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 notes 01 Ik Dialtcl of Iht Ftople of NeifouiiiliaiKl, 
 
 V'N>^" 
 
 H 
 
 By rev. g' PATTERSON, D. D, Ll. D., ISi^-^^*^! 
 
 NEW GLASGOW, N, S. 
 
 FroT/n. the Proceedings of the Nova iScotian Institute of Science, 
 
 Vol. IX, Session 1895-96. 
 
I 
 
xliv 
 
 PROCKEDINfiS. 
 
 Special Meeting. 
 
 Legislative Council Chamber, Halifax, 27th April, 1806. 
 
 The President in the Chair. 
 
 Bbv. G. Pattehson, D. D., Ll. I)., of New Glasgow, N. S., havii)g 
 
 been invited by the Council to address the Institute on his investigations 
 
 in relation to the Folk-spoecli of Newfoundiand, in order that the atten- 
 
 . tion of members of the Institute might be directed to this kind of 
 
 research, read the following j)aper : — 
 
 NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE PEOPLE OF 
 NEWFOUNDL.'\ND. 
 
 Of late years Folk-lore, by which is meant popular superstitions, 
 tales, traditions and legends, has engaged a large amount of attention, 
 and is now universally recognized as of great value in the study of 
 anthropology and comparative religion. Closely connected with this is 
 the study of folk-speech, or the words and linguisiic forms of the common 
 people, as distinguished iroiu the literary language of the cultured 
 classes. These, though the consideration of them may be regarded as 
 more properly belonging to the science of philology, are yet also of 
 interest as connected with the hi.^tory and migrations, the beliefs and 
 modes of life of the peoples among whom they are found. 
 
 Hitherto, in Nova Scotia, attention has scarcely been directed to 
 either of these subjects. I know of no systematic attempt either to 
 gather up the folk-lore or to discuss the linguistic peculiarities of our 
 people. And yet we have an ample field. Our original settlers were 
 •principally French, German, English, Irish, Lowland Scotch, and Celtic, 
 
fATTERSON ON NEWFoUNDLANt) DIAtECT. 
 
 xlv 
 
 with some intermixture of North American Indians and Africans, and 
 other ehMnents in loss proportion. Tliese all brought with them various 
 folk-tales, legends and superstitions, and as these different races remain 
 in a large measure distinct, they retain them to a good degree still. As 
 they mix with other races and become more educated, they may lose 
 them, but often the intermixture tends to their wider extension. In the 
 same way there arises an interchange of Words and phrases, which form 
 dialectic peculiarities more or less widely spread according to circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Recently my attention was directed to the folk-lore and folk-speech 
 of Newfoundland. I had not more than begun to mingle with her 
 people till I observeil them using words in a sense diff"erent from what 
 I had ever heard elsewhere. This was the case to some extent in the 
 speech of the educated, in their law proceedings and in the public i)re3S, 
 but was of course more marked among the uneducated. Among the 
 latter particularly I found, in addition, words in use which were entirely 
 new to me. Further intercourse convinced me that these peculiarities 
 presented an interesting subject of study, and after some enquiry I pre- 
 pared two papers, the first of which was read before the Montreal branch 
 of the American Folk-lore Society, and published in the American 
 Folk-lore Journal for January-March, 1895, and the other was read 
 before that society at their late meeting and published in the same 
 journal. It has been thought desirable that the results of my enquiries 
 should be brought under the notice of Nova Scotian students, and I 
 have therefore, consented to condense my two , .pers into one adding 
 such additional information as I have since received and to present it 
 before the Institute of Science. 
 
 It may seem strange that I should have directed such particular 
 attention to the dialectic forms of Newfoundland, where I was (luite a 
 stranger, Avhile there remains a similar field in Nova Scotia quite unculti- 
 vated. But it was just because I was a stranger that my ear at once 
 caught the sound of unusual words, or of words used in unusual senses, 
 and I was led to these investigations. Equally interesting forms of 
 speech are perhaps to be found in Nova Scotia, but they await the 
 investigations perhaps of some stranger who may come to sojourn 
 among us. 
 
 In explanation of the origin of these peculiarities it is to be kept in 
 view that the most of the original settlers of Newfoundland came either 
 
xlvi 
 
 I'llOCEEDIXOS. 
 
 from Irolnn.l or the wc.t of Knfrl.,,,,!. T„ consequence the present 
 generation very generally speak with an Jri.h accent, and some words or 
 phrases will he found in use of Irish origin. Their coasts too, having 
 been from a very early period frequented l.y fishermen of all nations, and 
 their trade bringing then, in contact with people of other tongues, we 
 might expect foreign werds to be introduced into their speech. The 
 accessions to their vocabulary from these sources, however, are few and 
 their language remains almost entirely English. Even the peculiarities 
 which strike a .^tringer, are often survivals of old forms which are 
 wholly or [)artially obsolete elsewhere,* 
 
 I. I notice words which are genuinely English, but are now oksolete 
 elsewhere or are only locally used : 
 
 An atomy or a natom,, a skeleton, applied to a person or creat.ire 
 extremely emaciated. " Poor John is re.luced to an atomy." This is 
 a contrattum of the word anatomy, prcbably from a mistake of persons 
 supposing the a or an to be the article. This use agrees with the 
 original meaning of the won!, which was not the act of dissecting, but 
 the object or body to be dissected, and hence as the flesh was removed 
 the skeleton, a word which then denote.l a dried body or mummy' 
 (Greek, xJiello, to dry.) 
 
 Oh tell nie, friar, tell me 
 In what part of this vile aiintomy 
 Dotli my name lodge ? Tell »ie ti.at I may sack 
 The hateful mansion. 
 
 — Shakspeare, Nomeo and Jtdiet, III, 3. 
 Hence it came to denote a person extremely emaciated. 
 
 They brought one Pinoli, a hungry lean faced villain, 
 A mere anatomy, 
 
 A living dead man. -Comedy of Errors, V, 1. 
 
 Shakspeare also used the abridged form atomy \n the same sense 
 which is exactly the Newfoundland meaning of the word. 
 
 " Thou starved bloodhound . . . thou atomy, then " 
 
 —2 Henry IV, V, 4. 
 The same is given by Januesonf as in use in Lowland Scotch. 
 
 from Judge BemVettWa°bo/Gr.e NeTfou^^HS'"^ ^''^ "^"^ assistance received 
 with a number of words, but has ca?efullv GY«m^^^^^ h^'" has not only furnished me 
 HcJcno^y]edge my obligations t^an art?cleX. thtiief Dr^ l^^K J ^^^^'^ '^'^o t" 
 
 L"aS'bSrr«/oaf'^ro™;:^^^^^^ 
 
 and others. For most of the Stiiti ltllK^\H^e"^.%X«DS=^' 
 T Scottish Dictionary. ' 
 
PA'ITERSON ON NEWFOIINIM.AMI) DIALECT. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 Jiarvel, sometimes pronounccl harh'J, n tniined slioepfkiu used by 
 fiahermen, and also by si.littors, as nu apron to keep the legs dry, but 
 since oilskin clothes have come into use, not now generally (Muployed. 
 Wright in his " Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial Knglish," marks 
 it as Kentish, denoting " -i short leather apron worn by washerwomen or 
 a slabbering l)ib." Hecently I heard of its being used by a fisherman 
 on our Nova Scotia coast, to describe the boot or apron of a sleigh or 
 carriage. 
 
 Barm is still commonly, if not exclusively used in Newfoundland for 
 yeast, as it is in son.e parts of England. So hilleh, for small sticks of 
 wood has now, with most English-speaking people, goi.e out of use. 
 But it is quite usual in Newfoundland to hear of buying or selling hiHefs, 
 putting in hillefs, &c. The word, however, seems to have been intro- 
 duced from the Norman French. 
 
 Brews.— nVxs is a dish, which occupies almost the same place at a 
 Newfoundlander's breakfast table, that baked beans are supposed to do 
 on that of a Bostonian. It consists of pieces of hard biscuit, soaked 
 over night, warmed in the morning, and then eaten with boiled codfish 
 and butter. This is plainly the old English word usually written hretms, 
 and van. ,usly explained. J ohnson defines it as " a piece of bread soaked 
 in boiling fat pottage made of salted meat." This is about the New- 
 foundland sense, substituting, as was natural, fish for meat. Webster 
 gives it as from the Anglo-Saxon, and represents it as obsolete in the 
 sense of broth or pottage, " What an ocean of hrewis shall I swim in," 
 (Beaumont & Fletcher), but as still used to denote " bread soaked m 
 gravy or prepared in water and butter." This is the relative New 
 England dish. Wright gives it in various forms hrewd, hrewis, &c., as 
 denoting pottage, but says that in the North of England they still have 
 " a hrewis, made of slices of bread with fat broth poured over them. 
 
 Child is used to denote a female child. This is i>robably going out 
 of use, as gentlemen, who have resided for some time on the island, say 
 they have never heard it. bat I am assured by others, that on the occasion 
 of a birth they have heard at once the enquiry, " Is it a boy or a child 1 
 Wright crives it as Devonshire, and it was in use in Shakspeare's time, 
 " Winter's Tale," HI, 3, " A boy or a childc, I wonder." In two 
 instances I have heard of its being used in this sense some years ago in 
 Nova Scotia. The one was by an old man originally from the United 
 States, who used Shakspeare's enquiry " A boy or a child." Again in a 
 
p^.s- 
 
 
 xl 
 
 Vlll 
 
 PRO('EEDINaS. 
 
 town settled by New p:iigI.iii(lors I am informed hy one hrought up in it, 
 that when he was ii boy some forty years ago, it was a favorite piece of 
 badinage with young ].<(.ple to a.ldress a young husband on the birth of 
 his tir«t born, " fs it „ b..y or a ehild ?" They did not know tlie mean- 
 ing of the phrase, but used it in the way of jeering at his simplicity, as 
 if he had not yet been able to decide the question. This is an example 
 of the manner in which words or phrases, after losing their original 
 meaning, still (continue to be used and receive a difl'erent sense. 
 
 Okwi/ is used to denote a shelf over the mantelpice. Wright, 
 (Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English,) gives it as denoting the 
 mantelpiece itself, and thus it is .still used in architecture. Hulliwell, 
 (Dictionary of Archaisms,) gives r/avd, clavy, awCiclavel piece with the 
 same meaning, and clavd fnck, which he 8upi)ose8 means the shelf over 
 the mantelpiece, the same as the clavp x)i the Newfoundlanders. In 
 French we have claveau, the centrepiece of an arch. 
 
 Clean is universally used in the sense of compleiely, as frequently in 
 the Authorized Version of the Scriptures (Ps. Ixxvii. 8 ; 2 Pet. ii. 18, 
 etc.), and as still iis Scotch. " He is dean gone off his head." " I am 
 dean used up." The word dear is sometimes used in the same sense. • 
 
 C(mked)ill% icicles formed on the eaves of houses, and the noses of 
 animals. Halliwell gives it in the form of ronh-abell, as Devonshire for 
 an icicle. 
 
 Costive, costly. " That bridge is a co^Jve affair." I had at first sup- 
 posed tliis simply the mistake of an ignorant i)erson, but in a tale 
 written in the Norfolk dialect I have seen cmtyve given in this sense, and 
 I am informed that it is used in the same way in other counties of England, 
 and sometimes if not generally pronounced costeev. 
 
 Dodtrel, an ohl fool in his dotapo, or indeed a silly person of any 
 age. It is usually si.eiled dotterel, and primarily denoted a bird, a 
 species of plover. Fron^ its assumed stupidity, it being alleged to be so 
 fond of imitation that it suffers itself to be caught while intent on 
 mimicking the actions of the fowler, the term came to denote a silly 
 fellow or a dupe. 
 
 Our dotterel then is caught, 
 
 He is, and just 
 As dotterels used to be ; the lady first 
 Advanced toward him, stretched forth her wing, and he 
 Met her with all expressions. —Old Couplet, iii. 
 
PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. xUx 
 
 Douf, .1 contraction of -do out." to extinguiHh, un.l .fouter an 
 extinguisher, .narkea i.i tl.o dictionaries as obsolete but noted by 
 Halliwell as still used in various provincial dialects of Knglnnil. 
 
 Firm, In the intelle t it do„fH the light. ^-Sylvester 
 
 The drain of hase 
 
 Doth all the nob' eat 8ubstr.nce (hiif. „ . . , 
 
 Hhakeapearp, HamM \. 4. 
 
 Newfoundlanders also express the same idea by the phras.. " mahe out 
 the light." 
 
 Drohe, a sloping valley b-tween two hill... When .cod e.:tends 
 across it, it is called a ,U-oke of wood. In Old Norse there ,s a noun 
 dro,,, a streak, also a noun dm.,, a soft slope or valley, winch m anothe, 
 forni dro„, is applied to the watercourse down a vall.y. bumlar .s the 
 .0.x drX in Provincial English given in Halliwell as .n Mltshu-e a 
 noun meaning a watercourse, and in Gloucester a verb, to drain with 
 underground stone trenches. 
 
 Drun<,, a narrow lane. Wright and Halliwell give it under the 
 form of dmn, as Wiltshire, with the same s.gnihcation. 
 
 Dunchralceov bre.d, unleavened bread, conn-osed of fiour mixed 
 .itlf water and baked at once. So Wright and Halhwell gwe .W 
 dumpUn, as in Westmoreland denoting " a plan, puddn.g made of dour 
 and water." 
 
 Dwoll a state between BlecpinR ana wukinj., a tains- A man »,11 
 
 to *e Scotch word *«>. winch n.ean. swoon. He - "° j-^> ^ 
 only in a dwam." Wright and Halliwell g,ve a BUml.r ,f no^ th^ame 
 word as .Uale, originally meaning the plant n.«ht.hade, then a lethar 
 gic disease or a sleeping potion. 
 
 manlier., sparks coming from a chimney, so HalHweH gives .t as 
 xneaning sparks of fire. In old English, when used as a verb, .t denotes 
 to sparkle. ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^ flanckering flame 
 
 That still itself betrays t" 
 
 -Turbevile's Omd, p. so. 
 
 The noun is generally /«* or/a»^e (I>an. Hunke) a spark. 
 
 I 
 
1 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Flaw, a strong ".nd sudden gust of wind, Norwegian flage or flaag. 
 The word is used V>y Shakspeare and Milton : 
 
 Should patch a wall to expel the winter's /aw— /Taj/t^e*. 
 And snow and hail and stormy gust and /aw.— Pararfwe Lost. 
 
 And also by Tennyson : 
 
 " Like/a»w in summer laying luty corn." 
 
 It is still in use among English seamen, 
 
 ForerigM, an old English word used both as an adjective or an 
 adverb to denote right onward. 
 
 *' Their sails spread forth and with aforeright gale." 
 
 — Massinger, Renegade, V. 
 " Though heforeright 
 Both by their houses and their persons passed." 
 
 —Chapman, Homer's Odyssey, VII. 
 
 Hence it came to mean obstinate or headstrong. In Newfoundland it 
 means foolhardy, 
 
 Frore, for froze or frozen. This is used by Milton : 
 
 *' The parching air 
 Burns /rore and cold performs the effect of fire." 
 
 Glufch, to swallow. *' My throat is so sore that I cannot glutch 
 any thing." Wright and Halliwell give it as old English, in the same 
 sense. 
 
 Gossip, originally Godsib, from God and sib, meaning kin or rela- 
 tionship by religious obligation, is still quite commonly used in 
 Newfoundland to denote a god-parent. Sib, which in old English and 
 Scotch denotes a relative by consanguinity, is used there exclusively to 
 denote relationship formed by sponsorship. 
 
 Grouping cah;. Wlien a birth is expected, a cake is prepared 
 called the groaning cake. Very soon after it occurs, with little regard 
 to the feelings or nerves of the mother, a feast is made, particularly for 
 the elderly women, of Avhom all in the neighbourhood are present. 
 This is called the '« bide-m feast," and at it the " groaning cake " is dis- 
 tributed,— bearing the same relation to the occasion that "bride-cake" 
 does to a marriage feast. This is in accordance with the old EngLsh 
 practice .and language, in which, according to Halliwell, groaning 
 denotes lying-in. Heuce we have in Scotch groaning malt— dv'mk 
 provided for the occasion, and in old English groaning cheese, groaning 
 chair and groani>i<! cal-p,. .Judge Bennett supposes that the name of 
 
PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. 
 
 li 
 
 an 
 
 the feast is only the present participle of hide, and means staying or 
 waiting. 
 
 Gulch. The dictionaries give this word as an oosolete word, which 
 means to swallow ravenously, and Wriglit gives it as Westmoreland 
 for to swallow. In this sense it is used at Spaniard's Bay, and 
 probably at other i)laces on the coast of Newfoundland. As a noun it 
 is used in other parts of Aniciica as denoting a ravine or small hollow. 
 It is also applied to those hollows made by vehicles in snow roads 
 known in Canada as 7)/Yf/<es. But as a verb, it has come on the 
 Labrador coast, to have a meaning peculiar to that region and to those 
 who frequent it. In summer men, women luid children from New- 
 foundland sjiend some weeks at the fishing there, living in a very 
 promiscuous way. As there is no tree for shelter for hundreds of miles 
 of islands and shores, parties resort to the hollows for secret indulgence. 
 Hence gulching lias, among them, become a synonym for living a 
 wanton life. 
 
 Gui-ry, the offal of codfish, now obsolete, but by a euphuism repre- 
 sented in dictionaries as meaning " an alvine evacuation." 
 
 Haclde is used in two senses, and for two English words. The one 
 is to cut in small notches, as to " hackle " the edge of the door. This 
 is the same as the word to /mc/r, defined " to cut irregularly, to notch 
 with an imperfect instrument or in an unskilful manner." The other 
 denotes the separating the course part of the flax from the line, by 
 passing it through the teeth of an instrument called in Northumberland 
 and Yorkshire, a hackle, in Scotch, a hecMe. Hence the word came to 
 mean to handle roughly or to worry, particularly by annoying questions. 
 In Newfoundland hacMe and croHS-harJde are specially applied to the 
 questioning of a witness by a lawyer, when carried to a worrying degree. 
 
 Haps, to hasp or fasten a door. This was the original Anglo-Saxon 
 form hapse or haps. It is defined by Johnson as a noun, a clasp folded 
 over a staple and fastened on with a padlock, and as a verb, to fasten in 
 this manner. Wright gives it as Berkshire for to fasten, and Devonshire 
 for the lower part of a half door. In Newfoundland it denotes to fasten 
 in general. 
 
 Hoi, a quantity, a bunch or a heap. A hat of trees means a clump 
 «if trees. Acc-^rding to Jamieson, in 3ome parts of Scotland the word 
 means a small heap of any kind carelessly thrown together. 
 
 I 
 
Hi 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HeUe is the term universally used for an axe handle, and as a verb 
 it denotes putting a handle to that implement. 
 
 Heft as a verb, to raise up, but especially to prove or try the weight 
 of a thing by raising it, is marked in dictionaries as Provincial English 
 and Colloquial United States, but it is still used in the same sense in 
 Newfoundland. Thus one returning home with a good basket of fish 
 may say to a friend " heft that,"— feel the weight of it. And so as a 
 noun it is used with the relative meaning of weight. 
 
 Houseplace, the kitchen. In old P:nglish, according to Wright, it 
 meant the hall, the first laige room after entering the ho\ise. Halliwell 
 explains it as denotnig in a farm house, the kitchen or ordinary sitting 
 room. It is still in ordinary use in Scotland. 
 
 Jonnick, in Newfoundland, means honest, but according to Wright, 
 in the Northamptonslnre dialect it means kind or hospitable. 
 
 Killocl; an old English word used to denote a small anchor, partly 
 of stone and partly of wood, still u?ed by fishermen, but going out of 
 use in favor of iron grapnels. 
 
 Kilter, regular order or condition, " out of kilter," disordered or dis- 
 arranged. It is common in old English, but generally spelled helter. 
 Thus Barrow says, " If the organs of prayer be out of Mter, or out of 
 tun<', how can we pray V Under the spelling " kilter," it is common in 
 New England. 
 
 Knap, a knoll or protuberance above surrounding land. It appears 
 in Anglo-Saxon as knappe, and in kindred langu-vges as denoting a knob, 
 or button, but in old English it denotes "the top of a hill or a rising 
 ground " (Wright). 
 
 Learij, hungry, faint. This is the old English word lear or leer, in 
 German leer, signifying empty or hollow, having its knidred noun 
 
 lereu'.'ss. 
 
 '' liut at the first encounter downs he lay, 
 
 The horse runs here without the man." 
 
 — Harrington's Ariosto, XXXV. 64. 
 
 Linney, a small building erected against a bank or another building. 
 
 In New England it is generally pronounced linter, or lenter. This is 
 
 commonly regerded as a corruption of lean to. But Wright gives linhay 
 
 as in the Westmoreland dialect denoting an open shed. In this form, 
 
 also it appears in " Lorna Doone," a novel written in the Devonshire 
 
 dialect. 
 
PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. 
 
 111 
 
 Liveijer. This woid is used particularly on the coast of Labrador, 
 but also in Newfoundland, to denote a resident, in contrast with one 
 visiting fur fishiii;^ or other purposes. It simply seems the word liver, 
 altered in the pronunciation. They treat the w:)rd lover in a similar 
 way, calling it loveyer, as is done in some English provincial dialects. 
 This, however, being from the Anglo-Saxon hijixin, is nearer the original 
 than the common form. 
 
