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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2654)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SAUCE ALONE, s. the hed^ garlic, AlUana officmaUs.
SAUGH, s. the sallow tree. W. Salix.
I :hmk oov quite obsolete.
SAVAGE, aJj^ rank-growing, Immriant
Orea applied to the dark green oofeor which indicates a laxariint ^^
Thcs wbeax or ocber pbnts are often said to be "of a good mm^
SAVATIOX, s. 1 1 » saving, economy.
i 2) pfotectkm from injury.
Old 3tew Powdl, who worked 00 a £um at Norton, alwap wore ^ ^^
SAVEIR. s. the sides of a cart, removable at pleasure. L.
^A^*^'ER, r. to savour, to relish. Also to smell appetising.
“Eto TOO like that r "Ay, it sowers weeL"
'* Tbcre*s snmmat good fth' oon, it sowers weeL'*
SAW-FILER. s. the great titmouse, Parus major^ whose note k %^^
dling a saw. Cktskire Shtaf^ vol i., p. 322.
SAW FITCH or FINXH, s. the larger tomtit. L. Parus may^^'
SAW GATE, f. the cut made by a saw in passing through timber^ —
SAWING. iMri. a term used in the New Red Sandstone quarr'^^
about RvNa>RN\ Halton, Daresbury, and elsewhere.
"Hte rroofss consisrs in cutting, by means of pick -axes, a deep,
nair^''_
^!\x^vv Srhithi a block of stone. When deep enough, the stone is
detacF'"^^ ^
uvm i:^ .vz' by means of wedges. The usual price for sawing is about i-,
S.\WMIU y. a great, clumsy fellow. Wilmslow.
SVWNKW :p, ;\ soft fcil ».
< VW 1\ *\ and KiJr\ salt
S VWT-CART, ^. salt-making term. A small two-wheeled truck wi
hi^h sides, ojvn at one end only for convenience of dischargi
or “ tipping " the salt.
They cv^ntain about tive cwt. when loaded, and are handled by one m
oAch by means of a small pair of shafts.
SANN T-MAN, s. an itinerant vendor of salt.
These men hawk lump salt all over Cheshire in small carts.
S V\\ ;\ to advise, induce.
•* Will nothing iay the?"
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 30I
SBLID, excl. an oath ; by his blood. W.
I am not aware that I ever heard this oath in Cheshire. I think it is
obsolete.
SCABBLE, V. to square up large stones in a quarry with a flat-edged
pick.
SCABBY-HEAD, s. the plant Torilis Anthriscus. Delamere,
SCAFFLING, 5. (i) a scaffold for building.
(2) an eel Halliwell.
SCAFFLINGS, s. stone chippings.
SCALEy s, salt-making term. Incrustations of dirt or lime on the
pan bottoms.
SCALE, V. salt-making term. When a man allows salt scale to form
on the fireplates, he is said to " scale his pon."
The result of scaling is the burning through of the plates.
SCAMP, V. to scamp work is to do it badly, or rather dishonestly,
such as using bad materials when the contract is for good.
SC AR, s. a rock.
Often one overhanging a river. Overton Scar, L.
^C AWD, s. sometimes hot tea is so called.
“Wilt have a cup o' scawdV*
SCawD, V. to scald.
scawd a pig, v.
In Cheshire a slaughtered pig is never singed as in many counties.
Directly it is killed it is placed in very hot water, by which means the hair
^Qd scarf-skin can be easily scraped on.
“He'd drink as mitch ale as would sccmtd apig " is a sort of proverbial
phrase applied to great topers.
^C AWM, s. litter, dust, disturbance. L.
^^AYBRIL, s. the field Scabious, Scabiosa arvensis.
^CHaRN, s. cow dung. W.
^^HaYME or SCHEME, v. to plan, to arrange, to contrive.
'* Canna yo sckayme it ?"
^HOLARD, s. a scholar.
^CHOOLIN or SCHOOIN, s. education.
i " He never had no schoolin"
“SCOLD'S BRIDLE. See Brank.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2656)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SCOPE, s. a bowl with a straight wooden handle fixed to it. Use<
for baling or skimming.
Kfiour-scope is of a different fonn, used for getting floor ont of a sack o
a bin,
A midden-scope is a bowl at the end of a long handle, used for balin
liquid manure on to a manure heap.
In salt making a scope is a wooden bowl nsed for skimming the scni
from brine.
SCOPERIL, s. a term of reproach applied to a fidgetty person. Hydi
SCORE, s, (i) public pasture ground.
The salt-marshes about Frodsham, where each £uin has the right of i
many corw-gaUs (which see), is generally called Frodsham Score,
(2) the numerical scare is in constant use in Cheshire i
counting or in computing weights.
The weight of animals is reckoned in scores, not in stones. Turnip
potatoes, &c, when got up by piece-work are paid for at so much per scoi
jrards.
SCOT, s. a Scotch beast ; but any black beast is often so called.
I have heard a butcher say he was going to kill a Welsh Scot!
SCOUR, f . to purge.
SCOUVER, s. scurry, confusion. L.
SCRAG-PIECE, s. (i) a carpenter's term for a useless bit of woo
that cannot be employed. L.
(2) a term of contempt.
SCRANNY, adj. thin, meagre. W.
SCRAPE, s, seeds or com laid on the snow, in order to get a rakir
shot at birds. L. See Shrape.
SCRAPEDAYTIONS, ) /: , • ,
SCRAPE-DISH [ ^. a careful, miserly person. L.
SCRAT, 5. (i) the itch. W.
(2) an hermaphrodite. W.
SCRAT, r. to scratch.
“Th* ens have been \ th' garden, and scnUtedxx^ everythink."
SCRATCH, s. a hanging frame for bacon. L.
SCRATCHERN C:\KES, 5. the same as Cratchern Cakes, q.v
SCRATCHERXS, s. the same as Cratcherxs, q.v.
SCRAT ll.E, s. (i) dispute, disturbance. Mow Cop.
\2S a precarious livelihood is called “a scrattk fc
a Uving/ — CioAwr Sfuaf, vol. L, p. 83.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2657)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 303
SCRATTLE, v. to scratch as fowls do. W.
SC RAUNCHERN, x. overdone fat meat. Bredbury, near Stock-
port. See Cratcherns and Scratcherns.
SCRAWL, s. a mean man. Wilmslow.
SCRAWL^ V, to crawL
SCRAWM, V* to scramble, to gather hastily together. Hyde.
SCRAWP, s. a scrape. Manchester City News, Notes and Queries
column, Feb. 26, 1881, but not localized.
SCREAK, V. to creak.
SCREEN, s. (i) a wooden settee^ something like a sofa, but with
square ends and a perpendicular back.
In some screens the back is low, m others it is high, reaching well above
tiie heads of persons sitting on the screen. The older specimens of both
Icinds are elaborately carved. The high-backed screens are often placed
ailoQgside the fire, so as to form a snug sort of chimney comer.
(2) Sometimes a permanent wall is built out from the
fireplace, and to it a fixed seat is attached ; and
this also is called a screen^ also a speer, q.v.
(3) a large square sieve reared up in a sloping position
for the purpose of sifting coals, gravel, sand for
buHding, &c.
The material to be screened is thrown against it, the small going through
9Jid the coarse fiiUing at the front of it.
^^^^R^EEN, t^.tosift.
^^^^EETCH, V. to shriek.
^^^^EEVE, V. to ooze out, to exude moisture.
An old woman in describing the appearance of the corpse of a relative
'^ho had died said, "Aw shanna go to see her again, for 00 were badly
swelled, an oo'd begun to screeve; for aw they'd putten a plate o' sawt on
^er."
It is customary in Cheshire to place a plate of salt on a corpse to keep it,
9^ is supposed, from swelling.
^^-IBE, V. (i) to mark timber by means of a tool called a scribing
iron,
(a) to mark a board with a pair of compasses so as to
make it fit an uneven surface.
^ The straight edge of the board is placed against the uneven surface ; a
pair of joiner s compasses are then fixed open a sufiicient distance ; one
point
is drawn along the uneven surface, the other marks a line parallel to it on
the board to which it is cut. The board then exactly fits the uneven
sur&ce.
^^IBING IRON, i. an instrument for marking timber.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2658)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SCROOGE, V, to squeeze.
SCROWE, s, row. L
SCRUB, s, a mean fellow.
SCRUFF, SCUFF, or SCUFT, s. the back of the neck.
SCUFF. See Scruff.
^^^^F^\^ ^- \^^ o^ garden hoe which the workman pushes
before him. It has a sharp edge, and cuts the weeds off iust
below the surface of the soil. ^
SCUFFLIN, adj. dirty, dusty. L
SCUFT, s. (i) a blow with the hand.
(2) See Scruff.
SCUFT, V, to seize a person by the back of the neck.
*'Scuft him."
SCURRICK, s, (i) particle, scrap.
“Not a scurrick shalt thou have." L.
(2) applied to people to indicate the whole number
the whole band. Hyde. • '
“Every scurrick of them."
SCURVY GRASS, s. Galium Aparine. W.'Ches.
SCUTCH, s. (i) Triticum repens and other creeping rooted grasses.
Also called Scutch-grass.
(2) a blow with a whip or a switch.
(3) a switch, a whip.
(4) a bricklayer's hammer with two faces for cutting
bricks.
SCUTCH, r. (i) to whip.
“Scutch behint, mester ; scutch behint," the boys shout to the driver of
n carriage when a young urchin is hanging on behind.
(2) to face blocks of stone by chipping the surface
with a small sharp pick.
SCUTTER, V. (i) to scramble away in a hurry.
(2) to scatter anything which is to be scrambled for.
Years ago they used to scutter money at weddings.
SCUTTLE, s. a small piece of wood pointed at both ends, used at
a game like trap-ball. W.
I presume this is what is now generally called a cat.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 3OS
S£AL, s. a wart on a horse. L.
SEAM, V. (i) to sear new cheeses with a hot iron, so as to close up
all surface cracks, in order to prevent cheese Hies
from entering to deposit their eggs.
(2) to sew a seam.
SEAM-RENT, /jff. (i) (or SHEEAM-RENT), said of a shoe when
the upper leather begins to part from
the sole. Mobberley. SHEM-RENT
(Middlewich).
(2) also used figuratively when one part of any-
thing separates from another part.
SEARCE or SEARCER, s. a peculiar kind of sieve described by
Randle Holme.
"The Scarce or Scarcer^ it is a fine Sieve with a Leather cover on the
top
and bottom of the Sieve Rim, to keep the Dant or Flower of any Pulverised
Substance that nothing be lost of it in the Seardng.'* — Academy of AAnory^
Bk. HI., ch. viii, p. 337.
SEARCHING, part, adj, penetrating.
Goose grease is in great repute to rub on the chests of children when they
have a severe cold, beqiuse '* it*s so searchingj**
SEATH or SEETH, x. an old word, found in some legal documents,
for a brine-pit. L. See Sheath.
SEAT-ROD or PUNCH-ROD, s, a smith's tool, mentioned by
Randle Holme. See Punch Rod.
Now called a set-rod,
SEAVE, s. a rush.
It is generally used for a rush drawn through melted grease, which in the
northern counties serves for a candle. W.
SECK, s. a sack.
To “ get th' seek " is metaphorical for being discharged from service.
To “give th* seek a turn" is equivalent to the ordinary expression
"to
turn the tables." See Shutting.
SEDCOCKL, s. the missel thrush, Turdus visdvorus, Mobberley.
SEDGECOCK (Middlewich). See also Shellcock and
Shercock.
SEDGECOCK. See Sedcock.
SEECH, SECH, SIKE, or SYKE, s, a spring in a field, which,
having no immediate outlet, forms a boggy place. W. See
Sake.
SEECHY, adj. boggy. W.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2660)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SEED, V* perf. tense of see.
SEED-HOPPIT, 5. a basket from which a sower sows his seed.
It is slang round the neck by a strap, and has a wooden handle standing
ap from the oater edge, which the man grasps with his left hand.
SEEING GLASS, s. a looking glass.
Mentioned in an inventory of property belonging to Margery Glutton of
Nantwich, i6ii. — Local Gleanings, Feb., 1880, p. 298.
SEENY, s. senna.
SEET, s. (i) sight.
(2) a great number, or quantity.
"Aj^^/o'folk."
SEET, V. perf, tense of sit.
SEETCH, V. to seek.
SEETLY, adj\ sightly. Is generally used in the sense of handsome.
* * A seetly wench " is a handsome girl. W.
SEG, 5. (i) a lump of skin inside the hand, where it has been
thickened by hard work.
(2) a bull castrated when full grown.
SEGGED, part, (i) hardened; said of hands when the skin is
thickened by hard work. Wilderspool.
(2) castrated, but only applied when the operation
is performed on full-grown animals.
SEICHE. See Sighe.
SEL, /r^«. self.
Used only in the compounds myselt yourself kissel, hersel, &c.
SELL SHOP, V. to keep a shop. Mow Cop.
It b locally said of a trades-person that “he sells shop,**
SELT, s, chance, a thing of rare occurrence. W.
SEN, V, plural of the present tense of say.
“They««so."
SEN EVE, V, a corpse which begins to change is said to seneve; so
is joiners' work, which begins to warp. W.
SENNA, s, a sinew.
SENNA-GREWN, part, stiff in the sinews, or rather having the
sinews contracted.
“AwVe getten th* rheumatics so bad, aw'm welly j/iffia-^/vwiv."
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2661)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 307
S£R.G£, s, any flaglike water plant, especially the balrush. lypha.
SERROP, s. syrup.
SESS, s. a heap, a pile. Mow Cop.
SESS, 9. (i) to soak straw with water in preparation for thatching.
(2) to pile up boards for seasoning.
(3) ^o P^^ up bricks or slates neatly.
SESS-YED, s, a turf-getting term ; the face of turf which has not
been got standing high up above the land from which the turf
has been removed.
SET", s. (i) a cutting of a potato or a small potato for planting.
(2) salt-making term. When the crystals of bay-salt begin
to form upon the strings and thorns, the pan is said
to have a good or a bad set according as the crystals
are large or small
(3) a blacksmith's tool for cutting into hot iron, it is held in
the bend of a twisted hazel rod ; also called a Swage.
(4) a place where carts are habitually loaded or unloaded.
The raised platform in front of a mill is called the " wJXL-sei"
Carts are loaded at a coal-pit at the set.
^^T, tf. (i) to harden.
Mortar s^s when it becomes hard, and jelly sets when it solidifies.
(2) to let work by piece.
(3) to let a house or land to a tenant
(4) to accompany.
"Ill set 3rou a piece of the way" means “ 1*11 go a little way with
you."
(5) to plant.
(6) to place a cart ready for loading or unloading at a raised
platform, such as is seen in front of a mill.
(7) to put together, a cheese-making term.
Setting a cheese is mixing the evening's and the morning's milk in ihe
^^eoe-tub, adding the rennet, raising all to the proper temperature, and in
fact
'^^akiog all the preparations necessary for the coagulation of the curd.
^ DOWN, v» salt-making term. To prepare.
When a pan is prepared for making a particular kind of salt, it is said to
^ set down for it. In salt-makers* language a pan is spoken off as “ she.
"
^ IN, V, to put bread into the oven.
^^-OFF, s. a projection in a building, or perhaps more correctly
\ it is the portion of the wall which recedes that should be called
^ a set-off.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2662)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SET-OVER, s. (i) an applicatbn of manure to a field
When manure is fredy applied, the £uiiier is said to be giving his field
* * a good set -ever. "
(2) a projecting cover to the top of a wall.
SET OVER, V, salt-making term. When a thin film is formed over
the pan it is said to be set over.
SET-ROD, 5, a hazel stick twisted round a blacksmith's pur^«*^
with which it is held whilst punching or cutting red-hot i^^^'
See Seat-rod.
SETTING-STICK, s. a short pointed stick, used for plan^^^^
cabbages.
Generally made out of a broken spade handle.
SETTLE, 5. (i) a long wooden seat; the same as Screen (i).
(2) any bench or frame for supporting heavy
Thus a barrel of beer might be said to be stillaged ''on a stone settled
SETTLE STONE, x. a hollow stone for washing on. L.
SETTLINGS, s. sediment
SHACKUSSIN, adj. shambUng.
SH.\nE, s. ashed.
SH AUED, part, sheltered — not only from the sun but from wind, &
“Th* plants *11 grow weel uppo yon bed; its shaded from tS"
east H-yn
SMAOOM,
SU KF.nOM,
SllKKAlXmJ
adj. surprising, strange, past belief.
*' It*s sh^tdom:'
sn.VKFl.lN AND HAFFLIN, idiom, undecided, shilly-shallyin -^r
“i.V*s skafltM and hafflin^ and conna tell whether oo*ll gie
Kmvl up v»r not.”
sH Vi.U«V MK TAU i. salt-mining term. Porous clay in the side <
iho 5^hat\» which aihnits the ingress of fresh water. Also calM ^
liKvw M vKi. atul Horse-beans.
^' • \KF. > v^^ *^ nitflo.
“M\ u\ou wou ihc picture in a skedU"
Aiv xciy UvhviuMe amongst the country people. Guns, watcb«s»
' s v;v\ xs\ s Nsvciv^* nr* •j*kj>5s and a host of other things arc
constantly being
Hic thi
^ v> '^vvtM.v Hic throwing of dice decides the'ownership.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 309
(2) a crack in growing timber.
(3) a shivering fit.
“I doubt oo's in a bad way ; oo's had a shake,"
(4) a permanent diminution of health.
“He's not what he was last summer ; that illness he had at th'
back eend has gen him a shake J**
SHAKEBAG, s. a worthless, improvident fellow. Wilmslow.
I SHAKEN, part. adj\ (i) a tree of which the timber is cracked
longitudinally is said to be shaken,
(2) also said of a person wanting in intellect.
SHAKERS, s. quaking grass, Briza media.
SHAKING ASP, s. the aspen tree, Populus tremula. Macclesfield.
SHAKIT,
s.
a child's night dress. Manchester City News, Notes
and Queries column, Feb. 12, 1881 ; but not localized.
This seems a very unusual word, and I am inclined to think it a misapprehension
of night-jacket.
SHALE, v. to clear peas or beans from their pods. W. More
frequently Shull.
^HaM, v. to tread out a shoe on one side.
^HaMMOCKIN, adj. ungainly, clownish. See Shommakin.
^HaNDRY, s. a spring-cart.
^HaNKS galloway or SHANKS PONY, s. used meta-
phorically to signify that a person walks.
“How did you come ?" “ Oh ! uppo Shanks Galloway.''''
SHaNNA or SHONNA (before a consonant), SHANNER or
SHONNER (before a vowel or h mute), v. shall not
^HaOUT, v. to shout. Wilmslow.
SHAOUTER O' GATLEY (Shouter of Gatley), idiom, any loud
. spoken, boisterous person was formerly so called. Wilmslow.
I SHAOUTERS, s. shouters. Applied to currants in bread or in a
■ pudding when they are very few and far between. Wilmslow.
B SHAPE, s. the pudendum of an animal
SHAPE, v.
(i) to begin, to set about anything.
To “shape for gooin'' means to prepare to go.
(2) to do a thing properly, to promise well.
A young beginner “shapes well”
or "shapes badly" as he begins his work well
or ill.
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310
CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SHARAVIL,
s.
a potato fork. Combermere.
SHARP, adj. (1) cold, frosty.
"Its very sharp, this morning.''
(2) pungent in taste.
“A good sharp
cheese.”
(3) quick, active.
“Now, look sharp," i.e., " Be
quick.”
(4) quick-witted.
“Oo's a sharp
little wench.”
SHARPS, s. (i) a very coarse quality of flour, frequently useA
pig food.
(2) metaphorical for needles, or perhaps more corre^^*^
an idiom meaning " at your 0¥m risk."
"If you come on to (1.^., attack) me, yoa come 00 yoar jJkarfs^
tailior said when he shewed his needle,** is a sort of proverbial
expressiois-'-
SHATTERY, adj. hair-brained, giddy. W.
SHAVER, s. a mischievous person.
SHAW, s. a wood. L.
SHAWM, s. a hautboy.
The instrument was always so called by old people about Wilmslow fifty years since.
SHEAR, V, to reap com with a sickle.
SHEARER, s, a reaper.
SHEATH, s, (i) a part of a plough, described by Randle Holme^
“The Sheathy is the Iron which holds the Beam and Throck together.'''^
Academy of Armory^ Bk. III., ch. viii., p. 333.
(2) salt-mining term; the old name for a brine-shaft:: ^
The street in Northwich where the old brine-shaft was is still called Shef^ ^
Street.
SHED, 5. difference.
"There is no shed between them " is a common saying.
It is also used for the hair of the head falling to the right and left. W -
SHED, 7'. to surpass or divide. W.
SHEEAD or SHEED, s, weaving term ; the crossing of the bunchm
of warp through which the rods pass.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2665)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 31 1
SHEED, V. (i) to shed, to spill.
Used both as regards liquids and dry substances.
“the litle boy had a home
of red golde that ronge ; '
he said, ' there was noe Cuckolde
shall drinke of my home,
but he shold ith sheede
Either behind or befome.' "
—"Boy and Mantle," Percy MS., Hales and
Fumivall ed.
"Th* aim's sheedin i* th' field."
(2) to slope.
SHELL BOARD, s, one of the parts of a plough, enumerated by
Randle Holme. Academy of Armory, Bk. III., ch. viii., p. 333.
SHELLCOCK, x. the missel thrush. See Sedcock.
SHELL MARL» x. a shaly marl found between the upper beds of
the new red sandstone.
SHELLY, adj, (i) not thriving; applied to hide bound cattle which
do not grow well.
(2) salt-mining term. Applied to marl having flakes
of limestone in it; or which being foliated
cleaves into flakes.
SHEM-RENT. See Seam-rent.
SHEPSTER, s. (i) a starling. Stumus vulgaris.
(2) a worthless fellow. Wilmslow.
SHERCOCK, s. the missel thrush. See Sedcock.
SHIFT, s. contrivance, handiness. Wilmslow.
“HeVnoo shift in him."
SHIFT, r. to change the clothes of a sick person.
“He was na shifted of a month."
SHIM, adj. a clear bright white. W.
SHINGLES, s. "laths or clefts of wood to cover houses with."
(Bailey.)
Mentioned in an inventory of property belonging to Margery Glutton of
Nantwich, 1611. — Local Gleanings ^ Feb., 1880, p. 301.
Probably the shingles mentioned in the inventory were broad laths upon
which to lay thatch.
SHIP, i. " so they call a great cistern by their panns sides, into
which the brine runs.*' — (Nantwich, 1669) Philosophical Trans-
actions^ vol. iv., p. 1065.
312
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2666)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SHIPPON, s. a cow-house.
SHIRT ONE'S-SELF, v, to put on a clean shirt for Sunday.
It is customary for farm labourers, who live in the fanner's house, to ha
their washing done at their own homes, or at the house of some relative
friend. They go home on Saturday night, or on Sunday morning, and
on a clean shirt, leaving the dirty one to be washed agamst the next wee!
end. This is called " going home to shirt him,**
SHITTER OFF, v. to trickle off, as small coal or gravel woul
trickle off a cart when the backboard is removed. Wilmslow.
SHIVE, s. a sUce. SHEIVE (Wilmslow).
SHOAF or SHOFE, s. a sheaf of corn. W.
SHOAT, s. (i) a young pig between a sucker and a porker.
(2) a term of contempt applied to a young person.
SHOG, V. to jolt. Wilmslow.
SHOMMAKIN, adj. shaky.
.*— w
''Tha talks abite bein sober, bu* tha*rt desperate skomimakin,
J. C. Clough.
SHONNA. See Shanna.
SHOO, s, a shovel or spade.
“Th' sexton has shaked his shoo at him " is a Cheshire saying, meanit
that a man is so ill he is not likely to get better.
SHOO, V. (i) to shovel anything up with a spade; but not to dig
the ordinary sense of the word.
To clean a ditch is to " shoo it ite."
(2) to drive anything away, as hens from a garden.
Generally accompanied with the exclamation, “ Shoo! Shoo !"
SHOO, excL used when driving anything away.
SHOOINGS, s, the scourings of ditches or of the sides of roads.
SHOON, s. plural of shoe.
"He'll dee in his shooft " is synonymous with saying that a man
will
hanged.
SHOOT. See Shute, which is the more correct pronunciation.
SHOOTER BOARDS or SUITER BOARDS, s. boards plac:^^
between two cheeses in the press. Nantwich. Local GUafiim^Sj
Feb., 1880, p. 301.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 313
SHOOTHER, s. a shoulder.
“To put one’s shoulder out” is an idiom meaning
to take offence.
I heard an altercation between a woman in Runcorn and the driver of a
coal dealer's cart. It appeared from the conversation that the coal dealer
had been charging too much, and the woman had bought coals cheaper from
some one else, and that the original coal dealer was aggrieved thereby. The
woman finished her harangue by observing, '* There's plenty of coal for less
money, and whatll pee one *11 pee another ; he's no need to put his shoother
ite abite his coal."
OOTHER, V. to shoother (or shoulder) a pig is to stick it clumsily
so that the knife touches the shoulder.
The portion so damaged does not bleed quite freely, and often will not
take the salt.
OOTHER-WARK (shoulder- work), s, any work that is con-
tinuously hard.
Used figuratively from a horse drawing a load up hill, of which it is
said, " It's alius uppo th' shoother."
OOTS, s. salt-making term. Broken stoved salt.
ORING, s. a lean-to, or shed, built against another building.
SI-lORT-BACK, s. a name given by slaters to a particular sized
^ey slate. See Long-back.
S ^~I ORT-TURN, s. hatting term, a treating given to workmen when
in search of employment.
SHORT-WAISTED, adj. applied figuratively to a short-tempered
person.
^^^^OT, s, an alehouse reckoning.
'-HOLE, s. the hole made in rock for blasting.
OULDIER, s. a soldier.
S^OULDNA, j,.3houldnot
OULDNER,
OUTING DEAF, adj. a person is called so who is so deaf that
you must shout to him. L.
^ ^^OVERING, s. a shoring or penthouse.
This is an old word found in Cheshire documents of the sixteenth century,
Vat now obsolete, or contracted into shoring, — Cheshire Sheafs vol. ii. 202.
^^OVES, s. broken pieces of hemp stalk.
*' Shoves, are the small breakings of the Hemp or Flax Stalks, which
often sticketh in the coursest sort of them." — Academy of Armory, Bk.
III.,
ch. iii., p. 107.
^*^K.APE, s. com or seeds laid for birds. Wilmslow See Scrape
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SHROVE TUESDAY, 5.
A curious custom prevails about MoBBBRLBY and AsHLBY. Everyoi
tries to eat as many pancakes as he or she possibly can. Anyone who i
stcpiued^ that is, who cannot get through his pancakes, is carried out by t^
rest and tumbled on to the midden.
SHUDES, s. husks of oats, sifted from the meal.
Bacon is often stowed away in a chest amongst shoods; it is supposed
keep it free from reesU Occasionally oat shoods are ground up very fine
the purpose of adulterating oatmeal and other pig-meat ; but very few mille
care to grind it, as it gets so hot that there is considerable danger of
the mill on fire. A street in Manchester, occupied almost ezdusiTeiy
cheese and bacon factors and wholesale provision dealers, is called Shude-hi:
It is said to have derived its name from the shoods which were constant
being emptied out from the bacon stores ; but it is probable that the name
far older than the bacon and cheese stores, for the old manorial mill
situated just below Shude-hill, and it has been conjectured that the sbi
were carted from the mill and spread on the road to make the hill passable
slippery weather.
SHUF, s, (i) a shoe.
(2) a shovel. Hyde.
SHULL, IK to shell peas or beans.
SHUPARIOR, adj. superior.
SHUSY, prop, name, diminutive of Susan. Mobberley.
SHUTE, s. (i) a suit of clothes.
(2) the weft or woof which is shot across the warp
silk-weaving.
(3) a spout for rain water.
(4) diarrhoea in cattle.
SHUTE, v.{\) to suit.
A father came to recommend his daughter as a servant, and finished
the list of her good qualities by saying, “Th' place *I1 shuie her, an'
shutc th' place.
(2) to have diarrhoea.
(3) salt-mining term. To ignite the fuse in blasting.
SHUTEABLE, adj, suitable.
SHUTER, s. an animal that has chronic diarrhoea, indicating thai
is unsound, or, as is commonly called, " rotten."
SHUT OF, prep, free from.
To get shut (7/"a man is to get rid of him.
SHUTTANCE, s. riddance from a troublesome person or thing.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 315
FiUTTING, s. a harvest custom which, since the introduction of
reaping machines, is almost, if not quite, obsolete.
This could hardly be called a harvest-^m^ custom, as it took place, not when the last load was brought home, but
when the last field of com was cut
Generally it was only those farmers who had finished in pretty good time who ventured upon a shutting. Those who
were very much behind- hand did not
care to let their neighbours know they had been so dilatory. There was a sort of friendly rivalry as to
who should finish first. The shutting
took place in this wise : The men used first to come to their master and ask permission to go through the
ceremony, which, being granted, they proceeded
to the highest ground on the farm, or near Uie homestead, where their voices could be heard a long way off,
and there formed a ring. One of them
then acted as spokesman and give out the twrniny, which in the Cheshire language means an oration. The
first nominy was as follows, and was
always given in the recognised form : — *' Oh, yes ! oh, yes ! oh, yes ! this is to
give notice
That M ester *01Iand *as gen th* seek a turn.
And sent th* owd hare into Mester Sincop's standin cum."
Then they took hold of hands, and,
bending down, shouted at the top of their
voices a prolonged and most unearthly " Wow ! wow-w I wow-w-w !" Other nominies followed, varied according to
the taste and oratorical powers of the
spokesman, having reference to special circumstances, such as j|[ratuities, donors, &c. After the
shutting the men had an extra allowance of beer ; and in the evening a supper, to
which their wives generally sccompanied
them. In West Cheshire the custom called "Cutting the neck " (which see) took the place of
the shutting of the middle and north- «astem
parts of the county. See also Seck.
-1^ UTTING A PIT, part is a marling term, and implies that the
xnarlers have ceased to " yoe " marl out of that pit. L.
BBED, adj, related to, of kin to. W.
£, adj. long, trailing.
Used in Skinner's time ; e.g. , “ I do not like side frocks for little girls.
" L.
E or SIDE UP, v. to put away, to make a place tidy.
To side up the kitchen is to arrange it and put away all that has been in
u.se and is not required any longer.
To side up the dinner things is to wash all the plates and dishes and put
them away.
The word is even occasionally used for burying a person.
*' My mother '11 come back from Hale when they'n sided owd
Kirkley."
'■^E-BOARDS, s, boards to raise the sides of a cart. See Cart.
^^E-RAZZERS, s, building term. The purlins of a roof. Kelsall.
*-^E-RAILS, s. part of the harvest gearing of a cart. See Cart.
^ Lands, s, sloping ground is said to be "on the sidiands''
*-^LE, v. to move sideways in a fidgety manner.
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316 CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SIFTINGS, s. salt-making term. The waste and large salt that
passes over the sieves.
Generally what passes through sieves would be called siftings.
SIGHE, s. a sieve or strainer ; also spelt Seiche.
From an inventory of property belonging to Margery Glutton of ^
i6ii.
"Farmers still say *sigA the milk,' i.e., strain it to take out t
&c, that may have fallen into the can during milking.*' — Loca/ C
January, i88o, p. 265.
SIGHT, s, a great number ; a great quantity. Also Seet.
“A siiht o' folks. " "A xi^A/ o' butther."
SIKE, z;. (i) to sob.
“Th* poor babby does nowt bu' sike"
(2) to sigh.
“What are you sikin for?"
“Every time you siJ^, you lose a drop of heart's blood," is a
saying.
“on his bed side he sette him downe,
he stked sore and fell in swoone."
— “ Eger and Grine," Perc^ Folio MS,, Ha
Fumivall ed.
SILE, 5, (i) soil (earth).
(2) soil (a stain).
SILE, V. to soil, to dirty.
SIMNELL, s.
'* Is a thick copped Cake or Loaf made of white bread knodden
Saffron and Currans." — Academy 0/ Armory , Bk. III., ch, vi., p. 2
Simttfls are still eaten on Mid-Lent Sunday in Lancashire,
ceased to be a Cheshire speciality.
SIMON, s, a log for a fire. Wilmslow.
SIN,/r^. since.
SINK-DITCH, s. a wide deep hole, or ditch, into which the < of a farm yard runs. The liquid manure which collects in it is
soaked up with peat s dead leaves, and
any rubbish of that kind that will rot and alsocoUec ment. The solid contents are shooed out
periodically for putting on
SINK-FENCE, s. a sunk fence.
K rr, €xcl. almost equivalent to damn tt
"Damn it an' sink it, mon, tha'll kill th' tit."
tfii alto used.
when ducks filter dirty water through their b
o ht sifpering. Mobberley.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 317
SIRRY, s, sirrah, a contemptuous term often used to dogs. W.
Surry is the word now more commonly used.
SISS, V, to hiss.
SITCH, adv. such.
SITHEE, exci. look you !
Also very frequently used in setting a dog at anjrthing.
SITHERS, s. scissors.
SITTEN,/tfr/. (i) stunted.
"That tree will grow no more, its quite sitten,"
Also used adjectively, "its a poor, sUttn thing."
(2) burnt.
* * Siiten porridge. ' * L.
SITTERS, s, roots of trees left in hedges after felling timber.
Norton.
i>lVHl^ s, a sieve.
“Sives or Riddles.*' — Academy of Armory, Bk. III., ch. viii., p. 337.
SIX O'CLOCK, metaphor.
“It*s welly six d clock with him ;" said of one evidently failing. L.
SIXT, adj, sbcth.
SKaoO or SKEOO, s. school.
SKaveNGERS, s, officers appointed in the seventeenth century by
the lord's court of burgesses of North wich. L.
I believe these officers are still appointed at most Courts Leet.
SK.6EACE, adj. scarce. W. Ches.
S«^EER, v. (i) to rake out, applied to a fire.
“Sketr th* ess," 1.^., rake out the ashes.
“Skeer your own fire " is a sort of proverbial expression.
(2) to frighten, to startle.
SKEERED, part, adj. afraid. Delamere.
“He*s sheered like, i'th' dark."
^*^ELLERT, adj. crooked, out of the perpendicular.
SKELP, s, a sharp stroke. Wilmslow.
^*^ELP, z^. (i) to leap awkwardly, as a cow does. W.
(2) to strike sharply. Wilmslow.
(3) to pare off uneven surfaces.
^^Skelpin a stack" is raking the sides smooth, or, in the case of a
corn-
stack, cutting the rough ends of the straw with a scythe.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SKEN, z/. (i) to squint.
(2) to look furtively, to peer.
SKEP (Hyde), SKIP (Mobberley), s. a hamper.
SKERRY BLUES, abbreviated into Skerries, s. a variety of potato.
SKEW or SKEWBALD, adj. spotted or piebald. Wilderspool.
In most places, however, skewbald is brown and white, in contradis-
tinction to piebald^ which is black and white.
SKEW-UP, V, a builder's term.
It means finishing off the brickwork of a gable after the roof timbers are
put on, by building it up to the level of the spars.
SKEW-WIFT, V, to place anything comer-wise.
SKEW-WIFTER, s. an unexpected blow.
*' He gen him a skew-wifter wi' his left hond."
SKEW-WIFTER, adj, twisted. Wilderspool,
SKILLET, s. a brass pan.
SKIM, z;. (i) to plough a very shallow furrow preparatory to cover-
ing it with another and deeper furrow.
The whole operation is called Trench-Ploughing, q.v.
(2) to skim wheat is to soak it in brine or some chemical
solution, by which means the germs of parasitic
fungi are destroyed The light grains, which are not
likely to germinate, also float to the surface and are
skimmed off.
SKIM-BOARD, s. salt-making term. A peculiar piece of wood for
skimming the flakes from the surface of a pan making bay-salt.
SKIM-COULTER or SKIM-COOTHER, s, a small coulter
attached to the front of a plough, which skims off and turns the
sod preparatory to its being covered by the regular furrow.
SKIM-DICK, s, poor cheese made in early spring before the cows
go out to grass, generally of skim milk.
SKIMMER, s. salt-making term. A kind of circular spade bent in
a peculiar form and perforated, used for drawing the salt out of
the pans.
Also a wooden bowl at the end of a long handle used for skimming the pan.
SKIMP or SKIMPING, adj. scanty.
“Her dress is very skimp J*^
SKIMP, V. to economise.
Vi^ adj. mean, miserly.
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CHESHIRE
GLOSSARY. 319
SKIP, s.
(i) a large square basket used in cotton mills for conveying the bobbins from
the spinning rooms to the weaving shed.
(2) a hamper. Mobberley.
SKIT, s. a joke.
SKITTER, v.
to scatter.
SKITTERING, s. a scattering.
“Au
just gen it a leet skitterin o’ muck.”
SKITTERWIT, s. a soft, foolish person. SKITVVIT (Delamere).
SKRIKE, s. a scream, a shriek.
“Oo gen sitch a skriJke."
•'with that a grievous scrike
among them there was made,
& every one did seeke
on something to be stayd."
—”Drowning of Henry the I.,** P^rcy Folio MS,,
Hales and Fumivall ed.
To be “aw
uppo th' skrikt” is used idiomatically to express being in acute
pain, as if one could scarcely restrain oneself from screaming out.
SKRIKE, V. to scream.
SKRIKE O' DAY, idiom, daybreak.
SKUDS, s. the undigested pellets of hair, bones, &c., thrown up by owls,
and found in quantities in places they frequent. L. Also
Cuds and Boggart-muck.
SLAB, s. the outside board sawn from a log (either round or square)
of timber.
“Sawne slab let lie,
for stable and stie."
— TussER {Five Hundred Points), E.D.S. ed., p. 33.
SLACK or SLECK 5. (i) small coaL
(2) a hollow place in a field.
"Abit of ax^i.'' A slight hollow. Used also as an adjective.
SLACK or SLECK, adj.{\) hollow.
“A. slack place."
(2) loose.
“Yon rope's too slack; give it a poo."
(3) scarce, scanty, in small quantity.
"Slack water is when there is not sufficient water to turn a mill."
L.
(4) short of work.
“Are you busy?" “ Naow, we're very slack."
SLADDERING DRAY, s. a small sledge, drawn by one horse. L.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SLADEy s. a hollow with wooded banks.
Found occasionally in place-names, as the Slade, Mobberlej.
"& when he came to Bamesdale,
great heauiness there hee hadde ;
he ffound 2 of his own fellowes
were slaine both in a sUuUJ*
— "Guye of Gisbome," Percy Folio MS,, Hales
and Fumivall ed.
SLAIN, part, dried up, withered.
Said of mowed grass after being exposed to the son.
CT A XT TJ* ^
ST FAK r* ^ ^^P^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ brush.
Cf A XT TT ^
SLEAkIi^* to protrude the tongue.
SLAM, V, to shut a door violently.
S LANCE, V, to cut and lay a hedge. W. Ches.
SLANGING or SLANGHING, part, prying. Applied to a cat
“Th' cat is stanching into everything." L.
The meaning of this word, thus metaphorically used, can scarcely be prying
but making free with everything (in the shape of food), attacking it, "
walkioj
into " it, as a workman would slance a hedge.
SLANGING HOOK, s, a bill for slancing or trimming hedges
W. Ches.
Leigh has Slanching Hook.
SLANCINGS, s. the cuttings of a hedge. L.
SLANG, 5. a long, narrow tract of land. S. Ches.
“The Slang*'' is a frequent field-name in the neighbourhood of Com bermcre
SLANKER, V. to slacken pace, to saunter. Mow Cop.
“He J/a»^^•rV behind."
SLAPE, adj, (i) slipp)er)\
“Mind you dunna go dain, its very slapc.^^ •
(2) slimy, or mawkish to the taste.
“Aw connot abide gruel, its sich sla^e stuff."
SL.\RE, V, to slide. Delamere.
SLASH, r. pruning a hedge that is trimmed and not laid. L
SLAT, r. (i) to scatter, to spill. Perhaps more correctly to thrc
away violently.
*• Aw'd savevl it for him till he coom whom, an' after aw my ^
he slat it to th* dog afore my face."
(a) to put the tongue out derisively. L.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 321
SLATE MARL, s. a shaly variety of marl, the same as Shell
Marl, q.v.
SLATE OFF, idiom, not quite right in intellect.
It is a common expression to say of a weak-minded person "He's getten
a jla/e off', and one or two unpegged.*'
SLATERHOUSE, s. the slate roof of a house.
"See ! there's a cat on th' slaterhotise ; chuck a stone at him."
L.
SLATHER, V. to sUde. W.
SLATTER, V. to spill or upset anything carelessly. Applied to dry
materials rather than to liquids.
SLATTERY, adj. applied to weather ; wet, sloppy. L.
SLAXJME, V. to smear, to deface. Hyde.
SL AXJMY, adj. wet and sticky, or slimy.
Com half rotted by wet is slaumy.
SLAWER, s. spittle.
SLAY, V. to dry up or wither.
SLE A, V. to dry or wither.
Spoken of com exposed to sun or wind before it is gathered or bound.
^^ ALU WELL. One of the forms of slay.
SLEak. See Slake.
SLECK, s. See Slack.
S^^CK, v. (i) to quench one's thirst.
(2) to put out a fire by pouring water upon it.
^^^CK-RUCK, s. a heap of slack or small coaL
“He's too good a mon to be thrown to th* sleek-ruck " is a figurative
way
^f saying a man is too good, or clever, not to have his merits recognised.
^^^CK-TROUGH, s. the iron cistern attached to a blacksmith's
forge, containing water used for damping the coals, or for cooling
iron.
^L.Ex>, J, a sledge, an implement for drawing a plough from one
place to another.
It is formed of a slab of wood with the round side downwards ; and into
p^ flat upper surface is driven a large square staple. The plough is then
■Wed booiiy on to the sUd, and the point of the plough suck put through
the
^^pfe; the whole thine is then drawn by a horse much more readily than if
^*^ plough itself were dragged upon the ground ; and there is no risk of the
322
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
plough bei
Thus the t
being broken. The horse is yoked to the plough, not to tl
plough pushes the sled along.
“A plough beetle, ploughstaff, to further the plough,
great clod to a sunder that breaketh so rough ;
A sled for a plough, and another for blocks,
for chimney in winter, to bume vp their docks."
— TussER {Five Hundred Points\ E.D.S. ed.,
SLEEAD, s. a sledge.
S LEECH, V, to scoop water with a bowl or bucket Middled
SLEECHING-NET, s. a net fixed at the end of a long pol
catching fish. Middlewich.
SLEEVE, V. to cleave.
SLEEVELESS, adj, purposeless, ineffective. Mobberley, \^
LOW.
*' A sleeveless arrant " is a bootless errand.
SLENCH, V. (i) to prune a hedge, the same as Slash. L.
Halliwell explains it " to cut one side of a hedge and leave th
untouched."
(2) to quench. Delamere.
SLEP, V. perfect tense of sleep.
SLICKEN, adj\ smooth.
“Its a bad tree to climb, its so slicken,^*
SLICKEN, V. to smooth.
SLICKENED, part made smooth.
SLICK-STICK, s, a tool for smoothing the sole of a shoe.
SLIMP, adj, slim, thin. Mow Cop.
“A slimp young chap."
SLINK, s. (i) the untimely foetus of a cow.
(2) bad language. Mobberley.
SLINK BUTCHER, s, a butcher of the lowest class.
One who deals in “ Keg-meg" meat ; cows that have been "killed
their lives," and such like. They are so named from the «uppositi(
they dress and oflfcr for sale "slink veal," t.e.^ the untimely
fcetus of a
SLINK-MEAT, s, any unwholesome meat not fit for human f(
The inspector of nuisances at Leigh (Lancashire), a Cheshire man, ^
me very lately *' I must now be oflf to the market and look out for slin^-
SLINK VEAL, s, veal from the untimely fcetus of a cow.
SLIP, s. silk weaving term. A hank of silk or yarn before
wound on the quills or pirn.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 323
SLIP CAWF, V. to calve prematurely. The same as Pick Cawf.
SLIPPING, s, a term used in the spinning of flax and hemp,
mentioned by Randle Holme.
"A Slicing is as much as is wound upon the Reel at a time, which is
generally atx>ut a pound of Yarn." — Academy of Armory^ Bk. III., ch.
iii.,
p. 107.
SLIPPY, adj. (i) sUppery.
“Moind ye dunna faw, its very slippy. ^^
(2) quick. See Look Slippy.
SLITHER, V. to sUde.
SLIVE, V. to cut off.
SLIVER, s. a slice. Macclesfield.
SLOAMY, adj. applied to laid corn. L.
Leigh does not define the meaning of this word, but no doubt it is the
same as slaumy^ which see.
SLOB, s. (i) puddle.
(2) sea mud, formerly much used as a manure in the neigh-
bourhood of Runcorn. See Green Sod Sludge.
SLOBBER, f. (i) saliva which dribbles from the mouth.
(2) rain.
“Cowd slobber" cold rain. L.
SLOBBER, V. to dribble, to let the saliva run from the mouth.
SLOB BRICKS, x. the thin bricks found in very old buildings.
SLOBBER-CHOPS, s. an old kind of pear, so called from its
juiciness.
^LOG, s. a slough. L
SLOMMAKIN, adj slovenly.
^LOOD, s. a cart rut.
SLOP, s. a white linen jacket, used whilst working.
I SLOP-DASH, V. to whitewash. Wilmslow, Mobberlev.
ft SLQPPING-WAITER, 5. water only used for swilling or cleaning,
■ and not pure enough to drink.
■ SU)PSTONE or SLOPSTUN, s. a sink.
H GeneraUy made of a large flagstone hoUowed out ; but earthenware
'^Mooes are also becoming common.
SLOP-TROUGH, s. the same as Slopstone.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SLOP-TUB, s. a tub of water in a brickmaker's table.
SLOTCH, s. a great or greedy drinker. Wilmslow.
SLOTCH, V, to spill, to slop. Mow Cop.
SLOTE, s, a bar of a gate or hurdle.
The cross-bars of a thrippa arc thrippa-slotes,
•*Thc Slotes^ the cross-pieces (of a harrow)." — Academy of
Bk. III., ch. viii., p. 335.
“The Sloiis^ are the vnder peeces which keepe the bottom of
together.'* — Ibid.y p. 337.
SLOTHER, V. to drag the feet. Wilmslow.
SLOTTEN, part, divided.
When at the game of whist the honours are equal on each side,
said to be sloven or slotten, W. See Sloven.
SLOUCH, V.
A boy, who saw a woman digging up on the sly some stolen mo
“I seed her slouching up th' brass." L.
SLOVEN, /tfr/. cloven, still used by old people.
SLUDGE, s. mud. Mow Cop.
SLUR, s, a slide.
SLUR, V* to slide.
Lei^h gives as a Cheshire proverb, "To as much purpose as g
on the ice.
SLUTCH, s. mud.
SLUTCH, V. to clear away slutch.
To “ slutch a pit" is to clean out the mud from a pond.
SLUTCHY, aJf\ muddy,
SLUTHER, s. muck, dung; or anything of the same consist
wet cow -dung.
SMACK AT, V, to make a determined effort.
“Come, smack at it."
SMALL-GANG, v, a term at a mill.
When any man, or big bully, has made himself intolerable to t
amongst the hands, they take measures to small-gang him. U
principle that union is strength, they watch or make their opportui
all at once, or by relays, fall upon the oppressor, till, as a matter ol
they get him down, and give him a most severe beating ; thus n
the past, and securing a future of peace. L.
SMARTEN, 7'. third person plural of the present tense ol
(with pain).
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 325
SMATCH, s. a taste. Delamere.
When anjTthing contracts a flavour from another thing it is said to have a
smatch of it —or one thing is said to give another a snuUch.
S^f ATCH, V. to give a flavour. Delamere.
"It winna do to put wood i* th* oon while mate's cookin ; it'll
smatch it.
S MATCH Y, adj\ having contracted a bad flavour. Delamere.
*'Th' butter's gone smaichyy
SMAW, adj. small
SMAW STRAY, s. the garden warbler, Salicaria locustella.
SMOUCH l^' ^ ^^^ WiLMSLOw.
SBfEETH, V. to iron linen. L.
SMELTING, /af/. running lime.
Preparing lime by mixing it with water, and pouring it through a sieve to
remove impurities. L
SMICKET, s. a woman's shift; Wilmslow.
SAilTE, s. an atom, a mite.
"Aw winna gie the one smite,"
SMITING, adj. captivating.
Said of a woman^K>r a bonnet.
SMITTER, s.
A woman, whose husband (one of the beaters at a shooting party) had
been severely peppered by one of the guns, told me his coat and face were
“smiUered o'er '^ with shot. L.
SMOCK, s. (1) a garment made of very coarse linen, and worn over
the clothes at milking time.
(2) a woman's shift.
A common priie at former merry-makings in Cheshire, for the best
woman runner. In a notice of Bowdon Wakes, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of
September, 1812, is the following : — *' Same day a race for a good Holland
imock by Udies of all ages, the second best to have a handsome Sattin
ribbon. No lady will be allowed to strip any further than the smock before
»ttrtbg." L.
"but then shee put of her peticoate
with many a salt teare still from her eye ;
& in a smocke of braue white silke
shee stood before young Andre¥r8 eye."
— *• Younge Andrew," Percy Folio MS,^ Hales
and Fumivall ed.
SMOCK-FACED, adj, smooth-faced, without whiskers or beard,
like a woman.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SMOOK, s. smoke.
SMOSKERT, part, smothered. Wilmslow. See Maskert.
'* Lad, tha*ll be smoskert if tha faws i' that trench."
SMOUCH. See Smeach.
SMUT, s, the foetid fungus affecting corn, TilUHa caries,
SNAG, v.{\) to bite. Kelsall.
"Th' dog snagged zX, me."
(2) to draw away by the hand branches of trees, also
cut off the lateral branches. W. (Spelt Snagg.)
SNAKE, s. and v, sneak.
SNAPE, s. snub, rebuke. Wilmslow. See Sneap.
SNAPSTALKS, s. Stellaria Holostea,
SNAP THE HEAD OFF, idiom, to make sarcastic remarks,
take a person up sharply.
* * He welly snapped my yed off. "
SNARLY, adj. (i) salt-making term. Applied to brine wher
does not work freely.
(2) thread when it gets entangled is said to be sna^
(3) snappish, ill-tempered.
SNATCH, s. 2l sharp experience of anything.
* * A snatch of frost. " * * A snatch of toothache. "
SNATCH, V. to pull sharply at anything. Mobberley.
When a horse throws his weight into the collar in order to move so
very heavy weight he is said to ^^ snaich at it."
SNEAP, 5. snub, check, rebuke. Mow Cop.
SNEAPED, part, snubbed. Delamere.
SNEATH or SNEYD, s, the handle of a hoddifig scythe, q.v.
SNECK, s. the latch of a door. ,
SNECK, V. {i) to close a door by latching it.
(2) to shut with a snap.
SNEYD. See Sneath.
SNICKET, s. (i) a naughty female child, and term of reproach
a little girl. L.
(2) a peevish woman (Dukinfield); a carelesSt
pudent female (Hyde).
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 327
SNIDDLE, s. any kind of sedge, Carex.
The larger kinds used formerly to be collected and dried for putting
ander cheeses in a cheese-room. It was supposed that they did not heat
like straw or hay.
The name is extended to the tufted hair grass, Aira caspitosa.
SKIDDLE-BOG, s. the sort of marshy place where sniddle grows. L.
S1>IIFTER, V. to sniff, or snivel preparatory to crying.
An old farmer drove past a farm he had occupied some years previously,
and during the interval the chemical vapours from St. Helens had devas-
tated it He told me, *'Eh! when aw seed th' owd place, it made me
mifier a bit."
SX^IG, s. an eel.
Leigh gives the following as an old Cheshire saying relative to a restless
child, which is said to " wnggle about like a snig in a bottle."
SMIG, V, to drag timber along the ground.
SNIG-BALLIED, adj. very thin.
Said of an animal that has very little carcase.
SNIGGER, V, to laugh in a sneering way.
SN'ITE, 5. mucus nasi. W.
SNTTTER, V. to creep or walk slowly. L.
SNOOKED,/ar/. over-reached.
“Tm snooked^'* i.e., I am taken in, I am sold. L.
SNOP, V. to bite the young shoots of a hedge, as lambs do. L.
SNOTCH, s. a knot or notch. Gen. Mag.^ pt. i., pp. 126, 167. L.
SNOTTY, adj. very pert, saucy, impudent. Wilmslow.
SNOWBAW, 5. the Guelder Rose, the garden form of Viburnum
Opulus.
SKUDGE, s. an intrusive, sponging fellow. L.
SNUDGE, V, to "hang on " to a person.
SNXJFT, s. the snuff of a candle.
SNURTCH, V. to snort
“Our lonlert*s very stout, and he coom here shootin yesterday ;
id bu'
R'l
and eh I how he did bu' pant and snurtch.
^NUZZLE, V. to nestle.
^NYE, adj. overrun.
“The house is welly snyewC rotten," the house is swarming with rats.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2682)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SOCK or, more commonly, SUCK, s. a ploughshare.
SOD-DRAINING, s. a method of subsoil draining much practi!
in Cheshire before the introduction of draining pipes.
Sod-drains were constructed in the following manner: — The sod '
carefully pared off and laid on one side. A trench was then cut to the reqoj
depth, leaving it about a foot wide at the bottom. Along the middle of
bottom a channel, nine or ten inches deep and four or five inches wide, '
cut with a narrow rounded spade. A tool similar to those stiU in use
the bottoms of drains was drawn along the channel to level it for the floi
water ; and then this bottom channel was covered with the sod laid gr
side downwards, and the drain filled up again. These drains were ^
effectual and inexpensive. I can recollect a field being so drained about
year 1839 or 1S40 ; the drainage was perfect, and remained effective foi
least 30 years, but the drains are now completely worn out.
Another method of sod-draining was to cut a quantity of sods the
and shape of bricks, and with them to build up a drain at the bottom of
trench exactly like an ordinary brick drain, covering them as in the ot
system with surface sods laid grass side downwards.
SOD SLUDGE, 5. sea mud, used as a manure. L.
SOE, s, the drainage from a midden. Cheshire Sheafs vol. L, p. 3
SOFTY, s. one not over wise ; effeminate.
SOG, V. to hit heavily. Mow Cop.
“I shall j<?^ thee."
SOHL. See Sole.
SOIVING, part passing anything through a sieve. Wilderspoo
SOJER or SOJJER, s. (i) a soldier.
(2) a red coleopterous insect
SOJERS, s. the red lychnis, Lychnis diurna,
SOLE or SOW, s. (i) a kind of yoke formerly in general use
tying cows in the shippons.
“Solcs^ fetters, and shackles, with horselock and pad,
a cow house for winter, so meete to be had."
— TussER {^Five Hundred Points)^ E.D.S. ed., p. 3J
"^ip/^j about the Cows Necks." — Academy of Armory ^ Bk. III., ch.
p. 243. See Sow.
(2) salt-mining term. The bottom of the mi
SOLE CUT, s. salt-mining term. The lowest seam of worka
rock salt, lying just below the bottom cut,
SOLEMN, adj, mournful.
“It's a very solemn winter." L.
SOLID, adj, used for solemn.
“I'll take my solid oath." L.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 329
SOLIDS, s. salt-making term. The solid brickwork about the fires^
on which the bars, bearers, and other ironwork rests.
30LSH, V, to flop down on a dry floor.
30ND, 5. sand.
SOND-POT, s. a small bed of wet sand lying amongst the subsoil.
Almost like a quicksand
Sand pots are very troublesome to drainers ; for when a drain crosses one,
the wet sand is sure to run into the drain, which not only impedes the work
but frequently causes the sides of the drain to fall in.
SOND SCALE, s. salt-making term. A very hard, thin scale that
forms over tJie flres.
SONGER, 5, a gleaner. Congleton. (Obsolete?)
The substantive formed from the verb to songer should be sot^rer. I
suspect the above is, or was, an abbreviated form of songerer.
SONGER, V. to glean. Delamere.
A little girl from the village took a present of wheat flour lately to a
friend of mine at Kelsall, explaining, " Its what me and Annie
songert."
“To go a songering** is to go> gleaning.
SONGOW,! , ,
SONGAL, r* ^^^^^^ ^^™-
To go sangowing is to go gleaning. W. See Songer.
SOO, f. (i) a sow.
(2) a giddiness or swimming in the head. Kelsall.
•' My yed's aw of a soo,^^
SOO, V, to moan as the wind does.
BOOING, adj\ moaning, said of the wind.
“A sooing weind."
SOONDED, part stunned. Mow Cop.
SOOPLE, adj. supple.
^OPE, s, a sup, a drink.
“Wat *ave a sope o* beer ?"
The <ut of drinking, however, is never called soping^ but supping; ^o
^ a Cheshire man would say, " Sup a sope^t mon, it'll do the good."
^OPE 0' RAIN, idiom, a fair quantity of rain, a refreshing shower.
*' We'n *ad a noice sope o* rainy
SOPPEXT, 5. the same as Fettled Ale, which see. Macclesfield.
w
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SORD, s. {i) the rind of bacon. Also Sort.
(2) the cross bars to which the boards of a door are nailed
MOBBERLEY.
(3) an upright piece of wood fixed to the front of a dung
cart. MiDDLEWICH.
It works through a slot in the front of the cart, or rather the cart whei
tipped slides up the sard. The sord has holes in it and a peg to fix the
tiltec
cart at any angle.
SORE, adv. very much.
Richard Brereton, Esq., I557» of Lea, near Middlewjch, left "twopaii
of sore worn velvet breeches." L.
SORRY, adj\ vile, worthless.
SORT, z/. (i) to beat.
“Moi sake 1 but oill sort yer." — Cheshire Sheaf, vol. i., p. 322.
(2) to tidy things away.
'' Come, Mrs., sort these things (tea-things).'* — A/., vol. L, p. 322
SOSS, s. a heavy or sudden fall Middlewich.
SOSS, V. to sit down suddenly, to plump down. Macclesfield
especially on something wet.
SOSSENGERS, s. sausages.
SOUGH, s. the blade of a plough. Halliwell.
^*The Sough or Suck is that as Plows into the ground." — Acadenty c
Armory^ Bk. III., ch. viii., p. 333.
S0UIX:AKE, 5. a cake for All Souls' Day.
SOUL-CAKERS or SOULERS, x. parties of men and boys whK
go round in the evening of All Souls' Day begging money, &c
They are fantastically dressed, and sing a song, of which various versioc
are given in the appendix. At this date also is performed the play of —
George and the Slasher, of which also a version is given in the appendix.
The custom itself is spoken of as “ Soul-caking" or "Souling."
SOULERS, ) o o o
SOULINC I Soul-Cakers.
SOUND, s. SL covered entry. Wilmslow.
“Slack's j£w/«^."
SOUR DOCK s. Rumex Acctosa and R. Acetosella,
SOURING, s, {i) vinegar, or verjuice, taken with meat.
About Wilmslow it used to be pronounced Saherink,
(2) Buttermilk put into cream to make it sufficienl
sour for churning. Macclesfield.
^ v-^ OSE, s. collared pig's head
Also pronounced Saksi, almost like Sisi,
SOUSE or SAHSE, v. to cuff. Wilmslow.
"iiMtf^ his ears.*'
SOW, s, (i) a wooden collar by which cows were tied in the
shippons.
Formerly in general use, and perhaps still to be found in out-of-the-way
? laces. I knew one old farmer, about twenty years ago, who still used them,
cannot do better than give Randle Holme's description of the contrivance.
"A Sffw is a Wooden Instrument made half round, and the ends fastned
in another streight piece, which may be taken off and put on the ends at
pleasure. This Husbandmen used to put about their Cows and Oxen's
^ecks when they tye them to their Booses in the Cow-Houses, or such like
^)mccs,**— Academy of Armory ^ Bk. III., ch. viL, p. 327. See also Sole
sumICaspe.
(2) the size which cotton weavers use to dress their work,
made of wheaten flour. Wilmslow.
■BOW, s. a soft, clownish fellow.
\ adj, quick, comprehensive. Also in one's senses.
He is not quite spacV* means he is under some idienation of mind. W.
L, s, a spanow.
^^-A.N, r. to understand, to make out
“Au canna justly span what he means.*' L.
^^ANG-FEW, V. to jerk anything into the air with a lever.
There is a cruel sport practised by boys, of balancing a strip of wood
tapon the top of a stump or a rail, then placing a toad on one end of the
wood,
aind striking the other end sharply with a stick, by which means the toad is
shot up many jrards into the air. This b *' Spang-feiving a toad.”
Ldgh spelk it Spank Flue, and Halliwell Spank fVhew.
S^ ANK FLUE. See Spang-few.
^**-A.R, s, the small transverse timbers of a roof to which the laths
are nailed.
“Saue crotchis of wud,
Saue spars and stud.”
— TussER {Fwe Hundred Plaints), E.D,S. ed., p. 73.
^^A.RKLE, r. to disperse. W.
^^ ARLING, 5. a fish, the smelt
^ *^ ARRIB, s. the ribs of a pig cut from the side of bacon.
^^ARROW-BILLS, s. small, square nails for putting into shoe-soles.
S^ARROWFARTS, s. very early morning.
"Tha mun be up by sparrow/arts or tha*ll be too late.”
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SPATTLE, V, to splash. Macclesfield.
SPEAK UP or SPAKE UP, v. to speak loud
SPECKT BAW, s. a suet dumpling with currants in it.
SPEEL, V, to spoil MiDDLEWICH.
*' Ht speeli lU"
SPEER, s. a partition built out from a fire-place.
In old houses in which there were the large chimnejrs, the door ¥ras oft
at the same side of the room as the fire-place, and between the door and fii
place a partition was built, which served partly to keep out the drangl
partly to support the chimney beam, and partly, perhaps, to present anyo
who came to the door seeing everything that was being done in the house plac
This partition was the speer,
“As big a rogue as ever peeped at a speer*^ is an old Cheshire sajol^.
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Wilbraham describes the speer as " the chinmqr post on each side of t
fire-place." The same thing probably, and no doubt the post is the
princii
part of the speer; but it is most unusual to have a post at each si
of the fire-place. In all old houses which I have seen, the beam on whi
the chimney is built is run into the wall at one side of the room and
supported on the speer at the other ; and as the chimney beam is alwa
very low, the speer was a contrivance to prevent its being carried to t
opposite wall, for if carried quite across the room it would have integer
with the passage to the outside.
SPER, V, to question. Hyde.
This is really a Lancashire word which has extended across the borders.
SPERRIT, s, spirit.
SPERRITFUL, adj. full of spirit.
SPIER, s. the same as Speer. Hyde.
SPINNERS, s. a tool for twisting hay-bands.
SPINNEY, s. a small plantation. Macclesfield.
SPIRE UP, V, to grow erect with one stem. Frodsham.
SPIRT, s, the size that silk-weavers use to dress their work, ma_
of glue or gum.
SPIT, s. (i) the depth of a spade in digging.
•* You mun delve two spit deep." L.
A very common word and scarcely to be considered local.
(2) spittle.
(3) likeness.
He's the very spit of his feyther."
((
SPARROW, 5. pit-sparrow, from its nesting near pits
ds — the black-headed bunting, Emberiza schosnidus.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 333
SPITTLE, s. a tool used by thatchers.
It is almost like the blade of an oar, and has a cross handle, or cosp, by
which it b held. It is used for raising up portions of hay on a stack roof,
or
portions of the old thatch on a house, and inserting the ends of the new
thatch in the holes so made.
SPLASHED, adj. sUghtly drank. L. More oUtn plashed.
SPLATHER, V. to sprawl, to spread about. Knutsford.
A procumbent
"j^itoW about"
A procumbent plant which spreads over the ground would be said to
"Her
SPLATHER-FOOTED or SPLOTHER-FOOTED, adj. awkward.
S. Ches.
SI*LENTER, s. a splinter.
SPLICED, /ar/. married.
SI>OKKEN,/af/. spoken.
SPOO, s. a bobbin.
SPOON, s. salt-mining tool. Used in charging the hole for
shooting.
SI*OT, V. to fall in heavy drops, like rain which is premonitory of a
thunderstorm.
Sl>ItEEAD, v. to spread.
SI>IIEED, )
SP^J^G or SPRIG, V. to nail rails together. L.
Sl>ItEE, s. a jollification.
^I*:REED, v. to spread.
^I^HEE-SPRINKLE, s. Orchis maculaia. Sutton Weaver.
The word was in general use, I am told, forty or fifty years ago, but is, I
think, now obsolete.
^^RIG, s. a small thin nail without a head.
The kind which in many places is called a brad.
^^RlG-BIT, s. an instrument for boring holes for nails — in many
places called a brad-awl.
^**RING, f. (i) said of a cow when she begins to show signs of
calving; but we more frequently use the participle
than the present tense, and say “ Oo*s springing
for cawving."
(2) to rise in offering a price.
"He bid them £\2 for goin across th' land, and they wanted more, but
lie wouldn't i;^rM^none." This was for a right of road.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SPRINGE, V. to throb, to shoot with pain.
“My corns are springeing; its going to rain.*'
SPRINGOW, adj. nimble, active. W.
SPRINKER, s. a stick made of hazel or other pliable wood, pointe ^*
at each end and twisted in the middle, used for thatching
Mid Cheshire.
SPRIT, s. a sprout from the eye of a potato, or the young radicle
com when it first begins to grow.
SPRIT, V. (\)io sprout, said of potatoes and com.
(2) to put potato sets in a warm place to cause them
sprout before being planted.
(3) to pull off the sprouts of potatoes which are requi
for market in the spring, so as to prevent the~
becoming soft and worthless.
SPRITTING-BOX, s. a flat wooden tray in which early potato
are stored, and in which they sprout before being planted.
They are becoming pretty general throughout the country, but are nk.
especially used in the early potato district between Warrington and
A spritting-box is about two feet six inches lon^ and eighteen or twenty in^^
^^
wide, and the sides are about three inches high. The sides and ends
nailed to square blocks of wood, which project about three inches above
sides. The boxes are filled vdth potatoes, often carefully arranged
the eyes upwards, and are then piled one on the top of another, each
resting on the comer blocks of the one below it. By this arrangemc
great number of boxes can be piled on the top of each other, and a
quantity of potatoes stored in a small space ; whilst there is a free cuifc
air passing over the potatoes in every box. Of course they are kept in
building where the frost cannot reach them ; generally in the loft ovei
cows ; frequently even in bedrooms. The boxes are made for about
^^,]?"'ol
pence each, and farmers who grow early potatoes require many hundr^=^^^^^^
them.
S PRIZE, V. to prize ; to force anything open by using a lever.
SPROZE, V, to boast.
“What a sprozin chap you be !"
SPUDS, s. potatoes.
SPUR, s, (i) a piece of wood used for repairing a post whi
broken near the ground. j
The spur is sunk in the ground alongside the post, and then th.*"**^
which is above ground is nailed firmly to the post.
(2) The thick root of a tree. Plural, Spurn.
SPUR, V. (i) spurring the banks of a river is supporting them /
falling in, or being carried away by floods, by dri
in piles, commonly made of alder. L.
(2) to repair a broken post by means of a spur.
h is
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 335
SPUT, V. perfect tense of spit.
“She sptU in my fact" L.
SQUANDERED, parf. separated or dispersed.
"Cat's feared th* chickens, an' they're squandered slw o'er th'
place."
SQUASHY, adj. (i) soft, unripe, immature.
It is sometimes%aid of young, unripe potatoes, *'they eat'n squashy,"
(2) also used metaphorically in describing young
and foolish persons. Mow Cop.
SQUAWK, V, to squeal.
^UeEK, s, the swift. Middlewich.
QtTlB, s, gunpowder moistened with water and worked into a pasty
Hfiass, used for smoking a wasp's nest.
QUOB, 5. a sofa, generally made of oak.
QlJOZ, part, of the verb to squeeze.
^^lAfP, s. a shrimp.
The pronunciation of shr b a perfect shibboleth to a Cheshire man. I
i^ecollect that at Mobberley Church one of the hymns began
"Praise, oh praise the Name divine.
Praise it at the hallowed shrine."
T*he clerk used always to give it out —
“Praise it at the hallowed srine."
And the singers used to sing it *' srine," the effect being somewhat
ludicrous.
Xhe same pronunciation is followed in all words beginning with shr-^z. very
Common provincialism.
^T^ACK-BOTTOM, s. beams of wood, branches of trees, and such
like, placed under a stack to keep the hay or corn from contact
with the damp earth.
^TacK UPO' TH' KILL (Kiln), s. a rough game formerly
played about Mobberley and Wilmslow.
The game, if game it could be called, consisted in getting a man down
on the ground and then others falling on the top of him till there was a com-
{>lete pile or stack of men. Of course it was extremely painful for the
owermost man, and deaths have even been caused by this foolish kind of
aimuaement
^Tagged up, part, done up. Wilmslow.
^"^AGGERING BOB, 5. the name given by butchers to very young
calves.
^TAIKE, s. the handle of a jug. Morlev, Wilmslow. STIKE
(Mow Cop).
^TAIL (general), STEEL (W. Ches., also Mow Cop), s. the handle
of a broom, rake, fork, &c.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
STAIR, adj, steep, hilly. Mow Cop.
STAIR-HOLE, %, a closet under a flight of stairs.
STAKE, V, to cause constipation of the bowels. STALK (Dela-
mere).
'* They'n staked their pigs wi too mich Indy."
STAKED, part, constipated. *
STAKE TURF, s, an inferior quality of turf cut immediately below
the Hassocks (q.v.) ; but both this and the hassocks themselves
are used for fuel.
On Lindow Common, near Wilmslow, there is occasionally, though
rarely, cut a very peculiar kind of turf which would, I think, also rank as
stake-turf. In die hollows near the old Wilmslow racecourse there are two
small lakes, or, as they were locally called, laches^ the Black Ladie and the
Green Lache. In very droughty summers these lakes become nearly dry,
and then the sediment, solid and black, and composed largely of humus, is
exposed. This mud is several yards in thickness, but is entirely destitute of
vegetable fibres. It is of a soapy texture, and will not bear cuttinginto
flat
•cakes like ordinary turf; it is therefore dug out in square blocks. These
are
carried to the hard ground above the lakes, and are then chopped up into
angular pieces and left there to dry. When dry they are used for fuel
They become veiy hard and black, and are hogged like potatoes, and
covered with clods to keep them dry, and so retained for winter use. I
believe none of this kind of turf has been got for many years. In or about
the year 1838 a large quantity was'got, and the holes from whence it was
obtained were very deep. They have now entirely disappeared, being filled
up by the same deposit; so that if the lakes were again to become dry,
probably a new supply of this peculiar turf would be obtained.
STALK. See Stake.
STALL, V. to jib.
Used when the horse refuses the collar, or is too weak to spring into it.
