ii s. V.MAY n, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
373
This epitaph is in the churchyard of Alston.
Having made Alston my summer residence
for twenty years, I am pretty familiar with
the epitaph, but have never yet seen a
literal, or even a correct, copy of it. I now
venture to supply one, copied afresh for
me a few days ago by my friend the Rev.
T. C. Crosby, Congregational minister :
My cutting hoard 's to pieces split
My size stick's will no measures mete
My rotten last 's turned into holes
My blunted knife cuts no more soles
- My hammer's head 's flown from y haft
No more saint monday's with the craft
My nippers, pincers, stirrup and rag
And all my kit have got the bag
My lapstone 's broke, my colours o'er
My gumglass froze, my paste 's no more
My heels sew'd on, my pegs are driven
I hope I 'm in the road to heaven.
I may add that the stone is 3ft. 10 in, high by 2 ft. 9| in. wide and 4 in. thick. The name of the shoemaker appeared in front, but is now illegible ; all that can be traced aro the words " the Memory," " Hon." " Ag=d -5 years," and " his." The epitaph is at the back. RICHD. WELFORD.
Newcastle- upon-Tyne.
FLEETWOOD OF MISSENDEN : THE KIN as - LEY FAMILY (11 S. v. 41, 158, 217). There is one point raised by R. W. B. that I can at all events partially answer. I have had occasion to consult several Fleetwood wills, and in all the same difficulty has arisen, nor does there seem any definite evidence to decide either way, while people argue differently from such evidence as does exist. I allude to the legitimacy of William Fleet - wood, Recorder of London, son of Robert Fleetwood. I have consulted the wills of Robert, of William, William's son, and the Recorder's widow, all without the question being cleared up.
On referring to the life of the Recorder in the ' D.N.B.,' we find a statement which ought to settle the matter, viz., that William Fleetwood became a free- man of the Merchant Taylors' Company by patrimony. 21 June, 1557. Just to verify references, and get the rule, I wrote to the Clerk of the Company, explaining my point, and asking his ruling. He most cordially answered, and his answer is re- markable. He writes that, according to the books, William Fleetwood became a freeman by apprenticeship 21 January, 1557. This presents a remarkable difference from the ' D.N.B.' account, which professes to be from the MS. records of the Company. I do not attach much importance to the date, because in writing June and January
might be confused the error, however,
is not noticed in the errata, nor is it corrected
in the second edition. The important point
is the difference between apprenticeship
and patrimony, of which the letter says :
" The inference is that Robert was not a free-
man at the date of the birth of William, or
that William was not born in wedlock."
After mentioning that there are no books
of that date beyond the list of freemen, it
goes on to say that in order to join by
patrimony, a person had to have two freemen
to vouch that from their own personal know-
ledge the proposed freeman was the son of
his father. My inference is that the Clerk
means the legitimate son of his father. So
far we have but " inference " and that is
against the legitimacy of William.
The main point now is to get the Inq. p.m. of Robert, father of William the Recorder. I presume that it exists somewhere. Is it in London, or Lancashire ? That will settle all doubts. Up to the present I have not found it. A. RHODES.
CHESHIRE WORDS (11 S. v. 287). Some of the hard words can be explained. Throk- yng means throcking ; from throck, i.e., to fit or supply with a throck. This (see ' E.D.D.') is the name of the lower part of a plough, originally of wood, to which the share is fastened. Slenyng should be sleuyng (sieving), a variant from the verb to slive, i.e., " to repair a wheel by putting new felloes to the old spokes." Tezeres is the plural of tezer (with z for ts, as usual), i.e. tetser, a perversion of tester, a head-stall, or sometimes a horse-collar ; both meanings are assigned by Cotgrave to the O.F. testier e. Crocunes I take to be yokes for oxen : crook means (in dialect) a piece of bent timber, whence crooken or crucken, to bend or make crooked, and cruckened, crooked, bent, or twisted. I suspect that weures is allied to waver, which means a young tree or a twig.
Surely a plate-lock is a clicket ; for which see the ' E.D.D.' WALTER W. SKEAT.
NOTTINGHAM AS A SURNAME (11 S. v. 169, 237, 276). The following note relating to a family of this name may be of interest. It is abstracted from a Chancery suit, Thome v. Yerworth, 1678 (Ch. Pro. before 1714, Bridges, Bdle. 566, No. 4).
Christopher Nottingham married Priscilla, daughter of Thomas Goddard, citizen and merchant taylor of London. They both died after 166*0 and before 1678, leaving issue two children, Thomas and Elizabeth. Chris- topher Nottingham was a trustee under the
