Mail.] (VI. viii. 6.) Fr. maille; Lat. macula. Cf. Gray's" Bard," 5, "h.wberk's twisted mail." The more usual form is coat of mail. It was the old word for armour, and was of three kinds-scale, chain, and plate.
Malison.] (V. xxv. 9.) Curse. Fr. malichon; Old Eng. malisoun. Edward the Black Prince, by his will, left to his son Richard his malison if he should empeche, or suffer to be empeched, his will. Benison is the converse: cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," VI. vi. 14.
Mantles.] Vide notes, III. xvii. 6.
Maraud.] Verb. (V. iv. 14.) Marauder, subs. (VI. xxxi. 27), much more common. Mr. Jeaffreson ("Lady of the Lake," ii. 232) gives a long list of derivations offered for this word. I wish to add to them, from Murray's "North Germany," the village Merode.
Mark.] Vide note, I. xi. 11.
Mass.] (IV. xvi. 6; V. xxiv. 9, xxxii. 23.) The name for the cele- bration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church. It is said to be derived from the Lat. mitto, because of the dismissal of the non-commu- nicants: last words of the service, “missa est:" sc. concio. Fr. messe. Mell.] Meddle, note, IV. xvii. 9.
Mettled.] (I. iii. 7.) High-spirited; probably connected with Germ. muth, courage. Some connect mettle with metal.
Morion.] (I. ix. 4.) A round iron hat, derived from Moor=a Moorish helmet: so burganet, a Burgundian helmet.
Morrice-pikes.] (I. x. 1.) Moorish pikes. Cf. Morris-dancers. Mulct.] Fine (Lat. mulcta).
Mullet.] (VI. ii. 11.) Lat. mola. A term in heraldry. "A mullet is the rowel of a spur, and hath never but five points; a star hath six.”— Peacham, "On Blazoning."
Novice,] (through the French, from the Latin novus) at first means one who is new to a business, a "novice in the trade." In II. ii. 23, used in a more technical sense: one who has entered a religious house, but not yet taken the vows, still a probationer.
Offices.] (IV. xv. 19.) Lat. officium, duty. Offices of religion=acts of worship. Cf. the expression "officiating minister."
Or.] Heraldic term for gold (through the French, from Lat. aurum).
Paladin.] (VI. xxxiii. 11.) A name used in the old romances for some of the principal lords and knights who followed King Charles the Great to war, of whom Roland is the most celebrated: by extension used for knights generally. He is a true Paladin=He has plenty of claims to bravery and gallantry. Derivation through the French, from Palatium, and a knight of the king's palace.
Palfrey.] (I. viii. 5.) A showy kind of horse, ridden by nobles on state occasions; also a small horse, adapted for ladies' use before the invention of carriages. It comes from Fr. palefroi, the derivation of which is probably par le frein, by the bridle, because palfreys were so led. Palisade, pale.] Cf. note, I. ii. 9.
Pallet.] (VI. vi. 5.) A small mean bed. Chaucer spells it paillet, from Fr. paille, straw. Cf. Campbell's "Soldier's Dream,"
"When reclining that night on my pallet of straw."
Palmer.] Vide note, I. xxiii. 1.
Pardoner.] Vide note, I. xx. 15.
Patter.] (VI. xxvii. 26.) To repeat, or recite hastily. Cf. Chaucer, "before the people pattere and praie." Cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," II. vi. 4; "Save to patter an Ave Mary." It also means, to strike in quick succession; pattering footsteps, pattering hail. Der. (1.) pat, strike gently; or (2.) Fr. patte, the foot, and so first of quick succession of sounds in running. (3.) Old Eng. Patren, pray, from Pater, the first word of the Lord's Prayer; in Latin, Paternoster.
Peer.] (Fr. pair.) Latin, par, equal.
(1) Equal (I. xxviii. 8, VI. xiv. 17): "He hath na peer," motto of the Napier family. "No one is to be condemned except by the judgment of his peers."-Magna Charta.
(2) A lord, noble. (VI. xxxii. 11.) The House of Peers, or Lords. They were so called because all the nobles had equal privileges. The two senses will be found together (VI. xiv.).
Pennon.] Vide note on I. iii. 4.
Pensil.] (IV. xxviii. 6.) Lat. pendeo. A hanging flag. Pentacle.] Vide note III. xx. 22.
Pike.] (I. ix. 4.) A long wooden staff, with a pointed steel head. It answered the purpose of the modern bayonet.
