A Bundle of Ballads [53]
were the keepers' share in the brittling. There was a receipt for "umble pie" in the old cookery. To "eat humble pie" was to dine with the servants instead of from the haunch at the high table. Okerer: usurer. Pace: pass. Pay: satisfaction. The old sense of the word in the phrase "it does not pay"--does not give satisfaction. A man could be served "to his pay," meaning in a way that satisfied or pleased him. Pieces: drinking-cups. Pluck-buffet: whichever made a bad shot drew on himself a buffet from his competitor. Prest: ready. Prestly: readily. French - pret. Prief: proof. Proseyla: Venus' shells, porcelain. Pye: coat a py: a rough coarse cloth. Dutch - py, or a coat made from it. The word remains in our "pea-coat." Quarry: the skin of the deer on which entrails, etc. were piled as the dogs' share of the spoil. French - cuiree, from cuir, hide. To be distinguished from the quarry, a square bolt for the crossbow, or the quarry or squared stones, both from Latin - quadratus. Quh: = Wh. Quite: requite. Ray: striped cloth. Raikand: ranging. Rawe: row. Rede: counsel. Reve: plunder. Room: space or spacious. "The warldis room," the space of the world; or "The warld is room," the world is wide. Salved: saluted. Scheuch and syke: furrow and rill. Seid: seed. Shaw: covert of the wood. Shear: in different directions. First English - sciran, to divide. Shend: blame; shent: blamed. Shete: shoot. Shot-window: according to Ritson, is a window that opens and shuts. Sicker and sad: sure and firm. Sigh-clout: sieve-cloth. Somers: sumpter horses. Spleen, on the: in anger or discontent. The spleen was once supposed to be the seat of anger and discontent. Spurn: strife, as a kicking against. "That tear began this spurn," that rent began this strife. Stalworthy: stalwart. Stound: space of time. Stour: conflict. Stown: stolen. Suar: heavy. First English - swaer. Tarpe: probably a misprint for targe. In the Promptorium Parvulorum we have the "Targe, or chartyr--carta." Tene: vexation, sorrow. Thee, mote I: may I thrive. See Mote. Threap: argue back pertinaciously. Throw: space of time. Tine: lose. Tirled: twirled. To-broke: "to" is intensive. Told: counted. Tone: the tone = that one, as the tother = that other; "that" being the old neuter of "the." Tray: surly, unwillingly. Icelandic - thra, obstinate. First English - thrafian, to blame. Tynde: horns of hart. Unketh: unknown, unexpected. Unneth: not easily. Voided: quitted the place. Wap: throw quickly. Weal: twist. Wed: pledge. Weird: fate. Well away: wo, alas, wo! First English - wa, eala, wa! Welt them: tumbled them over. First English waeltan, to roll or tumble. Wight: a being. Wite: wete: weet: know. Wone: crowd. Wonning wan: where is thy, in what direction is thy home? "Wan" is an adverbial affix with the sense of Latin versus. Wood: wode: mad. Woolward: clothed only in wool. Wough: "wo and wough." First English - wo, wa, the cry of lament for evil. Wough, First English - woh, is the evil done; the first sense of the word is a swerving from the right line, then wrong and evil. Y- and I- as prefix = the participial prefix ge- (g being pronounced like y before the weak vowel e). So y-dight: y-granted: y-slaw: I-nocked. Yede: yode: First English - eode, went.
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