Note 19 — Chapter II · Origin of the Term Lynch-law

See “lynch law,” Encyclopædia Britannica (9th edition); also, under “to lynch,” Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms (4th edition, 1877).

C. A. Bristed, in an essay on The English Language in America (Cambridge Essays, 1855, p. 60) says: “Linch, in several of the northern-county dialects, means to beat, or maltreat. Lynch Law, then, would be simply equivalent to club-law; and the change of a letter may be easily accounted for by the fact that the name of Lynch is as common in some parts of America as in Ireland.”