XPost: soc.history, soc.genealogy.britain   
   From: goddai01@hotmail.co.uk   
      
   On 29/09/17 10:56, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:   
   > I had always naively assumed that this word had to do with clothing   
   > (tailoring, if you like) rather than cloth, and was pronounced with a   
   > long o, as in holier or hosiery. From this discussion, it's clear I've   
   > been wrong about what it involved; I'm curious about the pronunciation -   
   > was it more like cloth ear?   
      
   Your initial assumption is correct.   
      
   I have doubts about the original meaning of tailor which are almost the   
   converse of your supposition about clothier.   
      
   In the 1379 subsidy rolls Penistone township had 2 taylours by   
   occupation in 12 households.  I don't think an extremely remote parish   
   was that well dressed.  Although no other townships were quite so well   
   supplied it does appear as an occupation or an occupational surname*.   
   The earliest reference to a clothier I've seen so far was in another   
   Penistone township, Thurlstone, in 1558.  Were the taylors what we'd now   
   call clothiers and does the term "merchant taylor" retain this meaning?   
      
   *Declaring an occupation raised the tax from 4d to 6d which makes me   
   wonder how many of those occupational surnames reflect current occupations.   
      
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   Hotmail is my spam bin.  Real address is ianng   
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)