861. Cf. 'That she ne hath foot on which she may sustene'; Anelida, 177.
867. In ydel, in vain. In P. Plowman, A. vi. 61, we have in idel, and in B. v. 580, an ydel, in the same sense. With this passage, cf. Boeth. bk. i. met. 5. 22; bk. iii. met. 9. 1-10.
879. Cf. 'a fayr party of so grete a werk'; Boeth. bk. i. met. 5. 38.
880. thyn owene merk, thine own likeness; cf. 'ad imaginem suam,' Gen. i. 27. It appears, from P. Plowman, B. xv. 343, C. xviii. 73, that the words merke and preynte (print) were both used of the 'impression' upon a coin. From a comparison of the Vulgate version of Gen. i. 27 and Matt. xxii. 20, we see that imago was used in the same way. This explains how merk came to mean 'likeness,' and how mark of Adam (in D. 696) came to mean 'all such as are made in Adam's likeness.' See that passage.
883. menes, means, instruments of Thy will. The sing. mene, in the same sense, occurs in P. Plowman, C. xvii. 96, and frequently in Sir Generides, where it is spelt meane.
886. 'All's for the best'; a popular rendering of Romans, viii. 28. Cf. Boeth. bk. iv. pr. 6. 194-6.
889. this, short for this is; as in many other places.
899. delitables, a good example of a French pl. adj. in s. So also royales, B. 2038. See my note to P. Plowman, C. x. 342.
900. ches, chess. Chess was played in England even before the Conquest, in the days of Canute. 'Tables' is another name for backgammon, and was called tabularum ludus in Latin. See Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, bk. iv. c. 2. §§ 4, 16.
913. The odour is to be read as Th'odóur.