the sentinel at or on a castle, or at the camp; the skoute-wacche, is the soldier on patrol, or picket duty: in 1. 7352, nightwacche occurs, including both the wacche and the skoute-wacche; but it most frequently represents the watchmen of towns. for skeltyng of harme, for the purpose of avoiding surprise: lit. for warning of danger. skelt is a rumour, and skeltyng is spreading a rumour. The phrase occurs again in 1. 6042. 1. 1092. warne, is "to give notice," and is still used: for example, the town officer warns the magistrates of a meeting; and the sheriffofficer warns awa' the tenant whom the landlord wishes to remove. 1. 1098. The word of your werkes, the fame of your works: word is still used in this sense, as in the phrase, "he's got the word o't,” i. e. report says so of him: "word has come to town," i. e. a report or rumour has reached town. 1. 1107. spede-full, helpful, expedient: so used by Barbour, as in 4. 486, and still in use. 1. 1117. riffe, plenty, abundant: still used in this sense. 1. 1118. fraght, freight, cargo: again in 1. 5384; and in 1. 13301 it means fleet, a set of ships: both senses are still common; and another, the price of a passage, fare. 1. 1127. with-outyn threp more, without further assertion. threp occurs both as a s. and a vb. in various senses (see Gloss.), and is still so used. 1. 1131. In the ton, in the one, i. e. in the first (division): ton occurs often, so does tother, and sometimes together, as in 1. 3911, “The ton fro pe tother," which is an every-day phrase still: examples in The Bruce, 11. 123-5, 14. 1064-5. 1. 1132. furse men of armes, a common phrase in this work and the Morte Arthure, as at ll. 1537, 1897. 1. 1146. pat oper, should be pe toper. 1. 1148. the forward to lede, to lead the van. 1. 1150. pursu on the laste, (shall) come last. 1. 1158. Hit liket well pe lordes, it pleased the lords much like has still this active sense. 1. 1163. here was used by the early Scottish poets in various senses (see Jamieson's Dict.), most of which occur in this work: see Gloss., and compare II. 1432, 6188, 6253. 1. 1166. Silen to the Citie softly and faire, wend to the city, &c. The same idea is expressed in Morte Arthure, l. 1297, "Syland softely in, swettly by theme-selfene." 1. 1188. Compare the battle scene which follows with that given in Morte Arthure in the attack of the Roman camp and the sack which followed, pp. 62-8. 1. 1194. Shildes throgh shote shalkes to dethe: so again in ll. 6780, 9431, Mony shalke þurgh shot with bere sharpe gere. Shot þurgh the sheld & be shene mayle. NOTES. Compare with Morte Arthure, 11. 1857, 2545, 3748, Schalkes they schotte thrughe schrenkande maylez. Thorowe scheldys they schotte, and scherde thorowe mailes. 479 the last line is repeated in 1. 4116. Compare too with the battle scenes in Golag. and Gaw., and in Awntyrs of Arthure; and the result is a conviction that those pieces are the work of the same author: for in each of them the same particulars are dwelt on, looked at in the same light, and expressed as only the same person could express them. 1. 1196. frusshe, dash, onset: so in Mort. Arth., 1. 2900, and in Barbour in all three it is used both as a s. and as a vb. 1. 1197. All dynnet pe dyn the dales aboute: so in Mort. Arth., 1. 2031, "Alle dynned fore dyn that in the dale houede." dyn, noise; and dyn, to make a noise, to resound, are still very common words. 1. 1200. withouten sware more, without a struggle, and never moved : sware, sweir, is still used in the sense of reluctant, making much to-do, as in "man, ye're deid sweir" man, you are very reluctant, or, make much to-do about it. The word occurs in Gol. and Gaw., 1. 1053, in a similar connection, "Mony sweit thing of sware swonit full oft"= Many a young lady through horror (of the sight) swooned again and again. 1. 1217. Alse wode, &c.: see 11. 3810, 5257, 6404, 6523, and compare Mort. Arth., 11. 3817, 3837. wode, mad, furious, enraged; thus in The Bruce, Bk XI. 1. 804, "-thai ran rycht as thai war woud.” and in Burns's 'Scotch Drink,' "When neebors anger at a plea An just as rud as wud can be." 1. 1219. topsayles ouer, topsy turvy: so Burns in 'Green Grow the Rushes,' "And warly cares and warly men May a' gae tapsal teerie O!" 1. 