Poker

Among the muniments of the corporation of Bodmin is a certificate of the mayor and burgesses respecting the claims of the inhabitants of the town to take wood in Dunmere Wood, belonging to the Priory of Bodmin. The language of it seems to throw light on the origin of the word *pocarius*, or *poker*, which has been so often noticed and discussed. (*Antè*, Vol. i., pp. 185. 218. 236. 269. 281. 323. 369.) The passage also illustrates the *Hook or Crook* privilege, which has been already satisfactorily explained. The date is A.D. 1525: "We say, and for truth testify that the wood called Dynmure Wo…