L. Cfr, Stawed.
STAND, s, a small round table with one stem branching into three
feet, frequently used to set beside the bed of an invalid.
STANDARD, 5. part of a cart. See Cart.
STANDING, s. salt-making term. A gangway or standing room,
alongside the pans, for the convenience of the workmen in
drawing the salt.
They are generally the depth of the rim of the pan below the hurdles.
STAND ON, V. to be incumbent on.
*' It stands everyone on to take care of himself." W.
STAND THE MARKET, idiom.
Farmers' wives call it standing the market when they sell their butter,
eggs, &c., in the open market instead of taking them to shops or from
house
to house. Altrincham, Mobberley.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 337
STANG, s. a pole,
A coaple of sfangs were frequently used for carrying haycocks to the
stack. See Riding Stang.
STANG, s. to cany hay upon poles.
STANK, s, a dam. W. Ghes.
STANK, V. to dam.* W. Ches.
STANSHON, s, an upright iron bar fixed in the opening part of a
casement window to prevent the possibility of entrance from
without
STARE, s. a starling, Stumus vulgaris. Sandbach.
STARK, adj. stiff and sore. Wilmslow.
STAR-SLUTCH, s. the gelatinous conferva {Nosioc commune)^ which
is frequently found upon timber or gravel walks after a shower
of rain.
From its sudden appearance it is supposed to have fallen from the stars,
or to be the depc^it of a falling star. A farmer from Utkinton lately went to
see a friend of mine at Delamere who has an astronomical telescope. He
spoke of Star-siutch as a natural phenomenon seen in that neighbourhood
day-
lies. It.fiEiws, aw reckon, mester." The man was evidently surprised at
my
friend's ignorance, and had an implicit belief in planets " rulin,"
as he called it.
START, V. to begin.
STARVED, part, perished with cold ; but not used in Cheshire for
perished with hunger.
Land is also said to be starved when it is cold for want of drainage.
STAVE FOR, V. to plead for. Mow Cop.
STAVES, s. the rungs of a ladder, or the cross bars of a stile.
STAWED,/ur/. (i) impeded.
When a cart is so heavily loaded that the horse cannot draw it, he is said
tobei/arnft/.
(2) full to repletion.
"Aw conna ate noo more; aw'm fairly stowed.^*
STAWTER, v. to stagger.
STED or STEDE, s. the foundation, made of sods, for the drying
wall in a brickfield. Also Acksted or Ackstede.
^EI^ s. (i) see Stail.
(2) the stalk of a flower. W.
(3) a stile.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
STEEL MARL, s. salt-mining term. A hard bluish marl found
below the sands and boulder clays in sinking a shaft.
STEEN or STEEAN, s. a tall earthenware mug, black inside and
glazed, used for collecting cream for churning or for keeping
buttermilk in.
STEEP, ^. (i) rennet; an infusion of the prepared stomach of a calf,
used to coagulate milk.
(2) the liquid left in cheese when not properly pressed.
MiDDLEWICH.
(3) the act of soaking.
To put a thing in steep is to put it in soak.
STEEP, V, to soak, to immerse.
STEEPLE DICK COPING, s. a coping for a stone wall, made of
triangular pieces set on edge. Runcorn, Halton.
The coping stones are long and short alternately.
STEM, V, salt-mining term. To ram round the charge and fuse to
msjce solid preparatory to blasting.
STEMMER, s. salt-mining tool An iron rod used for ramming
powder into a hole for blasting.
STEN, s, a stretcher in trace-harness. Morton's Cyclopedia of
Agriculture.
STEPMOTHER, s. (i) a small piece of torn skin by the side of
the nail. Macclesfield.
(2) a kind of cold, blue clay. W. Ches.
Land with this clay subsoil is said to be sUpmothery, The clay is some-
times called Stepmother Clay.
STEPMOTHER^S BLESSING, j. the same as Stepmother (i).
STEW, s, a state of vexation or perplexity.
STICKER, s, one who is persistent.
A hard-working man would be called a sticker in contradistiDCtion to on^
who is “oflr and on."
Alwut MoBBERLEY a pcrsoD who calls on you and never knows when t^>
go is said to be “a sticker,^^
STICKING PIECE, s, the part of the neck of an animal wher^
the butcher sticks his knife in to kill it.
STIDDY, s. an anvil. Wilmslow, Mobberlev.
STIDDY,ii4jf. steady.
«*He'saiM^dMLp.*
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 339
STIDDY, V. to make steady.
"Thou muQ tak another glass, it'll stiddy thi yed.”— s. C.
Clodgh.
STIFF, adj\ difficult to deal with, inflexible, obstinate.
A butcher will tell you " You're very stiff this morning " if you
will not
come down at all in the price of a beast.
STIG MONTH, s. the month in which a man's wife is confined. L.
STILL UPON, conj, still, nevertheless. Antrobus, Halton.
"I was going to have done it, stiil upon if you'd rather I didn't, I
won't."
STILLYERDS, s, steelyards. Delamere.
STINCH, V, to stinch it out is to stake or mark a thing out.
From a manuscript note in Wilbraham's Glossary, written apparently
about 1826.
A field in Runcorn, now nearly built over, is called the Stinch, Perhaps
it may have some connection with the above meaning.
STINKING NANCY, s. the DeviFs-bit Scabious, Scabiosa
Succisa. L.
STINKING ROGER, s. figwort, Scrophularia aquatica.
STINK-O'-BRASS, s, a soubriquet frequently applied to an extremely
rich man.
I think it generally also conveys the idea that he is rather niggardly.
“He's a reglar owd Stink-d'-brassJ**
It is also used as a verb. *' He stinks 0' brass"
STINK-SEEKER, s, an inspector of nuisances. Mobberley.
A highly expressive term which has, of course, arisen since the appoint-
ment of those officers.
STIR, s. an entertainment, any great doings, such as a wedding, a
dinner party, &c
STIR, V. to plough land a second time across the original furrows.
“The following May it is ploughed across the former furrows, which is
called stirring,"
'* In March the land is stirred Across, and harrowed." — Holland's
Genera/
Vim of the Agriculture of Cheshire, 1808, p. 128, 129.
STIR-ABOUT, or more commonly Sturra, s, thick oatmeal porridge.
Leigh spells it Stirrow, and gives *'As thick as stirraw" as an old
Cheshire proverb.
HalliweU also has " Stirrow, a hasty pudding. Ches.''
STIRES, s. an old name for some kind of apple.
The following note was sent me by Mr. s. P. Earwaker: " In a lease of
t measiuige and umds in Odd Rode, co. Chester, dated 17 June, 1699, there
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
is a proviso that the lessor 'shall enjoy the two little parlours in the s
messuage and one cockloft wherein her goods now lie and also one meas
of apples or crabs commonly called stires and two measures of apples out
the orchard yearly when there is a great store of them.* '*
STIRK, s, a young cow, between one and two years old.
From two to three they are called heifers,
STIR-UP SUNDAY, s. the Sunday before Advent, the Collect
which day begins with the words “ Stir up.*'
Leigh says it is popularly supposed to be a warning to housewive
prepare and mix and stir up the ingredients for mincemeat for Christmas.
STITCHERS, s. salt-making term. Women employed in stitch
sacks for salt.
STITHE, s, an anvil. L.
I have never met with this word, and I suspect Leigh should have wri
stithy f which would be a very natural Cheshire pronunciation of stiddy.
Stiddy.
STIVED UP, part, confined in a hot atmosphere.
STIVING, part, stifling.
"Dunna thee sit stivin* i'th haise so mitch.*'
STOCK CARDS, s, standing or fixed combs for carding wool.
*' A payre of Stocke cards J*^ — From an inventory of property belonging
Margery Glutton of Naotwich, i6ii,-^ Local Gleanings^ Feb., 1880, p. ^
STOCK, LOCK AND BARREL, idiom, the whole lot, everythi
“They'n sowd him up, stocky lock, and barrel.”
STOCKPORT COACH or CHAISE, s. a horse with two wot
riding sideways on it is so called, a mode of travelling m
common formerly than at present W.
Both the method of travelling and the name for it are now quite obsol
STOCKPORT HORSE, s, a pilHon.
When roads were bad and impassable for wheels, a pillion was almost
only way in which a woman could get to market. L.
STODGE, V. to cram with food. L.
STODGY, adj, thick, said of spoon-meat.
STOMACH, V. (i) to relish.
“It's aw fat, aw conna stomcuh it."
(2) metaphorically, to believe.
“Aw couldna stomcuh aw he said."
(3) also metaphorically, to guess.
*' I stomached ^s much," I guessed as much. L.
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CHESHIRE
GLOSSARY. 341
STOMACHER PIECE, s, an irregular, awkward shaped piece of
land. L.
STOND, V. to stand.
STONE, V. to sfon£ a road is to put large stones or boulders on the
road, to force carriages, carts, and horses to go over the fresh
laid metal, instead of the beaten part of the road. L.
STONED HORSE, s. 2l stallion.
STONE MARL, s. a variety of marl, which is at first obtained in
stony blocks, but pulverises by exposure to the atmosphere.
STONSH, V. (i) to staunch bleeding.
(2) to satisfy.
“Stonsh his guts," f.^., give him his fill of food.
STON-US, s. a lock-up. Mow Cop.
"They'll getten him i'th ston-us"
Of course this is simply a pronunciation of Storu House^ but a brick
building would also be so called.
STOO, 5. (i) a stool.
(2) a brickmaker's table.
"Is Bradley making many bricks this summer?** "Aye, he*s
getten three stoos at work."
(3) a log of wood. Delamere.
•'Clap yon owd stoo a* topo* th* foire."
STOO-BING, 5, a place in the shippon where the railking-stools
are kept. Middlewich.
STOO-DRINK, s. ale given when they commence making bricks.
STOOL, s. a number of wheat-stalks springing from the same root. L.
STOP ON ' [^« to remain in the same service for another year.
"I'm stopping again at Holland's."
STORMCOCK, s. the missel thrush, Turdus visdvorus.
STOUK or STOWK, v. to put ears or handles to such vessels as
require them. L.
STOUT, adj, (i) hearty, healthy; but never used in the sense of
being fat.
(2) staunch, plucky. Frodsham.
•'You're stout^ mester, to work i* this hot sun."
STOVE^ s. salt-making term. A drying house generally heated with
hot-air flues, for the purpose of drying fine moulded salt Also
called a Hot- us.
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5rOTEZ» SALT, x sL»iakiris tenn. AH fine salts, which ^^
BT
STO^. iL m lii jct;. or che stcmp of a tree left in the grout^^'
5TCO I>
ST^>'^ ITE. •?. sa stake o&eis or joong shoots.
9 mat s 2bv «^ak tHas. A stem wbidi is cot off close to ^^
STO^TaL s. scu cr haih-^ of a pafl. It is also a drinking ^='^P
ST. PETERS XEEDLE, &£m. sufienng, or trial, any ser£^:>^s
A moa nc became b«aki>i|H. and ws sold ap, described it as ba'^f'^^
STR ACT. ^^irt abbcemrioo of distracted. W.
STR.\NGER. s. i) a dim of soot hai^ng loosely on the bar of ^C:!^^
I: s nsccmaiT anoogst yoong people to dap the hands dose to it sc^^^__^
:j ca.ise a ic^r^ pcff ct wmd. As many times as the hands are daf^^^^
besL'rf ibe sccc ss icracbed, so manr dajs will elapse before the stra^^^^
K 2 a vhite mark on the nail is sometimes so calE^^*
STRAY. /. snaw. Also Streca, which see.
STRAY, r. :o strew, to scatter. Wildkrspool.
STRAY-MOUSE, ^ s. the nettle-creeper, Salicaria locust^^^-
STREE.VMOUSE, / Frodsham.
STREEA, s. straw.
Wilbnhjim sajs one who goes out of the country for improvement, ^
rerums without having gained much, b said to have left it *' to learn V> ^''
a strtt^ a straw. *'
STRET, adj, narrow, tight.
STRET, adv. tightly.
'•Tee it strtt;' tie it tightly.
STRET STAFF, s, a stretcher between the chains of a plo^^^B**
horse.
The Strett Staffe^ is the StafTe fixed between the Chains or Rof
keep them from gauling the Horse sides." — Academy of Armory ^ Bk.
ch. viii., p. 339.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 343
V. to stray. Mow Cop.
“Th' ky*s streve V off somcwheer."
ES, s, (i) the hone generally fastened to the scythe for
sharpening purposes. L.
(2) a stick for striking a bushel.
s Strickles^ is a thing that goes along with the Measure, which is a
Board, with a Staff fixed in 3ie Side, to draw over Corn in measureing,
:ceed not the hei£;ht of the Measure, which measureing is term^
id Wood." — Academy of Armoryy Bk. III., ch. viii., p.' 333.
y. (i) the black smut in corn, Uredo segetum,
(2) (of com) a common bushel of com. W.
V. (i) a brick oven is said to strike when it reaches the
desired heat.
(2) to give a sensation of heat.
n one goes out of the cold frosty air into a hothouse we say *'it
'arm."
(3) to level the com to the top of the measure.
, 5. the handles of a wheelbarrow. Middlewich.
to take off one's outer garments preparatory to working
r before fighting.
*' If yo will feight, sirip,^* See illustration to Smock (2).
>^GS, 5. the last milk drawn from a cow. The same as
INGS.
ET, adj. streaked, striped. Mow Cop.
S, s, short pieces of iron used to form the tire of a wheel.
le Stroke f is the Iron Rim about the Felloes." — Academy of Armory^
., ch. viii., p. 332.
^GS, s. the last milk that can be drawn from a cow. W.
ime as Drippings.
MIZE, V, to be in deep thought, in a "brown study."
SLOW.
“What art sironomizin abeaut neaw ?"
, V. to swell out.
he pasture maketh the Kines* udders to strout to the paile. — * 'Ancient
t of Cheshire. The Generall of Great Britaine. Time of James I." L.
: or STRUCK-WITH-HYENT (? iron), part (used
mtively) splenic apoplexy, to which young cattle are very
:t upon some land.
■
f. a stray pigeon.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
STRUSHINS, s. abundance, plenty.
“Is there any beer Tth' barrel ?*' " Aye, strushinsr
STRUSHION, s, destruction. W.
STUB, s, a short twig of a hedge.
“Then to the earth shee gott a thwacke ;
no hurt in the world the pore man did meane ;
to the ground hee cast the Ladye there ;
on a stubb she dang out one of her eyen."
— “ Marke more foole," Percy Folio MS,<t Hales and
FumivaJl ed.
STUB, V, to injure one's self with a twig or stub of a tree.
I remember a man telling me he had *' stubbed his eye" when he had
accidentally bobbed it against a branch of a hedge, and half blinded himself.
STUBBA or STUBBO, s. stubble.
Wilbraham adds Strubbow.
STUBBO or STUBBED, adj. thick, short. W.
Leigh adds, on the authority of Wilbraham, "A rough head of hair,
unkempt and bristly, is called a stubbory pow." Wilbraham, however,
gives
no such illustration. At the present day the word is Stubby.
STUD, s, (i) an upright rib of wood to which laths are nailed in
making a partition, or lining a wall. Mobberley.
A wall thus lined with lath and plaster is said to be studded,
(2) a piece of iron, in form something between a nail and
a wedge, used for nailing the tires on to wheels.
STUMPERS, s. salt-making term. Sacks which are too full to be
stitched without sacking. See Sacking.
SLUMPING, part, hatting term. The last process of felting a hat
body.
STUNCH, V, to stake out.
“To stumh it out " is to stake or mark a thing out. See Stinch.
STUNNER, s. anything first-rate.
STUNNY, s. numbness occasioned by a blow ; from the verb to
stun.
From a manuscript note in Wilbraham's Glossary, written apparently
about 1826.
The word though explained as numbness is probably an adjective,
meaning numb.
STUPID, adj, obstinate.
SrURRA. See Stir-about.
StUT or STUTTER, v. to stammer.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 345
SUB, V. to draw money in advance on a job. Halton.
The following was said of a veterinary surgeon who was in very bad cir-
cmnstances; " I knowed he were hard up, for when he come to my cow as
was ill he subbed on th' job. "
SUCK, s. the share of a plough. See Sock.
SUCKIE, excL the call word for a calf.
SUCKING GONDER, idiom, a term applied when anyone does or
propounds something particularly senseless.
“He's noo moor sense than a sucking gonderJ'^
SUFF, s, a drain.
SUITER BOARD. See Shooter Boards.
SULKY, adj. hard to work. Applied to inanimate objects, as
rock which has no cleavage and is difficult to quarry, very cross-
grained timber, &c.
SUMMER AND WINTER, idiom, to summer and winter a person
is to have known him sufficiently long to test his character or
disposition imder all circumstances.
SUMMER-WORK, s. a summer fallow.
SUMMERWORK, v. to summer fallow a field.
SUMMUT, s. something.
SUNDAY SALT, s. a salt-manufacturing term. The salt which
crystallizes between Saturday and Monday when the fires are
slackened
*'The large grained flaky salt is made with an evaporation conducted at
the heat of 130 or 140 degrees . . . Somewhat harder than common
salt ... As salt of tMs grain is often made by slackening the fires
betwixt Saturday and Monday, and allowing the crystallization to proceed
more slowly on the intermediate day, it has got the name o{ Sunday Salt"
—
Holland's General View of the Agriculture of Cheshire^ 1808, p. 55.
SUN-SUCKERS, s. streaks of light which are often seen radiating
from the sun behind a cloud, or which stretch across the sky
before sunrise or after sunset. Mobberley.
SUP, V. to drink.
"John sent after his neighbors both,
Hodgkine long & hobb of the lath,
they were beene ath his biddinge.
3 pottles of wine in a dishe
they supped it all off, as I wis.
All there att their partinee.'
))
— "John de Reeve, /Vrry Folio MS,^ Hales and
Fumivall ed.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SUPPING or SUPPINGS, s. buttermilk or whey given on forms
to day-labourers who bring their meals with them.
In W. Cheshire breakOeist and supper of bread-and-milk are giren t«
the Irish labourers, and are called suppmgs,
SUPPLEMENT, s. corrosive sublimate. Mobberley, KNuxsFORn
A chemist, if asked for supplement^ woold perfectly well understand wba
was wanted.
SURCEASE, V. to cease.
“All dvil mutinies shall then mrcease.^'^Ckestef^s Triumph^ 1610. L.
SURFEIT, s, an attack of cold.
It is difficult to say whether suffeit means an attack^ or whether it refe -=
to the disease itself ^ for one hears it said " he*s getten a surfeit o'
cowd," airr
as frequently, " he's getten a surfeit"
SUSPICION, V, to suspect
“I suspicionedYi\m,"
SLITTER, s. a blow, of such a character as would be likely to seno
a person staggering. Mow Cop.
“ni fetch thee a good sutter."
SWAB, s. one of the many names for an oak " settle " or sofa. L
SWAB30X, s. fat. Kelsall.
S\VAl\ s.(\^ the shell of a bean or pea.
y2\ a boy s game, something like duckstone. Wilmslow^
S\\ AI^Pl.EOIDAFF, s, a term of endearment — sweetheart. L.
S\^ A«.K r. to bend in the middle as a long beam sometimes does
AI>>> Sav».
S^VAO BASKET, s, a pedlar's basket containing various kinds o
SWAGF, ^, a blacksmith's tool.
Ar. ii\^. «xnI^ helvJ in a twisted hazel rod, used for cutting hot iron.
S\VAv»F v^r SWAGF AWAY, r. (i) to reduce a swelling, such
a tumour, by fomentatioi^
some external application
(2) to disperse the milk in ^J
human breast or in ^^'
udder of an animal ^
rubbing with oil, or soni<
embrocation.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 347
)WAL£, V. (i) to burn to waste as candles do when they stand in a
draught. Also Sweal (which see).
(2) to deal in com.
There is an old Cheshire proverb, " Let every oqc rwcUe his own
wuts."
SWALER, s. a dealer in com.
SWALLOWMASS, s. a glutton. L.
SWANG, s, a small breadth of some second kind of crop in a field.
WiLMSLOW.
"What is there in the four-acre?'* “ WeU, mostly pratoes, but
there's a swango* turmits."
SWARM, V. to climb a tree by clasping it with the arms and
legs.
] SWARTH, s. (i) the row of mown grass made by a scythe.
(2) the whole crop.
Thus we speak of a heavy crop being " a good swarthy'* even before it is
cat
SWARTH, V. to swarth a mower is to encumber him with the next
cut of grass. Norton.
Now and then it is done in the havHeld as a practical joke, or to show off
the prowess of the leading mower. When two men are mowing together the
strangest man generally leads, and occasionally, to show his strength, he
will
jMsh on £aister than his mate can follow, and having come to the end of his
cot, be will return and follow up the other till he catches him, and throws
his
nmrtk in his way. This is called swarthing him, and it is an indignity
which is seldom forgiven.
, s. " a swary of fields," fields lying together. L.
', s, sweat (general). SWATE (Delamere).
', V. to perspire.
, r. (i) to waste away, to melt.
Any lump or swelling in the flesh of a person is said to be sweated away
under the influence of rubbing with some paste or liquid, it gradually
Mow Cop.
A ^^ted candle rweals away when it stands in a draught. Swale
~hsshirb).
(2) to tamish or blacken by exposure to smoke.
ft bdji^t copper kettle were put on the fire and it became blackened
to b
it would be said to be sweated*
^ in a kiln that is black and not rightly burnt, is said to be only
^1
to
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SWEAT, V, cheese is said to be sweating when it ferments in
process of ripening. Hay also is said to sweat when it heats
the stack.
SWEE, 5; a swing. ,
SWEE, V. to swing. SWEIGH (Mow Cop).
SWEE-BED, s. (i) a block of ice about a yard square cut from
surface of a pond and left floating.
It is a common amusement for boys to cnt a number of these swet
and then dare each other to run along the floating pieces.
(2) a loose wet bog upon which the cranberry gro
is also said to be a swee-bed.
SWEE-POW, s. swing pole.
The iron bars across the large old-£ashioned open chinmevs ; once
in cottages and farmhouses, and from which hung a few links of chaiiB.
hold the pothooks. On one of these the kettle or cast-iron pot
suspended. — Cheshire Sheafs vol. L, p. 322.
SWEET-BRAT, s. an old variety of apple. Middlewich.
SWEET-BREER r* ^^^ sweetbread of an animal. MobberleiT'
SWEET CAKE, s, a sort of crumpet, but without the holes, toas
and buttered. Macclesfield.
The old-fashioned formula for toasting it was to turn it nine times.
SWEETEN, V, to bid the lots up at an auction, not with t^ ^^
intention of buying them, but to raise the price.
SWEET FLAG, s, the plant Acorus Calamus. W. Ches.
SWEET NANCY, s. Narcissus poeticus.
Both the single and the double forms so much cultivated in Cbesis'i
gardens ; also caUed White Nancy.
SWEET WATER, s. a drink, apparently peculiar to Chester, w
frequent use a hundred years ago.
"At Chester the very lowest class of the people drink a kind of
fenncnte*/
liquor. At our sugar-houses, the molds in which the sugar is refined 9Xt
immersed in water to dissolve what adheres to them after the loaf is taken
out. The water, having served this purpose for a week, becomes ioprq^*
nated with sugar, and is sold under the denomination of rweet water, at ths
rate of six gallons for a penny ; so that the very poorest may purditfe it*
This liquor, fermented with yeast, is drunk as small beer; and 844 g«B***
ms^^
are consumed every week. It is not so pleasant, however, but that istsif
WnSt^
prefer milk or even water," — Cheshire Sheaf , vol. i., p. 27, Quoted
fto*
''A medical Commentary on Fixed Air" (1779).
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 349
SWELT, V. to swell.
Rice is swelted by being laid in milk and subjected to heat before the eggs
and sugar are added to it for a pudding. Wheat also is swelted (the same as
creed) before being made into turmetry.
SWELTED or SWELTERED, part, (i) swelled, as rice for a
pudding.
(2) oppressed with heat.
SWELTERING, adj. very hot, said of the weather.
“It*s a sweltering day."
SWENGLE, V. to separate flax after it has been beat. L.
SWEP, V. perfect tense of sweep.
SWIFT, s. (i) a weaving term. The one large barrel upon which
the har^ of weft is put in order to wind it on the
bobbins.
(2) a sand lizard. Delamere.
SWJLKER, s. the motion of liquid in a vessel that is being moved.
SWILL or SWILLINGS, s. pig wash, 1.^., liquid food for pigs.
SW^ILL or SWILL OUT, v. to rinse.
To sivill a floor is to throw water upon it after scrubbing it
“Then Sir Tristeram tooke powder forthe of that box,
& blent it with warme sweet milke ;
& there put it vnto that home,
& swilled \i about in that ilke.'*
— " King Arthur and the King of Cornwall," Percy MS.,
Hales and Fumivall ed.
SWiLL-TUB, s. the tub in which buttermilk or house wash is stored
for pigs.
SWINGING, adj. very great
'* A stuingimg lot " means a great quantity.
SWINGLE HAND or SWINGOW HOND, s, an implement
mentioned by Randle Holme amongst "things belonging to
dressing and spinning of hemp and flax."
"A Swingle Hand, corruptly a Swingow Hand: a thing like a Wooden
Foochion with a square hole or handle." — Academy of Armory, Bk. III.,
I cfa. iii, p. 106.
SWINYERT, s. a dealer in pigs.
SWIPPA or SWIPPO, s. the striking part of a flail.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
SWIPPO or SWIPPOW, adj. supple. W.
SWITCH CLOG, X, a black beetle. L.
SWOP, V, to exchange.
SWOP AND SWARVE, idiom, to exchange in a capricious
manner, as a man who is constantly changing his horse, &c.
“He*s ne'er reet ; he*s alius swoppin cm* szoannn.”
SWOPPERY, s. exchange.
“Swopperys no robbery " is a frequent proverb.
SWORD GRASS, 5. Phalaris arundinacea,
SYTCHE, 5. a ditch. L.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 35 1
T.
TABER, V, to tap with the fingers ; to beat time. Macclesfield.
TACK, s. (1) the term of a lease.
(2) hold, confidence, reliance.
There is no tack in such a one, he is not to be trusted. W.
(3) a bad flavour.
Ale which has been put into a musty cask is said to have a tack, or a
tack oftke cask,
TACK, V. (i) to sew roughly together with very long stitches, pre-
paratory to the regular sewing of a seam.
This can scarcely be considered a Cheshire word, as it is, I think, common
to most counties, but it giv^ rise, according to Leigh, to an old Cheshire
proverb, "Dunna stitch thoi seeam afore thou^s tacked it," which is
equivalent
to " Look before you leap.'*
(2) to tack one's teeth into anything is to set about it
heartily. W.
TA'EN (pronounced tatu\pari. (i) taken.
"Seuen times hath Janus tane new yeere by hand." — ^Tdsser {Five
Hundred Points), E.D.S. ed., p. 151.
(2) favourably impressed.
Aw'm no tc^en wi' him, aw con tell the.'*
TAFFY, s. what is called coverlid.
This is treacle thickened by boiling, and made into hard cakes. W.
TAIL-EENDS, x. small corn ; the last and worst of an3rthing.
TAIL-SHOTEN SOKER ; also called Tailsoke, x. a disease of a
cow's tail L. See Worm i' th' Tail.
TAILYER, s. a tailor.
TAIN (pronounced almost like tine\ x. a town. TEAWN
(WiLMSLOW).
TAK, r. to take. Also Tav.
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352 CHESHIRE GLOSSARY
TAK AFTER, v. To resemble, but applies to disposition
rather than to feature.
“He’s a dree chap; he taks after his feyther.”
TAK IN, v. To enclose land from the waste.
TAKING, s. Excitement, rage.
A person who is very angry is said to be “in a great taking.”
TAKING, part.
“The
ice is taking" means it is beginning to freeze.
TAK OFF, V. to mimic
TAK ON, V, to grieve excessively.
TAK ONE'S HANDS OFF, idiom, to repudiate a bargain,
perhaps, more properly, to decline a bargain. Acton Grangs
'' He was to have had th' farm ; but he took kis kands offix^^
then I took it."
TAK TO, V, to become attached to anyone.
“Au dunna tak to im, some'ow."
TAK UP, V, (i) to become fine after rain.
(2) to borrow money.
It (3) to take into custody.
1 1
TALKATION, 5. a light discourse. Wilmslow.
TALLACK, 5. a term of reproach applied to a woman. MiDDfl
WICH.
•*Adirty/a/iiif>&."
About Wilmslow it is not limited to the female sex.
TALLANT, s. a hay-loft. Kelsall.
TALL-BOY, s, a tall, narrow ale-glass standing on a stem. M^
CLESFIELD.
TALLY-WIFE, s. a woman who lives unmarried
with a man.
TANCED, V. to beat. Macclesfield.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 353
FAN-PIN, s. a plumber's tool for stopping a pipe temporarily.
TANSY, s. (i) Tanacetum vulgare.
(2) Achillea Millefolium.
TANTADLIN TART, s, an open preserve tart. Mobberley.
I heard the word used in this sense at a rent dinner on February 24th,
1882. A very old word in various forms. See Halliwell s.v., tantablin.
The word is not always confined to tarts, but is sometimes used for all the
small sweets at a dinner, such as cheese cakes, custards, &c., in contra-
distinction to the more substantial roast joints and plum pudding.
"ANTONY PIG, s. to follow anyone like a Tantony Fig, is to stick
as close to him as Saint Anthony's favourite is supposed to have
done to the saint W.
'-ANTRUMS, 5, outbursts of passion.
Wilbraham also gives Tantrells.
^P, V. to re-sole boots or shoes. Macclesfield.
^AR-BANT, s. thick tarred string, used for tying sacks ; sometimes
used for thatching.
ARDY, 5. a fine for being late.
The accounts of the company of smiths, cutlers, pewterers, and card-
makers at Chester contain many similar entries to the following: — "Nov.
II, 1679, received from Reignold Woods for a tardy, 3d." L.
ARE, 5, Vicia hirsuta,
AR FITCH, s, Vicia Cracca, also called Blue Tar Fitch to
distinguish it firom Lathyrus fratensis, which is called Yellow
Tar Fitch.
Palsgrave has "Tarefytche, a come, lupyn," Halliwell.
ARNATION, adj, an emphatic adjunct to a word; almost an
imprecation.
ARPORLEY peach, s. the Aston Town pear is so called, as it
is generally ripe about the time of the Tarporley races and
the meeting of the club, which takes place in the first week in
November. L.
ARRAS, s. strong lime and hair mortar, such as is used for
pointing slates.
AJIRIER, s. a terrier dog.
A^R ON, V. to excite to anger or violence, still used in Cheshire.
W. See Tore on.
ASSEI^ 5. a mild term of reproach for a girl. Also Tassel-rag
(a), which see.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TASSEL-RAG, s. (i) catkins of Salix Caprcsa. L.
(2) a word of half blame and half endearment
“AwMl fettle yo, yo young tassei-rag,**
TATCHIN-END (general), THATCHIN-END (Wildkrspool), j.
the waxed thread with which a shoemaker sews his shoes.
More correctly it means only the ends of such threads to which the
bristles are attached, after the shoemaker has used them as fiu as he can,
and
sometimes the meaning is thus restricted.
“Mester Barrow, would yo gie my mother tatchin-ttnds to sew
my buttons on wi* ?"
TATER, s. a potato.
TATER-TRAP, s. the mouth.
“Shut your tater-trapy
TATNA (or Tattenhall) GIRDERS, s. an old-&shioned
much cultivated about Frodsham; or rather there are many ol^
trees of the kind in that district
It is considered about the poorest pear that grows, but it is a wondeifiilE'.
free l>earer, good looking, and sells well in Warrington and the
markets. It also ^oes by the name of Winter Jargonelle, and if there is
difficulty about selling it, the market women give it the more complimeoi
n.irae. It is, however, a good pear for stewing, and should always be
for that purpose.
TAL'NTY, 5. human excrement. Wilmslow.
T.\W, s. (i) a large marble.
(2) a strange man. Wilmslow.
TAV, s. tea.
TAW :•. 10 take.
W ilbraham spells it Tai£\^
lAV-HOOART, s. a tea tray.
I AY THY HURRY. ^//>J»f. do not huny.
\\ is as much as to say *' What are you in such a hony i^
CAnnoi vou «*ait a minute f^
rV\ j.3T\ than.
“CirMteT.vthii." L.
In ivaa:v this is mei^lr an abreriation of TUh See Till.
\Y\\ r. to scatter the grass from the swarths; the first process
h.Ay nuking.
“Go sirs and away,
to uS ani cake hav.
If s:.xxaes craves nigK
ibec cvxk apace ay."
•TUSSSK (/m Hmmdrtd Fbinis
E.D.S. cd.» p. 121
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 355
TEDIOUS, ddj. troublesome, wearisome.
A cross child is said to be veiy tedious, A long lane that seems "to
have
no tominp" is said to be a '* long, tedious road.'* A long protracted
harvest
is " a tedums time." OAen pronounced taygiom,
TEEL, s. taU. W. Ches.
TEEM, V. to pour.
Applied to either liquids or solids. You can teem water out of a can; or
you can turn a lot of potatoes out of a sack.
"It teems wi* rain," i./., "it pours with rain."
TEEN, f. (i) when any one is in misfortune or bad plight he is said
to be in fow tun. W.
(2) anger. W.
TEEN, /^f/. taking. Halliwell.
TEENS, s. something above ten. Generally applied to money.
"What did So-and-so get for his cow?" "Au dunno know,
but it wur i'th' teens,"
TEENY, oiij. very small, tiny.
Frequently reduplicated into Teeny-tiny.
TEETOTALLY, adv. completely.
A sort of superlative of totally.
TELL'N, V. plural of telL
"We teirn yo that we winna do it."
TENK, s. a small blow. Wilmslow.
TENT, z^. (i) to look after, to attend to.
“Tenting^kyt i'th' lone," looking after the cow in the lane. "
Tenting
th* hay " is attending to the making of the hay, tedding it, turning it,
raking
it up, but it does not include the operations of mowing or leading. The
people who make the hay are called "hay-tenters."
“it was a sore office, O Lord, for him
that was a lord borne of a great degree !
as he was tenting his sheepe alone,
neither sport nor play cold hee."
— "Lord of Lcame," Percy Fol, MS., Hales and
Fumivall ed.
Ray gives the following as a Cheshire proverb, "111 tent thee, quoth
Wood; if I cannot rule my daughter, I'll rule my good."
(2) to watch.
"Th* cat's tenting th' rat hole."
(3) to scare or frighten.
“TntHng crows " is scaring rooks off the newly-sown com.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TENTER, s, one who looks after anything.
TERRIBLE, adv. excessively.
Very constantly used without the slightest meaning of anything dretdfiil
being attached to it. We should even say " I'm terrible glad to see
yon."
TERRY-DIDDLE (Frodsham), TERRY-DIVIL, TETHER-
DEVIL, 5. (i) the Bitter-sweet Nightshade, Solanum Dulcamara.
Boys about Frodsham chew the roots and say it tastes like stick liquorice.
(2) Polygonum Convolvulus is also called Tether-
DiWLE and DiwLE-TETHER at Delamere.
TETTER or TITTHER, s. a slight breaking out of the skin.
TEWTER, s, an instrument for breaking flax, as a brake for hemp.
Halliwell.
TRACK, s. thatch, W.
THACKER, 5. a thatcher.
THAH, pron, thou.
THANDER, adj. yonder.
* * Wheer's our Dick ?** " Cre wdling in thander comer. " Hiding
away
yonder comer. L.
THARM-ROPES, 5. hay bands. Wilmslow. But not common.
THAT, adv. so or so very.
'*I were thcU vexed I did not know what I said."
THATCH, s.
“As weet as thatch*^ is a common simile. The straw for thatching beii
partially rotted with water before it is put on a roof.
THATCH-HOOKS, 5. iron hooks, driven into the spars, to ho
down the first layers of straw in thatching a house.
THATCH-PRICKS, s, sticks sharpened at one end used
thatching.
THATCHIN-END. See Tatchin-end.
THAPNS. See A-that'ns.
THAW-WIND or THO WIND, s. a south wind which brings
a thaw. See Robin Hood Wind.
THAVE or THEAVE, s, a ewe of the first year, that has never
a lamb. L.
THEER, pron. there.
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CHESHIRE
GLOSSARY. 357
THEIRSELS, pr. themselves.
THEM, pron. those.
THEY'N, V. they were; an abbreviation of M^'^^''^^' Wilmslow.
THICK, adv. friendly.
THICK-YED, s. a stupid person.
THICK AN* THREE-FOWD, idiom, very numerous, very frequent.
'* He*s a bonny lot o' childer i' thb short time ; they'n com'n
thick oil* three-fowd"
THIEF, s. a burning excrescence on the wick of a candle, which
causes it to gutter.
If it assumes a bright appearance it is sometimes called a letter, and is
supposed to foretell the receipt of one.
THIMBLE, 5. the iron socket in which any pivot turns. Also the
socket into which a bolt shoots. Mobberley.
THING O' NOTHING, idiom, a trifle ; next to nothing.
“He bought a lot o* taters for his cows, and got 'em for a thing
o* nothing,**
“This cask leaks." Brewer : " Oh ! its a things o* nothing,**
“Have you cut yoursel ?** “ Aye ; but its a thing o* nothing, “
Shakspeare uses this phrase.
“Ham. : The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body.
The king is a thing —
GuiL. : A thing, my lord ?
Ham.: Of nothing: bring me to him." — Hamlet, Act iv., sc 2.
^^KlNGS, s. personal apparel.
"Get your things on an' well goo."
"^HINK ON, z/. (i) to remember.
(2) to remind.
“Yo mun think me on, or I shall be sure to forget"
'^*5INK YOU? V, do you think?
This form of the question is almost always used.
IN, tidj. cold, piercing ; applied to a wind that penetrates to the
bones.
One frequently hears it said, " My word ! but it's a thin wind this
morning; it 11 go through you before it'll go round you."
Su(£ a wind is also said '* to make thin linings ;" that is, it makes
one's
clothes feel excessively thin.
V. to pierce ; a term used by colliers when they make an
opening between a new and old working. Mow Cop.
358
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(tudalen 358) (Glossary of Cheshire Words.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
THIS*NS. See A-this'ns.
THISTLE-TAKE, a duty of a halfpenny, anciently paid to the
Lord of the Manor of Halton, in the county of Chester, for every
beast driven over the common, suffered to graze or eat but a
thistle. — BaiUys Dictionary.
The custom is yery ancient, as appears from the following extract from a
report on the Halton Court Rolls, published a few years ago by Mr. Beamont,
of Warrington: — '*In 1375 there was an officer caUed the taxator, who
was to take an account of the swine feeding in the lord's woods, and to
receive the pannage due for them. This year me sums received for panna^
thistle-take^ and the perquisites of the halmote were twenty-two pence ror
the pannage and thistle-take, and thirteen shillings and three pence for the
Court perquisites.'*
Blount in his Law Dictionary, a work of authority, explains tkistlt'take
almost in Bailey's words.
(Frequent enquiries having been made as to what has become of the
Court Rolls of Halton, I may say that they are now lodged in the Public
Record Office in London. )
TRODDEN, adj. close, heavy.
Heavy bread b described as thodden, A waxy, watery potato is also
tkodden,
THONK, s. a thong, a bootlace ; also Thunk.
THORNBERRIES, 5. fruit of Cratcsgus Oxya^antha, occasionally.
THOU, pron, is in constant use.
Exjuals " thou and thee" each other, and superiors “ thou"
inferiors ; but
inferiors always address their superiors as '*you." Generally
pronounced.
thah. Not unfrequently a superior will address an inferior in the third
person^...
“Now he mun tak this letter to Mester , an* he mun wait for an answer.
"^^
THOUSAND-FLOWER, j. Linaria Cymbalaria. L.
THOUSAND-LEAF, s. the >'arrow. Achillea MUlefolium. Mob-
BERLKY.
Erroneously applied by Leigh to A. Ptarmica.
THOWT, s, thought.
"Next /A<7a;/ " is a very common expression to indicate that you
hav— ^
suddenly remembered something that you had almost forgotten.
“Aw*ll go buey some baccy; bu' next thtnut aw have na
enoo.*'
THOWT, V. perfect tense of think.
THRAMP-WITH, s. a sliding noose of withy or rope to fasten coi
in their nails. Haluwell. See Frampath.
'~"* THREEP, or THREEAP, to contradict, to ms
•rtioa Often Thrapb down.
a flail or thresket L.
^rinu for iAimto and Mmto. SeeTuusHATS.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 359
THR AVE, s, twenty-four sheaves of com.
The threshing machine has almost entirely superseded the flail, but when
com was thresh^ by hand, it was generally done by the piece at so much
per throBVt, The farmer counted out two or three thraves at a time for his
men to thresh, and each kept a record of the amount of work done. In
threshing, four sheaves used to be spread out on the floor, head to head, and
when threshed they were tied up into two battens of straw, thus a thrave of
com only makes tweWe sheaves of straw ; and this may, perhaps, account
for Wilbraham's somewhat ambiguous deflnition of a thrave, ''generally
twelve, but sometimes twenty-four sheaves of com.'' At auction sdes com
is frequently sold by the thrave.
THREE-CORNERED, adj, irritable. Macclesfield.
THREE-LEGS, s, three larch poles fastened together at the top by
means of a slightly curved iron pivot.
The legs are spread open at the bottom, and a pulley is fixed under the
apex, they then serve for hobting timber or other heavy materials. Smaller
ones are m use to hang scales to when potatoes are being weighed in a field.
THREEP. See Thrape.
THREE-SQUARE, adj. triangular.
THREEWICK, 5. three weeks.
We speak of " a threewick in the singular number in the same manner as
we speak of a fortnight. The pronunciation is rather peculiar, the first
syllable being short. It sounds almost like threw-ick,
THRESH ATS, s, pL a flail, 1.^., the handstaflf and swipple joined
together.
Randle Holme calls them Threshalls, Academy of Armory^ Bk. iii.,
ch. viiL, p. 333.
"^HRID, s. thread.
^^RIFT, s. growing pains.
•*What ails the, pooin thi face? It's nowt bu* th' Mn//* that
tha'sgetten."
*^H KILL-BARS, s. See Cart.
^IMLLS, s. the shafts of a cart. Middlewich.
^*UaPPA or THRIPPOW, s, the harvest gearing of a cart.
Two thrippaSf one at each end of the cart, constitute the harvest gearing ;
^hey are movable, and are only put on when hay or com are to be carried.
^^UaPPA or THRIPPOW, v. to beat. W. See Ripper.
•^^UlIPPA SLOTES, 5, the bars of a cart thrippa.
^ ^^KIPPLE, s. the beating part of a flail. L.
More commonly Swippa, which see.
^*II«PPOWING, pari. adj.
A tkrifpcwing pungowing life is a hard laborious life. W.
360
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
THROAT FAYVER (fever), s. diphtheria. Mobbkrley.
THROCK, s. Randle Holme enumerates this amongst the part.
a plough.
“The Tktvck is the piece of Timber on which the Suck is fixed. "— ^r^^^
ffAnmoiy, Bk. iiL, ch. viiL, p. 333. '^oii
THROLLY, s. a thrush, Tiirdus musicus. Frodsham.
THRONG, adj. busy.
THROPEl, ) ». perfect tense and participle of the ve^,^^ ,
THROPPEN, J threap. W. ^^^b /i
THROSTLE, s. a thrush, Turdus musicus.
THRUCK, s. the piece of wood that goes through the be;^^^
a plough, at the end of which the suck or share is ^^^^S^^
Haluwell. See Throck. ^
THRUFF./nr/. through, not common.
THRUM, s. (i) a tangle or mess. Kelsall.
A piece of tangled string is said to be *' in a thrum"
(2) a naughty dtiM.— Manchester City News, ^^^ «b™^
26, 1880, but not localized.
THRUMEYED. See Pin-eyed.
THRU MM ELL, x. a large clumsy lump of a fellow. L.
^HRUM^. s. short ends of worsted, which can be bought f^ ^ [q^
cjLT.^e: shops, and which used formerly to be much ^^
kr/.nir.*: into hearth rugs and door mats.
THRUNK. ^\ thronged, crowded.
“,\> :«'««f as thre<e in a bed " is a common saying. Also "
& %ri>i»^r.e NYjikes, noo ream areat."
tkrunk
rHKUSTINGS, s. white whey, the same as thrutchings^ q.v* .
“Ir. :he prx«s of making whey butter, in some instances, the t^^ >ng.' —
c< «^.Je mJw^". is set in cream mugs to carve, and acidulate for
chur^^^
H,x.aDi*s C^tmr-i: iTr-u- i/iJu Agruulture of Cheshire, 1808, p. 26%'
THRUT. r. j^rtect tense and participle of the verb to throw--
“He/irWii dain."
VHRUTVTH. r, to push, to squeeze, to thrust
A Ijk; wyjo was being pushed off the end of a form at a village ^^^m ^
"^^^
>^ KJu&ce of JO manv other lads all crowding on to the same seat,
saS^^
>< ,ii^- C.-J oli" here, I shall that; thrutch up a bit."
jjost
A cvamK« pioTtrb is "Where there's least room therc^^
?^[
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 36 1
THRUTCHINGS, s. whey which is thrutched or squeezed out
whilst the cheese is under pressure.
It rans out nearly white, and is thicker than the first or green
whey.
THUMBASING or THUMMASING, part, fumbling with the
hands as if all the fingers were thumbs. Fumasing is used in
the same sense.
From a manuscript note in Wilbraham's Glossary, written apparently
about 1836.
There seems to be an idea, not in Cheshire only, but generally, that the
thumb is an inferior organ to the fingers, and more clumsy ; accordingly, one
frequently hears it said, " I can't manage it at all to-day ; xxxy
fingers seem all
thumbs. A good illustration of this occurred at a rent dinner at which I
was presiding. The host of the inn where we were dining had recently lost
his wife. His health was drunk, and the man who proposed it made some
allusion to his loss, but hoped he would in due time find solace in a second
helpmate. In returning thanks, poor O said he thought he should
remain as he was, and he ended by saying that his late wife was so clever
that whenever she took anything in hand, her thumb never seemed to be in
the way.
FUMMASING (which see) seems to be merely another pronunciation of
the word, Th and F being, in some degree, interchangeaole letters. We
have an illustration of this in Thistle^ which in Cheshire is very frequently
pronounced Fistle.
'^HUNDER BOLTS, s, the com poppy, Papaver Rkcsas. L.
Probably Papaver dubium is int
Cheshire, if indeed, it occurs at all.
'^^^^^UNGE, s. a heavy blow.
Probably Papaver dubium is intended, P, Rhmas being extremely rare in
;, if ii
UNGE, V, to strike a heavy blow.
"What art thungin at th* durr for? Conna thee wait till a
oppen it?"
UNGER, 5, anything of unusual size.
UNK, s. a thong, a bootlace; also Thonk.
UNKED, part, having a stricture. Norton.
“When the teat of a cow becomes knotted as if it had a thong tied round
it, and her milk cannot flow freely, the teat is said to be thunked,
^'^^tiTJNNER, s. thunder.
''"HUNNER-BOWT, s, thunder-bolt.
*^*iTJRN, s. a thorn.
^ttURN-BUSH, s, a hawthorn tree, Cratagus Oxyacantha.
Y
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2716)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TICE. r. to cc:sce.
ctfsj :i" «k», im thcj booathi gcet dninkT"
"•Traarr ww gooiii to his work reet enough, bu' Jack tiad\im
*'if I miy know after this
&i: dkw tiu me» I wis
tboQ shah have the law of the land."
— " Sir Triaxnore," Percy Fol, MS., Hales and
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2717)
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Furnivalled.
TICK, t fccc r^ Qoadli disease in cattle. Mobberley.
nCKI F. ^1 1 1 ^ sasteady, top heavy.
* « ds&ult, delicate.
- Aj've seciea rayther a tickU job here. "
riCSLLZ-oTOMACHED, adj, squeamish.
rXSLlISH. jup. skittish, mettlesome ; said of a horse.
n? V. «r. in aididon to the ordinary meaning " neat," the word is
scti CB a luerr of occasions to signify
vt cocsadeiable.
' A ^ jcc "^ 2ft a xaiher laige quantity.
^ A aA ^KSKs " s a k»g distance.
• \ Ttw *.t: ,-■ :iLT * » a g»3 sort of a man.
"*'.i-r ?*i 7HT TiX^TH. Uwm, a curious expression -s* ^^
!\ammi »T« Jitter aai cattle do not break through ^^ ^^i^
vt\s^\^:K^ IK ^ai^ Secausc the pasture is good, which pr^
ef.
i xr: eriibec applied to a person in mischi
"C^'-at: ■i'i. v*" sir "^
^ .r^>ft :diic s^ iter rxJei "a cress .'rjCf."
“: \i:>tK- l"OtL\ ^>. -w ?Ar< r^mfi inwards.
364
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(tudalen 364)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2718)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TOAD-RUDD, s. frog-spawn.
TOATLY or TOERTLY, adj. quiet, docUe.
TO-DO, s, ftiss, bustle, outcry.
“What ails him ? he's making a great to^.”
TO-DO, adj. amiss.
“What's to^ wi' thee ?"
TOFF, ad/\ tough.
TOFFY STICKS. See Traycle Toffy.
TOM AND JERRY, s. a beerhouse.
TOMMY DODD, s/ang tocpression^ salt-making term.
A lerer used for jumping or sacking the salt in place of its being ,
aa. The moath of the sack is attached to hooks on a ring fixed at th
eke short arm of a lerer. One man can thus work the lever and jump tl^
■TOMORROW-COME-NEVER, idiom, an indefinite time.
STiK»rmoas with the Parliamentary phrase '*this day six mon
CiaivriiAi/^ voL ii., p. 27.
TOM-TIT. i. a titmouse. Also Tittibiaw.
TV>X or TONE, s. one, or rather " the one."
“1 met old Aspbary on the waste, and I said ' Our chimne]^^
5«veruig, and there are no sweeps in Kelsall ; what must I do ? '^
be saVs * Get a hollin-bush, missis, or set it afire ! ton o'th' tw^
A Tsrr cvxnaMQ way of sweeping chimneys in Cheshire is to tie a _
>«&h -^ :^ =iid^ of a cart rope. One end of the rope is then wc:^
v::'! X 5c:Qe isi passed down the chimney. A man at the top and a
t; :ie >c<T.xs u<s r*iU the holly-bush up and down until all the
rsijAi^i- S<e Tv'»theil
rv"^Nvrtv'E-FENCE. y. argument, talL Wilmslow.
rOV^KyN. r. pertec: :ense plural of the verb to take.
7VV1 -FIXvv i a siull room amongst the farm buildings
rA:C$ jl:^ i^^rvc Middlkwich.
WV r. r. r;* vcv curlo::sIy or impertinently into any little dom
•h'
ere
Stic
^^\>7 HII I. f*"^^^ «-?*«. a steep hill near Alvanley. .^^^erc
TVctr J« rviTA >.i"^ :hroc^hoat the country which bear this name. 1
^0"""^
> ;5P»<n. N : V rfObtr^ oc in aadest camp in their vicinit)', and the
r^ ^^ b
^i Kt s?:-.''- TVS "A Xvi^^x:: :" c^r e^se. as has sometimes been
suggested, ^
^.vovv^vc »*c>. ;^ •v^fshp of :he Celac deity Tot or Thoth. -^^tn
Hjil****' iutf " Tcceiiill. aa eminence, CAcsk," which is probably
\^^^^ a
»vm V rvftV'"-, ^ik" *ij* •'* KVehill is an eminence from which
there ^
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2719)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 365
TOOTY POT, s, a hole in a road or pavement full of water. L.
TOO VERY, adv, toa
“Dannot dig it /^ very deep.'*
TOP O' TH' TREE, idufm. the highest position attainable..
TOPPER, s. something very good.
A highly popular man is sometimes described as " a topper!'*'
TOPPING, adj. noted, eminent.
“He's a topping plooman. "
TOPS AND BOTTOMS, idiom, an expression relative to the cul-
tivation of cottage gardens. Tops are fruit trees, bottoms are
vegetables.
“Why do you not grow potatoes?" " Au canna have tops and
bottoms as well, and tops pee best." L.
TOP-SAWYER, s. a first-rate hand; a great person.
TOP-SIDE, s.
The top side of a tree is the side of the stem which has been exposed to
the north when growing, and which some consider injuriously affects the
quality of the woc^ on t^t side. — Cheshire Sheafs vol. iL, p. 27.
UP, V. (i) to finish off a stack.
(2) to put the best at the top when fruit or any other
article is for sale.
'^C3RE ON, V, to struggle through with any task. Mobberley.
“Have you welly finished ?" " No, bur aw'm toring on,^^
WART, j^'''^' ^o^^^-
'^OtEHILL. See Toot Hill.
THER, s. the other.
FrequenUy used after Ton. “ One or the other " is " Ton or tother^
“Wife, pluck fro thy seed hemp the fiemble hemp clene,
thu looketh more yellow, the other more grene :
Vse ton for thy spinning, leave Mihel the tother^
for shoo thred and halter, for rope and such other."
— TussKR {Five Hundred Points), E.D.S. ed., p. 123.
CH-M&NOT, 5. the plant Cardamine hirsuta^ which shoots
^^ut its seeds when touched. Mobberley.
^•BAR, 5. a turnpike.
•DISH, s. toll dish. A miller's toll measure.
^^^^ER-WHEELS, s. salt-mining term. The wheels at the top of
^ towers on which thtflat-rofes run.
366
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2720)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TOWLER, s. an instrument for breaking flax. L,
TOWN, s. a village. Used often in place names.
“Norton Tmtm " is often spoken of, though Norton is an extremdy
small village ; and two bridges on the Bridgewater Canal, which inns thioogfa
Norton, are called respectively " Norton Town Bridge," and '* Norton
Town
Field Bridge.'* We have the *'Town Lane*' in Mobberley; and in the
same parish there is the *' Town Field," a field which formerly
consisted of
a number of small allotments, cultivated conjointly, as it were, by the
various
inhabitants of the township. In an old deed relating to property in the
village
of Halton, an enclosure is named as " the yard at the end of tne
town."
TOYPED OFF, part, (i) fainted.
(2) damped off, like an over-watered flower. L.
TRADDLE, s. a treadle.
TRADDLE-HOLE, s. (i) a hollow place in the floor under a
loom where the treadles work up and
down.
(2) an old-fashioned variety of apple
The tradition is that a weaver found an apple pip growing in the trandle-
hole under his loom, and planted it in his garden. In due time it bore fruit
of good quality, and the variety was named TraddU-haU from the place
whence the pip came.
TRADE, s, a handicraft
The word has no reference to buying and selling, or keeping a shop.
“He gave th* lad a trade; he put him to a shoemaker."
TRADE, V. to tread.
TRADE MORTAR, v. to mix lime and sandfor mortar by treading
it with the feet, a practice now almost obsolete.
TRADESMAN, s. a handicraftsman.
TRAMMEL, s. a builder's tool.
In working circular work, a staff of the radius of the circle is a tramt
TRAMMLE, v. to trample.
TRANSMOGRIFY, v. to metamorphose, to effect a visible cha*^ ge
for the better.
A jobbing tailor oflered to iransmo^fy all my carpets when I
removing to a new house ; meaning that he would alter them to suit the
rooms.
rRANSOM, s. the cross piece of wood that holds up the log o>
saw-pit.
A back-transom is a spare one always kept under the log for safety.
rRAPS, s. salt-making term. The holes in the floor between
hothouses and the lofts^ up which holes the lumps are put
:he
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 367
'RASH, s. an iron plate to lock the wheel of a wagon going down
hill MiDDLEWICH.
!*RASH, also TRASHER, v. to shuffle, as one does with shoes
down at heel
A woman who was summoned before the Frodsham School Attendance
Committee for not sending her son to school, gave as an excuse that she had
been unable to buy him a pair of boots, and added, *' HeM nowt bur an owd
pair o* moine as he had for t* trask abait in, an' ah couldna send him i*
them.”
“His shoon are queit done ; he*s traslut^ em eawt"
:RASHERT, adj. poorly shod,
TRASHES or TRASHERS, s. old shoes or slippers.
PRAUNCE, s. a tedious journey.
“He led me a fine traufue,"
'RAUNCIN, part, taking a tedious journey, without much result.
“He said he were on'y goin to Helsby, but he kep me irauncin
abait au dee."
TRAVIS, s, a place enclosed with rails, for shoeing an unruly horse.
'RAYCLE'TEAWN (Treacle Town), pr^. name, a soubriquet for
the town of Macclesfield.
TRAYCLE toffy, s. sometimes called Toffy Sticks. A very
favourite sweetmeat amongst Cheshire school children.
I am not acquainted with the exact mode of manufacture, but I suppose
the treacle is thickened by boiling till it will draw out into sticks a foot
or
more long, which harden as they cool. The sticks are covered with strips of
paper wrapped around them spirally.
PRAYPSE, s. a long, dirty, tiring walk.
“Eh ! bur aw've had such a traypse^ an' aw for nowt."
TRAYPSE, v. to walk in a slovenly manner, through mud and dirt
TRAYPSED, /^jr^. draggled, poverty-stricken. Middlewich.
TREENE WARRE (treen ware), s, earthen vessels.
From an inventory of property belonjdng to Margery Clutton of Nant-
wich, 161 1. — Local Gleanings^ January, 1880, p. 265.
TREFOIL, i. Trifolium minus.
TREMBLING GRASS, s, quaking grass, Briza media. Wilmslow.
RENCH, v. to dig two spades deep, burying the sod at the
bottom.
R-ENCH-PLOUGH, v. to turn over a very shallow furrow in
the first instance, and then cover it by means of a second plough
set much deeper.
368
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(tudalen 368)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2722)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TRENTALL, s. a collection of thirty things.
Lawrence Mainwaring in his will (i533» A.D.) leaves money to pay ''for
a trenialioi masses," ue.y thirty masses. L.
TRIAL, s. a coarse sieve in a winnowing machine.
TRICKLING, part, applied to the uncertain scramble of a wounded
hare.
"I seed the hare a trickling along the deitch, through the
hrimbles under the boo of yon wicken." L.
TRIG, s, a trot, between a walk and a run (not applied to a horse's
trot).
“He's alius uppo th* /n]f." Always in a hurry.
TRIG or TRIG OUT, v. to bedeck.
TRIM THE JACKET, idiom, to beat.
“Aw'll trim thy jacket for thee."
TRINDLE, s. the wheel of a barrow. Middlewich. Also
Trundle.
TRINKLEMENTS, s. nick-nacks, trinkets.
TRINCUM-TRANCUMS, s. ornaments of dress, fallals. Wilms-
LOW.
TRIVANT, s. truant. Wilmslow.
“He ticed ahr Jac* o play trivant from schoo."
TROLLOP, s. a slattern.
TROLLY, s. a low, two-wheeled cart. Macclesfield.
TRON, V. to contrive something in joiner's work or the like. L.
TROSSLE, s. making a trossle of oneself— being slatternly or
turning out disreputably. L.
TROU, s, a small cart or drag. Halliwell.
TROUSE, s, a thorn or bough, used to stop a gap in a hedge. L
TROWS, s. a steelyard. Mow Cop.
TRUCK, s. odds and ends which are almost worthless.
“Th' sale begun at one o'clock, but they'll ony be scUin truck ic:^^
an hour or so."
TRUCK, V. to barter.
“He conna sell th' tit ; he'll have to truck wi' somebody to ^*^'
beawt it."
TRUNDLE, s. the wheel of a wheelbarrow ; also Trindle.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2723)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 369
:RUNDLE-B0WL, s. a boy's boop.
TRUNK, s. tbe pipe whicb conveys tbe water under a//a/. Frods-
HAM. See Plat.
TRUSS-WEIGHT, s. a ratber curious and ingenious metbod of
weigbing bay for market.
For market a ton of hay is cut into forty trusses, which are supposed to
weigh 561b5. each. The hay-cutter cuts the truss as near the required weight
as he can guess, and then weighs it on a steelyard (locally called drones),
which is furnished with two long hooks to hook into the bands around the
truss. The drones are hung to the siail (or handle) oi^kpikel (or pitchfork),
the grains (prongs) of which are thrust into the side of the haystack, the
other end of the pikel resting on the man's shoulder. Of course it very
rarely happens that a truss weighs exactly 561bs., but whatever weight
is under or over the 561bs. is recollected, and the underweight or overweight
of each succeeding truss is subtracted from or added to the previous total
under or over weight, until the whole forty trusses are weighed. In fact, a
very ingenious mental Dr. and Cr. account is kept. An example will best
illustrate the process. Suppose the first truss weighs ^9lbs., this is 3lb5.
overweight; truss two weighs 55lbs., or lib. underweight; the lib. sub-
tracted nrom the 3lbs. leaves 2lbs. overweight for the two trusses. Truss
three may weigh only 5oIbs., or 61bs. short; but there are alreadv albs,
over;
the balance therefore is 4lbs. short in the three trusses. When tne errors
are
so small as these they are allowed to pass, but if the error is large, or the
balance begins to get much too high or too low, some hay is taken from or
added to a truss to equalize it again. When the last truss is weighed the
whole ton may be a few pounds over or under, but cannot be more incorrect
than a few pounds ; and this error is easily rectified in the last truss. See
Catch Weight.
RYING PLANE, s. a long heavy plane used for tbe careful dress-
ing, levelling, and squaring up of timber after tbe first rougbness
has been taken off witb tbe jack plane.
"UB, 5, salt-making term. A square box of wood in wbicb fine salt
is moulded before drying.
They are generally eighteen to twenty inches long and six to eight inches
square.
•XJBBY, adj, round-bellied.
XTB-GUTS, s. a pot-bellied man. Wilmslow.
'UB-THUMPER, i. (i) a cooper.
(2) a ranting preacber.
'UCKED UP, part, an animal baving very little stomach is said to
be tucked up.
UMBRIL, s. a dung cart ; smaller tban an ordinary cart
"Horse, Oxen, plough, tumbrel, cart, waggon, & waine."
— ^TussER {Five Hundred Points), E.D.S. ed., p. 35.
UMMLEj V. to tumble.
I
370
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(tudalen 370)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2724)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TUMMUS, {i)prop, name. Thomas.
(2) s. a toad. L.
TUN-DISH, s. 2l jfunnel.
TUNGLED, part, plagued. L.
TUP, s. a ram.
TUP CAT, s. a torn cat. L.
TURF, s. peat dried for fuel. The word is never applied in
Cheshire to a grass sod.
Turf-getting is a [peculiar industry carried on at most of the larger pe^
bogs, and notably at Lindow Common near Wilmslow. The turf is niaed
out into parallelograms about 12 inches by 9 inches, and cut horizontally
into
cakes about 3 inches thick ; these are laid on the earth to dry ; afterwaios
reared two together ; then piled into windrows, and lastly stacked in coaic^
heaps for winter fuel. There are two q^ualitics of turf; the grey and the
black. The grey lies uppermost and is formed chiefly of white fB^J^
(Sphagnum) which is only very slightly decomposed. It dries spongy. '*°'
black turf is underneath, and dries very hard.
TURF-GETTER, s. one who cuts and prepares turf for fuel.
TURF-SPADE, s. a thin, sharp spade, made perfectly flat, so *^
it can be used either side up, for the purpose of cutting the ^^
blocks both perpendicularly and horizontally.
TURMIT, s. a turnip.
TURN AGAIN, v. to turn back.
TURNED, /ar/. (i) past, as regards age.
“He's turned seventy."
(2) sour, said of milk.
rURNEL, s. a shallow, oval tub.
Large ones are used for scalding pigs and are called "pig /«
Smaller ones are used for various purposes, such as putting under a c
press ; kneading bread, salting meat, &c.
/J-
TURNING AND TYPING, idiom, contriving, so as to rr»^^^
things fit Wilmslow.
J'URNOVER, s. (i) a pasty made of a circular paste doubled ^^ ^y
and the edges pinched together. It ^^^
contain fruit or meat.
(2) an apprentice transferred to a new master.
TURN OVER, r. to repeat.
“Aw hears so many tales that are na worth fuming o^tr aga*^'
J URN THEE, exc/. said to a horse or cow when they are requi^^^
to move to one side.
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(tudalen 371)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2725)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 37 1
RN UP, V, (used metaphorically).
"It winna bear turning up,^* like a smart gown over a draggle-tail
petticoat. Said of a person who really is not what he seems to be, or what
he would wish people to imagine he was. L.
SH, s, a tusk.
AN ABOUT, V. to go about aimlessly. Mobberley, Wilmslow.
“What hast bin doin aw day ? Aw*ve seen the do nowt bu'
Iwan abeawty aw o'er th* place."
ANG A BOW, V, hatting term.
In ''bowing" the materials for hat bodies the Bow (which see) is taken
in the left hand, and the Bow Peg (which also see) in the right The string
of cat|^t is pulled by the end piece of the bow peg and then let go; the
effect IS to spread and open out tne materials upon wmch it is laid.
ARLY, adj, peevish, cross. W.
EEND, V. to wind round or twist. Middlewich.
ELFT, s. twelfth.
ELL, V. to twirl. Wilmslow.
"7«v//itreawnd."
IGGEN, adj\ made of wickerwork.
“A twiggyn flaskett" (f.^., a wicker basket) is mentioned in an
inventory
of property belonging to Margery Glutton of Nantwich, i6ii. — Local Glean-
mgs, February, l88o, p. 298.
IGGEN DICK, s. a coarse kind of cheese, with very little fat in it
Servants when not satisfied with the furnishing of the table used very
frequently to repeat the following rhyme, and perhaps do so still, at
Middlewich :—
“Browan bread, mahley pies,
Twiggen Dick full o* eyes ;
Buttermilk instead o* beer ;
So I'll be hanged if I stay here."
At Wilmslow the rhyme varies thus :—
"Barley bread, and barley pies,
Twiggen Dick and full o' eyes.
Sour milk and smaw beer,
Maks me stop no lunger here."
IGGERY, s. an ozier bed.
IGS, s, oziers.
IN, V. to divide into two parts, especially applied to a field, or a
building.
INK, 5, a chaffinch, Fringilla Calebs. Frodsham.
1ST, s. appetite.
“Eh ! which a twist thou*s getten."
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(tudalen 372)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2726)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
TWITCH, ^. (i) a short slick with a noose of string at one end,
used for holding a refractory horse.
The noose is placed around the upper lip of the horse, and is twisted round
until the lip is hdd tight.
(2) couch grass, Triiicum repens.
TWITCH CLOG, s. a black beetle.
TWITCHEL, s. a person whose intellect is so weakened by age ^
to become childish is called a twitchel, W.
TWITCHEL, V. (i) to geld by means of a cleft stick. W.
For description of the operation see Wilbraham's Glossary.
(2) a dog is said to be twitchdUd when it has & can
tied to its tail. Wilmslow.
TWITCHINGS, s. "ends of Horse Shooe Nails cut off."— ^«i^Sr*T
of Armory^ Bk. III., ch. iil, p. 89.
TWITE, V. to cut L.
TWIZZLE, V. (i) to twirl, to twist
A chicken is said to have its neck iwisMkd when it is slaughtered in ^
manner.
(2) to twine roimd. Delamere.
The bindweed is said to " twitzU round the corn."
TWO FOLK, idiom, at variance.
"John an* James are two folk,'''*
TWO-FOOT, s. a carpenter's rule.
“Han yo seen my two-foot V*
rWO-FOWD, adj. double.
TWOTHRY, s. two or three. Used also to express any indefi:^ ^^^
number.
Sometimes it means rather a large number; thus "a good two^ m?
glasses " would imply that a considerable quantity of drink had been
imbi^-^'^'
rWYNTER HEIFER, 5. a two year old (two-winter) heifer.
Mentioned in an inventory of property belonging to Margery Cli^
of Nantwich, 161 1. — Local Gleanings^ February, 1880, p. 302.
1 VKE, s. see Tike.
ITNAN, V. to enrage, or provoke. L.
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(tudalen 373)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2727)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 373
U.
ULLET or ULLERT, s. an owL ULLARD (Middlewich).
ULLET HOLE or ULLERT HOLE, s. a hole left in the gable
of a building to admit owls, which destroy an amazing number
of mice in farm buildings.
UMBER, )
OTJMBER, \ s. the shade.
OTJMER, J
Com does not ripen well if it is in the utnber, W.
IJKBERELL, s. an umbrella.
UliIBRELLA RAIN, s. rain which comes straight dowa Kelsall.
XJK, s. one,
•* That's a good un, any*ow."
UKBARE, V. to strip, to make bare.
*' He'll unbare th' prato hog morrow morning if it does na freeze."
UNBEELNOWNST, adv. unknown, clandestinely.
UKBETHINK, v. to recall to mind.
It invariably takes the accusative case of the pronoun after it. '* Now I
unbetkink me; and, as Wilbraham observes, it somewhat implies a change
of opinion.
"and unbetkought him of awhile,
how he might that wilde bore beguile."
— " Sir Lionell," Percy FoL MS,, Hales and
Furnivall ed.
Frequently pronounced umbethink,
UNCO, UNCOW, or UNKERT, adj. awkward, strange, un-
common. W.
UNDENIABLE, adj. (1) excellent.
It also has a meaning which, at first sight, appears almost the reverse of
excellent, namely—
(2) unmistakeable, absolute.
“He's an undeniable rascal."
"NDERLING, s. a cow, pig, or other animal bullied by the others.
'"That's a little underling^''* said a farming man, pointing to a cow in
a
*tew yaidy " and the others run it." L.
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(tudalen 374)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2728)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
UNDERSET I ^' ^^ ^^^ "^^ walling under a wall already built.
UNDER TH' WEATHER, idwm, in poor circumstances, down in
the world.
UNFACE, V. to expose.
To “unface sand" would be to dig away all the soil soastoeipQRi
face of sand.
UNGAIN, adj\ not handy, inconvenient
The reverse oigmn^ which see.
UNGIVE, V. to give way, to melt.
When glue does not stick it b said to ungwe. \llien a thaw begms to
set in, the frost is said " to ungive a biL" Salt ungivis ot becomes
moist is
damp weather. A lump of rock salt is often used as a barometer, bong 1ibb|
up by a piece of string to a hook in the hooseplace ceiling. When it tmpm
and drips on the floor it indicates coming wet weather.
UN HAIR, V. a tanning word, meaning to divest a hide of the hair.
UNHUDDER, v, to take off the top protecting sheaves (huddcn)
from com stooks preparatory to carrying them, so as to kt the
sun harden the corn which has been previously covered up.
UNKEMPT, pari, uncombed. Still in use.
UNKIND, adj, unripe, or rather not able to ripen.
“Unkifid corn" is corn which, from some circumstance, such as being
shaded with trees, does not come properly to maturity, and is iil-fol.
UN LEVEL, adj, not level.
UNLUCKY, adj, always in mischief.
A boy who is perpetually in some scrape or another is stigmatised as "w
unlucky lad. "
A cow which has a propensity for breaking through fences is said to be
unlucky ^ and is often hlufted^ or has 9, yoke hung round her neck.
When it was the fashion for country girls to wear veils, people osed to
say of them jokingly “ Oo's unlucky ^^^ m allusion to the blufting of a co**
See Bluftei) (i).
UNPOSSIBLE, adj. impossible.
UNTOW^ERTLY, adj. unpromising, unmanageable.
A correspondent writes as follows : — "I was a nervous, delicate chiWi
and therefore very amenable to nursery rule, and she [the nurse] alwaysspoj^
of me as “a taughlly little thing ;" whereas my sister, who utterly
defied l*>*
powers above, was described as "an untowertly baggage."
It is rather remarkable that the two words toatly or tawtlif aw
untow€rtly\ which appear to be the positive and negative forms of the SjJ^
word, and which certainly express two opposite qualities, arc v^^^
invariably pronounced differently, as indicated m the above quotation.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2729)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 375
UP, z^. (i) to get up.
“I upped and towd im."
(2) to lift up.
“I upptd wi' my fist and fetched 'im a crack o'th' yed."
UP AN' DAIN or UP AN' DEAWN, idiom, applied to a Lanca-
shire method of fighting, where kicking, &c., is resorted to, in
contradistinction to a Cheshire "stand up '' fight. See Lanky (2).
UPBRAITH, V. to upbraid.
UP-EEND, v» to turn anything, such as a barrel, on its end.
UPHOWD, V. (i) to uphold in argument; to assert, to maintain.
(2) to certify,
'* What he says is true, I uphawd yo,^'
UP I* YEARS, idiom, getting old, as applied to human beings.
Often singly i* years, without the prefix up,
UPKECK, V. to upset.
To upkeck a cart is to tip a cart up so as to shoot out the contents.
UPPO,/ri5^. upon, when the next word begins with a consonant
"6J^th'root"
UPPO TH' NEEST, idiom.
A woman is said to be "getten uppo t)C neest'* when she is beginning to
luive a family. Mobberley.
UPSIDES, adj. even.
To be upsides with anyone is to be even with him ; to pay him out.
uPSTONDING, part adj. (i) erect, tall and well grown, majestic-
looking.
"A good upstonding crop."
(2) sometimes it merely means standing
up.
"Aw drunk his health upstonding,^*
"^ To THE KNOCKER, idiom, properly, in a workmanlike
banner.
^*^ To THE NINES, idiom, the same as Up to the Knocker.
*' There aren't more than two or three in Runcorn as can dress a
cawf up to th* nines."
^^YEPT,/af/. heaped up.
^^ISH, V. to plague or tease. Wilmslow.
^*^BlSHING, part. adj. troubled, plagued. Wilmslow.
A man who is sorely plagued and troubled by adverse circumstances is
“id to have * • an urbisking time of it. "
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(tudalen 376)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2730)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
URCHANT or URCHIN, s. (i) a hedgehog.
(2) salt-making term. Pieces of sait
scale are so called when thej
have been allowed to form over
the fires.
A man is said to have "an urckant in his pan*' when he has "scsikd
his fires."
URR, V. to snarl.
“What's th' dog urHn at ?"
US,/«?«. (i) we.
“Must us go now."
(2) me.
"Give us an apple."
USED TO COULD, idiom, used to be able.
"Aw used to couldtL done it, but aw think aw*ve welly f<w8*^^*°
heaw neaw."
UTICK, s. (i) the whinchat, Pratincola rubeira.
The note of the bird is " Utick, tick, tick," uttered very
distinctly.
(2) a term of reproach to a lad.
"Thayoling«ftV/6."
UZSELS, pran. ourselves.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2731)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 377
V.
Valley, s. and v. value.
Wilbraham sub. v. Va/ue says “ amount as well in measure as in quantity;
drdter, when you come to the va/ue of five feet."
VAMP, s. the upper leather of a shoe.
VARGING or BARGING, part, quarrelling. L.
VARIEGATED NETTLE, s. Lamium maadatum, frequently seen
in cottage gardens.
VARIETY, ^. a rarity. W.
VARJUS, s, verjuice.
VARMENT, s. vermin.
VARMENT-LOOKING, adj. sporting looking. L.
VAST, 5. a great number.
“Theer were a vast o* folk."
VEIL, s. a child's caul; supposed to confer safety, especially from
drowning. Kelsall.
“I had a uncle as had a charmed life ; he was born with a veil
over his face."
Also caUed a colt.
VEMON, s. venom.
VEMONOUS, adj, venomous.
VEMONT,/flrf/, venomed, poisoned
*• He's vemont wi' a tooad."
VENTER, V. to venture.
VENTERSOME, adj. adventurous, or, perhaps more correctly,
reckless of danger.
VE^SSEL-CLEANER, s. an under dairymaid, whose business it is to
clean the cheese tub, cans, and dairy apparatus.
VElSSELSy s. the various cans, tubs, &c., pertaining to a dair)'.
VEW, s, a yew tree, Taxus baccata,
Z
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2732)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
VIEWSOME, adj. commanding a good view. Kelsall.
A house overlooking a very beautiful prospect was spoken of by somi
who called as " a vinvsome house."
VILE, adv. very, exceedingly.
“Aw'm vile bad wi* th* toothache."
"He*sw/.fnowt."
VIRGIN MARY'S HONEYSUCKLE, s. Pulmonana ofidnalu^L^ j.
Gardener^s Chronicle, 1873, p. 579.
VIRGIN MARY'S THISTLE, or FISTLE, s. Carduus Mariam^ ^^,
not uncommon in cottage gardens.
VIRGINS, s. a kind of apple. Middlewich.
VIRTUE, s. strength; pronounced vertcha.
“It's noo use puttin more wayter on th* tay leeaves, t^^ ^^
vertcha^s gone eawt."
VITRID, adj. angry, malicious, vicious. Mow Cop.
“Oo's very Tdtrid at him."
VI VERS, s. small roots, fibres. L.
VIZARD, s. a mask.
VOI DYERS, s. vessels for carrying table furniture in, knives, '^:^ktes,
&c.
Mentioned in an inventory of property belonging to Margery Clu t ton of
Nantwich, 1611.— Zoca/ GUaningSt February, iSSo, p. 299.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2733)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 379
W.
^^-^CK, s. hatting term. A name given to materials which have
been pilfered by workmen during the course of manufacture.
^^^^-A^CKER, s. a shake.
"Aw of a wcbcker^'* all of a shake, like a person frightened or cold.
The
same as Dither.
^^^-A.CKER, V. to tremble.
OE, 5. wages.
The word is generally used in the singular.
IF, s. goods dropped by a thief; also goods and chattels lost,
and not claimed after a year and a day, when, after certain
forms, they belong to the lord of the manor. L.
^^^-A^IRIBREE, s, a large wart upon the body of an animal.
Leigh spells it Warribbe, which I have never heard,
3RY, adj, (i) weary, tired.
(2) troublesome, vexatious.
•* Rappits are wairy powse."
(3) disreputable.
“He's a wairy rascal."
KE, adj. weak.
KE ROBIN, 5. (i) Orchis mascula, L.
(2) Arum maculatum,
-^XES, s. the annual feast-day of a village or township.
The Wakes are generally held on or about the Saint's day to whom the
C^hurch is dedicated ; though, as a matter of fact, I know of no wakes which
^re held at any other season than the autumn ; and I have thought that pos-
^bly they may be survivals of some ancient pagan autumnal festival, which
in Christian times was transferred to such Saints' days as occurred about the
^ame season. The wakes are one of the grand events of the year from which
^ates are often reckoned ; and it is customary for friends from a distance to
^»isit each other during “ Wakes week." Leigh says the word is always
used
in the plural, but the country people seem to treat it as a singular word ;
for
"^Aey would say "I remember a score of Mobberley Wakeses." I
have also
>^ery often heard people lamenting that the IVakeses are beginning, as it
is a
^ure indication that winter is not far off. Bowdon Wakes are the earliest,
m-
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2734)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
I think, and they have given rise to a proverbial saying — " When BowdoD
Wakes is at Bowdon winter is at Newbridge Hollow." Newbridge HoUo*
is about a couple of miles from Bowdon. It is or was the custom (for nch
customs are fast changing) for farmhouse servants to be re-hired in Mobberky
at the Wakes, though they did not actually change their places till
Christmis.
WAKKEN, adj, wide awake as regards intellect.
"He*s a wakken un** is said of a very cute lad. It also rather impli^
that the lad has a spice of harmless mischief in him.
WALK, V, to walk a flag or heavy stone is to rear it on end, or as
we should say in Cheshire, "to up-eend it," and then to mo^
it along by advancing one comer at a time, the other comc^
acting as a pivot upon which to screw it round.
WALK APRON, s. hatting term. The apron used by workmen ^^
keep them dry when working at the kettles.
AVALK BECK, excL Come ! That is, come nearer to the dri^^'
Said to the first horse of a team. Delamere.
WALK-MILL, s. a fulling mill.
There is a farm called Walk-mill Farm in the township of Dodcot-*^^*^^
Wilkesley ; and in the parish of Wilmslow, where Dean Row joins Ne^^ ny
there used to be a footbridge over the Bollin called ff^a/i(-mf// Bridge. ^'
v
years ago it wore away and has never been replaced. No doubt, fonf^
fulling mills existed at both places.
WALK-PIN, s, hatting term. A round piece of wood thickest
the middle and tapered off at each end, used to press the ^^''
out of hat bodies.
WALL, s. a spring of water. W.
WALL, 7'. (1) ''wall, that is, to make salt." — (Nantwich, i^^^'
Philosophical Transactions ^ vol. iv., p. 1063.
"The hank [is] accidentally raised by rubbish of long making sal*^
-iitallingf as they call it." — lb., p. 1061.
IVail literally means to boil.
(2) to put unburned bricks into a wall to enable th^-
to dry.
W.-VLLER, s. salt-making term. A salt-maker or boiler.
At present the men call boilers those who make slaved vmi^ buller-s^dl,
the others wallers. Formerly they were all called wallers.
Halliwell explains wallers as "women who rake the salt out of the 1
at the saltworks at Nantwich." See Lead Wallers.
WALLET or WALLY, s. a workman's bag. A word of \^'
fre(iuent use in Cheshire.
A boy carries his dinner to school in a wallet; a shoemaker also ca^^^ fh
shoes to his customers in a wallet. As a hatting term it is a workbag
the entrance in the centre and made up at each end.
T.i:
or
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2735)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 38 1
"WALLING, part, (i) the old name for salt-making.
(2) making walls of bricks in a brickfield, paid for
at so much per thousand bricks.
“What art doin i'th' brickfielt r " Why, aw'm walling:'
WALLOP, V, (i) to boil violently. Macclesfield, occasionally,
but I think imported from Shropshire.
(2) to beat
"WALL UP, V, to spring up as water does. W.
'WALM, s, (i) a bubbling or boiling. L.
(2) a certain measure of salt after boiling. L.
Ar^ALM, V. to seethe or boil W. Used by Randle HoUne.
^WAMMA (WiLMSLOw), WAMMY (Frodsham), adj. feeble, faint
from exhaustion, flabby.
"He*d had nowt t'ate for aw day, an he*re queight wake an
Tifamma:'
A plant in a pot which was faded and flabby was said to be " weak and
wammy:'
A^VAMMOCKY, adj. weak, feeble. L.
"^V ANGLE, V. to totter or vibrate. W.
VVANTEN, V. plural of want.
•* Hey I mester; we wanten yo here."
"WTANTING, adj. short of intellect, weak minded.
“I think he's a bit awn/in^."
VVANY, adj. imperfect, deficient.
The first few boards which are cut off a round log and are narrower at one
end than the other, or have "feather edges," would be called '■''wany
boards."
^Wr-APENTAK SUMNANCE (Summons), idiom, a sort of vague
threat of some kind of legal proceedings. Wilmslow.
^V^PPOW or WEPPOW, s. railings placed across a brook to
prevent cattle encroaching or entering the neighbouring fields.
Lymm.
^^APS, s. a wasp.
^V^ARCH, s. ache, pain. See Ballv-warch.
^ARCH, V. to ache.
“Moi bally warches.^
^ARD, f. world. W.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2736)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WARD, V. to take care of, to watch. L. Scarcely local.
WAR HAWK, excL take care, beware. Mobberley.
WARK, s. work, is pronounced like " ark," though not universally.
WARLD, s. world.
Th' warUTs eend," the world's end, said sometimes of a very
place.
WARLOCK, s. a term used in binding straw on a wagon .^^^
MiDDLEWICH, MiNSHULL VeRNON.
The ropes, after being made fast, are tightened by being drawn togeth^^
with another length of rope, or sometimes twisted with a peg. This peculi^te:
^
method of tightening is called a warlock. The word is also used as a
veft::,^^^ .^.
thus we speak of warlocking the ropes ; or we say the load is warlocked. '
WARM, adj. is pronounced to rhyme with " arm."
WARM, V. to chastise.
“I'll warm thee, if thou doesna come in."
WARRE or WORRE, adj, worse. W.
WARTWORT, s, cudweed, Gnaphalium uiiginosum, L.
WARTY, adj, work-day; as '-^ warty clothes" in contradistinct»<>n
to Sunday clothes. Hyde.
WASTE, V, to diminish.
WASTRIL, s. (i) a good-for-nothing person, a spendthrift
(2) an imperfect article, cast out as unsaleable, ^^
s^ia
sold at a lower price.
Crooked plates and dishes are generally called "zMZj/nVj," and are
^*^|
very cheap by itinerant “ pot-men." The word is also used adjectively
i*^
wastril plate. "
WASTY, adj, containing useless space.
A house much larger than one requires would be described as "a ^^
7vasty place."
WATCH-GUARDS, s, Cytisus Laburnum. Frodsham.
WATER AGRIMONY, s. the plant Eupatonum cannabinum. I^*^*^
Ches.
WATER LILY, s, the arum lily, Calia palustris.
^VA^ER PINE, s. Stratiotes aloides,
WATER ROT, s. Hydrocotyh vulgaris. W. Ches.
\\ ATER SHAFT, s. salt-making term. A shaft sunk to collect: •^
fresh water near the main shaft.
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2737)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 383
WATER-TABLE. See Weathering Course.
WATTLE AND DOBE, s. the same as Raddle and Daub, q.v.
WAXJNT, s. a synonym for a mole. Mentioned in the Prestbury
Church accounts, a.d. 1720. L.
WAXJR DAY, s, week day, or perhaps work day, as opposed to
Sunday. Lancashire Borders.
W'AUVE, V. to lean over so as to be unstable.
*' It's wauved o'er into th' deitch."
When the fine old tower of St. John's Church, Chester, fell in the spring
of 1881, a man at Delamere, speaking of the circumstance, said "it were
-xtftutmM many a 'ear sin."
^Vj^AV, s. a wall
^^ A.'W-PLATE, s. a piece of timber placed on the top of a wall, to
iHrhich the roof spars are nailed.
^^A.W-ROBIN, s. the spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa Grisola, which
very frequently builds its nest in a hole in a wall Norton.
^^^-A.WT, V. to overturn.
Applied chiefly to the overturning of a cart or a carriage. When, how-
ever, a sheep gets "cast" on its back, and cannot get up again, it
is said to
l)e "reean-w0w/!f</."
^^^-AJXEN KORNEL or WAXY KORNEL (Kernel), s. a swelled
£land. Mobberley, Knutsford.
^^ A.T, excl. said to a horse when he is to stop.
^^^ A. YBREAD, s. the herb plantain, Plantago major, Mobberley.
^^^-AuT-GOOSE or WAYZ-GOOSE, s, an entertainment given to
journeymen workmen.
^'^^^A.TTER, s. water.
^'V^-A.yTER-BAG, s. the placenta of an animal.
-A.YTER-TAUMS, j. the eructations of water into the mouth
common in bad cases of indigestion. Wilmslow.
'-WIZER, s. a pedometer.
AL AND WORSHIP, idiom, the closing toast at any Congleton
festivities, intimating, it may be concluded, that welfare and
religion should go hand in hand. L.
ANED, part, said of young oats that look yellow.
When young oats or barley cease to obtain nutriment from the seed, and
collect their food from the soil by means of their roots, they are in a very
tender condition, and unless the weather is genial they frequently become
yellow and sickly. The young plant in this condition is spoken of as *' being
'TKHtmed^ or as "pining for its mother."
\
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(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2738)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WEAR, V. to spend money; but conveying a sense (rf* judicious ex-
penditure.
“What did yo tvear on it ?"
WEATHER-BREEDERS, 5. mare's tail clouds, and "henscrats" "*
which portend rain, are said to be sure wtather-hreedcrs,
WEATHERED, part, spoilt by exposure to the weather. Chiefly -^
used with respect to hay.
WEATHERING COURSE, s. bricks set out from the wall round f:^
the bottom of a chimney, to protect the thatch where it joins ^^
the chimney.
Since the introduction of lead "flashing" these projecting courses
have-*^.^
become unnecessary. Sometimes called Water-table.
WED, V, perfect tense of weed
WEDDING-PROUD, adj, engaged in wedding festivities. Halton x.-^^^
WEDGED, part, swelled and hard.
When a cow's udder becomes gorged with milk and b hard preTioos t ,^
calving it is said to be wedged, ' * ^
WEEBROO, s. the plantain, Plantago major, Halton.
WEEK, 5, the wick of a candle.
WEEK END or WICK EEND, s, the space of time from SatunU,^^
to Monday.
WEEKING, s, salt-making term. The wick of the lamp used in
the pan -houses and hot-houses.
WEET, s, wet weather. W.
WEET or WET, v, to rain slightly.
WEEZE, V. to ooze.
“There's a spring of water weeus out from yon hill side."
WEIFE (WiLMSLOw), WOIFE (general), 5. wife.
WEIGHS, s. scales for weighing.
WEIGHTY, adj. heavy.
WELL, V. to weld.
WELLER, adj, comparative of well. L.
WELLING HEAT, s, (i) welding heat. The proper tempera
at which iron will weld.
(2) violent exertion, or rather the result
violent exertion.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 385
WELL UNDERFOOT, idiom, in good circumstances.
A man who had failed ssud, " It's hard to have to work at my time of
life ; IVe been well brought up, and well underfoot,**
WELLY, adv. almost
“Look sharp, wench ; aw*m welly clemmed."
WELSH MAIN, s, a method of voting. See Main.
WELT, s. (i) a coarse seam. Macclesfield.
(2) a sharp stroke.
(3) a weal, or raised mark on the skin, caused by a stroke
from a lash or switch.
^LT, V. to beat.
WE'N, V. we have.
^ENCH, s. a girl.
The women-servants of a farmhouse are spoken of as " the wenehes,"
It
never conveys the idea of a woman of loose diaracter, but is simply the femi-
nine of "lad."
^^EUN, V. were.
'^^KRRIT, v. to worry, to bother.
'^-ESH, V. to wash.
-TUB, s. a trashing tub.
*ST, v. we shall.
“Come on, we* si be i'th dark."
^^TCHERT) ^' wet-footed.
^^ ^VER, s. a river. Halliwell.
I think there must be a misconception here ; Weaver is the name of a
particular river which flows into the Mersey at Frodsham ; and, as far as I
Xcnow, never means a river in general. In West Cheshire it is pronounced
MVeever^ in Mid and North-East Cheshire, Wayver.
^ Babble or whabbock, j. puddle.
• • The fields are aw of a whabbock^** i,e., all of a swim. L, Cfr, Wob.
ANY, s, a blow.
“ni fetch thee a whany,'* I'll hit you. L.
^^HaNY, V. to throw. L.
"H ARRE, s. crabs or the crab tree.
“Sour as wharre** W. Pyrus Mains,
^'^HAVEi If* to hang over. W. See Wauve.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WH AVER, s. a term used at the game of quoits. See Riner.
WHAVER, V. to drive away. L.
WHEADY, adj. that measures more than it appears to be. W.
WHEAM, adj, lying near, convenient, ready at hand. W.
“It lies wheam for me." Ray.
WHEAMOW, adj, nimble, active. W., who apparently quotes it
on the authority of Ray.
Ray (North Country Words) gives the following proverb, but does not
specify it as a Cheshire one : — " I am very wheamow, quoth the old
woman,
when she stept into the milk-bowL" Leigh gives it somewhat difficrentlj,
as if he might have actually heard the proverb : "I'm very wheamcw^ ai
t*ould woman said when she stept into the bittlin;" and he explains
" btttlln"
as a milk-bowl.
WHEEL, s. a whirlpool. L.
WHEELBARROW FARMER, s, a very small former who rents
two or three acres of land. Wrenbury.
He is supposed to wheel his manure on to the land in barrow-lc
instead of usmg a cart.
'* Uz wheelbarronv farmers pajrs more rent than big farmeis,
we're obliged to grow twice as much on uz land."
WHEELTENED, v. perfect of to wheel.
“I wheeltened the snow away.'* L.
WHEER, adv. where.
WHEINT, adj. quaint W.
Ray ^ves this as a Cheshire word, " A wheint lad, q. queint ; a fine la.
ironice dictum. Also cunning, subtle."
WHELLERS, s. extra stockings without feet, or haybands wrap
round the legs to protect them from wet Wilmslow.
There is a good story told of one John Howarth of Lindow EUid,
called upon an old Quaker draper, of Stockport, to buy a pair of whell
Of course the draper had only stockings. " Cut me the feet off,"
said J
The Quaker did so. " Naow, what don you want for th* whelltrsf** ^'
"
as for the stockings," replied the draper. *'Aw'U gi the a shilling
whellers," said John. *' Well," said the old Quaker, '* thou canst
take tlk.
but thou wilt wheller me no more."
th
WHETSTUN, s. a stone for sharpening knives; also used, ap»
rently, in a figurative sense to describe any hard swelling.
Previous to calving, my cow's udder was not as much distended with
as usual, and I remarked to my cowman that her "elder" was not very
His reply was : “ No, but I don't care for it being so whetstun.” He
man from Wistaston, near Crewe.
WHEY BUTTER, s. butter made from the cream which remaiirm ^ '"
the whey in the process of cheese-making.
If the cheese is well made there should be a very small quantihr of ^^■^r'<Mn
left in the whey, perhaps yielding not more than half a pound of batt«^^c-
/x**"
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 387
cow per week ; bat througfa carelessness in the handling of the cord there is
frequently a good deal more. At any rate it is genoally considered to be
worth saving. Such batter has a somewhat peculiar flavoar and is soft, and
not being worth so much to sell, is consumed at home, the real cream butter
being sent to market. See Whey Cream.
WHEY CREAM, s. the cream which remains in the whey.
It is obtained in two ways. One process, the simplest, is to set the whey
in pans, when the cream gradually rises to the top and is skimmed off. The
other process is to raise the cream by boiling. See Fleetings. Such whey
cream is also called Cream Fleetings.
WHEY HOUSE, s. a wagon shed. (?)
From an inventory of property belonging to Margery Qutton of Nantwich,
161 1. — Loco/ Gliamngs^ February, 1880, p. 297.
WHEY-SPRINGY, adj. said of cheese from which the whey has not
been properly separated.
It oozes out in wet spots on the surface, and such spots are liable to
putrify.
WHICH, /w«. what.
“Eh ! si' the' which a pratty horse."
“IVhich a pratty little wench 00 is :"
^HIG, 5.{i) whey.
(2) any obstruction to a drain, like roots, &c.
“The suff is welly racked up wi whigs,** L.
^HIMMY, adj. fiill of whims.
*^HlM-WHAM, 5. (i) a whim, a new theory.
A man who is always full of schemes, first trying one thing, then another,
would be said to be *' full o' whim-whams."
(2) used idiomatically for a sort of “ put off."
Kelsall.
Thus, should two elders be talking together, and a younger person come
in between and ask, " What are you talkmg about ?" the answer would
be,
“Oh ! a whiM'Wham from Yocketon."
'^HlNSTONE, s. a coarse grained stone, toad stone, ragstone. W.
'^HlP, s. a subscription to be spent in drink, collected from the
company assembled round a dinner or a supper table at any
public-house entertainment Halton.
If sixpence apiece is collected, it is called a “ sixpenny whip;'' if a shil-
ling apiece, a " shilling whip;"" and so on. I first became
acquainted with
this custom at a ploughing match supper at Halton, at which I was the
chairman. As soon as the cloth was removed, a shilling whip was called for,
and someone volunteered to go round the tables and collect the shillings.
The amount was then handed to the innkeeper, who supplied each person
with whatever he liked to call for, and continued to do so till all the money
was expended. He then came and told me that all was spent, and a sixpenny
whip was collected, which being spent the company broke up.
i
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WHIRLIGIG, s. a turnstile. Macclesfield, or generally, anything
that turns very easily.
WHISKIN, s. a black pot Ray.
WHISSUN, s. Whitsuntide.
WHISSUN-CAKE, s, a three-cornered cake of puff paste containing
currants, eaten at the Knutsford Whitsun fair.
I am afraid these cakes are becoming obsolete ; but when I was a boy
they were plentiful, and, as I thought, superlatively good. This fair was
instituted in 9 Edward III., under seal of the Exchequer at Chester, and is
still held at the Higher Town, Knutsford (formerly called Knutsford Booths),
on Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun week.
WHISTLE, 7'. to sing, as birds do.
A Cheshire native seldom, or never, speaks of birds singing, but always
WHISTLE BALLY VENGEANCE, s. the same as Bally Ven-
GEANCE. L.
WHISTLE PEG FAIR, s. Whitsun Fair at Knutsford.
WHITE or WH ATE, gxc/. the word used in calling ducks to be fed
WHITE, V. to requite, as, “ God wAi/e you." Ray.
WHITE BEECH, s. the hornbeam, Carpinus Betulus,
WHITE ELLER (Elder), s. Viburnum Opulus. W. Ches.
WHITE FROST, s, hoar frost.
It is supposed that after three nights' white frost it is almost sure to
rain.
WHITE HORSE, s, a, triangular framework of wood, painted white,
and formed of three rails connected by iron rods at each end ;
used to turn carts, &c., on to a newly-repaired road. L.
WHITE MAYS, s, the plant Aradis alpina.
This name was used in Mobberley by a girl whose parents came from
Frodsham ; but I cannot find it in use at either place. I record it as i( is
probably current in some part of Cheshire.
WHITE MERRY, 5. a dwarf variety of Prunus Avium^ growing itv^
hedges.
WHITE NANCY, (i) see Sweet Nancy.
(2) there is a small stone building, with
pointed roof, built also of stone, w' *
stands on the top of Kerridge hilL
whole structure is kept whitewashed^
that it is visible from a long dista
It always goes by the name of W
Nancy.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 389
WHITE ROCK, s. (i) the plant Arabis alpina.
(2) a variety of potato.
WHITE ROT, 5. HydrocotyU vulgaris, W. Ches.
WHITES, s. salt-making term.
'* Th^ take a quart of whites of eggs . . . mix them with twenty
gallons of brine . . . and thus what they call the whites is made.
(Nantwich, i66^.)^Philosophical Transactions^ vol. iv., p. 1065.
WHITESTER, 5. a bleacher of linen. W.
WHITE-THORN, s, Cratagus Oxyacantha,
WHITE WHEY, s, whey which comes from the curd by pressure.
It is thicker and whiter than that which simply drains from the curd in the
cheese tub. See Green Whey.
WHITE-WOOD TREES, s. all kinds of trees except oaks.
WHOAVE, V. to cover.
“Whoave th* hauf mizzer o'er it."
Ray has the following proverbial expression : " We will not kill but
whoave. Ches. Spoken of a pig or fowl that they have overwhelmed with
some vessel in readiness to kill."
WHOM or WOM, s. home.
“Go wont wi thee."
WHOOK, V. to shake. Halliwell.
WHOOKED, part, broken in health, shaken in every joint. W.
Apparently quoted from Ray.
WHOR, pron. what, when used by itself as a query.
In combination with other words what would be used.
WHOT, adj. hot.
WHO WHISKIN, 5. a whole great drinking pot.
Who being the Cheshire dialect for whole, and a whiskin signifying
a black pot. Ray.
^*^I',/nf/.with.
'^BROW, \s, the herb plantain. W. Plantago major See Way-
^*T^BR0W, j BREAD and Weebroo.
Leigh gives Wybrow Worrow as one name. I think it is a misprint.
^^B^WOBBIN, part, shaking. Delamere.
*CH or WYCH, several place names in Cheshire have this ter-
DEiiaation, indicating saltworks.
*v:H'US (Wych House), s. salt-making term. The pan house or
Iiouse in which salt is made.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WICK, adj. alive.
* * Well , Mary , ho w are you to-day ?** ' * Wd , men, awm tdghert *
(tired). " What with, Mary?" “ Wei, yo seen yon owd foo bowt
some snigs, an* they'n wick when he gect em worn ; an* aw sldnocd
em, an* they'n wick then ; aw cut em i* pieces, an* they'n wick then;
aw fried em, an* they*n wick i*th' pon ; an* eawr Jonathan's etten em,
an* aw knorw they're wick in his guts yet.” tThe3r'n=thcy were,
an abbreviation oithey wem,)
WICKEN, s, mountain ash, Pyrus Aucuparia,
The mountain ash is a sacred tree in Cheshire as elsewhere. It consti-
tutes one of the most infallible charms for the cure of whooping cough. See
Chin-cough. I have also noticed an objection on the part of Cheshire
labourers to cut one down.
Leigh also gives Wychbn and Wickey.
WICKET, s, a small, light gate.
WICKS, 5. {i) young hawthorn plants.
(2) intestinal worms, maggots.
WICKSILVER, 5. quicksilver.
WICK- WOOD, s, the hawthorn when planted in hedges.
WIDDAL, 5, a blade of grass. Dukinfield.
WIDD'N, V. to widen.
WIDOW, s. a widower. WIDOW-MON (Mow Cop).
WIDOW- WOMAN, s, a widow.
WIG, s. old, dead grass left on a pasture.
WILBRANCH, s. stringhalt in horses.
Leigh spells it Willmaranche.
WILBRANCHED,/^/:^. having the stringhalt.
WILDFIRE, s, (i) the erysipelas, mentioned as one of the diseases
cured by the new-found well in Cheshire, a.d-
1600. L.
(2) a small blue flame which is often seen ninning
along the face of a coal in a fireplace.
WILD GARLICK, s. Allium ursinum. W. Ches.
WILD HOP, s. Polygonum Convolvulus,
WILD VINE, s. (i) black briony, Tamus communis. L.
(2) Bryonia dioica, W. Ches.
WILL- J ILL, s. an hermaphrodite. W.
k*1
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 39 1
WILLOW HERB, s. Epiiobium.
WILT or WILTA, v. will you?
WIMBERRY, s. the bilberry, Vacdnium Myrtillus.
WIMBERRY BESOM, s. a broom made of twigs of wimberry. See
Baysom.
WIMBLE, s. a gimlet
WIMPER, V. to cry in a subdued way.
WIN, V. wUL
“mn yo do it ?*
WIND-EGG or WIN-EGG, s, an egg without a shell. WINDLE-
EGG (Middlewich).
WINDERING, part, diminishing, lessening. L.
WIND-FLOWER, s. Anemone nemorosa.
H^INDLE or WINDLE-STRAY, s. a dead stalk of grass left
standing in the field. WINDLE-STREE (Middlewich).
WlNDLE-EGG. See Wind-Egg.
^INDLE-STREE. See Windle.
^IND-ROW or WIN-ROW, s, a long row of hay raked together
preparatpry to carrying it, or to setting it up in large cocks.
Taif also is put in wind-rows,
*^IKG, s. the wing of a goose used as a dusting brush.
•^INK-A-PEEP, s. pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis,
^'^INNA, '
^ONNA, r;. will not.
^^'Xjnna,
When before a word beginning with a vowel or h mute they become
Winner, Wonnbr, Wunner.
^^INNY. V. to neigh.
^^INSCUT, s, wainscot ; panelling inside a room. •
Joiners often call it bull winscutting when they are putting up stumps and
rails.
Il^STRAYS, s, thin reeds, by pools. Wilderspool.
^^Xl^TER GILLIFLOWER, s. the wallflower, Cheiranthus CheirL
"They flower , . , especially in winter, whereupon the people of
Cheshire do call them Winter GiIloficwers,'*-~GB.K,, p. 371. 1 am not
aware that the name is in use at the present day.
392
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
WINTER-PROUD, adj. said of wheat which, on account of a miL
winter, is considered rather too luxuriant in the spring, am.
therefore more likely to be laid with heavy rain.
WIRKEN, r. a term used in feeding infants, when food is gi
them too fast, so as to make them cough. L.
WISHFUL, adj, desirous.
WISHING STEPS. 5.
“Near the south-east corner of the city walls at Chester, and forming m
of the wall, as you turn northwards are a flight of steps called 'The Wisnn
Steps.* The reiigio loci is, that whatever wish may be formed at the bottom
these steps «-ilI, in the course of time, be surely fulfilled, provided the
wisfaa.
can ran to the top and back without drawing breath. Another version is
Htm^^^^
the aspirant must not only go up and down, but up again, . . • there a^ ^5
six flights of three steps each, with a landing of ^\t feet between ei^^*'
^.ight. * — Leigh*s Ballads amJ L^aub &f Cluskire^ note p. 99.
WISHING WELL, s.
“It is thcHight in the neighbooiliood of Gayton, that anyone who migT^T
hen? form a wish, and throw a stone backwards into the well, wiU ensure H^^^
realintivm of their desires.” — Leigh's Ballads and Leggmds of Ck^skirt^ fio^
"^
p. 210.
The Holy Well on Alderlcy Edge is also sometimes called the Wishii^::^^'^
Well.
WISH-ME-WELL. s. speedwell, Veronka Chamcsdrys. W. Ches. - —
WISKE T, s. a common kind of basket used for carrying potatoe ^
v-T earning "chop" to cows, &c., generally made of ash
timb*==^^
oloven into ven- thin lavers. or of oziers.
WIICH, r. to bewitch.
I: is rf'.Jitevi :hi: Tormerly *'a witch named Ailse Cawley, who lived in
\'w. :>.a:«rhirv:. wh::c cx:i^e on the KelsaU hills, kept a toad in a
teacup c
^N I rCHKP. i\:r:, spell-bound bv a witch.
yh<r :v\'oi*:r:^ s:ory mis related by a woman at Kelsall not long si
v>,w.«j; :hi: A *:>c:f:'ir. :he jvwer of wiichcs still exists:— "A
wa
• -i""^"- — ; wen: :o the cv^aige of a witch on the KelsaU
hills one da»- j,
X- :hrr ;.^ su> 5or:^e busine*** or to ask a favour. However, they came to
m.v.-s, Ar," .; :er that the oh:M that sh* canied on her arm was
supposed to
,v :. :., «.-» T.r :t wer.t :=:.^ a «»v.:y"««-ra.' and died."
•^ I rOH TAP. ,c. a tr.ole which hangs or projects from the skin.
: V. . >f. -V- r.i-. \!-.>:5i5^ !>>• never taken the rt-t/^ of t
pin." wu
• N« . : ,• .: >.:x .r : « h .« >a^: i^^; acv-csci of dipping into the
jampot, ot
\\ • •:- \ s- WirMV » « «•">«.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 393
WITHERING, adj. strong, lusty.
“A great withering fellow,"
WITHIN, prep, opposed to.
“Well ! aw'm no' within givin him a trifle."
WITTY, adj. knowing, clever.
*' He*s a witty man about cattle." L.
WITWALL, 5. the green woodpecker, Picus viridis. Mentioned by
Randle Holme {Academy of Armory, Bk. II., ch. xiiL, p. 308).
WIZZEN or WIZZEN AWAY, v. to fade or wither away. W.
WIZZEN-FACED, adj delicate looking.
WIZZENT, /«/Y. withered, stunted, shrunken.
!J8a,H. “"»■
^OB, 5. shake. Norton.
When slaked lime is carried any distance in a cart, it gradually becomes more
liquid, and shakes and splashes about ; it is then said to be '* all of a
wob"
WOBBLE, V. to shake.
Anything which is loose and ought to be fast is said to " wobble
abeawt."
A iat man's cheeks wobble when he rides in a cart.
^^ ! COME 'ERE, excl. said to a horse when he is to turn some-
what to the left. Norton and the neighbourhood.
^OLE, 5. the whole.
^Ole milk, s. unskimmed milk.
^Ol^, WONE, or WOOAN, v. to dwell. Wooant did dwell. W.
^OOD, WOODE. or WODE, adj, mad.
“Hoo stamped and hoo stared as if hoo'd ben woode,^* — Warrickin ( War-
Hngton) Fair, A. D. 1448. L.
*^OOD AND WOOD, idiom. See Strickles (2).
^OOD BETONY, s. the plant Stachys Betonica.
DEN SHUTE, s. a wooden suit (of clothes), metaphorical for
^ coffin.
^^OD-FENT, s. a stack of firewood, also the place where firewood
stored.
D TENDERS, s, officers employed in the salt towns who
answerable for the fuel being properly stacked, and that
t:liere was no risk of fire. L.
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394 CHKSHIRE GLOSSARY.
WOP, V. to beat.
WOPPER, s, anything very large, or out of the common way.
I have heard it said of a great Ue, «* Whatatwflj^/^/" andofafat wonwu^
"What 2iWopperr
WORDING HOOK, s. a dung-rake. Halliwell. See Worthiw.
WORK-BRITTLE, adj\ diligent in work ; but with a sort of
implication that diligence is rather unusual
“My word ! but you're work-brittU to-day."
Leigh spells it Work-bracco, or Braccon, and Work-brattle; ind
Ray has Worch-bracco.
WORM, s, a gimlet L.
WORM ITH' TAIL, 5. an imaginary disease to which cows are j
supposed to be liable ; or rather several ailments are attributed |
to the supposed presence of the worm. '
Near the extremity of the tail there is a spot somewhat softer tban the
rest, as if two of the vertebrae were slightly sefuirated. This is supposed
to
indicate the position of the worm, and various methods are resorted to to
dislodge it, as cutting the place with a knife. The belief is very widdy
spread, and is by no means confined to Cheshire. CaUed also TailShoHN
SOKER, q.v.
WORTHING, s, an old word for dung.
This word was probably in common use both in Lancashire and CliesbiR
in the 17th century, though I have not yet actually met with any Cheshire
document in which it occurs. But the name Worthington is as common »
Cheshire as in Lancashire, and is connected with the above word. The fol-
lowing note by Mr. T. P. Earwaker, in reference to this name, appeared in
\^ts anJ Qttrrits (6th S.. xii.. p. 286), and is very interesting :—
"The inns
of the old Lancashire family of Worthington are Argent, three dung forks
sable, and it has been frequently matter of conjecture how such curious anns
should have be^'n assignevl. In recently examining a North Lancashire will
I have found an expression which at once explains how these arms came to
Ixr given to the Worthington family. Margaret Spencer, of Hurstwoodi
Nvvth l-inca>hire, in her will, dated April II, 1602, bequeaths to o^^oj^
M.MIS *a!l my manure or worthinge.' showing that -wcrihing was an old word
for dun^. anvi that these arms are only another instance of the canting anns
'io >ft;rll known in heraldrv."
^N^.'^RTLK O'ER, r. to topple over. Macxtlesfield.
Ono of mv v\>rresponaents illustrates this word by the following littl«
ov;v.yo : _»»ORce I te;i down in a fain:, an-l in describing it to my mother,
-V '»:^ .\v: seivan: o: the raaiilv said • hoo wur sittin up? th* settle, and
hoo
^•0 ^ <. >. I >.vr:v>r. a . ur a: re I gee: to her hoo u,r^rtUi o
er/ "
^^ v^K r rrRNFl , >. a ::.,i5h tub for brewing.
* V ^o' / "-..v. .\v aV^^.^-j^ s:.v1.'— From an inventory of prof^J
■Vr^^r^," '*'=^''-" '^^•-'•-^^•-^f Nar.:w:ch. \6ii.^ Local
GUamHg5,]iS^^'
r . o- * ^. >:^v^; ^.>^..., .v^. brewtog stool when in use.
-. ...s, ..u> *^v»^^^K. ^^\ wor?e. Mow Cop.
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 395
WOTTLE, s. iron skewers, heated to enlarge holes in wood. L.
WOVVND, s. and v. wound, always pronounced to rhyme with
"sound."
“My body's wounded,
My heart is confounded."
— JfLtng- George and the Slasher ; a mock-heroic play
performed on AU Souls* Day.
WRANGLESOME, adj. quarrelsome. L.
WRECK, s, rubbish, such as dead leaves, straw, sticks, &c., floating
down a stream.
WRITHE, V. to twist.
WRITHEN, /«ff . adj\{i) twisted, warped.
(2) bad-tempered.
WRITINGS, s. title deeds.
WROSTLE, V, to wrestle, to struggle or fight. Also used to express
the struggling with any difficulty.
WRUNG, adj. wrong.
WUN UP, /tfr/. literally wound up, but used metaphorically to
express being "ready for action."
A countryman being asked to sing will excuse himself on the plea of not
yet bdng “wun up" if he has only had one glass. After another glass or
two he will have more confidence in himself, and will then consider nimself
sufficiently " wun up" to respond to the call.
WXJR, adj. worse.
WUR AN' WUR, idiom, worse and worse.
WUR, V. was.
WUT-CAKE or WOAT-CAKE, s. oat cake. Seen still about
Macclesfield, but not much used elsewhere, unless in the N.
East comer of Cheshire.
WHOA're,r-°^^-
^^TJTS and FITCHES, s, oats and vetches; sown together to
mow green for horses.
^'VXJT thou, V, wilt thou? W.
Whatever it may have been in Wilbraham^s time, this abbreviation is now
used for " wouldest thou?"
^^^BIT, s. a name given by slaters to a particular sized grey slate.
See Long-back.
396
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(tudalen 396)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2750)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
W^^CHEN, s. the mountain ash. L. See Wicken.
WYCH-HOUSE, s. a place where salt is made.
WTCH-WALLER, j. a salt boiler at one of the wyches in
Cheshire. W.
Ldgh gives ss an old Cheshire proveib» "To scold like a wyck
wa&r,"
WTNDY, aJj\ wfld, racketty.
“He' a wjm^ chj|>,"
WTNDY-MILL, s. a windmiD.
\\TNT. s. breath.
*• Wait a Hi, aw've lorst my ayw/."
^\'YXT, r. to pause for breath.
-Lrttli^titaTii/ahiL'"
^\TZEX, r, to consider ; to plan in one's mind.
A fumerV viie said to her hnsbapd, who sat smokin? longer thaX^^
ihcc^t piv"^pcr, "Are yoo goii^ to sit smoking all day?^ His
reply" ^•^
“Im rTsauaff^-, vencb ; Fm vjrs£mu^.'^
WTZLES, s. the stems of potatoes.
^\T^ZOM£S^ s. an old form of vjsla. Academy of Armory,
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(tudalen 397)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2751)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 397
Y.
. to bark.
ittle loYf yaffing ctur is a little ugly barking cur. W. See Yapp.
dv, yes.
an island. Delamere.
ran, your. W. Ches.
'' I think j^aiV men are not very good ploughmen."
I, adj\ yellow.
R. FLAG, s. Iris Pseudacorus, W. Ches.
R.-FLOWER, s, charlock. Sinapis arvensis^ with which is
dad Brassica Napus. Also Yaller-weed.
I RATTLE, s, Rhinanthus Crista-galli. W. Ches.
R ROD, s. the wild snapdragon, Linaria vulgaris, Dela-
I SANCTUARY,^. Chlora perfoliata,
I SLIPPERS, s, a name given by butchers to very young
s.
I TAR-FITCH, s. Lathy rus pratensis.
l-WEED. See Yaller-flower.
IR, s. to hanker.
lamb newly weaned yammers after the ewe.
;. to yelp; to bark in the sharp way a small dog does.
3ERLEY.
G, part, adj, yelping.
“A little yapping cur."
)OCTOR, s. a herb doctor.
398
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(tudalen 398)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2752)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY.
VARBS, s. herbs ; but more especially wild plants which are used
medicinally.
The country people of Cheshire are great herb doctors, and there are
plenty of people, especially in the manufacturing towns, who make their
living by collecting yards in the fields.
YARB-TAY, s, herb tea ; an infusion of various kinds of herbs used
as a diet drink.
YARLY, adv. early.
Leigh gives as a Cheshire proverb, " It*s the yarfy bird as gollaps th*
wurm.
YARN or YORN, s. spun hemp or flax.
“Yam is the single thrid of either Hemp or Flax." — Academy of Armory^
Bk. HI., ch. iii., p. 107.
YARNDLE, s, an instrument for winding yam.
'* An instrument [for measuring] which is usually called a cross or square
. . . . having an hole at the Center, like those things which here in
Cheshire we call YamdUs^ being used by Country Housewives in winding of
their Yarn." — Adam Martindale's Countrey Survey Book^ 1682, p. 69. See
Yarringle.
YARR, s, hoar frost. W. Ches. -
YARRINGLE, j. an instrument for winding yam, in use sixty or
seventy years since. Middlewich.
YARRINGLE BLADES,
YARRINGLE PEGS,
s, enumerated by Randle Holme amongst
"Things belonging to Dressing and
Spinning of Hemp and Flax." Bk. III.,
ch. iii., p. 106.
YARRY, adj. covered with hoar frost. W. Ches. YERRY (Mow
Cop).
“hyarry morning."
“Kyarry frost."
“Th' edges are \^rj yarry this morning."
YARTH,)
YERTH, s. earth.
YETH, ^
YATE, s. a gate. W.
YAWING, pari, talking in a disagreeable, offensive way. L.
YAWN, V. to cry. Wilmslow.
“What Sirtyawnin for ? has somebody licked the ?"
YAWP, V. to bellow.
“Dunna stand yawping there." L.
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(tudalen 399)
(Glossary of Cheshire Words. 1861) (delwedd H2753)
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CHESHIRE GLOSSARY. 399
\ AY fPron. you. W. Ches.
“Now^^ men, come on."
YEAN, V. to bring forth lambs.
YEB, prof, names short for Abraham. Wilmslow. Also Eb.
YED, s. the head.
YED-COLLAR, s, head collar.
A kind of bridle which a horse wears in the stable, and by which he is
fitttened to the manger.
YEDDERS, s. binding bricks or stones put in a wall with the heads
or ends outwards.
V£DDIN, s. literally heading. Weaving term ; the first beginning
of a warp.
^DDLE, V. to earn or to addle. L.
^fiDMUNT,/n2^. name, Edmund. Wilmslow.
^LD or YELL, s, a hilL Delamere.
“It's a foine bad place for wayter, is yxmAti yild"
^LL, s, (i) ale.
(2) a hill. See Yeld.
(3) weaving term. See Heald.
^I-.YE, s. a potato fork. Delamere.
Randle Holme enumerates "The Parts of a Yeive,** — Academy of Armory ^
^k. HI., ch. viii., p. 335.
V. to dig, chiefly with the yelve. W. Halliwell also
has Yelf.
MAN, s. hatting term. The difference in size of a hat crown
l^etween the band or head part and the top of the crown.
\
*a s. SL heap.
DS, s. tow.
.N or YARN, s. a heron. W.
^^NUT, s, a pignut. W. Bunium flexuosum.
RY-FROST, s. a hoar frost Mow Cop.
TH. See Yarth.
H. See Yarth.
^TH-NUT, s. the earth-nut, Bunium flexuosum.
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