GLOSSARY.Abye, [to suffer].Air, early.Alderbest, best of all. This phrase, which occurs in Chaucer, is corrupted in De Worde’s edition to “al ther” and “al theyre,” which Coplande has changed to “al of the;” whence it may be inferred that the expression was become already obsolete, and consequently that the poem is of much greater antiquity than 1520: and yet Shakespeare, above half a century after, puts the wordAlderliefestinto the mouth of Queen Margaret in hisSecond Part of Henry the Sixth.Angels, pieces of gold coin, value 10s.Anker, hermit, anchorite.Ar, ere.Asay,Asayed, essayed, tried, proved.A-sound, in a swoon.Aunsetters, ancestors.Avow,Avowe, protestation, confession. “I make myn avow to God,” profess to God: fromaveu, F.Avowe, maintain,verbum juris.Avowè, founder, patron, protector. See Spelman’sGlossary,v.ADVOCATUS.Awayte,Awatye me scathe, lie in wait to do me harm.Awayted, lay in wait for.Awet, wit, know.Awkwarde, backward.An awkwarde strokeseems to mean an unusual or out of the way stroke, one which the receiver could not foresee, be aware of, or guard against; a sort of left or back hand stroke. “Anaukestroke” is a frequent expression inLa Mort d’Arthur.Ayenst, against.Baist,Baste, basted, belaboured.Baith, both.Bale, mischief, woe, sorrow, misery.Ballup, p.306.Banis, bane, destruction.Bear, moan, lamentation, outcry.Bearing, arrow.Bedene, behind, one after another?{388}Bedyng, asking.Your bedyng shall be doyn, your invitation shall be complied with.Beforen, before.Begeck,Give them a begeck, play them a trick, make fools of them.Behote, promised.Benbow, [a bent bow?].Bent, ii. 84.Bescro, beshrew.Bestad,Ferre and friend bestad, far from home and without a friend. The passage, however, seems corrupt. Perhaps, indeed, it should befren(frendorfremd)bestad,i.e.beset or surrounded by strangers.(Fremd,Saxon.) Thus, in Spenser’s 4th eclogue:“So now his friend is changed for afren.”Again, in Florio’sWorlde of Wordes, 1598: “Alieno, an alien, a stranger, a forraine, afreme.”Bestead, beset, put to it.Beth, are, be.Blate, sheepish or foolish, as we should now say.Blive, belive, immediately.Bloschems, blossoms.Bluter, p.105.Blyve, fast, quickly, briskly.Bocking, pouring, flowing.Bode, bidden, invited.Bolt,Bolte,Boltes,Boltys. A bolt was an arrow of a particular kind, used chiefly for shooting at birds; having a round or blunt head. Much’s object, it has been observed, was not to wound, but stun, the monk, and the bolt from its shape was peculiarly adapted to this purpose. In other passages, however, it seems to mean either an arrow in general, or one used for shooting at a mark. “I’ll make a shaft or a bolt on’t,” which Shakespeare has put into the mouth of M. Slender, appears, from Ray’sCollection, to have been a common proverb.Boote, help.Booting, p.98.Borde, table.Borowe,Borrow, pledge, surety, bail.Borowehode, suretyship.Boskyd, busked, prepared, got ready.Bottle, a small vessel, of wood or leather, in the shape of a cask, in which shepherds and others employed abroad in the fields carry or keep their drink.Bottys, buts.Bou, bow.Bound, betook, went.Boldly bound away, briskly scampered off.Bowe, bough.{389}Bown, ready.Bowne ye, prepare ye, get ready.Boyt, both.Breche, breeches.Breyde, started, stepped hastily.Breyde, start, quick or hasty step.Broke, brook, enjoy, use, keep.Bronde, brand, sword.Bushement, ambush.Buske,I wyll me buske,i.e.go, betake myself.Buske you, address or prepare yourselves, make ready.Bydene, one after another.Can, did.Carpe, [to speak].Cankardly, peevishly, with ill-temper.Capull hyde, horse hide.CapalorCapulin Irish or Erse is a horse or mare, asKephylis in Welsh.Carel,Carril, carle, old fellow.Caward, awkward or backward. SeeAwkwarde.Cerstyn, Christian.Chaffar, chaffer, merchandise, commodity.Chepe,better chepe, cheaper;à meilleur marché, F.Gret chepe, very cheap;à très bon marché.Chepe, cheapen, buy.Chepyd, cheapened, bought.Cheys, choose.Chiven, p.219.Chorle, churl, peasant, clown.Cla’d, scratched.Clock, cloak.Clouted, patched.Cole, p.66.Come, (pronounced com) came.Command, warrant, authority.Commytted, accounted.Coresed, p.20.Cortessey, courteous. Q.Corteysse.Cote a pye, upper garment, short cloke;courtepy, Chaucer. See Tyrwhitt’s note, iv. 201.Coud, knew, understood.Counsell, “And counsell shall it be,” and it shall be kept secret; in allusion, perhaps, to the oath of a grand juror:—“the king’scounsel, your fellows, and your own you shall keep secret.” The phrase is, however, used by Chaucer:“Shall it beconseil? sayed the firste shrewe;And I shall tellen thee in wordes feweWhat we shall don, and bring it wel aboute.”—Pardoneres Tale.Covent, convent; whence our Covent Garden.Cowed, could, knew.Cowed of curteysey, understood good manners.{390}Crack, boast.Craftely, skilfully,secundum artem.Crouse, brisk.Cun, con, owe, give.Curn, p.101.Curtall, p.210, 211.Curteyse, courteous.Cutters, sharking fellows; such as live by robbery or violence; bravos. So in the old play ofArden of Feversham, h. d. b. l.: “And they are cutters, and may cut your throat.”Dame, mother.Dead, certain; so in the common saying, “As dead as Chelsea;”i.e.as certain as a situation in that hospital.Demed, judged.Depart, part, separate.Derne, privy, secret.Deyell, devil.Deythe, dight, dressed.Donne, dun.Doyt, doth, do.Dree, hye.Dreyffe, drive.Dub, shallow miry pool.Dung, beaten, overcome.Durk, dagger.Dyght, dressed, done.Dyghtande, p.69.Dysgrate, disgraced, degraded.Hath be dysgrate, hath fallen into poverty.Een, eyes.Eftsones, hereafter, afterward.Eild, age.Elephant, p.263.Ender, under.English wood.IfInglewood Forestbe here intended, the Queen is a little out in her geography: she probably meansSherwood, but neither was that in the page’s way to Nottingham, andBarnsdalewas still farther north. SeeAncient Popular Poetry, 1791, p. 3.Ere, before.Eylde, yield.Eyr, year.Eyre, heir.Fail,But fail, without fail, without doubt.Failyd, wanted, missed.Fair, fare, ado.Fare, live.Farley, fairly, plainly.Fay, faith.