76. This verse is defective in the first foot, which consists solely of the word _Al_. Such verses are by no means uncommon in the Cant. Tales and in the Leg. of Good Women. Pron. (al· bismut·erd widh·iz ha·berjuu·n). 'His doublet of fustian was all soiled with marks made by the habergeon which he had so lately worn over it.' _Bismotered_ has the same sense as mod. E. _besmutted_. _habergeoun_, though etymologically a diminutive of _hauberk_, is often used as synonymous with it. 'It was a defence of an inferior description to the hauberk; but when the introduction of plate-armour, in the reign of Edward III, had supplied more convenient and effectual defences for the legs and thighs, the long skirt of the hauberk became superfluous; from that period the _habergeon_ alone appears to have been worn.'--Way, note to Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 220. 'And Tideus, above his _Habergeoun_, A _gipoun_ hadde, hidous, sharpe, and hoor, Wrought of the bristles of a wilde Boor.' Lydgate, Siege of Thebes, pt. ii. See the Glossary to Fairholt's Costume in England, s. v. _Habergeon_; and, for the explanation of _gipoun_, see the same, under _gipon_ and _gambeson_. For a picture of a _gipoun_, see Boutell's Heraldry, ed. Aveling, p. 67. 77, 78. 'For he had just returned from his journey, and went to perform his pilgrimage' (which he had vowed for a safe return) in his knightly array, only without his habergeon. THE SQUYER. 79. _squyer_ = esquire, one who attended on a knight, and bore his lance and shield. See Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, Introd. § 8. 'Esquires held land by the service of the shield, and were bound by their fee to attend the king, or their lords, in the war, or pay escuage.'--Strutt, Manners and Customs, iii. 15. And see Ritson, Met. Romances, iii. 345. As to the education and accomplishments of a squire, see note to Sir Topas, B. 1927. 80. _lovyere_, lover. The _y_ in this word is not euphonic as in some modern words; _lovyere_ (luv·yer) is formed from the verb _lovi-en_, A.S. _lufian_, to love. _bacheler_, a young aspirant to knighthood. There were bachelors in arms as well as in arts. Cf. The Sowdone of Babylone, 1211. [10] 81. _lokkes_, locks (of hair). _crulle_ (krull'), curly, curled; cf. Mid. Du. _krul_, a curl. In mod. E., the _r_ has shifted its place. In King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 4164, we find--'And his lokkes buth noght so crolle.' _as they_, &c., as if they had been laid in an instrument for curling them by pressure. Curling-tongs seem to be meant; or, possibly, curling-papers. For _presse_, cf. l. 263. 82. _yeer_. In the older stages of the language, _year_, _goat_, _swine_, &c., being neuter nouns, underwent no change in the nom. case of the plural number. We have already had _hors_, pl., in l. 74. _I gesse_, I should think. In M. E., _gesse_ signifies to judge, believe, suppose, imagine. See Kn. Tale, l. 192 (A. 1050). 83. _of evene lengthe_, of ordinary or moderate height.