Front matter (continued 14)

Mr. Paget Toynbee has lately shewn (in The Academy, Sept. 16, 1893) that verdegrees is from the O. Fr. verd de Grece, lit. 'green of Greece.' Cotgrave has the curious form verderis, which probably represents the Latin viride aeris, the green of brass. This term (viride aeris) is the common one in the old Latin treatises on alchemy. See the chapter in Albertus Magnus—'Quomodo viride aeris fit, et quomodo rubificatur, et super omnia valet ad artem istam'; Theatrum Chemicum, ii. 436. It is the bibasic acetate of copper.

792, 794. Perhaps Chaucer had read the following lines:

794. Cucurbites, vessels supposed to bear some resemblance to a gourd, whence the name (Lat. cucurbita, a gourd). 'Cucurbita est uas quod debet stare in aqua, usque ad juncturam firmatum in caldario, ut non moueatur'; Theatrum Chemicum, ii. 452.

795. dere y-nough a leek, dear enough at the price of a leek. Cf. Clerkes Tale, E. 999.

797. Watres rubifying, reddening waters. This is well illustrated by a long passage in The Boke of Quinte Essence, ed. Furnivall, p. 13, where instructions are given for extracting the quintessence out of the four elements. After various processes, we are directed to put the vessel into 'the fier of flawme right strong, and the reed water schal ascende'; and again—'thanne yn the stillatorie, to the fier of bath, cleer water schall asende; and in the botum shall remayne the reed water, that is, the element of fier.' A long and unintelligible passage about 'rubrificatio' and 'aqua spiritualis rubea' occurs in the Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 41. See also 'modus rubrificandi' and the recipe for 'aqua rubea'; id. iii. 110.

798. Arsenic was by some considered as one of the 'four spirits'; see note to l. 778. For a long passage 'de arsenico,' see Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 177; also p. 110, and ii. 238. Sal armoniacum was another of them (see l. 824) and is constantly mentioned in the old treatises; see 'praeparatio salis Armoniaci secundum Rasim'; Theat. Chem. iii. 179; also pp. 89, 94, 102; ii. 445. In vol. ii. p. 138 of the same work, it is twice called 'sal armeniacum.' See the account of sal ammoniac in Thomson, Hist. of Chemistry, i. 124. Brimstoon was also a 'spirit' (see l. 824); it is only another name for sulphur.

800. egrimoine, common agrimony, Ægrimonia officinalis; valerian, Valeriana officinalis; lunarie, a kind of fern called in English moonwort, Botrychium lunaria. The belief in the virtue of herbs was very strong; cf. Spenser, (F. Q. i. 2. 10). The root of valerian yields valerianic acid. The following quotation is from the English Encyclopaedia, s. v. Botrychium:—

'In former times the ferns had a great reputation in medicine, not so much on account of their obvious as their supposed virtues. The lunate shape of the pinnæ of this fern (B. lunaria) gave it its common name, and was the origin of much of the superstitious veneration with which it was regarded. When used it was gathered by the light of the moon. Gerarde says—"it is singular [i. e. sovereign] to heal green and fresh wounds. It hath been used among the alchymists and witches to do wonders withall."'

In Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum, p. 348, is a full description of 'lunayrie,' with an engraving of it. It is there also called asterion, and we are told that its root is black, its stalk red, and its leaves round; and moreover, that the leaves wax and wane with the moon, and on each of them is a mark of the breadth of a penny. See also pp. 315, 318 of the same work.

805. albificacioun, i. e. the rendering the water of a white colour, as distinguishing from the reddening of it, mentioned in l. 797. In a long chapter printed in the Theatrum Chemicum (iii. 634-648) much is said about red and white colours. Compare the Alchemist, ii. 1:—

No doubt, too, water is here used in the sense of the Lat. aqua, to denote any substance that is in a liquid state.

808. Cered pokets. Tyrwhitt reads Sered pokettes, and includes this phrase in his short 'List of Phrases not understood'; and indeed, it has never been explained. But there is little difficulty about it. Poket is the diminutive of poke, a bag, and means a little bag. Cered (Lat. ceratus) means waxed. Thus Cotgrave has—'Ciré, m. -ée, f. waxed, seared; dressed, covered, closed, or mingled, with wax.' In many MSS. the word is spelt sered, but this makes no difference, since Cotgrave has 'seared' in this very place. So we find both 'cere-cloth' and 'sear-cloth.' It is obvious that bags or cases prepared or closed with wax would be useful for many of the alchemist's purposes; see Theat. Chem. iii. 13.

sal peter, Lat. sal petrae, or rock-salt, also called nitre, is nitrate of potassa. A recipe for preparing it is given in Theat. Chem. iii. 195.

vitriole, i. e. sulphuric acid. See 'vitrioli praeparatio'; Theat. Chem. iii. 95.

810. Sal tartre, salt of tartar, i. e. carbonate of potash; so called from its having been formerly prepared from cream of tartar.

sal preparat, common salt prepared in a certain manner. See the section—'quod ualeat sal commune, et quomodo praeparetur'; Theat. Chem. ii. 433, 435.

812. maad, i. e. prepared, mixed. oile of tartre, oil of tartar, cream of tartar; see Prol. 630. See the section—'quomodo praeparatur tartarum, ut oleum fiat ex illo, quo calces soluuntur'; Theat. Chem. ii. 436; and again—'ad faciendum oleum de Tartaro'; id. iii. 303. To scan l. 813, remember to pronounce tartre as in French, and to accent alum on the latter syllable.

813. argoile, crude cream of tartar deposited as a hard crust on wine-casks. Called argoil in Anglo-French; Liber Albus, i. 225, 231.

814. resalgar, realgar, red orpiment, or the red sulphuret of arsenic; symbol (As S₂); found native in some parts of Europe, and of a brilliant red colour. Resalgar is adapted from the old Latin name, risigallum. The word is explained by Thynne in his Animadversions, ed. Furnivall, p. 36—'This resalgar is that whiche by some is called Ratesbane, a kynde of poysone named Arsenicke.'

enbibing, imbibition; see this term used in The Alchemist, ii. 1. It means absorption; cf. Theat. Chem. iii. 132, l. 27.

816. citrinacioun. This also is explained by Thynne, who says (p. 38)—'Citrinatione is bothe a coolor [colour] and parte of the philophers stoone.' He then proceeds to quote from a Tractatus Avicennae, cap. 7, and from Arnoldus de Nova Villa, lib. i. cap. 5. It was supposed that when the materials for making the philosopher's stone had been brought into a state very favourable to the ultimate success of the experiment, they would assume the colour of a citron; or, as Thynne says, Arnold speaks of 'this citrinatione, perfecte digestione, or the coolor provinge the philosophers stoone broughte almoste to the heighte of his perfectione'; see Citrinacio in Ducange. So in the Alchemist, iii. 2:—

817. fermentacioun, fermentation. This term is also noticed by Thynne (p. 33), who says—'fermentacione ys a peculier terme of Alchymye, deduced from the bakers fermente or levyne'; &c. See Theat. Chem. ii. 115, 175.

820. foure spirites. Chaucer enumerates these below. I have already mentioned them in the note to l. 778; see also note to l. 798. Tyrwhitt refers us to Gower's Confessio Amantis, bk. iv., where we find a passage very much to the point. See Pauli's edition, ii. 84.

Gower enumerates the seven bodies and the four spirits; and further explains that gold and silver are the two 'extremities,' and the other metals agree with one or other of them more or less, so as to be capable of transmutation into one of them. For this purpose, the alchemist must go through the processes of distillation, congelation, solution, descension, sublimation, calcination, and fixation, after which he will obtain the perfect elixir of the philosopher's stone. He adds that there are really three philosopher's stones, one vegetable, capable of healing diseases; another animal, capable of assisting each of the five senses of man; and the third mineral, capable of transforming the baser metals into silver and gold.

It is easy to see how the various metals were made to answer to the seven planets. Gold, the chief of metals and yellow, of course answered to the sun; and similarly silver, to the paler moon. Mercury, the swiftest planet, must be the shifty quicksilver; Saturn, the slowest, of cold and dull influence, must be lead. The etymology of copper suggested the connexion with the Cyprian Venus. This left but two metals, iron and tin, to be adjusted; iron was suggestive of Mars, the god of war, leaving tin to Jupiter. The notion of thus naming the metals is attributed to Geber; see Thomson, Hist. of Chemistry, i. 117. In the Book of Quinte Essence, ed. Furnivall, p. 8, we find: 'a plate of venus or Iubiter,' i. e. of copper or tin.

Quicksilver, be it observed, is still called mercury; and nitrate of silver is still lunar caustic. Gold and silver are constantly termed sol and luna in the old treatises on alchemy. See further allusions in Chaucer's House of Fame, 1431-1487, as pointed out in the notes to ll. 1431, 1450, 1457, 1487 of that poem.

834. 'Whosoever pleases to utter (i. e. display) his folly.'

838. Ascaunce, possibly, perhaps; lit. 'just as if.' See note to D. 1745.

846. Al conne he, whether he know. The use of al at the beginning of a sentence containing a supposition is common in Chaucer; see Prol. 734. Cf. al be, Prol. 297; Kn. Tale, 313 (A. 1171). And see l. 861 below.

848. bothe two, both learned and unlearned alike.

853. limaille, filings, fine scrapings. 'Take fyn gold and make it into smal lymail'; Book of Quinte Essence, p. 8.

861. 'To raise a fiend, though he look never so rough,' i. e. forbidding, cross.

874. it is to seken euer, it is always to seek, i. e. never found. In Skelton's Why Come Ye Nat to Court, l. 314, the phrase 'they are to seke' means 'they are at a loss'; this latter is the commoner use.

875. temps, tense. The editors explain it by 'time.' If Chaucer had meant time, it is reasonable to suppose that he would have said so. Surely it is better to take 'that futur temps' in the special sense of 'that future tense.' The allusion is to the phrase 'to seken' in the last line, which is not an infinitive mood but a gerund, and often used as a future tense, as Chaucer very well knew. Compare the A. S. version of Matt. xi. 3—'eart þū þe to cumenne eart'—with the Lat. 'Tu es qui uenturus es.'

878. bitter swete, i. e. a fatal, though alluring, pursuit. An example of oxymoron; cf. 'insaniens sapientia,' Horat. Carm. i. 34; 'strenua inertia,' Epist. i. xi. 28. Cf. the plant-name bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara).

879. nadde they but, if they only should have (or, were to have). Nadde is for ne hadde, past tense subjunctive.

880. inne, within; A. S. innan; see l. 881. a-night, for on night, in the night. Perhaps it should be nighte (with final e), and lighte in l. 881.

