334 LIBRARY OF OLD AUTHORS. 



note, for it baffles us utterly. The meaning is simply 

 " pitted against each other to see which will reap most 

 swiftly." In a note (II. xi. 417) we are told that "the 

 etymology [of lucer)i] seems uncertain." It is nothing 

 more than a corruption of the old French leucerve {Joup- 



cervier). 



" I would then make-in in deed and steep 

 My income in their bloods." (II. xvii. 481.) 



" Income — communication, or infusion, of courage from 

 the Gods. The word in this sense Todd sa^'s was a 

 favorite in Cromwell's time." A surprising note ! In- 

 come here means nothing more than " onfall," as the con- 

 text shows. 



" To put the best in wre." (II. xvii. 545.) 



" jjre — use. Skinner thinks it a contraction of usura. 

 It is frequent in Chaucer. Todd gives examples from 

 Hooker and L' Estrange." The word is common enough, 

 but how Mr. Hooper could seriously quote good old 

 Skinner for such an etymology we cannot conceive. It 

 does not mean " in use," but " to work," being merely 

 the English form of en oeuvre, as " manure " is of ma- 

 noeuvrer. 



" So troop-meal Troy pursued a while." (II. xvii. 634.) 

 '^Troop-meal — in troops, troop by troop. So piece- 

 meal. To meed was to mingle, mix together ; fKom the 

 French mUer The reader would do well to con- 

 sult Dr. Jamieson's excellent ' Dictionary of the Scottish 

 Lansniao-e ' in voce ' melV " No doubt the reader mi^ht 

 profit by consulting it imder any other word beginning 

 with M, and any of them would be as much to the pur- 

 pose as mell. Troop-meal, like inch-meal, p>iece-meal, im- 

 plies separation, not mingling, and is from a Teutonic 

 root. Mr. Hooper is always weak in his linguistic. 

 In a note on II. xviii. 144, he informs us that " To sterve 

 is to die ; and the sense of starve, with cold or hunger 



