530. fothur, A.S. fother, a basket, a mass, a load; properly a carriage load, but now only used for 'a certain weight of lead.' Cf. Pl. Du. foder, and Ger. fuder, a waggon-load. That the Earth has the property of absorbing putrid effluvia and removing disagreeable smells, was early found out, and led to offensive excrements being buried. Wherever this was done, vegetation would become vigorous, and thus, the benefit of manure would be discovered. Hence we find that the dunging of a field forms an important part of cultivation from the earliest times.

535. neighebour, A.S. neah-búr, from neah, nigh and búr, or ge-búr, a husbandman, corresponding to the Ger. bauer, and giving rise to our word boor. It is therefore used here in its strictly literal sense.

536. dyke, A.S. dician, to dike, embank, or mound.

delve, A.S. delfan, to dig or delve.

538. huyre, A.S. hyre, wage or hire.

544. a tabbard, Fr. tabarre, a wide loose overcoat; also the painted coat worn by heralds, and still earlier, a coat worn by noblemen in the wars. (See note on line 20.) The Ploughman's tabbard seems to have been something like the loose blouse still worn by Frenchmen. In Piers Ploughman, Covetousness 'so hungri and so holewe,' 'with chekes lyk a letherne pors,' is represented in a toren Tabart of twelve Wynter Age' so threadbare, that a louse would not wander on it, if it could leap off.

mere, A.S. mear, mearh, a mare. 'For the cattle' in Psa. civ. 14, is in the Metrical English Psalter (before 1300), 'to meres' for mares. From the expression in Piers Ploughman, ‘a cart mare to draw a feld my donge,' we should infer that the Ploughman was riding the horse, which he had led a-field with many a fother of dung. None except the poorest rode upon a mare in the Middle Ages.

Both the Parson and the Ploughman belong to the peasant class, and from this we may infer that the Lollards, as the followers of Wycliffe were called, belonged chiefly to the lower orders of society. Mean and despised these two men may have been in the eyes of their fellow pilgrims, but beneath their coarse garb beat hearts filled with the spirit of Reformation days. They represent a great reforming principle at work in England as far back as the 14th century.

542-544. Five of the pilgrims remain to be described. Chaucer

gives a sketch of himself in the Prologue to the Rime of Sir Thopas. In this Prologue, he adds a description of their Host— Harry Baily.

THE MILLER.

545-6. Cf. For he was yong and mighty for the nones, And thereto he was strong and bygge of bones.' -Knight's Tale. carl, A.S. ceorl, a freeman of the lowest rank, a man, a sturdy fellow. From it comes our modern word churl, which was early used in a reproachful sense. See Spenser's Faery Queen III. 9, 3. 'Therein a cancred crabbed Carle does dwell.'

548. wrastlynge, A.S. wræstlian, to wrestle. Of Simekin, the Miller of Trompington in the Reve's Tale, it is said—

'Pipen he conde and fishe and nettes bete,

And turnen cuppes, and wrastlen wel and shete.'

the ram-the usual prize at a wrestling match, as at that in Westminster in the year 1222, of which Matt. Paris tells.

Cf. Of wrastling was ther non his pere

Ther ony ram shuld stonde.'

-The Rime of Sir Thopas.

549. a thikke knarre, a thick knot, like the excresence on a tree; Old Eng. gnarr, a hard knot in a tree, and hence gnarled, knotted.

550. harre, A.S. heor, heorra, a hinge.

ony sowe or fox. A beard red as a fox, all can understand; but one red as a sow, only those who have seen the fawn-coloured, greyhound-like pigs of Switzerland can imagine.

554. cop, W. cop, coppa, the top of anything, as the crown of the head, &c.

556. berstles, A.S. byrst, a hair strong enough to stand on end. 557. nose-thurles. In this form we see the origin of the word nostrils. Thurles is from the A.S. thirel, a hole, an opening drilled or pierced, and therefore the word means nose-holes. 558. a swerd and a bocler. Cf. the description of Simekin. 'Ay by his belt he bare a long pavade,

And of a swerd ful trenchant was the blade.' 560. a jangler, Old Fr. jangler, to prattle, jest, or lie. Cf. 'Thi mind is lorne, thou janglest as a jay.' -Man of Law's Tale.

'Ac japeres and jangeleres
Judas children,

Feynen hem fantasies

And fooles hem maketh,'-Piers Plowman 69–72.

'Harlotes for hir harlotrie

May have of hir goodes,

And japeris and jogelours

And jangleris of gestes.'-Ib. 5661-4.

The meaning attached to the word may be learned from the names of those with whom they are associated.

6

560. Golyardeys, Fr. goliardois. 'Goliard,' says Mr Wright, was a name that about this time signified a clerical buffoon; and he regards gula, the gullet, as the root of the new bishop's (Golias') name. But it does not appear that there were goliards before Golias; and I think that Map, when about to pelt churchworldlings with satire, simply named his bishop, as a monster of the flesh, after the Philistine giant, against whom the servant of God cast only a pebble from his sling. Map's Bishop Golias became the father of a family. He was Pater Golias and Magister Golias, about whom there sprang up Filii and Discipuli. Before the close of the 13th century, ribald clergy were familiarly known as of the family of Golias, and the word Goliard had passed into the language. In the beginning of the century, it meant a clerical buffoon; at the end of it any jongleur, though the word bore still a signification of contempt.'-Morley's English Writers, I. 586.