{391}Fayne, glad.Fe, fee, wages.Feardest, fearfulest, most frightened or afraid.Feders, feathers.Fend,Fend I godys forbode.Fende, defend.Fered, feared, lived.Ferre, far.Ferre dayes, far in the day;grand jour, F.Ferre gone, long since.Fette, fetched.Fetteled him, made him ready, prepared himself, set about.Fettled,Them fettled, attempted, set about.Feyffe, five.Finikin, finical, fine, spruce.Flee, fly.Flinders, splinters.Fone, foes, enemies.Forbode,Godys forbode, ‘prohibition or curse.’ Florio, in his Italian dictionary, 1598, renders the phrase,Adio non piaceia. God forbid,Godes forbode. InA Briefe Conceipte of English Policy, 1581, it is corrupted to “God swarbote.”Force, care.Forgone, forego, lose.Fors, seeForce.Forsoyt, forsooth, truly.Foryete, forgotten.Fostere, forester.Fothe, foot.Frae, from.Frebore, free-born, gentle.Frese, p.39.Furmety, [fumenty].Frere, [friar].Fynly, goodly.Gae, go.Gan,Gan they gone, are they gone, did they go.Gang,Gange, go.Gate,Gates, ways, passes, paths, ridings.Gateis a common word in the North for way.—P.Geffe, given.General, perhaps the governor, Nottingham still being a garrison town.Ger, gear, stuff, goods, property, effects.Gereamarsey, seeGramercy.Gillore, plenty.Glen, valley.God, good, goods, property.God-a-marsey, God-a-mercy! SeeGramercy.Godde, seeGod.{392}Godys forbode.SeeForbode.Gorney, journey.Goy, joy.Graff,Oke graff, oak branch or sapling.Gramercy, thanks, or many thanks;grand mercie, F.Gree, satisfaction.Gret, greeted, saluted.Gripped, grasped, laid hold of.Grome, a common man.Hail,All hail, wholely, entirely.Halds, holds, holding-places, supports.Halke, perhaps haugh, low ground by the side of a river. See the glossary to Bishop Douglas’sVirgil,v.Hawchis.Halkewith Chaucer signifies a corner; but seems here used in opposition tohill.Halfendell, half.Hals, neck.Hambellet, ambleth.Hansell.The vendor of any wares is said to receivehanselof his first customer; but the meaning of the text,Haffe hansell for the mar, is not understood, unless it can be thought to imply,Give me hansel,i.e.buy of my pots.Hart of Greecemeans perhaps no more than a fat hart, for the sake of a quibble between Greece and grease.Hawt, aught, anything, something.Hayt, hath.Held, kept preserved.Hende, gentle, courteous.Hent, took, caught.Hepe, hip, haw, the fruit of the white thorn. So inGil Morice, a Scotishballad:—“I was onceAS FOWof Gill MorriceASTHE HIP IS O’ THE STEAN.”Her, their.Het, it.Het, eat.Heynd, gentle, courteous.Heyt war howte, p.86.Highed, hyed, hastened.Hight,What they hight, what they are called.Holde, keep, held, retained of council.Holy, wholely.Holy dame,Our holy dame, p.250, the Virgin Mary (so called); unless, for our “holy dame” we should read our halidome, which may mean our holiness, honesty, chastity; haligoome, sanctimonia.Hos,Hus, us.Hotys, oats.Housband,Housbonde, manager, husbandman, peasant.{393}How, hill.Howt, out.Hyght, vowed, promised.Hynde, knave.I, ay.Ibent, bent.Ibonde, bound.Ichaunged, changed.Idyght, dight, dressed, prepared, made ready.Ifedered, feathered.Ilke, each.In-fere, together.Inocked, nocked, notched.Ipyght,Up ipyght, p.26.Iquyt, acquitted, set at liberty.Iswore, sworn.Itake, taken.Japes, tricks.Ken, know.Kest, cast.Kirtle, upper petticoat.Knave, servant, man.Kod, quod, quoth, said.Kyrtell, waistcoat.Kythe nor kin, acquaintance nor kindred.Lappe, wrap.Late, lake, play, game.Launsgay, a sort of lance.Leasynge, lying, falsehood.Lede, train, suite.Ledesman, guide.Lee, plain.Lefe, willing.Whether he were loth or lefe, whether he would or not.Leffe, leave, left.Leffes, leaves.Lende, meet, encounter.Lene, lend.Lere, learn.Lere, cheek.Lese, lose.Let, omit, hinder, hindered.Leugh, laughed.Lever, rather.Lewtè, loyalty, faith, truth;leauté, F.Leythe, light.Ligge, lay.Lin, stop, stay.Lithe, attend, hear, hearken.{394}Loffe, love.Lore, lost.Lough,Loughe,Low, laughed.Lowe, “a little hill.”—P.Lown, villain, knave, base fellow.Lust, desire, inclination.Lyght, light; or, perhaps, forlyte, little.Lynde,Lyne, the lime or linden tree; or collectively lime trees, or trees in general.Lyth, seeLithe.Lyveray, livery, habit, delivery: the mess, portion, or quantity of provisions delivered out at a time by the butler was calleda livery.Masars, cups, vessels.Masterye, “a trial of skill, high proof of skill.”—P.Mair, more.Maney, seeMeyne.May, maid.Me,That ever yet sawe I me, a gallicism;que jamais j’ai vu moi.Meal, oat-meal.Meal-poke, meal-bag, bag in which oatmeal is put.Meat-rife.Mede,To quyte hym well his mede, to reward him to some purpose.Medys, midst, middle.Meede, reward.Mesh,All to mesh, to a mash or jelly.Met,Mete, measured.Methe, meat.Meyne, attendants, retinue;mesnie, F.Meythe, might.Mickle, much, great, very.Mister, need. It ismistersin the original.Mo, more.Molde, earth.Mot,Mote, might, may.Mote, meeting, assembly, court, audit.Mountenaunce, amount, duration, space.Mow, mouth.Mowe, may.Muckle, seeMickle.Myrthes, mirth, merriment.A man that myrthes can, a minstrel, fiddler, juggler, or the like.Myster, need.Nane, none.Nar, nor, than.Ner, ear. So in “The Romaunt of the Rose:”“He streight up to hisereydroughThe stronge bowe.”