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CHAUCER
THE
PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY


TALES
EDITED BY THE REV.
WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT.D.
LL.D. EDIN., PH.D. HALLE, D.C.L. OXON., DUNELM
ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON
AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
'Of studie took he most cure and most hede.'
PROL. 303
THIRD AND REVISED EDITION
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
M DCCCC VI




HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE




INTRODUCTION.
THE present edition of Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury
Tales is intended to serve as an introductory text-book to the
study of Middle Englisl and of Chaucer's works. Those who
have mastered it may profitably proceed to the study of the
Prologue, Knightes Tale, and Nun's Priest's Tale, and to the
other similar selections from the Canterbury Tales, as published
in the Clarendon Press Series. The account of Chaucer's Life
and Poetry in the first of these contains further information on
these subjects, particularly in the way of references to original
authorities.
The text of the Prologue in the present edition, founded on
the excellent Ellesmere MS., has been carefully revised with a
special view to representing more accurately and systematically
the true Middle-English pronunciation. With this view, a few
inconsistencies in the spelling employed by the scribe have been
avoided.
The text is amended, where emendation seemed necessary,
by comparison of the Ellesmere MS. with six others; and the
various readings are given in the footnotes. The MSS. are denoted by the following abbreviations. E. (Ellesmere MS.);
Hn. (Hengwrt MS.); Cm. (Cambridge MS. Gg. 4. 27); Cp.
(MS. in Corpus Christi College, Oxford); Pt. (Petworth MS.,
belonging to Lord Leconfield); Ln. (Lansdowne MS. 851, in
the British Museum); and HI. (MS. Harleian 7334, in the
same).
The numbering of the lines agrees with that in the Six-text
a 2




4


INTR OD UCTIO N


edition of the Chaucer Society. The numbers within marks of
parenthesis (after 1. 250) refer to the edition by Tyrwhitt.
A considerable portion of the Notes has been copied from the
Notes in the other edition named above, but many additional
explanations have been given to assist beginners, and some of
the antiquarian illustrations have been curtailed.
BRIEF NOTICE OF CHAUCER.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER was born in London, about 1340. His
father, John Chaucer, was a citizen and vintner, and lived in
Upper Thames Street. He was in attendance on the Court in
1338, and this connection subsequently led to his son's employment there.
In 1357, Geoffrey was a page in the household of the wife of
Prince Lionel, duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III.
In 1359, Chaucer was taken prisoner in France, but was
released in 1360. In 1367, when he was a valet of the king's
household, he received a life-pension of 20 marks (31. 6s. 8d.).
In 1368, Prince Lionel died, and we next find Chaucer in the
service of John of Gaunt, whose first wife, Blanche, died in 1369,
and was lamented by the poet in his Book of the Duckesse. In
1370 to 1380, he was employed in various diplomatic services.
In 1372, he went to Italy for nearly a year; and after this
date, we find his poetry marked by Italian influence.
In 1374, the king granted him a pitcher of wine daily, and he
took a lease of a house in Aldgate, which he held till 1386; we
do not know his next abode; but in 1399 he took a house at
Westminster. In this year (1374) he was made Comptroller of
the Customs and Subsidy of Wools, Skins, and Leather, and
received a life-pension of Io1. We also find him married to
Philippa Chaucer at this date, though the date of his marriage
is not known, and his wife's maiden name is still in dispute.
We find various grants and rewards made to him in 1375,
1376, 1377, and subsequently, for various services. He' was in
Flanders in 1377, in France in 1377 and 1378, and in Lombardy




CHAUCER AND HIS WRITINGS.


5


in 1378. In 1382, he was appointed Comptroller of the Petty
Customs, in addition to his former office.
In 1385, he was allowed to perform his duties by deputy.
To this release from work we probably owe his Legend of Good
Women.
In 1386, Thomas, duke of Gloucester, came into power, to the
detriment of the dependants upon John of Gaunt. Chaucer
thus lost his appointments, and became a poor man. It was in
this year that, in the course of a famous trial, he deposed that
he was 'forty years of age and upwards, and had borne arms
for twenty-seven years.' He was about forty-six years old.
In 1387, his wife died; he probably had in hand, at this time,
his greatest work, the Canterbury Tales.
In 1389, John of Gaunt returned to power, and Chaucer was
appointed Clerk of the King's Works at Westminster; and, in
1390, Clerk of the Works at St. George's Chapel, Windsor; and
he put up some scaffolds in Smithfield for the king and queen
to view a tournament.
In 1394, he received a life-pension of 2o01. a year; but he was
often in want of money.
In 1399, Henry IV became king, and granted that Chaucer's
pension should be doubled. This probably allowed Chaucer to
live comfortably during the last year of his life. He died Oct. 25,
1400, at the age of about sixty years.
WRITINGS OF CHAUCER.
Chaucer's Works fall into three periods. During the first period
he followed French models. In 1372, the second period begins,
under Italian influence. In 1385, he became more original.
First Period.-The poem called A. B. C.; a translation of Le
Roman de la Rose'; Comjleynt to Pity (about 1367); The
Book of the Duchesse (1369).
Three fragments, by diferent hands, of translations of this poem,
exist in a MS. at Glasgow. The first of these 11. 1-1705) seems to be
a portion of Chaucer's work. The second fragment j11. 1706-5813)
abounds with Northern idioms.




6


1N 7TRIOD UC TION.


Second Period.--The Lyf of Seint Cecile (afterwards The.Second Nonnes Tale, 1373); The Co'mpleint of Mars; The
Assembly of Fowls (1381?); Palamoun and Arcite (afterwards
rewritten, as The Knight's Tale); A Compleint to his Lady;
The Covmpleint ofAnelida; a translation of Boethius (in prose);
Troilus and Cressida; The Hous of Fame (1384).
Third Period.-The Legend of Good Women (1385); The
Canterbury Tales; A Treatise on the Astrolabe (in prose, 1391);
Compleint of Venus; Compleint to his Purse (1399). With
various Balades, &c. at various times.
Of the Poems ascribed to Chaucer in old editions, but certainly
not his, the chief are:-The Court of Love (hardly earlier than
S500); The Complaint of the Black Knight (really by Lydgate);
The Flower and the Leaf (written by a lady, not earlier than
1450); Chaucer's Dream (of the I6th century); and The Cuckoo
and the Nightingale. The last is now known to have been
written by Clanvowe (probably Sir T. Clanvowe) about 1403.
Some suppose that the framework of the Canterbury Tales was
taken from Boccaccio's Decamerone; but the plans are really
different. Chaucer's plan can best be understood by a study of
the Prologue here printed. It was much too vast, as it included
the idea of making each pilgrim to Canterbury tell four tales;
yet none of them tells more than one, and there are not even
enough to go once round. The work was left, at Chaucer's
death, in quite a fragmentary state.
GRAMMATICAL HINTS.
The following brief hints contain but a minimum of information, and include nothing that should not be extremely familiar
to the student.
Observe that, in Chaucer's English, the final syllables -e, -ed,
-en, -es, almost always form a distinct and separate syllable, so
that a large number of words had then a syllable more than they
have now. Unless this rule be observed, no progress in the
study is possible. In particular, always sound this final -e (like
the a in China) at the end of a line.




GRAM.MAA TICAL HINTS.


7


Wherever, for any reason, the letter e is suppressed, or slurred
over, being very lightly pronounced, it is marked, in this edition,
by being printed with a dot beneath it.
Final -e is elided, or slurred over, when the next word begins
with a vowel, or is one of certain words beginning with h, viz.
(i) a pronoun, as he; (2) part of the verb have; (3) the adverbs
heer, how; (4) mute h in honour, houre.  In a similar position,
final -er, -en, -el, -y, are slurred over likewise; thus get-en is
reallyget'n in 1. 291.
Final -e is sometimes dropped in a few common words, such
as were hadde,  had, wolde, would.
Middle -e- is also sometimes dropped, as in havenes, pronounced (haavnez), 1. 407. But trew-e-ly (481) is trisyllabic.
The reasons for sounding the final -e, -en, -es, as distinct
syllables, are grammatical.  These endings represent older
inflexions, mostly Anglo-Saxon; and were once, in fact, essential.
But, in Chaucer's time, they were beginning to disappear, and
many are now lost altogether.
Final -e. The various sources of the M.E. (i. e. MiddleEnglish) final -e are, chiefly, these following.
I. The A.S. (Anglo-Saxon) sb. ended in a vowel. Thus A.S.
har-a, a hare, became M.E. har-e (I9I).
2. The A.F. (Anglo-French) sb. ended in a vowel which was
formerly sounded. Thus A.F. melodi-e (four syllables) is M.E.
melody-e (four syllables, 9).
3. The dative case often ends in -e, especially after the prepositions at, by, for, in, of, on, to. Thus rot-e (2) is the dative
case of root, a root. We even find a dative form used as a
nom. case, owing to confusion. Thus A.S. hwels, a whelp,
makes the dat. hwelp-e; Chaucer has whelr-e as a nominative
(257).
4. We find, elsewhere, sonn-e used as a genitive.  Similarly
-y represents a genitive suffix in lad-y, 88, 695.
5. The definite form of the adjective (i. e. the form used when


1 The numbers refer to the lines of The Prologue.




8


INTR OD UCTION.


the def. art. the or a possessive or demonstrative pronoun precedes it) ends in -e. Ex.: the yong-e, 7.
6. The adj. pl. ends in -e; as smal-e, 9.
7. Even the adj. sing. may end in -e; as swet-e (5), from A.S.
swite, sweet, in which the final -e is essential.
8. Verbs: the infinitive and gerund (with to) end in -en or
-e; as biginn-e, 42; for to rys-e, 33.
9. Strong verbs: the pp. (past participle) ends in -en or -e;
as y-ronn-e, 8.
o1. Weak verbs: the pt. t. (past tense) ends in -ede, -de, -te,
-e; as say-de, 70. Or, rarely, in -ed, as wer-ed, 75.  Observe
lakk-e-de, 756; lov'de, 97; wet-te, 129; went-e, 98.
SI. Verbs: various other inflexions in -en or -e. Thus slef-en,
3 p. pr. pl., o1; wer-en, I p. pt. pl., 29; gess-e, i p. pr. s., 82;
smert-e, 3 p. pr. s. subj., 230, &c.
12. Adverbs and prepositions may end in -en or -e; as aboven, 53; about-e, prep. 158, adv. 488.
Final -en. The suffix -en usually denotes either (i) the pl.
sb., as hos-en, 456; (2) the infin. or gerundial infin. of a verb,
as to wend-en, 21; (3) the pp. of a strong verb, as holf-en, 18;
(4) the pl. of any tense of a verb, as wer-en, I p. pt. pl., 29; (5)
a prep. or adverb, as abov-en, 53.
Final -es. The final -es denotes either (i) the gen. sing., as
lord-es, 47; (2) the pl. sb., as shour-es, I; or (3) an adverb, as
thry-es, 562.  But the gen. of lady is lady; and of fader, is
fader. And the plural may end in -s, as in falmer-s, 13.
The student should endeavour to make out, in every case, the
reason for the use of final -e, -en, and -es. He will thus acquire
the grammar. The above hints explain most cases that can
arise.
Further notes. Some neuter sbs. do not change in the
plural, as hors, pl. hors, 74. So also neet, sheep, swyn, yeer.
Comparatives end in -er, as grett-er, adj., 197; or -re, as
fer-re, adv., 48. Superlatives, in -est, occasional def. form -est-e,
as best-e, 252. Pronouns: to, those; this, pl. thise, these;
/hilke, that; ilke, same. Atte, for at the. Ye, nom.; yow, dat.
and acc., you. Hir, their (also her); hem, them. His, his, its.




GRAMMA TICAL HINT.S?.


9


Whiche, what sort of, 40; what, i. e. ' why,' 184; That... he,
who, 44; who so, whoever, 74I. Alen, one, with a sing. verb,
as men smoot, one smote, 149.
Verbs.   Verbs are distinguished as being weak or strong.
In the former, the pp. ends in -ed, -d, or -t; in the latter, in -en,
or -e.
A simple rule is this.  In weak verbs, the pt. t. ends in -ede
(rarely -ed), -de, -te, -e, so that the final -e is here extremely common, but it does not appear in the pp.; conversely, in strong
verbs, it is the pp. that ends in -en or -e, which never appears in
the first or third person singular of the past tense. Ex. went-e,
3 p. pt. s., 78, is a weak past tense; cla-d, I03, is a weak pp.
Conversely, y-ronn-e, 8, is a strong pp.; sleep, 98, is a strong
pt. t. The prefix y- (A.S. ge-), can be prefixed to any pp., and
makes no difference.
Strong verbs usually shew vowel-change; thus bigan (44) is
the pt. t. of bzginnen. But note that this is not a sure guide; for
raugh-te (136) is the pt. t. of rech-en, to reach, and is weak.
Slepf-en, to sleep, pt. t. sleep, with unchanged vowel, is strong.
In strong verbs, the vowel of the past tense is changed, sometimes, in the plural. Thus the pt. t. sing. of ryd-en, to ride, is
rood, I69; but the pl. is rid-en, 825. The pp. is also rzd-en, 48.
The usual formulae for the conjugation of verbs are as
follows.
Present tense.    Sing. -e, -est, -eth (-th); pl. -en or -e.
Past tense; weak verbs.     Sing. -ede (-de or -ed), -de, -te, -e
(in persons I and 3); -edest, -dest, -test, -est (2 person). Plural,
-eden, -ede, -de, -den,-ten,   -te, -e (all persons).
Past tense; strong verbs. Sing. indic. no suffix (in persons
I and 3); -e, occasionally (2 person).     Sing. subj. -e (all
persons).  Plural of both moods: -en, -e (all persons).
Imperative.    Sing. 2 person: no suffix (usually); -e (in
some weak verbs). Plural, 2 person: -eth, -th; (sometimes -e).
Infinitive: -en, -e. The gerundial infinitive has to or for to
prefixed, and often denotes purpose.
Participles. Present: -ing, rarely -inge. Pp. of weak verbs:
-ed, -, -. Pp. of strong verbs: -en, -e.




INTRODUCTION


N.B. We find the contracted form bit, for biddeth, in the 3
p. pr. s. indicative, 187.
Formation of Past Tenses. The form         of the pt. t. of a
weak verb depends on the form of its stem. There are three
classes.
I. Infin. -ien; pt. -ede (-de), or -ed. Thus lov-ien, to love;
pt. t. lov-ede (pronounced luv'da), or lov-ed (luv'ed). Full form:
lakk-e-de, 756.
2. Infin. -en; pt. t. -de, -te, or sometimes (after d or t) -e;
without vowel-change, except such as is due to contraction.
Ex. her-en, to hear, pt. t. her-de; kef-en, to keep, pt. t. kef-te;
kld-en, to lead, pt. t. lad-de (short for leed-de).  Cf. went-e,
went.
3. Infin. -en, with a modified vowel in the infinitive, the
root-vowel appearing in the pt. t. and pp. Thus the root s6K
(cf. Gothic sjkjan, to seek), appears in the A.S. pt. t. soh-fe, pp.
sok-t, M.E. soght-e, sogh-t; but the d becomes j (as in A.S.
fit, foot, pl. fit, feet) in the infin. sic-an, M.E. sik-en, E. seek.
Cf. tell-en, pt. t. tol-de; tech-en, pt. t. fangh-te.
N.B. The pp. of a weak verb always results from the pt. t. by
dropping -e; thus pt. t. tol-de gives pp. fol-d.
Strong verbs. The seven conjugations of strong verbs are
given in my Principles of Etymology. I take as representative
verbs the following: fall, shake, bear, give, drink, drive, choose.
A more usual order (though it makes no real difference) is:
I. drive, 2. choose, 3. drink, 4. bear, 5. give, 6. shake, 7. fall.
The 'principal parts' are: (a) the infinitive; (b) the past
tense, singular; (c) the pt. t. pl.; (d) the pp.. ' Drive.' Here Chaucer has: (a) ryd-en, to ride; (b) rood;
(c) rVd-en; (d) rid-en. So also byt-en, bite,;ys-en, rise, shyn-en,
shine, shryv-en, shrive, smjyt-en, smite, wryt-en, write.
2. 'Choose.' As: (a) slht -en, to seethe; (b) seeth; (c, d) sod-en.
3. 'Drink.' As: (a) bi-inn-en; (b) bigan; (c) bigonnen; (d)
bigonnen.   So also drinken, ginnen, rinnen, to run, singen,
S Chaucer's Prologue does not contain specimens of all the parts of
the verbs mentioned. Thus sethen only occurs in the infinitive (383).




GR AMAIA TICAL HINTLS.


J1


stringen, swinken, to toil, winnen, delven, fighten, (pt. t. s.
faught), hel/en, kerven, thresshen.
4. ' Bear.' As: (a) ber-en; (b) bar; (c) bir-en; (d) bor-en.
So also breken, sheren, stelen. Comen has: (b) corn; (c) comen; (d) com-en.
5. ' Give.' As: (a) yev-en, yiv-en; (b) yaf; (c) yev-en; (d)
yiv-en. So also geten (pp. geten); sfeken (pp. spoken).
6. 'Shake.' As: (a) bak-en; (b) book; (c) bok-en; (d) bak-en.
So also drawen, shaken, shaven, stonden (pt. t. stood), taken,
sweren (pp. swor-e).
7. ' Fall.' As: (a) fall-en; (b) fl; (c) fill-en; (d) fall-en.
So holden, pt. t. hild; let-en, pt. t. leet; slefi-en, pt. t. sleef;
blowen, growen, know-en, pt. t. blew, &c.; wvet-en, pt. t. weet;
goon, pp. y-goon, y-go, 286. Compare the complete list of strong
M.E. verbs, in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skeat,
pt. I.
Anomalous Verbs. Among these note the following. Been,
ben, are. Imper. pl. beeth, beth, be ye. Pp. been, ben, been.
Can, I know; pl. connen; pt. t. coude, knew, could: pp. couth,
known. Dar, I dare; pt. t. dorste. May, I may; pl. mowen;
subjunctive, mowe, pl. mowen. Moot, I must, I may, he must,
he may; pl. moten, mote; pt. t. moste. Oghte, ought. Shal,
pl. shullen, shul; pt. t. sholde.  Witen, to know; wool, wot, I
know, he knows; pl. witen (correctly; but Ch. has ye wool);
pt. t. wiste, knew; pp. wist.  Wil, wol, will; pl. wolen, wilen;
pt. t. wolde.
Negatives. Nam, for ne am, am not; nis, for ne is, is not;
nas, was not; nere, were not-; nadde, had not; nil, will not;
nolde, would not; noot, I know not, he knows not; niste, knew
not; ne... ne, neither... nor, 603. Double negatives, 70, 71,
&c.
Adverbs. End in -e, as det-e, deeply; or -ly, as subtil-ly;
or -e-ly, as trew-e-ly, truly; or -en, -e, as bifor-en, bifor-e; or in
-es, as thry-es, thrice. Ther, where, 547; ther as, where that, 34.
Prepositions. End in -en, -e, -es; &c.     Til, for to, before a
vowel.   With adjoins its verb; 791.




12


INTRODUCTION


METRE AND VERSIFICATION.
Some lines drop the first syllable, and the first foot contains
one syllable only; as: Ging I len in, &c. 170. Such lines are
marked with (*); see 11. 76, 131, 170, 247, 294, 371, 39I.
Many rimes are double, as cloistre, oistre, I8I; Ron-e, to me,
671; non-es, non is, 523. Always sound final -e at the end of
a line. Rimes may be treble, as apothec-dr-i-es, letu-dr-i-es, 425;
so at 11. 207, 513, 709. Compare the Grammatical Hints.
Caesura. The caesura, or middle pause, allows extra syllables
to be preserved. Thus, at I. 22, we have:To Caiunterbury-with fill dev6ut corag-e.
The pause preserves the -y of Caunterbury. Similarly, we may
preserve the -er of deliv-er, 84; -e in mor-e, 98; -e in curteisy-e,
132. The dot indicates that the syllables are light.
Compare also:With-out-e bak-e met-e-was nev'r his hous; 343.
That I no dr6p-e-ne fill' upon hir brest; 13I.
The syllables -er, -en, -el, -ed, before a vowel or h (in he, &c.), are
light, and do not always count in scansion; see 11. 84, 291, 296,
334, &c. Cf. ma i ny a breem I; 350. Read the lines deliberately,
and remember the old pronunciation.
Accent. Variable, in some words; cf. miller, 545, with the
archaic trisyllabic mil-ldr-e, 54I. Also, in French words, we
have honour, 582; but the archaic honour, 46. Cf. licour, 3;
vert/, 4.
PRONUNCIATION.
The M. E. pronunciation was widely different from the present,
especially in the vowel-sounds. The sounds of the vowels were
nearly as in French and Italian. They can be denoted by
phonetic invariable symbols, enclosed within marks of parenthesis. Convenient phonetic symbols are these following.
Vowels. (aa), as a in father; (a) short, as a in aha! (ae),
open long e, as a in Mary; (e), open short e, as e in bed; (ee),
close long e, as e in veil; (i) short, as F. i in fin/, or (nearly) as
E. i in in; (ii), as ee in deep; (ao), open long o, as aw in saw;




METRE AND PRONUNCIATION.                    13
(o) open short o, as o in not; (oo), close long o, as o in note, or
o in German 'so'; (u), as u in full; (uu), as oo in fool; (ii), as
F. u in F. '6cu'; (ii'), as long G. ii in G. ' grin.' Also (a), as
final a in China.
Diphthongs. (ai), as y in fly; (au), as ow in now; (ei), as
ei in veil; (oi), as oi in boil.
Consonants (Special). (k), as c in cat; (s), as c in city;
(ch), as in church; (tch), as in catc/; (th), as th in thin; (dh),
as th in then. Also (h), when not initial, to denote a guttural
sound, like G. ch in Nacht, Licht, but weaker, and varying with
the preceding vowel.
An accent is denoted by (*), as in M. E. name (naa'ma).
By help of these symbols, it is possible to explain the meaning
of the M.E. symbols employed by the scribes in Chaucer's
Prologue. The following is a list of the sounds they denote.
The letters in thick type are the letters actually employed; the
letters within parenthesis denote the sounds, as above.
Observe that long '9' means the same as (ao); and long ' '
means the same as (ae).
a short, (a). Ex. al (al); as (az). N.B. The modem a in cat
(kaet) is denoted by (@e), and does not occur in Chaucer.
a long, (aa). (I) at the end of a syllable; as age (aa'ja); (2)
before s or ce; as cas (kaas),face (faa'sa).
ai, ay (ei). Ex. array (arei'); fair (feir). The same as ei,
with which it had become confused; cf. E. gay, frey.
au, aw (au). Ex. avaunt (avau'nt); awe (au'a).
c, as (k), except before e and i; as (s), before e and i.
ch (ch); cch (tch).
"e short, (e). Ex.fetheres (fedh'rez); middle e dropped.
"e final, (a); and often dropped or elided or very lightly touched,
when it is printed 'e.'
e long and open, (ae). Printed as ''  or ' ee' in the text.
e long and close, (ee). Ex. swete (swee'ta); weefi (weep).
ei, ey (ei). Ex. streit (streit); wey (wei).
g hard, i.e. (g), except before e and i; (j), before e and i.
gh (h), G. ch. Ex. light (liiht). The vowel was at first short,
then half-long (as probably in Chaucer), then wholly long, when
the (h) dropped out. Later, (iii became (ei), and is now (ai).




14


INTR OD UC TION


gn (n), with long preceding vowel; as digne (dii'na).
ogh (quh), with open o, as in E. not, followed by short (u).
ough (uuh); with uu as in E.fool (fuul); or as ogh.
i short, (i). As F. i in fini; but often as E. i in in; the latter
is near enough. So also y, when short, as in many (man'i).
i, y long, (ii). Ex. I (ii); melodye (mel'odii'a).
I consonantal, (j). Ex. fay (jei); luge (jiija).
ie (ee), the same as ee. Ex. mischief (mischeef).
le, often vocalic (1), as in E. temple (temp'l). But note stables
(staa'blez).
ng (ngg); always as in E. linger. Ex. thing (thingg).
o short, (o.), as in of(ov). But as (9u) before gh. And note
particularly, that it is always (u), i.e. as u in full, wherever it
has a sound like u in mod. E., as in company, son, monk, cousin,
&c. Ex. sonne (sun'na), monk (mungk), moche (mucha).
o long and open, (ao). Printed as '9' or '99' in the text.
o long and close, (oo). Ex. sote (soo'ta); hood (hood).
ou, ow (uu); as in flour (fluur); now (nuu). Rarely (9u),
as in soule (s9ula).
oi, oy (oi). r is always strongly trilled. ash (shsh), as in
fresshe (fresh'sha).
u short, (ii); French. Rarely (u), as in cut (kut); English.
u long, (ii'), as in nature (natii'ra); French.
we final, (wa), but often merely (u).  Ex. arwes (ar-wez);
bowe (baou'a, bu'a); morwe (moru); so blew (blee'u).
N.B. Open long e (ae) often arises from A.S. ce, ja, or lengthening of e. Ex. wgre (waera), A.S. wavron; gek (aek), A.S. jac;
steken (spaeken), A.S. specan. Open long o (ao), often arises
from A.S. a, or lengthening of o. Ex. f9 (fao), A.S. fa; pfen,
A.S. open.
The sounds of many words are given in the Index. For
further information, see Sweet's Second Middle-English Primer.




(GROUP A.)


THE PROLOGUE TO
THE CANTERBURY TALES.
Here biginneth the Book of the Tales of
Caunterbury.
*,* The dot beneath an e (or i, as in 1. 180) signifies that it is elided
or suppressed. The lines marked with an asterisk (*) are deficient in the
first foot.
W    HAN that.Aprilli. with his shoures sote_
The droght of Mlarch_ hath perced to the rote,
And bathed gvery veyne in swich lic6ur,
Of which verti engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus e~k with his   tet-  breath '          5
Inspired hath in ~very holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale fowles maken melodvy,
That slepen al the night with 9pen ye,              To


I. E. hise; rest his.    8. HI. halfe; rest half.     9. HI. fowles;
Pt. Ln. foules; E. Hn. foweles.    Io. HI. yhe; Hn. Iye; E. eye.




THE PROLOGUE.


(SQ priketh hem nattire in hir cordges):
Than longen folk to ggqqn on pilgrimages
(And palmers for to seken straunge strondes)
To ferne halwes, coute in sondry londes;
And specially, from  gvery shires ende                15
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hgly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen, whan that they vwýr-seke.
Bifel that, in that seson on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay                   23
SRedy to wenden on my pilgrimage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,
At night was come in-to that hostelryý
Wel nyn and twenty in a companye
Of sondry folk, by aventure y-falle                   25
In felawshipe, and pilgrims Nyýr they alle
That t6ward Caunterbury wolden lyde; ~
The chambres and the stables wgren wde,_
And wel we weren qsed atte beste.
And shortly, whan the sonne was to rese               30
SQ hadde I spgken with hem ýverichqn,
That I was of hir felawshipe anQn,
And made forward grly for to ryse,
To take our wey, thgr as I yow devyse
But natheles, whyl I have tyre and -pace,           35
Er that I ferther in this tale pace,
Me thinketh it acordaunt to rqs6un,
To telle yow al the' condici6un
12. Pt. Ln. Than; E. Thanne. E. pilgrimage (by mistake).  13.
Pt. Hi. palmers; E. Palmeres.  16. Hn. Caunter-; E. Cauntur-.
18. E. seeke.  19. Hn. Bifel; E. Bifil.  23. E. were; rest was.
"24. E. Hn. compaignye.  26, 32. E. felaweshipe. Hi. pilgryms;
E. pilgrimes.  34. E. Oure.  35. E. Hn. nathelees.




THE KNIGHT.


17


Of qch of hem, SQ as it semed me,
And whiche they weren, and of what degree;      40
And ~k in what array that they wNre inne:
And at a knight than wol I first biginne.
A KNIGHT thor was, and that a worthy man,  Kuight.
That frQ the tyme that he first bigan
To ryden out, he lovede chivalrye              45
Trthe and hon6ur, fredom and curteisyei
Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,
And thgrto hadde he riden (nQ man ferre)
As wel in Cristendom as hgthenesse.
And v.r honoured for his worthinesse.           50
At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne;
Ful oft_ tyme he hadde the bord bigonne
Aboven alle naciouns in Pruce.
In LettQw hadde he reysed and in Ruce,
N9 Cristen man SQ ofte of his degree.           55
In Gernade at the sege qek hadde he be
Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.
At Lyeys was he, and at Satalye,
Whan they wvre wonne; and in the Grgte Sq
At many a n9bl ave hadde he be.                 60
At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,
And foghten for our feith at Tramissene
In listes thryes, and ay slayn his fQ.
This ilke worthy knight had been alsQ
Somtyme with the lord of Palatye,               65
Ageyn another hgthen in Turkye:
And evermQre he hadde a sovereyn prys.


40. HI. weren; rest were, weere.    45. E. loued; but see 97, i66.
49. Hn. HI. as; rest as in.  53. E. nacions.   56. E. seege.   60.
HI. ariue; Cm. aryue; E. Hn. armee; Cp. Ln. arme.      62. E. oure.
64. Pt. had; rest hadde.   67. E. -moore.
B




THE SQUYER.


And thogh that he wee worthy, he was wys,
And of his port as meke as is a mayde.
He never yet no vileinye ne sayde                      o
In al his lyf, un-to nq maner wight.
He was a verray parfit gentil knight.
But for to tellen yow of his array,
His hors were gode, but he was nat gay.
Of fustian he wqred a gip6un                          75
"*Al bismotered with his habergeoun;
For he was late y-cpme from hisyvjg
And wente for to doon his pilgrimage.
With him thqr was his sone a yong SQUYLR, Squyer.
A lovyený and a lusty bacheler,                       80
With lokkes crulle, as they wgre leyd in presse.
Of twenty ygr of age he was, I gesse.
Of his statdre he was of evne lengthe
And wonderly deliver, and greet of strengthe,
And he had been somtyme in chivachy,                  85s
In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Picardye,
And born him wel, as of sq litel space,
In hQe  to stonden in his lady grace.
Embrouded was he, as it wqre a mede
Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and rqde.            90
Sinoge he was, or fljytinge, al the day;
He was as fresh as is the month of May.
Short was his go ne, with sleves longe and wyde.
Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde.
68. E. Hn. Cm. were; rest was. 74. E. Pt. weren; Hi. Ln. was;
rest were. H1. Hn. he ne was.  83. Ln. euen; rest euene.  84.
Hi. Ln. delyuer; rest delyuere. E. Hn. of greet; Cm. of gret; rest gret
of.  85. Ln. had; rest hadde.  87. E. weel.  89, go90. E. meede,
reede.  92. E. fressh. E. in; rest is. E. Hn. Monthe; Cp. month;
H1. Pt. Ln. moneth; Cm. monyth.


A




THE YEMAAN. THE PRIORESSE.


19


He coude songes make and wel endyte,                  95
Iuste and eqk daun-ce, Tand wel purtrey  and wryte.
SQ h9te he lovede, that by nightertale
He sleep na-m9re than dooth a nigtingale.
Curteys he wasl9wly, and servisable,
And carf biforn his fader at the table.              100
A YEMAN hadde he, and servaunts na-mQ         Yeman.
At that tyme, for him liste ryde s9;
And he was clad in c9te and hood of grene;
A sheef of pecok-arwes brighte and kene
Under his belt he bar ful thriftily,                 o05
(Wel coude he dresse his takel yemanly:
His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lQwe),
And in his hand he bar a mighty b9we.
A not-hed hadde he, with a broun visage.
Of wode-craft wel coude he al the usage.             Io
Upon his arm he bar a gay bracer,
And by his syde a swerd and a bokeler,
And on that other syde a gay daggere
Harneised wel, and sharp as point of spqre;
A Cristofre on his brest of silver shene.            I15
An horn he bar, the bawdrik was of grene;
A forster was he, soothly, as I gesse.
Thor was als9 a Nonne, a PRIORESSE,         Prioresse.
That of hir smyling was ful simple and coy;
Hir gretteste QQth was but by seynt Loy;             120
And she was clgped madame Eglentyne.
Ful wel she song the service divyne,
96. E. weel.  98. HI. Cp. sleep; rest slepte. E.-moore.  99. HI.
Cp. Ln. lowly; E. Hn. Pt. lowely.  10I. E. senlantz.  102. E.
soo.  104. HI. Cp. Pt. Ln. pocok. Cm. bryghte; rest bright.  107.
E. Hise.  o18, I I. E. baar.   113. E. oother.   15. Hn.
Cristofre; E. Cristophere. E. sheene.  122. E. soongB 2
A^-Cc        "h?1 ^^\  '^-  v 




20


THE PRIORESSE.


Entuned in hir nose ful semely;
And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,                 125
For Frensh of Paris was to hir unkng9we.
At mete wel y-taught was she with-alle;
She leet nq morsel from hir lippes falle,
Ne wette hir fingres in hir sauce depe.
Wel coude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe,             130
"*That ng drgpe ne fille up-on hir brest.
In curteisye was set ful muche hir lest.
Hir over lippe wyped she sq clene,
That in hir coppe was nq ferthing sene
Of groce, whan she dronken hadde hir draughte.          135
Ful semely after hir mrte she raughte,
And sikerly she was of greqt desport,
And ful plesaunt, and amiable of port,
And peyned hir to countrefqte chere
Of court, and been estatlich of manere,                 140
And to ben holden digne of reverence.
But, for to spqken of hir conscience,
She was sq charitable and s2 pit6us,
She wolde wepe, if that she sawe a mous
Caught in a trappe, if it wgre dýed or bledde.          4
Of smale houndes had she, that she fedde
With rgsted flesh, or milk and wastel-brýed.
But sgre weep she if 99n of hem wqre dqed,
Or if men smg9t it with a yerde smerte:
123. E. semeely.   131. Cm. brest; E. Hn. brist.  132. Cp.
moche; Cm. meche; E. Hn. muchel. H1. lest; E. Hn. Cm. list.  134.
HI. was; rest ther was.  137. E. Hn. desport; rest disport.  140.
E. to been; Hi. Hn. Omit to.   144. HI. Hn. Cp. Ln. sawe; E.
saugh; Cm. seye.    146. Pt. Ln. had; rest hadde.  148. Ln.
wepped; rest wepte; elsewhere weep. E. any; rest oon, on, one.




THE MONK.


21


And al was conscience and tendre herte.             150
Ful semely hir wimpel pinched was;
Hir n9se tretýs; hir eyen greye as glas;
Hir mouth ful smal, and thqr-to softe and reed;
But sikerly she hadde a fair forheqd;
It was almgst a spanne brq9d, I trowe;              155
For, hardily, she was nat undergrowe.
Ful fetis was hir clgke, as I was war.
Of smal coral aboute hir arm she bar
A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene;
And ther-on heng a brgche of gold ful shene,        16o
On which ther was first write a crowned A,
And after, A mor vincit omnia.
Another NONNE with hir hadde she,            Nonne.
That was hir chapeleyne, and PREESTES three. 3 Preestes.
A MONK ther was, a fair for the maistry6,     Monk.
An out-rydqre, that lovede venerye;                 166
A manly man, to been an abbot able.
Ful many a deyntee hors hadde he in stable:
And, whan, he 'rgd,' men mighte his brydel here
*Ginglen in a whistling wind as clere,              170
And qek as loude as dooth the chapel-belle,
Ther as this lord was keper of the celle.
The reule of seint Maure or of seint Beneit,
By-cause that it was pld and som-del streit,
This ilke monk leet olde thinges pace,              175
And heeld after the newe world the space.
He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen,
That seith, that hunters been nat hgly men;
151. E. semyly. E. wympul; Hn. wympel.  16o0. E. Hn. brooch;
rest broche.  17o. HI. Cp. whistlyng; E. whistlynge. E. Cm. als;
Ln. al-so; H1. so; rest as.  178. Hn. HI. been; E. beth.




22


THE MONK.


Ne that a monk, whan he is cloisterles,
Is lykned til a fish that is waterles;                 I80
This is to seyn, a monk out of his cloistre.
But thilke text held he nat worth an oistre;
And I seyde, his opinioun was good.
What sholde he studie, and make him-selven wood,,'
Upon a book in cloistre alwey to poure,                185
Or swinken with his handes, and lab6ure,
As Austin bit?    How shal the world be served?
Lat Austin have his swink to him reserved.
ThqrfQre he was a pricasour aright;
Grehoundes he hadde, as swifte as fowel in flight;     190
Of priking and of hunting for the hare
Was al his lust, for nQ cost wolde he spare.
I seigh his sieves purfiled at the hond
With grys, and that the fyneste of a lond;
And, for to festne his hood under his chin,            195
He hadde of gold y-wroght a curious pin:
A love-knotte in the gretter ende thor was.
His heed was balled, that shogn as any glas,
And ~ek his face, as he had been anoint.
He was a lord ful fat and in good point;               200
His eyen stpe, and r9llinge in his heed,
That stemed as a forneys of a leed;
His botes souple, his hors in graet estat.
Now certeinly he was a fair prelat;
He was nat pale as a for-pyned gQQst.                  205
179. HI. cloysterles; E. Hn. recchelees; Cp. Pt. Ln. recheles; Cm.
rekeles (Ten Brink recetlees); see note.  182. E. Hn. heeld; Cm.
held.    i88. E. his owene; rest om. owene.  I90. HI. swifte; rest
swift.   193. HI. Hn. purfiled; Cm. purfilid; E. ypurfiled.  196.
HI. a; rest a ful.  199, 218. Ln. had; rest hadde.  I99. E. it;
rest he.  203. E. bootes.  203, 4. E. estaat, prelaat.




THE FRERE.


23


A fat swan loved he best of any rg9st.
His palfrey was as broun as is a berye.
A FRERE ther was, a wantQgwn and a meryý,      Frere.
A limitour, a ful solempne man.
In alle the ordres foure is nQQn that can            210
So muche of daliaunce and fair langage.
He hadde maad ful many a mariage
Of yonge wommen, at his 9wene cost.
Un-to his ordre he was a nQble post.
Ful wel biloved and fanmulier was he                 2 1
With frankeleyns Qver-al in his contree,
And ýýk with worthy wommen of the toun:
For he had power of confessioun,
As seyde him-self, mQre than a curit,
For of his ordre he was licentiat.                   220
Ful swetely herde he confessioun,
And plesaunt was his absolucioun;
He was an qsy man to yqve pendunce
Ther as he wiste to han a good pitaunce;
For unto a pqvre ordre for to yive                   22.
Is signe that a man is wel y-shrive.
For if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt,
He wiste that a man was repentaunt.
For many a man sq hard is of his herte,
He may nat wepe al-thogh him sgre smerte.            230
Therfqre, in stode of weping and preyeres,
Men moot yeve silver to the p(vre freres.
His tipet was ay farsed ful of knyves
And pinnes, for to ygven faire wyves.
208. E. wantowne.   211. Hn. muche; E. muchel.  215. E.
And; rest Ful.  217. HI. Hn. eek; rest omit.  224. 1I11. Cm. han,
E. hane.   229. E. harde.   231. E. wepynge.  232. E. Hn.
moote; see note.  234. E. yonge; rest faire.




24


THE FRERE.


And certeinly he hadde a mery n9te;                    235
Wel coude he singe and pleyen on a r9te.
Of yeddinges he bar utterly the prys.
His nekke whyt was as the flour-de-lys;
Thgr-to he strong was as a champioun.
He knew the tavernes wel in every toun,                240
And ýverich hostilqr and tappestqre
Bet than a lazar or a beggestqre;
For un-to swich a worthy man as he
Acorded nat, as by his facultee,
To have with seke lazars aqueyntaunce.                 245
It is nat honest, it may nat avaunce
"*For to dqlen with nq swich poraille,
But al with riche and sellers of vitaille.
And gver-al, ther as profit sholde aryse,
Curteys he was, and 19wly of servyse;                  250
Thqr nas nq man ng-wher sq vertuous.
He was the beste beggere in his hous;
And yaf a certeyn ferme for the graunt;               252 b
Nq9n of his bretheren cam    ther in his haunt;       252 c
For thogh a widwe hadde noght a sho,
Sg plesaunt was his 'In princzfro,'
Yet wolde he have a ferthing, gr he wente.             255
His purchas was wel bettre than his rente.
And rage he coude, as it were right a whelpe.
In love-dayes ther coude he muchel helpe;            (260)
For thgre he was nat lyk a cloisterer,
With a thredbar c9pe, as is a pgvre scoler,            260
235. H1. mery; E. murye.  237. E. baar. Pt. vttirly; H1. vtturly;
E. H-In. outrely.  240. E. al the; rest euery.  245. E. Hn. Cm.
sike; Pt. Ln. seke; see 1. 18.  246. Cm. honest; E. honeste.  248.
E. selleres.  250. E. lowely.  After 1. 252, Hn. alone inserts 11.
252b and 252C.  259. Hi. Cm. cloysterer; E. Hn. Cloystrer.  260.
So all the MSS. (but with -bare); cf 1. 290.




THE MARCHANT. THE CLER K


25


But he was lyk a maister or a p9pe.
Of double worsted was his semi-c9pe,
That rounded as a belle out of the presse.
Somwhat he lipsed, for his want9wnesse,
To make his English swete up-on his tonge;        265
And in his harping, whan that he had songe,
His eyen twinkled in his hed aright,
As doon the sterres in the frosty night.        (270)
This worthy limitour was cleped Hubgrd.
A MARCHANT was thqr with a forked bqrd,  Marchant.
In mottelee, and hye on horse he sat,             271
Up-on his heed a Flaundrish bever hat;
His botes clasped faire and fetisly.
His rgsons he spak ful solempnely,
Souninge alway thencres of his winning.           275
He wolde the se were kept for any thing
Bitwixe Middelburgh and Qrewelle.
Wel coude he in eschaunge sheeldes selle.        (280)
This worthy man ful wel his wit bisette;
Ther wiste n9 wight that he was in dette,         280
SQ estatly was he of his governaunce,
With his bargaynes, and with his chevisaunce.
For sothe he was a worthy man with-alle,
But sooth to seyn, I n9Qt how men him calle.
A CLERK ther was of Oxenford als9,           Clerk.
That un-to logik hadde longe y-gQ.                286
As lene was his hors as is a rake,
And he nas nat right fat, I undertake;           (290)


262. All worstede (badly).  266. Pt.Ln. had; rest hadde.    271.
Ln. motteley; HI. motteleye; E. Hn. motlee.        272. E. beuere.
273. Cp. Pt. clapsed; HI. clapsud.    274. E. Hise.       281. Cp.
statly.   287. E. And; HI. Al so; rest As.




26


THE MAN OF LA WE.


But loked holwe, and ther-to soberly.
Ful thrqdbar was his overest courtepy;
For he had geten him yet nq benefice,
Ne was sq worldly for to have office.
For him was lever have at his beddes hqd
ý'Twenty bokes, clad in blak or red,
Of Aristotle and his philosophyý,
Than r9bes riche, or fithel, or gay sautry6.
But al be that he was a philos6phre,
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre;
But al that he mighte of his freendes hente,
On bokes and on lerninge he it spente,
And bisily gan for the squles preye
Of hem that yaf him whgr-with to scoleye.
Of studie took he m9st cure and most hede.
Noght 9 word spak he mere than was nede,
And that was seyd in forme and reverence,
And short and quik, and ful of hy sentence.
Souninge in moral vertu was his speche,
And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly tqche.
A SERGEANT OF THE LAWE, war and ýxs,,
That often hadde been at the parvys, s
Thgr was als', ful riche of excellence.
Discreet he was, and of greqt reverence:
He semed swich, his wordes wqren sq wyse.
Iustyce he was ful often in assyse,
By patente, and by pleyn commissioun;
For his science, and for his heigh renoun,
Of fees and robes hadde he many QQn.


290
295
(300)
300
305
(310)
Man of
Lawe. 3io
315


289. E. Hn. sobrely; rest sobuarly. 290. All -bare. H1. ouerest;
E. Hn. Cm. ouereste.      291. Cp. Ln. had; rest hadde.      293. Cp.
Ln. H1. leuer; rest leuere.   300. E. HI. his; rest on.




THE FR A NKELE Y1W


So gret a purchasour was ng-whqr nQQn.
Al was fee simple to him in effect,
His purchasing mighte nat been infect.
NQ-whgr sq bisy a man as he ther nas,
And yet he seined bisier than he was.
In termes hadde he caas and domes alle,
That from the tyme of king William wgre falle.
Thqrto he coude endyte, and make a thing,
Thqr coude nQ wight pinche at his wryting;
And every statut coude he pleyn by rgte.
He rqqd but hgq9mly in a medlee cgte
Girt with a ceint of silk, with barres smale;
Of his array telle I nq lenger tale.
A FRANKELEYN was in his companye;     Fr
Whyt was his berd, as is the dayis-ye.
Of his complexioun he was sangwyn.
Wel loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn.
To liven in delyt was gver his wone,
For he was Epicurus gwene sone,
That heeld opinioun, that pleyn delyt
Was verraily felicitee parfyt.
An houshqld're, and that a gregt, was he;
Seint Julian he was in his contree.
His bred, his ale, was alwey after 99n;
A bettre envyned man was ng-whgr nQqn.
WAith-oute bake mqte was never his hous,
Of fish and flesh, and that sq plentevous,
It snewed in his hous of mqte and drinke,


27
(320)
320
320
(330)


330
inkeleyn.
335
(340)
340
345


324. E. yfalle; rest falle. 326. E. Hn. pynchen; rest pynche, pinche.
332. E. heed; rest berd, berde. E. a; rest the.    335. ever] H1. al.
338. H1. verraily; rest verray, verrey, uery.  340. E. was he; rest he
was.    341. Cm. Ln. alwey; Hi. alway; E. Hn. Cp. alweys.      342.
Hi. Pt. nowher; Cm. nower; rest neuere; cf. 1. 360.




28


THE HABERDASHER.


Of alle deyntees that men coude thinke.
After the sondry sesons of the yegr,
So chaunged he his mete and his soper.
Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe,
And many a breem and many a luce in stewe.
W9 was his cook, but-if his sauce wgre
Poynaunt and sharp, and redy al his gere.
His table dormant in his halle alway
Stood redy covered al the longe day.
At sessiouns thqr was he lord and sire;
Ful ofte tyme he was knight of the shire.
An anlas and a gipser al of silk
Heng at his girdel, whyt as morne milk.
A shirreve hadde he been, and a countour;
Was ng-whgr such a worthy vavasour.
An HABERDASSHER and a CARPENTER, HIabe
A WEBBE, a DYERE, and a TAPICER,       Carp
A   "                  Web
Were with us qek, cl9thed in 9 liveree,  Dyer
Of a solempne and greet fraternitee.  Tapic
Ful fresh and newe hir ggre apyked was;
Hir knyves were y-chaped noght with bras,
But al with silver, wroght ful clene and weel,
Hir girdles and hir pouches ývery-deel.
Wel semed ech of hem a fair burgeys,
To sitten in a yeldhalle on a deys.
*Fverich, for the wisdom that he can,
Was shaply for to been an alderman.
For catel hadde they y-nogh and rente,
And eek hir wyves wolde it wel assente;


(35~)
350
355
(36o)


360
rdassher.
enter.
be.
e.
ser.
365
(370)
370


349, 350. E. Hn. muwe, stuwe.     357. E. Hn. anlaas; HI. Cm.
anlas.   358. E. Hn. Heeng.    359. E. Hn. Cm. ome. a.  363. So
HI.; rest And they were clothed alle.   364. All but HI. and a.
366. HI. I-chapud; Cm. chapid; rest chaped.  370. E. yeldehalle.
~




THE COOK. THE SHIPMAN.


29


And elles, certein, were they to blame.          375
It is ful fair to been y-clept 'ma dame,'
And g9Qn to vigilyes al bifore,
And have a mantel royalliche y-bore..     I   (380>) 
A COOK they hadde with hem for thtn9nes     Cook.
To boile the chiknes with the mary-bQnes,  '     380
And poudre-marchant tart, and galingale.
Wel coude he kn9we a draughte of London ale.
He coude r9ste, and sethe, and broille, and frye,
*Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye.
But gret harm was it, as it thoughte me,         385
That on his shine a mormal hadde he;
For blankmanger, that made he with the beste.  (389)
A SHIPMAN was thgr, woning fer by weste: Shipman.
For aught I wQQt, he was of Dertemouthe. 
He rQgd up-on a rouncy, as he couthe,  "''      \39o
*In a goune of falding to the knee.
A daggere hanging on a laas hadde he
Aboute his nekke under his arm adoun.
The h9te somer had maad his hewe al broun;
And, certeinly, he was a good felawe.            395
Ful many a draughte of wyn had he y-drawe
From Burdeux-ward, whyl that the chapman sleep.
Of n.c. conscience took he nQ keep.       J    (4oo)
If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond,
By water he sente hem hQgm to every lond.        400
But of his craft to rekene wel his tydes,
His stremes and his daungers him bisydes, o,~.     ~1*His herberwe and his mone, his 19demenage, '
Thor nas ngQn swich from Hulle to Cartage.


376. E. Hn. ycleped; HI. clept; rest cleped, clepid.  380. HI. om.
Ist the.  383. E. HI. boille; Cm. boyle; rest broille, broile.  388.
E. wonynge; Hn. wonyng.     396. Cm. I-drawe; rest drawe.




30


THE DOCTOOUR.


Hardy he was, and wys to- undertake;                 405
With many a tempest hadde his bgrd ben shake.
He knew wel alle the havenes, as they wgre,
From Gqqtlond to the cape of Finistgre,            (410)
And gvery cryke in Britayne and in Spayne;
His barge y-clqped was the Maudelayne.               42.
With us thgr was a DOCTOUR OF PHISYK, Doctour.
In al this world ne was thgr nqqn him lyk,
To speke of phisik and of surgeryý;
For he was grounded in astronomye.
He kepte his pacient a ful grýet del                 415
In houres, by his magik nai2,
Wel coude he fortunen the ascendent
Of his images for his paciint.                     (420)
He knew the cause of ýverich maladye,
Wgre it of hq9t or cQld, or moiste, or drye,         420
And whgre engendredi]a-naof what hum6ur; AJ
He was a verrey parfit practisour.
The cause y-kngwe, and of his harm the rote,
AnQn he yaf the seke man his bote.
Ful redy hadde he his apothecaries,                 425
To sende him drogges and his letuaries,
For ých of hem made other for to winne;
Hir frendschipe nas nat newe to biginne.           (430)
Wel knew he the 91lde Esculapius,
And Deiscorides, and ýk Rufus,                       430
Qid Ypocras, Haly, and Galien;
Serapion, Razis, and Avicen;
407. H1i. ins. wel; rest om.  415. H1. wondurly wel; rest a ful
greet deel (del).  416. E. Hn. natureel.  418. E. Hn. hise; Cm.
hese.  421. E. Cm. H1. where they; Hn. where it.  424. Cm. Ln.
seke; rest sike.  425. E. hise.  426. E. Hn. Cm. drogges; Cp.
Pt. Ln. drugges; Hi. dragges.  430. Pt. Rufus; Cm. Rufijs; Hn.
Cp. Ln. H1. Rusus; E. Risus.  431. H1. Pt. Old; rest Olde.




THE WYF OF BATHE.


31


Averrois, Dimascien, and Constantyn;
and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn.           -
Of his diete mesurable was he,                    435
For it was of nq superfluitee,
But of greqt norissing and digek le.           c
His studie was but litel on the Bible.          (440
In sangwin and in pers he clad was al,
Lyned with taffata and with sendil;               440
And yet he was but ýsy of dispence;   vw
He kepte that he wan in pestilence.
For gold in phisik is a cordial,
Therfgre he lovede gold in special.
A good WYF was ther OF bisyde BATHE, Wyf of Bathe.
But she was som-del deef, and that was scathe. ec- 446
Of cl99th-making she hadde swiche an haunt, vIS9.
She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt.           (450)
In al the parisshe wyf ne was thqr nqqn
That to the offring bifore hir sholde gQqn; v    ~ * j o
And if ther dide, certeyn, so wrq9th was she,
That she was out of alle charitee.
Hir coverchiefs ful fyne wgre of ground;
I dorste swgre they weyeden ten pound
That on a Sonday wgre upon hir hgd.               455
Hir hqsen wgren of fyn scarlet red,
Ful streite y-teyd, and shoos ful moiste and newe.
B29ld was hir face, and fair, and rýýd of hewe.  (460)
She was a worthy womman al hir lyve;
Housbondes at chirche-dore she hadde fyve,        460
Withouten other companye in youthe;
But thgrof nedeth nat to speke as nouthe.
And thryes hadde she been at Ierusalem;
452. H1. was thanne out.  453, 455. E. weren.  457. Cp. HI.
schoos; E. Hn. Pt. Ln. shoes.  458. E. Hn. Boold.  463. Ln. had.




32


THE PERSO UN.


She hadde passed many a straunge strýrm;
At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne,             465
In Galice at seint Iame, and at Coloigne..She coude muche of wandring by the weye.
Ga t-tothe  was she, soothly for to seye.          (470)
Up-on an amblere qsily she sat,
Y-wimpled wel, and on hir hqd an hat                 470
As brqqd as is a bokeler or a targe;
A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,
And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe.
In felawschip wel coude she laughe and carpe.
Of remedyes of love she knew per-chaunce,            475
For she coude of that art the 91Qlde daunce.
A good man was ther of religioun,            Persoun.
And was a pgvre PERSOUN of a toun;                 (480)
But riche he was of hgly thoght and werk.
He was alsq a lerned man, a clerk,                   480
That Cristes gospel trewely wolde prqche';
Hjis parisshens devoutly wolde he tqche.
Benigne he was, and wonder diligent,
And in adversitee ful paciCnt;
And swich he was y-preved ofte sythes.               485
Ful 199th wqre him to cursen for his tythes,
But rather wolde he y'ven, out of doute,
Un-to his pgvre parisshens aboute                  (490)
Of his offring, and egk of his substaunce.
He coude in litel thing han suffisaunce.             490.
Wyd was his parisshe, and houses fer a-sonder,
But he ne lafte nat, for reyn ne thonder,
467. Ln. muche; HI. Pt. Cp. moche; E. Hn. muchel.  474. E.
Hn. felaweschip.  476. H1. For of that art sche knew.  485. H-1.
I-proued; E. Cp. Pt. preued.  486. E. hise.  490. H1. Cm. Pt. han;.
E. Hn. Cp. Ln. haue.




THE PERSO UN.


33


In siknes nor in meschief, to visyte
The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and lyte,
Up-on his feet, and in his hand a staf.               495
This nQble ensample to his sheep he yaf,
That first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte;
Out of the gospel he thQ wordes caughte;             (5oo)
And this figure he added eek ther-to,
That if gold ruste, what shal iren do?                500
For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,
No wonder is a lewed man to ruste;
And shame it is, if a preest take keep,
A [dirty] shepherde and a clne sheep.
Wel oghte a preest ensample for to yive,               505
By his clennesse, how that his sheep shold live.
He sette nat his benefice to hyre,
And leet his sheep encombred in the myre,            (5I0)
And ran to London, un-to seynt PQules,
To seken him a chaunterye for sQules,                 510
Or with a bretherheed to been withhglde;
But dwelte at h9Qm, and kepte wel his f9lde,
SQ that the wolf ne made it nat miscarie;
He was a shepherde and nQ mercenarie.
And though he hQly were, and vertuous,                515
He was to sinful man nat despitous,
Ne of his speche daungerous ne digne,
But in his teching discreet and benigne.             (520)
To drawen folk to heven by fairnesse
493. E. siknesse.  497. E. firste. E. ins. that (by mistake) before
he.     503. H1. alone ins. that after if.  505. HI. 3iue; E. yeue.
509. HI. Cp. seynte.   5I0. Cp. Pt. Ln. HI. chaunterie; E. Hn.
chauntrie.  512. E. dwelleth; rest dwelte. E. kepeth; Ln. keped;
rest kepte.   514. HI. no; rest not a.  5I6. HI. to senful man
nought; rest nat to sinful man (or men).
C




34       THE PLOWMAN. THE MILLER.


By good ensample, was his bisinesse:                  520
But it were any person obstinat,
What-s9 he were, of heigh or 19we estat,
Him wolde he snibben sharply for the n9nes.
A bettre preest, I trowe that ngwhgr n9on is.
He wayted after no pompe and reverence,               525
Ne maked him a spyced conscience,
But Cristes 19re, and his apostles twelve,
He taughte, and first he folwed it him-selve.        (530)
With him ther was a PLOWMAN, was his brother, PlowThat hadde y-lad of dong ful many a fother,         man.
A trewe swinker and a good was he,                    531
Livinge in pees and parfit charitee.
God loved he best with al his h9le herte
At alle tymes, thogh him gamed or smerte,
And thanne his neighebour right as him-selve.         535
He wolde thresshe, and ther-to dyke and delve,
For Cristes sake, for every pgvre wight,
Withouten hyre, if it lay in his might.              (540)
His tythes payed he ful faire and wel,
B1the of his propre swink and his catel.              540
In a tabard he ro9d upon a mere.
Ther was also a Reve and a Millere,
A Somnour and a Pardoner alsg,
A Maunciple, and my-self; ther were na-mg.
The MILLER was a stout carl, for the n9nes, Miller.
Ful big he was of braun, and eek of b9nes;            546
520. AZl but H1. this was.  522. Hn. lowe; E. lough.  523. E.
nonys.   525. E. waiteth; rest waited.  527. E. hise.  528. HI.
and; rest but.   534. E. Pt. Ln. he; rest him.  535. Cm. H1.
-bour; E. Hn. -bore.  537. for] Hn. H1. with. 539. Cp. Pt. payed;
Cm. HI. payede; E. Hn. payde.  540. propre] HI. owne.




THE MA UNCIPLE.            3


35


That proved wel, for 9ver-al ther he cam,
At wrastling he wolde have alwey the ram.           (550)
He was short-sholdred, brQgd, a thikke knarre,
Ther was nq d9re that he nolde hqve of harre,         550o
Or brqke it, at a renning, with his hqd.
His berd as any sowe or fox was red,
And thqr-to brqd, as thogh it were a spade.
Up-on the cop right of his nose he hade
A werte, and thqr-on stood a tuft of hqres,           555
Rqd as the bristles of a sowes qres;
His ngse-thirles blake wqre and wyde.
A swerd and bokeler bar he by his syde;             (56o)
His mouth as grqqt was as a grqet forneys.
He was a Jangler and a goliardeys,                    56o
And that was mgst of sinne and harlotry!s.
Wel coude he stqlen corn, and tollen thryes;
And yet he hadde a thombe of gold, pardee.
"A whyt cgte and a blew hood wgred he.
"A baggepype wel coude he bl9we and sowne,            56 -And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne.
A gentil MAUNCIPLE was ther of a temple, Maunciple.
Of which achatours mighte take exemple              (570)
For to be wyse in bying of vitaille.
For whether that he payde, or took by taill&, V&      570
Algate he wayted sq in his achat,
That he was ay biforn and in good stat.
Now is nat that of God a ful fair grace,
550. Cp. H1. nolde; Hn. noolde; E. ne wolde.  553. E. though;
Hn. thogh.   555. E. toft; Lu. tofte; rest tuft. E. herys.  556.
Hn. bristles; E. brustles; Pt. brysteles; H1. Cp. berstles. E. erys.
558. A41 but Cp. and a.  559. H1. as wyde; rest as greet (gret).
565. H1. oni. wel.   570. E. Hn. wheither.  51--. E. Achaat.
572. E. staat.
C2




36


THE REVE.


That swich a lgwed mannes wit shal pace
The wisdom of an hqqp of lerned men?
Of maistres hadde he mg than thryes ten,
That were of lawe expert and curious;
Of which ther were a doseyn in that hous,
Worthy to been stiwardes of rente and lond
Of any lord that is in Engelond,
To make him live by his propre good,
In honour dettelees, but he were wood,
Or live as scarsly as him list desire;
And able for to helpen al a shire
In any cas that mighte falle or happe;
And yit this maunciple sette hir aller cappe. '
The REVE was a sclendre colerik man,
His bqrd was shave as ny as ever he can.
His heer was by his qres round y-shorn.
His top was dokked lyk a preest biforn.
Ful longe were his legges, and ful lne,
Y-lyk a staf, thgr was no calf y-spne.
Wel coude he kepe a gerner and a binne;
Thgr was n99n auditour coude on him winne.
Wel wiste he, by the droghte, and by the reyn,
The yelding of his seed, and of his greyn.
His lordes sheep, his nýet, his dayerye,
His swyn, his hors, his stq9r, and his pultrye,
Was h9lly in this reves governing,
And by his covenaunt yaf the rekening,
Sin that his lord was twenty yeer of age;
Ther coude no man bringe him in arrerige.


575
(58o)
580


Reve.
(590)
590
595


6oo


577. E. weren.     578. E. whiche.   Cm. doseyn; E. duszeyne.
581. E. maken.      582. Cm. but; Cp. Pt. but if that; rest but if.
585. E. Hn. caas.   589. All but HI. Ln. ins. ful after eres.  590.
E. doked.   594. E. of; rest on.




THE SOMiNO UR.


37


Ther nas baillif, ne herde, ne other hyne,
That he ne knew his sleighte and his covyne;
They were adrad of him, as of the deth. 0Ct..,..:     5:.
His woning was ful fair up-on an hgth,
With grene trees shadwed was his place.
He coude bettre than his lord purchace.            (61o)
Ful riche he was ast9red prively,
Hjs lord wel coude he plgsen subtilly,               6io
To-yeve and lne him   of his Qwene good,
And have a thank, and yet a cote and hood.
In youthe he lerned hadde a good mister;
He was a wel good wrighte, a carpenter.
This reve sat up-on a ful good stot,                 615
That was al pomely grey, and highte Scot.
A long surc9te of pers up-on he hade,
And by his syde he bar a rusty blade.              (620)
Of Northfolk was this reve, of which I telle,
Bisyde a toun men clepen Baldeswelle.                620
Tukked he was, as is a frere, aboute,
And qver he rQ9d the hindreste of our route.
A SOMNOUR was thor with us in that place, Somnour.
That hadde a fyr-reqd cherubinnes face,
For sawceflem he was, with eyen narwe.               625
[And quik] he was, and [chirped] as a sparwe;
With scalled browes blake, and piled berd;
Of his visage children wqre aferd.                  (630)
Ther nas quik-silver, litarge, ne brimst9Qn,
603. ne (2)] E. Hn. Cp. Pt. nor.  604. HI. they (forhe). E. Cm.
om. ne.    606. H1. fair; E. faire.  607. E. Hn. shadwed; H-1.
I-schadewed; Cm. I-schadewid; Cp. Pt. shadewed; Ln. schadowed.
612. E. oz. and. E. gowne; rest cote.  613. So Hn. HI.; E. and
rest hadde lerned. Cp. HI. mester.  6r8. E. baar.  623. Cm. Pt.
Somnour; H1. sompnour; E. Hn. Somonour.  627. E. Hn. Cm.
scaled.  629. Cp. Pt. HI. bremston.




38


THE SOMNO UR.


Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre n99n,          630
Ne oynement that wolde clense and byte,
That him mighte helpen of his whelkes whyte,
Nor of the knobbes sittingý on his chekes.
Wel loved he garl9qk, oynons, and eqk lkes,
And for to drinken strong wyn, red as blood.     635
Thann wolde he speke, and crye as he were wood.
And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
Than wolde he spgke no word but Latyn.         (640)
A fewe termes hadde he, two or three,
That he had lerned out of somn decree;           640
No wonder is, he herde it al the day;
And qk ye kngwen wel, how that a Jay
Can clqpen 'Watte,' as wel as can the pgpe.
But who-sq coude in other thing him grgpe,
Thanne hadde he spent al his philosophyý;        645
Ay 'Questio quid iuris' wolde he crye.
He was a gentil harlot and a kinde;
A bettre felawe sholde men noght finde         (650)
He wolde suffre, for a quart of wyn,
"A good felawe to [liven as a swyn] P            650
"A twelf-month, and excuse him atte fulle:
Ful prively a finch qqk coude he pulle.
And if he fond 9-whqr a good felidwe,
He wolde tgchen him to have ngn awe,
In swich cas, of the erchedgknes curs,          655
But-if a mannes sgule wgre in his purs;
For in his purs he sholde y-punisshed be.
'Purs is the erchedqknes helle,' seyde he.     (660)
But wel I wgQt, he lyMd right in dede;


632. E. the; rest his.      652. E. Ln. H1. And; rest Ful.
Cm. Ln. cas; rest caas. Cm. Cp. erche-; E. erce-; H1. arche-.


655.




THE PARDONER.


39


Of cursing oghte qch gilty man him drede-           66c
For curs wol slee, right as assoilling savethAnd also war him of a significavit.
In daunger hadde he at his 9wene gyse
The yonge girles of the diocyse,
And knew hir counseil, and was al hir red.          665
A gerland hadde he set up-on his hed,
As gret as it were for an ale-stake; 
A bokeler hadde he maad him of a cake.            (670)
With him ther rQQd a gentil PARDONER       Pardoner. 
Of Rouncival, his freend and his compeer,           670
That streight was comen frQ the court of Rome.             K
Ful loude he song, 'Com hider, love, to me.'
This somnour bar to him a stif burdoun,
Was never trompe of half sQ gret a soun.
This pardoner hadde hqer as yelow as wex,           675
But smothe it heng, as dooth a stryke of flex;
By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde,
And ther-with he his shuldres Qverspradde;         (680)
But thinne it lay, by colpons Qon and 9Qn;
But hood, for Iolitee, ne wgred he noqn,            680
For it was trussed up in his walet.
Him thoughte, he rQ9d al of the newe Iet;
Dischevelee, save his cappe, he roQd al bare.
Swiche glaringe eyen hadde he as an hare.
A vernicle hadde he sowed on his cappe.             685
His walet lay biforn him in his lappe,
660. Cp. Ln. him; HI. Pt. to; rest om.  66I. HI. Pt. saueth;
E. sauith.   668. E. bokeleer.  669. E. was; rest rood, rode.
670. E. Cm. Pt. Rounciuale.  672. E. soong.  676. E. heeng.
677, 678. E. hise.  680. But] Cm. HI. And.  HI. ne; rest omit.
683. E. Discheuelee.  685. H1. Cp. on; rest vp on.  686. Hi.
lay; which the rest omit.




40


THE PARDONER.


Bret-ful of pardon come from Rome al hq9t.
A voys he hadde as smal as hath a gq9t.             (690)
No bgrd hadde he, ne never sholde have,
As smothe it was as it wgre late y-shave;            690
I trowe [his cheke and ýýk his chin were bare.]
But of his craft, frq Berwik into Ware,
Ne was thqr swich another pardoner.
For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer,
Which that, he seyde, was our lady veyl:             695
He seyde, he hadde a gobet of the seyl
That seynt Peter hadde, whan that he wente
Up-on the seq, til Iesu Crist him hente.            (700)
He hadde a croys of latoun, ful of stgnes
And in a glas he hadde pigges bgnes.                 700
But with thise relikes, whan that he fond
A pqvre person dwelling up-on lond,
Up-on a day he gat him mere moneye
Than that the person gat in monthes tweye.
And thus, with feyned flaterye and Japes,            705
He made the person and the peple his apes.
But trewely to tellen, atte laste,
He was in chirche a ngble ecclesiaste.              (710)
Wel coude he rgde a lessoun or a storie,
But alderbest he song an offert6rie;     'j,         710
For wel he wiste, whan that song was songe,
He moste prqche, and wel affyle his tonge,
To winne silver, as he ful wel coude;
Thgrefqre he song sq merily and loude.
Now have I tgld you shortly, in a clause,          715
687. H1. Cm. come; rest comen.   688. H1. eny (for hath a).
690. Hn. yshaue; E. shaue.  695. All oure.  713. HI. right (for
ful).  714. Pt. Cp. Ln. so merily; E. Hn. Cm. the murierly.  715.I
E. HI. shortly; rest soothly.




AN APOLOGY.                      41 -
Thestat, tharray, the nombre, and ýýk the cause
Why that assembled was this companye
In Southwerk, at this gentil hostelrye,             (720)
That highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle.
But now is tyme to yow for to telle                   720
How that we baren us that ilke night,
Whan we were in that hostelrye alight.
And after wol I telle of our viage,
And al the remenaunt of our pilgrimage.
But first I pray yow, of your curteisye,              725
That ye narette it nat my vileinye,
Thogh that I pleynly spqke in this mature,
To telle yow hir wordes and hir chere;              (730)
Ne thogh I spgke hir wordes proprely.
For this ye kn9wen al-sq wel as I,                    7'0
Who-sQ shal telle a tale after a man,
He moot reherce, as ny as ýver he can,
Fverich a word, if it be in his charge,
Al spgke he never so rudeliche and large;
Or elles he moot telle his tale untrewe,              735
Or feyne thing, or finde wordes newe.
He may nat spare, al-thogh he wgre his brother;
He moot as wel seye 2 word as another.              (740)
Crist spak him-self ful brgde in holy writ,
And wel ye wQgt, no vileinye is it.                   740
Vqk Plato seith, who-sq that can him rqde,
The wordes mote be cosin to the dede.
Also I prey yow to forylve it me,
Al have I nat set folk in hir degree
716. H1. Thestat; Hn. Thestaat; E. The staat; Cm. Cp. The estat.
718. E. as; rest at.  724. E. oure (but our inlz. 723).  725. E.
youre; H1. 5our.    726. E. Hn. Cm. narette; Cp. Pt. H1. ne rette.
734. E. or; H1. ne; rest and.  741. All but HI. om. that.




42


THE HOOST.


Here in this tale, as that they sholde stonde;       745
My wit is short, ye may wel understonde.
Grýýt chere made our hoste us ýverichqn,
And to the soper sette he us angn;                 (750o)
And served us with vitaille at the beste.
Strong was the wyn, and wel to drinke us leste.      750
A semely man our hoste was with-alle
For to han been a marshal in an halle;
"A large man he was with eyen stqpe,
"A fairer burgeys is ther nQQn in Chepe:
Bqqld of his spqche, and wys, and wel y-taught,      755
And of manhood him lakkede right naught.
IRk thqrto he was right a mery man,
And after soper pleyen he bigan,                   (760)
And spak of mirthe amonges othere thinges,
Whan that we hadde maad our rekeninges               760
And seyde thus: ' Now, lordinges, trewely,
Ye been to me right welcome hertely:
For by my trouthe, if that I shal nat lye,
I ne saugh this yqer so mery a companyie -
At gnes in this herberwe as is now.                  765
Fayn wolde I doon yow mirthe, wiste I how.
And of a mirthe I am right now bithoght,
To doon yow qse, and it shal coste noght.          (770)
Ye gqqn to Caunterbury; God yow spede,
The blisful martir quyte yow your mede.              770
And wel I wq9t, as ye gQQn by the weye,
Ye shapen yow to talen and to pleye;
For trewely, conf6rt ne mirthe is ngqqn
To ryde by the weye doumb as a stQ9n;
747. E. chiere. E. hoost (see 1. 751).  752. H1. han; rest om.
754. is] E. Hn. was. 755. E. Hn. Boold. 756. Cm. Cp. lakkede; E.
lakked. 761. now] H1. 0lo. 764. Hi. ne saugh; rest saugh nat (seigh
not, &c.). H1. Cm. mery; E. myrie.  774. a] E. the; Hn. om.




THE HOST.


43


And thqrf9re wol I maken yow disport,               775
As I seyde erst, and doon yow som confort.
And if yow lyketh alle, by 99n assent,
Now for to stonden at my Iugement,                (780)
And for to werken as I shal yow seye,
To-morwe, whan ye ryden by the weye,                780 -
Now, by my fader soule, that is deed,
But ye be merye, I wol yeve yow myn hed.
HQld up your hond, withouten mgre spgche.'
Our counseil was nat longe for to seche;
Us thoughte it was noght worth to make it wys,     785
And graunted him withouten mgre avys,
And bad him seye his verdit, as him leste.
'Lordinges,' quod he, 'now herkneth for the beste; (790)
But take it not, I prey yow, in desdeyn;
This is the point, to speken short and pleyn,       790
That qch of yow, to shorte with your weye, (.   ' 
In this viage, shal telle tales tweye,
To Caunterbury-ward, I mnne it sQ,
And horn-ward he shal tellen othere twQ,
Of aventures that whylom han bifalle;               795
And which of yow that bgreth him best of alle,
That is to seyn, that telleth in this cas
Tales of best sentence and m9st solas,            (800)
Shal have a soper at our aller cost
Here in this place, sitting by this post,          8oo
Whan that we come agayn frQ Caunterbury.
And for to make yow the more mery,
778. All but HI. om. Now.  782. E. But if; rest But. E. myrie.
H1. merye smyteth of.  785. H1. nas.  787. Cp. verdit; Pt. veredit;
HI. Ln. verdite; Cm. verdoit; E. Hn. voirdit.  789. E. taak; Ln. tak;
Cp. Pt. take; HI. Hn. taketh.  79I. Cp. HI. your; rest our; cf. 1. 803.
795. Hi. ther (for whylom).  797, 798. E. caas, solaas.  802. E. Hn.
Cp. mury.
WmwW (^ - ttA"^1^ ff1^^^ t
^Jw. (^-^




44


THE HOST.


I wol my-selven gladly with yow ryde,
Right at myn 9wene cost, and be your gyde.
And who-sQ wol my Iugement withseye                 805
Shal paye al that we spenden by the weye.
And if ye vouche-sauf that it be so,
Tel me angn, with-outen wordes mg,                (810)
And I wol ýrly shape me thgrfQre'
This thing was graunted, and our Qthes swore.
With ful glad herte, and preyden him alsq
That he wold vouche-sauf for to do sq,
And that he wolde been our governour,
And of our tales Iuge and reportour,
And sette a soper at a certeyn prys;                815
And we wold reuled been at his devys,
In heigh and l9we; and thus, by 99n assent,
We been acorded to his lugement.                  (820)
And ther-up-on the wyn was fet angn;
We dronken, and to reste wente echgn,               820
With-outen any lenger taryinge.
A-morwe, whan that day bigan to springe,
Up rqqs our hoste, and was our aller cok,                J
And gadrede us togidre, alle in a flok,
And forth we riden, a litel more than pas,-         825
Un-to the watering of seint Thomas.
And thgre our host bigan his hors areste,
And seyde; 'Lordinges, herkneth, if yow leste.    (830)
Ye wgvQt your forward, and I it yow recorde.
If even-song and morwe-song acorde,                 830
o803. H1. my seluen gladly; E. my self goodly.  So.. E. wole (bzit
wol in 1. 809og).  812. E. would.  816. H1. wolde; Pt. wold;
rest wol, wolen, wiln, wvil.  817. H1. lowe; E. lough.  822. E.
Hn. that; H1. that the; rest the. E. gan for; Hn. Cp. HI. bigan.
823. E. Hn. aller; IH1. althur; Cp. alther; Pt. Ln. aider.  825. E.
paas.  829. E. foreward (badly). E. Hn.oyi. I.




THE KNIGHT.


45


Lat see now who shal telle the firste tale.
As qver mote I drinke wyn or ale,
Who-s9 be rebel to my Iugement
Shal paye for al that by the weye is spent.
Now drawh cut, er that we ferrer twinne; L           835
He which that hath the shortest shal biginne.
Sire knight,' quod he, 'my maister and my lord,
Now draweth cut, for that is myn acord.            (840)
Cometh ner,' quod he, ' my lady prioresse;
And ye, sir clrkat be your shamfastnesse,             4o
Ne studietfh noght; ley hond to, every man.'
Angn to drawen every wight bigan,
And shortly for to tellen, as it was,
W`re it by aventtire, or sort, or cas,
The sothe is this, the cut fil to the knight,        845
Of which ful blythe and glad was every wight;
And telle he moste his tale, as was resoun,
By forward and by composicioun,                     (850)
As ye han herd; what nedeth wordes mg9?
And whan this gode man saugh it was sg,              850
As he that wys was and obedient
To kepe his forward,by his free assent,
He seyde: 'Sin I shal biginne the game,
What, welcome be the cut, w Goddes name!
Now lat us ryde, and herkneth what I seye.'          855
And with that word we riden forth our weyei
And he bigan with right a mery chere.
His tale anon, and seyde in this manere.           (86o)'
Here endeth the prolog of this book.
831. HI. ferst a tale. 835. Cm. Cp. Pt. Ln. ferther; HI. forther. 836.
E. Hn.shorteste. 840. E. shamefastnesse. 848, 852. E.foreward (badly).
85o. All insert that after saugh (needlessly).  854. HI. thou (for the).
857. Cm. mery; E. myrie.  858. So E. HI.; rest as ye may here.




