jan 1, 1682 - boulder

Description:

The OED definition of this word is ‘a rounded stone … larger than a pebble’ but the earliest example quoted is from 1617 when it was used of paving stones: it was compared to ‘some other kind of small stone’. Much earlier than that it occurred in a similar context in York: 1421<i> Et in bulders emptis pro eodem pavimento, 14d</i> (SS35/45). We are now more familiar with boulder as a word for a large block of stone but there are no examples of it used in this way from before 1800, so its premier definition may be at first surprising. Nevertheless, in bridge-building accounts it clearly referred to what we would now describe as cobbles, as in 1675 when the workmen responsible for Ilkley Bridge claimed £4 6s 0d for <i>Leading of Fillinges and Boulders for paveing the Bridge</i> (QS1/14). Similarly, in 1682, George Holgate was paid for <i>leading boulders and sand </i>for Rotherham Bridge (QS1). It may be significant that Boulder Bridge occurs twice as a place-name in south Yorkshire, in Carlton and Hoyland Swaine. The latter was spelt <i>Buldirbrig</i> in 1495 (SS53/101). The word should be linked with ‘boulder-stone’ which is on record from before 1300, especially as these stones were also used for paving.

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