Note 263 — GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE.
Reading edition
A losel is a worthless fellow. It is a term of contempt frequently used by Spenser. It is likewise to be met with in the "Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington," 1601:
"To have the lozels company."
Again, in "The Pinner of Wakefield," 1599:
"Peace, prating lozel," &c.
See Mr Steevens's "Notes on Shakspeare," vol. iv., p. 337. Again, in Hall's "Satires," edit. 1753, p. 78—
"How his enraged ghost would stamp and stare, That Cæsar's throne is turn'd to Peter chayre, To see an old shorne lozel perched high, Crossing beneath a golden canopy."
See Holinshed's "Chron.," edit. 1577, vol. ii., p. 740 ("Five Days' Pastime," p. 67); "Englishmen for my Money," p. 42; Holinshed, vol. v., p. 208.—O. G.