As often happens, there was a query or two that needed clarifying, so I went to the 'Chaucer List' (a group of Chaucer scholars and fanatics) to learn how a codpiece was secured! Within minutes I had my answer - it was laced!
I'll be entering this story in the Global Short Story Competition once my writers' circle have had a butcher's, hoping that a narrative poem will be eligible.
Watch this space!