66

а

pail), forts, towers, holds, or strongholds : so used by Barbour and
Wyntoun : in Lancashire such a building is called a pile, as the Pile of
Fouldery. Lesly, in his account of the Scottish Borderers, says, they
care little about their houses or cottages, but “construct for themselves
stronger towers of a pyramidal form which they call Pailes," which can-
not be so easily destroyed.

1. 329. abasshet, bowed down, hanging: in 11. 2517, 7962, it is used
in the sense of abashed, confounded.

1. 330. shotes, cluinps, patches: still used in the same sense, as shot of ground." In 1. 3300 it occurs, meaning gushes, streams, 'spaits.'

1. 332. to wale, of various kinds : see note, 1. 8; and compare l. 373, and Morte Arthure, I. 181, "wylde to wale.”

1. 342. swonghe or swoughe sough (all these forms are still used), gushing, purling, the sound of flowing water : sough is applied to express the rustling of the wind, swough or swongh, the lapping or flowing of the water among stones; thus, “ The win' was soughin thro' the trees ;'

" " the burn was swoughin or swonghin along.” sweppit, lapped, gushed; swep is dimin, of swap (see Gloss.), as tip is of tap or top.

1. 351. Steppit up to a streite ; a well marked Scotticism, and still very common; stepping up and stepping doun, express going to and from a place. streght on his gate, may be either, (that was) straight before them, or, (leading) direct to his destination : both meanings are still in every-day use.

1. 353. wilfulde, eager : occurs in 11. 725, 2872.

1. 357. yepe, eager, impulsive : yepe and yape are still used ; it occurs in ' Christ's Kirk on the Green,'

“A yap young man that stood him neist

Soon bent his bow in ire,” &c.
yenerues zynerus, also zenerus, should be zyuerus, zeuerus (see Gloss, derivatives
2925

of yener, misprint for yeuer, A.S. gifer, greedy, rapacious) impetuous,
generous, kindly : this line represents one of the stock terms of our
author when speaking of a favourite knight: it occurs frequently,
sometimes word for word, sometimes with a little variation. This habit
of repeating himself forms one of the strong proofs of the identity of
authorship of the Morte Arthure and this Troy Book.

1. 362. bowet, we led, marched, went. —the brode yate, the chief
gate or entrance: so called still. þai bide wold, before they would
stop or stay. The whole line = they went direct to the main en-
trance.

1. 364. silet, swept, passed, as in 1. 1973: in 11. 1307, 2680, sile
to flow : both meanings are used in Morte Arthure, the first, in l. 1297;
and the second in l. 3794, in almost the same words,

“And thane syghande he said, with sylande terys."
1. 367. hasping in armys, clasping in arms, embracing each other :
hasp occurs also as a s. (see Gloss.): both forms are still common, as
also the meaning used in l. 3899,-a hank, a fold.

6

or

:

1. 369. Gaid, went, passed: as in Burns's song, Tibbie, I liae seen the Day,'

“ Yestreen I met you on the moor:

Ye spak na, but gaed by like stour.” 1. 383. Be þan, by that time: so in Wallace, 5. 125,

“Sternys, be than, began for till apper.” and in Douglas's Virgil, p. 324, 1. 18, and still used.

1. 386. Walid wine, choice wines, the best of wines. —to wete, for the asking: wete is used in the same sense in Wallace, 5. 346. 1. 392. sought into sale, entered the room : in l. 6644, sought

= departed.

1. 394. etlit, intended, chosen, or designed as the one to succeed : the word is so used in Douglas's Virgil, p. 13, 1. 34.

1. 399. the clene artis, as opposed to the black arts; the former implied education and ability, and claimed respect; while the latter implied fellowship with the devil, and inspired dread.

1. 406. in a hond while, in a short time, in an instant: the phrase occurs frequently in this work.

1. 408. Derke, dark, or darkness : still used in both senses : in l. 3195 it is a s., and in l. 4286 a vb.

1. 414. yepely, quickly, cleverly : see note, I. 357, also Glossary. yarke into Elde, change into old (men), or, put into old (age): yark, yerk, to do anything cleverly or quickly, as to toss, to upset, to strike, to tie, &c. : still in use.

