.....
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7795a) (tudalen clawr)
|
A GLOSSARY
OF
PROVINCIAL WORDS
USED IN
HEREFORDSHIRE.
1839.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7795b) (tudalen iii)
|
A Glossary Of
Provincial Words Used In Herefordshire And Some Of The Adjoining Counties.
1839.
Sir George Cornewall Lewis.
Ganwyd 21 Ebrill 1806, Llundain, Lloegr.
Bu Farw 13 Ebrill 1863, Trerdelyn, Sir Faesyfed, Cymru. (56 Oed).
A Glossary Of
Provincial Words Used In Herefordshire And Some Of The Adjoining Counties.
London. John Murray,
Albemarle-Street. 1839.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7795c) (tudalen iv)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7795d) (tudalen v)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7796) (tudalen vi)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7797) (tudalen vii)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7798) (tudalen viii)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7799) (tudalen ix)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7800) (tudalen x)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7801) (tudalen xi)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7802) (tudalen xii)
|
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7803) (tudalen 001)
|
GLOSSARY.
[Note. — The words marked (GL.) are used in
Gloucestershire and not in Herefordshire.]
A.
A. pron , he, she, or it. “In Gloucestershire," says Marshall, (Rural
Economy of Gloucestershire, vol. i. p. 324,) “an extra pronoun is in use, ou;
a pronoun of the singular number, analogous with the plural they; being
applied in a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter sense. Thus, c ou wulP
expresses either he will, she will, or it wull." In Herefordshire a
similar pronoun is in use, but its sound is that of the inarticulate a, and
is nearly represented by the sound of ir or ur in sir 9 bird, absurd, &c.
A. In Gloucestershire, among the middling classes only, a is changed into e,
when the sound is as in spade, gave, which are pronounced spede, geve. Among
the lower classes it has generally a broader sound, as spaad, gaav.
To Abide, v. to bear, to endure. E. g. “the weather is so hot, I can't abide
it."
B
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7804) (tudalen 002)
|
2 Provincial Words
Able, adj. wealthy. An "able man,' 5 means a wealthy man.
Aboove, prep, above.
Abundation, s. abundance, a large number Corrupted into Bundation, in
Gloucestershire.
Abuseful, adj. abusive.
Afeard, adj. or fart, afraid. An ancient classical word, still current as a
provincialism in many parts of England. See Nares in To AfTear, Moor and
Forby in Afeard, Jennings in AfFeard, Craven Glossary in Afeard and Feard.
Afeard occurs ten times in Shakspeare, according to Ayscough's Index.
Aferedia used by Chaucer, C. T. 12218. Troilus and Cressida, II. 606.
Again, or Agin, prep, over-against, next to, opposite to. It sometimes means
“before:” as “I will do it agin next Sunday," i. e. u I will do it
before next Sunday/' Also used in Somersetshire; Jennings in v. Againis used
for against in Skelton's Elegy on Henry, fourth Earl of Northumberland. (Percy,
vol. i.)
r * Provydent, discrete, circumspect, and wyse,
Tyll the chaunce ran agyne him of fortunes duble dy se." st. 20.
See also Boucher's Dictionary in Again and Anent,
and Forby in Again. Aiddled, part, addled. (GL.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7805) (tudalen 003)
|
used in Herefordshire. 3
All as is. “All as is to me is this," i. e., all that I have to say
about it, or, all that I observe in it.
All about. “To get all about in his head," to become light-headed.
All about it. “That's all about it:" that is the very point in question.
All b'ease, adv. all by ease, i. e. quietly, gently, gradually.
Also, prep, a corruption of all save. Thus, “sixpence also twopence,"
meaning, “sixpence all save (or all but) twopence," i. e. fourpence.
Anty tump, s. ant hill. See Tump.
Aneaoust, neaous, adv. almost, near to. (GL.) Anevst means about the matter,
nearly, in Berkshire, according to Grose.
Anunt, prep, against, over-against. This old word exists in lowland Scotch,
and is current in the cognate dialects of Yorkshire and Cheshire. See Jamieson
in Anens, Craven Glossary in Anent, Willan and Wilbraham in Anenst, Boucher
in Again and Anent. It is also used in Derbyshire, according to Grose in
Anent: over anunt occurs in Gloucestershire; Grose in v.
Apricock, s. apricot. Also used in Somersetshire; Jennings in v. Apricock is
used by Shakspeare in Midsummer Night's Dream, act 3, sc. 1, and Richard II.,
act 3, sc. 4. It is the more genuine.
b 2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7806) (tudalen 004)
|
4 Provincial Words
form; compare the Italian abricoccolo, and the Portuguese albricoque^ from
the Arabic word albarquqe: Diez, Roman. Grammat. vol. ii, p. 229. See Skinner
and Junius in v. Apricock.
Arc, s. a mare's tail cloud, or cirrhus, in the form of a streak crossing the
sky. Probably the same word as arch.
To Arg, v. to argue. “He would arg me that it was so." Also used in
Somersetshire: Jennings in v. The latter dialect also has the compound verb,
to downarg: ibid.
To Argufy, v.a. to signify. Hence “of no argufication," of no
importance. The verb to argufy is used in the same sense in Yorkshire,
Norfolk, and Somersetshire: Craven Glossary, Forby, and Jennings in v.
As. Used instead of the relative pronoun; e, g. "The man as I
seed." “The child as- was there." So is similarly used in German: —
" Von alien so da kamen."
Burger's Lenore.
See Grimm D. G. vol. iii. p. 197. Tooke, vol. i.
p. 257. Aside n, adv. on one side. Askel, s. a newt, from ask or esk. The
origin of
the word is explained in the Quarterly Review,
vol. lv. p. 374.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7807) (tudalen 005)
|
used in Herefordshire. 5
Asp, s. the aspen tree. Asp is the proper form of the substantive; aspen is
an adjectival form. See Bosworth in iEps, JEsp, and iEspen, and Johnson in
Aspen; compare below in Elmen. The form aspen appears to have been preferred
to asp, in order to avoid confusion with the species of serpent called asp.
Atchorn, s. acorn. “To atchorn," to gather acorns. Also used in Cheshire:
Wilbraham in v.
Ater, prep, after. Also used in Somersetshire and Norfolk: Jennings and
Boucher in v.
Atomy, s. (also pronounced otomy), a skeleton. This old corruption of anatomy
is also used in other parts of England: see Nares and Boucher in Atomy, Moor
and Jennings in Mottomy. The corruption has arisen from a confusion of the indefinite
article with the first syllable of the succeeding word. Instead of saying an
anatomy, illiterate persons said an atomy. Many similar corruptions have
taken place in our own and other languages. Thus a nadder has become an adder;
a nawl> an aivl; a napron, an apron; a nide of pheasants, an eye of
pheasants., So, being an adept at anything has been corrupted into being a
dab at anything, and an abettor into a butty. In like manner, number has in
some dialects been corrupted into umber \ (Grose in v.) and nettle into
ettle, (See Ettles.) See also
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7808) (tudalen 006)
|
6 Provincial Words
Tyrwhitt's Glossary to Chaucer in Nale, and Boucher's Dictionary in An. In
Italian, una apecchia has become una pecchia; una aguglia, una guglia; V
Alamagna, la Magna, and /' analomia, la notomia. On the other hand, /' onza, I'
or dura, have become la lonza, la lor dura. In French, m'amie has become ma
mie, and VApouille, la Pouille; whilst Voisir has become le loisir, and Vendemain
has become le lendemain, (like the tother in English.)
Audacious, adj. not shy, insolent.
Aul, or orl, s. an alder. Alor, air, A.S. Pronounced aller in Devonshire and
Somersetshire: Palmer and Jennings in v. The following are proverbial lines:
—
" When the bud of the aul is as big as the trout's eye, Then that fish
is in season in the river Wye."
In Yorkshire and Derbyshire, an alder is called an owler: Grose and Hunter in
v.
Aulen, adj. of alder, as “the aulen coppice," “an aulen pole."
Compare Elmen.
To Awhile, v. n. Used only in the expression, “I can't awhile," I can't
wait, I have no time, that is, probably, “I can't have while."
To Ax, v.a. to ask. This old form of the word (see Nares in v.) seems to be
current as a provincialism in most parts of England. It occurs in the Craven
Glossary, Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7809) (tudalen 007)
|
used in Herefordshire. 1
Moor's Suffolk Words, Forby's East- Anglian Vocabulary, Jennings's
Somersetshire Glossary, and Palmer's Devonshire Glossary. It is also Scotch: see
Jamieson in v. Compare Boucher in v.
B.
Backside, s. the back; as, the backside of the wood, the house, &c. E.g.
"Did you see maister?" “No: he went out at the backside now
just."
Bad, adj. "Bad to do in the world," is opposed to “well to do in
the world." Poor, in straitened circumstances.
To Bag, v.a. to bag peas is to cut them with a hook, resembling the common
reaping-hook, but with a handle long enough to admit of both hands being applied
to it. This expression is used in a nearly similar sense in Gloucestershire,
and also according to Boucher, in Shropshire. Boucher says, “I suspect the
people of these counties borrowed this term (bagging hook) from their
neighbours the Welsh; adding to bach a hook, the English of it."
Bait, s, a meal taken by a labourer in the middle of the day.
Bald-rib, s. spare-rib. Also used in Gloucestershire. It is spelt ballrib in
Jennings's Somersetshire Glossary.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7810) (tudalen 008)
|
8 Provincial Words
Banky, adj. U a banky piece," a field with banks in it.
Bannut-tree, s. a walnut-tree bearing small fruit. This word is stated by
Jennings, p. 10, to be also used in the northern parts of Somersetshire. In Grose's
Glossary, the expression “bannet-tree” for walnut-tree is stated to be used
in Gloucestershire.
Barm, s. yeast, from beorma, A.S. A word used in other parts of the country.
See Boucher in v. It is pronounced burnt in Devonshire: Palmer in v.
Bash, s. 1. the mass of the roots of a tree before they separate. In Grose's
Glossary, tc bashy" is stated to be a north-country word for “fat,
swelled." In Norfolk, according to Forby, "to cut a bosh, is something
stronger than the more usual expression to ' cut a dash;' something more
showy and expensive." Forby states that bosen out is rendered by tumidus
in the Promtuarium Parvulorum; and he compares the French bosse. See also
Grose in Bosh. The word svjell is similarly used in modern slang language:
Compare the description of the approach of Dalila, in Samson Agonistes, v.
710. 2. Bash is also used to signify the front of a bull's or pig's head.
Pash is a ludicrous term for the head in Scotch: Jamieson in v. Bash in this
sense appears to be derived from to bash or pash, to strike^ or push: see
Todd's Johnson, Forby and
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7811) (tudalen 009)
|
used in Herefordshire. 9
Crav. Glossary, in Pash, and Jamieson in Bash. The word pash occurs in this
sense in Winter's Tale:—
Leontes. How now, you wanton calf?
Art thou my calf?
Mamillius. Yes, it' you will, my Lord. Leont. Thou want'st a rough pash, and
the shoots
that I have,
To be full like me, — Act I. sc. 2.
Which passage is correctly explained by M alone thus: ct You tell me that you
are like me; that you are my calf. I am the horned bull; thou wantest the
rough head and the horns of that animal, completely to resemble your
father." A mad-brained boy is called a mad pash in Cheshire (see Grose in
Pash); which, as Henley remarks on the passage in Winter's Tale, is designed
to characterize him from the wantonness of a calf that blunders on, and runs
his head against anything.
Bat, s. a wooden tool used for battering or beating clods of earth.
To Bat, v.a. to strike with a bat.
Bath, s. a sow.
Beethy, adj. soft, sticky, contrary to crisp, overripe. It is also said of a
person in a slight perspiration. Grose in v. states that underdone meat is so
called in Herefordshire; but this sense is not known
b3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7812) (tudalen 010)
|
]0 Provincial Words
at present. In Boucher's Glossary, to heath is explained to mean k< to dry
by exposure to the fire." To bathe is used by Chaucer, C. T. 15273, as equivalent
to bask. From these uses it may be inferred that beethy means such a degree
of moisture as is created in a porous substance by imperfect exposure to
heat, sufficient to cause the steam to pervade it, but not to drive it off
entirely.
To Bellrag, v. to scold in a clamorous manner. “To ballerag” has the same
meaning in the West Riding of Yorkshire; "to bullyrag" in Norfolk;
“to ballirag” in Devonshire and Somersetshire: Willan, Forby, Palmer, and
Jennings, invv. "To rag” is used in the North in the same sense: Grose
in v. Comp. Crav. Gl. in Bullyrag.
To Bellock, v. to bawl, to bellow. A cow which has lost her calf bellocks.
Formed, as well as bellow, from bellan, A.S. To bullock is used in Norfolk: Forby
in v.
Bent, s. the seed-stalk of grass. Hence the popular distich:
Pigeons never do know woe, But when they do a benting go.
That is, pigeons are never in want of food except at times when they are
reduced to the necessity of living on the seeds of the grass, which ripen
before the crops of grain. In Jennings's Somersetshire
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7813) (tudalen 011)
|
used in Herefordshire. 1 1
Glossary, "bennet'; is "long coarse grass," and "bennety,
abounding in bennets." In the Westmoreland and Cumberland Glossary, bent
grass is explained to be long coarse grass, which chiefly grows upon the
moors. See also Crav, Gl. and Forby in v. Bent is used in the old ballad of Chevy
Chace, —
el Bomen bickarte upon the bent, With their broad aras cleare."
Stanza 5.
and in the ballad of Sir Cauline, Part 1, st. 20, (Percy, vol. i.)
" Then a lightsome bugle heard he blow- Over the bents so brown."
It is remarkable that the word bent, as used in the old ballad of Chevy
Chace, to signify grass or field generally, was mistaken by the author of the
modern ballad to mean inclination of the mind. See Percy's Introduction to
the modern ballad, vol. ii. See further Boucher's Glossary in v. Bent is also
Scotch, and is used by W. Scott; e. g. in Thomas the Rhymer, Part 3.
•' But footsteps light across the bent The warrior's ears assail."
Bent is so called, because the seed-stalk of grass bends
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7814) (tudalen 012)
|
12 Provincial Words
with the wind. In Chancer, bent signifies the bending or declivity of a hill,
Tyrwhitt in v.
Bessy, s. “Don't be a bessy," said to a man who interferes with a
woman's affairs or business. (Forest of Dean.)
Besom, s. a birch broom. (In common use.) It is never applied to a bair
broom. Used in other parts of the country; Grose in Beesom and Besom.
To Bett, v.a. to pare the greensward with a breast-plough, or betting-iron,
usually with a view to its being burnt, and the ashes spread for manure. The
sod when so pared is called “the betting:" thus “setting up the
betting," “putting fire to the betting." The same process is known
in Devonshire and other parts of England by the name of • ' beat," or “burning-beat,"
or “beat-burning," according to Boucher in Beate burning, and Palmer in
Beat.
To "bete fires" is used in Chaucer for to prepare fires, C. T.
2255. 2294. In C. T. 3925, "to bete ,? means to mend; and in another
place to 64 bete sorwe '' is to heal sorrow. The original sense of the word
seems to be that of mending or setting to rights; connected with bet, bette,
(Chaucer, C. T. 7. r )33,) and better. It may tend to confirm the notion that
this is the original meaning of bete, if we consider that "bette,"
adj., meant fertile
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7815) (tudalen 013)
|
used in Herefordshire. 2 3
in old English. “Let the soil be as fertile and bette as any would
wish," quotation from Holinshed in note to Southey's Life of Wesley, ii.
p 594. Now on looking to u till “we find the
. general sense of preparing, setting in order, narrowed to the agricultural
meaning; and so it may have been with bete, bette, and beti.
Better, adv. more numerous. As, Ci better nor ten." See Craven Glossary,
in v.
To Bewray, v. to defile with ordure.” g The birds bewray the church." It
is used by old writers in the sense of discover or betray: see Junius, Nares,
and Tyrwhitt in v.
Bilberry, s. a small black bogberry, the wortleberry.
Black Poles, poles in a copse which have stood over one or two falls of
underwood.
Blob, s. a blister. Bleb \ and blob occur in the Craven Glossary, with the
sense of a bubble or blister. Blob is also Scotch; see Jamieson in Bleib and
Blob. In Suffolk, blob, according to Moor, signifies "a blunt
termination to a thing that is usually more pointed. A parrot's tongue is said
to be blob-indid, or to have a blob end. A person who, by biting his or her
nails, has injured the shape of the fingers, would be called blob-Jingered*
p. 35. See also Forby in v. The word blob is etymologically connected with
the Latin
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7816) (tudalen 014)
|
14 Provincial Words
bulbus, and other numerous words belonging to the same root, in which the
idea of roundness predominates. See the Philological Museum, vol. i. p. 405,
sqq.
Body, s. Used as a term of commiseration, to denote deficiency. As “A poor
simple body." “I never seed such a poor helpless body in my life; she
canna do nothing."
Body-horse, s. the second horse of a team of four. e. g. “Smiler was in the
body yesterday." (GL.)
Bogie, s. a ghost. Not peculiar to Herefordshire. See Junius in Bogie and
below in Bugabo.
Bolting, s. A “bolting of straw” is a quantity of straw tied up into a bundle
or small truss. When straw is sold by the weight, each bolting ought to weigh
14 lbs.; but boltings of straw are often bought and paid for according to
their apparent size. The word is also used in Gloucestershire. It is probably
derived from the peculiar -mode in which the band of straw is fastened down,
and, as it were belted, for the purpose of holding the truss together. See
Thrave. Pease-bolt is used for pease-straw in Essex: Grose in v.
To Boodge, v.a. to stuff bushes into a hedge. Probably a variety of to push.
Boosy, n. s. the manger of a cattle-stall. From Bosig or bosg, A.S. Bosworth
in v. Boose is ex-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7817) (tudalen 015)
|
used in Herefordshire.
it
plained by Johnson to mean “a stall for a cow
or an ox," but he gives no example of it in any writer. It is used in
Cheshire, according to Wilbraham, and in Yorkshire, according to the Craven
Glossary, and Hunter's Appendix, p. 119. See Junius in Boose.
Bottle, n. s. Sometimes used in the same sense as costrel, which see.
To be Bound, v. to be sure. “He is bound to be there," he is sure to be
there. Also used in Gloucestershire.
To Box, v. n. to strike, as a gun which recoils. The word box signifies a
blow, in the expression, M Box on the ear." It has the same sense in
Chaucer: Tyrwhitt in v.
Brad, n. s. a nail with a small head. This word is used in Cheshire: see
Wilbraham in v. Grose says, “Brod, a kind of nail, called brads in the south."
This word, though it occurs in other provincial glossaries, seems to be
generally used, and is inserted in Johnson's Dictionary.
Brags, s. u To make his brags" is to brag, to boast, to threaten to do
great things, in a presumptuous and confident manner; as, “He made his brags as
he would do for 'em all if he met them at the fair."
Brass, s. copper coins. “I paid him eleven pence:
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7818) (tudalen 016)
|
16 Provincial Words
sixpence silver, and five pennyworth of brass" Also used in the northern
counties: Grose, Crav. Gl., and Westmoreland and Cumberland Glossary in v.
To Brevet about, v. to beat about the fields in search of something. (GL.)
Breveting, adj. gadding about. (Forest of Dean.)
Brouse, s. (pronounced like house), cut brushwood, the smaller ends of
bushes. As, “I did na take the faggots; it was only some bits of brouse anunt
the stack.'* Also used in Gloucestershire.
Bucking, n. s. the mode of washing so called. This old word appears to be
derived from buc, A.S., a bowl or tub, from which bucket is formed: see Bosworth's
A.S. Dictionary in v. Bucato in Italian, and bu'e in old French, signify
washing.
Bud-bird, s. a bullfinch.
To Buff, v.n. to stammer: whence "a buffer," a stammerer. This
appears to be an imitative word, like hiss, growl, murmur, buzz, &c.
To play the Bugan. To play the devil. Bug occurs as well as bugbear in old
writers: Johnson zn v. It is said to be derived from the Welsh bwg, a hobgoblin.
See Jamieson in Boggarde and Bogill.
Bugabo, s. a bugbear, a ghost. Also used in Gloucestershire.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7819) (tudalen 017)
|
used in Herefordshire.
