Copy of `Forests and Chases - Forestry terms`

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Forests and Chases - Forestry terms Category: Animals and Nature > Forests in England and Wales Date & country: 27/09/2013, UK Words: 664

heirior
see standard

heithorn
hawthorn (Ja, 301)

hemuse
roe deer of the third year

herbage
pasture of woods, lawn, parks, wastes (

herd
a gathering of red or fallow deer (M 45 (r))

hermit
one who lives in solitude; from Latin erēmīta, Greek έρεμίτης, a dweller in a desert (έρημία) (S269); in north-western Europe,

herner
bird of prey, a falcon trained to take only heron, q.v. (S 270)

heron
long-legged water-fowl, predator of fish and itself the quarry of the herner, q.v.

heybote
see

high forest
stand of trees generally of seedling origin (L 237)

hind
female red deer, particularly in its third and later years (M 43 (r))

hobby
bird of prey, small species of falcon; proper for the use of youths, according to the

hodd
charcoal measure, a quarter load (L 37)

hog
wild boar in its second year (M 43 (r))

hogstear
wild boar in its third year (M 43 (r))

holly
prickly shrub whose bark is palatable to deer within a few days of cutting back the branches for pollards; Middle English holin, from the same root as Welsh celyn; see also

hollyn
holly (Ja, 301)

holm(e)
(1) flat land by river (P 205); (2) holm(e) oak, the evergreen oak, so named from its resembling holly, q.v., whose own name was often varied phonetically to

holt
a wood (Ja, 301)

honey
natural produce of the forest; collected, together with wax, from the nests of bees predominantly found there (and particularly in rotting tree trunks and boughs) before the general switch to

hono(u)r
collection of estates held by a single [typically noble] lord, not necessarily grouped geographically (R 167), with its own structure of courts, ministers, and administration

hornbeam
tree common only in Epping Forest and Enfield Chase where coppiced and lopped by commoners for fuel; very hard wood, used for chessmen, draughts, cogs, mallets

hound
dog, especially one trained or bred for hunting, hence

houndsilver
cash payment in lieu of the lawing of a dog (W 147)

housebote
right of tenants on a manor to take wood for making and repairing buildings (L 237); estover which is the common right to take wood for the repair of buildings (R 167); according to the Charter of the Forest (1217), housebote must be collected under the view of the verderers (M 9 (v)); every man may take housebote from his own woods in the forest, by view of the foresters (Co 299). See

hue and cry
hue, from Old English hue, huer,

hunting
the practice and art of pursuing wild animals and birds for sport and the larder, see also

hunting cries
elaborate system of cries used to communicate with hounds and signify different stages of the hunt (BG 229-31)

hunting horn
used by foresters and other officers as well as huntsmen, who used standardised series of blasts to supplement cries, and as symbols of office and proofs of tenure (BG 227-28 et al)

hunting music
standardised patterns of horn blasts, notated from medieval times (BG 231-34)

hurdle
woven panel of wattle, used as temporary fencing (E, 140); usually of willow cut in winter and woven in summer (Je, 80) see dole, flake

hurst
a wood (Ja, 301)

husset
clippings of holly fed to deer, cattle and sheep in winter (Ja, 301)

imp
young plant, grafted plant (L 237)

inclosure
two modes of inclosure (see

ingress
right of entrance (and exit,

ivy
creeping evergreen, a browse of deer and therefore an essential component of the forest vert, q.v.; original sense of the word unknown (S 310)

jercel
bird of prey, proper for the use of a poor man, according to the

jesse
leather or silken strap with which the legs of a hawk or falcon were secured and fixed by thongs to the owner

juniper
evergreen shrub, an important browse for deer

justice seat
supreme forest court (P 205); meeting, and meeting-place, of forest eyre (q.v.); the sitting of a forest eyre, or place where it occurred (M 232 (r))

keep
cost of looking after a hunting dog (BG 251-52)

kennel
resting place of a fox (M 45 (v))

kestrel
bird of prey, traditionally proper for the use of knaves and servants, according to the

kibble
piece of wood as supplied to cooper or wheelwright (Ja, 301)

kid
roe deer in its first year (M 44 (r))

kid or kyd
n. bundle of brushwood; v. to bind into a bundle (Ja, 301) kidwood, material used in a kid (Ja, 301)

law
(v) see

lawing
see 'expeditate'

lawn
enclosed pasture within forest, originally to provide grazing and hay for deer (P 205); open grassy space in woodland where deer would naturally congregate; sometimes (e.g. in Duffield Frifth) launds appear to have been separately paled and used for mowing grass (R 167); pasture, forest pasture (L 237)

lay over
deliberate distortion of a tree to obtain compass timber (Ja, 301)

lea
woodland clearing (L 237)

leader
main upright shoot at the top of a growing tree (E, 178)

leaf litter
dry leaves, esp. beech, for bedding of fowls and animals (E, 142) see bracken

leap
see

leasehold
status [of] property or land which was [under] tenure by lease either for life, lives, or a stated term (R 167)

lesses
excrement of a boar, reported on by foresters (M 46 (r))

leveret
hare in its first year (M 43 (r))

ley
land, often open-field stips, temporarily under grass (P 205); area of arable land temporarily converted to grass in order to provide stock with sufficient food (R 168)

liberty
also known as

licence
warrant; verbal (

lieutenant
deputy, person acting or holding on behalf of a superior. There were two forest lieutenants: that of the Warden and, after 32 Henry 8 c. 35, that of the Chief Justice in Eyre

ligging
lair of a hunted beast, especially a wildcat (BG 235)

ling
see

lip work
articles such as baskets made from straw bound into rolls with bramble or other flexible fronds (Je, 151)

load
50 true cubic feet of timber (E, 178); wood measure (usually 50 cubic feet); charcoal measure (variable) (L 238)

lodge
(n) place where hunter or hunting party may take lodging and/or refreshment; place of habitation for keeper; (v) resting up of a buck (M 45 (v))

lodge-keeper
person charged with maintaining lodge, q.v.

lop and top
branches cut from upper parts of a tree, or to do so (Ja, 299) see cord, offal wood

lopping
heavy branch wood (Ja, 301)

lops
branches of tree cut from trunk after felling (P 205)

low faggots
see sears

lug
alternative name in English West Country for

lug-acre
a square lug, rod, pole or perch (OED), at 16 per standard acre (C, 48)

madness
hounds were believed to suffer from seven madnesses, or forms of sickness (BG 237-39)

maiden
tree which has been neither lopped, pollarded nor coppiced (L 238)

mainpernor
person to whom an offender is delivered by mainprise (q.v.) (Sw 507)

manor
originally a territorial unit of land held by an overlord, later in the Middle Ages it had the much looser meaning of any economic unit of land which could consist of all demesne land without tenants (R 168)

maple
field maple (

mappil
maple (Ja, 301)

mast
fruit of beech, oak and other forest trees used as food for swine (P 205); fruits of oak and beech (used for fattening swine in summer) (L 238); fruits of beech, oak and sweet chestnut used for fattening pigs, either collected for them or fed from the ground (E, 141)

maynour
see

meadow
area on which hay was grown and dried to provide fodder for livestock during the winter, and from which livestock were excluded until the hay had been cut, dried, and removed (R 168)

measures
see 'forest measures'

meer, mere
boundary mark (P 205); boundary often delineated by mere stones (the word is also used to refer to a pond) (R 168); markers or meres of forest boundaries, which though open were

men
line followed by a hunted stag; the challenge of a hound when on the line; a note sounded on a hunting horn (BG 240-42)

mete
(v) measure, (n) boundary as in

mew
(1) casting of antlers (BG 243); (2) cage or stable for falcon, q.v., hence

mine
place where minerals are extracted by excavation

miner
person who prospects for, and extracts minerals; see also

moket
pannage, q.v. (L 238)

mongwode
mixed wood (L 238)

moot
stump or stool of a tree (Ja, 301)

murrain
originally a catch-all term for animal diseases (R 168)

muse
opening in a fence though which a hare or other animal is accustomed to pass (BG 243)

musket
a bird of prey, a small hawk, proper for the use of

needle wood
collective term for needle-bearing conifers (Ja, 301)

nutting
custom of gathering nuts on Holy Rood Day, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, first day of the open season for the hunting of hart and buck.

oak
tough wood, used for load-bearing members, wheel spokes &c (Je, 113)

offal wood
cord wood or lop and top (Ja, 302)