# Chaucer's Works (ed. Skeat) Vol. V/Canons Yeoman

>> Text of the Chanouns Yemannes Tale
NOTES TO THE CHANOUNS YEMANNES TALE.
The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue.
554. the lyf of seint Cecyle, i. e. the Second Nun's Tale. This notice is important, because it inseparably links the Canon's Yeoman's Tale to the preceding one. ​
555. fyve myle, five miles. Tyrwhitt says that it is five miles 'from some place, which we are now unable to determine with certainty.' He adds that he is in doubt whether the pilgrims are here supposed to be riding from or towards Canterbury; but afterwards thinks that 'the manner in which the Yeman expresses himself in ver. 16091, 2 [i. e. ll. 623, 624] seems to shew that he was riding to Canterbury.'
It is really very easy to explain the matter, and to tell all about it. It is perfectly clear that these two lines express the fact that they were riding to Canterbury. It is even probable that every one of the extant Tales refers to the outward journey: for Chaucer would naturally write his first set of Tales before beginning a second, and the extant Tales are insufficient to make even the first set complete. Consequently, we have only to reckon backwards from Boughton (see l. 556) for a five-mile distance along the old Canterbury road, and we shall find the name of the place intended.
The answer to this is—Ospringe. The matter is settled by the discovery that Ospringe was, as a matter of fact, one of the halting-places for the night of travellers from London to Canterbury. Dean Stanley, in his Historical Memorials of Canterbury, p. 237, quotes from a paper in the Archæologia, xxxv. 461, by Mr. E. A. Bond, to shew that queen Isabella, wife of Edw. II., rested in London on June 6, 1358; at Dartford on the 7th; at Rochester on the 8th; at Ospringe on the 9th; and at Canterbury on the 10th and 11th; and returned, on the 12th, to Ospringe again. See this, more at length, in Dr. Furnivall's Temporary Preface to the Canterbury Tales (Chaucer Soc.), pp. 13, 14.
Dr. Furnivall quotes again from M. Douet-d'Arcq, concerning a journey made by king John of France from London to Dover, by way of Canterbury, in 1360. On June 30, 1360, king John left London and came to Eltham. On July 1, he slept at Dartford; on July 2, at Rochester; on July 3, he dined at Sittingbourne (noted as being thirty-nine miles and three-quarters from London), and slept at Ospringe; and on July 4, came to Canterbury (noted as being fifty-four miles and a half from London).
These extracts clearly shew (1) that the whole journey was usually made to occupy three or four days; (2) that the usual resting-places were (at least) Dartford, Rochester, and Ospringe; and (3) that Sittingbourne was considered as being about fifteen miles from Canterbury.
Now, in passing from Sittingbourne to Canterbury, we find that the distance is divided into three very nearly equal parts by the situations of Ospringe and Boughton, giving five miles for each portion. The distance from Ospringe to Canterbury, only ten miles, left very little to be done on the last day; but pilgrims liked arriving at Canterbury in good time. Chaucer says, as plainly as possible, that the pilgrims really did rest all night on the road, at a place which can only be Ospringe; see ll. 588, 589.
Mr. Furnivall also notes (Temp. Pref. p. 29), that Lydgate, in his ​ Storie of Thebes (in Speght's Chaucer, 1602, fol. 353 back, col. 2) makes the pilgrims, on their homeward-journey, return from Canterbury to Ospringe to dinner.
556. Boghton-under-Blee. Here Blee is the same as the blee in Group H, l. 3, which see. It is now called Blean Forest, and the village is called Boughton-under-Blean, in order to distinguish it from other villages of the same name. I find, in a map, Boughton Aluph between Canterbury and Ashford, Boughton Malherb between Ashford and Maidstone, and Boughton Monchelsea between Maidstone and Staplehurst.
557. A man, i. e. the Canon. This is an additional pilgrim, not described in the Prologue, and therefore described here in ll. 566-581, 600-655, &c.
'The name of Canon, as applied to an officer in the Church, is derived from the Gk. κανών (kanôn) signifying a rule or measure, and also the roll or catalogue of the Church, in which the names of the Ecclesiastics were registered; hence the clergy so registered were denominated Canonici or Canons. Before the Reformation, they were divided into two classes, Regular and Secular. The Secular were so called, because they canonized in saeculo, abroad in the world. Regular Canons were such as lived under a rule, that is, a code of laws published by the founder of that order. They were a less strict sort of religious than the monks, but lived together under one roof, had a common dormitory and refectory, and were obliged to observe the statutes of their order. The chief rule for these [regular] canons is that of St. Augustine, who was made bishop of Hippo in the year 395.... Their habit was a long black cassock with a white rochet over it, and over that a black coat and hood; from whence they were called Black Canons Regular of St. Augustine.'—Hook's Church Dictionary. And see Canon in the New E. Dictionary.
There were several other orders, such as the Gilbertine Canons of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the Praemonstratenses or White Canons, &c. See also the description of them in Cutts's Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, p. 19; and see Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 79, 84. At the latter reference, Dr. Rock says:—'Some families of canons regular still require their members, whenever they go out of the house, to wear over their cassock a linen surplice, and above that a large, full, black canon's cope.'
I should imagine, from the description of the Canon's house in l. 657, and from the general tenor of the Tale, that Chaucer's Canon was but a secular one. Still, their rule seems to have been less strict than that of the monks.
558. I have omitted to note that E. has wered a, where all the other MSS. read hadde a whyt.
561. priked myles three, ridden hard for three miles. The Canon and his yeoman may be supposed to have ridden rather fast for the first two miles; and then, finding they could not otherwise overtake ​ the pilgrims, they took to the best pace they could force out of their horses for three miles more.
562. yeman, yeoman, attendant, servant. His face was all discoloured with blowing his master's fire (ll. 664-667), and he seems to have been the more honest man of the two. He is the teller of the Tale, and begins by describing himself; l. 720.
565. 'He was all spotted with foam, so that he looked like a magpie.' The word He (like his in l. 566) refers to the Canon, whose clothing was black (l. 557); and the white spots of foam upon it gave him this appearance. The horse is denoted by it (l. 563), the word hors being neuter in the Oldest English. Most MSS. read he for it in l. 563, but there is nothing gained by it. Flecked, in the sense of 'spotted,' is still in use; see N. and Q. 7 S. i. 507, ii. 96.
566. male tweyfold, a double budget or leathern bag; see Prol. l. 694.
571. Chaucer tells us that the Pardoner's hood, on the contrary, was not fastened to his cloak; see Prol. 680. Dr. Rock, in The Church of our Fathers, ii. 44, says:—'Sometimes the hood of the cope was not only sewed to it, but stitched all round, and not allowed to hang with the lower part free; in such instances, the hood was necessarily left on the cope and folded with it.'
