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XVII.: THE TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID. - Geoffrey Chaucer, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 7 (Supplement: Chaucerian and Other Pieces) [1897]

Edition used:

The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, edited from numerous manuscripts by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat (2nd ed.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899). 7 vols.

Part of: The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 7 vols.

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XVII.

THE TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID.

From E. (Edinburgh edition, 1593); collated with Th. (Thyme, ed. 1532).

    • ANE dooly sesoun to ane cairfull dyte[ ]
    • Suld correspond, and be equivalent.
    • Richt sa it wes quhen I began to wryte
    • This tragedy ; the wedder richt fervent ,
    • Quhen Aries, in middis of the Lent,5
    • Shouris of haill can fra the north discend;
    • That scantly fra the cauld I micht defend .
    • Yit nevertheles, within myn orature
    • I stude, quhen Tytan had his bemis bricht
    • Withdrawin doun and sylit under cure;10[ ]
    • And fair Venus, the bewty of the nicht,
    • Uprais, and set unto the west full richt
    • Hir goldin face, in oppositioun
    • Of god Phebus direct discending doun.
    • Throwout the glas hir bemis brast sa fair15
    • That I micht see , on every syde me by,
    • The northin wind had purifyit the air,
    • And shed the misty cloudis fra the sky.
    • The froist freisit, the blastis bitterly
    • Fra pole Artyk come quhisling loud and shill ,20
    • And causit me remuf aganis my will.
    • For I traistit that Venus, luifis quene,
    • To quhom sum-tyme I hecht obedience,
    • My faidit hart of luf sho wald mak grene;
    • And therupon, with humbil reverence,25
    • I thocht to pray hir hy magnificence;
    • But for greit cald as than I lattit was,
    • And in my chalmer to the fyr can pas.
    • Thocht luf be hait, yit in ane man of age
    • It kendillis nocht sa sone as in youthheid ,30
    • Of quhom the blude is flowing in ane rage;
    • And in the auld the curage †douf and deid,[ ]
    • Of quhilk the fyr outward is best remeid,
    • To help be phisik quhair that nature failit;
    • I am expert, for baith I have assailit.35
    • I mend the fyr, and beikit me about,
    • Than tuik ane drink my spreitis to comfort,
    • And armit me weill fra the cauld thairout.
    • To cut the winter-nicht, and mak it short,
    • I tuik ane quair , and left all uther sport,40
    • Writtin be worthy Chaucer glorious,
    • Of fair Cresseid and lusty Troilus.
    • And thair I fand , efter that Diomeid[ ]
    • Ressavit had that lady bricht of hew,
    • How Troilus neir out of wit abraid ,45
    • And weipit soir, with visage paill of hew;
    • For quhilk wanhope his teiris can renew,
    • Quhill †esperans rejoisit him agane:
    • Thus quhyl in joy he levit, quhyl in pane.
    • Of hir behest he had greit comforting,50
    • Traisting to Troy that sho suld mak retour,
    • Quhilk he desyrit maist of eirdly thing,
    • For-quhy sho was his only paramour.
    • Bot quhen he saw passit baith day and hour
    • Of hir gaincome, than sorrow can oppres55
    • His woful hart in cair and hevines.
    • Of his distres me neidis nocht reheirs,
    • For worthy Chaucer, in the samin buik,
    • In guidly termis and in joly veirs
    • Compylit hes his cairis, quha will luik.60
    • To brek my sleip ane uther quair I tuik,
    • In quilk I fand the fatall desteny
    • Of fair Cresseid, that endit wretchitly.
    • Quha wait gif all that Chauceir wrait was trew?
    • Nor I wait nocht gif this narratioun65
    • Be authoreist, or fenyeit of the new
    • Be sum poeit, throw his inventioun,
    • Maid to report the lamentatioun
    • And woful end of this lusty Cresseid,
    • And quhat distres sho thoillit, and quhat deid .70
    • O fair Cresseid ! the flour and A-per-se
    • Of Troy and Grece, how was thou fortunait ,[ ]
    • To change in filth all thy feminitee ,80
    • And be with fleshly lust sa maculait,
    • And go amang the Greikis air and lait
    • Sa giglot-lyk, takand thy foull plesance!
    • I have pity thee suld fall sic mischance!
    • Yit nevertheles, quhat-ever men deme or say85
    • In scornful langage of thy brukilnes ,
    • I sall excuse, als far-furth as I may,
    • Thy womanheid, thy wisdom , and fairnes,
    • The quilk Fortoun hes put to sic distres
    • As hir pleisit, and na-thing throw the gilt90
    • Of thee, throw wikkit langage to be spilt.
    • This fair lady, in this wys destitut
    • Of all comfort and consolatioun,
    • Richt prively, but fellowship, on fut[ ]
    • Disgysit passit far out of the toun95
    • Ane myle or twa, unto ane mansioun
    • Beildit full gay, quhair hir father Calchas,
    • Quhilk than amang the Greikis dwelland was.
    • Quhan he hir saw, the caus he can inquyr
    • Of hir cuming; sho said, syching full soir,100
    • ‘Fra Diomeid had gottin his desyr
    • He wox wery, and wald of me no moir!’
    • Quod Calchas, ‘Douchter, weip thow not thairfoir;
    • Peraventure all cummis for the best;
    • Welcum to me; thow art full deir ane gest.’105
    • This auld Calchas, efter the law was tho,[ ]
    • Wes keeper of the tempill, as ane preist,
    • In quhilk Venus and hir son Cupido
    • War honourit; and his chalmer was thaim neist;
    • To quhilk Cresseid, with baill aneuch in breist,110
    • Usit to pas, hir prayeris for to say;
    • Quhill at the last, upon ane solempne day,
    • As custom was, the pepill far and neir,
    • Befoir the none, unto the tempill went
    • With sacrifys devoit in thair maneir.115
    • But still Cresseid, hevy in hir intent,
    • In-to the kirk wald not hir-self present,[ ]
    • For giving of the pepil ony deming
