[E84] "The ploughstaff is alluded to by Strutt (Manners and Customs, ii. 12): 'The ploughman yoketh oxen to the plough, and he holdeth the plough-stilt [i.e. principal hale or handle] in his left hand, and in his right hand the ploughstaff to break the clods.' See plate 32 (vol. i.) in Strutt, and the picture of a plough at work prefixed to Mr. Wright's edition of Piers the Plowman, copied from MS. T. [MS. R. 3. 14, Trin. Coll. Camb.]."—Piers Plowman, ed. Skeat, B. vi. 105.
[E85] "Moether" [and "mother", [16. 14.]]. This word is derived by Sir H. Spelman from Danish moer = an unmarried girl. "Puera, a woman chylde, callyd in Cambrydgeshyre a modder." "Pupa, a yonge wenche, a gyrle, a modder."—Elyot's Lat. Dict. 1538. "Fille, a maid, girle, modder, lasse."—Cotgrave. Ben Jonson uses the word in his "Alchymist": "Away, you talk like a foolish mauther."—Act iv. sc. 7. Richard Brome also has it in the Eng. Moor, Act iii. sc. i.:
P. "I am a mother, that do want a service.
Qu. O, thou'rt a Norfolk woman (cry thee mercy,)
Where maids are mothers, and mothers are maids."
"I have been informed by an intelligent friend, who is a native of Norfolk, that on a certain trial in that county, it was asked who was the evidence of what had been stated. The answer was, 'A mather playing on a planchard.' The Judge was nonplussed, till the meaning was explained, namely, 'A girl playing on the floor.'"—M.
[E86] "Hoigh de la roy," that is, excellent or proper; but why, I cannot say.
[E87] A cradle is a three-forked instrument of wood, on which the corn is caught as it falls from the scythe, and thus is laid in regular order. It is heavy to work with; but is extremely useful for cutting barley or oats, which are intended to be put into sheaves.—M.
[E88] Tar was the common salve for all sores in cattle. "Two pounds of tar to a pound of pitch," is a good composition for sheep marks.—M. "Every shepherd used to carry a tar-box, called a tarre-boyste in the Chester Plays, p. 121, or a terre-powghe (= tar pouch) in P. Pl. Crede, l. 618. It held a salve containing tar which was used for anointing sores in sheep. Compare
"Heare is tarre in a potte
To heale from the rotte."
—Chester Plays, p. 120.
See also History of Agriculture and Prices in England, by J. E. Thorold Rogers, vol. i. p. 31. Note to P. Plowman, ed. Skeat, C. x. 262-264.