[116] Riley, p. 226. Cf. the similar complaint of a poet against blacksmiths in “Reliquiæ Antiquæ,” i., 240.
[117] Nominally, the great gate was shut at the hour of sunset, and only the wicket-gate left open till curfew; but regulations of this kind were generally interpreted with a good deal of laxity.
[118] Busch, “Lib. Ref.,” p. 408; Gilleberti Abbatis, “Tract. Ascet.,” VII., ii., § 3.
[119] See Oskar Dolch, “The Love of Nature in Early English Poetry;” Dresden, 1882.
[120] “Purg.,” xxvi., 4; viii., 1; iii., 25; cf. xvii., 8, 12.
[121] “Legend of Good Women,” Prol., 30 ff.
[122] “Survey,” ed. Morley, 1893, p. 163.
[123] “Monsieur le curé, ... ne dansons pas; mais permettons à ces pauvres gens de danser. Pourquoi les empêcher d’oublier un moment qu’ils sont malheureux?”
[124] Riley, 571. I have dealt fully with this subject in my “Medieval Studies,” Nos. 3 and 4.
[125] “Babees Book,” E.E.T.S., p. 40; “Ménagier de Paris,” i., 15; “C. T.,” C., 62.