4112. The first foot is 'trochaic.'
4115. in his hond, in his possession, in his hold.
4126. 'Or enlarge it by argument'; prove by logic that it is the size you wish it to be.
4127. Cutberd, St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, died in 686. Being a Northumberland man, John swears by a Northumberland saint.
4130. Evidently a proverb: 'a man must take (one) of two things, either such as he finds or such as he brings'; i. e. must put up with what he can get.
4134. Another proverb. Repeated in D. 415, with lure for tulle. From the Policraticus of John of Salisbury, liv. v. c. 10: 'Veteri
celebratur proverbio: Quia vacuae manus temeraria petitio est.' MS. Cm. has the rimes folle, tolle. For tulle, a commoner spelling is tille, to draw, hence to allure, entice. Hence E. till (for money), orig. meaning a 'drawer'; and the tiller of a rudder, by which it is drawn aside. See tullen in Stratmann, and tollen in Boeth. bk. ii. pr. 7. 11 (in vol. ii. p. 45).
4140. chalons, blankets. The same word as mod. E. shalloon, 'a slight woollen stuff'; Ogilvie's Dict. 'The blanket was sometimes made of a texture originally imported from Chalons in France, but afterwards extensively manufactured in England by the Chaloners'; Our Eng. Home, p. 108. 'Qwyltes ne chalouns'; Eng. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, p. 350.
4152. quakke, asthma, or difficulty of breathing that causes a croaking noise. Halliwell gives: 'Quack, to be noisy, West. The term is applied to any croaking noise.' Also: 'Quackle, to choke, or suffocate, East.' Pose, a cold in the head; A. S. gepos.
4155. 'To wet one's whistle' is still in use for to drink deeply. 'I wete my whystell, as good drinkers do'; Palsgrave, p. 780. In Walton's Complete Angler, Part i. ch. 5, we find: 'Let's drink the other cup to wet our whistles.'