Definition

[Scott Jernigan]

Jonathan,

The best I can come up with this morning is that "pell" probably 
comes from the medieval Latin word "pela, pelum", meaning a stake
or paling.  Possibly refered to the post that they smacked about.

As an aside, "pell" in Medieval Latin was the membrane of parchment.

Source:  Latham, <Revised Medieval Latin Word-List>, Oxford 1980.


Andrew Scarhart
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"Quisque suae fortunae faber" ("Each Man the Maker of his own Fortune")
 
Motto of Sir John Fyneux, Chief Justice of England, 1495-1525