Footnote 1:[(return)]
There is amongst the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster an interesting grant from John, Duke of Lancaster, to his daughter Joan Beaufort, very soon after her marriage with Lord Neville of Raby. This document, of which the following is a translation, proves that Robert Ferrers died before 16th February, 1397.
"John, son of the king of England, Duke of Guienne and of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, of Lincoln, and of Leicester, Steward of England, to all who these our letters shall see or hear, greeting. Know ye that, of our especial grace, and forasmuch as our very loved son, the Lord de Neville, and our very loved daughter, Joan, his wife (sa compaigne), who was the wife (femme) of Monsieur Robert Ferrers (whom God assoyl), have surrendered into our Chancery, to be cancelled, our other letters patent, whereby we formerly did grant unto the said Monsieur Robert and our aforesaid daughter 400 marks a-year, to be received annually, for the term of their two lives, out of the issues of our lands and lordships of our honour of Pontefract, payable, &c., as in our said other letters more fully it is contained: we, willing that our abovesaid son, the Lord de Neville, and our aforesaid daughter, his wife (sa compaigne), shall have of us, for the term of their two lives, 500 marks a-year, or other thing to the value thereof, have granted by these presents to the same, our son and daughter, all those our lordships, lands, and tenements in Easingwold and Huby, and our three wapentakes of Hang, Hallikeld, and Gilling, the which Monsieur John Marmyon (whom God assoyl) held of us in the county of York: to have and to hold our abovesaid lordships, tenements, and wapentakes, with their appurtenances, to our said son and daughter, for the term of their two lives, and the life of the survivor of them, in compensation for 100l. a-year, part of the abovesaid 500 marks yearly. And also, we have granted by these presents to the same, our son and daughter, the manor of Lydell, with appurtenances, to have and to hold for their lives, and the life of the survivor, in compensation for 40 marks a-year of the abovesaid 500 marks yearly, during the wars or truces between our lord the king and his adversary of Scotland: so, nevertheless, that if peace be made between our same lord the king and his said adversary of Scotland, and on that account the said manor of Lydell, with the appurtenances, shall be found lawfully to be of greater and better yearly value than the said 40 marks a-year, then our said son and daughter shall answer to us, during such peace as aforesaid, for the surplusage of the value of the said manor, beyond the said 40 marks a-year, and the yearly reprises of the said manor. And in full satisfaction of the aforesaid 500 marks a-year we have granted to our abovesaid son and daughter 206l. 13s. 4d. yearly, to be received out of the issues of our honours of Pontefract and Pickering, by the hands of our receiver there for the time being. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Given under our seal, at London, on the 16th day of February, in the twentieth year of the reign of our most dread sovereign lord King Richard the Second after the Conquest" (A.D. 1397).
The above grant was confirmed on the 10th of September, in the twenty-second of Richard the Second, 1398, by the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Henry of Lancaster, Duke of Hereford, a few weeks only before the duke's banishment, in the following words: "We, willing to perform and accomplish the good will and desires of our said very honoured lord and father, and in the confidence which we have in our said very loved brother, now Earl of Westmoreland, that he will be a good and natural son to our said very dread lord and father, and that he will be to us in time to come a good and natural brother, and also because of the great affection which we bear towards our said very loved sister, the countess his wife (sa compaigne), do, for us and our heirs, as far as in us lies, ratify and confirm to our said brother and sister the aforesaid letters patent, &c. Given under our seal, at London, on the 10th day of September, in the twenty-second year of the reign of our most dread lord King Richard the Second after the Conquest."
King Henry the Fifth, on his accession, by a patent under the seal of the duchy of Lancaster, dated at Westminster, on the 1st of July, in the first year of his reign, confirmed the above letters "to the aforesaid earl and Joan his wife;" and King Henry the Sixth in like manner confirmed his father's patent on the 13th of July, in the second year of his reign.—Regist. Ducat. Lanc. temp. Hen. VI., p. 2. fol. 41.
UNCERTAIN ETYMOLOGIES—"LEADER."
(Vol. vi., p. 588.)
I must differ from your correspondent C., in believing that the "N. & Q." have effected much good service to etymology. Even the exposure of error, and the showing up of crotchets, is of no inconsiderable use. I beg to submit that C. himself (unless there are other Richmonds in the field) has done good service in this way. See Grummett, Slang Phrases, Martinet, Cockade, Romane, Covey, Bummaree, &c.
I do not, indeed, give implicit faith to his Steyne, and some more. He, however, would be a rash man who should write or help to write a Dictionary of the English language (a desideratum at present) without turning over the indices of the "N. & Q." Even in the first volume, the discussions on Pokership, Daysman, News, and a great many others, seem to me at least valuable contributions to general knowledge on etymology.