(A, 361.)
To these may be added the Wife of Bath, whose comfortable means were drawn from the cloth trade, then our staple industry.
From rural surroundings come the Miller and the Plowman, as kindly a man as the poor parson his brother, for—
"He wolde threshe, and therto dyke and delve,
For Cristes sake, for every poure wight,
Withouten hire, if it lay in his myght."
(A, 536.)
The Miller is the same as the Meller or Mellor—
"Upon the whiche brook ther stant a melle;
And this is verray sooth, that I yow tell."
(A, 3923.)
[Footnote: Melle is a Kentish form, used by Chaucer for the rime; cf. pet for pit (Chapter XIII).]
The oldest form of the name is Milner, from Anglo-Sax. myln, Lat. molina; cf. Kilner from kiln, Lat. culina, kitchen.