Abye: First English - abicgan, pay for.
Assoiled: absolved.
Avowe: "I make avowe," I declare; not "I make a vow."
Avow-e: advocate.
Awayte: "awayte me scathe," watch for opportunity of doing hurt to me.
Balis: evils.
Banis: slayers. First English - bana, whence "bane," destruction or
harm.
Barker: tanner.
Bedene: all bedene: bidene: promptly, altogether.
Belife: blive: quickly.
Bent: coarse grass.
Bete: make better, amend.
Bewray: disclose.
Bickered: skirmished.
Blave: stayed. First English - belaf (allied to German blieb.)
Boot: help, remedy. First English - bot.
Borrow: borowe: (noun) security. (verb) give security for.
borowhood: state of being security.
borrowed: redeemed, released by the fulfilment of conditions.
Bra': braw: fine; French - brave.
Braid: at a braid, with a sudden start.
Brittling: breaking up (of the deer) and distribution of its parts
according to the usual custom.
Brook: broke: have use of, enjoy.
Busshement: ambush.
Busk: make self ready. Icelandic - bua, prepare; sik, oneself;
sk, for sik, was in old Norse or Icelandic a suffix marking the
reflexive form of a verb.
Caddie: younger brother. French - cadet, a young fellow who runs on
errands.
Clim: Clement.
Clough: a cliff or fissure of rock, a glen between steep banks.
Con thank: know thanks to be owing; therefore, pay thanks.
Coresed: cuirassed, harnessed.
Dang: struck, forced.
Dauties: darlings.
Dee: as in Kemp Owyne; do.
Dele: division, "never a dele," never a bit.
Dereworthy: precious.
Derne: secret.
Devilkins: of the devil's kind.
Dight: made ready; dightand: being made ready.
Do gladly: make good cheer.
Do him drink: make him drink.
Donkir: moister.
Dowie: dull, sorrowful.
Dree: suffer, endure.
Dule: sorrow. French - deuil.
Eftsoons: again soon, soon after.
Fause: false.
Fay: faith.
Fend of: defend from.
Fere: companion. In fere: in companionship, together.
Ferre and fremd bestad: one from afar and among strangers.
Fet: fetched.
Flattered: floated to and fro.
Flyte: scold.
Fone: foes.
Force: no force: of no importance, no matter.
Forthinketh: repenteth.
Fosters of the fee: foresters in charge of the stock of deer.
Fou: bushel.
Freke: fighting-man.
Frese: curl, bend.
Fynly: substantial, heavy. First English - findig; Prov. Scot. -
findy.
Fytte: canto, song. First English - fitt (fem.) a song, poem.
Gane: (as in Sir Patrick Spens) convenient, proper for.
Garred me gang: made me go; Gang maiden: remain unmarried.
Gest: deed, adventure.
Gif: if.
Glede: live-coal.
Glent: passed suddenly, flashed.
Goodman: the master of the "good" or little property of house and
field. There is the same sense of "good" in the first
use of "goodwife," or "goody."
Gowk: cuckoo.
Grain, cloth in: cloth of special quality with a fast purple dye.
Graithit him: dressed himself.
Gramercy: great thanks. French - grand merci.
Gree: satisfaction.
Gurly: gurgly.
Halfendell: the half part.
Halk: flat ground by a river.
Halse bane: neck bone.
Haud: hold.
Hie: high. First English - heah.
Hie: make haste. First English - higan.
Hilt: covering.
Ilke: same.
Iwis: certainly. First English - gewis. For the prefix i-,
answering to First English and German ge-, see Y-. This
old adverb is often printed as if the prefix were the
pronoun I and wis were a verb.
Japes: trivial mockings.
Jimp: slender.
Kell: coif, woman's headdress.
Kipples: rafters.
Knowe: knoll, little hill.
Lap: started, were rent.
Launsgay: lancegay, a form of spear.
Lease: leasing: falsehood.
Leeful: "its leeful lane," "its lane," alone; a Scottish idiom
joins to "lane" the genitive pronoun, "his lane,"
"their lane," etc. "Leeful," compassionate, the harp
played of itself compassionately.
Lemes: gleams.
Lend: give. See Robin Hood - God lend. First English - laenan,
to give, lend.
Lend: dwell, come into contact. See Robin Hood - "when ye
together lend." Icelandic - lenda, to land; lendir saman,
come close together.
Lere: learn, teach. First English - laeran. See Robin Hood -
"this lesson shall we lere;"
Lere: face. First English - hleor. See Robin Hood - "fell down
by his lere."
Let: hinder. Letting: hindrance.
Lewte: loyalty.
Lift: sky.
Linde: lime-tree.
Linn: torrent; also the pool under a torrent of water.
Lithe: listen. Icelandic - alyoa, to listen.
Liveray: what is 'livre,' or delivered, as a 'livree' of clothes,
food, etc.
Lodge: dwelling in a forest, as originally made of boughs and leaves.
Lough: laughed.
Lourdain: blockhead.
Lown: loon, dull, base fellow.
Makis: husbands.
Male: bag.
Manople: a large gauntlet protecting hand and fore-arm.
March parti: border side.
Masars: bowls or goblets.
May: maid.
Meany: meynie: body of retainers, or domestic following.
Meet: narrow. First English - maete, little.
Met: mete: measured.
Mister: need.
Mo: more.
Mort: the note sounded at death of the deer.
Mote I thee: May I thrive. First English - theon, to thrive.
Mote: meeting for decision of cases in ecclesiastical or civil law, or
for other public purposes, as ward-mote, etc. Strong men were
said to oppress the weak by being "mighty to mote."
Nicher: neigh.
Numbles: liver, kidneys, etc. French - nombles. The word was
often written in English umbles and humbles. The umbles,
with skin, head, chine, and shoulders of the deer, were
the keepers' share in the brittling. There was a receipt
for "umble pie" in the old cookery. To "eat humble pie"
was to dine with the servants instead of from the
haunch at the high table.
Okerer: usurer.
Pace: pass.
Pay: satisfaction. The old sense of the word in the phrase "it
does not pay"—does not give satisfaction. A man could be
served "to his pay," meaning in a way that satisfied or
pleased him.
Pieces: drinking-cups.
Pluck-buffet: whichever made a bad shot drew on himself a buffet from
his competitor.
Prest: ready. Prestly: readily. French - pret.
Prief: proof.
Proseyla: Venus' shells, porcelain.
Pye: coat a py: a rough coarse cloth. Dutch - py, or a coat made
from it. The word remains in our "pea-coat."
Quarry: the skin of the deer on which entrails, etc. were piled as the
dogs' share of the spoil. French - cuiree, from cuir, hide.
To be distinguished from the quarry, a square bolt for
the crossbow, or the quarry or squared stones, both from
Latin - quadratus.
Quh: = Wh.
Quite: requite.
Ray: striped cloth.
Raikand: ranging.
Rawe: row.
Rede: counsel.
Reve: plunder.
Room: space or spacious. "The warldis room," the space of the
world; or "The warld is room," the world is wide.
Salved: saluted.
Scheuch and syke: furrow and rill.
Seid: seed.
Shaw: covert of the wood.
Shear: in different directions. First English - sciran, to divide.
Shend: blame; shent: blamed.
Shete: shoot.
Shot-window: according to Ritson, is a window that opens and shuts.
Sicker and sad: sure and firm.
Sigh-clout: sieve-cloth.
Somers: sumpter horses.
Spleen, on the: in anger or discontent. The spleen was once
supposed to be the seat of anger and discontent.
Spurn: strife, as a kicking against. "That tear began this spurn,"
that rent began this strife.
Stalworthy: stalwart.
Stound: space of time.
Stour: conflict.
Stown: stolen.
Suar: heavy. First English - swaer.
Tarpe: probably a misprint for targe. In the Promptorium Parvulorum we
have the "Targe, or chartyr—carta."
Tene: vexation, sorrow.
Thee, mote I: may I thrive. See Mote.
Threap: argue back pertinaciously.
Throw: space of time.
Tine: lose.
Tirled: twirled.
To-broke: "to" is intensive.
Told: counted.
Tone: the tone = that one, as the tother = that other; "that"
being the old neuter of "the."
Tray: surly, unwillingly. Icelandic - thra, obstinate. First English -
thrafian, to blame.
Tynde: horns of hart.
Unketh: unknown, unexpected.
Unneth: not easily.
Voided: quitted the place.
Wap: throw quickly.
Weal: twist.
Wed: pledge.
Weird: fate.
Well away: wo, alas, wo! First English - wa, eala, wa!
Welt them: tumbled them over. First