Now dial. [OE. ʓielm, ʓelm, ʓilm, ʓylm.] In OE., a handful, bundle, sheaf, as of reaped corn; in mod. dial. use, a bundle of straw laid straight for thatching (see YELM v.): = HELM sb.3 1.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xxxvii. 7. Eowre ʓilmas stodon ymbutan and abuʓon to minum sceafe.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 120. Ʒenim grene mintan ænne ʓelm.
a. 1100. Aldhelm Gloss., I. 5252 (Napier 133/1), Manipulorum, ʓylma, wræda.
c. 1390. B.N.C. (Oxf.) Docts. C.2 56. We will make 200 yelmes.
1649. Blithe, Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652), K kj. You must reap it … and lay it upon little yelmes, or two or three handfuls together till it be dry.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Yelm, s. a portion of straw laid for that purpose [viz. thatching]; or as much as can be conveniently carried under the arm for any purpose.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 124. [The thatcher] is attended by a man to carry up the ‘yelms.’
