This week I’m combining two letters, K and L, because words and phrases found in genealogy, family and house history research beginning with the letter K are few and far between!
K’s
KAVEL – a ballot by which the working places in a pit are fixed; or strips of tillage lands in common fields
KEEPER – a person who attends to the sick and dying in place of a relative
KENNIN/KENNINE – a measure equivalent to half a bushel or two pecks
KID – a bunch of twigs, brushwood or gorse used for burning; To Kid is to bind up in faggots
KIDELLA – Fish-trap
KINE – Cows, usually dairy cows
KING ALE – Church ale
KING’S EVIL – Scrofula, a disease of the lymphatic glands, once thought to be cured by a touch from the King’s or Queen’s hand
KIRKMASTER – Churchwarden
KLICKER – someone who stands outside a shop to entice customers in
KNIGHT SERVICE – MIlitary service which a Knight was bound to render to the lord of the manor or crown as a condition of holding his land under the feudal system
KNOBSTICK WEDDING – Wedding of a pregnant woman compelled by the Churchwarden and attended by them in state
KNOWLEDGE MONEY – a gift from tenants to a new Bishop of Abott
KNOWN LAND – unenclosed land marked out by stones or natural boundaries to indicate ownership
Interesting to see the old meaning of KID! Perhaps today’s meaning as a slang for child originates from children being used to make the bunches of twigs etc?
L’s
LADDER – a flight of shelves, particularly for storing cheese
LAIRSTALL/LEYSTALL – a graev inside a church
LAKE – a type of fine linen which shirts were formerly made from
LAMMAS LAND – common land, arable of meadow, which was occupied for part of the year but after crops were harvested the owner(s) were able to use as pasture land
LANDLOUPER – a person who flies from the country because of crime or debt
LANDMALE – Reserved rent/annual sum of money charged on a piece of land by the Lord who held in Fee
LAND TAX – Tax on land payable between 1693 and 1963
LANSCOT – an assessment of land for the maintenance of the church
LARCENCY – Petty Larceny (theft) and Grand Laceny (Stealing property worth more than 12 pence
LATH – Barn
LEA – measure of yarn, 300 yards
LEASEHOLD – land let out in a way which was not restricted or governed by the custom of the manor
LEGALIA – laws, customs
LEGALITER – lawfully, legally
LEGANTIA – legacy, bequest
LEGES – laws
LEGGER – a man emplyed by a canal owner to push boats through narrow tunnels
Legitime procreates – lawfully begotten
LEGITIMUS – law worthy, of legal status
Legare – To leave/bequeath
LETTERS PATENT – document under seal of the state granting some privilege or authority or exclusive right to use an invention or design
LIBER – book (noun), Free (adj)
LIBERE – freely
LIBERI – children
L/l LIBRA/UM – pound £
LICENTIA – permission, authority, licence
LIFTING MONDAY – aka Hocktide Monday, when it was custom for men, in couples, to pift up and kiss each woman they met
LIFTING TUESDAY – when women returned the above compliment to men
LIGEUS – bound by allegience
LIGHTERMAN – the operator of flat-bottomed type of barge known as a LIGHTER
LIGNUM – wood, timber, beam, post
LITTEN- Churchyard
LOQUELA – suit, action, plea (legal)
LOQUELOR – to plead, implead, to confer, discuss
LORD – feudal superior of a VASSAL, a Manorial Lord
LORD LIEUTENANT – the Crown’s direct county representative first introduced in the 1540’s, responsible for raising and managing county MILITIA
It’s always interesting to se how the meaning of words has evolved through the centuries.
I would love to hear what obscure words and phrases you have found in your research – sarah@spfhhistory.co.uk