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
On account of various deceits that had become
notorious in the craft, such, for instance, as the over-stretching of
the material, a law was passed in the first year of Richard III. that
‘tentering’ or ‘teyntering’ should only be done in an open place, and
for this purpose public tenters were to be set up. (‘Stat. Realm,’ Rich.
III.) We find many references to this important instrument in old
testaments. Thus an inventory of goods, dated 1562, belonging to a man
resident in the parish of Kendall, speaks of ‘Tenture posts and woodde,
6_d._—ii tentures 20_s._’ (‘Richmondshire Wills,’ p. 156.) The dyes
themselves used in the process of colouring are not without existing
memorials. In the York Pageant, already referred to, we find, walking in
procession with the woolpackers, the ‘Wadmen,’ that is, the sellers of
woad, unless indeed, they were the dyers themselves. The more common
spelling was ‘wode,’ and when not local, ‘Thomas le Wodere’ or ‘Alan le
Wodeman,’ with their modern ‘Wooder’ and ‘Woodman,’ will be found, I
doubt not, to be the representative of this calling. ‘John Maderman,’
and ‘Lawrence Maderer’ remind us of the more reddish and popular hues.
Great quantities of this were yearly imported from Holland, especially
Middleburgh. The old ‘Libel on English Policy’ speaks of—
The marchaundy of Braban and Selande,
as being
The madre and woode (woad) that dyers take on hande.
The thickening mill, however, has left us several words of much more
familiar import than these—viz., ‘Tucker,’ ‘Fuller,’ (or ‘Fulman’[323])
and ‘Walker.’[324] Among other older forms we find ‘Roger le Tukere,’
‘Percival le Toukare,’ ‘Walter le Fullere,’ ‘Ralph le Walkere,’ and
‘Peter le Walkar.’ Of the first Piers in his ‘Vision’ makes mention,
where he speaks of
Wollene websteris,
And weveris of lynen,
Taillours, tanneris,
And Tokkeris bothe.
‘Cocke Lorelle’ also refers to—
Multiplyers and clothe thyckers,
Called fullers everychone.
‘Walker,’ claiming as it does an almost unrivalled position in the rolls
of our nomenclature, reminds us of the early fashion of treading out the
cloth before the adaptations of machinery were brought to bear on this
phase of the craft. In Wicklyffe’s version of the story of Christ’s
transfiguration he speaks of his clothes shining so as no ‘fullere or
walkere of cloth’ may make white upon earth.[325] Reference is made to
the same practice by Langland also when, using this whole process of
cloth-making as an illustration, he says:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account