{395}Ner, (ne wer it), were it not.Nip, p.100.Nips, p.101.Nobellys, nobles. Thenoblewas a gold coin, value 6s. 8d.Nombles,Numbles, entrails; those parts which are usually baked in a pie: now, corruptly, calledhumblesorumbles:nombles, F. Thus we say,an Adder,an Apron,an Ouche, instead ofa Nadder,(Naddre),a Napron,a Nouche: thenbeing, through ignorance, transferred to the article. The reverse has happened in the wordsA newt, which should be writtenAn ewt: a mistake the more remarkable as we say and writeAn eft; both from the same root:Efet,Saxon.Obeyedores, [obediener].Okerer, usurer.Or, [en].Os, us.Outdone, undone.Owthe, out.Paid, beat, beaten.Palmer.Apalmerwas, properly, a pilgrim who had visited the Holy Land, from the palm-branch or cross which he bore as a sign of such visitation: but it is probable that the distinction betweenpalmersand otherpilgrimswas never much attended to in this country. The palmer in the text seems to be no more than a common beggar; as is, likewise, the one in the romance.Partakers, assistants, persons to take thy part.Passe, extent, bounds, limits, district; as thePas de Calais. Copland’s edition readscompas.Pauage,Pavag,Pavage,Pawage, a toll or duty payable for the liberty of passing over the soil or territory of another:paagium, L.Pay, content, satisfaction, money.Peces, p.32.Pecocke,With pecocke well ydight, handsomely dressed with peacock feathers. Thus Chaucer, describing his “squire’s yeman:”“A shefe ofpeacocke arwesbright and kene,Under his belt he bare ful thriftely.”In a little treatise of “The Hors, the Shepe, and the Ghoos,” printed by Caxton, it issaid—“Thurgh all the londe of Brutes AlbyonFor fetherd arowes as I reherce canGhoosis the best to make comparisonExcepte fethers ofpecokand ofswan.”Pinder.Thepinderis thepounderorpound-keeper; the petty officer of a manor, whose duty it is to impound all strange cattle straying upon the common, &c.{396}Plucke-buffet, p.75.Polle, pull.Poke, bag.Preke, prick, a piece of wood in the centre of the target.Prese, company.Prest, ready, ready to go.Puding-pricks, skewers that fasten the pudding-bag.Pyne,Goddes pyne, Christ’s passion or crucifixion.Quequer, quiver:Gocur,Saxon.Queyt, quit, recompense.Qod, quoth, says, said.Raked, walked apace.Ray,Battle ray, Battle-array. The same expression occurs inThe Tragicall History of Didaco and Violenta, 1567:“To traverse forth his grounde, to placeHis troupesin batayle ray.”Ray, array, put in order.Raye.Cloth of raywas cloth not coloured or dyed. It is mentioned in many old statutes in contradistinction tocloth of colour. See 17 E. 3. c. 1, 7 H. 4. c. 10, 11 H. 4. c. 6, 1 R. 3. c. 8. The “reied or striped cloth” (Stow’sSurvay, 1598, p. 436, 430) must have been very different.Reachles, careless, regardless, unobservant.Red, clear.Reuth, pity, compassion.Reve, taken by force.Reves, bailiffs, receivers.Ripe, cleanse.Riped, cleansed.Rod, poles, perches. A rod, pole, or perch is usually sixteen feet and a half, but in Sherwood forest (according to Blount) it is 21 feet, the foot there being 18 inches.Rode, rood, cross.Rung, staff.Ryall, royal.Ryalty, royalty.Ryghtwys, righteous, just.Sack, a kind of Spanish wine, perhaps sherry, formerly much drank in this country; very different, at least, from the sweet (or canary) wine now so called.Sair, sore.Salved, (salued?) saluted. The wordsalewed, in this sense, occurs repeatedly inThe Hystorye of Reinard the Foxe(Pinson’s edition); and (vide tamen Salvidin theGesta Romanorum, MS. Har. 7333, No. 48) in that of “Kynge Ponthus of Galyce,” 1511. “Salue,” F. i. “Salewe,” F. ii. K. Ponthus.Scathe, harm.Schetyng, shooting.Schomer, summer.{397}Sclo, slay.Scop, scalp, pate.Scoper, supper.Scouth, p.105.Serefe,Screffe, sheriff.Se, videSee.Seche, seek.See, regard, protect. The same phrase occurs in Chaucer’sTroilus and Cresside:“Madame, quoth Pandare, God you save see.”Seker, sure.Selerer.The cellarer (celerier,cellararius, orcellarius) was that officer who furnished the convent with provisions,cui potus et escæ cura est, qui cellæ vinariæ et escariæ præest, promus(DUCANGE).He appears to have been a person of considerable trust, and to have had a principal concern in the management of the society’s revenues. See Spelman’sGlossary, Fuller’sChurch History, &c.Semblaunte, semblance, appearance.Sene, see.Sete, p.25.Sets.Sets with Roben Hood such a lass!probably such a lass would suit or become him well; but the passage is either singular or corrupt.Sette, mortgaged.Shawe.Shawis usually explained bylittle wood, butgreenwood little woodwould be ridiculous tautology; it may therefore meanshade, which appears its primitive signification: Scuƿa, Saxon. See p. 327, ver. 5.Shaws, “little woods.”—P.Shende, hurt, annoy.Shente, hurt, wounded.Shet, shut.Shete, shoot.Shone, [shoes].Shope, shaped, made.Shraddes.See the note.Shrewde,Shrewed, unlucky.Shrift, confession.Shroggs, “shrubs, thorns, briars. G. Doug.scroggis.”—P.Shyt, shut.Skaith, hurt, harm.They feared for his skaith,i.e.for the harm it might do them.Slack, low ground.Slade, “a slip of greensward between plow-lands, or woods, &c.”—P.Slawe,Slone, slain.Sle,Sloo, slay.Somers, sumpter-horses.Sorowe, sorry.