the composite word is sometimes the only name of a county; as, Berkshire county, as it is called in
Massachusetts, instead of Berks county, as in Pensylvania.
The Tyne, Tees, Humber, Wash, Yare, Stour, and Thames separate the counties of Northumberland,
Durham, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, etc.
Encyc. Brit. Knight of the shire.
See under Knight. — Shire clerk, an officer of a county court; also, an under
sheriff. [Eng.] — Shire mote (Old. Eng. Law), the county court; sheriff's turn, or court. [Obs.] Cowell.
Blackstone. — Shire reeve (Old Eng. Law), the reeve, or bailiff, of a shire; a sheriff. Burrill. — Shire
town, the capital town of a county; a county town. — Shire wick, a county; a shire. [Obs.] Holland.