THE PLOWMAN'S TALE: FOOTNOTES

1 He cleaned the plowshare, and drew off the coulter

2 And they give us nothing at all in return

3 The falser (worse seed), may evil befall it!

4 And always without improvement (of their condition)

5 [They] should not desire to sit in the high seat

6 In malignant darkness construct their bower

7 I maintain such a one is traitor to Christ

8 Such false deceivers, may evil befall them

9 And in their meaning, if you will pay attention

10 And pennies will become servants of [these merchant-priests'] purse

11 Christ forbade the Apostles especially that

12 He grants neither a free nor contingent point

13 May Christ's people be guided away from them

14 But he who acquires money in this way will lose it

15 They practice it (whoredom) all their lives

16 (They follow Christ) To heaven, just as the bucket into the well

17 To enhance his sweetheart's caul (rich headdress)

18 Their victims for plundering are wholly the poor

19 Although he knows nothing better [to do]

20 They pay no attention to [their] souls' health

21 Such [people] work and stay awake for worldly reward

22 Whoever does not believe this is lost, each one

23 And those who live the Christian life, with their work

24 The poor man is simple, unjustly hindered

25 To build castles and a fortress for themselves

26 They tell nothing about God, nor [explain] how

27 Here [on earth] they don't follow His form of living at all

28 They hate guests [who are] the poor of God

29 Now no poor dare to teach the people

30 One sword to curse to hell, one to slay men here [on earth]

31 Except for shepherds who will eat ("bite'') their sheep

32 Than allow a shepherd (= cleric) to lose his crook

33 They are, indeed, of the same kind

34 To seize whomever they wish not to know

35 Their seals are more dear on an annual basis / Than are the king's on an extended

36 Nor send some to Him who has sent all [to them]

37 "The wisdom of such willers is not worth a needle'' (Sk)

38 They themselves know they have acted wickedly

39 [Christ] Who gave up the world's goods

40 Whoever takes [holy] orders, or otherwise enters Church service

41 For fear of being summoned to the consistory court

42 So that ignorant people might see it (the dark effigy), / Thou, Mary, work

43 Such men will ask them for silver [shrift-silver] for confessing them

44 "Either they give the bishops [some reason] why'' (Sk)

45 Their [form of] living, a light to ignorant men

46 That [claim] must needs surpass human power

47 Do you know anything about monks?

48 They would have to have followed bent over the plow

49 We should have no more heads [than Christ]

50 Secure, I don't care how soon [suffering comes]

51 "Because bribery may break God's prohibition'' (Sk)

THE PLOWMAN'S TALE: NOTES

1-52 The Prologue seems to follow the format of the CT, but Chaucer's pilgrims are all on the pilgrimage, not in their places of occupation, as is the Plowman of the PlT. Moreover, the fictional time of the Canterbury pilgrimage is April and not, as here, "midsummer.'' With the exception of the Canon, who (with his Yeoman) briefly joins the pilgrimage, Chaucer's pilgrims have set out from the Tabard Inn, in Southwerk, toward Canterbury to worship at the shrine of St. Thomas ą Becket (see line 11). Chaucer describes the pilgrim Plowman, who does not tell a story, as wearing a "tabard,'' or a sleeveless outer garment (General Prologue 541). Chaucer also mentions that he rides on a "mere,'' but the author of the PlT says nothing about his horse. Wawn has argued that the Prologue was written by a sixteenth-century propagandist for Henry VIII, which helps explain the prosodic as well as thematic differences between the Prologue and the rest of the poem. The Prologue does not appear in the Texas MS; in HT lines 1-36 are written in a later hand (seventeenth century?), while lines 37-52 are printed.

7 The plowshare was the large blade for making furrows, and the coulter was the vertical blade in front of the plowshare.

17 Our Hoste. Chaucer's Harry Bailly, Host of the Canterbury pilgrimage. See the CT, General Prologue, I.751-57.

44 Sk observes that four lines seem to have dropped out after line 44. Lines 45-52, however, rhyme abababab, as do the other stanza units of the Prologue. Lines 41-48 are printed as a stanza in HT, the Texas MS, and Thynne2, which suggests close affiliation between and among the three earliest versions of the PlT. Further evidence of affiliation occurs at line 1325, where all three early versions contain the designation "Pellican,'' although there is no speech at that line.

53 HT's endnote to the Prologue reads: "Thus endeth the prologue / and here foloweth the fyrst parte of this present worke.'' A printed marginal note in HT (beside line 1) reads Narratio, indicating that the story proper begins here.

57 on grounde. So the Texas MS and Sk. HT and Thynne2 read vngrounde.

58 souple. So the Texas MS and Sk. HT and Thynne2 have souble, Wr soukle.

60 The seed metaphor alludes to Christ's parable of the sower (Matthew 13).

73 I-cleped. So the Texas MS, Wr, and Sk; HT and Thynne2 = I-clepeth. Lollers here may refer specifically to the Lollards, who were often accused of mumbling and general laziness.

86-87 Griffin and Pelican. The griffin (or gryphon) in medieval bestiaries was a fabulous monster, symbol of the devil and of usury as well as of Christ, with the lower parts of a lion but the head and wings of an eagle. Because the pelican mother was reputed to tear open her side to feed her young, it was often a symbol of Christ in medieval bestiaries.

97 See John 1.29: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.'' Christ blessed the meek and merciful in Matthew 5.5 and 5.7 (the Beatitudes).

105 covertours, skilfully made bed linens, were symbols of worldly extravagance in the Middle Ages. See Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, lines 249-56, and the Parson's Tale, citing Isaiah: "under hem shul been strawed motthes, and hire covertures shulle been of wormes of helle'' (X 198).

112 Henry Despenser, warrior-bishop of Norwich, led a "crusade'' on behalf of Pope Urban against territories controlled by the French antipope Clement VII in 1383. This campaign - the so-called Norwich Crusade - was widely regarded in retrospect as a cynical play for power. Despenser also helped quell the peasants' rebellion of 1381.

130 peragall. Sk's emendation; Thynne2, HT, and Wr: permagall.

157 myters: bishop's or abbot's tall cap.

176 at the full. So Texas MS; HT, Thynne2, Sk at full.

183 with a royall. So Texas MS; HT, Thynne2, Sk with her royall. Her may have come about from the previous line: to her brode.

193-94 Witnesse of Johns prophesy. See 1 John 4.3: "And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world.''

198 dome. This is the reading in Thynne's 3rd ed. and in Wr's edition. The Texas MS, Thynne2, and HT read done; Sk demed.

201 All-holyest. See also line 230. The point here is that the Pope arrogates a Latin title appropriate for Christ rather than for a human spiritual ruler.

205-28 These lines have been challenged as sixteenth-century interpolations by a Henrician propagandist. See esp. Wawn, "The Genesis of The Plowman's Tale,'' 36-37. Both Wr and Sk retain the lines.

220 Reserveth he. "He reserves nothing at all'' (Sk); apparently a proverb. The churchman concedes neither an open or free (opyn) nor a contingent (joynt) point to Christ.

221 above hem all. This is the reading of the Texas MS. Thynne2, HT, and Sk read aboven all. Line 222 = "And Christ aboven hym nothyng''; it is possible that the scribe of the Texas MS anticipated this construction in line 221.

226 An angell bad John. See Apocalypse 22.8-9: "I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel, who shewed me these things. And he said to me: See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy bretheren the prophets, and of them that keep the words of the prophecy of this book. Adore God.''

230 Sanctissimus. See line 201 and note.

237 bynde and lose. See Matthew 16.19: "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon the earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.''

240 Betwene hem now. At this line HT contains the marginal gloss, "Omne regnum in se deuisum desolabitur.'' ("Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate'' [Matt. 12.25].)

242 which of hem. The allusion is to the rival popes, Boniface IX (Rome) and Benedict XIII (Avignon).

245 Qui gladio percutit. See Matt. 26.52b: omnes enim qui acceperint gladium, gladio peribunt (Vulgate); "for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword'' (Douai).

