| Burgundy. | And nothing teems
But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs,
Losing both beauty and utility. | | Henry V, act v, sc. 2 (51). | Kecksies or Kecks are the dried and withered stems of the Hemlock, and the name is occasionally applied to the living plant. It seems also to have been used for any dry weeds— "All the wyves of Tottenham came to se that syght,
With Wyspes, and Kexis, and ryschys ther lyght,
To fech hom ther husbandes, that wer tham trouth plyght."
"The Tournament of Tottenham," in
Ritson's Ancient Songs and Ballads.
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