172. _Ther as_ = where that. _keper_, principal, head, i. e. prior. _celle_, cell; a 'cell' was a small monastery or nunnery, dependent on a larger one. '_Celle_, a religious house, subordinate to some great [21] abby. Of these _cells_ some were altogether subject to their respective abbies, who appointed their officers, and received their revenues; while others consisted of a stated number of monks, who had a prior sent them from the abby, and who paid an annual pension as an acknowledgment of their subjection; but, in other matters, acted as an independent body, and received the rest of their revenues for their own use. These _priories_ or _cells_ were of the same order with the abbies on whom they depended. See Tanner, Pref. Not. Monast. p. xxvii.'--Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, p.326. Cf. note to l. 670, and especially the note to D. 2259. 173. _The reule_ (rule) _of seint Maure_ (St. Maur) and that of _seint Beneit_ (St. Benet or Benedict) were the oldest forms of monastic discipline in the Romish Church. St. Maur (Jan. 15) was a disciple of St. Benet (Dec. 4), who founded the Benedictine order, and died about A.D. 542. 174. Note that _streit_, mod. E. _strait_, A. F. _estreit_, from Lat. _strictus_, is quite distinct from mod. E. _straight_, of A. S. origin. 175. The Harl. MS. reads, 'This ilke monk leet forby hem pace' (_error for_ leet hem forby him pace?), 'This same monk let them pass by him unobserved.' _hem_ refers to the rules of St. Maur and St. Benet, which were too _streit_ (strict) for this 'lord' or superior of the house, who preferred a milder sort of discipline. _Forby_ is still used in Scotland for _by_ or _past_. _pace_, pass by, remain in abeyance; cf. _pace_, pass on, proceed, in l. 36. _hem_, them; originally dat. pl. of _he_. 176. _space_, course (Lat. _spatium_); 'and held his course in conformity with the new order of things.' 177. _yaf not of_, gave not for, valued not. _yaf_ is the pt. t. of _yeven_ or _yiven_, to give. _a pulled hen_, lit. a plucked hen; hence, the value of a hen without its feathers; see l. 652. In D. 1112, the phrase is 'not worth a _hen_.' Tyrwhitt says, 'I do not see much force in the epithet _pulled_'; but adds, in his Glossary--'I have been told since, that a hen whose feathers are pulled, or plucked off, will not lay any eggs.' Becon speaks of a 'polled hen,' i. e. pulled hen, as one unable to fly; Works, p. 533; Parker Soc. It is only one of the numerous old phrases for expressing that a thing is of small value. See l. 182. I may add that _pulled_, in the sense of 'plucked off the feathers,' occurs in the Manciple's Tale; H. 304. And see Troil. v. 1546.