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leck

To moisten or sprinkle with water, a form of the verb to leak according to the OED.

places Wakefield Almondbury

sources John Brearley's Memorandum ... Easther, Dialect Glossary

dates 1762 1883

lee

spellings chamber-lee

Human urine.

places Woodsome Bowling Conistone Sheffield Scalm Park

sources Kaye Commonplace Book Isabella Pollard's depositi... Richard Wigglesworth's Acco... Pontefract session roll Apr... Yorkshire Archaeological Jo...

dates 1589 1650 1688 1710 1738

leech

A physician or doctor, in use in Old English and recorded as a by-name from the thirteenth century.

places Howden York Garforth

sources Fenwick, Poll Tax John Stevynson's will, 1446 Henry Beverley's will, 1551 Webb, Churchwardens' Accounts

dates 1379 1445 1524 1552

leech craft

The skill of healing.

places Ouseburn Selby

sources YAS Record Series Selby Abbey Kitchener accou...

dates 1416-1417 1525

Leeds measure

One of several localised systems for measuring produce.

places Barwick in Elmet

sources Parish Registers

dates 1606

leister

A pronged spear, used chiefly for catching salmon.

places Mortham Eppleby Thirn, Bedale Timble

sources Thomas Rokebie's will 1567 Quarter Sessions Records Wetherby session roll Janua...

dates 1567 1611 1638 1693

leming

A popular name for an ox, probably the Middle English word for ‘lightning’, an ironic nickname.

places Conisbrough Wakefield Crofton Stainforth

sources Thomas Bosvile's will, 1545 William Wattes' will, 1552 Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Redmonds, Yorkshire Surnames

dates 1379 1545 1553 1567

let

To hinder, obstruct, prevent or stand in the way of.

places York Almondbury Thurstonland Elmswell

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... York House Book 2, 3 & 4 Parish Registers Redmonds, Yorkshire Deeds Henry Best's Farming Book

dates 1419 1482 1569 1587 1642

letch

A marshy stream, ditch or gutter.

places Galtres Oxenhope

sources Quarter Sessions Records Nostell Priory Cartulary

dates 1200-1299 1633

letten

Formerly the past participle of to let, that is to grant possession of for a payment.

places Reeth Elmswell Conistone

sources John Carter's will and inve... Henry Best's Farming Book Richard Wigglesworth's Acco...

dates 1597 1642 1686-1687

lettice

A kind of whitish-grey fur, from the skins of the snow-weasel.

places York

sources Veale, English Fur Trade YAS Record Series vol. 1

dates 1582

levant

A type of linen imported from the Low Countries.

places Hull York Ripon

sources John Dey's and John Brydde'... York Memoranda Book Margaret Pigott's inventory... William Crauseter's book 14...

dates 1465 1470 1485 1489-1490

level

In coal-mining this was a nearly horizontal drift or gallery which might give access to the coal or help to drain a mine.

places Northowram Farnley Tong

sources Halifax Antiquarian Society... Farnley pit accounts 1690-1720 Account book of coals got a...

dates 1633 1697 1761

ley ground

spellings ley land

Arable land, often in the town fields, which was left fallow or unploughed.

places Huddersfield Dewsbury Tong

sources Beaumont of Whitley Dewsbury Court Roll Lease of several closes of ...

dates 1545 1590 1666

lib

To geld or castrate.

places Whitby South Milford Woodsome Thirsk Sandal Barnby Dun

sources Surtees Society Publications Thomas Booreman's will, 1549 Kaye Commonplace Book Quarter Sessions Records Wakefield Court Rolls 4 Dec... Wakefield Court Rolls 8 Jan... Fenwick, Poll Tax

dates 1338-1339 1379 1395 1549 1570 1616

libard

An obsolete spelling of leopard, the animal which was once considered to be a hybrid between a lion and a ‘pard’ or panther (OED).

places Woolley Swine Whitkirk Healaugh

sources Oliver Woderow's will, 1430 Richard Clynt's will, 1434 Joan Wombewell's will, 1454 Thomas Lord Wharton's inven...

dates 1430 1433 1454 1568

lick

Fodder for cows; chopped hay with bran, meal or anything tasty.

places South Crosland

sources George Redmonds Papers

dates 1816

lick-dish

A by-name, said to mean 'parasite' and so was clearly perjorative.

