# Folk-Lore Record/Volume 1/Yorkshire Local Rhymes and Sayings

YORKSHIKE LOCAL RHYMES AND SAYINGS.
NOT the least interesting amongst the items of folk-lore are the expressions of popular wisdom contained in those local rhymes, proverbs, and sayings which are to be met with throughout the country. Nor are these altogether deficient in historical value, as bearing in some instances upon the manners and customs of the past, or upon the social history and conditions of places and districts.
Many of the following instances from Yorkshire were published in a small pamphlet by the late Mr. Reginald W. Corlass, and placed at the disposal of the Council of the Society for use when opportunity should arise. By the assistance of Mr. Edward Hailstone, F.S.A., some considerable additions have been made to the original collection; and it was thought that the result might be placed on record now, as a first instalment of similar collections for the remaining counties of England, for many additional sayings in connection with particular localities have come to light since Ray's time, and, moreover, it now becomes necessary to gather together much more useful information as to the origin of these sayings—information which will afford the student of English History and Topography occasional glimpses into olden times.
1. To begin with the capital city, York seems anciently to have been held in high popular regard:
"Lincoln was, London is, and York shall be, The fairest city of the three,
runs the old saying, mentioned both by Fuller in his Worthies of England and by Stukeley in the Itinerarium Curiosum. The former authority says, "That Lincoln was—namely a far fairer, greater, richer ​city than now it is—both plainly appears by the ruins thereof, being without controversie the greatest city in the kingdom of Mercia. That London is, we know; but that York shall be, God knows." Those who hope that it may become the English metropolis, he adds, "Must wait until the river Thames runs under the great arch of Ouse bridge." Mr. Hazlitt, in his collection of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, p. 211, mentions a proverb connecting York with London—
"I cannot be at York and London at the same time,"
which probably may have some reference to Dick Turpin's famous ride, the hero having made his journey so rapidly from London to York that it was thought impossible he could be at both places on the same day, and, therefore, his friends attempted to set up an alibi for his defence.
A Yorkshire song of the sixteenth century, which is given at length in the opening pages of Halliwell's Yorkshire Anthology, also greatly praises this city, in the following words of the chorus:
"Yorke, Yorke, for my monie: Of all the citties that ever I see, For mery pastime and companie, Except the cittie of London."
2. A similar idea is expressed in the old saying, "Merry Wakefield." Fuller is puzzled to know why such should be said of this place, unless proceeding from "fruitful soyl and cheap country, and, where good chear and company are the premisses, mirth (in common consequence) will be the conclusion." But we may almost look upon the celebrated Pindar of Wakefield as the author of this expression—"Merry Wakefield and her Pindar too." See upon this a communication signed "St. Swithin" in Notes and Queries, 2nd series, xi. 310. The old legend says that the Pindar (the celebrated George-a-Green) met and thrashed both Robin Hood and Little John; and a poem given in Halliwell's Yorkshire Anthology (p. 154) speaks of—
…"that towne, which hath, in former time, So flourish'd and so gloried in her name, Famous by th' Pindar, who first rais'd the samel"
The Pindar of Wakefield's Legend is the title of a small privately-printed octavo, and The History of George-a-Green, the Pindar of Wakefield, was published in London, 12mo., 1715, illustrated with woodcuts. ​3. The growing prosperity of Hull seems also to have been anciently predicted:
"When Dighton is pulled down, Hull shall become a great town."
Ray says, in his English Proverbs (p. 264), "Dighton is a small town, not a mile distant from Hull, and was in the time of the late wars for the most part pulled down. Let Hull make the best they can of it." Dighton is supposed to be an error for Myton, and in 1642, when the town was threatened by Charles I., some houses in Myton Lane, as well as the Charter House, were laid in ruins by the governor, Sir John Hotham, that they might not be occupied by the royal army. But another suggestion, made by Mr. Edward Solly in Long Ago for February, 1874, is certainly equally suggestive with the above. "The saying," says Mr. Solly, "if it rests only upon Ray's Proverbs, may certainly be a misprint, and there does not seem to be any evidence of the existence of a village called Dighton within a mile of Hull before 1640. There was a small place called Drypole, on the east bank of the river Hull, just beyond the castle, which was occupied by the besiegers in 1643, and which was then in great part destroyed. This Drypole was never rebuilt as an independent place after the siege, but was gradually absorbed into the city of Hull; and the prophecy was certainly fulfilled, not as regards Dighton, but as regards Drypole, when its ruins were pulled down and the new buildings of the eastern part of Hull raised in their place."