575. 'Rather faster than at a trot or a foot-pace.' Said ironically. Cf. Prol. 825.
577. clote-leef, the leaf of a burdock. Cotgrave has—'Lampourde, f. the Cloot or great Burre.' Also—'Glouteron, m. The Clote, Burre Docke, or great Burre.' And again—'Bardane, f. the Clote, burre-dock, or great Burre.'
In the Prompt. Parv. we find—'Clote, herbe; Lappa bardana, lappa rotunda.' In Wyclif's Version of the Bible, Hosea ix. 6, x. 8, we find clote or cloote where the Vulgate version has lappa. The Glossary to Cockayne's 'Leechdoms' explains A. S. clāte as Arctium lappa, with numerous references. The A. S. clāte is related to G. Klette, a bur, a burdock; O. H. G. chletta; Mid. Du. kladde.
It is clear that clote originally meant the bur itself, just as the name of bur-dock has reference to the same. The clote is, accordingly, the Arctium lappa, or Common Burdock, obtaining its name from the clotes (i. e. burs or knobs) upon it; and one of the large leaves of this plant would be very suitable for the purpose indicated.
We may safely dismiss the suggestion in Halliwell's Dictionary, founded on a passage in Gerarde's Herball, p. 674 D, that the Clote here means the yellow water-lily. We know from Cockayne's 'Leechdoms' that the name clāte sēo þe swimman wille (i. e. swimming clote) was sometimes used for that flower (Nuphar lutea), either on account of its large round leaves or its globose flowers; but in the present passage we have only to remember the Canon's haste to feel assured, that he might much more easily have caught up a burdock-leaf from the road-side than have searched in a ditch for a water-lily. ​
578. For swoot, to prevent sweat, to keep off the heat. See note to Sir Thopas, B. 2052.
580. It is probable that stillatorie (now shortened to still) is really a shortened form of distillatorie. Both forms occur in the Book of Quintessence, p. 10, l. 24, p. 13, l. 10.
581. Were ful, that might be full, that might chance to be full. Were is the subjunctive, and the relative is omitted.
588. now, &c.; lately, in the time of early morning.
589. This shews that the pilgrims had rested all night on the road; see note to l. 555 above.
597. oght, in any way, at all. Cf. Kn. Ta., A. 3045; and Prioresses Tale, B. 1792.
599. ye, yea. There is a difference between ye, yea, and yis, yes. The former merely assents, or answers a simple question in the affirmative. The latter is much more forcible, is used when the question involves a negative, and is often followed by an oath. See note to Specimens of Eng. 1394-1579, ed. Skeat, sect. xvii. (D), l. 22; and note to ȝis in the Glossary to my edition of William of Palerne. See an example of ȝus (yes) after a negative in Piers the Plowman, B. v. 125. Similarly, nay is the weaker, no the stronger form of negation.
602. A note in Bell's edition makes a difficulty of the scansion of this line. It is perfectly easy. The caesura (carefully marked in MS. E. as occurring after knewe) preserves the final e in knewe from elision.
And yé | him knéw | e, ás | wel ás | do I ||
Tyrwhitt reads also for the former as; which is legitimate, because as and also are merely different spellings of the same word.
It is true that the final e in wondre, and again that in werke, are both elided, under similar circumstances, in the two lines next following; but the cases are not quite identical. The e in knewe, representing not merely the plural, but also the subjunctive mood, is essential to the conditional form of the sentence, and is of much higher value than the others. If this argument be not allowed, Tyrwhitt's suggestion may be adopted. Or we may read knewen.
608. rit, contracted from rideth; see A. 974, 981. See also slit for slideth in l. 682 below.
611. leye in balaunce, place in the balance, weigh against it.
620. can, knows, knows how to exercise.
622. The Yeoman puts in a word for himself—'and moreover, I am of some assistance to him.'
625. up-so-doun, i. e. upside doun, according to our modern phrase. Chaucer's phrase is very common; see Pricke of Conscience, ed. Morris, l. 7230; P. Plowman, B. xx. 53; Gower, Conf. Amantis, i. 218, &c.
628. benedicite, pronounced ben'cite, in three syllables, as in B. 1170, 1974. See note to B. 1170.
632. worship, dignity, honour; here, respectable appearance.
633. oversloppe, upper garment. So in Icelandic, yfirsloppr means ​ an outer gown; as, 'prestar skrýddir yfirsloppum,' i. e. priests clad in over-slops, Historia Ecclesiastica, i. 473. The word slop is preserved in the somewhat vulgar 'slop-shop,' i. e. shop for second-hand clothes.
635. baudy, dirty. to-tore, torn in half. So in Piers Plowman, B. v. 197, Avarice is described as wearing a 'tabard' which is 'al to-torn and baudy.'
639. The second person sing. imperative seldom exhibits a final e; but it is sometimes found in weak verbs, tellen being one of them. The readings are—Telle, E. Cp. Pt. Hl.; Tel, Ln. Cm. Elsewhere, we find tel, as in D. 1298.
641. for, &c.; because he shall never thrive. The Yeoman blurts out the truth, and is then afraid he has said too much. In l. 644, he gives an evasive and politer reason, declaring that his lord is 'too wise'; see l. 648.
645. That that, that which. In the margin of MS. E. is written—'Omne quod est nimium, &c.'; which is probably short for—'Omne quod est nimium uertitur in uitium.' We also find—'Omne nimium nocet.' The corresponding English proverb is—'Too much of one thing is not good' (Heywood); on which Ray remarks—'Assez y a si trop n'y a; French. Ne quid nimis; Terentius. Μηδὲν ἄγαν. This is an apothegm of one of the seven wise men; some attribute it to Thales, some to Solon. Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines; Horat. Sat. i. 1. 106. L'abbondanza delle cose ingenera fastidio; Ital. Cada dia olla, amargo el caldo; Spanish.' We also find in Hazlitt's English Proverbs—'Too much cunning undoes.'—'Too much is stark nought.'—'Too much of a good thing.'—'Too much spoileth, too little is nothing.' See also the collection of similar proverbs in Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 37, 38.
648. Cf. Butler's description of Hudibras:—
'We grant, although he had much wit, He was very shy of using it.'
652. Ther-of no fors, never mind about that.
655. The adj. sly here appears in the indefinite form, and rimes with hertely; correctly. Lounsbury (Studies, i. 388) admits the fact, but immediately proceeds to rate Chaucer for using the form dry-e (dissyllabic) as an indefinite form! The attack, being founded on an error, ignominiously fails. It so happens that sly is, etymologically, a monosyllable, whilst drye is etymologically dissyllabic; see sleh and druye in Stratmann.
658. A blind lane is one that has no opening at the farther end; a cul de sac.
659. theves by kinde, thieves by natural disposition.
