jan 1, 1695 - tew

Description:

To tan, a variant spelling of ‘taw’, with examples in the OED from <i>c</i>.1440. It occurs earlier in the North Riding: 1395 <i>It. pro tewyng xiiij pellium luporum js ixd</i>, Whitby (SS72/623) and it was common as a past participle: 1488 <i>j bukskyn tewyd</i>, Ripon (SS64/286); 1567 <i>fyve tewed foxe skynnes</i>, Fixby (YRS134/16). The occupational term is listed in York: 1310 <i>Andreas de Doncaster, tewer</i>; 1393 <i>Thomas Tyas, tewer</i> (SS96). It could also mean ‘to work with the hands, to pummel or to beat’ and these may have derived from the manipulation of leather by hand in the softening process. Examples are quite late: 1642 <i>grave up some earth and water it and tewe it. Morter neaver doeth well unlesse it bee well wrought in,</i> Elmswell (DW151); 1695 <i>she told him the rogue Ely had soe tew’d her till she had noe breath</i>, Rotherham (QS1/34/4). In 1582 it is used along with ‘taw’ in the Skinners’ Ordinances in York (YRS119/61-3). It survives in dialect with the sense of ‘to toil’.

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