Taurus, and at 10 o'clock in the morning, is somewhere about 45 or 46 degrees. But Mr. Brae has calculated it exactly, and his result is, that the sun attained its altitude of 45 degrees at _two minutes to ten_ exactly. This is even a closer approximation than we might expect, and leaves no doubt about the right date being the _eighteenth_ of April. For fuller particulars, see Chaucer on the Astrolabe, ed. Brae, p. 69; and ed. Skeat (E.E.T.S.), preface, p. 1. 5. _eightetethe_, eighteenth. Mr. Wright prints _eightetene_, with the remark that 'this is the reading in which the MSS. seem mostly to agree.' This is right in substance, but not critically exact. No such word as _eightetene_ appears here in the MSS., which denote the number by an abbreviation, as stated in the footnote. The Hengwrt MS. has _xviijthe_, and the Old English for _eighteenth_ must have have been [134] _eightetethe_, the ordinal, not the cardinal number. This form is easily inferred from the numerous examples in which _-teenth_ is represented by _-tethe_; see _feowertethe_, _fiftethe_, &c. in Stratmann's Old English Dictionary; we find the very form _eightetethe_ in Rob. of Glouc., ed. Wright, 6490; and _eighteteothe_ in St. Swithin, l. 5, as printed in Poems and Lives of Saints, ed. Furnivall, 1858, p. 43. _Eighte_ is of two syllables, from A. S. _eahta_, cognate with Lat. _octo_. _Eightetethe_ has four syllables; see A. 3223, and the note. 8. _as in lengthe_, with respect to its length. 13. The astrolabe which Chaucer gave to his little son Lewis was adapted for the latitude of Oxford. If, as is likely, the poet-astronomer checked his statements in this passage by a reference to it, he would neglect the difference in latitude between Oxford and the Canterbury road. In fact, it is less than a quarter of a degree, and not worth considering in the present case. 14. _gan conclude_, did conclude, concluded. _Gan_ is often used thus as an auxiliary verb. 15. _plighte_, plucked; cf. _shrighte_, shrieked, in Kn. A. 2817.--M. 16. _Lordinges_, sirs. This form of address is exceedingly common in Early English poetry. Cf. the first line in the Tale of Sir Thopas. 18. _seint Iohn._ See the Squire's Tale, F. 596. 19. _Leseth_, lose ye; note the form of the imperative plural in _-eth_; cf. l. 37. _As ferforth as ye may_, as far as lies in your power. 20. _wasteth_, consumeth; cf. _wastour_, a wasteful person, in P. Plowm. B. vi. 154.--M. Hl. has _passeth_, i. e. passes away; several MSS. insert _it_ before _wasteth_, but it is not required by the metre, since the _e_ in _time_ is here fully sounded; cf. A. S. _t[=i]ma_. Compare-- 'The tyme, that passeth night and day, And rest[e]lees travayleth ay, And _steleth_ from us so prively, . . . . . . _As water that doun runneth ay,_ _But never drope returne may_,' &c. Romaunt of the Rose, l. 369. See also Clerkes Tale, E. 118. 21. _what._ We now say--what with. It means, 'partly owing to.'