jan 1, 1642 - frundel

Description:

A dry measure, used typically of grain, peas, etc. 1572 <i>one frundill of peise</i>, South Cave (Kaner77); 1642 <i>Poore folks putte usually … two peckes of pease to a frundell of Massledine, and say that these make hearty breade</i>, Elmswell (DW109). The spellings varied, with changes to the first vowel: 1570 <i>iij frondles of rye</i>, South Cave (Kaner71); 1579 <i>5 bushels of wheat, a quarter and a frandall</i>, Halsham (YAJ36/439). The earliest reference is another East Riding example: 1412 <i>j fryndill frumenti</i>, Winestead (ERAS10/7). Views differ as to what proportion of a bushel it might have been but it is considered to be a corruption of ‘farthingdeal’, via spellings such as ‘farundell’ noted in the OED, so maybe it was simply ‘a fourth part’.

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