"You have eaten some Hull cheese,"
means that you are intoxicated. Hull cheese we are told, through Nares' Glossary, from Taylor's Works (1631), "is much like a loafe out of a brewer's basket, cousin germain to the mightiest ale in England."
"Oxford for learning, London for wit, Hull for women, and York for a tit,'
is given in Hazlitt's English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (p. 312), and another saying in connection with this town—
From Hell, Hull, and Halifax, good Lord deliver us—
4. "Halifax," continues Fuller, "is formidable unto them for the law thereof." This law, known as the Halifax Gibbet Law, provided that a felon taken with stolen goods in his possession, or upon confession, should after trial be beheaded within three market-days after the deed, with an instrument of a similar design to the guillotine.
The origin of this so-called law is curiously related in The History of Thomas of Reading; or the Six Worthy Yeomen of the West, which is included by Mr. Thoms in his edition of Early Prose Romances, and is perhaps worth quoting here. King Henry the First, before his departure into France, asked to be informed by the clothiers of England "if there be any thing not yet granted that may benefit you, or any other thing to be removed that doth hurt you?" Among the answers thereto "was a griefe, whereof Hodgekins of Hallifax complained, and that was: That whereas the Towne of Hallifax liued altogether vpon cloathing, and by reason of false borderers, and other euill minded persons, they were oft robbed, and had their clothes carried out of their fieldes, where they were drying, That it would please his Majestie to graunt the Towne this priuilege, That whatsoever he was that was taken stealing their Cloth, might presently without any further tryall be hanged up." The King's answer to this part of their request was: "Content thee, Hodgekins, for we will have redresse for all; and albeit that hanging of men was never seene in England, yet seeing the corrupt world is growne more bold in all wickednesse, I thinke it not amisse to ordain this death for such malefactors, and peculiarly to the towne of Hallifax I giue this priuilege, That whoso​ever they finde stealing their Cloth, being taken with the goods, that without further Judgement they shall be hanged up." But even this rigorous law did not work well. Later on we are humorously told how one Wallis escaped his hanging because there was no one to hang him! "A plague vpon you, quoth he [Wallis], you have hindred me God knowes what; I made account to dine this day in heauen, and you keepe me here on earth where there is not a quarter of that good cheare." But Hodgekins went a step still further. He "posted it vp to the Court, and told his Maiesty that the priuelege of Hallifax was not worth a pudding. Why so? said the King. Because, quoth Hodgekins, we can get neuer a hangman to trusse our theeues, but if it shall like your good Grace (quoth he) there is a feate Fryar, that will make vs a deuise, which shall without the hand of man cut off the cragges of all such carles, if your Maiesty will please to allow thereof. The King, vnderstanding the full effect of the matter, at length granted his petition. Whereupon till this day it is observed in Hallifax, that such as are taken stealing of their cloth, haue their heads chopt off with the same gin." (See Early Prose Romances, edited by W. J. Thoms, vol. i.; The Pleasant Historie of Thomas of Beading, pp. 27, 29, 62.) John Taylor, the water poet, has the following lines in reference to this custom:
"At Hallifax the law so sharpe doth deale, That whoso more than thirteen pence doth steale, They have a jyn that wondrous quick and well Sends thieves all headless into heaven or hell."
And in A New Age of Old Names (small 4to, 1609), the Reverend Jos. Wybarne alludes to it while speaking of "obstinacie": "Which scruilefieth a man to his will so that hee becomes, like Maecenas, a thousand times married to the same wife, always iarring, yet alwayes faint to be reconciled; the ground of this phrenzie is, that men will before they deliberate, first executing the prisoner, then enquiring of his demerits, as men say they doe at Halifax." (Notes and Queries, 5th series, iv. 154.) Chambers, in the Book of Days, gives an account of the operation of the law in several instances (see June 2nd); ​and Watson's History of Halifax contains a list of persons who suffered. Gibbet Lane is still the name of a well-known thoroughfare in Halifax. But this famous law has a special book devoted to it: Hallifax and its Gibbet-Law placed in a true Light. This is stated to be printed at London for William Bentley, 1708. But Lowndes says the real author was Dr. Samuel Midgley. It contains a woodcut of the gibbet, and gives an account of the origin of the custom, as arising from the manorial privileges of the manor of Wakefield, of which Halifax is part. Indeed, the identical axe belonging to the Halifax gibbet is kept by the steward of the manor of Wakefield. This leads us back from tradition to history again, and Sir Francis Palgrave has placed on record the archaic position which English history must afford to the Halifax Gibbet Law. (See English Commonwealth, i. 213.)
