yelm

Etymology

From Middle English yelm, from Old English ġilm, ġelm (“handful”), from Proto-West Germanic *galmi, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“to flourish”).

noun

1. (dialect) A bundle of straw for thatching.
   The thatcher then laid the 'yelms' , or bunches of drawn straw, on the laths, beginning at the eaves and working up towards the ridge. 1952, Louis Francis Salzman, Building in England, page 224

verb

1. (dialect) To prepare straw for use as thatch.
   The preparation of straw for thatch, which was known as 'yelming' , consisted in damping it and 'drawing' it with a thatching-fork, or great comb, so as to get the straws parallel. 1952, Louis Francis Salzman, Building in England, page 224