NOTES.
N.B. The spellings between marks of parenthesis indicate the
pronunciation, according to the scheme in the Introduction, p. 12.
I. In the Man of Law's Prologue, 11. 1-6, there is definite mention of
the 18th day of April. The reference is, in that passage, to the second
day of the pilgrimage. Consequently, the allusion in 11. 19-23 below
is to April 16, and in 1. 822 to April 17. The year may be supposed
to be about 1386.
"When that April, with his sweet showers.'      Aprille is here
masculine, like Lat. Aprilis; cf. 1. 5.
shoures (shuu'rez), showers; pl. of shour, A. S. sczir (skuur). The
etymology of all words of this character, which are still in use, can be
found by looking out the modem form of the word in my Concise
English Dictionary. I need not repeat such information here.
sote, sweet, is another form of swete, which occurs just below in 1. 5.
The e is not, in this case, the mark of the plural, as the forms sote,
swete are dissyllabic, and take a final e in the singular also. Sole is
a less correct form of swote; and the variation between the long o in
suoite and the long e in swete is due to confusion between the adverbial
and adjectival uses. Swote corresponds to A.S. swzt, adv., sweetly, and
swete to A.S. smite, adj., sweet. The latter exhibits mutation of 3 to c;
cf. mod. E. geose, pl. geese (A.S. gls, pl. gls).
2. droght-e, dryness; A.S. dr;,gathe; essentially dissyllabic, but the
final e is elided. Pron. (druuht'). perced, pierced. rot-e, dat. of root,
a root; Icel. r-t; written for roote. The double o is not required to
shew vowel-length, when a single consonant and an e follow.
4. vertzt, efficacy, productive agency, vital energy. 'And bathed every
vein (of the tree or herb) in such moisture, by means of which quickening power the flower is generated.' Pron. (vertii).
5. Zephzirus, the zephyr, or west wind. Cf. Chaucer's Book of the
Duchess, 1. 402:SFor bothe Flora and Zephirus,
They two that make floures growe';
a passage which is imitated from Le Roman de la Rose, 1. 8449.
6. holt, wood, grove; A. S. holt; cf. G. Holz.




THE PROLOGUE.


47


7. croppes, shoots, extremities of branches, especially towards the top
of a tree; hence simply tree-tops, tops of plants, &c. Hence to crop is
to cut the tops off.'
yonge sonne; see the next note. The -e in yong-e denotes the
definite form of the article. Sonn-e, A. S. sunna, is essentially dissyllabic. Pron. (yungga sunno).
8. the Ram. The difficulty here really resides in the expression ' his
halfe cours,' which means what it says, viz. 'his half-course,' and not,
as Tyrwhitt unfortunately supposed, 'half his course.' The results of
the two explanations are quite different. Taking Chaucer's own expression as it stands, he tells us that, a little past the middle of April,
'the young sun has run his half-course in the Ram.' Turning to Fig. I
in The Astrolabe (ed. Skeat), we see that, against the month 'Aprilis,'
there appears in the circle of zodiacal signs, the latter half (roughly
speaking) of Aries, and the former half of Taurus. Thus the sun in
April runs a half-course in the Ram and a half-course in the Bull.
'The former of these was completed,' says the poet; which is as much
as to say, that it was past the eleventh of April. See note to 1. i.
March.          April.          May.
Aries.         Taurus.         Gemini.
The sun had, in fact, only just completed his course through the first of
the twelve signs, as the said course was supposed to begin at the vernal
equinox.  This is why it is called 'the yonge sonne,' an expression
which Chaucer repeats under similar circumstances in the Squyeres Tale,
1. 385. In Chaucer's time, the sun entered Aries on March 12, and left
that sign on April 1.   Y-ronne, for A. S. gerunnen, pp. of rinnan,
to run (M. E. rinneni, rinne). The M. E. y-, A. S. ge-, is a mere prefix, mostly used with past participles.
9. Pron. (and smaa'la fuu'lez maa-ken melodii-a); 'and little birds
make melody.' Cf.fowel (fuul), a bird, in 1. I90.
o1. open ye, open eye.  Cf. the modern expression 'with one eye
open.'
II. ' So nature excites them, in their feelings (instincts).' hir, their;
A. S. hira, lit. ' of them,' gen. pl. of he, he. corage; mod. E. courage;
see 1. 22.
I2, 13. According to ordinary English construction, the verb longen
must be supplied after palmers. In fact, 1. i3 is parenthetical. Note
that Than, in 1. 12, answers to Whan in 1. I.
I3. 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




48


THE PROLOGUE.


difference between the two classes of persons here mentioned, the palmer
and the pilgrim, was, that the latter had 'some 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 might go at
his own charge, the palmer must profess wilful poverty; the pilgrim
might give over his profession, the palmer must be constant;' Blount's
Glossographia. See note to P. Plowman, v. 523 (Clar. Press, smaller
edition).
The fact is, that palmers did not always reach the Holy Land. They
commonly went to Rome first, where not unfrequently the Pope'allowed them to wear the palm as if they had visited Palestine'; Rock,
Church of our Fathers, vol. iii. pt. I. p. 439 -to seken, to seek; the A. S. gerund, tj sFcanne; expressive of
purpose, strondes, strands, shores.
14. ferne halwes, distant saints, i. e. shrines. Here ferne =ferrene =
distant, foreign. ' Toferne peoples;' Chaucer's Boethius, bk. ii. met 7.
See Miitzner's M. E. Dict. Ferne also means 'ancient,' but not here.
halwes, saints; cf. Scotch Hallow-e'en, the eve of All Hallows, or
All Saints; here applied to their shrines.
Chaucer has: 'to go seken halwes,' to go (on a pilgrimage) to seek
saints' shrines; C. T. 6239. couthe (kuudh'), well known; A. S. cZa6,
known, pp. of cunnan, to know. sondry (sun'dri), various.
16. wende, go; pret. wente, Eng. went. The use of the present
tense in modern English is usually restricted to the phrase ' he wends
his way.'
17. The holy blisful martir, Thomas a Becket. On pilgrimages, see
Saunders, Chaucer, p. o1; and Erasmus, Peregrinatio religionis ergo.
There were numerous places in England sought by pilgrims, as Durham,
St. Alban's, Bury, &c.; but the chief were Canterbury and Walsingham.
18. holpen, pp. of helpen. The older preterites of this verb are heolp,
help, halp. seke, sick, rimes to seke, seek; this apparent repetition is
only allowed when the repeated word is used in two different senses.
seke, pl. of seek, A. S. seoc, sick, ill. For hem, see n. to 1. I75.
19. Bifel, it befell. seson (saesun). on a day, one day.
20. Tabard. Of this word Speght gives the following account in his
Glossary to Chaucer:-' Tabard-a jaquet or sleveless 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 MasterJ. Preston, with the Abbot's house thereto adgoyned, newly




THE PROLOGUE.


49


repaired, and with convenient rooms much encreased, for the receipt of
many guests.' The inn is well described in Saunders (on Chaucer),
p. I3.
lay; used like the modern 'lodged,' or 'was stopping.
23. come (kum'), short for comen, pp. of comen. hostelrye, 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.
24. wel is here used like our word fzll or quite.
25. by aventure y-falle, by adventure (chance) fallen (into company).
Pron. (av'entiir').
26. felawshipe, company; from M. E.felawe, companion, fellow.
27. wolden ryde, wished to ride. The latter verb is in the infinitive
mood, as usual after will, would, shall, may, &c.
29. esed atte beste, accommodated or entertained in the best manner.
Easement is still used as a law term, signifying accommodation. Cf. F.
bien aise. Pron. (aezed).
atte, i.e. at the, was shortened from atten, masc. and neut., from
A. S. ct thdm. We also find atter, fer., from A. S. et thare.
30. to reste, i. e. gone to rest, set.
31. everichon, for ever-ich oon, every one, lit. ever each one.
32. ofhirfelawshipe, (one) of their company.
33. forward, agreement. ' Fals was here foreward so forst is in May,'
i. e. their agreement was as false as a frost in May; Ritson's Ancient
Songs, i. 30. A. S. fore-weard, lit. ' fore ward,' a precaution, agreement.
34. ther as Iyow devyse, to that place that I tell you of (sc. Canterbury); ther in M. E. frequently signifies 'where,' and ther as signifies
' where that.' devyse, speak of, describe; lit. ' devise.'
35. natheles, nevertheless; lit. 'no the less;' cf. A. S. zn, no.
whyl, whilst. The form in -es (whiles, the reading of some MSS.)
is a comparatively modem adverbial form, and may be compared with
M. E. hennes, thennes, hence, thence; ones, twyes, thryes, once, twice,
thrice; of which older forms are found in -enne and -e respectively.
37. 'It seemeth to me it is reasonable.'
21fe thinketh= me thinks, where me is the dative before the
impersonal vb. thinken, to appear, seem; cp. me liketh, me list, it
pleases me. So the phrase ifyou please = if it please you, you being the
dative and not the nominative case. sened me= it seemed to me,
occurs in 1. 39. The personal verb is properly thenken, as in the
Clerkes Tale, 116, 641; or thenchen, as in C. T. Group A. 3253.
acordaunt, accordant, suitable, agreeable (to). resoun, reason.
40. whiche, what sort of men; Lat. qualis.
41. inne. In M.E., in is the preposition, and inne the adverb.
43. Knight. It was a common thing in this age for knights to seek
D




50                       iH    KN.VIGHT.
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. See note to 1. 5I.
worthy, worthy, is here used in its literal signification of distinguished, honourable. See 11. 47, 50. Pron. (wur'dhi).
For notes on the dresses, &c., of the pilgrims, see Todd's Illustrations of Chaucer, p. 227; Fairholt's Costume in England, 1885, i. 129;
and Saunders, on the Canterbury Tales, where some of the MS. drawings
are reproduced. Also Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, sect. I7.
45. chivalrye, knighthood; also the manners, exercises, and exploits
of a knight. Pron. (chiv-alrii-a).
-. 47. in his lordes werre, i. e. in the king's service. 'The knight, by
his tenure, was obliged to serve the king on horseback in his wars, and
maintain a soldier at his own proper charge,' &c.; Strutt, Manners and
Customs, iii. 15. werre, war.
48. therto, moreover, besides that. ferre, the comp. offer, far. Cf.
M.E. derre, dearer, sarre, sorer, &c.
49. hethenesse, heathen lands, as distinguished from  Cristendom,
Christian countries.
50. Pron. (and ae'vr onuu'red for iz wur-dhines'sa).
51. Alisaundre, in Egypt, 'was won, 'and immediately after abandoned in I365, by Pierre de Lusignan, King of Cyprus;' Tyrwhitt.
Froissart (Chron. bk. iii. c. 22) gives the epitaph of Pierre de Lusignan,
king of Cyprus, who 'conquered in battle.. the cities of Alexandria in
Egypt, Tripoli in Syria, Layas in Armenia, Satalia in Turkey, with
several other cities and towns, from the enemies of the faith of Jesus
Christ;' tr. by Johnes, vol. ii. p. I38. wonize (wunna), won.
52. he hadde the bord bigonne. Here bord= board, table, so that the
phrase signifies 'he had been placed at the head of the dais, or table of
state.' Warton, in his Hist. of Eng. Poetry, ed. I840, ii. 209 (ed. I87I,
ii. 373), aptly cites a passage from Gower which is quite explicit as to
the sense of the phrase.. See Gower, Conf. Amantis, bk. viii. ed. Pauli,
iii. 299. We there read that a knight was honoured by a king by being
set. at the head of the middle table in the hall.
'And he, which had his pkise deserved,
After the kinges owne word,
Was maad beginne a middel bord.' 
The context shews that this was at supper-time, and that the knight was
placed in this honourable position by the marshal of the hall.
Another explanation is sometimes given, but it is wholly wrong.
53, 54. Prcuce. 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 constanft warfare




THE KNIGHT.


51


with their heathen neighbours in Lettow (Lithuania), Ruce (Russia), and
elsewhere.'-Tyrwhitt. Pron. (prii'sa).
reysed, made a military expedition. The O.F. reise, sb., a military
expedition, was in common use on the continent at that time. Numerous
examples of its use are given in Godefroy's O.F. Dict. It was borrowed
from 0. H. G. reisa (G. Reise), an expedition. Pron. (reized).
Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed. 1840, ii. 210, remarks-' Thomas
duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Ed. III, and Henry earl of Derby,
afterwards Henry IV, travelled into Prussia; and, in conjunction with
the grand Masters and Knights of Prussia and Livonia, fought the
infidels of Lithuania. Lord Derby was greatly instrumental in taking
Vilna, the capital of that country, in the year I390. Here is a seeming
compliment to some of these expeditions.' Cf. Walsingham, Hist."
ed. Riley, ii. 197.
56-58. Gernade, Granada. 'The city of Algezir was taken from the
Moorish King of Granada in 1344.'-T. It is the modem Algeciras on
the S. coast of Spain, near Cape Trafalgar.
Belmarye and Tramissene (Tramessen), 1. 62, were Moorish
kingdoms in Africa, as appears from a passage in Froissart (bk. iv.
c. 24) cited by Tyrwhitt. Johnes' translation has-' Tunis, Bugia,
Morocco, Benmarin, Treme9en.' Cf. Kn. Tale, 1. 1772. Benmarin is
called Balme;yne in Barbour's Bruce, xx. 393, and Belmore in the Sowdone of Babylon, 3122.
Lyeys, in Armenia, was taken from the Turks by Pierre de Lusignan
about 1367. It is the Layas mentioned by Froissart (see note to 1. 51),
and the modern Ayas; see Marco Polo, ed. Yule, i. 15.
Satalye (Attalia, now Adalia, on the S. coast of Asia Minor) was
taken by the same prince soon after i352.-T. See Acts xiv. 25.
Palatye (Palathia, see 1. 65), in Anatolia, was one of the lordships
held by Christian knights after the Turkish conquests.-T. Cf. Froissart, bk. iii. c. 23.
59. the Grete See. The Great Sea denotes the Mediterranean, as
distinguished from the two so-called inland seas, the Sea of Tiberias and
the Dead Sea. So in Numb. xxxiv. 6, 7; Josh. i. 4.
60. aryve, arrival or disembarkation of troops, as in the Harleian and
Cambridge MSS. Many MSS. have armee, army, which gives no good
sense, and probably arose from misreading the spelling arine as arme.
be = ben, been. Cf. ydo =ydon, done, &c.
62. foghten (f2uhten), pp. fought; from the strong verbfighten.
63. ' He had fought thrice in the lists in defence of our faith;' i. e.
when challenged by an infidel to do so. Such combats were not
uncommon. slayn, slain. hadde must be supplied from 1. 61.
64. ilke, same; A. S. ylca.
65. Somtyme, once on a time; not our ' sometimes.' See 1. 85.
S02




THE SQUYER.


66. another hethen, a heathen army different from that which he had
encountered at Tramessen.
67. sovereyn prys (suv-rein priis), exceeding great renown.
70. vileinye, any utterance unbecoming a gentleman.
71. no maner wight, no kind of person whatever. In M.E. the word
maner is used without of, in phrases of this character.
72. verray, very, true. parfit, perfect; F. parfait.
74. ' His horses were good, but he himself was not gaudily dressed.'
Hors is plural as well as singular. In fact, the knight had three horses;
one for himself, one for his son, and one for the yeoman. Perhaps we
should read-' but he ne was not gay,' supplying ne from HI. and Hn.
This makes he emphatic; and we must then treat the e in god-e as a
light extra syllable, at the caesural pause; for doing which there is
ample authority.
75. gipoun (a diminutive of gipe), a tight-fitting vest, a doublet.
Pron. (jipuu'n). The 0. F. gipe (whence F. jzpe) meant a kind of
frock or jacket. wered is the A.S. werede, pt. t. of the weak verb
werian, to wear. It is now strong; pt. t. wore. See 1. 564.
76. This verse is marked with an asterisk as being defective in the
first foot, which consists solely of the word Al. There are other such
further on. See Introd. p. 2.  His doublet of fustian was all soiled
with marks made by the habergeon which he had so lately worn over
it.' Pron. (al' bismut'erd widh'iz haberjuu'n). Bismotered has the same
sense as mod. E. besmuztted.
habergeoun, though etymologically an augmentative, is practically
a diminutive of hauberk, but often used as synonymous with it.
77, 78. 'For he had just returned from his journey, and went to
perform his pilgrimage' (which he had vowed for a safe return) in his
knightly array, only without his habergeon. viage, voyage.
79. sBuyer = esquire, one who attended on a knight, and bore his
lance and shield. See Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, Introd. ~ 8.
80. lovyere, lover. The y in this word is not euphonic as in some
modern words; lovyere is formed from the verb lovie, A.S. lufian, to
love: (luvyer).
bacheler, a young aspirant to knighthood. There were bachelors
in arms as well as in arts.
8I. lokkes, locks (of hair). crulle (krull'), curly, curled; cf. Mid.
Du. krul, a curl. In mod. E., the r has shifted its place. as they, &c.,
as if they had been laid in an instrument for curling them by pressure.
Curling-tongs seem to be meant.
For presse, cf. 1. 263.
82. ycer. In the older stages of the language, year, goat, swine, &c.,
being neuter nouns, underwent no change in the nom. case of the plural
number.




THE YE MA N7


53


I gesse, I should think. In M.E., gesse signifies to judge, believe,
suppose, imagine. See Kn. Tale, 1. 192.
83. ofevene lengthe, of ordinary or moderate height.
84. deliver, active. Cotgrave gives:' delivre de sa personne, an
active, nimble wight.'
85. chivachye. Fr. chevauce'e. It most properly means an expedition with a small party of cavaly; but is often used generally for any
military expedition. We should call it a 'raid.'
87. born him wel, conducted himself well (behaved'bravely), considering the short time he had served.
88. lady grace, lady's grace. Here lady represents the A.S. hlefdigan,
gen. case of hklcefige, lady; there is therefore no final s. See 1. 695.
Cf. the modern phrase 'Lady-day,' as compared with 'Lord's day.'
89. 'That was with floures swote embrouded al;' Prol. to Legend of
Good Women, 1. II9.     Embrouded (embruuded or embrgu'ded),
embroidered; from  O.F. brouder, variant of broder, to embroider;
confused with A. S. brogden, pp. of bregdan, to braid. mede, mead,
meadow.
91. floytinge, playing the flute.
96. ' Joust (in a tournament) and dance, and draw well and write.'
97. hote, adv. hotly; from hoot, adj. hot. nightertale, night-time,
time (or reckoning) of night. So also wit nighter-tale, lit. with
night-time, Cursor Mundi, 1. 2783; on nightertale, id. 2991. Cf. Icel.
ndttar-tal, a tale, or number, of nights; and the phrase d ndttar-Ieli,
at dead of night.
98. sleep, also written slep, slepte. Cf. weep, wetle; lep, lepte, &c.;
such verbs, once strong, became weak.   See 1. 148; and Kn. Ta.
1829.
100. caif, the past tense of kerven, to carve (pp. corven). The allusion is to what was then a common custom. biforn, before; A. S.
biforan.
o11. Yeman, yeoman. 'As a title of service, it denoted a servant of
the next degree above a garson or groom.... The title of yeoman was
given in a secondary sense to people of middling rank not in service.
The appropriation of the word to signify a small landholder is more
modern.'-Tyrwhitt. The 'he' in this line is the Squire, not the Knight.
In ed. 1561, this paragraph is headed-' The Squieres yoman.'
na-mo, no more (in number). In M. E., mo relates to number, but
more to size; usually, but not always; see 1. 8o8.
102. him liste, it pleased him. liste is the past tense; list, it pleaseth,
is the present. See note on 1. 37.
103. Archers were usually clad in Lincoln green.'
104. a sheefofpecok-arzwes, a sheaf of arrows with peacocks' feathers.
Ascham, in his Toxophilus, ed. Arber, p. 129, does not say much in




54


THE YEMA N.


favour of 'pecock fethers'; for ' there is no fether but onely of a goose
that hath all commodities in it. And trewelye at a short but, which
some man doth vse, the pecock fether doth seldome kepe vp the shaft
eyther ryght or level, it is so roughe and heuy, so that many men which
haue taken them vp for gaynesse, hathe layde them downe agayne for
profyte; thus for our purpose, the goose is best fether for the best
shoter.' In the Geste of Robyn Hode, pr. by W. Copland, we read'And every arrowe an ell longe
With peacocke well ydight,
And nocked they were with white silk,
It was a semely syght.'
Io6. takel, lit. ' implement' or ' implements'; here the set of arrows.
For takel in the sense of 'arrow,' see Rom. Rose, 1729, 1863. 'He
knew well how to arrange his shooting-gear in a yeomanlike manner.'
lo9. not-heed, a head closely cut or cropped. Cf. ' To Notte his
haire, comas recidere;' Baret's Alvearie, 1580. Shakespeare has notpated, i.e. crop-headed, I Henry IV, ii. 4. 78. Cooper's Thesaurus,
1565, has:-' Tondere, to cause his heare to be notted or polled of a
barbour;' also, 'to notte his heare shorte;' also, ' Tonsus homo, a man
rounded, polled, or notted.' (Much more might be added to prove
this.) In later days the name of Roundhead came into use for a like
reason.
1io. ' He understood well all the usage of woodcraft.'
III. bracer, a guard for the arm used by archers to prevent the
friction of the bow-string on the coat. It was made like a glove with a
long leathern top, covering the fore-arm (Fairholt).-See Ascham's
Toxophilus, ed. Arber, pp. 107, 108. Cf. E. brace.
112. For a description of 'sword and buckler play,' see Strutt's Sports
and Pastimes.
114. Harneised, equipped. 'A certain girdle, harnessed with silver'
is spoken of in Riley's Memorials of London, p. 399, with reference to
the year 1376; cf. Riley's tr. of Liber Albus, p. 521.
115. Cristofre. * A figure of St. Christopher, used as a brooch....
The figure of St. Christopher was looked upon with particular reverence
among the middle and lower classes; and was supposed to possess the
power of shielding the person who looked on it from hidden dangers;'
note in Wright's Chaucer. St. Christopher's day is July25. Hence the
Yeoman wore his brooch for good luck. shene; see n. to 1. 16o.
116. Riley, in his Memorials of London, p. I15, explains baldric as
*a belt passing mostly round one side of the neck, and under the opposite arm.' See Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 29.
118. forster, forester.  Hence the names Forester, Forster, and
Foster.
12o. In this line, as in 11. 509 and 697, the word se-ynt seems to be




THE   PRIORESSE.                       55
dissyllabic. Six MSS. agree here; and the seventh (Harleian) has nas
for was, which keeps the same rhythm. Ed. I561 also has the same
words.
seynt Loy.  Loy is from  Eloy, i.e. St. Eligizs, whose day is
Dec. I; see the long account of him in Butler's Lives of the Saints. He
was a goldsmith, and master of the mint to Clotaire II, Dagobert I,
and Clovis II of France; and was also bishop of Noyon. He became
the patron saint of goldsmiths, farriers, smiths, and carters. The Lat.
Eligius necessarily became Eloy in 0. French, and is Eloy or Loy in
English, the latter form being the commoner. Barnaby Googe, as cited
in Brand, Pop. Antiq. i. 364 (ed. Ellis), says:'And Loye the smith doth looke to horse, and smithes of all degree,
If they with iron meddle here, or if they goldesmithes bee.'
There is a district called St. Loye's in Bedford. Churchyard mentions
'sweete Saynct Loy;' Siege of Leith, st. 5o. In Lyndesay's Monarche,
bk. ii. lines 2299 and 2367, he is called 'sanct Eloy.' (Much more
might be added.) In the Cant. Tales, 7i64, the carter prays to God
and Saint Loy, joining the names according to a common formula; but
the Prioress dropped the divine name. Perhaps she invoked St. Loy as
being the patron saint of goldsmiths; for she seems to have been a little
given to a love of gold and corals; see 11. 158-162. Warton's notion,
that Loy was a form of Louis, only shews how utterly unknown, in his
time, were the phonetic laws of Old French.
121. cleped, called, named; A. S. cleofian, clyjpian, to call.
122. ' She sang the divine service.' Here ser-vic-e is trisyllabic, with
a secondary accent on the last syllable.
123. Entuzned, intoned. nose is the reading of the best MSS.  Ed.
156I reads voice (wrongly).
semely, in a seemly manner.
semnely is in some MSS. written semily. The e is here to be distinctly sounded; hertily is sometimes written for hertely. See 11. I36,
I5I.
124. faire, adv. fairly, well. fetisly, excellently; see 1. 157.
125. scole, school; here used for style or pronunciation.
126. Frensh. Mr. Cutts (Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages,
p. 58) says very justly:-' She spoke French correctly, though with an
accent which savoured of the Benedictine convent at Stratford-le-Bow,
where she had been educated, rather than of Paris.' There is nothing
to shew that Chaucer here speaks slightingly of the French spoken by
the Prioress, though this view is commonly adopted by newspaperwriters who know only this one line of Chaucer, and cannot forbear to
use it in jest. Even Tyrwhitt and Wright have thoughtlessly given
currency to this idea. But Chaucer merely states a fact, viz. that the
Prioress spoke the usual Anglo-French of the English court, of the




56


THE PRIORESSE.


English law-courts, and of the English ecclesiastics of the higher rank.
The poet, however, had been himself in France, and knew precisely the
difference between the two dialects; but he had no special reason for
thinking more highly of the Parisian than of the Anglo-French. He
merely states that the French which the Prioress spoke was, naturally,
such as was spoken in England. She had never travelled, and was
therefore quite satisfied with the French which she had learnt at home.
The language of the King of England was quite as good, in the esteem
of Chaucer's hearers, as that of the King of France; in fact, king Edward
called himself king of France as well as of England, and king John was,
at one time, merely his prisoner. Warton's note on the line is quite
sane. He shews that queen Philippa wrote business letters in French
(doubtless Anglo-French) with 'great propriety.' What Mr. Wright
means by saying that ' it was similar to that used at a later period in
the courts of law' is somewhat puzzling. It was, of course, not similar
to, but the very same language as was used at the very same period in
the courts of law. In fact, he and Tyrwhitt have unconsciously given
us the view entertained, not by Chaucer, but by unthinking readers of
the present age; a view which is not expressed, and was probably not
intended. At the modern Stratford we may find Parisian French inefficiently taught; but at the ancient Stratford, the very important
Anglo-French was taught efficiently enough. There is no parallel
between the cases, nor any such jest as the moder journalist is never
weary of. The 'French of Norfolk' as spoken of in P. Plowman
(B. v. 239) was no French at all, but English; and the alleged parallel
is misleading, as the reader who cares to refer to that passage will
easily see.
' Stratford-at-Bow, a Benedictine nunnery, was famous even then for
its antiquity.'-Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, p. 233. It is said by
Tanner to have been founded by William, bp. of London, before 1087;
but Dugdale says it was founded by one Christiana de Sumery, and that
her foundation was confirmed by king Stephen. It was dedicated to
St. Leonard.
unknowe, short for unknowen, unknown.
127. At mete.   Tyrwhitt has acutely pointed out how Chaucer,
throughout this passage, merely reproduces a passage in his favourite
book, viz. Le Roman de la Rose, 1. 13612, &c., which may be thus
translated:-' and takes good care not to wet her fingers up to the
joints in broth, nor to have her lips anointed with soups, or garlic, or
fat flesh, nor to heap up too many or too large morsels and put
them in her mouth. She touches with the tips of her fingers the morsel
which she has to moisten with the sauce (be it green, or brown, or
yellow), and lifts her mouthful warily, so that no drop of the soup, or
relish or pepper may fall on her breast. And so daintily she contrives




THE PRIORESSE.