881. bak, cloth; any rough sort of covering for the back. So in most MSS.; altered in E. to brat, but unnecessarily. That the word bak was used in the sense of garment is quite certain; see William of Palerne, ed. Skeat, l. 2096; Piers the Plowman, B. x. 362; and the same, A. xi. 184.

Pronounce the words And a rapidly, in the time of one syllable.

907. to-brek'th, bursts in pieces. go, gone. This must have been a very common result; the old directions about 'luting' and hermetically sealing the vessels employed are so strict, that every care seems to have been (unwittingly) taken to secure an explosion; see note to l. 766 above. So in the Alchemist, iv. 3:—

921. chit, short for chideth; so also halt for holdeth.

922. Som seyde, i. e. one said; note that som is here singular, as in Kn. Tale, 2173 (A. 3031). Hence the use of the thridde, i. e. the third, in l. 925.

923. Lungs was a nickname for a fire-blower to an alchemist. See Lungs in Nares' Glossary.

929. so theech, for so thee ich, so may I thrive. See Pard. Tale, C. 947.

933. eft-sone, for the future; lit. soon afterwards.

934. 'I am quite sure that the pot was cracked.'

938. mullok, rubbish. This is a common provincial E. word; see (in the E. Dial. Society's Publications) Ray's Glossary, p. 57; and the Glossaries for Wilts., Hants., Lancashire, &c.

962. The reading shyneth is of course the right one. In the margin of MS. E. is written 'Non teneas aurum,' &c. This proves that Tyrwhitt's note is quite correct. He says—'This is taken from the Parabolae of Alanus de Insulis, who died in 1294; see Leyser, Hist. Poetarum Medii Ævi, p. 1074.

Shakespeare has—'All that glisters is not gold'; Merch. of Venice, ii. 7. 65. Hazlitt's English Proverbs has—'All is not gold that glisters (Heywood). See Chaucer, Chan. Yeom. Prol.; Roxburghe Ballads, ed. Collier, p. 102; Udall's Royster Doyster, 1566, where we read: All things that shineth is not by and by pure golde (Act v. sc. 1). Fronti nulla fides, Juvenal, Sat. ii. 8. The French say, Tout ce qui luict n'est pas or. Non é oro tutto quel che luce; Ital. No es todo or lo que reluce; Span.' So in German—'Est ist nicht Alles Gold was glänzt'; and again—'Rothe Aepfel sind auch faul.' See Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 53, 107. Cf. Chaucer's House of Fame, i. 272.

972. Pars secunda. This is where the Tale begins. Even now, the Yeoman has some more to say by way of preface, and only makes a real start at l. 1012.

975. Alisaundre, Alexandria, and othere three, and three more as well.

999. I mente, I intended; as in l. 1051 below. 'But my intention was to correct that which is amiss.'

The reading I-ment, as a past participle, adopted by Mr. Wright, is incorrect, as shewn by Mr. Cromie's Ryme-Index. Cf. Nonne Pr. Tale, 604 (B. 4614); Sq. Tale, F. 108. See note to G. 534 above.

1005. by yow, with reference to you canons. See By in Wright's Bible Word-book.

1012. annueleer. So called, as Tyrwhitt explains, 'from their being employed solely in singing annuals or anniversary masses for the dead, without any cure of souls. See the Stat. 36 Edw. III. c. viii, where the Chappelleins Parochiels are distinguished from others chantanz annuales, et a cure des almes nient entendantz. They were both to receive yearly stipends, but the former was allowed to take six marks, the latter only five. Compare Stat. 2 Hen. V. St. 2. c. 2, where the stipend of the Chapellein Parochiel is raised to eight marks, and that of the Chapellein annueler (he is so named in the statute) to seven.' See also the note at p. 505 of Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew (E. E. T. S.); and Monumenta Franciscana, p. 605.

1015. That is, to the lady of the house where he lodged.

1018. spending-silver, money to spend, ready money. The phrase occurs in Piers the Plowman, B. xi. 278.

1024. a certeyn, a certain sum, a stated sum. Cf. l. 776.

1027. at my day, on the day agreed upon, on the third day.

1029. Another day, another time, on the next occasion.

1030. him took, handed over to him; so in ll. 1034, 1112.

1055. 'In some measure to requite your kindness.' See note to Sq. Tale, F. 471, and cf. l. 1151.

1059. seen at yë, see evidently; lit. see at eye.

1066. 'Proffered service stinketh' is among Heywood's Proverbs. Ray remarks on it—'Merx ultronea putet, apud Hieronymum. Erasmus saith, Quin uulgo etiam in ore est, ultro delatum obsequium plerumque ingratum esse. So that it seems this proverb is in use among the Dutch too. In French, Merchandise offerte est à demi vendue. Ware that is proffered is sold for half the worth, or at half the price.' The German is—'Angebotene Hülfe hat keinen Lohn'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 86.

1096. Algates, at any rate. Observe the context.

1103. that we it hadde, that we might have it. Hadde is here the subjunctive. Perhaps have would be better, but it lacks authority.

1126. mortifye, mortify; a technical term. See note to l. 1431.

1151. 'To blind the priest with.' See note to l. 1055.

1171. For torned, read terved, i. e. flayed, skinned; MS. E. has terued (so it may be read). See l. 1274.

1185. Seint Gyles, saint Giles; a corrupted form of Ægidius. His day is Sept. 1; see Chambers' Book of Days, ii. 296; Legenda Aurea, cap. cxxx.; or Caxton's Golden Legende.

1204-1205. The rime is given by týmë (two syllables, from A. S. tīma) riming with by me.

On referring to Prof. Child's Observations on the Language of Gower, I find seven references given for this rime, as occurring in the edition by Dr. Pauli. The references are—i. 227, 309, 370; ii. 41, 114, 277; iii. 369. Dr. Pauli prints byme as one word!

1210. The last foot contains the words—or a pannë.

1238-1239. MS. E. omits these two lines: the other MSS. retain them.

1244. halwes is in the genitive plural. 'And the blessing of all the saints may ye have, Sir Canon!'

1245. 'And may I have their malison,' i. e. their curse.

1274. For torne, read terve, i. e. flay; as in MS. E. Cf. l. 1171.

1283. 'Why do you wish it to be better than well?' Answering nearly to—'what would you have better?'

1292. A rather lax line. Is ther is to be pronounced rapidly, in the time of one syllable, and her-inne is of three syllables.

1299. Pronounce simple as simpl'; tong-e is dissyllabic.

1313. his ape, his dupe. See Prol. 706, B. 1630. The simile is evidently taken from the fact that showmen used to carry apes about with them much as organ-boys do at the present day, the apes being secured by a string. Thus, 'to make a man one's ape' is to lead him about at will. The word apewarde occurs in Piers the Plowman, B. v. 540. To lead apes means to lead about a train of dupes.

1319. heyne, wretch. This word has never before been properly explained. It is not in Tyrwhitt's Glossary. Dr. Morris considers it as another form of hyne, a peasant, or hind, but leaves the phonetic difference of vowel unaccounted for; the words are clearly distinct. It occurs in Skelton's Bowge of Courte, l. 327:—

Here Mr. Dyce also explains it by hind, or servant, whereas the context requires the opposite meaning of a despised master. Halliwell gives—'Heyne, a miser, a worthless person'; but without a reference. It means 'miser' in Udall's translation of Erasmus' Apophthegmes (1564), where it occurs thrice. Thus, in bk. i. § 106, we find: 'Soch a niggard or hayn, that he coulde not finde in his harte ... to departe with an halfpeny.' In the same, § 22, we find: 'haines and niggardes of their purse'; and, for a third example, see note to Parl. Foules, 610 (vol. i. p. 523). The word seems to be Scandinavian; cf. Icel. hegna, Dan. hegne, to hedge in, Swed. hägna, to fence, guard, protect; whence Lowl. Sc. hain, to hedge in, to preserve, to spare, to save money, to be penurious (Jamieson).

1320. 'This priest being meanwhile unaware of his false practice.' See l. 1324.

1342. Alluding to the proverb—'As fain as a fowl [i. e. bird] of a fair morrow'; given by Hazlitt in the form—'As glad as fowl of a fair day.' See Piers the Plowman, B. x. 153; Kn. Tale, 1579 (A. 2437).

1348. To stonde in grace; cf. Prol. 88; also A. 1173.

1354. By our; pronounced By'r, as spelt in Shakespeare, Mid. Nt. Dr. iii. 1. 14.

1362. nere, for ne were; meaning 'were it not for.'

1381. sy, saw. The scribes also use the form sey or seigh, as in Kn. Tale, 208 (A. 1066); Franklin's Tale, F. 850, in both of which places it rimes with heigh (high). Of these spellings sey (riming with hey) is to be preferred in most cases. See note to Group B, l. 1.

1388. This line begins with a large capital C in the Ellesmere MS., shewing that the Tale itself is at an end, and the rest is the Yeoman's application of it.

1389. 'There is strife between men and gold to that degree, that there is scarcely any (gold) left.'

1408. Alluding to the proverb—'Burnt bairns fear fire.' This occurs among the Proverbs of Hendyng, in the form—'Brend child fur dredeth.' So in the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 1820—'Brent child of fyr hath muche drede.' The German is—'Ein gebranntes Kind fürchtet das Feuer'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 531.

1410. Alluding to the proverb—'Better late than never'; in French 'Il vaut mieux tard que jamais.' The German is—'Besser spät als nie'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 204.

1411. In Hazlitt's Proverbs—'Never is a long term.'

1413. Bayard was a colloquial name for a horse; see Piers Plowman, B. iv. 53, 124; vi. 196; and 'As bold as blind Bayard' was a common proverb. See also Troil. i. 218; Gower, Conf. Amant. iii. 44; Skelton, ed. Dyce, ii. 139, 186. 'Bot al blustyrne forth unblest as Bayard the blynd'; Awdelay's Poems, p. 48.

1416. 'As to turn aside from an obstacle in the road.'

1419. Compare this with the Man of Lawes Tale, B. 552.

1422. rape and renne, seize and clutch. The phrase, as it stands, is meaningless; rapen is to hurry, and rennen is to run, both verbs being intransitive. But it took the place of the older phrase repen and rinen (Ancren Riwle, p. 128), from A. S. hrepian and hrīnan, to handle and touch. The Ancren Riwle gives the form arepen and arechen, with the various readings repen and rinen, ropen and rimen. Ihre quotes the English 'rap and ran, per fas et nefas ad se pertrahere.' Mr. Wedgwood notices rap and ran, to get by hook or crook, to seize whatever one can lay hands on, but misses the etymology. Palsgrave has—'I rap or rende, je rapine.' Coles (Eng. Dict. ed. 1684) has 'rap an[d] ren, snatch and catch.' 'All they could rap and rend and pilfer'; Butler, Hudibras, pt. ii. c. 2. 789. (First ed., rap and run.) The phrase is still in use in the (corrupted) form to rape and rend, or (in Cleveland) to rap and ree.

