Yorkshire |
The words in this glossary were extracted from Langdale's Topographical Yorkshire Dictionary by Ron Long (USA) and from the Bulmer's History and Gazetteers of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire by Peter Nelson (USA) and consequently have a "slant" towards Yorkshire, however some of the words are universal throughout England. The meanings for the words from Langdales YD were produced by Beryl Thompson (Australia) and myself (England). The meanings for the words from Bulmer's were produced by Liz Agar (Australia) who adds: All definitions unless noted otherwise were obtained from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary or the Oxford English Dictionary (the complete OED was used where the word was not in Chambers' or the Shorter OED).
Although the context, from which the current instances of these words were taken, may indicate a particular meaning, where a word has multiple meanings the others may be included. The word may appear in other text with one of the other meanings.
The two glossaries were combined by my wife Pauline, and those words with (yd) following them are taken from Langdale's Yorkshire Dictionary, the remainder from Bulmers.
Colin Hinson, 2nd August 1999.
infangtheof
infangthief, n. Jurisdiction over a thief apprehended
within the manor or territorial limits to which the privilege
was attached; the right of the lord of a manor to try and to amerce
a thief caught within its limits.
impropriate
(yd)
impropriate rectory
impropriate Revenue for/from rectory placed in the
hands of a layman or to transfer
rights from the church into lay hands.
inclose; inclosure; inclosed (yd)
inclose; inclosure; inclosed
(less common spelling of enclose,
etc) Surrounded, inclosed on all sides, means same as enclosed,
see enclosure(s)above..
incumbent (yd)
incumbent A person who holds an office, especially a
clergyman who holds a benefice.
ingle
ingle, 1. A fire; a fire burning upon the hearth;
a house-fire. 2. An open fireplace
inveteracy (yd)
inveteracy Confirmed by time, or habit, also obstanacy.
intrenchment (yd) entrenchment
intrenchment (less common spelling of entrencment)
A trench, or ditch dug around a fort or castle to fortify same.
jackdaws (yd)
jackdaws Native English birds, of the crow family,
black with grey head.
jupon
the effigy of a knight in full armour, with a hood, gorget, and
tippet of chain or mail armour; he has a jupon, and over
it an eriched belt for the sword
jupon, 1. A close-fitting tunic or doublet; especially
one worn by knights under the hauberk; later a sleeveless surcoat
worn outside the armour. 2. A short kirtle worn by women. 3. A
woman's skirt.
justest (yd)
justest Justice, justly.
juxta
HUTTON juxta RUDBY
juxta Juxta = near to.
kalends
kalends = calends, n. pl. among
the Romans, the first day of each month [L. kalendae calare;
Gr. kaleein, to call(because the beginning of the month
was proclaimed]
kine
kine, Archaic plural of cow.
kist-vaen
a very heavy sandstone, the cover of a large Kist-vaen,
under which was the perfect skeleton
kistvaen, (cist) A sepulchral chest or chamber
excavated in rock, etc.; especially a stone coffin formed of slabs
placed on edge, and covered on the top by one or more horizontal
slabs. (The word kistvaen is of Welsh origin, cist from Latin.)
kittywake (yd)
kittywake kittywake - oceanic gull having pale grey
black tipped wings and a square cut tail.
labours (yd)
(American = labor)
labours Works, toils.
labourers (yd)
(American = laborers)
labourers Manual workers, usually unskilled. Though the
term applied to farm workers,
who were often multi skilled, e.g. agricultural labourers.
latel
The arch between the chancel and nave is a pure Norman one, in
four rims, springing from attached columns. The first rim is of
two beads; the second is dogtooth, richly moulded; the third is
a hollow and a bead, with birds' heads projecting about every
six inches; and the fourth is an egg and tongue latel.
egg and latel, n Architectural
moulding pattern, with alternating egg and vertical shapes.
liberty
(yd)
a part in the liberty of St. Peter
liberty A liberty was a manor, or group of manors, or other
area lying outside the juristriction of the sheriff. It had a
separate Commission of Peace.
liveries (yd)
Context: (under Leckonfield) They breakfasted at seven, dined
at ten, and supped at four: after which, between eight, and nine
o'clock in the evening, they had their 'liveries' that
is to say, "for my Lord and Lady, bread, as at breakfast;....
liveries don't know - probably "supper" from
the context.
Lixivium (yd)
Lixivium of its salt set by to crystallise
Lixivium Lye, water impregnated with alkaline salts taken
from wood-ashe.
lucubration
the melting emotions and sublime lucubrations
lucubrate, to study by lamplight; to discourse learnedly
or pedantically.
lucubration, study or composition protracted late into the
night; a product of such study; a composition that smells of the
lamp.
lurries
the water rose so high at this point, that all foot traffic was
suspended in the vicinity of the bridge, and people were carried
across on lurries.
lurry, Alternate spelling of lorry. 1. A long wagon
without sides, or with low sides, running on four low wheels.
2. (Mining) A running bridge over a pit.
machicolations
by a gateway, still quite perfect, on the north side, which was
protected by a portcullis and machicolations
machicolation, (Architectural) An opening between the corbels
which support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery,
or the roof of a portal, through which combustibles, molten lead,
stones, etc., were dropped upon assailants. Also a projecting
structure containing such openings.
maritage
maritage, The feudal superior's right to dispose of
a vassal's heiress (or heir) in marriage, or exact a fine. Cham.
magazine
(yd)
coal magazine
magazine A store for weapons, explosives or coal.
manchets (yd)
(two manchets of the finest meal)
manchets A small loaf of fine wheaten bread.
manor (yd)
manor
A landed estate consisting of a demesne and certain rights over
lands held by freehold tenants etc.
manor court
manor court, n. A court presided over by the lord
of the manor or his official and attended by free tenants and
serfs. The purpose of the manor court was to corordinate and regulate
the activities of the community. Court meetings were usually convened
somewhere between once a month to once every six months. The business
of the court included settlement of disputes and enforcement of
the rights of the lord of the manor.
manufactories
manufactories factories
mark
(yd) (currency)
mark (Historically) English money of account valued at
two thirds of an English pound (13s. 4d.).
mascled
bearing the outline of a lion rampant and mascled
mascle (heraldic) a bearing, lozenge-shaped and perforated:
a lozenge-shaped plate for scale armour
mazer
by his will left to his son Roger, "pro capella de Boltoun
in Castro" vestments, &c.; for the principal chamber
his bed, &c.; for the hall his green curtains worked with
griffins, &c.; for the buttery two silver barrels, the constable's
cup, and one mazer, called "Spang."
mazer, 1. A hard wood, (? properly maple) used as
a material for drinking cups. 2. [As used in the above context]
A bowl, drinking-cup or goblet without a foot, originally made
of mazer wood; often applied to bowls entirely of metal. 3. A
helmet.
mediety
The living is a vicarage, formerly in two medieties, one
of which was given by Guarin de Bubwith to the Dean and Chapter
of York, and the other was given by John de Mowbray, lord of Oxholme,
to Byland Abbey. There were thus two vicars in the church, whose
yearly stipends are valued in the Liber Regis at £7 2s.
6d. and £8 0s. 5d. respectively. At the dissolution of religious
houses the latter mediety fell to the Crown, and the Lord
Chancellor (for the Crown) and the Dean and Chapter of York now
present alternately.
mediety, n.
1. a. A half b.
spec. in Law.MOIETY
moiety, n. 1. A half, esp. in legal or quasi-legal
use. 2. loosely, One (of two or more) parts into which
something is divided.
merlons
eastern watch tower, with its impenetrable walls, its small iron-barred
windows, its narrow merlons, with chinks and gillots, where
the keen bowmen peered on the advancing foe
merlon, The part of an embattled parapet between embrasures
[openings in a wall for canon].
mesne lord
mesne lord, The tenant of another mesne lord or of a
tenant-in-chief. He provided land to a mesne lord or to a tenant
in return for services or payment.
Messuage (yd)
Messuage A dwelling house with land and out-buildings.
A Capital Messuage was the house (manor), of the Lord of the Manor,
or similar large residence, also know as a "mese".
middlin' or middling
nobbut middlin' = not as good as hoped
middlin' (in higher pitch voice) = better than I dared
hope but I'm not letting on for fear of you thinking I've made
enough money to be generous.
middlin' (in lower pitched voice) = worse than I expected
but do not want you to think I'm admitting to poor husbandry.
Middlin' An adjective meaning average but which is
modified by speech pattern and/or qualifier (often used about
the year's harvest)
modus
At the enclosure, in 1765, the great tithes were commuted for
an allotment of 450 acres and a small modus paid out of
the old enclosures; and at the same time 37 acres were allotted
to the vicar, and an acre to the parish clerk.
modus, n. 1. Mode or manner. of operation.
2. A money payment in lieu of tythe
monody (yd)
monody Poem of lament for someones death
monstre
It is frequently used for monstre meetings and large gatherings,
for which it is admirably adapted.
monstre, Huge. [This seems to be a quaint spelling
of the word 'monstrous' with one of its meanings being huge. 'Monstre'
was not found in the Complete Oxford English Dictionary, Chambers's
Twentieth Century Dictionary, The Yorkshire Dictionary (Kellet)]
s
mortmain
mortmain, the condition of lands or tenements held
inalienably by an ecclesiatical or other corporation; the transfer
of property to a corporation which is said to be a dead hand,
or one that can never part with it again. statutes of mortmain,
act of parliament restricting or forbidding the giving of property
to religious houses (1736)
mosstroopers
moss troopers
moss-trooper, n. One of the freebooters that
used to infest the mosses of the Border.
*Found under the word moss, which has, in addition to the
plant meanings, the following:
moss, n. (now chiefly Scots) A bog: boggy ground
or soil.
moted (yd)
moated (yd)
moted, moated A fortification which is surrounded by a moat
around it, "moated", a moat is a deep ditch filled with
water.
moulter
This Walter gave to St. Mary's Abbey, York, and to Wetheral Priory,
Cumberland - an offshoot of that house - four acres of land and
leave to grind corn at his mill in Stirkland, moulter free.
Thomas Dixon and Walter Kighley shall bring in their milner at
the next court to be sworne, and also his moulter dish
to be tryed on pain of 20s.
moulter, n. Bird that is moulting. Perhaps altered
form of moulder. To fret, to fall off in consequence of friction
or some smilar cause; it is applied to friable stones, rotten
wood.
moulter, v. To moult as in lose feathers. To rot
or decay over time.
moulder, n. One who moulds dough or bread. One who
is employed in making moulds for casting. One who moulds clay
into bricks. An instrument for moulding, a mould. Mould.
mouldering (yd)
mouldering Crumbling, wasting.
multure
The founder endowed it with the church of St. Andrew, in Marrick,
one carucate of land, tithes of his mill, multure of corn
there, and he also gave the sisterhood liberty to grind their
corn without paying multure.
multure, A toll in kind paid to the miller for grinding
corn; the right to exact this. Hence multurer, one who
pays toll for the grinding of his corn at a mill.
muniment
Adjoining is the vestry, over which is a chamber approached by
an external staircase of 15th century work. The purpose of this
chamber is not known, but it is generally supposed to have been
a chapter or muniment room.
muniment, n. 1.
Document, e.g. a title-deed, etc., preserved as evidence of
rights or privileges. Chiefly in pl. 2. pl. Things
with which a person or place is provided; furnishings.
narthex
narthex, n. . Archæol. A vestibule
or portico stretching across the western end of some early Christian
churches, divided from the nave by a wall, screen, or railing,
and set apart for women, catechumens, etc.
nigh (yd)
nigh Near,
close.
nimbus
Among the figures are our Blessed Lord with a nimbus
round His head, kneeling penitents, St. Peter with the keys, some
interlacing knot-work, and a figure, half man and half serpent,
probably intended to represent the sting of the flesh, to which
St. Paul alludes.
nimbus, n. a cloud or luminous mist investing
a god or godess: a halo: a rain-cloud
nitre (yd)
nitre Saltpetre, or potassium nitrate.
