Undoubtedly, in the third of these lines, "menes" seems to have a perfectly good meaning in the sense of instrument, or _means_ to destroy. But, in the last line, the same sense is not so obvious--"means to destroy" must _necessarily_ be destructive, and Chaucer would never be guilty of the unmeaning truism of repeating--"means which do no good but ever annoy." Moreover, I am not aware that the accent is ever thrown upon the silent _e_ where the signification of "mene" is an instrument-- "She may be Godd[=e]s mene and Godd[=e]s whippe"-- but in the lines under discussion the last syllable in both cases is accented, agreeing in that respect with the _Armorican sound_--"menez." Let us now examine whether the Armorican _sense_ is capable of giving a perfect meaning to _both_ lines? That sense is, a rocky ridge or emerging summit. Let us substitute the word _rock[=e]s_ for _men[=e]z_, and then try what meaning the passage receives. "If, quoth Dorigene, ye love _mankind_ so well ---- ---- ---- ----- how then may it be That ye such _rock[=e]s_ make, _it_ to destroyen, Which _rock[=e]s_ don no good but ever anoyen?" Here the sense is perfect in both lines--a sense, too, that is in exact keeping with Dorigene's previous complaint of THE USELESSNESS of these rocks-- "That semen rather a foule confusion Of werk, than any faire creation Of swiche a parfit wis[=e] God and stable; Why have ye wrought this work unreasonable? For by this werk, north, south, ne west, ne est, There n'is yfostred man, ne brid, ne best; _It doth no good_, to my wit, _but anoyeth_." I therefore propose the following as the true reading of the passage in question: viz., ---- "Ye had a great chertee Toward mankind; but how then may it be That ye swiche menez make, it to destroyen, Which menez don no good, but ever anoyen?" And if I have succeeded in making good this position we no longer stand in need of a precedent for the same reading in the case of--"In menez libra." A. E. B. Leeds, May 31. 1851. P.S. I have been favoured, through the publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," with an obliging note from S.S.S. (2), communicating some authorities, of which the most germane to this subject are-- 1. From _Archæologia Britannica_ (Edward Lhuyd. Oxford, 1707): "Armoric, _Men_, a stone; _menez_, a mountain." 2. From Walter's _Welsh Dictionary_: "Welsh, _Maen_, a stone; _maen terfyn_, a boundary stone; _maen mawr_, a large stone." FOLK TALK: "EYSELL", "CAPTIOUS."