Chapter VIII: Part 8

32. All soules that be thursty, bid threshe out for mawlt: well handled and tended, or els thou dost nawlt. Thencrease of one strike is a pek for thy store: the maker is bad els, or pilfreth the more.

33. For Easter, at Martilmas hange vp a biefe: for pease fed and stall fed, play pickpurse the thiefe. With that and fat bakon, till grasse biefe come in: thy folke shall loke cherely, when others loke thin.

34. Set gardeine beanes, after saint Edmonde the king: the Moone in the wane, theron hangeth a thing. Thencrease of one gallonde, well proued of some: shall pleasure thy householde, ere peskod time come.

35. Except thou take good hede, when first they apere, the crowes will be halfe, grow they neuer so nere. Thinges sowne, set or graft, in good memory haue: from beast, birde and weather to cherishe and saue.

¶ Decembre.

36. Abrode for the raine, when thou canst do no good; then go let thy flayles, as the threshers were wood. Beware they threshe clene, though the lesser they yarne: and if thou wilt thriue, loke thy selfe to thy barne.

37. If barne rome will serue, lay thy stoouer vp drye and eche kinde of strawe, by hitselfe let it lie. Thy chaffe, housed sweete, kept from pullein and dust: shall serue well thy horses, when labour they must.

38. When pasture is gone, and the fildes mier and weate: then stable thy plough horse, and there giue them meate. The better thou vse them, in place where they stande: more strength shall they haue, for to breake vp thy lande.

39. Giue cattell their fodder, the plot drie and warme: and count them, for miring or other like harme. Trust neuer to boyes, if thou trust well to spede: be serued with those, that may helpe at a nede.

40. Serue first out thy rie strawe, then wheate & then pease, then otestrawe then barley, then hay if you please. But serue them with haye, while thy straw stoouer last, they loue no more strawe, they had rather to fast.

41. Kepe neuer such seruantes, as doth thee no good, for making thy heare, growing thorrough thy hood. For nestling of verlettes, of brothels and hoores: make many a rich man, to shet vp his doores.

¶ Christmas.

42. Get Iuye and hull, woman deck vp thyne house: and take this same brawne, for to seeth and to souse. Prouide vs good chere, for thou knowst the old guise: olde customes, that good be, let no man dispise.

43. At Christmas be mery, and thanke god of all: and feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small, yea al the yere long, haue an eie to the poore: and god shall sende luck, to kepe open thy doore.

44. Good fruite and good plenty, doth well in thy loft: then lay for an orcharde, and cherishe it oft. The profet is mickell, the pleasure is mutch; at pleasure with profet, few wise men will grutch.

45. For plantes and for stockes, lay afore hand to cast: but set or remoue them, while twelue tide doe last. Set one from another, full twenty fote square: the better and greater, they yerely will bare.

¶ January.

46. When Christmas is done, kepe not Christmas time still: be mindefull of rering, and loth for to kill. For then, what thou rerist thou nede not to dout: will double thy gaine, ere the yere come about.

47. Be gredy to spende all, and careles to saue: and shortly be nedy, and redy to craue. be wilfull to kill, and vnskilfull to store: and sone giue vp houskeping, longe any more.

48. Thy calues then, that come betwene new yere and lent: saue gladly for store, lest thou after repent. For all thing at that time, that colde feleth some: shall better beare colde, when the next winter come.

49. Weane no time thy calfe, vnder xl daies olde: and lay for to saue it, as thou sauest golde. yet calues that doe fal, betwene change and the prime: pas seldome to rere them, but kill them in time.

50. For stores of thy swine, be thou carefull betwix: of one sow at one time, rere seldome past six. The fewe that she kepe, much the better shal bee: of all thing, one good is worth steruelinges three.

51. Geld vnder the dame, within fornight at least: and saue both thy money, and life of the beast. But gelde with the gelder, as many one doe: and of halfe a dosen, go geld away two.

52. Thy coltes for the sadle, geld yong to be light: for cart doe not so, if thou iudgest a right. Nor geld not, but when they be lusty and fat: for there is a point, to be learned in that.

53. Geld marefoles, but titts ere and nine dayes of age: they die els of gelding, some gelders wil gage. But marefoles, both likely of bulke and of bone: kepe such to bring coltes, let their gelding alone.

54. For gaining a trifle, sell neuer thy store: for chaunsing on worse, then thine owne were before. More larger of body, the better for brede: more forward of growing, the better they spede.

55. Thy sowes, great with fare, that come best for to rere: loke dayly thou seest them, and count them full dere. For that time, the losse of one fare of thy sowe: is greater, then losse of two calues of thy kowe.

56. A kow good of milk, big of bulke, hayle and sounde, is yerely for profet, as good as a pounde. And yet, by the yere haue I proued ere now: as good to the purse, is a sow as a kow.

57. Kepe one and kepe both, so thou maist if thou wilt: then all shall be saued, and nothing be spilt. Kepe two bease, and one sow, and liue at thine ease: and no time for nede, bye thy meate but thou please.

58. Who both by his calues, and his lambes will be knowne: may well kill a neate, and a shepe of his owne. And he, that will rere vp a pig in his house: shall eate sweter bakon, and cheaper fed sowse.

59. But eate vp thy veale, pig and lambe being froth: and twise in a weeke, go to bed without broth. As that man that pas not, but sell away sell: shall neuer kepe good house, where euer he dwell.

60. Spende none but thyne owne, howsoeuer thou spende: nor haft not to god ward, for that he doth sende. Tythe truly for al thing, let pas of the rest: the iust man, his dealinges god prospereth best.

61. In January, husbandes that powcheth the grotes: will breake vp their lay, or be sowing of otes. Sow Jauiuer Otes, and lay them by thy wheate; in May, bye thy hay for thy cattel to eate.

¶ Februarij.

62. In Feuerell, rest not for taking thine ease: get into the grounde with thy beanes, and thy pease. Sow peason betimes, and betimes they will come: the sooner, the better they fill vp a rome.

