APPENDIX G THE WORD “BRETASCHE”

This word, which also appears as bretagium, britagium, or bristega, evidently means a tower, as is clear from the following passages: Order from King John to erect a mota et bretagium at Roscrea, in Ireland (Sweetman’s Calendar, i., 412); Order by Henry III. to the dwellers in the Valley of Montgomery “quod sine dilatione motas suas bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant” (Close Rolls, ii., 42); Order that the timber and bretasche of Nafferton Castle be carried to Newcastle, and the bretasche to be placed at the gate of the drawbridge in place of the little tower which fell through defect in its foundations (Close Rolls, i., 549b).

The word is also expressly defined by William the Breton as a wooden castle: “Circuibat castrum ex omni parte, et fabricavit brestachias duplices per septem loca, castella videlicet lignea munitissima.” (Bouquet, xvii., 78.)

See also Wright, “Illustrations of Domestic Architecture,” Arch. Journ., i., 212 and 301. In these papers it is clear that “breteske” means a tower, as there are several pictures of it. At a later period it seems to have been used for a wooden balcony made for the purpose of shooting, in the same sense as the word “hurdicium”; but I have not met with any instance of this before the 14th century.