places Guisborough Wakefield Pickering

sources Surtees Society Publications Wakefield Court Rolls 24 Ap... North Riding Records

dates 1332 1337

lidgate

spellings lidyate

A swing-gate which was formerly put in place as a barrier to animals, set up between land under cultivation and the common or waste, or between two properties.

places Stockeld Bolton by Bowland Scammonden Snaith Methley Holme Lepton Clayton South Elmsall

sources YAS Record Series Manor of Wakefield court ro... Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Thoresby Society Publications Records of the manor of Wak... Wakefield Court Rolls 14 Oc... Miscellaneous papers, 1379-... Clayton court rolls 1630-1658 Lay and Clerical Taxation S... Wakefield Court Rolls 7 Aug...

dates 1297 1297-1298 1332 1374 1397-1398 1450-1499 1459 1514 1545 1584 1623 1630

lie

To set in the oven, to bake.

places Fewston

sources Wetherby session roll Janua...

dates 1721

lig

To lie.

places Scarborough York Ovenden Stainland Rastrick Helperby

sources Henry Wartre's will, 1432 York House Book 1 YAS Record Series John Percy's will, 1500

dates 1301 1432 1450 1479 1483 1500 1523

ligger

spellings lier

A board or beam.

places South Cave

sources William Hodgshon's inventor...

dates 1610

light(1)

To settle or alight.

places Elmswell Thorne Craven

sources Henry Best's Farming Book Doncaster and Wakefield ses... Pontefract session roll Apr...

dates 1642 1669 1729

light(2)

spellings lights

In a place-name including 'tree', to indicate light tree cover.

places Horbury Ossett

sources Records of the manor of Wak... Survey of copyhold lands in...

dates 1386 1525

lighter

A flat-bottomed boat, used to transport goods in harbours or along the estuaries and rivers.

places Beverley

sources YAS Record Series vol. 1

dates 1747

lighterman

One who owned or worked on a lighter.

places Hull

sources Edmund Johnson's will, 1553 Thomas Yates' will, 1558

dates 1553 1558

like on

To have a liking for, to favour.

places Easingwold

sources Quarter Sessions Records

dates 1614

limbeck

An apparatus formerly used in distilling, a short form of ‘alembic’.

places Mount Grace Ingmanthorpe Richmond

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Robert Roos' will, 1532 Rauf Gower's will 1567

dates 1520 1529 1567

lime

To put lime into a stream or river, poisoning the fish so that they could be easily taken by poachers.

places Heptonstall Keighley

sources Quarter Session rolls 1662-... Abraham Shackleton's Diary

dates 1698 1794

limeburner

spellings limebearer limeporter

One who burns limestone to make lime.

places Scarborough Beverley York

sources YAHS Record Series vol. 3 Bridlington Keepers' and Go... Raine, York Minster Fabric ... York freemen's register

dates 1299 1389 1409 1432

limehouse

In York this was a building where lime was stored for the masons who were working on major projects.

places York Bridlington

sources Raine, York Minster Fabric ... YAS Record Series

dates 1421 1541-1542

limeman

An occupational term for a lime burner.

places York Bingley

sources York freemen's register Henry Power's Memorandum Book

dates 1384 1655

lime pit

A solution of lime and water in a pit was used by tanners to facilitate the removal of hair from the hides, also causing them to swell in readiness for tanning.

places Bradford Beetham Selby Kirkheaton Leeds

sources Bradford Court Rolls 1409-1422 Richmond wills and inventories John Titlow the Younger's w... Manor of Heaton, 1589-1813 Thoresby Society Publications

dates 1422 1542 1595 1660 1670

limestone

A rock, chiefly consisting of carbonate of lime, used to make quicklime.

places Catterick

sources Quarter Sessions Records

dates 1422

lind

The lime tree or the wood of the lime tree, also called the linden.

places Hatfield Silkstone Sowerby Hull

sources Place-names of West Riding ... YAS Record Series Faull & Moorhouse, West Yor... John Dey's and John Brydde'...

dates 1090 1190-1202 1337 1465

line

The fibre of flax or the plant itself.

places Stillingfleet Normanton Moss Fishlake Kirkstall Emley North Bierley York Fixby

sources YAS Record Series Wakefield Court Rolls 19 Ap... Pontefract session roll Apr... Doncaster session roll Janu... Spencer-Stanhope papers Collins, Kirkburton Parish ... William Richardson's invent... York freemen's register York House Book 7 John Thornhill's inventory,... Pontefract session roll Apr...

dates 1327 1493 1535 1539 1567 1610 1635 1667 1704 1747 1756

line-beater

The rare word ‘beat’ was used of a bundle of flax or hemp made up ready for steeping (OED).

places Rothwell

sources YAS Record Series vol. 1

dates 1258

linen-draper

A retail trader who deals in linen.

places Wrenthorpe

sources YAS Record Series vol. 1

dates 1576

line-tow

Tow was the fibre of flax, hemp or jute, prepared for spinning, and it gave its name to a type of linen material.

places Methley Knaresborough Selby Conistone

sources Thoresby Society Publications John Nettleton's inventory,... Robert Anbye's administrati... Richard Wigglesworth's Acco...

dates 1587 1596 1658 1686

ling(1)

A long slender fish found in the seas of northern Europe.

places Selby Stockeld Brandsby

sources Selby Abbey Kitchener accou... Accounts at Stockeld 1578-1582 Richard Cholmeley's book 16...

dates 1416-1417 1580 1613

ling(2)

This common moorland plant had varied uses, notably as material for thatching.

places Whitby Conistone

sources Surtees Society Publications Richard Wigglesworth's Acco...

dates 1394-1395 1689

lin-nail

spellings lince-pin nail lin-pin

The linch-pin or nail which secured the wheel to the axle-tree, noted from 1496 in the OED.

places Ripon Castleford Thorpe Willoughby Beverley Northallerton

sources Margaret Pigott's inventory... Thomas Duffan's will, 1559 William Richardson's invent... YAS Record Series Quarter Sessions Records

dates 1485 1558 1580 1637 1653

linsey-woolsey

Originally a material woven from a mixture of flax [line] and wool.

places Brandsby Bingley Selby

sources Richard Cholmeley's book 16... John Morvell's inventory 1631 Jennett Holgate's will, 1637/8

dates 1611 1631 1637

liquorice

The root or rhizome of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra, literally the sweet root, used medicinally and as a sweetmeat.

places Hull Fountains Abbey Pontefract

sources John Dey's accounts 1462-3 John Dey's and Robert Percy... Fountains Abbey Bursar Acco... Richard Cholmeley's book 16...

dates 1457-1458 1463 1467 1617

list(1)

The hem or selvage of material.

places York Wakefield Richmond Hipperholme

sources Margaret Blakburn's will, 1435 York House Book 9 John Brearley's Memorandum ... Richmond wills and inventories YAHS Record Series vol. 3

dates 1433 1506 1562 1598 1758-1762

list(2)

Short for ‘enlist’.

places Kettlewell Sheffield

sources Quarter Session rolls 1662-... Doncaster session roll Janu...

dates 1675 1697

list(3)

A verb, to choose, desire or please.

listing

The material of which the list or selvage of cloth is made.

places Beverley York Bingley

sources John Brompton's will, 1444 York House Book 9 Walter Morvell's inventory ...

dates 1444 1506 1615

lit

As a verb it means to colour or dye.

places Bingley South Cave Holmfirth

sources William Birkinshawe's inven... Peter Orrell's inventory, 1622 Leeds session roll October ...

dates 1617 1621 1708

lithe

To thicken broth or milk with flour.

places Scalm Park Methley

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Brears, Gentlewoman's Kitchen

dates 1683 1711

lit-house

A regional word for dye-house, pronounced 'littus' locally.

places Sowerby near Halifax Birstall Rishworth Honley

sources Wakefield Court Rolls 9 Jan... Robert Goodale's will, 1553 Manor of Wakefield court ro... Redmonds, Yorkshire Deeds

dates 1540 1553 1635 1675

litster

A dyer.

places York Elland

sources YAS Record Series vol. 1 Thomas Bemeslay's administr... YAS Record Series Fenwick, Poll Tax

dates 1379 1393-1394 1427 1462

litting lead

spellings litting pan

A vat or a pan used in the dyeing process.

places Dalton Leeds

sources Johanne Thewlesse's will, 1574 John Dickson's will, 1587

dates 1573 1588

livelihood

Means of living, maintenance.

places Humbleton Fenwick

sources Isabel Grimston's will, 1479 Sir Hugh Hastings' will, 14...

dates 1479 1489

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