ceruce, ceruse, a cosmetic made from white lead; see New E. Dict. oille of tartre, cream of tartar; potassium bitartrate.
632. Cf. 'Such whelkes [on the head] haue small hoales, out of the which matter commeth.... And this euill commeth of vicious and gleymie [viscous] humour, which commeth to the skin of their head, and breedeth therein pimples and whelks.'—Batman on Bartholomè, lib. 7. c. 3. In the same, lib. 7. c. 67, we read that 'A sauce flume face is a priuye signe of leprosie.' Cf. Shak. Hen. V. iii. 6. 108.
635. See Prov. xxiii. 31. The drinking of strong wine accounts for the Somnour's appearance. 'Wyne ... makith the uisage salce fleumed [misprinted falce flemed], rede, and fulle of white whelkes'; Knight de la Tour, p. 116 (perhaps copied from Chaucer).
643. Can clepen Watte, i. e. can call Walter (Wat) by his name; just as parrots are taught to say 'Poll.' In Political Songs, ed. Wright, p. 328, an ignorant priest is likened to a jay in a cage, to which is added: 'Go[o]d Engelish he speketh, ac [but] he wot nevere what'; referring to the time when Anglo-French was the mother-tongue of many who became priests.
644. 'But if any one could test him in any other point.'
646. Questio quid iuris. 'This kind of question occurs frequently in Ralph de Hengham. After having stated a case, he adds, quid juris, and then proceeds to give an answer to it.'—T. It means—'the question is, what law (is there)?' i. e. what is the law on this point?
647. harlot, fellow, usually one of low conduct; but originally merely a young person, without implication of reproach. See D. 1754.
649. 'For a bribe of a quart of wine, he would allow a boon companion of his to lead a vicious life for a whole year, and entirely excuse him; moreover (on the other hand) he knew very well how to pluck a finch,' i. e. how to get all the feathers off any inexperienced person whom it was worth his while to cheat. Cf. 'a pulled hen' in l. 177. With reference to the treatment of the poor by usurers, &c., we read in the Rom. of the Rose, l. 6820, that 'Withoute scalding they hem pulle,' i. e. pluck them. And see Troil. i. 210.
654-7. 'He would teach his friend in such a case (i. e. if his friend led an evil life) to stand in no awe of the archdeacon's curse (excommunication), unless he supposed that his soul resided in his purse; for in his purse [not in his soul] he should be punished' (i. e. by paying a good round sum he could release himself from the archdeacon's curse). 'Your purse (said he) is the hell to which the archdeacon really refers when he threatens you.' See, particularly, Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, pp. 35, 62, 496.
661. assoilling, absolution; from the vb. assoil.