Mar 19, 2015 - Sale 2376

Sale 2376 - Lot 193

Price Realized: $ 3,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
HARDY, THOMAS. Autograph Letter Signed, to "Dear Sir James," explaining at length the meaning of the word "Tranter." 3 pages, 8vo, written on a folded sheet, mourning stationery; horizontal fold with minor loss to a few words. (TFC) Dorchester, 24 October 1913

Additional Details

"'Tranter' is still, I believe, in use in the remote north of this country, though discontinued here near the country-town. I think the word essentially means a carrier--(either a carrier to order or a carrier of articles for sale not of his own manufacture). . . .
"'He do tantry' is an expression of old peasants for the occupation of a man who habitually goes about doing jobs of carrying--the 'y' at the end of the word being a termination applied in verbs to words to signify a continuous action. . . ."