And hail that madyn, my lemman,
As heyndly (courteously) as thou can.
Still, so early as the days of Gower, its corrupted leman had become a sobriquet for one of loose, disorderly habits.[[548]]
(2) Nicknames from Peculiarities of Disposition—Objectionable.
The mention of such names as ‘Baud,’ ‘Parramore,’ ‘Leman’ or ‘Lemon,’ ‘Proud,’ ‘Proudman,’ and ‘Proudfoot,’ which we have charitably set in the list of complimentary nicknames, as having, perchance, risen at a time when the meaning of the words conveyed a totally different idea from that which they now convey, brings us to the category of those which can scarcely seek any shelter of such a kind. ‘Lorel,’ ‘Lurdan,’ and ‘Lordan,’ together with the once familiar ‘losel’ and ‘losard,’ denoted a waif, or stray, one who preyed upon society, exactly identical, in fact, with the Latin ‘perditus.’ Thus we find Herod, in the ‘Townley Mysteries,’ saying to his officers—
Fie, losels and lyars, lurdans each one,
Tratours and well worse, knaves, but knyghts none.
‘Cocke Lorelle,’ too, speaks of—
Lollers, lordaynes, and fagot berers,
Luskes, slovens, and kechen knaves.