17
To Bunt, v.a. (pronounced boont) to push with
the head. A sucking calf, lamb, or colt, which strikes the udder with its
nose, is said to hunt. The word is also used in Gloucestershire in this
sense. Slightly modified from the word pun, which see. In Somersetshire
"to bunt" means to bolt, or separate the flour from the bran:
Jennings in v. “To bult" is used for to bolt in Yorkshire: Craven
Glossary in v.
Bur, s. 1. The sweetbread, or pancreas, of a calf. This word is also used in
this sense in Cheshire and Derbyshire: Wilbraham and Grose in v. 2. A tree
cropped to produce poles. A "bur-oak" is a pollard oak. The latter
sense is probably derived from a pollard tree having a round bristly look, instead
of having spreading branches. A “bur-tree" means an elder tree in the
north: Grose in v.
Burrough, or Burrow, s. the lee, the side sheltered from the wind. “Burrow
hurdles” are wattled hurdles which the wind cannot easily blow through. (GL.)
See Div. of Purley, vol. ii. p. 186.
Bursted, or Busted, the preterit of to burst, e. g. “It bursted open the
door." Also used in Gloucestershire.
Burying, $. a funeral. ' To fetch a burying ' is to accompany the corpse.
Pronounced berring in
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7820) (tudalen 018)
|
18 Provincial Words
Yorkshire: Mr. Hunter doubts whether the word
be not rather derived from bear than bury. The
conjecture seems probable: see Boucher in
Beoryng. Bustle, s. a scolding bout. Thus, “to get into a
bustle about a thing" signifies to get into a scolding
about it. Butt, s. the lower part of the stem of a timber-tree.
Also used in Somersetshire. Butty, s. an assistant, comrade, helpmate,
partner.
Also used in Gloucestershire. Corrupted from
abettor. See Atomy. By your LEAve, or By'r leave. An expression of
civility used by an inferior to a superior, in the act
of causing him some slight inconvenience. It is
nearly equivalent to pardon and scusi, as used in
French and Italian. Bytack, s. a farm taken by the bye, in addition to
another farm, and on which the tenant does not
reside; e. g. “Them bytacks be the ruin of the
country.'' Compare Tack.
C.
Caddling, adj. false, insincere, cajoling with
a view of buying anything below its value. Very often applied to butchers,
but always in a bad sense:
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7821) (tudalen 019)
|
used in Herefordshire, \ 9
thus, “a little caddling butcher." "Don't be caddling so long about
it." “I don't bid caddling, I bid fair." (GL.) Scaddle means
thievish, rapacious, in Kent, according to Grose in v. Cadger, s. an
itinerant dealer whose wares are
carried in a small cart. Cag, s. the stump of a branch protruding from the tree,
the stump of a broken tooth. Compare Snag. To Cant, v. to backbite, without
reference to religious hypocrisy. Cantle, s. a piece, a fragment (in common
use); e. g. u a cantle of bread" means a corner off a loaf; *' a cantle
of a field," a small piece of a field. The word is used by Chaucer, C.
T. 3010.
" Of no partie ne cantel of a thing."
And by Shakspeare, 1 Hen. IV. act 3, sc. 1.
" See how this river comes me cranking in, And cuts me, from the best of
all my land, A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out."
Antony and Cleopatra, act 3, sc. 8.
si The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance."
See Nares in Cantle, Grose and Moor in Cant, and the Craven Glossary in Cant
and Canting. The word kante or kant, for edge or corner, occurs
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7822) (tudalen 020)
|
20 Provincial Words
in nearly all the Teutonic languages. See Meidinger's Compar. Dictionary, p.
193.
Candle of the Eye, s. pupil of the eye. In Norfolk and Suffolk the pupil of
the eye is called the “bird of the eye;" Grose and For by in v., in
which expression "bird" means damsel, or girl, (see Jamieson in v.)
and is equivalent to Kopiy in Greek and pupil la in Latin. The name is
derived from the diminished image of himself which the beholder sees iu the
eye of the person whom he addresses. See Boucher in “Bird of the eye."
Carlock, s. the weed charlock.
Cauve, s. calf.
Char, or Cher, s. a job. “To do a char (or chair) for a friend," is to
do a job for a friend. u That's a good cher," that is a good job;
expressive of approbation. Also used in Gloucestershire. See Nares in Chare.
In Devonshire and Somersetshire this- word is pronounced choor. See Jennings in
Choor, Palmer in Chures. See Tooke's Div. of Purley, vol. ii. p. 192.
Charks, s. charcoal.
To Chark, v. to make charcoal, to char.
A Charker, s. one who makes charcoal.
To Chastise, v. to question closely, particularly as to some mischief done. A
similar confusion of examination and punishment occurs in the line of
used in Herefordshire.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7823) (tudalen 021)
|
21
Virgil, “Castigatque, auditque dolos,
subigitque fateri." Mn. vi. Chats, s. dead sticks. According to Grose's
Glossary, “chat " means “a small twig " in Derbyshire; “chats"
means “keys of .trees, as ash-chats, sycamore-chats," in the northern
counties; and “chattocks" means "refuse wood, left in making 4
faggots," in Gloucestershire. According to the present usage in
Gloucestershire, the chips which fly from the axe when a tree is cut down are
called chats; what the carpenter cuts off, chips, “Chats " is explained
to mean spray- wood in the Westmoreland and Cumberland Glossary. According to
the Craven Glossary, "chatts-" are “the capsules of the ash,
sycamore, &c, called also keys" According to Moor's Suffolk Words, “chates,"
or “chaits," are “broken victuals; the remnants of turnips or other food
left by fatting sheep, &c, to which leaner or more hungry stock is turned
in, to pick up the chaits, or orts." “Chats," or “chatter bushes,"
are explained by Moor to be “protruding bushes of blackthorn, &c, running
into a field from the fence; or the lower straggling branches of a tree,
which we otherwise call sprawls" Forby, in v., says that chaits is the
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7824) (tudalen 022)
|
22 Provincial Words
same word as chits, whence the diminutive chitterlings. In German, katze has
the sense of a bundle or bunch; and it also signifies the keys of a tree. See
Adelung in Katze, No. 5. The English word catkins is a cognate form.
Chawm, s. a crack in the ground caused by dry weather. Corrupted from chasm.
(GL.)
Cheese, s. Cider hairs filled with must aud piled in readiness to be pressed.
A various form of case. It may be observed that the Italian formaggio is derived
from forma, in the sense of a case, i. e. the case in which the cheese is
pressed.
Chilver, s. an ewe lamb. (GL.) Grose explains it to mean “the mutton of a
maiden sheep."
Chimbley, s. chimney. This pronunciation of the w r ord is mentioned in the
Craven Glossary, in Wilbraham's Cheshire Glossary, in Jennings's
Somersetshire Glossary, in Palmer's Devonshire Glossary, and in Forby's East
Anglian Vocabulary. It is also usual in Gloucestershire. The insertion of b
after m occurs likewise in homber and sumber in this glossary: see further,
Lewis's Essay on the Romance Languages, p. 19, and Donaldson's New Cratylus,
p. 292. Sometimes the provincial dialect omits the b after m: thus the
Somersetshire dialect has timmer for timber (Zimmer, German), and
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7825) (tudalen 023)
|
used in Herefordshire.
23
the Somersetshire and Devonshire dialects have
emmers and yammers for embers: Jennings and Palmer in v. Compare Boucher in
Aymers.
Chump, s. a log of wood for burning. The thick end of a sirloin of beef is
called the ' chump end.' This word is also used in Gloucestershire and in Norfolk:
Forby in v.
Churm, s. a churn.
To Clam, v.a. I. to clog up, 2. to starve. In Gloucestershire u to clam"
means to stick or adhere, as clay or the like, so as to hinder work. If clay
or earth sticks to the spade, so that a man cannot dig, he is said to be ' c
clammed up." This old word (Nares in Clem) is still current in the north
of England. See Willan in Clam, Craven Glossary in Clam and Clammed, and
Wilbraham's Cheshire Glossary in Clem. In Suffolk the word is stated to be nearly
obsolete; see Moor in Clammd. But see Forby in v. It does not occur in
Jennings's Somersetshire Glossary; and in Palmer's Devonshire Glossary, “to
clum" or “clam" is explained, "to rumple or soil by handling,
from clumian, Sax., to daub, foul, or besmear." From “to clam," in
the sense of "to stick," is derived the adjective clammy,
Clea, s. claw. Each division of the hoof of an ox or other cloven-footed
animal is called a clea. This
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7826) (tudalen 024)
|
24 Provincial Words
form is used in Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Norfolk: Craven Glossary, Wilbraham
and Forby in v.
Cleaching Net, s. a bag-net, attached to a semi-circular hoop having a
transverse piece, to the centre of which a pole is fixed. The net is put gently
into the stream, and drawn towards the bank when the river is in flood, and
the fish draw to the sides. Called a clinching-net in Gloucestershire.
To Cleach, v. to use a cleaching net.
Cockshut, s. a contrivance for catching woodcocks in an open glade or drive
in a wood, by means of a suspended net. In some places, cockshut, from an
appellative, has become a proper name, the meaning being extinct.
To Collogue, v. n. to converse together (used in a bad sense). See Nares,
Hunter, Craven Glossary, Forby, Moor, and Jennings, in v.
Colly, adj. dirty, smutty, from coal. See Nares in Colly and To Colly,
Wilbraham's Cheshire Gloss. in Collow. Steevens on “Othello," act 2, sc.
3, (" Passion having my best judgment collied,") states that the
word colly was used in the midland counties in his time. In Gloucestershire,
according to Grose, colley means the black or soot from a kettle. In
Somersetshire, a colley, according to Jennings, means a blackbird.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7827) (tudalen 025)
|
used in Herefordshire. 25
To Come, v. applied to the increase of a river in flood, as “Wye's a
coming."
Come by now, used as an exclamation for "get out of the way."
To Come down upon, v. to reprove, to chide. The same as to “get over."
Comical, adj. ill-tempered. See Stick.
Out of the common, out of the common way.
To Conceit, v. and Conceit, s. (sometimes pronounced consate.) To suppose, a
notion, as u I conceited it was so;" “I had no conceit of it."
To Concern with, v. n. to meddle with.
Cop, s. The “cop of a ridge" is the summit of a ridge in a ploughed
field; compare re en. Cop signifies a top or summit in Welsh; but the word occurs
in all the Teutonic languages, and it is doubtful whether its use in
Herefordshire was derived from the Welsh. See Grose in Cop and Cope.
Coppy, s. a coppice; so called, according to Willan in v., as being a round
woody eminence, from cop.
Cornel, .9. a corner.
Costrel, s. a small portable cask, used for carrying beer or cider into the
field. This word is in the Craven Glossary, and Grose calls it a north country
word. It may probably occur as a provin-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7828) (tudalen 026)
|
26 Provincial Words
cialism in other parts of the kingdom; for its usage
is ancient. Costrellus occurs in Matthew Paris;
see Ducange in v. Costeret or cousterei is used in
old French, in the sense of a measure for wine or
other liquors; Roquefort in vv. This form of the
word occurs in the Romance of Richard Cceur de
Lion:
* Now, steward, I warne thee Buy us vessel [i. e. vaisselle] great plente. Dishes,
cuppes, and saucers, Bowls, trays, and platters, Vats, tuns, and costret; Maketh
our meat withouten let."
Ellis's Romances, vol. ii. p. 213.
Costrel is used by Chaucer, Legend of Goode Women, 2655. A costrel is
probably so called from being made of costce, staves or ribs hooped together.
To Couch, v. n. to squat, to sit as a rabbit or hare. From the French
coucher.
To Cowse, v. to chase animals, particularly sheep and pigs. It may also be
said of an idle person, that he “goes tampering and cowsing about." Probably
a corruption of to course.
Cowt, s. a colt.
Cratch, s. a rack for hay in a stable. Cratch is also used in other counties:
Grose, Moor, and Hunter in v. An old word: thus Spenser, Hymn
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7829) (tudalen 027)
|
used in Herefordshire. 2?
of Heav. Love, st. 33.
" Begin from first, where he encradled was In simple cratch, wrapped in
a wad of hay."
See also Nares in Cratch. Cratch and rack are probably different forms of the
same word.
Craven, s. (pronounced cravven), a coward. In common use.
Crink, s. a very ^small child. In Gloucestershire, according to Grose, a
crinch means a small bit.
To Crowdle, v. n. to crouch. “Crowdled up" is bent or doubled up, like a
sick animal: from to crowd. This word has a nearly similar sense in Yorkshire,
Cheshire, Devonshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. See Craven Glossary in Cruddle,
Wilbraham and Moor in Crewdle, Forby, Grose, and Hunter in Croodle, Palmer in
Crudle.
Cue, s. a coop, hatch, kennel. A variety of coop
Cue (or Kew), s. an ox's shoe. Also used in Gloucestershire.
To Cue (or Kew), v. to fasten shoes on the feet of oxen. An old man resided
many years ago at Michel Dean, in Gloucestershire, who was known by the name
of the Ox-cuer, from his dexterity in this business, which requires skill and
care, inasmuch as it is necessary that the animal should be thrown. The word
ox-kew appears to have been originally ox-skew, and to have been derived from
c 2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7830) (tudalen 028)
|
28 Provincial Words
the oblique or crooked form of the iron plate which was attached to each
division of the ox's hoof. The absorption of the initial 5 after a final x
would, upon this supposition, be analogous to the corruptions explained under
the word Atomy.
To Curf potatoes, is to earth them up. From to cover.
Curious, adj. strange; as "a curious temper." The adjectives,
comical, curious, and ridiculous, imply blame.
Curst, adj. ill-tempered, cross-grained; applied both to men and animals. An
ancient usage; see Nares in v.
Cute, or Cude, adj. sharp, acrimonious, corrupted from acute. Also used in
Cheshire: Wilbraham in v.
Cutwith, s. the bar of the plough to which the traces are attached. Compare
Lantree.
D.
Daddock, s. dead wood, touchwood; in Gloucestershire, dead wood is said to be
“daddocky," or “all of a daddock." In Somersetshire, according to Jennings,
“daddick" is rotten wood, and “dad-dicky" is rotten. According to
Grose, dadacky means tasteless in the western counties. Daddock
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7831) (tudalen 029)
|
used in Herefordshire. 29
has been derived from dead-oak; but the termination is probably similar to
that in bullock, paddock, mammocks, and other words. See Philol. Museum, vol.
i. p. 685. Daffish, adj. shy, embarrassed, easily abashed. Daftish has the
same sense in the Craven Glossary. Grose has to daffe, to daunt, as a north country
word. “To daff" is to confound, in the West Riding, according to Willan
in v. DafTe signifies a fool in Chaucer, C. T. 4206.
" I shall be holden a daffe or a cokeney."
The Scotch daft is evidently the passive participle of to daff. Dar, s. a
mark, as a mark set up in a field to measure by. “How did you measure it?"
— “I did stick up my stick as a dar." In Chaucer, to dare, is to stare:
" That lie and dare As in a form sitteth a wery hare." — C. T.
13,033.
Thus dar may mean a thing stared at; as we call
a colour a “staring colour," which attracts notice. Dandering, part,
twaddling. See Wilbraham in
Dander. Dank, adj. damp; also used in Gloucestershire. It
is pronounced donk in the north. Crav. Gloss.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7832) (tudalen 030)
|
30 Provincial Words
and Grose, in v. 9 and see Hunter in v. The word occurs in Shakspeare, (M. N.
D. act ii. sc. 3. — Julius Caesar, act ii. sc. 2,) in Milton (Translation of
Horace's Ode, Quis multa gracilis), and other old writers; and it may still
be used in poetry.
Dark, adj. blind. Also used in Devonshire: Palmer in v.
Dashed, part, abashed. Numerous examples of this sense of to dash are given
by Johnson. It occurs in other provincial dialects: see Crav. Gl. and Forby
in v.
Dawny, adj. damp, as “dawny wheat." Dawny, near Windsor, appears to be
named from this word. Thony is damp in the Craven Glossary, and “thone, thony,"
for “thawn, damp, moist," is a north country word in Grose. Dawny is a
derivative of the root thaw or dew.
Day-house, s. a dairy; the room so called. But the word dairy would be used
in such expressions as "a dairy-farmer," "a dairy-woman."
(GL.) Lye in Junius, v. dairie, derives it from dey y “quod majoribus nostris
lactariam denotabat." Todd, in Johnson, misquotes Lye, by making him say
that dey formerly signified milk. Comp Richardson in dairy.
Dead Alive, adj. very stupid. (GL.)
Deadly, adv. very, exceedingly, like "mortal. " (GL.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7833) (tudalen 031)
|
used in Herefordshire. 31
Dead Man, s. a scarecrow.
Dergy, adj. (g hard), short and thick-set. From dweorg or diver g, A.S.
Compare the German zwerg. The word stuggy appears to be used with a similar
meaning in Devonshire: Palmer in v.
Devil-screecher, s. the bird called a swift. (GL.)
Diern, adj. severe, hard, stern, as applied to men. It is also used
metaphorically, as “a diern frost." In A.S. dyrnan means to hide; whence
dernunga or dearnunga, secretly, and dern-geligr, a secretlier, an adulterer
(Bosworth in vv.) Hence too the adj. dem y which in Chaucer means secret: as C.
T. 3200.
" Of derne love he cowde, and of solas." And again, v. 3297.
" Ye mosten be full derne as in this cas."
See also Junius in v. In Scotch, to darn or dern is to conceal, and darn is
secret: (Jam. in v. See also the ballad of Robyn andMakyne in Percy.) In modern
English, “to darn" is to mend, so as to conceal the hole by imitating
the texture of the stuff: see Todd's Johnson in v. From the notion of
concealment is derived the sense of lonely, melancholy, which dearn generally
bears in the writers of the age of Elizabeth: see Nares in Dearn and Derne,
and Pericles, act iii. sc. 1. Grose
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7834) (tudalen 032)
|
32 Provincial Words
likewise says, that decern means lonely, solitary, in the northern counties.
From the same notion of concealment is also derived the sense of severe or stern;
the ideas of close and uncommunicative, and severe or stern, being nearly allied.
Dearnly has the sense of severely in a passage of the “Faery Queen," iiL
1. 14, cited by Nares.
<• Long they thus travelled in friendly wise,
Through countreyes waste, and eke well edifyde, Seeking adventures hard, to
exercise
Their puissaunce, whylome full dernly tryde."
F. Q. b. 3. cant. 1. st. 14.
In b. 2. cant. 1. st. 35, and in b. 3. cant. 12. st. 34, dernly appears to
mean earnestly. See Todd's Notes on the Passages.
The insertion of i before e (as in diem for dern) occurs in fiern, piert, and
tiert, in this glossary. Compare Jiele, lieve, brieve, &c, Italian. Other
examples from the Romance languages are given in Diez, Rom. Gram. vol. i. p.
129.
To Disburst, v. to disburse. Common among farmers; as, “I have disbursted all
the money as was gathered into (within) sixpence." Also used in Norfolk:
Forby in v.
To Disgest, v. to digest. This is universal, and many of the country people
appear to think that to disgest or dischest is to pass the food out of the
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7835) (tudalen 033)
|
used in Herefordshire. 33
chest into the alimentary canal. Also used in Yorkshire: Craven Glossary in
v., and it occurs in old writers.
Dither, s. a confused noise, a bother.
To Dither, v. n. to tremble, to shake, to confuse. “A dithering noise"
means a confused noise. This word is also used in the Forest of Dean; and it
is current in Yorkshire and Cheshire: see Craven Glossary, Hunter's
Hallamshire Glossary, and Wilbraham in Dither, and Marshall's Rural Econ. of
Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 316. “To didder" is to have a quivering of the
chin through cold, in Norfolk: Forby in v. “To dudder " also signifies “to
deafen with noise, to render the head confused," in Somersetshire,
according to Jennings. It corresponds to the German zittern.
Divvy Duck, s. a dabchick; i. e. a diving duck.
Doited, adj. doting.
Done, part, used for the preterit, as “I done it" for “1 did it."
See Known and Taken.
Dormedory, corruptly Dromedory, adj. a sleepy stupid person who does not get
on with work. From dormir. Dormitoire was an adjective in old French, and is
explained by Roquefort “qui fait dormir."
Dormit, s. an attic window projecting from the roof. Probably a corruption of
dormitory. Dormer
c 3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7836) (tudalen 034)
|
34 Provincial fiords
means a large beam in Norfolk: Forby in v. The latter word may perhaps be
compared with sleeper, which Grose explains to be a “baulk or summer supporting
a floor." The use of the latter word has lately become familiar from its
being applied to the supports of the rails on railways.