In connection with Halifax we have also the expression, "Go to Halifax." This expression is well known in Lancashire (see Notes and Queries, 5th series, iv. 154), and was very common about Looe, in East Cornwall, about fifty years ago (ibid.) It has also travelled to America (ibid. p. Q6). It is a mild substitute for a direction to go to a place not to be named to ears polite.
The woollen manufacturers of Flanders, during the persecution in their own country, sought refuge in England in great numbers, and many are said to have settled in Halifax. A similarity is also said to exist between the local dialect and that of Friesland and the low countries, whence the following distich —
"Gooide brade, hotter, and sheese, Is gooid Halifax and gooid Friese."
5. Our national fate seems at one time to have depended upon the town of Sheffield, if we may believe the following:—
"When Sheffield park is ploughed and sown Then little England hold thine own."
Unfortunately for the fulfilment of this, the park alluded to has long since been ploughed and sown. ​6. Other sayings, however, are more favourable to this district:
"Winkabank and Templebrough, Will buy all England, through and through."
These places are in the neighbourhood of Sheffield.
7. And again—
"When all the world shall be aloft, Then Hallamshire shall be God's croft."
8. Formerly there stood an ancient stone cross at Sprotborough, near Doncaster, bearing the following lines on a brass plate:—
"Whoso is hungry and lists well to eat, Let him come to Spotborough for his meat; And for a night and a day His horse shall have both corn and hay, And none shall ask him when he goes away."
The Rev. Scott Surtees, in his Waifs and Strays of North Humber History [1864], is of opinion that these rhymes refer to the ancient sanctuary laws of King Alfred, providing that protection should be given to any criminal who betook himself to a "Minster House " for the space of three nights, whereby opportunity was given him to arrange his defence or to compound for his crime.
9. The following is given in Hazlitt's English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (p. 226), but without any explanation of its origin:—
"If you go to Nun Keling, you shall find your belly filling of whig or of whay; But go to Swine, and come betime, or else you go empty away. But the Abbot of Means doth keep a good house by night and by day."
Swine, Meaus, and Nun Keling (now Nunkeeling) are in the East Riding.
10. And another from the same authority (p. 395) is—
"Ther's a hill again a stack all Craven through,"
which is equivalent to every bean hath its black. Craven is in the hilly part of the West Riding. ​11. Another proverb,—
Like the Parson of Saddlewick, who can read in no book but his own,"
is referable to a Yorkshire town. Grose ascribes this to "Cheshire proverbs." But no such place as Saddlewick is known to have ever existed in England, and the proverb was well known in 1828 at Saddleworth, a large district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the wildest part of which borders on Lancashire, and was formerly in the diocese of Chester. This would appear to have been a likely spot for such a saying to be used about the parson. Britton, in his Beauties of England (vol. ix. p. 299), quotes from Whitaker's History of Whalley (p. 433): "The chapel of Saddleworth was erected by William de Stapleton, lord of that remote and barbarous tract, in the end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century." (See Notes and Queries, 4th series, xii. 388, 524.)
12. In connection with Paull, a village on the Humber some seven miles eastward of Hull, is the following couplet:—
"High Paull, and low Paull, and Paull Holme, The never was a fair maid married at Paull town."
The truth of this is obvious from the fact of the church standing by itself on an eminence nearly a quarter of a mile from the village.
13. The following lines explain themselves. Pendle is a high hill in Lancashire, and the two others are on the border of Yorkshire near Settle:—
"Pendle, Ingleborough, and Pennigent, Are the three highest hills between Scotland and Trent."
The same has also been expressed in—
"Pendle, Pennington, and Ingleborough, Are the three highest hills all England through."
