sled

1) A sledge, used to transport a variety of heavy goods, not just in winter but at all times of the year, especially in places where wheeled vehicles with loads were impractical.

1454 ‘making a Sled for carrying stones 2d’, Kirkby Malham

1506 yf ony man will have his turffs by sled it shalbe lefull, York

1555 all maner of thynges that belongith to a draughte, that is to saie wayne, plewghe, couppe, sledde, temys and other gere, Beckwithshaw

1616 led home with a sledd the great wood, Brandsby

1748 one muck sled, Sowerby. Also used as a verb, meaning to transport by sled: 1400 in sledding lapidum ... usque aquam, York

1409 Et Johanni Holme ... pro plumbo et sleddyng, Beverley

1434 Et pro sleddyng batelli communitatis de aqua Fosse usque in aqua Use, York. Sleds were farm vehicles in the Pennines into relatively modern times and could still be seen in the Calder Valley fifty years ago: c.1570 when comys great froost ... sled home loggs for fier, Woodsome

1713 Besids his hors to sled morter and fetch Slate, hay, wood, Bradford. It may be that ‘sledful’ emerged as a term similar to burden or horse-load, a standardised measure that is: 1450 pro quolibet sledful ijd, York

c.1540 4 Sledfull wood yerely 16d, Grosmont

1657 Thomas Greene did unjustly carry away two sled full of manure, Ecclesfield. Underground, sleds were used to convey corves of coal along the galleries: 1814 Old axle trees for corve sleds 6s 0d, Bradshaw. It is difficult to interpret this reference but it may mean that the runners for the sleds were to be fashioned out of old axle-trees, which by this date were quite often made of iron. ‘Sledge’ was a less-common spelling: 1715 for 4 sledge sides 1s 0d, Farnley.

dates 1400 1409 1434 1450 1454 1506 1540 1555 1570 1616 1657 1713 1715 1748 1814

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