Doust, s. dust. Dousty, adj. dusty. Dousting, s. dusting. (GL.)
To Dout, v.a. to put out, as a candle. “He is just douted," — he is just
dead. Also used in Gloucestershire.
Drag, s. a fence placed across running water, consisting of a kind of hurdle
which swings on hinges, fastened to a horizontal pole.
To Dreaten, v. to threaten.
To Dresh, v. to thrash. Also used in Gloucestershire. Pronounced drash in
Devonshire and Somersetshire: Palmer and Jennings in v.
To Drive a Boat, to propel a boat with a pole or paddle.
To Drop out, v. to fall out, to quarrel. (GL.)
Droughty, adj. (pronounced drufty), thirsty; from drought.
To Drow, v. to throw.
Droxy, adj. the same as daddocky, which see. (GL.)
Duberous, adj. doubtful. Also used in Devonshire, Palmer in v.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7837) (tudalen 035)
|
used in Herefordshire. 35
Duff, adv. to fall duff, to fall heavily. Dufian, A.S. is to sink (Bosworth
in v.) Perhaps that which falls as if it would sink to the bottom falls duff.
See H. Tooke, i. 419.
Dunny, adj. hard of hearing. See Jamieson in Donnar and Donnard. Dunch is
deaf in the Gloucestershire and also the Somersetshire dialect; whence (and
not from Duns Scotus), as Jennings observes, is derived the word dunce.
Compare Adelung in Donner. Dull means hard of hearing in Somersetshire and
Yorkshire, according to Grose and Crav. Gl.
To Dup, v. to do up, to fasten. (GL.) In Hamlet, act 4. sc. 5. it means to
open, probably from raising the latch.
" Then up he rose and donned his clothes. And dupp'd the chamber
door."'
Dyche, 5. a mound, a dyke, the bank of a hedge. Dyson, *. the flax, &c.,
on a distaff. This word
appears to be connected with the first syllable of
distaff.
E.
Elder, s. udder. The use of this word extends to Gloucestershire and
Worcestershire, and it also occurs in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire.
See Craven Glossary, Hunter, and Wilbraham in v.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7838) (tudalen 036)
|
36 Provincial Words
Ellern Tree, or Ellern Aul, s. an elder tree. The elder is called eller in
Yorkshire and Cheshire: Craven Glossary, and Wilbraham in v. The older adjectival
form of el lam or ellern (used in Piers Ploughman's Vision) is preserved in
Herefordshire, as it also is in Norfolk: Forby in Eldern.
Elmen, adj. from elm. “Elmen tree," is elm tree. Used also in
Somersetshire: Jennings in v. Compare Aulen, Ellern-tree, Poplern, and
Tinnen, in this Glossary, which adjectives are formed like oaken, ashen,
treen, golden, &c. Dirten and hornen are used in Somersetshire: Jennings
in v.
To Empt, v.a. to empty. This verb is also in Jennings's Somersetshire
Glossary.
Etherings, s. long rods twisted at the top of a hedge. Edderings and eder are
used in Cheshire, Wilbraham in v.; and ether in Yorkshire, Essex, and Norfolk:
Craven Glossary in v. and in Yether, Forby in Ether, Grose in Edder. Eder, edor,
or efSor is a hedge in A.S. (Bosworth in v.), and consequently etherings is a
word regularly formed, and means hedgings, or materials for hedging.
Ettles, or Ettle^s, s. nettles. Also used in Gloucestershire. The common form
is the correct one: netele A.S. (see Bosworth in v.), nessel H. German.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7839) (tudalen 037)
|
used in Herefordshire. 37
F.
Fagget, s. an “old fagget " is a term of
reproach to emaciated old people, equivalent to the familiar expressions, u a
bundle, or bag, of bones." In Gloucestershire, to call a woman an old
faggot is almost the greatest insult that can be offered to her. Also used in
Norfolk: Forby in v.
Fainty, adj. faint.
To Fall, v.a. to throw down. As, “she fell the child." Also 4t to fall a
tree." Compare to*Rise. Also used in Norfolk: Forby in v.
Fancical, adj. fanciful.
Fatch, v. and s. thatch.
Fatches, s. vetches.
Fat-hen, s. a weed so called.
To Fault, v.a. to find fault with. “I don't fault him for that."
Featherfold, s. the herb feverfew.
To Fear, v.a. to frighten. See Nares in v., and compare afeard.
Feast, s. a day of merry-making for the country-people. Each village has its
feast, which occurs on a fixed day in every year. The use of this word in
Herefordshire exactly resembles that described by Mr. Hunter in his
Hallamshire Glossary.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7840) (tudalen 038)
|
3S Provincial Words
To Feed, v. n. to grow fat. Also used in the northern counties, Grose in v.
Feg, s. grass which has withered upon the ground, without being severed from
its root. Fog is used in a similar sense in Cheshire, Yorkshire, and other
northern counties; and also in Norfolk and Suffolk. See Grose, Willan, Craven
Glossary, Moor, and Forby in v. Feg is used in Worcestershire. According to
Thoresby and Watson in Hunter's Appendix, p. Ill, 146, fog in Yorkshire means
aftergrass.
Fellom, s. a whitlow. The word "fellon" is cited in Nares's
Glossary, with the sense of “a boil or whitlow," from writers of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Fellom, however, is probably the more
correct form of the word, having arisen, by mispronunciation, from film. Film
signifies a tiiin skin, and is sometimes applied to the morbid skin which
covers an ulcer; thus in Hamlet: —
"It will but skin andjilm the ulcerous place, While rank corruption,
mining all within. Infects unseen." — Act 3, sc. 4.
The letter m does not combine easily with another consonant at the end of a
syllable; and in several words where this combination occurs, a vowel has been
interpolated before m, in order to assist the pronunciation. Thus the A.S.
besm and bosm
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7841) (tudalen 039)
|
used in Herefordshire. 39
have, in modern English, become besom and bosom > and the A.S. word
hearmsceare (Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthumer, p. 681) has been corrupted into
harumscarum. So chrism (from chrisma) was corrupted into chrisom and kirsom
(Nares, in vv.), and alarm into alarum. The Cornish and Devonshire word pilm,
which signifies dust, is pronounced pi/am or pillum (Grose and Palmer in v.).
The Cheshire word rism is also pronounced risom ( Wilbr. in v.); and the word
baron (in the expression “baron of beef") is derived from an older form,
birn (Crav. Gloss, in v.). In like manner, in Italian, chrisma, baptisma, and
spasma, became cresima, battesimo, and spasimo. If the words sarcasm, schism,
and chasm had become popular in English, their pronunciation would probably
have been changed. (See above in Chawm.) Where / or r follows a and precedes
m, the vowel is lengthened, and the following consonant is suppressed in
pronunciation: thus psalm, balm, calm, farm, harm, are pronounced sdm, bam, cam,
fdm 9 ham. The word film is probably connected with the English and German
fell. In Yorkshire, the word fellon signifies a disease in cows: see Craven
Glossary in v.
Fellow, s. a young unmarried man.
To Fettle, v.a. to settle, arrange, put in order. This
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7842) (tudalen 040)
|
40 Provincial Words
word is also used in Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire:
Cumberland and Westmoreland Glossary, Grose, Willan, Craven Glossary, and
Wilbraham in v.; and compare Nares in v. The word fettle occurs three times
in the ballad of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, in Percy, vol. i.
Field, s. a ploughed field as distinguished from grass ground. (GL.)
Fiern, s. fern. Compare Diern.
Fiern-owl, s. a goat-sucker.
Fildefare, s. a fieldfare. This word is similarly pronounced in Somersetshire:
Jennings in v. In Gloucestershire it is sometimes pronounced vildever.
Filler, or Viller, s. the shaft horse of a cart or wagon. (GL.) Also used in
Norfolk: Forby in v.
Filthy, adj. In Gloucestershire this word is used in only two senses, viz.,
for a field full of weeds, especially couch grass, and for a person who has lice
on his body.
Filtry, or Viltry, s. trumpery, filth. Particularly applied to weeds in a
field or garden. (GL.) Also used in Somersetshire: Jennings in v. Another
form of Jilt h.
Fimble, s. a wattled chimney.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7843) (tudalen 041)
|
used in Herefordshire. 41
To Find, v. to stand sponsor to a child.
To Finegue, v. to avoid or evade a thing.
To Firm, v. to affirm. So in Somersetshire, to frunt is used for to affront:
Jennings in v. Compare Abundation.
Fitchuck, s. a pole-cat. Called Jitcher or fitchet in Gloucestershire. See
Grose in Fitchet and Fitchole, and Nares in Fytehock.
Flannen, Si flannel. Pronounced vlannin in Somersetshire, and Jtannin in
Devonshire: Jennings and Palmer in v.
Flat, s. a hollow in a field. (GL.)
Flath, s. dirt, filth, ordure.
Fleak, or Flake, s. a hurdle. This word is also used in Yorkshire: Hunter in
Flake, Crav. Gloss, in Fleeok, Grose in Fleake. So called from being interwoven:
compare the German Jlechten, Adelung in v.
To Flee, v. to fly; as “the rooks fled away," for flew away.
Flitchen, s. a flitcher of bacon.
Flummock, s. a slovenly person. Also used in Gloucestershire. ”Flammakin
" is a blowsy slatternly wench, in Devonshire, according to Palmer in v.
To Flummocks, v.a. to maul, to mangle.
Fought, part, of to fetch, . Also used in Gloucestershire and other counties.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7844) (tudalen 042)
|
42 Provincial Words
Frany, adj. violent tempered. From phrenzied.
Fresh liquor, hog's lard without salt in it. (GL.)
To Fret, v. n. Cider, when fermenting, is said to fret.
Fretchet, adj. fretful, peevish; or hot, fidgety (of a horse): from fret.
Fritful, or Frightful, adj. fearful, timorous.
Frum, adj. 1. early. From the A.S. frum, which means original, primitive.
Frum-bearn is first born. In Cheshire and Lancashire, frim signifies “tender
or brittle" (Wilbr. in v.), which is probably the same word. 2. Numerous,
thick. In Gloucestershire, frum means thick and strong, as mowing grass. In
Oxfordshire, its meaning is rank, overgrown. Frim, in the north, means handsome,
rank, well-living, in good case, according to Grose. From the A.S. from,
which means stout, strong, bold. Fromm, in high German, had originally the
same meaning; “ein frumer schlach," was equivalent to "ein heftiger
schlag;" "ein frommer Ritter:" Adelung in v. The two distinct
words frum and from are now confounded together, as the English word light
corresponds to the German licht and leicht. The name of the Fromey, a stream
in Herefordshire, appears to be connected with the latter sense of the word
in question. It is thus described in Leland's Itinerary,
used in Herefordshire. 43
vol. v. p. 12. " Fromey, a big broke, sumtyme raging, cummetli by
Bromyard, as I remembre, and so into Lug; and about it be very good
pastures"
Fuel, s. garden stuff.
Fund, Funded, part, found.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7845) (tudalen 043)
|
G.
Gadaman, adj. roguish.
To Gale, v. In the Forest of Dean, to gale (i. e. to gavel) a mine is to
acquire the right to work a mine from the officer called a gaveller, and to
pay the share of the crown.
Gall, or Gaul, s. a place where water breaks out on the land. Compare Soak.
Gally, adj. wet, as applied to land. In Yorkshire, a gall means a spring or
wet place in a field, and gaily means spungy, wet; Crav. Gloss, in v. In Norfolk,
a gall is a vein of sand in a stiff soil, through which water is drained off,
and oozes at soft places on the surface; otherwise sandgalls: Forby in v. See
also Grose in galls, gally-lands, and sandgalls. Galle has the very same
meaning in German: " Nasse stellen auf den ackern, besonders wenn sie
von kleinen quellen herkommen," says Adelung in v.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7846) (tudalen 044)
|
44 Provincial Words
Gally-team, s. a team kept for hire.
Gallier (or Hallier), s. one who keeps teams for hire. From to haul.
Gambrel, s. a cart with rails or thripples. In Suffolk, according to Moor, a
" gambrel " is " the crooked piece of wood on which the
carcases of slaughtered beasts, hogs, and sheep are expanded and suspended.
" The word is similarly explained by Jennings in v. In Devonshire,
" gammerells," or " gambrils " means not only a butcher's
stretcher, but also the hocks or lower hams of an animal: Palmer in v.
Gambrel probably meant originally a piece of crooked wood; and was derived
from the word which appears in different languages under the form hamme, ham,
gamba, emdjambe. Thus shipwrights speak of knees in ship-building. In like
manner, the handle of a scythe is called hamme and hammen in Switzerland;
Stalder, Schweiz. Idiot, in v. Hames (see below) has probably the same
origin. Cammed is explained crooked, in the Westmoreland and Cumberland Glossary.
In Welsh, too, camm or gam is crooked; it also means one-eyed, whence the
name of Sir David Gam. This use of the word is analogous to the Spanish
tuerto from tortus; " mas vale tuerto que ciego." See likewise
Crav. Gl. in Cammerels.
Gamut, s. mischievous sport; from game. In De-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7847) (tudalen 045)
|
used in Herefordshire. 45
vonshire, gammet means fun, merriment: Palmer in v. Gapesing, " To go a
gapesing," is to go sight-seeing. ct We had a famous gapesing."
Probably from to gape, in the sense of to open; viz., to open the eyes. See
Bosworth in Geapan. Compare to trapes ("to go trapesing about"),
from trape. Gaun, s. a measure or tub (z. e. a gallon). In Cheshire,
according to Wilbraham, a gaun is a gallon, Gears and Gearing, s.
horse-harness. In Gloucestershire, only used for filler's or viller's gears;
the harness of the shaft horse of a cart or wagon. Compare Forby in v. To
Geld, v. " to geld anty tumps,'' is to cut off the tops of ant-hills,
and to throw the inside over the land. Giglet, s. a giddy girl. In
Devonshire, according to Palmer, a gigglet is a laughing romp, a tom-boy; for
which reason wakes and fairs are sometimes called gigglet fairs. In
Somersetshire, according to Jennings, gigleting means wanton, trifling, and
is applied to the female sex. Grose states that giglet is a north country
word for a laughing girl. In Norfolk, according to Forby, a gig means a
trifling, silly, flighty fellow. From the A.S. goegl, or gagol, wanton:
Bosworth in v.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7848) (tudalen 046)
|
46 Provincial Words
Gigleting, adj. giggling. From giglet.
Girl, s. an unmarried woman of any age.
Glat, s. a gap in a hedge. Perhaps this word is the past participle of to
glide, and meant originally a part of a bank between two enclosures which had
slipped down, and consequently left a gap. At present, glat signifies a gap
in a dead or quick fence.
To Gorm, v.a. to smear, to dirty; also used in the West Riding of Yorkshire:
Willan in v. From gor, A.S., whence comes the word gore. Gor, A.S., signifies
mire, which sense it still retains in Norfolk; Forby in Gore.
Gorsty, adj. abounding in gorse or furze.
Gout, s. a drain from a house. (GL.) Derived from the French égout, and
allied to the German guss, the Flemish goot, and the English gutter.
Gownd, s, gown. Compare swound for swoon, and swounded for swooned in the
Craven Glossary.
Grab, s. the crab-apple. (GL.)
To Graff, v.a. to dig with a spade. Ground can be graffed, when it is soft
enough not to require a pickaxe. “In
Yorkshire (says Grose in Dig) they distinguish between digging and graving;
to dig is with a mattock, to grave with a spade." In Gloucestershire, a
"grafting tool 15 is the strong spade in the shape of a segment of a
circle, used
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7849) (tudalen 047)
|
used in Herefordshire. 47
in digging canals, and other very heavy work. From grafan, A.S., to dig. Greenstone,
s. The soft slaty rocks in Radnorshire and the borders of Herefordshire are
provincially called greenstone, as distinguished from free sandstone, or
limestone. Greenstone is not so called from its colour, but probably from its
being often moist, when used in buildings; in which respect it resembles
green wood. It is difficult to determine the sense of green stone, in the
following stanza of Chaucer: —
" And by a river forth I gan cost ay [coast] Of water clear as beryll or
crystall; Till, at the last, I found a little way Toward a park, enclosed
with a wall In compass round, and by a gate small. Whoso that woulde, freely
mighte gone Into this park walled with grene sto?ie."
Complaint of the Black Knight, Ellis's Poets.
vol. i. p. 218.
Perhaps its meaning in this passage may be newly hewn stone. Compare the use
of the word green in the ballad of “Gentle Herdsman," in Percy, vol.
ii.,
" Thy years are young, thy face is fair,
Thy wits are weak, thy thoughts are green: Time hath not given thee leave as
yet
For to commit so great a sin." — Stanza 4.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7850) (tudalen 048)
|
48 Provincial Words
Grip, s. a narrow trench or gutter. Also used in Gloucestershire and in
Yorkshire: Grose and Crav. Gloss, in v. Pronounced gripe in Somersetshire:
Jennings in v. See Todd's Johnson in v. From groep, A.S., a furrow or ditch,
connected with grafan, to dig.
To Grip, v. to make grips. (GL.) In Devonshire, “S r ipP m § " i s tne
operation of water-furrowing a field: Palmer in v.
Grist, s. This word has the common meaning, but the i is pronounced as in
grind.
Gryze, s. a squeeze or abrasion. As, “see what a gryze this horse has had on
his knee."
To Gryze, v. to squeeze or abrade. As, “to gryze a wheel against a
post." Also, to wear or annoy, as a “gryzing pain" for a constant
pain. To gryze appears to be the same word as to graze used in a similar
sense; and is probably the more genuine form, connected with grit, A.S., and
grist.
To Gule, v. to laugh; to glory or boast. As, <c he comes guling like a
lion." Also used in the Forest of Dean.
Gull, s. a gosling. The word has a more general signification in Cheshire.
Wilbr. in v.
Gurgeons, s. pollard (between fine flour and bran). Also used in
Gloucestershire.
Guss, s. girth. (GL.) Also used in Somersetshire:
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7851) (tudalen 049)
|
used in Herefordshire. 49
Jennings in v. Pronounced geese in Devonshire: Palmer in v. Gwethall, s.
household stuff. The word is used to denote an entire collection, like “bag
and baggage." From the Welsh gweddill, remnants, orts. Gweddilio, Welsh,
is to leave a remnant; and gweddw, is a widow or person left. Gweddill is therefore
connected with the root of widow, which seems to exist in most European
languages: see Adelung in Wittwe.
H.
Hackle, s. the top covering of a small stack of corn, or of a bee-hive, made
of straw.
Haine, s. an enclosure. (GL.) See Adelung in Hain, which word had originally
the same meaning.
Half- named, adj. a child privately baptized, but not christened in church.
Half-saved, adj. half-witted. Also used in the Forest of Dean.
Hames, H ameses, s. pieces of wood on the collar of the horse to which the
traces are fixed. Also used in Gloucestershire, as well as in Somersetshire
and Yorkshire: Jennings and Crav. Gl. in v. See above in Gambrel.
Han. Have.
Handler, s. the second to a pugilist.
d
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7852) (tudalen 050)
|
50 Provincial Words
Handy, adv. nearly; as, “handy a mile." (GL.)
Hatch, s. a half-door. Not peculiar.
To Haul, v.a. to carry in a wagon or cart, or simply to draw. Compare the
German holen. To hale is used in the authorized version of Luke xii. 58, “Lest
he hale thee to the judge:" ji^ttote Karaavpn at 7rpog top Kpirrjv.
Haulm, or H&lm, s. used of potatoes, vetches, peas, and beans. That part
of the plant which is above ground. In Suffolk, this word signifies wheat stubble:
Moor in Hahm. According to Grose it is a south country word, In
Gloucestershire, when the ears of wheat are cut off, and the best of the
straw is picked out unbroken, and bound up for the best thatching, it is
called halm.
Hauve, s. the handle of an axe; i. e. the helve. “Helve" is still used
in this sense in Derbyshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk: Grose, Forby, and Moor, in
v. It occurs in Deuter. xix. 5, and see Johnson, in v.
Hay-Making, Gloucestershire. When first cut, it is in swath; it is next
tedded or shaken about; it is then hatched in or raked into small rows to be
put into foot-cocks, the smallest of all cocks. The next day, perhaps, it is
again shaken about and double hatched, or raked by two persons into larger
rows, and put into larger cocks; it is then spread again
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7853) (tudalen 051)
|
used in Herefordshire. 51
and wallied in, or put into still larger rows, called wind-rows, in order to
be put into hay-cocks. These are carried together on poles, called spicks, and
put into wind-cocks.
Head. See to Turn the head.
Heartful, adj. in good spirits.
Heart-whole, or Heart-well, adj. sound as to the vital powers, as well as to
the appetite.
Heavle, *. a dung-heavle is a dung-fork. From to heave “Yeevil" is e<
a dungfork" in the Exmoor dialect (Grose).
Heft, s. weight; also used in Somersetshire: Jennings in v. Formed from
heave, like weft from weave.
Heft, the preterit of “heave." “He heft it," he lifted it.
Herence, Therence, hence, thence (Forest of Dean). Herence is also used in
Somersetshire: Jennings in v.
Hern, pron. hers.
To Hespall, v.a. to harass. This verb appears to be derived from spillan or
gespillan, A.S.
Hickol, or Yackle, s. a woodpecker. Pronounced heccle in Gloucestershire.
Hidlock, s. a state of concealment; as, “he was in hidlock." Also used
in Gloucestershire. Hidlock appears to be formed from hide by a mistaken
d2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7854) (tudalen 052)
|
52 Provincial Words
analogy to wedlock. The latter word is compounded of median, and lac, a gift;
and therefore the last syllable is not a suffix.
To Hile, v.a. to strike with the horns, as cattle or deer. E.g. ll You had
best take Fillpail out of the leasows; she do hile them young haifers
unmerciful."
Hilt, s. a young sow kept for breeding, which has not had any young. (GL.)
Hindersome, adj. retarding, hindering; as, “the weather is hindersome."
Also used in the Forest of Dean.
Hinge, s. the pluck. (GL.) Pronounced hange in Devonshire: Palmer in v.
Hisn, pron. his, as “It's one of his'n"
Hit, s. a plentiful crop; as, “a hit of apples." The metaphor is
borrowed from striking a mark.
To Hocks, v.a. to cut in an unworkmanlike manner. Used principally in
reference to cutting underwood; the stubs are hocksed, i. e. split and cut
unevenly and irregularly by a person not used to cutting them. From to hack.
Holt, s. hold, dependence on a person or thing; also a place of safety. “To
have holt:" to take hold. When two men are grappling with one another,
they are said to be in holt. Likewise used in Gloucestershire,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7855) (tudalen 053)
|
used in Herefordshire. 53
Holtless, or Holdless, adj. careless, heedless.
Homber, s. a hammer. See Chimbley.
Hongered, adj. hungry. (GL.)
Hoolet, s. an owl. In Yorkshire the owl is called "hullet:" Craven
Glossary, and Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary, in v. See Grose in Howlet. The
word is old: Nares in Howlet.
Hoop, s. a bullfinch. (GL.)
To Hootch, v. n. to crouch.
Hop-abouts, s. apple dumplings. (GL.)
To Hope, v. to help, i. e. to holp. (GL.)
To Hopple, v.a. to hopple an animal, is to confine its legs, so as to prevent
it from wandering. Also used in Yorkshire and Norfolk: Crav. Gloss. and Forby
in v.
Housen, pi. of house. (GL.)
Howgy, adj. huge, large. An old word: see Nares in Hugy. It occurs in the
ballad of Sir Cauline, Part II. st. 18.
« A hugy giant stiff and stark, All foul of limb and lere."
Also used in the Forest of Dean.
Huck, s. a hook.
Hull, s. the husk of a nut or of grain. This word is also used in Yorkshire and
in Suffolk: Craven Glossary and Moor in v. and in Gloucestershire.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7856) (tudalen 054)
|
54 Provincial Words
Hunch,,?, alump; as, “a hunch of bread or cheese. "
Hurry, s. “We shanna finish it this hurry," i. e. this time, this bout.
Hurtle, s. a spot. It is to be observed that heurte or hurt means a round
blue spot in heraldry. li The field or; three heurtes in bende. These appear
light blewe, and come by some violent stroke: on men they are called hurtes;
but on women they are commonly called tunge moles.' ' Gerard Leigh, Accidens
of Armory, fol. 150. “Heurtes, sorte de torteaux en termes d'armoirie." Borel
Diet, du vieux francais, at the end of Menage. Perhaps hurtleberry, the
bilberry, is connected with this word.
Hummock, s. a mound of earth. From the same root as hum-p.
Hutch, s. a coop; as a rabbit-hutch. In Suffolk, a hutch means a chest: Moor
in v. Huche, in old French, signified a chest or closet; and also a veil for
the head: Roquefort in v. In the will of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford,
who died in 1361, it means a pall over a coffin: Royal Wills (1780), p. 45.
I.
To be III in Oneself is a very common expression for derangement of stomach
or bowels, or slight
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7857) (tudalen 055)
|
used in Herefordshire. 55
fever. If a woman is asked how her husband's arm is, she may reply, “O his
arm be better, but he's ill in hisself, and canna eat his victuals." The
expression is used when a person is affected by an internal disease, of which
the speaker does not know the name.
Ill-relished, adj. disagreeable, as, “an ill-relished person."
Imp, s. a bud, or a young shoot of a coppice which has been felled.
To Imp, v.a. to bud. See Nares in v. Comp. Adelung in Impfen. Imp is likewise
a shoot in Welsh.
Innocent, s. a half-witted person.
To Insense, v.a. to explain to, to make to understand. This word is known in
other parts of England: Grose in v. According to Ray, it is used about Sheffield
in Yorkshire. See also Hunter in v., and Preface, p. xxv. and see Crav. Gl.
in v. It is also used in Gloucestershire. To “make a person sensible^of
anything," is used in a similar manner.
Into, prep, within, short of. “It is not far into a mile."
Inwards, s. the entrails of an animal. (GL.) Also used in Norfolk: Forby in
v. From the A.S. inneivarde, Bosworth in v. It occurs in Shakspeare.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7858) (tudalen 056)
|
56 Provincial Words
J.
Jag, s. a small quantity drawn as a load. The word is similarly used in
Cheshire and in Norfolk: Wilbr. Grose, and Forby, in v. It appears to be derived
from jog; a small load jogged along. In Yorkshire, however, it means a large
cart-load of hay: Crav. Gl. in v.
Jet, s. a descent, a declivity; as, “a bit of a jet to go down." From
the French jef, and therefore analogous to pitch, which see.
Jolly, adj. fat.
K.
To Keech, v. n. to cake, as wax or tallow. Keech and cake appear to be
different forms of the same word.
Keech of Fat, s. the internal fat of an animal, as made up to be sold to a
tallow-chandler. Also used in Gloucestershire. In the first part of Henry IV.,
Prince Henry calls Falstaff “a greasy tallow keech," act ii. sc. 4.,
where the commentators assign to it the meaning first stated. Kichel, in Chaucer,
means a little cake; "a goddes kichel," C. T. 7329, where see
Tyrwhitt's note.
To Keek, v. to be sick, or nearly so. (GL.) Probably connected with the
German keichen, to pant.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7859) (tudalen 057)
|
used in Herefordshire. 5*7
Kevin, Cavend, or Caving of Beef, s. a part of the round of beef. The same
joint as the lift, which see. From the Welsh cefn, back or ridge.
Kew, s. See Cue.
Kibble, s. a piece of wood 22 inches long, and split to a fit size for
burning. (GL.)
To Kick, v.a. to sting, as a wasp.
Kind, adj. in good health, thriving, prosperous, promising; applied to
animals, vegetables, &c, but not to men. As, “the horse's coat do stare;
he hanna been kind all the sumber. 5 ' “The weather do look very kind"
is also said.
Kindly, adj. prosperous, doing well.
To Knobble, v. to hammer feebly. As, “he canna do much; he do just sit
knobbling over a few stones."
Known, for knew. “I known it very well."
Kyment, adj. stupid.
Kype, s. a coarse wicker basket.
L.
Lagger, s. a broad green lane, little or not at all used as a road. (GL.)
Lammockin, adj. (pronounced lommockin), slouching. Formed from lame: see
Forby in Lammock and Lummox. “Lummakin" is clumsy, heavy, in the Crav.
Gloss.
d3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7860) (tudalen 058)
|
58 Provincial Words
Land, s. the portion of land ploughed between the two water-furrows. (GL.)
Landshut, s. a land-flood. From the water being shot, or projected, over the
land.
Langet, s. a strip of* ground. The same as slang, which see.
Lantree, s. the bar hooked to a plough or harrow, to which the traces are
affixed. Compare Cutwith.
Law t , s. When a hare or other animal which is pursued is suffered to have a
fair chance of escape, it is said to have law given it. This use of the word
is so general, and so well established, that it ought not to be confined to
provincial glossaries. See Hunter in v.
Leaping-block, s. a horse-block. Called a leaping stock in Devonshire: Palmer
in v.
A Good Leapt Horse or A Bad Leapt Horse is a good or bad leaper. This use of
the past participle for the present is familiar in German in an adjectival
(as in verdienter, deserving, bedienter, a servant) and in a participial
sense (as in Schiller's Graf von Hapsburg),
u Auf eine Au kommt geritten.^ Grimm D. Gram. vol. iv. p. 129, says: “Zwischen
ham geriten und kam ritende ist der unterschied fast unfuhlbar." Heyse
D. Gr. p. 347, says, “Ebenso spricht man zwar richtig von berittenen
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7861) (tudalen 059)
|
used in Herefordshire. 59
pferden, aber sehr unrichti und lacherlich von berittenen reitern und
unberittenen cavalier ist en." In Milton, P. L. b. 1. v. 501,
"The sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine."
Newton says, “Flown, I conceive, is a participle from the verb to fly,"
and so Johnson's Dictionary in v. understands it. The analogy of high flown renders
this explanation probable. In Virgil we have
" Vestigia presso Haud tenuit titubata solo." — Mn. v. 332.
for titubantia.
Lear, adj. Horses harnessed, but drawing nothing, are called lear horses. Used
in the same sense in Gloucestershire. In Dorsetshire, leary means empty,
according to Grose. In Somersetshire and Wiltshire, leer has the same meaning:
Grose and Jennings in v. In Devonshire, leery or lary means hungry, empty,
unladen: Grose and Palmer in v. Compare the German leer.
To Lease, v.a. to glean; whence Less, s. gleaned corn. See Adelung in Lesen.
To Leather; or Lather, v.a. to beat. Not peculiar to Herefordshire. * To
strap" is similarly used in other parts of the country. The German word strafe
probably corresponds to the English
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7862) (tudalen 060)
|
60 Provincial Words
strap; and, having originally meant corporal punishment with a whip, came to
mean punishment generally. See Grimm's D. R., p. 680.
To Learn, v.a. to teach. Also used in Yorkshire and Norfolk 5 Crav. GL,
Hunter and Forby in v.
Let it be, leave it alone.
Lift, s. a joint of beef; the same as kevin, which see.
Lighted, part. “To be lighted" is to be delivered of a child. Also a
north country expression, according to Grose. Compare the Italian sgravarsi.
Like, adv. used with a diminutive force; as, 6i her goes about and eats her
victuals like" i. e. M Though she is not well, she moves about after a
fashion." Also used in Yorkshire: Crav. Gl. and Hunter in v., and in
Norfolk: Forby in v.
Lissen, or Lizzen, adj. a cleft in a rock. (GL.)
Lissom, adj. i. e. lithesome, active and pliant. From lithe. In like manner
blissom 9 which is used in Somersetshire, is contracted from blithesome: Jennings
in v.
Lixom, adj. amiable; formed from to like, as buxom is formed from bugan, A.S.
to bow. The two latter words are also used in Cheshire: they are confounded
by Wilbraham in v. Lissom is likewise used in Gloucestershire, as well as in Yorkshire,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Devonshire, and
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7863) (tudalen 061)
|
used in Herefordshire. 61
Somersetshire: see Craven Glossary, Forby, Moor, Palmer, and Jennings, in v.
Lock, s. a puddle of water. Lake has the same sense in the midland counties,
according to Marshall. Compare the Scotch loch.
Lock, s. a "lock of wool," and a "lock of hay," are
used in the same manner as a lock of hair. The
same usage exists in Somersetshire: Jennings in v.,
and in Cumberland and Westmoreland: Gl. in v.
It also occurs in Drayton's ballad of Dowsabel, in
Percy, vol. ii. —
"The shepheard ware a sheepe-gray cloke, Which was of the finest loke,
That could be cut with sheere." — Stanza 10.
Loggy, adj. thickset, chiefly applied to cattle. From
log. Lommaking, love-making. Lompering, adj. idling. In Yorkshire, to lomper
is to
walk heavily: Crav. Gl. A various form of lumber. Long harness, or Trave
harness, cart harness,
not gears. (GL.) Lonk, s. the hip-joint. From link. See Adelung in
Gelenk and Lenken. Lanky is a word of similar
origin. Lonk, s. a dingle which is not very steep, a hollow. To Look, v. “To
look a thing " is to look for a thing. Looth, s. warmth. Perhaps
connected with the
German gluth.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7864) (tudalen 062)
|
62 Provincial Words
Lost, s. loss.
Lost, part, famished. As, “to be lost for want," “my inside is
lost."
To Lot, v. ■' I lotted to do it." I settled to do it. (Forest of
Dean.)
Lug, s. a pole.
To Lug, v.a. The same as to haul, which see.
Lunch, s. a lump.
Lunch y, adj. lumpy. Hard ground, which turns up in large clods, is said cf
to plough up lunchy." In Suffolk, Essex, and Devonshire, lunch or luncheon
means a lump of bread, cheese, or other food; and hence it came to signify an
extra meal formed of such a lump. See Moor in Lunch and Nunch, and Palmer in
Luncheon. A lunchin has the same sense in Yorkshire: Thoresby in Hunter's Appendix,
p. 116.
Lungeous, adj. quarrelsome. Also used in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, for
spiteful, mischievous: Grose in v. From to lunge.
Lurcher, s. a potato left in the ground; i. e. a lurker, from to lurk. See
Moocher.
M.
Madam is used instead of Mrs. as a mark of
superior respect to ladies. The title would not be given to
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7865) (tudalen 063)
|
used in Herefordshire. 63
any but a person of some power or consideration. A farmers wife would be
called Missus; the Missus, if the name were not added, and her servant or
labourer spoke. An unmarried young lady, if spoken of by a cottager, would
often be called young madam. For the use of this word in Norfolk and
Somersetshire, see Forby and Jennings in v.
Maggoty, adj. frisky, playful. (GL.) Forby explains this word to mean
whimsical, freakish, monkey-like, in Norfolk.
Maggoty pie, s. a magpie. (GL.) A corruption.
To Make the Door, v.a. to shut or fasten the door.
Mammocks, s. (pronounced mommocks), scraps, fragments. This word is also used
in Yorkshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and Somersetshire: Hunter and Forby in
Mammocks, Moor in Mammuck, and Jennings in Mommacks. See further Skinner and Richardson
in Mammocks. Mammocks seems to be connected with the same root as the German zermalmen;
concerning which see Adelung, in v.
To Mammocks, v.a. (pronounced mommocks), to maul, or mangle. The verb to
mammock is used by Shakspeare.
Mather, s. (the first syllable pronounced like scathe) plur. matheren. The great
ox-eyed daisy, a common weed in tillage-land.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7866) (tudalen 064)
|
64 Provincial Words
To Maunder, v. n. to talk in an incoherent manner, like a person in a state
of half-consciousness from disease, sleep, or drunkenness. This word is used in
a similar sense in Yorkshire: Craven Glossary, in v. It also occurs in
Scott's novels, and maundrels is explained by Jamieson to mean “idle stuff, silly
tales." Its etymology is obscure. From the old word maund, signifying
basket, was derived to maundy or to maunder, in the sense of to beg. Hence,
perhaps, to maunder came to signify to mutter indistinctly, as discontented
beggars do; and then to talk in a confused, incoherent manner: see Nares in
Maund and Maunder, Moor's Suffolk Words in Maandren, Palmer's Devonshire
Glossary in Maunder. Or it might signify to wander about like a beggar, and
then to wander in conversation: see Willan in Maunder, Westmoreland and
Cumberland Glossary in Maander and Maunder, and t Wilbraham in Dander.
Mauple, s. the maple. Also used in Gloucestershire.
Mawkin, s. a scarecrow. Not peculiar to Herefordshire. See Forby in v.
Mawn, s. peat. Mawn-pit, s. a peat-pit. Mawn, in the plur. Welsh, means “turf"
or "peat," in a collective sense. The singular “a turf or peat“ is
“mawnen." It belongs to a curious class of Welsh nouns, in which the
plural is the primary,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7867) (tudalen 065)
|
used in Herefordshire. 65
(because the usual), and the singular, the secondary form made by the
addition of the same syllable as is employed in the formation of diminutives,
that is "yn" in masculines, and “en " in feminines. Thus
"plant" is children, "plentyn," a child; "had,"
seed, "hedyn," a grain of seed; “haidd," barley;
"heidden,'' a grain of barley. Mawnen seems somewhat irregular in not
making the accustomed change of the diphthong into o, or ow. See Davies, Ant.
Ling. Brit. Elementa. Oxonii. 1809. p. 61.
Mazzard, s. the head or face. (GL.) An old word.
Meat, s. provender for horses and cattle.
To Meat, v. to feed. “To meat the things," to feed the animals.
Meaty, adj. fleshy, but not yet fat; as "Meaty things," fleshy
cattle.
Ment, part, mended.
Middling, adj. in good health.* "But middling,"
* Diminutives are at all times used by the poor; but in a greater degree when
they are conversing with superiors. The habit appears to have arisen from a
desire to excite compassion, by making themselves appear ill off. They talk
in the following way. If you ask, ei What sort of crop of potatoes have you?"
i! I think I shall have a few taters." They would say no more if they
expected the best possible crop. "How are you?" "Middling, or
indifferent, well," would be the answer; though the person was not ill, and
had not had an ailing for years. Though a man said
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7868) (tudalen 066)
|
66 Provincial Words
however, means that a person is not in good health. These expressions are
also used in Gloucestershire.
"We do rent a little house and bit of garden of Mr. Jones;" his
cottage and garden might be the largest in the district. <c I did take the
man his bit o' victuals “would mean his ordinary dinner, and perhaps a large
one too. So, 'He do get a drop of drink *' might mean six quarts of cider
a-day. Ask a woman staggering under a load of wood what she has got on her
head, she will answer, "I ha just been picking a few chats." (Chats
is a diminutive, meaning small sticks.) On the same principle the cottagers
amplify, when talking of those objects which are expensive to them. “How many
children have you?"' Woman. “A large family; I ha had ten." You do
not discover, until you ask a second question, “but I ha buried six when they
were babbies."
The habit of farmers and gardeners, in speaking of their respective
productions, is likewise precisely analogous to that which has been just
mentioned of cottagers. No farmer or gardener will admit times to be good, or
weather to be altogether favourable. If you say to a farmer, u Wheat is as
high now as any farmer can wish it," he will answer, u Aye, but look at
barley, and we ha had no fruit this year." So if a gardener is told that
“these are fine warm days now for bringing things forward," he is sure
to find out that there is too much or too little sun, or that the nights are
too cold or too damp. The reason of this, of course, is lest much should be
expected of them. Walter Scott uses these words in a conversation between
Frank Osbaldestone and Andrew Fairservice: “Gude een, gude een t'ye. Fine
weather for your work, my friend." iS It's no that muckle to be
complained of," answered the man, with that limited degree of praise
which farmers and gardeners usually bestow on the very best weather. In like manner,
if it were the best year of pheasants ever known, a Herefordshire keeper
would admit no more than that he had a “smart few." (See below in
Smart.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7869) (tudalen 067)
|
used in Herefordshire. 67
Millet, s. a miller, probably softened from miliar d,
Mimmockin, adj. an epithet applied to a puny weakly child; as “a little
mimmockin thing." Probably altered from minnock or minikin. See Forby in
Minnock, and Philolog. Museum, vol. i. p. 680.
To Mind, v. to watch, to look after. As “I ha left Bill at home to mind the
children."
Mint, s. a mite. Minty, adj. full of mites.
To a Minute. Accurately, not only as to time, but also as to knowledge.
Mirkshut, s. the end of the evening, the twilight. (GL.) From mirk ands/mtf;
the time when the evening closes in.
Mirky, adj. gloomy, (in common use.) As, "A mirky day," “Mirky
weather." Concerning this word, see Nares and Jamieson in Mirk. It is
used in Yorkshire: Will an in v.