662. the sothe, the truth. The reader should carefully note the full pronunciation of the final e in sothe. If he should omit to sound it, he will be put to shame when he comes to the end of the next line, ending with tó thee. A very similar instance is that of tyme, riming with bý me, G. 1204 below. The case is the more remarkable because ​ the A. S. sōð, truth, is a monosyllable; but the truth is that the definite adjective the sothe (A. S. þæt sōðe) may very well have supplied its place, the adjective being more freely used than the substantive in this instance. Chaucer has sothe at the end of a line in other places, where it rimes with the dissyllabic bothe; G. 168; Troil. iv. 1035.
We may remark that the sothe is written and pronounced instead of the sooth (as shewn by the metre) in the Story of Genesis and Exodus, ed. Morris, l. 74:—
'He [they] witen the sothe, that is sen.'
665. Peter! by St. Peter; as in B. 1404, D. 446. The full form of the phrase—'bi seynt Peter of Rome'—occurs in Piers the Plowman, B. vi. 3. The shorter exclamation—'Peter!' also occurs in the same, B. v. 544; see my note on that line. harde grace, disfavour, ill-favour; a mild imprecation. In l. 1189, it expresses a mild malediction.
669. multiplye. This was the technical term employed by alchemists to denote their supposed power of transmuting the baser metals into gold; they thought to multiply gold by turning as much base metal as a piece of it would buy into gold itself; see l. 677. Some such pun seems here intended; yet it is proper to remember that the term originally referred solely to the supposed fact, that the strength of an elixir could be multiplied by repeated operations. See the article 'De Multiplicatione,' in Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 301, 818; cf. 131. Cf. Ben Jonson's Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'For look, how oft I iterate the work, So many times I add unto his virtue'; &c.
686. To scan the line, accent yeman on the latter syllable, as in ll. 684, 701.
687. To scan the line, pronounce ever nearly as e'er, and remember that hadde is of two syllables. The MSS. agree here.
688. Catoun, Cato. Dionysius Cato is the name commonly assigned to the author of a Latin work in four books, entitled Dionysii Catonis Disticha de Moribus ad Filium. The work may be referred to the fourth century. It was extremely popular, not only in Latin, but in French and English versions. Chaucer here quotes from Lib. i. Distich. 17:—
'Ne cures si quis tacito sermone loquatur; Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici.'
See other quotations from Cato in the Nonne Preestes Tale, B. 4130; Merch. Ta., E. 1377; and see my note to Piers Plowman, B. vi. 316.
It is worth noticing that Catoun follows the form of the Lat. Catonem, the accusative case. Such is the usual rule.
694. dere abye, pay dearly for it. abye (lit. to buy off) was corrupted at a later date to abide, as in Shak. Jul. Caesar, iii. 1. 94.
703. game, amusement. In l. 708, it is used ironically. Cf. ernest, i. e. a serious matter, in l. 710. Cf. The Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'Alchemy is a pretty kind of game,' &c.
The Chanouns Yemannes Tale.
720. This Tale is divided, in MS. E., into two parts. Pars prima is not really a tale at all, but a description of alchemy and its professors. The real tale, founded on the same subject, is contained in Pars Secunda, beginning at l. 972. The rubric means—'Here the Canon's Yeoman begins his tale.' The word tale is not to be taken as a nominative case.
I may observe that I frequently refer below to the Theatrum Chemicum, printed in 1659, in five volumes. Also to Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum (quite a different work).
721. neer, nearer; this explains near in Macbeth, ii. 3. 146.
724. Ther, where; observe the use. In l. 727, we have wher.
726. hose, an old hose, instead of a hood. A pair of hose meant what we should now call a pair of tight-fitting drawers, which also covered the feet.
730. 'And, in return for all my labour, I am cajoled.' To 'blere one's eye' is to cajole, to deceive, to hoodwink. See Piers the Plowman, B. prol. 74, and the note.
731. which, what sort of a; Lat. qualis. On multiplye, see note to l. 669.
739. 'I consider his prosperity as done with.'
743. Iupartye, jeopardy, hazard. Tyrwhitt remarks that the derivation is not from jeu perdu, as some have guessed, but from jeu parti. He adds—'A jeu parti is properly a game, in which the chances are exactly even; see Froissart, v. i. c. 234—"Ils n'estoient pas à jeu parti contre les François"; and v. ii. c. 9—"si nous les voyons à jeu parti." From hence it signifies anything uncertain or hazardous. In the old French poetry, the discussion of a problem, where much might be said on both sides, was called a Jeu parti. See Poésies du Roy de Navarre, Chanson xlviii., and Gloss. in v. See also Ducange, in v. Jocus Partitus.' Ducange has—'Jocus partitus dicebatur, cum alicui facultas concedebatur, alterum e duobus propositis eligendi.' Hence was formed not only jeopardy, but even the verb to jeopard, used in the A. V., Judges v. 18; 2 Macc. xi. 7.
746. In the margin of MS. E. is written—'Solacium miseriorum (sic), &c.' In Marlowe's Faustus, ii. 1. 42, the proverb is quoted in the form 'Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.' Dr. Wagner says: 'The purport of this line may have been originally derived from Seneca, De Consol. ad Polybium, xii. 2: est autem hoc ipsum solatii loco, inter multos dolorem suum diuidere; qui quia dispensatur inter plures, exigua debet apud te parte subsidere.' Cf. Milton, P. R. i. 398. The idea is that conveyed in the fable of the Fox who had lost his tail, and wished to persuade the other foxes to cut theirs off likewise. See Troil. i. 708.
752. 'The technical terms which we use are so learned and fine.' See this well illustrated in Jonson's Alchemist, ii. 1:—'What else are all your terms,' &c. ​
764. lampe; so in the MSS. It is clearly put for lambe, a corruption of O. Fr. lame, Lat. lamina. Were there any MS. authority, it would be better to read lame at once. Cotgrave has—'Lame; f. a thin plate of any metall; also, a blade.' &c. Nares has—'Lamm, s. a plate, from Lat. lamina. "But he strake Phalantus just upon the gorget, so as he batred the lamms thereof, and make his head almost touch the back of his horse"; Pembr. Arcadia, lib. iii. p. 269.' Lame in old French also means, the flat slab covering a tomb; see Godefroy. So here, after the ingredients have all been placed in a pot, they are covered over with a plate of glass laid flat upon the top.
It is strange that no editor has made any attempt to explain this word. It obviously does not mean lamp! For the insertion of the p, cf. solempne for solemne, and nempne for nemne; also flambe for flame; see the Glossary.
766. enluting. To enlute is to close with lute. Webster has—'Lute, n. (Lat. lutum, mud, clay). A composition of clay or other tenacious substance, used for stopping the juncture of vessels so closely as to prevent the escape or entrance of air, or to protect them when exposed to heat.'
