Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Touse \Touse\, Touze \Touze\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Toused;
p. pr. & vb. n. Tousing.] [OE. tosen [root]64. See tease,
and cf. Tose, Toze. ]
To pull; to haul; to tear; to worry. [Prov. Eng.] —Shak.
As a bear, whom angry curs have touzed. —Spenser.
Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) http://dict.die.net/touse/
to tousle/tumble a woman (L&M Glossary)
whence : thy tousled unkept look, dragged thru an ‘edge backwards or did thee comb thy ‘air with a leg of a chair.
from L&M Large Glossary…..
for “towse”:
to tousle/tumble a woman.
Alas, they don’t have an entry for “tousle.”
“Tousle” is still current in UK English — it means to ruffle or untidy someone’s hair, clothing, etc.