CORRESPONDENCE
[Wf.lo not, liold osirsolvisi ri\»jir>nsil»lo for oj>inioU3 «x]irossr'l l>y iMHT( > -i|i'm«lei\ts.] " BY-tAW." [To the Editor of the, Herald.] Sl B) — I had occasion to search for the origin and meaning of the common and simple words "By-Laws," but to my surprise found the question one of doubt even to tho most learned. The following, upon the authority of Professor A. S. Wilkins, M.A., may be accepted as the most reliable explanation : — ""Wherever you find places ending in "by," us Whitby, Rugby, Derby, there you find the Danes have been. "By" is the old Dauish form for town or borough, and when you talfc of " by-laws " you Bitnply mean the boronyh lawn as distinguished from the laws of the country. Of course, now] wo use the phrase for the laws of a, railway or a club ; but originally " by-law" meant boroiujli laic, as distinguishing' it from the national law of the Great Parliament. I am, &c. , Borough. Gisborne, Marclv^, 1880.
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Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1063, 5 April 1880, Page 2
Word Count
160CORRESPONDENCE Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1063, 5 April 1880, Page 2
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