† merry-gall Obs.
Also 6 merrygald, 7 merigal.
[See gall n.2: the first element might so far as form is concerned be mery marrow1, but the sense of the combination is not obvious.]
A sore produced by chafing.
| 1575 Turberv. Venerie 139 (May be) he seekes to haue my Sewet for himselfe, Whiche sooner heales a merrygald then Pothecaries pelfe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. l. 1202 If such as iourney or trauell do carry with them a branch or rod of Agnus castus in their hand, it will keepe them from merry gals, and wearines. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 101 It healeth all merry-gals and raw places where the flesh is rubbed off or chafed: it helpeth the rank rammish smel vnder the arm-holes [L. intertriginum et alarum vitiis perfrictionibusque..non dubie mederi]. Ibid. 319 It is good to anoint merigals therwith, namely, when one part of the body is fretted & chafed against another [L. prodest et confricatis membris]. |