English Surnames: Their Sources and SignificationsBardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
History
English Surnames: Their Sources and Significations
Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
Names, English; Names, Personal -- English
The bailiff, shortened as a surname into ‘Bailey,’ ‘Baillie’ (‘German le
Bailif,’ J., ‘Henry le Baillie,’ M.), like the reve, seems to have been
both of legal and private capacity; in either case acting as
deputy.[228] This word ‘reve’ did a large amount of duty formerly, but
seems now to be fast getting into its dotage. In composition, however,
it is far from being obsolete. The ‘Reeve’ (‘John le Reve,’ M., ‘Sager
le Reve,’ H.), who figured so conspicuously among the Canterbury
Pilgrims, would be the best representative of the term in his day, I
imagine—
His lordes shepe, his nete, and his deirie,
His swine, his hors, his store, and his pultrie,
Were wholly in this reves governing.
Our ‘Grieves’ (‘Thomas le Greyve,’ A.), who are but the fuller ‘Gerefa,’
fulfilled, and I believe in some parts of Scotland still fulfil, the
capacity here described, being but manorial bailiffs, in fact. ‘The Boke
of Curtasye’ says—
Grayvis, and baylys, and parker
Shall come to accountes every yere
Byfore the auditours of the lorde.
Thus, too, our ‘Portreeves’ (‘William le Portreve,’ A., ‘Augustin le
Portreve,’ A.), who in our coast towns fulfilled the capacity of our
more general mayor, are oftentimes in our earlier records enrolled as
Portgreve.’ ‘Hythereve’ (‘John le Huthereve,’ O.), from hithe, a haven,
would seem to denote the same office, while our obsolete ‘Fenreves’
(‘Adam le Fenreve,’ A.), like the ‘Moorward’ mentioned above, had
charge, I doubt not, of the wilder and more sparsely populated tracts of
land. Many other compounds of this word we have already recorded; some
we shall refer to by-and-by, and with them and these the reeve, after
all, is not likely to be soon forgotten.
But the poorer villeins were not without those who should guard their
interests also. In a day of fewer landmarks and scantier barriers
trespasses would be inevitable. An interesting relic of primitive
precaution against the straying of animals is found in the officership
of the ‘Hayward’ (or ‘Adam le Heyward,’ as the Hundred Rolls have it),
whose duty it was to guard the cattle that grazed on the village common.
He was so styled from the Saxon ‘hay’ or ‘hedge,’ already spoken of in
our previous chapter. An old poem has it—
In tyme of hervest mery it is ynough;
Peres and apples hongeth on bough,
The hayward bloweth mery his horne;
In every felde ripe is corne.
In ‘Piers Plowman,’ too, we have the word—
I have an horne, and be a hayward,
And liggen out a nyghtes
And kepe my corne and my croft
From pykers and theves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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