And pilled as an ape was his skull."
Shakspeare also has:—
"Pieled priest! doost thou command me to be shut out?"
for "shaven priest." But pilled, in other cases as might be shown by quotations, which for the sake of brevity I omit, means pillaged, robbed, and also peeled, of which last sense the quotations above given seem only to be a figurative application. The difficulties which arise from these explanations are, first, if bald be the true meaning, why must we, with Todd, limit it to baldness, resulting from disease, or more especially (as Grose will have it) from a disgraceful disease?
Secondly, if peeled be taken as the equivalent to pilled, why is peeled garlick a more perfect type of misery than any other peeled root or fruit?
Thirdly, if pillage is an essential ingredient in the true meaning of the term "pilled garlick," what has the stolen garlick to do with wretchedness? And,
Lastly, how will any one, or all of these explanations together, tally with the following passage from Skelton:—
"Wyll, Wyll, Wyll, Wyll, Wyll
He ruleth always styll.
Good reason and good skyll,