63. In euery grene, where the fence is not thine: the thornes stub out cleane, that the grasse may be fine. Thy neighbours wil borow, els hack them beliue: so neither thy grasse, nor the bushes shall thriue.

64. Thy seruant, in walking thy pastures aboute: for yokes, forkes and rakes, let him loke to finde oute. And after at leyser let this be his hier: to trimme them and make them at home by the fier.

65. When frostes will not suffer to ditche nor to hedge: then get the an heate, with thy betill and wedge. A blocke at the harthe, cowched close for thy life: shall helpe to saue fier bote, and please well thy wife.

66. Then lop for thy fewel, the powlinges well growen: that hindreth the corne, or the grasse to be mowen. In lopping, and cropping, saue Edder and stake thyne hedges, where nede is to mende or to make.

67. No stick, nor no stone, leaue vnpicked vp clene: for hurting thy sieth, or for harming thy grene. For sauing of al thing, get home with the rest, the snow frozen hardest, thy cart may goe best.

68. Spare meddowes at shroftide, spare marshes at paske: for feare of a drougth, neuer longer time aske. Then hedge them, and ditche them, bestow thereon pence: for meddow and corne, craueth euer good fence.

69. And alway, let this be a part of thy care: for shift of good pasture, lay pasture to spare. Then seauer thy groundes, and so keping them still: finde cattel at ease, and haue pasture at will.

¶ Marche.

70. In Marche, sow thy barley thy londe not to colde: the drier the better, a hundreth times tolde. That tilth harrowde finely, set sede time an ende: and praise, and pray God a good haruest to sende.

71. Sow wheate in a meane, sow thy Rie not to thin; let peason and beanes, here and there, take therein. Sow barley and otes, good and thick doe not spare: giue lande leaue, her sede or her wede for to bare.

72. For barley and pease, harrow after thou sowe: for rye, harrow first seldome after I trowe. Let wheat haue a clodde, for to couer the hedde: that after a frost, it may out and goe spredde.

¶ A digression from husbandrie: to a poynt or two of huswifrie.

[72a] Now here I think nedeful, a pawse for to make; to treate of some paines, a good huswife must take. For huswifes must husbande, as wel as the man: or farewel thy husbandrie, do what thou can.

[72b] In Marche, and in Aprill, from morning to night: in sowing and setting, good huswiues delight. To haue in their gardein, or some other plot: to trim vp their house, and to furnish their pot.

[72c] Haue millons at Mihelmas, parsneps in lent: in June, buttred beanes, saueth fish to be spent. With those, and good pottage inough hauing than: thou winnest the heart, of thy laboring man.

¶ Aprill.

[72d] From Aprill begin, til saint Andrew be past: so long with good huswiues, their dairies doe last. Good milche bease and pasture, good husbandes prouide: good huswiues know best, all the rest how to guide.

[72e] But huswiues, that learne not to make their owne cheese: with trusting of others, haue this for their feese. Their milke slapt in corners, their creame al to sost: their milk pannes so flotte, that their cheeses be lost.

[72f] Where some of a kowe, maketh yerely a pounde: these huswiues crye creake, for their voice will not sounde. The seruauntes, suspecting their dame lye in waighte: with one thing or other, they trudge away straight.

[72g] Then neighbour (for gods sake) if any such bee; if you know a good seruant, waine her to mee. Such maister, suche man, and such mistres suche mayde such husbandes and huswiues, suche houses araide.

[72h] For flax and for hemp, for to haue of her owne: the wife must in May, take good hede it be sowne. And trimme it, and kepe it to serue at a nede: the femble to spin, and the karle for her sede.

[72i] Good husbandes, abrode seketh al well to haue: good huswiues, at home seketh al well to saue. Thus hauing and sauing, in place where they meete: make profit with pleasure, suche couples to greete.

¶ May.

73. Both Philip and Jacob, bid put of thy lammes: that thinkest to haue any milke of their dammes. But Lammas aduiseth thee, milke not to long: for hardnes make pouerty, skabbed among.

74. To milke and to folde them, is much to require: except thou haue pasture, to fill their desire. But nightes being shorte, and such hede thou mayst take not hurting their bodies, much profit to make.

75. Milke six ewes, for one kowe, well chosen therefore: and double thy dayrie, els trust me no more. And yet may good huswiues, that knoweth the skill: haue mixt or vnmixt, at their pleasure and will.

76. For gredy of gaine, ouerlay not thy grownde: and then shall thy cattell, be lusty and sownde. But pinche them of pasture, while sommer time last: and plucke at their tailes, ere & winter be past.

77. Pinche weannels at no time, of water nor meate: if euer thou hope to have them good neate. In sommer at al times, in winter in frost: if cattell lacke drinke, they be vtterly lost.

78. In May at the furdest, twy fallow thy lande: much drougth may cause after, thy plough els to stande. That tilth being done, thou hast passed the wurste: then after, who plowgheth, plowgh thou with the furste.

¶ June.

79. In June get thy wedehoke, thy knife and thy gloue: and wede out such wede, as the corne doth not loue. Slack no time thy weding, for darth nor for cheape: thy corne shall reward it, or euer thou reape.

80. The maywede doth burne, and the thistle doth freate: the Tine pulleth downe, both the rie and the wheate. The dock and the brake, noieth corne very much: but bodle for barley, no weede there is such.

81. In June washe thy shepe, where the water doth runne: and kepe them from dust, but not kepe them from sunne Then share them and spare not, at two daies anende, the sooner, the better their bodies amende.

82. Rewarde not the shepe, when thou takest his cote: with two or three patches, as brode as a grote; The flie than and wormes, will compel it to pine: more paine to thy cattell, more trouble is thine.

83. But share not thy lammes, till mid July be worne: the better their cotes will be growne to be shorne. The pie will discharge thee, for pulling the reste: the lighter the shepe is, then fedeth it beste.

84. Saint Mihel byd bees, to be brent out of strife: sajnt John bid take honey, with fauour of life. For one sely cottage, set south good and warme: take body and goodes, and twise yerely a swarme.

