Epistola Goliæ ad Confratres Gallicos*

* In the MS. this piece is entitled, in a rather later hand, Dicta cujusdam Goliardi Anglici. It may be observed, en passant, that the word dicta was used nearly in the sense of rithmi, and that it is the Latin representative of the old French dit, used in the same sense; whence our ditty.

l. 8. harlotus. This word is our harlot: but our restricted sense of the word is modern. Its meaning formerly was pretty nearly equivalent to rascal or scoundrel, and it was applicable in differently to either sex.