{398}Sothe, sooth, truth.Sound, seeA-sound.Soyt, sooth, truth.Spear, ask.Speer’d, asked, inquired.Stalward,Stalworthe, stout, well made.Stane, stone.Stark, stiff.Stede, time.Steven.At some unsett-steven, at some unlooked for time, by some odd accident, by mere chance, voice.Stime, spark, particle or ray of light.Stint, stop.Sto’, store, p.219.Strang, strong.Strete, lane, path, way.Sweaven, dream.Sweer, p.100.Syne, after, afterward, then.Syth, afterward.Takles, arrows.Takyll, arrow.Tarpe, p.68.Tene, grief, sorrow, distress, vexation.Tene, grieve.The, thrive, prosper.Thes, thus, this.Thos, thus.Throwe, space.To-broke, broken.To-hande staffe, two-hand staff, quarter-staff.Tortyll, wreathed, twined, twirled, twisted;tortillé, F.Tray, anger.Tree, staff.Treyffe, thrive.Trow, true.Trowet, troth.True, trow, believe.Trystell,Trystyll.Tynde,Tyndes, tines, antlers, the pointed branches that issue from the main beam of a stag. “In Ynglond ther ys a shepcote, the wyche schepekote hayt ix dorys, & at yeuery dor stondet ix ramys, & every ram hat ix ewys, & yevery ewe hathe ix lambys, & yevery lambe hayt ix homes, & every horne hayt ixTYNDES: what ys the somm of all thes belle?” (MSS. More, Ee. 4. 35.)Unketh, uncouth, strange.Unneth, scarcely.Up-chaunce, by chance.Venie,Brave venie, merry vein, jovial humour.{399}Wan,Wonnynge wan, dwelling-place.Wan, got.Warden-pies.Wardensare a species of large pears. In Shakespeare’sWinter’s Tale, the clown, enumerating the articles he had to provide for the sheep-shearing feast, says he “must have saffron to colour thewarden-pies.”Warse, worse.Was, wash. “And afterward the justices arise andwasse, and geffe thanks unto the new serjaunts forther gode dyner” (Origines Juridiciales, p. 116). This ceremony, which, in former times, was constantly practised as well before as after meat, seems to have fallen into disuse on the introduction of forks, about the year 1620: as before that period our ancestors supplyed the place of this necessary utensil with their fingers.Watchman, a probable mistake forWaithman, outlaw. See Notes, &c., p. lxxiii.Wed,Wedde, pawn, pledge, or deposit.To wedde, in mortgage.Lay my life to wedde, pawn my life.Weele, well.Welt,Welt them at his wyll, did as he pleased with them, used them at his pleasure.Wed,Wende, go, hye.Wenest, thinkest.Wenion,Marry gep with a wenion!“He shoulde have bene at home a preachingwith a waniant,” says Bishop Latimer,Sermons before King Edward VI., p. 35. This phrase,with a wannion, is common in old plays, but, though its meaning be obvious, even Mr. Steevens is unable to “explain the word at the end of it” (Shak.xiii. 440). It is now corrupted towith a vengeance.Went, wended, gone.Werschep, worshipped, reverenced, respected.West, wist, known.Wete, know.Whang,Leathern whang, leather thong or string.Whereas, where.Whute, whistle.Wigger wand, wicker wand.Wight,Wighty, strong.N.B.The latter word seems everywhere a mistake for the former.Wilfulle, doubtful.Win, seeWen.Win, get.Wist, wis, trow, believe.Wist, knew.Wode, mad.Wodys, woods.Wolwarde, wearing a flannel shirt, by way of penance. See Steeven’sShakespeare, 1793, v. 360.{400}Won, dwell.Wonest, dwellest.Woodweele, “the golden ouzle, a bird of the thrush kind.”—P.Worthe,Wo worthe the, woe be to thee.Wrack, ruin, destruction.Wroken, wreaked, revenged.Wyght, strong, stout.Wynne, go.Wys, trow; there is no modern word precisely synonymous.Wyte,Wytte, know.Y, I.Yede,Yeed, went.Yeff, if.Yeffell, evil.Yeft, gift.Yemenry, yeomanry.Thow seys god yemenry, thou speakest honestly, fairly, sensibly, like a good yeoman.Yend, yon.Yeomandree,Yeomandry, yeomanry, followers.Yerdes, rods.Yever, ever.Yfere, together.Ylke, same.Ylke same, very same.Ynowe, enough.Yode, went.Yole, Christmas.Yonder, under.Yong men, yeomen (which is every where substituted in Copland’s edition). See Spelman’sGlossaryin the wordesJuniores,Yeoman; Minshen’sGuide into Tongues, in the latter word; Tyrwhitt’s edition of theCanterbury Tales, iv. 195; Shakespeare’sPlays, 1793, xiv. 347.PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.EDINBURGH AND LONDON
Abye, [to suffer].
Air, early.
Alderbest, best of all. This phrase, which occurs in Chaucer, is corrupted in De Worde’s edition to “al ther” and “al theyre,” which Coplande has changed to “al of the;” whence it may be inferred that the expression was become already obsolete, and consequently that the poem is of much greater antiquity than 1520: and yet Shakespeare, above half a century after, puts the wordAlderliefestinto the mouth of Queen Margaret in hisSecond Part of Henry the Sixth.
Angels, pieces of gold coin, value 10s.
Anker, hermit, anchorite.
Ar, ere.
Asay,Asayed, essayed, tried, proved.
A-sound, in a swoon.
Aunsetters, ancestors.
Avow,Avowe, protestation, confession. “I make myn avow to God,” profess to God: fromaveu, F.
Avowe, maintain,verbum juris.
Avowè, founder, patron, protector. See Spelman’sGlossary,v.ADVOCATUS.
Awayte,Awatye me scathe, lie in wait to do me harm.
Awayted, lay in wait for.
Awet, wit, know.
Awkwarde, backward.An awkwarde strokeseems to mean an unusual or out of the way stroke, one which the receiver could not foresee, be aware of, or guard against; a sort of left or back hand stroke. “Anaukestroke” is a frequent expression inLa Mort d’Arthur.
Ayenst, against.
Baist,Baste, basted, belaboured.
Baith, both.
Bale, mischief, woe, sorrow, misery.
Ballup, p.306.
Banis, bane, destruction.
Bear, moan, lamentation, outcry.
Bearing, arrow.
