Chapter X: Part 10

14. #ȝisceunge#: ‘Þe Vox of ȝiscunge haueð þeos hweolpes: Tricherie ⁊ Gile, Þeofðe, Reflac,’ AR 202/18. #⁊ anes cunnes# is peculiar to A.

15. #strong reaflac#: ‘rapina,’ M. #hwa--mei#, if one is able to pay it: peculiar to A. #þe--ȝisceunge#: ‘species cupiditatis,’ M; ‘qi est desouȝ couoitise,’ F.

16. It is sinful ‘biseon ȝemeleasliche eni þing þe me mide uareð, oðer ouhte to ȝemen,’ AR 344/6.

17. #þen--hit#, than the owner of it thinks right: M has here p{ri}us for peius. #ȝemeles of slawðe#, negligence, a subdivision of Sloth. The author has already classified under Gemeleaschipe, ‘miswiten ei þing þet heo haueð to witene,’ AR 202/14. C reads scheomeles of slauðe.

18. #alswa is dusi#: alswa · idusi C: apparently OE. #gedysig#. #longe--unbischpet#: ‘diu e{ss}e s{i}n{e} confirmac{i}one,’ M.

19. #falsliche#, insincerely. #abiden#, put it off: N connects it with what follows by reading uorte for ne.

21. #moder#: so he writes of the ‘seoue moder sunnen,’ AR 216/21.

23. #istreonede#, _pp._ as noun: ꝥ te istreonede T; ꝥ þe streonede C. #strong monslaht#: ‘fort homicide,’ F; ‘homicidiu{m},’ M.

24. #galnesse#: comp. ‘þe Scorpiun of Lecherie[;] þet is, of golnesse,’ AR 204/15. #awakenet#, originated; comp. 64/61, 66/91, 143/70; AR 44/9, 220/9; HM 27/8, 31/5; ‘woden . . . whence first awoke the West-Saxon bloud royall,’ L’isle, Divers Ancient Monuments, sig. f 3 v. #of galnesse awakenet# are not represented in M, though necessary to the argument.

25. #nomeliche#, particular, proper; exceptionally an _adj._ here; in l. 27, as usually, an _adv._ corresponding to OE. #namcūþlīce#; comp. ‘ne ne muhte, ase ich wene, mide none muðe nomeliche nemen ham,’ AR 226/6. ‘touȝ peccheȝ seueralment par lour p{ro}pre nouns[;] ne porreit nul hom contier,’ F.

26. #beoð bilokene#: ‘includu{n}tur,’ M: comp. ‘Auh ine þeo þet beoð her etforen iseid alle þeo oðre beoð bilokene,’ AR 226/7. ilokene CT.

27. #understonden him#, perceive; see 13/34 note and comp. ‘þenne aȝe we to understonden us | from alle uuele he scal blecen us,’ OEH i. 57/63, 64; ‘Peter · anon þer after · hyne vnderstod · | Hwat his louerd hedde iseyd,’ OEM 45/297, 8. #of#: the genitive of the thing perceived is found in OE., ‘ðe hiora ðeninga cuðen understondan,’ Cura Past. 3/4.

28. #imeane#, ‘general heads,’ Morton, evidently taking it for the _adj._ used as a noun: it seems better to regard it as the _adv._ generaliter, referring each species of sin to its genus. T omits; B alters by inserting þat, which I indicate. ‘Nec est a{liqui}s ut puto qui [non] possit intellig{er}e suu{m} p{ec}c{a}t{u}m sub aliquo p{re}d{i}c{t}or{um} contineri,’ M.

29. #anlich#: comp. ‘he (S. John Baptist) . . . wende into onliche stude iðe wildernesse,’ AR 160/7. #þe--for donne#: nothing corresponding in M. #for fearinde#: forð farinde CT; uorðfarinde N; ‘passanȝ,’ F.

31. #hehe . . . iheortet#: comp. ‘ase of prude[;] of great heorte[;] oðer of heih heorte,’ AR 342/24. #hehe#, adverb; LWS. #hēage#, comp. 68/142. #ouerhohe#: ouerhoȝe C; ou{er} hehe T; ouer heie N. Apparently they all mean, too loftily; the forms with _o_ may be due to the influence of ouerhowien (comp. 28/323): ouerhowe, contempt, occurs as a noun, ‘ouerhowe of eorðliche þinges,’ AR 276/3, HM 43/4 (comp. OE. #oferhoga#, a contemner): for hehe in B is corrupt. M has ‘elatos corde.’

32. #iþonket#: iþonked C; iðoncked N, is explained as a new formation from iþanc, OE. #geþanc#, thought, thus meaning thoughted, but the versions connected it with þankien, OE. #þancian#, ‘Serpens uenenosus inuidos ⁊ ingratos,’ M; ‘La venimouse serpente lenuious ⁊ ceauȝ qe sunt de male voluntee vers lour bienfetours,’ F. T has ‘þe ondfule ⁊ te luðere iþohtet: ꝥ beo{n} malicius ⁊ luðere aȝain oðere’; luþere J·hertet V. The unicorn stands for Pride, not Anger, in the patristic literature; comp. Cohn, Zur literarischen Geschichte des Einhorns, ii. 8.

33. #o rawe#, in their order, in succession. #to--isleine#: ‘Int{er}fecti quo ad d{eu}m,’ M; ‘q{a}nt a dieu[;] il sunt tueȝ,’ F. Comp. ‘mest al þe world, þet is gostliche isleien mid deadliche sunnen,’ AR 156/9.

34. #hond#, control: the MSS., except V which has warde, agree with B: ‘in eius excercitu,’ M; ‘de sa meignee,’ F. #of#: comp. 56/48; a locative use = in.

35. #falleð#, is proper to, is in accordance with his nature; comp. 54/6: ‘quilib{et} de officio ad se p{er}tinente,’ M, ‘qe a lui apent,’ F.

36. #draheð wind#: the germ of this comparison is possibly, ‘Qui inflantur superbia, vento pascuntur,’ Isidore vi. 241/4. Comp. also, ‘Dominus cuidam heremite ostendit in spiritu tres homines quorum unus in monte excelso trahebat ventum ore aperto . . . Hii sunt vani et superbi homines qui vane glorie ventum attrahunt et multa opera faciunt ut ab hominibus laudentur,’ Jacques de Vitry, ed. Crane, 68/2.

37. #hereword#: comp. 84/69; ‘don hware þuruh me buð þene kinedom of heouene, ⁊ sulleð hit for a windes puf of wor[l]des hereword[;] of monnes heriunge,’ AR 148/2; OEH ii. 83/20; ‘vent de veyn glorie,’ Bozon 89/25. #idel ȝelp#: comp. ‘Se seofoða leahter is iactantia gecweden | þæt is ydel gylp on ængliscre spræce,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 356/300; OEH i. 103/29; VV 5/20; Orm 10/391; SK 470.

38. #orhel#, pride: so T; oreȝel C; horel N; gle P; craft V; ‘pompose melodie,’ F, confusing it with orgel, organ.

39. #o--world#, in four quarters of the world: comp. ‘æt þissum feower endum middangeardes,’ BH i. 95/13; ‘þenne sculen engles mid bemen blauwen on fower halue þe world,’ OEH i. 143/18. As to the form of the expression, N reads, a uour halue þe worlde; P, on foure half þe werlde; all the other MSS. have uninflected half and world (word B), and omit of. For the ellipsis compare the similar construction of side: half apparently follows the analogy of pound and similar words of measure.

