Heritage Weekend

Heritage Weekend

We had our own version of the Heritage Weekend at Grasby.  It started with the thrills of a walk around the village with Richard Clark who gave us all an insight into the whys and wherefores of the siting of Grasby village along the spring line of the wolds which joins villages by the dozen in a similar point in the landscape.  We now know how to tell the oldest houses in the village just by looking at the chimneys.  Finishing just in time to go into the Village Show for a cup of tea, at which moment it felt as though the ancient village life was alive, well and carrying on in spite of modern attitudes to living.  
On Sunday was the Family Tree Workshop and how to get hooked on a life long hobby.  During the day I picked up a few new names to look at and passed on the advice to the students that if you want to know anything on the county (any county) then join a local Family History Society.  I have only ever been linked to the excellent Lincolnshire Family History Society and I feel that they have the family tree data fairly well covered with indexes for everything even though I am still waiting for the baptisms index (.  I would be interested to hear if there is something that you know about other societies that Lincolnshire could have a go at.
The name GIRLING is a rather surprising sort of name with its original spelling being quite different present day look. Nowadays one says GIRLING and many of us think of brakes.    The only break that would happen in many places with this one is a tooth. The word for a small apple in many counties is a codling but in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire this is the name for a small cod. Quite natural really with Hull and Grimsby being the biggest fisheries for a very long time.    For  some reason  it is thought that the French coeur-de-lion or lion hearted is linked to the solid centre of the apple and with the accent changes to GIRDELION and later to GIRDLING and GIRLING.  Further south the name became QUODLING and QUADLING in Norfolk and Suffolk.  It is all down to accents again.
Another name is that of BEMMENT.  This one for Suffolk if said with a strong accent will soon lead you to the origin.  Delightful view of a hill it may be but it is usually  spelt BEAUMONT.  There are five places in Normandy that  could  the original home of the name but I am afraid it is up to your research as to which is which.
Bits and Bobs
Thomas SHARPE, a regular customer, was charged by Policeman No. 3 with being drunk and riotous that morning at three o´clock, against the Fourteen Houses. The Officer stated that he heard the prisoner when at a great distance from him, making use of the most horrible obscene language to some girls, who would not admit him into their house, and such was his violence that he disturbed the whole neighbourhood. He was drunk, but not without a knowledge of what he was doing. Prisoner denied that he was drunk, and asked the officer if he did not tell him he was sober when he locked him up. He said that in this town he got punished for things of which he was not guilty. Their worships told him the sooner he left the town the better and fined him £2 and costs, or two months in prison, from which he only came a few days ago.
No doubt his mother didn’t love him!