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Spelling:
Until the mid eighteenth century, spelling was not considered a matter of great importance. In manuscripts, words are often spelt in various ways, even in the same document. It was not until the appearance of the dictionary by Nathan Bailey in 1730 and Samuel Johnson in 1755 that there was any attempt at standardisation. Phonetic dialect: Many words were written as they sounded and were therefore heavily influenced by local dialect and the individuals level of education and therefore varied widely. The list below is exclusively compiled from Dorchester & Fordington Wills, Inventories and other documents associated with the Parish and were therefore in common use at the time. Transcription : is very difficult as you are often dealing with faded, out of focus or damaged documents written in Secretary hand where the formation of letters was significantly different from that used today. If you get through all that you often end up with a word that you have never heard of which then takes research. In the course of doing many documents I have built up a glossary given below that may help those trying to decipher old documents from Dorset. Michael Russell OPC Fordington |
| Adtrix | Female administrator of an estate |
| akers | acres |
| amry or ambry or ambree, or ambary, ambreye | early type of large cupboard with doors originally for food but in 17th century Fordington seems to be used for books, linen, clothes etc |
| Andier or Andirons | Andier is old French - an earlier form of andiron - a utensil for supporting wood when burning in a fireplace |
| Annution | Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary or 25th March |
| a pynt or appoynt | appoint |
| backsyde | back outside of buildings including the yard |
| baraels | barrels |
| bibell | Bible [the majority of inventories will include a bible] |
| bole | bowl |
| bord | board - a term used to describe a table as it was a loose board which was supported by trestles |
| bra or braas or brase or brasse | brass |
| bruing | brewing |
| buh | abbreviation for bushel; measure of capacity 8 gallons for corn fruit malt etc |
| buryell | burial |
| butterchurn | butter making vat in which milk or cream is agitated |
| buttery | storeroom for liquor and food and also for relevant equipment |
| in capite | See 'title in capite' |
| charger | large platter or dish |
| chatole | chattels |
| chayre | chair |
| cobord or cubbard | cupboard |
| coffer or coffre or copher | Wooden box or chest with a rounded top, often a strong box for valuables |
| coverled or covell covelled | A modern term for a coverled is a bed cover or bedspread |
| crocke or crock crocke or Crock | commonly a small earthenware pan although in south-west England the word also applied to metal pots. |
| crok | crook |
| dafer | daughter |
| deses or deces | decease |
| deu | due |
| doe | do |
| dredge corn | mixture of wheat and barley or another corn such as oats |
| driping pan or drippynge pann | dripping pan - pan placed below meat on a revolving spit to catch the drips |
| dust bed | probably a small 4 poster bed with a back and top panel to keep dust off the bedclothes |
| fate or fatehorse | vat or vat stand |
| Fforthington: or Fording | Fordington |
| Firedog or ffyerdogge | Firedog is like an andier, but smaller without the upright front. They were used to rest the fire irons on |
| ffirepan | iron tray beneath a grate to catch the ashes |
| ffireshole or fyreskomar | fire shovel |
| fluke | flute as in flute bed |
| ffoure or foure | four |
| ffurnace pann or fornace pann | Probably a vessel for heating water for washing or more likely boiling the wort in brewing as several times listed next to brewing equipment |
| fourme or forme | probably a long seat without a back |
| furze or furse or ferhes | gorse or whin used in heating bread ovens |
| fyer | fire |
| goune | gown |
| half head | bedstead with a wooden back of medium height, short corner posts without a canopy |
| heifer or hefer | Heifer beasts would be young cows |
| hide | a measure of land that varied between 60 and 120 acres |
| hog | Hog is a domesticated male pig raised for slaughter |
| hogshead or Hoggesheade | A Hogshead was a large cask holding 54 gallons of beer or 52 and a half gallons of wine |
| home | whom |
| hypher | heifer - a cow that has not born a calf |
| iak | jack of iron - device for turning the spit when roasting meat before the fire |
| Impremis: [Abbreviated form Imp:] | Latin for “In the first place” usually at the start of a list of bequests in a Will |
| Item: [Abbreviated for Itm: or even It:] | Usually following on from “Impremis” Itemising each bequest in a Will |
