A noces, à processions,
A geus, à festes, à karoles,' &c.
556. vigilies, festivals held on the eves or vigils of saints' days. See note to A. 377.
557. For preching, Cm. has prechyngis, and Hl. prechings; but all the rest have preching, which I therefore retain. To preching means 'to any place where a sermon was being preached'; much as we say 'to church.' But the sermons were often given in the open air. The Wife's object was to go wherever there was a concourse of people, in order to shew her best clothes. Women still go 'to church' for a like
reason. Wycliff speaks strongly of the evil of pilgrimages; see his Works, ed. Matthew, p. 279; ed. Arnold, i. 83.
558. 'The miracle-plays were favourite occasions for people to assemble in great numbers.'—Wright. Wright refers to a tale among his Latin Stories, p. 100. See the Sermon against Miracle-Plays, in Reliquiae Antiquae, ii. 42; reprinted in Mätzner's Sprachproben, ii. 224.
559. 'And wore upon (me) my gay scarlet gowns.' The use of upon without a case following it is curious; but see D. 1018, 1382 below.
The word gyte occurs again in A. 3954, where Simkin's wife wears 'a gyte of reed,' i. e. a red gown. Nares shews that it is used thrice by Gascoigne, and once by Fairfax. The sense of 'robe' will suit the passage there quoted. Skelton has gyte in Elynour, l. 68, where the sense of 'robe' or 'dress' is certain. It is clearly the same word as the Lowland Scotch gyde, a dress, robe; see note to A. 3954 (p. 118). That the word meant both 'veil' and 'gown' appears from the fact that Roquefort explains the derived O. F. wiart as a veil with which women cover their faces; whilst Godefroy explains its variant form guiart as a dress or vestment.
560. The sense is; 'the worms, moths, and mites never fretted them (i. e. my dresses) one whit; I say it at my peril.' There is no difficulty, and the reading is quite correct. Yet Tyrwhitt altered peril to paraille, which he explains by 'apparel,' and Wright actually explains perel, in the Harl. MS., in the same way! Such an explanation turns the whole into nonsense, as it could then only mean: 'the worms, &c. never devoured themselves (!) at all upon my apparel.' Tyrwhitt evidently took it to mean 'never fed themselves upon (i. e. with) my apparel'; but it is impossible that frete hem could ever be so interpreted. Frete can only mean 'devoured,' and it requires an accusative case; this accusative is hem, which can only refer to the gytes or 'gowns.' And this leaves no other sense for peril except precisely 'peril,' which is of course right. Upon my peril is clearly a phrase, with the same sense as 'at my peril.' The phrase is no recondite one; cf. Rich. III. iv. i. 26, where we find 'on my peril'; and again, 'upon his peril,' in Antony, v. 2. 143; Cymbeline, v. 4. 189.
566. of my purveyance, owing to my prudence, or prudent foresight; cf. l. 570. Purveyance, providence, and prudence are mere variants; from Lat. prouidentia.