From Peter J. Clarke’s site, Irish Genealogy E Books.
Captain Smith’s assessment, 1697.
Baltimore
Seamen 9
Fishermen 188
Boatmen 84
Total 268 Ireland 4428 Baltimore 6%
Whereof Papist 268
24 Thursday May 2012
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inFrom Peter J. Clarke’s site, Irish Genealogy E Books.
Captain Smith’s assessment, 1697.
Baltimore
Seamen 9
Fishermen 188
Boatmen 84
Total 268 Ireland 4428 Baltimore 6%
Whereof Papist 268
20 Sunday May 2012
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inFrom the Freeman’s Journal, 23/12/1846.
I proceeded yesterday, kindly accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Freeman to the united parishes of Durrus and Kilcrohane, more generally known as Four–Mile-Water a small village situate a short distance from Dunmanus Bay. In the parish the amount of Government work provided is sufficient for the employment of little more than one thousand labourers – leaving fifteen hundred able bodied men, the ostensible supporters of families completely powerless for this purpose. On making enquiries of the kind hearted and benevolent clergyman (the parish priest was Fr. Quinn, Church of Ire, William Moore Crosthwaite 1842-1854) as to the state of the labouring population, his reply was precisely ‘My dear Sir, no description, that I could give would for a moment adequately tell the misery, the wretchedness’ of my poor people – they are in a most frightful state of destitution that can possible be imagined. They are living almost entirely on a description of seaweed, called Milvawn (Meadhbhán, dilisk edible seaweed), for they have long ago eaten up whatever cabbage and turnip were in the country.
In this parish a labouring man named Driscoll was found dead upon Glenlough mountain, on Wednesday, a short time after leaving the government road, where he had been employed. Dr. Jagoe of Bantry, held a post mortem examination on the body from which it appeared that deceased had not eaten anything, with the exception of a small quantity of boiled wheat, for some days previously. It was the medical man’s opinion that death must have been occasioned by abstinence from food, combined with cold and fatigue.
Another labourer, Nicholas Brien, who was employed on the Sheepshead road, on coming back home on Wednesday evening, dropped on the way from exhaustion and want of sufficient nourishment.
Timothy Coughlan, a distressed member of the same class, received similar employment for himself and support for his family on the Sheepshead road; he was also returning towards his wretched home and starving family, but he never lived to see them. He was found dead on Thursday morning last in a field, about two miles distance from this parish, and conveyed to the locality where he was employed.
These are a few, amongst the authentic records of deaths from starvation, in the immediate centre of this parish, which I became acquainted with; but these are not remarkable instances of the poverty and misery that constitute the lot of the inhabitants of the more remote districts.
20 Sunday May 2012
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inFrom University College Cork online electronic register, CELT.
Bantry is a pretty little town, and methinks all towns that lie upon the sea are generally pretty. Ruin, dilapidation, sluggishness, poverty, disorder, and filth are less met with on the sea-coast than in the interior of countries. The sea is in its very nature refreshing, inciting, enlivening, and beneficial. The town is situated on a small handsome bay which branches off from the large one. Bantry was at one time celebrated for its fisheries, but the fishermen, like many others in Europe, now complain that the fish is no longer so abundant, either because it has greatly diminished in quantity, or taken another direction. When we every where hear these lamentations over the diminished productiveness of fisheries of every description, from the herring to the whale, it is natural to inquire whence it has arisen, and also whether it is not probable that, eventually, we shall have no fish to eat except such as we can breed and fatten in our ponds. Our fishermen are themselves destroying our fish not less effectually than our sportsmen are destroying our game, the waters being much freer to every one than the land, and the fish being much less protected in the breeding season than the feathered race. Whilst, however, the taking of fish is diminishing, that of sea-sand is on the increase. Formerly, only a few boats were employed in this branch of commerce, but now the number of little barks which fish up the coral sand on the sand banks amounts to some hundreds, so that even a new quay, at which we saw them lying in a long row, has been built for their use alone. The increased exertions for the improvement and extension of Irish agriculture is the cause of the great prosperity of this trade.
Even here there is no scarcity of beggars or of rags, as we found when we arrived at the fish-market, which is a walled-in court, surrounded by fish-stands. Scarcely had my companions and I entered it than we were accosted by twenty or thirty
beggars, who closed the iron gate behind us, at the same time informing us that they would not permit us to depart until we paid them for so doing. We were about to comply with their demands when some of the fishwomen rushed up, and drove away the beggars, saying that this gate, and the tribute to be paid, rightfully belonged to them only.
