Fiue hundred pointes of good husbandrie
to the Female's share to _tew-taw_ it, that is, to dress it and to spin
it, etc. The Fimble Hemp is that which is ripe soonest and fittest for
spinning, and is not worth above half as much as the _Carle_ with its
seed.--T.R. "The male is called _Charle Hempe_, and _Winter Hempe_;
the Female _Barren Hempe_ and _Sommer Hempe_."--Gerard's Herball, p.
572. "Hemp was much cultivated here until the end of the great war with
France. The _Carl_ or male hemp was used for ropes, sackcloth, and
other coarse manufactures: the _fimble_, or female hemp, was applied
to making sheets and other domestic purposes."--Peacock's Gloss. of
Manley, etc., E. D. Soc.
It is curious that the Karl or male hemp should be in reality the
female plant, but other authors use the names in the same way. "The
femell hempe ... beareth no sede."--Fitzherbert, "Boke of Husbandry."
See also 55. 8. Gerard says the female hemp is "barren and without
seede, contrarie to the nature of that sexe."--Note by Mr. J. Britten,
F.L.S.
[E319] The fact of the Hop being one of the plants which twine from
left to right had thus been observed as early as Tusser's time.--Note
by Mr. J. Britten, F.L.S.
[E320] The tine tare ["a tare that _tines_ or encloses and imprisons
other plants, _Vicia hirsuta_."--Prior] is now seldom attempted to be
raked out, for fear of greater mischief from the practice than from its
neglect. The safest way is certainly to cut the tine near the root, but
the operation is extremely tedious.--M.
[E321] "The Fawy riseth in Fawy moore in a verie _quaue mire_, on the
side of an hill."--Harrison, ed. 1587, Bk. i. c. 12.
Cf. "The wal wagged and clef, and al the worlde _quaved_."
--Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B Text, Passus xviii. 61.
"Quave of a myre (quaue as of a myre), _Labina_. Quavyn, as myre,
_Tremo_."--Prompt. Parv. Horman, in his chapter _de re edificatoriâ_,
observes that "a _quauery_ or a maris and unstable foundation must
be holpe with great pylys of alder rammed downe, and with a frame
of tymbre called a crossaundre (_fistucâ_)." In Caxton's Mirrour of
the World, Part II. c. 22, it is said, "understande ye how the erthe
quaueth and shaketh, that somme peple calle an erthe quaue, by cause
they fele the erthe meue and quaue vnder their feet." "Quaue myre,
_foundriere crouliere_."--Palsgrave. Forby gives Quavery-mavery =
undecided, hesitating.--Way, Note in Prompt. Parv., _s.v._ Quave.
[E322] The meaning is, make your dunghill on the headland, especially
where shaded with trees and bushes, as they will prevent the moisture
from exhaling.--M.
"I see in some meddowes _gaully_ places where little or no grasse at
al groweth, by reason (as I take it) of the too long standing of the
water, for such places are commonly low, where the water standeth,
not hauing vent to passe away, and therefore meanes must be first
made for the evacuation of the water: for the continual standing of
the water consumeth the grasse, and makes the place bare, and sinketh
it. In such a place, therefore, sow in the Spring-time some hay-seed,
especially the seed of the claver grasse, [clover] or the grasse
hony-suckle [trefoil], and other seeds that fall out of the finest and
purest hay: and in the sowing of it, mingle with it some good earth;
but sow not the hony-suckle grasse in too moist a ground, for it liketh
it not."--Norden's Surveyor's Dialogue, 1607, pp. 201-2. Gauls are void
spaces in Coppices which serve for nothing but to entice the Cattel
into it, to its great Damage.--T.R.
[E323] If the land is overstocked in summer, you may, perhaps, be
obliged to assist your cattle to rise in winter; or, in other words,
"to lift at their tails."--M. Cf. 21. 14.
[E324] It appears to have been the custom formerly to allow, in warm
weather, sleep for an hour or two. In Norfolk we are told the practice
is not quite obsolete on churning days when the mistress and maids get
up early; and likewise among the ploughmen, where two journies a day
are performed with their teams, and an interval allowed for rest.--M.