The process is minutely described in a MS. by Sir George Erskine, of Innertiel (temp. James I.), printed by Mr. J. Small in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. xi. 1874-75, p. 193, as follows:—'Thairfoir when all the matter which must be in, is gathered together into the pot, tak a good lute maid of potters clay, and mix it with bolus and rust of iron tempered with whitts of eggs and chopt hair, and mingle and worke thame weill togither, and lute ȝoure pott ane inch thick thairwith, and mak a stopple of potters earth weill brunt, to shut close in the hole that is in the top of the cover of the pott, and lute the pott and the cover very close togither, so as no ayre may brek furth, and when any craks cum into it, in the drying of the lute, dawbe them up againe; and when the lute is perfectly drie in the sunne, then take a course linen or canvas, and soke it weill in the whitts of eggs mixt with iron rust, and spred this cloth round about the luting, and then wet it weill again with whitts of eggs and upon the luting'; &c.
768. The alchemists were naturally very careful about the heat of the fire. So in The Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'Look well to the register, And let your heat still lessen by degrees.'
And again, in iii. 2:—
'We must now increase Our fire to ignis ardens,' &c.
770. matires sublyming, sublimation of materials. To 'sublimate' is to render vaporous, to cause matter to pass into a state of vapour by the application of heat. 'Philosophi considerantes eorum materiam, quae est in vase suo, et calorem sentit, evaporatur in speciem fumi, et ​ ascendit in capite vasis: et vocant sublimationem'; Theatrum Chemicum, 1659, vol. ii. p. 125.
'Subtle. How do you sublime him [mercury]?
Face. With the calce of egg-shells, White marble, talc.' The Alchemist, ii. 1.
771. amalgaming. To 'amalgamate' is to compound or mix intimately, especially used of mixing quicksilver with other metals. The term is still in use; thus 'an amalgam of tin' means a mixture of tin and quicksilver.
calcening. To 'calcine' is to reduce a metal to an oxide, by the action of heat. What is now called an oxide was formerly called 'a metallic calx'; hence the name. The term is here applied to quicksilver or mercury. For example—'When mercury is heated, and at the same time exposed to atmospheric air, it is found that the volume of the air is diminished, and the weight of the mercury increased, and that it becomes, during the operation, a red crystalline body, which is the binoxide of mercury, formed by the metal combining with the oxygen of the air'; English Cyclopaedia, Div. Arts and Sciences, s. v. Oxygen. 'The alchemists used to keep mercury at a boiling heat for a month or longer in a matrass, or a flask with a tolerably long neck, having free communication with the air. It thus slowly absorbed oxygen, becoming converted into binoxide, and was called by them mercurius precipitatus per se. It is now however generally prepared by calcination from mercuric nitrate'; id., s. v. Mercury.
772. Mercurie crude, crude Mercury. See note to l. 820. See the description of Mercury in Ashmole's Theat. Chem. p. 272. The alchemists pretended that their quicksilver, which they called the Green Lion, was something different from quicksilver as ordinarily found. See treatise on 'The Greene Lyon,' in Ashmole's Theat. Chem. p. 280.
774. Note the accents—'súblyméd Mercúrie.'
778. Here the 'ascension of spirits' refers to the rising of gases or vapours from certain substances; and the 'matters that lie all fix adown' are the materials that lie at the bottom in a fixed (i. e. in a solid) state. There were four substances in particular which were technically termed 'spirits'; viz. sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic, or (as some said) orpiment. See Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 81, 129; ii. 430; iii. 276.
782. Here a = in; being short for an, a variant of on, used in the old sense of 'in.' The expression signifies, literally, in the way to (or of) twenty devils; see note to A. 3713.
790. bole armoniak. The latter word should rather be Armeniak, i. e. Armenian, but we have armoniak again below, in l. 798; see note to that line.
'Bole, a kind of fine, compact, or earthy clay, often highly coloured with iron, and varying in shades of colour from white to yellowish, ​ reddish, blueish, and brownish. Fr. bol, Lat. bolus, Gk. βῶλος, a clod or lump of earth'; Webster's Dict., ed. Goodrich and Porter. Cotgrave has—'Bol, m. the astringent and medicinable red earth or minerall called Bolearmenie ... Bol Oriental, et Bol Armenien Oriental, Oriental Bolearmenie; the best and truest kind of Bolearmenie, ministred with good effect against all poisons, and in pestilent diseases; and more red than the ordinary one, which should rather be tearmed Sinopian red earth than Bolearmeny.' And see Bole in the New E. Dict.
Mr. Paget Toynbee has lately shewn (in The Academy, Sept. 16, 1893) that verdegrees is from the O. Fr. verd de Grece, lit. 'green of Greece.' Cotgrave has the curious form verderis, which probably represents the Latin viride aeris, the green of brass. This term (viride aeris) is the common one in the old Latin treatises on alchemy. See the chapter in Albertus Magnus—'Quomodo viride aeris fit, et quomodo rubificatur, et super omnia valet ad artem istam'; Theatrum Chemicum, ii. 436. It is the bibasic acetate of copper.
792, 794. Perhaps Chaucer had read the following lines:
'Par alambics et descensoires, Cucurbites, distillatoires.' Les Remonstrances de Nature, par J. de Meung, ll. 39,40.
794. Cucurbites, vessels supposed to bear some resemblance to a gourd, whence the name (Lat. cucurbita, a gourd). 'Cucurbita est uas quod debet stare in aqua, usque ad juncturam firmatum in caldario, ut non moueatur'; Theatrum Chemicum, ii. 452.
795. dere y-nough a leek, dear enough at the price of a leek. Cf. Clerkes Tale, E. 999.
797. Watres rubifying, reddening waters. This is well illustrated by a long passage in The Boke of Quinte Essence, ed. Furnivall, p. 13, where instructions are given for extracting the quintessence out of the four elements. After various processes, we are directed to put the vessel into 'the fier of flawme right strong, and the reed water schal ascende'; and again—'thanne yn the stillatorie, to the fier of bath, cleer water schall asende; and in the botum shall remayne the reed water, that is, the element of fier.' A long and unintelligible passage about 'rubrificatio' and 'aqua spiritualis rubea' occurs in the Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 41. See also 'modus rubrificandi' and the recipe for 'aqua rubea'; id. iii. 110.
