Bored or Board

 My inventory transcription is all about a board today. Are you bored with my transcription stories? Take heart at the warm hearth, for they are almost done. Just a few more tough words to (hopefully) figure out.

I was stuck on a board - nayled down, you might say. I'd read about the board in several places and it was stuck in my head. The table that our colonial ancestors sat at to dine was often called a board, for that's what it was, a long narrowish board. Unattached were two trestles, on which you placed the board, the board cloath, the napkins, perhaps some spoons, the meal trough or the trenchers and the common cup. When the board was not needed, you removed it from the trestles and placed it against the wall. You sat on the form (a long bench), or stools.

I had a phrase for which I couldn't figure out the middle word, or explain what it had to do with the first word. In context, it went like this:

2 yds serge at 5 sh stockings 3sh 108 ti steele at 16d  lether and ? boards 50sh.

Translated: 2 yards of serge (fabric) at 5 shillings; stockings, 3 shillings, 108 pounds of steele at 16 denarii (pence), and leather and ? boards 50 shillings. The total value of those items was ten pounds and seven shillings.

I tried every combination of letters I could think of for that middle word, which looked to me like balland or colland. This is a short post, but it was not a short search. I just finished reading a book written in the 1800s about furnishings in colonial homes. It was an excellent read for my purpose, and I have a better idea of what chests and tables and chairs looked like. They were much more ornate than I thought. But there was no word that could help me with my mystery word. The other thing was, most of the objects belonged in the home of a wealthier family, like the governor.

I  wondered. I pondered. I even thunk. In so doing, I remembered that in my ancestor's will, he had a great table. Why would he need a board if he had a great table? What is a great table? I checked, and in the inventory there was a table and a form. So, I am not quite sure if the table had legs attached to it or if it was a board; I will check into that. But, I wondered, why would he need a board if he had a table and a bench?

I had written "bellows?" under the word earlier, but dismissed it. I returned to bellows, and googled the word for more detail than the dictionary gave me. I looked at several sites. 

(Reminder here: look for the lock button or http: in the URL. My googling keeps my anti-virus hopping.)

Think, Peggy, think. Was it really "leather and"? Yes, I was sure of it. "Leather and bellows boards." It couldn't be anything else. 

The phrase follows lots of fabric, 5 pewter spoons, steele; it precedes more fabric, chissols, gouge, and drawing knives. I know that Francis was a blacksmith; I assume Ann used the fabric. 

What do you need to make bellows? Wood and leather and the necessary tools. Leather and bellows' wood. An apostrophe after the "s" in "bellows," a plural noun, tells me that in one of his chests full of fabric, perhaps he had the makings of a pair of bellows. Bellows for his hearth or his forge, I do not know. Perhaps enough for both - and maybe enough to sell a few; 50 shillings is a lot of wampum. 

Why it wasn't written 2 pounds and 10 shillings I don't know, but it works out in the equation. 

I do hope you weren't bored with this bellows' board story. 

Tow Cloath

 Today, I bid fond farewell to faithful friends: two of them, left and right. This is hardly a frivolous post, although if you have recently lost a loved one, it pales in significance. Inanimate objects are important in our lives; think of a favourite childhood toy or a lovely earring you have lost.

My slippers have warmed my toes for more years than I remember. My husband replaced them at least five years ago; the new ones shared my toes with the old ones. Generally, but not always, these slippers served my feet in summer and the newer ones in winter. However, the ease with which they slipped onto my feet gave them priority. No offence, nice black slippers.

Knowing that their days were limited, I purchased a new pair at Marshalls in the fall. Average, dull gray slippers would take their rightful place on my toes come the new year, I knew, but they will never replace them.

My old faithfuls sit in my clear bag, awaiting their disposal on Friday morning. No stone will mark their place. There will be only this blog post in tribute and memorial to their faithful service. I shed no tears; but I do raise a piece of tow cloath in their honour. Their value? Priceless. Other slippers will warm my tootsies, but they will not replace them.

