p. 13, 1. 388. And then the officers & I. Cp. "The Squier came fro chambre tho, Both usher, panter, & butler, And other that in office were ; There he them warned sone anone To take up the bordes everych one." The Squier of Lowe Degre, 1. 388 (Ritson's Rom.). p. 13, 1. 398. ffor he met with his love, in crokeing of pe moon. "Also the same yere [1421] betuen Cristemasse and Candelmasse, the town of Milen' [Melun] was yolden to the kyng [Henry V.], and alle cheveteyns with the sowdyours were ledd to Parys in the croke of the mone they myght seyn, for of them there skaped thens but fewe on lyve."—A Chronicle of London, ed. Sir H. Nicolas, 1827, p. 109. "Also this same yere [1436] the xiij day of August, the kyng of Scottes and hys wyf lyenge at the sege of the castell of Rokysburgh [Roxburgh], with a gret power of Scottes and a gret ordinaunce, brak up the sege and wente his way shamfully, and lefte his ordinaunce and his stuff behynden hym as a coward, and mo than vij score of his galgentires [? gallowglasses] sclayn and taken at the same sege: and so myghte he wel sey, that in the crook of the mone com he thedirward, and in the wylde wanyande [waning] wente homward: 'With reste and pees, A man schal best encrees.”—Idem, p. 122. From the last passage quoted here it seems that it was thought unlucky to begin anything when the moon was either in her first or last quarter: in the "crook of the mone"; that is, when she is crescent-shaped.-S. trist, of which p. 14, 1. 422. al they route. For they read the or that. p. 14, 1. 424. & weytid hym a trest. trest Jamieson says: "trist" is used in O. E. as denoting a in hunting." "Ye shall be set at such a triste, That hart and hind shall come to your fist." weytid him a treste therefore p. 15, 1. 459. 66 post or station Squire of Low Degree. "looked out for a post for himself." & he com by my lot. Halliwell gives lote: a loft, a floor. South. The host was going to bed. p. 16, 1. 471. dischauce yewe nat. According to Littré chausses in old time comprised all the coverings for the lower part of the body, answering to our word hose. Dischauce yewe nat therefore means, don't take off your lower garments. The word chauce is very rare in English, but we find it again in the name Chaucer. See Le Héricher's Glossaire des noms propres, p. 39, s. v. calx. p. 16, 1. 474. nere hond quarter night, nearly nine p.m., the night lasting from six p.m. to six a.m. See also Camden's Remains (ed. 1870), p. 133: he says, chauser = hosier. p. 16, 1. 478. And went to have fond the dor up by the hasp & eke pe twist Held him out a whyls. Does up here = open? The German auf, and the Dutch op, have the two meanings up and open: may not the corresponding word in a kindred language have the same two meanings? In the Imperial Dict., s. v. open, we find; "it would seem to be a past part. of a verb formed from up, or at least is based on up." If so, in the line "The colde deth wyth mouthe gapyng upryght." Knight's Tale, 1. 1150,'gapyng upryght" will mean "gaping right open." Again, when a knight in an encounter with his adversary is thrown from his horse, we are told over and over again that he "lay upright": i. e. lay quite open or unprotected, his arms by his sides, and his spear fallen from his hand. Sometimes, instead of the words "lay upright," we are told that he "wyde open lay." "Wyde open on here back, Dede in the lyng."-Sir Degrevant, 1. 3352 (Thornton "And strykes the duk throw the scheld "sweltand knyghtez Romances). Lyes wyde opyne welterande on waloparde stedez." Morte Arthure, 1. 2147. Perhaps the meaning is preserved in the modern phrase "to set up shop," where up seems to mean open. Cp. "For this is the first day I set ope shop.”—Rowley and Webster's Cure for a Cuckold, p. 294, col. 1. Webster's Works (ed. Dyce). Perhaps "to cut up a fowl" may be explained in the same way. Also "the hevynly portis crystallyne Upwarpis braid."