57


to drink, as not to sprinkle a drop upon herself.., she ought to wipe
her lip so well, as not to permit any grease to stay there, at least upon
her upper lip.' Such were the manners of the age.
129. wette, wet; pt. t. of wetten. depe, deeply, adv.
131. Scan--'That I no dr6p    e ne fill j e,' &c. The e in drdoe is
very slight. Fille is the pt. t. subjunctive, as distinct from fil, the pt. t.
indicative. It means 'should fall.'
132. ful, very. lest = list, pleasure, delight; A. S. lyst.
133. over, upper, adj. clene (klae-na), cleanly, adv.
134. ferthing signifies literally a fourth part, and hence a small
portion, or a spot.
sen-e, visible, is an adjective, A.S. gesene, and takes a final -e.
This distinguishes it from the pp. seyn, which is monosyllabic, and
cannot rime with clen-e. The fuller form y-sen-e occurs in 1. 592, where
it rimes with len-e. This is a neat point of scholarship.
136. 'Full seemlily she reached towards her meat (i. e. what she had
to eat), and certainly she was of great merriment (or geniality).'
Mete is often used of eatables in general. raughte (rauhta), pt. t.
of rechen, to reach.
137. sikerly, certainly. siker is an early adaptation of Lat. securus,
secure, sure. desport; mod. E. sport.
139-141. 'And took pains (endeavoured) to imitate courtly behaviour,
and to be stately in her deportment, and to be esteemed worthy of
reverence.'
144. sawe, should see, happened to see (subjunctive).
146. Of, i. e. some. houndes (huundez), dogs.
147. wastel-breed. Horses and dogs were not usually fed on wastel
breed or cake-bread (bread made of the best flour), but on coarse lentil
bread baked for that purpose. See Our English Home, pp. 79, So.
The O. F. wastel subsequently became gastel, gasteau, mod. F. gateau,
cake.
148. The syllable she is here very light; she if oon constitutes the
third foot in the line. After she comes the cesural pause. weep, wept;
A.S. wFop.
149. men smoot, one smote. If men were the ordinary plural of man,
smoot ought to be smiten (pl. past); but men is here used like the Ger.
man, French on, with the singular verb. It is, in fact, merely the unaccented form  of man. yerde, stick, rod; mod. E. yard. smerte,
sharply; adv.
15I. wimpel. The wimple or gorger is stated first to have appeared
in Edward the First's reign. It was a covering for the neck, and was
used by nuns and elderly ladies. See Fairholt's Costume, 1885, ii. 413.
pinched, gathered in small pleats, closely pleated.
152. tretys, long and well-shaped. From O. F. traitis, Low Lat.




THE PRIORESSE..traclitius, i. e. drawn out; from  L. trahere.  Similarly fetis; see
1. 157. eyen greye. This seems to have been the favourite colour of
ladies' eyes in Chaucer's time, and even later. Cf. Rom. Rose, 546,
862; &c. 'Her eyen gray and stepe;' Skelton's Philip Sparowe,
I014.
' Her eyes are grey as glass.'-Two Gent. of Verona, iv. 4. 197.
156. hardily is here used for sikerly, certainly; so in Clerk. Ta. 25.
undergrowe, undergrown; i. e. of short, stinted growth.
157. fetis literally signifies 'made artistically,' and hence well-made,
feat, neat, handsome. M. E. fetis answers to 0. F. faitis, feitis, fetis,
neatly made, elegant; from Lat. factitius, artificial. From the same
Lat. word is derived E.fetish.
war, aware; ' I was war' = I perceived.
159. bedes. The word bede signifies, (i) a prayer; (2) a string of
grains upon which the prayers were counted, or the grains themselves.
A pair here means 'a set.' ' A peire of bedis eke she bere;' Rom.
Rose, 7372.
'Sumtyme with a portas, sumtyme with a payre of bedes.'
Bale's King John, p. 27; Camden Soc.
gauded al with grene, 'having the gawdies green. Some were of
silver gilt.'-T. The gawdies or gaudees were the larger beads in the
set. ' One payre of beads of silver with riche gaudeys;' Monast. Anglicanum, viii. 1206; qu. by Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. i. 403.
' Unum par de lett [jet] gaudyett with sylver;' Nottingham Records,
iii. 188. 'A peyre bedys of jeete [get], gaudied with corall;' Bury
"Wills, p. 82, 1. 16. The note says that every eleventh bead, or gaud,
stood for a Paternoster; the smaller beads, each for an Ave Maria.
The common number was 55, for 50 Aves, and 5 Paternosters. The full
number was 165. 'Gaudye of beedes, signeau        de Paternoster.'Palsgrave.
i6o. brocke= brooch, signified, (i) a pin; (2) a breast-pin; (3) a buckle
or clasp; (4) a jewel or ornament. It was an ornament common to
both sexes. The brooch seems to have been made in the shape of
a capital A, surmounted by a crown. See the figure of a silver-gilt
brooch in the shape of an A in the Glossary to Fairholt's Costume in
England. The 'crowned A' is supposed to represent Amor or Charity,
the greatest of all the Christian graces. ' Omnia uincit amor;' Vergil,
Eclog. x. 69.
heng, also spelt heeng, hung, is the pt. t. of M.E. hangen, to hang.
Cf. A. S. hkng, pt. t. of hin, to hang.
shene (shee'na), showy, bright. Really allied, not to shine, but to
shew. Cf. mod. E. sheen, and G. schin.
161. write is short for writen (writ'en), pp. of wryten (wriiten),
to write.




THE MONK.


59


163. Another Nonne. It was not common for Prioresses to have
female chaplains; but Littre gives chapelaine, fem., as an old title of
dignity in a nunnery. Moreover, it is an office still held in most Benedictine convents, as is fully explained in a letter written by a modern
Nun-Chaplain, and printed in Anglia, iv. 238.
I64. The mention of three priests presents some difficulty. To make
up the twenty-nine mentioned in 1. 24, we only want one priest, and
it is afterwards assumed that there was but one priest, viz. the Nonnes
Preest, who tells the tale of the Cock and Fox. Chaucer also, in all
other cases, supposes that there was but one representative of each class.
The most likely solution is that Chaucer wrote a character of the
Second Nun, beginning'Another Nonne with hir hadde she
That was hir chapeleyne 'and that, for some reason, he afterwards suppressed the description.
The line left imperfect, as above, may have been filled up, to stop a
gap, either by himself (temporarily), or indeed by some one else.
If we are to keep the text (which stands alike in all MSS.), we must
take ' wel nyne and twenty' to mean ' at least nine and twenty.'
The letter from the Nun-Chaplain mentioned in the last note shews
that an Abbess might have as many asfive priests, as well as a chaplain.
The difficulty is, merely, how to reconcile this line with 1. 24.
I65. afair, i.e. a fair one. Cf. 'a merye' in 1. 208; and 1. 339.
for the maistrye is equivalent to the French phrase pour la maistrie,
which in old medical books 'is applied to such medicines as we usually
call sovereign, excellent above all others;' Tyrwhitt. We may explain
it by 'as regards excellence.'
166. out-rydere, one who rode out to visit monastic farms.
venerye, hunting. 'The monks of the middle ages were extremely
attached to hunting and field-sports; and this was a frequent subject of
complaint with the more austere ecclesiastics, and of satire with the
laity.'-Wright. From Lat. uenari, to hunt.
i68. deyntee, dainty, i.e. precious, valuable, rare; orig. a sb., viz.
0. F. deintee, dignity, from Lat. acc. dignitatem. Cf. 1. 346.
170. Ginglen, jingle. (The line is marked as being deficient in the
first foot.) Fashionable riders were in the habit of hanging small bells
on the bridles and harness of their horses. See Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 13.
172. Ther as=where that.
keyper, principal, head, i. e. prior.
celle, cell; a ' cell' was a small monastery or nunnery, dependent
on a larger one. Cf. note to 1. 670.
173. The reule (rule) of seint Maure (St. Maur) and that of seint
Beneit (St. Benet or Benedict) were the oldest forms of monastic discipline in the Romish Church. St. Maur (Jan. 15) was a disciple of




6o


THE MONK.


St. Benet (Dec. 4), who founded the Benedictine order, and died about
A.D. 542.
I74. Note that streit, mod. E. strait, A. F. estreit, from Lat. strictus,
is quite distinct from mod. E. straight.
175. The Harl. MS. reads, 'This ilke monk leet forby hem pace
(errorfor leet hem forby him pace?), 'This same monk let them pass
by him  unobserved.' hem   refers to the rules of St. Maur and St.
Benet, which were too streit (strict) for this 'lord' or superior of the
house, who seems to have preferred a milder sort of discipline. Forby
is still used in Scotland for by or fast. face, pass by, remain in
abeyance; cf. face, pass on, proceed, in 1. 36.
hem (A. S. heonm), them, was orig. a dat. pl., though here an
accusative (in the Harl. MS.).
176. space, course (Lat. spatium); ( and held his course in conformity
with the new order of things.'
177. yaf not of, gave not for, valued not. yafis the pt. t. ofyeven or
yiven, to give.
a pulled hen, lit. a plucked hen; hence, the value of a hen without
its feathers; see 1. 652. In C. T. 6694, the phrase is 'not worth a hen.'
Tyrwhitt says, 'I do not see much force in the epithet pulled;' but
adds, in his Glossary-' I have been told since, that a hen whose feathers
are pulled, or plucked off, will not lay any eggs.' Becon speaks of a
'polled hen,' i.e. pulled hen, as one unable to fly; Works, p. 533;
Parker Soc. It is only one of the numerous old phrases for expressing
that a thing is of small value. See 1. 182. I may add that pulled,
in the sense of 'plucked off the feathers,' occurs in the Manciple's
Tale.
text, remark in writing; the word was used of any written statement that was frequently quoted. The allusion is to the legend of
Nimrod, 'the mighty hunter' (Gen. x. 9), which described him as a
very bad man. 'Mikel he cuth [much he knew] o sin and scham;'
Cursor Mundi, 1. 2202. It was he (it was said) who built the tower of
Babel, and introduced idolatry and fire-worship. All this has ceased to
be familiar, and the allusion has lost its point.
179. recchelees (in MS. E.) means careless; but 'a careless monk' is
not necessarily 'a monk out of his cloister.' But the reading cloisterless
(in MS. Harl.) solves the difficulty; being a coined word, Chaucer goes
on to explain it.
recet (see footnote) is 'a place of refuge.'
179-181. This passage is a literal translation of one from the Decretal
of Gratian: 'Sicut piscis sine aqua caret vita, ita sine monasterio
monachus.' Joinville says, 'The Scriptures do say that a monk cannot
live out of his cloister without falling into deadly sins, any more than a
fish can live out of water without dying.' Cf. Piers Plowman, B. x. 292.




THE MONK.


6i


Moreover, the poet was thinking of a passage in Le Testament de Jehan
de Meung, ed. Meon, 1. i66:'Qui les voldra trover, si les quiere en leur cloistre. 
Car ne prisent le munde la montance d'une oistre.'
i. e.' whoever would find them, let him seek them in their cloister; for
they do not prize the world at the value of an oyster.' Chaucer turns
this passage just the other way about.
182. text, remark, saying (as above, in 1. 177).
held, esteemed.
183. And I said.' This is a very realistic touch; as if Chaucer had
been talking to the monk, obtaining his opinions, and professing to
agree with them.
184. What has here its earliest sense of wherefore, or whly.
wood, mad, foolish, is frequently employed by Spenser; A. S. wood.
i86. swinken, to toil; whence 'swinked hedger,' used by Milton
(Comus, 1. 293). But swinken is, properly, a strong verb; A. S.
swincan, pt. t. swanc, pp. swuncen. Hence swink, s., toil; 1. I88.
i87. bit, the 3rd pers. sing. pres. of bidden, to command.
187, i88. Austin, St. Augustine. The reference seems to be to St.
Augustine of Hippo, after whom the Augustinian Canons were named.
Their rule was compiled from his writings. Thus we read that 'bothe
monks and chanouns forsaken the reules of Benet and Austyn;' Wyclif's
Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 511.   And again-' Seynt Austyn techith
munkis to labore with here hondis, and so doth seint Benet and seynt
Bernard;' Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 51. See Cutts, Scenes and
Characters, &c.; ch. ii. and ch. iii.
189. a pricasour, a hard rider. priking, hard riding (1. i9I).
192. for no cost, for no expense. Dr. Morris explains cost by 'for no
reason,' and certainly M.E. cost sometimes has that force; but see 11.
213, 799, where it clearly means ' expense.'
I93. seigh, saw; A. S. seah, pt. t. of sion, to see.
purfiled, edged with fur. The M. E. purfil signifies the embroidered or furred hem of a garment, so that pzirfile is to work upon
the edge. Pzurfiled has also a more extended meaning, and is applied
to garments overlaid with gems or other ornaments. ' Pourfiler d'or, to
purfle, tinsell, or overcast with gold thread,' &c. Cotgrave.
194. grys, a sort of costly grey fur, formerly very much esteemed;
O. F. gris, Rom. de la Rose, 912I, 9307. Some suppose it to be that of
the grey squirrel. Such a dress as is here described must have been
very expensive.
196. ' He had an elaborate brooch, made of gold, with a love-knot in
the larger end.' love-knotte, a complicated twist, with loops.
198. balled, bald. See Specimens of Early English, ii. 15. 408.
199. anoint, anointed; O. F. enoint, Lat, inunctzus.




62


THE MONK.


200. in good point, in good case, imitated from the 0. F. en bon point.
Cotgrave has: ' En bon poinct, ou, bien en poinct, handsome: faire, fat,
well liking, in good taking.'
201. stepe, E. E. steap, does not here mean sunken, but bright, burning, fiery. Mr. Cockayne has illustrated the use of this word in his
Seinte Marherete, pp. 9, 108: ' His twa ehnen [semden] steappre ]ene
steorren,' his two eyes seemed brighter than stars. So also: 'schininde
and schenre, of 3imstanes steapre then is eni steorre,' shining and clearer,
brighter with gems than is any star; St. Katherine, 1. 1647. The expression 'eyen gray and stepe,' i. e. bright, has already been quoted in
the note to 1. 152. Cf. stemed in the next line; and see 1. 753.
202. stemed as aforneys of a leed, shone like the fire under a cauldron.
Here stemed is related to the M. E. stem, a bright light, used in Havelok, 591. Cf. 'two stemyng eyes,' two bright eyes; Sir T. Wiat, Sat. i.
53. That refers to eyen, not to heed. A kitchen-copper is still sometimes
called a lead. As to the word leed, which is the same as the modern
E. lead (the metal), Mr. Stevenson, in his edition of the Nottingham
Records, iii. 493, observes-' That these vessels were really made of
lead we have ample evidence;' and refers us to the Laws of Athelstan,
iv. 7 (Schmid, Anhang, xvi. ~ i); &c. He adds--' The lead was frequently fixed, like a moder domestic copper, over a grate. The grate
and flue were known as a furnace. Hence the frequent expression-a
lead in furnace.'
203. botes souple, boots pliable, soft, and close-fitting.
205. for-pyned, 'tormented,' and hence 'wasted away;' from fine,
torment, pain; pined also signifies 'wasted,' as in the modern verb pine.
Thefor- is intensive, as in Eng. forswear.
208. Frere, friar. The four orders of mendicant friars mentioned in
1. 210 were:-(i) The Dominicans, or friars-preachers, who took up
their abode in Oxford in 1221, known as the Black Friars. (2) The
Franciscans, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209, and known by the
name of Grey Friars. They made their first appearance in England in
1224. (3) The Carmelites, or White Friars. (4) The Augustin (or
Austin) Friars. The friar was popular with the mercantile classes on
account of his varied attainments and experience. ' Who else so welcome
at the houses of men to whom scientific skill and information, scanty as
they might be, were yet of no inconsiderable service and attraction. He
alone of learned and unlearned possessed some knowledge of foreign
countries and their productions; he alone was acquainted with the
composition and decomposition of bodies, with the art of distillation,
with the construction of machinery, and with the use of the laboratory.'
See Professor Brewer's Preface to Monumenta Franciscana, p. xlv; and,
in particular, the poem called 'Pierce the Ploughman's Crede.'
"wantown, sometimes written zvantowen, literally signifies un



THIE FRERE.


63


trained, and hence wild, brisk, lively, wan- is a common M. E. prefix,
equivalent to our un- or dis-, as wanhope, despair; towen or town,
occurs in M. E. writers for well-behaved, well taught; from A. S. togen,
pp. of tlon, to educate.
merye, pleasant; cf. M. E. merry wether, pleasant weather.
209. limitour was a begging friar to whom was assigned a certain
district or limit, within which he was permitted to solicit alms. Hence
in later times the verb limit signifies to beg.
'Ther walketh now the limitour himself,
In undermeles and in morweninges;
And seyth his matins and his holy thinges
As he gooth in his limitacioun.
Wife of Bath's Tale; C. T. 6456.
210. ordresfoure, four orders (note to 1. 208). can, i. e. 'knows.'
211. daliaunce and fair langage, gossip and flattery. daliaunce in:
M. E. signifies ' tittle-tattle' or 'gossip.' The verb dally signifies not
only to loiter or idle, but to play, sport. Godefroy gives O. F. ' dallier,.
v. a., railler.'
214. post, pillar or support. See Gal. ii. 9.
216. frankeleyns, wealthy farmers; see 1. 331. over-al, everywhere.
217. worthy, probably ' wealthy'; or else, ' respectable.'
219. The word mdr-e occupies the third foot in the line. It is an
adj., with the sense of greater.'
220. licentiat. He had a licence from the Pope 'to hear confessions, &c., in all places, independently of the local ordinaries.' The
ctrate, or parish priest, could not grant absolution in all cases, some:
of which were reserved for the bishop's decision.
224. wiste to han, knew (he was sure) to have.
pitaunce here signifies a mess of victuals. It originally signified an
extraordinary allowance of victuals given to monastics, in addition to
their usual commons, and was afterwards applied to the whole allow--
ance of food for a single person, or to a small portion of anything.
225. 'For the giving (of gifts) to a poor order.' povre, 0. F.
povre, poor; cf. pover-ty.
226. y-shrive =y-shriven, confessed, shriven.    The final n    is..
dropped.
227. he dorste, he durst make (it his) boast, i. e. confidently assert.
avaunt, a boast, is from the 0. F. vb. avanter, to boast, an intensive
form of vanter, whence E. vaunt.
230. he may not, he is not able to. him smerte, it may pain him, or
grieve him, sorely.
232. Men moot, one ought to. Here moot is singular; cf. 1. 149.
233. tipet, hood or cowl, which seems to have been used as a pocket.
'When the Order [of Franciscans] degenerated, the friar combined.




64


THE FRERE.


with the spiritual functions the occupation of pedlar, huxter, mountebank, and quack doctor.' (Brewer.)
Women used to wear knives sheathed and suspended from their
girdles; such knives were often given to a bride. See the chapter on
Bride-knives in Brand's Popular Antiquities.
farsed, stuffed; from F. farcer. Cf. E. farce.
236. rote is a kind of fiddle or ' crowd,' not a hurdy-gurdy. See my
Etym. Dictionary.
237. yeddinges, songs embodying some popular tales or romances.
For singing such songs, he was in the highest estimation. From A. S.,eddian, to sing.
prys answers both to E. prize and price; cf. 1. 67.
241. tappestere, a female tapster. In olden times the retailers of beer,
and for the most part the brewers also, appear to have been females.
The -stere or -ster as a feminine affix (though in the fourteenth century
it is not always or regularly used as such) occurs in M. E. brewstere,
webbestere; Eng. spinster. In huckster, maltster, songster, this affix
has acquired the meaning of an agent; and in youngster, gamester,
sunster, &c., it implies contempt. See Skeat, Principles of Etymology,
pt. i. ~ 238. Cf. beggestere, female beggar, 242.
242. bet, better, adv.; as distinguished from bettre, adj. (1. 524).
lazar, a leper; from Lazarus, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus;
hence lazaretto, a hospital for lepers, a lazar-house.
244. 'It was unsuitable, considering his ability.'
246. 'It is not becoming, it may not advance (profit) to deal with
(associate with) any such poor people.'
247. The line is imperfect in the first foot.
poraille, rabble of poor people; from 0. F. povre, poor.
248. riche, i. e. rich people.
249, 250. 'And everywhere, wherever profit was likely to accrue,
courteous he was, and humble in offering his services.'
252, 253. Between these two lines the Hengwrt MS. inserts the two
lines marked 252 b and 252 c, which are omitted in other MSS., though
they certainly appear to be genuine. They are not counted in, in the
Six-text edition, which is here followed. Tynvhitt both inserts and
numbers them; hence a slight difference in the methods of numbering
the lines after this line. Tyrwhitt's numbering is given, at every tenth
line, within marks of parenthesis, for convenience of reference.  The
sense is-'And gave a certain annual payment for the grant (to be
licensed to beg; in consequence of which) none of his brethren came
with his limit.'
ferme is the mod. E. farm.
253. sho, shoe; not sou (as has been suggested), which would (in
fact) give afalse rime. So also ' worth his olde sho;' C. T. 6290.




THE FRERE.


65


The friars were not above receiving even the smallest articles; and
ferthing, in 1. 255, may be explained by 'small article,' of a farthing's
value. See 1. 134.
254. In principio. The reference is to the text in John i. i, as
proved by a passage from Tyndale (Works, iii. 61, Parker Soc.). Sir
Walter Scott copies this phrase in The Fair Maid of Perth, ch. iii. The
friars constantly quoted this text.
256. purchas = proceeds of his begging. What he acquired in this
way was greater than his rent or income.
We find also: ' Mypurchas is theffect of al my rente;' C. T. 7033.
'To wynnen is always myn entente,
JMy purchace is bettir than my rente.
Romaunt of the Rose, 1. 6840;
where the F. original has (1. 11760)-' Miex vaut mes porchas que ma
rente.'
257. as it were right (Elles. &c.); and pleyen as (Harl.). The sense
is-' and he could romp about, exactly as if he were a puppy-dog.'
258. love-dayes. 'Love-days (dies amoris) were days fixed for settling
differences by umpire, without having recourse to law or violence. The
ecclesiastics seem generally to have had the principal share in the
management of these transactions, which, throughout the Vision of
Piers Ploughman, appear to be censured as the means of hindering
justice and of enriching the clergy.'-Wright's Vision of Piers Ploughman, vol. ii. p. 535.
'Ac now is Religion a rydere, and a rennere aboute,
A ledere of love-dayes,' &c.
Piers Ploughman, A. xi. 208, ed. Skeat; see also note to P. P1. ed.
Skeat, B. iii. 196. The sense is-' he could give much help on lovedays (by acting as umpire).' See 11. 259-261.
260. cope, a priest's vestment; a cloak forming a semicircle when
laid flat; the semi-cope (1. 262) was a short cloak or cape. Cf. Pierce
the Ploughman's Crede, 11. 227, 228:'His cope that biclypped him, wel clene was it folden,
Of double-worstede y-dyght, doun to the hele.'
This line is a little awkward to scan. PVith a thred constitutes the
first foot; and povre ispovr' (cp. mod. F. pauvre).
263. rounded, assumed a round form; used intransitively. presse,
the mould in which a bell is cast; cf. 1. 8.
264. lipsed, lisped; by metathesis of s and p. See footnote to 1. 273.
for his wantownesse, by way of mannerism.
270. a forked berd. In the time of Edward III forked beards were
the fashion among the franklins and bourgeoisie, according to the
English custom  before the Conquest.   See Fairholt's Costume in
England, fig. 30.




66


THE MAR CHANT.


271. In mottelee, in a motley dress.
273. clasped; fastened with a clasp fairly and neatly. See 1. 124.
274. resons, opinions. fil solempnely, with much importance.
275. 'Always conducing to the increase of his profit.' souninge,
sounding like, conducing to; cf. 1. 307.  Compare-' thei chargen
more [care more for] a litil thing that sowneth to wynnyng of hem,
than a myche more [greater] thing that sowneth to worchip of God;
Wyclif, Works, ed. Arnold, ii. 383. Cf. Chaucer's Doctour's Tale, 1.
54. The M. E. sb. soun is from F. son, Lat. acc. sonum.
276. were kept, should be guarded; so that he should not suffer from
pirates or privateers. The old subsidy of tonnage and poundage was
given to the king for the safeguard and custody of the sea.
' The see wel kept, it must be don for drede.'
A Libell of English Policie, 1. 1083.
In 1360, a commission was granted to John Gibone to proceed,
-with certain ships of the Cinque Ports, to free the sea from pirates
and "others, the enemies of the king; Appendix E. to Rymer's Foedera,
p. 450.
for any thing, i.e. for any sake, at any cost. The A.S. thing is
often used in the sense of 'sake,' ' cause,' or ' reason.' For in Chaucer
also means ' against,' or ' to prevent,' but not (I think) here.
277. Middelburgh and Orewelle. ' Middelburgh is still a well-known
port of the island of Walcheren, in the Netherlands, almost immediately
opposite Harwich, beside which are the estuaries of the rivers Stoure
and Orwell. This spot was formerly known as the port of Orwell or
Orewelle.'-Saunders, p. 229.
278. ' He well knew how to make a profit by the exchange of his
crowns' in the different money-markets of Europe. Sheeldes are French
crowns (O.F. escuz, F. ecus), named from their having on one side the
figure of a shield. They were valued at half a noble, or 3s. 4d.
279. his wit bisette, employed his knowledge to the best advantage.
bisette = used, employed. Cf. Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. v. 297:'And if thow wite (know) nevere to whiche, ne whom to restitue
[the goods gotten wrongfully]
Bere it to the bisschop, and bidde hym, of his grace,
Bisette it hymselue, as best is for thi soule.'
281, 282. ' So creditably did he order his bargains and agreements for
"borrowing money.' A chevisaunce was an agreement for borrowing
money on credit. From F. chevir, to accomplish; cf. E. achieve.
284. noot = ne + wot, know not; so niste = ne + wiste, knew not.
285. Clerk, a university student, a scholar preparing for the priesthood. It also signifies a man of learning, a man in holy orders. See
Anstey's Munimenta Academica for much interesting information on
early Oxford life and studies.