    • Of hir expuls fra Diomeid the king:
    • But past into ane secreit orature120
    • Quhair sho micht weip hir wofull desteny.
    • Behind hir bak sho cloisit fast the dure ,
    • And on hir knëis bair fell down in hy.
    • Upon Venus and Cupid angerly
    • Sho cryit out, and said on this same wys,125
    • ‘Allas ! that ever I maid yow sacrifys !
    • Ye gave me anis ane devyn responsaill
    • That I suld be the flour of luif in Troy;
    • Now am I maid an unworthy outwaill ,
    • And all in cair translatit is my joy.130
    • Quha sall me gyde? quha sall me now convoy,
    • Sen I fra Diomeid and nobill Troilus
    • Am clene excludit, as abject odious?
    • Quhen this was said, doun in ane extasy,
    • Ravishit in spreit, intill ane dream sho fell;
    • And, be apperance, hard , quhair sho did ly,[ ]
    • Cupid the king ringand ane silver bell,
    • Quhilk men micht heir fra hevin unto hell;145
    • At quhais sound befoir Cupide appeiris
    • The sevin planetis , discending fra thair spheiris ,
    • Quhilk hes powèr of all thing generábill
    • To reull and steir, be thair greit influence,
    • Wedder and wind and coursis variábill.150
    • And first of all Saturn gave his sentence,
    • Quhilk gave to Cupid litill reverence,
    • But as ane busteous churl, on his maneir,
    • Com crabbitly, with auster luik and cheir.
    • His face fronsit , his lyr was lyk the leid155[ ]
    • His teith chatterit and cheverit with the chin
    • His ene drowpit , how, sonkin in his heid
    • Out of his nois the meldrop fast can rin
    • With lippis bla , and cheikis leine and thin
    • The yse-shoklis that fra his hair doun hang160
    • Was wonder greit, and as ane speir als lang.
    • Than Juppiter richt fair and amiábill,
    • God of the starnis in the firmament,170
    • And nureis to all thing[is] generábill,
    • Fra his father Saturn far different,
    • With burely face, and browis bricht and brent;
    • Upon his heid ane garland wonder gay
    • Of flouris fair, as it had been in May.175
    • His voice was cleir, as cristal wer his ene;
    • As goldin wyr sa glitterand was his hair;
    • His garmound and his gyte full gay of grene,
    • With goldin listis gilt on every gair;
    • Ane burely brand about his middill bair .180
    • In his right hand he had ane groundin speir,
    • Of his father the wraith fra us to weir.[ ]
    • Nixt efter him com Mars, the god of ire,
    • Of stryf , debait, and all dissensioun;
    • To chyde and fecht, als feirs as ony fyr ;185
    • In hard harnes, hewmound and habirgeoun,
    • And on his hanche ane rousty fell fachioun :
    • And in his hand he had ane rousty sword,
    • Wrything his face with mony angry word.
    • Than fair Phebus, lanterne and lamp of licht
    • Of man and beist, baith frute and flourishing,[ ]
    • Tender nuréis , and banisher of nicht,
    • And of the warld causing, be his moving200
    • And influence, lyf in all eirdly thing;
    • Without comfort of quhom, of force to nocht
    • Must all ga dy, that in this warld is wrocht.
    • As king royáll he raid upon his chair ,
    • The quhilk Phaeton gydit sum-tyme unricht ;205[ ]
    • The brichtnes of his face, quhen it was bair,
    • Nane micht behald for peirsing of his sicht.
    • This goldin cart with fyry bemes bricht
    • Four yokkit steidis, full different of hew,
    • But bait or tyring throw the spheiris drew.210
    • The first was soyr , with mane als reid as rois,[ ]
    • Callit Eöy , in-to the orient;[ ]
    • The secund steid to name hecht Ethiös ,
    • Quhytly and paill, and sum-deill ascendent;
    • The thrid Peros , richt hait and richt fervent;215
    • The feird was blak, callit †Philegoney ,
    • Quhilk rollis Phebus down in-to the sey.
    • Venus was thair present, that goddes gay ,
    • Hir sonnis querrel for to defend, and mak
    • Hir awin complaint, cled in ane nyce array,220
    • The ane half grene, the uther half sabill-blak;
    • Quhyte hair as gold, kemmit and shed abak;
    • But in hir face semit greit variance,
    • Quhyles perfit treuth, and quhylës inconstance.
    • Under smyling sho was dissimulait,225
    • Provocative with blenkis amorous;
    • And suddanly changit and alterait,
    • Angry as ony serpent venemous ,
    • Richt pungitive with wordis odious.
    • Thus variant sho was, quha list tak keip,230
    • With ane eye lauch , and with the uther weip:—
    • In taikning that all fleshly paramour,
    • Quhilk Venus hes in reull and governance,
    • Is sum-tyme sweit, sum-tyme bitter and sour,
    • Richt unstabill, and full of variance,235
    • Mingit with cairfull joy, and fals plesance;
    • Now hait, now cauld; now blyth , now full of wo;
    • Now grene as leif, now widderit and ago.
    • With buik in hand than com Mercurius,
    • Richt eloquent and full of rethory;240
    • With pólite termis and delicious;
    • With pen and ink to réport all redy ;
    • Setting sangis, and singand merily.
    • His hude was reid, heklit atour his croun,
    • Lyk to ane poeit of the auld fassoun.245
    • Boxis he bair with fine electuairis,[ ]
    • And sugerit syropis for digestioun;
    • Spycis belangand to the pothecairis,
    • With mony hailsum sweit confectioun;
    • Doctour in phisik, cled in scarlot goun,250
    • And furrit weill, as sic ane aucht to be,
    • Honest and gude, and not ane word coud le .
    • Nixt efter him com lady Cynthia,
    • The last of all, and swiftest in hir spheir ,[ ]
    • Of colour blak, buskit with hornis twa,255
    • And in the nicht sho listis best appeir ;[ ]
    • Haw as the leid, of colour na-thing cleir.
    • For all hir licht sho borrowis at hir brothir
    • Titan; for of hir-self sho hes nane uther.
    • Hir gyte was gray, and full of spottis blak;260
    • And on hir breist ane churl paintit ful evin,[ ]
    • Beirand ane bunch of thornis on his bak,