 Looii, heavy and dull in respect of motion. Anglo-Saxon lignan, 
 Dutch lo(jfie, a sluggard. In the United States the word is applied to 
 men or animals, as a logy preacher or a %// horse. In Newfoundland, 
 in like manner, they will speak of a Jogy vessel, a slow sailer, and in 
 addition, when from want of wind a boat or vessel cannot get ahead or 
 can only proceed slowly, they will speak of having a loriy time. 
 
 Lnn, a calm. This word exists iu Scotch and northern English as 
 loun. It also appears in Swedish as lugn, pronounced hmjn, and in old 
 Icelandic as loyn, pronounced loan. 
 
 Marebroived. The word mare ir Anglo-Saxon means a demon or 
 goblin, of which we have a survival in the word niyhtinare. But there 
 is in Newfoundland another survival of it in the word mare browed, 
 applied to a man whose eyebrows extend across his forehead, and who is 
 dreaded as possessed of supernatural powers. 
 
 Midered or moidered, worried. In the latter form Halliwell gives it 
 as provincial English for distracted. 
 
 Mouch, to play truant, and also applied to shirking work or duty. 
 This is the same with the old English word, variously spelled meech, 
 meaeh and miche, to lie hid or skulk, hence to cower or to be servilely 
 humble or mean. The form vwuch is still retained in the north of 
 Ireland and is common in Scotland. I lately observed it as used by 
 the tramps in New York to denote concealing or disguising one's self. 
 I find it also used by school boys in some parts of Nova Scotia. 
 
 Mimdel, a stick with a flat end for stirring meal when boiling for 
 porridge. Wright gives it as used in Leicestershire as an instrument 
 for washing potatoes, and he and Halliwell both give it as Northumber- 
 land, denoting a slice or stick used in m:iking puddings. In Old Norse 
 there is a word ml'mdull, pronounced vmndull, which means a liandle, 
 especially of a handmill, and the word is frequent in modern Ice- 
 landic. 
 
^^^w 
 
 11? 
 
 li 
 
 IV 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS. 
 
 Nesh, tender and dedicate, used to describe one who cannot stand 
 much cold or hard work. Tliis is old English, but marked in the 
 dictionaries as obsolete except in the midland counties of England ; 
 Halliwell adds Northumberland. 
 
 He was too ;?,eW.e and she too harde.— Gower C. A. V. 
 
 It may be noted here that the i)eople of Newfoundland use the word 
 hoinlyv!ii\i almost the same meaning. It is undoubtedly formed from 
 twin like twinlinfj, a diminutive, meaning a little twin, given by Wright 
 as twindliw/. 
 
 mmrh, the refreshment men take with them on going to the woods. 
 It is an old f..rm of the word " lunch " as " nuncheon " for " l-.incheon " 
 (Wright). But by others it is regarded, we think not so probably, as 
 referring to noon, and meaning the refreshments that laborers partake of 
 at that hour. Connected with this is the word nunny hag originally 
 tneaning a lunch bag, but now used in the general .sense 'of a bag to 
 carry all the articles necessary in travelling. They have also a very 
 expressive word, though I am not sure that it is general, nunny fudger, 
 denoting i)rimaiily a man who is thinking . more of his dinner 
 than of his work, hence generally a man who looks out for his own 
 interest. 
 
 Patienafe, long suffering. 
 in the same seiise. 
 
 Wright gives it as used in Westmoreland 
 
 Peel; to peep, common in New England. 
 
 Pern^y, an adverb meaning presently or directly, as when a servant 
 told to go and do a thing might reply " I will^erwey." The word I do 
 not find in any dictionary to which I have access', but from cognate 
 words I believe that it has come down from the old English. Related 
 to it is the Latin adjective pernix, quick, nimble, active, and the old 
 English word pernicious, .signifying c^uick. Thus Milton :— 
 
 Part incentive reed 
 Provide pernidotis with one touch of fire. 
 
 Paradise Lost, vi. 520. 
 Hence the noun pernicify, swiftness of motion which lingered longer. 
 "Endued with great swiftness ov pemicity," Ray on the Creation, 1691. 
 Piddle or peddle, is used to describe dealing in a small way, witho-it 
 any reference to hawking or carrying goods round from house to house 
 for sale. This was the old meaning of the word. 
 
t>A'rTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. 
 
 h 
 
 Pook, a hay cock. Wright gives it as in Westmoreland and Halliwell 
 as in Somerset used in the same sense. 
 
 Prong, a hay or fish fork. This is the meaning given by Johnson, 
 who does not mention it as denoting one tine of a fork. So Wright 
 gives it as an old English word denoting a hay fork. 
 
 Putter along, an old English form still in use in New England ior 
 ** potter," to walk languidly or to labor inefficiently. 
 
 Qnism, a quaint saying or conundrum. In Anglo-Saxon from 
 cwethan to say comes cwiss a saying. 
 
 The Newfoundlanilers have also the word qumiize, to ask questions 
 of one, but it .seems to be of different origin. 
 
 RampiTce, a dead spruce or pine tree still standing. It is used in the 
 same sense by the woodsmen of the Maritime Provinces, and probably 
 of New England. It is probably the same as the old English word 
 raminck, an adjective, " applied to the bough of a tree, which has lesser 
 branches standing out at its extremity," (Wright). 
 
 Ramshorn, a wooden pound for wasiiing fish in. But Wright gives 
 It as a Somerset word denoting a sort of net to enclose fish that come in 
 with the tide. So Halliwell. 
 
 Randy is used both as a noun and a verb, of the amusement of 
 coasting. " Give us a randy " or " the boys are randying." In Anglo- 
 Saxon it means boisterous, and " on the randy " meant living in 
 debauchery. The word is retained in Scotland, where it means a romp 
 or frolic, but generally in an unfavorable sense. 
 
 Roke or roak, smoke or vapor (Anglo-Saxon, reoran, to smoke), the 
 same as reek in old English and Scotch. Thus Shakespeare : 
 " Her face dc'ch ree^'and smoke."- - Vemn< and Adonis, 555. 
 Still used poetically 
 
 " Culloden shall reek wirh the blood of the hra.ve."— Campbell. 
 
 Robustious, is an ol<l English word used by Milton, the same in 
 meaning as robust, originally used in a favorable sense, but coming to 
 mean violent and unruly. Hence it became a term of reproach, and 
 finally fell out of use. But the Newfoundlanders still use it, or the 
 similar word rohustic, in its original favorable signification. 
 
 Ructions. This word is used in Newfoundland to denote noisy quar- 
 rellings. I h ad supposed that it was Irish and a corruption of insur- 
 
'. ■-■^*^i^'^^^'£m^mtsmfmym¥vmmimmmwmfi^A- 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 VI 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 rections But Halliwdl gives it as Wcstmorela,ul for an uproar, so that 
 It IS probably old P:nglish. 
 
 Scred, a i.iece or fragment. It seems the same as "shred," the 
 Ai.glo-Saxon screade. Webster gives Provincial English screed. 
 
 Seemimj, judgment or opinion. Given in dictionaries as obsolete, Irut 
 used by the best n-riters of .he past. Thus Milton bus 
 
 The pers'jasive words impregnd 
 
 With reason to her seemin,j.~Paradhe Lost, ix. 738. 
 And Hooker says, "A^>thing more clear . th^ix seeminrj." 
 
 In Newfoundland, the sled or sl.igh of the continent, the sledge of 
 the English, is called a slide, but according to Wright this is the original 
 form ,n old English. So shard is used as in Shakspeare's time and as 
 sti in some Provincial dialects of England to denote broken pieces of 
 pottery. ^ 
 
 Spancel, as a noun, denoting " a rope to tie r cows hind legs " and as 
 a verb to "tie with a rope." In the dictionaries it i. given as Provincial 
 English and an English gentleman informs me that the word is still in 
 common use in Yorkshire. 
 
 ^Spell from Anglo-Saxon speliun means in old English, as a verb to 
 supply the place of another, or to take a turn of work with him, and Is a 
 noun, the relief atibrded by one taking the place of another at work for 
 a time. In a similar sense it is used in Newfoundland. A Newfound- 
 lander speaking of seals as s wiles was asked how thoy spelled the word 
 replied ' We don't spell them, we generally haul them." It is however 
 specially used to denote carrying on the back or shoulders. " He has 
 just .pelled a load of wood out," meaning he has carried it on his back. 
 It IS also applied to distance, as " How far did you carry that load," 
 Answer Three shoulders spel^ ...eaning as far as one could carry 
 without resting more than three times. In connection with this I n.ay 
 note that the word turn is used to denote what a man can carry " He 
 vent into the country for a turn of good," that is as much as he can 
 carry on his back. The Standard Dictionary mentions it as having the 
 same meaning locally in the United States. 
 
 Starve viz., with cold or frost. I have heard the same in Nova 
 Scotia. Johnson gives it as a verb neuter, with one of its meanings 
 o be killed with cold," and as active with the meaning to " kill with 
 cold and quotes Milton's line, 
 
 Prom beds of raging fire to starve in ice. 
 
PAn'ERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. 
 
 Ivii 
 
 WebstBr gives this meaning as common in England, but not in the 
 United States, though ho quotes W. Irving as writing " starving with 
 cold as well as hunger." 
 
 Sfrouters, the outside piles of a wharf, which are larger and stronger 
 than the inner ones which aro called shores. According to Wright in 
 the Somerset dialect it denotes anything that projects. 
 
 SwiiKje, a form of singe, pronounced obsolete, but preserved in 
 various English Provincial dialects, is the only one heard here. It is 
 an ancient if not the original form of the word. Thus Spencer says, 
 " The scorohing flame sore swinged a'l his face." 
 
 Till Tib's eve, an old English expression equivalent to the " Greek 
 Kalends," meaning never, is found here. The origin of the phrase is 
 disputed. The word Tib is said to have been a corruption of the proper 
 name Tabitha. If so the name of that good woman has been sadly 
 profaned, for it came to signify a prostitute 
 
 " Every coistrel 
 That comes inquiring for his <i6. "—Shakespeare, Pericles. 
 
 But St. Tib is supposed by some to be a corruption of St. Ubes, 
 which again is said to bu a corrui)tion of Setubal. This, however, gives 
 no explanation of the meaning of the phrase, and there is really no saint 
 of the nan.vi. To me the natural explanation seems to be, that from 
 the utter unlikelihood of such a woman being canonized, persons would 
 naturally refer to her festival, as a time that would never come. 
 
 'Tilt, a log house such as lumbermen use ; a rough temporary shelter, 
 like a shanty in Canada, only instead of being built of logs laid hori. 
 zonally one on the other, it is usually composed of spruce or fir wood 
 placed vertically, and covered with bark. In Anglo-Saxon it appears as 
 telt and telde, from telden, to cover. According to the dictionaries from 
 Johnson, it is used to denote a tent, an awning or canopy, as over a 
 boat. 
 
 Troth pliyht, one espoused or affianced. So Shakespeare 
 
 This your sonin-law 
 Is troth plight to your dougiiter.— ff»Vt<er's TcUe. 
 
 Tussock, a bunch or tuft of grass. It is marked in the dictionaries 
 as obsolete, but it is still in use in Newfoundland to denote the matted 
 tufts of grass found on the bogs. 
 
 Yaffle, an armful, applied especially to gathering up the fish which 
 have been spread out to dry, a small yaffle denoting as many as can be 
 
1 ... 
 
 Iviii 
 
 1»K0CEED1NG8. 
 
 |! '• I 
 
 hel.l ,n tlie two hands, an.l a large yaffie, expressing what a man wouhl 
 encircle with his arms. The word is also used as a verb, meaning to 
 gather them up in this manner. The StHndard Dictionary gives it as 
 used locally in the United States in this last sense. IJut the New- 
 foundlanders <lo not limit it to this. They will speak of a yaffle, e q 
 of crannocks. Wright an.l Halliwell give it as used in Cornwall as a 
 noun denoting an armful. 
 
 Yarrii, early, wide awake, as a yarry man or ayarry w..man. Wright 
 and Halliwell give this word spelled yary as Kentish, meaning sharp, 
 quick, ready. They, however, give yare as another word, though almost 
 If not quite identical in meaning. They are closely related, appearing 
 in Anglo-Saxon as ijeam or yearo, and in kindred languages in various 
 forms. In old English yare is used as an a.ljective meaning ready. 
 This Tereus let make hia ships y«,...-Chaucer. Legend of Phifomene. 
 It IS applied to persons meaning ready, quick. 
 
 Bet/are in thy preparation.- Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 
 And as an adverb, meaning quickly. 
 
 Yare, yare, good Iris, .luick.-Ibid., Anthony and Cleopatra., v 9 
 It is well known that the word yirl is not fo' .d in the Anglo-Saxon 
 or other languages of the xVorth of Europe, and that it only occurs in 
 two places in the authorized English version of the bible, .^I'lowin. that 
 ■ a the tune that version was made, it was only beginning to be Intro- 
 duced into England. In iNewfoundland it is only where the people 
 have been intermixed with persons from other quarters that it has come 
 into use, and in more remote places it is perhaps not used yet, the word 
 maul pronounced vi'yid being generally employed instead. 
 The use of to as meaning this, as in to-day, to-night and to-morrow, 
 IS continued in to ymr, this year and to once at once. 
 
 I may also notice that they use the old form un or on in the composi- 
 tion o words denoting the negative, where present usage has in or m. 
 Ihus they say unproper or onproper, undecent, unlegal, &c. 
 
 There are also the remains of old English usage iri their use of the 
 pronouns, ihus every object is regarded as either masculine or femi- 
 nine, and IS spoken of as either •' he " or " she." - It " seems only to 
 be used where it has been acquired by intercourse with others A man 
 speaking of his head will say "he aohec " F,u«,..- .i /^ "^^n 
 
 , ., , , ^ "'^ '^^"^s- Entering the court house I 
 
 heard a witness asked do describe a codtrap. He immediately replied, 
 
I'ATTEIJSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. 
 
 li 
 
 IX 
 
 •' He was about seventy five fatlioms long," .^c. Other objects are 
 spoken of as " she," not only boats an-l vesspl«, but a locomotive. Of 
 Ihis old usage we have a remnant in the universal use of tlie feminine 
 for ships. 
 
 Another oM form still common is the use of the singular thm and 
 thou, where now the plural you is commonly employed. With this is 
 joined what is still common in parts of England, the use of the nomina- 
 tive for the objective, and to some extent the reverse. 
 
 Some peculiarities m >y be noticed also in the formation of the past 
 tense of verbs. Thus the present mv^ becomec in the past soim, and 
 dive in like manner dove. But the very general usage is to follow the 
 old English practice of adding " ed." Thus they say mnned for ran, sid 
 for saw, hurled for hurt, failed for fell, rowed for came, even sen'd for 
 sent, and yoed for went. This last however is true English, retained in 
 Scotland in gaed, while toent does not belong to the verb at all.^but is 
 the past of another verb to xcend. More curious still is the use of doned 
 for did or done. Perhaps however this is not common. 
 
 The use of the letter " a " as a prefix to participles or participial nouns 
 to express on action still going on, is still retained, as a-walking, a-hunt- 
 ing, etc. 
 
 Again in some places there is retained in some words the sound of 
 e at the end where it is now omitted in English. Thus " hand " and 
 •• hands " are pronounced as if written " hande " and " handes." This 
 is old English. We find it in Coverdale's version of the Bible, 
 Tyndale's New Testament, which however sometimes has " honde " and 
 " hondes," and Cranmers. 
 
 A number of words written with ay and with most English speaking 
 having the long sound of a, are in Newfoundland soumled as if written 
 with a g. Thus they say w'y, aw'y, pr'y, pr'yer, b'y, for away, i)ray, 
 prayer, bay. So n'yebors for neighbors. This pronunciation is still 
 retained in Scotland, and R. Lowell refers to it as in Chaucer, and 
 quotes it as an example of the lasfmr/ness of linguistic peculiarities. 
 
 In their names of objects of natural history we find the retention of 
 a number of old English words. Thus whortleberries or blueberries are 
 called hurt^, nearly the same as the okl English whurts oi' whorts, 
 marked in the dictionaries as obsolete. Then they call a flea a lop, the 
 Anglo-Saxou lojipe from lope to leap, and wasjjs they call waps, which is 
 the same with the Anglo-Saxon tcaps and the low German wepsk. A 
 
 I 
 
»■*>» 4 -"Lit 
 
 '* ■^'***%iiiBiii. . 
 
 -^mii0Mttmim- 
 
 h 
 
 PROCEEDINGS, 
 
 If 
 
 I j 
 
 large vicious fly is ,,,1I,h1 a sfnvf, 1,„t acconling to Wright and Halliwell 
 this 18 the WoHtniorelaixl name for the ga.Uly. Then the snipe ia called 
 a snUe, which is the old Kuglisli form, " The witles. woodcock and his 
 neighbors.,//.," (Drayton's "Owl.") Earthworms are termed ./-«.«, 
 winch Wright gives as Dorset-shire and Halliwell as Somerset. 
 
 IT. I have next to notice wor.J.s ..till in general u.se, hut employed by 
 ^ewfouiHllanders in a peculiar sense, this being sometimes the original 
 or primary siguilication. 
 
 Perhaps in this respect the stranger is most frequently struck by the 
 use of the wouls p/anf and planf, r. Keitlier has any reference to culti 
 vating tlie soil. A planter is a man who uiulertakes fishing on his own 
 account, a sort of middleman between the merchants and the fishermen. 
 He owns or charters a vessel, receive all the supplies irom the merchants, 
 hires the men, deals with them, superintends the fishing, and on his 
 re urn deals wvh the merchants for the fruits of the adventure, and 
 settles with the men for their respective shares. 
 
 To many the most singular instance of this kind will bo the use of 
 t le term bachelor women. Yet, as in Newfoundland, it originally 
 denoted an unmarried person of either sex. 
 
 He would keep you 
 A hache/or still 
 
 And keep you not alone without a husban.l 
 But in a sickness.— Ben Jonson. 
 
 Scarcely le.ss strange may ap,,ear the application of the term harren 
 both to males and females. lu the distribution of poor relief a com- 
 plaint may be heard, "He is a barren man, and I liave three children " 
 ►^o the word seems to have been understood by the translators of KiiK^ 
 Jamess version of the Bible. Deut. vii. U : "There shall not be male 
 or lemale barren among you." 
 
 BonrM'u, applie.l (o an article, is used to .ignify that it has not been 
 manufactured at home. The same use of the word was common in New 
 Ji-ngland. 
 
 Brean with a Newfoundlander meanr hard biscuit, and soft baked 
 bread is called loaf. The origin of this is easily understood. For a 
 length of time the coasf. was frequented by fishermen, who made no 
 permanent seUlement en shore, and whose only bread was hard biscuit. 
 In a similar way fish c£.me to mean codfish. 
 
fATTEUSON OS NKWFOUNDLAXI) DlAl.ECT. Ixl 
 
 Bri.f'/e, pronounced h,:u»h/e, is the word connnonly ii.sefl to denote a 
 platform, though the h.tter word i.s known or ..o.ninp,' into use, hut they 
 generally pronounce itjfa/foriii. 
 
 lirwf. A curious uao of the word hvH' i.s to describe a disease 
 Avlnch quickly proves fatal. «' The .liphtheria was very brief there," 
 that IS, it (piickly ran its course ; the perscn died of it. 
 
 1» seveial dictionaries- (Standard, Halliwell, Webster, etc.,) tins word 
 IS given as n.eaning" rife, common, i.revalent," ami is represented as 
 specially applied to,. pid.Muic discuses. They also refer to Shakespeare 
 as authority without giving .inotations. B.rtlett rep,esent« it as much 
 used in this sense by the uneducated in the interior of New Fn-dnnd 
 and Virginia. Murray, in the New English Dictionary, gives the^same 
 meaning, but doubtingly, for ho adds, "The origin of this sense is not 
 clear. The Shakespearean quotation is generally cited as an example 
 but IS by no means certain." I presume to tl. ak that the assigning this 
 meaning is altogether a mistake. % no rule of language can brief be 
 made to mean rife. We see at once, however, the expressiveness of the wor.l 
 as applied in the Newfoundlan.l sense to an epidemic as making short 
 work of its victims. I must regard this, therefore, as the original mean- 
 ing of the word in this ap|.lication. At the same time we can see how 
 the mistake may have arisen. An epidemic disease so malignant as to 
 prove fatal cpiickly could scarcely but become prevalent where intro- 
 duced, and its prevalence being on the minds of men, they would be apt 
 to attach such a meaning to the description of its working, as brief, and 
 then use the word in that sense. 
 
 Similar to this is the use of the word lafp, applied to a woman lately 
 married. » The late Mis. Prince visited us," meaning the lady who had 
 recently become Mrs. Prince. 
 
 Chastue is used not as particularly meaning to punish either corpo- 
 rally or otherwise, but to train for good. A father will ask the person 
 to whom he is intrusting his sou to chastise him well, meaning merely 
 bring him up in a good way. But the more limited signilication is 
 coming into use. 
 
 The word deoer it is well known is used in ditferent senses in 
 England and New England. In the former it exjiresses mental power, 
 and means tahinted or skillful ; in the latter it describes the disposition 
 and means generous or good-natured. In Newfoundland it is used in 
 quite a distinct sense. It there means large and handsome. It is 
 
Ixii 
 
 PROCEEDlNdS, 
 
 ai)])lie(l not only to iiicii, ])ut to niiimnis nn.l 
 ernian will spenk of u " clover built boat, 
 Bhajtoly. Tlif (lictioiijirics from ,Foh 
 
 inaiiiniiito tliinf,'s. A fish- 
 iiifaning that it is largo and 
 »i**on onwiinlgive as one meaning of 
 the word " well shaped or han.lson.o." Tint h«. desoribes it a,s "a low 
 word scarcely over ti.ed but in burl.s,,ue or in convorHation and applied 
 to anything a man likes, without a settled meaning." Wright gives it 
 us in the east of England meaning goo.l looking and in LaneaHhir,. as 
 denoting lusty, which when applied to men is nearly the Newfoundland 
 xleu, and lucjuably the nearest to the old Ki.-!ish. 
 
 Crop, commonly pronounced trap, tlie personal equipment of a man 
 Conig on a sealing voyage supplied by the merchants but distinct from 
 the provisions, etc. 
 
 Draft or ,i,mujhf in old English and still in the provinces means a 
 team of horses or oxen, and also that drawn by them, a load. As the 
 Newfoundlanders generally ha<l no tean.s, they have come to use it to 
 denote a load for two men to carry, hence two quentals of fish. 
 
 Dredge pronounced in Newfoun.lland dnnfg,, is used to denote the 
 sprinkling of salt over herring when caught, and mixing thorn together 
 CO preserve tiiem in the meantime. It is the same word that is used in 
 cooking to denote sprinkling flour on meat for which we still have the 
 dredging ho,. Skeat (Etym. Dictionary) gives a general meaning to 
 sprinkle as in sowing dreg, dredge, mixed corn, oats and barley. 
 
 In connection with this they have the dredge harrow pronounced 
 drudge harrow, a barrow with handles and a trough to hold salt for 
 carrying the tish from the boat to the si.litting table. 
 
 Driver is the old English word for a four cornered fore and aft sail 
 attached to the mizennmst of a vessel, now usually known as the spanker 
 It IS now used in Newfoundland to denote a small sail at the stern of 
 their fishing punts or boats. The rig I am in.formed was common amon- 
 the hshermen of England and Jersey. 
 
 Dnmy\l or drunge\l equivalent to thronged of which it is probably a 
 cor: aption. ^ 
 
 Duckies. Twilight is expressed as "between the dwkies" an 
 expression which seems to resemble the Hebrew phrase " between the 
 two evenings." So duchish meaning dark or gloomy, which Wright and 
 Haliwell give as Dorsetshire for twilight. We may add here that the 
 break of day is expressed as the crack of the daanin. 
 
PATPKUSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. Ixiii 
 
 Tho vfox^X /od,hr in not uscl to clon„t.. cattlo feed in «onoral, hut is 
 limited to oftts cut green to be used for that purpose. This us., of tho 
 word I nm informed is found in New Kuglan.l. So tho words funnel 
 and fnnneMinu uro use,! in KewfouncHand and also in some parte, of 
 the United States for «tovo pipe. It is conunon in hot), to hear such 
 expressions as that «' tho funnels are wrong " or " ho hought .so n.any 
 feet of funnoIMng." This sense of tho wor.l has gone ont of use elee- 
 whero, except as regards a steamer's funnel. 
 
 Hatrhd is used for an axe. This is a wttle singular as the word was 
 not orig.nally English, hut is the French harh'tf., the din.inutive of 
 harhe, and really meaning a small axe or hatchet. 
 
 Me is used to mean wicked, expressing tho full force of WattV line,', 
 that "Satan find some mischief .still, fo. idle hands to do." 
 
 A Newfoundlander cannot pass you a higher compliment than to say 
 you are a hw,rlr,h,ahh' man. The wor.l, however, I understand is 
 common in Ireland, and I suppo.se was brought here by tho Irish .settlers. 
 
 Lodge is used in an active transitive sense, a^ rrjuivalent -o place or 
 put, as " I lodged the book on tiie shelf," - She lodged the dish in the 
 closet." 
 
 Lolly. This word is used by Newfoundlanders, as bv the people on 
 the northern coast of America, and by ArcJo explorers," to denote ico 
 broken up into small pieces. They have, however, another use of 
 the word, so far as I know, peculiar to themselves, that is, to express 
 a calm. In this respect it seems related to the word lull. Indeed, 
 Judge Bennett thinks that it should be written Inllif. 
 
 Lot, the .same as allot, to forecast some future event. Wright and 
 Halliwell give it as Westmoreland for imagine, and the Standard 
 Dictionary represents it as used in the TJnitel States as meaning to 
 count upon, to pleasantly anticii.ate. The word low, which I deem a 
 contraction of allow, is used in virtually the same sen.se. " I low the 
 wind will be to the eastward before morning." The word allow is used 
 in some parts of Nova Scotia as meaning intention or opinion. " I allow 
 to go to town to-morrow." The Standard Dictionary represents it as 
 colloquially used in this sense in the United States, particularly in tho 
 Southern States. 
 
 Main is used as an adverb, meaning very, exceedingly. A New- 
 foundlander will say, " I am main sorry," that is, exceedingly sorry. 
 
hi! 
 
 Jxiv 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Hi 
 
 i! 
 
 13:. . 
 
 Tins use of the word sfcill appears in various provincial dialects of 
 England. The word fair is also used in much the same way. 
 
 Man-h often iironounced mesh or mish is the usual name for a bog, 
 of which there are many, and some of them -ery extensive through the 
 island. So pond is thr; name for a lake. Jwen the largest on the 
 island (Hfty-six miles long) is known as Grand Pond. T ., usage 
 prevails to some extent in N"ew England, where however both terms are 
 used without any clear distinction between them, but in Newfoundland 
 " pond " alone is used. In this connexion, it may be also noted that a 
 rapid in a river is usually known as a rattle, a term which I have not 
 found elsewheie, but which I regard as very expressive. 
 
 Mo(M, sometimes pronounced morel, is used in general for a pattern. 
 Thus a person entering a shop asked for " cloth of that model," exhibit- 
 ing a small piece. 
 
 Ni2opers, half mitts or half gloves used to protect the fingers in 
 liauling the cod-lines. 
 
 The word ordaia is in common use, and is applied to matters in 
 ord.nary business of lif.. Thus a man will say, " I ordained that piece 
 of wood for an axe helve." This seems to be the retent'.n of its 
 onguial use, before it came to be set apart for the more solemn objects 
 to which It is now applied. Similar to this is its use in Devonshire 
 according to Wiight and Hallivvell, as moaning to order or to intend. ' 
 
 The word ^ro/>.^r is in ve.y common use to describe a handson:e 
 well-built man. This is old English usage, as in Heb. xi. 23 : " He was 
 &2^roper child." So in Scotch- 
 Still my delight is with projm- youiig men.-Burns, .Jolly Beggars. 
 
 Resolute is used in the sense of resolved. " I am resolute to go up 
 the bay next week," meaning simply that I have made up my mind to 
 that step. This was the o.-iginal meaning of the word but the transition 
 was easy to its expr,.ssi„g a ...)irit of .letermination, boldness, or firmness 
 Hut It has come to have another meaning at least in some places, that of 
 determined wickednnss. 
 