85. At Christmas take hede, if their hiues be to light: take honey and water, together wel dight. That mixed with strawes, in a dish in their hiues: they drowne not, they fight not, thou sauest their lyues.

86. At midsommer downe with thy brimbles and brakes: and after abrode, with thy forkes and thy rakes. Set mowers a worke, while the meddowes be growne; the lenger they stande, so much worse to be mowne.

87. Prouide of thine owne, to haue all thing at hande: els worke and the workman, shall oftentimes stande. Loue seldome to borow, that thinkest to saue; who lendeth the one, will loke two thinges to haue.

88. Good husbandes that laye, to saue all thing vpright: for Tumbrels and cartes, haue a shed redy dight. A store house for trinkets kept close as a iayle: that nothing be wanting, the worthe of a nayle.

89. Thy cartes would be searched, withoute and within; well cloughted and greased, or hay time begin. Thy hay being caried, though carters had sworne: the cartes bottome borded, is sauing of corne.

¶ Julii.

90. Then muster thy folke, play the captaine thyselfe: prouiding them weapon, and suche kinde of pelfe. Get bottels and bagges, kepe the fielde in the heate: the feare is not muche, but the daunger is great.

91. With tossing and raking, and setting on cox: the grasse that was grene, is now hay for an ox. That done, leaue the tieth, lode thy cart and awaye: the battell is fought, thou hast gotten the daye.

92. Then doune with thy hedlondes, thy corne rounde about leaue neuer a dalop, vnmoune or had out. Though grasse be but thinne, about barley and pease: yet picked vp clene, it shall do thee good ease.

93. Thryfallowe betime, for destroing of weede: least thistle and dock, fall a bloming and seede. Such season may hap, it shall stande the vpon: to till it againe, or the somer be gone.

94. And better thou warte, so to doe for thy hast: then (hardnes) for slougth make thy lande to lie wast. A redy good forehorse, is dainty to finde: be hindred at first, and come alway behinde.

95. Thy houses and barnes, would be loked vpon: and all thing amended, or haruest come on. Thinges thus set in ordre, at quiet and rest: thy haruest goeth forwarde and prospereth best.

96. Sainct James willeth husbandes, get reapers at hande: the corne, being ripe doe but shead as it stande. Be sauing and thankfull, for that god hath sent: he sendeth it thee, for the selfe same entent.

97. Reape well, scatter not, gather cleane that is shorne: binde fast, shock a pase, pay the tenth of thy corne. Lode salfe, carry home, lose no time, being faier: golfe iust, in the barne, it is out of dispaier.

98. This done, set the pore ouer all for to gleane: and after thy cattel, to eate it vp cleane. Then spare it for pasture, till rowen be past: to lengthen thy dayrey, no better thou hast.

99. Then welcome thy haruest folke, seruauntes and all: with mirth and good chere, let them furnish thine hall. The haruest lorde nightly, must geue the a song: fill him then the blacke boll, or els he hath wrong.

100. Thy haruest thus ended, in myrth and in ioye: please euery one gently, man woman and boye. Thus doing, with alway, such helpe as they can: thou winnest the name, of a right husband man.

_Finis._

Nowe thinke vpon god, let thy tonge neuer cease: from thanking of him, for his myghty encrease. Accept my good wil, finde no fault tyll thou trye: the better thou thryuest, the gladder am I.

¶ _A sonet or brief rehersall of the properties of the twelue monethes afore rehersed._

As Janeuer fryse pot, bidth corne kepe hym lowe: And feuerell fill dyke, doth good with his snowe: A bushel of Marche dust, worth raunsomes of gold And Aprill his stormes, be to good to be solde: As May with his flowers, geue ladies their lust: And June after blooming, set carnels so iust: As July bid all thing, in order to ripe: And August bid reapers, to take full their gripe. September his fruit, biddeth gather as fast: October bid hogges, to come eate vp his mast: As dirtie Nouember, bid threshe at thine ease: December bid Christmas, to spende what he please: So wisdom bid kepe, and prouide while we may: For age crepeth on as the time passeth away.

Finis.

Thinges thriftie, that teacheth the thriuing to thriue; teache timely to trauas, the thing that thou triue. Transferring thy toyle, to the times truely tought: that teacheth the temperaunce, to temper thy thought. To temper thy trauaile, to tarrye the tide: this teacheth the thriftines, twenty times tride. Thinke truely to trauaile, that thinkest to thee: the trade that thy teacher taught truely to the. Take thankfully thinges, thanking tenderly those: that teacheth thee thriftly, thy time to transpose. The trouth teached two times, teache thou two times ten this trade thou that takest, take thrift to the then.

¶ Imprinted at London in flete strete within Temple barre, at the sygne of the hand and starre, by Richard Tottel, the third day of February, An. 1557. _Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum._

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

(Notes signed M. are from Dr. Mavor's edition of 1812, and those signed T.R. are from Hilman's _Tusser Redivivus_, 1710.)

[E1] "Er in aught be begun;" that is, before a beginning be made in anything, the verb being used impersonally.

[E2] The directions which are stated briefly in the Abstract will be found in the Month's Husbandry in the stanza bearing the same number.

[E3] "Pilcrowe," the mark of a new paragraph in printing (¶). A corruption of _paragraph_, through _parcraft, pilcraft_, to _pilcrow_. "Paragrapha, _pylcraft_ in wrytynge."--Medulla Gramm. "_Paragraphus, Anglice_ a pargrafte in wrytynge."--Ortus. "Paragraphe or _Pillcrow_, a full sentence, head or title."--Cotgrave. "A _Pilkcrow_, vide Paragraph."--Gouldman.

[E4] "Crosserowe." "Shee that knowes where Christes crosse stands, will neuer forget where great A dwells."--Tom Tell-Trothe's New Year's Gift (New Shakspere Soc. ed. Furnivall), p. 33. "The Christs-crosse-row or Horne-booke, wherein a child learnes it."--Cotgrave. The alphabet was called the _Christ-cross-row_, some say because a cross was prefixed to the alphabet in the old primers; but as probably from a superstitious custom of writing the alphabet in the form of a cross as a charm. This was even solemnly practised by the Bishop in the consecration of a church. See Picart's Relig. Ceremonies, vol. i. p. 131.--Nares.