Plain.] (VI. xii. 5, XII. xiii. 13.) Fr. plaindre. The simple form of com-plain. Cf. plaintive (VI. xxx. 11), plaintiff, plaint.
Platform.] (I. iv. 7.) Lat. platea. Gr. λarùs. Germ. plat, whence our plate and flat. A levelled elevation in a fortress on which cannon are placed. Cf. plateau, platter.
Plight.] (IV. i. 23.) Lat. plicatus. A state of being involved; hence, condition, state; used absolutely both for good and bad case. Cf. Swift: "When a traveller and his horse are in heart and plight." It is to be distinguished from plight, pledge, a word of Teutonic origin.
Plump.] (I. iii. 3.) A knot or cluster, properly applied to wild fowl; but applied by analogy to a body of horsemen. It is probably derived from the adjective plump, which means "fat and well-liking," but the derivation of which is uncertain. It seems, however, in common with the word clump, a cluster of trees, to be allied with or derived from the word lump. The following passages illustrate its use:-
"England, Scotland, and Ireland lie all in a plump together, not accessible but by sea."-Bacon.
"We rested under a plump of trees."-Sandys.
"Spread upon a lake, with upward eye
A plump of fowl behold their foe on high;
They close their trembling troop, and all attend On whom the sowsing eagle will descend."-Dryden.
"Warwick having espied certain plumps of Scottish horsemen ranging the field, turned towards the arriere to prevent danger."-Howard.
"There is a knight of the North Country,
Which leads a lusty plump of spears."
Portcullis.] (I. iv. 13.) Sometimes called Portcluse. "A sort of door formed of crossbars of iron like a grate. It has not hinges like a door, but is drawn up by pulleys, and let down when any danger approaches. It may be let go in a moment, and then falls down into the doorway; and as it has great iron spikes at the bottom, it crushes all that it lights upon."-Tales of a Grandfather (Scotland), vol. i. p. 70. Cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," VI. iii. 10: "the portcullis, iron grate." Derived from French, porte-coulisse.
Prick.] (VI. xix. 3.) Lit. to spur; hence to ride hard, gallop. Cf. Spenser," Faerie Queene," I. i. 1 :—
"A gentle knight was pricking on the plaine.”
And Milton," Par. Lost," ii. 536 :—
Prick forth the airy knights, and couch their spears."
Pricker.] (V. iv. 8, xvii. 16.) A light horseman, whether pricking with spur (Cf. prick, supra) or lance.
Prime.] (IV. xxxi. 10.) One of the services in the Church before the Reformation. It was held at six o'clock in the morning, and the name is derived from Lat. primus, because at the first hour of the day, accord- ing to the old calculation.
Pursuivant.] Vide note, I. xi. 1.
Quaigh.] Vide note on III. xxvi. 1.
Quiver.] (III. xxvi. 9.) A case for arrows. Prob. deriv., (1) Fr. couvrir, cover; (2) Fr. cuivre, metal of which the quiver was made.
Ramp.] (IV. xxviii. 18.) Fr. ramper, climb. caper. So Chaucer :-
"Whan she cometh home, she rampeth in my face And cryeth, False coward, wreke thy wife!"
Cf. the slang words rampageous and rampage, to stamp about in a rage, in Dickens's "Great Expectations." The word ramp has a secondary meaning, to climb, which is its use in heraldry. Peacham, an old writer on heraldry, says, "Rampant is when the lion is reared up in the escutcheon, as it were ready to combat with his enemy." Cf. “a ramp- ing and a roaring lion.”—Ps. xxii. 13, (Prayer-book version.) Perhaps, however, that ramp is somewhat different, and connected with Lat. rapere. Cf. Rampart, (VI. ii. 3.)
Recluse.] (V. xxxi. 18.) A person who lives in retirement from the
world. Derived, through French reclus, from Latin recludo, but not in the classical sense. Recludo means to open (re, back, and claudo, shut).
Rede.] (L'Envoy, 4.) Words. Cf. "Tales of a Grandfather" (Scot- land), vol. i. p. 30, "Short rede, good rede, slay we the bishop," which means, "Few words are best, let us kill the bishop." Spenser, "Hymn of Heavenly Love :"
"Such mercy He by His most holy reade Unto us taught."
The original meaning of rede (subs. and verb) seems to be advice, to advise; but afterwards it means speech, to speak. It also means to ex- plain, to guess, and is here connected with the ordinary English read, "Read me my riddle." Henry III. (Proclamation, 1248) calls the Par- liament his redesmen.
