And he was cladde in cote and hode of grene; A not-hed hadde he with a broune vifage: An horne he bare, the baudrik was of grene: 105 110 115 So the Miller, ver. 3947, is careful" To faven his eftat of Ye"manrie." The appropriation of the word to fignify a fmall landholder is more modern I apprehend. V. 104. peacock arwes] Arrows with peacock feathers. See Mr. Warton's illuftration of this paffage, Hift. of Eng. Poetry, p. 450. There is a patent in Rymer, 15 R. II. " de arte fagit"tandi per Valettos Regis exercendâ." The Yeomen, and all other fervants of the royal household, of whatever itate or of fice, under the degree of Yeomen, are ordered to carry bows and arrows with them whenever they ride, &c. in the king's train. . io9. A not-bed] A head like a nut, from the hair probably being cut short. It has since been called a round-head for the fame reason. . 115. A Criftofre] I do not fee the meaning of this ornament. By the ftat. 37 Edw. III. yomen are forbidden to wear any ornaments of gold or filver. Volume 11. B A forfter was he fothely as I geffe. Ther was alfo a Nonne, a Prioreffe, And Frenche fhe fpake ful fayre and fetifly, 120 125 V. 120. Seint Fley] In Latin San&us Eligius. I have no authority but that of edit. Urr. for printing this faint's name at length. In all the mf. which I have feen it is abbreviated St. Loy, both in this place and in ver. 7146. The metre will be fafe if othe be pronounced as a diffyllable. .124. And trenche se spake] It has been mentioned before [Flay, Sc. n. 55,] that Chaucer thought but meanly of the English-French spoken in his time. It was proper however that the Prioreffe thould speak fome fort of French not only as a woman of fathion, (a character which the is represented to affe&, ver. 139, 140,) but as a religious perfon. The inftructions from the Abbot of St. Albans to the nuns of Sopewell, in 1338, were in the French language. See Au&. Add. M. Paris, p. 1171. V. 127. At mete] 'The following circumftances of behaviour at table are copied from Rom. de la R. 14178—14199 ; Et bien fe garde qu'elle ne moeille Ses doys au brouet jufqu' es jointes, Sc. Si fagement port fa bouchee, Que fur fon pied goutte n'en chee De fouppe, ne de faulfe noise Et doit fi bien fa beucbe terdre Ne wette hire fingres in hire fauce depe; That in hire cuppe was no ferthing sene 130 Of grefe whan fhe dronken hadde hire draught; 135 And fikerly she was of grete difport, But for to fpeken of hire confcience, 140 145 150 155 For hardily fhe was not undergrowe. Ful fetife was hire cloke, as I was ware. Another Nonne alfo with hire hadde fhe.. That was hire chapelleine, and Preeffes thre. A Monk ther was, a fayre for the maistrie, An out-rider, that loved veneric; 160 165 . 159. gauded all with grene] Having the gawdies green i fome were of filver gilt, Monafe. v. iii. p. 1747 “Tria paria. "precularium del corall cum le gaudeys argenti deaurata." So in Gower, Conf. Am. f. 190; A paire of bedes blacke as fable She toke and hynge my necke about. Was wryte of gold, pur repofer. . 163. Another Nonne, &c.] See Difcourse, Sé, p. 180. 165. a fayre for the maiftrie] We thould fay'a fair one ; but in Chaucer's time fuch tautology was not, I fuppote, cle gant; fo below, ver. 189; Therfore he was a prickafour a right. As to the phrafe for the maifric, I take it to be derived from the French pour la maitrie, which I find in an old book of phyfick applied to fuch medicines as we ufually call Sovereign, excellent above all others. MJ. Bod. 761, Secreta h. Samp, de Clorburnel, fol. 17, b.." Ciroigne bone pur là maistrie a brifer "et a meurer apoftemes, &c. Medicine magiftrel pur fe "ftre, &c. Medicine pur la maiftrie pur feftre," &c. And in another treatise in the fame mf Medulla Cirurgiæ Rolandi, fimilar phrafes are used in Latin, fol. 77, "Pocio bona pro ma"gifterio ad vulnera fanarda." &c. fol. 79, "Contra. Ju pum, c. medicamen magiftrale." In the fame fente the Monk is faid to be fair for the matrie above all others. The phrafe is ufed by R. of Gloucester, p. 553; “An ftede he gan A manly man to ben an abbot able; Ful many a deinte hors hadde he in ftable, And whan he rode men mighte his bridel here 170 And eke as loude as doth the chapell belle Ther as this lord was keper of the celle. The reule of Seint Maure and of Seint Beneit, Because that it was olde and fomdele ftreit, This ilke monk lette olde thinges pace, 175 And held after the newe world the trace. He yave not of the text a pulled hen That faith that hunters ben not holy men, "prikie wel vor the maiftrie." The feveral chymical preparations known by the name of magisterium of lead, bifmuth, c. I conceive to have originally acquired that name from their being confidered at firft as masterly operations. V. 166. loved venerie] i. e. hunting; if the word in Chaucer's time had born any other sense he would hardly have put it into the mouth of Emilia in ver. 2310. The monks of that age are reprefented as fond of field-fports. See below, ver. 189 -192, and P. P. fol. L. a. Knighton says that an abbot of Leicefter, who died in 1377,"in venatione leporum inter omnes "regni dominos famofiflimus et nominatiffimus habebatur.” X Scriptor. p. 2631. He adds indeed that the abbot was used to affert, what perhaps may have been partly true, "ie non "delectaffe in hujufmodi frivolis venationibus, nifi folum pro "obfequiis dominis regni præftandis, et affabilitate eorum cap"tandâ, et gratia in suis negotiis adipifcenda.” . 169. bis bridel---Gingeling] See this fathion of hanging bells on bridles, &c. illuftrated by Mr. Warton, Hifi.of Erg. Po. p. 164. See alfo below, ver. 14800,1. . 177. a pulled hen] See below, ver. 6694; Swiche arrogance u'is not worth an hen. I do not see much force in the epithet pulled. Ca. 1, reads pullet. |