"And alderfirst he bade them all a bone," i.e. he made a request to them all. So that Skinner is entirely mistaken in making one phrase of these three words; and it is surely more probable that the author of the poems was misled by him, than that a really ancient writer mould have been guilty of so egregious a blunder.
AUMERES. E. III. 25. is explained by Chatterton to mean Borders of gold and silver, &c. And AUMERE in Æ. 398, and Ch. 7. seems to be used in the same sense of a border of a garment. And so Skinner has by mistake explained the word, in that passage of Chaucer which has been mentioned above [See p. 316, where the true meaning of Aumere is given].
"=Aumere= ex contextu videtur Fimbria vel Instita, nescio an a Teut. =Umbher=, Circum, Circa, q. d. Circuitus seu ambitus. Ch. f. 119. p. I.C. I."
BAWSIN. Æ. 57. Large. Chatterton. M. 101. Huge, bulky. Chatterton.
Without pretending to determine the precise meaning of Bawsin, I think I may venture to say that there is no older or better authority for rendering it large, than Skinner. "=Bawsin=, exp. Magnus, Grandis, &c."
BRONDEOUS. E. II. 24. Furious. Chatterton. BRONDED. H. 2. 558. BRONDEYNGE. Æ. 704. BURLIE BRONDE. G. 7. Fury, anger. Chatterton. See also H. 2. 664. All these uses of Bronde, and its supposed derivatives, are taken from Skinner. "Bronde, exp. Furia, &c." though in another place he explains Burly brand (I believe, rightly) to mean Magnus ensis. It should be observed, that the phrase Burly brand, if used in its true sense, would still have been liable to suspicion, as it does not appear in any work, that I am acquainted with, prior to the Testament of Creseide, a Scottish composition, written many years after the time of the supposed Rowley.
BURLED. M. 20. Armed. Chatterton. So Skinner, "Burled, exp. Armatus, &c."
BYSMARE. M. 95. Bewildered, curious. Chatterton. BYSMARELIE. Le. 26. Curiously. Chatterton. See also p. 285. ver. 141. BISMARDE.
It is evident, I think, that all these words are originally derived from Skinner, who has very absurdly explained Bismare to mean Curiosity. The true meaning has been stated above, p. 318.
CALKE. G. 25. Cast. Chatterton. CALKED. E. I. 49. Cast out, ejected. Chatterton. This word appears to have been formed upon a misapprehension of the following article in Skinner. "Calked, exp. Cast, credo Cast up." Chatterton did not attend to the difference between casting out and casting up, i.e. casting up figures in calculation. That the latter was Skinner's meaning may be collected from his next article. "Calked for Calculated. Ch. the Frankeleynes tale." It is probable too, I think, that in both articles Skinner refers, by mistake, to a line of the Frankelein's tale, which in the common editions stands thus: