> as lemmas

a1400 in K. W. Engeroff Untersuchung ‘Usages of Winchester’ (1914) 56 (MED) No pulter ne schal bygge..pultrye for to a-ȝen selle er þat vndren be y-ronge.

c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Order of Fools (Laud) in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 451 (MED) A pulteer that selleth a fat swan For a goselyng that greseth on bareyn clours.

1529 in A. F. Johnston & M. Rogerson Rec. Early Eng. Drama: York (1979) I. i. 250 Comen pulters yat bringyth pultre to this City to selle.

1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 24 To rere vp much pultrie, and want the barne doore, is naught for the pulter, and woorse for the poore.

1622 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman i. 5 Nicholas the fifth was sonne of a Poulter; Sixtus the fift, of a Hog-heard.

1685 S. Wesley Maggots 71 More then a Bustard the Poulter might prize one [sc. a duck].

1740 Compl. Guide City of London 68/1 Poulters Company, have no Hall.

1884 Rep. London Livery Companies III. 688 The Poulters' Company existed by prescription as early as 1345. It was, however, incorporated by Royal Charter in the 19th year of Henry VII, on 23rd February 1504.

1940 Eng. Hist. Rev. 55 679 In spite of its age and the aforetime importance of its trade, the Poulters' Company has no records earlier than 1587.

1985 Times 14 Sept. 10/3 Mrs. D. Rowe-Ham was present at the annual livery dinner of the Poulters' Company held last night.

2005 Boston Globe (Nexis) 24 July d9 Mrs. Beeton's ‘Book of Household Management’ conjures up an idyllic England with country houses, servants galore, and a large cast of butchers, poulters, and greengrocers.