two accounts; for, whilst he names Gengis Khan (the first Grand Kkan '), his description really applies to Kublai Khan, his grandson, the celebrated 'Grand Khan' described by Marco Polo.

1. 18. Lay, religious profession or belief. See the Preface.

1. 20. This line scans ill as it stands in the MSS. unless we insert eek, as proposed in the text. MS. HI. inserts and before alwey, which Tyrwhitt adopts; but this makes the line intolerable, as it gives two accented 'ands'And pí/tous and / just ánd / alwéy / ylíche.

The Hengwrt MS. has—

Pietous and Iust, and euere-moore yliche,

which, better spelt, becomes

Pitous and Iust, and euer-more yliche

and this I take to be, on the whole, the best solution of the difficulty.

1. 22. Centre; often used in the sense of a fulcrum or point of extreme stability. Cf. Milton, Par. Reg. iv. 533

'Proof against all temptation, as a rock

Of adamant, and, as a centre, firm.'

1. 30. Tyrwhitt inserts sone after eldeste; fortunately, it is not in the MSS. Whichë is a disyllable, the e denoting the plural form. The words th' eldest' form but two syllables, the e's being elided; but we may fairly preserve the e in highte (cf. 1. 33) from elision, for the greater emphasis, by a short pause, and we then have a perfect line

Of which/e th' el/dest' high/te-Al/garsif / .

1. 31. Cambalo. I have no doubt that this name was suggested by the Cambaluc of Marco Polo. See the Preface.

1. 39. Longing for, belonging to.

Cf. longen, Kn. Ta. 1420.

1. 44. I deme, I suppose. This looks as if Chaucer had read some account of a festival made by the Grand Khan on one of his birthdays, from which he inferred that he always held such a feast every year; as, indeed, was the case. See the Preface.

1. 45. He leet don cryen, he caused (men) to have the feast cried. The use of both leet and don is remarkable. He gave his orders to his officers, and they took care that the proclamation was made.

1. 47. It is not clear why Chaucer hit upon this day in particular. Kublai's birthday was in September, but perhaps Chaucer noted that the White Feast was on New Year's day, which he took to mean the vernal equinox, or some day near it. The day, however, is well defined. The 'last Idus' is the very day of the Ides, i, e. March 15. The sun entered Aries, according to Chaucer (Treatise on the Astrolabe, ii. I. 4) on the 12th of March, at the vernal equinox; and, as a degree answers to a day very nearly, would be in the first degree of Aries on the 12th, in the second on the 13th, in the third on the 14th, in the fourth on the 15th, and in the fifth (or at the end of the fourth) on the 16th, as Chaucer most expressly says below; see note to 1. 386. The sign Aries was said, in

astrology, to be the exaltation of the Sun, or that sign in which the Sun had most influence for good or ill. In particular, the 19th degree of Aries, for some mysterious reason, was selected as the Sun's exaltation, when most exactly reckoned. Chaucer says, then, that the Sun was in the sign of Aries, in the fourth degree of that sign, and therefore nigh (and approaching to) the 19th degree, or his special degree of exaltation. Besides this the poet says, the sun was in the 'face' of Mars, and in the mansion of Mars; for his mansion' in l. 50 means Mars's mansion. This is exactly in accordance with the astrology of the period. Each sign, such as Aries, was said to contain 30 degrees, or 3 faces; a face being 10 degrees. The first face of Aries (degrees 1-10) was called the face of Mars, the second (11-20) the face of the Sun, the third (21-30) that of Venus. Hence the sun, being in the fourth degree, was in Mars's face. Again, every planet had its (so-called) mansion or house; whence Aries was called the mansion of Mars, Taurus that of Venus, Gemini that of Mercury, &c. See Chaucer's Astrolabe, ed. Skeat, pref. pp. lvi, lxvi; or Johannis Hispalensis Isagoge in Astrologiam, which gives all the technical

terms.

1. 50. Martes is a genitive formed from the nom. Marte (Kn. Ta. 1163), which is itself formed, as usual, from the Latin acc. Martem.

1. 51. In the old astrology, different qualities are ascribed to the different signs. Thus Aries is described as choleric and fiery in MS. Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 15. 18, tract 3, p. II. So too, Tyrwhitt quotes from the Calendrier des Bergers that Aries is chault et sec,' i. e. hot and dry.

1. 53. Agayn, against, opposite to; in return for the sunshine, as it were. So also in Kn. Ta. 651.

1. 59. Deys, raised platform, as at English feasts. But this is in Marco Polo too; see the Preface. Cf. Kn. Tale, l. 1342; and note to Prol. 370.

1. 63. In a similar indirect manner, Chaucer describes feasts, &c., elsewhere: see Kn. Tale, 1339-1348; Man of Lawes Tale (C. T. ed. Tyrwhitt, 5121-5127). And Spenser imitates him; F. Q. i. 12. 14; v. 3. 3.

1. 68. Mr. Wright's note on the line is—' It is hardly necessary to observe that swans were formerly eaten at table, and considered among the choicest ornaments of the festive board. Tyrwhitt informs us that at the intronization of Archbp. Nevil, 6 Edward iv, there were "Heronshawes iiijc." [i. e. 400]; Leland's Collectanea, vi. 2; and that at another feast in 1530 we read of "16 Heronsews, every one 12d"; Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, ii. 12.' Heronshaw is said to be derived from the French beronçeau, a young heron, a form not given in Burguy or Roquefort, and Cotgrave only has 'Haironneau, a young heron,' and 'Hairon, a heron, herne, herneshaw.' Halliwell quotes‘Ardeola, an hearnesew' from Elyot's Dict. 1559, and the form herunsew from Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 88. On the whole, heronsewe is clearly the name of a bird, not of a dish, as some have supposed. In fact, the word heronsew (for heron) is still used in Swaledale, Yorkshire.

See the quotations in Nares; also Notes and Queries, 1st Ser. iii. 450, 507; iv. 76; vii. 13. Cf. handsaw, for hernshaw, in Hamlet, ii. 2.

1. 70. Som mete; viz. horses, dogs, and Pharaoh's rats.' See the

Preface.

1. 73. Pryme; the name of prime seems to mean, in Chaucer, the first quarter of the day, reckoned from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m.; and more particularly, the end of that period, i. e. 9 a.m. In the Nonne Prestes Tale, 1. 376, the cock crew at prime, or 9 a. m. So here, the Squire says it is 9 o'clock, and he must proceed quickly with his story. The word is used in different senses by different writers.

1. 75. Firste, first design or purpose. I believe this reading is right. MS. Harl. has purpos, which will not scan: unless my be omitted, as in Tyrwhitt, though that MS. retains my. MSS. Cp. Ln. insert purpos as well as firste, making the line too long: whilst Hn. Cm. Pt. agree with the text here given, from MS. E.

1. 76. The second syllable in after is rapidly pronounced, and thridde is a disyllable.

1. 80. The incident of a man riding into the hall is nothing uncommon. Thus we have, in the Percy Folio MS. ii. 486, the line

'The one came ryding into the hall.'

Warton observes-'See a fine romantic story of a Comte de Macon who, while revelling in his hall with many knights, is suddenly alarmed by the entrance of a gigantic figure of a black man, mounted on a black steed. This terrible stranger, without receiving any obstruction from guards or gates, rides directly forward to the high table, and, with an imperious tone, orders the count to follow him. Nic. Gillos, Chron. ann. 1120.' See also Warton's Obs. on the Fairy Queen, p. 202; and Stowe's Survey of London, p. 387, ed. 1599. In Scott's Rokeby, Bertram rides into a church. 1. 81. Stede of bras, &c. See the Preface.

1. 95. Sir Gawain, nephew to king Arthur, according to the British History which goes by the name of Geoffrey of Monmouth, is always upheld as a model of courtesy in the French romances and the English translations of them. He is often contrasted with Sir Kay, who was equally celebrated for his churlishness. See the Percy Folio MS.; Sir Gawain, ed. by Sir F. Madden: Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight, ed. by Dr. Morris; the Morte D'Arthur, &c. Cf. Rom. Rose, 2205-12.

1. 103. Accordant, according. The change from the Fr. -ant to the common Eng. -ing should be noted.-M.

1. 106. Style, stile. Such puns are not common in Chaucer; cf. E. 1148.-M.

1. 116. Day naturel. In his Treatise on the Astrolabe, pt. ii. c. 7 (ed. Skeat, p. 21) Chaucer explains that the day artificial is the time from sunrise to sunset, which varies; to which he adds-' but the day naturel, þat is to seyn 24 houris, is the reuolucioun of the equinoxial with as moche partie of the

zodiak as the sonne of his propre moeuinge passeth in the mene while.' See note to Group B, 1. 2.

1. 122. The air, pronounced th'air, as usual with Chaucer.

1. 129. Wayted, watched; alluding to the care with which the maker watched for the moment when the stars were in a propitious position, according to the old belief in astrology.

1. 131. Seel, seal. Mr. Wright notes that the making and arrangement of seals was one of the important operations of medieval magic, and treatises on this subject are found in MSS.' He refers to MS. Arundel, no. 295, fol. 265. Solomon's seal is still commemorated in the name of a flower.

1. 132. Mirour. For some account of this, see the Preface, and note to

1. 231.

1. 137. Ouer al this, besides all this. Elsewhere ouer-al is a compound word, meaning everywhere; as in Prol. 216.—M.

1. 154. And whom, &c., and to whom it will do good, or operate as a remedy; alluding to the virtues attributed to many herbs. So Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 10

'O who can tell

The hidden power of herbes, and might of magicke spell!'

1. 162. With the platte, with the flat side of it; see l. 164.

1. 171. Stant, stands; contracted from standeth; so also in 1. 182. Cf. sit for sitteth in 1. 179, and note to E. 1151.

1. 184. By means of any machine furnished with a windlass or a pulley.' The modern windlass may be compounded of wind and lace, but it is much more probably a corruption of the form windas here used. The confusion would be facilitated by the fact that there really was a form windlas (doubtless from wind and lace) with a different meaning, viz. that of a circuitous way or path; see note to Hamlet, ii. 1. 65 (Clar. Press). In the Promptorium Parvulorum, our word is spelt both wyndlas and wyndas; p. 529. The O. E. windas may have been derived from the Low-German directly, or more probably through the Old French, which has both guindas and windas. The meaning and derivation are clearly shewn by the Du. windas, which means a winding-axle or capstan, from the sb. as, an axle; so, too, the Icel. vind-áss. In Falconer's Shipwreck, canto I, note 3, the word windlass is used in the sense of capstan.

1. 190. Gauren, gaze, stare. Used again by Chaucer, C. T. 3825, and in Troil. and Cres. ii. 1157 (ed. Tyrwhitt). In the Clerkes Tale he has gazed. Mr. Wedgwood is certainly right in considering gaze and gaure (also spelt gare) as mere variations of the same word. Cf. the adj. garish, i. e. staring, in Milton, Il Pens. 141. The reader should notice this interchange of r and s, not only as distinguishing the G. eisen, hase, &c., from the E. forms iron, hare, but as exhibited within the compass of our own language; e. g. in dare, another form of doze (see Ch. C. T. 13033); in frore for frozen, Milton, P. L. ii. 595; in O. E. coren for chosen; in lorn for

lost, &c. See Peile, Introd. to Greek and Latin Etmology, 2nd. ed. p. 332; Skeat, Moso-Gothic Glossary, p. viii.

1. 193. Lumbardye, Lombardy, formerly celebrated for horses. Tyrwhitt quotes from a patent in Rymer, 2 Edw. II-De dextrariis in Lumbardia emendis,' i. e. of horses to be bought in Lombardy.

1. 195. Poileys, Apulian. Apulia was called Poille or Poile in Old French, and even in Old English; the phrase 'king of Poile' occurs in the Seven Sages (ed. Weber), 1. 2019. It was celebrated for its horses. Tyrwhitt quotes from MS. James vi. 142 (Bodleian Library) a passage in which Richard, archbishop of Armagh, in the fourteenth century, has the words— 'nec mulus Hispaniæ, nec dextrarius Apuliæ, nec repedo Æthiopiæ, nec elephantus Asiæ, nec camelus Syriæ.' Chaucer ascribes strength and size to the horses of Lombardy, and high breeding to those of Apulia.

1. 200. Gon, i. e. move, go about, have motion.

1. 201. Of fairye, of fairy origin, magical. I do not subscribe to Warton's opinion (Obs. on Faerie Queene, p. 86) that this necessarily means that it was the work of the devil.' Cf. the same expression in Piers Pl. B. prol. 6.

1. 203. Compare the Latin proverb-' quot homines, tot sententiae.'

1. 207. The Pegasee, Pegasus. In the margin of MSS. E. Hn. Hl. is written i. equs Pegaseus,' meaning 'id est, equus Pegaseus'; shewing that Chaucer was thinking of the adjective Pegaseus rather than of the sb. Pegasus, the name of the celebrated winged horse of Bellerophon and of the Muses. Cf. Complaint of the Black Knight, 1. 92.

209. 'Or else it was the horse of the Greek named Sinon.' This very singular-looking construction is really common in Old English; yet the scribe of the Harleian MS. actually writes the Grekissch hors Synon,' which makes Sinon the name of the horse; and this odd blunder is retained in the editions by Wright and Bell. The best way of clearing up the difficulty is by noting few of which are here appended.

similar examples; a

i. e. the dream of King Pharoah. Book of the Duchesse, 1. 282.

The erles wif Alein ';

i. e. the wife of earl Alein; Rob. of Gloucester, in Spec. of Eng. ed. Morris and Skeat, p. 11, 1. 303.

'Themperours moder william,'

i. e. the mother of the Emperor named William; Will. of Palerne, l. 5437. Pieres pardon pe plowman';

i. e. the pardon of Piers the Plowman; P. Pl. B. xix. 182.

In Piers berne pe plowman';

e. in the barn of Piers the Plowman; id. xix. 354.

For Piers loue pe plowman';

i. e. for love of Piers the Plowman, id. xx. 76. Chaucer again alludes to Sinon in the House of Fame, i. 152, and in the Legend of Good Women,