jan 1, 1579 - thorn

Description:

Usually a reference to the hawthorn. <i>c</i>.1490 <i>the thorn that stondes at Moskarende</i>, Sand Hutton (YAJ2/91); 1579 <i>In another Gyll in Nether Hesseldene are certain Yonge Esshe Spires and Thornes and scrubbie Hessels</i> (Whit2/492). The tree is remembered in over 100 important Yorkshire place-names, and more than twenty Thorntons are listed by Smith (PNWR8/184). The wood could be used as fuel: 1556 <i>the Parson had whinnes and thornes opon Whitwell More ... so many as served his kitchyn</i> (YRS114/93). It is of course the traditional hedgerow tree, and information about its role in enclosure will be found under quickfall, quickset and quickwood. References to it as the whitethorn or hawthorn are quite rare but a thirteenth-century deed for Chevet makes reference to an acre of land by <i>Hahethornstube</i> (YRS83/66).

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