subs. phr. (old).—In saying, ‘To stumble at the TRUCKLE- (or TRUNDLE-) BED’ = (RAY) ‘to mistake the chambermaid’s bed for his wife’s.’ [Formerly a low bed on small wheels or castors was trundled under a ‘standing-bed’ in the daytime, and drawn out at night for a servant to sleep on.]
1660–9. PEPYS, Diary, III. 269. My wife and I in the high bed in our chamber, and Willet in the TRUNDLE-BED, which she desired to lie in, by us.