246 swerde sothely he shall. This is the unique reading of the Texas MS. Thynne2 reads "swerde shall''; HT has "swerde he shall''; and Sk emends to "swerde shall [he surely].''

248 not drede for to dye. HT contains the marginal gloss: "Nolite timere eos / qui occidunt corpus; estote prudentes.'' See Matt. 10.28: "And fear ye not them that kill the body.''

250 carke not. See Matthew 6.25: "Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat: and the body more than the raiment?'' See also PPC line 602.

258 Sk glosses choweth as chews; but that makes no sense. More likely choweth is from OF escheuen [to avoid, shun], while ball means a blow, as in Lydgate's Troy Book 6791-92: "Schelene gaff him suche a balle, / That of his stede he made him falle.'' (MED) It refers to the unjust ecclesiastical lawes.

289 to them hym shryves. Another reading from the Texas MS, although Sk emended his text to include the same reading. Thynne2 reads "to them shryues''; HT "to them shriues.''

293 Maximyen. Galerius Valerius Maximianus, emperor of Rome 305-11. Maximian was the subject of a Latin moral elegy, translated into Middle English in the thirteenth century and sometimes identified as "Le regret de Maximian'' (MS Digby 86; MS Harleian 2253).

297-98 "They follow Christ (who went upward) to heaven, just as a bucket (that goes downward) into a well'' (Sk).

302 maynteynours. Magnates sometimes maintained private armies, paid men who took their livery and who furthered their causes, with inevitable distortions of justice. Parliament enacted statutes of Livery and Maintenance to try to check the abuses, but these laws were not effective.

306 crokettes: a rolled hair fashion introduced c. 1270 into the court of Henry III, which flourished in the late fourteenth century. See Gower's Confessio Amantis II.370. The style became sufficiently popular for the term to be transferred to curved architectural ornamentation on pinnacles, pediments, and canopies. See PPC 174. Because of its popular usage in a restricted period of time the term has been used to date the original composition of both PlT and PPC c. 1390s.

320 as by raunson. Sk's emendation. Texas MS, Thynne2, HT: "as raunsom[e].'' I retain Sk's spelling of "raunson'' for the rhyme with "possessyon'' and "larson.''

321 Turpe lucrum. On "filthy lucre'' see Titus 1.7, 11 and 1 Peter 5.2.

322 meynall: having to do with the meynee or the household. Sk paraphrases the sentence: "the exaction of tithes is, with these masters, a household business, a part of their usual domestic arrangements.''

325 sompnours. Summoners served alleged malefactors with writs to appear in court. Here, wicked churchmen allow summoners to abuse suspects.

334 make her gree. They will slander in order to win favor.

335 Alexaunder, one of the so-called "Nine Worthy,'' was proverbial for worldly success in medieval literature. He was the subject of a number of legends but symbolic as well of human limitation, as in Chaucer's Monk's Tale: "Who shal me yeven teeris to compleyne / The deeth of gentillesse and of franchise, / That al the world weelded in his demeyne, / And yet hym thoughte it myghte nat suffise?'' (VII 2663-66). Marginal gloss in the Huntington text: "Ve homini illi per quem scandalum venit.'' (Woe to the man by whom comes scandal.)

361 ben. Sk's emendation. Thynne2 and HT read is, Texas MS ys; but ben is superior.

395 spede hys purchase. The point of this line is that a lord can bribe the Pope.

426 shepe. The "folde'' of line 425 refers to the sheepfold, symbolically the Church (or the vineyard).

429 forsake and wake (line 431) are ironic.

434 Lamuall. Lemuel, king of Massa (Proverbs 31); an example of a drunkard in Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale (VI 934-35).

443 Peter, but Himself the Stone. Matthew 16.18; 1 Corinthians 10.4.

445 croysery. "No serious crusade was intended at this time; however, the author affirms that the rival popes discouraged the idea; for each wanted men to fight for him'' (Sk).

455 Crede = Apostles' Creed. For the Creed and its issues, see PPC, which may be alluded to here.

469 See Matt. 4.19; Mark 1.17; Luke 5.10; John 21.6ff. Here, instead of fishers of men, the corrupt priesthood fishes for gold and silver.

