The wyf cam lepynge inward with a ren.
She seyde, "Allas! youre hors goth to the fen
With wilde mares, as faste as he may go.
Unthank come on his hand that boond hym so,
And he that bettre sholde han knyt the reyne!"
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Reeve’s Tale. The miller’s wife shouts out to John and Alan that their horse has run off to the fen with some wild mares. She curses the hand of the person who tied the horse so carelessly – it was her husband who let the horse loose. The two gullible clerks take off towards the fen, allowing Symkyn to get on with the business of stealing their corn.