    • Quhilk for his thift micht clim na nar the hevin.
    • Thus quhen they gadderit war, thir goddis sevin,
    • Mercurius they cheisit with ane assent265
    • To be foir-speikar in the parliament.
    • Quha had ben thair, and lyking for to heir
    • His facound toung and termis exquisyte,
    • Of rhetorik the praktik he micht leir,
    • In breif sermone ane pregnant sentence wryte.270
    • Befoir Cupide vailing his cap a lyte,
    • Speiris the caus of that vocacioun;
    • And he anonshew his intencioun.
    • ‘Lo!’ quod Cupide, ‘quha will blaspheme the name
    • Of his awin god, outhir in word or deid,275
    • To all goddis he dois baith lak and shame,
    • And suld have bitter panis to his meid.
    • I say this by yonder wretchit Cresseid ,
    • The quhilk throw me was sum-tyme flour of lufe,
    • Me and my mother starkly can reprufe.280
    • Saying, of hir greit infelicitè[ ]
    • I was the caus; and my mother Venus,
    • Ane blind goddes hir cald , that micht not see,
    • With slander and defame injurious.
    • Thus hir leving unclene and lecherous285
    • Sho wald returne on me and [on ] my mother,
    • To quhom I shew my grace abone all uther.
    • And sen ye ar all sevin deificait,
    • Participant of dévyn sapience,
    • This greit injúry don to our hy estait290[ ]
    • Me-think with pane we suld mak recompence;
    • Was never to goddis don sic violence.
    • As weill for yow as for myself I say;
    • Thairfoir ga help to révenge, I yow pray.’
    • Mercurius to Cupid gave answeir,295
    • And said, ‘Shir king, my counsall is that ye
    • Refer yow to the hyest planeit heir,
    • And tak to him the lawest of degrè,
    • The pane of Cresseid for to modify ;[ ]
    • As god Saturn , with him tak Cynthia.’300
    • ‘I am content,’ quod he, ‘to tak thay twa.’
    • Than thus proceidit Saturn and the Mone,
    • Quhen thay the mater rypely had degest;[ ]
    • For the dispyt to Cupid sho had done,
    • And to Venus oppin and manifest,305
    • In all hir lyf with pane to be opprest
    • And torment sair, with seiknes incurábill,
    • And to all lovers be abominábill .
    • This dulefull sentence Saturn tuik on hand,
    • And passit doun quhair cairfull Cresseid lay;310
    • And on hir heid he laid ane frosty wand,
    • Than lawfully on this wyse can he say;
    • ‘Thy greit fairnes, and al thy bewty gay,
    • Thy wantoun blude, and eik thy goldin hair,
    • Heir I exclude fra thee for evermair.315
    • I change thy mirth into melancholy,
    • Quhilk is the mother of all pensivenes;
    • Thy moisture and thy heit in cald and dry;[ ]
    • Thyne insolence, thy play and wantones
    • To greit diseis: thy pomp and thy riches320
    • In mortall neid; and greit penuritie
    • Thow suffer sall , and as ane beggar die .’
    • O cruel Saturn, fraward and angry,
    • Hard is thy dome, and to malicious !
    • On fair Cresseid quhy hes thow na mercy,325
    • Quhilk was sa sweit, gentill, and amorous?
    • Withdraw thy sentence, and be gracious
    • As thow was never; so shawis thow thy deid,
    • Ane wraikfull sentence gevin on fair Cresseid.
    • Than Cynthia, quhen Saturn past away,330
    • Out of hir sait discendit down belyve,
    • And red ane bill on Cresseid quhair sho lay,
    • Contening this sentence diffinityve:—
    • ‘Fra heil of body I thee now depryve,
    • And to thy seiknes sal be na recure,335
    • But in dolóur thy dayis to indure .
    • Thy cristall ene minglit with blude I mak,
    • Thy voice sa cleir unplesand, hoir , and hace;
    • Thy lusty lyre ourspred with spottis blak,
    • And lumpis haw appeirand in thy face.340
    • Quhair thow cummis, ilk man sall flee the place;
    • Thus sall thou go begging fra hous to hous,
    • With cop and clapper, lyk ane lazarous.’[ ]
    • This dooly dream , this ugly visioun
    • Brocht to ane end, Cresseid fra it awoik,345
    • And all that court and convocatioun
    • Vanischit away. Than rais sho up and tuik
    • Ane poleist glas, and hir shaddow coud luik;
    • And quhen sho saw hir face sa déformait,
    • Gif sho in hart was wa aneuch, god wait !350
    • Weiping full sair, ‘Lo! quhat it is,’ quod she,
    • ‘With fraward langage for to mufe and steir
    • Our crabbit goddis, and sa is sene on me!
    • My blaspheming now have I bocht full deir;
    • All eirdly joy and mirth I set areir.355
    • Allas , this day! Allas, this wofull tyde,
    • Quhen I began with my goddis to chyde!’
    • Be this was said, ane child com fra the hall
    • To warn Cresseid the supper was redy ;
    • First knokkit at the dure, and syne coud call—360
    • ‘Madame, your father biddis you cum in hy;
    • He has mervell sa lang on grouf ye ly,
    • And sayis, “Your prayërs been to lang sum-deill;
    • The goddis wait all your intent full weill.” ’
    • Quod sho, ‘Fair child , ga to my father deir,365
    • And pray him cum to speik with me anon .’
    • And sa he did, and said, ‘Douchter, quhat cheir?’
    • ‘Allas!’ quod she, ‘father, my mirth is gon !’
    • ‘How sa?’ quod he; and sho can all expone,
    • As I have tauld, the vengeance and the wrak ,370
    • For hir trespas, Cupide on hir coud tak.
    • He luikit on hir ugly lipper face,
    • The quhilk befor was quhyte as lilly-flour;
    • Wringand his handis, oftymes he said, Allas!
    • That he had levit to see that wofull hour!375
    • For he knew weill that thair was na succour
    • To hir seiknes; and that dowblit his pane;
    • Thus was thair cair aneuch betwix tham twane.
    • Quhen thay togidder murnit had full lang,
    • Quod Cresseid , ‘Father, I wald not be kend;380
    • Thairfoir in secreit wyse ye let me gang
    • To yon hospítall at the tounis end;[ ]
    • And thidder sum meit, for cheritie , me send
    • To leif upon; for all mirth in this eird
    • Is fra me gane; sik is my wikkit weird.’385
    • Than in ane mantill and ane

