355. lay, for that lay. Chaucer omits the relative, as is frequently done in Middle English poetry; see 1. 80.

374. See note on 11. 35, 36.

385. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B. 421, and the note. See Prov. xiv. 13.

388. In the margin of MSS. E. and Hn. is written 'Petrus Comestor,' who is probably here referred to.

392. See the Squieres Tale, 287, and the note.

395. col-fox, a treacherous fox. Tyrwhitt quotes Heywood for coleprophet and colepoysoun. See Glossary for the explanation of the prefix

col.

407. Genilon; the traitor who caused the defeat of Charlemagne, and the death of Roland; see Book of the Duchesse, 1121, and the note in Skeat's edition of the Minor Poems.

408. See Vergil, Æn. ii. 259.

420. bulte it to the bren, sift the matter; cf. the phrase to boult the bran. See the argument in Troilus, iv. 967; cf. Milton, P. L. ii. 560. 422. Boece, i. e. Boethius. See note to Kn. Tale, 305.

Bradwardyn. Thomas Bradwardine was Proctor in the University of Oxford in the year 1325, and afterwards became Divinity Professor and Chancellor of the University. His chief work is 'On the Cause of God' (De Causâ Dei). See Morley's English Writers, ii. p. 62.

424. for was probably inserted by the scribes, who did not know that nedely was a word of three syllables. See 1. 425, which is perhaps to be scanned with Nedely as a trisyllable, and simple as a monosyllable.

436. Colde, baneful, fatal. The proverb is Icelandic; 'köld eru opt kvenna-ráð,' cold (fatal) are oft women's counsels; Icel. Dict. s. v. kaldr. 451. Phisiologus. He alludes to a book in Latin metre, entitled Physiologus de Naturis xii. Animalium, by one Theobaldus, whose age is not known. The chapter De Sirenis begins thus :

Sirenae sunt monstra maris resonantia magnis,

Vocibus et modulis cantus formantia multis,

Ad quas incaute veniunt saepissime nautae,

Quae faciunt sompnum nimia dulcedine vocum.'-Tyrwhitt.

See The Bestiary, in Dr. Morris's Old English Miscellany, pp. 18, 207; and cf. Rom. Rcse, 680.

457. In Douglas's Virgil, prol. to Book xi. st. 15, we have—

'Becum thow cowart, craudoun recryand,

And by consent cry cok, thi deid is dycht;'

i. e. if thou turn coward, (and) a recreant craven, and consent to cry cok, thy death is imminent. In a note on this passage, Ruddiman says'Cok is the sound which cocks utter when they are beaten.' But it is probable that this is only a guess, and that Douglas is merely quoting

Chaucer. To cry cok! cok! refers rather to the utterance of rapid cries of alarm, as fowls cry when scared. Brand (Pop. Antiq. ed. Ellis, ii. 58) copies Ruddiman's explanation of the above passage.

480. As I hope to retain the use of my two eyes.' So Havelok, 1. 2545:

'So mote ich brouke mi Rith eie!'

And 1. 1743-'So mote ich brouke finger or to.'

And 1. 311: 'So brouke i euere mi blake swire!'

swire neck. See also Brouke in the Glossary to Gamelyn, ed. Skeat. 492. daun Burnel the Asse. 'The story alluded to is in a poem of Nigellus Wireker, entitled Burnellus seu Speculum Stultorum, written in the time of Richard I. In the Chester Whitsun Playes, Burnell is used as a nickname for an ass. The original word was probably brunell, from its brown colour; as the fox below is called Russel, from his red colour.'-Tyrwhitt. The Latin story is printed in The Anglo-Latin Satirists of the Twelfth Century, ed. T. Wright, i. 55. There is an amusing translation of it in Lowland Scotch, printed as 'The Unicornis Tale' in Small's edition of Laing's Select Remains of Scotch Poetry, ed. 1885, p. 285. It tells how a certain young Gundulfus broke a cock's leg by throwing a stone at him. On the morning of the day when Gundulfus was to be ordained and to receive a benefice, the cock took his revenge by not crowing till much later than usual; and so Gundulfus was too late for the ceremony, and lost his benefice. Cf. Warton, Hist. E. P., ed. 1871, ii. 352. As to the name Russel, see note to 1. 29.

509. Ecclesiaste; not Ecclesiastes, but Ecclesiasticus, xii. 10, 11, 16. Cf. Tale of Melibeus, B. 2368.

515. Tyrwhitt cites the O. F. form gargate from the Roman de Rou. Several examples of it are given by Godefroy.

527. O Gaufred. 'He alludes to a passage in the Nova Poetria of Geoffrey de Vinsauf, published not long after the death of Richard I. In this work the author has not only given instructions for composing in the different styles of poetry, but also examples. His specimen of the plaintive style begins thus:

Neustria, sub clypeo regis defensa Ricardi,
Indefensa modo, gestu testare dolorem ;
Exundent oculi lacrymas; exterminet ora
Pallor; connodet digitos tortura; cruentet
Interiora dolor, et verberet aethera clamor;
Tota peris ex morte sua. Mors non fuit ejus,
Sed tua, non una, sed publica mortis origo.
O Veneris lacrymosa dies! O sydus amarum !
Illa dies tua nox fuit, et Venus illa venenum.
Illa dedit vulnus, &c.

These lines are sufficient to show the object and the propriety of

Chaucer's ridicule. The whole poem is printed in Leyser's Hist. Poet. Med. Ævi, pp. 862-978.'-Tyrwhitt.

528. Richard I. died on April 6, 1199, on Tuesday; but he received his wound on Friday, March 26.

530. Why ne hadde I=0 that I had.

537. streite swerd = drawn (naked) sword.

Cf. Aeneid, ii. 333, 334

'Stat ferri acies mucrone corusco Stricta, parata neci.'

538. See Aeneid, ii. 550-553

543. Hasdrubal; not Hannibal's brother, but the King of Carthage when the Romans burnt it, B. C. 146. Hasdrubal slew himself; and his wife and her two sons burnt themselves in despair; see Orosius, iv. 13. 3, or Ælfred's translation, ed. Sweet, p. 212. Lydgate has the story in his Fall of Princes, bk. v. capp. 12 and 27.

574. Walsingham relates how, in 1381, Jakke Straw and his men killed many Flemings 'cum clamore consueto.' He also speaks of the noise made by the rebels as 'clamor horrendissimus.' See Jakke in Tyrwhitt's Glossary.

580. houped. See Piers Plowman, ed. Wright, p. 127, houped after Hunger, that herde hym,' &c.; or ed. Skeat (Clarendon Press), B. vi. 174.

625. My Lord. A side-note in MS. E. explains this to refer to the Archbishop of Canterbury; probably William Courtenay, archbishop from 1381 to 1396.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO THE KNIGHTES TALE; 1. 319.

The note on p. 175 may be amended. The fable is practically the same as that, of The Lion, the Tiger, and the Fox' in Croxall's edition of Æsop's Fables. In the modern edition by James (London, 1852), it is Fable No. 141, and is entitled 'The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox.' See N. and Q. 7 S. vi. 53, 90, 236.

GLOSSARY.

A = Prologue. B= Knightes Tale. C = Nonne Prestes Tale.

An asterisk prefixed to a form signifies that such a form is theoretical.