927. counten ... of gownes, they think much (counten) of scarlet and green gowns, that must be made in the latest fashion, in order to embrace and kiss the damsels. An awkward sentence.
929. sewe, sue, suit, lit. follow; unless it be for schewe, i.e. shew.
930. pykes, peaks. Long-peaked shoes were much in fashion; cf. note to P. Plowman, C. xxiii. 219.
941. 'Such men will ask them (i.e. those that confess to them) for money for shriving them.' is = es, them; a curious form of the plural pronoun of the third person; see es in Stratmann.
942. 'And they desire men to creep to the cross.' 'Creeping to the cross' was an old ceremony of penance, most practised on Good Friday; see note to P. Plowman, C. xxi. 475.
943. askes, ashes; alluding to the sacrament of penance. For all other sacraments (as baptism, confirmation, holy orders, the eucharist, matrimony, and extreme unction) men had to pay.
955. sans ... dyre, without (saying) 'if I may say so.' That is, ose je dyre, (dare I say it) is an apologetic phrase for introducing an unpalatable remark.
957. 'Either they give the bishops (some reason) why.'
961. agryse, dread, here used in an imperative sense; 'let such men dread God's anger.' Cf. ll. 964, 1216.