v. 137. a rest] i. e. a wrest—by which the strings of harps and other musical instruments were drawn up.
v. 138. All trebyllys and tenours be rulyd by a meyne] “Intercentus, a meane of a songe.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. In the notes on Shakespeare, in Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. &c., mean is wrongly explained—tenor: what the mean was, depended entirely on the nature of the composition.
v. 139. beste] i. e. beast.
v. 149. skyll] i. e. reason: see note on v. 106.
v. 150. sad] i. e. grave, serious, sober.
v. 151. It is no maystery] “Maystry done by delyuernesse ung tovr de souplesse, appertise.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.); and see note, p. 113. v. 329.
“So me helpe God! queth Beues tho,
Hit were no meistri me to slo,
For this is the ferthe dai agon
Mete ne drinke ne bot I non.”