Of the original meaning of spring, I have met but one clear instance; it is, however, an incontrovertible one, namely,
"Whoso spareth the spring (i. e. rod, switch), spilleth his children."—Visions of Piers Plowman, v. 2554., ed. Wright.
Perhaps this is also the meaning in—
"Shall, Antipholus,
Even in the spring of love thy love-springs rot?"
Com. of Errors, Act III. Sc. 2.
and in "Time's Glory"—
"To dry the old oak's sap and cherish springs."
Rape of Lucrece.
Spring afterwards came to be used for underwood, &c. Perhaps it answered to the present coppice, which is composed of the springs or shoots of the growth which has been cut down: