nether-stocks

Ay, and then there was Martin Swart I have heard my grandfather talk of, and of the jolly Almains whom he commanded, with their slashed doublets and quaint hose, all frounced with ribands above the nether-stocks.

Kenilworth 2004

Horses are tied by the head, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs: when a man is over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden nether-stocks.

Act II. Scene IV. King Lear 1914

Ere I lead this life long, I’ll sew nether-stocks and mend them and foot them too.

Act II. Scene IV. The First Part of King Henry the Fourth 1914

When a man’s over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden nether-stocks.

Act II. Scene IV 1909

Horses are tied by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs: when a man's over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden nether-stocks.

King Lear 1605

Horses are tied by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs: when a man’s over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden nether-stocks.

King Lear 2004

[This verse, or something similar, occurs in a long ballad, or poem, on Flodden Field, reprinted by the late Henry Weber.] "Ay, and then there was Martin Swart I have heard my grandfather talk of, and of the jolly Almains whom he commanded, with their slashed doublets and quaint hose, all frounced with ribands above the nether-stocks.

Kenilworth Walter Scott 1801