[Loch-Ruadh] Word of the Day, March 25

[Cait O'Hara]

dimense

A space measured out; an extent; [1600s].
-- Sir James Murray’s New English Dictionary, 1897

Blessing the Flour, Reenacted near Nimerstone, Isle of Wight
This ritual distribution of flour is linked to the Tichborne Dole, a charity initiated in 1150.  It seems that Sir Roger Tichborne ruled the House of Tichborne with little compassion, but his kindhearted dying wife, Lady Mabella, wished to provide the local poor with a cushion in the event of a bad harvest.  In response to her request, stingy Sir Roger mockingly offered to set aside a parcel of farmland for the poor if she could circumscribe it while a stick burned to mark time.  To his horror and surprise, she immediately fell to her knees an pitifully crawled out a twenty-three-acre swath, still know as “The Crawls,” in the allotted period.  She then pronounced a curse on any Tichborne descendant who failed to honor this pledge, and promptly died.





---
Never meddle in the affairs of dragons;
For you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
-- Acacia



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