Notes and Illustrations. 303 
With a qwene yif that thou run, 
Anon it is told into the town ; 
Sorow he hath both up and down, 
That have, etc. 
Song in MS. of 15th century quoted above. 
“Feareth me,” that is, it frightens me, I fear, as in ‘‘me liketh”’ 
=it pleases me, I like. 
67. 23. “‘As good a shrew is as a sheepe,” etc. This proverb 
appears in Lpzsfole Hoeliana, ed. 1754, p. 177, in a letter dated 5th 
February, 1625-6, as ‘‘It is better to marry a shrew than a sheep.” 
In Taylor’s Pastorall, 1624, we have ‘‘A shrew is better than a 
sheep.” 
68. William, the first Lord Paget, and the patron of Tusser, 
married Anne, daughter of Mr. Prestin, of the County of Lancaster ; 
and to her it is most probable the Book of Huswifery was dedicated, 
and not to Margaret, the daughter of Sir H. Newton, and lady of 
Thomas, Lord Paget. 
68. 8. “ By their fruits ye shall know them, do men gather grapes 
of thorns or figs of thistles 2” 
69. 1. The rime in the last two lines is most remarkable; 
apparently /Arzwe is pronounced /hreev, as Mr. Ellis contends. 
69. 6. From the last two lines of this stanza it would appear that 
Tusser was a widower at the time when he wrote this Address to 
the Reader, or at least when he first wrote on the subject of Hus- 
wifery. 
72. “A description of Huswife,” etc. This antithetical description 
seems to have been introduced, in order that it might correspond 
with the description of Husbandry, chapter 8, p. 16.—M. 
73. 1. According to Fitzherbert, the farmers’ wives must have been 
patterns of diligence and industry, and a variety of duties devolved 
upon them which have since ceased to be required, or have fallen 
with more propriety upon the other sex. They had to measure out 
the quantity of corn to be ground, and see that it was sent to the 
miller. The poultry, swine, and cows were under their charge ; 
and they superintended the brewing and baking. The garden was 
peculiarly the care of the farmer’s wife. She had to depend upon 
it for various herbs which are no longer in use, but which could not 
be dispensed with when spices were rare and costly. Besides pot- 
herbs, strewing-herbs were required for the chambers, and herbs 
possessing medical virtues. The list of fruits at this date was con- 
fined to a few of indigenous growth, which were but little improved 
by skill and management. ‘Tusser directs his housewife to trans- 
plant into her garden wild strawberries from the woods. All the 
writers on rural economy during this period recommend the farmer’s 
wife carefully to attend to her crop of flax and hemp. When, how- 
ever, Fitzherbert asserts that it is a wife’s duty ‘‘to winnow all 
manner of corn, to make malt, to wash, and to make hay, shear 
