6. The Yard and the Verge
These cognate terms have many developments of meaning, running almost parallel both in English and French. ‘Yard,’ the equivalent of A.S. gyrd, geard, and perhaps gæd (gad), is cognate to ‘Rod’ and to Fr. Verge. It may mean:
1. A rod from a tree; L. virga, Fr. verge.
2. A short measure of 4 to 6 spans; Fr. verge.
3. A pole of indefinite length, in various senses, naval, &c. Fr. verge, vergue.
4. A long measure of 9 to 24 feet = rod, pole, perch. In France the perche may be from 9-1/2 feet (Burgundy) to 22 feet (French).
5. A measure of surface 9 to 24 feet square. Yard, Fr. verge.
6. A larger measure of surface 40 × 1 rod = a quarter-acre. Yard-land, rood, Fr. vergée.
7. A quarter of a still larger unit. Virgata, yard-land.
8. A holding of a rood when enclosed became a yard or garth, then a cultivated enclosure of any size: tree-yard (Du. boom-gaard), apple-garth, win-gaard (vineyard).[[18]]
Here the Fr. verge parts company with ‘yard’; its place is taken by cour (L. curtiferum) and G. hof.
9. Any enclosed land attached to a house: Palace-yard, Fr. cour. Farm-yard, Fr. basse-cour. Court-yard, G. hof. Court = farmyard in Somerset.
Fr. verge reappears in the English form of ‘verge’ in the sense of a circle or ring, AS. gyrd, now ‘girth.’ The gyrd was a geard or yard bent into a hoop. Fr. verge = ring was a verge or rod bent into a hoop or ring. Cf. Fr. bague, ring made by bending a rod or baguette into a hoop. The English sense of ‘verge’ = circle is seen in:
O would to God that the inclusive verge
Of golden metal that must round my brow.
Rich. III, iv. 1.
To the furthest verge
That ever was survey’d by English eye.
Rich. III, i. 1.
The ‘verge’ of the King’s palace or court, sometimes stated as twelve leagues (of 1-1/2 miles), a circuit equal to about 3 miles in radius.