[668] 'Pess,' a hassock (Rye's East Anglian Glossary, English Dialect Society).
[669] the ground attached to the house. (Cf. Sc. toun.)
[670] with vigour and speed, promptly.
[671] Commonly supposed to mean St. Osyth.
[672] wager, bet; compare note 2, page 101. Ed. 1575 held.
[673] a fool, jester.
[674] For the older and better form of this song, see Appendix.
[675] A roasted crab-apple was placed in a bowl of ale to give it a flavour and take off the chill. Compare Midsummer Night's Dream, II. i. 48, and Nashe, Summer's Last Will and Testament:—
Sitting in a corner turning crabs,
Or coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale.