Note 99a — NOTES ON PARISHES ROUND HORNCASTLE. (continued 3)

The exact meaning of “by” is seen in the German, which is akin. In Luther’s translation of Job. xxvi. 5, for “they dwell,” the old German is “die bey”; the latter word being our word “bide,” or “abide.” A “by” was an “abode,” or permanent residence; so the Lincolnshire farmer calls the foundation of his stack, the “steddle,” connected with the Saxon, “steady,” and “stead” in “homestead,” &c.