40. #grurefule . . . grisliche#: see 120/95. #Ariseð#: see 58/77.

42. #iborhen#: iboreȝen C; iboruwen N; iburhen T; ‘saluab{itur},’ M.

43. #inohreaðe#: a favourite word with our author, comp. 62/41; 143/74, and not found outside AR and the group associated with it. It means literally, quite quickly, quite readily, but in AR it is mostly a sentence adverb meaning, quite possibly, probably; comp. ‘ant so ofte inouhreðe ne dest tu hit nout i rihte time,’ AR 270/6. inochraðe C; inohraðe T: ‘parauenture,’ F. #dimluker#: of this comparative, descending from an OE. *#dimlīce#, there does not appear to be any other example: for the termination see 125/270. Elsewhere in ME. dim is used of the voice. ‘min{us} sonare{n}t,’ M; ‘plus coiement son{er}eient lour busme,’ F.

44. #Jeremie#: sein Jerem’ T; sein Jerome C. #solitarius#: ‘assuetus in solitudine,’ Jer. ii. 24. M has ‘Onag{er} in desiderio . . . sui ·i· vane gl{ori}e.’ T omits sui.

45, 46. N, apparently puzzled by seið ABCT, remodels, Of þeo ðet draweð wind i{n}ward uor luue of hereword · seið ieremie[;] ase ich er seide. The other MSS. agree with A, but T has prud for wind, and C omits in. #seið#, means; ‘And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh sihðe,’ HM 5/6. P omits #seið--seide#.

47. #iuglurs#: joculatores, called ‘menestraus,’ AR 84/11; ‘nebulones,’ W. of Malmesbury, ii. 438, were usually a combination of minstrel, storyteller, tumbler and buffoon, but those in the text are limited in their means of making mirth.

48. #makien--ehnen#, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely with their eyes: ‘mutare uultu{m}. curuare os. obliq{ua}re oculos,’ M; ‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’ F. #schulen#, #schuleð#, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE. #(be) scȳlan#; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through confusion with #scyldan#), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen, scowl); V, staren.

49. #seruið#: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101. #bringen o lahtre#, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risu{m} prouocet,’ M, ‘p{ur} mettre en risee,’ F.

50 B. #liki# is a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.

51. #þider#: þiderwart C; þiderward N. #riht--heorte#: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. For #ehe# C has echȝe. #winkið#: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26.

52. #o ꝥ half#: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘S{ed} ex p{ar}te illa co{n}niue{n}t oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich[;] þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwite{n} · oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwe{n} &c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ q{uas}i a sinist{ri}s vident · si q{ui}d sit ibi q{uo}d rep{re}hendant · u{e}l displicent{er} se h{abe}nt’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe rep{ro}uer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part q{a}nt il oient le bien,’ &c. #o luft#, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with.

53. #skleatteð--adun#, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘dep{ri}m{un}t aures,’ M.

54. #lust#, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE. #hlyst#. C has luft, and F accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ou{er}te.’ T has luf and P loue. In 53 B #ea# may be miswritten for aa, ever.

55. After #muð#, CNV add mis.

56. #lastunge#: so CN; ‘ampliori det{ra}ctac{i}one,’ M; leasinge T; sustenynge V, due to confusion with lasten, endure: ‘par plus entocch{er},’ F.

58. #eateliche#: atterluche T; no _adj._ in P. #ageasten#: glopnen T; rapelich glutten P, the former word due to reading #ȝet# as ȝer. There is an OWScand. glúpna, to be surprised, but Björkman (241) thinks a Scand. origin of the English word doubtful. Comp. the modern dialectic gloppen in the North and North Midland; glottened, startled, is also recorded for Shropshire.

59. #niuelin#: niuelen CNT; nyuelen V; P omits: probably means to snuffle: M has ‘geme{n}t’; F, no equivalent: is possibly a form of snivel, and is recorded in EDD. for Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, to turn up the nose in disdain. #makien sur semblant#, wear a rueful countenance: comp. 117/19; ‘ȝif þu makest ei sembla{u}nt,’ AR 90/18: loþly semblaunt P; ‘frunt vn egre semblant,’ F.

61. #hond#: ha{m} T.

62. #makien grim chere#: comp. ‘niuelen ⁊ makien sure ⁊ grimme chere,’ AR 240/4; ‘makeð hire ueire cheres,’ id. 218/11. M has ‘q{u}i{a} p{rius} discu{n}t officiu{m} suu{m} · ut facia[n]t horribilem’ [uultum].

63. #skirmeð#: Master Walter Leskirmissour, who performed before Edward the First at Whitsuntide 1306, was, no doubt, an artist of this sort. A picture of one who is keeping three knives and three balls going in the air may be seen reproduced in Strutt, Horda Angelcynnan, i. plate 19. #⁊#: BC omit.

64. #warpere#: so C; worpere N; cast{er}e T. M has ‘Iracu{n}dus coram diabolo pu{n}g{na}t ut pugil · cu{m} cultellus est p{ro}tector cultelloru{m}’; his original had probably cultellis, and projector; possibly protector represents a mistake, warde, or wardere.

65. #eiðer beoð#: eiðer baðe ha beoð C, with same meaning.

66. #he . . . him . . . he#: ho . . . hire . . . ho T, and so hire for him in the next three lines. #warpeð#: so C; warpes T; worpeð N. #from#: frommard N; see 77/63 note. #skirmeð#, directs, aims: ‘i{m}pu{n}g{na}t,’ M. P has kerueþ.

67. #eawles#, hooks; comp. 120/126: used of the torturer’s hook, SK 2178; SM 6/28; the ‘īsen hoc’ of BH 43/25. In Ælf. Gloss. 316/6 #āwul# glosses L. fascinula (= fuscinula), the Vulgate word at 1 Sam. ii. 14, which is a diminutive of fuscina, ‘quoddam instrumentum ferreum . . . quo vtuntur . . . piscatores ad pisces capiendos, coci ad carnes extrahendas de caldario,’ Catholicon. F has ‘crochouns’; M ‘cum creag{ri}s’: creagra (= κρεάγρα), fleshhook, occurs in the Vulgate at 2 Paralip. iv. 11, 16. Similarly, ‘And when þai hadde on hym ylayd | Her scharpe hokes al þo | It was in a sori playd | Ytoiled boþe to ⁊ fro,’ Desputisoun, ed. Linow, 56/477.

67-69. #skirmi--ut#: M has dimicabunt for #pleien#; but otherwise nothing corresponding to this passage: F ‘ietteru{n}t, lun vers laltre[;] sicome pesce de policon ⁊ despeies denf{er} le p{er}cer{un}t parmi.’

68. #dusten#, fling; a word characteristic of the group SK, SJ, SM; comp. 120/127: dunchen P, push, strike. #pilche clut#, rag of a pilch, whether that means a garment of fur or skin, or the nether garment of an infant: but the latter meaning is not evidenced till the seventeenth century.

69. #asneasen#: snesen C; sneasin T; alsnesien N; stingen V; pierce: OE. #āsnǣsan#. For #ꝥ# see 1/10 note.

72. #tutel#, mouth: the word, which occurs only in AR, descends from a Teutonic root, meaning something projecting, comp. Franck, _s.v._ Tuit; in its English use it has acquired a derivative meaning like its O. French congener tuel, tuelet, pipe, passage: comp. ‘þe veond of helle . . . went þurh þe tutel ꝥ is euer open into þe heorte,’ AR 74/7, ‘ȝeoniinde tuteles,’ (= aures prurientes) 80/15. For the verb #tuteleð#, whispers, comp. 64/88; ‘þinne tutelinde muð,’ AR 106/28; ‘garulat ei q{ui}cq{uit} uult,’ M. For #eare# C has arm.

73. #hwam se#: se C. #idel of god#, not occupied in good; comp. 64/87; ‘uol of zennes, and ydel of alle guode,’ Ayenbite, 131/12; ‘ydel of guode workes,’ id. 218/20: the construction with _of_ is rare; Wiclif has from: ‘huclif (read hucsif) de bien faire,’ F; ‘ociosis,’ M.

74. #underueð#: underfeð C; underuoð N; vndertakes T; vnderfongeþ P; vnderuongeþ V: underweng B is no doubt for underuengþ. #ȝemeles#: C has scheomeles corrected into ȝemeles. #is þes#: is tis T; is wel C.

75. #bearnes#: so C; barnes V: but bermes N; barm T; barme P: ‘le dormir al filz del diable ⁊ a la fille,’ F; ‘Ociu{m} ⁊ negligencia ⁊ so{m}nus sunt pueri diaboli,’ M, surely a translator’s mistake. For #abreiden# T has abreien.

76. #wontreaðe#: comp. 121/129, 143/96: wṛontrede C; wondrede N; wand{re}ðe T: OWScand. vandrǽði (Björkman, 92, 290). V substitutes serwen: P for this and the next word, wonderlich.

77. #echeliche#: so T; ateliche CN; ferfulliche V. M has nothing corresponding to ⁊--wakien: F ‘en la meseise denf{er} pardurablement veillera,’ but no Latin quotation. #Surgite# &c.: all the MSS. agree with B in this quotation. Part of it is in S. Jerome, ‘Semper tuba illa terribilis vestris perstrepet auribus, Surgite mortui, venite ad iudicium,’ ed. Martianay, 1706, v. 438; also in Alanus, ‘Vos qui iacetis in sepulchris surgite et occurrite ad iudicium salvatoris,’ 63 b.

79. #Þe--esken#: the readings are, Þe giscere is his eskebach fareð abuten esken C; Þe ȝisc{er}e is his askebaðe · fares abute{n} askes T; Þe ȝiscare is þes feondes askebaðie ⁊ lið eu{er} iþen asken · ⁊ fareð abuten asken N; Þe couetous mon · is þe fendes askebaþi · ffareþ abouten asken V; Þe coueitouse man haþ swich a bay þ{a}t he liþ eu{er}e in þe askes ⁊ askes al aboute{n} hym P. askebaðe is a Scandinavian word, meaning one who bathes or sits in ashes, similar are Danish askefis, blower in ashes, askepot, wallower in ashes (Björkman, 135, 6), and the English dialectal ashypet. #feareð abuten esken#, is busy with ashes: the usual _prep._ is with; comp. 5/6. The form of the expression agrees with 56/36, 58/92, and contrasts with the vague ‘Cupidi est officiu{m} cineres co{n}gregare · cumulare ⁊ cumulos multiplicare’ M: F has ‘Li couoitous en son despit enfant qest touȝ iours entour la ceindre ⁊ ententiuement sentremette damonceiller la ceindre ensemble a g{ra}nȝ ⁊ plusours monceals,’ where despit is probably a mistake for esp{er}it and qest for gist; the passage looks like a translation of an original wrongly read as, þe ȝiscere in his estre babe lið euer abuten asken.

80. #ruken#, heaps: probably a Scandinavian word (Björkman, 252): used in this sense still in North and North-Midland dialects.

81. #peaðereð#, pokes, stirs up: paðereð CN; puðeres T; poþereþ P; Piþeriþ V. A word of obscure origin: potter, pother, of same meaning, represent it in modern Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialects: ‘palpat ⁊ planat,’ M; ‘Trestourne la cendre de fusiaus,’ F. #augrim#: ‘algorismi,’ M; arithmetic.

82. #canges#, fool’s: for the word, which is characteristic of the AR, SK, HM group, see Björkman, 290, note 4. T substitutes askebaðes. P reads conions; F has ‘cangon.’

84. After #wis mon# T adds ⁊ wummo{n}, and for #eorðlich# T has worldlich.

85. #ahte# appears to have been repeated by mistake from the foregoing. #ablendeð#, probably from ‘Quid aliud detrahentes faciunt, nisi in pulverem sufflant, atque in oculos suos terram excitant,’ S. Gregorii Opera, ii. 193.

86. #bolheð#, inflates: boleȝeð C; boluweð N; bolhes T; bolneþ P; bloweþ V. M strangely, ‘excecant (i.e. cineres) insufflantem ⁊ inflant’: F ‘Cest qi se enfle par eus en orgoil de queor.’

87. #mare--neodeð# belongs to #ethalt#: T has mare þen hire nedes.

88. #wurðen him#, become for him; ‘vertet{ur},’ M. T has hire, and similarly twice in the next line. #tadden#: frouden P; see 46/273. #ba#: boðe N; Baðe T.

89. #hwitel#: whittel P; OE. #hwītel# is usually a mantle, cloak; the sense here accords better with Icel. hvítill; it means a blanket spread over the bed straw to lie on. So the poor man in Piers Plowman has a too short ‘substratum,’ ‘when he streyneþ hym to strecche · þe straw is hus whitel,’ C 284/76; Walter of Henley quotes as an English proverb, ‘wo þat strechet forþerre þan his wytel wyle reche, in þe straue his fet he mot streche,’ Husbandry 4/6. ‘de v{er}mib{us} erit tam coop{er}toriu{m} q{ua}m substratoriu{m},’ M; ‘son cou{er}tour ⁊ sa coilte,’ F; coilte meaning mattress. The reading of N, his kurtel ⁊ his kuuertur, spoils the meaning.

90. #Subter# &c.: Isa. xiv. 11; the Vulgate has erunt vermes.

92. For #manciple# M has mancipium, which may = manceps, purveyor. #ah#: Uor N: TP omit.

94. #neppes#, drinking cups, but Morton translates ‘table cloth.’ nepp C; neppe N; nappes TP; cuppe V; ‘ciphis,’ M; ‘hanaps,’ F. #crohhe#: so T; crochȝe C; OE. #crōh#: crocke NPV; OE. #crocca#: ‘urceolo,’ M; ‘poot,’ F.

95. #bismuddet#: so BT, a form found here only; comp. ‘smod,’ stain, E. E. Allit. Poems, 59/711: bismotted V, from be + smot; both words mean besmutted, smudged. C has bismuðeled, which, with ð for d, appears to be a derivative of *besmud. bismitted N; OE. #smittian#, to stain; discoloured. bismoked P, grimed with smoke, is a substitution for a less familiar word. #bismulret#: bismurlet T; bismorlet V point to a *#smyrlian# from #smyrels#, ointment: bismeored C; bismeoruwed N; bismured B; bismered P, besmeared, are variant spellings of the same word; OE. #besmierwan#. ‘perfusus et fedatus,’ M, a colourless expression beside the vigorous English; ‘esmite ⁊ enbroe,’ F. #scale#: OWScand. skál, bowl (Björkman, 92, 93): schale CP; scoale N; skale T; bolle V.

96. #mis wordes#, words mispronounced; comp. 62/43 note for another meaning: ‘iargoune paroles corrumpneme{n}t,’ F. P omits all from Meaðeleð to fallen. #haueð imunt#, has an inclination; OE. #gemyntan#, intend, purpose: the use here is peculiar: þat is in poynt to fallen V; ‘en pensee de cheir,’ F.

