THE PROLOGUE. WHAN that Aprille with his schowres swoote B Enspirud hath in every holte and heeth That slepen al the night with open yhe, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. In Southwerk at the Tabbard as I lay, In felaschipe, and pilgryms were thei alle, The chambres and the stables weren wyde, 8.-the Ram. Tyrwhitt thinks Chaucer has made a mistake, and that it ought to be the Bull, because, the showers of April having pierced the drouth of March to the root, the sun must have passed through the sign of the Ram and entered that of the Bull. 14. ferne. Nearly all the MSS. I have examined, and certainly the best, agree in this reading. Tyrwhitt has adopted the reading serve, which probably originated in mistaking "ferne" for "ferue,"- ferne halwes means distant saints. And schortly, whan the sonne was to reste, To take oure weye ther as I yow devyse. And which they weren, and of what degré ; A KNIGHT ther was, and that a worthy man, And therto hadde he riden, noman ferre, 30 38 46 52 43.-A knight. It was a common thing, in this age, for knights to seek employment in foreign countries which were at war. Tyrwhitt cites from Leland the epitaph of a knight of this period, Matthew de Gournay, who "en sa vie fu à la bataille de Benamarin, et ala après à la siege d'Algezire sur les Sarazines, et aussi à les batailles de L'Escluse, de Cressy, de Deyngenesse, de Peyteres, de Nazare, d'Ozrey, et à pulsours autres batailles et asseges." 51.-Alisandre. Alexandria, in Egypt, was taken by Pierre de Lusignan, king of Cyprus, in 1365, but immediately afterwards abandoned. Aboven alle naciouns in Pruce. In Lettowe hadde reyced and in Ruce, In Gernade atte siege hadde he be Of Algesir, and riden in Belmarie. At Lieys was he, and at Satalie, Whan they were wonne; and in the Greete see At mortal batailles hadde he ben fiftene, In lystes thries, and ay slayn his foo. Ageyn another hethene in Turkye: 53 61 And everemore he hadde a sovereyn prys. And though that he was worthy he was wys, 68 He never yit no vilonye ne sayde He was a verray perfight gentil knight. But for to telle you of his aray : His hors was good, but he ne was nought gay. 74 63.- Pruce. The knights of the Teutonic order, in Prussia, were engaged in continual warfare with their pagan neighbours in Lithuania (Lettowe), Russia, &c. 56.-Gernade. The city of Algezir was taken from the Moorish king of Granada, in 1344. Belmarie appears to have been one of the Moorish states in Africa. Layas (Lieys) in Armenia, was taken from the Turks by Pierre de Lusignan, about 1367. Satalie was taken by the same prince soon after 1352. Tremessen was one of the Moorish states in Africa. Palathia, in Anatolia, was one of the lordships held by Christian knights after the Turkish conquests. Of fustyan he wered a gepoun Al bysmoterud with his haburgeoun, For he was late comen from his viage, With him ther was his sone, a yong SqUYER, With lokkes crulle as they were layde in presse. Of his stature he was of evene lengthe, And wondurly delyver, and gret of strengthe. Schort was his goune, with sleeves long and wyde. He cowde songes wel make and endite, Justne and eek daunce, and wel purtray and write. He sleep nomore than doth a nightyngale. 75 83 91 39 85-chivachie. Every reader of the contemporary histories of Edward the Third's wars in France, knows the pride which the knights took in shewing their courage in the continual chevachies, or little excursions, into the enemy's country. 94.-faire. I have substituted this reading from other MSS., in place of wel cowde he, given by the Harl. MS., which appears to be a mere blundering repetition. |