nail

An article of protective clothing, originally made of linen but then of stouter materials. The loss of initial 'n' gave us the modern spelling 'apron'.

places Skipton Whitby York

sources Whitaker, History of Deaner... Surtees Society Publications Raine, York Minster Fabric ... Special Chamberlains' Roll ...

dates 1307 1395 1404 1445

nar

spellings narr

Obsolete for nearer or ‘nigher’.

places Halifax Dewsbury

sources John Michill's will 1546 Dewsbury Court Roll

dates 1546 1580

nare

A nostril of a hawk.

places Brandsby

sources Richard Cholmeley's book 16...

dates 1619

nares

spellings nayres

For heirs, via ‘mine heirs’.

places Bardsey Sherburn in Elmet

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Thoresby Society Publications

dates 1488 1502

nat

spellings natt gnat gnatt knat

A straw mattress or mat.

places York South Cave Haworth Pontefract Sowerby

sources Raine, York Minster Fabric ... Sir Richard Scrope's will, ... William Wilkinson's invento... William Colyer's inventory,... Miles Atkinson's inventory,... Quarter Session rolls 1662-... Pontefract session roll Apr... Bradford session roll July ... Whitaker, History of Deaner...

dates 1399 1443 1508 1574 1579 1587 1669 1698 1732 1748

naunt

spellings nont

A mat for in the house, either as a bed cover or against a window.

places Guisborough Seaton Ross South Cave

sources Robert Morley's will, 1508 Ralph Bigod's will, 1551 Ellen Atkinson's will, 1570

dates 1505 1545 1570

nave(1)

spellings naffe naphe nathe

The hub of a wheel, that part into which the end of the axle-tree is inserted.

places Elmswell Dalton Pudsey Sharlston

sources William Pratt's inventory 1664 Beaumont of Whitley Richard Hill's inventory 1643 Francis Clarke's inventory,...

dates 1588 1643 1648 1664

nave(2)

An alternative spelling of 'knave', a carpenter's tool, although it remains uncertain which is the correct form.

navigator

One who navigates a boat, a sailor or seaman. It was regularly used for sailors on inland waterways.

places York Selby

sources Parish Registers Leonard Wilkinson's adminis... Robert Aske's administratio...

dates 1596 1673 1681

nawb

For 'an alb’, a white tunic worn by priests.

places Staveley

sources Janet Bayne's will 1558

dates 1558

nawgur

For ‘an auger’, a boring tool.

places Hull

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo...

dates 1530

nawn

spellings nown

For ‘mine own’.

places Thirsk Barwick in Elmet

sources Yorkshire Archaeological Jo... Parish Registers

dates 1538 1578

nawt

spellings nout nowt nolt

Alternative spellings of a regional term for cattle, derived from a Scandinavian word. It was a dialect alternative to ‘neat’.

places Rylstone York Flamborough Bardsey Kirkby Lonsdale Lowther Yeadon

sources John Rilston's will, 1443 York House Book 8 Sir Marmaduke Constable's w... Thoresby Society Publications Richmond wills and inventories Thomas Ward's will, 1557

dates 1442 1502 1518 1521 1543 1552 1557

nawt hair

Hair from the hides of cattle had a variety of uses, not all of them legal.

places Wakefield

sources Wakefield Court Rolls 4 May...

dates 1539

nawtherd

spellings noutherd noutmaysterman

Regional by-names for the cattle herd or herdsman.

places York Wakefield Rievaulx Abbey Kirkham Priory Elmswell Healaugh

sources York freemen's register YAHS Record Series vol. 3 Surtees Society vol. 83 Henry Best's Farming Book Marriott v. Earl of Wharton...

dates 1280 1296 1309 1642 1705-1708

nawt-house

Apparently a rare alternative to cow-house or mistall, although the references point to an important and substantial building.

places Highburton

sources Redmonds, Yorkshire Deeds

dates 1610

nawtmarket

A cattle market.

places Pontefract

sources Place-names of West Riding ... Surtees Society Publications Alice Atkinson's will, 1552

dates 1426 1546 1552

nay

The regional form of ‘no’.

places Hull

sources York House Book 6

dates 1487

nazzard

Probably for 'an hasard', that is gray-haired, hoary, used of animals.

places Tynemouth Brandsby

sources William le Vavasour's will,... Richard Cholmeley's book 16...

dates 1557 1619

ne

An archaic word for nor.

places Halifax

sources John Hemyngwaye's will 1528 Roundell c. Addison tithe c...

dates 1528 1542

near hand

Almost, close to.

places Elmswell Thurlstone

sources Henry Best's Farming Book Surtees Society Publications

dates 1642 1647

neat

spellings neat's tongue

Top-quality leather, made of the hides of ‘neat’ or cattle.

places Beverley Bridlington

sources YAS Record Series Market searchers, 11 August...

dates 1627 1666

neatherd

In the past the term ‘neatherd’ was almost as frequent as ‘shepherd’.

places Carlton

sources Quarter Sessions Records

dates 1606

neb

The beak or bill of a bird.

places Elmswell

sources Henry Best's Farming Book

dates 1642

necessary

spellings neccessary house

A useful or necessary house, commonly a privy or toilet, abbreviated by dialect speakers who refer to it as the 'nessy'.

places York Gargrave Slaithwaite Ovenden Selby

sources Knaresborough session roll ... Parish Registers Rev. Murgatroyd's diary Cornelius Ashworth's diary,... Cornelius Ashworth's diary,... Selby Abbey Sacrist account...

dates 1413-1414 1717 1743 1785 1788 1815

necklace

A piece of lace or ribbon to go round a person’s neck.

places Knaresborough Thirsk

sources James Willinson's will 1558/9 Quarter Sessions Records

dates 1558 1636

neeld

spellings nild neald

Regional spellings of ‘needle’.

places Esholt Stockeld

sources Henry Thompson's inventory,... Yorkshire Archaeological Jo...

dates 1567 1614

negligee

A word on record from the mid-eighteenth century when it was usually a garment worn by women, a sort of loose gown.

neighbour

‘Functions that are today performed by nurses, physicians, social workers, secretaries, real estate agents and lawyers were among the countryfolk of Elizabethan and Stuart days performed by neighbours for each other’ – so wrote Mildred Campbell in The English Yeoman, finding the right words to define the word ‘neighbour’ as it came to be understood in the Tudor period.