Bedene, behind, one after another?{388}
Bedyng, asking.Your bedyng shall be doyn, your invitation shall be complied with.
Beforen, before.
Begeck,Give them a begeck, play them a trick, make fools of them.
Behote, promised.
Benbow, [a bent bow?].
Bent, ii. 84.
Bescro, beshrew.
Bestad,Ferre and friend bestad, far from home and without a friend. The passage, however, seems corrupt. Perhaps, indeed, it should befren(frendorfremd)bestad,i.e.beset or surrounded by strangers.(Fremd,Saxon.) Thus, in Spenser’s 4th eclogue:
“So now his friend is changed for afren.”
“So now his friend is changed for afren.”
“So now his friend is changed for afren.”
Again, in Florio’sWorlde of Wordes, 1598: “Alieno, an alien, a stranger, a forraine, afreme.”
Bestead, beset, put to it.
Beth, are, be.
Blate, sheepish or foolish, as we should now say.
Blive, belive, immediately.
Bloschems, blossoms.
Bluter, p.105.
Blyve, fast, quickly, briskly.
Bocking, pouring, flowing.
Bode, bidden, invited.
Bolt,Bolte,Boltes,Boltys. A bolt was an arrow of a particular kind, used chiefly for shooting at birds; having a round or blunt head. Much’s object, it has been observed, was not to wound, but stun, the monk, and the bolt from its shape was peculiarly adapted to this purpose. In other passages, however, it seems to mean either an arrow in general, or one used for shooting at a mark. “I’ll make a shaft or a bolt on’t,” which Shakespeare has put into the mouth of M. Slender, appears, from Ray’sCollection, to have been a common proverb.
Boote, help.
Booting, p.98.
Borde, table.
Borowe,Borrow, pledge, surety, bail.
Borowehode, suretyship.
Boskyd, busked, prepared, got ready.
Bottle, a small vessel, of wood or leather, in the shape of a cask, in which shepherds and others employed abroad in the fields carry or keep their drink.
Bottys, buts.
Bou, bow.
Bound, betook, went.Boldly bound away, briskly scampered off.
Bowe, bough.{389}
Bown, ready.Bowne ye, prepare ye, get ready.
Boyt, both.
Breche, breeches.
Breyde, started, stepped hastily.
Breyde, start, quick or hasty step.
Broke, brook, enjoy, use, keep.
Bronde, brand, sword.
Bushement, ambush.
Buske,I wyll me buske,i.e.go, betake myself.Buske you, address or prepare yourselves, make ready.
Bydene, one after another.
Can, did.
Carpe, [to speak].
Cankardly, peevishly, with ill-temper.
Capull hyde, horse hide.CapalorCapulin Irish or Erse is a horse or mare, asKephylis in Welsh.
Carel,Carril, carle, old fellow.
Caward, awkward or backward. SeeAwkwarde.
Cerstyn, Christian.
Chaffar, chaffer, merchandise, commodity.
Chepe,better chepe, cheaper;à meilleur marché, F.Gret chepe, very cheap;à très bon marché.
Chepe, cheapen, buy.Chepyd, cheapened, bought.
Cheys, choose.
Chiven, p.219.
Chorle, churl, peasant, clown.
Cla’d, scratched.
Clock, cloak.
Clouted, patched.
Cole, p.66.
Come, (pronounced com) came.
Command, warrant, authority.
Commytted, accounted.
Coresed, p.20.
Cortessey, courteous. Q.Corteysse.
Cote a pye, upper garment, short cloke;courtepy, Chaucer. See Tyrwhitt’s note, iv. 201.
Coud, knew, understood.
Counsell, “And counsell shall it be,” and it shall be kept secret; in allusion, perhaps, to the oath of a grand juror:—“the king’scounsel, your fellows, and your own you shall keep secret.” The phrase is, however, used by Chaucer:
“Shall it beconseil? sayed the firste shrewe;And I shall tellen thee in wordes feweWhat we shall don, and bring it wel aboute.”—Pardoneres Tale.
“Shall it beconseil? sayed the firste shrewe;And I shall tellen thee in wordes feweWhat we shall don, and bring it wel aboute.”—Pardoneres Tale.
“Shall it beconseil? sayed the firste shrewe;And I shall tellen thee in wordes feweWhat we shall don, and bring it wel aboute.”—Pardoneres Tale.
“Shall it beconseil? sayed the firste shrewe;
And I shall tellen thee in wordes fewe
What we shall don, and bring it wel aboute.”
—Pardoneres Tale.
Covent, convent; whence our Covent Garden.
Cowed, could, knew.Cowed of curteysey, understood good manners.{390}
Crack, boast.
Craftely, skilfully,secundum artem.
Crouse, brisk.
Cun, con, owe, give.
Curn, p.101.
Curtall, p.210, 211.
Curteyse, courteous.
Cutters, sharking fellows; such as live by robbery or violence; bravos. So in the old play ofArden of Feversham, h. d. b. l.: “And they are cutters, and may cut your throat.”
Dame, mother.
Dead, certain; so in the common saying, “As dead as Chelsea;”i.e.as certain as a situation in that hospital.
Demed, judged.
Depart, part, separate.
Derne, privy, secret.
Deyell, devil.
Deythe, dight, dressed.
Donne, dun.
Doyt, doth, do.
Dree, hye.
Dreyffe, drive.
Dub, shallow miry pool.
Dung, beaten, overcome.
Durk, dagger.
Dyght, dressed, done.
Dyghtande, p.69.
Dysgrate, disgraced, degraded.Hath be dysgrate, hath fallen into poverty.
Een, eyes.
Eftsones, hereafter, afterward.
Eild, age.
Elephant, p.263.
Ender, under.
English wood.IfInglewood Forestbe here intended, the Queen is a little out in her geography: she probably meansSherwood, but neither was that in the page’s way to Nottingham, andBarnsdalewas still farther north. SeeAncient Popular Poetry, 1791, p. 3.
Ere, before.
Eylde, yield.
Eyr, year.
Eyre, heir.
Fail,But fail, without fail, without doubt.
Failyd, wanted, missed.
Fair, fare, ado.
Fare, live.
Farley, fairly, plainly.
Fay, faith.{391}
Fayne, glad.
Fe, fee, wages.
Feardest, fearfulest, most frightened or afraid.
Feders, feathers.
Fend,Fend I godys forbode.
Fende, defend.
Fered, feared, lived.