798. Arsenic was by some considered as one of the 'four spirits'; see note to l. 778. For a long passage 'de arsenico,' see Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 177; also p. 110, and ii. 238. Sal armoniacum was another of them (see l. 824) and is constantly mentioned in the old treatises; see 'praeparatio salis Armoniaci secundum Rasim'; Theat. Chem. iii. 179; also pp. 89, 94, 102; ii. 445. In vol. ii. p. 138 of the same work, it is twice called 'sal armeniacum.' See the account of sal ammoniac in Thomson, Hist. of Chemistry, i. 124. Brimstoon was also a 'spirit' (see l. 824); it is only another name for sulphur. ​
800. egrimoine, common agrimony, Ægrimonia officinalis; valerian, Valeriana officinalis; lunarie, a kind of fern called in English moonwort, Botrychium lunaria. The belief in the virtue of herbs was very strong; cf. Spenser, (F. Q. i. 2. 10). The root of valerian yields valerianic acid. The following quotation is from the English Encyclopaedia, s. v. Botrychium:—
    'In former times the ferns had a great reputation in medicine, not so much on account of their obvious as their supposed virtues. The lunate shape of the pinnæ of this fern (B. lunaria) gave it its common name, and was the origin of much of the superstitious veneration with which it was regarded. When used it was gathered by the light of the moon. Gerarde says—"it is singular [i. e. sovereign] to heal green and fresh wounds. It hath been used among the alchymists and witches to do wonders withall."'
In Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum, p. 348, is a full description of 'lunayrie,' with an engraving of it. It is there also called asterion, and we are told that its root is black, its stalk red, and its leaves round; and moreover, that the leaves wax and wane with the moon, and on each of them is a mark of the breadth of a penny. See also pp. 315, 318 of the same work.
805. albificacioun, i. e. the rendering the water of a white colour, as distinguishing from the reddening of it, mentioned in l. 797. In a long chapter printed in the Theatrum Chemicum (iii. 634-648) much is said about red and white colours. Compare the Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'Mammon. Of white oil?
Subtle. No, sir, of red.'
No doubt, too, water is here used in the sense of the Lat. aqua, to denote any substance that is in a liquid state.
808. Cered pokets. Tyrwhitt reads Sered pokettes, and includes this phrase in his short 'List of Phrases not understood'; and indeed, it has never been explained. But there is little difficulty about it. Poket is the diminutive of poke, a bag, and means a little bag. Cered (Lat. ceratus) means waxed. Thus Cotgrave has—'Ciré, m. -ée, f. waxed, seared; dressed, covered, closed, or mingled, with wax.' In many MSS. the word is spelt sered, but this makes no difference, since Cotgrave has 'seared' in this very place. So we find both 'cere-cloth' and 'sear-cloth.' It is obvious that bags or cases prepared or closed with wax would be useful for many of the alchemist's purposes; see Theat. Chem. iii. 13.
sal peter, Lat. sal petrae, or rock-salt, also called nitre, is nitrate of potassa. A recipe for preparing it is given in Theat. Chem. iii. 195.
vitriole, i. e. sulphuric acid. See 'vitrioli praeparatio'; Theat. Chem. iii. 95.
810. Sal tartre, salt of tartar, i. e. carbonate of potash; so called from its having been formerly prepared from cream of tartar.
sal preparat, common salt prepared in a certain manner. See the ​ section—'quod ualeat sal commune, et quomodo praeparetur'; Theat. Chem. ii. 433, 435.
812. maad, i. e. prepared, mixed. oile of tartre, oil of tartar, cream of tartar; see Prol. 630. See the section—'quomodo praeparatur tartarum, ut oleum fiat ex illo, quo calces soluuntur'; Theat. Chem. ii. 436; and again—'ad faciendum oleum de Tartaro'; id. iii. 303. To scan l. 813, remember to pronounce tartre as in French, and to accent alum on the latter syllable.
Of tártr' | alúm | glas bérm | wort ánd | argoíle ||
813. argoile, crude cream of tartar deposited as a hard crust on wine-casks. Called argoil in Anglo-French; Liber Albus, i. 225, 231.
814. resalgar, realgar, red orpiment, or the red sulphuret of arsenic; symbol (As S$_2$); found native in some parts of Europe, and of a brilliant red colour. Resalgar is adapted from the old Latin name, risigallum. The word is explained by Thynne in his Animadversions, ed. Furnivall, p. 36—'This resalgar is that whiche by some is called Ratesbane, a kynde of poysone named Arsenicke.'
enbibing, imbibition; see this term used in The Alchemist, ii. 1. It means absorption; cf. Theat. Chem. iii. 132, l. 27.
816. citrinacioun. This also is explained by Thynne, who says (p. 38)—'Citrinatione is bothe a coolor [colour] and parte of the philophers stoone.' He then proceeds to quote from a Tractatus Avicennae, cap. 7, and from Arnoldus de Nova Villa, lib. i. cap. 5. It was supposed that when the materials for making the philosopher's stone had been brought into a state very favourable to the ultimate success of the experiment, they would assume the colour of a citron; or, as Thynne says, Arnold speaks of 'this citrinatione, perfecte digestione, or the coolor provinge the philosophers stoone broughte almoste to the heighte of his perfectione'; see Citrinacio in Ducange. So in the Alchemist, iii. 2:—
'How's the moon now? eight, nine, ten days hence He will be silver potate; then three days Before he citronise. Some fifteen days, The magisterium will be perfected.'
817. fermentacioun, fermentation. This term is also noticed by Thynne (p. 33), who says—'fermentacione ys a peculier terme of Alchymye, deduced from the bakers fermente or levyne'; &c. See Theat. Chem. ii. 115, 175.
820. foure spirites. Chaucer enumerates these below. I have already mentioned them in the note to l. 778; see also note to l. 798. Tyrwhitt refers us to Gower's Confessio Amantis, bk. iv., where we find a passage very much to the point. See Pauli's edition, ii. 84.
Gower enumerates the seven bodies and the four spirits; and further explains that gold and silver are the two 'extremities,' and the other metals agree with one or other of them more or less, so as to be capable of transmutation into one of them. For this purpose, the ​ alchemist must go through the processes of distillation, congelation, solution, descension, sublimation, calcination, and fixation, after which he will obtain the perfect elixir of the philosopher's stone. He adds that there are really three philosopher's stones, one vegetable, capable of healing diseases; another animal, capable of assisting each of the five senses of man; and the third mineral, capable of transforming the baser metals into silver and gold.
It is easy to see how the various metals were made to answer to the seven planets. Gold, the chief of metals and yellow, of course answered to the sun; and similarly silver, to the paler moon. Mercury, the swiftest planet, must be the shifty quicksilver; Saturn, the slowest, of cold and dull influence, must be lead. The etymology of copper suggested the connexion with the Cyprian Venus. This left but two metals, iron and tin, to be adjusted; iron was suggestive of Mars, the god of war, leaving tin to Jupiter. The notion of thus naming the metals is attributed to Geber; see Thomson, Hist. of Chemistry, i. 117. In the Book of Quinte Essence, ed. Furnivall, p. 8, we find: 'a plate of venus or Iubiter,' i. e. of copper or tin.