The town belongs to the Earl of Bantry, whose son, Lord Bearhaven, takes his title from one of the islands in the bay, called Bear Island. Their lordships were both absent, although they do not belong to the regular class of absentees, but generally reside here on their charming domains. We therefore availed ourselves of this opportunity to walk along the shore, and visit their family seat, which is near the town, and is called Bantry Castle. The housekeeper at first refused to admit us, as his lordship was very particular about his house, and besides, the castle was all papered up. This served to increase my curiosity still more, for I had never yet seen an entire castle wrapped in paper. But having removed the scruples of the housekeeper, and obtained an entrance, we actually found every thing inside, from top to bottom, carefully enveloped in paper—in the large sheets of the Cork Constitution, the most extensively-circulated newspaper in the south of Ireland. The door-handles, nay, the entire doors, the bannisters, all the chairs and tables, the chandeliers, the hangings of the walls, all were thus preserved from the dust or the sun. Even a metal figure of St. Patrick himself, and a multitude of old metal dishes, which were hanging from the wall beside and around him, were intrusted to theconservative care of the Cork Constitution. I could not refrain from inspecting these antique dishes somewhat closely, in spite of the paper, for the housekeeper said they were old Spanish articles. The castle, though all very ancient, yet wanted nothing of modern elegance and comfort; for the English alone understand how to unite comfort with antiquity.
My travelling companion from Killarney to Cork, with whom I passed the evening in Bantry over a glass of whisky punch, was a gentleman from Londonderry, who was taking advantage of this beautiful autumn to make a tour of pleasure through the entire of his native isle. He related to me a very remarkable case of temperance, of which the servant who now attended him was the hero, and who, though a quick and dexterous fellow, had formerly been an incorrigible drunkard. He had often reproved him for this vice, punished him, diminished his wages, even promised to reward him if he would keep himself sober for a certain time; but all this was of no avail. As he was for ever relapsing from a brief
sobriety into a long drunkenness, and had broken all his promises and vows, his master at last discharged him. One day, however, the man again presented himself, adorned with Father Mathew‘s temperance medal, and entreated his former master to take him once more into his service, adding that as he had become a temperance man, and had taken the pledge, there was no likelihood that he would ever relapse into his former bad habits. The master, who knew the character of his countrymen, granted his request without hesitation, and in full confidence that he would prove an orderly servant for the future: and he was not deceived, for now there was not a more useful, more sober, or more exemplary domestic in the kingdom. I tell this story solely because hundreds and thousands like it are told, and because such a sudden change from black to white is admitted to have been produced throughout all Ireland by Father Mathew. Special anecdotes of this kind throw a remarkable light on the Irish character and the temperance cause. Here the testimony of my Killarney host again recurred to me. He stated, that for the last two or three years, since the temperance movement commenced, he could sleep soundly and at his ease, which before it was impossible to do, as the partiality of his people for drink was then so excessive as to render them perpetually quarrelsome and disorderly. But now every thing was changed, and it was no longer necessary for him to superintend every thing in person. He was now certain that the horses were taken proper care of, and he could intrust his boat with perfect confidence to the men, who used formerly to return home drunk and turbulent. Saturday evening, also, which was once wholly dented to dissipation and noise, when his servants used to spend all their week’s wages, he no longer dreaded. The very same people, to whom he might have vainly offered fifty pounds for a sober Saturday, were now all sober as if by enchantment. Such testimonies as these, of which we cannot hear too many, contribute to throw a cheering light on this great and remarkable phenomenon.
My companion also informed me that he had recently attended the great fair of Donegal, where nearly 10,000 people met together. Formerly, faction-fights, quarrels, and drunkenness were here the order of the day; but on this occasion he did not see a single drunken person, nor one quarrel. It appeared to him like a magical metamorphosis.
