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The only certainty about the origin of the Lewis Bolt, used for lifting large blocks of masonry, is that its originator was not called Lewis, since the device was well known and widely used, in the Roman period - see examples at Chesters, Northumberland. 'Lewis' may be derived from the Latin word 'levis' meaning 'light in weight' - hence 'levitate' etc. I am told that the Latin 'levis' would be pronounced 'leuis'. The Spanish word 'levitar' means, in English, 'to levitate', and a Spanish dictionary, published in Britain in 1740, (sorry but I do not have the precise reference) describes the hole made in masonry to receive the Lewis Bolt as 'by us called a luis hole'. Smeaton noted in 1793 that 'The instrument we now call the lewis is of old date'. >Most mining historians interested in Bath and Cotswold stone quarries will know what a "Lewis bolt" or "three-pin Lewis" is. But does anyone know who Mr Lewis was and when the Lewis bolt was invented? Or is the name perhaps a corruption of something like a loose bolt? > > Stafford M Linsley Lecturer in Industrial Archaeology The University Newcastle upon Tyne England NE1 7RU Tel. 0191-222 6795 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%