Hath been our food, our cloistre for to rese:
And yet, God wot, unneth the fundament
Parfourmed is, ne of our pauement
N'is not a tile," &c.
The Sompnours Tale, v. 7685.
"Unneath," signifying difficult, scarcely, with difficulty, occurs so frequently in Spenser, that it is unnecessary to burden your pages with references. It may be remarked, however, that this latter author occasionally employs this word in the sense of almost.
T. H. de H.
Snail Gardens (Vol. viii., p. 33.).—In very many places on the Continent snails are regularly bred for the table: this is the case at Ulm, Wirtemberg, and various other places. A very lively description of the sale of snails in the Roman market is given by Sir Francis Head. I have collected much interesting information on this point, and shall feel grateful for any farther "Notes" on the subject.
Seleucus.
Parvise (Vol. vii., p. 624.).—Perhaps the following quotation may throw light on your correspondent D. P.'s inquiry respecting this word, in French Parvis. It is taken from a Dictionnaire Universel, contenant généralement tous les mots françois, tant vieux que modernes, &c., par feu Messire Antoine Furetière, Abbé de Chalivoi, three vols. folio, La Haye et la Rotterdam, 1701: