But ye that holde this tale a folye, Now, goode God, if that it be thy wille, 615 620 NOTES. THE PROLOGUE. 1. I. swoote, pl. of swot. swete in 1. 5 is the definite form of swet. 1. 6. bolte, dat. of bolt, a wood or grove. 1. 7. yonge sonne. The sun is here said to be young because it has only just entered upon his annual course through the signs of the zodiac. 1. 8. Ram. Tyrwhitt says, ' rather the Bull,' because in April the sun has entered the sign of Taurus. 1. 13. palmer, originally one who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and brought home a palm-branch as a token. Chaucer, says Tyrwhitt, seems to consider all pilgrims to foreign parts as palmers. The essential difference between the two class of persons here mentioned, the palmer and the pilgrim, was, that the latter had "one dwelling place, a palmer had none; the pilgrim travelled to some certain place, the palmer to all, and not to any one in particular; the pilgrim must go at his own charge, the palmer must profess wilful poverty; the pilgrim might give over his profession, the palmer must be constant." (Saunders.) 1. 14. ferne halwes, distant saints. ferne O.E. ferrene, ferren, afar, from fer, far. balwes, saints; cp. Scotch Hallowe'en, the eve of All Hallows, or All Saints. 16. wende, to go; pret. wente. Eng. went. The old preterite of go being code, zede, or yode. 1. 17. the holy blisful martir, Thomas à Becket. 1. 18. holpen, pp. of helpen. The older preterites of this verb are beolp, help, balp. 1. 20. Tabbard. Of this word Speght gives the following account in his Glossary to Chaucer :-" Tabard-a jaquet or slevelesse coate, worne in times past by noblemen in the warres, but now only by heraults (heralds), and is called theyre coate of armes in servise.' It is the signe of an inne in Southwarke by London, within the which was the lodging of the Abbot of Hyde by Winchester. This is the hostelry where Chaucer and the other Pilgrims mett together, and, with Henry Baily their hoste, accorded about the manner of their journey to Canterbury. And whereas through time it hath bin much decayed, it is now by Master J. Preston, with the Abbot's house thereto adgoyned, newly repaired, and with convenient rooms much encreased, for the receipt of many guests." The Taberdars of Queen's College, Oxford, were scholars, supposed originally to have worn the tabard, since called, by mistake, the Talbot. 1. 23. hostelrie, a lodging, inn, house, residence. Hostler properly signifies the keeper of an inn, and not, as now, the servant of an inn who looks after the horses. (The O.E. bors-bus signifies an inn-another term was gestbus; and bors-berdean inn-keeper.) 1. 24. wel is here used like our word full. 1. 25. by aventure i-falle, by adventure (chance) fallen. 1. 26. felawschipe, fellowship, from O.E. felaw, companion, fellow. 1. 29. esud atte beste, accommodated or entertained in the best manner. Easement is still used as a law term, signifying accommodation. atte = at þan= at tan or atten. In the older stages of the language we find atte used only before masc. and neuter nouns beginning with a consonant; the feminine form is atter, which is not used by Chaucer. 1. 30. to reste = at rest. 1. 34. ther as to I you devyse, to that place that I tell you of (scil. Canterbury). ther in O.E. frequently signifies where; devyse, to speak of, describe. whiles, whilst. Eng. while, time. O.E. hwile, awhile; while whilen. The form in -es is a double adverbial form, and may be compared with O.E. hennes, thennes, hence, thence; ones, twies, thries, once, twice, thrice, of which older forms are found in -ene and -e. 1. 37. It seemeth to me it is reasonable. me thinketh = me thinks, where me is the dative before the impersonal vb. thinke to appear, seem; cp. me liketh, me list, it pleases me. So the phrase if you please if it please you, you being the dative and not the nominative case. semed[e] me it seemed to me, occurs in 1. 39. = 1. 41. inne. In O.E. in is the preposition, and inne the adverb. 1. 43. Knight. It was a common thing in this age for knights to seek employment in foreign countries which were at war. Tyrwhitt cites from Leland the epitaph of a knight of this period, Matthew de Gourney, who had been at the battle of Benamaryn, at the siege of Algezir, and at the battles of Crecy, Poitiers, &c. worthy, worthy, is here used in its literal signification of distinguished, honourable. See ll. 47, 50. 1. 45. chyvalrye, knighthood; also the manners, exercises, and exploits of a knight. 1. 49. ferre, the comp. of fer, far. Cp. derre, dearer. 1. 50. bethenesse, heathen lands, as distinguished from Cristendom, Christian. countries. 