Mercer

Someone who buys and sells silk, velvet, and other fancy material.

"Then is there heere one Mr. Caper, at the suite of Master Three-Pile the Mercer, for some four suits of Peach-colour'd Satin."

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603).

Fogger

A monopolist or usurer. A great merchant. A person given to underhanded practices for the sake of gain. Chiefly used to mean an unscrupulous lawyer.

"The baser sorte of people are verie litigious by meanes wherof the Foggers and Pettie Lawiers gett unto themselves great advantage."

John Norden, Speculum Britanniae; Cornwall (1610).

Liturgist

A priest who reads aloud or recites religious scripture, prayers, or religious services.

"The crown princess was very young and very delicate, a worry to everyone. She fell ill in the Second Month. The soothsayers ordered an immediate change of air. Not wanting to send her a great distance away, Genji moved her to the Akashi lady's northwest quarter. It had two large wings and several galleries along which altars were put up. Prayers and incantations echoed solemnly through the quarter as famous and successful liturgists set about their work. The Akashi lady was perhaps the most apprehensive of all, for her whole past and future seemed to be coming up for judgment."

Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (11th Century).

Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.

A Waithman Forloppin

An "outlaw" hunting in the forests. A poacher.

"Me thocht a Turk of Tartary lay forloppin in Lumbardy, full long in waithman weid."

William Dunbar, Poems (1500-20).

Dream Interpreter

Someone who can tell what the significance of a dream is.

"One has had an upsetting dream and wonders what it can mean. In great anxiety one consults a dream-interpreter, who informs one that it has no special significance."

Sei Shonagon, "Pleasing Things," The Pillow Book (11th Century).

Lutist

Someone who plays the lute.

"People are always saying that the most important thing is tact and forbearance in the use of the left hand. That is important, of course, but a misplaced bridge can be a disaster, and for a lady a gentle touch with the right hand is very important too. Come, now, let me hear you play. A lute, someone!"

Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (11th Century).

Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.

Tasker

Someone paid for completing a task rather than by the hour or day. A piece-worker. Also, a laborer who uses a flail to thresh corn.

"If our greedy Patrons hold us to such hard conditions, they will make some of us at last turne Taskers, Costermongers, sell Ale or worse."

Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621).