1. 425. flitton, changed, altered, varied : liter. removed; in this sense flit is still used.

1. 439. wit, judgment; so in l. 443.

1. 448. no bote, no good, no advantage, useless : bote is used as a vb. in l. 3391,

1. 453. Ene (eyes); this is one mark of the author's origin. trendull, a hoop, a wheel: so in Burns's Inventory,

“ Ae auld wheelbarrow, mair for token,
Ae leg an' baith the trams are broken ;
I made a poker o’ the spindle,

An' my auld mither brunt the trindle." 1. 462. radly, severely, intensely : another form of roidly, fiercely : see 1. 912, and Gloss. Roid, Roidly.

1. 464. hir talent was taken, her inclination was taken away or gone. 1. 466. full, satisfied ; so used still.

1. 475. hurdy, bold, brave: occurs often in The Bruce, and in Wallace.

1. 478. derne hert, inmost heart, secret thoughts : derne is still used as a vb. in this sense, as in “The Witch of Fife,'

“We splashit the floode, and we dernit the woode,

And we left the shoure behynde.” 1. 481. Shentyng, shrinking : occurs also as shontyng, shuntyng ; see Glossary.

:

1. 482. þere worship to saue, to save their good name : worship occurs often in this work, and generally in the sense of fame, renown, as in l. 655, &c.

1. 483. burdys, young ladies : so in Burns's "Tam o' Shanter,' and a stock word in old ballads.

1. 486. burdes, tables ; liter. boards, pronounced burds, or, bairds.

1. 493. Wox (pret. of wax), grew, became: so in The Bruce, 4. 21, and 7. 487.

1. 494. as the lowe hote, as hot as fire : lowe, flame, fire, is still in

use both as a s. and as a vb. sonit? 1. 495. sonet, pierced, vibrated, dirled : souet to the hert is a common quide mirez • expression still : in l. 5284 the form soune occurs: both forms are used.

1. 527. Voidis me noght of vitius, shun or despise me not as vicious. vilaus of tunge, of vile or foul tongue : vilaus occurs in Wyntoun, VII. 8. 242.

1. 543. zenernes, kind-heartedness = generosity: see note on 1, 357. 30mers, cries, pleads : zomer and zamer are still used, but generally to express the cry or plaint of a child : for various meanings see Gloss.

1. 545. plite, position, circumstances, state : still used to express circumstances of difficulty, danger, or distress : if ze putte me in bis plytte, occurs in Morte Arthure, 1. 683. your purpos to wyn, your end to accomplish.

1. 561. wochis, watches, guards, hence, dangers, difficulties : for examples, see Gloss.

1. 570. bydis þere bir, faces their fury, attempts to resist their force :
for various meanings of byde, see Gloss.; here, it is to withstand, as in
the old Scotch Song,

“Hap an' row, hap an' row,
Hap an' row the feetie o't;
It is a wee bit wearie thing,

I downa bide the greetie o't.”
1. 571. derfe and felle are favourite words in the Morte Arthure and
this Troy Book; so are the phrases derfe dedes, derfe dynttes, derfe
wepon ; while, the derfe Danamarkes of Morte Art., 1. 3610, is matched
in 1. 8364 of this work by the derfe Trojans; and, Derfe dynttys they
dalte (Mort. Arth., 1. 3749), by, Derf dynttes pai delt, in l. 10218 of this
work.' So with the word felle, and the phrases, felle dedes, felle dynttes,
felle wepon, felle sword, felle was the fight.

Both words are still used in the same senses as then, and in some
districts the word fell is used to express exceedingly good or bad, great
or small, fierce or gentle, &c. &c.

1. 577 = for assuredly the expedition can have but one end,

a

? sier

is a peculiar, but not uncommon, use of should : for example, in the West of Scotland when repudiating a certain line of conduct, a native will say, “I'd do so and so, or it were kent I should do the like o' that.”

1. 589. my payne thole, endure my suffering, run my risk, pay the penalty : in l. 950, no pyne tholed received no hurt, was quite unhurt. tholit paynis occurs in Barbour's Bruce, 2. 767, 3. 21, and 3. 435.

