2683. _al his chere_ may mean 'all his delight, as regarded his heart.' The Harl. MS. does _not_ insert _in_ before _his chere_, as Wright would have us believe. 2684. Elles. reads _furie_, as noted; so in the Teseide, ix. 4. This incident is borrowed from Statius, Theb. vi. 495, where Phoebus sends a hellish monster to frighten some horses in a chariot-race. And see Vergil, Æn. xii. 845. 2686-706. Cf. the _Teseide_, ix. 7, 8, 47, 13, 48, 38, 26. 2689. The following is a very remarkable account of a contemporary occurrence, which took place at the time when a parliament was held at Cambridge, A. D. 1388, as told by Walsingham, ed. Riley, ii. 177:-- 'Tempore Parliamenti, cum Dominus Thomas Tryvet cum Rege sublimis equitaret ad Regis hospitium, quod fuit apud Bernewelle [Barnwell], dum nimis urget equum calcaribus, equus cadit, et omnia pene interiora sessoris dirumpit [cf. l. 2691]; protelavit tamen vitam in crastinum.' The _saddle-bow_ or _arsoun_ was the 'name given to two curved pieces of wood or metal, one of which was fixed to the front of the saddle, and another behind, to give the rider greater security in his seat'; New Eng. Dict. s. v. _Arson_. Violent collision against the front saddle-bow produced very serious results. Cf. the Teseide, ix. 8--'E 'l forte arcione gli premette il petto.' [91] 2696. 'Then was he cut out of his armour.' I. e. the laces were cut, to spare the patient trouble. Cf. Statius, Theb. viii. 637-641. 2698. _in memorie_, conscious. 2710. _That ... his_, i. e. whose. So _which ... his_, in Troil. ii. 318. 2711. 'As a remedy _for_ other wounds,' &c. 2712, 3. _charmes ... save._ 'It may be observed that the salves, charms, and pharmacies of herbs were the principal remedies of the physician in the age of Chaucer. _Save_ (_salvia_, the herb sage) was considered one of the most universally efficiently medieval remedies.'--Wright. Hence the proverb of the school of Salerno, 'Cur moriatur homo, dum salvia crescit in horto?' 2722. _nis nat but_ = is only. _aventure_, accident. 2725. _O persone_, one person. 2733. _Gree_, preëminence, superiority; lit. rank, or a step; answering to Lat. _gradus_ (not _gratus_). The phrases _to win the gree_, i. e. to get the first place, and _to bear the gree_, i. e. to keep the first place, are still in common use in Scotland. See note to the Allit. Destruction of Troy, ed. Panton and Donaldson, l. 1353, and Jamieson's Dictionary. 2736. _dayes three._ Wright says the period of three days was the usual duration of a feast among our early forefathers. As far back as the seventh century, when Wilfred consecrated his church at Ripon, he held 'magnum convivium trium dierum et noctium, reges cum omni populo laetificantes.'--Eddius, Vit. S. Wilf. c. 17.