hayward
(ˈheɪwɔːd)
Also 3 heiward, 4 haiward, 5–7 heyward, 7 haward.
[f. hay n.2 + ward, OE. weard guardian.]
An officer of a manor, township, or parish, having charge of the fences and enclosures, esp. to keep cattle from breaking through from the common into enclosed fields; sometimes, the herdsman of the cattle feeding on the common.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 418 Þeonne mot heo þenchen of þe kues foddre..oluhnen þene heiward. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 436 Þe emperor..makede hise bishopis haywardis of þe world. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 16 Canstow..haue an horne and be haywarde, and liggen oute a nyghtes, And kepe my corn in my croft fro pykers and þeeues? c 1440 Promp. Parv. 234/1 Heyward, agellarius. 1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 23 §9 The said accomptauntes..that is to saye, Feodaries Bailliffes Reves Heywardes and Bedelles. 1607 Cowell Interpr., Haward..signifieth with us one that keepeth the common heard of the towne. 1638 in Coffin Hist. Newberry, Mass. (1845) 28 Thomas Hale and John Baker are appointed hay wards till the town shall appoint new. 1654 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 191 The Heyward..shall take and impound the said swyne. 1664 Evelyn Sylva (1776) 399 Are not 5000 Oaks worth the fencing and inspection of a Hayward? 1880 Daily News 18 Feb., The hayward at Corfe Castle has charge of the beautiful common which lies on the Swanage side of the village, on which the inhabitants are allowed to turn their cattle. 1884 Century Mag. Jan. 443/2 In some parts of Massachusetts a ‘hayward’ was employed to attend the cattle of a whole township. 1892 Oxford Chron. 23 Apr. 8 From 1810 to 1852, the time of the Cowley Inclosure, he had frequently tended the cattle as hay-ward in these grazings. |