1. 51. Alisandre, in Egypt, was won, and immediately after abandoned, in 1365, by Pierre de Lusignan, King of Cyprus. 1. 52. he had the bord bygonne. Some commentators think bord=board, table, so that the phrase signifies he had been placed at the head of the dais, or table of state." Mr. Marsh suggests that bord or bourd is the Low Germ. boort or buburt, joust, tournament. 11. 53, 54. Pruce. When our English knights wanted employment, it was usual for them to go and serve in Pruce or Prussia, with the knights of the Teutonic order, who were in a state of constant warfare with their heathen neighbours in Lettow (Lithuania), Ruce (Russia), and elsewhere. (Tyrwhitt.) II. 56-58. Gernade, Granada. The city of Algezir was taken from the Moorish King of Granada in 1344. Belmarie and Tremassene (Tramessen, 1. 62) were Moorish kingdoms in Africa. Layas (Lieys), in Armenia, was taken from the Turks by Pierre de Lusignan about 1367. Satalie was taken by the same prince soon after 1352. (Attalia.) Palatye (Palathia, see l. 65), in Anatolia, was one of the lordships held by Christian knights atter the Turkish conquests. 1. 59. the Grete See. The name Great Sea is applied by Sir J. Maundeville to that part of the Mediterranean which washes the coast of Palestine, to distinguish it from the two so-called inland seas, the sea of Tiberias and the Dead Sea. Cp. its proper name in Scripture, Numb. xxxiv. 6, 7; Josh. i. 4. 1. 60. arive, arrival or disembarkation of troops. Tyrwhitt, following MS. Lansd. 851, and other MSS., reads armee. beben, been. Cp. ydoydon, done, &c. 1. 62. foughten, pp. fought. This verb belongs to the strong, and not to the weak verbs, like sought, brought, &c. The older forms of fought are faght and foght. 1. 63. slayn; hadde must be supplied from 1. 61. 1. 67. sovereyn prys, exceeding great renown. 1. 70. vilonye, any conduct unbecoming a gentleman. "The villain is, first, the serf or peasant, villanus, because attached to the villa or farm. He is, secondly, the peasant, who, it is taken for granted, will be churlish, selfish, dishonest, and generally of evil moral conditions, these having come to be assumed as always belonging to him, and to be permanently associated with his name, by those who were at the springs of language. At the third step nothing of the meaning which the etymology suggests-nothing of villa-survives any longer; the peasant is quite dismissed, and the evil moral conditions of him who is called by this name, alone remains." (Trench, in English Past and Present.) 1. 71. no maner wight, no kind of person whatever. perfight, perfect. It is sometimes spelt perfit, parfit. 1. 74. ne... nought. In O.E. two negatives do not make an affirmative. gay seems here to signify decked out in various colours. 1. 75. gepoun gipoun, a diminutive of gipe, a short cassock. = 1. 76. haburgeoun is properly a diminutive of bauberk, although often used as synonymous with it. It was a defence of an inferior description to the hauberk; but when the introduction of plate-armour, in the reign of Edward III, had supplied more convenient and effectual defence for the legs and thighs, the long skirt of the hauberk became superfluous; from that period the babergeon alone seems to have been worn. (Way.) il. 77, 78. For he had just returned from his voyage, and went to per form his pilgrimage (which he had vowed for a safe return) in his knightly = 1. 79. squyer esquire, one who attended on a knight, and bore his lance and shield. 1. 80. lovyer, lover. The y in this word is not euphonic like the y in 1. 82. yeer. I gesse, I should think. In O.E. gesse signifies to judge, believe, suppose. 1. 87. born him wel, conducted himself well, behaved bravely. 1. 88. lady grace, ladies' grace. In the earlier stages of our language the 1. 98. sleep, also written slep, slepte. Cp. wep, wepte; lep, lepte, &c. 1. 101. Feman, yeoman, is an abbreviation of yeonge man (A.S. geong, 1. 102. him lust, it pleased him. lust is for luste, past tense, pleased; lust= 1. 104. a shef of pocock arwes, a sheaf of arrows with peacocks feathers. 1. III. bracer, a piece of armour for the arm. Fr. bras, the arm, whence 1. 114. barneysed. The word harness signifies equipage, furniture, tack- The 1. 115. Cristofre. A figure of St. Christopher, used as a brooch. 1. 120. ooth[e], oath. Lansd. MS. reads othe, which is a genitive plural, Seynt Loy. Tyrwhitt says that Loy is for Eloy, a corruption of St. 1. 121. clept. Lansdowne MS. reads cleped, which improves the metre. And sche yclept was Madame Englantyne. nose. This is the reading of Harleian MS. 7334, and Lansd. 851. |