[E5] "A medicine for the cowlaske." In Sloane MS. 1585, f. 152, will be found a recipe for the cure of diarrhœa, the components of which appear to be the yolk of a new-laid egg, honey, and fine salt.

[E6] In the edition of 1557, the first stanza of the Epistle reads somewhat differently; see p. 220.

[E7] "Time trieth the troth," in Latin "Veritas temporis filia," occurs in Tottel's Miscellany, 1557, repr. 1867, p. 221.--Hazlitt's English Proverbs.

[E8] "Vnlesse mischance mischanceth me" = unless fortune is unkind to me.

[E9] "Remaine abrode for euermore," _i.e._ be given to the writings of others.

[E10] It is noticeable that though in the Author's Epistle he spells his name, most probably for convenience sake, as Tuss_a_r, he on all other occasions spells it Tuss_e_r, which is no doubt correct. In the edition of 1557 the name is spelt correctly, although the corresponding line of the stanza commences with the letter _a_. See p. 220.

[E11] "Like Iugurth, Prince of Numid." Jugurtha, an illegitimate son of Mastanabal, after the death of Micipsa murdered his two sons and seized on the sovereignty of Numidia. War was declared against him by the Romans, and after some time Metellus drove him to such extremes that he was obliged to take refuge with his father-in-law, Bocchus, by whom he was given up to Marius, was carried in triumph to Rome, and finally starved to death. The history of the war against him is related in Sallust's _Bellum Jugurthinum_.

[E12] "With losses so perfumid;" _i.e._ pervaded, thoroughly imbued; we use _imbued_ nearly in the same way.

[E13] Harrison, in his Description of England (E.E.T. Soc. ed. Furnivall, part i. p. 241), gives a very bad character to the landlords of his day: "What stocke of monie soeuer he [the farmer] gathereth and laieth vp in all his yeares, it is often seene, that the landlord will take such order with him for the same, when he renueth his lease, which is commonlie eight or six yeares before the old be expired (sith it is now growen almost to a custome, that if he come not to his lord so long before, another shall step in for a reuersion, and so defeat him out right) that it shall neuer trouble him more than the haire of his beard, when the barber hath washed and shaued it from his skin. And as they commend these, so (beside the decaie of house-keeping whereby the poore haue beene relieued) they speake also of three things that are growen to be verie grieuous vnto them, to wit, the inhansing of rents, latelie mentioned; the dailie oppression of copiholders, whose lords seeke to bring their poore tenants almost into plaine seruitude and miserie, dailie deuising new meanes, and seeking vp all the old, how to cut them shorter and shorter, _doubling, trebling, and now and then seuen times increasing their fines_; driuing them also for euerie trifle to loose and forfeit their tenures, (by whom the greatest part of the realme dooth stand and is mainteined,) to the end they may fleece them yet more." See also Norden's Surveyor's Dialogue, ed. 1607, p. 51.

The following curious prayer is in Edward the Sixth's Liturgies:--"The earth is Thine, O Lord, and all that is contained therein, notwithstanding Thou hast given possession of it to the children of men, to pass over the time of their short pilgrimage in this vale of misery. We heartily pray Thee to send Thy Holy Spirit into the hearts of those that possess the grounds, pastures, and dwelling-places of the earth, that they, remembering themselves to be Thy tenants, may not rack nor stretch out the rents of their houses and lands, nor yet take unreasonable fines and incomes after the manner of covetous worldlings, but so let them out to others, that the inhabitants thereof may both be able to pay the rents, and also honestly to live and nourish their families, and relieve the poor. Give them grace also to consider that they are but strangers and pilgrims in this world, having here no dwelling-place, but seeking one to come; that they, remembering the short continuance of their life, may be contented with that which is sufficient, and not join house to house and land to land, to the impoverishment of others; but so behave themselves in letting out their lands, tenements, and pastures, that after this life they may be received into everlasting dwelling-places, through, etc."

[E14] "Fleeces" = fleecings, frauds, impositions. It _may_, perhaps, be used literally, of selling wool at a loss.

[E15] "Ictus sapit." This corresponds to our proverb, "The burnt child dreads the fire," or perhaps more nearly to "Once bit, twice shy." In the "Proverbs of Hendyng" we find it as: "The burnt child fire dreadeth, quoth Hendyng." Ray, in his "Collection of Proverbs," edit. 1737, says: "Piscator ictus sapit; struck by the scorpion fish, or pastinaca, whose prickles are esteemed venomous."

[E16] If Tusser is here writing literally, the price of his book, in "the golden days of good Queen Bess," was only a groat or two at the utmost.--M.

[E17] "Shere" = shire; the construction is--don't think that _every_ bit of land (or county) can profit by following my directions, for soils differ. Compare chapter 19, stanza 8, p. 48.

[E18] "Must keepe such coile;" must bustle about, exert themselves. Cf. Scott's "Lord of the Isles," canto v. stanza 1: "For wake where'er he may, man wakes to care and _coil_." And Shakspere: "I pray you watch about Signor Leonata's door; for the wedding being there to-morrow, there is a great _coil_ to-night."

[E19] In the edition of 1570 the first stanza of the "Preface to the Buier" reads as follows:

"What lookest thou herein to haue?
Trim verses thy fansie to please?
Of Surry so famous that craue,
Looke nothing but rudenes in these."

The reference in the third line being to Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, author of the Translation of the second and fourth Books of the Æneid of Virgil, and of numerous other poems, who was executed in 1547.

[E20] In the footnote to this Preface it is stated that the metre is peculiar to Shenstone, but this is incorrect, as it is also used by Prior: "Despairing beside a clear stream."

[E21] "The sea for my fish," _i.e._ for my fishpond.

