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1. 2877. toke he pe gate, he took the road: see note, 1. 2438. 1. 2939. comonyng in company, promiscuous mingling when in a company, or, promiscuous mingling in company: see 1. 2964.

1. 2942. ertes, tends, turns. ernyst, earnest

chief. 'It's fun now: 'twill be earnest ere long.'

1. 2948. les wemen, women of lower rank.

grief, sorrow, mis

1. 2950. shene, seen, or, shown: according as h is or is not an alliterative license.

1. 2965. ouer all, above all. pere onesty, their good name, their reputation: still used. attell to saue, strive to preserve,

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1. 2968. Halyt, hauled: as in the expression, the boat hauled ashore.' harlit with ropes, dragged by ropes: there are two forms of this verb used by our author, and still common in Scotland, harl, hurl (see Gloss.), to drag, to pull, to drag along the ground, to move rapidly in any direction.

1. 2970. Shall not into fame, should be,' Fall not into fame,' as the alliteration requires.

1. 3025. the proudfall, the front hair which falls or is folded over the ears.

1. 3028. Quitter to qweme, whiter in comparison: qweme, from A.S. gecweman, to come opportunely, to please, to fit; gecweme, pleasing, acceptable, fit: hence the idea of comparison. The orthography of this line forms another proof that the scribe, at least occasionally, wrote from dictation compare with 1. 3055.

1. 3029. nouper lynes ne lerkes, neither lines nor wrinkles: this expression is still used as here, and Allan Ramsay has,

"Some loo the courts, some loo the kirk,

Some loo to keep their skin frae lirkes."

1. 3030. browes full brent, brow very full and smooth: as in 'John Anderson My Jo,'

"Your locks were like the raven,

Your bonnie brow was brent."

1. 3034. brent gold, burned gold

=

refined gold: brent is so used in the Scots Acts anent the coinage, reign of James III.

1. 3035. wull-full onest, extremely beautiful; ? Well full. euyn,

exact.

1. 3055. Alse qwyte, &c. = as white and evenly as any whale-bone, i. e. ivory much of the ivory in common use was got from the tusks of the walrus hence the mistake as to its being whale-bone. Dunbar,

in None may assure in this Warld,' has,

66

Toungis now ar maid of quhyte quhaill bone,

And hairtis are maid of hard flynt stone."

1. 3076. as a nepe white, as white as a turnip: nepe is still used in country districts of Scotland.

A.S. naepe.

1. 3077. The brede of hir brest, the surface of her breast, her whole bosom similarly, "he fell on the brade o' his back."

1. 3078. pluttide a litull, slightly pimpled, i. e. covered with minute

:

points, as such skin is when healthy in 1. 3837 we have pluccid: both forms are still used; but pluccid generally implies larger pimples, such as are seen on the face of gross-living persons.

1. 3094. full thrange, full busily so .still, as in 'You're working awa' fu' thrang there,' or in, I sit here full thrang doin' naething.'

1. 3121. Ayther vnto oper, each to the other: so again in 1. 3340 : in Morte Arth., 1. 939, we have, 'aythyre after other.'

1. 3123. festoned pere forward, sealed their promise, pledged each other in Piers Plowman, Pas. 2, 1. 123, 'þow hast fest hire to fals;' in The Bruce, Bk 14, l. 643, 'maid festnyng of frendschip;' and in Wyntoun, Bk 9, ch. 25, ll. 61-4, 'trewis wes takyn and fermly festnyt.'

1. 3163. and a gai qwhene, a gay queen, or, a splendid lady: qwhene, a queen, or, a young or dashing lady: the phrase is still used, as 'she's a gay queen,' meaning, one who is showy in person or in dress. See 'gay ladys,' 1. 3202.

11. 3171-2. rad radly. fairer, better. and we fer soght, although we should search far: fer far, far and near, to the farthest: the ex

=

pression is still used in this sense. 1. 3220. braid, rushed.

bright gere, bright weapons: see note, 1.

2438. buskit hom furthe, got ready and set out: for various meanings of busk, see Gloss.

1. 3222. kyd, famous, noble: a favourite word of our author, occurs again and again both in this work and in the Morte Arth.

1. 3242. ythes, waves. cogges, boats. Both words occur in Morte Arthure; and cog and coggle are still used in Scotland as names of small boats: also coggly unsteady.

1. 3279. pus bemournet, thus (she) bewailed. no meite toke, took no food: meat is the word most used in Scotland for food, sometimes too for meal, repast, as in ll. 2558, 7843.

1. 3296. ne hopis pou not, do you not suppose, or, do you not believe: hope is still used in this sense, as in, 'I'm trying to hope he's a' safe.' 1. 3330. all hor senndes, all their awards, all they are pleased to send; a present is sometimes called a send.

