403. _Surquidrie_, presumption; O.F. _surquiderie_. It occurs in the Ancren
Riwle, p. 56 (note _h_); Gawain and the Grene Knight, l. 2457; Barbour's
Bruce, xi. 11, xvi. 327; &c.
406. See E. 1200, and the note. Cf. Ayenb. p. 58, l. 13:--'that byeth ase
the _cleper of the melle_, thet ne may him naght hyealde stille.' Fr.
'vaines paroles, qui sont come _li batels du moulin_.'
407. There is nothing in Fr. corresponding to this passage. _waiteth_,
i. e. watches his opportunity of being first saluted, or of taking a higher
seat at table. _above him_, before him, as in a procession. [458]
_kisse pax_, to kiss the pax. The _pax_ was a small flat piece of wood or
metal, quite distinct from the _pyx_, with which it is often confounded.
See the full explanation in Nares. See also Bingham, Antiq. of the
Christian Church; and Rock, Church of our Fathers.
_goon to offring_; see A. 450, and the note.
411. _leefsel_, a shady arbour, such as may still be seen before an
ale-house-door, or a cottage-door, in some country villages. The word has
already occurred in A. 4061, and has been explained in the note to that
line. It is quite distinct from the _ivy-bush_ which was so commonly
suspended in place of, or in addition to, the _sign_ which denoted an
ale-house; see the chapter on Ale-house Signs in Brand's Pop. Antiquities.
Perhaps we may assume that the descriptive epithet _gaye_ is here of some
force; the arbour in front of an inn-door would, usually, be either larger
or more conspicuous than that in front of an ordinary cottage.
412. This 'outrageous array of clothing' answers to the 'plente des beles
robes' in Fr.; cf. Ayenb. p. 24, last line but one.
413. Alluding to Luke xvi. 19. Really from S. Gregorii Homiliarum in
Evangelia lib. ii. homil. xl. § 3: 'Quodsi uidelicet culpa non esset,
nequaquam sermo Dei tam uigilanter exprimeret quod diues ... bysso et
purpura indutus fuisset.' See Migne's ed. vol. 76. col. 1305.
414. From S. Gregorii Homiliarum in Evangelia lib. ii. homil. 40. § 3:
'Nemo quippe uestimenta praecipua nisi ad inanem gloriam quaerit,
uidelicet, ut honorabilior caeteris esse uideatur.' Cf. lib. i. homil. vi.
§ 3 (on the text, Matt. xi. 2-10), where St. Gregory inveighs against such
as--'solis exterioribus dediti, praesentis uitae _mollitiem_ et
_delectationem_ quaerunt ... Nemo ergo existimet _in fluxu atque studio
uestium_ peccatum deesse;' (ed. Migne, vol. 76. col. 1097). He proceeds to
refer to 1 Pet. iii. 5, 1 Tim. ii. 9.
415. _costlewe_, costly. '_Costelewe_, costfull, costuous, _Sumptuosus_';
Prompt. Parv.; see Way's note. This form answers to the Icel. _kostligr_;
and the only difference between the suffixes _-lewe_ and _-ly_ is that the
former is Norse, and represents Icel. _-ligr_, whilst the latter represents
the A. S. _-lic_. See _Chokelew_ in the New Eng. Dict., and cf.
_drunken-lewe_, drunken-like, _sik-lewe_, sickly.
416. Wyclif (Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 124) is similarly severe against proud
array.
417. _degyse_, fashionable; O. F. _desguisè_, also spelt _desguisiè_
(Godefroy). Chaucer found this word in Le Roman de la Rose, l. 827; see
vol. i. p. 128.
_endentinge_, notching, or the use of indented lines. _Indentee_ (better
_endentee_) is still a term in heraldry, to signify that an edge or
dividing line is notched or serrated, as shewn in any heraldic work.
Several of the terms in this clause have, in heraldry, a special sense, and
Chaucer seems to be thinking, in particular, of such coats-of-arms as were
sometimes made of variously coloured cloths, cut into the requisite shapes.
[459]
_barringe_, cutting into stripes, or decoration with _bars_. A _bar_, in
heraldry, is a horizontal stripe like the _fess_, but narrower.
_oundinge_, waving; decoration by the use of waved lines. _Oundee_ or
_oundy_ (also _onde_, _ondy_) is the heraldic name for a waved line or
edge. Criseyde's hair was _ounded_, i. e. waved; Troilus, iv. 736.
_palinge_, decoration with a 'pale' or upright stripe. A _pale_, in
heraldry, is a broad upright stripe, occupying the third part of the field.
Cf. note to HF. 1840 (vol. iii. p. 282).
_windinge_, twisting; decoration with curved lines. Many heraldic charges,
such as a lion, had to be cut out in the cloth, by 'winding' the scissors
about, along the outline required.
_bendinge_, decoration with bends. A _bend_, in heraldry, is a slanting
stripe or band. The _bend dexter_ is drawn from the dexter chief to the
sinister base of the shield; the _bend sinister_ (once a mark of bastardy)
slopes the other way.
418. _pounsoninge_, punching, perforation. Strictly, the use of a
_puncheon_ or perforating implement. '_Punchon_, stimulus, punctorium';
Prompt. Parv.
_chisels_, i. e. cutting instruments; we may note that, etymologically,
_chisels_ and _scissors_ (M. E. _cisoures_) are closely related words.
_dagginge_, slitting, snipping, cutting into strips or narrow flapping
ends. There is a special allusion to the custom of _dagging_, i. e.
jagging, or foliating the edges of robes (especially of the sleeves), so
common in the reigns of Edw. III. and Rich. II. See fig. 91 in Fairholt's
Costume in England (1885), i. 124. See P. Plowman, C. xxiii. 143; Rich. the
Redeless, iii. 193.
419. The length of the trains of gowns is a common subject of satire. See,
in particular, Sir David Lyndesay's Minor Poems (E. E. T. S.), pp. 574-5.