[E22] With "The Ladder to Thrift" we may compare the following "Maxims in _-ly_," from the Lansdowne MS. 762, f. 16_b_ (see Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 247):

"Aryse erly, Serue God devowtely, And the worlde besely, Doo thy werk wisely, Yeue thyne almes secretly, Goo by the waye sadly, Answer the people demuerly, Goo to thy mete appetitely, Sit therat discretely, Of thy tunge be not to liberally, Arise therfrom temperally, Go to thy supper soberly, And to thy bed merely, Be in thyn Inne jocundely, Please thy loue duely, And slepe suerly."

[E23] "Familie," here used in the sense of the Latin original _familia_ = household, servants. Compare chap. 73, st. 13.

[E24] Compare Shakspere, Richard II. Act ii. sc. 4, 24: "And crossly to the good all fortune goes."

[E25] "To bridle wild otes fantasie," _i.e._ to restrain the excesses of youth.

[E26] "Well to account of which honest is not;" never think highly of that which is not honourable, or honestly come by.

[E27] Cf. Hebrews xiii. 4: "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled." Tusser evidently does not appreciate "love in a cottage."

[E28] "Giue ouer to sudgerne, that thinkest to thee;" _i.e._ make up your mind to settle down in one place and to give up roaming about, if you hope to prosper, lest the grumbling of your hosts and the wants of the nurses prove too expensive for you. Compare "The Dialogue of Wiving and Thriving," ch. 67 stanza 3, p. 152.

[E29] Dr. Mavor suggests that the third line of this stanza should read: "Of tone _or_ them both," "meaning, if we smell the savour of saving or winning or them both."

[E30] A fool and his money are soon parted.

[E31] "Good bargaine a dooing," etc. When you have a chance of making a good bargain, don't let every one know; but when you want to sell anything, then let it be published abroad as widely as possible. In the first case don't hesitate or haggle about it, but "take the ball on the hop;" in the second, don't be in a hurry to take the first offer, if you are not ashamed of what you wish to sell.

[E32] "Of the complaint of such poore tenants as paie _rent corne_ vnto their landlords, I speake not, who are often dealt withall very hardlie. For beside that in the measuring of ten quarters, for the most part they lose one through the iniquitie of the bushell (such is the greedinesse of the appointed receiuers thereof), fault is found also with the goodnesse and cleannesse of the graine. Wherby some peece of monie must needs passe vnto their purses to stop their mouths withall, or else my lord will not like of the corne: 'Thou are worthie to loose thy lease, etc.' Or if it be cheaper in the market, than the rate allowed for it is in their rents, then must they paie monie, and no corne, which is no small extremitie."--Harrison, part i. p. 301.

[E33] "In this quatrain all the later editions of our author read uniformly _misers_ for _michers_ (thieves or pilferers). What kind of _misers_ 'unthriftiness' would make never seems to have been considered. 'Careless and rash' is a gallicism for carelessness and rashness."--M. "Mychare, _capax, cleps, furunculus._"--Prompt. Parv.

"_Mychers_, hedge crepers, fylloks and lushes, That all the somer kepe dyches and bushes." --The Hyeway to the Spytell House, ed. Atterson, ii. 11.

See also Townley Mysteries, pp. 216, 308. "_Caqueraffe_, a base _micher_, scurvie hagler, lowsie dodger, etc. _Caqueduc_, a niggard, _micher_, etc."--Cotgrave.

[E34] "Make hunger thy sauce." This is the proverb "hunger is the best sauce," which is reckoned amongst the aphorisms of Socrates: "Optimum cibi condimentum fames, sitis potus."--Cicero, De Finibus, Bk. II.

[E35] "Mastive, _Bandog, Molossus_."--Baret's Alvearie, 1580. "The tie-dog or band-dog, so called bicause manie of them are tied up in chaines and strong bonds, in the daie time, for dooing hurt abroad, which is an huge dog, stubborne, ouglie, eager, burthenous of bodie (and therefore but of little swiftnesse), terrible and fearfull to behold, and oftentimes more fierce and fell than anie Archadian or Corsican cur.... They take also their name of the word 'mase' and 'theefe' (or 'master theefe' if you will), bicause they often stound and put such persons to their shifts in townes and villages, and are the principall causes of their apprehension and taking."--Harrison, Descrip. of England, part ii. pp. 44-5. "We han great _Bandogs_ will teare their skins."--Spenser, Shep. Cal. September.

[E36] "The credite of maister," etc. If servants are allowed the credit or trust, which should only be allowed to their master and mistress, much trouble will be the result.

[E37] "Be to count ye wote what," that is, nothing to signify, of little importance.

[E38] "So, twentie lode bushes," etc. So, without proper management, twenty loads of bushes may be so wasted as only to serve for the stopping of a single gap.

"A" = one, a single: a very common use in Early English; cf. William of Nassington's "Myrrour of Lyfe," lines 2, 3;

"Fader and Sonne and Haly Gaste That er _a_ God als we trowe maste"--that is, _one_ God.

[E39] Some, upon Sundays, have their tables covered with smoking dishes, and then have to seek, _i.e._ do without dinners for the rest of the week.

[E40] "Skarborow warning." Grose says it means, "A word and a blow and the blow first." R. J. S. in Notes and Queries, 1st Ser. i. 170, adds that it is a common proverb in Yorkshire. Fuller states that the saying arose from "Thomas Stafford, who in the reign of Mary, A.D. 1557, with a small company, seized on Scarborough Castle, and before the townspeople had the least notice of their approach." Another explanation is that, if ships passed the castle without saluting it, a shotted gun was fired at them. In a ballad by Heywood another derivation is given:

"This term _Scarborow warning_ grew (some say)
By hasty hanging for rank robbery theare.
Who that was met, but suspect in that way,
Strait he was trust up, whatever he were."

