With nut-brown ale."—Henry V., Anon.
"And sit down in my chaire by my faire Alison,
And turn a crabbe in the fire as merry as Pope Joan."
—Edwards's Damon and Pithias.
"Sitting in a corner turning crabs,
Or coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale."
—Description of Christmas in Summer's last Will and Testament, by Nash, 1600.
[207] Trowl, or trole the bowl, was a common phrase in drinking for passing the vessel about, as appears by the following beginning of an old catch—
"Trole, trole the bowl to me,
And I will trole the same again to thee."