obelisk (yd)
obelisk A retantangular column or monumental structure
which tapers to a point at the top
ogee
ogee, n. A moulding
S-shaped in section: an S-shaped curve. adj.having S-shaped
curves. adj. ogeed.
one market-town (yd)
one market-town A town with a market, usually granted by Royal
Charter.
ordonance (yd)
Context: (under Rokeby) The front extends 96 feet it has a rustic
basement, and in the centre four columns and two pilasters support
Corinthian ordonance.
ordonance harmonious combination of parts of a building
(or picture).
outfangthief
outfangthief, the right of judging and fining thieves when
outside of one's own jurisdiction.
overseer
overseer, n. One who oversees or superintends.
A supervisor. Some specific uses: A person, appointed by a testator,
to supervise the executor of the will; an officer (appointed annually)
to perform various administrative duties mainly connected with
the relief of the poor.
oxgangs (yd)
with 2 carucates, and 2 oxgangs of land
oxgangs One eighth of a ploughland. N.B. See Bovate
above re. ploughland.
palatinate (yd)
palatinate the area ruled by a count or an earl
pannage
At the same time he granted them also a meadow called Utengs (out-ings),
with the arable land therein, lying between "Nendike"
and the pasture called "Fefang;" also exemption henceforth
from the payment of pannage for such of their swine as
they agisted in the 'wood called "Hagge," (Hagg, a hedge,
the hawthorn) afterwards known as Beverley Parks.
pannage, n. 1 a. The feeding of swine,
etc. in a forest or wood; pasturage for swine. b. The right
or privilege of pasturing swine in a forest. c. The payment
made to the owner of a woodland for this right; the profit thus
accruing. 2 Acorns, beech-mast, etc. on which swine feed.
parclose
At the east end of the south aisle is the Wandesforde chapel,
formerly enclosed by a parclose screen.
parclose, 1. Close, conclusion. 2. A partition, screen
or railing serving to shut off a space in a building; now only
a screen or railing in a church enclosing an altar, a tomb, etc.
from the main body of the church.
parish (yd)
parish A place having it's own church and priest,
also an old poor law district, see Alms-house, hospital.
parish-town (yd)
parish-town A town or village containing the Parish Church.,
park
park, n. Enclosed tract of land held by Royal
grant or prescription for keeping beasts of the chase. (Distinguished
from forest or chase by being enclosed; distinguished from a forest
also by having no special rates or officers.)
parvise
parvis, Also erroneously parvise. 1. The enclosed
area or court in front of a building, especially of a cathedral
or church; sometimes applied to a single portico or colonnade
in front of a church, and (in dictionaries) explained as a church
porch. b. Erroneously applied to a 'room over a church-porch'
1836. 2. A public or academic conference or disputation. (So called
from being originally held in the court or portico of a church.)'
mad
patens
The communion plate, consisting of a flagon, chalice, and two
patens, is of solid silver, and was presented by the late
Lady Sykes.
paten, n. 1. The shallow dish, usu. circular
and of silver, on which the bread is laid at the celebration of
the Eucharist. 2. gen. A shallow dish or plate.
Patent
Letters Patent n. are
letters open for public inspection written by or on behalf of
the sovereign usually granting land or privilege to a person or
area and have been in existence for at least 600 years. Patents
conferring protection on inventions sprang out of these in the
16/17th Centuries. ( from Matt Stephenson)
cross patonce
patonce, Heraldic term. In cross patonce, a cross with
its arms usually expanding in a curved form from the centre, having
ends somewhat like those of the cross fleury (i.e. having the
arms tipped with fleurs-de-lis).
patron (yd)
patron One who has/ had the right to present a "church
living" e.g. appoint the vicar or priest. Also a person who
funded education (for an individual or groups e.g. grammar schools,
local schools), causes (funding the building of churches, hospitals,
alms-houses etc), arts (individuals, in all forms of the arts,
painting, music, crafts and the buidling of galleries, theatres).
patronymick (yd)
patronymick name showing descent from a given person by
adding a prefix or suffix
peculiar, peculiar jurisdiction (yd)
The parish was formerly a peculiar under the Dean and Chapter
of Durham, but is now for all ecclesiastical purposes merged in
the Archdeaconry of the East Riding.
peculiar, peculiar jurisdiction An area (property and lands) within an archdeaconary,
but outside the juristriction of the archdeacon and usually the
bishop. These were often the properties of either church officials
from another diocese, or the lord of the manor.
pedlary (yd)
pedlary-ware.
pedlary Small goods sold by a pedlar, (a pedlar was
a travelling salesman with no base, a chapman was the same but
had a "warehouse")
peel
Scargill Castle, an ancient peel, of which three storeys
of the tower still remain
peel,
The general name in modern writers, for the massive square towers
or fortified dwellings built in the C16th in the border counties
of England and Scotland, for defence against forays. 1726. Other
meanings are 1. A stake (rare) Middle English only. 2. A palisade
formed of stakes; a stockaded or palisaded (and moated) enclosure
-1596. 3. A castle, especially a small castle or tower. -1679
pele
This tower is strikingly imposing, and resembles in the massiveness
of its masonry and internal construction, a Border pele
pele, An early (Middle English) spelling of peel
(see above).
pence (yd)
Pence English currency. See Preface.
peppercorn rent (yd)
peppercorn rent A rent that is very low or nominal (but not
zero).
pinder
pinder, An officer of a manor who impounds stray beasts
piscina
piscina, n. A fish-pond: a swimming-pool (as
in Roman baths): a basin and drain in old churches, usually in
a niche south of an altar, into which was emptied water used in
washing the sacred vessels: -pl. piscinas, or piscinae
Also piscine [L. piscina piscis, fish]
plough (yd)
plough American= plow.
plumassier
plumassier, n. A worker
in feathers: a feather-seller.
pompous house (yd)
pompous embassy (yd)
pompous embassy, pompous
house In both cases pompous
in this context means splendid, outstanding, imposing.
pon (yd)
pon upon.
pontage
pontage, A toll paid for the use of a bridge; a tax
paid for the maintenance and repair of a bridge or bridges; a
bridge toll.
popish recusant convict (yd)
popish recusant convict
Roman Catholic person convicted
(and usually thrown into jail) of failing to take the oath of
allegiance and failing to go to the Church of England church every
Sunday. (Henry VIII had a thing against the pope, refer to English
History).
porch (yd)
porch low structure projecting from the door of
a house, church, or other building and forming a covered entrance.
(NOT a veranda as in the USA)
post-town (yd)
post-town The town in which the post riders would change
(post-)horses (at the post-house!)
Praemonstratensian
Praemonstratensian, (Premonstratensian) A religious order founded
in 1120 by St Norbert at Prémontré near Laon in
France. The members of the order were known as the White Canons
from their long white hooded cloaks, white cassocks, and white
caps. They came to England in 1143.
prebend (yd)
prebend Stipend assigned by a cathedral or collegiate
church to a canon or other member of a chapter.
prebendary (yd)
prebendary Someone who holds a prebend.
Preceptors (yd)
Preceptors Tutors or instructors
preferred (yd)
was preferred to the bishopric of Bristol
preferred Was installed, appointed or promoted to
Pre-monstratensian (yd)
Pre-monstratensian Period before a shrine was consecrated.
preferred (yd)
was preferred to the bishopric of Bristol
preferred Was installed, appointed or promoted to....".
Pre-monstratensian (yd)
Pre-monstratensian Period before a shrine was consecrated.
priory (yd)
priory Abbey, monastery.
Propraetor (yd)
Propraetor of Britain.
Propraetor Roman magistrate, in old script the "ae"
was combined, i.e. joined together.
puffin (yd)
puffin northern diving bird, having a black and white
plumage and a brightly coloured vertically flattened bill, lives
in burrows.
purgative (yd)
purgative a drug or agent for purging (emptying) the
bowels.
pyx, n. The vessel in which the host or consecrated bread of the sacrament is reserved.