Compare the expression in the Paston Letters, i. 390, "Writan in my
slepyng tyme at after none, on Wytsonday."
[E325] "Patch." Cf. Shakspere, Mid. Night's Dr., Act iii. sc. 2; and
Merchant of Venice, Act ii. sc. 5.
[E326] "Growthed" = grout-hed = thick head, fat head. Cf. _growtnoul_ =
a blockhead. "_Growte nowle_ come to the King."--Promos and Cassandra,
p. 81.
[E327] Stilling, or distilling, may be a "pretty feat," but we doubt
if it is very profitable, and if it does not furnish a temptation to
dram-drinking, under the mask of simple and medicinal _waters_.--M.
[E328] See note E69.
[E329] "Swinge brembles and brakes," this is, cut down with a sweeping
instrument somewhat resembling a scythe.
[E330] "Sheep-shearing takes place only once, viz. in the month of
June; the heaviest wethers weigh sixty pounds, others from forty to
fifty pounds: they bear at the most not more than six, others four or
five pounds of wool; one of the best wethers (notwithstanding that
they are very abundant) sells for about twenty shillings, that is, ten
French francs or five thalers; the inferior sort about ten shillings,
or five francs; and the worst about six or eight English shillings.
The skin of the best wether and sheep is worth about twelve pence,
that is, four and a half German batzen; the worst about eight pence or
three batzen; a pound of wool about twelve pence, or four and a half
batzen."--Rathgeb, 1602, Rye, p. 51 (quoted in Harrison's Description
of England, ed. Furnivall, Part I. p. lxxxiii). "Running Water is best,
... but then it is oft-times very sheer and cold."--T.R. (June).
[E331] "Grote." "In this yere [1349] the kynge caused to be coyned
grotes and half grotes, the whiche lacked of the weight of his former
coyne, ii s. vi d. in a li [_libra_, pound] Troy."--Fabyan, p. 461. The
_groat_ was only equal to about three and a half silver pennies instead
of four.
[E332] "The Pie will discharge thee," etc., that is, the magpie will
save you the trouble, etc., alluding to birds eating vermin on sheep's
backs.
[E333] "Ouercome" = overtake, or keep up with; don't mow more than you
can easily make, not too much at once, lest part of it be spoiled for
want of hands.
[E334] "Cock apace." Cf. Piers Plowman, C. Text, Passus vi. 12, 13 (ed.
Skeat).
"Canstow seruen, he seide, oþer syngen in a churche,
Oþer _coke for my cokers_, oþer to þe cart picche?"
_i.e._ put hay into cocks for my harvest men. Mr. Skeat quotes in
his note to this passage: "Bee it also prouided, that this act, nor
anything therein contained, doe in any wise extende to any _cockers_
or haruest folkes that trauaile into anie countrie of this realme for
haruest worke, either corne haruest, or hay haruest, if they doe worke
and labour accordingly."--Rastall, Statutes; Vagabonds, etc., p. 474.
[E335] To employ your labourers in ploughing, or in performing other
parts of husbandry, till the dew is off the grass, is unquestionably a
saving of time, and essentially forwards the business of the farm.--M.
[E336] He who is constantly borrowing tools and other things which he
ought to have of his own, lays himself under obligation to the lender,
who expects twice as much in return.
[E337] "Woodsere" here means the proper season for felling wood.
[E338] "Fieing." "Feigh, Fey, vb. to clean out a drain, gutter or
cesspool. 'Paid to John Lavghton in haruest for _feighinge_ the milne
becke.'--Kirton in Lindsey Ch. Acc. 1582. George Todd's _feyin'_ out
the sink hole."--Peacock's Glossary, E. Dial. Soc. 1877. To _fey_ a
ditch or pond is to empty and clean it; and the mud taken from such
places, if mixed with lime or chalk, forms an excellent compost for
pasture grounds.--M. Cf. Icel. _fægja_, to cleanse, whence our word is
derived.
[E339] "Of late yeares also we haue found and taken vp a great trade
in planting of _hops_, whereof our moorie hitherto and vnprofitable
grounds doo yeeld such plentie and increase that there are few farmers
or occupiers in the countrie, which haue not gardens and hops growing
of their owne, and those farre better than doo come from Flanders
vnto vs. Certes the corruptions vsed by the Flemings, and forgerie
dailie practised in this kind of ware, gaue vs occasion to plant them
here at home; so that now we may spare and send manie ouer vnto them.
And this I know by experience that some one man by conuersion of his
moorie grounds into hopyards, wherof before he had no commoditie, dooth
raise yearelie by so little as twelue acres in compasse two hundred
markes; all charges borne toward the maintenance of his familie. Which
Industrie God continue! Though some secret freends of Flemings let not
to exclaime against this commoditie, as a spoile of wood, by reason
of the poles, which neuerthelesse after three yeares doo also come to
the fire, and spare their other fewell."--Harrison, Descript. of Eng.,
1587, p. 206. "Lowe and spungie grounds trenched is good for hopps,
as Suffolke, Essex, and Surrie, and other places doe find to their
profit."--Norden, p. 206. Evelyn, Sylva, pp. 201, 469, ed. Hunter,
asserts that there was a petition against them temp. Henry VI., but no
record of it appears on the rolls of Parliament. Brewing with hops was
not introduced here till the reign of King Henry VIII. (Stow, Hist. p.
1038.) _Bere_, however, is mentioned in 1504. (Leland, Coll. vi. p.
30, and see Dr. Percy on Northumberland Book, p. 414.)--Pegge's Forme
of Cury, ed. 1780, p. xxiii. See a long note in Prompt. Parv., _s.v._
Hoppe; and also "Pharmacographia," p. 496.
[E340] For wanting at will = for fear of having none when you really
want it.
[E341] Hay for neat cattle may be made with less labour, and more
expeditiously than for horses; because, if it is a little mow burnt, it
will not be the less acceptable to them; and besides, the fermentation
it undergoes, if not carried too far, has a natural tendency to mellow
coarse grass.--M.
[E342] _Avise auouse_ is French jargon for _take precautions_. Ill-made
hay is apt to take fire; if much wetted with rain, to become mouldy.
Hard and fine hay is best for horses; soft and coarse hay will be more
acceptable to cattle; while short hay is coveted by sheep.--M.
[E343] Thry fallowing, or the third plowing, should be performed
pretty early in the summer, in order that the ground may acquire
sufficient hardness to resist the seeds of thistles and other weeds,
even at the risk of requiring another stirring.--M.
[E344] This can only refer to garden beans, but the practice is now
obsolete.
[E345] See note E318.
[E346] "Wormwood, a word corrupted from A.S. _wermod_, Ger. _wermuth_,
O.S. _weremede_, words which seem to be compounded with Ger. _wehren_,
A.S. _werian_ = to keep off, and _mod_ or _made_ = maggot, but which,
by an accidental coincidence of sound, have been understood as though
the first syllable were _worm_. L. Diefenbach would prefer to derive
it from a Celtic root that means "bitter," Welsh _chwerw_, Cornish
_wherow_. Be its origin what it may, it was understood in the Middle
Ages as meaning a herb obnoxious to maggots, and used to preserve
things from them, and was also given as an anthelmintic or worm
medicine. _Artemisia Absinthium_, L."--Dr. R. A. Prior, Pop. Names
of Brit. Plants. "Two sorts of _Wormewood_ are well knowen of many,
that is, our common Wormewood, and that which is called _Ponticum_,
now sowen in many gardens, and commonly called French-wormewood. And
while it is yong, it is eaten in Salats with other herbes, to the great
commoditie of the stomacke and Liuer. For it strengthneth a weake
stomacke, and openeth the Liuer and Splene. For which purpose there is
to be had in the Stilliard at London a kind of wine named Worme-wood