Oh, how I've wondered about that word, tow, in the inventory of old Francis Holmes. It is one word of several that still elude me, but more and more, I'm replacing the ???s with an actual word written by quill in 1675. I've been transcribing the document for several months and it has become almost as familiar to me as the worn imprints on the soles of my dear red slippers.

Line 15: To 5 yds TOW Cloath at 2sh, hat 6sh, popper 18d, Cushings 4sh, fether bed bolster & two pillows 6ti. Value 7 - 1 - 6.

 What does that mean in modern English? Perhaps you wonder, perhaps you don't care. I will tell.

The "To" introduces the next line in the inventory. Also used were per and item, and a symbol I can't reproduce but it looks like a fancy, cursive L. 

Yds means yards. In Canada, we now purchase fabric in metres; but I have purchased fabric by the yard in years past. 

Hat is a thing that you wear on your head. Could be made of buckskin, beaver, wool . . .

A popper is a snap fastener. I think, since poppers were given a mention, they were not attached permanently like they are on babies jodhpurs.

Cushings are cushions.

A fether bed is what I have slept on at the farm, under the old tin roof. 

A bolster is a sturdy roll-like thing that props up your pillow.

Pillows are pillows are pillows - what I sleep on, dream on, lie awake pondering what to blog about tomorrow on. 

Tow cloth will not fix up the hole in the toe of my slipper - it is too far gone. 

Lexico dictionary definition: the coarse and broken part of flax or hemp prepared for spinning; a bundle of untwisted natural or man-made fibres.

The manufacture of linen was also a complicated process. When the flax had been rotted, washed, and dried in the flax kiln, the stalks were opened, thus exposing the fibres. The latter were combed in order to remove the pith, then pulled through finer combs to separate the tow, and finally sorted as to fineness. Course tow was used to make bags, suiting, towels, and fine linen goods. After the fibers had been spun into thread the skeins were washed and bleached in a solution of ashes and hot water. Since the cloth - which was woven on a semi-homemade frame - had a light brown color, it was washed and bleached in the sun. Pure white fabrics could be obtained by soaking bleached linen in buttermilk.

The Roots of American Civilization: A History of American Colonial Life, by Curtiss P Nettles. Page 240.

Cookies

Grandma made cookies in December after a long hiatus, and even though it had been a long time, I still remembered how to make them, and they were good. Some are gone, and some are sitting in my freezer waiting for my family to arrive in a couple of weeks for a belated Christmas. The bedroom still contains a bunch of clutter as well, new to WTS clothes from the thrift stores and Christmas gifts for all of them. But, I am sorely tempted when I open the freezer door. 

I am working on the inventory of the probate of my immigrant ancestor, Francis Holmes. I've been at it for at least six months. As I learn this new language, I learn much about life 350 years ago or so. Part of the probate is the inventory, and that's the part I am at now. I don't think I will get all the words, but if I get one a day, I'm elated. I'm also trying to balance the mathematics of LSD. That L is actually a pound sign but I don't know how to insert it here. Some equations come easily; some still elude me. My wonder is - is it me, or was it them, who made the errors?

L is pound; S is shilling, and D is pence. Figure that one out. A clue - a NT Bible scholar will recognize the "d."

I'm also working on a glossary. I find Lexico Dictionary quite helpful and I have a list of websites to refer to after I exhaust the dictionaries. Wikipedia is a help. But first of all, I have to figure out what word the combination of letters refer to, as a,e,o and sometimes even u can look remarkably alike. The i is generally dotted, although a t before i is often not crossed.

Two things I've run into just this week, as I google hearth tools and farm implements. One is that there are bad guys inside my computer, just ready to pounce with a virus. Many thanks to Panda; I know I am stretching your power; I'm just keeping you on your toes. But watch for that little lock icon and http:. 

The other makes me laugh. It's the cookies that my googling is generating. All these tool companies are placing cookies in my Facebook feed. I hope they aren't too disappointed that I am not ordering their beetles and anchors and such like.

To Richard Law, clerk of Stamford for many years, including 1675, thank you for your dedication to your work. I've seen recipes for the ink you must make, and I know the paper was not easy to come by, and the quills didn't last long. As I type I don't know how many words a minute, and cut or copy and paste, I realize my work is much simpler than yours.