From: http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/earlyrecords.htm
feigh - to dress, clean, level rubbish or dig foundations: "feighing the
ground-worke" bolton Abbey ca. 1700
--- "feighing rubbish, etc." Selby, 1710
From: http://website.lineone.net/~coalmining/DictionaryA.htm
Feighing. A term used at Grime Bridge Colliery, Bacup, Lancashire for
'ripping'. The origin of the term is not clear. The term 'feigh' has
been used in Derbyshire lead and iron-stone mining and in the North
East, meaning rubble or rubbish. In past years a great deal of
Haslingden Flag Stone was mined in the Rossendale Valley. When the stone
mines closed many of the men found work in coal mining. This may be how
the term came into use at Grime Bridge.
Nick
> I am starting a dissertation for an MA at Huddersfield University on
> C18/early C19 coal mining in the Hudds/Halifax (Yorkshire)
> area. Looking
> at
> MS sources for the late C18, payments are frequently made to miners
> (particularly sinkers) for 'feighing' (spelt in a variety
> of ways). This
> seems to mean something like cleaning out soughs or drifts,
> but I can't
> find
> a clear or unambiguous definition - I rather get the feeling that
> everybody
> except me knows exactly what it means! Any help would be
> appreciated.
> Thank you.
>
> This is my first post on this list, so I would be grateful
> if I could be
> advised if this is an inappropriate question, or if I am otherwise
> infringing list conventions.
>
> David Cross
>
|