 |
Exchequer
Court of Exchequer. In the subdivision of the court in the reign of
Edward I., the Exchequer acquired a separate and independent position.
Its special duty was to order the revenues of the Crown and recover the
king's debts. It was denominated Scaccarium, from scaccum
(a chess-board), and was so called because a chequered cloth was laid
on the table of the court. (Madox: History of the Exchequer.)
Foss, in his Lives of the Judges, gives a slightly different
explanation. He says: “All round the table was a standing ledge four
fingers broad, covered with a cloth bought in the Easter Term, and this
cloth was `black rowed with strekes about a span, like a chess-board.
On the spaces of this cloth counters were arranged, marked for checking
computations.' ”
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Exchequer from Infoplease:
See a map of "" in the Visual Thesaurus
|
|