| joyne or joynt or joyned or joined | usually used with “joyne stoole” meaning a stool made by a carpenter usually with four turned legs and is of a joined construction fixed with wooden pegs |
| jump coate | short coat |
| kart or carte | strong springless vehicle of two wheels used mainly in agriculture |
| kettel or kettell | An open cooking pot or pan with semi-circular handles , one on each side, to suspend it over the fire. The modern type did not come into use until the 18th. century |
| kyne | cow |
| lettell | little |
| lininge, lynning or lynnen | linen, articles such as sheets or clothes made of linen |
| livery in seisen | One of the earliest methods of transferring land was known as, “livery of seisin”. The buyer was known to be, "seized of the land". |
| lumber | literally means disused articles of furniture etc but generally used here to describe an assortment of items of little value |
| Menster | Minister |
| meire or mere | mare female horse |
| meshing vate [or fate] | mashing vat - used in brewing beer |
| nepkens | napkins |
| nou | now |
| pane or pann | pan as in cooking pan |
| payre | pair |
| pes or pese | piece as in each |
| pettie coate or petycot | petticoat The modern term for petticoat is an underskirt which is not seen which then would have been called a shift. 17th Century petticoats were termed an under skirt because it went under an apron or a top skirt which would be pinned up to expose the underskirt. For the widow of a Yeoman at this date her petticoats would have been to the ground, and for the more wealthy may have had a short train at the back. Even working class ladies usually had some sort of trim on the petticoat. Red petticoats seem to have been popular, even among puritans |
| pfect or perfet | perfect |
| piche pot or pich pan | pot in which pitch was heated for marking animals with initials, or other identification marks |
| pillowtie or pillowtye | A Pillowtie is the outter cover of a pillow - now called pillowcases |
| Pish | Parish (abbreviated form) |
| pooles | Pillows |
| pose | propose |
| pottes | Pots |
| pottinger | A potinger is an earlier form of porringer or small basin from which soup etc was eaten |
| praised | appraised at £-- |
| puter dish | dish made of pewter |
| reade | reed not to read |
| rugge | Rug or small carpet |
| sacers | saucers |
| selled | sealed |
| settell bord | A settle was a long wooden bench usually with arms and a high back with a locker or box under the seat |
| skillet | a small metal pot with a long handle and usually 3 short legs for cooking in the fire - Note Americans use the term for a frying pan but not in Fordington as friing pan. |
| skimmer | ladle |
| skyrn | screen |
| sithe | Sithe is Old English for Scythe |
| sonne | son |
| Stuffe | woollen fabric |
| swine | Swine would be female pigs used to breed piglets |
| table bord [or borde] | The flat top of a table, always appraised separately from the frame or trestle on which it stood, being fixed with removable wooden pegs |
| tester | [Note: A linen tester cloth was the covering for the upper rectangular part of a four poster bed. Usually, the function of the tester was to hold bed curtains that could surround the bed to keep out draughts.] |
| tinning or tinnen | tin |
| title in capite | by the laws of England, one who holds immediately of the king. According to the feudal system, all lands in England are considered as held immediately or mediately of the king, who is styled lord paramount. Such tenants, however, are considered as having the fee of the lands and permanent possession |
| to or too | two |
| toubs | tubs |
| trencher | flat plate of wood on which food was served |
| trendelles or trondell or trondele or trendle | Trondell appears to refer to Trendle or Trendell a round or oval tub - also described as a dough trough |
| trilbed, trenbed, | probably refers to a trindlebed see trucklebed |
| truckle bed [trunole, trockle, trunle, trundle, trundel] | a low bed running on truckles or small wheels which could be pushed under a high or standing bed when not in use. |
| warming pan | A flat metal pan with a lid and a long handle which was filled with hot coals and used to warm a bed. |
| wayne | waggon or cart |
| weilles, welles,wheales, wheles, wheilles | wheels |
| widdoe or wid | widow |
| wif | wife |
| wynowing shet or wydowynge cloth | large sheet or cloth on which corn was winnowed or a sheet or sack over an unglazed window to keep out the cold |
| ye | the |
| yeoting or yeoteing fate | yeoting is the process of soaking barley before making malt a yeoting fate is the vat used for the purpose |