512 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2"^ s. v. iso., juse 26. -58. 



ori fire, (whence tynder, tiiider). Crese is, I think, 

 increase ; and the meaning of the passage will be 

 — their desire is for delight, but if this desire is 

 once kindled, it will soon spread like fire, and be 

 beyond control. 



3. ^^ Hawebake." — This word, which seems to 

 have puzzled Tyrwhitt greatly, is also explained by 

 Skinner, and I think he is right in his conjecture. 

 It seems to be nothing more than " have back," i. e. 

 something in return, — one song or story in Return 

 for another. It was perhaps a cant term of the 

 period. See the story in Ovid, Met. lib. v. 



4. " Wades bote" — Tyrwhitt's note on this pas- 

 sage is amusing. After lamenting Speght's want 

 of copiousness, he is of opinion that " the allusion 

 in the present passage to wade's bote can hardly be 

 explained without a more particular knowledge of 

 his adventures than we are likely ever to attain." 

 The passage is as follOTrs : — 



" . . . and eke thise old widewes, 

 They connen so moch craft on wade's bote." 



The meaning of which in modern English is, that 

 January, the hero of the tale, is as much afraid of 

 widows as Mr. Weller, Sen., and for much the 

 same reason; viz. they "connen so moch craft" 

 in cases of breach of promise of marriage ! 



Wades bote is simply the forfeit of a pledge. 

 Our English term, wed, comes to us through the 

 Ang.-Sax. from the Teutonic, Schilter (vide 

 Gloss. Teut.) gives wetti, pignus. Ang.-Sax. wed, 

 pactum ; speciatim pactum sponsalitium. The old 

 German had wad. The Ang.-Sax. wed or wedd 

 is a pledge, earnest, or promise ; from weddian, to 

 bargain, make a vow or contract, to wed, or be- 

 troth. Weddige se bridguma, the bridegroom 

 makes his vows. (Our word groom, by the way, 

 is a corruption of the Ang.-Sax. gumd, gom, a 

 man.) 



As wed, then, indicates the compact before the 

 marriage, so bote is the forfeit or reparation for 

 the breaking thereof. 



" Bota, mulcta contumacise. Si citatus non comparet 

 ad priinam citationem, eraendationem solvere tenetur, 

 quae Bota vel Bot vocatur." — Du Fresne, ex MS. ; vid. 

 Schilter in voc. Biten. 



Hence we have the Ang.-Sax. Bot, compensation 

 paid to an injured party ; boot, recompence, 

 amends: whence to bote, to boot, with advan- 

 tage, &c. Thus wades bote, instead of being an 

 allusion to a legendary tale of " wade his bote," is 

 nothing more than damages paid for breach of 

 promise. 



Part of the word, wade, is again used by Chaucer 

 {Troil. and Cres., 3. 614.) : — 



" He songe, she plaide ; he told a tale of wade." 

 Where the meaning is evidently a tale of love- 

 making, or espousal?. H. C. K. 



Minat ^otti. 



^'' Lessons in Proverbs.^' — The present learned 

 Dean of Westminster, in his work under the above 

 title, has the following passage (Lecture ll.) re- 

 specting the Italian proverbs : — 



" There is nothing in them (it would be far better if 

 there were) of blind and headlong passion, but rather a 

 spirit of deliberate calculation, which makes the blood run 

 cold. Thus one gives this advice : ' Wait time and place 

 to act thy revenge, for it is never well done in a hurry.' 

 ' Aspetta tempo e loco a far tua vendetta, che la non si fa 

 mai ben in fretta.' Compare another: ' Vuoi far vendetta 

 del tuo nemico, governati bene ed e heW e fatta.^ We may 

 well be thankful that we have in England, at least as 

 far as I am aware, no sentiments parallel to these, em- 

 bodied as the permanent convictions of the national 

 mind." 



Will any one of your readers, who may profess an 

 acquaintance with the Italian language, venture 

 an opinion that the proverb in italics, thus held 

 up to reprobation, admits of any other than a 

 good moral meaning ? " Wouldst thou avenge thy- 

 self on thine enemy f Govern well thine own con- 

 duct, and thy triumph is complete.''' We have in the 

 English Bible, at least, a " sentiment parallel to 

 this:" "By well-doing, put to silence the ignorance 

 of foolish men," Lector. 



Emendation in Milton. — It has been suggested 

 to me by a learned friend that in No. 3. of Mil- 

 ton's Sonnets in t4ie Italian language, vol. iii. p. 

 199. of Pickering's Aldine edition, in the last line, 

 by reading, according to a simple emendation — 



" A chi pianta dia^ I ciel si buon terreno," 

 instead of dal ciel, a passage would be made clear, 

 which, as it stands, is hopelessly obscure. 'AAieus. 



Seals. — I venture to ofier a suggestion which, 

 if accepted and acted upon, would, I apprehend, 

 do much to revive a useful and very elegant art. 



According to modern custom legal deeds (as 

 agreements, leases, &c.) have appended to them, 

 by the law stationer employed to engross these 

 documents, seals always unmeaning, and often 

 very uglyj which the parties to the transaction 

 declare before witnesses to be their seals, though 

 they have never seen them before, and make 

 them theirs only by placing a finger upon them 

 for an instant. Would it not be better that each 

 party should use his own distinctive seal, and 

 thus enable the attesting witnesses to subscribe 

 their names to a fact instead of a ridiculous fic- 

 tion ? 



I recommend the favourable consideration of 

 this subject to attorneys and solicitors, gentlemen 

 always of education, and often of artistic taste, 

 who have it quite within their power to bring 

 about a reform, the first step of which would be 

 instructions to their law stationers and engrossing 

 clerks to omit the seals, and merely indicate their 

 situation by circles. Gilbert J, French. 



Bolton, 



