SC - Turkeys in Tusser
Magdalena
magdlena at earthlink.net
Fri Mar 3 12:33:23 PST 2000
Christine A Seelye-King wrote:
> Magdalena writes:
> > _Not_ to stir up the discussion again...
> >
> > Thomas Tusser _500 Good Points of Husbandry_ (1571)
> > From May's Husbandry
> >
> > Grass, thistle, and mustard-seed, hemlock and bur,
> > tine, mallow, and nettle, that keep such a stur;
> > With peacock and turkey, that nibble off top,
> > are very ill neighbors, to seely poor hop.
>
> Anyone care to guess at what that last line means? I have heard my last
> name used in conjunction with fairies before, (and maybe even in the same
> breath as turkey...) but not in relation to ill neighbors. :)
Dunno what seely means (no OED nearby) but in context the paragraph is talking about
things that shouldn't be allowed in the hop-yard. A hop-yard is the garden with
poles and wires for training hop vines.
- -Magdalena
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