| Summary: | clavy n is used to denote a shelf over the matnelpiece. Wright, Dctionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, gives it as denoting the mantelpiece itself, and thus it is still used in architecture. Halliwell, Dictionary of Archisms, gives _clavel_, _clavy_, and _clavel piece_ with the same meaning, and _clavel tack_, which he supposes means the shelf over the mantelpiece, the same as the _clavy_ of the New- foundlanders. In French we have _claveau_, the centerpiece of an arch. [see 'cathole'] PRINTED ITEM DNE-cit G.M.Story July 1959 G.M. Story Used I Used I Used I clavel, cathole Checked by Cathy Wiseman on Wed 14 Oct 2015
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