—— l. 7, Cestrensis clipeus.—Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester, one of the most powerful Barons on the king’s party, who now commanded the army which had besieged Mount Sorrel, and which soon afterwards defeated the Comte de Perche at Lincoln.
[P. 24], ll. 8, 9, 10, in the margin, opposite these three lines respectively, the original scribe has written, “S. Notingham. Trente. Nicole.” The nobilis matrona was Nichola, widow of Gerard de Camville, who defended Lincoln Castle against the French.
—— l. 11.—It may be well to point out the remarkable alliteration in this line and the following.
—— l. 14, signa.—The MS. has singna, a form not uncommon in such words.
—— l. 15, ora.—The MS. has hora.
[P. 25], l. 2, Sabbatum.—Saturday, May 20, 1217. The next day was Trinity Sunday.
[P. 28], l. 11, Sabinæ.—Sabina was a very common term for a modest woman in low Latin, just as Thais was for a strumpet. See on the latter word a note in the Early Mysteries and other Latin Poems, p. 131.
—— l. 12, Arabes.—Arabia, the land of gems and spices, was believed to contain inexhaustible stores of riches.
[P. 33], l. 4, Refert ad focariam.—Focaria was the name given to the wives or concubines of the priests and clergy, who had been recently proscribed. It occurs again in the Apocalypsis Goliæ—
Seductam nuncii fraude præambuli,