l. 1083. See also Warton's Obs. on the Fairy Queen, p. 202; the
Ballad of King Estmere; and Stowe's Survey of London, p. 387, ed. 1599. In
Scott's Rokeby, Bertram _rides_ into a church.