Geoffrey Chaucer

“ For olde, T. has cold, I cannot guess why: smouldering ashes are more likely to be hot. Old ashes mean ashes left after a fire has died down, in which, if raked together, fire can be long preserved. 'Still, in our old ashes, is fire collected.' See the parallel passage in Troilus, ii. 538.
In Soliman and Persida (Dodsley's Old Plays, ed. Hazlitt, v. 339) we find ”

“ For laughen, Tyrwhitt has laughed, and in l. 3858 has the extraordinary form lought, but he corrects the former of these in his Notes. The verb was originally strong; see examples in Stratmann, s. v. hlahhen.
3857. Repeated, nearly, in F. 202; see note.
3864. so theek, for so thee ik, so may I thrive, as I hope to thrive. The Reve came from Norfolk, and Chaucer makes him use the Northern ik for I in this expression, and again in l. 3867 (in the phrase ik am) , and in l. 3888 (in the phrase ik have) , but not elsewhere ”

“ W. Hutchinson, in his View of Northumberland, 1778, i. 260, speaks of 'Kirknewton, one of the manors of the Barony of Wark, the ancient residence of the Strothers, now the property of John Strother Ker, Esq.'
We may here notice some of the characteristics of the speech which Chaucer assigns to these two students from Northumberland.
(a) They use a for A. S. ā, where Chaucer usually has ō (long and open) . Ex. na (Ch. no) , swa (so) , ham (hoom) , gas (gooth) , fra (fro) , banes (bones) , anes (ones) , waat (woot) , raa (ro) , bathe (bothe) , ga (go) , twa, (two) , wha (who) . ”

“ This explains also the use of somdel; 'because she was, in some measure, of indifferent reputation, she was always on her dignity, and ready to take offence'; which is true to human nature. Thus the whole context is illuminated at once.
3964. digne, full of dignity, and therefore (as Chaucer says, with exquisite satire) like (foul) water in a ditch, which keeps every one at a proper distance. However, the satire is not Chaucer's own, but due to a popular proverbial jest, which occurs again in The Ploughman's Crede, l. ”

“ To Bacus syne, and to the leef-sele
His youthe hym haleth,' &c.
⁠Hoccleve, De Regim. Principum, p. 22.
Again, in Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, iii. 448, the arbour formed by Jonah's gourd is called a lefsel.
4066. Lydgate has 'through thinne and thikke'; Siege of Troy, fol. Cc. 6, back.
4078. geen, goon; so in MS. E., which again has neen, none, 4185. The usual Northern form is gan (= gaan) , as in Hl.; Hn. Ln. have gane. But we also find gayn, as in Wallace, iv. 102; Bruce, ii. 80. The forms geen, neen, are so remarkable that they are likely to be the original ones. ”

“ The mill lay a little way off the road on the left (coming from Trumpington) ; so it was necessary to 'know the way.'
4026. nede has na peer, necessity has no equal, or, is above all. More commonly, Nede ne hath no lawe, as in P. Plowman, B. xx. 10, or C. xxiii. 10; 'Necessitas non habet legem'; a common proverb.
4027. boës, contracted from behoves, a form peculiar to Chaucer. In northern poems, the word is invariably a monosyllable, spelt bos, or more commonly bus ”

“ Tournament of Tottenham, st. 15.
4088. capul, a horse, occurs again, in D. 2150. lathe, a barn, is still in use in some parts of Yorkshire, but chiefly in local designations, being otherwise obsolescent; see the Cleveland and Whitby Glossaries. 'The northern man writing to his neighbour may say, "My lathe standeth neer the kirkegarth," for My barne standeth neere the churchyard:' Coote's Eng. Schoolemaster, 1632 (Nares) . Ray gives: 'Lathe, a barn' in 1691; and we again find 'Leath, a barn' in 1781 (E. D. S. Gloss. B. 1) ; and 'Leath, Laith, a barn' in 1811 (E. D. S. Gloss. B. 7) ”

“ Both were reprinted for the Chaucer Society, in Originals and Analogues, &c., p. 87. See further in vol. iii. p. 397.
3921. Trumpington. The modern mill, beside the bridge over the Granta, between the villages of Trumpington and Grantchester, is familiar to all Cambridge men; but this mill and bridge are both comparatively modern, being placed upon an artificial channel. The old 'bridge' is that over the old river-bed, somewhat nearer Trumpington; the 'brook' is this old course of the Granta, which is hereabouts very narrow and circuitous ”

“ Seven Sages, ed. Weber, l. 91.
4112. The first foot is 'trochaic.'
4115. in his hond, in his possession, in his hold.
4126. 'Or enlarge it by argument'; prove by logic that it is the size you wish it to be.
4127. Cutberd, St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, died in 686. Being a Northumberland man, John swears by a Northumberland saint.
4130. Evidently a proverb: 'a man must take (one) of two things, either such as he finds or such as he brings'; i. e. must put up with what he can get. ”

“ Unhardy is unsely, the cowardly man has no luck. 'Audentes fortuna iuuat'; Vergil, Aen. x. 284. So also our 'Nothing venture, nothing have,' and 'Faint heart never won fair lady'; which see in Hazlitt's Proverbs. For seel, luck, see l. 4239. See Troil. iv. 602, and the note.
4220. Pronounce ben'cite in three syllables; as usual.
4233. The thridde cok; apparently, between 5 and 6 A.M.; see note to line 3675 above. It was near dawn; see l. 4249.
4236. Malin, another form of Malkin, which is a pet-name for Matilda. See my note to P. Plowman, C. ii. ”

“ Him thar, lit. 'it needs him,' i. e. he need, he must. For thar, ed. 1532 has dare, which Tyrwhitt rightly corrects to thar, which occurs again in D. 329, 336, 1365, and H. 352. It is common enough in early authors; the full form is tharf, as in Owl and Nightingale, 803 (or 180) , Moral Ode (Jesus MS.) , 44; spelt tharrf, Ormulum, 12886; therf, Ancren Riwle, p. 192; darf, Floris and Blancheflur, 315; derf, O. Eng. Homilies, ed. ”

“ Ta. 178 (D. 1476) ; prime large, Squi. Ta. ii. 14 (F. 360) . See also prime in Troilus, ii. 992, v. 15; passed prime, ii. 1095 (in the same) ; an houre after the prime, ii. 1557.' Cf. notes to F. 73, &c.
3911. somdel, in some degree. sette his howve, the same as set his cappe, i. e. make him look foolish; see notes to A. 586, 3143. To come behind a man, and alter the look of his head-gear, was no doubt a common trick; now that caps are moveable, the perennial joy of the street-boy is to run off with another boy's cap. ”