The mistakes that the he made are instructive, as showing how closely he
followed his authorities, and how little independent knowledge he had of
genuine old English. Thus, to give a few typical examples of the many in
Mr. Skeat's notes: in Kersey's dictionary occurs the word _gare_, defined
as "cause." This is the verb _gar_, familiar to all readers of
Burns,[16] and meaning to cause, to make; but Chatterton, taking it for
the _noun_, cause, employs it with grotesque incorrectness in such
connections as these:

"Perchance in Virtue's gare rhyme might be then":
"If in this battle luck deserts our gare."

Again the Middle English _howten_ (Modern English, _hoot_) is defined by
Speght as "hallow," _i.e._, halloo. But Kersey and Bailey misprint this
"hollow"; and Chatterton, entering it so in his manuscript list of old
words, evidently takes it to be the _adjective_ "hollow" and uses it thus
in the line:

"Houten are wordes for to telle his doe," _i.e._,
Hollow are words to tell his doings.

Still again, in a passage already quoted,[17] it is told how the "Wynde
hurled the Battayle"--Rowleian for a small boat--"agaynste an Heck."
_Heck_ in this and other passages was a puzzle. From the context it
obviously meant "rock," but where did Chatterton get it? Mr. Skeat
explains this. _Heck_ is a provincial word signifying "rack," i.e.,
"hay-rack"; but Kersey misprinted it "rock," and Chatterton followed him.
A typical instance of the kind of error that Chatterton was perpetually
committing was his understanding the "Listed, bounded," _i.e., edged_ (as
in the "list" or selvage of cloth) for "bounded" in the sense of