THE CLERK.


Oxenford, Oxford, as if ' the ford of the oxen' (A. S. Oxnaford);
and it has not been proved that this etymology is wrong.
y-go, gone, betaken himself.
290.' His uppermost short cloak (of coarse cloth).' The syllable
-py answers to Du. pije, a coarse cloth; cf. Goth. paida, a coat. Cf.
E. pea-jacket.
292. 'Nor was he so worldly as to take a (secular) office.' Many
clerks undertook legal employments.
293. ' For it was dearer to him to have,' i. e. he would rather have.
lever is the comparative of M. E. leef, A. S. leof, lief, dear.
294. The first foot is defective: Twen I ty bo Ikes, &c.
296. In the Milleres Tale, Chaucer describes a clerk of a very
opposite character, who loved dissipation and played upon a ' sautrye'
or psaltery.
fithel is the mod. E.fiddle.
sautrye is an O. F. spelling of our psaltery.
297. philosophre is used in a double sense; it sometimes meant an
alchemist, as in C. T. Group G, 1. 1427. The clerk knew philosophy,
but he was no alchemist, and so had but little gold.
30o. Chaucer often imitates his own lines. He here imitates Troil.
iv. II 74-'And pitously gan for the soule preye.' gan, did.
302. yaf him, ' gave him (money) wherewith to attend school.' An
allusion to the common practice, at this period, of poor scholars in the
Universities, who wandered about the country begging, to raise money
to support them in their studies. Luther underwent a similar experience.
307. Souninzge in, conducing to; cf. note to 1. 275 above.
309. war, wary, cautions; A. S. wevr, aware. Cf. 1. 157.
3Io. at the parvys, at the church-porch, or portico of St. Paul's,
where the lawyers were wont to meet for consultation.  See Ducange, s. v. paradisus, which is the Latin form whence the 0. F. parvis
is derived.
315. pleyn, full; F. plein, Lat. acc. plenum. Cf. pleyn, fully, in
1. 327.
320. p;zrchasing, conveyancing; infect, invalid.  'The learned Sergeant was clever enough to untie any entail, and pass the property as
estate in fee simple.'-W. H. H. Kelke, in N. and Q. 5 S. vi. 487.
The word might-e occupies the third foot in the line.
323, 324. ' Ie was well acquainted with all the legal cases and decisions (or decrees) which had been ruled in the courts of law (lit. had
befallen) since the time of William the Conqueror.' In termes hadde
he, he had in terms, knew how to express in proper terms, was well
acquainted with.
325. Therto, moreover. make, compose, draw up, draught.
E2




68


THE MAN OF LA WE.


326. pinche at, find fault with; lit. nip, twitch at.
327. coude he, he knew; coude is the pt. t. of konnen, to know, A. S.
cunnan.
328. medlee cote, a coat of mixed stuff or colour.
329. ceint of silk, &c., a girdle of silk with small ornaments. The
barres were called cloux in French (Lat. clavus), and were the usua2
ornaments of a girdle. They were perforated to allow the tongue of
the buckle to pass through them.  ' Originally they were attached
transversely to the wide tissue of which the girdle was formed, but
subsequently were round or square, or fashioned like the heads of lions,
and similar devices, the name of barre being still retained, though
improperly.'-Way, in Promptorium Parvulorum; s. v. barre. And
see Bar in the New English Dictionary.
ceint, 0. F. ceint, a girdle; from Lat. cinctus, pp. of cingere, to
gird.
331. Fortescue describes a franklin to be a paterfanmilias-magnis
ditatus possessionibus; i. e. he was a substantial householder and a man
of some importance.
332. dayes-ye, daisy; A. S. d&ges gage, lit. eye of day (the sun).
333. ' He was sanguine of complexion.' The old school of medicine,
following Galen, supposed that there were four 'humours,' viz. hot,
cold, moist, and dry (see 1. 420), and four complexions or temperaments
of men, viz. the sanguine, the choleric, the phlegmatic, and the melancholy. The man of sanguine complexion abounded in hot and moist
humours, as shown in the following description, given in the Oriel
MS. 79:Sanguineus.
Largus, amans, hilaris, ridens, rubeique coloris,
Cantans, carnosus, satis audax, atque benignus:
multum appetit, quia calidus; multum potest, quia humidus.
334. by the morwe, in the morning.
a sop in wyn, wine with pieces of cake or bread in it. See Brand,
Antiq. (ed. Ellis), ii. I37. Later, sop-in-wine was a jocose name for a
kind of pink or carnation; id. ii. 9I.
335. wone, wont, custom; A. S. wuna, ge-wuna.
delyt, delight; the mod. E. word is misspelt; delite would be
better.
336. A very son of Epicurus.'   Alluding to the famous Greek
philosopher (died B.C. 270), the author of the Epicurean philosophy,
which assumed pleasure to be the highest good.
340. ' St. Julian was eminent for providing his votaries with good
lodgings and accommodation of all sorts. [See Chambers' Book of
Days, ii. 388.] In the title of his legend, Bodl. MS. 1596, fol. 4, he is
called " St. Julian the gode herberjour " (St. Julian the good harbourer).'




THE FRANKELE YN.


69


-Tyrwhitt.    His day is Jan. 9.   See also Gesta Romanorum, ed.
Swan; tale 18.
341. after oon, according to one invariable standard; 'up to the
mark.'
342. envyned, stored with wine. 'Cotgrave has preserved the French
word envind in the same sense.'-Tyrwhitt.
343. bake mete= baked meat; the old past participle of bake was
baken or bake, as it was a strong verb. Baked meats = meats baked in
coffins (pies".
344. plentevous, plenteous, plentiful; 0. F. plentivous, formed by
adding -ous to O. F. pleintif, adj. abundant; see Godefroy's O. F.
Dict.
345. The verb snewed is usually explained as a metaphor from snowing; but the M. E. snewe, like the Prov. Eng. snie or snive, also signifies
to abound, swarm. Camb. MS. reads ' It snowede in his mouth of mete
and drynk.' Cf. ' He was with yiftes [presents] all bisnewed;' Gower,
C. A. iii. 5.
347. After, according to; it depended on what was in season.
348. soper (supee'r), supper; from 0. F. infin. soper.
349. mewe. The mewe was the place where the hawks were kept
while moulting; it was afterwards applied to the coop wherein fowl
were fattened, and lastly to a place of confinement or secrecy.
350. stewe, fish-pond. ' To insure a supply of fish,.stew-ponds were
attached to the manors, and few monasteries were without them; the
moat around the castle was often converted into a fish-pond, and well
stored with luce, carp, or tench.'-Our English Home, p. 65.
breem, bream; luce, pike, from O. F. luce, Low Lat. lucius.
351. WI o was his cook, woeful or sad was his cook. We now only use
wo or woe as a substantive. Cf. 'I am woe for 't;' Tempest, v. T. 139.
but-if, unless.
351, 352. sauce-Poynaunt is like the modern phrase sauce piquante.
'Our forefathers were great lovers of " piquant sauce."  They made it
of expensive condiments and rare spices.'-Our English Home, p. 62.
353. table dormant, irremoveable table. 'Previous to the fourteenth
century a pair of common wooden trestles and a rough plank was
deemed a table sufficient for the great hall.... Tables, with a board
attached to a frame, were introduced about the time of Chaucer, and,
from remaining in the hall, were regarded as indications of a ready
hospitality.'-Our English Home, p. 29.
355. sessiouns. At the Sessions of the Peace, at the meeting of the
Justices of the Peace. Cf. ' At Sessions and at Sises we bare the stroke
and swaye.'-Higgin's Mirrour for Magistrates, ed. 1571, p. 2.
356. knight of the shire, the designation given to the representative
in parliament of an English county at large, as distinguished from the




70


THE FRANKELE YNV


representatives of such counties and towns as are counties of themselves
(Ogilvie).
tym-e here represents the A.S. tzman, pl. of tima, a time.
357. anlas or anelace. Speght defines this word as a faZchion, or
wood-knife. It was, however, a short two-edged knife or dagger usually
worn at the girdle, broad at the hilt and tapering to a point. See
the New Eng. Dictionary.
gipser was properly a pouch or budget used in hawking, &c., but
commonly worn by the merchant, or with any secular attire.-(Way.)
It answers to F. gibecire, a pouch; from O. F. gibbe, a bunch (Scheler).
358. Heng (or Heeng), the past tense of hongen or hangen, to hang.
morne mylk= morning-milk.
359. schirreve, the reve of a shire, governor of a county; our modern
word sheriff
countour, O.Fr. comptour, an accountant, a person who audited
accounts or received money in charge, &c.; ranked with pleaders in
Riley's Memorials of London, p. 58. It occurs in Rob. of Gloucester,
1. 11153. In the Book of the Duch. 435, it simply means 'accountant.'
Perhaps it here means 'auditor.'
360. vavasour, or vavaser, originally a sub-vassal or tenant of a
vassal or tenant of the king's, one who held his lands in fealty. 'Vavasor,
one that in dignities is next to a Baron;' Cowel. Strutt (Manners and
Customs, iii. 14) explains that a vavasour was 'a tenant by knight's
service, who did not hold immediately of the king in capite, but of
some mesne lord, which excluded him from the dignity of baron by
tenure.' Tyrwhitt says ' it should be understood to mean the whole
class of middling landholders.' See Lacroix, Military Life of Middle
Ages, p. 9. Spelt favasour in King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 1. 3827.
Lit. ' vassal of vassals;' Low Lat. vassus vassorzim.
361. Haberdasslzer. Haberdashers were of two kinds: haberdashers
of small wares-sellers of needles, tapes, buttons, &c.; and haberdashers of hats.
362. Webbe, properly a male weaver; webstere was the female weaver,
but there appears to have been some confusion in the use of the suffixes
-e and -stere; see Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. v. 215: 'mi wyf was a
webbe.' Hence the names Webb and Webster. Cf. A. S. webba, m., a
weaver; webbestere, fem. tapicer, upholsterer; F. tapis, carpet.
363. liveree, livery. 'Under the term "livery " was included whatever was dispensed (delivered) by the lord to his officials or domestics
annually or at certain seasons, whether money, victuals, or garments.
The term chiefly denoted external marks of distinction, such as the
roba estivalis and hiemalis, given to the officers and retainers of the
court... The Stat. 7 Hen. IV expressly permits the adoption of such
distinctive dress by fraternities and " les gentz de mestere," the trades of




THE HABERDASHER.


7J


the cities of the realm, being ordained with good intent; and to this
prevalent usage Chaucer alludes when he describes five artificers of
various callings, who joined the pilgrimage, clothed all in o lyvere of a
solemnpne and greetfraternite'.'-Way, note to Prompt. Parv., p. 308.
And they uwere clothed alle (Elles., &c.); Weren with vss eeke
clothed (Harl.). The former reading leaves the former clause of the
sentence without a verb.
364. fraternitee, guild; see English Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, p.
xxx. Each guild had its own livery; Rock, Church of our Fathers;
11. 412.
365. gere, gear, apparel. apyked, signifies cleaned, trimmed, like
'Shakespeare's picked. Cotgrave gives as senses of F. piquer, 'to quilt,'
and 'to stiffen a coller.'
366. y-chapzed, having chapes (i.e. plates or caps of metal at the point
of the sheath or scabbard). Tradesmen and mechanics were prohibited
from using knives adorned with silver, gold, or precious stones. So
that Chaucer's pilgrims were of a superior estate, as is indicated in 1. 369.
370. deys, dese, or dais (Fr. deis, from Lat. discumn, ace.), is used to
denote the raised platform which was always found at the upper end of
a hall, on which the high table was placed; originally, it meant the
high table itself. Later, it was used of a canopy or ' tester ' over a seat of
state.
yeld-halle, guild-hall.
371. that he can, that he knows; so also as he couthe, as he knew
how, in 1. 390. This line is marked as deficient in the first foot.
372. shaply, adapted, fit; sometimes comely, of good shape. The
word alderman here should be noted. It was the invariable title given
to one who was chosen as the head or principal of a guild (see English
Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith). All these men belonged to a fraternity or
guild, and each of them was a fit man to be chosen as head of it.
373. 'For they had sufficient property and income ' (to entitle them
to undertake such an office).
376. y-clept, called; pp. of clepen; see 1. 121.
377. And goon to vigilyes al bifore. 'It was the manner in times
past, upon festival evens, called vigilice, for parishioners to meet in
their church-houses or church-yards, and there to have a drinking-fit for
the time. Here they used to end many quarrels betwixt neighbour and
neighbour. Hither came the wives in comely manner, and they which
were of the better sort had their mantles carried with them, as well
for show as to keep them from cold at table.'-Speght, Gl. to Chaucer.
379. for the nones =for the nonce; this expression, if grammatically
written, would befor then once, M.E.for. an anes, for the once, i.e. for
the occasion; where the adv. anes (orig. a gen. form) is used as if it
were a sb. in the dat. case. Cf. M.E. atte = atten = atan =atadm.




.72


THE COOK.


381. poudre-marchaunt tart is a sharp (tart) kind of flavouring
powder, twice mentioned in Household Ordinances and Receipts (Soc.
Antiq. 1790) at pp. 425, 434: ' Do therto pouder marchant,' and ' do
thi flessh therto, and gode herbes and poudre marchaunzt, and let hit
well stew.'-Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, iii. 180. See Powder in
the Glossary to the Babees Book.
'Galingale, which Chaucer, pre-eminentest, economioniseth above all
junquetries or confectionaries whatsoever.'--Nash's Lenten Stuff, p. 36,
ed. Hindley. Galingale is the root of sweet cyperus. Harman (ed.
Strother) notices three varieties: Cyperus rotundus, Galanga major,
Galanga minor; Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, pp. 152, 216.
382. London ale. London ale was famous as early as the time of
Henry III, and much higher priced than any other ale; cf. C. T.
3142.
Wel coude he knowe, he well knew how to distinguish. In fact, we
find, in the Manciple's Prologue, that the Cook loved good ale only too
well.
384. mortreux or mortrewes. There were two kinds of 'mortrews,'
' mortrewes de chare' and 'mortrewes of fysshe.' The first was a kind
of soup in which chickens, fresh pork, crumbs of bread, yolks of eggs,
and saffron formed the chief ingredients; the second kind was a soup
containing the roe (or milt) and liver of fish, bread, pepper, ale. The
ingredients were first stamped or brayed in a mortar, whence it probably derived its name. Lord Bacon (Nat. Hist. i. 48) speaks of 'a
mortresse made with the brawne of capons stamped and strained.' See
Babees Book, pp. 151, 170, 172. This line, like 11, 371 and 391, is
deficient in the first foot.
386. mormal, a cancer or gangrene. Ben Jonson, in imitation of this
passage, has described a cook with an C old mortmal on his shin;' Sad
Shepherd, act ii. sc. 2. Palsgrave gives- 'Mormall, a sore.' In MS.
Oo. i. 20, last leaf, in the Camb. Univ. Library, are notices of remedies
' Por la maladie que est apele malum mortlum.' The MS. says that it
comes from melancholy, and shows a broad hard scurf or crust.
387. blank-manger, a compound made of capon minced, with cream,
sugar, and flour. Named from its white colour.
388. woning, dwelling; from A. S. wunian, to dwell.
by weste = westward. A good old expression, which was once very
common as late as the I6th century.
389. Dartmouth was once a very considerable port; see Essays on
Chaucer, p. 456.
390. rouncy, a common hackney horse, a nag. Cf. Rozinante. 'Rocinante-significativo de lo que habia sido cuando fue rocin, antes de lo
que ahora era.'-Don Quijote, cap. i. ' From Rozin, a drudge-horse,
and ante, before.'-Jarvis's note. The O. F. form is roncin.




THE SHIPMAN.                           73
as he couthe, as he knew how; but, as a sailor, his knowledge this
way was deficient.
391. a goune of falding, a gown (robe) of coarse cloth. The term
falding signifies 'a kind of frieze or rough-napped cloth,' which was
probably 'supplied from the North of Europe, and identical with the
woollen wrappers of which Hermoldus speaks, " quos nos appellamus
Faldones." '-Way. 'Falding was a coarse serge cloth, very rough and
durable,' &c.; Essays on Chaucer, p. 438.
392. laas, lace, cord. Seamen still carry their knives slung.
394. the hote somer. 'Perhaps this is a reference to the summer of
the year 1351, which was long remembered as the dry and hot summer.'
-Wright. There was another such summer in 1370, much nearer the
date of this Prologue. But it may be a mere general expression.
395. a goodfelawe, a merry companion; as in 1. 648.
396-398. C Very many a draught of wine had he drawn (stolen away
or carried off) from Bordeaux, cask and all, while the chapman (merchant
or supercargo to whom the wine belonged) was asleep; for he paid no
regard to any conscientious scruples.'
took keep; cf. F. prendre garde.
399. hyer hond, upper hand.
400. ' He sent them home to wherever they came from by water,' i. e.
he made them ' walk the plank,' as it used to be called; or, in plain
English, threw them overboard, to sink or swim. However cruel this
may seem now, it was probably a common practice. 'This battle (the
sea-fight off Sluys) was very murderous and horrible. Combats at sea
are more destructive and obstinate than upon land;' Froissart's Chron.
bk. i. c. 50. See Minot's Poems, ed. Hall, p. 16. In Wright's History
of Caricature, p. 204, is an anecdote of the way in which the defeat of
the French at Sluys was at last revealed to the king of France, Philippe
VI, by the court-jester, who alone dared to communicate the news.
' Entering the King's chamber, he continued muttering to himself, but
loud enough to be heard-" Those cowardly English! the chickenhearted English!" " How so, cousin??" the king inquired. " Why,"
replied the fool, " because they have not courage enough to jump into
the sea, like your French soldiers, who went over headlong from their
ships, leaving them to the enemy, who had no inclination to follow
them." Philippe thus became aware of the full extent of his calamity.'
And see Essays on Chaucer, p. 460.
402. stremes, currents.
him bisydes, ever near at hand.
403. herberwe, harbour; see note to 1. 765.
mone, moon; time of the lunation.
lodemenage, pilotage. A pilot was called a lodesman; see Way's
note in Prompt. Parv. p. 310o; Riley's Memorials of London, p. 655;




74


THIE DO CTO UR.


Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, 1488; Furnivall's Temporary
Preface, p. 98. At a later period lodesman meant any guide; Monk of
Evesham, ed. Arber, p. 106.  M. E. lode is the A. S. Iad, a way, a
course, the sb. whence the verb to lead is derived. It is itself derived
from A. S. lIzan, to travel.
408. Gootland, Gottland, an island in the Baltic Sea.
409. cryke, creek, harbour, port.
4IO. We find actual mention of a vessel called the fMaudelayne
belonging to the port of Dartmouth, in the years 1379 and 1386; see
Essays on Chaucer, p. 484. See also N. & Q. 6 S. xii. 47.
414. astronomye, (really) astrology. See Saunders on Chaucer,
p. III.
415, 4I6. kepte, watched. The houres are the astrological hours. He
carefully watched for a favourable star in the ascendant. 'A great
portion of the medical science of the middle ages depended upon astrological and other superstitious observances.'-Wright.
416. magik naturel. Chaucer alludes to the same practices in the
House of Fame,. bk. iii. 11. 169-I80:'Ther saugh I pleyen Iogelours
And clerkes eek, which conne wel
Al this magyke naturel,
That craftely don her ententes
To make, in certeyn ascendentes,
Images, lo! through which magyke,
To make a man ben hool or syke.'
417. The ascendent is the point of the zodiacal circle which happens
to be ascending above the horizon at a given moment, such as the
moment of birth. Upon it depended the drawing out of a man's horoscope, which represented the aspect of the heavens at some given critical
moment. The moment, in the present case, is that for making images.
It was believed that images of men and animals could be made of certain
substances and at certain times, and could be so treated as to cause good
or evil to a patient, by means of magical and planetary influences. See
Cornelius Agrippa, De Occulta Philosophia, lib. ii. capp. 35-47. The
sense is-' He knew well how to choose a fortunate ascendant for treating images, to be used as charms to help the patient.'
420. These are thefour humours, hot, cold, dry, moist. Milton, Par.
Lost, ii. 898. Diseases were supposed to be caused by an undue excess
of some one humour; and the mixture of prevalent humours in a man's
body determined his complexion or temperament. Thus the sanguine
man was thought to be of a hot and moist humour; the phlegmatic, cold
and moist; the choleric, hot and dry; the melancholy, cold and dry.
422. parfitpiractisour, perfect practitioner.




THE DOCTOUR.


75


424. his bote, his remedy; A. S. bot, a remedy; E. boot.
426. drogges. MS. Harl. dragges; the rest drogges, drugges, drugs.
As to dragges (which is quite a different word), the Promptorium
Parvulorum has ' dragge, dragetum'; and Cotgrave defines dragee (the
French form of the word dragge) as 'a kind of digestive powder prescribed unto weak stomachs after meat, and hence any jonkets, comfits,
or sweetmeats served in the last course for stomach-closers.'
Zetuaries, electuaries. 'Letuaire, laituarie, s. m., electuaire, sorte
de medicament, sirop;' Godefroy.
429-434. Read tk'olde. ' The authors mentioned here wrote the chief
medical text-books of the middle ages.' Rufus was a Greek physician
of Ephesus, of the age of Trajan; Haly, Serapion, and Avicen (Ebn
Sina) were Arabian physicians and astronomers of the eleventh century;
Rhasis was a Spanish Arab of the tenth century; and Averroes (Ebn
Roschd) was a Moorish scholar who flourished in Morocco in the
twelfth century. Johannes Damascenus was also an Arabian physician,
but of a much earlier date (probably of the ninth century); Constanti[n]us Afer, a native of Carthage, and afterwards a monk of Monte
Cassino, was one of the founders of the school of Salerno-he lived at
the end of the eleventh century; Bernardus Gordonius, professor of
medicine at Montpellier, appears to have been Chaucer's contemporary;
John Gatisden was a distinguished physician of Oxford in the earlier
half of the fourteenth century; Gilbertyn is supposed by Warton to be
the celebrated Gilbertus Anglicus. The names of Hippocrates and
Galen were, in the middle ages, always (or nearly always) spelt Ypocras
and Galienus.'-Wright. JEsculapius, god of medicine, was fabled to
be the son of Apollo. Dioscorides was a Greek physician of the second
century. See the long note in Warton, 1871, ii. 368.
439. 'In cloth of a blood-red colour and of a blueish-grey.' Cf. ' robes
de ers,' Rom. de la Rose, 9116.
440. tafata (or taffety), a sort of thin silk; E. tafeta.
sendal (or cendal), a kind of rich thin silk used for lining, very
highly esteemed.  Thynne says-' a thynne stuffe lyke sarcenett.'
Palsgrave however has 'cendell, thynne lynnen, sendal.' See Piers
Plowmain, B. vi. i; Marco Polo, ed. Yule (see the index).
441. esy of dispence, moderate in his expenditure.
442.. wan in pestilence, acquired during the pestilence. This is an
allusion to the great pestilence of the years 1348, 1349; or to the later
pestilences in 1362, 1369, and 1376.
443. For= because, seeing that. It was supposed that auruzt  potabile
(perhaps gold-dust in water) was a remedy in some cases. The actual
reference is, probably, to Les Remonstrances de Nature, by Jean de
Meun, 11. 979, 980, &c.; ' C'est le fin et bon or potable, L'humide
radical notable; C'est sonveraine medicine;' and the author goes on to




76


THE WYF OF BATHE.


refer us to Ecclus. xxxviii. 4-' The Lord hath created medicines out of
the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.' Hence the Doctor
would not abhor gold. And further-' C'est medicine cordiale;' ib.
1029.
445. of bisyde, &c., from (a place) near Bath.
446. ' But she was somewhat deaf, and that was her misfortune.' We
should now say--' and it was a pity.'
447. clooth-making. 'The West of England, and especially the neighbourhood of Bath, from which the "good wif" came, was celebrated, till
a comparatively recent period, as the district of cloth-making. Ypres
and Ghent were the great clothing-marts on the Continent.'-Wright.
* Edward the third brought clothing first into this Island, transporting
some families of artificers from Gaunt hither.'-Burton's Anat. of Mel.
p. 51.
haunt, use, practice.
448. passed, i. e. surpassed.
450. to the ofring. In the description of the missal-rites, Rock shews
how the bishop (or officiating priest) 'took from the people's selves
their offerings of bread and wine... The men first and then the women,
came with their cake and cruse of wine.' So that, instead of money
being collected, as now, the people went up in order with their offerings; and questions of precedence of course arose. The Wife insisted
on going up first among the women. See Rock, Church of our Fathers,
iii. 2. 33, 149.
453. coverchief (keverchef, or kerchere, kerche).  The kerchief, or
covering for the head, was, until the fourteenth century, almost an indispensable portion of female attire.
fulfyne ofground, of a very fine texture. See Pierce the Ploughman's Crede, 1. 230, which means ' it was of fine enough texture to take
dye in grain.'
454. ten pound.  Of course this is a playful exaggeration; but
Tyrwhitt was not justified in altering ten pound into a pound; for a
pound-weight, in a head-dress of that period, was a mere nothing, as
will be readily understood by observing the huge structures represented
in Fairholt's Costume, figs. 125, 129, 130, 151, which were often further
weighted with ornaments of gold.
457. streitey-teyd, tightly fastened. See note to 1. 175.
moiste, soft-not ' as hard as old boots.'
460. chirche-dore. The priest married the couple at the church-porch,
and immediately afterwards proceeded to the altar to celebrate mass, at
which the newly-married persons communicated.
461. Withouten= besides. other companye, other lovers. This expression (copied from Le Rom. de la Rose, 1. 12985-' autre companie') makes it quite certain that the character of the Wife of Bath is




THE WYF OF BATHE.


27


copied, in some respects, from that of La Vieille in the Roman de la
Rose.
462. as nouthe, as now, i. e. at present. A. S. ni-l d, now then.
465. Boloigne. Cf. 'I will have you swear by our dear Lady of
Boulogne;' Gammer Gurton's Needle, Act 2, sc. 2. An image of the
virgin, at Boulogne, was sought by pilgrims. See Heylin's Survey of
France, p. 193, ed. I656 (quoted in the above, ed. Hazlitt).
466. In Galice (Galicia), at the shrine of St. James of Compostella, a
famous resort of pilgrims in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As
the legend goes, the body of St. James the Apostle was supposed to
have been carried in a ship without a rudder to Galicia, and preserved
at Compostella. See Piers Plowman, A. iv. o09, IIo, and note to B.
Prol. 47.
Coloigne. At Cologne, where the bones of the Three Kings or
Wise Men of the East, Gaspar, Mielchior, and Balthazar, are said to be
preserved. See Coryat's Crudities; Chambers, Book of Days, ii. 75I.
467. ' She knew much about travelling.'
468. Gat-tothed=gat-toothed, meaning gap-toothed, having teeth wide
apart or separated from one another. A gat is an opening, and is allied
to E. gate. The Friesic gat, Dan., Du., and Icel. gat, and Norweg.
gat all mean a hole, or a gap. Very similar is the use of the Shropshire
glat, a gap in a hedge, also a gap in the mouth caused by loss of teeth.
Example: 'Dick, yo' bin a flirt; I thought yo' wun (were) gwein to marry
the cook at the paas'n's. Aye, but 'er 'd gotten too many glats i' the
mouth for me;' Miss Jackson's Shropshire Word-book. 'Faminethe gap-toothed elf;' Golding's Ovid, b. 8; leaf o05. It occurs again,
C. T. 6185.   Gat-toothed has also been explained as goat-toothed,
lascivious, but the word goat appears as goot in Chaucer. Perhaps the
following piece of'folk-lore' will help us out. 'A young lady the other
day, in reply to an observation of mine-" What a lucky girl you are!"
-replied; "So they used to say I should be when at school." "Why?"
" Because my teeth were set so far apart; it was a sure sign Z should
be zucky and travel."'-Notes & Queries, i Ser. vi. 60I.
469. amblere, an ambling horse.
470. Y-wimpled, covered with a wimple; see 1. I5I.
471. targe, target, shield.
472. foot-mantel. Tyrwhitt supposes this to be a sort of ridingpetticoat, such as is now used by market-women. It is clearly shewn,
as a blue outer skirt, in the drawing in the Ellesmere MS. At a later
time it was called a safe-guard (see Nares), and its use was to keep the
gown clean. It may be added that, in the Ellesmere MS., the Wife is
represented as riding astride. Hence she wanted 'a pair of spurs.'
474. carpe, prate, discourse; Icel. karpa, to brag.  The present
sense of carp seems to be due to Lat. carpere.




78


THE WYF OF BATHE.


475. remedyes. An allusion to the title and subject of Ovid's book,Remedia Amoris.
476. the olde daunce, the old game, or custom. The phrase is
borrowed from Le Roman de la Rose, 1. 3946-' Qu'el scet toute la
vielle dance;' E. version, 1. 4300-' For she knew alle the olde daunce.'
It occurs again; Troil. iii. 695.
478. Persoun of a toun, the parson or parish priest. Chaucer, in his
description of the parson, contrasts the piety and industry of the secular
clergy with the wickedness and laziness of the religious orders or
monks. See Dryden's' Character of a Good Parson,' and Goldsmith's
Deserted Village.
482. parisshens, parishioners; in which -er is a later suffix.
485. y-preved, proved (to be).
ofte sythes, often-times; from A. S. szi, a time.
486. ' He was very loath to excommunicate those who failed to pay
the tithes that were due to him.' 'Refusal to pay tithes was punishable
with the lesser excommunication;' Bell. Wyclif complains of 'weiward
ouratis' that 'sclaundren here parischenys many weies by ensaumple of
pride, enuye, coueitise and vnresonable vengaunce, so cruely cursynge
for tithes;' Works, ed. Matthew, p. 144.
487. yeven, give; A. S. gifan.
out of doute, without doubt.
489. offring, the voluntary contributions of his parishioners.
substaunce, income derived from his benefice.
490. suffjsaunce, a sufficiency; enough to live on.
492. lafte not, left not, ceased not; from M. E. leven.
493. meschief, mishap, misfortune.
494. ferreste, farthest; superl. offer, far.
muc/ze, great.
lyte, small; A. S. lyt, small, little.
497. wroghte, wrought, worked; pt. t. of werchen, to work.
498. The allusion is to Matt. v. 19, as shewn by a parallel passage
in P. Plowman, C. xvi. 127.
502. lewed, unlearned, ignorant. Lewed or lewd originally signified
the people, laity, as opposed to the clergy; the modern sense of the
word is not common in Middle English.     Cf. mod. E. lewd, in Acts
xvii. 5.
503-504. if a freest tak-e keep, if a priest may (i. e. will) but pay heed
to it. St. John Chrysostom also saith, 'It is a great shame for priests,
when laymen be found faithfuller and more righteous than they.'Becon's Invective against Swearing, p. 336.
507. to hyre. The parson did not leave his parish duties to be per-formed by a stranger, that he might have leisure to seek a chantry in
St. Paul's. See Piers Plowman, B-text, Prol. 1, 83.




THE PERSOUN.


79


508. And leet, and left (not). We should now say-' Nor left.' So
also, in 1. 509, And ran= Nor ran. Leet is the pt. t. of leten, to let
(alone).
509. Here again, si-ynt is used as if it were dissyllabic; see 11. 120, 697.
50o. chamnterye, chantry, an endowment for the payment of a priest
to sing mass, agreeably to the appointment of the founder.
511. 'Or to be kept (i.e. remain) in retirement along with some
fraternity.' I do not see how wzith-holde can mean 'maintained,' as it
is usually explained. Cf. dwelte in 1. 512.
514. no mercenarie, no hireling; see John x. 12, where the Vulgate
version has mercenarius.
516. despitous, full of despite, or contempt; cf. E. spite.
517. daungerous, not affable, difficult to approach. digne, full of
dignity; hence, repellent. 'She was as digne as water in a ditch;'
C. T. 3962; because stagnant water keeps people at a distance.
519. fairnesse, i. e. by leading a fair or good life. The Harleian MS.
has clennesse, that is, a life of purity.
523. snibben, reprimand; cf. Dan. snibbe, to rebuke, scold; mod. E.
snub.
nones: see 1. 379.
525. wayted after, looked for. See line 571.
526. spyced conscience; so also in C. T. 6o017. Siced here seems to
signify, says Tyrwhitt, nice, scrupulous; lit. ' highly seasoned,' hence,
sophisticated, hypocritical. It occurs in the Mad Lover, act iii. sc. i,
by Beaumont and Fletcher. When Cleanthe offers a purse, the priestess
says' Fy! no corruption....
Cle. Take it, it is yours;
Be not so spiced; 'tis good gold;
And goodness is no gall to th' conscience.'
'Under pretence of spiced holinesse.'-Tract dated 1594, ap. Todd's
Illustrations of Gower, p. 380.
'Fool that I was, to offer such a bargain
To a spiced-conscience chapman!'
Massinger, Emperor of the East, i. i.
'Will you please to put off
Your holy habit, and spiced conscience? one,
I think, infects the other.'
Massinger, Bashful Lover, iv. 2.
527. 'But the teaching of Christ and of his twelve apostles, that
taught he.'
529. Plowman; not a hind or farm-labourer, but a poor farmer, who
himself held the plough.
was, who was.




80


THE PL0 WMIAN.


530. y-lad, carried, lit. led. Cf. prov. E. lead, to cart (corn).
531. swinker, toiler, workman; see 1. i86. Cf. swink, toil, in 1. 540.
534. though him gamed or smerte, though it was pleasant or unpleasant to him.
536. dyke, make ditches.
delve, dig; A. S. delfan.
54I. mere. People of quality would not ride upon a mare.
545. carl, fellow; Icel. karl, cognate with A. S. ceorl, a churl.
nones; see 1. 379.
547. 'That well proved (to be true); for everywhere, where he
came.'
548. the ram. This was the usual prize at wrestling-matches.
Tyrwhitt says-' Matthew Paris mentions a wrestling-match at Westminster, A.D. 1222, in which a ram was the prize.' Cf. Sir Topas,
Group B, I931.
549. a thikke knarre, a thickly knotted (fellow), i. e. a muscular
fellow. Cf. M. E. knor, Du. knorre, a knot in wood; and E. gnarled.
550. of harre, off its hinges, lit. hinge. 'I horle at the notes, and
heve hem al of herre;' Poem on Singing, in Reliq. Antiquae, ii. 292.
Gower has out of herre, off its hinges, out of use, out of joint; Conf.
Amant. bk. ii, ed. Pauli, i. 259; bk. iii, i. 318. From A. S. heor, a
hinge.
553. Todd cites from Lilly's aMidas-' How, sir, will you be trimmed?
Will you have your beard like a spade or a bodkin? '-Illust. of Gower,
p. 258.
554. cop, top; A. S. copp, a top; cf. G. Kopf;
555. werte, wart.
heres, hairs.
557. nose-thirles, lit. nose-holes; mod. E. nostrils.
559. forneys.  'Why, asks Mr. Earle, should Chaucer so readily fall
on the simile of a furnace? What, in the uses of the time, made it
come so ready to hand? The weald of Kent was then, like our "black
country" now, a great smelting district, its wood answering to our coal;
and Chaucer was Knight of the Shire, or M.P. for Kent.'-Temporary
Preface to the Six-Text edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, p. 99.
560. langler, loud talker.
goliardeys, a ribald jester, one who gained his living by following rich men's tables, and telling tales and making sport for the
guests. Tyrwhitt says,'This jovial sect seems to have been so called
from Golias, the real or assumed name of a man of wit, towards the end
of the twelfth century, who wrote the Apocalypsis Golize, and other
pieces in burlesque Latin rhymes, some of which have been falsely [?]
attributed to Walter Map.' But it would appear that Golias is the sole
invention of Walter Map, the probable author of the 'Golias' poems.




THE MILLER.


See Morley's Eng. Writers, 1866, i. 586, where we read that the
Apocalypse of Golias and the confession of Golias 'have by constant
tradition been ascribed to him [Walter Map]; never to any other
writer.'  Golias is a medieval spelling of the Goliath of scripture,
and occurs in Chaucer, Man of Lawes Tale, B. 934. In several
authors of the thirteenth century, quoted by Du Cange, the goliardi
are classed with the joculatores et buzfones, and it is very likely
that the word goliardus was, originally, quite independent of Golias,
which was only connected with it by way of jest. The word goliardus
seems rather to have meant, originally, 'glutton,' and to be connected
with gula, the throat; but it was quite a common term, in the thirteenth
century, for certain men of some education but of bad repute, who composed or recited satirical parodies and coarse verses and epigrams for
the amusement of the rich. See T. Wright's introduction to the poems
of Walter Map (Camden Soc.); P. Plowman, ed. Skeat, note to B. prol.
o109 Wright's History of Caricature, ch. x., &c.
561. that, i. e. his ' angling,' his noisy talk.
harlotrye means scurrility; Wyclif (Eph. v. 4) so translates Lat.
scurrilitas.
562. * Besides the usual payment in money for grinding corn, millers
are always allowed what is called " toll," amounting to 4 lbs. out of
every sack of flour.'-Bell. But it can hardly be doubted that, in old
times, the toll was wholly in corn, not in money at all. It amounted,
in fact, to the twentieth or twenty-fourth part of the corn ground,
according to the strength of the water-course; see Strutt, Manners and
Customs, ii. 82, and Nares, s. v. Toll-disk. When the miller 'tolled
thrice,' he took thrice the legal allowance.
563. a thombe of gold. An explanation of this proverb is given on
the authority of Mr. Constable, the Royal Academician, by Mr. Yarrell
in his History of British Fishes, who, when speaking of the Bullhead or
Miller's Thumb, explains that a miller's thumb acquires a peculiar
shape by continually feeling samples of corn whilst it is being
ground. Cf.
' When millers toll not with a golden thumbe.'
Gascoigne's Steel Glass, 1. io8o.
Ray's Proverbs give us-' An honest miller has a golden thumb;' ed.
1768, p. 136. Brand, in his Pop. Antiquities, ed. Ellis, iii. 387, quotes
from an old play-' Oh the mooter-dish, the miller's thumbe!'
A simpler explanation is to take the words just as they stand, i. e. 'he
used to steal corn, and take his toll thrice; yet he had a golden thumb
such as all honest millers are said to have.'
565. W. Thorpe, when examined by Arundel, archbp. of Canterbury,
in 1407, complains of the pilgrims, saying-' they will ordain to have
with them both men and women that can well sing wanton songs; and




THE MA UNCIPLE.


some other pilgrims will have with them bagpipes; so that every town
that they come through, what with the noise of their singing, and with
the sound of their piping, and with the jangling of their Canterbury
bells, and with the barking out of dogs after them, they make more
noise than if the king came there away, with all his clarions and many
other minstrels.'-Arber's Eng. Garner, vi. 84; Wordsworth, Eccl. Biography, 4th ed. i. 312; Cutts, Scenes and Characters, p. 179.
566. 'And with its music he conducted us out of London.'
567. AMaunciple or manciple, an officer who had the care of purchasing provisions for a college, an inn of court, &c. (Still in use.)
568. which, whom.
achatours, purchasers; cf. F. acheter, to buy.
570. took by taille, took by tally, took on credit. Cf. Piers Plowman,
ed. Wright, vol. i. p. 68, and ed. Skeat (Clarendon Press Series), B. iv.
58:'And (he) bereth awey my whete,
And taketh me but a taille for ten quarters of otes.'
The buyer who took by tally had the price scored on a pair of sticks,
one of which the seller gave him, and kept the other himself.
571. Algate, in every way, always; cf. prov. E. gate, a street.
achat, buying; see 1. 568.
572. ay biforn, ever before (others).
574. swich, such; A. S. swylce.
lewed, unlearned; as in 1. 502.
pace, pass, i. e. surpass.
575. keep, heap, i.e. crowd; like G. Haufe.
581. ' To make him live upon his own income.'
582. 'Unless he were mad.' See 1. 184.
583. ' Or live as economically as it pleases him to wish to do.'
584. al a, a whole. Cf. ' all a summer's day' (Milton, P. L. i. 449)586. hir aller cappe, the caps of them  all. Hir aller = eorum
omnium. ' To sette' a man's ' cappe ' is to overreach him, to cheat him,
or to befool him. Cf. C. T. 3145.
587. Reve. See Prof. Thorold Rogers' capital sketch of Robert
Oldman, the Cuxham bailiff, a serf of the manor (as reeves always were),
in his Agriculture and Prices in England, i. 506-51o.
592. Y-lyk, like.
y-sen-e, visible; see note to 1. 134.
593. 'He knew well how to keep a garner and a bin.'
597. neet, neat, cattle.
dayerye, dairy.
598. hors, horses; pl. See note to 1. 74.
pultrye, poultry.
599. hoolly, wholly; from A. S. hal, whole.




THIE REVE.


83


60o. Sin, short for sithen; and sithen, with an added suffix, became
sithen-s or silhen-ce, mod. E. since.
602. 'No one could prove him to be in arrears.'
603. herde, herd, i. e. cow-herd or shep-herd.
hyne, hind, farm-labourer.
604. That.. his, whose.
covyne, deceit; lit. a deceitful agreement between two parties to
prejudice a third. 0. F. covine, a project; from 0. F. covenir, Lat.
conuenire, to come together, agree.
605. adrad, afraid; from the pp. of A. S. of-cdredan, to terrify greatly.
the deelh, the pestilence; see note to 1. 442.
606. woning, dwelling-place; see 1. 388.
609. astored (Elles. &c.); istored (Harl.); furnished with stores.
6II. lene, lend; whence E. len-d. of, some of.
613. mister, trade, craft; 0. F. mestier (F. ometier), business; Lat.
ministerium.
614. wel, very.
wrighte, wright, workman.
6I5. slot, probably what we should now call a cob. Prof. J. E. T.
Rogers, in his Hist. of Agriculture, i. 36, supposes that a stot was a
low-bred undersized stallion.
616. Sir Topas's horse was ' dappel-gray,' which has the same sense
aspomely gray, viz. gray dappled with round apple-like spots; ' Apon
a cowrsowre pouzmle-gray;' Wyntown, Chron. iv. 217; 'porly-gray;'
Palladius on Husbandry, bk. iv. 1. 809; ' Upon a pomely palfray;'
Lybeaus Disconus, 844 (in Ritson's Metrical Romances).
Scot. 'The name given to the horse of the reeve (who lived at
Bawdeswell, in Norfolk) is a curious instance of Chaucer's accuracy;
for to this day there is scarcely a farm in Norfolk or Suffolk, in which
one of the horses is not called Scot;' note in Bell's Chaucer.
617. pers. Some MSS. read blew. See note on 1. 439
621. Tukked aboute, with his long coat tucked up round him by help
of a girdle. In the pictures in the Ellesmere MS., both the reeve
and the friar have girdles, and rather long coats. See Tuck in Skeat,
Etym. Diet.
622. hind-r-este, hindermost; a curious form, combining both the
comparative and superlative suffixes. Cf. ov-er-est, 1. 290.
623. Somnoutr, summoner; an officer employed to summon delinquents to appear in ecclesiastical courts; now called an apparitor.
624. cherubinnes face. H. Stephens, Apologie for Herodotus, i. c. 30,
quotes the same thought from a French epigram-' Nos grands docteurs
au cherubin visage.'-T. Observe that cherubin 'put for cherubim) is
a plural form. ' As the pl. was popularly much better known than the
singular (c. g. in the Te Deum), the Romanic forms were all fashioned
F 2




84


THE SOMNO UR.


on cherubin, viz. Ital. cherubino, Span. querubin, Port. querubin,
cherubin, F. cherubin;' New English Dictionary. Cherubs were
generally painted red, a fact which became proverbial, as here. Cotgrave has: ' Rouge comme un cherubin, red-faced, cherubin-faced,
having a fierie facies like a Cherubin.'
625. sawceflem  or saws/feam, having a red pimpled face; lit.
afflicted with pimples, &c., supposed to be caused by too much salt
phlegm  (salsum  phlegma) in the constitution. The four humours
of the blood, and the four consequent temperaments, are constantly
referred to in various ways by early writers--by Chaucer as much as
by any. See 1. 420.
627. scalled, having the scall or scab, scabby, scurfy. blake, black.
piled, deprived of hair, thin, slight. Cf. E. peel, vb.
629. litarge, litharge, a name given to white lead.
630. Boras, borax.
ceruce, ceruse, a cosmetic made from white lead; see New E. Dict.
oille of tartre, cream of tartar; potassium bitartrate.
632. Cf. 'Such whelkes [on the head] haue small hoales, out of the
which matter commeth... And this euill commeth of vicious and
gleymie [viscous] humour, which commeth to the skin of their head,
and breedeth therein pimples and whelks.'-Batman on Bartholome,
lib. 7. c. 3. In the same, lib. 7. c. 67, we read that 'A sauce flume face
is a priuye signe of leprosie.' Cf. Shak. Hen. V. iii. 6. Io8.
635. The drinking of strong wine accounts for the Somnour's appearance. ' Wyne... makith the uisage sake fleumed [misprinted falce
flemed], rede, and fulle of white whelkes;' Knight de la Tour, p. 116
(perhaps copied from Chaucer).
643. Can clepen Watte, i. e. can call Walter (Wat) by his name; just
as parrots are taught to say 'Poll.' In Political Songs, ed. Wright,
p. 328, an ignorant priest is likened to a jay in a cage, to which is
added: 'God Engelish he speketh, ac [but] he wot nevere what;'
referring to the time when Anglo-French was the mother-tongue of
many who became priests.
644. ' But if any one could test him in any other point.'
646. Questio quid iuris. ' This kind of question occurs frequently
in Ralph de Hengham. After having stated a case, he adds, quid
juris, and then proceeds to give an answer to it.'-T. It means"the question is, what law (is there)?' i.e. what is the law on this
point?
647. harlot, fellow, usually one of low conduct; but originally
merely a young person, without implication of reproach.
649. ' For a bribe of a quart of wine, he would allow a boon companion of his to lead a vicious life for a whole year, and entirely excuse him; moreover (on the other hand) he knew very well how to




THE SOM NO UR.


85


pluck a finch,' i. e. how to get all the feathers off any inexperienced
person whom it was worth his while to cheat.
[liven as a swyn, live as a swine, live an unclean life.]
654-657. ' He would teach his friend in such a case (i. e. if his friend
led an evil life) to stand in no awe of the archdeacon's curse (excommunication), unless he supposed that his soul resided in his purse; for
in his purse [not in his soul] he should be punished' (i. e. by paying a
good round sum he could release himself from the archdeacon's curse).
' Your purse (said he) is the hell to which the archdeacon really refers
when he threatens you.'
661. assoilling, absolution; from the vb. assoil.
662. war him of, i. e. let him beware of; war is the pres. subj.
significavit, i. e. of a writ de excommunicato capiendo [or excommunication] which usually began, 'Significavit nobis venerabilis frater,'
&c.-T.
663. In daunger, within his jurisdiction, within the reach or control
of his office; the true sense of M. E. daunger is 'control' or ' dominion.'
Thus in the Romaunt of the Rose, 1. 1470, we find:' Narcisus was a bachelere,
That Love had caught in his daungere.'
i. e. whom Love had got into his power.
664. yonge girles, young people, of either sex. In the Coventry
Mysteries, p. 18r, there is mention of 'knave gerlys,' i.e. male children.
665. and was al hir reed, and was wholly their adviser.
666, 667. gerland. The garland here spoken of was distinct from
the bush. The latter was made of ivy-leaves; ard every tavern had an
ivy-bush hanging in front as its sign; hence the phrase, 'Good wine
needs no bush,' &c. But the garland, often used in addition to the
bush, was made of three equal hoops, at right angles to each other, and
decorated with ribands. It was also called a hoop. The sompnour
wore only a single hoop or circlet, adorned with large flowers (apparently roses), according to his picture in the Ellesmere MS. Emelye,
in the Knightes Tale, is described as gathering white and red flowers to
make ' a sotil gerland' for her head.
667. ale-stake, a support for a garland in front of an ale-house. For
a picture of an ale-stake with a garland, see Hotten's Book of Signboards. The position of it was such that it did not stand upright, but
projected horizontally from the side of a tavern at some height from the
ground, as shewn in Larwood and Hotten's Book of Signboards.
Hence the enactments made, that it should never extend above the roadway for more than seven feet; see Liber Albus, ed. H. T. Riley, 1861,
pp. 292, 389.




86


THE PARDONER.


670. Of Rouncival. Of course the Pardoner was an Englishman, so
that he could hardly belong to Roncevaux, in Navarre. The reference
is clearly to the hospital of the Blessed Mary of Rouncyvalle, at
Charing (London), mentioned in Dugdale's Monasticon, ii. 443. Stow
gives its date of foundation as the 15th year of Edward IV, but this was
only a revival of it, after it had been suppressed by Henry V. It was a
'cell' to the Priory of Roncevaux in Navarre. See Todd's Illustrations
of Gower, p. 263. Cf. note to 1. 172.
672. Com hider, love, to me. ' This, I suppose, was the beginning
or the burthen of some known song.'-Tyrwhitt. hider, hither.
673. bar... a stif burdoun, sang the bass.  Cf. Fr. bourdon, the
name of a deep organ-stop.
675, 6. wex, wax. heng, hung. stryke offlex, hank of flax.
677. By ounces, in small portions or thin clusters.
679. colpons, portions; the same word as mod. E. coupon.
680. for lolitee, for greater comfort. He thought it pleasanter to
wear only a cap (1. 683). wered, wore; see 1. 75.
68I. trussed, packed; cf. E. truss.
682. the newe let, the new fashion, which is described in 11. 680-683.
683. Dischevelee, with his hair hanging loose.
685. vernicle, a small copy of the 'vernicle' at Rome. Vernicle is
'a diminutive of Veronike (Veronica), a copy in miniature of the
picture of Christ, which is supposed to have been miraculously imprinted upon a handkerchief preserved in the church of St. Peter at
Rome.. It was usual for persons returning from pilgrimages to bring
with them certain tokens of the several places which they had visited;
and therefore the Pardoner, who is just arrived from Rome, is represented with a vernicle sowed on his cappe.'-Tyrwhitt. See the description of a pilgrim in Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. v. 526.
687. Bret-ful of pardon, brim-full (top-full, full to the top) of indulgences. Cf. Swed. brdddfull, brimful; from brddd, a brim.
692. Fro Berwik, from Berwick to Ware (in Hertfordshire), from
North to South of England. See the similar phrase-' From Barwick to
Dover, three hundred miles over '-in Pegge's Kenticisms (E.D.S.), p. 70.
694. male, bag; cf. E. mail-bag.
pilwebeer, pillow-case. Cf. Low G. biiren, a case (for a pillow), Icel.
ver, Dan. vaar, a cover for a pillow.
696. gobet, a small portion; 0. F. gobat, a morsel; gober, to devour.
698. hente, caught hold of; from A. S. hentan, to seize.
699. 'A cross made of latoun, set full of (probably counterfeit) precious stones.' Latoun was a mixed metal, of the same colour as, and
closely resembling, the modem metal called pinchbeck, from the name
of the inventor. It was chiefly composed of copper and zinc.
70o. Cf. Wyclifs Works, ed. Matthew, p. 154. Chaucer tells us




CHAUCER'S APOLOGY.


