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Extracts from a French to English dictionary by, R Cotgrave. Published 1611.
'A petit achoison le loup prend le mouton'
When tyrants wish to oppress
the innocent,
the slightest pretext is made sufficient.
There is no beast like to a wicked lord.
[Proverbs, 28-15. As a roaring lion
And a ranging bear
So is a wicked ruler
over the poor people.
28-16. the prince that lacketh
understanding is also a great oppressor.]
'Qui veut son chien luy met la rage sus'
He that will hang his dog
pretends he is mad.
'Habit de beast, ongles de chat'
A wolf in sheep's clothing.
[ongles. nails, claws, talons.]
'Oeil de loup'
dusky or dark eye; the devil's eyes,
black, blank, a dark void.
'Qui parle du loup on en voit la queue'
Applied, when the one being spoken about suddenly appears. We might say, in such circumstance,
'talk of the Devil!'
'Pendant que les chiens s'entregrondent le loup devore la brebis'
While churchman brabble,
Satan feeds on souls. Or
Church men's contentions
Are the devils harvest.
'Danse du loup la queue entre les jambres'
The dance of the lechers.
[the dance of the followers of Bacchus, -
Dionysus, Ceres, Rhea, Artemis, Diana,
and many more].
'Le loup alla a'
Rome, & y laissa de son poil, & rien de ses coustumes'
A knave will return a knave from the best place in the world'. [even the greatest teacher can teach nothing to the brain-dead fool]. However, it is also rendered,
'& mais rien de ses costumes'
The wolf went to Rome, and there left part of his coat, but none of its ill conditions. Better taken, as an evil man went to Rome, was relieved of his money but was not cured of his evil ways one jot.]
'A la fin le regnard sera moine'
At length the fox turns monk,
[ when he can no longer get away
with playing the knave.] and thus we
say, beware your poultry housewives, for
'Le regnard est devenu hermite'
The fox a hermit has become,
said when an evil,
crafty person grows truly religious.
'Mauvais chien iamais ne veut compagnon en cuisie'
Greedy ill-natured people cannot endure competitors or companions.
'Ire de freres ire de diables'
Brothers fury, devil's folly. [Nostra, 2 at a table, 2 brothers quarrel over religious laws, foolishly, but it ends not well, but I will say no more.
'Barberousse'
A red bearded man.
Thus
'Homme roux, et femme barbue de cinquante pas les salue'
(vne pierre ou poing (fist), follows;
because red haired men and bearded
woman, are held to be
very dangerous people.
'Le loup mourra en sa peauqui ne l'escorchera vis'
A knave will sleep,
In a knave's skin,
Until he either loses his coat,
Or his life.
[ A leopard never changes its spots.]
[ the days of corruption.]
The Law & Governments.
'Les gros poissons mangentles petis'
Justly applied to an unjust world,
wherein,
the rich devour the poor,
the strong the weak,
the mighty the mean.
'En cent livres de plaid n'y a pas vn maille d'amour'
In a £100 of law there's not a halfpennies weight of love.
'La Grande Boutique'
The Law; or the profession there of; or the hall [as Westminster] where it is practiced. So, called, because like a shop, many things may be had for money in it.
[it surely is no different today].
Or.
'Arriere -main'
A blow given backwards or With the back of the hand. The profit made of an office {besides fees}, by secret bribes, and exactions, private sales.
'Donner vn coup De Gaule par sous l'huis'
Underhand, by the back door, {huis= door}.
'La danse des crapauds'
A state, or government wherein
knaves and fools are supported. [can't think of any government like that, can you?]
'Il arrache les bonnes herbes, & plante le mauvaises'
He reviles the good, and flatters the bad;
or, he supplants virtue, to support vice.
'Qui tient la paelle par la quere il la tourne la au il vent'
He that holds the frying pan by the tail
may turn it which way he likes or wishes.
'En le court du Roy, chascun est pour soy'
In court men study their own fortunes. [as some MP's and others in authority still do.]
'Licts de parlement'
Quilts stuffed with chestnut leaves;
So, termed in mockage,
Because being srirred, or stirred up,
They make a babbling or confused noise,
as those in the houses of parliament.
'Qui se sois officier au moins d'un moulin'
Let me be an officer though it be but of a mill; make a king an officer, and he will soon grow rich; quote from an old preacher in Edward the 6th time.
'On lie bien le sac avant qu'il soit plein'
A sack before it is full is easily tied up;
men while they are kept low,
are easily kept in.
'Que veut le roy ce veut la loy'
The king and the law have
but one will and pleasure;
the law is wholly governed by the king;
even as he will,
so is it interpreted,
so, understood.