1224. He with-drogh hym a draght, he fell back a short distance, or, he drew forth a trumpet. & a dyn made, and blew a blast, sounded a call. So Douglas in his Virgil, p. 230, 1. 35, "Be this thare armour grathyt and thare gere, The draucht trumpet blawis the brag of were." 1. 1230. consayuit his come, observed his approach, saw him coming on, keppit hym swithe, quickly prepared himself (to meet him): kep may here mean, to arrest, to stop, or, to prepare to catch or receive; both meanings are still common, and examples from Wyntoun, Barbour, and Douglas are given in Jamieson's Dict. swithe, sometimes swice, swike, see Gloss. 1. 1234. the rod all to-roofe, the shaft shivered to pieces. 1. 1237. caupe, blow, shock, (O.F. coup): for various meanings of Caupe, see Gloss.: the word is still in use, and pronounced coup. 1. 1238. a warchand wound, wide, gaping, hence, deadly: the phrase occurs in Wallace, Bk 8, 11. 732, 858. 1. 1241. And flange, &c., and struck, &c. : this line is repeated at 1. 5253; and flange is still used to express rapid or sudden striking. 1. 1244. With a bir, with a thrust or blow. bir is properly force, impetus, but is still used to express a blow given with great force, rapid motion or whatever causes rapid motion, or, the sound made by anything in rapid motion. See Gloss, and note, l. 1902. 1. 1245. foole, a horse: fole occurs in ll. 6400, 6451, and foale, in 1, 8341, with the same meaning: nagge also occurs in l. 7727,—“ he neyt as a nagge." Both words are still used in the same way; Burns, in 'Tam o' Shanter,' says, 661 every naig was ca'd a shoe on, The smith an' thee gat roaring fou on." 1. 1248. The bourder of his basnet brestes in sonder: so in Mort. Arth., 1. 4211, "The bordoure of his bacenett he bristes in sondire." The bourder of the basnet (from this, and other mention of it further on) was either the peak of the ventaile, or the rim or collar that joined the basnet and cuirass: it is mentioned again and again in Gol, and Gaw. See Arms and Armour, by Boutell, London, 1869. 1 1254. hurlet hym, dragged him: hurl occurs in 11. 1969, 6660, 10311; and harle in 2968, 5834: both forms are still in use, and examples of harle are given by Jamieson from Douglas and Lyndsay. 1. 1257. nolpit to ground, knocked or dashed to the ground: nolpe, both as a s. and a vb., is still used, as in "he ga'e him a nap wi' his neive," "he nappit him wi' his neive," the expression given in 1. 13889, "He nolpit on with his neuc." 1. 1258. roile, charger: the roile was the great, large-boned horse of Flemish breed on which the full-armed knight rode at tournament or in battle. 1. 1265. caupyng, exchanging of blows, conflict, (O.F. couper, to strike). See note, 1. 1237. 1. 1270. haspes, clasps: hasp is still used both as a s. and as a vb. See Gloss., and note, 1. 367. 1. 1271. With a swinge of his sworde swappit hym in þe fase, with a swing of his sword struck him on the face: swing and swap are favourite words of our author, and are varied in every possible way both here and in the Morte Arthure. Having to express the action so often every variation or shade of variety had to be resorted to, and after so good a training as the Troy Book gave him he was well fitted to dash off those splendid battle scenes in the Morte Arthure. As a specimen of the variations of expression in this case take, with the line above, Swordis out swiftly þai swappit belyue. Swange out swordys, swappit togedur. Swappit hom with swordes till the swalt all. With swappis of hor swordes swelt mony knightes. 1. 10541 10430 4687 10905 NOTES. Pirrus swappit out his sword, swange at the kyng. and compare with Morte Arthure, 1. 1464-6, Swyftly with swerdes they swappene there-aftyre, 481 13590 11002 1. 1795 The 1. 2958-9 These are but a few of the examples of our author's variety of expression he gives at least sixteen distinct variations of swinging or swapping the sword; and if any one wishes to extend the comparison given above, he may turn to ll. 1889, 6699, 7274, 7340, 7769, 9561, 9668, 10390, 13024, 13419, of this work, and to the examples in the Morte Arthure. 1. 