497. wroghte, wrought, worked; pt. t. of werchen, to work.
498. The allusion is to Matt. v. 19, as shewn by a parallel passage in P. Plowman, C. xvi. 127.
502. lewed, unlearned, ignorant. Lewed or lewd originally signified the people, laity, as opposed to the clergy; the modern sense of the word is not common in Middle English. Cf. mod. E. lewd, in Acts xvii. 5. See Lewd in Trench, Select Glossary.
503-4. if a preest tak-e keep, if a priest may (i. e. will) but pay heed to it. St. John Chrysostom also saith, 'It is a great shame for priests, when laymen be found faithfuller and more righteous than they.'—Becon's Invective against Swearing, p. 336.
507. to hyre. The parson did not leave his parish duties to be performed by a stranger, that he might have leisure to seek a chantry in St. Paul's. See Piers Plowman, B-text, Prol. l. 83; Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, ed. Wright, pp. 51, 52; Spenser, Shep. Kalendar (May).
508. And leet, and left (not). We should now say—'Nor left.' So also, in l. 509, And ran = Nor ran. Leet is the pt. t. of leten, to let alone, let go.
509. Here again, së-ynt is used as if it were dissyllabic; see ll. 120, 697.
510. chaunterie, chantry; an endowment for the payment of a priest to sing mass, agreeably to the appointment of the founder. 'There were thirty-five of these chantries established at St. Paul's, which were served by fifty-four priests; Dugd. Hist. pref. p. 41.'—Tyrwhitt's Glossary. On the difference between a gild and a chantry, see the instructive remarks in Eng. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. 205-207, 259.
511. 'Or to be kept (i. e. remain) in retirement along with some fraternity.' I do not see how with-holde can mean 'maintained,' as it is usually explained. Cf. dwelte in l. 512, and with-holde in G. 345.
514. no mercenarie, no hireling; see John x. 12, where the Vulgate version has mercenarius.