McDonnel noted that seine nets were used by fishermen was on Yorkshire rivers from the twelfth century at least, and in salt-water estuaries soon afterwards (YRS62/122). The net was designed to hang in the water, and the ends were drawn together to prevent the fish from escaping: the practice meant the fisherman had to stand on the bank above the water in order to draw the net tight and the term ‘seine draught’ seems to have become associated with the right to do that.
The verb ‘to set’ could be to plant seeds or cuttings, and in some leases the tenants moving into a new property were held responsible for setting and planting a number of trees.
This is a traditional part of the vocabulary of the medieval guilds. A man was entitled to set up in business only after completing his time as an apprentice and journeyman.
The earliest sheargrinders of whom we have any record worked in towns, and they were probably providing shears for the finishing process in cloth-making.