476 HT's endnote to Part I reads: "boke'' for Thynne2's "tale.'' The same reading occurs at line 700.

477 this worde fal. The narrator proposes to substitute the word "amende'' (lines 484 and following) for the word "fall'' since he has run out of rhyme-words.

488 balke. Perhaps an allusion to Matt. 7:3-5, where the sinful accusers condemn small faults without observing the enormity of their own errors. A balke is a beam in the framework of a ship or building.

507 Agaynst measure, outragyousnesse. Many of the terms in this section, including "sufferaunce,'' "sobrenesse,'' "wylfulnesse,'' "Agaynst measure,'' and "outragyous-nesse'' may derive from Chaucer's short poems The Former Age, Gentilesse, and Lak of Stedfastnesse, but they are terms familiar in late medieval complaint literature.

533 Dyves. Dives is the wealthy man of Luke 16 and a symbol of wealth.

545-48 Eche Christen preest. The syntax and meaning of lines 545-48 appear to be: "Each Christian priest ought to preach from God above; they have been sent to show God's word to all folk, to amend sinful man.'' The edition places a period stop after line 546.

562 Hys shulde. Sk supplies servaunts before shulde.

567 One curse to hell, one slee men here. Sk directs to Luke 22.38. The two swords were commonly identified as the temporal and spiritual powers. Pope Boniface VIII argued in Unam Sanctam (1302) that both swords are at the Church's disposal.

570 smyte gan defende. "Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. Jesus therfore said to Peter: Put up thy sword into the scabbard'' (John 18.10-11). Smyte = hitting, cutting with a sword.

590 Peter Christ forsoke. Peter's successors (in the modern church) follow Peter in this if not in other ways.

592 Than a sheperde had to lese his hoke. Modern-day popes, that is, pay more attention to ecclesiastical entitlements than to God's love.

600 go behynde Sathan. See Matthew 16.23: "Go behind me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto me: because thou savourest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men.''

606 contrary to Christ is. Satan, lit. "adversary.''

618 He hydde and stale. "And right as Judas hadde purses smale, / And was a theef, right swich a theef was he [summoner]; / His maister hadde but half his duetee'' (The Friar's Tale 1350-52). Gan in this line = Sk's emendation.

625 ensyse = kind, sort (a variant of assyse).

640 whom lyste nat knawe. Sk inserts they before lyste.

642 to prysone. Sk regards this line as evidence that the poem was written prior to 1401, when Lollards were frequently burned at the stake.

655-56 woll raunsom hem / Maysterfully, more than doth he. The complaint here is that the clergy has more money than the king and people, so they can behave like "masters'' (maysterfully). The section here generally refers to the Significavit, a writ that mandated civil officers to imprison those who had not paid their fines within forty days after excommunication. The sins listed in The Friar's Tale are fornication, witchcraft, pandering, slander, adultery, robbing churches, violations of wills and marriage contracts, usury, simony, lechery, and under-tithing, the most common offense (III 1304-12).

687 Lordshyppes, and possessyons. Clerical property yielded an income more than three times that of the king, but the clergy generally was poor in relation to those few churchmen, wealthy "possessioners,'' who lived like lords and who were loath to be taxed.

696 The proude Pope putte hym out! According to a Lollard legend, when Constantine endowed Pope Sylvester and the Church "with greet plente of londis,'' an "angel'' or "fiend'' cried out "In this dai venom is hilded [poured] into the chirche of God.'' See Piers Plowman B 15.519-31.

707 smeren connotes ministering, nursing with ointments, and pastoral care in general.

717 Bradley and then Sk have challenged these lines, the so-called "long interpolation,'' as of Lollard or sixteenth-century provenance. Wawn, however, refutes the claim. See also the notes to 205 and 1149.

717-18 chanons. Canons, both secular canons and canons regular, were a frequent object of attack in anticlerical satire. The canon of Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale is portrayed as a thief, who dupes clients interested in turning lead into silver.