Briefly, rape, properly to hurry (Icel. hrapa), is a false substitute for A. S. hrepian, allied to G. raffen; whilst renne, to run, is a false substitute for A. S. hrīnan, to touch, lay hold of.

1428. Arnoldus de Villa Nova was a French physician, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist; born about A. D. 1235, died A. D. 1314. Tyrwhitt refers us to Fabricius, Bibl. Med. Æt., in v. Arnaldus Villanovanus. In a tract printed in Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 285, we have a reference to the same saying—'Et hoc est illud quod magni philosophi scripserunt, quod lapis noster fit ex Mercurio et sulphure praeparatis et separatis, et de hoc opere et substantia dicit Magister Arnoldus in tractatu suo parabolice, nisi granum frumenti in terra cadens mortuum fuerit, &c. Intelligens pro grano mortuo in terra, Mercurium mortuum cum sale petrae et vitriolo Romano, et cum sulphure; et ibi mortificatur, et ibi sublimatur cum igne, et sic multum fructus adfert, et hic est lapis major omnibus, quem philosophi quaesiverunt, et inventum absconderunt.' The whole process is described, but it is quite unintelligible to me. It is clear that two circumstances stand very much in the way of our being able to follow out such processes; these are (1) that the same substance was frequently denoted by six or seven different names; and (2) that one name (such as sulphur) denoted five or six different things (such as sulphuric acid, orpiment, sulphuret of arsenic, &c.).

1429. Rosarie, i. e. Rosarium Philosophorum, the name of a treatise on alchemy by Arnoldus de Villa Nova; Theat. Chem. iv. 514.

1431. The word mortification seems to have been loosely used to denote any change due to chemical action. Phillips explained Mortify by—'Among chymists, to change the outward form or shape of a mixt body; as when quicksilver, or any other metal, is dissolved in an acid menstruum.'

1432. 'Unless it be with the knowledge (i. e. aid) of his brother.' The 'brother' of Mercury was sulphur or brimstone (see l. 1439). The dictum itself is, I suppose, as worthless as it is obscure.

1434. Hermes, i. e. Hermes Trismegistus, fabled to have been the inventor of alchemy. Several books written by the New Platonists in the fourth century were ascribed to him. Tyrwhitt notes that a treatise under his name may be found in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. iv. See Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, lib. i. c. 10; and Smith's Classical Dictionary. The name is preserved in the phrase 'to seal hermetically.'

Mr. Furnivall printed, for the Early Eng. Text Society, a tract called The Book of Quinte Essence, 'a tretice in Englisch breuely drawe out of the book of quintis essenciis in latyn, that Hermys the prophete and kyng of Egipt, after the flood of Noe, fadir of philosophris, hadde by reuelacioun of an aungil of god to him sende.'

1438. dragoun, dragon. Here, of course, it means mercury, or some compound containing it. In certain processes, the solid residuum was also called draco or draco qui comedit caudam suam. This draco and the cauda draconis are frequently mentioned in the old treatises; see Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 29, 36, &c. The terms may have been derived from astrology, since 'dragon's head' and 'dragon's tail' were common terms in that science. Chaucer mentions the latter in his Astrolabe, ii. 4. 23. And see 'Draco' in Theat. Chem. ii. 456.

1440. sol and luna, gold and silver. The alchemists called sol (gold) the father, and luna (silver) the mother of the elixir or philosopher's stone. See Theat. Chem. iii. 9, 24, 25; iv. 528. Similarly, sulphur was said to be the father of minerals, and mercury the mother. Id. iii. 7.

1447. secree, secret of secrets. Tyrwhitt notes—'Chaucer refers to a treatise entitled Secreta Secretorum, which was supposed to contain the sum of Aristotle's instructions to Alexander. See Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. ii. p. 167. It was very popular in the middle ages. Ægidius de Columnâ, a famous divine and bishop, about the latter end of the 13th century, built upon it his book De Regimine Principum, of which our Occleve made a free translation in English verse, and addressed it to Henry V. while Prince of Wales. A part of Lydgate's translation of the Secreta Secretorum is printed in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 397. He did not translate more than about half of it, being prevented by death. See MS. Harl. 2251, and Tanner, Bibl. Brit. s. v. Lydgate. The greatest part of the viith Book of Gower's Confessio Amantis [see note to l. 820] is taken from this supposed work of Aristotle.' In the Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 14, I find an allusion to the philosopher's stone ending with these words—'Et Aristoteles ad Alexandrum Regem dicit in libro de secretis secretorum, capitulo penultimo: O Alexander, accipe lapidem mineralem, vegetabilem, et animalem, et separa elementa.' See Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, sect. 19; iii. 19 (ed. 1871), or ii. 230 (ed. 1840).

1450. Tyrwhitt says—'The book alluded to is printed in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. v. p. 219 [p. 191, ed. 1660], under this title, Senioris Zadith fil. Hamuelis Tabula Chemica. The story which follows of Plato and his disciples is there told, p. 249 [p. 224, ed. 1660], with some variations, of Solomon. "Dixit Salomon rex, Recipe lapidem qui dicitur Thitarios (sic).... Dixit sapiens, Assigna mihi illum.... Dixit, Est corpus magnesiae.... Dixit, Quid est magnesia?... Respondit, Magnesia est aqua, composita," &c.' The name of Plato occurs thrice only a few lines below, which explains Chaucer's mistake. We find 'Titan Magnesia' in Ashmole's Theat. Chem. p. 275; cf. pp. 42, 447. The Gk. τίτανος means lime, gypsum, white earth, chalk, &c.

1457. ignotum per ignotius, lit. an unknown thing through a thing more unknown; i. e. an explanation of a hard matter by means of a term that is harder still.

1460. The theory that all things were made of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, was the foundation on which all alchemy was built; and it was the obstinacy with which this idea was held that rendered progress in science almost impossible. The words were used in the widest sense; thus air meant any vapour or gas; water, any liquid; earth, any solid sediment; and fire, any amount of heat. Hence also the theory of the four complexions of men; for even man was likewise composed of the four elements, under the influence of the planets and stars. See Gower, Conf. Amant. bk. vii; Theat. Chem. iii. 82; iv. 533, 537; and the note to A. 420, at p. 40 above.

1461. rote represents the Lat. radix. In the Theat. Chem., ii. 463, we read that the philosopher's stone 'est radix, de quo omnes sapientes tractauerunt.'

1469. 'Except where it pleases His Deity to inspire mankind, and again, to forbid whomsoever it pleases Him.'

1479. terme of his lyve, during the whole term of his life.

1481. bote of his bale, a remedy for his evil, help out of his trouble.

NOTES TO GROUP H.

The Manciple's Prologue.

1. Wite ye, know ye. The singular is I woot, A. S. ic wāt, Mœso-Goth. ik wait; the plural is we witen or we wite, A. S. we witon, Mœso-Goth. weis witum. See l. 82, where the right form occurs. But it is certain that Chaucer also uses the construction ye woot, as in A. 829, &c.; which, strictly speaking, was ungrammatical.

2. Bob-up-and-doun. This place is here described as being 'under the Blee,' i. e. under Blean Forest. It is also between Boughton-under-Blean (see Group G, l. 556) and Canterbury. This situation suits very well with Harbledown, and it has generally been supposed that Harbledown is here intended. Harbledown is spelt Herbaldoun in the account of Queen Isabella's journey to Canterbury (see Furnivall's Temporary Preface, p. 31; p. 124, l. 18; p. 127, l. 21), and Helbadonne in the account of King John's journey (id. p. 131, l. 1). However, Mr. J. M. Cowper, in a letter to The Athenæum, Dec. 26, 1868, p. 886, says that there still exists a place called Up-and-down Field, in the parish of Thannington, which would suit the position equally well, and he believes it to be the place really meant. If so, the old road must have taken a somewhat different direction from the present one, and there are reasons for supposing that such may have been the case. This letter is reprinted in Furnivall's Temporary Preface (Ch. Soc.), p. 32.

The break here between the Canon's Yeoman's and the Manciple's Tales answers to the break between the first and second parts of Lydgate's Storie of Thebes. At the end of Part I, Lydgate mentions the descent down the hill (i. e. Boughton hill), and at the beginning of Part II, he says that the pilgrims, on their return from Canterbury, had 'passed the thorp of Boughton-on-the-blee.'

5. Dun is in the myre, a proverbial saying originally used in an old rural sport. Dun means a dun horse, or, like Bayard, a horse in general. The game is described in Brand's Popular Antiquities, 4to. ii. 289; and in Gifford's notes to Ben Jonson, vol. vii. p. 283. The latter explanation is quoted by Nares, whom see. Briefly, the game was of this kind. A large log of wood is brought into the midst of a kitchen or large room. The cry is raised that 'Dun is in the mire,' i. e. that the cart-horse is stuck in the mud. Two of the company attempt to drag it along; if they fail, another comes to help, and so on, till Dun is extricated.

There are frequent allusions to it; see Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, p. 86; Skelton, Garland of Laurell, l. 1433; Towneley Mysteries, p. 310; Romeo and Juliet, i. 4. 41; Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman-hater, iv. 3; Hudibras, pt. iii. c. iii. l. 110.

In the present passage it means—'we are all at a standstill'; or 'let us make an effort to move on.' Mr. Hazlitt, in his Proverbial Phrases, quotes a line—'And all gooth bacward, and don is in the myr.'

12. Do him come forth, make him come forward. Cf. Group B, 1888, 1889.

14. a botel hay, a bottle of hay; similarly, we have a barel ale, Monk's Prol. B. 3083. And see l. 24 below. A bottle of hay was a small bundle of hay, less than a truss, as explained in my note to The Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 2. 45. 'Nec vendant [foenum] per botellum'; Liber Albus, p. 721.

16. by the morwe, in the morning. There is no need to explain away the phrase, or to say that it means in the afternoon, as Tyrwhitt does. The Canon's Yeoman's tale is the first told on the third day, and the Manciple's is only the second. The Cook seems to have taken too much to drink over night, and to have had something more before starting. The fresh air has kept him awake for a while at first, but he is now very drowsy indeed.

Tyrwhitt well remarks that there is no allusion here to the unfinished Cook's Tale in Group A. This seems to shew that the Manciple's Prologue was written before the Cook's Tale was begun. Note that the Cook is here excused; l. 29.

23. 'I know not why, but I would rather go to sleep than have the best gallon of wine in Cheapside.' me were lever slepe, lit. it would be dearer to me to sleep.

24. Than constitutes the first foot; beste is dissyllabic.

29. as now, for the present; a common phrase.

33. not wel disposed, indisposed in health.