1278. ffrochit, another form of frusshit, dashed, rushed. 1. 1282. hym o liue broght, killed him on the spot: occurs again in 1. 1443; and in Mort. Arth., 1. 802, we have "broghte hym o lyfe:" it varies in both works to "broghte oute o lyue." 1. 1289. on a soppe hole, in one body, in one mass: soppe occurs in Mort. Arth., The Bruce, and Douglas's Virgil, in the same sense; and it is still used in the West of Scotland, as in the phrase, "a good sup rain," or, "a good sup water in the well." 1. 1290. a horne: see note, 1. 1308. 1. 1292. for chaunse vppon vrthe, for the sake of all they hold dear. 1. 1296. Slogh hom downe sleghly & slaunge hom to grounde, Killed them right and left, and dashed them to the ground: sleghly is cunningly, hence, cleverly: slaunge, flung with force, or dashed, thrust, or knocked. Both words are still used as here. This line presents another of our author's favourite expressions: there are two forms of it common to his works, which are varied in every possible way, as in the case of 1. 1271; one is given here, and one at 1. 9038, Slogh hom doun sleghly with sleght of his hond, while in Morte Arthure we have, ffor he slewe with a slynge be sleyghte of his handis. That they bee sleyghely slayne, and slongene in watyrs. 1. 3418 3855 4321 From these we find that all the variations are got from three forms with the rime-letter s, viz. slay, sleght, and slyng; and by introducing slade (a narrow valley, a den), we get in Troy Book, Miche slaght in þat slade of po slegh knightes. Gret slaght in þe slade & slyngyng to ground. and in Morte Arthure, 11. 2977-8, There is slayne in that slope, be elagere of his hondes, 1. 6955 6006 7693 1. 1297. warpide hom under, tossed them down: warp is still used in this sense, as in speaking of a wrestling match, "they warpit aither doun:" it also means to speak angrily, tauntingly, or vehemently, as in 11. 360, 2683, and as Douglas in his Virgil, p. 62, 1. 3, and p. 143, 1. 53,-in this sense it is generally followed by a preposition: it also means to raise, to wind (but still implying to cast or throw), as in 1. 11924, “he warpit up a wicket;" and so Douglas's Virgil, p. 432, 1. 4, warp up the ports:" and in l. 10462, 13412, to throw or toss from one, thus, "warpit to the yates," "warpet ouer-burde mikill riches & relikes," and as Barbour in The Bruce, Bk 3, 1. 108, and Bk 8, 1. 606. 1. 1307. And siket full sore with sylyng of teris; so in Mort. Arth., 1. 3794, "And thane syghande he saide with sylande terys.” Again in 1. 2680 of this work we have, "All in siking & sorrow, with syling of teris Ho brast out with a birre." 1. 1308. Henttes his horne, seizes his horn. hastily blawes, quickly sounds it so in Wallace, Bk 6, 1. 823, "Leit doun the brig, and blew his horne on hycht." 1. 1313. Kest vp his egh, raised his eyes still used note, the noun egh is sing. looked: the phrase is 1. 1314-5. Segh a batell come prickand, saw a company coming dashing on so in Barbour, Bk 9, 1. 142, "That on stedis of mekill prid Come prikand," &c. Again in 1. 1317, we have "come girdand," as in 'The Gentle Shepherd,' Act I. Scene 1, "I saw my Meg come linkin' oer the lee." The idiom is still in use. 1. 1316. blusshed, looked intently: occurs again in 11. 2428, 9446, and in Mort. Arth., 1. 116. 1. 1319. to be stad so, to be so situated, to be so fixed: stade is so used in Mort. Arth., l. 1926; and is still so used. 1. 1328. on bothe halfes, on both sides, i. e. before and behind: so in Mort. Arth., 1. 1980, 66 on iche halfe; and 66 sere halfes" is a phrase often used in both works. blody beronyn, streaming with blood: occurs again and again here, and in the Mort. Arth., 11. 3946, 3971. 1. 1331. Pricket furthe into prise: so in The Bruce, Bk 2, 1. 236, "Thai prikyt then out off the press." prise, conflict, melée, as in 1. 1201. 1. 1334. fled of his gate, fled out of his way: this idiom is still common. 1. 1342. sobbyng of teres, should be sobbyng & teres. 1. 1347. dite & pe dyn, shouting and noise: dite, a saying, a story, whether long or short, spoken or written. 1. 1348. with tene turnyt pe bak, in despair gave way, or, with bitterness of heart gave way: to turn the back is still used to express |