In the process of cloth-finishing the nap was formerly raised by teasels set in an implement referred to as ‘handles’, and this was possibly a similar implement.
It has a general meaning of ‘rubbish’ but in wood management the reference was to fallen branches or what was left over when the tanners and charcoal burners had used what they wanted, usually branches but sometimes whole trees. It could clearly be used in fencing.
In early references the meaning is not absolutely clear but this was evidently an iron fireplace of some kind, the fore-runner of the ranges used for cooking which were frequent from the nineteenth century.
The meaning is not absolutely clear, but it was evidently a weapon, perhaps similar to a pikestaff, with a short blade or rapier fastened into a wooden handle.
The regional spelling of ‘ret’, that is to soak in water or expose to moisture, used especially in the preparation of hemp and flax. The plants were placed in a pit or pool and as putrefaction occurred the fibres were separated or split from the stem.
‘Ratton Row’ is a minor place-name which occurs so frequently across the north of England that it is tempting to see it as a generic, applied to any row of houses or cottages which was rat infested or perhaps just run down.
As a noun it dates from the Old English period and can mean ‘bundle’ or ‘sheaf’. In Yorkshire it is much used with reference to bundles of peas from the seventeenth century.
One who refuses; that is in England a person who refused to accept the religious changes of the Reformation, to acknowledge the supremacy of the Crown, to conform to the Book of Common Prayer and to attend the services of the Church of England (PDE165).
In animal husbandry it was a concern to keep herds and flocks at the desired size, so older animals that were fattened and slaughtered had to be replaced by a new generation.