      The Complaint of Cresseid.

        • ‘O sop of sorrow sonken into cair![ ]
        • O caytive Cresseid! now and ever-mair
        • Gane is thy joy and all thy mirth in eird ;
        • Of all blyithnes now art thow blaiknitbair ;410
        • Thair is na salve may saif thee of thy sair!
        • Fell is thy fortoun, wikkit is thy weird ;
        • [ ] Thy blis is baneist, and thy baill on breird !
        • Under the eirth god gif I gravin wer,
        • Quhar nane of Grece nor yit of Troy micht heird !415
        • Quhair is thy garding, with thir greissis gay425
        • And fresshe flouris, quhilk the quene Floray
        • Had paintit plesandly in every pane,
        • Quhair thou was wont full merily in May
        • To walk , and tak the dew be it was day,
        • And heir the merle and mavis mony ane;430
        • With ladyis fair in carrolling to gane,
        • And see the royal rinkis in thair array
        • In garmentis gay, garnischit on every grane ?
        • Thy greit triumphand fame and hy honour,
        • Quhair thou was callit of eirdly wichtis flour,435
        • All is decayit; thy weird is welterit so,
        • Thy hy estait is turnit in darknes dour!
        • This lipper ludge tak for thy burelie bour,[ ]
        • And for thy bed tak now ane bunch of stro.
        • For waillit wyne and meitis thou had tho,440
        • Tak mowlit breid, peirry, and syder sour;
        • But cop and clapper, now is all ago.
        • O ladyis fair of Troy and Grece, attend
        • My misery, quhilk nane may comprehend,[ ]
        • My frivoll fortoun , my infelicitie,
        • My greit mischief, quhilk na man can amend.[ ]455
        • Be war in tyme, approchis neir the end,[ ]
        • And in your mynd ane mirrour mak of me.
        • As I am now, peradventure that ye,
        • For all your micht, may cum to that same end,
        • Or ellis war, gif ony war may be.[ ]460
        • Nocht is your fairnes bot ane faiding flour,
        • Nocht is your famous laud and hy honour
        • [ ] Bot wind inflat in uther mennis eiris;
        • Your roising reid to rotting sall retour.
        • Exempill mak of me in your memour ,465
        • Quhilk of sic thingis wofull witnes beiris.
        • All welth in eird away as wind it weiris;
        • Be war thairfoir; approchis neir the hour ;
        • Fortoun is fikkil, quhen sho beginnis and steiris.’—[ ]
        • Thus chydand with her drery desteny,470
        • Weiping, sho woik the nicht fra end to end,
        • But all in vane; hir dule , hir cairfull cry
        • Micht nocht remeid , nor yit hir murning mend.
        • Ane lipper-lady rais , and till hir wend,
        • And said, ‘Quhy spurnis thou aganis the wall,475
        • To sla thyself, and mend na-thing at all?
        • Sen that thy weiping dowbillis bot thy wo,
        • I counsall thee mak vertew of ane neid,
        • To leir to clap thy clapper to and fro,
        • And †live efter the law of lipper-leid .’480[ ]
        • Thair was na buit, bot forth with thame sho yeid
        • Fra place to place, quhill cauld and hounger sair
        • Compellit hir to be ane rank beggair.
        • That samin tyme, of Troy the garnisoun,
        • Quhilk had to chiftane worthy Troilus,485
        • Throw jeopardy of weir had strikkin doun
        • Knichtis of Grece in number mervellous.
        • With greit triúmph and laud victorious
        • Agane to Troy richt royally thay raid
        • The way quhair Cresseid with the lipperbaid .490
        • Seing that company cum , all with ane stevin
        • They gaif ane cry, andshuik coppis gude speid;
        • Said , ‘Worthy lordis, for goddis lufe of hevin,
        • To us lipper part of your almous-deid.’
        • Than to thair cry nobill Troilus tuik heid;495
        • Having pity , neir by the place can pas
        • Quhair Cresseid sat, nat witting quhat sho was.
        • Than upon him sho kest up baith her ene,
        • And with ane blenk it com in-to his thocht
        • That he sum-tyme hir face befoir had sene;500
        • But sho was in sic ply he knew hir nocht.[ ]
        • Yit than hir luik in-to his mind it brocht
        • The sweit visage and amorous blenking
        • Of fair Cresseid, sumtyme his awin darling.
        • Na wonder was, suppois in mynd that he505
        • Tuik hir figure sa sone, and lo! now, quhy;
        • The idole of ane thing in cace may be
        • Sa deip imprentit in the fantasy,
        • That it deludis the wittis outwardly,
        • And sa appeiris in forme and lyke estait510
        • Within the mynd as it was figurait.
        • Ane spark of lufe than till his hart coud spring,
        • And kendlit all his body in ane fyre;
        • With hait fevir ane sweit and trimbilling
        • Him tuik, quhill he was redy to expyre;515
        • To beir his sheild his breist began to tyre;
        • Within ane whyle he changit mony hew ,
        • And nevertheles not ane ane-uther knew.
        • For knichtly pity and memoriall
        • Of fair Cresseid, ane girdill can he tak,[ ]520
        • Ane purs of gold and mony gay jowáll ,
        • And in the skirt of Cresseid doun can swak ;
        • Than raid away, and not ane word he spak,
        • Pensive in hart, quhill he com to the toun,
        • And for greit cair oft-syis almaist fell doun.525
        • The lipper-folk to Cresseid than can draw,
        • To see the equall distribucioun
        • Of the almous; but quhan the gold they saw,
        • Ilk ane to uther prevely can roun,
        • And said, ‘Yon lord hes mair affectioun,530
        • However it be, unto yon lazarous
        • Than to us all; we knaw be his almous.’
        • ‘Quhat lord is yon?’ quod sho, ‘have ye na feill,
        • Hes don to us so greit humanitie ?’
        • ‘Yes,’ quod a lipper-man, ‘I knaw him weill;535
        • Shir Troilus it is, gentill and free’[ ]
        • Quhen Cresseid understude that it was he,
        • Stiffer than steill thair stert ane bitter stound
        • Throwout hir hart, and fell doun to the ground.
        • For lufe of me thou keipt gude countinence ,
        • Honest and chaist in conversatioun;555
        • Of all wemen protectour and defence
        • Thou was, and helpit thair opinioun.[ ]
        • My mynd, in fleshly foull affectioun,
        • Was inclynit to lustis lecherous;
        • Fy! fals Cresseid! O, trew knicht Troilus!560
        • Lovers, be war, and tak gude heid about
        • Quhom that ye lufe, for quhom ye suffer paine;
        • I lat yow wit, thair is richt few thairout
        • Quhom ye may traist, to have trew lufe againe;
        • Preif quhen ye will, your labour is in vaine.[ ]565
        • Thairfoir I reid ye tak thame as ye find;
        • For they ar sad as widdercock in wind.[ ]
        • Becaus I knaw the greit unstabilnes
        • Brukkil as glas, into my-self I say,
        • Traisting in uther als greit unfaithfulnes,570
        • Als unconstant, and als untrew of fay.
        • Thocht sum be trew, I wait richt few ar thay.
        • Quha findis treuth, lat him his lady ruse;
        • Nane but my-self, as now, I will accuse.’
        • Quhen this was said, with paper sho sat doun,575
        • And on this maneir maid hir testament:—
        • ‘Heir I beteich my corps and carioun
        • With wormis and with taidis to be rent;
        • My cop and clapper, and myne ornament,
        • And all my gold, the lipper-folk sall have,580
        • Quhen I am deid, to bury me in grave.
        • This royall ring, set with this ruby reid,
        • Quhilk Troilus in drowry to me send,
        • To him agane I leif it quhan I am deid,
        • To mak my cairfull deid unto him kend.585
        • Thus I conclude shortly, and mak ane end.
        • My spreit I leif to Diane, quhair sho dwellis,
        • To walk with hir in waist woddis and wellis .
        • O Diomeid! thow hes baith broche and belt
        • Quhilk Troilus gave me in takinning590
        • Of his trew lufe!’—And with that word sho swelt.
        • And sone ane lipper-man tuik of the ring,
        • Syne buryit hir withoutin tarying.
        • To Troilus furthwith the ring he bair,
        • And of Cresseid the deith he can declair.595
        • Quhen he had hard hir greit infirmitè ,
        • Hir legacy and lamentatioun,
        • And how sho endit in sik povertè ,
        • He swelt for wo, and fell doun in ane swoun;
        • For greit sorrow his hart to birst was boun.600[ ]
        • Syching full sadly, said, ‘I can no moir;
        • Sho was untrew, and wo is me thairfoir!’
        • Sum said, he maid ane tomb of merbell gray,
        • And wrait hir name and superscriptioun,
        • And laid it on hir grave, quhair that sho lay,[ ]605
        • In goldin letteris, conteining this ressoun:—
        • ‘Lo! fair ladyis, Cresseid of Troyis toun ,
        • Sumtyme countit the flour of womanheid,
        • Under this stane, late lipper, lyis deid!’
        • Now, worthy wemen, in this ballet short,610
        • Made for your worship and instructioun,
        • Of cheritè I monish and exhort,
        • Ming not your luf with fals deceptioun.
        • Beir in your mynd this short conclusioun
        • Of fair Cresseid, as I have said befoir;615
        • Sen sho is deid, I speik of hir no moir.

      [1. ]E. Ane; Th. A (often). E. doolie; Th. doly. E. to; Th. tyl.

      [4. ]E. tragedie (I substitute -y for -ie).

      [6. ]E. Schouris (I substitute Sh- for Sch-).

      [7. ]Th. myȜt me defende.

      [8. ]E. oratur; Th. orature.

      [10. ]Th. scyled.

      [16. ]Both se.

      [17. ]Th. northern.

      [18. ]Th. shedde his.

      [19. ]Th. frost.

      [20. ]E. Artick; Th. Artike. Th. whiskyng.

      [21. ]E. remufe; Th. remoue.

      [24. ]Th. faded.

      [28. ]Th. chambre. Both fyre.

      [29. ]E. lufe; Th. loue.

      [30. ]E. youtheid; Th. youthheed.

      [32. ]E. doif; Th. dull; read douf.

      [34. ]E. phisike.

      [36. ]E. mend; Th. made. Both fyre. Th. beaked.

      [37. ]E. ane; Th. I.

      [40. ]Th. queare.

      [42. ]E. worthy; Th. lusty.

      [43. ]Th. founde.

      [45. ]Th. of his wytte abrede.

      [46. ]Th. wepte.

      [48. ]Th. esperous; E. Esperus.

      [49. ]E. quhyle. Th. and while (for 2nd quhyl).

      [51. ]E. suld; Th. wolde.

      [52. ]Th. of al erthly.

      [55. ]E. ganecome; Th. gayncome. Th. in (for than).

      [58. ]Th. in that same.

      [63. ]Th. which ended.

      [66. ]Th. authorysed or forged.

      [67. ]Th. Of some; by (for throw).

      [70. ]Th. she was in or she deyde.

      [71. ]Both appetyte.

      [73. ]Th. sette was al his delyte.

      [74. ]Th. om. of.

      [77. ]Th. As (for And); in the courte as commune.

      [78. ]Th. Creseyde. Both floure.

      [79. ]Th. were.

      [80. ]E. feminitie.

      [82. ]Th. early (for air).

      [84. ]Th. the; E. thow.

      [86. ]E. scornefull. E. brukkilnes; Th. brutelnesse.

      [88. ]E. wisdome.

      [91. ]E. wickit.

      [92. ]E. in; Th. on. Both wyse destitute.

      [94. ]E. but; Th. without. Th. or refute; E. on fute.

      [95. ]E. Disagysit; Th. Dissheuelde. Th. passed out.

      [99. ]E. inquyre; Th. enquyre.

      [101. ]Both desyre.

      [108. ]E. sone; Th. sonne.

      [109. ]E. hir; Th. his. Th. chambre. E. thame; Th. om.

      [110. ]E. aneuch in; Th. enewed.

      [113. ]Both custome.

      [115. ]Both sacrifice. Th. deuout.

      [117. ]Th. churche.

      [118. ]E. givin; Th. gyueng. E. pepill; Th. people.

      [120. ]Th. oratore.

      [122. ]Th. closed; dore.

      [124. ]Both Cupide.

      [125. ]Th. om. same. Both wyse.

      [126. ]E. Allace; Th. Alas. Both sacrifice.

      [127. ]E. devine; Th. diuyne.

      [132. ]E. Sen; Th. Sithe.

      [135. ]E. lufe; Th. loue. E. the; Th. that.

      [136. ]Th. vnderstande alway.

      [137. ]E. lufe; Th. loue.

      [138. ]Th. souple grace.

      [139. ]E. allace; Th. alas. Th. frost.

      [140. ]Th. louers; -layne.

      [143. ]Th. herde.

      [144. ]Both Cupide. E. ringand; Th. tynkyng.

      [145. ]Th. in-to.

      [147. ]Th. speres.

      [150. ]Th. course.

      [151. ]Both Saturne.

      [152. ]Both Cupide.

      [153. ]Th. boystous. E. on; Th. in.

      [154. ]Both Come. E. crabitlie; Th. crabbedly. Th. austryne.

      [155. ]E. frosnit (for fronsit); Th. frounsed. E. lyre; Th. lere. Both lyke.

      [156. ]Th. sheuered.

      [157. ]Th. drouped hole.

      [158. ]E. of; Th. at. Th. myldrop.

      [159. ]Th. blo.

      [160. ]E. ic-eschoklis; Th. yse-yckels.

      [162. ]E. Atouir; Th. Attour.

      [163. ]E. ovirfret; Th. ouerfret; read ourfret.

      [164. ]Th. garment. E. gyis; Th. gate; see l. 178.

      [165. ]Th. wyddred; wore.

      [166. ]Th. boustous; bor[e].

      [167. ]E. gyrdill. Th. a fasshe (!); flayns.

      [168. ]Th. holstayns (!).

      [170. ]Th. sterres.

      [171. ]Th. norice; thinge.

      [172. ]Both Saturne.

      [173. ]Th. burly.

      [174. ]Th. wonders.

      [175. ]E. bene; Th. ben.

      [177. ]E. wyre; Th. wyer. Th. glyttryng.

      [178. ]Th. garment. E. gyis; Th. gyte.

      [180. ]Th. A burly; myddle he beare.

      [182. ]Th. wrathe. E. weir; Th. bere.

      [183. ]E. come; Th. came.

      [184. ]E. strife; Th. stryfe.

      [185. ]Both fyre.

      [186. ]Th. hewmonde.

      [187. ]Th. fauchoun.

      [190. ]Th. Shakyng his brande. Both come.

      [191. ]Th. glowyng.

      [192. ]E. bullar; Th. blubber.

      [193. ]Th. boore.

      [194. ]E. tuilyeour; Th. tulsure (!). Both lyke.

      [195. ]Both horne; Th. om. he. Th. boustous.

      [196. ]E. weir; Th. warre.

      [199. ]Th. norice.

      [201. ]Both lyfe. Th. erthly.

      [203. ]Th. om. all. Th. that al this worlde hath.

      [204. ]Th. a chare.

      [205. ]Th. Phiton somtyme gyded. E. upricht (!); Th. unright.

      [210. ]Th. speres.

      [211. ]Th. sorde (for soyr).

      [212. ]Both Eoye.

      [213. ]Th. Ethose.

      [215. ]Th. Perose; and eke.

      [216. ]E. Philologie; Th. Philologee.

      [218. ]E. om. gay.

      [219. ]Th. om. for.

      [222. ]Th. kembet.

      [224. ]Th. While parfite. E. perfyte.

      [227. ]E. suddanely; Th. sodaynly.

      [228. ]E. vennomous Th. venomous.

      [232. ]Th. tokenyng.

      [237. ]E. blyith; Th. blyth.

      [238. ]Th. wyddred.

      [239. ]Both come.

      [242. ]E. reddie; Th. redy.

      [244. ]E. atouir; Th. attour.

      [245. ]Both Lyke.

      [250. ]E. phisick. Th. cledde in a scarlet.

      [252. ]E. culd lie; Th. couth lye.

      [253. ]Both come.

      [254. ]Th. spere.

      [256. ]Th. tapere.

      [258. ]E. hir (1); Th. the.

      [260. ]E. gyse; Th. gyte.

      [261. ]E. churle; Th. chorle.

      [262. ]E. bunche; Th. busshe.

      [263. ]Th. theft; no ner.

      [264. ]Th. gadred were the.

      [267. ]E. bene.

      [269. ]E. rhetorick; Th. rethorike. E. prettick; Th. practyke.

      [273. ]E. anone. E. schew; Th. shewde.

      [276. ]E. lak; Th. losse.

      [278. ]E. yone; Th. yonder. Th. wretche Creseyde.

      [280. ]E. starklie; Th. she stately.

      [281. ]E. -tie.

      [283. ]Th. She called a blynde goddes and myght.

      [286. ]E. returne; Th. retorte. E. on; Th. in. I supply 2nd on.

      [287. ]E. schew; Th. shewde (as in l. 273). Th. aboue.

      [289. ]E. devyne; Th. diuyne.

      [290. ]E. iniurie; Th. iniure. Both done.

      [290. ]E. hie; Th. hye.

      [292. ]Both goddes done.

      [295. ]Both Cupide.

      [299. ]E. modifie; Th. modifye.

      [300. ]Both Saturne.

      [303, 309, 323, 330. ]Both Saturne.

      [304. ]Both Cupide. E. scho; Th. that she.

      [305. ]Th. open.

      [306. ]Both lyfe.

      [308. ]E. abhominabill; Th. abhominable.

      [309. ]Th. doleful.

      [318. ]E. in; Th. into.

      [319. ]E. and: Th. and thy.

      [321. ]E. In; Th. Into. E. penuritie; Th. -te.

      [322. ]Th. shalte. Th. dye.

      [324. ]E. malitious.

      [325. ]E. On; Th. Of.

      [328. ]Th. sheweth through.

      [329. ]Th. om. fair.

      [331. ]Th. seate.

      [334. ]E. heit; Th. heale.

      [336. ]Th. endure.

      [338. ]Th. vnplesaunt heer.

      [339. ]Th. lere. E. ouirspred; Th. ouerspred.

      [342. ]E. This; Th. Thus.

      [343. ]Th. cuppe. Both lyke.

      [344. ]Both dreame. E. uglye.

      [347. ]Th. rose she.

      [348. ]Th. polysshed. E. culd; Th. couth.

      [349. ]E. face; Th. visage.

      [350. ]Th. were wo, I ne wyte god wate.

      [352. ]Th. om. for. E. mufe; Th. moue.

      [353. ]E. craibit; Th. crabbed.

      [355. ]Th. erthly.

      [356. ]E. Allace; Th. Alas.

      [357. 357. ]E. for to; Th. om. for.

      [358. ]E. come; Th. came.

      [359. ]Both warne. Th. Creseyde. E. reddy; Th. redy.

      [360. ]E. syne culd; Th. efte couth.

      [362. ]E. merwel; Th. marueyle.

      [363. ]E. prayers bene; Th. bedes bethe.

      [365. ]Both chylde.

      [366. ]Both anone.

      [368. ]Both gone.

      [370. ]E. wraik; Th. wrake.

      [371. ]E. culd.

      [372. ]E. uglye. Th. lepers.

      [374. ]Th. om. he.

      [378. ]Th. ynow. E. thame; Th. hem.

      [380. ]Th. Creseyde.

      [382. ]Th. To yon; E. Unto yone.

      [383. ]Th. charite.

      [384. ]Th. lyue; erthe.

      [385. ]Th. werthe(!).

      [386. ]E. Than; Th. Whan(!). Th. Beuer; E. bawar.

      [387. ]Th. cuppe.

      [388. ]Th. secrete gate.

      [389. ]Th. Conueyed.

      [408. ]E. cative; Th. caytife. E. for now; Th. om. for.

      [409. ]Th. erthe.

      [410. ]Th. blake and bare.

      [411. ]Th. helpe (for saif thee of).

      [412. ]Th. werthe (!).

      [413. ]Th. bale vnberd (!).

      [414. ]Th. Vnder the great god.

      [415. ]Th. men (for nane). Th. herd.

      [416. ]Th. chambre.

      [417. ]Th. burly; bankers brouded.

      [418. ]Th. wyne.

      [419. ]Th. cuppes.

      [420. ]Th. plates.

      [421. ]Th. sauery sauce.

      [423. ]Th. pene (!).

      [424. ]Th. arere.

      [425. ]Th. thy greces.

      [430. ]E. mawis.

      [432. ]Th. renkes. E. array; Th. ray. Th. omits ll. 433–437.

      [434, 437. ]E. hie.

      [438. ]Th. leper loge. E. burelie; Th. goodly.

      [439. ]E. bunche; Th. bonch.

      [441. ]E. peirrie; Th. pirate. E. ceder; Th. syder.

      [442. ]Th. cuppe.

      [443. ]E. om. my.

      [444. ]Th. om. this line.

      [445. ]Th. ranke as roke, ful hidous heer. Th. om. ll. 446, 447.

      [448. ]Th. Deformed is.

      [449. ]Th. no pleople (sic) hath lykyng (!).

      [450. ]Th. Solped in syght.

      [451. ]E. Ludgeit; Th. Lyeng. Th. leper folke. E. allace; Th. alas.

      [453. ]Th. omits.

      [454. ]Th. freyle fortune.

      [455. ]Th. war therfore; your ende.

      [456. ]Th. places after l. 460.

      [459. ]E. that; Th. the.

      [460. ]Th. worse, if any worse.

      [464. ]Th. rosyng.

      [465. ]Th. memore.

      [468. ]Th. your hour.

      [469. ]Th. omits.

      [471. ]Th. woke.

      [472. ]Th. dole.

      [473. ]Th. remedy ne.

      [474. ]Th. rose.

      [477. ]E. Sen; Th. Sithe. E. om. that. Th. but doubleth.

      [479. ]E. To leir; Th. Go lerne.

      [480. ]E. leir; Th. lerne; read live. Th. lepers lede.

      [486. ]Th. warre.

      [488. ]Both tryumphe; laude.

      [489. ]Th. rode.

      [490. ]E. baid; Th. stode.

      [491. ]E. thai come; Th. come; read cum.

      [492. ]Th. shoke cuppes.

      [493. ]Th. om. Said.

      [495. ]Th. her (for thair).

      [496. ]Th. pyte; E. pietie.

      [499. ]Both come.

      [501. ]E. plye; Th. plyte.

      [502. ]E. it; Th. he.

      [504. ]E. awin; Th. owne.

      [508. ]Th. enprynted.

      [512. ]E. culd; Th. couth.

      [514. ]E. fewir; Th. feuer. Th. in swette. Both trimbling.

      [515. ]E. reddie.

      [516. ]Th. brest.

      [517. ]Th. many a hewe.

      [519. ]Th. pyte; E. pietie.

      [520. ]Th. gan.

      [521. ]Th. many a gay iewel.

      [522. ]E. swak; Th. shake.

      [523. ]E. om. he.

      [524. ]E. come; Th. came.

      [525. ]E. -syis; Th. -syth.

      [526. ]E. can; Th. couth.

      [527. ]Both se.

      [529. ]E. prewelie; Th. priuely.

      [530. ]Th. yon; E. yone.

      [534. ]Th. That dothe. E. humanitie; Th. -te.

      [536. ]Th. ins. a knight after is.

      [540. ]E. ovircome; Th. ouercome.

      [541. ]Th. colde atone (!).

      [542. ]Th. brest.

      [543. ]Th. om. ane; Th. one (for wane).

      [544. ]Th. Than fel in swoun ful ofte. E. culd; Th. wolde. Th. fone (!); for refrane.

      [547. ]E. Iufe; Th. loue. Th. laude and al thy.

      [549. ]Th. So effated (or essated).

      [551. ]Th. promytted.

      [552. ]Th. thy selfe; furious (!).

      [554. ]Th. countenaunce (om. gude).

      [557. ]Th. were.

      [558. ]E. in; Th. on.

      [562. ]E. Quhome; Th. Whom. E. quhome; Th. whan.

      [563. ]Th. thrughout.

      [565. ]Th. Proue.

      [569. ]Th. Brittel; unto.

      [570. ]Th. great brutelnesse.

      [572. ]Th. Though.

      [576. ]Th. maner.

      [577. ]E. beteiche; Th. bequeth. Th. corse.

      [578. ]Th. toodes.

      [579. ]Th. cuppe my.

      [580. ]E. the; Th. these.

      [583. ]E. drowrie; Th. dowry (!).

      [587. ]Th. spirite.

      [590. ]E. takning; Th. tokenyng; read takinning.

      [593. ]E. withouttin.

      [596. ]E. infirmitie; Th. -te.

      [598. ]E. povertie; Th. -te.

      [600. ]Th. om. greit.

      [605. ]Th. where as she.

      [607. ]Th. Troy the toun.

      [612. ]E. cheritie; Th. charyte.