As my friend, somewhat fatigued by his journey, retired early to rest, I strolled out, late in the evening, along the strand. Whilst thus occupied, something moved past me; and by the rays of light which beamed from the window of a neighbouring house, I was enabled to perceive the strange attire of flowers which,
during the day, I had seen on the head of one of the beggarwomen at Bantry, I immediately recognised her as one of those who shut us up in the fish-market, and who had been most zealous in her gesticulations and conduct. In fact, her violence on that occasion afforded strong proof of insanity. She was dressed in a tattered yellow gown, and a large red shawl, completely in rags, which seemed to have been originally intended for a much larger person, since half of it trailed behind her in the dust. She also wore a broad-brimmed man’s hat, encircled by a profuse wreath of artificial flowers, and aided by a long stick, which she bore in her hand, she moved along very quickly. Among the beggars of the fish-market she was the loudest, and always held her stick before us to keep us back, whilst whatever she said was spoken extremely quick, and in broken sentences. I have frequently, in Ireland, met with similar half-crazed and comically-dressed beggars, who sometimes reminded me of certain characters in Walter Scott‘s novels. Mary Sullivan (for she soon confided to me her name) was now proceeding very quietly and orderly along the shore of Bantry Bay. I wished her a good evening, when she thanked me politely. Her business for the day was over; and although she still wore the costume of her part, the play was ended, she had left the stage, and was now returning homewards. As she told me that she lived on the shore of the bay, not far from the town, I offered to accompany her, that I might have an opportunity of seeing the hut of an Irish beggar in the evening. We crossed over some uneven rocky ground, and at last turned, as it seemed to me, entirely out of the beaten path; but Mary Sullivan assured me that there was no other way to her sister’s, with whom she lived, and that if I would give her my hand, she would lead me in safety. These poor people prefer localities somewhat wild, and that the approaches to their dwellings should be somewhat rugged; thereby, as they imagine, securing for themselves greater independence. The labours of the English, in constructing level roads, are therefore not always regarded with that joyful thankfulness which might be expected. Besides, a stray piece of perfectly bare and barren ground may be procured somewhat cheaper than a more fruitful soil; and on a naked piece of rocky ground of this description, washed by the gentle waves of Bantry Bay, stood the hut of the Sullivans, into which we crept.
The Irish are a very religious people, and have all kinds of pretty pious wishes always at hand, with which they salute each other. Thus, if they pass by labourers at work in a field, they say, ‘God bless your work!’ to which the answer is, ‘Save you
too!’ They have so strong a desire for the blessing of God, that they are fond of adding a wish for it to their expressions on all subjects. In particular you must not neglect to add ‘God bless it’ to any thing in the shape of praise you bestow on a person or thing; for instance, if you praise a child by saying, ‘That is a fine child,’ you must, if you wish to save the mother the severest apprehensions, immediately add, ‘God bless it!’ for praise always seems suspicious to the Irish: praise begets envy, they say. It therefore seems to them that the person praising any thing either wishes to possess it himself, or to deform it by drawing down upon it the envy of the fairies and spirits of the lower world, who take special delight in destroying all that is beautiful on earth. When fault is found, it is not customary to add any thing; and an Irish mother would be less offended, if a person were to say to her, ‘Your child is a squalling dirty brat,’ than if he were to say, looking at the child, ‘What a charming little angel you have there in the cradle,’ unless he were immediately to add, ‘God bless him!’ thus warding off the influence of the evil spirits. As they never forget to ask God’s blessing, they are also equally careful to return thanks. ‘Thanks to the great God!’ is an expression continually in their mouths, and I have no doubt in their hearts too. It is customary even to thank God for a misfortune that has befallen them: thus I once heard an Irishwoman, in a melancholy tone and with tears in her eyes, say to another, ‘I have lost my poor dear little child, thanks be to the great God!’ This reminded me of the Russian ‘slawa bogu,’ which is the customary addition to every story; and a Russian merchant who once told me he had made a very bad speculation, like the Irishwoman concluded with ‘slawa bogu,’.
When one creeps into an Irish hut, the usual salutation is ‘God save you all!’ and the answer is, ‘God save you kindly!’ Those who now thus replied to our salutation were the sister of Mary Sullivan and her half-grown daughter, who were both sitting at a turf fire boiling the potatoes, with her little son and little daughter, who were lying beside the pig, eating a half-boiled potato which they had taken from the pot. Their father was not at home, for he had been some days on the water, taking up sand. There came, however, another voice, I knew not from what corner of the house, nor did I know what it meant; only it seemed no ‘God save you kindly!’ I therefore inquired from whence the moaning proceeded. ‘It is my eldest son, your honour; he is weak in the understanding, thanks be to the great God! He often moans thus the livelong day.’