42. fan, the fan or vane or board of the quintain. The quintain, as is well known, consisted of a cross-bar turning on a pivot at the top of a post. At one end of the cross-bar was the fan or board, sometimes painted to look like a shield, and at the other was a club or bag of sand. The jouster at the fan had to strike the shield, and at the same time to avoid the stroke given by the swinging bag. The Cook was hardly in a condition for this; his eye and hand were alike unsteady, and his figure did not suggest that he possessed the requisite agility. See Quintain in Nares, and Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, bk. iii. c. 1; As You Like It, i. 2. 263, on which see Mr. Wright's note (Clar. Press Series); Stow, Survey of London, ed. Thoms, pp. 36, 215.

44. wyn ape, ape-wine, or ape's wine. Tyrwhitt rightly considers this the same as the vin de singe in the Calendrier des Bergers, sign. l. ii. b., where the author speaks of the different effects produced by wine upon different men, according to their temperaments. 'The Cholerick, he says, a vin de lyon; cest a dire, quant a bien beu, veult tanser, noyser, et battre. The Sanguine a vin de singe; quant a plus beu, tant est plus joyeux. In the same manner, the Phlegmatic is said to have vin de mouton, and the Melancholick vin de porceau.'

Tyrwhitt adds—'I find the same four animals applied to illustrate the effects of wine in a little Rabbinical tradition, which I shall transcribe here from Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepig. Veteris Testamenti, vol. i. p. 275. "Vineas plantanti Noacho Satanam se junxisse memorant, qui, dum Noa vites plantaret, mactaverit apud illas ovem, leonem, simiam, et suem: Quod principio potûs vini homo sit instar ovis, vinum sumptum efficiat ex homine leonem, largius haustum mutet eum in saltantem simiam, ad ebrietatem infusum transformet illum in pollutam et prostratam suem." See also Gesta Romanorum, c. 159, where a story of the same purport is quoted from Josephus, in libro de casu rerum naturalium.' Wine of ape occurs in a detailed proverb, in Le Roux de Lincy, Prov. Franç. 1842, p. 157. The most ancient source is the Talmudical Parable, given in Rabbinische Blumenlese, Leipzig, 1844, p. 192, by Leopold Dukes (N. and Q. S. i. xii. 123).

In Bernardus de Cura Rei Familiaris, ed. Lumby, p. 13, a drunken man is thus described:—

And Lydgate, in his Troy-book, L. 1, back, col. 2, says of one:—'And with a strawe playeth lyke an ape.'

Warton (Hist. E. P. ed. 1871, i. 283) gives a slight sketch of chapter 159 in the Gesta, referring to Tyrwhitt's note, and explaining it in the words—'when a man begins to drink, he is meek and ignorant as the lamb, then becomes bold as the lion, his courage is soon transformed into the foolishness of the ape, and at last he wallows in the mire like a sow.'

In Colyn Blowboll's Testament, l. 280 (pr. in Hazlitt's Early Pop. Poetry, i. 104-5) we find:—

Barclay, in his Ship of Fools, ed. Jamieson, i. 96, speaking of drunken men, says—

And again—

The following interesting explanation by Lacroix is much to the same effect:—

'In Germany and in France it was the custom at the public entries of kings, princes, and persons of rank, to offer them the wines made in the district, and commonly sold in the town. At Langres, for instance, these wines were put into four pewter vessels called cimaises, which are still to be seen. They were called the lion, monkey, sheep, and pig wines—symbolic names, which expressed the different degrees or phases of drunkenness which they were supposed to be capable of producing: the lion, courage; the monkey, cunning; the sheep, good temper; the pig, bestiality.'—P. Lacroix; Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages, 1874, p. 508.

Massinger has: 'Nay, if you are lion-drunk, I will make one'; The Bondman, A. iii. sc. 3.

A note in Bell's edition quotes an illustrative passage from a song in Lyly's play of Mother Bombie, printed in the Songs from the Dramatists, ed. Bell, p. 56:—

The idea here intended is precisely that expressed by Barclay. The Cook, being very dull and ill-humoured, is ironically termed ape-drunk, as if he were 'full of lawghter and of toyes,' and ready to play even with a straw. The satire was too much for the Cook, who became excited, and fell from his horse in his attempts to oppose the Manciple.

50. chiváchee, feat of horsemanship, exploit. See Prol. 85 for the serious use of the word, where in chivachye means on an (equestrian) expedition. Cf.

51. 'Alas! he did not stick to his ladle!' He should have been in a kitchen, basting meat, not out of doors, on the back of a horse.

57. dominacioun, dominion. See note to F. 352. Cf. 'the righteous shall have domination over them in the morning'; Ps. xlix. 14, Prayer-book Version. See Chaucer's Minor Poems, xv. 16 (vol. i. p. 394).

62. fneseth, blows, puffs; of which the reading sneseth is a poor corruption, though occurring in all the modern editions. To fnese does not mean to sneeze, but to breathe hard; though sneeze is its modern form.

I have no doubt that the word neesings in Job xli. 18, meaning not 'sneezings' but 'hard breathings,' is due to the word fnesynge, by which Wyclif translates the Latin sternutatio. In Jer. viii. 16, Wyclif represents the snorting of horses by fnesting. Cf. A. S. fnæst, a puff, blast, fnæstiað, the windpipe; fnēosung, a hard breathing. Grimm's law helps us to a further illustration; for, as the English f is a Greek p, a cognate word is at once seen in the common Greek verb πνέω, I breathe or blow. For further examples, see fnast in Stratmann.

pose, a cold in the head. Fully described in Batman upon Bartholomè, lib. vii. c. 4—'Of the Pose.' See A. 4152.

72. To reclaim a hawk is to bring it back to the hawker's hand; this was generally effected by holding out a lure, or something tempting to eat. For young hawks, the lure was an artificial bird made of feathers and leather; see note in Dyce's Skelton, ii. 147. Here the Host means that some day the Cook will hold out a bait to, or lay a snare for, the Manciple, and get him into his power; for example, he might examine the details of the Manciple's accounts with an inconvenient precision, and perhaps the amounts charged, if tested, would not appear to be strictly honest. The Manciple replies in all good humour, that such a proceeding might certainly bring him into trouble. See Prol. 570-586. Cf. Strutt, Sports, bk. i. c. 2. § 9.

76. Read mauncipl', and pronounce were a rapidly.

83. 'Yea, of an excellent vintage.'

90. pouped, blown; see Nonne Prestes Tale, 578. Here 'blown upon this horn' is a jocular phrase for 'taken a drink out of this gourd.'

The Maunciples Tale.

This story, of Eastern origin, is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, bk. ii. ll. 534-550, whence Chaucer evidently took it. Gower, also following Ovid, gives the story very briefly; see his Conf. Amantis, ed. Pauli, i. 305. Compare the tale of the three cocks, Gesta Romanorum, cap. 68; also the Seven Sages, ed. Weber, l. 2201 (Metrical Rom. vol. iii. p. 86). Somewhat similar in idea is a tale in the Knight de la Tour, c. 16. See further in vol. iii. p. 501.

109. Phitoun, the Python, shot by Apollo; see Ovid, Met. i. 438-444; Dryden, trans. of Ovid's Met., i. 587.

116. Amphioun, Amphion; see note to E. 1716. Cf. Horace, De Arte Poetica, l. 394.

133.

Gower has:—'Wel more white than any swan.'

139. Ovid gives her name, Coronis of Larissa.

148. As indicated by a side-note in Hn., this passage is taken directly from the Liber Aureolus de Nuptiis of Theophrastus, as cited by St. Jerome near the end of the first Book of his treatise against Jovinian. Cf. note to D. 221.

The passage from Theophrastus is:—'Verum quid prodest etiam diligens custodia: cum uxor seruari impudica non possit, pudica non debeat? Infida enim custos est castitatis necessitas: et illa uere pudica dicenda est, cui licuit peccare si uoluit. Pulchra cito adamatur, foeda facile concupiscit. Difficile custoditur, quod plures amant.'—Hieron. Opus Epistolarum (Basil. 1534); ii. 51.

161. Cf. Horace, Epist. I. x. 24—'Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret,' &c. And this is the very passage which Chaucer had in view, as it is quoted and commented on in Le Roman de la Rose, 14221-8, &c. Jean de Meun adds the comment:—

This passage in Le Roman is preceded by the illustration of the caged bird, and followed by that of the cat; see ll. 163, 175. Further, Jean de Meun took the illustration of the caged bird from Boethius; see next note.

163. From Boethius; see the note to F. 607. It reappears in Le Roman de la Rose, 14145-62; beginning—

Compare Sq. Ta., F. 611-617. It is interesting to see how Chaucer has repeated the passage, and yet so greatly varied the form of it. We find, however, that silk and milk rime together in both cases.

175. Not from Boethius, but from Le Roman de la Rose, 14241, &c.:—

183. This is taken from a different part of Le Roman altogether, and is founded on a different argument, viz. the perversity of women's choice, as noticed in ll. 198-200 below. See Le Rom. de la Rose, 7799-7804:—

vileins kinde, nature of a villain, a villainous or base disposition. Practically, vileins has here the force of an adjective, and came to be so regarded, as shewn by the formation from it of the adv. vileinsly, which occurs in I. 154, and elsewhere. Similarly, the gen. case wonders became the adj. wonders, which was gradually turned into wondrous; see Wondrous in my Etym. Dictionary.

This adj. vileyns, with the sense of 'villainous,' is unnoticed in Halliwell and Stratmann. Yet Chaucer uses it often, as the reader may see for himself. See D. 1158, 1268, I. 556, 631, 652, 715, 802, 854, 914; and hence vileinsly, adv., I. 154, 279, Rom. Rose, 1498.

193. newefangel, eager of novelty; see note to F. 618.

195. souneth in-to, accords with; see notes to A. 307, B. 3157, C. 54, and F. 517.

204. lemman, short for leef man, lit. dear man. The context shews that it was considered a 'knavish' word at this period.

207-8. Repeated from Prol. 741-2; see note to A. 741.

215. The line, as it stands, is deficient in the first foot, and is not pleasing. Tyrwhitt reads any for a. This improves it; but I do not know where he found any. The old editions of 1550 and 1561 have a, like the MSS.

220. wenche, like lemman, was a 'knavish' word; see E. 2202.

223. titlelees, title-less, glossed in Hn. by the words sine titulo. It means 'usurping,' as applied to one who has no title or claim to a throne except force. Obviously written before 1399!

224. Here out-law-e is trisyllabic, and the final e is preserved by the caesura. But in l. 231 the accent is thrown back, and it is dissyllabic, as in modern English. Tyrwhitt puts any for a, against all authority.