This implies that Scarborough imitated the Halifax gibbet law.--N.& Q. 1st Ser. i. 138. In a letter by Toby Matthew, Bishop of Durham, to the Archbishop of York, Jan. 19, 1603, he writes: "When I was in the midst of this discourse I received a message from my Lord Chamberlain that it was his Majesty's pleasure that I should preach before him on Sunday next, which _Scarborough warning_ did not only perplex me, but so puzzel me as no mervail if somewhat be prætermitted, which otherwise I might have better remembered."--N. & Q. 4th Ser. xii. 408. "_Scarborough warning_. The antiquity of the phrase is shown by its occurrence in Puttenham's 'Arte of English Poetrie,' ed. 1589. The following is the passage, from p. 199 of Arber's reprint: [We have] 'many such prouerbiall speeches: as, _Totnesse is turned French_, for a strange alteration: _Skarborow warning_, for a sodaine commandement, allowing no respect or delay to bethinke a man of his busines.'"--Note by Rev. W. Skeat. See also Ray's Proverbs.

[E41] "Sir I arest yee;" that is, the Sheriff's officer, who, touching your arm, would use these words.

[E42] "Legem pone," a curious old proverbial or cant term for _ready money_.

"There are so manie Danaes now a dayes,
That love for lucre, paine for gaine is sold;
No true affection can their fancie please,
Except it be a Iove, to raine downe gold
Into their laps, which they wyde open hold;
If _legem pone_ comes, he is receav'd,
When _vix haud habes_ is of hope bereav'd."
--The Affectionate Shepheard, 1594.

"But in this there is nothing to bee abated, all their speech is _legem pone_, or else with their ill custome they will detaine thee."--G. Minshul, Essays in Prison.

[E43] "_Oremus_," from Lat. _orare_ = to beg, here means making excuses for non-payment of debts.

[E44] "_Præsta quæsumus_" = lend me, I pray. Compare _Preste_ = a loan, _Pretoes_ = loans, in Halliwell. A lender hates to hear a man say _Præsta_.

[E45] The word "collects" is used here in its original meaning of short prayers; thus the prayers before the Epistle and Gospel in the Prayer Book are called Collects, as containing briefly the lessons of the Epistle and Gospel.

[E46] "Nor put to thy hand," etc.; that is, do not meddle in the business of other people, and be careful whom you assist, lest by being too free and generous you yourself may be put to inconvenience. Ray gives: "Put not thy hand between the bark and the tree," that is, do not meddle in family affairs.

[E47] Tusser here, while acknowledging the necessity and advantages of the practice of "giving credit" in business, impresses strongly upon his readers the dishonesty and danger of promiscuous borrowing and lending, either to relations or friends, winding up with the advice never to trust a man who has once broken his engagements, without a surety, and never to lend a second time to a man who is angry with you for asking for payment of what he already owes.

[E48] "The foole at the bottom, the wise at the brim;" referring to the proverb, "Better spare at brim than at bottom," that is, "Better be frugal in youth, than be reduced to the necessity of being saving in age." Ray also gives another proverb of a similar character, "'Tis too late to spare when the bottom is dry." "Sera in fundo parsimonia."--Seneca, Epist. i.

[E49] "Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum." Cf. Barbour's Bruce, ed. Skeat, p. 612.

[E50] "Stands thee vpon." Compare Shakspere, King Richard II. Act ii. sc. 3, 138: "_It stands_ your grace _upon_ to do him right;" and,

"_It stands_ me much _upon_,
To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me."
--Richard III. Act iv. sc. 2, 59.

[E51] "Jankin and Jenikin" are only names for servants in general.

[E52]

"The proverb says, and who'd a proverb cross? That stones, when rolling, gather little moss." --Vade Mecum for Malt Worms, 1720, p. 6 (part 2).

See also Ray's Proverbs. Cf.

"On the stone that styll doth turne about, There groweth no mosse." --Sir T. Wiat, "How to use the Court," l. 4.

A similar proverb occurs in Piers Plowman, A Text, Passus x. l. 101: "Selden moseth the marbelston that men ofte treden." Cf. also, "Syldon mossyth the stone þat oftyn ys tornyd and wende."--"How the good wife taught her daughter," pr. in Q. Elizabeth's Achademy, ed. Furnivall, p. 39. In the Verses on Lord Burghley's Crest (printed in Thynne's Animaduersions, Chaucer Soc. ed. Furnivall), stanza 32, we read:

"And prouerbe olde was not deuis'd in veyne, That 'roolinge stone doth neuer gather mosse'; Who lightly leaves in myddest of all his peine, His former labor frustrates with his losse; But who continues as he did begynne, Withe equall course the pointed goale doth wynne."

See also chapt. 77. st. 20, p. 170.

[E53] "Of all [the lawyers] that euer I knew in Essex, Denis and Mainford excelled, till John of Ludlow, alias Mason, came in place, vnto whome in comparison they two were but children: for this last in lesse than three or foure yeares, did bring one man (among manie else-where in other places) almost to extreame miserie (if beggerie be the vttermost) that before he had the shauing of his beard, was valued at two hundred pounds (I speake with the least) and finallie feeling that he had not sufficient wherwith to susteine himselfe and his familie, and also to satisfie that greedie rauenour, which still called vpon him for new fees, he went to bed, and within foure daies made an end of his wofull life, euen with care and pensiuenesse. After his death also he so handled his sonne, that there was neuer sheepe shorne in Maie, so neere clipped of his fleece present, as he was of manie to come: so that he was compelled to let awaie his land, bicause his cattell and stocke were consumed, and he no longer able to occupie the ground."--Harrison, Descript. of Eng. part i. pp. 206-7.

"Daw" = a chattering fool. See Peacock's Glossary (Eng. Dial. Soc.).

[E54] From this stanza it would seem that sportsmen did not hesitate to trespass on the lands of others in former days any more than at present, but in such cases Tusser recommends the "mild answer which turneth away wrath," and sets out the advantages of courteousness and respect to one's superiors.

