176) mentions it as
frequently
used by the mayors
of Doncaster in former days.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
29 My L. Majors Banqueting-house.= This was in Stratford
Place, Oxford Street. It was 'erected for the Mayor and Corporation
to dine in after their periodical visits to the Bayswater and
Paddington Conduits, and the Conduit-head adjacent to the
Banqueting-House, which supplied the city with water. It was taken
down in 1737, and the cisterns arched over at the same time.'--Wh-C.
Stow (ed. 1633, pp. 475-6) speaks of 'many faire Summer houses' in
the London suburbs, built 'not so much for use and profit, as for
shew and pleasure.'
The spelling _Major_ seems to be a Latin form. Mr. Charles Jackson
(_N. & Q._ 4. 7.
176) mentions it as
frequently
used by the mayors
of Doncaster in former days.
Cf. also Glapthorne (_Wks._ 1. 231) and
_Ev. Man in_ (Folio 1616, 5. 5. 41).