227. This well-known story of Alexander occurs in the Gesta Romanorum, c. 146; and this circumstance gave it vogue. In Swan's translation, the tale begins thus:—'Augustine tells us in his book, De Civitate Dei, that Diomedes, in a piratical galley, for a long time infested the sea, plundering and sinking many ships. Being captured by command of Alexander, before whom he was brought, the king inquired how he dared to molest the seas. "How darest thou," replied he, "molest the earth? Because I am master only of a single galley, I am termed a robber; but you, who oppress the world with huge squadrons, are called a king and a conquerour."' John of Salisbury repeats the story in his Policraticus, lib. iii. c. 14. Cf. Higden, Polychron. iii. 422.

239. volage, giddy, thoughtless; cf. E. volatile. See the E. version of the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 1284 (vol. i. p. 147).

243. It was already understood that cuckoo was, as Shakespeare says, 'a word of fear'; see Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2. 920. In the Parl. of Foules, 358, we find: 'the cukkow ever unkinde'; vol. i. p. 348.

252. blered is thyn ye, thine eye is bleared or dimmed, i. e. thou art deceived or cajoled. See A. 4049.

262. wryen, to turn aside hastily; see A. 3283.

271. scorpioun, scorpion. Alluding to the notion that the scorpion, though its sting was deadly, had a flattering tongue, and could beguile. See notes to B. 404, E. 2059.

278. rakel, rash, hasty; afterwards altered to rake-hell, by a curious popular etymology; and then shortened to rake, as in the phrase 'a dissolute rake.' See rake (2) in my Etym. Dictionary. Cf. l. 283.

279. trouble, adj., troubled, clouded, obscured. Tyrwhitt explains it by 'dark, gloomy,' with reference to its occurrence in E. 465 above. And see Pers. Tale, I. 537.

Compare the Friar's sermon, on the subject of Ire, in D. 2005-2088, and the description of the same in the Pers. Tale, I. 535-561.

290. fordoon, destroyed. For and (as in E. Cm.) Hn. Cp. Pt. Ln. have or.

In place of this line, Hl. has the following extraordinary variation:—

This shews that the scribe remembered the fifth line in the Manciple's Prologue, and thought fit to re-introduce it here, where it is wholly out of place. This is one of the many signs of the untrustworthiness of this grossly over-rated MS.

294. songe, didst sing; A. S. sunge.

301. See the Parl. of Foules, l. 363, and the note (vol. i. pp. 520-1).

306. slong, slung, threw violently; needlessly altered by Tyrwhitt to flong. So in the Seven Sages, ed. Weber, l. 1316:—'Amidde the pit he hit slong.' As s and f are often confused, I give some alliterative examples from the Geste Historyale of the Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.):—

307. which, to whom; i. e. 'to whom I commit him.'

314. Daun, Dan, i. e. lord, sir; see note to B. 3119.

Salomon, Solomon; the reference is to Prov. xxi. 23; cf. Ps. xxxiv. 13.

317. Sayings similar to those quoted below are common; but Dr. E. Köppel has shewn (in Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen, ed. L. Herrig, vol. lxxxvi, p. 44) that Chaucer had particularly in mind a treatise by Albertano of Brescia, entitled De arte loquendi et tacendi. He refers us to a new edition by Thor Sundby, in a work entitled Brunetto Latinos levnet og skrifter, Kopenhagen, 1869.

We may further compare a passage in Le Roman de la Rose, 7069, which professes to follow Ptolemy's Almagest. And we find similar pieces of advice in Middle English, with such titles as 'How the Good Wife taught her Daughter,' and 'How the Wise man taught his Son'; but these are probably later than the time of Chaucer.

325. The corresponding passage in Albertano's treatise is the following, p. xcviii:—'Paucos vel neminem tacendo, multos loquendo circumventos vidimus, quod pulchre voluit, qui ait: Nil tacuisse nocet, nocet esse saepe locutum.' This hexameter is quoted from Dionysius Cato, Distich. lib. i. dist. 12, slightly altered. Cato has: 'Nam nulli tacuisse nocet, nocet esse locutum.' Cf. the common proverb—'a fool's bolt is soon shot,' which appears in the Proverbs of Alfred, l. 421. As to Cato, see note to G. 688.

329. The corresponding passage in Albertano is:—'Causa igitur finalis tui dicti sit aut pro Dei servitio aut pro humano commodo, aut pro utroque'; p. cx.

332. In Albertano's treatise, p. xcvi, we find:—'Catho dixit: Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam.' From Dion. Cato, Distich. lib. i. dist. 3. Chaucer quotes it again in Troilus, iii. 294. Cf. Le Rom. de la Rose, 7073-4.

335. Cf. Albertano, p. cxv:—'In quantitate insuper modum requiras non multa dicendo; nam in multiloquio non deest peccatum.' This refers to Prov. x. 19:—'In multiloquio non deerit peccatum.'

340. Cf. Ps. lvii. 4:—'and their tongue a sharp sword.'

344. See Prov. vi. 17, where 'a lying tongue' is said to be one of the seven things which 'are an abomination unto' the Lord. See also Prov. x. 31, xvii. 20, xxvi. 28, &c.

345. Cf. Ps. x. 7, xii. 3, lii. 2, lxiv. 3-8, cxx. 3, &c. The reference to Seneca is, probably, to his treatise De Ira, from which two stories in the Sompnours Tale are taken; or it may be to the Sentences of Publilius Syrus, which are frequently quoted in the Tale of Melibeus under the name of 'Senek.'

350. Evidently an allusion to some Flemish proverb, equivalent to our 'least said, soonest mended,' which Hazlitt gives in the form—'Little said, soon amended.' In Bell's edition, the suggested form of the proverb is—'of little meddling comes great ease,' which comes nearer to the text. Chaucer has already given us a Flemish proverb in A. 4357.

355. 'Et semel emissum fugit irreuocabile uerbum'; Horace, Epist. I. xviii. 71. Chaucer found this line of Horace in Albertano's treatise (p. xcviii); or in Le Roman, 16746-8.

357. Cf. Albertano's treatise, p. cvi:—'Consilium vel secretum tuum absconditum quasi in carcere tuo est reclusum; revelatum vero te in carcere suo tenet ligatum.'

359. This is clearly, as Tyrwhitt suggests, from Dionysius Cato, Distich. lib. i. dist. 12:—'Rumores fuge, ne incipias novus auctor haberi.'

NOTES TO GROUP I.

The Parson's Prologue.

1. maunciple, manciple; see the last Tale. But there is no real connexion between this Group and Group H. It is most likely that the word maunciple was only inserted provisionally.

When the Manciple had told his Tale, it was still only morning; see H. 16, and the note. The Pilgrims, however, had not far to go. Perhaps we may suppose that they halted on the road, having a shorter day's work before them than on previous occasions, and then other Tales might have been introduced; so that the time wore away till the afternoon came. It is clear, from l. 16, that the Parson's Tale was intended, when the final reversion should be made, to be the last on the outward journey. Whatever difficulties exist in the arrangement of the Tales may fairly be considered as due to the fact, that the final revision was never made.

4. nyne and twenty. In my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe (E. E. T. S.), p. lxiii, I have explained this passage fully. In that treatise, part ii. sections 41-43, Chaucer explains the method of taking altitudes. He here says that the sun was 29° high, and in ll. 6-9 he says that his height was to his shadow in the proportion of 6 to 11. This comes to the same thing, since the angle whose tangent is 6/11 is very nearly 29°. Chaucer would know this, as I have shewn, by simple inspection of an astrolabe, without calculation.

5. Foure, four P. M. Many MSS. have Ten, but the necessity of the correction is undoubted. This was proved by Mr. Brae, in his edition of Chaucer's Astrolabe, pp. 71-74. We have merely to remember that ten P. M. would be after sunset, to see that some alteration must be made. Now the altitude of the sun was 29°, and the day of the year was about April 20; and these data require that the time of day should be about 4 P. M. Tyrwhitt notes that some MSS. actually have the reading Foure, and this gives us authority for the change. Mr. Brae suggests that the reading Ten was very likely a gloss upon Foure; since four o'clock is the tenth hour of the day, reckoning from 6 A. M. The whole matter is thus accounted for.

10. the mones exaltacioun, the moon's exaltation. I have discussed this passage in my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe, (E. E. T. S.), p. lxiii. Of course Chaucer uses exaltation here (as in other passages) in its ordinary astrological sense. The 'exaltation' of a planet is that sign in which it was believed to exert its greatest influence; and, in accordance with this, the old tables call Taurus the 'exaltation of the Moon,' and Libra the 'exaltation of Saturn.' These results, founded on no reasons, had to be remembered by sheer effort of memory, if remembered at all. I have no doubt, accordingly, that Chaucer (or his scribes) has made a mistake here, and that the reading should be 'Saturnes,' as proposed by Tyrwhitt. The sentence then means—'Therewith Saturn's exaltation, I mean Libra, kept on continually ascending above the horizon.' This would be quite right, as the sign of Libra was actually ascending at the time supposed. The phrase 'I mene Libra' may be paralleled by the phrase 'I mene Venus'; Kn. Tale, 1358 (A. 2216); see also Group B. 1860, 2141. alwey, continually, is common in Chaucer; see Clerkes Tale, E. 458, 810. gan ascende, did ascend, is the opposite to gan descende; Clerkes Tale, E. 392. It is somewhat remarkable that the astrologers also divided each sign into three equal parts of ten degrees each, called 'faces'; mentioned in Chaucer's Astrolabe, ii. 4. 39, and in the Squieres Tale, F. 50. According to this arbitrary scheme, the first 10 degrees of Libra were called the 'face of the moon,' or 'mones face.' This suggests that Chaucer may, at the moment, have confused face with exaltation, thus giving us, as the portion of the zodiac intended, the first ten degrees of Libra.

I doubt if the phrase is worth further discussion. For further information, see my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe (as above); and, for an ingenious (but impossible and unconvincing) theory, offered in explanation of the whole passage, see Mr. Brae's edition of the same, p. 74. Most unfortunately, more than one attempt has been made to fix the date of the Canterbury Tales, by adopting as the true reading the phrase 'In mene Libra,' and then pretending that the moon itself (not its exaltation) was 'in the middle of Libra.' But this reading is evolved out of a mistake in MS. Hl., which (after all) has not In mene, but In mena (!); neither does In mene mean 'in the middle.' All calculations founded on this rotten basis are necessarily worthless.

16. This means that the Parson's Tale was meant to be the last one on the outward journey. Unfortunately, there lack a great many more tales than one, as the matter really stands.

26. 'Unpack your wallet, and let us see what is in it.' In other words, tell us a story, and let us see what it is like.

32. See 1 Tim. i. 4, iv. 7; 2 Tim. iv. 4.

42. Southren. Nearly all alliterative poems are in the Northern or West-Midland dialect, as opposed to the East-Midland dialect of Chaucer, which approaches the Southern dialect. Still, it is the Parson himself, not Chaucer, who says he is a Southerner; though perhaps the poet meant, naturally enough, to tell us that he was himself resident in Kent (probably at Greenwich). The dialect of Kent was Southern. Many Southern forms occur in Gower.

43. rum, ram, ruf are of course nonsense words, chosen to represent alliteration, because they all alike begin with r. In most alliterative poetry, the number of words in a line beginning with a common letter is, as Chaucer suggests, three.

The word geste here means no more than 'tell a story,' without reference to the form of the story. It is, however, worth noting that one very long alliterative poem on the siege of Troy, edited by Panton and Donaldson (Early English Text Society), bears the title of 'Gest Hystoriale.' The number of distinctively Northern words in it is very considerable.

I think that this line has been forced by some out of its true meaning, and made to convey a sneer against alliterative poetry which was by no means intended. Neither Chaucer himself nor his amiable parson would have spoken slightingly of other men's labours. The introduction of the words rum, ram, ruf conveys no more than a perfectly good-humoured allusion. That this is the true view is clear from the very next line, where the Parson declares that 'he holds rime but little better.'

The most interesting question is—why should Chaucer allude to alliterative poetry at all? The answer is, in my view, that he distinctly wished to recognise the curious work of his contemporary William, whose Vision of Piers the Plowman had, by this time, passed, as it were, into a second edition, having been extremely popular in London, and especially amongst the lower classes. The author was not a Southerner, but his poem had come to London, together with himself, before A. D. 1377.

In his play entitled The Old Wives' Tale, Peele introduces a character named Huanebango who imitates the spluttering hexameters used by Stanyhurst in his translation of a part of Vergil's Æneid, and afterwards says:—'I'll now set my countenance, and to her in prose; it may be, this rim-ram-ruf is too rude an encounter.' He evidently borrowed the expression from Chaucer.

I may further observe that Chaucer did not invent these nonsense words himself; he probably borrowed them from some French source. For, in Sigart's Walloon Dictionary, we find these entries following.

'Rim ni ram (ça n'a ni), cela n'a ni rime ni raison.

Rim-ram, protocole, formulaire: C'est toudi l'même rim-ram, c'est toujours la même chanson.'

Again, in the Dispute between the Soul and the Body (Vernon MS.), printed in Wright's edition of Walter Mapes, p. 340, col. 2, we find:—

51. Alluding to Rev. xxi. 2. There is also here a direct reference to the opening sentences of the Persones Tale; see I. 79, 80.

57. textuel, literally exact in giving the text. The next line means 'I only gather (and give you) the general meaning.' Most quotations at this period were very inexact, and Chaucer was no more exact than others.

67. hadde the wordes. Tyrwhitt says—'This is a French phrase. It is applied to the Speaker of the Commons in Rot. Parl. 51 Edw. III. n. 87: "Mons. Thomas de Hungerford, Chivaler, qi avoit les paroles pur les Communes d'Angleterre en cest Parlement," &c.' It means—was the spokesman.

The Persones Tale.

A considerable portion of this Tale (chiefly after § 23) is borrowed from a French Treatise by Frère Lorens, entitled 'La Somme des Vices et des Vertus,' the very treatise of which the Ayenbite of Inwyt is a translation. This treatise, says Dr. Morris, 'was composed in the year 1279 for the use of Philip the Second of France, by Frère Lorens (or Laurentius Gallus, as he is designated in Latin), of the order of Friars Preachers' or Dominicans. There are two MS. copies of this treatise in the British Museum, viz. MS. Cotton, Cleopatra, A. v., and the Royal MS. 19 C. ii.

The printed text (circa 1495) is scarce; but numerous quotations from the Cotton MS. are given by Dr. W. Eilers, in Essays on Chaucer, Part V., pp. 501-610, published by the Chaucer Society. I occasionally give extracts from these quotations below, and I simply denote them by the symbol 'Fr.' I also use 'Ayenb.' to denote the Ayenbite of Inwyt, ed. Morris (E. E. T. S.). An interesting review, by Dr. Koch, of this essay by Eilers, will be found in Anglia, vol. v. pt. ii. p. 130.

The 'sections' (marked §) into which the Tale is divided are the same as in Tyrwhitt's edition, though he does not number them. Still, it renders reference to that edition an easy matter.

The clauses or 'lines,' or short subdivisions, are the same as in the Six-text edition. Each 'line' ends with a slanting stroke, as in the Tale of Melibee, and they are numbered 'by fives' in the margin.

Text. The 'text' at the head of the Tale is taken from the Vulgate version of Jer. vi. 16. The usual reading for viis is semitis.

I have only partially succeeded in finding the numerous quotations. For some of the references I am indebted to the Rev. E. Marshall.

75. A note in Bell's Chaucer suggests that we should read—'that wole that no man,' &c.; inserting wole that. But the old edd. agree with the MSS.; and the text is right as it stands. That no man wole perisse = that wishes no one to perish. For this common use of wole, see the very next phrase, which means—'but desires that we may all come.' The reference is to 2 Pet. iii. 9, where Wyclif's later version has a similar turn of expression, viz. 'and wole not that ony men perische, but that alle turne ayen to penaunce.'

77. A translation of Jer. vi. 16 above; it is nearest to Wyclif's earlier version: 'Stondeth up-on weies, and seeth, and asketh of the olde pathis, what is the goode weie; and goth in it, and yee shul fynde refreshinge to youre soules.'

79. espirituels, the pl. (French) adj. in s, following its sb.; see B. 2038, F. 1278.

80. Alluding to ll. 50, 51 of the Prologue to this Tale.

82. whennes it is cleped Penitence; our author entirely forgets this clause in the sequel, and takes no more notice of the point here noted.

84. 'Poenitentia est et mala praeterita plangere, et plangenda iterum non committere'; S. Ambrosii Opera, Appendix, Sermo xxv; ed. Migne (Cursus Patrologicus), vol. 17, col. 655.

The quotations, chiefly from the Latin fathers, in this Persones Tale, are so numerous, and often so brief and inexact, that I am not able to give the references in more than a few instances. I have, however, succeeded in finding some of them, such as the one above.

85. In the works of St. Ambrose, the following sentence occurs just above the one cited in the last note: 'Poenitentia vero est dolor cordis, et amaritudo animae pro malis quae quisque commisit.'

89. St. Isidore of Seville is here intended (born A.D. 570, died A.D. 636). Cf. 551 below, (p. 603). I find no passage which precisely answers to this quotation, but I think the following is intended: 'Nam qui plangit peccatum, et iterum admittit peccatum, quasi si quis lavet laterem crudum, quem quanto magis eluerit, tanto amplius lutum facit.'—S. Isidorus, Sententiarum lib. ii. c. 13; ed. Migne, vol. 83, col. 613. Here Isidore does not call the sinner a 'japer,' but says that he is as foolish as a man who washes an unburnt brick; for such a process only produces more mud.

92. St. Gregory the Great, the first pope of that name, is here meant; and the following is probably the passage referred to: 'Ut intelligas in anima gravissimo iniquitatis pondere obrutum ... ut ad sublimia levari jam non valeat, quoniam iniquitatis eam [mentem] gravitudo coarctat.'—S. Gregorius, in Septem Psalmos Poenitentiales Expositio; Ps. xxvii. v. 8; ed. Migne, vol. 79, col. 572.

93. and forlete sinne, and forsake sin before they die. This expression has already occurred at the end of the Phisiciens Tale; see C. 286.

94. Note the glosses in the footnotes; thus tak means tene, i. e. 'keep to'; and siker is certum, i. e. 'sure.'

96. It is quite hopeless to make any sense of this passage. It is perfectly clear that, as Koch suggests (see Anglia, V. pt. ii. p. 135), a considerable portion of the text is here lost. And no doubt it happened in the usual way, viz. by the omission of a clause included between some repeated words, such as that a man. Our author must have described, first of all, three actions of Penitence; and afterwards, three defautes (or defects) in doing penance. All that we have left is a notice of the first action (left unexplained), and a partial explanation of the three 'defautes.' I suggest, therefore, a lacuna after that a man; and I take it that the original text had: 'The firste accion of Penitence is that a man [do so and so. The second action is, that he do so and so. The third is, that he do so and so. Moreover, ye shall understand that there are three defautes in doing penance. The first is, if that a man] be baptized after that he hath sinned.' Some MSS. read that if a man or if a man before be baptized. I do not see that this helps us, because I do not think that this is where the fault really lies.

97. The quotation here meant is the following: 'Omnis enim, qui iam arbiter voluntatis suae constitutus est, cum accedit ad sacramentum fidelium, nisi eum poeniteat vitae veteris, novam non potest inchoare': Homil. l.; in Opp. Basil. 1569, tom. x. col. 552 C.

100. 'Est enim poenitentia bonorum et humilium fidelium poena quotidiana'; S. Aug. Opp. Basil. 1569, tom. ii. col. 507 A; Epist. cviii.

102. spyces, species, kinds; of frequent occurrence in this Tale.

103. The 'slaughter of children' here referred to is probably the accidental overlying of them by nurses, which was accounted a deadly sin, as being the result of negligence. This Chaucer expressly states below; see 575 (p. 604).

105. naked, i. e. thinly clad, in little more than a shirt-like garment.

108. Cf. P. Plowman, C. xvii. 29:—

I find 'confessio' and 'cordis contritio' mentioned near together in the Latin version of St. Chrysostom's 20th homily on Genesis, cap. iv; ed. Migne, vol. liii. col. 170.

115. Not the words of Christ, but of St. John the Baptist; Matt. iii. 8.

116. See Matt. vii. 20.

119. 'Et in timore Domini declinatur a malo'; Prov. xvi. 6.

125. 'Iniquos odio habui, et legem tuam dilexi'; Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 113.

126. Cf. Daniel iv. 10-27.

127. The reference is probably to Prov. xxviii. 13.

128. In this Penitence, i. e. in this 'spice' or particular portion of Penitence; for he is here speaking of Contrition only.

130. St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The reference may be to the following passage: 'Tertius gradus est dolor, sed et ipse trina connexione ligatus. Vere post cognitionem et poenitentiam dolor renovatus est, et in meditatione mea ignis incanduit, quia Creatorem offendi, Dominum non timui, sprevi benefactorem.'—S. Bernardus, Sermo xl. § 5; ed. Migne, vol. 183, col. 649.

134. I find nothing like this in Job; the nearest passage seems to be in ch. xxxiii. vv. 26-28, where the idea of forgiveness after confession is referred to.

135. Ezechie, king Hezekiah; see Isaiah, xxxviii. 15 (Vulgate).

136. From Rev. ii. 5.

138. Referring to 2 Pet. ii. 22.

141. From Ezek. xx. 43.

142. Really from John viii. 34; but cf. 2 Pet. ii. 19.

143. Here, again, the reference is wrong. The text intended is, probably, Job xlii. 6, where the Vulgate has:—'Idcirco ipse me reprehendo, et ago poenitentiam in favilla et cinere.' Cf. Ps. xxxviii. 6.

