Walter W. Skeat

“ Proverbial saying—The black ox has trod on his foot, i.e. he has fallen into decay or adversity; it often implies old age: ‘She was a pretty wench . . now . . the black oxe hath trod on her foote’, Lyly, Sapho and Phao, iv. 2 (Venus) ; ‘When . . the blacke Oxe (shall) treade on their foote—who wil like of them in their age who loved none in their youth’, id., Euphues (ed. Arber, 55) ; ‘The black ox had not trod on his nor her foot’, Heywood’s Proverbs (ed. Farmer, p. 17) ; ‘The black ox never trod on his foot, i.e. ”

“ Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, iii. 2 (Gomere) ; ‘Jannin, a wittall, one that knows and bears with or winks at his wife’s dishonesty’, Cotgrave. Bp. Hall uses the form witwal, which may be the older form, ‘Fond wit-wal, that wouldst load thy witless head With timely horns before thy bridal bed’ (Sat. i. 7. 17) . The word orig. was a name for the green woodpecker, ‘Godáno, a witwall, a woodwall’, Florio. The ‘witwall’, like the cuckoo, was the subject of ribald jests. In Cheshire and Glouc. ‘witwall’ is a name for the woodpecker; in Suffolk a contented cuckold is called a ‘wittol’ ”

“ Like lips, like lettuce, i.e. things happen to a man according to his deserts, Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 1. 318 (Orgalio, p. 93, col. 1) ; Like lettuce, like lips, New Custom, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 23; Such lips, such lettuce, Heywood’s Proverbs, 80. Cp. the Latin Proverb, ‘Similes habent labra lactucas’, see Ray’s English Proverbs (ed. Bohn, 111) . See NED.
level-coil, a rough game, in which each player is in turn driven from his seat and supplanted by another, hence, riotous sport. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 2 (Dame Turfe) ; ‘Jouër à cul-leve, to play at level-coyl’, (Cotgrave) . ”

“ King Lear, iii. 6. 17; Earle, Microcosmographie, § 25 (ed. Arber, p. 46) .
ho, a cry calling on one to stop; cessation, intermission, limit. Phr. out of all ho, out of all limit, beyond all moderate bounds, Greene, Friar Bacon, iv. 2 (1733) ; scene 11. 73 (W.) ; p. 174, col. 2 (D.) . In Yorkshire they say, ‘There is no ho with him’, i.e. there is no moderation, he is not to be restrained. ‘Out of all ho’ in the sense of ‘immoderately’ is a common phrase in the west Midlands. See EDD. (s.v. Ho, sb.1 5) . ME. ho, cessation, in phr. withouten ho (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. ii. 1083) . See Nares. ”

“ Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xvii. 732; Bible, Job xli. 18. ‘Neese’ is in prov. use in Scotland, Ireland, and various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Neeze) . ME. nesen (Prompt.) . Du. niesen, to sneeze (Hexham) . See Dict. (s.v. Neese) .
neif, one born on a feudal manor in a state of serfdom; ‘It signifieth in our common law a bondwoman, the reason is, because women become bound rather nativitate than by any other means’, Cowell. Spelt nyefe, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 342. Anglo-F. neif, ‘serf de naissance ou d’origine’ (Didot) ; Med. L. nativus (Ducange) . ”

“ Hen. V, v, Chorus, 9.
umberere; see umbriere.
umbles, the ‘numbles’, the entrails of a deer; ‘The umblis of venyson’, Skelton, Garl. of Laurell, 1240; Holinshed, i. 204 (Nares) ; fig. used for a man’s bodily parts, ‘Faith, a good well-set fellow, if his spirit Be answerable to his umbles’, Middleton, Roaring Girl, iii. 1 (Trapdoor) . See numbles.
umbrana, a delicate fish. Beaumont and Fl., Woman-hater, i. 1 (Duke) . Nares says: ‘The name of a fish, called also umbra; in English, umber or grayling; the Salmo thymullus of Linnaeus.’ Ital. ”

“ It is probable that the ME. form wolleward is due to popular etymology, and that the word properly represents an OE. *wullwered, clothed in wool, cp. swegelwered, clothed with heavenly brightness. The corruption would be natural, when the sense of wered was lost, as -ward was a common suffix. The phr. ‘to go woolward’ cannot be genuine: it could only mean ‘to go towards wool’, which is not the sense (Dr. Henry Bradley) . See note on the word ‘woolward’ in Mayor and Lumby’s edition of Beda’s Eccles. ”

