In the old, old tales of the exploits of Reynard the Fox, fragments of which have been traced to the tenth century, chanticleer was the proper name of the cock, “So sawe they comen doun the hylle to hem chauntecler the cock,” in the first printed edition by William Caxton in 1481.
The name, taken from some old French version, was in recognition of the far-reaching early-morning summons of the cock, “the clear singer,” from chanter, “to sing,” and cler, “clear.”
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