Geoffrey Chaucer

“ The forms Ronyan and Rinian are evidently corruptions of Ronan, a saint whose name is well known to readers of 'St. Ronan's Well.' Of St. Ronan scarcely anything is known. The fullest account that can easily be found is the following:—
'Ronan, B. and C. Feb. 7.—Beyond the mere mention of his commemoration as S. Ronan, bishop at Kilmaronen, in Levenax, in the body of the Breviary of Aberdeen, there is nothing said about this saint.... Camerarius (p. 86) makes this Ronanus the same as he who is mentioned by Beda (Hist. Ecc. lib. iii. c. 25) . This Ronan died in A. D. 778. ”

“ Either reading might serve; in Le Roman, l. 5614, the dependant is called 'son serjant'; and in l. 5623, he is called 'Li ribaus,' i. e. the ribald, which Chaucer Englishes by cherl. But when we come to C. 289, the MSS. gives us the choice of 'fals cherl' and 'cursed theef'; very few have clerk (like MS. Sloane 1685) . Cf. vol. iii. p. 437.
153, 154. The 'churl's' name was Marcus Claudius, and the 'judge' was 'Appius Claudius.' Chaucer simply follows Jean de Meun, who calls the judge Apius ”

“ Chaucer does not say he is a prelate, but that he is like one; because he had been highly educated, as a member of a 'learned profession' should be.
Ronyan is here of three syllables and rimes with man; in l. 320 it is of two syllables, and rimes with anon. ”

“ The notice concludes with the remark—'Maiorem lucem desideramus.' Beda says that 'Ronan, a Scot by nation, but instructed in ecclesiastical truth either in France or Italy,' was mixed up in the controversy which arose about the keeping of Easter, and was 'a most zealous defender of the true Easter.' This controversy took place about A. D. 652, which does not agree with the date above.
311. Tyrwhitt thinks that Shakespeare remembered this expression of Chaucer, when he describes the Host of the Garter as frequently repeating the phrase 'said I well': Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 3. 11; ii. 1. 226 ”

“ Essay on the Rowley Poems, p. xix; and cf. note to A. 667.
322. of a cake; we should now say, a bit of bread; the modern sense of 'cake' is a little misleading. The old cakes were mostly made of dough, whence the proverb 'my cake is dough,' i. e. is not properly baked; Taming of the Shrew, v. 1. 145. Shakespeare also speaks of 'cakes and ale,' Tw. Nt. ii. 3. 124. The picture of the 'Simnel Cakes' in Chambers' Book of Days, i. 336, illustrates Chaucer's use of the word in the Prologue, l. ”

“ Johnson's poem on the Vanity of Human Wishes, imitated from the tenth satire of Juvenal.
303. is no fors, it is no matter. It must be supplied, for the sense. Sometimes Chaucer omits it is, and simply writes no fors, as in E. 1092, 2430. ”

“ Such illustrations are, moreover, often omitted when they can easily be found by consulting such a work as Stratmann's Old English Dictionary. In the present case, for example, Stratmann gives twelve instances of the use of earm or arm as an adjective, meaning wretched; four examples of ermlic, miserable ”

“ Tyrwhitt alters the phrase to 'By corpus domini,' which wholly spoils the humour of it.
triacle, a restorative remedy; see Man of Lawes Tale, B. 479.
315. moyste, new. The word retains the sense of the Lat. musteus and mustus. In Group H. 60, we find moysty ale spoken of as differing from old ale. But the most peculiar use of the word is in the Prologue, A. 457, where the Wyf of Bath's shoes are described as being moyste and newe.
corny, strong of the corn or malt; cf. l. 456. Skelton calls it 'newe ale in cornys' ”

“ 438, that 'his studie was but litel on the bible.' I see no reason for this guess, which is quite unsupported. ”

“ MS. Trin. Coll. R. 3. 3 has aduocasse. The testimony of ten MSS. may suffice; but it is worth noting that the F. pl. aduocas occurs in Le Roman de la Rose, 5107.
293. 'Alas! she (Virginia) bought her beauty too dear'; she paid too high a price; it cost her her life.
297-300. These four lines are genuine; but several MSS., including E. Hn. Pt., omit the former pair (297-8) , whilst several others omit the latter pair. Ed. 1532 contains both pairs, but alters l. 299.
299. bothe yiftes, both (kinds of) gifts; i. e. gifts of fortune, such as wealth, and of nature, such as beauty. Compare Dr. ”