_Strut-Stowers and Yeathers or Yadders_ (Vol. viii., p. 148.).--The former
of these words is, I believe, obsolete, or nearly so. It means
bracing-stakes: _strut_, in carpentry, is to _brace_; and _stower_ is a
small kind of stake, as distinguished from the "ten stakes" mentioned in
the legend quoted by MR. COOPER.
The other word, _Yeather_ or _Yadder_, is yet in use in Northumberland
(vid. Brockett's _Glossary_), and is mentioned by Charlton in his _History
of Whitby_. The legend referred to by MR. COOPER is, I suspect, of modern
origin but Dr. Young, in his _History of Whitby_, vol. i. p. 310.,
attributes it to some of the monks of the abbey; on what grounds he does
not say. The records of the abbey contain no allusion to the legend; and no
ancient MS. of it, either in Latin or English, has ever been produced. The
_penny-hedge_ is yearly renewed to this day but it is a service performed
for a different reason than that attributed in the legend. (See Young and
Charlton's histories.)