Flemish Proverb quoted by Chaucer.
—Can any of the readers of "N. & Q.," or, should I not rather say, of its Dutch ally, "DE NAVORSCHER," point out the original of the old Flemish proverb,
"Soth play quod play,"
quoted by Chaucer in his Prologue to the "Cook's Tale;" and whether or not there is any history attached to it?
PHILO-CHAUCER.
Derivation of the Word "Callis," an Almshouse.
—The word is not given in Bailey or Richardson. It appears in Holloway's and Halliwell's Provincial Dictionaries in the plural, and is spelt "calasses." Each quotes Grose, who refers the word to the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1784; but there the above question only is asked, and is unanswered. It has been suggested that the callis may be so called from its having been founded by some merchant of the Staple of Calais, or from its endowment being derived from donations to the chalice, made by persons to the priest administering extreme unction. Calis was the old form of chalice.—Vide Halliwell's Dictionary.
J. P. JUN.
Nashe's "Terrors of the Night," 4to. 1594.
—Can any correspondent oblige me with Notes, critical, philological, or otherwise, illustrative of the subjoined passages, which occur, among many others scarcely less curious, in the above rare tract, of which I am fortunate enough to possess a (not quite perfect) copy? Speaking of Iceland, he says,—