6

Cf. Thanne greved hym a goliardeis

A gloton of wordes.'-Piers Plowman 277-8.

'He was a

561. harlotries, W. herlawd, harlod, a stripling. Harlot used to signify a young man, as well as a young woman, and not necessarily a person of bad character. Cf. line 646. gentil harlot and a kind.' In Chaucer, harlotries corresponds to ribaldries; as in the Romance of the Rose, roy des ribaulx, is translated king of harlots. In Eph. v. 4, the word jesting is scurrilitas in the Latin version, and harlotry in Wycliffe's.

562. Wel cowde he stele corn.

Cf. A thefe he was forsoth of corn and mele,

And that a slie, and usant for to stele.'

-The Reve's Tale 3937-8.

tollen thries take payment or toll three times.

Millers were

allowed a certain quantity of meal for grinding it. This one took it three times over.

563. a thombe of gold a skilful, money-making thumb. Cf. the Proverbs-'Every honest miller has a thumb of gold.' 'Worth a miller's thumb.' In the olden time, when the machinery of the mill was less perfect than it is now, a miller's skill mainly lay in the nicety with which he could tell the character and qualities of the meal as it fell from the spout 'adoun in til the trogh.' This he tested by spreading the sample between the thumb and fingers, making the thumb the gauge of the value of the meal. The natural sensibility of the thumb was rendered more delicate by use, and like every other tradesman's, the thumb of the Miller assumed a peculiar shape. It is generally represented as resembling the head of the Cottus or Tommy Logge-a fish found in almost every fresh water stream, and abounding in mill-dams. Its most common name is 'the Miller's thumb,' though it is frequently called 'the Bull-head.' To see the connection between this line and the preceding, we must remember that the thumbs were at one time the wages of theft, hence the common warning still used to frighten children from picking and stealing-'If you steal any more I will cut off your thumbs.' The Miller, whose propensity to stealing was proverbial, would willingly give gold rather than lose his thumb, and hence, the worth of a miller's thumb' is a similar expression to the worth of a Jew's eye.' In Wiltshire, they say 'Every honest miller has a tuft of hairs in the palm of his hand.'

pardé

par Dieu, a common oath.

565. a baggepipe-'So that these also were of the Canterbury pilgrims of whom William Thorpe complained, that "they will have with them bagpipes"; and in defence of whose bagpipes Archbishop Arundel spoke, as if they were a customary part of a pilgrim's complete outfit.'—Morley's Eng. Writers, II. 302. The instrument is sketched in several of the illuminated MSS. of the 13th and 14th centuries, and seems to have been common among a certain class of English people 500 years ago.

THE MANCIPLE.

567. Maunciple, Mid. Lat. manceps, formed from manus and capere, a contractor or purchaser.

Cf. 'Sike lay the manciple on a maladie,
Men wenden wisly that he shulde die ;
For which this miller stale both mele and corn
An hundred times more than beforn.

-The Reve's Tale 3991-4.

temple, Fr. temple, (1) a place for observing auguries; (2) a place consecrated or set apart for that purpose; (3) a building for the worship of the gods; (4) the residence of the Knights Templars. This order of Knights was suppressed in 1312; and the two Inns of Court called the Middle Temple and Inner Temple were erected on the site of the London establishment of this wealthy order.

568. achatours, Fr. acheteur, a buyer. Cf. 'Il y a plus de fols acheteurs que de fols vendeurs.'-Loysel.

570. taille, Fr. taille, a tally or piece of wood on which an account was kept by notches. Cf. the use of the word in the following sentence, also of the 14th century. Et sans espandre ou baillier vostre argent chacun jour, vous pourrez envoier maistre Jehan au bouchier, et prendre char sur taille.' Cf. A.S. getœel, an account or reckoning.

571-2. He waited, and was first. 'The more hurry, the less speed.' 'Festina lente.'

acate, Fr. achat, buying, purchase, or dealing. In this word we have the origin of the cat of Whittington the Lord Mayor of London.

574. lewed, here set in opposition to lernede. See note on line 504.

pace surpass. See note on line 175.

577. expert, Fr. expert, from Lat. expertus, experienced. Cf. 'Les consuls expert et savant du debat.'-XIV. cent.

curious, Fr. curieux, careful, given to research. Cf. 'Li peres curieux de l'estat du commun.'-XIV. cent.

579. stiwardz, O. N. sti-vardr, the guardian or keeper of a sti, that is, a household, or rather a cattle fold.

581. his propre good: Cf. With my proper hand,' that is, 'with my own hand' in Shakespere. Cymb. ix. 2.

583. scarsly, O. Fr. eschars, sparingly, niggardly; probably from the Mid. Lat. excarpsus, reduced.

585. happe, Fr. happer, from the Du. happen, to seize. Here it has much the same meaning as falle.

586. sette here aller cappe = cheated the whole of them.