The hut was lighted partly by the fire, and partly by a lamp
which was suspended from the centre of a crooked rafter. This lamp was a great sea-shell, in which they were burning fish oil by a rush wick. By its melancholy gleam I perceived one of the most miserable and helpless creatures I ever beheld. It was a young man, about twenty years of age, who lay doubled up and groaning in a kind of box which represented his bed, and which was, in reality, the best bed in the hut. Beneath him was some straw, covered with rags; and under his head was a pillow, the only one I remarked in the hovel. His mother showed me some parts of his miserable body. His fingers were quite deformed—two of them had grown together—and his arms were as lean as those of a skeleton. His whole frame seemed to vibrate with a convulsive twitching. His mother said, that this was constantly the case with him. As we were examining his hands and feeling them, he raised himself a little, and looked at us with a vacant stare.
‘He has been so from his birth, your honour,’ said his mother; ‘and we have been obliged to support him for twenty years, without his being able to do the least thing for us.’ It occurred to me that the poor creature might not therefore be well treated, as it is not uncommon for poor people to neglect those who cannot help to increase their earnings.
‘And yet you love him?’ inquired I of his poor mother.
‘Love him? Indeed I do, your honour! Why shouldn’t I love him? Isn’t he my son, my own flesh and blood, God bless him! Eh, mavourneen, look up!’ said she to her unfortunate son, while she carefully raised him, supported his head on her arm, and stroked his crippled hand: ‘I am the only one, sir,’ she continued, ‘who understands his language properly. He is always longing for me, and it seems I am the only one he loves. ‘Tis I give him his potatoes every morning, and, when I have it, stirabout and milk. You see he has a better bed than any of us. Mavourneen! don’t groan so, my darling!’ She smoothed his pillow and laid down his head, which he had again turned away from us.
This woman’s affection for her son caused many thoughts to arise in my mind. It appeared to me that as not only the mental but in some measure the corporeal development of her child had remained almost stationary from his birth, so, in like manner, his mother loved him now with the same tenderness, intensity, and indulgence as when, twenty years ago, he was a suckling. She still fed him as she did then; she coaxed and caressed the youth of twenty years of age as she did the infant of a month. Nay, for twenty years she would have kept him at her breast, were it not physically impossible. When we think of the circumstances of
people such as these, who have scarcely enough to appease their own hunger, who expect their children to work and to earn money, who usually repel and even imprecate the useless consumer, such affection as I have described may well be called a phenomenon; and it is possible that this poor beggar-woman has shown greater affection for her idiot son than is possessed by a hundred thousand mothers. It is a shame that we travellers so frequently neglect such phenomena, which are so often to be found beneath lowly roofs, instead of seeking them out and making them known to the world.
Mary Sullivan, the old aunt, had meanwhile hung her flower-wreathed hat on the wall, and also laid aside other parts of her costume. She then took from her pocket some potatoes and a fish, which had probably been made a present to her; the former she placed on that corner of the fire which she seemed to consider as her own, and the fish she suspended over it by a wire. She next took out her pipe and began to smoke. She told me, in answer to my inquiry, that her smoking cost her at least a halfpenny a day, or upwards of fifteen shillings a year, exclusive of the many little fragile clay pipes which she must use in that time. This was no inconsiderable sum for a beggar-woman; and as in Ireland a large piece of bread can be purchased for a halfpenny, it is to be wished that another Father Mathewmay arise, to wean the poor Irishwomen from tobacco, and induce them to expend in bread, for themselves and their children, what they now lay out on this useless weed.
Tenderness and hospitality are qualities generally possessed by the Irish. All classes are likewise much at their ease in their intercourse with strangers; and in this respect the higher ranks resemble the Parisians. In many countries, when a stranger visits the huts of the poor, he must undergo a long and scrutinizing stare before they feel comfortable in his presence. With the Irish it is quite the reverse. Poor and half-naked though they may be, such accommodation as they have is instantly offered to their well-dressed visitor without embarrassment; and though they never forget to address him politely, as ‘your honour,’ they always appear to consider him—what he really is— their equal.
When I took my leave of the Sullivans, more than one ‘God speed ye!’ accompanied me to the door, with the most sincere thanks for the honour I had done them by my visit, and for the sympathy which I had shown for the unfortunate brother and son, The two little ones had in the meantime lighted a couple of dry splinters of wood for torches, and accompanied me over their
rough, rocky path. When at last I drove them back, and bade them good-bye, I saw them for a long time standing above on the rock, lighting my way with their torches, while with their pretty little voices they continually called out, ‘Take care, your honour, take care! God speed ye!’
17 Thursday May 2012
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inIn ‘The Irish College Rome and the World’, Four Courts Press, 2008, there is an interesting article by Colin Barr on the appointment of Irish Bishops in the USA, 1830-1851.
In 1830 the Irish comprised a substantial portion of the Catholic population of the US but were in a small minority of the hierarchy which was dominated by French and German prelates, in particular French with a background in the Sulpician order.
From around 1830 the Bishop of Charlestown, Corkman John England, and Dublin born Francis Patrick Kenrick coadjutor bishop of Philadelphia made determined efforts to remedy what they perceived as this defect. Bishop England went to Rome to campaign against the appointment of ‘foreign’ Bishops to American sees. By this he meant French and German not Irish.
England stated ‘The Irish are easily amalgamated with the Americans and become American very quickly’ the ‘French can never become American; their language, manner, love of la belle France, their dress, air, carriage, notions and mode of speaking of their religion, all-all foreign’.
Bishops England and Kenrick began to import Irish priest and seminarians and urged others to do so also.
In their efforts they were assisted by the Irish College in Rome whose rector Paul Cullen was an influential figure in the Vatican. He was later to return to Ireland in 1850 and transform the Irish church.
By the later 19th century the American church was predominantly run by Irish bishops and assumed an Irish character which to some extent it still retains.
15 Tuesday May 2012
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inFrom Diaries of Ireland, an anthology, 1590-1987, Meliosina Lenox-Conyngham, Lippiput 1998. This extract is from the diary of Nicholas Marshal Cummins 1783-1838, he was a Cork merchant.
7th November 1814
From 7 o’clock yesterday morning till noon the Mass House bells kept tinkling almost perpetually, to my great annoyance. It is a novelty in this city (Cork) and may do much mischief. I console myself whilst I repeat the 79th and 80th Psalms, and hope the long dormant zeal of of Protestants will at length be aroused.
8th May 1820.
A PANIC beyond example in our memory has been struck into the minds of the trading community of Cork and the South of Ireland by yesterday’s events namely the failure of Roche’s Bank at 12 o’clock, followed almost immediately by that of Leslie’s Bank.
15 Tuesday May 2012
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inFrom Diaries of Ireland, an anthology, 1590-1987, Meliosina Lenox-Conyngham, Lippiput 1998.
Ó Súilleabhaín 1790-1837 was a Merchant in Co. Kilkenny, he was from Kerry where his father was a hedge school master as was Amhloiimh for a period. For many years he kept a diary in Irish, this is an extract on the election of Daniel O’Connell.
Tuesday 8th July 1828.
…Every window in town was filled with candles all a-light in honour of Daniel O’Connell who was elected in Clare County to be a member of the London Parliament.
12 Saturday May 2012
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inTrinity College/Circle.
The K. has learned that although Robert s. of Philip Holhane and Margaret Barry has the surname of an Irish lineage, viz. the Holhganes [licet habeat cognomen de nacione Hibernic’, videlicet dez Holhganes], yet he [Robert] and his ancestors since the time of the conquest of Ire. are and were the K.’s faithful lieges in the county and city of Cork, hitherto dwelling among the K.’s lieges. By advice of John Lord Talbot kt, Jcr of Ire., and the K.’s council in the same [land], and wishing to bestow gracious favour upon Robert, GRANT of the K.’s special grace to the same Robert that he may be of free status and condition, and free and quit from all Irish servitude and condition; and that he may use and enjoy English laws, uses and customs, in and through all things, in the same manner as English persons in the same land enjoy and use them; and that he shall answer and be answered bot in the K.’s courts and in other courts, spiritual and temporal; and that he may be inherited in any lands, tenements, rents, services and possessions by right of inheritance or acquisition in fee tail; and that he may acquire lands, tenements, rents, service and possessions, and have and occupy them, and enjoy them to himself and his heirs, and succeed and inherit the same; and that he may be promoted and admitted to any ecclesiastical benefices and dignities, and may have, occupy and enjoy the same just as English persons in the same land have and enjoy such benefices, without interference or impediment of the K., his heirs, officers or ministers whatsoever, notwithstanding the Irish condition or servitude, or any statute or ordinance concerning this made before this time to the contrary; so long howeer as the same Robert bears and maintains himself as the K.’s faithful liege in the future.
Rep. RCI 1811–15, plate 1, §2.
NLI, [Harris] MS 4, f. 284.
RCH.
The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE
ORDER to deliver from prison Robert Oholeghan clk, being in the prison [of Dublin castle] there, by mainprize of Nicholas Barry of co. Cork, Nicholas Mayowe and Philip Payn of Baldwill, co. Dublin.
RCH.
{1} The time is not dated in RCH; the date given here is that of §43 above.
The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE
This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).
Term | Explanation |
---|---|
advowson | The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice. |
allocate, writ of | A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary. |
alterage | A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred. |
assize | Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin. |
avener [Lat. avarius] | provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor |
avoirdupois | Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight. |
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] | The billeting of mercenaries or servants. |
cask | See tun. |
certiorari, writ of | Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records. |
chattels | Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land). |
dicker [Lat. dacra] | A measure of 10 hides. |
dower | Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life. |
escheat | The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry. |
extent | A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition. |
falding [Ir. fallaing] | A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same. |
fee-farm | A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs. |
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] | A measure of lead. |
engrossment | Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out. |
enrolment | Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled. |
hanaper | A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery. |
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] | One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED). |
galangal [AN galyngale] | The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED). |
generosus [Lat.] | Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’. |
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] | The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence. |
knights’ fees | Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage). |
liberate, writ of | A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers. |
linch [Lat. lincia] | A measure of tin. |
livery | The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority. |
mainprize | Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED). |
mass [Lat. messa] | A standard measure of metal. |
messuage | A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED). |
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] | A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person. |
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] | A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. |
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] | A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised). |
pensa | See wey. |
piece [L. pecia] | A standard quantity of merchandise. |
pendent seal | Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment. |
perpresture | An illegal encroachment upon royal property. |
plica | A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag. |
protection | An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service. |
quare impedit, writ of | An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation. |
scutage | The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland. |
seisin | Formal legal possession of land. |
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] | A thin rich silken material (OED). |
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] | Payment for a market stall. |
tun [Lat. dolium] | A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine. |
valettus | A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’. |
Vidua Regis [Lat.] | See King’s widow. |
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] | A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints). |
waif | A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord. |
waivery [AN weiverie] | The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women. |
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] | A standard of dry-goods weight. |
worsted [ME wyrstede] | A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED). |
writ [Lat. brevis] | Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate. |
This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).
Term | Explanation |
---|---|
advowson | The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice. |
allocate, writ of | A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary. |
alterage | A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred. |
assize | Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin. |
avener [Lat. avarius] | provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor |
avoirdupois | Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight. |
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] | The billeting of mercenaries or servants. |
cask | See tun. |
certiorari, writ of | Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records. |
chattels | Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land). |
dicker [Lat. dacra] | A measure of 10 hides. |
dower | Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life. |
escheat | The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry. |
extent | A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition. |
falding [Ir. fallaing] | A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same. |
fee-farm | A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs. |
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] | A measure of lead. |
engrossment | Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out. |
enrolment | Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled. |
hanaper | A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery. |
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] | One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED). |
galangal [AN galyngale] | The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED). |
generosus [Lat.] | Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’. |
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] | The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence. |
knights’ fees | Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage). |
liberate, writ of | A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers. |
linch [Lat. lincia] | A measure of tin. |
livery | The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority. |
mainprize | Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED). |
mass [Lat. messa] | A standard measure of metal. |
messuage | A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED). |
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] | A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person. |
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] | A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. |
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] | A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised). |
pensa | See wey. |
piece [L. pecia] | A standard quantity of merchandise. |
pendent seal | Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment. |
perpresture | An illegal encroachment upon royal property. |
plica | A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag. |
protection | An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service. |
quare impedit, writ of | An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation. |
scutage | The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland. |
seisin | Formal legal possession of land. |
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] | A thin rich silken material (OED). |
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] | Payment for a market stall. |
tun [Lat. dolium] | A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine. |
valettus | A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’. |
Vidua Regis [Lat.] | See King’s widow. |
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] | A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints). |
waif | A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord. |
waivery [AN weiverie] | The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women. |
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] | A standard of dry-goods weight. |
worsted [ME wyrstede] | A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED). |
writ [Lat. brevis] | Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate. |
12 Saturday May 2012
Posted Uncategorized
inFrom Trinity College/Circle.
NLI, [Harris] MS 4, f. 164.
RCH.
Rep. RCI 1816–20, 8th rep., p. 386.
The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE
This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).
Term | Explanation |
---|---|
advowson | The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice. |
allocate, writ of | A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary. |
alterage | A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred. |
assize | Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin. |
avener [Lat. avarius] | provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor |
avoirdupois | Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight. |
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] | The billeting of mercenaries or servants. |
cask | See tun. |
certiorari, writ of | Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records. |
chattels | Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land). |
dicker [Lat. dacra] | A measure of 10 hides. |
dower | Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life. |
escheat | The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry. |
extent | A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition. |
falding [Ir. fallaing] | A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same. |
fee-farm | A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs. |
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] | A measure of lead. |
engrossment | Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out. |
enrolment | Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled. |
hanaper | A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery. |
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] | One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED). |
galangal [AN galyngale] | The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED). |
generosus [Lat.] | Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’. |
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] | The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence. |
knights’ fees | Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage). |
liberate, writ of | A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers. |
linch [Lat. lincia] | A measure of tin. |
livery | The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority. |
mainprize | Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED). |
mass [Lat. messa] | A standard measure of metal. |
messuage | A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED). |
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] | A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person. |
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] | A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. |
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] | A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised). |
pensa | See wey. |
piece [L. pecia] | A standard quantity of merchandise. |
pendent seal | Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment. |
perpresture | An illegal encroachment upon royal property. |
plica | A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag. |
protection | An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service. |
quare impedit, writ of | An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation. |
scutage | The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland. |
seisin | Formal legal possession of land. |
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] | A thin rich silken material (OED). |
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] | Payment for a market stall. |
tun [Lat. dolium] | A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine. |
valettus | A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’. |
Vidua Regis [Lat.] | See King’s widow. |
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] | A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints). |
waif | A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord. |
waivery [AN weiverie] | The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women. |
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] | A standard of dry-goods weight. |
worsted [ME wyrstede] | A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED). |
writ [Lat. brevis] | Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate. |
12 Saturday May 2012
Posted Uncategorized
inFrom Trinity College/Circle.
The K.’s beloved cousin James Butler, e. Ormond, has petitioned that all the tenants of the barony of Imokill, co. Cork, both temporal and spiritual, and the burgesses of the town of Youghal situated in the said barony, are so surrounded and hemmed in by enemies and rebels that they dare not these days go outside the said barony and town on account of the dangers of the roads and the peril to their lives. GRANT, of the K.’s special grace, to the said tenants and burgesses that they shall not henceforth be compelled nor distrained to labour outside the said barony and town before any of the K.’s ministers in the said county by virtue of any commands directed to them or any distraint made on them for this purpose; but they shall only answer within the said barony and town for the abovesaid reasons, except when the K.’s Lt, Jcr, C. or T. of Ire. for the time being shall come within the said county, and then only on the K.’s writ or the mandate of the said Lt [etc.] directed to them. And they are not to be troubled contrary to this grant.1
NLI, D 1398.
COD, ii, §351.
The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE
This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).