Quicksilver, be it observed, is still called mercury; and nitrate of silver is still lunar caustic. Gold and silver are constantly termed sol and luna in the old treatises on alchemy. See further allusions in Chaucer's House of Fame, 1431-1487, as pointed out in the notes to ll. 1431, 1450, 1457, 1487 of that poem.
834. 'Whosoever pleases to utter (i. e. display) his folly.'
838. Ascaunce, possibly, perhaps; lit. 'just as if.' See note to D. 1745.
846. Al conne he, whether he know. The use of al at the beginning of a sentence containing a supposition is common in Chaucer; see Prol. 734. Cf. al be, Prol. 297; Kn. Tale, 313 (A. 1171). And see l. 861 below.
848. bothe two, both learned and unlearned alike.
853. limaille, filings, fine scrapings. 'Take fyn gold and make it into smal lymail'; Book of Quinte Essence, p. 8.
861. 'To raise a fiend, though he look never so rough,' i. e. forbidding, cross.
874. it is to seken euer, it is always to seek, i. e. never found. In Skelton's Why Come Ye Nat to Court, l. 314, the phrase 'they are to seke' means 'they are at a loss'; this latter is the commoner use.
875. temps, tense. The editors explain it by 'time.' If Chaucer had meant time, it is reasonable to suppose that he would have said so. Surely it is better to take 'that futur temps' in the special sense of 'that future tense.' The allusion is to the phrase 'to seken' in the last line, which is not an infinitive mood but a gerund, and often used as a future tense, as Chaucer very well knew. Compare the A. S. version of Matt. xi. 3—'eart þū þe to cumenne eart'—with the Lat. 'Tu es qui uenturus es.'
878. bitter swete, i. e. a fatal, though alluring, pursuit. An example ​ of oxymoron; cf. 'insaniens sapientia,' Horat. Carm. i. 34; 'strenua inertia,' Epist. i. xi. 28. Cf. the plant-name bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara).
879. nadde they but, if they only should have (or, were to have). Nadde is for ne hadde, past tense subjunctive.
880. inne, within; A. S. innan; see l. 881. a-night, for on night, in the night. Perhaps it should be nighte (with final e), and lighte in l. 881.
881. bak, cloth; any rough sort of covering for the back. So in most MSS.; altered in E. to brat, but unnecessarily. That the word bak was used in the sense of garment is quite certain; see William of Palerne, ed. Skeat, l. 2096; Piers the Plowman, B. x. 362; and the same, A. xi. 184.
Pronounce the words And a rapidly, in the time of one syllable.
907. to-brek'th, bursts in pieces. go, gone. This must have been a very common result; the old directions about 'luting' and hermetically sealing the vessels employed are so strict, that every care seems to have been (unwittingly) taken to secure an explosion; see note to l. 766 above. So in the Alchemist, iv. 3:—
Face. O, sir, we are defeated! all the works Are flown in fumo, every glass is burst': &c.
921. chit, short for chideth; so also halt for holdeth.
922. Som seyde, i. e. one said; note that som is here singular, as in Kn. Tale, 2173 (A. 3031). Hence the use of the thridde, i. e. the third, in l. 925.
923. Lungs was a nickname for a fire-blower to an alchemist. See Lungs in Nares' Glossary.
929. so theech, for so thee ich, so may I thrive. See Pard. Tale, C. 947.
933. eft-sone, for the future; lit. soon afterwards.
934. 'I am quite sure that the pot was cracked.'
938. mullok, rubbish. This is a common provincial E. word; see (in the E. Dial. Society's Publications) Ray's Glossary, p. 57; and the Glossaries for Wilts., Hants., Lancashire, &c.
962. The reading shyneth is of course the right one. In the margin of MS. E. is written 'Non teneas aurum,' &c. This proves that Tyrwhitt's note is quite correct. He says—'This is taken from the Parabolae of Alanus de Insulis, who died in 1294; see Leyser, Hist. Poetarum Medii Ævi, p. 1074.
"Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum, Nec pulchrum pomum quodlibet esse bonum."'
Shakespeare has—'All that glisters is not gold'; Merch. of Venice, ii. 7. 65. Hazlitt's English Proverbs has—'All is not gold that glisters (Heywood). See Chaucer, Chan. Yeom. Prol.; Roxburghe Ballads, ed. Collier, p. 102; Udall's Royster Doyster, 1566, where we read: All things that shineth is not by and by pure golde (Act v. sc. 1). Fronti ​ nulla fides, Juvenal, Sat. ii. 8. The French say, Tout ce qui luict n'est pas or. Non é oro tutto quel che luce; Ital. No es todo or lo que reluce; Span.' So in German—'Est ist nicht Alles Gold was glänzt'; and again—'Rothe Aepfel sind auch faul.' See Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 53, 107. Cf. Chaucer's House of Fame, i. 272.
972. Pars secunda. This is where the Tale begins. Even now, the Yeoman has some more to say by way of preface, and only makes a real start at l. 1012.
975. Alisaundre, Alexandria, and othere three, and three more as well.
999. I mente, I intended; as in l. 1051 below. 'But my intention was to correct that which is amiss.'
The reading I-ment, as a past participle, adopted by Mr. Wright, is incorrect, as shewn by Mr. Cromie's Ryme-Index. Cf. Nonne Pr. Tale, 604 (B. 4614); Sq. Tale, F. 108. See note to G. 534 above.
1005. by yow, with reference to you canons. See By in Wright's Bible Word-book.
1012. annueleer. So called, as Tyrwhitt explains, 'from their being employed solely in singing annuals or anniversary masses for the dead, without any cure of souls. See the Stat. 36 Edw. III. c. viii, where the Chappelleins Parochiels are distinguished from others chantanz annuales, et a cure des almes nient entendantz. They were both to receive yearly stipends, but the former was allowed to take six marks, the latter only five. Compare Stat. 2 Hen. V. St. 2. c. 2, where the stipend of the Chapellein Parochiel is raised to eight marks, and that of the Chapellein annueler (he is so named in the statute) to seven.' See also the note at p. 505 of Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew (E. E. T. S.); and Monumenta Franciscana, p. 605.
1015. That is, to the lady of the house where he lodged.
1018. spending-silver, money to spend, ready money. The phrase occurs in Piers the Plowman, B. xi. 278.
1024. a certeyn, a certain sum, a stated sum. Cf. l. 776.
1027. at my day, on the day agreed upon, on the third day.
1029. Another day, another time, on the next occasion.
1030. him took, handed over to him; so in ll. 1034, 1112.
1055. 'In some measure to requite your kindness.' See note to Sq. Tale, F. 471, and cf. l. 1151.
1059. seen at yë, see evidently; lit. see at eye.
