3. In the best manuscripts the name is “Cambynskan,” and thus, no doubt, it should strictly be read. But it is a most pardonable offence against literal accuracy to use the word which Milton has made classical, in “Il Penseroso,” speaking of
“him that left half-told
The story of Cambuscan bold,
Of Camball, and of Algarsife,
And who had Canace to wife,
That owned the virtuous Ring and Glass,
And of the wondrous Horse of Brass,
On which the Tartar King did ride”
Surely the admiration of Milton might well seem to the spirit of Chaucer to condone a much greater transgression on his domain than this verbal change — which to both eye and ear is an unquestionable improvement on the uncouth original.
4. Couth his colours longing for that art: well skilled in using the colours — the word-painting — belonging to his art.
5. Aries was the mansion of Mars — to whom “his” applies. Leo was the mansion of the Sun.
6. Sewes: Dishes, or soups. The precise force of the word is uncertain; but it may be connected with “seethe,” to boil, and it seems to describe a dish in which the flesh was served up amid a kind of broth or gravy. The “sewer,” taster or assayer of the viands served at great tables, probably derived his name from the verb to “say” or “assay;” though Tyrwhitt would connect the two words, by taking both from the French, “asseoir,” to place — making the arrangement of the table the leading duty of the “sewer,” rather than the testing of the food.
7. Heronsews: young herons; French, “heronneaux.”
8. Purpose: story, discourse; French, “propos.”
9. Gawain was celebrated in mediaeval romance as the most courteous among King Arthur’s knights.
10. Gin: contrivance; trick; snare. Compare Italian, “inganno,” deception; and our own “engine.”