      [613. ]E. lufe; Th. loue.

      [614. ]E. schort; Th. sore (!).

      [616. ]E. Sen; Th. Sithe.

      [1.]Ane, a; altered by Thynne to a, throughout.

      dooly (Th. doly), doleful, sad; from the sb. dool, sorrow.

      [4–6.]Here fervent seems to mean ‘stormy’ or ‘severe,’ as it obviously does not mean hot. Discend is used transitively; can discend means ‘caused to descend.’ This is an earlier example than that from Caxton in the New Eng. Dictionary. Aries clearly means the influence of Aries, and implies that the sun was in that sign, which it entered (at that date) about the 12th of March; see vol. iii. p. 188 (footnote). Lent is ‘spring’; and the Old Germanic method is here followed, which divided each of the seasons into three months. In this view, the spring-months were March, April, and May, called, respectively, foreward Lent, midward Lent, and afterward Lent; see A Student’s Pastime, p. 190. Hence the phrase in middis of the Lent does not mean precisely in the middle of the spring, but refers to the month of April; indeed, the sun passed out of Aries into Taurus on the 11th of the month. The date indicated is, accordingly, the first week in April, when the sun was still in Aries, and showers of hail, with a stormy north wind, were quite seasonable.

      [10.]sylit under cure, covered up, (as if) under his care. The verb to syle is precisely the mod. E. ceil; which see in the New E. Dict.

      [12.]unto, i. e. over against. The planet Venus, rising in the east, set her face over against the west, where the sun had set.

      [20.]shill, shrill. Shille occurs as a variant of schrille in C. T., B 4585; see schil in Stratmann.

      [32.]douf (spelt doif in the old edition) is the Northern form of ‘deaf,’ answering to the Icel. daufr; thus a nut without a kernel is called in the South ‘a deaf nut,’ but in Scotland ‘a douf nit’; see Jamieson. For deaf in the senses of ‘dull’ and ‘unproductive,’ see the New E. Dict.

      [39.]cut, curtail; illustrated from Lydgate in the New E. Dict.

      [42.]Read lusty, to avoid the repetition of worthy; cf. l. 41. It should have been stated, in the footnotes, that the readings are: E. worthy; Th. lusty.

      [43.]Referring to Troil. bk. v. In l. 92, we are told how Diomede led Criseyde away. Note particularly that, in l. 45, Henryson quotes Chaucer rather closely. Cf. ‘For which wel neigh out of my wit I breyde’; Troil. v. 1262. And cf. ll. 47–9 with—‘Betwixen hope and drede his herte lay’; Troil. v. 1207.

      [48.]Quhill, till. The reading Esperus in E. is comic enough. Even Thynne has misread esperans, and has turned it into esperous. There can be little doubt that esperans here means ‘hope,’ as it is opposed to wanhope in the line above. The word was known to Henryson, as we find, in st. 8 of his Garment of Gude Ladyis: ‘Hir slevis suld be of esperance, To keip hir fra dispair.’ Cf. l. 49.

      [50.]behest, promise; because she had promised to return to Troy within ten days; Troil. iv. 1595.

      [65.]this narratioun, i.e. the sequel of the story, which he is about to tell. He does not tell us whence he derived it, but intimates that it is a fiction; I suppose he invented it himself.

      [74.]lybel of répudy, Lat. ‘libellum repudii,’ as in Matt. xix. 7.

      [77.]‘And, as some say, into the common court’; i. e. she became a courtesan.

      [78.]A-per-se, i. e. the first letter of the alphabet, standing alone. A letter that was also a word in itself, as A, or I, or O, was called ‘per se,’ because it could stand alone. Of these, the A-per-se was a type of excellence. One of Dunbar’s Poems (ed. Small, i. 276) begins:—‘London, thou art of townes A-per-se.’

      [79.]fortunait, the sport of fortune; oddly used, as it implies that she was ‘an unfortunate.’ Cf. l. 89.

      [94.]but, without; and Thynne actually prints without in place of it.

      [97.]quhair, where her father Chalcas (was). He was living among the Greeks; Troil. i. 80, 87.

      [106.]In the medieval legend, Calchas was not a priest of Venus, but of Apollo, as Chaucer notes; see Troil. i. 66–70. So also in Lydgate, Siege of Troy, bk. ii. c. 17. Henryson probably altered this intentionally, because it enabled him to represent Criseyde as reproaching her father’s god; see ll. 124, 134.

      [129.]outwaill, outcast; one who is chosen out and rejected; from the verb wail, wale, to choose. There seems to be no other example of the word, though Jamieson gives ‘outwailins, leavings, things of little value.’

      [140.]forlane can hardly mean ‘left alone.’ If so, it would be a word invented for the occasion, and improperly formed from lane, which is itself a docked form of alane. In all other passages, forlane or forlain is the pp. of forliggen; and the sense of ‘defiled’ is quite applicable. And further, it rimes with slane, which means ‘slain.’

      [143.]‘And, as it seemed, she heard, where she lay,’ &c.

      [147.]The seven planets; which, in the order of the magnitude of their orbits, are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. And to this order the author carefully adheres throughout ll. 151–263.

      [155.]fronsit, wrinkled; frounse is the mod. E. flounce, which formerly meant ‘a pleat’; see frounce, frouncen in Stratmann, and the Gloss. to Chaucer. Misprinted frosnit in E.

      ‘His complexion was like lead.’ Lead was Saturn’s metal; see C. T., G 828, and the note.

      [164.]That gyte is the correct reading, is obvious from ll. 178, 260, where Thynne has preserved it. It is a Chaucerian word; see the Glossary in vol. vi. It seems to mean ‘mantle.’ The Edinburgh printer altered it to gyis, which is too general a term, at least in l. 260.

      [182.]‘To ward off from us the wrath of his father (Saturn).’

      [198.]Compare Ch. C. T., F 1031—‘god and governour Of every plaunte, herbe, tree, and flour.’

      [205.]Alluding to Phaethon’s misguidance of the chariot of the sun; ‘And that his faders cart amis he dryve’; Troil. v. 665. Laing prints unricht; but omits to say that E. has upricht.

      [211.]soyr, sorrel-coloured, reddish-brown; see Sorrel in my Etym. Dict.

      [212–6.]The names of the four horses are curiously corrupted from the names given in Ovid, Met. ii. 153, viz. Eöus, Æthon, Pyröeis, and Phlegon. As Eous means ‘belonging to the dawn,’ we may consider the words into the Orient, i. e. in the East, as explanatory of the name Eoy; ‘called Eoy, (which signifies) in the East.’ As to the name of the last horse, it was obviously meant to take the form Philegoney, in order to rime with sey (sea), and I have therefore restored this form. The two authorities, E. and Th., give it in the amazing form Philologie (Philologee), which can only mean ‘philology’!

      [231.]lauch and weip are infinitives, but appear to be meant for past tenses. If so, the former should be leuch; weip may answer to the strong pt. t. weep in Chaucer A. S. wēop).

      [246.]He seems to be thinking of Chaucer’s Doctor of Phisyk; cf. Ch. Prol. A 425–6, 439.

      [254.]‘The last of all (in order), and swiftest in her orbit.’

      [256.]Thynne has tapere=to appear; this passage is curiously cited, in Richardson’s Dictionary, in illustration of the sb. taper!

