DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61385#0265
Critical and Explanatory Notes. Pages 9—10, ll. 166—173. 63
two words perhaps synonymous in Sir Beues: M. 1. 22, ‘For to Wynne
price and loos'; M. 1. 3888, ‘lose ne of price'; T. of Gl., 1. 1381 : ‘Now
laude and pris.’ Gamelyn increases the vocabulary growing from pris
with the meaning valour, 11. 772 and 804 : ‘ ionge men of prys.’ See also
T. of Gl., 1. 1258, quoted in note to 1. 160. Other M.E. meanings are as
follows:
Pearl, str. 35, 1. 11 : ‘Hys prese, his prys, and hys parage.’
T. of Gl., 1. 1380 : ‘A litl tretise
In pris of women, oonli for hir sake. ’
Minot, Polit. Song, 1. 25 : 1 pan he riche floure-de-lice,
Wan fare ful litill prise.'
1. 168. ~\>at: cf. 1. 140, dat. ‘of whom.’ Cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy of
Warwick, 1. 5462.
erere : See note to 1. 140.
seide: Read sede, Southern form. See note to 1. 140, and ‘ Introduc-
tion ’ under ‘ Inflection.’
Page 10, 1. 173. skilfulliche: a form not often cited in M.E. Ham-
pole employs scilwisli, Ps. xxxi. 6, with the meaning ‘reasonable’; but
A^enbite, 1. 6, skelvolliche, ‘skillfully,’ and Chaucer, Compl. of Mars, 1. 155,
skilfully in the sense of particularly :
C. of PI., 1. 155 : ‘The ordre of compleynt requireth skilfully,
That if a wight shal pleyne pitously . . . ’
S. N. T., 1. 320 : ‘ Men myghten dreden wel and skilfully’ (= reasonably).
A corresponding adjective is to be found in Gorboduc, A, II. 2. 11, 1. 762:
‘ Lest skillesse rage throwe downe with headlong fall . . .’
The third York Play, 1. 22: ‘A skylfull beeste pan will y make.’ See
Orrm., 1. 3715; P. of C., 1. 1818; H. of F., 1. 750; Mannyng, Handl.
Synne, 1. 5827 ; Ancren Biwle preserves the substantive in its normal
meaning, p. 346, ‘consent of the mind,’ skiles lettunge; York Plays, The
Ascension, 1. 113 : ‘Anodir skill forsoth is pis ’; Pearl, str. 5, 1. 6, ‘ Wyth
fyrte skyllez’ (timid reasons, see note), etc.; Thos. of Erceld., see Brandl.,
1. 288 : ‘ I sail pe telle pe skilie.’ Note the following combinations :
Lydg., T. of Gl., 1. 1382 .- ‘as it is skil & rip.’
Ch., Leg. of G. W., 1. 1392 : ‘skills and right.’
1. 385 : ‘ As hit is right and skilful that they be.’
The Orrmulum, 1. 12,336 : ‘ Innsihht, & witt, & shsed, & skill.’
Sir Samuel Tuke (d. 1673) uses skill in its mediaeval sense, ‘ reason,’in
The Adventures of five Hours, v. 3, 1. 25 :
‘ He is a fool, who thinks by force or skill
To turn the current of a woman’s will.’
Tuke’s lines are introduced in the Examiner, May 31, 1829, where skill is
understood to mean in its modern character ‘dexterity,’ ‘force.’ They
occur in paraphrases in Aaron Hill’s Epilogue to Zara.
The meaning of Icel. skilja, to divide, occurs perhaps in Taming of the
Shrew, iii. 2, 1. 34: ‘it skills not much,’ i. e. ‘makes no difference.’ See
Skt., Ely., § 277. The new English significance is illustrated in Shak-
spere’s time, see Gyrnb. II. 5, 1. 33:
‘ ’ Tis greater skill
In a true hate, to pray they have their will.’
