L.5.201KD.5.197 She sholde nouȝte haue walked on þat welcheL.5.201: LR alone read on þat welche; other manuscripts have several different variants: Cr1MW read on þat welþe, and most other B manuscripts have there or theron. "Welche" is Welsh flannel. · so was it thredebare
M.5.201KD.5.197She shulde nouȝt haue walkud on þat welthe so was it thredbare .
Cr1.5.199KD.5.197 She had not walkt on þat welth so was it thred-bare .
W.5.200KD.5.197 She sholde noȝt han walked on þat welþe . so was it þredbare W.5.200:nota
C.5.201KD.5.197 Scho shuld nouȝt haue walked there so was it thredebare
G.6.201KD.5.197 she shold noght hauve walked theronG.6.201: The Bx reading for G theron is "on þat welche" ("welche"= "Welsh flannel"), but this causes trouble for the scribes and is found only in L and R. M,
Cr1 and W have "welthe" for "welche;" Cr23 has "welte;" and most of the remaining manuscripts have either "there" or, as in G, "thereon." so was ytt threde-bare
O.5.200KD.5.197Sche schulde not haue walked þer-onO.5.200: GYOC2 alone have þer-on; variants include on þat welche (LR), on þat welþe (WCr1M), on þe welte (Cr23), on þat web (F), and there (HmCB). so was it þreed-bare
R.5.202KD.5.197
He
ne schulde nouȝt walkeR.5.202:
Cf. beta's She sholde nouȝte haue walked. Evidence from the A and C versions suggests that archetypal B was already misreading the first verb in this line (= wandre in A and C). Though most C manuscripts attest the line's opening as He sholde,
manuscripts X and P2 here agree with R's version of the opening phrase,
He ne schulde. Among the A copies, the same pattern
is apparent, with most opting for some form of he shulde but with ChRaU
paralleling R's double-negative syntax. on þat welsch so was it
thredebare .
F.5.199KD.5.197He sholde nono[t] walke on þat web / but his staf were pyked.F.5.199: He is a relict form originally meaning "she" and referring to the lows of the preceding line. Alpha is responsible for retaining this form, but as the b-verse indicates, the immediate scribe
took it to be the masculine pronoun. Bx reads "He sholde noȝt haue walked on þat welche so was it þredbare."