Mishroom, s. mushroom. (GL.)
Miskin, s. a mixen. An ancient corruption: see
There is another expression usual among the country people, which is
characteristic of their caution. "I suppose," does not mean
anything doubtful or hypothetical, but is used as a sort of veil, when the
speaker after all is describing what he himself knows for certain. As, “There
was a pretty noise and bustle there last "night, I suppose." (i
Where and who made it?" “Oh, I saw them all fighting together at the public
for half an hour." This prevails among farmers as well as labourers.
(See Crav. Gl. in Indifferent.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7870) (tudalen 068)
|
68 Provincial Words
Nares in v. It is also used in Kent, according to Grose in v.
Moggy, s. a name used in fondling a calf. From Margaret.
Moil, s. sticky, wet dirt. The same as mullock. Also used in Gloucestershire.
To moil occurs in Johnson's Dictionary, where it is explained to mean, 1. to
daub with dirt; 2. to toil or labour.
Moiled, adj. dirty with wet mud; stuck in the mud. Also used in
Gloucestershire.
Moiled, adj. hornless. “A moiled sheep " is a sheep without horns. From
Moel, Welsh, bare, bald.
To Moither, v.a. and n. to confuse, to perplex; to be weak in mind.
Moithering, or Moithered, confused, silly; also lightheaded or delirious.
This word, under the form moider, is also used in Yorkshire: Willan, Craven
Glossary, and Hunter, in v. Moithered means “confounded, tired out," in
Gloucestershire, according to Grose; but it appears not to be known there at
the present time.
Momblement, s. confusion, disorder.
To Mooch, v. to play truant. To mouch means to pilfer in Berkshire, and
micher means a thief, a pilferer, in Norfolk according to Grose in vv. It is corrupted
from u to mich," to conceal, an old word, which occurs in the expression
“miching mallecho," secret malice, in Hamlet, act iii. sc. 2. See also
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7871) (tudalen 069)
|
used in Herefordshire. 69
Nares in v. Micher is used by Chaucer for a thief; Tyrwhitt in v, and by
other old writers for a truant; Nares in v. In Devonshire, to miche means to
scnlk or absent oneself from school without leave, and “michard" is a
truant schoolboy: Palmer in vv. (who states that to miche is derived from the
old French, but no such word as micher occurs in Roquefort). “To meech"
and “meecher" have similar meanings in Somersetshire: Jennings in vv. In
the Forest of Dean “to mooche blackberries," or simply “to mooch, 3 ' means
to pick blackberries; and blackberries have thus obtained there the name of “mooches."
The original meaning doubtless was, (as is stated by Grose in v.) to play the
truant in order to gather blackberries. Compare 1 Hen. IV. act ii. sc. 4. “Shall
the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher, and eat blackberries V* where see
the notes of the commentators. See also Crav. Gloss, in Michin.
Moocher, 5. a potato left in the ground which sprouts again. So called from
its lurking in the ground. Compare Lurcher and to Mooch.
Mop, s. a fair at which female farm servants are hired. As, “I hired Mary
last Lemster mop, and she staid with me two year."
To Mortify, v.a. to tease or annoy.
Most, adj. mouldy, soft, tasteless by keeping. Said
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7872) (tudalen 070)
|
70 Provincial Words
of a rotten vegetable. This word was also used in Gloucestershire, according
to Grose in v., but is not known there at present. Moskered means rotten in
Yorkshire: Hunter in v.
Mosing, adj. burning without a flame.
To Mouster, v. n. to moulder for compost.
Concerning the root of the three last words (which is the same as that of
moss, moist, and musty), see Adelung in Moos and Most.
Mostly, adv. usually, generally a word used by Bacon.
To Much, v. to fondle, to make much of.
Muck, s. manure. In Lincolnshire, the word muck means moist, according to
Grose in v. Muck means wet dirt in Yorkshire: Hunter in v. See further Forby
and Crav. Gl. in v.
Mullock, s. and Mullocky, adj. the same as moil and moiled, which see.
Mullock is used by Chaucer, and is derived from mull, dust, rubbish: see
Todd's Johnson in v.
Muncorn Crop, s. a mixture of different seeds sown to come up as one crop. It
is commonly applied to a mixture of wheat and rye, which makes bread of an
excellent quality. The same word is used in Cheshire: Wilbraham in v. It is
probably formed of the old word meng, or ming (whence mingle), and corn. So
in Essex and Norfolk, "bullimong"
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7873) (tudalen 071)
|
used in Herefordshire. 71
means oats, peas, and vetches mixed; Grose and Forby in v.; and in Norfolk “barley-mung"
means barley meal mixed with water and milk: Forby in v. See also Forby in
Mung. The vowel in meng or ming is similarly changed in the preposition among.
See Tooke, vol. i. p. 391.
To Munjer, v. n. to mutter, to speak inarticulately. Compare to Maunder. To
munjer is to speak obscurely from indistinctness of utterance; to maunder is
to speak obscurely from confusion of ideas. Also used in Shropshire, according
to Grose in Munger. The word is perhaps derived from the French manger.
Must,.?, ground apples, either pressed or not pressed. Also used in
Gloucestershire.
N.
Na, not.
Nailpiercer, or Nailpercer, and corruptly, Nailpasser, s. a gimlet.
Nan, an interjection, signifying that the speaker does not hear or understand
what has been said to him. This word is also used in Gloucestershire and
other parts of England: Craven Glossary, Jennings, and Palmer in v. Forby in
Anan.
Nast, s* dirt, nastiness. (GL.) Probably connected with nass, H. German.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7874) (tudalen 072)
|
72 Provincial Words
Near, adj. niggardly, stingy. Also used in the northern counties, and in
Norfolk: Grose and Forby in v.
Nesh, adj. dainty, delicate, tender. Nash and nesh are used in the same sense
in Yorkshire: Craven Glossary and Hunter, in v. Skinner, in v., says that
nesh was, in his time, a common word in Worcestershire. From nesh, (nesc, A.
S.), and not from the French niais, is derived nice, which properly means
dainty or delicate. (See Nares in Nice.) Neshe is used by Chaucer, Court of
Love, 1092. See Tyrwhitt in v.
Nichil, s. A person who pays nothing is sometimes called a nichil. Compare
the Italian annichilare. The forms nisgil and nisgul are likewise used, both
in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. In Lancashire, “cry'd no child"
means a woman cried down by her husband; in which expression no-child,
according to Grose, is a corruption of nichil or nihil.
Niscal, s. the smallest of a brood. Formed like the old word nescook, from
the A. S. nesc or hnesc, tender, delicate: see Lye in v. Other derivatives of
this word have a similar sense in other provincial dialects. Grose has
“Nestling, the smallest bird of the nest or clutch; called also the
nestlecock, and nestlebub. North country word." (The word nestling does
not occur either in the Craven Glossary or
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7875) (tudalen 073)
|
used in Herefordshire. 13
in Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary.) In Suffolk, according to Moor, the weakest
bird of a brood is called neest gulp; the youngest or weakest pig of a litter
is called the barra-pig; the youngest of other animals, pitman, or pinbasket.
See also Forby in barrow pig, nest gulp, pinbasket, and pitman. In
Somersetshire, according to Jennings, nestle tripe is “the weakest and
poorest bird in the nest; applied, also, to the last born, and usually the
weakest child of a family; any young, weak, and puny child, or bird." In
Devonshire, according to Palmer, nestledraft is “the last and weakest child
of a family." Other dialects possess different words to express this
idea. The least pig of the litter is called a cadma or a whinnock in the
southern counties, and an anthony pig in Kent, according to Grose.
Nob, s. a common name for a young colt.
Noise, s. a quarrel, a scolding. As, “there was a great noise, in the
house;" “I shall get a noise for this." This was its genuine sense
in old French; see Borel and Roquefort in v. “Chercher noise" is still
equivalent to “chercher querelle." Noxa is read by some for rixa in
Petron. Satyr, c. 96, and noise is probably derived from this word.
Nonstcal, adj. corrupted from nonsensical.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7876) (tudalen 074)
|
74 Provincial Words
Nor, adv. than. As, “about the turkeys did you
say? I dinna count 'em; but I'll be bold to say
there were better nor 50." Nub, s. a small lump of anything, a small
swelling,
the head. (GL.) “A nub of coal;" “a great nub
of a boy," a great stout boy (Forest of Dean). The
same as nob. To Nudge, v. to give a slight knock or touch to a
person. Not peculiar: see Crav. Gl. in v. and
Hunter in Knudge. Nurpin, s. a little person.
0.
To Obligate, v.a. to oblige.
Oddmark, s. The portion of the arable land of a farm which, in the customary
cultivation of the farm, is applied to a particular crop, is called the
oddmark: e. g. a farmer might say, “I have sown rather more than my oddmark
of wheat, or barley, this year.'' The explanation of this word, given in
Duncumb's Herefordshire, vol. i. p. 214, is not correct.
Odds, s. “of no odds," of no importance.
To Odds, v.a. to alter.
Oont, s. See Wont.
On, prep, for of, seems to be used only before pro-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7877) (tudalen 075)
|
used in Herefordshire. 75
nouns. As, “He ha got the start on him." “He ha seen the last on
her." “He ha drank the bottle clean; he hanna left us a drop on
it."
On the Street, in the street. “I met him on the street."
Ornary, adj. for ordinary. Shabby, mean-looking, bad. This word is also used
in Yorkshire: Craven Glossary in v..
Orts, s. bits, fragments, odds and ends. “Come, pick up your orts and away
with you," might be said to a servant who misbehaved and was turned out
of doors. Hay left in the cratch, and remnants and refuse of other things, are
called orts. An old word, still used provincially in most parts of England.
To Oss at, v. n. to set about doing, to begin to do, to show a sign of doing.
Applied to inanimate as well as animate objects. This verb is used in the
same sense in Westmorland, Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire; Westm. and
Cumb. Gloss, and Hunter in v. Wilbraham in Oss, Craven Glossary in Osse. It
is a north country word, according to Grose in v. It is said to be used in
Shropshire with the sense of to dare; as “he does not oss to do it."
Perhaps from the French oser.
Otomy, s. for anatomy, a skeleton. See Atomy.
Ourn, pron. ours.
e 2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7878) (tudalen 076)
|
76 Provincial Words
To Oust, v.a. to turn out.
Out, adv. fully. As, “not out ten years old," not having completely
reached that age.
Over the Door. Out of doors. “To put a man over the door " is to turn
him out of doors.
To Overlight, v. n. to alight from a horse.
To Overlook, v. to bewitch. The expression occurs in other counties (see e.
g. Palmer and Jennings in v.) and has apparently given rise to the proverb,
" The devil looks over Lincoln." It is derived from the general
superstition of the evil eye. See Grimm's D. Mythol. p. 623, and Crav. Gloss,
in Evil Eye.
Overseen, part, mistaken. As, " I was much overseen in that
business." The same sense is preserved in the conjugate noun oversight.
P.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7879) (tudalen 077)
|
Pane, s. a bed of vegetables, or compartment
in a garden. This word (which is commonly limited to compartments of glass in
a window) is similarly used in Norfolk: Forby in v. In the will of the Lady
Clare, foundress of Clare Hall, who died in 1313, " paane" is used
for a skirt (Royal Will?, p. 35) In the will of Henry VI. it seems merely to
mean " side," for speaking of Eton, he says,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7880) (tudalen 078)
|
used in Herefordshire. 71
" The north pane of the college shall conteyn 155 feet within the
walls" (lb. p. 300). The old sense of compartments remains in the word
" counterpane," a coverlet of chequered panes. Panel, in the sense
of a compartment of woodwork, or the square bit of parchment on which the
jurors' names are written, is a diminutive of pane.
To Pank, v.a. the same as to poll, which see. A panking pole is a long pole
for beating apple trees. Bang, bank, and pank are different forms of the same
word: see Palmer in Bang.
Pant, s. a hollow declivity on the side of a hill, generally without water.
From the Welsh. Pant in Welsh means a depression, a hollow, a low place;
pannu is to hem in, to make a depression; and pannwl is a dimple. The idea,
therefore, seems to be, something enclosed by a raised edge. Perhaps this
root is connected with pane. In Northumberland, according to Grose, a pant is
a cistern to receive falling water.
Parjeting, s. the plastering in the inside of a chimney-flue, See Nares in v.
The plaster is made of mortar mixed with cowdung, and is used only where it
is likely to be made hot; being more tenacious when so mixed than ordinary
mortar. Comp. Jennings and Crav. Gl. in v. Probably from the French parjeter.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7881) (tudalen 079)
|
18 Provincial Words
Parjeter, s. a tiler and plasterer. (GL.)
Patienate, adj. patient. Sometimes pronounced almost like passionate.
Pea-esh, s. pease-stubble. The words edish, etch, arrish, or ersh are used,
in different parts of England, in the sense of aftermath or stubble. The root
of all is the A.S. prefix -ed> which means " again."
Pease-brush, s. pease-stubble, when harrowed or brushed, preparatory to
sowing wheat.
Peazen, or Pazen, s. pease. (GL.)
Peg, s. pig. (GL.)
Pelt, s. the skin of a sheep, after the wool has been taken off. Not peculiar
to Herefordshire: see Grose and Forby in v. Compare peltry in the fur trade,
and pelz German.
Peramble, s. a long tedious discourse. Corrupted from preamble.
Perky, or Pergy (the g hard), adj. saucy, uncivil, impudent, obstinate. Also
in a good sense: in spirits, as applied to a person recovering from sickness.
In Norfolk, perk means brisk: Forby in v. " To spurk up," is to
spring, shoot, or rise up briskly, in the south, according to Grose.
Connected with the words to peer and to perk up.
Pert, or Piert, adj. brisk, in good health.
Peth, s. crumb of bread. The same word as pith.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7882) (tudalen 080)
|
used in Herefordshire. 79
To Pick, v.a. to glean. To pike has the same sense in the midland counties,
according to Marshall.
Piece, s. a field. Sometimes applied to animals and men, as, " a sickly
piece," a sickly child.
Pikle, s. a hayfork. Also used in Cheshire: Wilbraham in Pikehill. In
Gloucestershire, a hay fork is called pike or pick. Pike and pich, or pitch,
are different forms of the same word; and from pike comes pikle.
Pill, s. a small creek, capable of holding small barges for loading and
unloading. From the Welsh pil, a creek. This word is used on the Severn, and
is probably peculiar to that river, as an appellative; but it occurs
elsewhere in Celtic districts as a proper name. Thus a village on the Falmouth
river is named Pill; Pill town, in the county of Kilkenny, is situated on a
creek called the Pill near the Suir; and Pilltown, in the county of
Waterford,is on the Blackwater.
Pitch, s. a steep hill, generally on a road. See Jet.
Pitchats, s. broken glass, china, &c. Perhaps a corruption of potsherds.
Pishty, s. used in calling to a puppy, as puss is used in calling to a cat.
Also used in the Forest of Dean,
Pitous, adj. piteous, pronounced pitis in Somersetshire; Jennings in v.
Pitous is the form used by Chaucer, C. T. 8962, from the French piteux.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7883) (tudalen 081)
|
80 Provincial Words
Place, s. a house with a small quantity of land attached to it. As, "
What place have you got?" " I do live in a nice little place under
the hill."
To Pleach, v.a. to make a hedge by partially cutting the upright shoots near
the ground, and then bending them down and intertwining them between upright
stakes. An old word (Nares in v.), still used as a provincialism in many
parts of England: Grose and Moor in t\ Pleisseicum is domus suburbana,
Ducange in v. Hence Plessis les Tours and other places in France (Manage in
v.) Pleissiare is pleclere, and the name is derived from the pleached hedges
round country houses of this kind.
Plim and Plimmer, s. a plummet.
To Plim, v.a. to let down a plumb line.
Plim, adj. upright, perpendicular. " A horse goes plim;" j. e. he
is upright, well-balanced. The word plum is similarly used in Yorkshire and
in Suffolk: Craven Glossary and Moor in v.; and the word plim in Cheshire:
Wilbraham in v.
To Plim, v. to swell. (GL.) Also used in Somersetshire: Jennings in v., and
see Grose in v. Probably connected with plump,
Plock, s. a small field. Equivalent to croft, as used in other parts of the
country.
To Poche, v. " To poche ground" is to tread it when wet. A gateway
about which cattle and
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7884) (tudalen 082)
|
used in Herefordshire. 81
horses stand in winter, is pocked. Fields are pocked in like manner. See
Grose in Pochy.
Poplern, or Poplen, adj. made of poplar. See Elmen.
Poppet, s. a term of endearment, used to an infant. " Pretty
poppet." The word is similarly used in Yorkshire, according to the Crav.
Gloss, in v. In Suffolk, poppet is a term of endearment to a young girl: Moor
in v. In Norfolk, poppet is equivalent to puppet: Forby in u. The word occurs
in Chaucer's Sir Thopas, v. 13631.
u This were a popet in an arm to embrace, For any woman, smal and faire of
face."
Compare Adelung in Puppe. To Pother, v.a. to shake, to poke. To Poult, v.a.
to strike the branches of a tree with
a pole, in order to get the fruit. From pole. Pound, s. a pond, particularly
a mill pond. (GL.) Pound-stakle, s. the floodgates of a pond and the
posts and frame which support them. (GL.) Pout-ledden, adj. spirit-led, as by
will of the wisp.
From the Welsh pwca, a fiend or hobgoblin, whence
the Puck of Midsummer's Night's Dream.
" Pouke" is quoted as a spirit from the romance
of Richard Cceur de Lion in Toome's Glossary. To Poutch, v. n. to pout.
E 3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7885) (tudalen 083)
|
82 Provincial Words
Povey, s. an owl. (GL.)
Power, s. a quantity. Similarly used in Yorkshire; Crav. Gl. and Hunter in
v., and in Norfolk: Forby in v. Compare the use of vis in Latin:
" Est hederse vis Multa qua crines religata fudges." — Hor. O.
Pretty well, adv. expressive. As " He did pretty well tell him
out," i. e. roundly or fully. It is applicable to actions as well as
words.
Pricked, adj. sour, as " pricked cider."
Prill, s. a small stream of running water. From the Welsh prill, a rill.
Promiscuously, adv. accidentally, by chance. A similar use of this word
prevails in Suffolk: Moor in Pramiscas.
Pue, s. the udder. (GL.)
The Public, s. the public house. The same abridgment is used in Norfolk:
Forby in v.
To Pug, v.a. to pluck out; as, " to pug a rick," to tug out the
projecting hay from a rick, in order to put it in shape; " to pug a
horse's mane or tail," " to pug feathers from poultry,"
&c. " To pug" also signifies " to pull " in
Perthshire, according to Jamieson in v. To pug meant to steal in old English:
Nares in Pugging.
Pulfin, s. "A great pulfin of a boy," a large fat
used in Herefordshire. 83
child. In the Norfolk dialect, "pulky" means " thick, fat,
chubby, and short:" Forby in v. {i.e. bulky).
To Pun (pronounced poon), v.a. to beat. This old word (Nares in v.) is also
used in Cheshire: Wilbr. in v. In Yorkshire it is pronounced pund: Crav.
Gloss, in v. According to Grose, " to poon " or " pun" is
a north country word for " to kick." The ordinary sense of punning
is (as Nares observes) derived from repeatedly striking upon the same word.
Punishment, s. pain, in a general sense. As, " I was in great punishment
with the tooth-ache." There is a similar use of the word in the slang
language of the prize-ring.
Pure, adj. free from disease. An answer delivered by a servant to an inquiry
after a lady's health: " My mistress gives her service to you, and she
is pure." Purely has the same meaning in Norfolk: Forby in v.
To Put about, v. to teaze, or worry. As, " Now don't go to put me
about" (Forest of Dean.)
Q.
To Quank, v. to subdue. Probably the same as to
quench. Quar, s. quarry. (Forest of Dean.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7886) (tudalen 084)
|
84 Provincial Words
To Quat, v. to squat. (GL.) Quat, as an adjective, for squat, occurs in
Devonshire: Palmer in v.
To Queek, v.a. to press or squeeze down, to pinch. Probably queek, queech,
squeech, and squeeze, are different forms of the same word.
Queest, s. a wood pigeon. This old word (Nares, in v.) is probably
contracted, as well as the Scotch cushat, and the north country cowshut, from
the Anglo-Saxon cusceote.
To Quilt, v. to swallow. (GL.)
To Quire, v. to inquire. (GL.) To " lay quirance," means to inquire,
in Herefordshire.
Quob, s. a quicksand, a shaking bog. Quabbe is the Mecklenburg word for a
marshy place. See Adelung in Quabbeln, and Schlegel, as below.
To Quop, v. to throb, as a gathering. Also used in Gloucestershire, according
to Grose. See Adelung in Quabbeln, which is used of the palpitation or
quivering of fat or soft flesh. Quabbeln is the same word as wabble, which is
applied to the irregular motion of an arrow through the air; see A. W.
SchlegePs remarks on a translation of a passage in Romeo and Juliet, Krit.
Schriften, vol. ii. p. 120.
R.
Rack, s. a rude road, a narrow path, a track.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7887) (tudalen 085)
|
used in Herefordshire. 85
To Rail, v. to reel.
Raisty, adj. rancid. Applied to bacon spoilt by long keeping. Used in other
parts of England; see Crav. Gl. and Forby in Reasty, and Jennings in rasty.
Raith, or Rait, s. weeds, sticks, straw, and other rubbish in a pool or in
running water. According to Grose, "to rait timber, hemp, or flax,"
means, in the northern counties, to put it into a pond or ditch, in order to
water or season it. Compare Crav. Gl. in Rate.
Rammily, or Rommily, adj. tall and rank, as grass. Also applied to animals;
as " a long, rammily colt," means one leggy, loose, ill put
together. This word is also used in Gloucestershire: Marshall's Rural Econ.
of Glost. vol. ii. p. 331. Its root is the same as that of the verb to ramble
(rammeln, German). Ramile, which means " underwood, twigs," in the
Craven dialect, is derived by the author of the Craven Glossary from the
Latin ramulus; rammed which means "branchy" in Scotch, is derived
by Jamieson from the French ramille. It seems more probable that they are
connected with the root of ramble.
Rampaging, Rampagious, adj. riotous, ill-disposed. " To rampadge,"
in Devonshire, means, according to Palmer, " to prance about, to scour
up and down
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7888) (tudalen 086)
|
86 Provincial Words
stairs." From to romp or ramp: see Jamieson in Ramp and Jennings in
Ramping.
Randy row, s. a disturbance. Corrupted from rendezvous.
Ratch, s. a subsoil of stone and gravel, mixed with clay. According to Grose,
" ratchel” means " broken stones found under mould," in
Derbyshire; and " ratcher" means "rock" in Lancashire.
Rathe, adj. early; e.g. a " rathe hatch of birds," meaning an early
hatch. Used in other counties: Grose in v. An old word: Nares in v. It occurs
in Chaucer, as well as its comparative and superlative, rather and rathest.
The former likewise occurs in Spenser:
u The rather lambs been starved with cold."
Shepherd's Calendar, February.
The comparative form has remained in common use as an adverb. " I would
rather do so," is precisely equivalent to “I would sooner do so,"
and corresponds to the German use of eher; "das h'atte ich eher
gethan." The root of rathe and ready is the same: see Bos worth in hraed
and raft. Home Tooke, vol. i. p. 4*73.
To Rebel, v. to revel.
Reen, s. the interval between the ridges of ploughed ground. Compare
Wilbraham in Reean. Hunter
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7889) (tudalen 087)
|
used in Herefordshire. 87
states that in Yorkshire, “a line across meadows which has formerly been a
hedge or a road is called the rain?'
Rem e tic, s. emetic. Some use the expression a “remetical man," for “a
medical man." Remetic is coined out of emetic and remedy.
Reprobate, s. applied only to a common swearer.
Rheumatiz, or Rheumatics, s. rheumatism.
Rid, s. earth removed from the top of a quarry.
To Rid, v. to empty, as, “To rid the stomach," for to vomit. Also to
clear ground; whence “the riddings," as the name of a field; ground
which has been ridded of trees and bushes.
Ridiculous, adj. scandalous, morally wrong. Compare Comical and Curious,
which convey a similar meaning.
Right, s. duty; as, “I have no right to pay," meaning, I am not bound to
pay, I ought not to pay. This use of the word also prevails in other parts of
England; see e.g. Moor, Forby, and Hunter in v.
Ripple, s. a small coppice, or thicket of underwood. Perhaps the parish of
Ripple, between Upton and Tewkesbury, in Worcestershire, derives its name
from this word. There is still a quantity of waste ground overgrown with
bushes and timber, forming “Ripple Common."
To Rise, v. to raise. Compare to fall for to fell.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7890) (tudalen 088)
|
88- Provincial Words
Rochlis, s. rattle. cc The rochlis in the throat," i. e. before death.
Compare the German rocheln. “Wer scheidet dort rochelnd vom
Sonnenlicht,"
Korner, Lutzow's Wilde jag d.
See Adelung in v. To Rollick, or Rollock, v.n. to romp or ramble in an
irregular wayward manner, like a child or a puppy.
Connected with roll. See Crav. Gl. in Rallakin. Root, s. a rut. (GL.) To
Rouse, v.a. to stir up, to turn out; as, “the
chickens were in the barn; I did rouse them
out." Ross, s. a morass. From the Welsh rhos. To Row for, v. to look
for. (GL.) Rowcast, adj. rough-cast. (GL.) To Rowstle, v. n. to stir oneself
up. Used of birds
when dusting themselves in the sun. The same
as to rustle, from to rouse. Rubble, s. a mixture of stones and earth in a
quarry.
" Rubble" is explained in Palmer's Devonshire
Glossary to mean loose gravelly rubbish. Ruck, s. 1. a heap; as “rucks of
mawn," heaps of
peat. Chickens are “all of a ruck" when crowded
under the hen. 2. A rut of a road. 3. A crease.
Smooth linen, when tumbled, is “all of a ruck:"
hence — To Ruckle, v.a. to rumple, to crease. In the York-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7891) (tudalen 089)
|
used in Herefordshire. 89
shire dialect, ruck and ruckle signify “a great quantity, a heap of
stones:" Crav. Gloss, in v.; and see Hunter in v. In Cheshire and
Lancashire ruck is used, as a substantive and verb, in the same senses as in
Herefordshire: Wilb. in v. The meanings of ruck in Suffolk are nearly
similar: Moor in v. The form reck occurs in old English: Skinner in v. Ruck
is also Scotch: Jam. in v. The German ruck, the Scotch rig, and the English
ridge, and rick, are other forms of the same word.
Rudge, s. a ridge in a field. See Ruck.
Rumpled skein, anything that is in great confusion, as an account badly kept.
(GL.)
Rundle, s. a hollow pollard tree. Probably a roundle, from round.
R o st y, adj. intractable; corrupted from restive. The word used in
Yorkshire and Norfolk is reasty: Craven Gloss. andForbymv. — See above in
Reasty . The desire of converting a strange into a familiar sound is a
frequent cause of corruption in all languages. Changes of this sort are
usually made without any reference to the meaning of the word. Thus the
French rondeau became round 0, and bourdon became burden (of a song); so
bumble bee became humble bee, kink-cough became chin-cough, and gorstberries,
gooseberries. The craig
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7892) (tudalen 090)
|
90 Provincial Words
(i. e. throat) end of a neck of mutton became the scrag end; and lustring, a
shining silk, so called from its lustre, was commonly written lutestring.
Livorno was changed into Leghorn, Coruna into the Groin, and a Prussian fir
into a spruce fir (Nares in v.) Compare Disgest, Randyrow, and Remetic.
S. The 's of the possessive case is used in
Herefordshire where educated persons would use the particle of. Thus
“Monnington's parish" would, in the mouth of a countryman, mean the
parish of Monnington; in that of an educated person, it would mean the parish
belonging to Mr. Monnington, or the parish in which he lived.
Safe to have, sure to have.
Sally, s. a willow. Also used in Gloucestershire; called sallow in Suffolk:
Moor in v. See Adelung in Sahlweide, Stalder in Sale. Compare the Latin
salix.
Salty, adj. rather salt.
To Sauce, v. to abuse. As, “He sauced me shocking." Also used in
Norfolk: Forby in v.
A Say so, s. a merely nominal advantage.
Scallage, or Scallenge, s. a detached covered porch
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7893) (tudalen 091)
|
used in Herefordshire. 91
at the entrance of a churchyard: Ducange in v. shows that scalus was
sometimes used for stallus, in the sense of a seat. Hence perhaps may have
been derived scalagium. Concerning the termination agium, see Diez, Rom.
Gramm.vol. ii. p. 252.
Scambling, adj. sprawling. “Shambling" means awkward in the gait in
Derbyshire, according to Grose.
Scar, s. a precipice, a steep bare bank. This word is also Scotch: Jam. in v.
It is likewise used in Westmorland and Cumberland: Gloss, in v. and in
Yorkshire: Ray, Willan, and Craven Gloss, in?;. See Tooke's Div. of Purley,
vol. ii. p. 113.
To be Scarified, v. to be frightened out of one's wits.
To Scog, v.n. to boast.
A Scogger, s. a boaster.
Scote, s. a dragstafT. (GL.)
To Scote, v. to plough up the ground by slipping in attempting to stop. (GL.)
To Scrat, v. to scratch. Also used in Gloucestershire.
To Scrawl, v. to crawl. The s prefixed, as in slanget; while in quat and
queech it is omitted. Compare cag and skag.
Scrawling, adj. slight. “A scrawling frost" is a slight frost. (GL.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7894) (tudalen 092)
|
92 Provincial Words
Screech, s. the missel thrush. (GL.)
Screeches, s. swifts. (GL.)
To Scrouch, or Scrowge, v.a. to crush, to press together, to make untidy;
foimed from to crouch. This word, according to Grose, is also used in
Middlesex. A scrudge is a squeeze in Westmorland and Cumberland: Gloss, in v.
Scutch Grass, s. couch grass. In Gloucestershire, according to Grose, couch
(vulgarly pronounced squitch) means the roots of grass collected by the
harrow in pasture lands, when first ploughed up.
Seedny, s. time of sowing the land.
Seg, s. sedge. This mode of pronouncing the word also obtains in Yorkshire
and Suffolk: Craven Gloss, and Moor, in v. Nares, in v., gives instances of
it from old writers.
Selfish, adj. self-conceited.
To Send, v. to “go to send" is to accompany on the road; as “he is gone
to send his sister to Hereford." In like manner to “come send," is
to go to meet. Compare the Greek 7rpo7ri/ji7r£iy.
To Shift, v.a. to move, to remove. A man who changes his clothes is said “to
shift himself." Also used in Gloucestershire: see likewise Hunter in v.
Shimmy, s. shift; now used by cottagers. From chemise.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7895) (tudalen 093)
|
used in Herefordshire. 93
Shoul, s. shovel. (GL.) Also used in Somersetshire: Jennings in v. Grose in
Shool; in Westmorland and Cumberland: Westm. and Cumb. Gloss, in v., and in
Yorkshire, Hunter aud Crav. GL in v Compare the Scotch deil from devil.
Shuppick, s. a hay fork. Probably from shove-pike.
Shut, a. a shoot or spout of water. See Landshut.
To Get Shut of, to get rid of. This word is also used in Gloucestershire, as
well as in Yorkshire and Cheshire: Craven Gloss., Hunter, and "Wilbr. in
v. See Tooke, Div. of Purl., vol. ii. p. 130.
Sich, or Sish, such. Also used in Gloucestershire.
Sight, s. a large number. C| A sight of sheep, birds, &c." Also used
in Gloucestershire, and in Suffolk and Norfolk: Moor and Forby in v.
Of no Signification; of no importance. Also used in Gloucestershire.
Simple, adj. sickly, feeble, helpless.
Skeg, s. the stump of a branch; also a rent in a piece of cloth such as would
be made by a stump of a branch. (GL.) It is used in the latter sense in
Somersetshire: Jennings in v. See Cag.
To Sklem, v. to steal slyly. It seems to be applied exclusively to animals,
especially cats and dogs. Thus, “Lor, missus, if our cat hanna gone and
sklemmed all our cream." “Come out, dog, get bye, dog. If I hanna minded
him, he'd ha sklemmed aw our victuals." If this word originally
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7896) (tudalen 094)
|
94 Provincial Words
meant to steal for purposes of gluttony, as a cat or dog does, it may be
connected with the German schldmmen; see Adelung in v.
Slab, s. the piece which is sawn from a tree in squaring it. Also used in
Gloucestershire and other counties: see Grose, Crav. GL, Wilbraham, Forby,
and Moor in v.
Slade, s. a valley.
Slammockin, s. a slattern. This word is also used in Gloucestershire and in
other parts of England: Crav. Gloss, in Slammocking, Moor in Slammaken,
Jennings in Slomaking, Palmer in Slummaking. Formed from lammockin (which
see), by prefixing s.
Slang, or Slinget, s. along, narrow piece of ground. Compare Langet.
To Slart, v.a. to stain. “To slart" is explained to plash with dirt, in
Thoresby's Yorkshire words, in Hunter's Appendix, p. 122 and see Craven
Glossary in v.
To Slat, v. to slit. Slat is evidently the past participle of slit (like
slate), made into a new verb, like hoist, throng, sloken in Scotch, and many
others. Compare to Hope, in this Glossary.
To Sleave, v.a. to tear down, as a branch of a tree or a cutting of a plant.
S leaving, s. a twig s leaved off. “To slive" means to split or to slice
in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7897) (tudalen 095)
|
used in Herefordshire. 95
Cheshire: Crav. Gloss, and Wilbr. in v. In Suffolk, a sliver is a splinter or
a slice: Moor in v. The word is common in old writers: see Nares in v. Thus,
in “King Lear," act iv. sc. 2: —
'* She that herself will sliver and disbranch From her material sap, perforce
must wither."
And “Macbeth," act iv. sc. 1: —
*' Slips of yew Slivered in the moon's eclipse."
Sled, s. a sledge.
Slike, adj. slippery. Pronounced sleek, or slick, in
Gloucestershire. Slick has become an Americanism. S linger, s. one who steals
cloth yarn or the like from
clothiers, with a view to its being worked up or
finished. (GL.) To Slither, v. n. to slide. Also used in Yorkshire.
Crav. Gl. in v. In Somersetshire, “to slitter" is
to slide, according to Jennings. “To slather" is
used in Cheshire: AVilbr. in v. Sludge, or Slush, s. a wet or muddy place.
As,
"The field is all in a slush:' “The road be a
complete sludge." Hence Slushy, muddy. Smart, adj. in good health. “A
smart few" means
a considerable number. The latter expression is
also used in Gloucestershire. To Smirch, or Smouch, v.a. to daub, dirty,
stain.
An old word: See Johnson in Smirch and Besmirch.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7898) (tudalen 096)
|
96 Provincial Words
It is formed from mirk. Compare Scrawl and Queek.
Snag, $ a rough projecting stump of a tree. Also used in Norfolk: Forby in v.
In Somersetshire, snag means a tooth: Jennings in v. Snag is used in the
United States for a tree lodged in a river, and projecting from the bottom so
as to be dangerous to vessels. It is apparently the same word as nug> used
in Devonshire for a knot or protuberance: Palmer in v. Compare Cag and Skeg.
“To snag," in Cheshire, means to cut off the lateral branches of trees:
Wilbr. in v. The verb has the same sense in the Westmorland and Cumberland
dialect: Gloss, in v.
To Snag, v. to teaze, to repeat the same thing several times. (Forest of
Dean.) See Crav. Gl. in knag and snag.
To Snite, v. to blow the nose. (GL.) Also used in Yorkshire: Thoresby, and
Watson in Hunter's App. p. 123. 160.
So, “She is so," she is pregnant. An euphemismus. (GL.)
Soak, s. A “green soak," or “a warm soak," is a small spot of
marshy ground, in which a spring rises, or which is kept moist during the
winter by the action of water. It differs from a gall (which see), as being
generally a low hollow place, whereas a gall may be on a sloping bank.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7899) (tudalen 097)
|
used in Herefordshire. 97
Soft, adj. foolish. Thus we say “a hard-headed person," meaning a shrewd
or sagacious person. Used also in Yorkshire: Hunter in v.
Sole, s. a collar of wood, put round the neck of cattle to confine them to
the stelch. (See Stelch ) This old word is also used in Cheshire: Wilbr. in
Sahl. From the A.S. sal or seel, a bond or rope (whence seal). Compare the
High German seil, and in a narrower sense sahlband (Adelung in v.) The
relation of this word to sale and sally (which see) makes it analogous to
iMac 7rap' 'Iioviv 6 curb \vyov fcfffiog, Eustath. p. 834. 39. See Phil. Mus.
vol. i. p. 413.
Solid, adj. steady and serious. As “a solid child." Used in the same
sense in Gloucestershire. In Monmouthshire it is sometimes used with
reference to the intellect, as “He is not quite solid in his mind."
Soller, s. an upper floor. Also used in Norfolk:
Forby in v. The loft on which the ringers stand
is called a bell-soller in this county: Forby in v.
It is a south country word, according to Grose in v.
Anything placed in an upper room is said to be
laid "on the soller." The usage is old:
" On a so leer, as Be vis looke out At a window all about, Helms he saw
and brynnys bright.*' Sir Bevis of Hamptoun, in Ellis's Romances, vol. ii. v.
160.
F
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7900) (tudalen 098)
|
98 Provincial Words
" Some skilfully drieth their hops on a kell, And some on a softer, oft
turning them well. 37
Tusser, c. 47. s. 53.
The word solarium belongs to the Latinity of the middle ages, and is probably
derived from solum, (like “floor," applied to the successive stories of
a house.) Ducange explains it to be “domus contignatio vel cubiculum majus ac
superius," and he cites, “Chronica Australis anno 869. — Ludovicus
Imperator de solaria cecidit." There was a hall at Cambridge, which
a Man clepe the soler hall at Cantabrege."
Chaucer, C. T. 3988.
See Tyrwhitt's note to this passage, who says that it seems to have meant an
open gallery or balcony, which is doubtful. Adelung in Soller discusses at
length the meaning and etymology of this word, which he appears to consider
of purely German origin, and connected with sahl. It seems, however, more
probable that (like many other German words belonging to architecture, as
pforte, thurm, &c.) it was borrowed from the Latin. Adelung himself
states that Soller in Low German is equivalent to boden in High German. Solar
in Spanish is the mansion house of a family. “Hidalgo de solar conocido"
is, a gentleman of good family. Compare Tallet.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7901) (tudalen 099)
|
used in Herefordshire. 99
Sore, adj. “A sore fellow" means a rogue, a rascal. “A sore time"
means a sad time. It is a term of strong disapprobation: see Forby in Sore,
and Wilbr. in Sorry.
Sort, s. “A thing of a sort" means a corresponding thing: “Words of a
sort" means a quarrel.
Sould, s. soul. Compare Gownd and Lost.
Spede, s. spade. (GL.)
Spill, s. a splinter. Long thin splinters of wood used in farm houses for
lighting caudles are called spills. Concerning the ancient use of this word
see Bosworth A.S. Diet, in Spild, and Nares in Spel and Spil. The word now
used in Yorkshire is spelk: Crav. Gloss, in v. from the A.S. spelc. Compare
the German spille, and the Italian spillo. The game of spillikins is a
diminutive from this word; see Phil. Mus. vol. i. p. 681.
To Spill, or Spall, v.a. to splinter. It is used not only by carpenters to
express the splitting of wood from surfaces, but also by masons to describe
the breaking of the edges of worked stone. This word also occurs in
Gloucestershire, and other counties. See Grose and Palmer in Spalls.
Spittle, s. a spade. Comp. Crav. Gl. in v.
Splavin, ir. a great blotch of eruption.
To Spottle, v.a. to splash. From spot.
Sprack, adj. lively, active. Also used in Glou-
f2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7902) (tudalen 100)
|
100 Provincial Words
cestershire, and see Grose in v. Shakspeare has the word: Merry Wives of
Windsor, act iv. sc. 1. “He is a good sprag memory."
Spreader, s. (pronounced spreeder), a cross-piece of wood, which prevents the
traces of the fore-horses of a team from collapsing. Also used in
Gloucestershire.
Squilt, or Squelt, s. an eruption or spot on the skin.
Stack, s. a flight of stone steps up to a hay-loft, or the like, on the
outside of a building. (GL.)
Stam, or Stom, s. stem. (GL.)