“ Once a common term for a rogue or gallows-bird, one who is likely to make a halter wag or shake; ‘A wag-halter page’, Ford, The Fancies, i. 2; ‘Baboin, a trifling, busie or crafty knave; a crack rope, wag-halter, unhappy rogue, wretchless villain’, Cotgrave.
wagmoire, a quagmire. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 130. ‘Wagmire’ was once in prov. use in Glouc. and Devon (EDD.) . From wag, to shake, see EDD. (s.v. Wag, 2) .
wagpastie, a term of contempt; a rogue; ‘A little wagpastie, A deceiver of folkes’, Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 2. ”

“ OF. courtaut, ‘écourté’ (Hatzfeld) ; courtault, ‘cheval ou chien de courte taille. On appelait aussi courtault le chien ou le cheval qui avait la queue coupée’ (Jannet, Glossaire, Rabelais) .
curtana, the sword of mercy, a pointless sword, carried before our kings at a coronation. ”

“ See Dict. (s.v. War) .
warre: in phr. warre old; ‘But when the world woxe old, it woxe warre old (whereof it hight) ’, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 8. 31. The meaning is that when the world grew old, it grew worse, and that from warre old or war-old, the word ‘world’ is derived; cp. Shep. Kal., Sept., 108, ‘They sayne the world is much war then it wont’. The word ‘warre’ (or ‘war’) is in prov. use in the north country and in Ireland, see EDD. (s.v. War, adj.1) . ME. werre, worse (Ormulum, 4898) . Icel. verr, adv., verri, adj., worse.
warrie, gnarled, knotted. Golding, Metam. ”

“ Hence ‘bald coot’, a coot (Fulica atra) ; Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, i. 1 (Zanthia) . In prov. use (EDD.) .
bale, a set of dice; usually three. B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1 (Host) ; Heywood, Wise Woman of Hogsdon, i. 1 (Young Chartley) ; A Woman never vexed, ii. 1 (Stephen) . See NED. (s.v. Bale, sb.3 4) .
ball, a white streak on a horse’s face. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 73. Hence ball, as a horse’s name; orig. one marked with a white streak; Tusser, Husbandry, § 95, st. 2. Prob. of Celtic origin; cp. Gael. ball, spot, mark, Breton bal, a white mark on an animal’s face. ”

“ A hawk canceleers when, in stooping, she turns two or three times upon the wing, to recover herself before she seizes the prey. Massinger, Guardian, i. 1 (Durazzo) ; a turn or two in the air, Drayton, Pol. xx. 229. OF. (Picard) canceler (F. chanceler) , to swerve, waver.
candle: phr. to hold a candle to the devil, to assist an evil person, to persevere in evil courses. Greene, Orl. Fur. ”

“ See Nares.
leger, light; ‘A hundred leger wafers’, The London Chanticleers, scene 5 (Welcome) . F. léger.
legiaunce, faithful service. Bacon, Henry VII, p. 142. OF. ligeance, legiance, deriv. of lige, liege, entitled to feudal service, also, bound to render feudal service, see Didot (s.v. Lige, Ligence) . Cp. O. Prov. litge, ‘liege’; of Germanic origin, OHG. ledig, free; legiaunce was the feudal service of a free man. ”

“ Englishman for my Money, iii. 2 (Harvey) ; in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, x. 509. OF. muser, ‘regarder comme un sot’ (Bartsch) , cp. Ital. musare, ‘to muse, to gape, to hould ones muzle or snout in the aire’ (Florio) ; Prov. muzar, ‘regarder bouche béante’; mus, ‘figure, visage’ (Levy) .
muse, a gap in a thicket or fence through which a hare or other beast of sport is wont to pass; ‘Take a hare without a muse, and a knave without an excuse’, Howell, Eng. Prov. 12; ‘The wild muse of a bore’ (boar) , Chapman, tr. Iliad, xi. 368; Heywood, Witches of Lancs. ”

“ G. Graf.
†graved. ‘O, that these gravèd hairs of mine were covered in the clay!’, Appius and Virginia, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 143. Perhaps a misprint for grayed, become grey; see graye.
gravelled, stranded; hence, brought to a stand, perplexed. As You Like It, iv. 1. 74; North, tr. of Plutarch, Antonius, § 14 (in Shak. Plut., p. 177, n. 1) .
gray, a badger; grice of a gray, lit. pig of a badger, cub of a badger. B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 1 (Lorel) . Formerly in prov. use in the north country, and in Wilts., Devon, and Cornwall, see EDD. (s.v. Grey, sb.1 6) . ”

“ In prov. use in various senses in all parts of the English-speaking world: e.g. in good health, sound, vigorous (E. Anglia) ; neat, trim (Scotland) ; see EDD. See tith.
tight, pt. t., tied, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 12. 34.
tiller, in archery, the wooden beam which is grooved for reception of the arrow, or drilled for the bolt; ‘The beanie or tiller (of a balista) ’, Holland, Amm. Marcell. 221 (NED.) ; ‘Arbrier, the tillar of a crosse-bow’, Cotgrave; a stock or shaft fixed to a long-bow to admit of its being used as a cross-bow, for greater precision of aim, Beaumont and Fl., Philaster, ii. ”

“ Drayton, tr. of Aeneid, xi. 1184. ‘Ranch’ in E. Anglia means to scratch deeply and severely (EDD.) .
rand, a strip or slice of meat; ‘Rands and sirloins’, Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, v. 2 (Belleur) ; ‘Giste de bœuf, a rand of beef, a longe and fleeshy peece, cut out from between the flanke and buttock’ (Cotgrave) . Still in use in E. Anglia, see EDD. (s.v. Rand, sb.1 6) .
randon: in phr. at randon, with rushing force. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 4. 7; Shep. Kal., May, 46. OF. randon, force, impetuosity, the swiftness of a violent stream; hence F. aller à grand randon, ‘to go very fast’ (Cotgr.) . ”

“ Also spelt fiste, fyste, foist; the orig. sense is a breaking wind, a disagreeable smell. See NED. (s.v. Fist, sb.2) .
fisting-hound, a spaniel; a contemptuous term. Fleming, tr. of Caius’ Dogs; in Arber, Eng. Garner, iii. 287. See above.
fitches, ‘vetches’. Bible, Isaiah xxviii. 25; fytches, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 20. 40, § 70. 8. ‘Vesce, . . . fitch or vitch’, Cotgrave. ‘Fitches’ in gen. prov. use in Scotland, Ireland, and England (EDD.) .
fitchock, fichok, a polecat. Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 2 (Petillius) ; Scornful Lady, v. 1 (end) . ‘Fitch’ is a common prov. word for the polecat ”

“ Spelt rishe, Ascham, Scholemaster, pt. i (ed. Arber, p. 54) ; pl. rishes, Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. xix, c. 2; vol. ii, p. 7A. ‘Rish’ is in common use in Ireland and in many parts of England—in Yorks., Cheshire, also in Kent and the south-west, see EDD. (s.v. Rush, sb.1 (10) ) . OE. risc (see Oldest English Texts, p. 503) .
risp, a twig; esp. a limed twig for catching birds. Golding, Metam. xv. 473; fol. 185, bk. (1603) ; ‘Boschetto, a grove . . . a rispe, a lushe or lime-twigge to catch birds’, Florio (1598) . See NED. and EDD.
risse, pt. t. and pp. of the vb. to rise. As pt. t. pl. ”

“ Bitter, Middleton, Triumph of Love, ed. Dyce, v. 289; bittour, Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, v. 89; Dryden, Wife of Bath’s Tale, 194; Coles, Dict. (1679) . ME. bitore (Chaucer, C. T. D. 972) ; OF. butor, a bittern (Hatzfeld) .
bizzle, to become drunk, to drink to excess. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iii. 1 (Matheo) . See bezzle.
black: phr. black is your eye. To say ‘black is your eye’, to find fault with one, to lay something to his charge. ‘I can say, black’s your eye, though it be grey’, Beaumont and Fl., Love’s Cure, iii. 1 (Alguazier) ; ‘black’s mine eye’, Middleton, Blurt, Mr. ”

“ Coles, Dict., 1699; ‘Rather than thou shouldst pawn a rag more, I’ll lay my ladyship in lavender, if I knew where’, Eastward Ho, iv. 279 (Nares) ; to lie in lavender, to be in pawn, ‘a black suit . . . now lies in lavender’, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of his Humour, iii. 3. In R. Brathwaite’s Strappado for the Devil is an epigram, ‘Upon a Poet’s Palfrey lying in Lavender for the discharge of his Provender’, p. 154 (Nares) . Lavendered, pp. ‘Your lavendered robes’, Massinger, New Way to Pay, v. 1 (Overreach) .
laver, drooping, hanging down; ‘this laver lip’, Marston, Sat. v. 97. See lave. ”