—Gawin Douglas. Proloug of the XIIth where upwarpis braid seems to mean "cast wide open." Again in Gl. to Morris and Skeat's Specimens we have upon, open, and three instances are given from Allit. Poems. bye the hasp, &c. bye seems here to = but. Either it is an error of the scribe, or a dialectical corruption-probably the latter. See Prof. Zupitza's Note on Guy of Warwick, 1. 7853. where the MS. has be. He also cites three lines in Generydes, where the editor prints but for be of the MS. To these instances I may add "Ne bidde ich no bet, bie ich [beo] a lesed a domesdai o bende." A Moral Ode, 1. 136. Trinity MS. (Specimens by Morris),— where I have inserted beo from the Jesus MS. to make the line intelligible. For bie the Jesus MS. has bute. p. 18, 1. 534. the felishipp pat shuld nevir thryue. Cp. 1. 1035, "To such maner company as shuld nevir thryue.” Jak, þow must be fele. ? For fele read fell; then p. 18, 1. 536. the meaning will be: thy wits about thee." fellich vnder hir hode." (De Regimine Principum, st. 607) has: "What doth this felle man & prudent?" Again, "fykil was and felle,"-Tale of Gamelyn, and feille, skill, in p. 18, 1. 538. this is a noble chere That pow hym hast i-found. Here p. 18, 1. 550. I have too gistis a-ryn. Cp. 569, "beth these pannys a-ryn?" = In Murray's Dict., s. v. aroint, we find: "rynd-ta is merely a local (Cheshire) pronunciation of 'round thee, move round, move about!'" Perhaps therefore aryn may around, about, which meaning will suit the two passages given above. See, however, the Glossary. Some maintain that the Shakesperian aroint is a doublet of " around," and this view seems to be supported by the following lines, which are found in a Moral Play, Mind, Will, and Understanding (Collier's Hist. of the English Drama, ii. 208, new ed.); where Lucifer says: "Reson I haue made both dethe and dumme; Grace is out and put aroin." Mr. Halliwell-Phillips in his Life of Shakespeare, i. 142 (7th ed.), gives us another form of this word; he tells us that "arent the, wich,” is found in one of the records of the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, which was written about Shakspere's time. p. 19, l. 563. I think it certain that the Paramour begins here: he came frequently to visit the Tapster (see 11./54-55), so that he would know that the water-cans were in the place; besides this the line 568 in this speech is nearly the same as line 542, which is spoken by the Paramour. p. 20, 11. 612-13. astert rimes with mark; also 11. 676-7 rype with pyke; 11. 781-2 londis with wrongis. p. 20, 1. 625. St. Juliane, the patron Saint of travellers, who provided them with a good night's lodging. Cp. "He says: "Dame, for Saint July! This night let me have herbary And als some vittalls till the morn.' Roswall and Lilian, 1. 253, in Laing's Early "This night,' quoth John, 'you shall not spill, I hett it you to day; 41 See that ye take it thankfully John de Reeve, 166 (Bp. Percy's Folio, ii. 564). "they thanked God & St. Jollye, to tell the Queene of their harbor the lords had full grete pryde."—Ibid. 581-572. See also Rauf Coilyear, p. 5, 1. 63, and note. p. 21, 1. 640. warrok. Mr. Skeat offers three conjectural explana tions of this word. 1. The A.S. wearg, a wretch. 2. Possibly connected with ware, wary. 3. Cf. the Sc. "warrock, a stunted, ill-grown person, or puny child," which Jamieson connects with the A.S. wear, a wart; wearrig, callous with labour, knotty, rough. p. 21, 1. 640. I venture upon a fourth conjecture. Prof. Skeat in Gl. to the Wars of Alexander, s. v. warloked, says: 'pp. fettered, 769*. The same as warroked; see Gl. to P. Plowman." May not warrok here mean the fettered (one)"? The dog had a clog about his neck. p. 22, 1. 667. for aught that þey coude pour. being caught from preceding they. p. 22, 1. 674. ceding him then p. 23, 1. 687. for pey read he, þey helde him to hys harmys. ? does to here govern prethe meaning will be "kept his injuries to himself." Lo! how the trees *** somer clothing [wear]! ? read: Lo! how the trees grenyth, þat nakid wer, & nothing Bare pis month afore, but now her somer clothing! unlace his male. Cp. undid the bag of treachery, p. 23, 1. 701. 1. 1182. p. 23, 1. 715. greet matere. my last knot. Cp. Thou sholdest knitte vp well a Prologue to Parson's Tale, 1. 28 (ed. Skeat). To knitte up al this feste & make an ende.—Id. 47. p. 24, 1. 728. good will shall be my chaunce. chaunce here means "good fortune." Littré, s. v. "2e Absolument et abusivement, heureux hasard, bonne chance." Then the meaning of the sentence will be, "my wish to please will cause me to succeed." p. 24, 1. 728. With this I be excusid. with this =on condition that. Cp. 1. 3972, "With this I have saue condit;" and see Mätzner, Sprachproben, 109/192, and note. p. 25, 1. 750. these olde wise poetes. Cp. 1. 196, these olde wise, where these the well known. This usage is frequent in M.E. In Latin we have ille used in this way, as in Antipater ille Sidonius. Forcellinus, s. v. ille, says: "ille nominibus, vel etiam adjectivis, tam in bonam quam in malam partem additur majoris evidentiæ ac emphasis gratia." So in Italian quello is used, and in German jener. Grimm, s. v. jener says: "auch sonst bei hervorhebung von etwas bekannten, wo jener fast nicht mehr sagt wie der blosse artikel." I give some instances from Faust: 1st part. "Fluch jener höchsten Liebeshuld. in jener ersten Nacht" (first night after Creation). Why the followers of Beryn are always termed "these Romeyns," I am unable to explain. p. 26, 1. 776. doseparis = douceperes, douze pairs, 12 peers of France. Spenser's use of the word is most amusing. He says: "Big-looking like a doughty doucëpere" (Faerie Queene, III. x. 31). i. e. looking as bold as a twelve peer.-W. W. S. cheff p. 26, 1. 779. bon-cheff = good achievement, opposed to mys = bad achievement.-W. W. S. p. 26, 1. 789. dessantly. continuously, incessantly. "De seven sagis were In Rome dwelling dessantly." Cp. with this, "ffor thre dayis dessantly þe darknes among hem was," 1. 1562. Also: "iii hunderit baptist men and wivis, pat desseli bathe late and are Ware tendant to be apostlis lare." Cursor Mundi, 1587/19033. "Als if he desseli did ille."—Id. 1. 26881 (Cotton MS.). The corresponding word in the Fairfax MS. is ipenli. For ipen Stratmann gives assiduus, diligens. "pat at þe last þai ordeined tuelve pe poghtfulest among þem selve, Cursor Mundi, 70/31. (Specimens by Morris and Skeat.) The Cotton MS. reads desselik for biseli, and at p. 490 we have a note by Mr. Goodchild of Penrith. "Dess is common in Swaledale in the sense of 'to pack tight or fit closely together.' Possibly the word desselic (p. 70, 1. 34), which is the reading of two MSS. (Cotton and Göttingen), may mean crowded together or gathered closely together. Cf. Icel. hey-des, a haystack. W. das, a stack; dasu, to stack." The word desselich in the five passages given above seems to refer to "time," and Halliwell's equivalent for it "constantly," s. v. dessable, suits the context in each case. In his Dict. Halliwell gives also dessment, stagnation; dess therefore will mean close, without intervals," whether applied to hay, time, or water. 66 As to the form of the word, I suppose desse in desselich represents the past part. of the word dess, viz. dessen, and that dessant in dessantli is the Northern form of the same. On this point the use of the present for the past part. in Lowland Scottish, see Sir David Lyndesay's Monarche, 1. 5517, and note (E. E. Specimens by Skeat). p. 26, 1. 789. Seven Sages. See Mr. Wright's ed. and his dissertation in Hazlitt's ed. of Warton, i. 305-334. In the poem ed. by Wright, the |