When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw:
Then roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
And nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit tu-who, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Shakspeare.
To “keel” the pot is an ancient spelling for “cool,” which is the past participle of the verb: see Tooke’s “Diversions of Purley,” where this passage is so explained.
[66] Dr. Forster’s Perennial Calendar.
Vol. I.—9.
Monument at Lucerne, designed by Thorwaldsen