144. The allusions to Seneca are numerous, and sentences from other authors are frequently attributed to him.

150. 'Vis ut tibi seruiat cum quo factus es, et non uis seruire ei a quo factus es? Ergo cum uis ut seruiat tibi seruus tuus homo, et tu non uis seruire Deo, facis Deo quod tu pati non uis.'—S. Aug. Opp. Basil. 1569, tom. ix. col. 929 D; De Decem Chordis, cap. x.

151. Take reward of, have regard to.

154. vileynsly; an adv. formed from the adj. vileyns, base. See 652 below; &c.

156. See Prov. xi. 22. groyn, snout. 'Groyne of a swyne, Rostrum porcinum'; Prompt. Parv. Cotgrave has:—'Groin de porceau, the snowt of a Hog.' Florio's Ital. Dict. has:—'Grugno, the snout of a hog.' The Low Lat. form is grunnus; we find—'Grunnus, Anglice a gruyn, or a wrot'; Wright-Wülcker's Gloss. col. 587, l. 23. The A. S. word is wrōt; whence M. E. wroten, vb., as below.

159. This quotation is also given, in Latin, in Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, l. 4671:—'Siue comedam, siue bibam, siue aliquid aliud faciam, semper michi uidetur ilia tuba resonare in auribus meis, Surgite, mortui, uenite ad iudicium.' It occurs still earlier, in the Gesta Romanorum, cap. 37. It is not really from Jerome, but occurs in the Regula Monachorum, in S. Hieron. Opp. tom. v. App.; Paris, 1706. Cf. Lyndesay's Monarchè, book iv. l. 5606.

162. From Rom. xiv. 10.

164. essoyne, excuse; a common legal term; A. F. essoigne, essoyne; See Essoin in my Etym. Dict., 2nd ed., Addenda.

166. 'Nulla ibi dissimilatio, ubi reddenda ratio etiam de verbo otioso'; S. Bernardus, Sermo ad Prelatos in Concilio, § 5; ed. Migne, vol. 184, col. 1098.

168. This gives the general sense of Prov. i. 28.

169. 'O angustiae! Hinc erunt peccata accusantia; inde terrens iustitia; subtus patens horridum chaos inferni; desuper iratus iudex; intus urens conscientia; foris ardens mundus. Iustus uix saluabitur; peccator sic deprehensus in quam partem se premet? Constrictus ubi latebo? quomodo parebo? Latere erit impossibile; apparere intolerabile.'—S. Anselmi Meditatio Secunda; ed. Migne, vol. 158, col. 724. Cf. St. Bernard, Tractatus de Interiore Domo, cap. 22, § 46; Ancren Riwle, p. 304.

174. This passage from Jerome is probably founded upon Ps. xcvii. 3, 4.

176. From Job x. 20-22.

181. Referring to the quotation above; see 177.

182. I. e. Job calls it 'dark,' because he that is in hell is deprived of natural light. Of course material is here the adjective.

183. shal turne him al to peyne, shall all become painful to him; him is here a dative. In Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, ll. 6823, 6829, we find the above quotation from Job x. 20-22; and, soon after (l. 6879), a quotation from St. Augustine which seems to be here imitated:—'Demones igne scintillante uidebunt.'

186. defautes, wants, deprivations; agayn, as compared with.

189. Not from Jeremiah, but from 1 Sam. ii. 30; cf. Mal. ii. 9.

190. fortroden of, trodden down by; see fortreden in Stratmann; A. S. fortredan.

191. This singular quotation is said, in Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, l. 8592, to be from the book of Job. The reference is to Job xx. 25, where the Vulgate has: 'uadent et uenient super eum horribiles.' The word demones is supplied in Hampole before horribiles. Even Wycliffe's version has: 'orrible fendis schulen go, and schulen come on hym.' A. V. 'terrors are upon him.'

defouled, trodden down. In Ps. cxxxviii. 11, Wycliffe has—'schulen defoule me'; Vulgate, 'conculcabunt me.'

193. Chaucer extends this quotation by the insertion of the explanatory words about 'the riche folk'; see Ps. lxxvi. 5. oneden to, united to, entirely gave up (their hearts) to. The pp. oned, united, occurs in D. 1968. See Prompt. Parv. p. 365.

195. From Deut. xxxii. 24, 33. Cf. Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, l. 6755.

198. From Isaiah xiv. 11.

201. From Micah vii. 6.

204. The reference is to the Vulgate version of Ps. x. 6 (answering to Ps. xi. 6 in the A. V.): 'Qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit animam suam.' Cf. Prov. xxix. 24.

207. The 'five wits' are the five senses. Cf. P. Plowman, B. xiv. 53:—

208. grintinge, gnashing; cf. Matt. xiii. 42, xxv. 30.

209. nosethirles, nostrils. This seems to be taken from Jerome; for Hampole, in his Pricke of Conscience, l. 6677, says:—

Isaye, Isaiah. The reference is to the Vulgate version of Isaiah, xxiv. 9:—'amara erit potio bibentibus illam.' But I may remark, that the corresponding passage in Hampole's Pricke of Conscience refers us, at l. 6770, to Job xx. 16; and that the word 'gall' occurs in Job xx. 14.

210. The reference is to the last verse in Isaiah.

211. Alluding to Job x. 22, already cited above; see note to 176. The Vulgate has:—'ubi umbra mortis.'

214. 'Fit ergo miseris mors sine morte, finis sine fine, defectus sine defectu, quia et mors uiuit, et finis semper incipit, et deficere defectus nescit';—S. Gregorius, Moralium lib. ix. c. 66; ed. Migne, vol. 75, col. 915.

216. From Rev. ix. 6. Cf. Hampole, Pricke of Conscience, ll. 6723, 7387.

217. Referring to the words 'et nullus ordo,' in Job x. 22; see 177 above.

218. This seems to have been the usual explanation of the passage. See the curious application of this text to the friars in Piers Plowman, B. xx. 268.

220. Referring to Ps. cvii. 34.

221. St. Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea (born in 329, died in 379). The passage alluded to is from his Homilies on the Psalms; on Ps. xxviii. 7; § 6.

223. The same text as that translated above (177) by 'grisly drede that ever shal laste.' 'Sempiternus horror inhabitat'; Job x. 22.

225. This probably refers to the words 'In inferno nulla est redemptio,' founded on Job vii. 9; see P. Plowm. C. xxi. 153.

227. From Prov. xi. 7.

229-230. I cannot trace these references. Cf. Eccl. i. 18.

236. From Ezek. xviii. 24.

248. This seems to be the refrain of a Balade. It is interesting to notice that Chaucer again quotes it, as a line of verse, in his poem on Fortune; see Minor Poems, x. 7 (vol. i. p. 383).

252. to paye with his dette, to pay his debt with.

253-4. This is evidently the same passage from St. Bernard as that referred to in Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, l. 5653:—'Sicut non peribit capillus de capite, ita non erit momentum de toto tempore, de quo sane non conqueratur.'

258. mowes, grimaces. 'Mowe, or skorne'; Prompt. Parv. p. 346. Cf. Troil. iv. 7.

273. This probably refers to Ps. lxix, which is frequently interpreted to refer to the sufferings of Christ; see vv. 7, 9, 18-21.

281. From Isaiah liii. 5.

284. From the Vulgate version of John xix. 19.

286. From Matt. i. 21.

287. From Acts iv. 12.

288. Nazarenus, an inhabitant of Nazareth.

There is a further reference to passages in which the promised Messiah is described as a nētser, i. e. a 'shoot' or 'sprout,' of Jesse. Genesius explains nētser as meaning 'a branch,' Isaiah xiv. 19, lx. 21; and, metaphorically, 'a Branch of Jesse,' Isaiah xi. 1. This sense of 'branch' or 'sprout' shews the origin of the explanation of the word as 'flourishing.'

289. From Rev. iii. 20.

300. and nat repente, and (for him) not to repent; used substantively, as equivalent to 'non-repentance.' So also repenten him, to repent, is equivalent to 'repentance.'

303. 'Scio enim Deum inimicum omni criminoso'; S. Aug. De Vera Poenitentia, cap. ix; Opp. Basil. 1569, tom. iv. col. 1044 C.

307. Ps. xcvii. 10 (xcvi. 10, in the Vulgate).

309. From Ps. xxxii. 5. The words that is to seyn are superfluous.

313. sone of ire, i. e. a child of wrath; Eph. ii. 3.

315. a sory song, i. e. a mournful song.

316. The subject of this second Chapter, viz. Confession, is interrupted, in §§ 23-84, by a long description of the Seven Deadly Sins. The subject is resumed in § 85, at p. 634. As to Confession, compare the Ancren Riwle, p. 299, and Myre's Instructions for Parish Priests, p. 24.

317. And whether it oghte nedes be doon or noon. Here again, as in 83 above, Chaucer forgets this clause, and pays no more heed to the matter.

320. Before avaunte, understand he moot; i. e. and (he must) not boast of his good works. Compare Ancren Riwle, p. 317; Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 255.

322. From Rom. v. 12.

326-330. Compare Wycliffe's later version of Gen. iii. 1-7.

337-340. This agrees rather closely with the Ninth of the Articles of Religion.

341. refreyded, chilled, cooled. Words of Anglo-French origin have ey or ei in place of the Central French oi. Cotgrave has:—'Refroidir, to coole, to take away the heat of, to slacken, to calme.' Cotgrave also has:—'Malefice, a mischiefe; ... also, a charme (wherby hurt is done); mischievous witchery.' It is the same word as the Span. malhecho, mischief, and Shakespeare's mallecho; Hamlet, iii. 2. 146.

342. From Gal. v. 17.

343. Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 25-27.

344. From Rom. vii. 24.

345. This passage refers to St. Jerome's 22nd Epistle to Eustochium, De Virginitate, § 7 (ed. Migne, vol. 22. col. 398). A long extract from this letter is given in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, under Sept. 30.

348. From James i. 14.

349. From 1 John i. 8.

351. The sense shews that suggestion is really meant; but it only appears in MSS. Selden and Lansdowne; all the rest have subieccion or subieccioun, which I have therefore retained in the text. The fact is, that the words were confused in medieval Latin. Ducange gives subjectio, as used for suggestio. However, we find the words 'by wikked suggestion' just below, in l. 355.

bely, i. e. bellows; so in all the seven MSS. It is precisely the same word as the mod. E. belly, notwithstanding the present difference in sense. The old sense was simply 'bag'; applied either to an inflated bag for blowing, or to the abdomen. The pl. form belies was also used in the double sense, viz. (1) a pair of bellows, and (2) bellies; in fact, a pair of bellows is still called blow-bellis in some parts of Shropshire; see Blow-bellows and Blow-bellys in Miss Jackson's Shropshire Glossary. And see the full explanations of Bellows and Belly in the New Eng. Dict.

355. 'Perhaps there may be some such passage in the Rabbinical histories of Moses, which the learned Gaulmin published in the last century (Paris, 1629, 8vo.), and which, among other traditions, contain that alluded to by St. Jude, Epist. 9.'—Tyrwhitt. An apocryphal book, called the Assumption of Moses, is mentioned by Origen.

358. Wycliffe protested against this attempted distinction between 'venial' and 'deadly' sin; see his Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 452. See also Myrc's Instructions for Parish Priests, p. 43.

362. Hazlitt gives this proverb in the form—'Many littles make a mickle'; from Camden's Remains. He adds several parallels from Ray's Proverbs. Another similar proverb is: 'A little leak will sink a great ship'; cf. 363.

363. crevace, crevice. thurrok, the holde of a ship. 'Thurrok of a schyppe, Sentina'; Prompt. Parv. The following remarkable passage occurs in The Myroure of oure Ladye, ed. Blunt (E. E. T. S.), pt. ii. pp. 108, 109:—'Noe [Noah] ioyed that hys Shyppe shulde be so pycked [pitched] wyth-in and wyth-out, that there shulde [be?] no thorrocke [bilge-water?] that myghte syee [leak, ooze in] or droppe in therto. Ye shall vnderstonde that there ys a place in the bottome of a shyppe wherein ys gatheryd all the fylthe that cometh in-to the shyppe, other by lekynge or by syinge in-to yt by the bourdes, when the shyppe is olde, or when yt is not wel pycked, or by eny other wyse. And that place stynketh ryghte fowle; and yt ys called in some contre [county] of thys londe a thorrocke. Other calle yt an hamron, and some calle yt the bulcke of the shyppe. And thys is the thorrocke that this Lesson spekyth of. For the shyppe of Noe was soo well pycked, that there gatheryd no soche fylthe therin.' It is cognate with Du. durk, Mid. Du. durck; Hexham's Du. Dict. has:—'Durck van het schip daer al het water ende vuyligheyt in loopt, The Bottom or Sink of a ship where all the water and filth runs in.' Sewel's Du. Diet, has:—'Durk (vuyl scheepswater), The foul water at the bottom of a ship.' This shews that the word meant (1) the lower part of the hold; and (2) the bilge-water that collects there. Probably a still older sense is simply 'hull'; for we find A. S. þurruc, as a gloss to 'Cumba, uel caupolus'; Wright-Wülcker's Gloss. 181. 35. And Ducange has:—'Cumba, cymba, navis, seu potius navis species ... Glossar. Arabico-Latinum; Lembus, navicula brevis, dicta et caupulus, et cumba, et lintris.... Ugutio: Cumba et cimba, ima pars navis et vicinior aquis.'

This image is doubtless borrowed from St. Gregory; see Sweet's ed. of Ælfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care, cap. lvii.

378. tale, relate, narrate; cf. A. 772; Will. of Palerne, 160; Gower, C. A. iii. 329. A. S. talian. Tyrwhitt reads talke.

384. I find, in Caxton's Golden Legende, the expression—'yf they had done ony venyal synne, hit was anone putte awey by the loue of charyte, lyke as a drope of water in a fornays.'—Of the Commemoration of Al Soules. See my note to P. Pl. C. vii. 338.

386. Confiteor, I confess. In the Ancren Riwle, p. 137, the editor's translation has:—'Wherefore every anchoress saith to every priest Confiteor first of all, and confesseth herself first of all, and often.'

387. Here begins the famous and very common subject of the Seven Deadly Sins, largely borrowed from the treatise by Frère Lorens mentioned above (p. 447). I give occasional quotations from the French text, marked 'Fr.,' with references to the pages of Essays on Chaucer, Part V (Chaucer Society).

I here repeat, from my note on P. Plowman, C. vii. 3, some of the references to passages in which the Seven Sins appear. See, for instance, Ælfric's Homilies, ed. Thorpe, ii. 219; Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 119, 225; The Ancren Riwle, ed. Morton, pp. 198-204; Religious Pieces, ed. Perry (E. E. T. S.), pp. 11, 12; the Ayenbite of Inwyt, ed. Morris, p. 16; Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 215; Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, ed. Furnivall, p. 62; Myrc's Instructions for Parish Priests, p. 33; Dunbar's Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins; Spenser, F. Q. bk. i. c. 4; &c. See also Sins in Nares' Glossary.

The Seven Sins, in Chaucer's order, are:—

1. Superbia, Pride (p. 591); its 'remedy' is Humilitas, Humility.

2. Inuidia, Envy (p. 598); remedy, Caritas, Love.

3. Ira, Ire, Wrath (p. 601); remedy, Patientia, Patience.

4. Accidia, Sloth (p. 612); remedy, Fortitudo, Strength.

5. Auaricia, Avarice (p. 617); remedy, Misericordia, Pity.

6. Gula, Gluttony (p. 623); remedy, Abstinentia, Abstinence.

7. Luxuria, Lechery (p. 625); remedy, Castitas, Chastity.

springers, origins, sources. I adopted this reading from Hl., because none of the other MSS. make sense. They have spryngen of or springen of (Hn. sprynge of), which can only mean 'arise from,' thus exactly contradicting the sense intended. Thynne has springe of; but Wright, Morris, and Bell all have springers of, as they follow the Harl. MS. I know no other example of this rare word; and it is difficult to see why the commoner form springes would not have served the purpose. Tyrwhitt gets over the difficulty by transposing the words, as in the Selden MS., thus reading—'and of hem springen alle,' &c. But the other MSS. do not countenance this arrangement.

388. Pride is usually accounted as the chief of all sins, and the source of the rest; cf. Ecclus. x. 13; P. Plowman, C. vii. 3 (B. v. 63), and the note; Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 16.

There is a long passage in St. Gregory's Moralium lib. xxxi. c. 45 (ed. Migne, vol. 76. col. 621), to which I suppose that later writers were much indebted. It is explicitly referred to, for instance, by John of Salisbury, in his Policraticus, lib. viii. c. 1. I quote some passages from it further on, in suitable places. It begins thus:—

'Radix quippe cuncti mali Superbia est. Primae autem ejus soboles, septem nimirum principalia vitia, de hac virulenta radice proferuntur, scilicet inanis gloria, invidia, ira, tristitia, avaritia, ventris ingluvies, luxuria; ... sed habet contra nos haec singula exercitum suum.'

389. hise braunches, its branches. In the Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 17, they are called boghes, boughs; and the 'twigs' are called little boghes.

De Superbia.

390. In Essays on Chaucer, p. 510, Dr. Eilers gives a detailed and careful comparison of the English with the French text from which it is partly derived. The result, through no fault of his, is more bewildering than useful; for the numerous alterations in the arrangement of the parts of the subject are altogether too tedious to explain. The reader will gain the best idea of the state of the case, if I here quote Dr. Eilers' summary of his comparison of the two texts, as to their treatment of 'Pride.' Similar numberless alterations of detail occur in the treatment of the other 'Sins.' (Fr. = French text).

'From the above [comparison] it will appear that a well-ordered scheme underlies the French text. Orguel is divided into 7 branches, and each of these again into a similar number of reinselez (branchettes). Let us examine the English text (Chaucer's) more closely. After first pointing out (substantially in agreement with Fr.) the impossibility of naming all the parts (twigges) into which Pride may be divided, 16 twigges are enumerated, but without that logical coherence apparent in Fr. Next follow short definitions of the twigs, in which, however, the 11th twig (Strif) is omitted from the list, and is added instead at the end, under janglinge, which had never been mentioned before. These 16 twigs correspond partly to the branches, partly to the reinselez of Fr., whilst some of them are not found in Fr. at all, or at least not under the same heading.

'The definitions correspond only in their general sense with Fr. [Here instances are given.]

'Throughout this part there is in Ch. much confusion of particulars. The definition of "swelling of herte" is incorrect. "Arrogaunce" and "Presumpcion," which in Fr. are identical, appear in Ch. as distinct conceptions. On the other hand, the definitions of some of the words resemble each other closely.... The next section, on "a privee spece of Pryde" (§ 25), has nothing corresponding to it in Fr.; &c.... In the section "whennes Pride sourdeth and springeth" (§ 29), Ch. is in tolerably exact accordance with Fr.... The correspondence in this first Deadly Sin is confined to isolated expressions, points of arrangement common to both,' &c.

On account, then, of the complicated differences in the treatment of details, I do not think it advisable to give the full and exact results. I confine myself to passages in which the Fr. throws real light on the English text, and to the points of chief interest only.

I think it worth while to continue here the quotation from Gregory commenced in the note to l. 388 above:—'Nam de inani gloria inobedientia, jactantia, hypocrisis, contentiones, pertinaciae, discordiae, et novitatum praesumptiones oriuntur.' Here is the outline of the division of Pride into branches. He gives similar 'branches' of Inuidia, Ira, and the rest.

In the Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 17, the first bough of Pride has three twigs, as in Fr.; in fact, it follows Fr. very closely, and gives a very good idea of its general contents and treatment.

In the Ancren Riwle, p. 199, 'the Lion of Pride' has 9 whelps, such as Vain Glory, Indignation, Hypocrisy, Presumption, &c.

392. Inobedient, disobedient. Cf. P. Plowman, C. vii. 19; Ayenb. (i. e. Ayenbite of Inwyt), p. 20, ll. 7. 8.

393. Avauntour, boaster; P. Pl. C. vii. 35; Ayenb. p. 22, ll. 5-15.

394. Ipocrite, hypocrite. Cf. P. Pl. C. vii. 36-40; Ayenb. p. 25 (Sixth Bough).

395. Despitous, scornful; cf. Ayenb. p. 20, ll. 4, 5. even-cristene, fellow-Christian; cf. Swed. jämn-christen, from jämn, even; Icel. jafnkristinn. Euene-cristene occurs in P. Plowm. B. ii. 94, v. 440; also spelt emcristene in the same, C. xx. 226, &c.

398. The definition does not well suit 'Swellinge of herte.' It better defines 'the envious man'; see Ayenb. p. 27, l. 15. And see P. 599, l. 492, below. At the same time, it is not so much out of place as the critics say it is, and is paralleled by the lines in P. Plowman, C. vii. 17, where Pride says that he was—

399. This is parallel to P. Plowm. C. vii. 41-58.

401. This corresponds to Ayenb. p. 29, l. 19. 'The zixte is, to werri zoþnesse be his wytinde.' Fr. 'guerroier verité a son escient.'

402. Contumax, contumacious; as in P. Plowm. C. xiv. 85.

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.

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.