[ Machiavelli, observed that,
while it is important
for a successful ruler
to appear to be honest,
merciful and humane
he should eschew these qualities
as they only make him weak.]
[To my mentor Fronto I owe the realization that malice, craftiness, and duplicity are the consorts of absolute power; that are patrician families tend for the most part to be lacking in the feelings of ordinary humanity. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations; book 1-11.]
'Le plus grand est le premier pourry'
The greatest is the soonest rotten.
'Pescher au plat'
To cut, carve at pleasure, to take whatever, whenever, howsoever or wherever one likes. (to fish -be picky of his plate, said of one of power or money who may do as he pleases.)
'Ils tiennent cotte et ligne'
They have both ends of the staff;
the law in their own hands;
or, the world at will.
'Nos iuges n'ont diev devant les yeux, ny fes saints'
An equinocal-astrological, jest-joke, for in many courts in France in those times, god and the saints are pictured in ceilings above the heads of the judges.
[as if they were appointed by God himself, and thus able to give his verdict, it was generally known to rich and poor alike, that like a dog, judges of all ages, always licked the backsides, of those who paid their wages].
[ he who pays the piper calls the tune].
'A valleurs de frimats'
Cousening knaves, idle companions, loitering rogues; also, a nickname for judges; who given to rise and go abroad early, swallow a great deal of mist in their days.
'A hospital les bons ouvriers, en dignite les gros asniers'
Bunglers grow rich,
good workmen wretched;
the cogging sot gets the honour,
while the cunning workman starves. [cunning. Skill, ingenuity, although today more used to signifying clever deception or craftiness].
'Gomorrohean'
A sodomite
or buggerer.
[Sodom & Gomorrah].
[sodomy was far from the only crime of these ancient cities, they had completely reversed the true laws, the criminal had more rights than the victim, indeed it was innocent party who was to blame, not the culprit, illegal measures and weights were accepted, immorality at every level indulged in. Unfortunately, Sodom and Gomorrah, were not destroyed, they did not exist, not until now.] hence,
'Enfans de la terre'
Licentious, dissolute, sensual, persons; those that are wholly swayed by their voluptuous or intemperate humours; those that make their heaven on earth.
'Bon advocat mauvais voisin'
A good lawyer makes
an evil neighbour.
(Yet' it may rightly have said: a man who
is his own lawyer, has, a fool for a client?)
'Abboubeur de mauvbaises causes'
A crafty lawyer; one that prolongs ill, weak, or lost causes, by shifts, cavils, and delays. Or,
'Corbineurs du Palais'
Lawyers, and clerks, who ordinarily fleece, lurch, poll and spoil, poor suitors.
'corbineurs'
from 'corbeau' = raven.)
Or,
'A longer la courroye'
To delay, prolong, or draw out in length, a gainful employment; as many lawyers do their clients causes, and some generals the wars they command in. Hence;
'Longuement proceder est a` l'advocat vendenger'
Long pleadings are the lawyers harvest.
'Estendre la loy'
To stretch, or strain the law;
to make large expositions,
or use farfetched interpretations thereof.
Or,
'Estansonner le mensonge d'un roseau'
To support a lie with a reed;
to maintain an untruth
with some slight or frivolous arguments.
'Fief de la bafoche; il tient du fief de la bafoche'
He is a prattling, jangling lawyer; or.
{as a lawyer's clerk} an unruly cope-mate;
or, his wife is his master.
'S'en faire accroire, prevail'
Absolute command, to Rule the Roost.
'Roy de la bafoche'
MASTER OF MISRULE,
or chief man among the clerks,
when they make their shows.
'Bafochiens'
Revellers, associates of the MASTER OF MISRULE; or, lawyer's clerks, (who for the most part are very unruly, or such as belong to the bawdy court).
'Agorarque'
A master of the revels; or director, of public exercises, plays of games.
'Basoche'
The whole troop, company of lawyers, clerks of the Palace of Paris, having among them the king, and their peculiar laws; hence also, revelry, misrule {for these fellows are none the soberest}. Also, a certain bawdy court, wherein wives that beat their husbands
are punished-censured.
'Leurs offices tombent en commerce'
Their offices are saleable, vendible;
set to sale, to be bought and sold.
'contrelouer'
To return praise for praise, or a good word for a good word; to commend one that has commended him before; to scratch the back of one who has already clawed his elbow, we say, to scratch each other's back.
'Tout y va par compere, et commerce'
All things carried among them
by favour and friendship;
like good drunken gossips,
they will do anything one for another.
'La censure toutmente les pigeons' lasssant aller les corbeaux libres'
Censure torments pigeons
and frees Ravens;
hence, are laws compared to cobwebs,
little flies are caught in them,
great ones, break through them.