Term | Explanation |
---|---|
advowson | The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice. |
allocate, writ of | A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary. |
alterage | A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred. |
assize | Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin. |
avener [Lat. avarius] | provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor |
avoirdupois | Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight. |
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] | The billeting of mercenaries or servants. |
cask | See tun. |
certiorari, writ of | Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records. |
chattels | Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land). |
dicker [Lat. dacra] | A measure of 10 hides. |
dower | Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life. |
escheat | The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry. |
extent | A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition. |
falding [Ir. fallaing] | A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same. |
fee-farm | A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs. |
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] | A measure of lead. |
engrossment | Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out. |
enrolment | Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled. |
hanaper | A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery. |
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] | One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED). |
galangal [AN galyngale] | The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED). |
generosus [Lat.] | Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’. |
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] | The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence. |
knights’ fees | Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage). |
liberate, writ of | A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers. |
linch [Lat. lincia] | A measure of tin. |
livery | The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority. |
mainprize | Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED). |
mass [Lat. messa] | A standard measure of metal. |
messuage | A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED). |
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] | A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person. |
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] | A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. |
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] | A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised). |
pensa | See wey. |
piece [L. pecia] | A standard quantity of merchandise. |
pendent seal | Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment. |
perpresture | An illegal encroachment upon royal property. |
plica | A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag. |
protection | An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service. |
quare impedit, writ of | An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation. |
scutage | The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland. |
seisin | Formal legal possession of land. |
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] | A thin rich silken material (OED). |
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] | Payment for a market stall. |
tun [Lat. dolium] | A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine. |
valettus | A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’. |
Vidua Regis [Lat.] | See King’s widow. |
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] | A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints). |
waif | A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord. |
waivery [AN weiverie] | The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women. |
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] | A standard of dry-goods weight. |
worsted [ME wyrstede] | A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED). |
writ [Lat. brevis] | Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate. |
12 Saturday May 2012
Posted Uncategorized
inTags
From Trinity College/Circle.
The K. has considered how the K.’s city of Cork is situated on the frontier of the K.’s Irish enemies and is surrounded on all sides by those enemies, and how the K.’s faithful lieges of the parts neighbouring the city are destroyed and devasted by hostile attacks and daily invasions of those enemies, so that the citizens and commons and the K.’s said lieges cannot reside there upon the defence of that city these days without a great supply of produce [absque magna frugum copia] for their sustenance. The K. has also considered the good place that the K.’s city holds in aid and comfort of his faithful lieges and in resistance of the malice of his Irish enemies.
By advice of the Jcr and council in Ire. and of the K.’s special grace, the K. has granted and given licence to the citizens and commons to buy and load all kinds of grain by themselves or their servants and deputies in ships, barges and boats in any ports in the land of Ire. for their sustenance, as is necessary and fit from time to time; and to transport the grain thus loaded to the same city for that reason, both by land and by sea, and to carry it freely and without any impediment whatsoever, notwithstanding any statutes, proclamations or inhibitions to the contrary made before this time. ORDER not to trouble or oppress them in any way contrary to this the K.’s grant.
CPI, p. 87.
RCH.
The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE
This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).
Term | Explanation |
---|---|
advowson | The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice. |
allocate, writ of | A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary. |
alterage | A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred. |
assize | Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin. |
avener [Lat. avarius] | provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor |
avoirdupois | Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight. |
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] | The billeting of mercenaries or servants. |
cask | See tun. |
certiorari, writ of | Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records. |
chattels | Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land). |
dicker [Lat. dacra] | A measure of 10 hides. |
dower | Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life. |
escheat | The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry. |
extent | A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition. |
falding [Ir. fallaing] | A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same. |
fee-farm | A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs. |
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] | A measure of lead. |
engrossment | Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out. |
enrolment | Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled. |
hanaper | A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery. |
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] | One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED). |
galangal [AN galyngale] | The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED). |
generosus [Lat.] | Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’. |
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] | The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence. |
knights’ fees | Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage). |
liberate, writ of | A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers. |
linch [Lat. lincia] | A measure of tin. |
livery | The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority. |
mainprize | Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED). |
mass [Lat. messa] | A standard measure of metal. |
messuage | A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED). |
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] | A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person. |
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] | A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. |
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] | A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised). |
pensa | See wey. |
piece [L. pecia] | A standard quantity of merchandise. |
pendent seal | Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment. |
perpresture | An illegal encroachment upon royal property. |
plica | A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag. |
protection | An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service. |
quare impedit, writ of | An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation. |
scutage | The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland. |
seisin | Formal legal possession of land. |
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] | A thin rich silken material (OED). |
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] | Payment for a market stall. |
tun [Lat. dolium] | A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine. |
valettus | A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’. |
Vidua Regis [Lat.] | See King’s widow. |
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] | A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints). |
waif | A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord. |
waivery [AN weiverie] | The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women. |
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] | A standard of dry-goods weight. |
worsted [ME wyrstede] | A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED). |
writ [Lat. brevis] | Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate. |