      [261.]churl, man; this is Chaucer’s cherl, in Troil. i. 1024. See the note to that line.

      [263.]na nar, no nearer; the moon’s orbit, being the least, was the most remote from the outer heaven that enclosed the primum mobile.

      [273.]shew, shewed; but it is false grammar, for the verb to shew (or show) was weak. Formed by analogy with blew, grew, knew; cf. rew, mew, sew, old strong preterites of row, mow, and sow.

      [290.]As Henryson usually refrains from the addition of a syllable at the cæsura, we should probably read injure, not injury; see Troil. iii. 1018.

      [297, 298.]hyest, i. e. Saturn; lawest (lowest), i. e. Cynthia.

      [299.]modify, determine, specify; not here used in the modern sense.

      [318.]Heat and moisture characterised the sanguine temperament (see vol. v. p. 33); coldness and dryness characterised the melancholy temperament (see P. Plowman, B-text, p. xix). Cf. l. 316.

      [343.]‘With cup and clapper, like a leper.’ It was usual for lepers to carry a cup (for their own use), and a clapper or clap-dish, which was used in order to give warning of their approach, and also as a receptacle for alms, to prevent actual contact; cf. l. 479 below. Compare the following:—

      • ‘Coppe and claper he bare . . .
      • As he a mesel [leper] were.’—Sir Tristrem, 3173.

      ‘Than beg her bread with dish and clap’ (referring to Criseyde).

      Turbervile’s Poems: The Lover in utter dispaire. See further under Clapper in the New Eng. Dict.

      lazarous is formed as an adj. in -ous from the sb. lazar, a leper; see l. 531.

      [350.]wa, woful; ‘God knows if she was woful enough.’

      [382.]The accent on the second syllable of hospital was not uncommon; hence its frequent contraction to spittal or spittel-house; for which see l. 391 below.

      [386.]Read bevar or bever (Th. has beuer); the reading bawar in E. gives no sense. I see no connection with Lowl. Sc. bevar, ‘one who is worn out with age,’ according to Jamieson, who merely guesses at the sense, as being perhaps allied to bavard, which he also explains as ‘worn out’; although, if from the F. bavard, it rather means talkative, babbling, or idle. I believe that bevar hat simply means ‘beaver hat,’ formerly used by women as well as by men. Even Dickens alludes to ‘farmer’s wives in beaver bonnets,’ in Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 5. No doubt a beaver hat was, when new, an expensive luxury, as worn by Chaucer’s ‘Merchant’ (Prol. l. 272); but they wore well and long, and were doubtless gladly used by beggars when cast off by their original owners.

      [407.]The metre, in ll. 407–69, is borrowed from Chaucer’s Anelida.

      [410.]blaiknit, is not a derivative of M. E. blak, black, but of M. E. blāk, bleik, bleak, pallid, cheerless. It is here used in the sense of ‘rendered cheerless’; and bair means ‘bare’ or ‘barren.’ See blākien in Stratmann.

      [413.]‘Thy bale is in the growth,’ or is sprouting. See Braird, the first shoots of corn or grass, in the New E. Dict., where two more examples of this phrase are cited from Henryson.

      [417.]‘With goodly bed, and convenient embroidered bench-covers.’ Burelie (mod. E. burly, prov. E. bowerly) answers to an A. S. form būr-līc, i. e. suitable for a lady’s bower. This explains why it was appropriately used as an epithet for a bed. Cf. ‘Quhair ane burely bed was wrocht in that wane’; Rauf Coilyear, 264. Hence ‘a burly knight’ was one suitable for a lady’s bower, and therefore handsome, strong, well-grown, large; and by a degradation of meaning, huge, corpulent. The changes in sense are curious and instructive. In the New E. Dict., the etymology is not given. For bene, see bain in the New E. Dict.; and for bankouris, see banker.

      [421.]saipheroun sals, saffron sauce. Saffron and salt were often used together in medieval cookery; see Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books, ed. Austin (E. E. T. S.). The Glossary to that book gives the spellings safroun, saferon, saferoun, and sapheron.

      [423.]This is a very early mention of lawn. It is also mentioned in st. 10 of Lydgate’s ‘London Lickpeny.’

      [429.]walk, wake. The history of this spelling is not quite clear; but the l was, in any case, mute; another spelling is wauk. I suspect that it originated in the misunderstanding of a symbol. The scribe, who wished to write wakk, used a symbol resembling lk, where the l was really the first k, indicated by its down-stroke only. For example, the word rokke was (apparently) written rolke. See my article on Ghost-words; Phil. Soc. Trans. 1885, p. 369.

      tak the dew, gather May-dew. The old custom of bathing the face with fresh dew on the 1st of May is referred to in Brand’s Popular Antiquities. He gives an example as late as 1791. See Pepys’ Diary, May 28, 1667, May 11, 1669; where we find that any day in May was then considered suitable for this health-giving operation.

      [433.]I take on every grane to mean ‘in every particular’; cf. ‘a grain of sense.’ We may also note the Fr. teindre en graine, to dye in grain, to dye of a fast colour; and we occasionally find grain in the sense of ‘tint.’ Godefroy cites ‘ung couvertoer d’une graigne vermeille’; and ‘une manche vermeille, ne sçay se c’est graine ou autre taincture.’ Grane also means ‘groan,’ and ‘groin,’ and ‘fork of a tree’; but none of these senses suit.

      [438.]‘Take this leper-lodge in place of thy stately bower.’

      [450.]In l. 407, we have sop of sorrow, i. e. sop, or sup, of sorrow. So here sowpit in syte, sopped, or drenched, in sorrow; an expression which Jamieson illustrates from Holland’s Houlate, i. 4, and Douglas’s Vergil, prologue to Book viii, l. 5.

      [463.]This expression is imitated from Chaucer’s Boethius, bk. iii. pr. 6. 3—‘O glorie, glorie, thou art nothing elles but a greet sweller of eres!’ See note to I. ii. 8. 68 (p. 472).

      [480.]leir (Th. lerne); surely miscopied from l. 479. Read live.

      [490.]lipper seems to be used collectively; so also in l. 494.

      [492.]shuik coppis, shook their cups; it implies that they waved them aloft, to attract attention. They also used their clappers.

      [501.]ply, plight. I know of no other example of ply in this sense; but ply (usually, a fold) and plight (incorrect spelling of M. E. plyte) are closely related; the former represents Lat. plicitum, the latter, Lat. plicita; from plicare, to fold (whence E. ply, verb, to bend).

      [541.]‘With many a sorrowful cry and cold or sad (cry of) O hone!’ Here cald=sad; and Ochane is the Irish and Scotch cry of O hone! or Och hone! See O hone in the Century Dict., s. v. O.

      [543.]will of wane, lit. wild of weening, at a loss what to do. See Gloss. to Barbour’s Bruce, s. v. Will.

      [550.]‘And climbed so high upon the fickle wheel’ (of Fortune). Cf. Troil. iv. 6, 11.

      [567.]‘For they (women) are as constant as a weathercock in the wind.’ Cf. ‘unsad . . and chaunging as a vane’; Ch. C. T., E 995.

      [588.]wellis, streams, rills; as in Book Duch. 160.

      [589.]broche and belt; Criseyde gave Diomede the brooch she had received from Troilus; see Troil. v. 1661, 1669, 1688. The belt is Henryson’s addition.

      [600.]‘His heart was ready to burst.’