1704. _stant_, stands, is. Tyrwhitt says--'we have an account of the very early piety of this Saint in his lesson; Breviarium Romanum, vi. Decemb.--Cuius uiri sanctitas quanta futura esset, iam ab incunabulis apparuit. Nam infans, cum reliquas dies lac nutricis frequens sugeret, quarta et sexta feria (i. e. _on Wednesdays and Fridays_) semel duntaxat, idque uesperi, sugebat.' Besides, St. Nicholas was the patron of schoolboys, and the festival of the 'boy-bishop' was often held on his day (Dec. 6); Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. 2. 215. 1708. _Alma redemptoris mater._ There is more than one hymn with this beginning, but the one meant is perhaps one of five stanzas printed in Hymni Latini Medii Ævi, ed. F. J. Mone, vol. ii. p. 200, from a St. Gallen MS. no. 452, p. 141, of the thirteenth century. The first and last stanzas were sung in the Marian Antiphon, from the Saturday evening before the 1st Sunday in Advent to Candlemas day. In l. 4 we have the _salutation_ which Chaucer mentions (l. 1723), and in the last stanza is the prayer (l. 1724). These two stanzas are as follows:-- 'Alma redemptoris mater, quam de caelis misit pater propter salutem gentium; tibi dicunt omnes "aue!" quia mundum soluens a uae mutasti uocem flentium.... Audi, mater pietatis, nos gementes a peccatis et a malis nos tuere; ne damnemur cum impiis, in aeternis suppliciis, peccatorum miserere.' There is another anthem that would suit almost equally well, but hardly comes so near to Chaucer's description. It occurs in the Roman Breviary, ed. 1583, p. 112, and was said at compline from Advent eve to Candlemas day, like the other; cf. l. 1730. The words are:-- [178] 'Alma redemptoris mater, quae peruia caeli Porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti, Surgere qui curat, populo: Tu quae genuisti, Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo priùs ac posteriùs, Gabrielis ab ore Sumens illud "Aue!" peccatorum miserere.' In the Myrour of Our Lady, ed. Blunt, p. 174, an English translation of the latter anthem is given, with the heading 'Alma redemptoris mater.' 1709. _antiphoner_, anthem-book. 'The Antiphoner, or Lyggar, was always a large codex, having in it not merely the words, but the music and the tones, for all the invitatories, the hymns, responses, versicles, collects, and little chapters, besides whatever else belonged to the solemn chanting of masses and lauds, as well as the smaller canonical hours'; Rock, Church of our Fathers, v. 3, pt. 2, p. 212. 1710. _ner and ner_, nearer and nearer. The phrase _come neor and neor_ (= come nearer and nearer) occurs in King Alisaunder, in Weber's Metrical Romances, l. 599. 1713. _was to seye_, was to mean, meant. _To seye_ is the gerundial or dative infinitive; see Morris, Hist. Outlines of English Accidence, sect. 290.