14. In the following distich Spenser describes the characteristics of well-known Yorkshire rivers:—
"Still Are, swift Wherfe, with Oze the most of might, High Swale, unquiet Nidd, and troublous Skell."
"As true steel as Rippon rowels,"
i.e. spurs. The best spurs were formerly made at Ripon, which, says Fuller, "may be inforced to strike through a shilling, and will break sooner than bow." Drayton, in the Polyolbion, Song ii. p. 71, thus alludes to the fame of this district in these manufactures:—
"The Lands that over Ouse to Barwick forth doe bear, Have for their Blazon had the Snaffle, Spur, and Spear."
16. We may, perhaps, here most appropriately mention a saying given by Ray in reference to an imputed characteristic of Yorkshiremen, and contained in the words—
"Shake a bridle over a Yorkshireman's grave and he will arise and steal a horse."
17. As "sure as a louse in Pomfret," speaks ill for that place.
18. Of Cleveland it is said—
"Cleaveland in the clay, bring twa shun, carry yane away."
Or, as Ray has popularized it —
"Cleveland in the clay, Bring in two soles and carry one away."
Which is explained from the fact that the ways in winter-time were very foul and deep.
Weather-wisdom is largely dealt with in these popular rhymes. Thus—
"When Roseberry Topping wears a cappe, Let Cleveland then beware a clappe."
This cap refers to the mist overhanging the lofty hill bearing that name in the North Riding, previously to a thunderstorm. Camden, who notices this proverb, observes, that, "when its top begins to be darkened with clouds, rain generally follows."
There are variations of the distich—
"When Roseberry Topping wears a cap, Let Cleveland men beware of a rap."
And allusions to other places are made in some of the variants. Thus (19)—
"When Roseberry Topping wears a hat, Morden carre will suffer for that."
20. From the Denham Tracts, privately printed at Richmond, Durham, and Newcastle upon-Tyne, in various years since 1850, we have—
"When Eston nabbe puts on a cloake, And Koysberrye a cappe, Then all the folks on Cleveland's clay Ken there will be a clappe."
Eston Nabbe is near the end of the mountain chain of that part of Yorkshire leading to the estuary of the river Tees, five miles distant from Middlesbrough, and now noted for its ironstone mines. The soil in this part of Cleveland is a heavy clay description.
21. Another set of these rhymes gives us the following:—
"When Hood Hill has on its cap, Hamilton's sure to come down with a clap."
The places are on the hills of the Cleveland district, but should be called "How Hill," three miles from Stokesley, and "Hambleton," generally spoken as Hamilton, seven miles from Thirsk. Hamilton Moor is celebrated as a training-ground for horses (Denham Tracts).
22. Of Rawdon Billing it is said—
"When Billing Hill puts on its cap, Calverley Mill will get a slap."
Billing is the highest point of the hill in Rawdon, dividing the valleys of the rivers Wharfe and Aire; on the latter is Calverley Mill,—not far off the village where the tragedy was committed, and the foundation of the play, " The Yorkshire Tragedy," ascribed by some to Shakspere.
23. Another of these rhymes says—
"When Oliver's Mount puts on his hat, Scarborough town will pay for that."
Scarborough also furnishes us with a satirical saying conveyed in the term "A Scarborough warning," which is indeed no warning at all. Fuller traces this to the circumstance of the castle being seized by Thomas Stafford in 1557, before the townsmen were aware of his intention. By the exertion and industry of the Earl of Westmoreland ​however he was secured, taken to London, and beheaded within six days. (Nichols's Fuller's Worthies, ii. 494.) Another explanation of this saying is that it was anciently the custom to fire from Scarborough Castle without warning upon passing vessels which did not strike their sails. It has also been referred to a custom similar to the Halifax Gibbet Law. Thus it is alluded to in A Brief Ballad touching the traitorous taking of Scarborough Castle: Imprinted at London, in Fleet Street, by Tho: Powell; the eighth verse of which is as follows:—
"This term, Scarborough Warning, grew (some say) By hasty hanging, for rank robbery there Who that was met, but suspect in that way, Straight was he trussed up, whatever he were; Whereupon, thieves thinking good to forbear Scarborough robbing, they let that alone, And took Scarborough warning every one."
See A Bundle of Ballads in the Black letter, Laid open to view in modern type and orthography, 1550—60—70. Reprinted by Chas: Hindley, in part iii. of Miscellanea Antiqua Anglicum.
