Lireclouc appears to be a (rare) M.E. word – or at least a partly M.E. word – in the Alphabetical Lapidary, a work normally attributed to Philippe to Thaon, and whose vocabulary seems to overlap with other texts by the same author as far as some quite rare words are concerned (e.g. baldin, beffe). The editor (Studer) observes that there are two substantive intercalations of material derived from Philippe's Bestiaire in this lapidary, which supports Philippe's authorship (edition, p. 201; cf. also Legge, Cahiers de civilisation médiévale 8,333-334). -- In the very next line, after lireclouc, is the only other apparently M.E. word in the whole text (“ringen”), the sense of which is obscure. The first element of lireclouc is the now obsolete M.E. līre “flesh”, from OE līra, “calf, muscle of leg”. It seems very unlikely that it is a form of lepra since this word never appears without ‑p‑, FEW 5,258a, GdfC 10,72b. The second element could be a derivative of clavus, i.e. clou, well attested with the sense of “abcess”, as per FEW 21,429a, or possibly M.E. clŏut, which appears to have the sense of “a blotch or spot”, MED clŏut n.1, sense 1 (c). Studer comments as follows on v.1082: 'The line is doubtful; lireclouc (perhaps 'fireclouc?', a contamination of 'feroncle' (furunculus) + clou?) appears to be used as synonymous of 'ruinne', 'roigne', the usual rendering of Latin 'scabies'; and on ringen: 'Ringen may be some magic word. A possible identification is as a Middle English dative plural, giving the sense '[set in] rings' (notes, p. 372). More plausible perhaps in the context is a reference to ring-worm. This chapter of the Alphabetical Lapidary (on 'Galactites') derives from Damigeron's De virtutibus lapidum. The text (see Studer, notes, p. 371, for the Latin version) contains the following passage which seems to match quite well with the discussion in vv. 1075-1086 ('E si les berbiz sunt sechees, U ruinnoses u empirees, Si tost cum la pere bevrunt, [Lor?] lait senes recovrerunt. Et ki les berbiz lavera Ainz que li soleil levera, Senes de la ruinne garrunt, Del lireclouc se il l'unt; E si ringen i est escrit, Issi cum li reis Evax dit, De Damedeu amé serra E de tute gent, qui l'avra ...'): 'Similiter ovibus lacte carentibus ut satis habeant sic age: lavato ovili, circumsparge salem, oriente sole, habeas autem contritum lapidem tenuiter cum aqua, inde circumsparge ovile, et videbis quam plurimum eas lacte abundare; et si scabie laborabunt et hoc eis feceris, sanabuntur et fecundiores erunt. Et gratiosum reddit, et peritum facit et facundum, efficacem et impe[t]ratorem et persuasorem omnibus hominibus, et Deo placabilis [DAT's emphasis in both texts]'.