south. dial. Also spane, spen(e, speen. [Of obscure origin.]
1. A prong of a fork.
18[?]. Devon Gloss., in Halliw. (1847), Spanes, the prongs of a peek, or hay-fork, or dung-fork.
1848. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., IX. II. 550. On stiff soils … the flatter and broader forks or speens are best.
1889. Jefferies, Field & Hedgerow, 79. A two-spean spud, or Canterbury hoe, with points instead of a broad blade.
2. A bar or rail of a gate.
1863–83. in Hampshire glossaries.