[E55] "That flesh might be more plentifull and better cheaper, two daies in the weeke, that is Fryday and Saturday, are specially appointed to fish, and now of late yeares, by the prouidence of our prudent Princesse, Elizabeth, the Wednesday also is in a manner restrained to the same order, not for any religion or holinesse supposed to be in the eating of fish rather than of flesh, but onely for the ciuill policie as I haue said. That as God hath created both for man's use, so both being used or refrained at certaine seasons, might by that entercourse be more abundant. And no doubt, if all daies appointed for that purpose were duly obserued, but that flesh and fish both would be much more plentifull, and beare lesse price than they doe. For accounting the Lent season, and all fasting daies in the yeare together with Wednesday and Friday and Saturday, you shall see that the one halfe of the yeare is ordeined to eate fish in."--Cogan's Haven of Health, ed. 1612, p. 138.

"It is lawfull for euerie man to feed vpon what soeuer he is able to purchase, except it be vpon those daies whereon eating of flesh is especiallie forbidden by the lawes of the realme, which order is taken onelie to the end our numbers of cattell may be the better increased, and that aboundance of fish which the sea yeeldeth, more generallie receiued. Beside this, there is great consideration had in making of this law for the preseruation of the nauie, and maintenance of conuenient numbers of sea faring men, both which would otherwise greatlie decaie, if some meanes were not found whereby they might be increased."--Harrison, Descript. of Eng. part i. p. 144.

The following menu for a fish day is given in the Liber Cure Cocorum, p. 54, ed. Morris:

"For a servise on fysshe day.

"Fyrst white pese and porray þou take, Cover þy white heryng for goddys sake; Þen cover red heryng, and set abufe, And mustard on heghe, for goddys lufe; Þen cover salt salmon on hast, Salt ele þer wyth on þis course last. For þe secunde course, so god me glad, Take ryse and fletande fignade, Þan salt fysshe and stok fysshe take þou schalle, For last of þis course, so fayre me falle. For þe iii cours sowpys done fyne, And also lamprouns in galentyne, Bakun turbut and sawmon ibake Alle fresshe, and smalle fysshe þou take Þerwith, als troute, sperlynges, and menwus with al, And loches to horn sawce versance shal."

See also the Babees Book, ed. Furnivall, p. 50.

[E56] "Setteth his soule vpon sixe or on seauen," that is, risks his life on the cast of a die.

[E57] "Sit downe Robin and rest thee." I was inclined to think that this was the burden of some ballad, but Mr. Chappell, to whom I applied, is of opinion that it was not.

"An habitation inforced," etc., _i.e._ it is better to settle down, even late in life, than not at all. Comp. chap. 10, stanza 8, p. 19.

[E58] For a great portion of the year the only animal food eaten was in a salted state. In the autumn as much meat was cured as would last the winter; and until the pastures had been for some time abundant, that is, not until Midsummer, there were no means of fattening cattle. After the winter months, veal and bacon were welcomed as the precursors of fresh beef; and those who lived near the sea-coast enjoyed the addition of fresh fish; but the state of the roads prevented the inland parts of the country partaking of this benefit. The consumption of fish during Lent and on other fast-days, comprising a great part of the year, being expressly directed by statute, the people, even after the abolition of the old religion, provided themselves at several large fairs held almost expressly for the sale and distribution of salt-fish.

[E59] "Veale and Bakon is the man," _i.e._ is the proper food, or is in season.

[E60] "Martilmas beef," beef killed at Martinmas, and dried for winter use. "Biefe salted, dried up in the chimney, Martlemas biefe."--Hollyband's Dict. 1593. See note to l. 383 of Wallace, in Specimens of Eng. Literature, ed. Skeat, p. 391.

"Beefe is a good meate for an Englysshe man, so be it the beest be yonge, and that it be not kowe-flesshe; for olde beefe and kowe-flesshe doth ingender melancolye and leporouse humoures. Yf it be moderatly powderyd, that the groose blode by salte may be exhaustyd, it doth make an Englysshe man stronge, the education of hym with it consyderyd. Martylmas beef, whiche is called 'hanged beef' in the rofe of the smoky howse, is not laudable; it maye fyll the bely, and cause a man to drynke, but it is euyll for the stone, and euyll of dygestyon, and maketh no good iuce. If a man haue a peace hangynge by his syde, and another in his bely, that the whiche doth hange by the syde shall do hym more good, yf a showre of rayne do chaunse, than that the which is in his bely, the appetyde of mans sensualyte notwithstandynge."--Andrew Boorde's Dyetary, E. E. Text Soc. edit. F. J. Furnivall, chap. xvi.

"In a hole in the same Rock was three Barrels of nappy liquour; thither the Keeper brought a good Red-Deere Pye, cold Roast Mutton, and an excellent shooing-horn of hang'd _Martimas_ Biefe."--1639, John Taylor, Part of this Summers Travels, p. 26.

"_Bacon_ is good for carters, and plowe men, the which be euer labouryng in the earth or dunge; but and yf they haue the stone and vse to eate it, they shall synge 'wo be to the pye!' Wherefore I do say that coloppes and egges is as holsome for them as a talowe candell is good for a horse mouth, or a peece of powdred Beefe is good for a blere eyed mare."--A. Boorde, Regyment, fo. K iii. b.

"As for _bacon_ it is in no wise commended as wholsome, especially for students, or such as haue feeble stomacks. But for labouring men it is conuenient according to that Latine prouerbe, grosse meate for grosse men."--Cogan's Haven of Health, p. 116.

[E61] The farmers in old times were greater economists than now. "Old crones and such old things," it seems, fell commonly to their own share, while the best meat was probably sold.--M. Compare also 21. 1.

[E62] "All Saints doe laie," etc. All Saints' Day expects or lays itself out for pork and souse, sprats and smelts for the household.

"When it [the bore] is killed, scalded, and cut out, of his former parts is our brawne made, the rest is nothing so fat, and therefore it beareth the name of sowse onelie, and is commonly reserved for the serving-man and hind, except it please the owner to have anie part ther of baked, which are then handed of custome after this manner. The hinder parts being cut off, they are first drawne with lard, and then sodden; being sodden, they are sowsed in claret wine and vineger a certeine space and afterward baked in pasties, and eaten of manie in steed of the wild bore, and trulie it is very good meat. The pestles [legs] may be hanged up a while to drie before they be drawne with lard if you will, and thereby prove the better."--Harrison, Descrip. of Eng. part ii. p. 11.

