POLEIN, in English antiquity, is a sort of shoe, sharp or picked at the point. This fashion took its rise in the time of king William Rufus; and the picks were so long, that they were tied up to the knees with silver or golden chains. They were forbidden by stat. an. 4 Edw. IV. cap. 7. Tunc fluxus crinium, tunc luxus vestium, tunc usus calceorum cum arcuatis aculeis inventus est. Malmesb. in Will. ii.