It is mentioned by Tusser in his Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, the first edition of which was issued in 1557 (the year in which Fuller supposes the saying to have originated), as "A Hundreth good Pointes of Husbandrie," and the edition, as it at present stands, was published in 1573. This seems to suggest an earlier origin. Tusser's lines are—
"Be surety seldom (but never for much), For fear of purse, penny less, hanging by such; Or Scarborow warning, as ill I believe, When (Sir, I arrest ye!) gets hold of thy sleeve."
It is also mentioned in a letter by Toby Matthew, Bishop of Durham, to Hutton, Archbishop of York, dated Jan. 19, 1603. (See Notes and Queries, 4th series, xii. 408.) Dr. Chambers says, "In the parish of Anwoth, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, there is a rivulet called Skyreburn, which usually appears as gentle and innocent as a child; but, from having its origin in the spacious bosom of the neighbouring hills, it is liable, on an ordinary fall of rain, to come ​down suddenly in prodigious volume and vehemence…The abruptness of the danger has given rise to a proverbial expression, generally used throughout the south-west of Scotland—Skyreburn warning. It is easy to conceive that this local phrase, when heard south of the Tweed, would be mistaken for Scarborough warning." (The Book of Days, Jan. 19.) But another and not improbable explanation is yet to be noted, which, if it should turn out to be the true origin of the saying, will afford a good example of analogy not always being the result of imitation. In the Diary of Abraham de la Pryme we read, "Scarburg Warning is a proverb in many places of the north, signifying any sudden warning given upon any account. Some think it arose from the sudden comeing of an enemy against the castle there, and, having discharged a broadside, then commands them to surrender. Others think that the proverb had its original from other things, but all varys. However, this is the true origin thereof: The town is a corporation town, and, tho' it is very poor now to what it was formerly, yet it has a…who is commonly a poor man, they haveing no rich ones amongst them. About two days before Michilmass day the sayd…being arrayed in his gown of state he mounts upon horseback, and has his attendants with him, and the macebear[er] carrying the mace before him, with two fidlers and a base viol. Thus marching in state (as bigg as the lord mare of London) all along the shore side, they make many halts, and the cryer crys thus with a strange sort of a singing voice, high and low:—
Whay! Whay! Whay! Pay your gavelage ha! Between this and Michaelmas Day, Or you'll be fined I say!
Then the fiddlers begin to dance, and caper, and play, fit to make one burst with laughter that sees and hears them. Then they go on again and crys as before, with the greatest majesty and gravity immaginable, none of this comical crew being seen so much as to smile all the time, when us spectators are almost bursten with laughing. This is the true origin of the proverb, for this custome of gavelage is a certain tribute that every house pays to the…when he is ​pleased to call for it, and he gives not above one day warning, and may call for it when he pleases." (Diary of A. de la Pryme, p. 126.)
24. There is a Yorkshire saying applied to a man who quits his friends too early at a convivial meeting, that—
"He will be hanged for leaving his liquor, like the saddler of Bawtry,"
which is thus explained:—Between the city of York and its place of execution was an inn, called for many years the "Gallows House," at which the procession with condemned persons was accustomed to stop that they might regale themselves. The saddler in question however refused this refreshment and hastened on to execution. Too late a reprieve arrived which would have saved his life had he only waited as was usual at the inn.
25. Dr. Whitaker in his Loidis and Elmete commences the description of the Vale of Calder by the old distich—
"Castleford women must needs be fair, Because they wash both in Calder and Aire."
Castleford is an old Roman station at the junction of the two West Riding rivers, where the Calder ceases. No reason is given for the rhyme, and the ablution would now be of a doubtful nature, as these rivers are as black as ink and contain a great portion of the sewage of the West Riding.
26. We hear as a local proverb of "Dunmow bacon and Doncaster daggers."
27:—
"If Brayton Bargh, and Hamelton Hough, and Burton bream, Warr all in thy belly, it would ne'er be team,"
is spoken of a covetous and insatiable person whom nothing will content. Brayton, Hamilton, and Burton are all situate between Cawood and Pontefract.
28. The village of Raskelfe, which is usually pronounced Rascall, furnishes an instance of what are called People and Steeple rhymes. Of this place it is said—
"A wooden church, a wooden steeple, Rascally church, rascally people."