'Mieux vaut avoir amy en voye qu'or, ny argent en courroye'
We say (with some little difference)
better is a friend in court
than a penny in the purse.
'Pourveu que ie ioye esclairer, ce sera fait'
If I may see gold glitter,
or some chinks stirring,
it shall be done.
'De ieune advocat heritage perdu'
The land is lost,
that a young lawyer pleads for.
'Celuy peut hardiment nager a qui l'on soustient le menton.'
A favourite of the time,
or of authority, may boldly swim,
where another would sink.
'Enfon ser le poigner'
To grease the fist, to corrupt with gifts or bribes, also to gain, or grow rich, by such corruption.
[Proverbs, 17-8.
A gift is as a precious stone
in the eyes of him that hath it:
withsoever it turneth, it prospereth.
18-16. A man's gift maketh room for him,
and bringeth him before great men.]
For a bribe, picks many a great lock,
Or, opens closed doors, deaf ears.
[ a lawyer never goes to law himself].
[ bad men, cause good laws,
and if there were no bad men,
there would no good lawyers.
Although in truth, bad men bring about good laws and bad lawyers. A lawyer who defends a guilty man knowingly, is party to his crimes, and both will have cause to dread the true Judge.]
'Reblandir le betail prins en dommage'
To pay for the damage done by others.
'Il est de lorny, ou le batte paye l'amende'
He gets the blows, and yet pays for the blood wipe.
Or, he bears the blows,
and yet must pay to clear up
the blood spilt.
[see Jewish myths, concerning
the sins of Sodom].
'Sans espargner ne roy ny roc'
Without sparing neither king nor rock;
without mercy or respect of persons,
with little, or no favour to one or other;
indifferently; or as severe to all.
From a little man to become great,
From mean estate unto great wealth;
From errors to willful disorder;
From venial to mortal offences
Yet. 'De grand vilain grand flac'
He that lives villainously falls violently;
or, the fall of a great rogue
makes good news.
'couve de mauvaise pie'
Il breed, of an evil race,
Come of an evil kind.
'En est il encore de l'eraigne'
What! Is there yet more of that kind?
(eraigne= an aviary of hawks.)
HITLER.
FUREUR-{FUHRER-FUEHRER}
FURY, RAGE, MADNESS,
FIERCENESS,
OUTRAGEOUS, EXTREME,
WRATH,
ANGER, IMPATIENCE,
HORRIBLE,
BEDLAM LIKE, FRANTIC,
BRAINSICK,
FRENZIED, WOOD-NESS,
THE FURIES OF HELL. [Hitler].
Feurier, Fevrier, Feuerer, February;
the age of Pisces, roughly from 1BC, 1 AD, to 2130 AD, even the ancient Egyptians detested the sign an age of Pisces.
[Hitler, was an antichrist, of the highest level, but you pray in vain that believe there will not be worse.] thus,
'C'est vn diable de schaine'
He is a very fury,
an incarnation of the Devil;
a man would think that hells
broke loose where he is.
Or,
'C'estoit luy tout crache'
He resembled him in every part;
It was as if he had been
Spat out of his mouth.
'Au cerf la biere, au sanglier le barbier'
The stag a coffin, the boar a barber needs, {the sense being, if thou are hurt by a stag, you'll require a coffin, but if by a wild boar, someone to clean and sew up your wounds. For those former beasts, being hard laid into, lay hard about them.'Cerf,' a stag, red deer, a hart;'biere', a coffin.
'Cornu'
A kind of horned serpent.
'Cornuted'
having horns, or crocked, of haughty, horn like.
'Cornu'
The moon.
'C'est vne vache de barbarie, qui ne recognoist que son propre veau'
Applied to such, as respect, or know not any, but their own family, friends and kindred; rude, ignorant, barbarous humour.
'A grosse larron grosse corde'
A strong halter, for a strong thief.
[ Proverbs 26-3. A whip for a horse, a bridle for
an Ass, and a rod for a fool's back.]
Yet
'Telle semence tel moisson'
Ill seed, ill weed; or, such as the seed,
such is the crop.
'Telle dent telle moisure'
A sharp tooth a smart wound;
such is the tooth; such is the bite.
'Tel seigneur tel chien'
Like master like man;
Like father like son.
'Tel pot tel couvercle'
Such is the pot; such is the cover;
Like will to like,
Says the Devil to the
collier.
[collier=coal miner; he who digs-
supplies fuel for fires.]
'Tel tue qui ne pense qui blesser; et tel cuide frapper qui tue'
The wounding mind has often
a murdering hand;
a hurt intended with death is ended.
yet,
'Tel true qui ne pense que blesser'
Some kill when they mean but to hurt.
'Faire trembler le lard au charnier'
To terrify, affright (senseless or weak
people) with big words.
'Qui de ses subjects est hay, n'est pas seigneur de son pais'
The lord whose subjects
cannot well endure him,
finds no place in his country
to secure him.
'En hydrer'
To breed many mischiefs;
by the cutting off,
of one.
'hydrer.'
Hydra, Herakles, Hercules, {Biblical Samson}, who upon cutting off one of the Hydra's heads, found two replaced it.]
'Qui a `a pendre n'a pas a noyer'
He that was born to be hanged
needs not fear drowning.
'Les mauvais musiciens ne sont iamais en nuyeux a'eux mesmes'
Few men grow weary of their own absurdity's; few men detest their own harsh imperfections.
[ Who dare judge himself, but innocent,
and one who confesses expects leniency
before confession,
for who can condemn himself?].
'Avoir du foiun aux cornes,'
or,
'Il du foin aux cornes'
He bears hay in his horns;
he is a shrewd, fierce, curst,
or dangerous fellow to meet with.
for,
'Il ne faut iouer au boeuf'
An ox is no fit, or safe, playfellow.
'Compere de la pouille, couste, et despouille'
(said of a dangerous companion) one that will both feed on you, and filch from you, and at length wholly fleece you.
'Cheval de trompette'
One that is not afraid of shadows;
one whom no bugs,
nor big words can terrify.
Yet,
'De grand vilain grande cheute'
The greater the bad man is more scandalous, and hurtful are his vices, and therefore, the more headlong, and infamous, his fall.
'L'oiseau gazouille selon qu'il est embecque'
A man speaks even as his hopes do move, or passions urge him. (It may be also applied to a lawyer, who according to the fee he has received, does plead for his client, better or worse.)
'Oncques n'y eut laides amours, ny belle prison'
There never was a fair prison,
nor foul love.
'A rude asne asnier'
A stubborn servant needs
a forward master;
A rebellious subject
a vigorous sovereign;
A curst wife, a curbing husband.
[Proverbs, 29-19.
A servant will no corrected
By words;
For though he understands,
He will not answer.]
'Il n'est si grand despit que de povre orgueilleux'
A proud beggar is the most detestable,
spiteful creature alive.
[set a beggar on horseback
and he'll ride to the devil].
'Homme roux, et femme barbue de cinquante pas les value; vne pierre ou poing'
-follows. Because they
(red haired man and bearded woman)
are held as very dangerous people.
'Liperquam, faire de liper'
To show his authority, to let the world see his power, to bear himself as one that can do all, in all, to take exceedingly much upon himself. (This word is corruptly used instead of'luy per quim', all things are done. [for one purpose].
'Truye ne songe qu' ordure; et, tousiours truye songe bran'
Base minds have always base
and beastly thoughts;
their wishes, projects, dreams,
are like (a reflection of) themselves.
'Reassle'
The devil, the chief angel of Rebellion.
'La fontaine de meschancete'
The head, root, original source,
principal cause of wickedness.
'Fontenelle.'
Spring, head of, fountain,
the part that controls what flows out of
the mouth. {instinctively].
'Homme cocytide'
The limb of the devil,
the most selfish, cruel, or hellish fellow.
'Il a beau se lever tard qui a la briut de se lever matin'
He as may as well rise late,
that is thought to rise early. Or,
'Qui abruit de se lever martin peur dormin insques a soir'
He that is well thought of, may well play the knave long before he be suspected, or detected. (so many men that are not what they seem to be, beguile those, who seeing no hurt, suspect none.
'Martin- matin'
a man's name.
La St Martin, Martilmas; or the feast of
St Martin, the Bishop of Winter. Hence,
'A la St Martin lon boit le bon vin'
At'Martilmas' the wine is ready to drink.
'Martiner'
to quaff, swill, guzzle; from,
St Martin's day, when commonly
the French people drink new wine.
'Marte'
the beast called a martin-marten.
'Martial'
warlike, born under the laict Mars, or, being in the frame of mind of Mars.
'Martin'
- to marre'
'Martyr
One who suffers death for the truth, who refuses to change his beliefs even unto death; but almost always those who refused to accept the precepts of St Martins Church.
'Philosopher a' la Martingal.'
Absurd, foolish, gross, etc.
'Matinet'
a martlet, a kind of great
hammer used in breaking open doors.
Or a water mill for an iron forge.
'Contre coignee serrure ne puet'
No locks hold out against an iron axe;
an armed violence forces anything.
'Estafsier St Martin'
The Devil:
'Este St Martin'
the later part of Autumn.
'Faire le prestre Martin'
To question and answer himself,
to play both priest and clerk.
'Plus d'vn asne a la foire a nom Martin'
If one will not, another will, there be more than one way to the woods. Or there is more than one way, to skin a cat. Or the Devil knocks on all doors.
'Manger le cochon ensemble'
To plot, join a plot, or conspiracy together, (as in old times, when conspirators met to confer and conclude,
their principle dish was pig, {Satan's bond].
'Au plus debile la chandelle en la main'
We say, he-she, that is worst
may hold the candle.
'Pour vn poil Martin, perdit son asne'
The punishment, or taxing of those, that upon small occasion enter into a great contention; as a poor man did, who laying a wager that his ass was all white, was showed a black hair on him, and so like an ass, he lost his arse, which was the wager. And hence,
'Pour vn poinct martin perdit son asne'
A small omission, or error may
turn a man to much prejudice; thus,
'Pour vn ponct Martin perdit son asne'
This Martin being, Abbot of a cloister called Asellus, and setting over the gate thereof, in Latin. PORTA PATENS ESTO NULLI
CLAUDARIS HONESTO.
He was deprived of his place for putting a comma after Nulli, {porta patens esto nulli, Claudaris honesto}.
'Predre Martin, pour regnard'
Is alike, to mistake one thing for another.
As a loup-wolf, for a regnard-fox.
Or a devil -{Martin] for a saint;
the deadly for the harmless.
Even,
'Prendre Mars pour Marthe'
(In things of some resemblance) to mistake one for another. {martha, a proper name for a woman.]
'Mau de terre'
The falling sickness- St Martin. Also, John Baptist, hence, if you lose your head you will fall,
'Trenchees de St Mathurian'
{Marthurian}, mad, moody, bedlam fits.
'Chanter magnificat a' matines'
To sing magnificently at Matines;
to pervert the order of things,
or do things out of order.
'Le retour de Matines'
A mischief done in the dark, or at unawares; from the customs of friars who commonly make choice of that obscure season, for the surprising and thumping of their hated companions. Hence,
'Plus estourdi que le premier coup de Matines'
More drowsy and amazed, than a friar
at the first toll of the morning-sacring bell.
Ros matin, rosemary, also, the herb
Frankincense.
'Oiseau de St Martin'
A ringtail or Hen harme.
'Martroy'
A place of execution, or punishment.
'Martyr'
one that suffers death for his beliefs.
'Martyre'
martyrdom, torment, torture,
affliction suffered by a martyr
prior to death.
'Martyrer'
the tormentor-s, torturer-s,
he or those who afflict the Martyr-s.
'La messe Martingault'
A cursive- a curfew bell. Because of,
'Matines Parisienes'
The massacre of Paris, which began about midnight.
'Diable'
A devil, fiend, evil spirit.
Hence,
'Banquet a` Diable'
A feast without any salt.
Jesus was given to say,
'a man without knowledge of God,
is like vegetables without salt,
while both are still edible,
neither is desirable.'
'De jeune augelot vieux diable'
We say, a young saint an old devil.
[ Hugh Latimer, corrects us, for it is truer to say, young saint, old saint, young devil, old devil, for those who start bad end bad.]
'On gonoit le diable a ses griffes'
The devil is known by his claws,
a covetous heart discerned
by catching hands.
'Faire d' vn Diable deux'
To make an ill thing worse,
By striving to amend it.
Double jeopardy.
'Le Diable n'est pas rousiours a` va haines'
The Devil is not always at one,
{or the same} door, he attempts,
and he tempts,
men in many sundry ways.
'La farmy du Diable s'en, va moitre en son'
Half of the Devil's meal turns into bran.
Sebelline.
Martre sebel
The sable Marten, the beast whose skin we call sable,
a dark fur.
'Sable'
Small brown furred arctic and sub-arctic carnivore [4 legged {quadruped,] allied to Martens {martins]], hence, sable, as poetical or in rhetoric as black, in plural-mourning {funeral} garments. Or as black, dusky, gloomy, dread, his majesty, the Devil.
'Herdertifler'
The great, or master Devil.
'Superstition'
f, excess of scruples
or ceremony in matters of religion,
idle worship, vain reverence; a
superfluous, needless, or ill governed
devotion.
'Faire beaucoup d'agies'
To be very scrupulous, or
ceremonious; or, rather, to, use many
blessings, crossings, or superstitious
gestures in the doing of anything.
'Breborions'.
Old foolish books; also, foolish charms, or superstitious prayers used by old and simple women, against the toothache, etc. any such threadbare and musty rags of blind devotions, trinkets etc, to ward off evil spirits.
'Pont aux asnes', or,
'C'est le pont aux asnes.
(applied when such as are ignorant of the true reason, or cause of things, impute them to witchcraft, fortune etc,) a shift,
evasion, help at a pinch for a dunce.
[the Devil lurks behind the cross].
'Vn aveugle meine l'autre en la fosse'
An ignorant pastor leads
ignorant sheep headlong into hell.
'Qui veut apprendre a prier aille souvent sur la mer'
Much danger breeds devotion,
fear of death teaches religion.
'Tout estat est viande aux vers'
All pomp and no hospitality;
the belly is starved by the back;
[ fine clothes no meat; but it is said of the church, who fleece their flock to clothe their backs.]
'Limbres'
A low unsavoury room in prisons,
also, the purgatory of unbaptized children.
'A la chandelle'
By candlelight,
in the extremity,
or at, near the point of death.
When a man is ready to give the ghost,
(for the Romanists light candles,
upon a conceit that evil spirits are
driven away thereby.)
'Sourd comme vn tapis'
As deaf as an image in painted cloth;
[Turin Shroud]
Or, as deaf as a door nail, -post. 0r,
'Plus muet qu' un poisson'
Dumber, than a fish.
'Et plus diable, & plus veut avoir'
The more the Devil hath,
the more he would.
'De prescheur qui se recommande en tout temps bon heur nous defende'
From preachers
who themselves commend,
God and good fortune us defend.
'Dieu gard la Lune des Loups'
Same sentiment as the gods help those who help themselves,
'God guards the Moon and wolves'. Both falsehoods, wolves and the moon
have no need of Gods protection.
'Fair gerbe de foarre a Dieu'
To mock, scorn, abuse, delude, defraud God of his right; or (in matters of religion and conscience, where bounty is required) to play the miser; in Jewish law, it was held a great impiety in any man to give the Levites chaff, or straw, instead of corn; thence came this proverb, wherein many, abusively use'Barbe', instead of'Gerbe', giving'faire barbe de foarre a.' to scorn; cousen, delude, deceive, abuse, (someone.)
'barbe'=beard-stumble,'foarre'=straw,'gerbe',=corn,'faire', to do, act, exploit, perform, effect, commit, work; to cause, make, form, forge, compose, frame, give a being or fashion unto; also, to counterfeit, resemble, imitate.)
'Fedelium'
The last prayer that is said for the dead.
When the dead find out they have been
fiddled out of everything.
[Fedelium, adopted from Lat.]
hence,
'Il passe plusieurs choses par vn fidelium'
He huddles, or shuffles up many things under one; he slightly dispatches, runs, or goes over the matters committed to him; (he fiddles the books.)
'De prescheur qui se recommande en tout temps bon heur nous defende'
From begging preachers fortune, still defend us. Or,
'Apres pasques, & rogarin, si de prestre & d' oignon'
Cotgrave writes, it belike, because in hot weather, which comes quickly after, they both stink alike.
'Pasques long temps desirees sont en vn iour tost passe es'
The long-desired Passover,
is in a day passed over.
Cacolique. {an ironical allusion to cathlique; otherwise of little sense?}. Cacologie. Evil speech, rallying against, reproach, reviling, detraction.
Catholicon. A certain composition of the physic, so termed, because it purges all kinds of Humours.
Catholicue, catholic, universal, general.
Catholisation, the being or becoming a Catholic
Cafard. A hypocrite, counterfeiter,
or dissembler in religion, devotion, piety;
one that seems holy, but is not; especially preacher, or preaching friar, who in his teachings respects his own, or his orders profit, more than his auditors.
Cafarde. Hypocritical, dissembling,
seeming holy, pious outwardly,
devout only for show.
Cafarder. To pretend devotion,
play the hypocrite counterfeit holiness,
look demurely, precise, religiously, and speak piously, but mean impiously. To preach often, but more to profit himself or his Order, than his auditors.
'Vne lambe de dieu'
So, do the canting,
blasphemous rogues of France, say.
A term for a cankered, gangrened,
or desperately sore leg,
'he was lamed by god'
'Sainct de quaresme'
One that lives strictly,
or devoutly in Lent,
and loosely or profanely
the rest of the year;
also, one that hides himself,
or is no where
to be seen.
'Saincte- n'y- touche'
A hypocrite, an over scrupulous puritan,
one that, fearing to seem profane,
will not touch, nor dares to touch,
almost anything.
'Homme ne cognoist mieux que l' Abbe qui a este moine'
There is no knave comes close to the
Abbot who has been a monk; or
no man knows how to play the knave
better than he. or,
'Homme ne connoit mieux la malice que l'Abbe qui a estre moine'
No man can play the knave better than
an Abbot that hath been a monk.
'Collation de moyne'
A monk's luncheon,
as much as
another man eats at a large meal.
'Il n'est envie que de moine'
No envy like that of a monk.
'Il iure comme vn Abbe'
He swears like an Abbot.
'Mol en putain de bordeau'
As tender as a Priests layman.
'Chapeau rouge'
A Cardinals hat; also, the bloody neck
of a headless carcass or corpse; whence,
'On luy a fait porter le chapeau rouge'
They have cut off his head.
Mitre. A Bishops miter, also, the hole
{or cap- hood} of a man's yard.
'Donner la mitre, & la crosse a'
To set a spacious gloss of religion on,
or to authorize {an ill thing}
by a goodly show
of devotion.
Chatamite. A hypocrite, a counterfeiter
of holiness, religion, devotion.
'Servir Dieu a` credit & procureur'
To serve God but only slightly,
carelessly or only for show.
'Tesmoing de credence'
Him that deposes, {allows} only what
he believes or thinks is true, without
any absolute, or further, assuring of it.
Purgatoire. Purgatory, a purging-
cleansing, scouring; a good excuse,
full satisfaction, expurgation,
justification.
Pompeux. Pompous, sumptuous,
magnificent, stately, solemnly,
mystically, gorgeous, gloriously.
Simoniaque. A Simonist, one that sells,
or buys church preferments.
Simonie. Simon. The buying or selling
of spiritual functions or preferments.
Fesse-breviaire.
A priest that quickly whips over mumbles his breviary, anyone that says his ordinary prayers too fast.
'Litue'
a certain crooked staff used by augurs; also, a crosier, or bishops staff.
'Liture'
a dash, rase, or strike through
a word with a pen; thus also, a
dashing, erasing, striking out, blotting
or blurring with a pen. [ the staff being likened to a wand, or lictor, signifying his authority to strike off sins.]
'Fesse-cul'
a pedanical whip arse,
[pedantical, priest, one who overrates
or parades books or technical knowledge
or insists on strict adherence
to formal rules;
one who is obsessed by theory,
doctrine, a cross wearing-waving, priest].
'Donner la mitre, & la crosse a'
To authorise, or bear out,
by the privilege of a religious function.
Or to cover with the spacious cloak
of religion; or to, countenance
or authorize by the spacious pretext
of religious ornaments.
'Oublier dieu parmitous les saincts, il oublie'
The nearer he is to the church,
the further he is from God.
[He that serves God for money,
will serve the Devil for better pay].
{the Devil lurks behind the Cross]
'Prestraillerie'
Priests,
or the Order of priests,
or as the {word suggests},
the whole pack of scurvy priests.
'Vn bon pape est vn meschant homme'
A good pope is a wicked man.
'Papelard- papelarder'
A hypocrite, a dissembler, a flatterer,
or play any or all of them;
counterfeit holiness,
to use fair words,
but harbour foul thoughts.
Papelarde.
Hypocrisy, or outward show of religion,
a counterfeiting of zeal in religion,
smooth villainy, false colloguing.
[ collogue. To talk, speak confidently,
thus, false confidence].
'Il abbaye contre la lime'
Said of one that obstinately strives
to falsify,
or disgrace the truth;
wherein he spends his time,
endeavors, most ridiculously,
unprofitably, miserably, literally,
barking at the Moon.
'Pour devenir bien tost riche il faut touner le des a dieu'
The way to grow soon rich is,
to fore shake religion.
'Compagne francoise'
Wenches, (in the opinion of a wanton priest).
'Prestresse'
A female priest, also a priest layman, a wench or a whore.
'Couillage'
a tribute payed in times past by priests for licences to keep wenches.
'Passereaux, & moineaux sont de faux oiseaux'
Cock sparrows and {young} monks
are shrewd lechers.
'Porcs du Dieu'
Bishops, abbots, and other prelates, which have great,
and fat beneficiaries. [pigs of God].
'Grimoire'
A book of conjuring, exorcism; terms for used inconjuring,
or exorcism.
'Eau gringorine'
Holy water; so called? Because it was first invented
by a pope Gregory.
'Ou a bis, ou a blanc'
By hook or crook, one way or another, by right or wrong [ the devil's hook, or, the shepherds crook, {crook -the curved part of a priest's pole.]
'Il est au bout de son breviaire'
He is at plunge, rock bottom,
Or nonplus; he has no more to say;
(from ignorant priests, that can say,
no more than they can find in their
service book).
'Il est clerc iusques aux dents, il a mange so breviairs'
He makes a show of learning
but indeed, has none in him.
'Mestier n'avons d'hardi prestre'
We have no need
of a courageous priest;
valour is a needless
virtue in a churchman.
'Evesque d'or crosse de bois, crosse d'or eveque de bois'
The smaller a bishop's staff,
the more virtue shines,
pomp first corrupted prelacy.
'Dent de lyon'
The herb dandelion, pissabed, priests crown,
swine's snort [nose].
'Pissenlict'
m. Dandelion, because of the association of Dandelions
with urinating, F,
'pissat-pissement'
pissing etc.
'Le regnard est devenu hermite'
When the fox does preach.
[beware your geese].
'Destrousser de gens'
a robber, a ran-sacker
of people by the highway side,
A freebooter, or
one of St Nicholas' clerks,
Astrology of the church.
Buler. the pope to write, grant or send
a Bull; to execute,
or excommunicate by Papal Bull.
'Apogee'
a shroud, or den underground,
Also, the point in heaven when the Sun or
any planet is furthermost from the center
of the Earth.
'Apostre'
an Apostle, ambassador,
messenger, also the popes delegate for
receiving of appeals
in a foreign province.
'Faire le prestre Martin'
To answer himself;
To play both
Priest and clerk.
Or. To play both priest and devil,
at the same time, as is the case with
Most who take the cloth.
Ceraunobule. Thundering with bulls,
as a pope.
Buletin, same as Bulletin. Buliste. Of or belonging to a
Bull:
Bullage, the sealing of cloths
with a lead seal.
Bulle, a Bull, writ, commission, or letter
sealed with lead, and sent from the pope,
any such Papal and leaden dispatch.
'Bulle'
as above, also that or he who
obtained the Papal Bull, for some
particular advancement or privilege
of benefit to himself. See also Bluter,
Bulletin, Bullette-s [earrings]
Bulliste- the writer, maker of Bulls.
Bullonner, to run, boil, or burst, out -
over in great abundance or profusion,
that is to say'full of bull'
- bulls*%t.
'Chasse-chien'
The clerk or inferior officer of a church,
who besides having authority over dogs,
distributes the Holy Bread,
And begs for the priest taking-giving mass.
'On croit d'un sol bien souveur, qn' il soit clerc pour ses vestemens'
Handsome, or decent clothes-apparel,
makes fools often pass for wise men.
[vestments=priest's clothes.]
'Pape et puis musnier'
Fallen from highest to lowest estate; or,
from pomp to poverty, pope to miller
(musnier = a miller.)
[the pen is mightier than the sword],
Not yet, it isn't,
no bible basher ever saved
A single soul, let alone a person from
Hell's gate;
no words ever stopped an intended war].
'Il y a bien de auguille sous roche'
There in lurks some further matter;
there is more in it
than the worlds aware of.
'Les temps vient, va & passe, fol qui ne le compasse'
Time cometh, time goes,
and away does pass,
he that observes, or weighs it,
is not an ass.
[Proverbs, 16-5.
Everyone that is proud in heart,
Is an abomination, to the Lord,
Though hand join in hand,
He shall not be unpunished.]
'Vn iour iuge de l'autre, et darnier iuge de tous'
One-day rules another
but the last overrules all; or,
the day judges all.
All, covet, all lose.
'Le tiers coup de Bastion'
The 3rd and last knock of the Cryer's staff; as the town or city crier, hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, on this day, it is, etc,
Hence, metaphorically the action, the effect,
which absolutely carries a matter,
'The last word'
in truth, the last chance to hear
and understand it.
'L' hoste, & le poisson passe trois iours puent'
A guest, and fish
at 3days end grow musty.
'Tel veu tel supplice'
Such is the crime,
such is the correction -
punishment.
'Huictaine'
{of huict, huit} an 8th or no 8, also, {proportion of} 8 days; the sense coming from the advent and end of the 7th Day, and the 8th sphere which follows it and renews the ages, thus giving a full 7 days for the completion of present cycle. Nostradamus is the only writer I recall as having mentioned and given insight into the 8th sphere. Many have until it passed believed the year 2000 AD, was the 7th day, and thus the End of the World, hence the nonsense of those times. Since 2000 passed, other years have been targeted, especially 2012 and 2013, which have passed, and while the World is hardly at peace, Doomsday, still seems far from immanent, at the point of writing {July 13}.
However, the 7th day is said to be one of rest, and the World has not been at peace but for a few moments in the last 100 years.
'Toutes heures ne sont pas meure'
All hours are not successive,
or seasonable.
'Le desonement du monde'
The later end of the world.
'Fiens de chien, & marc d'argent seront tout vn au iour iugement'
All, will be one at the end of days.
'Tels sont luy qui demain ne verront pas'
Today a man, tomorrow nothing.
[Proverbs, 16-4.
The Lord hath made all things
for himself: yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil.]
After us the deluge.
Introduction | Century & Verses
Prophecies | Biography
Myths | Locations
Four Riders | King Solomon | David & Goliath
Egypt | Leo | Virgo
Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius