The English ancestry of Reinold and Matthew Marvin of Hartford, Ct ...

Reinold and Matthew Marvin 49
On Thomas Herde I have already commented. Thomas
Churchman had a small legacy from both Reynold and Rob-
ert Marvin, and his wife is remembered by Isabell, but we
find nothing to indicate any relationship. Katherine John-
son was not improbably connected with John Johnson, named
by Reynold (16). [See notes on Reynold's Will below.] A
"seme" was eight bushels; "mistlene," spelled variously in
old English writings, " mistlyne," " mixtelyne " and " mas-
len," from the Anglo-Saxon maslen and Latin miscco, is the
name given to a mixture of different sorts of grain, usually
wheat and rye; of this mixture, called "miscellane" in some
parts of England, " maslen bread " was made. A " flocke "
bed was one filled with the shearings of woolen cloth, a ma-
terial then used for stuffing mattresses, furniture, etc.
" Cer-
chers " probably were kerchiefs, — in old English " cover
chiefs," from couvrechef, head coverings. The material of
the " selffe grow froke " was serge, — at that period a coarse
(gros) cloth, partly silk and partly woolen. " Thewe," also
written t/ieave, and possibly so in the Will, was a ewe of a
year old,* a common gift to a farmer's maid-servants at that
period.f The "menthemend" (month's mind) and "yere
mend " (year's mind) were services of the Roman Church
for the "repose of a soul" thirty days and a year from
the date of a funeral.
* Wright's Provincial Dictionary, sub voce : w and v were often transposed in the
Essex dialect, especially on the coast.
f See the Will of Reynold Marvin (r.6), infra, who bequeathed a ewe to three of his
maids.