721 prebendes. Prebends are estate revenues, drawn from lands or tithes, granted to canons as stipends, or the lands or tithes themselves.

727 spare. Thynne2 = "spar.'' The Texas MS, HT, and Sk read "spare,'' rhyming with "fare.''

733 procuratour. Proctor for collecting money. An ecclesiastical proctor could administer canon law (as in line 734).

755 her lele labour. Chaucer's Plowman is said to be "A trewe swynkere and a good'' (Gen Prol I 531), and he "wolde thresshe, and therto dyke and delve / For Christes sake'' (536-37).

773-75 And usen horedome . . . eke envy. The seven deadly sins, except gluttony, are mentioned here: lust, avarice, pride, sloth, wrath, and envy.

780 wyllers here means those who choose sin.

788 Suche treasour. These lines allude to Christ's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6.19-20): "Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.''

801 Maintenance legally was the offence of aiding a party without lawful cause; maistry meant domination.

814 who may say nay? Sk inserts "me'' after "say.''

839 That the worldes goodes forsake. The point is that while Christ abandoned material goods, modern day clerics enter the Church for gain.

842 glose. As in lines 312 and 595, there is a pun on gloss (explain with commentary) and glose (= deceive, cheat).

871 Markette-beaters. Compare Chaucer's The Reeve's Tale, of "deynous Symkyn'': "He was a market-betere atte fulle'' (I 3936). Sk glosses Markette-beaters as "haunters of the market.''

872 hale = haul; the phrase resembles "heave-ho!''

880 consystory. The consistory adjudicated ecclesiastical offenses.

897 men sette up great lyght. Candles were placed around the effigies of saints deemed especially beneficial. Those judged less helpful were not so honored (lines 898-900).

918 Sk emends Baudryke of the edition to Baudriks.

921 hedes. So the Texas MS. Thynne2, HT, and Sk = "dedes.''

925-28 The syntax of these lines is tortured and seems defective. Sk translates: "they think much (counten) of scarlet and green gowns, that must be made in the latest fashion, in order to embrace and kiss the damsels.''

929 shewe. So the Texas MS. HT, Thynne2, and Sk have "sewe'' - a plausible word (hence the "cutted clothes'' would "match'' rather than "show off'' their complexions). But this reading may result from the proximity of "sewe'' in the previous line and "hewe'' at the end of line 929.

941 The form is = es is a rare variant for "them.'' Creeping to the Cross was a popular form of penance. See Piers Plowman B 18.428.

955 I dare not sayne. The author is very coy about calling such men "Antichrist's priests.''

957-58 Or they yef . . . hys servyce. That is, they either have an excuse for not being in service or they are in service.

993 Saynt Benet. Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-c. 550), regarded as the founder of western monasticism.

995 hys thought. So Thynne2; Texas MS, Sk "his.'' HT reads "this.''

997-98 That a man. The syntax depends on the verse sentence begun in the previous stanza: "that they should use . . .; that a man should call. . . . ''

1020 in hys lyvynge. Saint Benedict's rule for monastic living. In chap. 33 the Rule cites Acts 4.32: ". . . neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed, was his own; but all things were common unto them.''

1028 byte. A triple pun: devour, criticize, impoverish.

1035 Her fathers suffreth drought and wete. Sk directs to PPC, line 752: "And his syre a soutere ysuled in grees.'' See also line 1042.

1050 be not cherelyche. Sk reads ful cherelich but comments: "The line is imperfect. I have supplied but ["(ful)''], but the right word is not. For cherelich means 'expensive' or 'prodigal,' from O.F. cher, dear.''

1066 a Crede. A reference to PPC. For verbal correspondences between the PlT and the PPC, see Sk's notes to the PlT at lines 743, 871, 893, 915, 1002, 1035, 1042, 1115.

1113 We ben Hys membres both also. See Romans 12.4-5: "For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office: So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.''

1114 And `Father' He taught us to cal Hym als. See Matthew 6.9: "Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven.'' See also Matthew 23.9: "And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.''

1115 `Maysters' to be called defended He tho. See Matthew 23.10: "Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.''

