† spadiard Obs.
Also 7 spador, 8 spadier.
[Explained by Holland (Camden's Brit. 185) as f. spade n.1, but perh. an error for spalliard1.]
A labourer in the Cornish tin-mines.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. To Rdr. 3 A Spadiard that worketh in mines, who while he..followeth the maine vaines, seeth not the hidden small fillets. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon (1811) 11 There are also labourers, that serve for daily wages, whereof be two sorts: the one is called a spadiard, a daily labourer in tin works. 1630 T. Westcote View Devon. i. xi. (1845) 53 Of these last are two sorts; one named a spador or searcher for tin. [1661 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 2), Spadiards, Laborers in the Tin-mines of Cornwall. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Spadiers, Labourers that dig in the Mines in Cornwall.] |