98. ‘Ecce servi mei’ &c., Isa. lxv. 13.

99. #hungrin#: impersonal; comp. 188/390.

100. #feorle#: apparently for feorli = OE. #fǣrlic#, sudden; used in ME. for wonder: it may have been suggested by vos confundemini in the next verse: comp. ‘Tamquam prodigium factus sum multis,’ Ps. lxx. 7. But all the MSS. are with B, and F has ‘vous serieȝ la pouture del enemy.’ #Quantum# &c.: Apocal. xviii. 7. The following #Contra# &c. is adapted from ‘in poculo, quo miscuit, miscete illi duplum.’ M has the Latin of the text. CN read luctum ⁊ tormentum.

103. #kealche#: kelche BT; keache C. V has ȝif þ{o}u þe kelche þe cuppe. Wallynde bras to drinken, and P ȝiue þe gloton þe coppe · he þat wil eu{er}e drynk · Coppe in glotonye ȝiue hy{m} wellande bras to drinken, from which it is evident that they regarded kelche as an independent word, perhaps as = OE. #celic#, cup, used for drinker. But the construction points to a compound, kelche-cuppe, of which the first element must be a verb, perhaps the word which has survived in the Northern dialects as kelch, to throw up, keiltch, an upward lift or push; giving a meaning for the combination of tosspot. M has ‘miscete ei duo. pro cyphatu potus: date ei es candens’; where cyphatus means the man provided with a cup (scyphus). N has gulchecuppe, compound from gulchen, to swallow greedily; comp. ‘ne beo hit neuer so bitter, ne iueleð he hit neuer[;] auh gulcheð in ȝiuerliche,’ AR 240/2 (gluccheð A; glucches T). #wallinde bres#: comp. 146/118.

104. #swelte inwið#, burn within: form from #sweltan#, to swoon, die, with meaning from #swelan#, to burn: aswelte wiðinnen N: ‘qil arde tout de denȝ,’ F; M has nothing corresponding to ȝeot--inwið. #aȝein# &c.: comp. ‘Aȝaines an likinge; habben twa ofþunchunges,’ HM 7/35.

B. THE OUTER RULE

Passages in C (mostly interlined or marginal) which are not in N are inserted between asterisks in the text of the latter. The collations at the foot of pp. 60-75 show the other divergences of C and those of T from N; when not followed by any letter they give the readings of T; those followed by C are the readings of C, while B indicates agreement of T and C as against N.

The Eighth Book of the Ancrene Wisse consists of a brief introduction, to the effect that the outer rule is not rigidly binding, and seven sections (‘stucchenes’ 72/188) treating of i. eating and drinking; ii. worldly possessions and dealings, ll. 1-25; iii. clothes, 26-67; iv. occupations, 67-100; v. care of the person, 101-20; vi. servants, 120-222; vii. use of the rule, and conclusion, 223-39.

1. #bute--reade# corresponds to frequent phrases in the Gilbertine Rule, like ‘nisi necessitas postulet aliqua hoc fieri,’ ‘nisi magister aliter iusserit.’ With the former compare 60/18, 62/20, 64/84, 74/217; with the latter 60/13, 62/30, 37, 66/98; ‘þes riwle ⁊ alle oðre beoð in owres scriftes read ⁊ in oweres meistres breoste,’ MS. C f. 190. The master is ‘presbyter aliquis senex maturus moribus, cui raro, nisi de confessione et animae aedificatione, [inclusa] loquatur. A quo consilium accipiat in dubiis, in tribulationibus consolationem,’ Ailred, 642 c.

3. #þuncheð bet#, seemeth to be rather. The contrast of Martha and Mary, the active and the contemplative life, is a favourite topic in the AR; ‘Husewifschipe is Marthe dole[;] and Marie dole is stilnesse and reste of alle worldes noise,’ 414/16. Less frequently it is Lya and Rachel that are opposed, Hugh of S. Victor, i. 133.

5. #for# &c.: the passage is based on Ailred, ‘Aliae [inclusae] . . . pecuniae congregandae vel multiplicandis pecoribus inhiant: tantaque cum hac sollicitudine in his extenduntur, ut eas matres vel dominas familiarum existimes, non anachoretas. Quaerunt aliquibus pascua, pastores . . . Sequitur emptio et venditio’ &c., 641 c, but its vivid detail and interest are all the writer’s own.

6. #Olhnin#, wheedle, get on the right side of; a word peculiar to AR, SJ, SK, SM; ‘couendra . . . de querre la g{ra}ce de messer,’ F. #heiward#: OE. *#hægweard# occurring in _dat._ hæigwerde; adopted by the writer of Quadripartitus, p. 22 (_c._ 1100), as heiwardo, _d._, but often called messor; among other duties, he kept cattle out of the enclosed fields and impounded strays: see Liebermann, Gesetze, i. 452; Leo, Rectitudines, 245. #wearien#: warien NCT; OE. #wergian#, curse, revile; comp. ‘ne ne warien hwon me agulteð to ou,’ AR 186/2, 284/22; ‘Ȝe ne schulen uor none þinge ne warien, ne swerien,’ 70/20: ‘mandir (for maudir) le q{a}nt il les enparke,’ F.

7. #ȝelden# &c., and moreover pay for the damage done. #wat crist#: comp. ‘Deu le set,’ AR 382/17. #hwen# &c., when there is complaint among the people at large about the recluse’s cattle, or possibly, wealth. The order of the words forbids the explanation, ‘complaint of anchoresses’ cattle in an enclosure,’ Morris. For the vague use of #in tune#, comp. KH 153 note. Comp. ‘si bestias haberetis, aliena pascua forsitan occupare{n}t, essetque magnus clamor vicinorum dicentium: Utinam isti eremitae nunquam advenissent, nam multiplex eorum possessio multiplex nobis infert impedimentum,’ S. Stephani Grandimontensis Regula; De bestiis non habendis; Migne, P. L. cciv. col. 1143: possibly the source of this place.

8. #Nu þenne# introduces a command, 123/218, 126/311, or request 119/78, or argument 122/191, but its use here for still, notwithstanding, is peculiar. Note that the scribe of T deleted þenne in favour of þah.

10. #ifestnet#: L has nothing corresponding to the following ancre--heorte, but instead ‘Cauens en{im} psalmista [di]cente. Nolite cor appon[ere]’; a reference to Ps. lxi. 11.

11. #driue#, practise, pursue: comp. 130/72; ‘þa þe þone ceaþ drifað,’ Benedictine Rule, ed. Schröer, 95/11; ‘ꝥ nis bute dusilec | al ꝥ ha driueð,’ SK 424, 5, 1798; ‘long wune is her driuen,’ GE 1681. #chepilt#, a female trader, one who buys to sell at a profit, as the text explains.

12. #efter#: see 7/53. #chepeð#, offers for sale, with _dat._ chapmon; comp. ‘And chepte heom to sullen vre helare,’ OEM 40/115, but with prep. in sense of buying, ‘Ȝif me cheapeð on of þeos et ou,’ AR 190/8.

14 C: the addition þah--wordes, not in any other MS., is noteworthy: F has nothing corresponding to it or to the sentence in A, þing--honden.

14. #sumhwile#: he is probably thinking of the Fathers of the Desert, who plaited mats of palm, for the Vitas Patrum was a favourite book of his. The regulation is only of general application, these sisters being fully provided for.

15. #wite#, take charge of: in troublous times the anchorhold would be regarded as a place of safe deposit. #of#: so CN, but T omits (correct footnote by deleting B); it depends on #Nawt#. ‘Rien ne gardeȝ en v{os}tre maisone daltrui choses,’ F. In N #of# must be partitive, for witen takes the _acc._ of the thing guarded: see 118/52 note.

16. #boistes#, boxes, caskets, mostly for ointment, but here probably jewel cases. #chartres#, deeds; probably the earliest instance. #Scoren#, scrolls: OF. escroe; comp. ‘Scrowe oðer quaer,’ AR 282/29.

17. #cyrograffes#, indentures, bonds; an early instance of the word. #calices#: there was a special objection, ‘nulla femina . . . calicem Domini tangat,’ Udalrici Sermo Synodalis, Migne, P. L. cxxxv. 1071 b.

18. #strengðe#, violence: comp. 40/168: ‘bute vor neod one, als strengðe ⁊ deaðes dred,’ AR 6/23; ‘auh teares doð him strencðe’ (= lacrima cogit), id. 244/27; ‘Ne dede dieuel him none strengþe,’ VV 113/19. F has ‘force.’

20. #makeð--hus#, causes your house to be laid open; comp. 117/8, 118/28; ‘oðer ȝif þu iherdest þeoues breken þine woawes,’ AR 242/23. The Gilbertine Rule, while forbidding access to the nuns ordinarily, says ‘propter ignis incendium vel mortis instantis periculum, vel propter furtum et latrocinium omnibus sustinemus introitum,’ p. *lxxvi.

22. #seoð#: comp. ‘Nullich ꝥ no mon iseo ou bute he habbe leaue speciale of ower meistre,’ AR 56/21; ‘inclusa etiam facie velata loqui debet cum viro,’ Ailred, 642 d. #wel mei don of#, it matters little about: #don# means originally, serve, suffice, as in ‘that will do,’ but the phrase with the words in this order is specialized: comp. ‘Ah wel mæi do{n} hu hit ga[;] for wræcches we beoð æuere ma,’ L 12754, 5; ‘Scheome is understonden bi þe reade[;] auh wel mei don,’ AR 356/11, where Morton mistranslates. Quite different is, ‘an olde ancre mei don wel ꝥ tu dest vuele,’ AR 52/9. T has duhen here, as A at 64/59 and C at 65/52, ordinarily meaning to be of profit, to avail, but the sense is the same as in the phrase containing don. The construction is impersonal; ancre is _dative_ at 64/59, 65/52, as at 64/74: for #of#, concerning, comp. ‘he . . . dyde of heom ꝥ he wolde,’ AS. Chron. D 208/9. ‘De colore aute{m} vest{ium} non est m{u}ltu{m} curandu{m},’ L; ‘ne puit chaler de voȝ draps,’ F.

23. #unorne#, plain, rough: ‘vils,’ F; ‘du{m} [ta]me{n} no{n} n[im]is (?) exq{ui}site,’ L. But Förster (Morsbachs Studien l. 171) would translate, ordinary, usual.

24. #ow to neodeð#: comp. ‘nimen . . . þet hire to neodeð,’ AR 414/24. #ow# is _dat._ depending directly on the verb, the usual construction of the person in EME. for neoden and neod, comp. 123/210; #to# is adverbial and a superfluity, quite in the manner of the writer, comp. ‘þurh hwat muhte sonre ful luue of aquiken,’ AR 58/10; ‘þet ich spec er of þeruppe,’ id. 372/23; 130/80 note. Contrast, ‘Nefde he nane neode to us ac we hefden muchele neode to him,’ OEH i. 123/35, where to = of. #to bedde#: comp. ‘to ruggen and to bedde[;] iscrud mid gode webbe,’ L 19946, 7; ‘Nowe is the tyme of the yere when provysion was wont to be made . . . of ther wynter vesturys [to] theyr bodyes and to ther beddis,’ Wright, Suppression of Monasteries, 68/4: ‘a lit ⁊ a dos,’ F.

26. #linnene#: its use in any form was a great concession. It was noted that Abbot Roger Norreys of Evesham, in his contempt for the Rule, ‘camisiis et lintheaminibus . . . palam utebatur,’ Chron. Abb. de Evesham, 104. #hearde#, hard; _pl._ of heard, l. 44: #herde# N 28 is the same word, but Morris glosses it, hards, hurds, tow, and heorden, hards of flax, referring both to #heordan#, without accounting for the difference in form. The meaning, of hards and of coarse hards, is not satisfactory. F has ‘sil ne seit de stupeȝ ⁊ de grosses estoupes’; the two nouns appear to be an Anglo-French and a French form from the same Latin word, stupa. Possibly the former means tow of flax and the latter tow of hemp; anyhow the cloth was called stupacium. Comp. generally, ‘Porro talia ei vestimenta sufficiant quae frigus repellant. Grossioribus peliciis utatur, & pellibus propter hyemem, propter aestatem autem unam habeat tunicam: utroque vero tempore duas de stupacio camisias vel staminas,’ Ailred, 644 e.

27. #Stamin#: OF. estamine, an under-garment loosely woven of coarse wool, nearly as uncomfortable as a hair shirt, ‘camiseam de grossiori panno [habeant], si voluerint’ of the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxix. ‘Estamiȝ,’ F.

28. #hetter#, garment: ‘vn de voȝ vestures,’ F. OE. _pl._ #hæteru#, often in ME. as singular. ‘Vestiti quoque dormiant et cincti, vt semper sint parati,’ Grimlaici Regula Solitariorum, in Holstenii Codex, i. 291. Lay folk did not in those days wear night clothes. #leoðeliche#, loosely: the ME. adverb corresponding to the OE. adjective #liþig#, flexible; comp. OWScand. liðugr, free: liðeliche, 72/194 is OE. #līþe#, soft. The writer here and elsewhere shows himself anxious to mitigate the austerities of his pupils. F has nothing corresponding to swa--under.

30. #cunne# is historically genitive plural: see 132/9 note and 81/80 note. #schriftes#, confessor’s: the ‘meistre’ of 60/2: comp. 80/62; ‘bi ure shriftes rede,’ OEH ii. 55/29; ‘mid ðe rade of þine scrifte,’ VV 127/2. In F ‘sanȝ congie de son confessour’ corresponds to ‘wiðute schriftes leaue,’ 62/33.

31. #ilespiles felles#, hedgehogs’ skins: OE. #igil#, #īl#, hedgehog + #pīl#, prickle; the compound is used in ME. for the animal. Comp. ‘⁊ alle [sunnen] weren prikiende so piles on ile | He biþ þicke mid piles,’ Worc. Frag. F 21, 2. In #irspiles# N 30 _r_ is probably due to OF. heriçun: F has ‘peel diricon.’

31 N. #ileðered# in this MS. only: it must mean, furnished with leather thongs: F has ‘[pl]umbee.’

32. #holin#: OE. #holegn#, #holen#, holly.

33. #binetli#, whip with nettles: NED. quotes from Cotgrave, ‘_enortier_, to benettle.’

34. #biuoren#, in front of the body. #ne na keoruunge#, practise no cutting or mutilation. #ed eanes#, at any one time. F ‘a nule foiȝ.’

35. #luðere#, severe, lit. wicked. #disceplines#: ‘smerte smiten of smale longe ȝerden,’ OEH ii. 207/6. Comp. ‘Disciplina pacis nostre super eum, seið Isaye, þus ure beatunge ueol upon him,’ AR 366/14, 346/24.

36. #cundeliche#: for sicknesses which come in the natural course they must not put faith in or try remedies which are unnatural, such as the nostrums of the herb-woman: see 54/6 note. The writer in another place, 368, says that recluses are apt to be far too much concerned about bodily health.

37. #leste# &c., lest worse befall you: see 30/18. #leste# descends from #þȳ lǣs þe#; this is an early instance of its use.

38. #meoke#, soft, supple; comp. 64/66: the only instances in English of the use of this word in the material sense of OWScand. mjúkr as in Icel. mjúk-hendr, soft-handed. ‘In yeme utamini sotularib{us} grossis ⁊ callidis,’ L.

39. #Hosen wiðute vampez#, stockings without feet; the ‘chausses’ were usually footed. ‘En chauces sanȝ auant pieȝ gise qi voudra,’ F; ‘In caligis sine pedalib{us} dormiet{is},’ L. #vampez#, _pl._ of vampe or vampey, are properly the front part of a boot, the ‘uppers’ (avant pied), here they mean the whole covering of the foot. In Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey (ed. Singer 335), Wolsey is represented as saying, ‘we do intend . . . to go afoot . . . in the vamps of our hosen,’ i.e. in our stocking feet. The second #and# in 35 N is superfluous.

40. #Ischeoed--bedde#: another prohibition of undue austerities. The passage is not in any other of the English MSS., nor in F, but L has ‘calciatis nu{m}qu{am} n{e}c nisi in lecto.’

41. #Sum--wereð#, it may be that some woman wears &c. For #inohreaðe# see 56/43; F has ‘parauenture’ here as there. #brech#, drawers; OE. #brēc#, _pl._ of #brōc#, answering to femoralia of the monastic Rules. #here#, haircloth; OE. #hǣre#.

42. #streapeles#, the legs of the drawers; especially so called when they were closely confined to the limb by cross-gartering. They were worn by men also: see Strutt’s Complete View of the Dress &c. i, plates 31, 49, 56, for good illustrations. OE. #strapul#: ‘Hoc tibiale: a strapylle,’ Wright, Vocab. 775/18, 734/23. F has ‘les braeis de heire m[u]lt bien noueȝ les tiguns aual desqe a pieȝ mult ferm laceȝ,’ but nothing corresponding to #ah--here#, which is in A alone: and yet it is necessary to the sense. The writer does not approve of the ‘brech of here,’ a sweet and patient disposition is better, an often-repeated idea; ‘Þis is Godes heste, þet him is muchele leouere þen þet tu ete gruttene bread, oðer werie herde here,’ AR 186/10. L is with A, ‘Alique utu{n}tur femoralib{us} ciliciu{m}. Mallem tame{n} in vobis cor humile ⁊ pote{n}s s{us}tinere dura v{er}ba · et p{ro}brosa · q{uam} duru{m} ciliciu{m} portare.’

43. #swete . . . swote#: a frequent combination: comp. ‘swete ⁊ swote iheorted,’ AR 118/3; ‘so unimete swote ⁊ swete,’ id. 102/26. #þolien#: comp. ‘A mis-word þet ȝe þolieð . . . ȝe nolden sullen hire uor al þe worldes golde,’ AR 190/7.

44. #ȝef--wullen#, If you can do without wimples, and you would doubtless wish to do so.

45. #beoð bi#, have for use: comp. ‘beoð bi þe leste þet heo euer muwen,’ AR 350/7; ‘gifð us al þat we bi ben,’ OEH ii. 69/29, 179/6. Similarly, ‘ne na mâ wifa þonne ân hæbbe, ac beo be þære anre þa hwile, þe heo lybbe,’ Wulfstan, 271/14 (B.-T.); ‘ne æac maran getilige to haldænne þonne ic gêmetlice bi beon mage,’ Blooms, ES xviii. 343/43. #cappen#: the ‘mitras lineas, nigras et forratas de agninis pellibus’ of the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxix.

46. #wimplunge#: so S. Bernard contrasts the wimpled fine lady and the veiled nun, ‘Risus immoderatior, incessus lascivior, vestitus ornatior wimplatae magis quam velatae congruerent,’ i. 123 f. The wimple was a long strip of fine linen which encircled the head, neck, and the top of the shoulders; at this time one end of it hung down along the left arm. There is a good illustration of it in Shaw’s Dresses and Decorations, i, on the middle figure of plate 10. Like other linen clothing, it was at this time coloured with saffron; ‘hire winpel wit, oðer maked geleu mid saffran,’ OEH ii. 163/32; Rel. Ant. ii. 15/8; the ‘ȝeolewe clað’ of 82/108. The long passage from Ancren l. 46 to wimplunge l. 59 is in AC only; in the latter it is added on the margin, which has been cropped. L is very fragmentary at this point, but it had matter corresponding to A.

47. #cundeliche#, by reason of her sex, because she is a woman, and ordered as such by S. Paul to veil her head.

48. #heaued clað#: the ‘couvre-chef,’ a veil of fine linen worn on the head. Holy Scripture says nothing of wimples or other head-dress, but speaks of covering only. ‘Si turpe est mulieri tonderi aut decalvari, velet caput suum,’ 1 Cor. xi. 6.

51-55. The source of this passage is probably, ‘Linus papa . . . constituit ut mulieres in ecclesia velatae sint. Et hoc propter tres causas fit: una est, cum sint decipula diaboli, ne laxis earum crinibus iuvenum animi illaqueentur; . . . tertia est ut reatus originalis peccati, qui per mulierem evenit, ad memoriam nobis revocetur. Iudex quippe malorum est Christus: sacerdos eius vicarius. Ante sacerdotem ergo debet se mulier velare velut rea et tanti mali sibi conscia coram iudice celare. Unde dicit Apostolus, ut mulier velata sit propter angelos, id est sacerdotes,’ Honorius Augustodunensis (Migne, P. L. clxxii) 589 d. #sunfule# goes with eue; comp. 63/44.

52. #on earst#, at the beginning, would correspond to OE. *#on ǣrest#, which is apparently not found: OE. #on ǣr# means beforehand. Comp. ‘on erest,’ AR 264/8; ‘on earst,’ SM 14/7; ‘on alre earst,’ HM 17/25; SM 14/4. The phrase is confined to AR and its group; elsewhere at erst is used.

53. #drahe#, divert from their proper use: a rare meaning. #tiffunge#, adornment.

54. If #ȝetten# means yet, furthermore, it repeats and reinforces #Eft#. As a form it seems to be quite isolated: it may be derived from ȝette and owe its final _n_ to the influence of such pairs as ofte, often; uppe, uppen; buten, bute; seþþen, seþþe. #ȝette# 47 C is also a rare form; comp. 76/19; HM 13/9, 43/13; ‘ewt ꝥ mon seið þe oðer deð ȝette,’ id. 43/21. It can hardly come from #gīeta#, which gives ȝete; perhaps it is for ȝet + þe, like þætte for þæt þe: þe ȝet is frequent in Layamon.

55. #þurh hire onsihðe#, through the seeing of her: comp. 124/253, perhaps the only other place where the word occurs: it is possibly formed on the analogy of OE. #ansīen#. #Et hoc# &c.: ‘Ideo debet mulier potestatem habere supra caput propter Angelos,’ 1 Cor. xi. 10.

56. #iwimplet#: the writer is addressing an imaginary disciple who insists on the wimple as satisfying the requirements of S. Paul. He replies that the apostle requires more; the face also must be veiled; his words are directed against the recluse who receives visits from men. The wimple can be dispensed with by the recluse who keeps within her walls and avoids the sight of men. The visits of various people to the recluse are often referred to; see AR 56/20, 58/5, 68/16.

57. #þe# is for þe þe, as in C and at 64/60.

59. #wel# is a mistake for þurl due to anticipation of the following wel. Three windows are mentioned, that looking into the church, the ‘chirche þurl,’ AR 68/16; the parlour window, through which they converse with visitors and communicate with the servants, the ‘þurl’ of 74/209, AR 68/19; and the house window, the ‘rund windowe’ of the text. Each window was hung inside and out with black cloths marked with a white cross, AR 50/2, 96/10, and furnished with shutters; compare the elaborate regulations for the windows in the Gilbertine Rule, Dugdale, *lxxv. #wel mei duhen#: see 62/22 note: #ancre# is dative.

60. #þus ne dest#, i.e. hidest not thyself from men’s gaze.

61. #þer . . . of#, thereby, by reason of that, see 1/3 note: so ‘hwarof,’ whereby AR 58/22.

63. #þah#, if. Comp. ‘Ȝif we weopeð for ure owune [sunnen] hit is nout muchel wunder,’ AR 312/23. ‘ki qe vult estre veue mes qele satife nest pas g{ra}nt m{er}ueille,’ F.

64. #untiffet wið uten#: comp. 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4.

65. #broche#: ‘fermail,’ F; ‘firmaculos,’ L (should be firmacula). #imembret#, striped, parti-coloured: comp. ‘Singuli Fratres singulas zonas tantum habeant, sintque zonae eorum simplicis corrigiae, sine fibulis & absque omni tinctura,’ Statuta Ord. Grandimont., Holst. ii. 303. #glouen#: comp. ‘Ut nunquam induant gantos,’ Regulae Sanctimonialium Fontis Ebraldi, Migne, P. L. clxii. 1097.

57 C-61. See 66/114-19. The scribe of C copied this passage by inadvertence at the bottom of f. 193 _r_ instead of f. 194 _r_.

66. #ow ne deh#, it is not proper for you. #meoke#, soft and pliant, not like the heavy sheepskin winter garments. See 62/38 note.

67. #greattre#, coarser and larger pieces of work, not fancy trifles.

68. #forte--wið#, with which to get yourselves friends. ‘nec eorum (i.e. friends) munuscula litterasque suscipias, nec illis tua dirigas, prout moris est, puta zonas, marsupia, quae diverso stamine & subtegmine variata sunt,’ Ailred, 642 e. In the Gilbertine Rule the nuns are forbidden to make purses embroidered with silk, p. *xciv.

69. #huue#, coif, skull-cap: OE. #hūfe#; Germ. haube. #blodbinde#, ligatures of silk to stop bleeding: ‘tenas,’ L (a LL. form = taenias). #laz#, not ‘lace’ Morris, but laces, i.e. strings for lacing garments: ‘laqueos de serico,’ L.

70. #chirche claðes#: ‘les vestementȝ de seint iglise,’ F.

72. #fore#, beforehand: OE. #fore#: without telling him about it beforehand, as well as the circumstances, your relationship to the persons, how often you receive them, how long you entertain them.

73. #tendre of cunne#, affectionate towards kindred. The story which follows is in Eudes de Cheriton (ed. Hervieux, 270) and in Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, 54). Both were active in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. Eudes may have found the story (which is, in any case, an interpolation) in AR, he quotes, p. 195, a variant of the proverb found in AR 96/24, ‘euer is þe eie to þe wude leie,’ and applies it correctly.

74. #⁊--him#, to whom came.

75. #efter#: see 7/53.

76. #dead biburiet#: probably and has fallen out between these words.

77. #dead gasteliche#: ‘mortuus sum in claustro sepultus,’ Eudes, 271; ‘Quanti monachorum dum patris matrisque miserentur, suas animas perdiderunt,’ S. Jerome, ii. 577.

78. The amice, L. amictus, is the oblong piece of linen which envelops the neck of a vested priest. For a good illustration see Bock, Gesch. der liturg. Gewänder des Mittelalters, ii. Tafel ii. To its upper edge is sewn an apparel which forms a collar to it. The parures, apparels, are pieces of richly embroidered cloth sewn on the amice and on the alb, two at the lower hem before and behind, two on the cuffs, and sometimes two on breast and back. See Shaw’s Dresses, i. plates 14, 16; Rock, Church of our Fathers, i. 424-66. The Gilbertines were allowed to use silk for these embroideries.

80. #mustreisun#, ostentation, boasting: OF. mo(n)straison, L. monstrationem: NED. records a later monstrison and monstration.

81. For #gode werkes# spoilt by publishing them, see the characteristic passage in AR 146-52. #Criblin#: the exact meaning of this word, hitherto unrecorded, is hard to determine. Its connexion with F. cribler, LL. criblare (in Mulomedicina Chironis, ivth cent.), L. cribrum can hardly be doubted; it must mean some kind of open work; either embroidery on a net foundation, ‘filatorium,’ or drawn-thread work, or, what seems most probable, ‘tambour,’ wherein the strips of linen stretched in a ring frame, with the pattern pierced by a bodkin and the edges of the holes thus made framed in needlework, would above all things suggest a sieve. Such work might be used for ornamenting altar cloths, or pyx cloths, or even albs (see Bock, ii. 35). It was elaborate work, such as recluses ought not to undertake.

82. #Taueles#, linen cloths which are spread on the mensa of the altar, the ‘tres tobaleae mundae’ of the Roman rite. LL. toualia, Eng. towel. #riueð#, stitches, sews together; OWScand. rifa, to tack, sew loosely together: in Scottish dialects, riv.

83. #measse kemese#, albs: OE. #cemes#, LL. camisia. #nomeliche oueregede#, especially such as are foolishly elaborate: #oueregede# is found here only; egede is a characteristic word of the group, AR 282/13; HM 39/2; SM 11/9.

84. #Helpeð# &c.: comp. ‘Quod ut fiat, videat inclusa, ut si fieri potest, de labore manuum suarum vivat, hoc enim perfectum est,’ Ailred, 641 d. A general injunction, not applicable to the sisters, for whom ample provision had been made, AR 192/16.

85. #se forð se#, as far as: comp. ‘so uorð so,’ 65/67; ‘se uorð ase,’ 75/187; ‘ase forð as,’ 72/201; ‘so uorð ase,’ AR 268/10, 382/11.

86. The reference is probably to ‘ne quemquam otiosum possit diabolus invenire, ne variis desideriis pateat cordis aditus, altera sororum libros scribat . . . suat altera cucullas sororum,’ Opera v. 442.

87. #lihtliche#, without good reason. #allunges#, altogether, wholly: the genitive form is less common than the dative, 70/154, which represents OE. #eallunga#. #of sumþing . . . idel#, without something to do: comp. 58/73. #anan rihtes#, immediately, straight away.

89. #for nawt#, to no purpose.

90. #iȝemen#: OE. #gegīeman# occurs only in the sense of treating as a patient, amending: ȝeme T means, take heed to, give attention, the variant in N, #ihwulen#, have leisure: comp. ‘hwon so ȝe euer muwen ihwulen,’ AR 44/5. Apparently it occurs nowhere else.

91. ‘In desideriis est omnis otiosus,’ comp. Prov. xxi. 26. For #awakeneð# see 54/24. ‘Ecce haec fuit iniquitas Sodomae, sororis tuae, superbia, saturitas panis et abundantia, et otium ipsius,’ Ezech. xvi. 49.

94. #rust#: ‘otium enim et desidia quasi quaedam rubigo sapientiae est,’ S. Jerome, ii. 773.