1. 3332. full leell, full steadfast, true-hearted: leel is still used as a term of endearment, as in, 'my leel guidman,' and,

"It's a' to pleasure our guidman,

For he's baith leal and true."

It is also used in the sense of honest, upright, faithful, as in 'Truth bides in a leal heart;' and in 1. 12712, 'a lede þat he leell trist' = a man that he trusted was honest.

1. 3372. an euenyng to me, had or held equal rank with me; euenyng, equality.

1. 3404. As qwemet for a qwene, as was becoming for a queen, or, as suited the rank of a queen. quaintly, gorgeously, beyond what was usual in beauty or grandeur: quaint, from O.Fr. cointe, elegant.

1. 3422. takand tomly o pere way, lit. taking leisurely their way, moving slowly along.

haffe lynes gen.sg.

NOTES.

497

1. 3456. lyuys, lively, all alive : on lyue, and so used in 1. 13543, halfeflyues, half-alive, or as now, half dead: however, it may also be rendered, they live (continue).

1. 3487. you bese for to se, you are doomed to see: the expression is still used in this sense.

1. 3491. gretyng, weeping, wailing: still used. In 1. 8677 it is grete, which is also used. gremy perhaps should be gremp, bitterness, anger, rage, as in Wm. and Werwolf, where Sir F. Madden refers it to O.N. grimt. The word occurs in l. 1720, 4754; and certainly in 1. 1720 gremp suits the measure better.

1. 3523. teghit her in yrnes, bound her in irons. 11. 3538-42. This passage is somewhat confused. Perhaps the lines have been displaced: if so, l. 3541 should be set between 11. 3538-9 as a parenthesis.

11. 3550-1. Compare Morte Arthure, 11. 715-16,

"And then cho swounes fulle swythe when he hys.swerde aschede
Twys in a swounyng, swelte as cho walde."

where twys is an error for swys, which the alliteration demands, and which occurs two or three times in Morte Arth.: then the line corresponds with 1. 9454 of this work,

"Sweyt into swym, as he swelt wold."

It is interesting to compare the various settings of this picture as given in this work and in the Morte Arthure; and to note how the different attitudes are suggested or represented. See 11. 5753, 8046, 8704-6, 9454, 10365-6, 10566-7; and Morte Arth., 11. 715-16, 1466-7, 2960-1, 2982, 3969, 4246, 4272-3: as has been observed before, the touches in the M. Arth. tell that the hand has become firmer.

1. 3640. salus, salutations, greetings: salus occurs as a vb. in Wallace, Bk 6, 1. 131,

"He salust thaim, as it war bot in scorn."

1. 3656. ilke-a-dele, every part, every particular: is still used: from A.S. aele, each; and dael, a part, a portion; hence degree, quantity, amount, as in Chaucer, she was sumdele deaf' (Wife of Bath); and in Barbour, Bk I, ll. 383, 393.

1. 3688. Compare the passage which begins here with the similar ones in pp. 65, 150-1, 314; and note the striking examples of onomatopoeia which occur, especially in this case in ll. 3691—3700.

1. 3693. ropand, quick or fast beating, hence (according as the motion, the sound, or the effect, is made prominent), rushing, roaring, crashing in 1. 1986, a routond rayn. Rapping rain, rain rapping down, are expressions still in use, and in all the senses given above: in Douglas's Virgil, p. 143, l. 12, we have,

"Als fast as rane schoure rappis on the thak :'

and in Ross's Helenore it occurs in the sense of pattering, gushing,
"Now, by this time the tears were rapping down
Upon her milk-white breast, aneth her gown."

In Su. Goth. rapa, to rush headlong; A.S. hrepan, to cry, to shout, to scream; Moso-Goth. hropjan, to call out, to cry out.

1. 3697. pe bre, the water: still used, and applied to any liquid in common use, as in 'Willie brew'd a peck o' maut.'

"The cock may craw, the day may daw

And aye we'll taste the barley-bre.”

Also in 'The Barrin' o' the door,'

"Wad ye kiss my wife before my face,

And scaud me wi' puddin' bree O?”

=

1. 3700. fore, fared; hence, fore as a fyre glowed, blazed.

1. 3703. caget to-gedur, caught, warped (through shaking and shift4. ing among each other): the phrase is still used for ropes in that state; and cage, or cadge, is common in the sense of to shake, to toss.

1. 3746. wild as a lion: in 1. 3810, wode as a lyon: in 1. 6405, wode as a wild lyon: in 1. 6523, wode as a wild bore; and in Morte Arth., 1. See note, 1. 6523.