1066. 'Proffered service stinketh' is among Heywood's Proverbs. Ray remarks on it—'Merx ultronea putet, apud Hieronymum. Erasmus saith, Quin uulgo etiam in ore est, ultro delatum obsequium plerumque ingratum esse. So that it seems this proverb is in use among the Dutch too. In French, Merchandise offerte est à demi vendue. Ware that is proffered is sold for half the worth, or at half the price.' The German is—'Angebotene Hülfe hat keinen Lohn'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 86.
1096. Algates, at any rate. Observe the context. ​
1103. that we it hadde, that we might have it. Hadde is here the subjunctive. Perhaps have would be better, but it lacks authority.
1126. mortifye, mortify; a technical term. See note to l. 1431.
1151. 'To blind the priest with.' See note to l. 1055.
1171. For torned, read terved, i. e. flayed, skinned; MS. E. has terued (so it may be read). See l. 1274.
1185. Seint Gyles, saint Giles; a corrupted form of Ægidius. His day is Sept. 1; see Chambers' Book of Days, ii. 296; Legenda Aurea, cap. cxxx.; or Caxton's Golden Legende.
1204-1205. The rime is given by týmë (two syllables, from A. S. tīma) riming with by me.
On referring to Prof. Child's Observations on the Language of Gower, I find seven references given for this rime, as occurring in the edition by Dr. Pauli. The references are—i. 227, 309, 370; ii. 41, 114, 277; iii. 369. Dr. Pauli prints byme as one word!
1210. The last foot contains the words—or a pannë.
1238-1239. MS. E. omits these two lines: the other MSS. retain them.
1244. halwes is in the genitive plural. 'And the blessing of all the saints may ye have, Sir Canon!'
1245. 'And may I have their malison,' i. e. their curse.
1274. For torne, read terve, i. e. flay; as in MS. E. Cf. l. 1171.
1283. 'Why do you wish it to be better than well?' Answering nearly to—'what would you have better?'
1292. A rather lax line. Is ther is to be pronounced rapidly, in the time of one syllable, and her-inne is of three syllables.
1299. Pronounce simple as simpl'; tong-e is dissyllabic.
1313. his ape, his dupe. See Prol. 706, B. 1630. The simile is evidently taken from the fact that showmen used to carry apes about with them much as organ-boys do at the present day, the apes being secured by a string. Thus, 'to make a man one's ape' is to lead him about at will. The word apewarde occurs in Piers the Plowman, B. v. 540. To lead apes means to lead about a train of dupes.
1319. heyne, wretch. This word has never before been properly explained. It is not in Tyrwhitt's Glossary. Dr. Morris considers it as another form of hyne, a peasant, or hind, but leaves the phonetic difference of vowel unaccounted for; the words are clearly distinct. It occurs in Skelton's Bowge of Courte, l. 327:—
'It is great scorne to see suche an hayne As thou arte, one that cam but yesterdaye, With vs olde seruauntes suche maysters to playe.'
Here Mr. Dyce also explains it by hind, or servant, whereas the context requires the opposite meaning of a despised master. Halliwell gives—'Heyne, a miser, a worthless person'; but without a reference. It means 'miser' in Udall's translation of Erasmus' Apophthegmes (1564), where it occurs thrice. Thus, in bk. i. § 106, we find: 'Soch ​ a niggard or hayn, that he coulde not finde in his harte ... to departe with an halfpeny.' In the same, § 22, we find: 'haines and niggardes of their purse'; and, for a third example, see note to Parl. Foules, 610 (vol. i. p. 523). The word seems to be Scandinavian; cf. Icel. hegna, Dan. hegne, to hedge in, Swed. hägna, to fence, guard, protect; whence Lowl. Sc. hain, to hedge in, to preserve, to spare, to save money, to be penurious (Jamieson).
1320. 'This priest being meanwhile unaware of his false practice.' See l. 1324.
1342. Alluding to the proverb—'As fain as a fowl [i. e. bird] of a fair morrow'; given by Hazlitt in the form—'As glad as fowl of a fair day.' See Piers the Plowman, B. x. 153; Kn. Tale, 1579 (A. 2437).
1348. To stonde in grace; cf. Prol. 88; also A. 1173.
1354. By our; pronounced By'r, as spelt in Shakespeare, Mid. Nt. Dr. iii. 1. 14.
1362. nere, for ne were; meaning 'were it not for.'
1381. sy, saw. The scribes also use the form sey or seigh, as in Kn. Tale, 208 (A. 1066); Franklin's Tale, F. 850, in both of which places it rimes with heigh (high). Of these spellings sey (riming with hey) is to be preferred in most cases. See note to Group B, l. 1.
1388. This line begins with a large capital C in the Ellesmere MS., shewing that the Tale itself is at an end, and the rest is the Yeoman's application of it.
1389. 'There is strife between men and gold to that degree, that there is scarcely any (gold) left.'
1408. Alluding to the proverb—'Burnt bairns fear fire.' This occurs among the Proverbs of Hendyng, in the form—'Brend child fur dredeth.' So in the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 1820—'Brent child of fyr hath muche drede.' The German is—'Ein gebranntes Kind fürchtet das Feuer'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 531.
1410. Alluding to the proverb—'Better late than never'; in French 'Il vaut mieux tard que jamais.' The German is—'Besser spät als nie'; see Ida v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 204.
1411. In Hazlitt's Proverbs—'Never is a long term.'
1413. Bayard was a colloquial name for a horse; see Piers Plowman, B. iv. 53, 124; vi. 196; and 'As bold as blind Bayard' was a common proverb. See also Troil. i. 218; Gower, Conf. Amant. iii. 44; Skelton, ed. Dyce, ii. 139, 186. 'Bot al blustyrne forth unblest as Bayard the blynd'; Awdelay's Poems, p. 48.
1416. 'As to turn aside from an obstacle in the road.'
1419. Compare this with the Man of Lawes Tale, B. 552.
1422. rape and renne, seize and clutch. The phrase, as it stands, is meaningless; rapen is to hurry, and rennen is to run, both verbs being intransitive. But it took the place of the older phrase repen and rinen (Ancren Riwle, p. 128), from A. S. hrepian and hrīnan, to handle and touch. The Ancren Riwle gives the form arepen and arechen, with the various readings repen and rinen, ropen and rimen. Ihre quotes the ​ English 'rap and ran, per fas et nefas ad se pertrahere.' Mr. Wedgwood notices rap and ran, to get by hook or crook, to seize whatever one can lay hands on, but misses the etymology. Palsgrave has—'I rap or rende, je rapine.' Coles (Eng. Dict. ed. 1684) has 'rap an[d] ren, snatch and catch.' 'All they could rap and rend and pilfer'; Butler, Hudibras, pt. ii. c. 2. 789. (First ed., rap and run.) The phrase is still in use in the (corrupted) form to rape and rend, or (in Cleveland) to rap and ree.