Stank, s. a dam which keeps back water; e. g. in a water-meadow turfs would
be put in a shallow ditch used for irrigation, as a stank to turn or raise
the water. A stank is sometimes made accidentally; stones, bushes, &c,
accumulate in the bed of a brook, and stank back the water. This frequently
happens where a fence of any kind crosses running water. A man shutting down
a floodgate would stank back the water. Also used in Norfolk: Forby in v.
To Stank, v. The verb is most commonly used with the addition of the word
back.
Stean, s. an earthen vessel with straight sides. The word is also used in
Devonshire: Palmer in v , and in Cheshire .: Wilbraham in v.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7903) (tudalen 101)
|
used in Herefordshire. 101
Steecker, or Sticker, s. a stick to stop a wagon ascending a hill.
To Steen a Well, v.a. to line a well. Steening of a Well, lining of a well.
Also used in Gloucestershire, and sometimes applied to stoning a road.
Stelch, s. the upright post to which the sole (see the word) is attached by
means of a with. Formed from stele.
Stele, s. the wooden handle of a rake or pitchfork. This old word (Lye and
Nares in v.) is also used in Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Suffolk: Crav. Gloss. ,
Hunter, and Wilbraham in Stele, Moor in Stale, Grose in Stale and Steal. The
expression “rakestele " occurs in Chaucer: Tyrwhitt in v. The A.S. stel
or stele means a column (compare 0-7-77X77 and (ttvXoq); whence the origin of
stelch is obvious.
Stick, s. a timber tree. A riding stick is commonly called a rod or wand.
Stick, in the sense of a timber tree, is not peculiar to Herefordshire, but
occurs in Gloucestershire and other counties. It is likewise used as a
vituperative term; as “a comical stick" an ill-tempered person.
Stipe, s. a steep ascent on a road. As “when you come to the stipe."
(GL.)
To Stock, v.a. to peck, as a bird. To strike and wrench with an axe having a
flat end. Hence a stocking axe. Also used in Gloucestershire.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7904) (tudalen 102)
|
102 Provincial Words
Stockel, Stoggerel, or Stockeld, Si an old pollard tree. From stock.
To Strip the Cows is to take the last milk from them. After calves have
sucked all they can get, the cows stand a few minutes, and are then stripped.
Stub. A bull stub is a bull that has been cut.
Stuck, s. a shock of wheat.
Stupit, adj. obstinate. Corrupted from stupid.
Suck, s. a ploughshare, from swch, Welsh; whence soc de charrue in French.
Suity, adj. (pronounced shuty), -uniform. From suit. Likewise used in
Gloucestershire. Also Unsuity, irregular. As “this barley is so unsuity, that
it will not do for malting."
Sumber, s. summer. Compare Homber.
7b Swale, v.a. to split down or off. In sawing the bough of a tree, you must
take care lest the weight should make it swale down the tree. Grose says,
“swale or sweal, to singe or burn; as, to sweal a hog; a swealed cat, a cat
whose hair or fur is singed off by sleeping in the ashes. Sweal is also
sometimes applied to a candle that drozes and melts, called in Middlesex
flaring. A north and south country word." To sweal, or swale, in the
sense of melting, like a candle in the wind, occurs in the Craven Glossary,
in the Appendix to
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7905) (tudalen 103)
|
used in Herefordshire. 103
Hunter's Glossary, in Wilbraham, and in Forby. Swelan, A.S. means to burn,
see Bosworth in v. In high German, schwelen means to burn slowly; Adelung in
v. How to swale obtained in Herefordshire the sense of splitting, does not
appear. Sweltered, adj. very hot. Also used in Gloucestershire. In
Devonshire, “to swelter "is to perspire, to be overcome with heat:
Palmer in v. In Yorkshire, “to swelt " is to overpower with heat, so as
to be ready to faint away: Crav. Gl. in v. “Swelted " and
“sweltered" mean overpowered with heat, in Derbyshire, according to
Grose. “Sweldersome " or “sweltersome " is overpoweringly hot, in
Norfolk and Suffolk: Forby in v. In the Westmorland and Cumberland Glossary,
to sivelt is explained to overcome with heat and exercise, to faint, to
swoon, to die. See also Johnson in Swelt and Swelter. From sweltan, A.S., to
die: Bosworth in v. Swelten in old low German meant deficere, languescere,
ibid. The word sweltered is used in a well known passage of Macbeth:
"Toad, that under coldest stone Days and nights hast thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot."
Act 4, sc. 1.
The meaning of sweltered in this passage is
correctly explained by Steevens. "The word (he
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7906) (tudalen 104)
|
104 Provincial Words
says) seems to be employed by Shakspeare to signify that the animal was
moistened with its cold exsudations" To Swill, v.a. to rinse, to wash
out. Swilian is to wash in Anglo-Saxon: Bosworth in v., and to swill has this
meaning in Shakspeare:
•' Let the brow o'erhang it, As fearfully, as doth a galled rock O'erhang and
jetty his confounded base, SwiWd with the wild and wasteful ocean."
Henry V.> act 3, sc. 1. From washing or drenching, the transition was easy
to drinking inordinately, which is the common meaning of swill. See Johnson,
Grose, Moor, and Crav. Gl. in v. To Swinge, v. to singe. (GL.) Also used in
Yorkshire: Grose and Crav. Gl. in v.
T.
Tack, s. hired pasturage for cattle, sheep, or horses. Used in such expressions
as “taking cattle into tack," " he has found tack for his
cattle."
To Tack, v a to hire pasturage for cattle, sheep, or horses. “He has tacked
out his cattle." This and the preceding word are similarly used in
Gloucestershire. The use of tack, in the general sense of a lease, is well
known: see Wilbraham and Jamieson in v. Compare by-tack.
Tack, s. timber at the bottom of a river. Hence,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7907) (tudalen 105)
|
used in Herefordshire. 105
when a net catches in timber at the bottom of a
river, it is said to be tC tacked." Tail, s. Tail wheat or barley is
refuse small grain,
usually given to the farmers' wives for their poultry. Taken, part, used for
“took;" as " I taken it away."
This use of the participle (see Done and Known)
is exactly like the elliptical form in German where
the auxiliary verb is omitted:
(e Hier, wo mir nichts als du geblieben, Hier ist mein Vaterland."
Heyse, D. Gramm. p. 477.
The origin of the Herefordshire idiom however is probably quite independent,
and is to be attributed to mere rustic carelessness; for in High German it is
a modern practice only, chiefly allowed in poetry, and in relative and
dependent sentences. It only occurs when the auxiliary verb follows the
participle. In Swedish, the omission occurs frequently in relative and
conjunctive sentences, but not in Danish; which, as Grimm remarks (D. G. vol.
iv. p. 173), is a curious discrepancy in two closely allied languages.
Taking, s. a gathering, an ulcer, an attack of sickness. It is also used
metaphorically for distress of mind; as, “to be in a taking about
something."
Tallet, Tallard, Tollet, Tollard, s. a space over a stable or cowhouse, from
which it is usually di-
f3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7908) (tudalen 106)
|
106 Provincial Words
vided by a rough flooring made of branches. It bears the same relation to a
stable or cow-house which a soller bears to a house. The word is also used in
Somersetshire and Devonshire: Grose, Palmer, and Jennings in Tallet. This
word is probably contracted from tabulata: “^Edicula tabulis compacta, vel in
qua plures sunt tabulae usibus rusticse domus destinatae (seu potius
stabulum.") Ducange in v. Compare Soller. Or it may be derived from the
Welsh tavlawd, which signifies a loft, or the space next to the roof in a
building; Owen's Diet, in v. Tavlawd is itself formed from tavlu, to throw or
cast.
To Tang, v.a. To tang bees is to make a clatter in order to draw a swarm of
bees into a hive. An old word: Nares in v. The word used with the same sense
in Norfolk is to ting: Forby in v.
To Tansel, v. a, to punish. From tancer or tencer, French, which meant to
dispute, to reprimand, to scold, or to correct: Roquefort in Tencer,
Tantadlins, s. apple-dumplings. (GL.)
To Tap shoes, v. to new sole, or mend shoes.
Taplash, s. bad small beer. Also used in Gloucestershire. It is likewise
known in Yorkshire: Grose and Crav. Gl. in v.
Tare, adj. eager. "How tare the flies be!" From the Welsh taer,
eager, ardent, urgent.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7909) (tudalen 107)
|
used in Herefordshire. 107
Tater, s. potato.
To Tater, v. to dig or raise potatoes.
To Ted, v.a. To ted hay is to scatter hay. The word is inserted in Johnson's
Dictionary; and it is used provincially in other parts of England: Ray,
Willan, and Craven Glossary in v. See Haymaking.
To Terrify, v.a. to torment. For example, flies terrify a horse that has a
sore back; stones in the ground terrify a man digging it. This word is
similarly used in Gloucestershire, and also in Norfolk: Forby in v.
Thave, s. a female sheep, in the second year, which has ceased to be a lamb,
and is not yet an ewe. It corresponds to heifer among cattle; a heifer being
a female of the ox-kind, which has ceased to be a calf, and is not yet a cow.
Theave does not appear to be used in the northern counties; it occurs in
Moor's Suffolk Words, and Ray attributes it to Essex. It is also used in
Gloucestershire: see, however, Grose in v.
The, used as for the demonstrative pronoun this.
"The day," for “this day." This usage is also
Scotch:
" What would' st thou do, ray squire so gay, That rid'st beside my rein,
Wert thou Glenallan's earl the day, And I were Roland Cheyne? "
Elspeth's Ballad, in W. Scoffs Antiquary.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7910) (tudalen 108)
|
108 Provincial Words
These, for this. Thesun, these.
Thick, (th hard), pron. this. (GL.)
Thickun, pron. this one.
This'n, this.
Thrave, s. (drove, GL.) A “thrave of boltings " is 24 boltings or
bundles of straw. See Bolting. In Lancashire and Cheshire, a “thrave "
is generally 12, but sometimes 24 sheaves of corn: Wilbraham in v. Grose
likewise explains a thrave to be a shock of corn, containing 24 sheaves. The
word threave is also used in Yorkshire: Hunter's App., p. 126. From
)>reaf, A.S., a handful.
Threshal, s. a flail. From Thresh.
Tid, adj. playful, skittish. (GL.) It is applied to a spoilt child, in the
Forest of Dean. It denotes the possession of the qualities which naturally
belong to an animal or child which is tiddled, or petted.
To Tiddle, v.a. to nurse a young animal by the hand, to pet. Also to entice,
as “to tiddle him on."
Tiddling, s. a young animal nursed by the hand, a pet. Tid, adj. and to
tiddle, are derived from tydr, A.S., tender, weak; and tydrian, to nourish or
feed: Bosworth in vv.
Tidy, adj. honest, well-disposed. A “tidy man" is a good kind of man. It
also signifies a person who is “well to do in the world." Tidy meant
originally "punctual," “attending to tide," or time. See Bos-
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7911) (tudalen 109)
|
used in Herefordshire. 109
worth, A, S. Diet, in Tid (corresponding to high German Zeit) and Tidlic, and
Jamieson in Tydy. From tide in this sense is derived titter, more timely,
sooner, earlier, used in the northern counties: see Westmorland and Cumberland
Glossary, Crav. Gl., and Watson in Hunter's App., p. 162, in v.
Tiert, adj. tart. A “tiert blow " is a sharp blow. Compare Diern.
Tilled up, part, propped up, set up. As, “the pole was tilled up against the
house;" “that horse is tilled up too high on his legs," meaning
that his legs are too long. (GL.) Tilian, A.S., is to prepare in a general
sense, as well as to till or prepare ground. "Teeled" is used in
Cornwall for “ready." <c Are you teeled?" means, are you
prepared. 4t To teel wires " is to set wires; “to teel a gun," to
cock it. It has accordingly, in the Gloucestershire usage, a general meaning
of to put or set. “On tille," in A.S. is, “in a fixed station: "
Bosworth in v. Compare Bosworth in Tealtian, and For by in Tild.
Timbersome, adj. timorous. Timersom is used in Yorkshire, Devonshire, and
Somersetshire, and timbersome in Suffolk: Craven Glossary, Hunter, Jennings,
Palmer, and Moor, in v.
Timmy, adj. timid, irritable.
Tim Sarah, s. A sledge touching the ground in front, and having wheels
behind, is called a Tim
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7912) (tudalen 110)
|
110 Provincial Words
Sarah. This singular word appears to be derived from the Welsh tim, a little,
and saerni, Wright's work (from saer, a wright), Owen's Welsh Diet. in v. The
composition is regular, according to the Welsh practice, which resembles that
used in the Romance languages, as hotel-dieu, fete-dieu, &c. See Diez,
Rom. Gram., vol. ii. p. 338.
Tine, s. prong. The “tine of a pikle " is the prong of a hayfork.
“Harrow tines " are the teeth of a harrow. The word had the latter sense
in old English, Junius in v., and the branches of horns were called the
“tines of horns: " “protuberantiae cornuum obliquae," according to
Skinner n v. This word is still used in the latter sense in Yorkshire: Hunter
in v. From tynan, A.S., to separate.
To Tine, v.a. To “tine a glat " is to mend a gap in a hedge with dead
wood.
Tinth, or Tinnet, s. wood for tining. The verb tine and substantive tining
are used in the same sense in Cheshire: Wilbraham in v. "To tyne adhuc
pro sepire in quibusdam Anglise partibus usurpatur, si Verstegano fides
sit;" Skinner, cited by Home Tooke, vol. ii. p. 205, who also quotes a
letter from Dr. Beddoes, in which it is said, *• to tyne a gap in a hedge,"
means at present “to fill it up,"' referring to Cornwall. From tynan,
A.S., to separate, to hedge in.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7913) (tudalen 111)
|
used in Herefordshire. Ill
Tinnen, adj. made of tin. Compare Aulen and Elmen.
Titter-wren, s. a wren. (GL.)
To, adj. almost. As" she is eighty to," i. e., almost eighty.
Toady, adj. hateful. From toad.
Tops, s. a term of endearment applied to children, “Little tops."
Tosticated, fart, intoxicated; also puzzled or confused.
To- year, adv. in this year. Used like the expressions, “To-day,''
“To-night," •' To-morrow." The same idiom occurs in Norfolk and
Suffolk: Forby and Moor in Ta. It is also used in Gloucestershire.
Towardly, adj. prosperous, doing well. Same as kindly. In Gloucestershire, it
means tractable, as applied to a colt being broken; in which sense it is used
by Bacon: Johnson in v. It is the reverse of frowardly.
Tree, s. The “tree of a spittle " is the handle of a spade. Tree, in old
English, was commonly used for wood, and treen for wooden.
To Trim, v.a. to scold.
Trin, s. a flat tub, used to receive the cider from the press.
Trolly, s. a sledge used in husbandry. In Gloucestershire, a trolly is a sort
of dray, with two
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7914) (tudalen 112)
|
112 Provincial Words
wheels, used only in a town. From to troll or trawl, to drag or roll: and see
Adelung in Trollen.
Trouse, s. the cuttings or trimmings of a hedge. Nearly the same as tinth,
which see. According to Grose, “trousing a hedge or faggot" means
“trimming off the superfluous branches," in Warwickshire. Perhaps this
word is connected with to trounce; compare the two senses of to trim.
Tump, s. a mound, a hillock. From the Welsh twmp. See Anty-tump.
To Tump, v. to put into small heaps; as, “to tump scrapings on the side of
the road." Johnson has "to tump," and explains it to be an
expression used among gardeners, in the sense of fencing trees about with
earth; but he cites no instance of it from a writer.
Tun-dish, s. a wooden funnel, through which liquor is passed into casks. From
tun. Tunnel is used for funnel by Bacon, cited in Johnson in v. See also
Palmer in v.
Tunning-dish, s. a wooden dish used in dairies.
Tup, s. a ram. This old word is also used in Gloucestershire. Johnson in v.
states that it was likewise used in Staffordshire and other counties in his
time. See also Hunter and Forby in v.
Turmit, s. a turnip. Sometimes abbreviated into
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7915) (tudalen 113)
|
used in Herefordshire. 113
mit, tnip, and nip. Also used in Gloucestershire and other counties: Grose
and Palmer in v.
To Turn the Head, to tend in sickness; as, “my woman's bad a-bed, and there's
nobody to turn the head of her." Hence, to attend to, to direct; to take
care of, to educate. As, "no wonder the boy dunna do well, poor thing;
it ha neither father nor mother, nor any one to turn the head of it"
Turnpike, or Turn pick, s. the turnpike road.
To Tush, v.a. to move a heavy body along the ground without mechanical power.
To be Tussicated, v. to be driven about, to be tormented.
Tussock, s. a tuft of grass or weeds. An old word: see Nares in Thussock, and
Todd's Johnson in Tussock. It is also used in Norfolk and Suffolk: Forby and
Moor in v., and in Gloucestershire. Tusw is a wisp or bunch in Welsh.
Twichild, adj. doting, in second childhood. This word is pronounced twitchel
in Cheshire, where it has a similar meaning. It is supposed by Wilbraham to
be an abbreviation of tway-child; but this etymology seems to be doubtful.
Twitchil, in Yorkshire, means a narrow passage in a town: Hunter in v.
To Twitch, v. to touch. (GL.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7916) (tudalen 114)
|
114 Provincial Words
U.
Un, pron. him.
Un, used for in, in composition, as improper, undecent, unlegal.
Under one. When one thing is done on the same occasion as another, the two
are said to be done "under one."
Unkind, adj. the reverse of kind, which see.
Unkit, or Unkert, adj. 1. awkward, inconvenient, froward. “Uncard,"
awkward, occurs in Grose's Glossary. See also Westm. and Cumb. Gl. in v. From
Uncutf, A.S., uncouth, strange. 2. Used in Gloucestershire with the sense of
lonely, solitary, dull, which it also has in Somersetshire: Jennings in v.
Unkit, in the latter sense, is the modern form of uncwyd, A.S., quiet, or
solitary, from cwyde, speech. See Bosworth in v., who says of the last,
“hence the provincial word unhid" Skinner has “awkward;
solitarius."
Unsuity, adj. See Suity.
Untidy, adj. dishonest. See Tidy.
Up in one's sitting, sitting up in one's bed.
Uproar, s. confusion, disorder, without as well as with noise, as, “the
garden is all in an uproar with weeds."
Urchin, s. a hedgehog. Also applied as a term of
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7917) (tudalen 115)
|
used in Herefordshire. 115
reproach to a little dirty child. It is a north country word, according to
Grose; and see the Craven Glossary in v., and Hunter's App., p. 126. It is
likewise used in Gloucestershire. It is an old word, and occurs in Chaucer
(See Tyrwhittm u.J, and in Shakspeare, Johnson in v. It may be derived from the
French our sin.
Veering, s. Ploughed land is said to be laid
out into broad veerings, when many furrows are turned up on each side against
the same ridge. From the veering or turning of the plough.
Vern, s. a partner in a mine, in the Forest of Dean. See the Fourth Report of
the Forest of Dean Commission, p. 8. Probably from fera, gefera, A.S., a
partner. Hence Fere in old English; and “in fere," in company. Chaucer,
C. T. 4748.
" And when assembled was this folk in fere"
Fere or feer is a Yorkshire word for wife: Thoresby, in Hunter's Appendix, p.
110. Fere is used for wife, and also for husband or lover, several times in
the ballad of Sir Cauline, in Percy, vol. i. It also occurs in the ballad of
Adam Bell, Clym of the C lough, and William of Cloudesly, (Percy, vol. i.)
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7918) (tudalen 116)
|
116 Provincial Words
" Two of them were single men, The third had a wedded fere.
Part },st.b.
and in the ballad of the Tournament of Tottenham, (Percy, vol. ii.)
"Therfor faine wyt wold I, Whych of all thys bachelery Were best worthye
To wed her to hys/ere.'' — St. 3.
w.
Wad, s. a burden, a thick piece or mass
confusedly pressed together. As, “He ha got a wad o' hay upon his
shoulder." “He be rubbing the table with a wad of cloth."
Waiter, s. water. Similarly pronounced in Cheshire: Wilbraham in v.
Walker's Earth, or Soap, s. fuller's earth. See Murchison's Silurian System,
p. 204. Compare Grose in v. From ivealcere, A.S., BosworthzVi v. See also
Adelung in Walker.
Wallow y, Wallowish, adj. nauseous, faint or sickly tasted. Compare Crav. Gl.
in v. From to wall, that which makes the stomach or gorge rise.