1123 Ne carke nat for cloth ne fode. See Matthew 6.25-26 and the Explanatory Note to PPC, line 602.

1135 What haste thou to done wyth her leve? Sk translates the phrase "with what is permitted to them.''

1149 Beginning with this line and ending with line 1268, the rhyme scheme shifts from ababbcbc to ababcdcd, which is the rhyme pattern of the Prologue. These lines, which concern doctrine and the powers of the pope and Church, may be later interpolations.

1157 the seven sacramentes. The seven rites of baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, marriage, ordination, penance, and extreme unction.

1163 not worth a pease. An expression, as in Piers Plowman B 6.169, said of Wastour: "And sette Piers at a pese and his plow? bože.''

1211 A man to houselyn and to shryve. The construction "is holsome lyfe'' (1209) governs lines 1211-14.

1219 Hys mystrye. The mystery of Transubstantiation, whereby bread and water are changed into Christ's flesh and blood. Wyclif denied Transubstantiation in De eucharistia (1381). Thynne2 reads "mystrye'' (Sk "mystry'') - clearly the word intended - but the Texas MS has "maystrye,'' HT, "mastrye.''

1222 subgette or accydent. The terms are from the debate on Transubstantiation concerning the "real presence'' of Christ: whether He was there, in the bread, in reality ("subject'') or whether the bread (the "accident'') merely represented Him. The MS reads: "Whether itt be substans or accident.'' Irvine notes that "`accident wižouten subgett' is a very common phrase in the Lollard tracts'' ("A Manuscript Copy,'' p. 51).

1235 And. The reading of Thynne2 and Sk. The Texas MS reads "Off,'' while HT omits.

1243-44 And clene ydampned . . . but ye woll worche. The Griffin threatens the Pelican with excommunication.

1270 And loked lovely as an owle. Owls, birds of evil omen, were symbols of ignorance because of their association with the night. "Lovely as an owl'' here is ironic.

1271 "cockes'' is an (ironic) error for "God's.''

1293-96 The pelican is a common figure of Christ in medieval literature. See Malory, The Quest for the Holy Grail, Book XVI.13.8-14 (ed. Vinaver), where Bors sees the pelican in a dead tree, piercing its breast to feed its young: "Than oure Lorde shewed Hym unto you in the lyknesse of a fowle, that suffirde grete anguysshe for us whan He was putte uppon the Crosse, and bledde Hys herte blood for mankynde; there was the tokyn and the lyknesse of the Sankgreall that appered afore you, for the blood that the grete fowle bledde reysyd the chykyns frome dethe to lyff. And by the bare tre betokenyth the worlde, whych ys naked and nedy, withoute fruyte, but if hit com of oure Lorde.''

1303 PELLICAN. HT and Thynne2 place this designation at line 1305. I follow the Texas MS and Sk in placing it at line 1303. Ben lykely. The idea is that the Griffin and the wicked ecclesiastics are "birds of a feather.''

1305 The foule = the bird-like part of the Griffin.

1325 The designation "Pellican'' appears before this line (or in the margin) in HT, the Texas MS, and Thynne2.

1343 Phenix: a mythical bird of Arabia, which was said to build for itself a funeral pyre every thousand years and then, dying and being reborn in the flames, to become renewed. The phoenix, originally associated with pagan sun-worship, became a well-known symbol for the resurrected Christ. The imagery surrounding the phoenix seems to derive from Job 29.18, Psalm 103, 1 Corinthians 15.35-38, and the Book of Revelation. A fourth-century Latin poet, Lactantius, wrote De ave phoenice, which was translated into Old English verse as part of The Exeter Book.

1359 flyght. Literally "who will fight in my flight,'' with a pun on flyting, or debate. The rhetorical term is doubly witty, given the avian participants in the debate.

1362 And the Lambe. "He that'' (line 1361) also governs line 1362: "and he that was slain as a Lamb.''

1370 I nyll not maynteyne his manace. The author here and in the final stanza apologizes for the work and disavows responsibility for its most radical claims. Such disclaimers were conventional in medieval literature. See, for example, the Retraction to Chaucer's CT.