349. _mewe._ The _mewe_ was the place where the hawks were kept while
moulting; it was afterwards applied to the _coop_ wherein fowl were
fattened, and lastly to a place of confinement or secrecy.
350. _stewe_, fish-pond. 'To insure a supply of fish, stew-ponds were
attached to the manors, and few monasteries were without them; the moat
around the castle was often converted into a fish-pond, and well stored
with luce, carp, or tench.'--Our English Home, p. 65.
_breem_, bream; _luce_, pike, from O. F. _luce_, Low Lat. _lucius_.
351. _Wo was his cook_, woeful or sad was his cook. We now only use _wo_ or
_woe_ as a substantive. Cf. B. 757, E. 753; and 'I am _woe_ for 't';
Tempest, v. 1. 139.
'Who was _woo_ but Olyvere then?'--Sowdone of Babyloyne, l. 1271. Rob. of
Brunne, in his Handlyng Synne, l. 7250, says that a rich man's cook 'may no
day Greythe hym hys mete to pay.'
_but-if_, unless.
351, 352. _sauce--Poynaunt_ is like the modern phrase _sauce piquante_. Cf.
B. 4024. 'Our forefathers were great lovers of "piquant sauce." They made
it of expensive condiments and rare spices.'--Our English Home, p. 62.
353. _table dormant_, irremoveable table. 'Previous to the fourteenth
century a pair of common wooden trestles and a rough plank was deemed a
table sufficient for the great hall.... Tables, with a board attached to a
frame, were introduced about the time of Chaucer, and, from remaining in
the hall, were regarded as indications of a ready hospitality.'--Our
English Home, p. 29. Most tables were removeable; such a table was called a
_bord_ (board).
355. _sessiouns._ At the Sessions of the Peace, at the meeting of the
Justices of the Peace. Cf. '_At Sessions_ and at Sises we bare the stroke
and swaye.'--Higgins' Mirrour for Magistrates, ed. 1571, p. 2.
356. _knight of the shire_, the designation given to the representative in
parliament of an English county at large, as distinguished from the
representatives of such counties and towns as are counties of themselves
(Ogilvie). Chaucer was knight of the shire of Kent in 1386.
_tym-e_ here represents the A. S. _t[=i]man_, pl. of _t[=i]ma_, a time.
357. _anlas_ or _anelace_. Speght defines this word as a _falchion_, or
wood-knife. It was, however, a short two-edged knife or dagger usually worn
at the girdle, broad at the hilt and tapering to a point. See the New Eng.
Dictionary; Liber Albus, p. 75; Knight, Pict. Hist. of England, i. 872;
Gloss. to Matthew Paris, s. v. _anelacius_; Riley's [35] Memorials of
London, p. 15. The etymology is unknown; I _guess_ it to be from M. E.
_an_, on, and _las_, a lace, i. e. 'on a lace,' a dagger that hung from a
lace attached to the girdle. Cf. A. S. _bigyrdel_ (just below); and
'hanging on a laas' in l. 392.
_gipser_ was properly a pouch or budget used in hawking, &c., but commonly
worn by the merchant, or with any secular attire.--(Way.) It answers to F.
_gibecière_, a pouch; from O. F. _gibe_, a bunch (Scheler). In Riley's
Memorials of London, p. 398, under the date 1376, there is a mention of
'purses called _gibesers_.' In the Bury Wills, p. 37, l. 16, under the date
1463, we find--'My best _gypcer_ with iij. bagges.' The A. S. name was
_bigyrdel_, from its hanging _by the girdle_, as said in l. 358; it occurs
in the A. S. version of Matt. x. 9; and in P. Plowman, B. viii. 87.