Also, what are the exact dates of the birth and death of John Heywood, in Henry VIII.'s time?
JAMES F. HASKINS.
[Sir William Davenant was the author of The Spaniards in Peru, which was subsequently incorporated in his piece, Playhouse to be Let. See his Works, fol. 1673, p. 103.; also Genest's Account of the English Stage, vol. i. p. 38.]
Selion.
—I have frequently met with the word "selion" in deeds relating to property in various parts of the Isle of Axholme, co. Lincoln. The term is used in the description of property; for instance, "All that selion piece or parcel of land situate, &c." It does not signify any particular quantity, for I have known it applied to fields of all sizes, from five acres down to a quarter of an acre. Will some of your numerous correspondents furnish an explanation of the word, and from whence derived?
L. L. L.
North Lincolnshire.
[Selion of land, or selio terræ, is derived from the French seillon, a ridge of land, or ground arising between two furrows, and contains no certain quantity, but sometimes more or less. Therefore Crompton says, that a selion of land cannot be in demand, because it is a thing uncertain.]