Lads: In reading (for the third time) Belue's "Hunters of Kentucky" I note a statement that has me wondering. He speaks, in describing a station that is being seen for the first time, that the "cabins have stout doors and chimneys, but are NOT STOPPED". So, what does "stopped" mean in this context?

Col Boone

A quick guess. No chinking between the logs?

Stopped usually refers to if the doors are locked. The primative mechanisims they had to lock doors n such may have been nothing more then a string tied to a stout branch wedged in the frame of the door, then again they may have had a metal lock. Most folks left doors unlatched when they were away, so others could find shelter and they also didin't have to repair the door from someone trying to get inside.

Trail, and the Lads - I think Trail has hit it! I went into the Oxford Dictionary (as Mark Baker has often suggested) and after some perusal found definition #26.."stopped" - to caulk or chink with various materials to prevent leaks". That leads me to believe it does indeed refer to chinking the gaps between the logs. Does make practical sense in that this is a tedious and involved process that would take quite a while, even on a small cabin. Not sure, of course, but I bet this is what Cresswell was referring to.

Col Boone

Stopping up the chinks...or chinking...thus also "stopping"...makes sence.
TCA

TO ALL and esp. Col. Boone,

OK, I am in the market for a new Dictionary, and I was wondering which one of the Oxford one to get... The 20 volune one is $1,000.00 then there is the English one and the American one and several others.... SO... Which one????

Tin-Type: The Oxford I have was given to me by my parents when I was in college - perhaps 1961 or so. It is a "condensed" edition, meaning it has become only two rather fat volumes reproduced with type so small that four regular pages fit a single one. This means that you have to read it with magnification (a magnifier was included), but all of it is there. I had no idea the value of one of those! I am not sure this was much help as it may no longer be offered in this form. I believe they got it through one of the book clubs of the time, but no idea which one. Best of luck - it is an amazing resource that my wife (the english teacher) and I refer to often.

Col Boone

Col. Boone,

I checked out Amazon for the 2 volume set... Remember the 20 vol. set is $1,000. The two vol. set is only a Hundred... So I settled for the single vol. at about 26 dollars with shipping.

Books be pricy... These yhar days.... If I like it, I may get the one of American English next year.

Tin-type: Good on you...! I suspect that, despite the need for a magnifier to read it, you will find it just as helpful at far less cost! Watch out, I have spent an entire evening just "cruising" through it.

Col Boone

The one you will get the most use out of is the COED.(Concise Oxford English Dictionary)The larger multi volume sets tend to give you way too much information that you were not look for.
Mind you they can be addictive (on cold winter nights) once you start to follow a word through to it's roots.

My wife's Grandpa Johann, an Icelandic immigrant, gave me his Webster's Unabridged 1920 edition before he died. It came on a stand and abounds with voluminous verbosity and teems with a surfeit of information both common and arcane, much now considered obsolete.

It gots lots and lots a wurds in it to. It is in a far back corner and needs to be unearthed.

stop: block, bung, choke, clog, close, congest, cork, cover, drive in, fill, obstruct, occlude, pack, ram, seal, secure, stop, stopper, stopple, stuff.

I vote for what we call chinking these days.

Three Hawks

Three Hawks - Yea, we had one like that too....my mom used it as a booster seat for me at the dining table for a number of years. Not sure I ever looked inside! The Oxford is indeed a treasure house of lore of all sorts, but it is a bit much at times.
I gave up on the magnifier provided (hand held) and use a "Magna-Visor" when reading it - at least that gives my old eyes a chance.

Col Boone

Col. Boone,

The New Dictionary came today. Have been going through it... Seems very nice and the big thing, I don't need my magnifier to use it... I remember the really huge one at the city library on the stand... Musta been about 30 lbs. Very wordy book....

Tin-Typoe: Er, "wordy book"...is that not appropriate for a DICTIONARY? :-)

Yes, it is a treasure and I am always amazed at the lexicon of meanings that old words have and how those have morphed into modern use of them.

Col Boone

'Corse, it's appropriate.... Hee, hee, hee. Sum times mah sense 'O humor gets a little bit, not soo's yad notice it, weird....