3837, wode alls a wylde beste.

1. 3758. a streught loke, for a strenght loke) a straight (steady, staring) look, or a strong (clear, searching) gaze.

1. 3772. gleyit a litill, squinted a little. The expressions in this line are exactly such as would still be used. It is noted of Achilles, Æneas, and Cassandra, that they were 'gleyit a litill:' see 11. 3943,

3995.

1. 3793. no make, no match: from A.S. maca, a mate, a husband; hence, a companion, an equal: the word occurs in 'The King's Quair,' Can. 2, sts. 39 and 45; and in 'The Cherrie and Slae' it is mayock. wordye should be wordys.

1. 3802. vnleil of his trouthe, unfaithful in promise.

1. 3825. stutid, stuttered: stot, stoit, stut, and stutter, are still used in Scotland to express stumbling either in speech or walk: stoit, however, is usually expressive of staggering, reeling: in 1. 3881 it is stotid. 1. 3838. pluccid, pimpled; see note, 1. 3078.

1. 3842. presit after seruys, looked sharply out for his service (allowance of food at meals), was greedy at meals.

1. 3895. swat neuer, never sweated, i. e. perspired through fear: the expression is still used, and means, as here, ' was never afraid.'

1. 3911. The ton fro pe tother, the one from the other.

1. 3956. faffure should be fassure, colour of the hair, complexion : A.S. faex, hair of the head: allied to which is fasse, a tassel, A.S. fás, a fringe.

1. 4062. was an, was one: Scot. ane.

1. 4097. od shippes, great ships, ships of the largest class: od, or odd, is a law term in Scotland applied to the umpire in a case; and from this usage comes the one here (chief, greatest). Od shippes, bigge shippes, and barges, seem to be different names for the largest vessels then known. See od in 1. 4165.

1. 4137. Nawlus son the grete, son of Nawlus the Great.

1. 4138. graidly = graithly, readily, properly, in due time.

1. 4176. alate or olate: throughout the MS. this prefix is very hard to determine, owing to the cramp style of writing.

1. 4185. Compare Mort. Arth., 1. 298.

1. 4212. eght

=

aght, from A.S. agan, to own, to possess.

1. 4274. appollus doughter, Apollo's daughter: in all Teutonic languages the sun is feminine, e. g. A.S. sunna: but in 1. 4370, our author contradicts himself regarding the moon.

1. 4301. myrtlit, in 1. 4312, myrtild, crumbled: mirle, or murle, a contracted form of this word is still common in Scotland, as in, 'the wall is mirlin' down:' also mirlin, and moolin, a crumb, a small portion. 1. 4312. This is perhaps the shortest complete line possible in this alliterative measure. Note also, the rime letter is a vowel: examples of this kind are plentiful in this work, and in the Morte Arth. they are not uncommon.

1. 4336. berynes, burial: occurs in Barbour's Bruce, Bk 3, 1. 562, 'And syne wes broucht till berynes:' also in Wallace, Bk 4, 1. 498.

11. 4379-80. aykewardly, awkwardly, stupidly. Note the use of y here, and often throughout the work, for w: indicating that the MS. had been copied, or dictated, or both, from an older MS. in which the Saxon w was used.

on him, i. e. Minerva: gender not very strictly defined, nor perhaps definable as regards the 'maument.'

11. 4395-4421. This passage agrees with one in Piers Plowman (A), p. 12.

his sete he wold make full noble in pe north: compare with 'ponam pedem in aquilone,' in Piers Plow.; and see an interesting article in Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, vol. XII, p. 110.

1. 4439. warloghe, a monster: is used as an adj. in 1. 6425; as also in The Evergreen,'

"A bytand ballat on warlo wives,

That gar thair men live pinging lives";

and in Hogg's 'Witch of Fife,'

"The warlock men and the weird wemyn

And the fayes of the wood and the steep."

1. 4500. pus-gatis, in this manner: a more common form is pus-gate. 1. 4541. beldid were pen, encouraged, strengthened: beld, is to protect, to cover; then, to support, or anything that will tend to support, or carry forward. In 1. 5864, it is used in the sense of' to rest in order to recover strength,' or, 'to shelter:' the word is used by the earlier Scottish poets both as a noun and as a vb.

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1. 4589. pullishet, revolved, circled: in Scotland a pulley is still called ' a pullishee;' and Ramsay has,

"wedges rive the aik: and pullisees

Can lift on highest roofs the greatest trees."

= take.

1. 4605. has, imperat. pl. of have, but still used as here cast, throw, and pronounced 'haese.' Thus Wyntoun, Bk 9, ch. 8, 1, 127, 'Hawys armys hastily,' and Barbour has,

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