1. 597. till ye fay worthe, till you be killed : fay and fey occur frequently in Morle Arth, in the same senses as in this work (compare · Glossaries): fay, fey are still used, but with a secondary meaning.

1. 617-8. þat aunter, that hardihood will and power ; as is said of a weakling, “ he has nae aunter in him.” quycke, mortal. The meaning of these two lines is, “Of all mortals, I only have the secret of how to destroy the power of Mars."

1. 629. bis wirdis to fall, (that) this (good) fortune should befall me : wirdis is fate, luck, fortune either good or bad ; it occurs in Morte Arthure, 11. 385 and 3889, and in Barbour's Bruce in this plural form ;

2 but it occurs also in the singular (see Gloss.), and both forms still exist. ado

1. 633. qweme, leal, willing, loving: see note, 1. 1809.
1. 646. on hor best wise, as best they may. See note, 1. 232.
1. 649. Bes, imper. of Be, be you : so in l. 870.
1. 655. worship, fame, renown.

1. 656. gate and gouernaunse, undertaking and conduct, i. e. how and by what means he should get to the place, and how he should act when there: gate is so used in l. 2239 and 1. 6138. See Gloss., and note, l. 1334.

1. 658. lykyng, will.
1. 662. fre buernes, noblemen.

1. 663. pas, a section, a division : so in Piers Plowmun, and in Wyntoun, V. 9.

“In his next pas yhe sal se

Qwhat Empriowre fyrst tuk Crystyanté.” 1. 665. woso tentis after, may be either whosoever seeks after it, or wishes to know, or, whosoever attends to what follows: tent has still both meanings, to be concerned about, and to attend to; and it is used as a s., as in l. 2462. toke tent = took heed.

1. 671. Janglyng, prating, prattling, chattering : so used in "The Cherrie and the Slae ; ' also in l. 2873.

1. 673. ouerdroghe, liter. drew over = passed by: droghe is so used in 11. 4664 and 7630, and by Burns in 'Tam o' Shanter,'

" The night drave on wi' sangs and clatter." 1. 676. Waynet, raised, moved up; from A.S. gewaenan, to turn : still used in the sense of to wind up: wayne occurs in l. 9783, = to remove; in I. 13796 = to stretch up, to rise; and in the ‘Awnters of Arthur' = to raise, to remove ;

“He wayned up his viser fro his ventaile.” 1. 678. the dregh of the derke night, the time of the greatest length

6

vide dowody

of darkness, i.e. midnight: so in 1. 10033, the day of the dreight, i. e. the
longest day. dregh, dreigh, is still used in the sense of long, weari-
some, as a dreigh road; and the dreigh is also used = the greatest part,
the most tedious portion, and the longest time : hence we have the
dregh o' the day, and, the day o' the dreigh.

1. 713. he laid on his hond, he promised solemnly: to lay on is
here, and still means, to strike, as two parties do when they conclude
a bargain,—they strike hands; and each party in this manner solemnly
promises: hence the saying “ There's my han', I'll ne'er beguile ye,"
which is sometimes rendered, “ There's my thumb, I'll ne'er beguile ye.”
he laid on occurs also in l. 934, he struck.

1. 715. belirt, belied, deceived: so also in 11. 8134 and 8447.

1. 728. dawly, dolefully, with heavy heart : occurs again and again (see Gloss.), and is dawlily (perhaps an error of the scribe) in 1. *885.5359 It is used as an adj. by Douglas in his Virgil, and still exists as dowy : cf. Fr. deuil, grief. hir distitur, liter. made herself destitute, bereft herself.

1. 729. shunt, withdraw, shrink : this is rather a peculiar phrase.
In Morte Arthure we have,

“He ne schownttes for no schame, bot schewes fulle heghe.” 1. 3715
and in this Troy Book we have,
Shentyng for shame to shew furth þere ernd.

1. 481
With shame may pou shunt fro thi shire othes.

729 ffor shame may pou shunt as shent of all knightes.

10377 Ne shamys you not shalkes to shunt of be fild.

10998 Neuer of shame to be shunt when shalke is on lyue.

11342 And schunt for no schame but hit schope faire.

13730 1. 736. what myndes, thoughts, recollection : mynd is still so used, as in, “I had na the least mind o’t; ” but it may also stand for presence of mind.