Ferre, far.Ferre dayes, far in the day;grand jour, F.Ferre gone, long since.
Fette, fetched.
Fetteled him, made him ready, prepared himself, set about.Fettled,Them fettled, attempted, set about.
Feyffe, five.
Finikin, finical, fine, spruce.
Flee, fly.
Flinders, splinters.
Fone, foes, enemies.
Forbode,Godys forbode, ‘prohibition or curse.’ Florio, in his Italian dictionary, 1598, renders the phrase,Adio non piaceia. God forbid,Godes forbode. InA Briefe Conceipte of English Policy, 1581, it is corrupted to “God swarbote.”
Force, care.
Forgone, forego, lose.
Fors, seeForce.
Forsoyt, forsooth, truly.
Foryete, forgotten.
Fostere, forester.
Fothe, foot.
Frae, from.
Frebore, free-born, gentle.
Frese, p.39.
Furmety, [fumenty].
Frere, [friar].
Fynly, goodly.
Gae, go.
Gan,Gan they gone, are they gone, did they go.
Gang,Gange, go.
Gate,Gates, ways, passes, paths, ridings.Gateis a common word in the North for way.—P.
Geffe, given.
General, perhaps the governor, Nottingham still being a garrison town.
Ger, gear, stuff, goods, property, effects.
Gereamarsey, seeGramercy.
Gillore, plenty.
Glen, valley.
God, good, goods, property.
God-a-marsey, God-a-mercy! SeeGramercy.
Godde, seeGod.{392}
Godys forbode.SeeForbode.
Gorney, journey.
Goy, joy.
Graff,Oke graff, oak branch or sapling.
Gramercy, thanks, or many thanks;grand mercie, F.
Gree, satisfaction.
Gret, greeted, saluted.
Gripped, grasped, laid hold of.
Grome, a common man.
Hail,All hail, wholely, entirely.
Halds, holds, holding-places, supports.
Halke, perhaps haugh, low ground by the side of a river. See the glossary to Bishop Douglas’sVirgil,v.Hawchis.Halkewith Chaucer signifies a corner; but seems here used in opposition tohill.
Halfendell, half.
Hals, neck.
Hambellet, ambleth.
Hansell.The vendor of any wares is said to receivehanselof his first customer; but the meaning of the text,Haffe hansell for the mar, is not understood, unless it can be thought to imply,Give me hansel,i.e.buy of my pots.
Hart of Greecemeans perhaps no more than a fat hart, for the sake of a quibble between Greece and grease.
Hawt, aught, anything, something.
Hayt, hath.
Held, kept preserved.
Hende, gentle, courteous.
Hent, took, caught.
Hepe, hip, haw, the fruit of the white thorn. So inGil Morice, a Scotishballad:—
“I was onceAS FOWof Gill MorriceASTHE HIP IS O’ THE STEAN.”
“I was onceAS FOWof Gill MorriceASTHE HIP IS O’ THE STEAN.”
“I was onceAS FOWof Gill Morrice
ASTHE HIP IS O’ THE STEAN.”
Her, their.
Het, it.
Het, eat.
Heynd, gentle, courteous.
Heyt war howte, p.86.
Highed, hyed, hastened.
Hight,What they hight, what they are called.
Holde, keep, held, retained of council.
Holy, wholely.
Holy dame,Our holy dame, p.250, the Virgin Mary (so called); unless, for our “holy dame” we should read our halidome, which may mean our holiness, honesty, chastity; haligoome, sanctimonia.
Hos,Hus, us.
Hotys, oats.
Housband,Housbonde, manager, husbandman, peasant.{393}
How, hill.
Howt, out.
Hyght, vowed, promised.
Hynde, knave.
I, ay.
Ibent, bent.
Ibonde, bound.
Ichaunged, changed.
Idyght, dight, dressed, prepared, made ready.
Ifedered, feathered.
Ilke, each.
In-fere, together.
Inocked, nocked, notched.
Ipyght,Up ipyght, p.26.
Iquyt, acquitted, set at liberty.
Iswore, sworn.
Itake, taken.
Japes, tricks.
Ken, know.
Kest, cast.
Kirtle, upper petticoat.
Knave, servant, man.
Kod, quod, quoth, said.
Kyrtell, waistcoat.
Kythe nor kin, acquaintance nor kindred.
Lappe, wrap.
Late, lake, play, game.
Launsgay, a sort of lance.
Leasynge, lying, falsehood.
Lede, train, suite.
Ledesman, guide.
Lee, plain.
Lefe, willing.Whether he were loth or lefe, whether he would or not.
Leffe, leave, left.
Leffes, leaves.
Lende, meet, encounter.
Lene, lend.
Lere, learn.
Lere, cheek.
Lese, lose.
Let, omit, hinder, hindered.
Leugh, laughed.
Lever, rather.
Lewtè, loyalty, faith, truth;leauté, F.
Leythe, light.
Ligge, lay.
Lin, stop, stay.
Lithe, attend, hear, hearken.{394}
Loffe, love.
Lore, lost.
Lough,Loughe,Low, laughed.
Lowe, “a little hill.”—P.
Lown, villain, knave, base fellow.
Lust, desire, inclination.
Lyght, light; or, perhaps, forlyte, little.
Lynde,Lyne, the lime or linden tree; or collectively lime trees, or trees in general.
Lyth, seeLithe.
Lyveray, livery, habit, delivery: the mess, portion, or quantity of provisions delivered out at a time by the butler was calleda livery.
Masars, cups, vessels.
Masterye, “a trial of skill, high proof of skill.”—P.
Mair, more.
Maney, seeMeyne.
May, maid.
Me,That ever yet sawe I me, a gallicism;que jamais j’ai vu moi.
Meal, oat-meal.
Meal-poke, meal-bag, bag in which oatmeal is put.
Meat-rife.
Mede,To quyte hym well his mede, to reward him to some purpose.
Medys, midst, middle.
Meede, reward.
Mesh,All to mesh, to a mash or jelly.
Met,Mete, measured.
Methe, meat.
Meyne, attendants, retinue;mesnie, F.
Meythe, might.
Mickle, much, great, very.
Mister, need. It ismistersin the original.
Mo, more.
Molde, earth.
Mot,Mote, might, may.
Mote, meeting, assembly, court, audit.
Mountenaunce, amount, duration, space.
Mow, mouth.
Mowe, may.
Muckle, seeMickle.