95, 96. From Ailred; ‘sunt quaedam inclusae, quae in docendis puellis occupantur, et cellam suam vertunt in scholam,’ 641 f. #forwurðe#, degenerate into; a meaning apparently found only in AR; its ordinary sense is, to perish, 54/23. Comp. ‘Þeo þet schulden one lecnen hore soule mid heorte bireousunge . . . uorwurðeð fisiciens ⁊ licomes leche,’ AR 368/28; ‘bicumeð (forwurðeð T) meister, þe schulde beon ancre,’ 64/24.

96. #ꝥ--of#, concerning whom it would be danger; comp. 1/3. For #of#, meaning ground, cause, comp. ‘strengðe of,’ 66/116; ‘gostlich fondunge þat is more dred of,’ AR 194/23: for #pliht#, risk, ‘Nu ne sceole ȝe halden eower child to plihte to longe hæþene,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 6/7: #dute# 79 N has the same meaning.

97. #bimong#: a form characteristic of AR and the allied writings.

99. See 64/68 note. In the next line #writen# probably means compose or copy books; comp. ‘Nulla etiam de nostris praesumat libros aliquos, vel orationes, vel meditationes scribere vel scribi facere sine assensu prioris omnium,’ Gilbertine Rule, p. *lxxxiii.

100. Their hair is to be cropped, #idoddet#, or shaven four times a year, or if any one prefers it, trimmed, #ieueset#, but in that case, the hair must be washed and combed more often, C 85; not more than seven times in the year according to the Gilbertine Rule.

102. #beo bi#, as at 62/45.

103. #as ofte#: four times a year, as in the Gilbertine Rule, p. *lvi. #þe#, who, equivalent to whoso; if any one can dispense with bloodletting; #þer buten#, without it: see NED. _s.v._ Here § 16.

105. #þe þreo dahes#, a recognized period of indulgence; ‘Minutis tribus diebus pitantia mane vinum autem bis datur . . . a laboribus vacant, ad lectos redeunt, a post prandium usque ad vesperas colloquium de bonis faciunt,’ Guigonis Consuetudines, Migne, P. L. cliii. 737.

106. #schurteð#, amuse: a rare word supposed to be cognate with Germ. scherzen. ‘Mes dalieȝ de paroles od voȝ meschines ⁊ od honestes countes solaceȝ vous ensemble,’ F.

107. #beoð#: the subject ȝe is understood from the preceding ow.

109. They were too severe in their austerities, AR 378/21, 228/18.

110. For #monluker# see 125/270 note.

115. #ꝥ--riwle# depends on #nan#. This passage corresponds to 65/57-61.

116. #strengðe#, weight, importance: a favourite word of the writer; comp. ‘of þincges wiðuten . . . nis nout muche strencðe,’ AR 12/12; ‘me schal makien strencðe of onnesse of cloþes,’ id. 12/5. For #of# see 66/97. In the introduction to part viii, he says that they must not promise, as unwise people might do, to observe any of the external rules.

117. #inre#, the inner rule, the ‘lady rule,’ to which the outer is but an handmaid: comp. AR 4/10, 12/24, 410/18.

118. #skile#, reason.

119. #þuften#, handmaid; comp. 68/123; ‘for mi lauerd biseh his þufftenes mekelac,’ HM 45/12; AR 4/11. OE. #þyften#.

120. #feareð to wundre#, goes to misfortune, ruin: OE. #wundor#, a portentous thing. Comp. 6/46 note; 117/10; ‘þu scealt to wundre gewurðan,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 174/163; ‘⁊ tukeð ham alto wundre,’ AR 380/15; ‘ȝeuest þin ahne dere bodi to tuken swa to wundre,’ HM 27/14; ‘so was ðis were to wunder brogt,’ GE 3977. #Ancre# &c.: the first clause is conditional, as at 54/11; if an anchoress have not her food close at hand, two women are busy, i.e. have plenty to do, are needed. This absolute use of #bisie#, meaning fully employed, is noteworthy. F has ‘Recluse qe nad pas sa vetaille pres · mestier ad dauer ij fe{m}mes’; L, ‘Anachorita que no{n} h{abe}t victu{m} ad manu{m} indiget duabus ancillis.’ The rule is founded on that of Ailred, ‘Itaque eligatur tibi aliqua anus, non garrula, non vaga, non litigiosa, non nugigerula . . . Haec ostium cellulae custodiat . . . Habeat sub cura sua fortiorem ad onera sustinenda puellam,’ 641 f.

121. #þe leaue#, who may remain, to stay: an intransitive use.

123. #unorne#, not ‘old,’ but plain in appearance; comp. 62/23; either a young girl or middle-aged, without adornment.

124. #beoden#, prayers: comp. ‘Cheatereð ouwer beoden euere, ase sparuwe deð þet is one,’ AR 174/24: ‘voise disant ses proiores,’ F.

129. #dame#, mistress: each of the anchoresses had her own maids; see 74/208.

132. #ȝe#: the reading of N is preferable: CT have no nominative: ‘Nul hom ne lessent entrer,’ F.

134. #oboke#, by book; comp. ‘Sum is clergesse ⁊ sum nis nout ⁊ mot . . . an oðer wise siggen hire ures,’ AR 6/12. #bi#, by the repetition of: ‘die par p{at}r{e} n{ost}res,’ F. Comp. AR 24, where the writer describes how the lay brethren of his own order say their hours.

136. Comp. ‘So þet me seið ine bisawe, “Vrom mulne ⁊ from cheping, from smiðe ⁊ from ancre huse, me tiðinge bringeð,”’ AR 88/26: Ailred, 641 b.

140. #to uuel turnen#: ‘vnde q{ui}s aliq{uid} mali pot{er}it suspicari,’ L.

141. #heaued clað#: ‘coeuere chief,’ F. #eiðer ligge ane#, let each lie by herself, comes in awkwardly among the directions about their clothes: F has it here, but T after habben, l. 143.

142. #cop# is apparently the caputium of the Gilbertine Rule: ‘Conversae vero laicae sorores vestiantur sicut monachae, cucullis et scapulari exceptis; quorum loco habeant pallia de adultis agnis forrata; et caputia earum mamillas tegentia ad formam scapulariorum sanctimonialium,’ p. *lxxxvii: so a short cape covering the shoulders instead of the longer cloak called scapular. It was to be sewn high on the breast, not closed by a brooch: hence its name #hesmel# in N, as a garment with a hole for the head to pass through; Icel. hálsmal: #istihd# in N is probably miswritten for istichd. ‘lour cotes soient par de sus closes par deuant la poitrine sanȝ fermail,’ F.

143. #unleppet#, literally unlapped, not enfolded; ‘desaffublieȝ,’ F: not in their ‘cop’ or ‘hesmel.’ OE. #læppa#, skirt. #unweawed# N, ungarmented, means the same thing, not ‘unveiled,’ Morris: comp. OE. #wǣfels#, pallium, indumentum. #open heaued#, bare-headed; ‘teste descouerte,’ F. #ihudeket# C, covered; from *#hȳdecian#, derivative of #hȳdan# (NED).

144. #cussen#: the mode of salutation then general among lay folk is forbidden them. For the custom at a much later period see Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, ed. Singer, p. 171.

145. #toggin#, tug, pull about; comp. 186/318. T has the derivative, toggle: Sc. dialect, tuggle.

146. #aturn#, attire, or possibly, bearing, manner. OF. atourn, equipment, adornment. Comp. ‘for þi is hare aturn se briht,’ HM 23/10; ‘aturnet,’ 123/209.