Although I have not come across the phrase, I suspect we are dealing with
a well-known phrase or saying signifying that 'times were hard'. The price
of wool, and no doubt other necessities of life, was high, and therefore
the farmer did not wish to part with more money than was absolutely
necessary, as he anticipated that he might run short.
One might compare the English idiom 'to bring home the bacon', which might
be equally puzzling to our Old French farmer. The English 'breadwinner'
(aha! there's another example) does not actually bring home any bacon;
he or she brings home the money to buy bacon, or eggs, or bread,
or potted shrimps,or shoes, or clothing, or gin, or any of the other many
and multifarious necessities of life.
A French wage-earner is said, I believe, to 'gagner son biftek' i.e. to
earn his beef steak. He may not actually eat beef steak; he may even be
a vegetarian; but the beefsteak, like the bacon or the bread in 'breadwinner',
serves as a metonymy - is that the right word? - for the various things
one needs to buy.
The wool, I would suggest, is a red herring. The price of wool is an economic
indicator. Times were hard, prices were high, and the farmer was unwilling
to part with his money.
The Supple Doctor.
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