Myrthes, mirth, merriment.A man that myrthes can, a minstrel, fiddler, juggler, or the like.
Myster, need.
Nane, none.
Nar, nor, than.
Ner, ear. So in “The Romaunt of the Rose:”
“He streight up to hisereydroughThe stronge bowe.”{395}
“He streight up to hisereydroughThe stronge bowe.”{395}
“He streight up to hisereydrough
The stronge bowe.”{395}
Ner, (ne wer it), were it not.
Nip, p.100.
Nips, p.101.
Nobellys, nobles. Thenoblewas a gold coin, value 6s. 8d.
Nombles,Numbles, entrails; those parts which are usually baked in a pie: now, corruptly, calledhumblesorumbles:nombles, F. Thus we say,an Adder,an Apron,an Ouche, instead ofa Nadder,(Naddre),a Napron,a Nouche: thenbeing, through ignorance, transferred to the article. The reverse has happened in the wordsA newt, which should be writtenAn ewt: a mistake the more remarkable as we say and writeAn eft; both from the same root:Efet,Saxon.
Obeyedores, [obediener].
Okerer, usurer.
Or, [en].
Os, us.
Outdone, undone.
Owthe, out.
Paid, beat, beaten.
Palmer.Apalmerwas, properly, a pilgrim who had visited the Holy Land, from the palm-branch or cross which he bore as a sign of such visitation: but it is probable that the distinction betweenpalmersand otherpilgrimswas never much attended to in this country. The palmer in the text seems to be no more than a common beggar; as is, likewise, the one in the romance.
Partakers, assistants, persons to take thy part.
Passe, extent, bounds, limits, district; as thePas de Calais. Copland’s edition readscompas.
Pauage,Pavag,Pavage,Pawage, a toll or duty payable for the liberty of passing over the soil or territory of another:paagium, L.
Pay, content, satisfaction, money.
Peces, p.32.
Pecocke,With pecocke well ydight, handsomely dressed with peacock feathers. Thus Chaucer, describing his “squire’s yeman:”
“A shefe ofpeacocke arwesbright and kene,Under his belt he bare ful thriftely.”
“A shefe ofpeacocke arwesbright and kene,Under his belt he bare ful thriftely.”
“A shefe ofpeacocke arwesbright and kene,
Under his belt he bare ful thriftely.”
In a little treatise of “The Hors, the Shepe, and the Ghoos,” printed by Caxton, it issaid—
“Thurgh all the londe of Brutes AlbyonFor fetherd arowes as I reherce canGhoosis the best to make comparisonExcepte fethers ofpecokand ofswan.”
“Thurgh all the londe of Brutes AlbyonFor fetherd arowes as I reherce canGhoosis the best to make comparisonExcepte fethers ofpecokand ofswan.”
“Thurgh all the londe of Brutes Albyon
For fetherd arowes as I reherce can
Ghoosis the best to make comparison
Excepte fethers ofpecokand ofswan.”
Pinder.Thepinderis thepounderorpound-keeper; the petty officer of a manor, whose duty it is to impound all strange cattle straying upon the common, &c.{396}
Plucke-buffet, p.75.
Polle, pull.
Poke, bag.
Preke, prick, a piece of wood in the centre of the target.
Prese, company.
Prest, ready, ready to go.
Puding-pricks, skewers that fasten the pudding-bag.
Pyne,Goddes pyne, Christ’s passion or crucifixion.
Quequer, quiver:Gocur,Saxon.
Queyt, quit, recompense.
Qod, quoth, says, said.
Raked, walked apace.
Ray,Battle ray, Battle-array. The same expression occurs inThe Tragicall History of Didaco and Violenta, 1567:
“To traverse forth his grounde, to placeHis troupesin batayle ray.”
“To traverse forth his grounde, to placeHis troupesin batayle ray.”
“To traverse forth his grounde, to place
His troupesin batayle ray.”
Ray, array, put in order.
Raye.Cloth of raywas cloth not coloured or dyed. It is mentioned in many old statutes in contradistinction tocloth of colour. See 17 E. 3. c. 1, 7 H. 4. c. 10, 11 H. 4. c. 6, 1 R. 3. c. 8. The “reied or striped cloth” (Stow’sSurvay, 1598, p. 436, 430) must have been very different.
Reachles, careless, regardless, unobservant.
Red, clear.
Reuth, pity, compassion.
Reve, taken by force.
Reves, bailiffs, receivers.
Ripe, cleanse.Riped, cleansed.
Rod, poles, perches. A rod, pole, or perch is usually sixteen feet and a half, but in Sherwood forest (according to Blount) it is 21 feet, the foot there being 18 inches.
Rode, rood, cross.
Rung, staff.
Ryall, royal.
Ryalty, royalty.
Ryghtwys, righteous, just.
Sack, a kind of Spanish wine, perhaps sherry, formerly much drank in this country; very different, at least, from the sweet (or canary) wine now so called.
Sair, sore.
Salved, (salued?) saluted. The wordsalewed, in this sense, occurs repeatedly inThe Hystorye of Reinard the Foxe(Pinson’s edition); and (vide tamen Salvidin theGesta Romanorum, MS. Har. 7333, No. 48) in that of “Kynge Ponthus of Galyce,” 1511. “Salue,” F. i. “Salewe,” F. ii. K. Ponthus.
Scathe, harm.
Schetyng, shooting.
Schomer, summer.{397}
Sclo, slay.
Scop, scalp, pate.
Scoper, supper.
Scouth, p.105.
Serefe,Screffe, sheriff.
Se, videSee.
Seche, seek.
See, regard, protect. The same phrase occurs in Chaucer’sTroilus and Cresside:
“Madame, quoth Pandare, God you save see.”
“Madame, quoth Pandare, God you save see.”
“Madame, quoth Pandare, God you save see.”
Seker, sure.
Selerer.The cellarer (celerier,cellararius, orcellarius) was that officer who furnished the convent with provisions,cui potus et escæ cura est, qui cellæ vinariæ et escariæ præest, promus(DUCANGE).He appears to have been a person of considerable trust, and to have had a principal concern in the management of the society’s revenues. See Spelman’sGlossary, Fuller’sChurch History, &c.
Semblaunte, semblance, appearance.
Sene, see.
Sete, p.25.
Sets.Sets with Roben Hood such a lass!probably such a lass would suit or become him well; but the passage is either singular or corrupt.
