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An obscure term with a variety of spellings, found only in documents to do with cloth-dressing, always in similar contexts.
dates 1576 1618 1701 1703

A type of sieve used to separate corn from dust and other unwanted matter (EDD).
dates 1657 1700

A ‘screen’ for dressing corn, noted under ‘skreel’ as a North Lincolnshire term (EDD).
dates 1657 1669

A term for one of the processes by which wool is converted into yarn, originally using hand cards but later a machine which had rollers covered with card wires.
dates 1727 1741 1758 1788 1794

Apparently a form of ‘crumple’.
places Wakefield
dates 1758-1762

An iron, marking tool, recorded in the OED from the nineteenth century.
places Tong
dates 1806

Short for escrow, a scrap or strip of parchment, a land deed.
dates 1561 1637

In an undated survey of Pickering Forest, earlier than 1568, a clear distinction was drawn between an oak classed as ‘a timber tree’, with a usual value of xijd, and ‘a scrubb’ worth ijd.
places Pickering

Possibly dwarfish or stunted oaks.
places Selby Arncliffe
dates 1540 1579

A writing desk or cabinet, from French escritoire.
dates 1728 1755

A shout or cry.
places York Rawcliffe
dates 1487 1755

spellings fire scummer
A ‘skimmer’, a shallow ladle or sieved spoon used for removing scum or other unwanted matter from the surface of liquids.
dates 1399 1445 1490 1507 1515 1528 1567 1619 1669 1700 1735

spellings squynchon
A kind of chamfered brick used for jambs and arches (SZ1/141).
places Beverley
dates 1409 1446-1447

A fish, also known as the salmon-scurf or sea-trout (OED).
places Startforth
dates 1678

A rare word with just one OED reference, in Nottinghamshire in 1561. It means embankment or possibly water channel.
places Beverley
dates 1704

Typically a large basket made of wickerwork, used for carrying corn, vegetables, sand, etc.
dates 1356 1357 1399 1446-1447 1457-1458 1535 1642 1663 1679

A maker of scuttles or baskets.
dates 1580 1586 1596 1611 1625

Occupational term for someone who made a living by sharpening scythes.
dates 1603 1674 1704 1728 1729

Occupational term for a maker of scythes.
dates 1545 1551-1552 1556 1575 1580 1599 1639-1640 1653 1654

The striker assisted the smith by hammering the scythe when instructed.
dates 1559-1560 1670 1674

This early word for ‘coal’ has been explained in a variety of ways but one important theory is that it first described coal which had been cast ashore from seams exposed on the sea bed.
dates 1306 1446-1458 1665 1697

spellings sele seyled
To fasten a cow in its stall.
dates 1538 1570 1682 1686 1740

spellings seeling seiling seillyng selyng seylyng syling syllyng
Spellings for ceiling.

A board which could be used for panelling and for doors.
places York
dates 1472

Almost certainly seal blubber.
places Hull
dates 1453

In coal-mining, veins in the rock.

A measurement, used for a variety of commodities.
dates 1419 1456-1457 1567-1568

An office in medieval guilds, who checked for offences against guild ordinances.
places York Sheffield
dates 1477 1565

To keep timber after it has been cut so that it might dry out and harden.
dates 1529 1617 1642 1671

A regional word for a rush or rushlight.
dates 1200-1299 1443 1564 1579 1631 1659

A regional spelling of sack.
dates 1277 1522 1579

A mirror or looking-glass.
dates 1619 1658 1731

spellings seild seled selyd seylid
Spellings for ceiled.

spellings signtree sinetree
In Wright the ‘sign-tree’ or ‘sine-tree’ is explained firstly as ‘one of the principal timbers of a roof’, and secondly as the ‘centerings of an arch’ (EDD).
dates 1579 1686 1698 1739 1747 1817

To cook food by boiling or stewing.
places Lincolnshire
dates 1444

A bull, castrated after it has grown to maturity.
dates 1581 1605 1655 1667

McDonnel noted that seine nets were used by fishermen was on Yorkshire rivers from the twelfth century at least, and in salt-water estuaries soon afterwards (YRS62/122). The net was designed to hang in the water, and the ends were drawn together to prevent the fish from escaping: the practice meant the fisherman had to stand on the bank above the water in order to draw the net tight and the term ‘seine draught’ seems to have become associated with the right to do that.
dates 1435 1540 1572

In possession of a property.
dates 1530 1546

Literally ‘possession’, a word found in connection with the conveyance of property.
dates 1100-1199 1251 1488 1567 1610 1611 1693 1766

An individual strip of arable land in the common field of a township.
dates 1450

A period of seven days and nights, a week.
dates 1482 1496 1579 1615 1642 1729

A typical English spelling of French ‘cierge’. It was a large wax candle, especially one used in religious ceremonies.
dates 1371 1393 1492 1533 1548

A woollen fabric, latterly durable, twilled worsted.
places Holmfirth
dates 1710

To answer a purpose or requirement.
places Halifax
dates 1677

A male servant, attending on a gentleman.
dates 1552 1565

The verb ‘to set’ could be to plant seeds or cuttings, and in some leases the tenants moving into a new property were held responsible for setting and planting a number of trees.
dates 1564-1565 1737

To encourage or incite a dog to attack another animal or a person.
dates 1616 1767

To accompany a departing guest on the first stage of their journey home.
places Erringden Sessay
dates 1726 1798

Probably a shortened form of set work.
dates 1601 1622

To lay or set stones, in bridges, highways, walls etc.
dates 1399 1508 1579 1602 1665 1697 1719-1720 1735

A term found only in York, meaning old or stale ale.
places York
dates 1579 1590

To mark out a piece of land with boundaries.
dates 1538 1590 1597

To employ, give work to.
places Hallamshire
dates 1590 1690

As a verb ‘to set’ was used in a general sense when the location of a new pit had been decided on.
dates 1704 1713 1718 1754

To mark trees in a way that made it clear to workmen which should be felled and which should be left standing.
dates 1704 1719 1746-1747 1766


Shaped stones set in the ground as a type of paving, especially in a highway.
places Rastrick Halifax
dates 1580 1664

Photo by Kreuzschnabel CC BY-SA 3.0