Lea

Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html

LEA, sb.2 and v.2 Sc. n.Cy. Cum. Wm. Yks. Lan. Lin. Also in forms lae n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 n.Yks.4 ne.Yks.1; lay Cai.1 e.Yks. w.Yks.2; leah Cum.1; leagh N.Cy.1 w.Yks. ne.Lan.1; leay n.Yks.; lee Lakel.1 n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2; leea Wm. n.Yks.1 n.Yks.4 ne.Yks.1 Lin.; leeah n.Yks.3; leeathe n.Yks.2; lei Wm.; leigh N.Cy.1 Yks.; ley Lakel.1 Lakel.2 s.Wm. e.Yks.1 w.Yks.; lye ne.Yks.1 e.Yks.; lygh n.Yks.; pl. leases Cum. [lī, lē.]

1. sb. A scythe. n.Cy. Grose (1790); N.Cy.1, Lakel.1 Lakel.2 Cum. Lea stanes for new leases, Stagg Misc. Poems (ed. 1807) 142; Cum.1 Cum.4 Wm. (E.C.); (J.D.) s.Wm. (J.A.B.). Yks. Hey, lad, tak that aud leea, an' gan an' maw a few thrissels (T.K.); Morton Cyclo. Agric. (1863). n.Yks. The lygh o' Deeath hez ligg'd 'em law, Castillo Poems (1878) 59; n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 n.Yks.3 n.Yks.4, ne.Yks.1 e.Yks. Coles Place Names (1879) 30; e.Yks.1, m.Yks.1 w.Yks. (R.H.H.); A large heavy scythe with a straight handle, and blade flat with the handle, unlike those of the south... The mode of using the lea is quite different from that of mowing with a south country scythe. Instead of being able to work himself into an even swing... the mower with the lea takes a gigantic stride, and as he does so, bends down very far forward, at the same time taking in a far larger sweep than is possible with the south country scythe. It has the appearance of being far more laborious,.. as the mower stops between each sweep and has to raise himself upright to make a fresh start for every stroke, Lucas Stud. Nidderdale (c. 1882) 33; w.Yks.1, Lan.1, n.Lan.1, ne.Lan.1 Lin. N. & Q. (1886) 7th S. i. 355.
2. Comp. (1) Lea-sand, fine gritty sand used for sharpening scythes; a scythe-sharpener; (2) Lea-shaft, a scythe-handle; (3) Lea-stone, a whetstone for sharpening scythes. (1) n.Yks.1 It consists of minute portions of quartz, and is found in nodules or blocks of a species of sandstone possessing scarcely any coherency. In some specimens the separate quartz grains are as large as tares or small peas; but others are very fine; n.Yks.2 n.Yks.4, ne.Yks.1 e.Yks. A scythe-sharpener: formed of wood with grit dust adhering, Marshall Rur. Econ. (1788). m.Yks.1, ne.Lan.1 (2) n.Yks.2 (3) Cum. Lea stanes for new leases, Stagg Misc. Poems (ed. 1807) 142; Cum.1 Cum.4
3. A slip of wood coated with sand or emery, used for sharpening a scythe. Cai.1 4. v. with in: to twist the tang of a scythe in such a way as to adapt it for the use of the mower. w.Yks.2 [1. A ley or a sythe, falx, Cath. Angl. (1483). Dan. le (pl. laer), a scythe (Larsen); ON. lē (Vigfusson); Norw. dial. ljaa (pl. ljaar) (Aasen).]