Glossary to Leland's Itinerary of England and Wales.

XXIV GLOSSARY

OF THE PRINCIPAL ARCHAIC WORDS AND SENSES IN THESE VOLUMES

NOTE. The references are intended for illustration; they do not necessarily include every example of a word. N.E.D. indicates that a definition is taken from the New English Dictionary.

Accustumer, the, of Bridgewater, collector of customs or dues, i, 163.

Achelei stones, acheler or ashlar, hewn stones, v, 94.

Adcertenid, assured, i, 167.

After, afterwards, "after, he was redemed," iv, 141.

Al-to, all, quite, "al to minischyd and tome," iii, p. 43.

Arere, to raise; the way was raised with the earth cast up out of the dykes, v, 117.

Baches, beach or shingle, iv, 67.

Bal, Celtic word, ton or town, v, 52.

Balinger, a small sea-going vessel, apparently a kind of sloop, N.E.D., i, 317.

Balissed, balasted, i, 50.

Balkynge ground, a ridge left at the end of furrows?, ii, 109.

Barnes, children, v, 116.

Batable ground on one side the Esk river, debatable or disputed land on the Scottish border, v, 51, 53.

Beche, beach, iv, 48.

Bekyn, beacon, i, 59.

Derail, crystal or glass used for glazing windows, v, 155.

Bid, verb, to pray, v, 118.

Boote, probably here signifies boat, iv, 64; the form boote is found in i, 51.

Bord clothes, table cloths, v, 117.

Boteres, buttresses, i, 167 (cf. Old French bouterez, plural).

Bowys, arches of a bridge, v, 116.

Braye, a fals braye, "an advanced parapet surrounding the main rampart," N.E.D. , i, 316.

Breed, breadth, v, 117.

Bremely, clearly, distinctly, v, 155.

GLOSSARY XXV

Bullatike (French bullatique) hand, writing like that used in Papal bulls, iv, 94.

Bunks, perhaps an error for banks, which makes better sense, v, 117.

Burbolt-shot, an estimate of distance, from bird-bolt, a blunt-headed arrow used for shooting birds, i, 131.

But shot, i.e., a butt-shot, a measure of distance, "a good but shotte off," iii, 109; v, 90.

Bygge, bigge, barley, iv, 12, 32.

Cantref, or hundred, a division of a county in Wales, iii, 1-9. See Commote.

Car, carre, a pond or pool, sometimes in moorish land, i, 51; iv, 32 v, 144.

Carnary, a charnel vault or house, i, 184, 270.

Caryke, carrack, a large ship of burden or warfare, iv, 48.

Causey, cawsey, a causeway, a raised way formed on a mound across low wet ground, bog or marsh, N.E.D., ii, 101; v, no, 144.

Causey, verb, bridge "well cawsied with stone at both ends," ii, 109.

Champaine, champayne ground, plain, open country, without hills or woods, perhaps unenclosed, i, 27, 130; ii, 52; iii, 102; v, 8l, 97.

Chart, a map, iv, 125; v, 44.

Cheping-, Cheaping or Chipping, as prefix to the name of a town, indicates a market town, Cheping-Faringdon, i, 125; Chipping-Sodbury, i, 130; Chiping-Norton, ii, 38.

Chisil, gravel or shingle, The Chisil or Chesil, a shingly beach, i, 242, 243.

Ciffenes, sieves for meal, from cyve, a sieve, v, 129.

Clive, sub., a cliff, v, 101.

Clyve, verb, to rise or climb, clyvid, iii, 14; clyving, iv, 136.

Clyving, sub., seems to mean a cleft in this case, iv, 133.

Choclea, a spiral staircase, i, 96.

Coferer, cofferer or treasurer, ii, 39, 77.

Cokid = cocked, pryed or looked about, v, 116.

Commote, a territorial division in Wales, two or three of which were contained in a cantred or cantref, iii, pref. viii n. , 19, 93.

Comprobation, confirmation, v, 72.

Coningly, cunningly, wisely, skilfully, ii, 87.

Conducte of water, a conduit, i, 220, 278; iv, 25.

Conscend, to ascend or mount (a hill, etc.), i, 133. 148, 174.

Consuete, accustomed, usual, v, 129.

Coppe, the top, i, 151.

Cootes, cotes, i.e., salt-cotes, salt-houses or furnaces, where salt is made, ii, 93; iv, 10, II.

Couchid, placed, set down, i, 154.

County, Count or Earl, i, 327.

Coyletts, quillets, small (? inferior) plots or strips of land, ii, 62.

Coyte, a quoit, "a coyte- or stone-cast," a measure of distance, iv, 113.

Crayer, a small trading vessel formerly used, iv, 88.

XXVI GLOSSARY

Creek, verb, the water "crekith," turns or bends, "creking," i, 198, 204.

Custumer of Hampton, collector of customs or dues, v, 278. See Accustumer.

Dedignation, disdain, displeasure, ii, 31.

Deflorichid, despoiled, ravaged, iii, 41.

Degres, degrees, steps (in Canterbury Cathedral), iv, 38.

Departith, departs or separates, i, 13.

Disparkle, verb, disparkelid, disparklid, scattered or dispersed, i, 82, 124; iv, 76, 77.

Dition, rule, sway, i, 68. See also iv, 184, 186, 187.

Dok or bosom, a dock; " apparently a creek or haven in which ships may lie on the ooze or ride at anchor, according to the tide," N.E.D., i, 51.

Dole, grief, sorrow, v, 116.

Duello, a duel, iv, 148.

Dukke, a duck, iv, 84.

Egge, edge, i, 23.

Entaylid, intaglio, engraved, v, 53. See Intayle.

Bring, ploughing, from ere, a variety of ear, to plough, v, 46.

Escrye, out-cry, battle-cry, iv, 125; scry, iv, 97.

Fauburge, a faubourg or suburb (apparently equivalent to a " borough foreign "), ii, 86.

Fletithe, fleatith, verb, to fleet, said of waters, to flow, i, 31; ii, 81.

Flette, floated, v, 116.

Flite shot, a flight-shot, the flight of a shot-arrow, a measure of distance, ii, 66; iv, 50, 98; v, 101; "two flite shots," i, 67, 96.

Force, a fort or strong castle, i, 201.

Forcid, strengthened, fortified, i, 96, 100, 319.

Foster, forester (to Penkridge Chase), v, 22.

Frerenhay, the Friars' enclosure, i, 228.

Frith, frith park, a game preserve or deer park, i, 20, 108; ii, 80 .

Fulled, baptized, or washed, v, 116.

Gabylle, a cable, rope, i, 49.

Gainest way, the straightest, most direct way, i, 51.

Gere, gear, i.e., matter or subject, iv, 64.

Gesse, I guess, i.e., I am pretty sure, I think, i, 98; I judge, 108.

Gill, a stream in a narrow ravine or glen, v, 138.

Hard, adv. and prep., hard at, v, 105; harde by, 104; hard on, 106; harde withyn, 106; i.e., just or close at, by, on, within.

Hard, adj., in phrase " to the hard ground," to the very ground, v, 104.

Harte brinynge, heart-burning, v, 155.

Havenet, a small haven, i, 51.

Heend, polite, v, 116.

Hem, them, v, 117, 118.

Her, their, v, 116.

GLOSSARY XXVII

Heyne, a saving, niggardly man, iv, 143.

Hiereward, perhaps an error for hithe-ward, the keeper of the hithe, v, 117.

Hillinge, rising, ascending, v, 71.

Holme, a little isle or islet in a river or lake, or near the mainland, iv, 33, 136.

Hope. Leland says "hopes or becks," i, 77, or "small brooks," v, 139; according to the N.E.D. the hopes are the small valleys running down from the hills and opening into a main vale, in each of which a brook or burn runs. This answers the description in the text.

Howys, howe, a hoe, = mattock or pickaxe, v, 116.

Iled, past part, of verb to isle, "when Thanet was full iled," i.e., was entirely an island, iv, 61.

Indubitately, undoubtedly, v, 81.

Intayle, engraved or carved work?, v, 129. See Entaylid. Cf. the paragraph on " Woulsingham Market," with the next but one as to the marmoratum at Durham.

Isled, said of a church, "very elegant and isled," i.e., aisled, i, 148.

I-wysse, certainly, v, 117.

Keching, kechyn, kitchen, i, 40, 53.

Kenning, a marine measure of about twenty miles, i, 191, 201, 222; iv, 1 88.

Kefinnithes, Welsh kyffinieu (Dr. J. G. Evans), glossed by Leland cowfinia, confines or boundaries, iii, 15; he '.mistakes kefinnith, a plural form, for the singular (cf. kyffin, a limit), and so uses it several times, iii, 16, 17, 18.

Keyes or peres, quays or piers, i, 318, 324.

Knappe, top or summit of a hill, i, 174.

Laving, verb, to lave, baling, v, 117.

Laund, an open space among woods, N.E.D., i, 13; as place-name, 21.

Lesys, a form of leasows, leasow, meadow or pasture land, i, 38.

Limes, limit or boundary, i, 13; iv, 32.

Lin, a linn, waterfall or torrent, but Leland here uses it for a small stream in low land, i, 95.

Ling, a kind of heather, iv, 32; v, 66.

Lingy, covered with ling, or heather, i, So.

Lover, louver, a "lantern" or erection on the roof of a hall, with lateral holes to let out the smoke, N.E.D., i, 139.

Lumbe, lome, a weaver's loom, i, 132.

Marchanties, merchandise, i, 206.

Mareed, error for marred, dirtied, v, 116.

Market-stede, market-place, ii, 69.

Mediamnes, little isles formed in the middle of a river, i, in, 120; ii, 63.

XXVIII GLOSSARY

Merche, march, smallage or wild celery which grows on marshy places, v, 6.

Mole, a mass, great piece (of stone), v, 46.

Mownde, a fence or hedge, v, 117.

Mynion, minion, elegant, fine, iv, 33.

Nelyd, i.e., annealed, glazed or enamelled by fire, iv, 131.

Nesch of sand, neck of sand; perhaps soft piece is intended, iv, 59.

Nesse, a headland or cape; also used as a verb, to grow into a ness, iv, 67.

Nex, aphetic form of annex, v, 178.

Next, nearest, i, 50.

Nobilitate, verb, to ennoble, nobilitating, iv, 100, in; notablitatyd, v, 223, probably an error of the scribe.

Of, off, iv, 23, 61, 73 (nyne myles of).

Owre, ore of metal, v, 129; owrische soyles, containing ore.

Paradise, " a little studiyng chaumber caullid Paradice," i, 46.

Pecoyse, a peck or pick-axe, v, 117.

Peninsulatid, so surrounded by rivers as to form a peninsula, i, 131.

Picard, picart, a small sailing vessel formerly used for coasting or river traffic, i, 170; ii, 57; iv, 136.

Pies, magpies, i, 123.

Pill, a local name for a tidal creek, or a pool in a creek or at the confluence of a tributary stream, N.E.D.; Cornwall, and the Severn, i, 200, 204, 206, 207.

Pill, a castlet or small building?, v, 134.

Pill, verb, to pillage, rob, or strip bare, iv, 121.

Piramis, i.e., pyramid, a spire, pinnacle, obelisk, or gable, i, 81, 131; ii, 96; v, 73, 78.

Pirle of water, a bubbling brook or small stream, i, 175, 301.

Plaschsy, marshy or swampy, i, 116.

Place, commune, common pleas, iv, 75.

Pointel, a style or pointed instrument for writing on tables, i, 132.

Policy, improvements made by human skill and labour (as we should now say civil engineering); Leland applies it to drainage of land or the diversion or improvement of rivers, i, 30, 147, 206; v, 90.

Porturid, portrayed or pictured, i, 72, 124.

Practized, intrigued, schemed, or plotted, ii, 62.

Quaterfors, a place where four streets meet, quadrivium (like "Carfax" in Oxford), ii, 41, 57.

Querry, quarry, v, 116.

Quick, lively, stirring, i, 243; v, 38, 39; "a quyk mownde," a quickset or living hedge, v, 117.

Ragusey, an argosy or great merchant ship, iv, 60.

Redid, verb, to reed, to cover a roof with reeds, v, 34.

GLOSSARY XXIX

Resort, verb, often said of water, or one river running into another, i, 90, 168; or into the sea, 177.

Rhe, a river, overflowing water, v, 36, 76.

Rige, here a man's back, " clothed ... for bed and for back," v, 118.

Rokkettes, small rocky isles (under water), i, 318.

Ruffelar, a vagabond of the sixteenth century, iv, 80.

Rughe, rough, iii, 13.

Rype, ripe, the bank of a river or brook, i, 184; v, 80, 81.

Saufte, safety, iv, 146.

Scry. See Escrye.

Se-coal, sea-coal, coal found open in cliffs of the sea-shore, v, 140. This is one explanation, but it does not agree with many uses of the word.

Sele, verb, to ceil, to line roof or walls with wood or plaster, v, 83.

Shippeletts, small vessels, i, 177, 242; iv, 88.

Shoute out gunns, to place guns (on a tower) for shooting, ii, 40.

Shrodly pillid (shrewdly pillaged), maliciously stripped bare, iv, 121.

Sidenham, error for sidenhand, or sidehand; adverbial phrase, a-sidenhand, lying on one side of, i, 9. N.E.D.

Skill, verb, to reason, to understand, i, 135.

Skirmouch, skirmish, iv, 124.

Sieve, cleft or parting; "sieve of the ocean," the part of the English Channel between Brest and Cornwall, i, 2OI.

Slypes, slips, narrow strips of woodland, v, 73.

Smoulderid, smothered to death in a crowd, i, 5.

Sodde, past tense of verb to seethe, iv, 10.

Sparkelid, scattered or dispersed, iii, 38; iv, 5., 136.

Spilled, damaged, destroyed, iii, 1 10.

Stagne, a pond or lake, i, 75.

Staple, a market, i, 168, 169.

Stiliard, steelyard, merchants of the steelyard, a famous guild of foreign merchants in England, connected with the Hanseatic League, iv, 114.

Strete, street, meaning a village or small place not being a market town; thorough-fare is also used in the same sense, ii, 113.

Stripe, a blow, a wound caused by beating, iii, 90; strips, v, 3.

Suoping, swooping, said of a river sweeping along, v, 79.

Suarved, swerved, turned aside, iii, 109. Also swarve, to fill up, to choke with sediment, which seems to be the meaning in i, 61.

Tainters, tenters or stretchers used in the making of woollen cloth, i, 82 (cf. tenter-hooks).

Thakkid, thatched, iv, 26; v, 34.

There, where, v, 116.

Thrwghe-fayre, through fare, a village, ii, 106, 113. See Strete.

Thwartheth, passes athwart or across, v, 51.

Tophe, towfe stone, "full of pores and holes lyke a pummice," a quarry of this stone at Dursley resembling volcanic tufa, iv, 130; v, 96.

XXX GLOSSARY

Tracte, delay; slow, long drawn out, iv, 134.

Translate, to change, to alter, said of houses or buildings, i, 104, 105, 163.

Trowehes of lead, troughs or coffins, i, 50.

Tukkyng miles, i.e., tucking mills, fulling mills used in finishing cloth, v, 96 (tucker, West of England for a fuller).

Upper, adv., higher up, i, 176; ii, 189, 194, 203.

Verry, verrey, vaire, a term in heraldry for a kind of fur, i, 159 (thrice).

Vouess, woues, woves, a vowed nun, i, 109, 112, 124.

Wag mier, wagmore, quagmire, i, 107, 205.

Waged a wed, promised a pledge, v, 117.

Walls, i.e., Wales, v, 178.

Wal yee. This appears to be one of Leland's erroneous attempts at etymology. One end of the great Roman Wall is near Bowness on the Solway Firth, the other at Wallsend on the Tyne; it is possible that, writing from his notes, he confused the names of the two places, v, 81.

Water, often used instead of river or brook, i, 62, 256, 258. This was still done in Ireland fifty years ago. See " William Allingham's Diary," 1907, p. 46.

Waye = weigh, a lever, v, 116.

Weges, wedges, v, 116.

Wene, to think, suppose, iv, 25.

Witriding, outriding men, Border marauders or thieves, v, 62 and n.

Wose, ooze, wet mud, iv, 61; whosy, oozy, muddy, as in the bed of a river or the sea, iv, 49; v, 91.

Woves. See Vouess.

Yerth coal, earth or dug coal in distinction from charcoal, iv, 14.

Return to top of page

URL of this page: http://www.melocki.org.uk/leland/Glossary.html

Copyright notice:
All pages at http://www.melocki.org.uk
are Copyright Mel Lockie 2021.
All rights reserved.
For a detailed copyright policy see: Conditions of Use.