jan 1, 1537 - scotsemnail

Description:

Noted as <i>scotsem</i> in Nottingham in 1273 (SZ1/314). It was frequent in Yorkshire from the early fourteenth century: 1313-4 <i>Pro ij. ML scotnayl hoc anno iij s</i>, Bolton Priory (YRS154/364); 1318-9 <i>Pro dcccc. di. de spikings et scottesem</i>, Bolton Priory (YRS154/464); 1371 <i>Et in 10.m de Scotsomnail emptis pro celura, dando pro c. 5d, 41s 8d,</i> York (SS35/7). The inference may be that ‘sem’ derives from the word for ‘nail’ or ‘rivet’, on record in the most northerly counties and especially in Scotland. It was used there of a nail that fixed together the planks of a clinker-built boat (CSD) and may therefore have meant simply ‘scottish nail’, one that could be clenched. In that case the suffix ‘nail’ will have been added by clerks who were unfamiliar with the regional word. Later examples include: 1379-80 <i>in scotsumnayle, 3d</i>, Ripon (SS81/101); 1434 <i>In v. m Scotesemnailes, 5s 5d</i>, York (SS35/53); 1518 <i>Item paid for ij M skotsym, ijs</i>, York (CCW/70); 1535 <i>It’m twoo thowsand skott Semes</i>, Stillingfleet (YRS45/130); 1537 <i>scotsem nayles otherwise called lathe nayles</i>, Sheriff Hutton (SZ11/314).

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