SC - Piers Ploughman

[Decker, Terry D.]

> > The quote in Piers Ploughman (IIRC) is that he has no _eggs_,
> > 'collops for to fry'.  He was lamenting being extremely poor - I
> > don't think he was in any position to buy red meat.
> > 
> > Cairistiona
> 
> Yes, I seem to recall the context was strongly in favor of "collops" being
> a
> reference to bacon, as per the late-or-post-period recipe for "The Best
> Collops and Eggs" (Markham, I think) which is simply bacon and eggs, more
> or
> less. Of course the references are something like 400 years apart, but the
> usage is consistent as a reference to slices of meat.
> 
> Adamantius
> Østgardr, East
> 
The OED provides the following under collops:

1. An egg fried on bacon; fried ham and eggs.

*1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 272, I haue no salt Bacon, Ne no Cokeneyes, bi
Crist Colopus to maken [v.r. colopis, -es, colhoppis; B. vi. 287 coloppes;
C. ix. 309 colhoppes]. 

*1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 67 And ete meny sondry metes..bacon and
colhoppes [v.r. coloppes, colloppus, colopis; B. xiii. 63 egges yfryed with
grece]. 


So, Piers Ploughman is talking about bacon rather than beef steak.  Other
definitions are a slice of meat and a slice of meat for frying or broiling.

In reading the OED entry, I get the impression the quote I gave from Piers
Ploughman may have been an English retranslation of a German translation.

Bear 
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