toes be pared so thin almost as the edge of a knife' In paring, too, he mentions that 'the French ferrers hath a proverb which saith, "Devant dariar, dariar devant," which means spare the fore foot behind, and the hinder foot before, as well in paring as in piercing the shoes (i. e. making the nail-holes).
'Make your shoe of spruse or Spanish iron, with a broad web, fitting it to the foot, and let the sponges (heels) be thicker and more substantial than any other part of the shoe; yea, and also somewhat broad, so as the quarters on both sides may disbord, that is to say, appear without the hoof a straw's breadth to guard the coffin, which is the strength of the hoof, and only beareth the shoe. . . . And as touching the nails, make them also of the same iron, the heads whereof would be square, and not fully so broad beneath as above, but answerable to the piercing-holes, so as the head of the nails may enter in and fill the same, appearing above the shoe no more than the breadth of the back of a knife; so shall they stand sure without shogging, and endure longer, and to that end the stamp that first maketh the holes, and the "preschell" that pierceth them, and also the necks of the nails, would be of one square fashion and bigness: that is to say, great above and small beneath, which our common smiths do little regard, for when they pierce a shoe, they make the hole as wide on the inside as on the outside. . . . A good nail should have no shouldering at all, but be made with a plain and square neck, so as it may justly fit and fill the piercing-hole of the shoe. . . . The shanks of the nails should be somewhat flat, and the points sharp, without hollowness or flaw, and stiffer towards the head above,