See Rich, III. iv. 4. 116 ; Henry IV, Part I, v. 1, 1. 133 ; Pope, Essay on
Criticism, 1. 1 :
‘’Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill.’
two words perhaps synonymous in Sir Beues: M. 1. 22, ‘For to Wynne
price and loos'; M. 1. 3888, ‘lose ne of price'; T. of Gl., 1. 1381 : ‘Now
laude and pris.’ Gamelyn increases the vocabulary growing from pris
with the meaning valour, 11. 772 and 804 : ‘ ionge men of prys.’ See also
T. of Gl., 1. 1258, quoted in note to 1. 160. Other M.E. meanings are as
follows:
Pearl, str. 35, 1. 11 : ‘Hys prese, his prys, and hys parage.’
T. of Gl., 1. 1380 : ‘A litl tretise
In pris of women, oonli for hir sake. ’
Minot, Polit. Song, 1. 25 : 1 pan he riche floure-de-lice,
Wan fare ful litill prise.'
1. 168. ~\>at: cf. 1. 140, dat. ‘of whom.’ Cf. Zupitza’s note to Guy of
Warwick, 1. 5462.
erere : See note to 1. 140.
seide: Read sede, Southern form. See note to 1. 140, and ‘ Introduc-
tion ’ under ‘ Inflection.’
Page 10, 1. 173. skilfulliche: a form not often cited in M.E. Ham-
pole employs scilwisli, Ps. xxxi. 6, with the meaning ‘reasonable’; but
A^enbite, 1. 6, skelvolliche, ‘skillfully,’ and Chaucer, Compl. of Mars, 1. 155,
skilfully in the sense of particularly :
C. of PI., 1. 155 : ‘The ordre of compleynt requireth skilfully,
That if a wight shal pleyne pitously . . . ’
S. N. T., 1. 320 : ‘ Men myghten dreden wel and skilfully’ (= reasonably).
A corresponding adjective is to be found in Gorboduc, A, II. 2. 11, 1. 762:
‘ Lest skillesse rage throwe downe with headlong fall . . .’
The third York Play, 1. 22: ‘A skylfull beeste pan will y make.’ See
Orrm., 1. 3715; P. of C., 1. 1818; H. of F., 1. 750; Mannyng, Handl.
Synne, 1. 5827 ; Ancren Biwle preserves the substantive in its normal
meaning, p. 346, ‘consent of the mind,’ skiles lettunge; York Plays, The
Ascension, 1. 113 : ‘Anodir skill forsoth is pis ’; Pearl, str. 5, 1. 6, ‘ Wyth
fyrte skyllez’ (timid reasons, see note), etc.; Thos. of Erceld., see Brandl.,
1. 288 : ‘ I sail pe telle pe skilie.’ Note the following combinations :
Lydg., T. of Gl., 1. 1382 .- ‘as it is skil & rip.’
Ch., Leg. of G. W., 1. 1392 : ‘skills and right.’
1. 385 : ‘ As hit is right and skilful that they be.’
The Orrmulum, 1. 12,336 : ‘ Innsihht, & witt, & shsed, & skill.’
Sir Samuel Tuke (d. 1673) uses skill in its mediaeval sense, ‘ reason,’in
The Adventures of five Hours, v. 3, 1. 25 :
‘ He is a fool, who thinks by force or skill
To turn the current of a woman’s will.’
Tuke’s lines are introduced in the Examiner, May 31, 1829, where skill is
understood to mean in its modern character ‘dexterity,’ ‘force.’ They
occur in paraphrases in Aaron Hill’s Epilogue to Zara.
The meaning of Icel. skilja, to divide, occurs perhaps in Taming of the
Shrew, iii. 2, 1. 34: ‘it skills not much,’ i. e. ‘makes no difference.’ See
Skt., Ely., § 277. The new English significance is illustrated in Shak-
spere’s time, see Gyrnb. II. 5, 1. 33:
‘ ’ Tis greater skill
In a true hate, to pray they have their will.’
See Rich, III. iv. 4. 116 ; Henry IV, Part I, v. 1, 1. 133 ; Pope, Essay on
Criticism, 1. 1 :
‘’Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill.’