"and kisseth hire swete, and chirketh as a sparwe
With his lippes."——
Chaucer, Somp. Tale, 7386.
In the following it is used for a disagreeable noise.
"All full of chirking was that sory place."
Knight's Tale, 2006.
"And al so ful eke of chirkings
And of many other wirkings."
House of Fame, 858.
Shet for shut is now become vulgar; yet this is the true original orthography and pronunciation. It is from the Saxon scitten, and I believe was always spelt shette or shet, till after Chaucer's time, for he was a correct writer in his age, and always spelt it in that manner.
"Voideth your man and let him be thereout,
And shet the dore."——
Chau. Yem. Tale, 16, 605.