Origin of the word NICKED
Long, long ago when Adam was a lad all the mining rights were tightly controlled by the Crown. Even if you owned the land the mineral rights were owned by the aristocracy (Mafia of the day). The mining was regulated by an official known as the Bar Master. He allocated the rights to mine and kept a check on the fact you were doing it properly.
The entrance to the mine had a wooden bar or beam over it. If you wanted to take over someone else's mining rights and believed that the current owner wasn't doing his job you called in the Bar Master. He would visit the mine for 3 consecutive weeks and if there was no sign of activity he would carve a notch or nick into the wooden beam over the mine entrance. If he made 3 visit's - hence 3 nicks - and the mine owner didn't approach him with some good excuse for being absent, the mine was said to be nicked. Once the mine was nicked the mineral rights were passed on to the informant. He literally nicked his bloody mine. Anyone know where pinched came from?