"[P]revious to the erection of this stronghold, the word chimeney is of frequent occurrence. Chaucer in several places speaks of chambers with chimeneys; Longlande we have seen also employs it: and Wiclif, in his translation of the New Testament, in 1380, has the expression, "thei schulen send him into the chymeney of fier." In the poetical vocabulary, "chimeney" appears to be synonymous with "fireplace," or "hearth recess;" and the verbal equivalent to the word in the reformer's Testament is "furnace." Leland, who wrote a century after, in using the word almost defines it. "The chimeneys were conveyed by tunnels;" or, in other words, the fireplace was continued by a tunnel to the top of the building; a description that will accurately fix the meaning of the word when found in writers previous to the Tudor period; for it is quite obvious the chimneys in common use, and with which Leland was acquainted, had no tunnels to convey the smoke from the hearth... His observation, that the smoke from the hearth was not conveyed by "covers," also shows that at the time... covers were common appendages to fireplaces for conveying smoke. What these were, must be guessed... most likely... "canopies" or "pyramids " constructed over a hearth where it was not recessed into the wall, and often also where it was. Underneath this canopy was a hole through the wall for the escape of the smoke..."