Ragman Rolls for legal instruments both in England and Scotland will be found in the preface to the Bannatyne Clubs volume, and in Jamiesons Scottish Dictionary, s.v. Ragman. Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" defines "Ragman Roll" as follows: The name ragman roll survives in the colloquial rigmarole, a rambling, incoherent statement. Merriam Webster gives a very different account of the origin rigmarole and the term "Ragman Roll". The name of Ragman has been sometimes confined to the record of 1296. There is an account of this given in Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland preserved in the Public Record Office, London.
Ghost word Ghost word A ghost word is a word published in a dictionary or similarly authoritative reference work, having rarely, if ever, been used in practice, and hitherto having been meaningless. As a rule a ghost word will have originated from an error, such as a misinterpretation, mispronunciation, or misreading, or from typographical or linguistic confusion. Once authoritatively published, a ghost word occasionally may be copied widely and take a long time to be erased from usage (if it ever is). The term ghost words was coined and originally presented in public by Professor Walter William Skeat in his annual address