Requiem.] (V. xv. 30.) Accusative of Latin requies, rest. It passed into the English language from being the first word of a hymn used in the Roman Catholic Church at the funeral mass, praying for the rest of the soul of the deceased. Cf. "Lay of Last Minstrel," VI. xxx. 16. It is now used, more generally, for any musical composition in honour of the dead.
Retrograde.] (III. xx. 26.) Term in astrology, for a backward movement, and contrary to the order of the signs of the Zodiac.
Rocquet.] Vide note, VI. xi. 19.
Romance.] A tale of adventure, so called because it took its origin in the southern parts of France, which remained longest under the Roman influence.
Roundelay.] (III. viii. 16.) Fr. rondelet: a kind of song which was often combined with a dance. Cf. Shakespeare, "Mids. Night Dream," I. iii.—
"Come now a roundel and a fairy song."
Of Fr. rondelet we have made roundelay, as though compounded with lay, a song.
Rowel.] The wheel of a spur. Cf. mullet, supra. (Fr. roue, wheel.) Ruth.] (II. xix. 21; IV. i. 25), pity. From rue, which is a Teutonic word. Germ. reuen, repent. Milton's "Lycidas," I. 163:-
"Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth.”
And Gray's "Bard," 1, "ruthless king."
Sable.] Heraldic term for black. It is properly the skin of an animal that lives in the northern regions of Asia.
Sackbut.] (IV. xxxi. 4.) A wind instrument; a kind of trumpet which can be either lengthened or shortened according to the tone required. In the Bible it is not a wind instrument, but a kind of lyre or harp. Dan. iii. 5.
Sanguine.] (IV. xxviii. 4.) Of the colour of blood, red. Cf. Shake- speare, "Henry VI." IV. i. 90.-
Upbraided me about the rose I wear : Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves Did represent my master's blushing cheeks."
Milton's "Par. Lost:"-
"A stream of nectarous humour issuing flowed
Sans.] (I. xxi. 34.) Without: a French word frequently used by early English writers. Cf. Shakespeare's "Tempest,” I. ii.—
"A confidence sans bound."
And "As You Like It," II. vii. 66 :-
"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
Scaur.] (V. xii. 41.) Cf. Tennyson's "Idylls,” p. 150 a steep place, broken off. Cf. shear, share, ploughshare, shard (pot-sherd), Germ. scharren, to scrape. Shoreditch, the ditch that took the scrapings of the streets. "Scar, a cliff, a naked detached rock, also written or pronounced scaur in Scotland." (Ogilvy.) There is a rock called the Scar at Whitby.
Scouts.] (I. ii. 7.) Spies, lit. listeners; from French écouter (escouter). Scrip.] Vide note, I. xxiii. 16.
Scutcheon.] (I. xi. 2, xii. 20), or escutcheon (through the French écussor, escusson, from Latin scutum, shield). A shield of arms.
Selle.] (III. xxxi. 10.) Lat. sella. French word for saddle, for- merly used in English. Cf. Spenser's "Faerie Queene," II. ii. 11, 6 :—
"He left his loftie steed with golden selle."
Scott ("Lay of Last Minstrel," VI. viii. 6) uses it for seat generally :- "As those that sat in lordly selle."
Seneschal.] Vide note, I. iii. 16.
Seraphim.] (V. xxiii. 6.) Plural of seraph, a Hebrew word. Cf. Cherubim and Teraphim.
Settle.] (III. iii. 16.) A.-S. setl, Germ. sessel, Lat. sedile, something on which to sit; used for a bench by Dryden. In Ezek. xliii. 14, 17, xlv. 19 (Vulgate, crepido), it is used in a somewhat different sense, for a kind of ledge round the bottom of an altar.
Sewer.] Vide note, I. iii. 16.
Shaw.] Vide note, I. xiii. 16.
Sheen.] (1.) Adj. (V. x. 27.) Shining. A.-S. scén, Germ. schön. Cf. Sheen, old name for Richmond, Surrey. (2.) Subs. (V. viii. 12.) Splendour.
Shrift.] (VI. xxxi. 6), and shrive.] (I. xxi. 37, VI. xxx. 31.) (A.S. scrifan, the written penance imposed by priest. Germ. schreiben; Lat. scribo.) Confession, to confess; also absolution as following confession. Obsolete since the Reformation. Cf. Tennyson's "Idylls," p. 204 :-
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