Briefly, rape, properly to hurry (Icel. hrapa), is a false substitute for A. S. hrepian, allied to G. raffen; whilst renne, to run, is a false substitute for A. S. hrīnan, to touch, lay hold of.
1428. Arnoldus de Villa Nova was a French physician, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist; born about A. D. 1235, died A. D. 1314. Tyrwhitt refers us to Fabricius, Bibl. Med. Æt., in v. Arnaldus Villanovanus. In a tract printed in Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 285, we have a reference to the same saying—'Et hoc est illud quod magni philosophi scripserunt, quod lapis noster fit ex Mercurio et sulphure praeparatis et separatis, et de hoc opere et substantia dicit Magister Arnoldus in tractatu suo parabolice, nisi granum frumenti in terra cadens mortuum fuerit, &c. Intelligens pro grano mortuo in terra, Mercurium mortuum cum sale petrae et vitriolo Romano, et cum sulphure; et ibi mortificatur, et ibi sublimatur cum igne, et sic multum fructus adfert, et hic est lapis major omnibus, quem philosophi quaesiverunt, et inventum absconderunt.' The whole process is described, but it is quite unintelligible to me. It is clear that two circumstances stand very much in the way of our being able to follow out such processes; these are (1) that the same substance was frequently denoted by six or seven different names; and (2) that one name (such as sulphur) denoted five or six different things (such as sulphuric acid, orpiment, sulphuret of arsenic, &c.).
1429. Rosarie, i. e. Rosarium Philosophorum, the name of a treatise on alchemy by Arnoldus de Villa Nova; Theat. Chem. iv. 514.
1431. The word mortification seems to have been loosely used to denote any change due to chemical action. Phillips explained Mortify by—'Among chymists, to change the outward form or shape of a mixt body; as when quicksilver, or any other metal, is dissolved in an acid menstruum.'
1432. 'Unless it be with the knowledge (i. e. aid) of his brother.' The 'brother' of Mercury was sulphur or brimstone (see l. 1439). The dictum itself is, I suppose, as worthless as it is obscure.
1434. Hermes, i. e. Hermes Trismegistus, fabled to have been the inventor of alchemy. Several books written by the New Platonists in the fourth century were ascribed to him. Tyrwhitt notes that a treatise under his name may be found in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. iv. See Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, lib. i. c. 10; and Smith's Classical Dictionary. The name is preserved in the phrase 'to seal hermetically.' ​
Mr. Furnivall printed, for the Early Eng. Text Society, a tract called The Book of Quinte Essence, 'a tretice in Englisch breuely drawe out of the book of quintis essenciis in latyn, that Hermys the prophete and kyng of Egipt, after the flood of Noe, fadir of philosophris, hadde by reuelacioun of an aungil of god to him sende.'
1438. dragoun, dragon. Here, of course, it means mercury, or some compound containing it. In certain processes, the solid residuum was also called draco or draco qui comedit caudam suam. This draco and the cauda draconis are frequently mentioned in the old treatises; see Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 29, 36, &c. The terms may have been derived from astrology, since 'dragon's head' and 'dragon's tail' were common terms in that science. Chaucer mentions the latter in his Astrolabe, ii. 4. 23. And see 'Draco' in Theat. Chem. ii. 456.
1440. sol and luna, gold and silver. The alchemists called sol (gold) the father, and luna (silver) the mother of the elixir or philosopher's stone. See Theat. Chem. iii. 9, 24, 25; iv. 528. Similarly, sulphur was said to be the father of minerals, and mercury the mother. Id. iii. 7.
1447. secree, secret of secrets. Tyrwhitt notes—'Chaucer refers to a treatise entitled Secreta Secretorum, which was supposed to contain the sum of Aristotle's instructions to Alexander. See Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. ii. p. 167. It was very popular in the middle ages. Ægidius de Columnâ, a famous divine and bishop, about the latter end of the 13th century, built upon it his book De Regimine Principum, of which our Occleve made a free translation in English verse, and addressed it to Henry V. while Prince of Wales. A part of Lydgate's translation of the Secreta Secretorum is printed in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 397. He did not translate more than about half of it, being prevented by death. See MS. Harl. 2251, and Tanner, Bibl. Brit. s. v. Lydgate. The greatest part of the viith Book of Gower's Confessio Amantis [see note to l. 820] is taken from this supposed work of Aristotle.' In the Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 14, I find an allusion to the philosopher's stone ending with these words—'Et Aristoteles ad Alexandrum Regem dicit in libro de secretis secretorum, capitulo penultimo: O Alexander, accipe lapidem mineralem, vegetabilem, et animalem, et separa elementa.' See Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, sect. 19; iii. 19 (ed. 1871), or ii. 230 (ed. 1840).
1450. Tyrwhitt says—'The book alluded to is printed in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. v. p. 219 [p. 191, ed. 1660], under this title, Senioris Zadith fil. Hamuelis Tabula Chemica. The story which follows of Plato and his disciples is there told, p. 249 [p. 224, ed. 1660], with some variations, of Solomon. "Dixit Salomon rex, Recipe lapidem qui dicitur Thitarios (sic).... Dixit sapiens, Assigna mihi illum.... Dixit, Est corpus magnesiae.... Dixit, Quid est magnesia?... Respondit, Magnesia est aqua, composita," &c.' The name of Plato ​ occurs thrice only a few lines below, which explains Chaucer's mistake. We find 'Titan Magnesia' in Ashmole's Theat. Chem. p. 275; cf. pp. 42, 447. The Gk. τίτανος means lime, gypsum, white earth, chalk, &c.
1457. ignotum per ignotius, lit. an unknown thing through a thing more unknown; i. e. an explanation of a hard matter by means of a term that is harder still.
1460. The theory that all things were made of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, was the foundation on which all alchemy was built; and it was the obstinacy with which this idea was held that rendered progress in science almost impossible. The words were used in the widest sense; thus air meant any vapour or gas; water, any liquid; earth, any solid sediment; and fire, any amount of heat. Hence also the theory of the four complexions of men; for even man was likewise composed of the four elements, under the influence of the planets and stars. See Gower, Conf. Amant. bk. vii; Theat. Chem. iii. 82; iv. 533, 537; and the note to A. 420, at p. 40 above.
1461. rote represents the Lat. radix. In the Theat. Chem., ii. 463, we read that the philosopher's stone 'est radix, de quo omnes sapientes tractauerunt.'
1469. 'Except where it pleases His Deity to inspire mankind, and again, to forbid whomsoever it pleases Him.'
1479. terme of his lyve, during the whole term of his life.
1481. bote of his bale, a remedy for his evil, help out of his trouble.