Geoffrey Chaucer

“ But the head of the fixed Aries, or the true equinoctial point, was in the ninth sphere above it.
The exact amount of the precession of the equinoxes (which is what Chaucer here alludes to) could be ascertained by observing, from time to time, the distance between the true equinoctial point and the star Alnath, which was conveniently situated for the purpose, being in the head of Aries. In the time of Hipparchus (B.C. 150) , the distance of Alnath from the true equinoctial point was but a few degrees; but at the present time it is 'shove,' in longitude, some 35° from the same. ”

“ From O. F. noël (Prov. nadal) ; from Lat. natalem. Cotgrave quotes a French proverb:—'Tant crie on Noël qu'il vient, So long is Christmas cried that at length it comes.' Littré gives, as the second sense of Noël—'Cantique en langue vulgaire, ayant ordinairement pour sujet la naissance de Jésus-Christ, que l'on chante à l'approche de la Noël.' Hence 'to cry Noël' was to sing a Christmas carol; as was usual on Christmas eve. He further explains that 'Noël!' subsequently became a cry on any occasion of great rejoicing; so that, in this way, 'to cry Noël' meant to proclaim glad tidings. ”

“ That is, the sun had a dull coppery hue, as in December, when it may be said to be 'old,' as it was approaching the end of its annual course. Cf. yonge sonne; A. 7.
1246. 'Who, when in his hot declination (i. e. in the sign of Cancer, when his northern declination was greatest) used to shine like burnished gold, with bright beams; but he had now arrived in Capricornus, where he was at his lowest altitude (i. e. at the winter solstice) ; and shone but dimly.'
In Chaucer's time, the sun entered Capricorn on December 13; see his Treatise on the Astrolabe, ii. 1. 12. ”

“ There is a very elegant copy of them in MS. Harl. 3647.'—T. In Chaucer's Astrolabe, ii. 44. 16, we find:—'And if hit so be that hit [i. e. the time for which the change in a planet's position is being reckoned] passe 20 [years] , consider wel that fro 1 to 20 ben anni expansi, and fro 20 to 3,000 ben anni collecti.' The changes in position of the various planets were obtained from these tables. The quantities denoting the amount of a planet's motion during round periods of years, such as twenty, forty, or sixty years, were entered in a table headed Anni collecti. ”

“ Tyrwhitt omits this line and the next. Both lines appear in the old editions; but they are omitted in all the seven MSS. except E. They are certainly genuine, because the names in them are taken from Jerome, like the rest. E. has the spelling Bilyea, but I alter it to Bilia (as in the old editions) because such is Jerome's spelling. The story is rather a long one.
'Duellius, qui primus Romae nauali certamine triumphauit, Biliam uirginem duxit uxorem, tantae pudicitiae, ut illo quoque seculo pro exemplo fuerit: quo impudicitia monstrum erat, non uitium. ”

“ Chaucer also has dawe, v., to dawn, riming with felawe, A. 4250, and awe, B. 3872. The variant dawes is due to the A. S. dagas, where the g is followed, not by e, but by a; hence we only find it in the plural. But it is not uncommon; it occurs in St. Brandan, ed. Wright, p. 5, l. 3; Havelok, 2344; King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, l. 1436; Gower, Conf. Am. ii. 113, where it rimes with sawes; &c.
1204. The use of our is graphic; it occurs in all six MSS. Tyrwhitt has the. ”

“ A side-note in E. has—'The compleint of Aurelius to the goddes and to the sonne.'
1033. after, i. e. according to. The change of seasons depends on the sun's change of declination, which causes his position (called herberwe or 'harbour' in l. 1035) to be high or low in the sky. See note to l. 1058.
1045. In MS. E., Lucina is glossed by 'luna,' i. e. the moon; see A. 2085.
1049. Read knowen as know'n. All the six MSS. keep the final n; but Cp. Pt. Ln. drop the word that.
1054. more and lesse, greater and smaller, i. e. rivers.
1058. Leoun, the sign Leo. In l. ”

“ Jerome has:—'Nam Hasdrubalis uxor capta, et incensa urbe, cum se cerneret a Romanis capiendam esse, apprehensis ab utroque latere paruulis filiis, in subiectum domus suae deuolauit incendium'; Valerius Maximus has a similar story, lib. iii. c. 2. ext. 8; cf. Orosius, iv. 13. 3. Chaucer has already alluded to this story; see note to B. 4553.
1402. alle; Valerius Maximus merely says—'dextra laeuaque communes filios trahens.'
1405. Jerome says:—'Ad Romanas foeminas transeam, et primam ponam Lucretiam; quae uiolatae pudicitiae pudens superuiuere, maculam corporis cruore deleuit'; p. 50. ”

“ Qui multum indulgentes uino, uim per noctem intulere uirginibus. Quae amissae pudicitiae nolentes superuiuere, mutuis conciderunt uulneribus'; p. 48. E. quotes the first six words, with the spelling Cedasii. The story of Scedasus (Σκέδασος) and his daughters is told at length by Plutarch, being the third story in his Amatoriae Narrationes (ἐρωτικαὶ διηγήσεις) . ”