(Vol. iv., pp. 208. 389.)
The authority by which churchwardens paid for the destruction of vermin,
is by acts of parliament (8 Eliz. cap. 15. and 14 Eliz. cap. 11.), but
_not AS churchwardens_; and the payment for vermin out of the
_church-rate_ is illegal: but they are _ex officio_ appointed by the
statutes quoted, "with six other parishioners," as shown by FRANCISCUS,
Vol. iv., p. 389.
There can be no doubt, that in course of time this assessment got into
desuetude; that churchwardens, being the "distributors," they charged it
on the _church-rate_ by way of simplifying the machinery. This, and
other duties of churchwardens and other parish officers, many of which
have become obsolete, may be seen in Lambard's _Eirenarcha, or Office of
the Justice of the Peace_, first published in 1581, which passed through
many editions from that date to 1637. The work is commended by
Blackstone as deserving the perusal of students.
With regard to the old names of vermin, _Glead_ and _Ringteal_ are
described by Osbaldiston, in his _Dictionary of Recreation_, as a sort
of kite; the latter with whitish feathers about the tail. _Greas'-head_
and _Baggar_ he does not notice. May they not be provincialisms?