St. Kenelm's day is Dec. 13. Alban Butler, in his Lives of the Saints, says: [Kenulph] 'dying in 819, left his son Kenelm, a child only seven years old [see 1. 297] heir to his crown, under the tutelage of his sister Quindride. This ambitious woman committed his person to the care of one Ascobert, whom she had hired to make away with him. The wicked minister decoyed the innocent child into an unfrequented wood, cut off his head, and buried him under a thorn-tree. His corpse is said to have been discovered by a heavenly ray of light which shone over the place, and by the following inscription :

'In Clent cow-pasture, under a thorn,

Of head bereft, lies Kenelm, king born.'

:

Milton tells the story in his History of Britain, bk. iv. ed. 1695, p. 218, and refers us to Matthew of Westminster. He adds that the 'inscription' was inside a note, which was miraculously dropped by a dove on the altar at Rome. Our great poet's version of it is :

'Low in a Mead of Kine, under a thorn,

Of Head bereft, li'th poor Kenelm King-born.'

Clent is near the boundary between Staffordshire and Worcestershire. Neither of these accounts mention Kenelm's dream, but it is given in his Life, as printed in Early Eng. Poems, ed. Furnivall (Phil. Soc. 1862), P. 51. St. Kenelm dreamt that he saw a noble tree with wax-lights upon it, and that he climbed to the top of it; whereupon one of his best friends cut it down, and he was turned into a little bird, and flew up to heaven. The little bird denoted his soul, and the flight to heaven his death.

297. For traisoun, i. e. for fear of treason.

304. Cipioun. The Somnium Scipionis of Cicero, as annotated by Macrobius, was a favourite work during the middle ages.

318. See the Monkes Tale, B. 3917, and the note; in CH. II., p. 193. 321. Lo heer Andromacha. Andromache's dream is not to be found in Homer. It is related in chapter xxiv. of Dares Phrygius, the authority for the history of the Trojan war most popular in the middle ages. See the Troy-book, ed. Panton and Donaldson (E. E. T. S.), l. 8425. 331. as for conclusioun, in conclusion.

334. telle

no store, set no store by them; reckon them of no value; count them as useless.

336. nevere a del, never a whit, not in the slightest degree. 340. This line is repeated from the Compleynt of Mars, 1.61. 343-346. By way of quiet retaliation for Partlet's sarcasm, he cites a Latin proverbial saying, in 1. 344, Mulier est hominis confusio,' which he turns into a pretended compliment by the false translation in 11. 345, 346.'--Marsh. Tyrwhitt quotes it from Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist. x. 71.

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. Rose, 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 l. 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. Evi, 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=O 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 Elfred'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.