York.
_Derivation of Lowbell_ (Vol. vii., p. 181.).--In my younger days I
frequently had occasion to draw out (from old established precedent) the
form of an appointment, by the lord, of a gamekeeper for a manor, in which
the latter was authorised and required to seize and destroy all and all
manner of gins, snares, springs, &c., including a dozen or more technical
words, one of which was "lowbells." The manors in question were in
Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, but I doubt not but that the same form was
adopted in other counties in various parts of England. Being strongly
impressed with the familiarity of the word on reading H. T. W.'s Note, I
was induced to refer to Johnson's _Dictionary_, where I find my own notion
fully borne out as follows:
"LOWBELL.--A kind of fowling in the night, in which the birds are
wakened by a bell and lured by a flame."
At this moment I have only the abridged edition (3rd edition, 1766) to
refer to, and that does not give any reference or authority for the
definition in question. I would observe, however, that I believe "loke" is
either a Saxon or Scandinavian word, signifying a flame or firebrand,
which, coupled with "bell," fully bears out the definition, and I think
sufficiently accounts for the term "lowbelling" in H. T. W.'s Note, as the
offender might have been greeted with bells and firebrands in lieu of the
"tin pots and kettles," or by way of addition to them.
May not this also serve to explain what is considered as a puzzling term in
Beaumont and Fletcher? Lowell being nothing more nor less than a snare, may
not "Peace, gentle lowbell," mean "Peace, gentle ensnarer?"