[l. 706], Snyte or Snipe. “Cap. lxxxiiij. Nepa is a byrde with a longe byll / & he putteth his byll in the erthe for to seke the worms in the grounde / and they put their bylles in the erthe sometyme so depe that they can nat gete it vp agayne / & than they scratche theyr billes out agayn with theyr fete. This birde resteth betimes at nyght / and they be erly abrode on the morninge / & they haue swete flesshe to be eaten.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe.
[l. 706], Sparow. “Passer / The Sparowe is a lytell byrde / and whan the cucko fyndeth the sparowes nest / than he suppeth vp the egges, & layeth newe egges hym self therin agayne / & the sparowe bredeth vp these yonge cuckoes tyl they can flee; than a great many of olde sparowes geder to-geder to thentent that thei sholde holde vp the yonge sparowes that can nat flee / & theyr mete is wormes of the erthe.... All sparowes flesshe is euyl / and their egges also. The flessh is very hote, and moueth to the operacion of lechery.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe (o. iv.), Cap. xci.
[l. 713.] Comfits are round, long or square pellets of Sugar made by the Art of a Confectioner. R. Holme.
[l. 737], Eles. Trevisa in his Higden says of Britain ‘þe lond ys noble, copious, & ryche of noble welles, & of noble ryvers wiþ plente of fysch. þar ys gret plente of smal fysch & of eeles, so þat cherles in som place feedeþ sowes wiþ fysch.’ Morris’s Specimens, p. 334.
Comyth ther not al day owt of hollond and flaundre
Off fatte eles full many a showte,
And good chepe, who that wayteth the tyddys abowte?
Piers of Fullham, ll. 71-3, Early Pop. Poetry, v. 2, p. 4 (and see ll. 7-10).
[l. 747], [812]. Minoes, so called either for their littleness, or (as Dr. Cajus imagined) because their fins be of so lively a red, as if they were died with the true Cinnabre-lake called Minium: They are less than Loches, feeding upon nothing, but licking one another . . they are a most delicate and light meat . . either fried or sodden. Muffett, p. 183.
[l. 758.] Towse. Can this be a form of dough? G. P. Marsh.