“ Webster, Devil’s Law-case, i. 2 (Jolenta) ; Lingua, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ix. 426. See NED.
cass, to cashier, dismiss; ‘Malandrin, a cassed soldier’, Cotgrave. The pp. was confused with cast, and so spelt. ‘Pontius, you are cast’, Beaumont and Fl., Valentinian, ii. 3 (Aëcius) . F. casser, ‘to break, to casse, casseere, discharge, turn out of service’ (Cotgr.) . Prov. casar, ‘casser, briser’ (Levy) .
cassan, casson, cheese. (Cant.) Harman, Caveat, p. 83. Casson, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Song) . Cp. Du. kaas, a cheese. ”

“ Works, vi. 381; force perforce, by violent constraint, King John, iii. 1. 142; 2 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 116; to hunt at force, to run the game down with dogs instead of slaying with weapons, B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, i. 2 (Robin) .
force. It is force, it is of consequence or importance; usually negative, it is no force, it does not matter, no force, no matter, what force? what matter?; ‘No force for that, for it is ordered so’, Wyatt, The Courtier’s Life (Works, ed. Bell, 217) . ME. no force, no fors, no matter, no consequence; what fors, what matter (Chaucer) . ”

“ Spelt coppell, Bacon, Sylva, § 799. F. coupelle, ‘a Coppell, the little Ashen pot or vessel wherein Goldsmiths melt or fine their Metals’ (Cotgr.) ; see Estienne, Précellence, 142 (Lexique-Index, 400) . Coupelle is a deriv. of coupe, a cup. Med. L. cuppa (Ducange) . See NED. (s.v. Cupel) .
copeman, a chapman. B. Jonson, Volpone, iii. 5 (Vol.) . See cope.
copemate, copesmate, a person with whom one ‘copes’ or contends, an adversary. Golding, Metam. xii (ed. 1593, 279) ; Chapman, All Fools, ii (Valerio) ; a companion, comrade, Greene, Upstart Courtier (ed. 1871, 4) , used fig. Lucrece, 925 ”

“ In E. Anglia goaf (gofe, goff) is used for the bay of a barn, and for the corn or hay laid up in the bay, see EDD. (s.v. Goaf, sb.1 1 and 4) . ME. golf of corne, ‘archonium’ (Prompt. EETS. 195, see note, no. 893) ; Icel. gōlf, a floor, apartment, cp. Dan. gulv, a bay of a barn. See gove, gulfe.
goggle, gogle, to roll one’s eyes; ‘He gogled his eyesight’, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 459; to stare, Butler, Hud. ii. 1. 120.
gold, marigold; corn marigold; golds, pl., corn marigold, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 20. 25; gouldes, id. § 20. 25; gooldes, Spenser, Colin Clout, 341. ”

“ Phr. to hold tack with, to hold one’s ground with; to be even with; ‘A thousande pounde with Lyberte may holde no tacke’, Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2084; to be a match for, to hold at bay, Drayton, Pol. xi. 48; to hold tack, to hold out, to endure, Butler, Hud. i. 3. 277.
tack, a smack, taste or flavour which lasts, holds out. Drayton, Pol. xix. 130; ‘Le poisson pique, begins to have a tacke or ill taste’, Cotgrave. The same word as above.
tackle, a mistress, a trull (Cant) . Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, iv. ”

“ See Dict. (s.v. Newfangled) .
new-year’s-gift, a present to a great man on new-year’s day, usually given in hope of a reward or by way of bribe. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, ii. 1 (Julio) ; Ascham, Scholemaster, p. 21.
neysshe, soft. Morte Arthur, leaf 311. 8; bk. xiii, c. 30. See nesh.
niaise, a young hawk taken out of the nest, applied allusively to a simple, witless person. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 3 (Fitz.) ; ‘Niard, a nias faulcon’, Cotgrave. ‘Nias’ is a north Yorks. word for a young hawk (EDD.) . OF. niais, ‘qui n’est pas encore sorti du nid, qu’on a pris au nid’ (La Curne) . See eyas. ”