Wankling, adj. weakly; as, “a little wankling child." W ankle, according
to Grose, is a north country word for weak, limber, flaccid, ticklish,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7919) (tudalen 117)
|
used in Herefordshire. 117
fickle, wavering. See also Crav. Gl. and Westm. and Cumb. Gl. in v. In
Scotch, wankill means unstable: Jamieson in v. Wankle or Wanky is weak,
pliant, in Norfolk: Forby in v. Wankel is old high German for tottering,
unsteady: Adelung in v.
Warm, adj. having a higher degree of heat than hot. (GL.) '
Warmship, s. warmth.
Warth, s. On the banks of the Severn, a flat meadow close to the stream is so
called; e. g., the Warth opposite Blakeney. Warod, warad, werod, or weard in
A.S. is shore or coast: Bos worth in v. Werder, Werd, Waerder, or Worth, in
German, is explained in the Conversations Lexicon to be “properly an island
in a river; and secondarily, a cultivated and inhabited marsh district. In
the latter sense, the large werders situated in western Prussia, viz., those
of Danzig, Marienburg, and Elbing, are well known. They are strips of land
between rivers and standing waters, without hills, and very fertile in corn
and grass." See also Adelung in Werder, and Grimm D. R. A., p. 184. Many
names of places near rivers in England, as well as in Germany, end in worthy
as Warkworth, Chatsworth, Tamworth, Isleworth, Wandsworth: See Crav. Gl., and
Grose in Warth, where it is
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7920) (tudalen 118)
|
118 Provincial Words
explained to mean a ford in Yorkshire, but is incorrectly derived from to
wade. The Scotch haugk seems to be nearly synonymous with warth or worth.
To Wastle, v. n. to wander.
Watchard, adj. wet shod. (GL.)
To Wauve over, v. to cover over, as dishes are covered at table.
Wenchen, s. pi. wenches. (GL.)
Whatsomever, or Whatsomdever, whatever. Also used in Yorkshire: Hunter in v.
Which is used in Gloucestershire with a sense between a conjunction and a
relative. Thus, “He told the landlord to bring him some beer; which he drawed
it and brought it to him." “He said, I went to Gloucester yesterday,
which I did no such thing." "I gave him two shillings yesterday;
which I have given him five shillings a-week ever since our last vestry
meeting."
Whinders, s. Only used in the expression "to break to whinders," to
break to pieces. Flinders has the same meaning in Scotch and in the West
Riding dialect: Jamieson and Willan, in v.
Whitty-tree, s. the mountain ash. Called wiggen in Yorkshire: Hunter in v.
Wisket, s. a round open basket, made of flat bands of wood. This word appears
to be also used in
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7921) (tudalen 119)
|
used in Herefordshire. 119
Suffolk: Moor in v. In Yorkshire it signifies a small clothes-basket: Craven
Glossary, vol. ii. p. 256. Grose calls it “a basket, skuttle, or shallow
pan."
Wicked, adj. fierce, savage. As, “a wicked bull or dog." Wicked is used
in the same manner in Norfolk, and probably other parts of England. The usage
is analogous to that of vicious, as applied to a horse.
Wig, s. a small cake. Jamieson explains wyg, weig, or whig, to be a small
oblong roll, baked with butter and currants. This word appears to be
different from the Scotch and north country word whig, meaning whey.
With, s. (pronounced weeth) a twisted band of wood. Also used in Suffolk:
Moor in v. Called widdy in Yorkshire: Craven Glossary in v. The word with is
used in this sense by Lord Bacon in his Essay on Custom and Education. It
also occurs in the authorized version of Judges xvi. 7, 8, 9. See Johnson in
Withe. Mr. Frere has recently introduced the word into poetry, in his
translation of the Birds of Aristophanes:
" But the strangest sight to see Was a huge exotic tree Growing, without
heart or pith, Weak and sappy, like a with." — p. 84. Compare Sole.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7922) (tudalen 120)
|
120 Provincial Words
Withy-tree, s. a sort of osier. Also used in Gloucestershire, according to
Grose, and in Devonshire, according to Palmer. The word occurs in Johnson.
From wifrig, A.S.
Wizzened, 'part, withered, shrivelled. A word used in other parts of England:
Grose, Hunter, and Forby in v.
Wont, s. (pronounced oont) a mole. This old word (Bosworth in Wand, Nares in
Want) is also used in Suffolk, Somersetshire, and Devonshire: Moor and Palmer
in Want, Jennings in Wont. It is likewise used in Gloucestershire.
Wonty-tump, s. (pronounced oonty tump) a mole-hill. Called a wont-heave in
Somersetshire: Jennings in v. Compare Anty-tump.
World. “If the world was on it," means utter impossibility .
To Worsen, v. to grow worse.
Woundy, adj. very, exceedingly. Also used in the southern counties: Grose in
v.
To Wrobble, v.a. to wrap up. A frequentative, from to wrap.
Yaffil, s. the same as hickoL Yarbs, s. herbs.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7923) (tudalen 121)
|
used in Herefordshire. 121
Yat, s. a gate. Also used in the north: Westm. and Cumb. Gloss. Will an and
Craven Glossary, in v. Compare Nares in Yate.
Yead, s. head.
Yellot, s. the jaundice.
Yourn, pron. yours.
To Yowp, or Yap, v. to yelp, as a dog. In the Exmoor dialect, u to
yeppy" is to make a chirping noise, like chickens or birds; Exm. Gl. in
v.
Several ancient preterits (of the form called
by Grimm strong) are still current in Herefordshire. The following are the
most common: —
Climb
clomb.
Heave .
hove.
Pick
puck.
Shake
shuck.
Squeeze
squoze
Many similar forms occur in other provincial
dialects; see, for example, Moor's Suffolk Words, p. 59.
All the words contained in the foregoing
Glossary have been collected from actual usage. A few words inserted in the
list in Duncumb's Topography of
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7924) (tudalen 122)
|
122 Provincial Words.
Herefordshire have been omitted, as not being known to be now current. For
the same reason, the word “Shackle," which is said by Grose to mean
stubble in Herefordshire, and the word Songal,or Songle, which is explained
in Bailey's Dictionary (1735) to mean a handful of gleaned corn in
Herefordshire (see Wilbraham in Songow), have been omitted. Boucher in v.
states that the word ammat is used in Herefordshire, where it denotes a sort
of pancake, and that it is there pronounced oamat or auma. This word appears
also to be no longer known.
The following are old sayings current in
Herefordshire: —
" If the sun shines on Christmas-day, there will be accidents by fire
all the year after/'
" If the fire blows (i. e. makes a flaring noise from the escape of
gas), wind will soon follow."
" When the wind blows on Candlemas-eve, it will continue till
May-eve."
The superstition respecting the cure of rupture, referred to by Grimm, D.
Mythol., p. 676, and supported by a quotation from White's Selborne, exists
in Herefordshire.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7925) (tudalen 123)
|
ADDENDA.
[Note. — The articles to which an obelus is
prefixed contain additional illustrations of words explained in the
Glossary.]
Babby, s. baby. Also used in Yorkshire: Crav. Gl. and Hunter in v.
Backer and Backy, s. tobacco.
Bay, s. a division or compartment of a barn or loft. Used in a nearly similar
sense in Norfolk: Forby in v.
I-Bash, s. The Crav. Gl. explains a mad-pash to be a deranged person,
stalking or pashing idly about the country.
t To Bett, v. Two distinct words appear to be confounded in the explanation
given in the text. To bett, in the sense of paring turf, appears to be
derived from peat. In the Exmoor Glossary, beat or peat is explained to be
turf burnt for the improvement of cold land, commonly called burn-beating.
The paring of the turf was called peating or beating; the operation of
burning the turf so pared was called beat-burning; the heaps of turf were
called beatings or beat-barrows, and the instru-
g2
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7926) (tudalen 124)
|
124 Provincial Words
ment used in paring the turf was called a beating-axe or iron. See the
copious explanation and illustrations in Boucher in Beate- burning, and
Palmer in Beat. Mr. Stevenson, in Boucher, seems to think that the expression
was derived from the custom of burning the heath and then beating the ashes
into the ground; but the word beating or betting is applied to the operation
previous to the burning; nor does this derivation explain the expressions
beat-burning and beat-barrows. The Anglo-Saxon verb betan, and the modern
verb bete, means to make better, to mend, to repair; and it was frequently
used with fyr or fire, in the sense of mending or making a fire. See Bosworth
in betan, and Chaucer as quoted in the Glossary. To “beet the fire " is
still used for to mend the fire in Yorkshire: Crav. Gl. in v. The expression
is also Scotch: see Jamieson in beit; it is used by Burns —
" 'Tis plenty beets the lover's fire."
(Cited in the Crav. Gl.) The term bote in our law appears to be derived from
To Bete in the sense of improving or repairing generally, and especially of
kindling a fire. "Common of estovers or estouviers, that is,
necessaries, (from estoffer, to furnish,) is a liberty of taking necessary
wood for the use or furniture of a house or farm, from off another's estate.
The Saxon word bote is used as synonymous to the French estovers; and
therefore house-bote is a sufficient allowance of
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7927) (tudalen 125)
|
used in Herefordshire. 125
wood to repair, or to burn in, the house, which latter is sometimes called
fire-bote: plough-bote and cart-bote are wood to be employed in making and
repairing all instruments of husbandry; and hay-bote, or hedge-bote, is wood
for repairing of hays, hedges, or fences." — Blackstone's Commentaries,
vol. ii. p. 35. Compare Spelman's Glossary in Bota, p. 86. t To Bewray.
“Beray, conforire. Berayed with blood, dirt, fyc. Pollutus sanguine, luto,
&c."? Junius in v. The word is used by Pope in the sense of defiling
with ordure: —
" Full in the middle way there stood a lake, Which CurlFs Corinna
chanced that morn to make . . . Here fortuned Curll to slide; loud shout the
band, And Bernard! Bernard! rings through all the Strand. Obscene with filth
the miscreant lies bewrayed, Fall'n in the plash his wickedness has
laid."
Dunciad, book 2.
In Cotgrave's French Dictionary, to beray is explained salir, souiller; beray
ed y sali, souille, merdeux; and a beraying, souillure, salissure. To bewray,
or beray, in the sense of “to defile,'' appears to be derived from the French
rater, or rayer (from rigor e), which Roquefort explains to mean
“couler," “fluer." Compare Cotgrave in rayer.
Blow, s. blossom. As, “the trees are in blow." Compare Forby in v.
t Bolting. Pease-bolt, as used in Essex, is derived from to bolt, to separate
(the word employed by
g3
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7928) (tudalen 126)
|
126 Provincial Words
millers); i. e. straw which has been separated from the peas.
*** Brouse. Compare the French bourrte, brushwood.
Btjmble, s. a large waterworn stone, found among gravel. As, “Have you got
enough stone to finish that wall? " “No, but I can make him out with a
few of these bumbles."
t Bur. Ray has “bore tree," an elder tree, from the great pith in the
younger branches, which children commonly bore out to make pop-guns of them.
t Caddling is probably corrupted from cajoling, and has no connexion with the
word scaddle, which, as Ray in v. remarks, is derived from scade, or scathe,
mischief. In Yorkshire, scaddle means wiLd, skittish; Crav. Gl. in v.
f Candle of the Eye. Compare the French prunelle from pruna, a burning coal.
t Chats. "Love of lads and fire of chats is soon in and soon out."
— Derbyshire proverb in Ray.
To Chevy, v.a. to chase; as “to chevy sheep/' Compare Forby in v.
f To Clam. A Herefordshire version of “care killed the cat," is, “care
clammed the cat."
Clinker, s. a hard burnt brick. Compare Forby in v.
Clip, s. A “clip of wool " is the produce of the year's shearing.
To Clip, v. to shear wool. Compare Forby and Crav. Gl. in v.
Desperate, adv. very. As, “the smoke do come down the chimbley desperate
bad."
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7929) (tudalen 127)
|
used in Herefordshire. 127
Eye.
tl Blessed is the eye, That's between Severn and Wye."
" Not only (says Ray) because of the pleasant prospect; but it seems
this is a prophetical promise of safety to such as live secured within those
great rivers, as if privileged from martial impressions." — Ray's
Proverbs. The word eye in this proverbial distich appears to have no
connexion with a prospect, but to be the same as the first syllable of Hand
{eiland, German), whence is derived eyot, an islet.
t Fitchuck. Fiskatte is the name given by the Swedes to the American skunk:
Penny Mag. lxvi. p. 358.
tFlannen. This form betrays its origin from the Welsh gwlanen, derived from
gwlan, wool. Gwlanen signifies flannel in Welsh.
Fresh. 1. Beginning to show the effects of better keep. Applied to cattle
improving in condition. It denotes a less advanced stage of fattening than
meaty (which see). An ox may be fresh which is not yet meaty. 2. Excited by
drinking, but not intoxicated.
Frosted, adj. frozen. As, "the turnips be all frosted''
Fruit, s. apples.
f Frum. Fram or frim likewise means tender or brittle in Yorkshire: Crav. Gl.
in v.
t To Graff. In Yorkshire, a graft is the depth of earth pierced by one
insertion of the spade, called a spade-graft: Crav. Gl. in v.
Graves, s. The refuse which remains at the bottom of the melting pot used in
making tallow candles, is
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7930) (tudalen 128)
|
128 Provincial Words
collected and pressed into oblong cakes. This refuse is called graves. It is
generally boiled with water as food for dogs.
Ham, s. a flat meadow by the side of a river, as "Tewkesbury Ham."
(GL.) Ham in this sense appears to have no connexion with ham for hamlet (the
German heim\ but to be a corrupt form of holm, A.S., which means a great plot
of ground environed by water, and just rising above it: Bosworth in v. Holm,
horn, &c, are common in names of places in Herefordshire. The word is
nearly equivalent to warth (which see), and the Scotch haugh.
To Hog, v. To “hog a hedge " is to trim it up closely, so as to make it
narrow at the top; like hogging a horse's mane.
Lattage, s. "To have lattage in his speech" means to have an
impediment in his speech. From to let, in the old sense of to hinder.
tLEAR. In the Exmoor dialect, the "leer," or “the leer-ribs,"
means the hollow under the ribs: Exm. Gl. in v
Lea sow, s. a pasture-ground, generallv containing trees or bushes. In many
places it has become a proper name. From laes or laesuw, A.S.
Maister, s. master. The same pronunciation prevails in Yorkshire: Crav. Gl.
in v.
t Muncorn. A “muncorn team " means a team of horses and oxen mixed.
Mengkorn in High German, mankkorn in Dutch, and mischkorn in Swabian,
likewise mean mixed corn: Adelung in Mengen.
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7931) (tudalen 129)
|
used in Herefordshire. 1^9
f Nor seems to be stronger than "than." The latter is merely "
then," and thus asserts that the quality predicated by the adjective
exists in a weaker degree in the one object than in the other; while
"nor" denies its presence altogether in the second of the two. The
use of ^Sxxov j> oh, where one would expect pZxkov %, is probably to be
explained in the same way. The former would be "rather nor,” the latter
“rather than." See Thucyd. ii. 62., iii. 36, and Arnold's note to the
first passage; also Herod, vii. 16. v. 94. The French use of “ne " after
comparatives is based on the same principle. “Vous ecrivez mieux que vous ne
parlez." It is quite consistent with this view that when “que "
follows “tant," " autant," or “aussi," the negative must
not be added. The same idiom exists in Italian (see Lewis on the Romance
Languages, p. 267), and in Spanish; as
"Blanca sois Senora mia mas que no el rayo del sol."
Romancero Duran. 1.13.
Out of Hand. Immediately, off-hand. Like the
German aus der hand. t Pane, in the sense of a skirt, may be derived from
pannus. To Pitch, v. to raise hay or corn with a fork. Hence
a pitcher, for the labourer who pitches. Likewise
used in Norfolk: Forby in v. Plant, s. a cabbage. Plant leaves, cabbage
leaves.
Compare Fruit. t Ridiculous. See the letter cited (p. 132) in Which. To Sag,
v. to hang down, as a beam. The word is old,
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7932) (tudalen 130)
|
130 Provincial Words
and is also used in Yorkshire and Norfolk: Crav. Gl. and Forby in v. Johnson
inserts the word, and explains it, 1. To load, to burthen. 2. To hang heavy,
referring for the latter sense to Macbeth.
" The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, Shall never sag with doubt,
nor shake with fear."
Act v. sc. 3.
Where Mr. Toilet remarks that it was common in Staffordshire to say, “a beam
in a building sags, or has sagged" In the Promtuarium Parvulorum
"saggynge, or satlynge," is explained bassatura, bassatio. Junius
has “sagge: gravitare, oneribus deprimere." See also Nares in Sagg. The
Scotch dialect likewise has this verb both in an active and a neuter sense:
Jamieson explains “to sag " by to press down, and “to seg * by to fall
down. The Low Latin assagium (see Ducange in v.), and its Romance derivatives
saggio, assaggiare, essai, essayer, are doubtless derived from to sag in the
sense of weighing. “Saggio dicesi anclie a quelle bilancette con cui si
pesano le monete." Dizion. di Lingua Ital. (Bologna, 1824) in v.
Scowles, s. excavations caused by the workings of old mines, now generally
overgrown with wood. (Forest of Dean.) In the Fourth Report of Dean Forest
Commissioners, p. 3, this word is said to be derived from the British ceawll,
caves.
Sideland, adj. A farm on the slope of a hill is called a sideland farm. E. g.
“A troublesome sideland place."
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7933) (tudalen 131)
|
used in Herefordshire. 131
f Sludge, or Slush. In Norfolk, slush means loose mud, and figuratively loose
talk; slushy means miry, and also foul-mouthed: Forby in v. In Yorkshire
slosh means snow in a melting state, like pulp, and sloshy, in a state of
slosh: Crav. Gl. in v. Slush, or slosh, appears to be formed from lush, or
losh; from which (in the sense of clammy and cloying) is probably derived the
adjective luscious. (Compare Scrawl.)
f Sole. In Yorkshire, to seal, or sele, is to bind or fasten cattle in their
stalls: Crav. Gl. in v.
Spit, s. the depth of a spade in digging; thus, fresh garden ground may be
dug "two spit deep."
t Stank. “Stanca: agger aquis oppositus, vel id quo aqua continetur."
Ducangemi?.; and stancare is to staunch, which is the same word as to stank.
The Spanish estanco means a dam, and also (most appropriately) the shop where
tobacco, salt, and other commodities monopolized by government are sold.
Stancare is probably altered from stagnare, and stanca has been formed from
the altered verb. "Stank" in Yorkshire means a boggy piece of
ground: Crav. Gl. in v.
t Stick, hi Yorkshire, a "comical stick" means a queer, sly,
sarcastic fellow: Crav. G. in v.
Swag-bellied, adj. having a loose prominent belly. See Johnson in swag.
tTAiL. “Tail end" corn was so called from its being the lightest part of
the corn, which was driven furthest from the fan.
t To Tap Shoes. A heel-tap was a small piece of
|
|
|
|
|
(delwedd B7934) (tudalen 132)
|
132 Provincial Words.
leather fixed by pegs to the end of a high heeled shoe. Hence the figurative
expression “to clear away heel-taps,'' applied to drinking the wine remaining
in a glass, as being the small layer at the bottom, t Tilled up. The sense of
raising or setting up is seen in tilt, the covering of a wagon. See Home
Tooke, vol. ii. p. 73. Year, s. Used for the plural as well as the singular;
as, “I hanna seen him this twenty year." This old usage also exists in
Yorkshire: Crav. Gl. in v. t Which. The use of which, explained in the
Glossary, is further illustrated by the following authentic letter, lately
written in Gloucestershire: —
rt Mr. and Gentlemen Present.
ft I have Taken the Oppertunity of writeing Those few Lines to your worships
to inform you that I have been served most Rediculous By the Managers of the
Parish of North Nibley. The Occurrence is this: that I Rents a house at Three
Pounds Per year, and they Charges 2 Shillings per Rate; which at the same
time my Neighbours that Rents Six or 7 Pounds Per year is only 18 Pence per
rate. This, gentlemen, is my Refuse for not Paying the Poor Rates, because i
think it is very unlawful, as i have been informed by other Magistrates that
is very impropper and Impossible for me to Do it, and Because i was Persuaded
not Do it; & they Said that i must & Should Support my Father and
have Done it for a month; which i am Sure i cannot Do it, and that people
knows very well."
London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons,
Stamford Street.
|
yn 
aith
δ δ [ˈːˑ