Sette, mortgaged.
Shawe.Shawis usually explained bylittle wood, butgreenwood little woodwould be ridiculous tautology; it may therefore meanshade, which appears its primitive signification: Scuƿa, Saxon. See p. 327, ver. 5.Shaws, “little woods.”—P.
Shende, hurt, annoy.Shente, hurt, wounded.
Shet, shut.
Shete, shoot.
Shone, [shoes].
Shope, shaped, made.
Shraddes.See the note.
Shrewde,Shrewed, unlucky.
Shrift, confession.
Shroggs, “shrubs, thorns, briars. G. Doug.scroggis.”—P.
Shyt, shut.
Skaith, hurt, harm.They feared for his skaith,i.e.for the harm it might do them.
Slack, low ground.
Slade, “a slip of greensward between plow-lands, or woods, &c.”—P.
Slawe,Slone, slain.
Sle,Sloo, slay.
Somers, sumpter-horses.
Sorowe, sorry.{398}
Sothe, sooth, truth.
Sound, seeA-sound.
Soyt, sooth, truth.
Spear, ask.Speer’d, asked, inquired.
Stalward,Stalworthe, stout, well made.
Stane, stone.
Stark, stiff.
Stede, time.
Steven.At some unsett-steven, at some unlooked for time, by some odd accident, by mere chance, voice.
Stime, spark, particle or ray of light.
Stint, stop.
Sto’, store, p.219.
Strang, strong.
Strete, lane, path, way.
Sweaven, dream.
Sweer, p.100.
Syne, after, afterward, then.
Syth, afterward.
Takles, arrows.
Takyll, arrow.
Tarpe, p.68.
Tene, grief, sorrow, distress, vexation.
Tene, grieve.
The, thrive, prosper.
Thes, thus, this.
Thos, thus.
Throwe, space.
To-broke, broken.
To-hande staffe, two-hand staff, quarter-staff.
Tortyll, wreathed, twined, twirled, twisted;tortillé, F.
Tray, anger.
Tree, staff.
Treyffe, thrive.
Trow, true.
Trowet, troth.
True, trow, believe.
Trystell,Trystyll.
Tynde,Tyndes, tines, antlers, the pointed branches that issue from the main beam of a stag. “In Ynglond ther ys a shepcote, the wyche schepekote hayt ix dorys, & at yeuery dor stondet ix ramys, & every ram hat ix ewys, & yevery ewe hathe ix lambys, & yevery lambe hayt ix homes, & every horne hayt ixTYNDES: what ys the somm of all thes belle?” (MSS. More, Ee. 4. 35.)
Unketh, uncouth, strange.
Unneth, scarcely.
Up-chaunce, by chance.
Venie,Brave venie, merry vein, jovial humour.{399}
Wan,Wonnynge wan, dwelling-place.
Wan, got.
Warden-pies.Wardensare a species of large pears. In Shakespeare’sWinter’s Tale, the clown, enumerating the articles he had to provide for the sheep-shearing feast, says he “must have saffron to colour thewarden-pies.”
Warse, worse.
Was, wash. “And afterward the justices arise andwasse, and geffe thanks unto the new serjaunts forther gode dyner” (Origines Juridiciales, p. 116). This ceremony, which, in former times, was constantly practised as well before as after meat, seems to have fallen into disuse on the introduction of forks, about the year 1620: as before that period our ancestors supplyed the place of this necessary utensil with their fingers.
Watchman, a probable mistake forWaithman, outlaw. See Notes, &c., p. lxxiii.
Wed,Wedde, pawn, pledge, or deposit.To wedde, in mortgage.Lay my life to wedde, pawn my life.
Weele, well.
Welt,Welt them at his wyll, did as he pleased with them, used them at his pleasure.
Wed,Wende, go, hye.
Wenest, thinkest.
Wenion,Marry gep with a wenion!“He shoulde have bene at home a preachingwith a waniant,” says Bishop Latimer,Sermons before King Edward VI., p. 35. This phrase,with a wannion, is common in old plays, but, though its meaning be obvious, even Mr. Steevens is unable to “explain the word at the end of it” (Shak.xiii. 440). It is now corrupted towith a vengeance.
Went, wended, gone.
Werschep, worshipped, reverenced, respected.
West, wist, known.
Wete, know.
Whang,Leathern whang, leather thong or string.
Whereas, where.
Whute, whistle.
Wigger wand, wicker wand.
Wight,Wighty, strong.N.B.The latter word seems everywhere a mistake for the former.
Wilfulle, doubtful.
Win, seeWen.
Win, get.
Wist, wis, trow, believe.
Wist, knew.
Wode, mad.
Wodys, woods.
Wolwarde, wearing a flannel shirt, by way of penance. See Steeven’sShakespeare, 1793, v. 360.{400}
Won, dwell.
Wonest, dwellest.
Woodweele, “the golden ouzle, a bird of the thrush kind.”—P.
Worthe,Wo worthe the, woe be to thee.
Wrack, ruin, destruction.
Wroken, wreaked, revenged.
Wyght, strong, stout.
Wynne, go.
Wys, trow; there is no modern word precisely synonymous.
Wyte,Wytte, know.
Y, I.
Yede,Yeed, went.
Yeff, if.
Yeffell, evil.
Yeft, gift.
Yemenry, yeomanry.Thow seys god yemenry, thou speakest honestly, fairly, sensibly, like a good yeoman.
Yend, yon.
Yeomandree,Yeomandry, yeomanry, followers.
Yerdes, rods.
Yever, ever.
Yfere, together.
Ylke, same.Ylke same, very same.
Ynowe, enough.
Yode, went.
Yole, Christmas.
Yonder, under.
Yong men, yeomen (which is every where substituted in Copland’s edition). See Spelman’sGlossaryin the wordesJuniores,Yeoman; Minshen’sGuide into Tongues, in the latter word; Tyrwhitt’s edition of theCanterbury Tales, iv. 195; Shakespeare’sPlays, 1793, xiv. 347.PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.EDINBURGH AND LONDON
Yong men, yeomen (which is every where substituted in Copland’s edition). See Spelman’sGlossaryin the wordesJuniores,Yeoman; Minshen’sGuide into Tongues, in the latter word; Tyrwhitt’s edition of theCanterbury Tales, iv. 195; Shakespeare’sPlays, 1793, xiv. 347.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON