Perhaps. ↩
Though Chaucer may have referred to the famous Censor, more probably the reference is merely to the Moral Distichs, which go under his name, though written after his time; and in a supplement to which the quoted passage may be found. ↩
Age. ↩
Slim, neat. ↩
Girdle, with silk stripes. ↩
Apron; from Anglo-Saxon barme, bosom or lap. ↩
Loins. ↩
Plait, fold. ↩
Not the underdress, but the robe or gown. ↩
Strings. ↩
Headgear, kerchief; from French, envelopper, to wrap up. ↩
Certainly. ↩
Lascivious, liquorish. ↩
Arched. ↩
Pleasant to look upon. ↩
Young pear-tree. ↩
Brass, latten, in the shape of pearls. ↩
Could fancy, think of. ↩
Puppet; but chiefly; young wench. ↩
The nobles new coined in the Tower, where was the Mint; nobles were gold coins of especial purity and brightness; “Ex auro nobilissimi, unde nobilis vocatus,” says Vossius. ↩
Shrill, lively; German, gern, willingly, cheerfully. ↩
Barn. ↩
In addition to all this. ↩
Romp. ↩
Bragget, a sweet drink made of honey, spices, etc. In some parts of the country, a drink made from honeycomb, after the honey is extracted, is still called “bragwort.” ↩
Metheglin, mead. ↩
Wanton, skittish. ↩
Primrose. ↩
A fond term, like “my duck”; from Anglo-Saxon, piga, a young maid; but Tyrwhitt associates it with the Latin, ocellus, little eye, a fondling term, and suggests that the pigs-eye, which is very small, was applied in the same sense. Davenport and Butler both use the word “pigsnie,” the first for “darling,” the second literally for “eye”; and Bishop Gardner, “On True Obedience,” in his address to the reader, says: “How softly she was wont to chirpe him under the chin, and kiss him; how prettily she could talk to him (how doth my sweet heart, what saith now pig’s-eye).” ↩
Lying. ↩
Again. ↩
Courteous. ↩
Toy; play the rogue. ↩
A once well-known abbey near Oxford. ↩
Assuredly. ↩
Earnest, cruel. ↩
My mistress. ↩
Die, perish. ↩
Travise; a frame in which unruly horses were shod. ↩
Faith. ↩
Haro! was an old Norman cry for redress or aid. The “Clameur de Haro” was lately raised, under peculiar circumstances, as the prelude to a legal protest, in Jersey. ↩
Unless. ↩
Secret. ↩
Ill spent his time. ↩
Unless. ↩
Whit. ↩
Work. ↩
Stretched. ↩
Head of hair. ↩
Complexion. ↩
His shoes were ornamented like the windows of St. Paul’s, especially like the old rose-window. ↩
Daintily, neatly. ↩
A gown girt around the waist. ↩
Sky colour. ↩
Twig, bush; German, reis, a twig; reisig, a copse. ↩
Then; Chaucer satirises the dancing of Oxford as he did the French of Stratford at Bow. See note 43. ↩
Rebeck, a kind of fiddle. ↩
Treble. ↩
Guitar. ↩
Mirth, sport. ↩
Gay, licentious girl that served in a tavern. ↩
Somewhat squeamish. ↩
Burning incense for. ↩
Above all. ↩
Have soon caught. ↩
Jolly, joyous. ↩
Stationed himself. ↩
Projecting or bow window, whence it was possible shoot at any one approaching the door. ↩
Take pity. ↩
Chamber. ↩
Better. ↩
By presents and by agents, pimping, or brokerage. ↩
Quavering. ↩
A drink made with wine, honey, and spices. ↩
Cakes. ↩
Red-hot coal. ↩
Because she was town-bred, he offered wealth, or money reward, for her love. ↩
Parish-clerks, like Absolon, had leading parts in the mysteries or religious plays; Herod was one of these parts, which may have been an object of competition among the amateurs of the period. ↩
“May go whistle.” ↩
Jest. ↩
The cunning one near at hand oft makes the loving one afar off to be odious. ↩
Mad. ↩
Devise a statagem. ↩
Knew. ↩
Believed. ↩
That. ↩
Till Sunday evening. ↩
Wondered greatly. ↩
Afraid, in dread. ↩
Heaven forefend! ↩
Ticklish, fickle, uncertain. ↩
Surely. ↩
Work. ↩
Servant. ↩
Call. ↩
Mad. ↩
Where. ↩
Looked; keek is still used in some parts in the sense of peep.
