▪ I. yelm, n. Now dial.
(jɛlm)
[OE. ᵹielm, ᵹelm, ᵹilm, ᵹylm.]
In OE., a handful, bundle, sheaf, as of reaped corn; in mod. dial. use, a bundle of straw laid straight for thatching (see yelm v.): = helm n.3 1.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxvii. 7 Eowre ᵹilmas stodon ymbutan and abuᵹon to minum sceafe. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 120 Ᵹenim grene mintan ænne ᵹelm. a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 5252 (Napier 133/1) Manipulorum, ᵹylma, wræda. c 1390 B.N.C. (Oxf.) Docts. C.2 56 We will make 200 yelmes. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) K k j, You must reap it.. and lay it upon little yelmes, or two or three handfuls together till it be dry. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Yelm, s. a portion of straw laid for that purpose [viz. thatching]; or as much as can be conveniently carried under the arm for any purpose. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 124 [The thatcher] is attended by a man to carry up the ‘yelms’. |
▪ II. yelm, v. dial.
(jɛlm)
Also 6 yellm, 8 yealm, 9 yalm, yolm.
[f. prec.]
trans. and intr. To separate and select straw and lay it in order for thatching: = helm v.3 Hence ˈyelming vbl. n., the action of the verb; also concr. = prec.
| 1581 Stanford Churchw. Acc. in Antiquary (1888) Apr. 172 For a yellmyng of straw xij{supd}. 1589 in H. Hall Soc. Eliz. Age (1886) 203 A woman ‘yelming’ 14 days, 1s, 9{supd}. 1601 in Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bp.'s Stortford (1882) 67 Pd for strawe, vs. Pd for yelmyng, xd. Pd to the thatcher and fixer, iiijs. ijd. 1629 Ibid. 71 Pd to Gryces wife for yelming strawe for her house, xviijd. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. xviii. 79 Thatching per square, yelming and serving included, 2s. 6d. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 400 Cornes's new chaff cutter dispenses with the women yelming. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 124 Two or three women are busy yelming, i.e. separating the straw, selecting the largest, and laying it level and parallel, damping it with water, and preparing it for the yokes. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Yolm or Yalm..(Stow-on-Wold). |
Hence ˈyelmer, one who lays out yelms.
| 1808 Batchelor Agric. Bedford 109 These [two men], together with the four yelmers and servers, cost about 20s. per day. |