Words In History: Gald, Gaud, Gauld
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Gald, Gaud, Gauld
A rate or tax. The spelling 'gaud' was noted by Wright, who said that it was a Lancashire word, obsolete at the time he was writing: Angus Winchester records it in Farleton in that county in 1587, as a payment for turf dug in the township by men from Hornby.
However, the word must have been current over a much wider area, for I find it regularly in different parts of Yorkshire from Elizabeth's reign. It is typically found in phrases such as 'galdes, taxes and layes' (1597), but sometimes the tax is specified, as in 'the king's gaudes' (1638), 'constable gauldes' and 'bridge galds' (1674).
The word is of uncertain etymology but may be connected to 'gale' and 'gavel', both with related meanings. In the Forest of Dean the 'gale' was a royalty once paid by a free miner for his plot of land, whereas 'gavelkind' was originally the name of a land tenure that existed chiefly in Kent. The 'gavel' in this case was payment by rent or fixed services. From an early date the word gavelkind came to be associated with the system of inheritance whereby a tenant's lands were divided equally amongst his sons or, failing male heirs, amongst his daughters. From the sixteenth century this meaning was used far more widely and it gave rise to an amusing piece of 'popular' etymology. Because of the equal division of the land within the family, gavelkind was mistakenly interpreted as 'gave all kin' and this influenced some spellings.