87


more about the Pardoner in his preamble to the Pardoner's Tale, and
has been closely copied by Heywood and Sir D. Lyndesay.
702. up-on lond, in the country. Country people used to be called
uplondish men.
705, 70o6. lapes, deceits, tricks, his apes, his dupes.
"71o. alder-best, best of all; alder is a later form of aller, from A. S.
ealra, of all, gen. pl. of eal, all. See 11. 586, 823.
712. affyle, file down, make smooth.
716. Thestat, tharray = the estate, the array: the coalescence of the
article with the noun is very common in Middle English.
719. highte, was named; cf. A.S. hdtan, (i) to call, (2) to be called,
to be named (with a passive sense).
721. ' How we conducted ourselves that same night.'
726. ' That ye ascribe it not to my ill-breeding.' narette, for ne
arelte. From 0. F. aretter, to ascribe, impute; from Lat. ad and
reputare; see Aret in the New E. Diet. Also spelt arate, with the
sense 'to chide;' whence mod. E. to rate. So here the poet implies' do not rate me for my ill-breeding.'
727. pleynly speke (Elles. &c.); speke al pleyn (Harl.).
731. shal telle, has to tell.
after, according to, just like.
734. Al speke he, although he speak. See al have 1, 1. 744.
738. ' He is bound to say one word as much as another.'
741, 742. This saying of Plato is taken from Boethius, De Consolatione, lib. iii. pr. 12. ' Thou hast lerned by the sentence of Plato, that
nedes the wordes moten ben cosynes to tho thinges of whiche thei
speken;' see Boeth., ed. Morris, p. o106,11. i6, 17. In Le Roman de la
Rose, 7131, Jean de Meun says that Plato tells us, speech was given
us to express our wishes and -thoughts, and proceeds to argue that men
ought to use coarse language. Chaucer was thinking of this singular
argument. We also find in Le Roman (1. 15392) an exactly parallel
passage, which means in English, ' the saying ought to resemble the
deed; for the words, being neighbours to the things, ought to be
cousins to their deeds.' So also in the Manciple's Tale, H. 208.
744. 'Although I have not,' &c.
747. Our hoste.  It has been remarked that from   this character
Shakespeare's ' mine host of the Garter' in the Merry Wives of Windsor
is obviously derived.
752. The duty of the ' marshal of the hall' was to place every one
according to his rank at public festivals, and to preserve order. Cf.
Spenser, F. Q. v. 9. 23. For stepe (753) see note to 1. 201.
754. Chepe, i. e. Cheapside, in London.
760. maad our rekeninges, i. e. paid our scores.
764. I saugh nat (Elles. &c.); I ne saugh (Harl.). To scan the




88


THE HOS T.


line, read I n' saughi, dropping the e in ne. The insertion of ne is
essential to the sense, viz. I have not seen.'
765. herberwe, inn, lit. harbour. The F. auberge is from the O. H. G.
form of the same word.
770. 'May the blessed martyr duly reward you!'
772. shaplenyow, intend; cf. 1. 809.
talen, to tell tales.
777. yow lyketh alle, it pleases you all; 3yow is in the dat. case, as in
the mod. E. 'if you please.' See note to 1. 37.
783. ' Hold up your hands;' to signify assent.
785. to make it sys, to make it a matter of wisdom or deliberation;
so also made it strange, made it a matter of difficulty, C. T. 3978.
791. 'To shorten your way with.' In M. E., the prep. with always
comes next the verb in phrases of this character. Most MSS. read our for
your here, but this is rather premature. The host introduces his proposal
to accompany the pilgrims by the use of our in 1. 799, and we in 1. 8oi.
798. 'Tales best suited to instruct and amuse.'
799. our aller cost, the expense of us all; here our= A. S. ire, of us;
see 11. 710, 823.
808. mo, more; A. S. md. In M. E., mo generally means 'more in
number,' whilst more means ' larger,' from A. S. midra. Cf. 1. 849.
81o. and our othes swore, and we swore our oaths; see next line.
81 7. In heigh and lowe. ' Lat. In, or de alto et basso, Fr. de haut en
bas, were expressions of entire submission on one side, and sovereignty
on the other.'-Tyrwhitt. Cotgrave (s. v. Bas) has:-' Taillables haut
et bas, taxable at the will and pleasure of their lord.' It here means'under all circumstances.'
819. fet, fetched; from A. S.fetian, to fetch, pp.fetod.
822. d.y. It is the morning of the T7th of April. See note to 1. I.
823. our aller cok, cock of us all, i. e. cock to awake us all. ozt?
aller = A. S. fire ealra, both in the gen. pl.
825. riden, rode; pt. t. pl., as in 1. 856. The i is short.
pas, a foot-pace.
826. St. Thomas a Waterings was a place for watering horses, at a
brook beside the second mile-stone on the road to St. Thomas's shrine,
i. e. to Canterbury. See Nares, s. v. Watering.
828. ifyow leste, if it may please you. The verb listen made lisle in
the past tense; but Chaucer changes the verb to the form lesten, pt. t.
leste, probably for the sake of the rime.  See 1. 75o, and cf. 1. 102.
In the Knightes Tale, 1. 194, as hir liste rimes with zupriste.
829. Ye woot, ye know. Really false grammar, as the pl. of woot is
properly witen, just as the pl. of rood is riden in 1. 825. As woot was
used as a present tense, its original form was forgotten. 'Ye know
your agreement, and I recal it to your memory.' See 1. 33.




THE KNIGHT.                           89
830. ' If even-song anl matins agree;' i.e. if you still say now what
you said last night.
832. 'As ever may I be able to drink.'
833. be, may be (subjunctive mood).
835. draweth cut, draw lots, lit. draw the short straw. In the Gloss.
to Allan Ramsay's poems, ed. 1721, he explains-' ciutts, lots. These
cuts are usually made of straws unequally cut, which one hides between
his finger and thumb, whilst another draws his fate.' See Brand, Pop.
Antiq., iii. 337. The one who drew the shortest (or else the longest)
straw was the one who drew the lot.  Cf. 'Solrs, a kut, or a lotte;'
Reliquie Antique, i. 7. 'After supper, we drew cit/tes for a score of
apricoks, the longest citl stil to draw an apricoke;' Marston, Induction
to The A/alcontent.
ferrer twinne, depart further. Hereferrer is the comp. off-f', far.
Tivinine is to separate, part in twain; hence, to depart.
844. sort, lot, destiny; 0. F. sort; cf. E. sort.
847. as was resouin, as was reasonable or right.
848. forward, agreement, as in 1. 33.  com/ositioun has almost
exactly the same sense, but is of French origin.
853. shal biginne, have to begin.
854. What; used interjectionally, like the modern E. 'why!' a, in.
Here a is for an, a form of on; the A. S. on is constantly used with the
sense of ' in.'
856. riden, rode; pt. pl. See 1. 825.




INDEX OF WORDS EXPLAINED, AND
GUIDE TO THEIR PRONUNCIATION.
The following Index shews where the words occur of which explanations are given. The numbers refer to the lines.
The spellings within marks of parenthesis indicate the pronunciation
of the words, according to the scheme explained at p. 12.  Where such
spellings are not given, it is because the spelling in the text is already
sufficiently phonetic.
The pronunciations are given (in most cases) as if the word stood
alone, without elision. When the final e is elided in the text, such
elision is there marked by printing it as ' e; as explained at p. 13.
The raised dot, as in (achaa't), denotes the accent. The accent is
not marked when its position is obvious.


a, 854.
achat (achaa*t), 571.
achatours (achaa'tuurz), 568.
acordaunt, 37.
adrad (adrad'), 605.
afyle (afii'la), 712.
after, 347, 731.
al, 734, 744.
alderbest, 710.
alderman, 372.
ale (aala), 382.
ale-stake (aale-staaka), 667.
algate (algaa'ta), 571.
Algezir (al-jezii'r), 57.
Alisaundre (a-lisaun-dra), 51.
aller, 586, 799, 823.
amblere (ambleer), 469.
anlas (an'laas), 357.
anoint, 199.
apes (aapez), 706.
Aprille (april'la), I.
apyked (apii-ked), 365.
arette, 726.


arrerage (areraaja), 602.
aryve (arii'va), 60.
ascendent (as'sendent*), 417.
assoiling (asoilingg), 661.
astored, 609.
astronomye (astron-omii'a), 414.
atte, 29.
Austin, 187.
avaunt, 227.
aventure (av'entii'ra), 25.
bacheler (bachelee'r), 80.
bake mete, (baaka maeta), 343.
balled (bal'ed, bald), 199.
barres (bar'rez), 329.
bawdrik (baudrik), 116.
be (bee), 60.
bedes (baedez), 159.
beggestere (beg'estae'ra), 242.
Belmarye (belmarii-a), 57.
Beneit (benei-t), 173.
berd (baerd), 270.
bet. 242.




INDEX OF WORDS.


9]


biforn, 100, 572.
bisette, 279.
bismotered (bismutred), 76.
bisyde (bisiid-q), 445; -S, 402.
bit, i87.
blankmanger (blankmanjee-r), 387.
bokeler (buklceer), II2.
Boloigne (buloina), 465.
boras (boraaws), 630.
bord, 5 2.
born, 87.
bote (bootz), 424.
botes (bootez), 203.
bracer (brasee-r), I II.
breenm (braem), 350.
bretful, 687.
broche (braocha), i6o.
Burdeux (burd-euz), 397.burdoun (burduuni), 673.
caas, 3 23.
cafl, 210, 3171.
carf, icoo.
carl, 545.
carpie, 474.
ceint (seint), 329.
celle (sella), I72.
ceruce (serii-sa), 630.
ch~apeleyne, i64.
ckaunterye (chaunterii3a', 5io.
Che~pe (chaepv), 754.
cherubinnes (eher~iibin-ez'), 624.
chevisaunce (chevizaun-sa), 282.
ckivachye (chiv~achuii-~, 85.
chivalrye (chivalrfiia), 45.
chirche-dore (chircha-daora), 460.
clene (kleena, klaena), 133.
clepen (klaepen), 643; -ed, 121.
cloisterlees (kloisterlae-s), 1 79 (Hi.).
clootk-maleing (klaoth-maakingg".
447.
Coloigne (koloino), 466.
colpions (kulponz), 679.
come (kuma), 23.
companye (kcumpaniiPo), 461,
comPosicioun (kompozi-siuiun), 848.
cop, 554.
cope  (kao p~, 2 0


corages (kuraa-jez), II.
cordial (kordiaa-l), 442.
cosin (kuzin), 742.
cost (kaost), 192, 799.
cole (kaota),.328.
counlour (kuuntuirr), 359.
cours (kuurs), 8.
courtepy (kuurtepii-), 290.
coulk-e (kuu-dha), 14, 390; coude,
327, 382.
coverckief (kuvwercheefs), 4.53.
covyne (kuvii-na), 604.
Cristendonm (kristendoom), 49.
Crislofre (kristofr), i i5.
cro~ppes, 7.
crulle, 8 I.
cryke (kriikD), 409.
cut, 835.
daliaunce (daliaun-SD), 211.
daunce (daunsa), 47-6.
daunger (daunjer), 663.
daungerous (daunjeruuns), 517.
dayerye (dei-erii-ya), 597.
dayesye (dei-ez-fiiy;), 332.
deelk (daeth), 6o5.
deliver (delivr), 84.
delve,.5 36.
delyl (delfiit), 335.
de~pe (deepa), 129.
Dertemouthe (dertemuudha), 389
despitous (despitnuus), 5i6.
des~port (desport-), 137,
devyse (devii-zz), 34.
deynlee (deintee), i68.
deys (deis), 370.
digne (diinzn), 517.
dis~pence (dispen-sa), 441.
disckevelee (dis-chev-lee), 683.
domes (doomez'), 323.
dormnant, 353a.
dorste (dorsta, dursta), 227.
doule (duut;n), 487.
drogges (drugez), 426.
droghte (druuhta), 2.
dyke (dii-ka), 536.
embrouded (embruuded), 89.
entuned (entii-ned), 1 23.
envyned (envii-ned), 342.




92
Epicurns (epikii-rus), 3
esed (aezed), 29.
esy (aezi), 44I.
evene (eevna), 83.
everichoon (aevrich-ao-:
eyen, for yen (iiyen), i


INVDEX OF WORDS.
36.            giPser (jiPser), 357.
girles, 664.
gobet (gob-et), 696.
goliardeys (gol-yardei-s), 56o.
n), 31i.       Gootland (gaotland), 408.
2.            gonne (guun3a), 392.
z'race (szraasQ), 88.


fair. 165; -e, 124.
faiding (faldingg), 39i.
falle, 324.
farsed, 2,3 3.
felawe (felau-a), 395.
felawshipe (fel-aushiya), 26, 32.
ferme, 2 52 b.
ferne, I4.
ferre, 48; -er, 835;-est, 494.
ferthing (ferdhingg), 134.
fet, 8 i9.
fetis (feetis), '57; -ly, 124, 273.
filue, 13i.
fithel (fidhl), 296.
flex, 676.
flozir (fluur), 4.
floytynge (floitingg), 91.
foghten (f~uhten), 62.
foot-mnantel (foot-mantel-), 472.
forby (forbfii), '75 (HI.).
forneys (fur-neis), 202; (ftirnei-s),
559.
for-pyned (forpii-ned), 205.
forster, I1I7.
forward, 33, 848.
fonrc, (fooura), 210.
fowles (fuulez), 9.
frankeleyn (frankelein), 2i6, 331.
fraternitee, 364.
Frensh, 126.
frere (freera), 208.
fyr-reed (fiir-raecl), 624.
Galice (ga1-iis), 466.
galingale (ganl-ingaa-1a), 381.
gamed (gaa-med), 534.
gat-toothed (gat-too-dhed), 468.
ganded, i 59.
gerland, 666.
Gernade (jeraa-da), 56.
gesse (gessa), 82.
ginglen (jingglen), i170.
gipoun (jipuuwn), 75.


gronnd (gniund), 453.
grys (gariis), 194.
haberdassher, 36i.
habergeonn (haberjuu-n), 76.
haiwes (halwez), 14.
hardily (hardili), i56.
harlot, 647.
harlotryes (harlotrfiiez), 56i.
harneised (harnei-sed), I 14.
harre,.550.
haunt, 447.
kee~p (haep), 575
heigh (heih, hei), 8i7.
held (heeld, held), 182.
hem (hem, cm), 175 (HI1.).
heng (heengg), i6o, 358, 676.
hente, 698.
herberwe (her-beru, her-bru), 403.
765.
herde, 603.
heres (haerez), 55,5.
hethen (haedhen), 66.
hethenesse (hae-dhenes-sz), 49.
hider (hid-er), 672.
highte (hifiht), 7i9.
hindreste (hindrest), 622.
hir (hir, ir), i i.
holpen, i 8.
holt, 6.
hoolly (haol-li), 599.
hors, 74, 598.
hostelrye (ostelrii-a), 23.
hote (haotb), 97.
houndes (huundez), 146.
honres (uurez), 416.
hnmonr (imnuur), 421.
hyer (hiijer), 399.
hyne (hii-na), 603.
hyre (hiira), 507.
ilke, 6 i.
images (imaajez), 4I8.




INDEX OF WORDS.


93


infect (infekt-), 320.
mane (inna), 4 1.
langlere (Janggleer), 560.
lapes cjaapez), 705.
let (jet), 682.
lolitee (jolitee), 68o.
muoin (jii-liaan), 340.
Inste (jiista), 96.
keep, 503.
kepte, 4155.
knarre, 549.
knight (kniht), 43.
laas, 392.
lady (laadi), 88.
lafte, 49 2.
langage (langaa-ja), 211.
lataun (lat-uun), 699.
lay (lai), 20.
lazar, 242.
leed (laed), 202.
lene (laena), 6 11.
lest, 132.
leste, 828.
Lettow (let'qu),.54.
letuaries (letuiaa-riez), 426.
lever (leever), 293.
lewed (lae-wed), 502, 574.
licentiat (lisentiaat), 220.
licour (likumr),.3.
limitaur (limitnur), 209.
lipsed, 264.
liste, 102.
litarge (lit-arj), 629.
liveree (livree), 363.
lodemenage (laod--menaa>p ý, 403.
lokkes (lok-ez), 81.
love-dayes (1uvadeiz), 258.
love-knotte (luv-knotta, luv-knot),
196.
lovyere (1uvryer), So.
Lay (loi), 1 20.
lace (lidisa), 350.
lyketh (liiketh);, 777.
lyte (ijito),, 494.
maistrye (meistrii-a), 165.


make (maa-ka), 325.
male (maa-la), 694.
snaner (man-er), 71.?aauaciple (maunsipi), 567.
Maure, 17 3.
mede (maeda), 89.
medlee, 328.
meladye (mel-odii~a), 9.
men, sing., 149, 232.
mercenarie (mersenaa-ria), 514.
mere (maera), 541.
merye (meriu), 208.
sneschief (mescheef), 493.
mete (maeta), 127, 136.
mewe (me-wa, mewa), 349.
Middelburghz, 277.
mister (mistee-r), 613.
ma (mao), 8o8.
mone (moona), 403.
Moot (moot), 232.
marmal, 386.
morireax (mortreuz), 384.
morwe (morn), 334.
mattelee (mot-elee-), 2 7 1.
muclee (mucho), 494.
aa-?na (namao), 101.
narette; see arette.
natheles (naa-dheles-), 35.
nature (natui~ira), isi.
neet (naet), 597.
aightertale (nihtertaa-la), 97.
nones (naonez), 379, 523.
nonue (nun-na), 163.
noot (naot), 284.
nase-thirles (naoza-thirlez), 557.
not-heed (not-haed), 109.
nouthe, as (az nuudha), 462.
o (ao), 738.
aifriag (offringg-), 450, 489.
aistre (oistra), 182.
0071 (aon), 341.
ordres (ordrez), 210.
Orewelle (aorawellu), 277.
ounces (uunsez), 677.
outrydere (uutriidae-ra), 166.
over (aover), 133; -al (aovral),
216.
Oxenford, 285.




94


IN~DEX OF WORDS.


pace (paa-sa), '75, 574.
Palalye (palatfiin), 65 (n. to 56).
palmers (palmerz), i3.
parfit (parfit), 72.
parisshens (parishenz), 482.
/xarvys (parvii-s), 310.
pas (paas), 82,5.
passed (paas-ed), 448.
pecok (pae-kok), 104.
peire, i159.
perced (persed), 2.
pers, 439, 6i7.
persoun (persuuin), 478.
Pestilence (pestilen-sa), 442.
peyned (peined), i39.
philosopkre (fil-osofr), 297.
piled (pfii-ed), 62.7.
pilwebeer (pil-ubee-r), 694..pinche, 326; -ed, i~i.
pitaunce (pitaun sa), 224.
plentevous (plentevuu-s), 344.
pleyn (plein), 315, 327.
plowman (pluuman), 529.
point, in good, 200.
pomely (pumeli, pumli), 616.
poraille (poreikb), 247.
post (paost), 21I4.
poudre-marchant (puudre-), 381.
pound (puund), 454.
povre (paovra, paovr), 225.
poynaunt (poinaunt-), 352.
presse, 8s, 263.
pricasour (prikasuuor), i89.
priketh (priketh), ii.
principio, in, 2 54.
Pruce (prii-sa), 53.
prys (priis), 67, 237.
pulle, 65 2; -ed, i -7.
pultrye (pultriia), 598.
purchas, 256; -ing,9 320.
purfiled (purfsiiled), i93.
Ram, 8; ram, 548.
raugicte (rauhta), 136.
recckelees (retchelae-s), 179 (E.).
reed (raed), 665.
reson (rae-z-un), 274; resoun. (raezouun), 37, 847.
reste, 30.
reule (reeula), I73.


reve (reeve), 587.
reysed (reized), 54.
riden (rid-n), 8,25; (rid-en), 856.
role (roota), 2.
rote (raota), 236.
Rouncival (ruunsivaal), 670.
rouncy (riunsi), 390.
rounded (raunded), 263.
Ruce (rU-sa), 54.
sangwia (sang-gwin), 439; (sanggwii-n), 333..
saucefleein (sau-seflae-m), 625.
saugA (sauh), 764.
sautrye (sautriiva), 296.
sawe (saua), 144.
scathce (skaa-dha), 446.
scole (skoola), 125.
scoleye (skoleina), 302.
see (sac), 59.
seigh (seih), 193.
seke (seeka), i8.
seken (sceken), i3.
semely (seemili), 123.
semi-cope (semi-kaopa), 262.
seadal (sendaa-1), 440.
sene (saena), I34.
service (ser-vise-), 122.
seson (saesun), i9.
sessiouns (sesiuunz), 355.
seyat (sceeint), 120, 509, 697.
shapen (shaa-pen), 772.
shaply (shaapli), 372.
slzeef (shaef), 104.
skeeldes (sheeldez), 278.
sheae (sheena), i15, i6o.
shire (shii-ra), 35'6.
sicirreve (shir-reve), 359.
sho (shoo), 2.53.
shoures (shuurez), s.
sikerly (sikerli), I37.
sin, 6o i.
slayn, (slein), 63.
sleep, 98.
sinale (smaala), 9.
smerte, 149, 230, 534.
'smoot (smaot), 149.
snewed (snee-wed), 345.
snibben (snib-en), 523.




INDEX OF WORDS.


95


solempnely (soleinpneli), 274.
somer (sumer, sumr), 394.
sonvuour (sumnuur), 623.
somlyme (sumtii-ma), 66.
soudry (sundri), 14.
soune (sunna), 7.
sop in wyn (wiin), 334.
soper (supee-r), 349.
sort, 844.
sote (soota), I.
s-,ouninge (suuningg), 275, 307.
souple (suupla, sunpi), 203.
so'uereyn (suvrein), 67.
space (spaa-sa),1 1 76.
spyced (spiised), 526.
squyer (skwiee-r), 79.
stature (statii-ra), 83.
stemed (steemed), 202.
stepe (staepa), 201, 753.
stewe (ste-w;, stenoD), 350.
stot, 6 15.
Stratford-atte-Bowe (baooa), 125.
streit, 174; -e, 457.
stremes (straemez), 402.
stroudes (strondez), 13.
stryke (striika), 676.
substaunce (substaunsa), 489.
si~ffisaunce (sufizaun-sa), 490.
swich, 574.
swiuken (swingk-en), 186; -er, 5 31.
sythes (siidhez), 485.*
Tabard (tab-ard), 20; (tabard-),
541.
taffata: (taf-ataa), 440.
taille (teila), 570.
talen (taalen), 772.
tapicer (tapisee-r), 362.
la~ppestere (tapestaera), 241.
targe (tarjzo), 471.
tartre (tartra), 630.
termes (termez), 323.
text (tekst), I77 182.
ther-as (dhaer-az), 172.
therto (dhaer-too), 48; (dhaertoo-),
325.
thencrees (/dhenkraes), 275
thinketh (thingketh), 37.
tkomnbe (thumba), 563.


tipet (tip-et), 233.
Tramissene (tramissee-na), 62 (n. to
56).
tretys (tretfiis), 152.
trussed (trused), 681.
tukked (tuk-ed), 621.
twinne, 83.5.
tymue (tiima), 356.
uudergrowe (uudergroouo.), 156.
uuknowe (unknaouo,), I126.
vavasour (vavasuu-r), 3160.
veuerye (venerii-a), 166.
vernicle (verniki), 685.
verray (verai), 72.
viage (viaaja),7.
vigilyes (vijilfiiez), 377.
vileiuye (vileiniio,), 70.
wautown (wantaon), 208; -esse, 264.
war, vb., 662; adj., 157, 309.
wastel-breed (braed), 147.
wayted (weited), 525.
webbe (web-ba), 362.
weep, 148.
wet (wel, weel), 24.
weude, 16.
wered (waered), 75; (waerd), 68o.
werre, 47.
werte, 555.
wvette, 129.
wex, 675.
whau (hwan), i.
what (hwat), 184, 854.
whelkes (hwelkez), 632.
whiche (hwicha), 40.
ukyl (hwiil), 35.
wight (wiht), 71.
wiste, 2 24.
withouten (widhuu-ten), 461.
withholde (widh-haol-da), 511.
wo (wao), 351.
wolden, 27.
wone (wunoa), 335.
woniug (wun-ingg), 388, 6o6.
wonnue (wunna), 51.
wood (wood), 184, 582.


A




96


INDEX OF WORDS~.


Woot (waot), 82,9.
worthy (wurdhi), 43, 217.
wrighte (wrihta), 614.
write (writ-a), i6i.
wroghte (wrquhta), 497.
wys (wiis, wiiz), 785.
yaf, i77, 302. (see 496).
y-chaped (ichaa-ped), 365.
y-clept (ikept), 376.
yi! (ii'a, ii-ya), Io; see eye.
yeddinges (yeddingz), 237.
yeer (yaer), 82.
yeldhalle, 370.
yeman (yeeman), io1.


yerde, 149.
yeven, 487.
Y-go (igao'), 286.
y-lyk (ilii-k), 592.
yonge (yunggq), 7.
YOW (YUU), 777.
y-'preved (ipreeved), 485.
y-ronne (irun-na), 8.
y-sene (isae-na), 592.
y-shzrive (ishriva), 226.
y-teyd (itei-d), 457.
y-wimpled (iwimpled), 470.
Zeplzirus (zefirus), S.
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