P. 13. Richest of leevys and of land.--This is obviously one of those alliterative formulæ, of which so many have been preserved in legal technicology, as might and main," "life and limb," "part and parcel,” &c. It is here used to express a person of wealth and consideration, as is obvious from the original Dutch prose, in which the Fox describes the Bear as being "die edelste en die meeste van loue van alde lande." Ibid. Lyef neve.-Lyef, dear, from the Anglo-Saxon Leof. P. 14. The rede Reynard.—Rede is red: so in the metrical Reinarts "Ist u eernst, sprac die rode." P.14. Vii hamber barelis.—Probably seven wine barrels, see Ducange, s. v. Ama, Hama, and Hamellicus. The Dutch prose says, seuen aemen hebben," and the metrical Reinart. 66 "Al wildijs hebben vii amen,"-line 619. Ame is explained by Killian "Cadus Hama," and in French Caque. Ibid. Yonste.-Favour and affection, from the Dutch gunste. Ibid. Two betels.-Betels, here and in the following page, is used in the sense of wedge; and in the copy of Caxton's Reynard, in the King's Library, British Museum, the word "Betels" has been struck out with a pen, and the word wegge" written over it, in an old, apparently a contemporary, hand. 66 P. 17. Bleef.-Remained, from the Anglo-Saxon belafde, the perfect of the verb belifan. P. 18. Grete leden wapper.-What precise instrument is meant by the "grooten loden wappere," as it is called in Caxton's original, is by no means clear. Killian defines wapper as Flagellum; and again, wapper, loyenkloot, as Plumbata, martiobarbulus, pila plumbea, missilis, Plombée, boule de plombe attachée a une corde pour la jeter, et retirer ayant assené son coup. Ibid. Forslyrnedge.-Smote or beat. Ibid. A croked staf, well leded, &c.—Probably such a staff as is now used in playing Golf. Ibid. Macob, the stoppel-maker.—A maker of stoppels or stoops, see Killian, s. v. Stoppel, Stoope, &c. In the Low German Reineke Vos, we find,— "It were de stoppelmeter,” which Hoffmann explains in his Glossary, Stubble-meter, used ironically for Tithe-collector. Ibid. Hym lusted.—It pleased him. This impersonal verb is frequently used by Chaucer, see Tyrwhitt's Glossary, s. v. Leste. P. 20. Such good venison.-From this use of the word "Venison," it would seem that it was formerly applied, not to the flesh of deer only, but to that of any other animal taken by the chase, and used as an article of food. Ibid, Dieu vous garde.-Caxton has not transferred this sentence into his English version, but altered it in a way which shows his knowledge of the French language. The metrical Reinart says, "Sire Priester, dieu vo saut!" The Dutch prose from which Caxton translated " Chyre priester, dieux vos faut." Ibid, The felle diere.—The fell beast, from the Dutch Diera, and German Thier. P. 21. To rutsele.-To slip or slide, from the Dutch rutsen or rotsen. Ibid. He wentled.—He turned or rolled over, from the old Dutch wentelen or wendtelen, see Killian. So again, page 28, the Cat is described as rolling and wentlyng towards the kyng's court." 66 Ibid. Not well payd.—Not well pleased. So Chaucer, in the Wife of Bath's Tale : "Who so that halt him paid of his poverte, I hold him rich, al had he not a sherte." In Piers Ploughman, as in the present work (see page 26, &c.), the word occurs again, under the form a-payed: "Therwith was Perkyn a-payed." Piers Ploughman, l. 4012. ed. Wright. P. 22. "And dayed,” “and be dayed;" from the Flemish and Low German dagen, to be summoned for a certain day, or have a day appointed, see Hoffmann's Reineke, v. 902; Willem's Reinart, v. 1007. This explanation is confirmed by the passage in page 28, where Grymbart claims for the Fox that he shall "be don to as to a free man, whan he shall be judged, he muste be warned the thirde tyme for al." P. 23. "One of Seynt Martyn's byrdes."-Dreyer, in his Essay on Reynard, Nebenstunden, s. 108, and Grimm, in his Reinhart Fuchs, suppose the crow, Virgil's “sinistra cornix,” the "corneia sinistra" of the Poema del Cid, to be the bird alluded to; and the superstition connected with such a bird, is mentioned by Peter of Blois, epist. 65. “Si a sinistra in dexteram avis Sancti Martini volaverit." Others have supposed the Goose to be the bird alluded to, whose connexion with the anniversary of St. Martin, is shown by the following lines from the old German comic romance of Peter Leu: "Hinnum bis auf S. Martin's Tag Als da man die Gäns-Feste pflag." V. der Hagen's Narrenbuch, s. 391. And in Douce's Illustrations of Shakspere, ii. 345, there is a story quoted from Odo de Ceriton, in which mention is made of a kind of wren named after St. Martin, with very long and slender legs. Ibid. Unhappe.-Misfortune. In the Dutch prose, from which Caxton translated, the word is onghelucke. P. 25. Flawnes.-In this instance, pancakes are probably intended. "Of milke and of egges men make flawnes," says Caxton, in the Boke for Travellers, see further Mr. Way's Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 164, n. 3, where the reader will find an abundance of illustrations of the several meanings attached to this word. Ibid. Line 15.-It is plain, from an examination of the Dutch prose, that this passage should be printed, "Tybert, quod the Foxe, I will bring yow to the place, er I goo from yow. Reyner, quod the Catte, upon your sauf conduijt, I wolde wel goo wyth you to Monpelier!" Ibid. Gryn.-A trap or snare. So in the Anglo-Saxon Gospel, Luke xxi. 35, we read, Swa sua gryn, as a snare. P. 26. Wrawen.-To call out, from the Dutch wrauwen. In the Dutch prose it is wrauwen; in the metrical Reinart, roepen. Ibid. Al moder naked.-This expressive substitute for the more common phrase "naked as he was born," Caxton has copied from his original, when it is said "Die paep selve liep al moder naect." The incident affords a striking proof how universally the custom of so sleeping prevailed during the Middle Ages,-a custom which is curiously illustrated by the Fabliau of Le Boucher d'Abbeville, and still more so by the very French engraving of that subject, which appears in the frontispiece to the fourth volume of Méon's edition of Barbazan's Fabliaux et Contes. Ibid. Locken his wyf.—This error in the name of the priest's wife, whose name was Dame Julocke, as we have it in the next page, is not Caxton's. The author of the Dutch prose calls her Locken in this place. To show how slight have been the alterations, how few the omissions, made in the text of this edition, we take this opportunity of giving the original of a passage, which has necessarily been more modified than any other in the book. "Die naecte paep hief op en soude enen groten slach slaen, en Tybert sach wel dat hi ymmer sterven moeste, daer vermande hi hem, en voer den pape tuschen sine beenen mitten clauwen en mitten tanden, also dat hi hen sinen rechteren cul of haelde. Desen spronck bequam den paep so qualiken ende tot groten scaden. "Dit dinc viel neder op die vloer, vrouwe Julocke dit vernam ende swoer groflick hoers vaders fiele, si woude dattet hoer ghecost waer die offerhande van enen heelen iaer dat den paep die scade die scande ende die leemte niet gheschiet en waer, ende sprach, In des duuels name wort die strick hier ye ghesettet. Sich mertinet, leue soen, dits van dijns vaders ghewade, dat as een alten groten scande ende mi alte grote scade, al genase hi hier van so is noch van mi verderft ende ewelic des soeten speels ommachtich. Reynert stant buten voer dat gat, ende hoerde alle die woerden, ende lachte also uterwaten sere dz hi nauwe ghestaen en coude. Hi sprac aldus in schimpe, vrouwe Julocke schwiget al stille ende laet uwen groten rouwe sincken. Al heeft u here sinen cul verloren, ten scaet hem met als hi u anders van bachten dienen wille, hi sal u nochtans wel gheriuen. Menighe capellen sijn oeck in die wereldt daerinen niet dan mit eenre clocken en luydt." P. 27. Unnethe.-Scarcely, from the Anglo-Saxon un-eathe. P. 31. Vytayller.-Purveyor. Ibid. He that sorowed.—He that cared or provided for. P. 32. Spynde.-A pantry or larder, from the Dutch spinde. P. 33. Slepid.-Dragged, from the Flemish sleypen, to drag. P. 34. Faldore, and again, valdore.-A trap-door or foldingdoor, from the Flemish valdeure or vald-deure. Ibid. Ye borde and jape with me.-You joke and jest with me. Borde, from the Anglo-Norman, or more probably from the old Friesic Bord, a jest; and jape, to mock, from the Norman-French Gaber, and not, I think, from the AngloSaxon, as has frequently been stated. The words are frequently found in connexion, as in Chaucer's Manciple's Prologue: "That that I spake, I said it in my bourd. |