"_Spurlings_ are but broad _Sprats_, taken chiefly on our Northern coast; which being drest and pickled as Anchovaes be in Provence, rather surpass them than come behind them in taste and goodness.... As for Red Sprats and _Spurlings_, I vouchsafe them not the name of any wholesome nourishment, or rather of no nourishment at all; commending them for nothing, but that they are bawdes to enforce appetite and serve well the poor man's turn to quench hunger."--Muffett, p. 169, quoted in The Babees Book, ed. Furnivall. "Smelt = Spirling or Sparling in Scotland, Salmo Sperlanus."--Yarrell, Names of British Fishes. "A Sperlynge, _ipimera, sperlingus_."--Catholicon Anglicum. See also Glossary to Specimens of Early Eng., ed. Morris and Skeat.

[E63] "Embrings." Ember days or weeks, set apart for consecrating to God the four seasons of the year, and for imploring his blessing by fasting and prayer. They were settled by the Council of Placentia A.D. 1095.--M. _Embring_ is a more correct form, being nearer to A.S. _ymbren_. A connexion with Ger. _quatember_ is out of the question.

[E64] See as to the law relating to fasting and fish days, note E55 on 10. 51.

[E65] "Leaue anker in mud," _i.e._ drift, and break away from their anchorage.

[E66] "It is an ill winde turnes none to good," _i.e._ turns to good for none.

"An yll wynd that blowth no man good,
The blower of whych blast is she;
The lyther lustes bred of her broode
Can no way brede good propertye."
--Song against Idleness, by John Heywood, _circa_ 1540.

"Ah! Sirra! it is an old proverb and a true I sware by the roode! It is an il wind that bloues no man to good." --Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, 1570.

Quoted in Hazlitt's Handbook of Proverbs, p. 240.

[E67] "If great she appereth," _i.e._ if seen through a dense atmosphere, which causes her to appear much larger, it is an indication of approaching rain. The reverse is the case when the atmosphere is rare, and the orb of the moon appears small.

[E68] "Tyde flowing is feared," etc. "The Spaniards think that all who die of chronic diseases breathe their last during the ebb."--The Doctor, p. 207. Compare also in David Copperfield, "Mr. Barkis going out with the tide." Tusser, however, seems to mean that it was the flow and not the ebb which was dangerous to sick persons.

[E69]

"He that fast spendeth must need borrow, But when he must pay again, then is all the sorrow." --MS. of 15th cent. in Rel. Antiqua, vol. i. p. 316.

[E70] September is the month when the annual labours of agriculture begin their round, and it is therefore, justly, put first in the Calendar of farming. Some, indeed, take their bargains from Lady-day; but this is by no means so convenient as Michaelmas.--M.

[E71] The off-going tenant of champion or open field, as is still customary, allows the in-coming tenant to summer fallow that portion of the ground which is destined for wheat. But the occupier of woodland or inclosures holds the whole till the expiration of his term, unless certain stipulations are made by lease; and without a lease, neither the real interest of the tenant nor the landowner can be consulted.--M.

[E72] "Buieng or selling of pig in a poke," i.e. making a blind bargain.

"A good cochnay coke, Though ye loue not to bye the pyg in the poke, Yet snatche ye at the poke, that the pyg is in, Not for the poke, but the pyg good chepe to wyn." --Heywood's Dialogue (1546), ed. 1562, part ii. cap. 9.

See also Hazlitt's Handbook of English Proverbs, p. 413.

[E73] A _gofe_ is a _mow_ (rick); and the _gofe_-ladder is for the thresher to ascend and descend, in order to throw down the sheaves with the assistance of the _short pitch-fork_, while the _long_ was probably for pitching the straw. The _straw-fork_ and _rake_ were to turn the straw from off the threshed corn, and the _fan_ and _wing_ to clean it. A _cartnave_ might be required to stand on in this operation. A _casting shovel_, such as maltmen use, enables the farmer to select the best and heaviest grain for seed, as they always fly farthest if thrown with equal force.--M.

[E74] A _skep_ is a small basket or wooden vessel with a handle, to fetch corn in and for other purposes.--M.

[E75] "_Aperne_ is an old provincial pronunciation, adopted from a still older _napern_ or _nappern_; and Halliwell observes, that _nappern_ is still the pronunciation in the North of England. This word is interesting as illustrating two points: (1) the shifting of _r_, so that the various pronunciations of _apern_ and _apron_ correspond to the variations _brid_ for _bird_, and _burd_ for _bride_; and (2) the loss of the initial _n_; for _apron_ is for Fr. _naperon_, a large napkin; see Roquefort and Wedgwood. _Naperon_, without _n_ and _e_, is _apron_; without _n_ and _o_, it is _apern_."--Rev. Walter W. Skeat in N. & Q. 1869.

[E76] "To make whyte lethyre. Take halfe an unce of whyte coperose and di. ȝ. of alome, and salle-peter the mowntance of the yolke of an egge, and yf thou wolle have thy skynne thykke, take of whetmele ij handfulle, and that is sufficient for a galone of water; and if thou wolle have thy skynne rynnyng, take of ry mele ij handfulle, and grynd alle thyes saltes smale, and caste hem into lewke warme water, and let heme melt togedyre, and so alle in ewene warme water put therein thy skynne. And if hit be a velome skynne, lett hit be thereinne ix days and ix nyȝtes ... and if hit be a parchement skyne, let hit ly thereinne iv days and iv nyȝtes; ... thanne take coperose of the whyttest the quantité of ij benys for j skynne and the yolke of j egge, and breke hit into a dysse, and than put water over the fyre, and put thereinne thy coperas, and than put thy yolke in thy skyne, and rub hit alle abowte, and thanne ley thy skynne in the seyde water, and let hit ly, ut dictum est."--From the Porkington MS. 15th cent.