Niding

[W]hen there was a daungerous rebellion againſt King William Rufus and Rocheſter Caſtle then the moſt important & ſtrongeſt fort of this Realm was ſtowtly kept againſt him, after that he had but proclaimed that his ſubjects ſhould repaire thither to his Campe, vpon no other penaltie, but that whoſoeuer refuſed to come, ſhould be reputed a Niding: they ſwarmed to him immediatly from all ſides in ſuch numbers, that he had in a few daies an infinite Armie, and the rebells therewith weere ſo terrified, that they forthwith yeelded.

[William] Rufus immediately ſet about raiſing an army to chaſtiſe him [Odo of Bayeux]; but finding recruits to come in but ſlowly, he iſſued out a proclamation ſignifying, that whoſoever would not be reputed a Niding, ſhould repair to the ſiege of Rocheſter. What was the meaning of the word, Niding, has not reached theſe days; it might perhaps anſwer to our Ninny, a ſoft, fooliſh, unmanly fellow; undoubtedly it was a term of reproach, ſince to avoid that appellation, ſoldiers flocked to his ſtandard from every quarter, [...]

In Denmark, and through all the North, they provoked a man to fight a duel, by publicly calling him Niding or "infamous:" for he who had received ſo deep a ſtain, without endeavouring to waſh it out with the blood of his adverſary, would have loſt much more than the life he was ſo deſirous to ſave.