"Hornsea broch I built thee, Thou wast ten miles from Beverley, Ten miles from Bridlington, And ten miles from the sea."
30. The town of Wetherby has earned from causes not now explainable the following saying, about which information has been asked in Notes and Queries (1st series, vii. 233), but with no response:—
"The woful town o' Wetherby."
31. The following saying is connected with a very interesting tradition:—
"There are no rats at Hatfield, nor sparrows at Lindholme."
Abraham de la Pry me probably refers to the tradition in his Diary (see p. 146); and an account is to be found in Hunter's South Yorkshire (i. 196), and in Stonehouse's Isle of Axholme (p. 393). Near Hatfield Woodhouse, in the centre of the Great Hatfield turf-moor, were formerly about sixty acres of land, known by the name of Lindholme. {It is a prevalent opinion," says Hunter, "that here once dwelt some extraordinary personage who is known by no other name than that of William of Lindholme; a species of Prospero, who was in league with infernal spirits, and who was endued with strength far surpassing the ordinary strength of man. Two immense boulder stones called 'the thumb-stone' and 'the little finger-stone' are supposed to have been brought hither by him." Amongst the many traditionary stories related concerning him is one to the effect that, when he was a boy, his parents went to Wroot Feast, and left him to keep the sparrows from the corn or hemp-seed. The account is that he drove all the sparrows into a barn, which was then being built, and still unroofed, and confined them there by placing a harrow against the door. After he had done this, William followed his parents to Wroot; and, when scolded for so doing, he said he had fastened up all the ​sparrows in a barn, where they found them on their return in the evening, one version says all dead, except a few which were turned white. Since this transaction it is said that no sparrows were ever seen at Lindholme.
32. In the Denham Tracts we find—
"The fairest lady in this land Was drowned at Mont Ferrand."
In Langdale's Topographical History of Yorkshire, 1822, Mont Ferrand is named as a farm-house in the parish of Birdsall, 4$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$ miles from Malton, North Riding, while Denham, in his Folk-Lore, mentions it as near Beverley, and that foundations of an ancient castle still exist. No explanation of the distich is now obtainable.
33. "You might as well try to bore a hole through Beacon Hill."
This saying is no doubt in allusion to the Beacon Hill immediately adjacent to, and rising to a considerable and precipitous height above, the town of Halifax. This hill is described in Wright's History of Halifax (1738) "as a high and almost insurmountable rock all overgrown with trees and thick underwood mixed with huge and craggy stones." The hill is now pierced by a tunnel of one of the West Riding Railways for a distance of three-quarters of a mile, on the direct route from Leeds and Bradford by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to Manchester.
"Birstal for ringers, Heckmondwike for singers, Dewsbury for peddlers, Cleckheaton for sheddlers."
All these places are close to each other in the West Riding. To sheddle in the Leeds dialect is to swindle.
35. The shrewd character of Yorkshiremen is demonstrated in the saying He's Yorkshire, which is equivalent to "he's a sharp fellow."
36. Another local trait is expressed in the term, A Yorkshire bite. This is a common saying in the county of Durham to caution any one who is about to engage in transactions immediately south of the Tees. But Mr. Tegg, in his One Hour's Reading, remarks, "The misapplica​tion of the original meaning of this term is very general. We always use it to convey a feeling of mistrust, or a fear of coming in contact with one more adept in cunning than ourselves. It is true Yorkshiremen are keen dealers; this, however, is no detraction; on the contrary, it is an evidence of industrious habits. The hospitality for which they are so famous gave rise to the term Yorkshire bite. It is said the fatted calf and flowing bowl greet the stranger at every step, and after the common salutation, the question, 'Will you bite?' or 'Will you sup?' is sure to follow; and from this originated a term, used as a sarcasm, but which, in point of fact, derived as it is, ought to be used as a compliment."
37. The saying, Go to Yorkshire! is explained as meaning that each one of a party is to pay his or her own share of the reckoning.
38. A Yorkshire way bit is an overplus, according to Ray, not accounted in the reckoning, which sometimes proves as much as all the rest. Ask a countryman how many miles it is to such a town, and he will return commonly so many miles and a way-bit (i. e. wee bit).
* ↑ Now Wincobank.
* ↑ Remains of a Roman town have lately been discovered here.