C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Ask a question about agricultural history or the history of rural economy and society
Post Reply
Katharine
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 May 2020, 12:17

C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by Katharine »

Hello,

I am currently transcribing a document which is the survey of park, written in the late C16. It lists the assets of a particular estate and their size and or value. I have been stumped (pardon the pun) by two unfamiliar words relating to trees which occur in a section titled 'woodeland and wood yeldinge no herbage'. I wondered if anyone could either confirm that the words I think I see are indeed real words, or point me in the direction of a dictionary or reference work where I can check my vocabulary.

In this section concerning woodland the words in question are: 'rimbolde' (or possibly 'rubolde' or 'kinbolde') and 'dotters that beare no green leaves'. Can anyone advise me as to what 'rimbolde' and 'dotters' might mean? I am guessing from context 'dotters' could be old dead trees and by contrast the other might be young healthy trees. But this is really just a guess.

Many thanks,
Katharine

Alan Wadsworth
Posts: 46
Joined: 26 Jun 2017, 11:04

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by Alan Wadsworth »

Which part of the country does this come from?

Alan Wadsworth
Posts: 46
Joined: 26 Jun 2017, 11:04

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by Alan Wadsworth »

Dodded, also dotted, dotterd.

Reference to old trees

Source: Redmonds, George, A vocabulary of wood, woodworkers and wood management in Yorkshire
(Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2017]

paulbahs
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Feb 2019, 09:41

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by paulbahs »

In Shropshire dotterell and variant spellings. Usually assumed to be dead mature trees, perhaps veteran pollards.

Katharine
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 May 2020, 12:17

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by Katharine »

This survey is from Wales or the Welsh borders.

Thanks for these answers and reference. 'Dotters' makes sense. I had suspected something similar, but didn't know if it could be applied to trees. I am not convinced I am reading the first word correctly so will revisit it and have a think.

User avatar
webweaver
Posts: 57
Joined: 25 Jun 2017, 09:54

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by webweaver »

It might be useful to post the whole sentence that contains the first word - or even an image of the manuscript. If you need help posting the image, let me know.

Katharine
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 May 2020, 12:17

Re: C16 words relating to trees and woodland

Post by Katharine »

Hi webweaver - I'm afraid I can't give you an image of the MS as it is for a archival transcription assignment and I can't ask for help reading it. I must decipher it myself, but I can use various sources to check meaning of what I think I see and help me to come to a final reading.

However, I think I have solved my own problem:

'rinbold': cropped, topped or polled trees. (William Linnard, Welsh Woods and Forests: A History (Llanysul, Gomer, 2000)

I found this on what looks like a very useful website: http://info.sjc.ox.ac.uk/forests/glossary.htm#R

Post Reply