 The word ridlrutous is used to describe unfair or shameful treatment 
 without any idea of the ludicrous. '< I J,ave been served most ridiculous 
 by the poor commissioner," was the statement of a man who wished to 
 express in strong terms his sense of the usage he had received Halli 
 well says that in some counties in England it is used to denote some- 
 
PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. Jxv 
 
 thing very indecent and improper. Thus, a violent attack on a woman's 
 chastity IS called very ridiculous behavior, and an ill-conducted house 
 may be described as a very ridiculous one. 
 
 Rind as a noun is invariably used to denote the bark of a tree and 
 as a verb to strip it off. The word hark on the other h.nd is only used 
 as a noun to denote the tan which the fisherman applies to his net and 
 sails, and as a verb to denote such an application of it. Thus he will 
 say, " I have been getting some juniper or black spruce rind to make 
 tan barl-r or " I have been harkm, my net or sails," meani.ig that he 
 has been applying the tannin extract to them. 
 
 One of the most singular peculiarities however of the dialect of New- 
 foundland, is the use of the word room to denote the whole premises of 
 a merchant, planter, or fisherman. On the principal harbors, the land 
 on the shore was granted in small plots measuring so many yards in 
 front, and running back two or three hundred yards with a lane between 
 Each of these allotments was called a roora, and according fo the way in 
 which It was employed, was known as a merchant's room, a planter's 
 room, or a fisherman's room. Thus we will hear of Mr. M's. upper room 
 his lower room or his beach room, or we have Mr. H.'.« room, the place 
 where he does business, at Labrador. One of these places descending, 
 from father to son will be called a family room. " 
 
 Shall, probably the same as xhell, but we find it as shale used by 
 older Avnters. Johnson defines it as " n husk, the case of seeds in 
 sihquous plants," quoting Shakspeare's line " leaving them but the 
 shales and husks of men," and Halliwell gives it as a noun meaning '< a 
 husk " and as a verb " to husk or shell as peas." 
 
 The word skipper is in universal use and so commonly applied, as 
 almost to have lost its original meaning of master of a small vessel. ' It 
 is used toward every person whom one wishes to address with respect, 
 and is almost as common as "Mr." is elsewliere. Generally the' 
 christian name is used after it, as skipper Jan, skipper Kish. In hke 
 manner the word uncle is used without regard to relationship. In a 
 community every respectable man of say sixty years of age will be so 
 called by all the other people in it. 
 
 Smooc/mi, hair-oil, or pomade. A young man from abroad, com- 
 mencing as cl<4rk in an establishment at one of the outposts, was puzzled 
 by an order for a " pen'orlh of smoochin." The verb smooch is also 
 used as equivalent to smutch, to blacken or defile. We may hear such 
 
Ixvi 
 
 PR0(^EEDIXGS. 
 
 expressions as, " His clothes are smooched witli soot " or " T^ 
 smooched with ink " I'nf ,-f • i ■■ ' ^^ ^^^ P^P^r is 
 
 any .,„bst,u,c. ,™ ^t J t'lrt '" '"'™" '"-i-P'i ^»ti„„ „f 
 
 n^u . ^ smeaung, witliout any referoiu-P fn M ,«i • 
 
 Ihus one m rrlit <.nv " u,.r. I • ., "^ AL'Licnce to biickening. 
 
 "H^i't say, Her hair was all smooched with oil " 
 
 con;::::::;: tt:::::Li-'-™ -'"■- ...a. . .., , 
 
 The mistress of a household disturbed in the nndst of 1 , 
 cleanmg will describe herself -is nil ,: ''"' ''^"'^- 
 
 denotes ..,/., tunndt ^ it.f • V' ''^"""'- ^^'' ^^^^'^^ "o^v 
 excitement. ^' "'^'"^^^'^' ™^'^'^'<^ -"'Ply confusion or 
 
 His eye 
 Unto a greater uproar tempts his veins." 
 XT n- 1. • . — Shakspeare, Rapeof Lucreve 4 '27 
 
 express the same ,l,i„g. SI en L h " """' " '"™''"''"'^ '° 
 
 ever, is given by Wririit i,,,) H.,m, ii , " ""''■ '"">■- 
 
 denoting a disturbance :t :!„;.;:,!« ""' " '" "'^ '°""' °^ E'*'--). 
 
 to J!::ror:t'' ::;'': t ,"■''"" ,■■"""-' -- '- ^'^-''^ '» sai, 
 
 n.ed to signify „„U.,;'t'- '"\ -'- "'""gN as a storn, is 
 Drydeu °'"'' "" ""^^ ■"^"' '" I'oetry. Thus 
 
 ■'Mri^rc::::^':.''™'''"''"^-"-'"""' 
 
 in s 'ir'^;::'':" :r:; ■:":; "-"' :- "•^'" '- "■» -^ -- „» 
 
 •' There is nothing ,; ZJ^ T H "l" '"'""'""'" '«"' f" - 
 W.n.» 8o,.„.v:n,e,,n „ ";,. I, "" ^'"'1: '"""" ^"^ "'«' 
 to denot. sorrow or .„ief r.tbe tl "'" "'"''l ""^ '» •"ed 
 
 man," a Newfonndia" e • ^r ^Z T'"' " I '"' ""' '°' "'»' 1'°" 
 that it expresses grier rlb./L f """:' "°"" '">'• "'"'sh I J"Jge 
 
 n..nd. zj i, nsed^„1:r,fe:::V'shI;:""''^ '° "'^'"" ''^ 
 
 inone,::r:;;:::;:;::':::::rr^;r'r'r-- 
 ■' - '" --ate a Hebrew word ev^ :L:i';t't£;;::i\:: 
 
The paper is 
 
 ppliiatioii of 
 
 bl ickeiiiiifir. 
 
 '"ig did you 
 
 to trade, in 
 
 lier liouse- 
 
 word now 
 
 Jiifusiou or 
 
 *, 27. 
 
 r disorder, 
 ;abulury to 
 rases as all 
 ('ord, how- 
 England, 
 
 ity to sail 
 
 i «torni, is 
 
 to an old 
 
 h Thus 
 
 ' sense as 
 
 for ill. 
 r ''intill 
 c is used 
 hat poor 
 
 1 judge 
 turb the 
 
 i.l. 
 
 . 10) it 
 ive. So 
 
 PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. Ixvii 
 
 the wonls fine and finely to mean very nuu-h cr very good " We 
 enjoyed ourselves .,•..." " How are you to-day ? O l4 fine ' "He 
 ::iU:Sco T ' . '"'" "^^'^^ ^^^'^^ -^'^ '-^^ ^-" -.uired b^^tercou 
 
 -^Mhe .reneh, fro. whi^ t^^^^^^ 
 
 III. I would now notice a numbei' 'of worils and pl„a,cs of a mi, 
 cenaneon, chavaoto,-, tl.at have boon intr„d.,«l in vario ;. H I" 
 
 anson an.ong ti,e people throng,, the eircumstances of thoirZ; 
 
 I have already inentionprl fJi<if tv,^, i i 
 
 «eneat,on, ,K^t their dialect draws few words from this source There 
 are, howeyer, some such Tl,,,-. ,., , ^^'uice. mere 
 
 tl.n n.„ f,^\ ''"^ ^■^" scarcely nnsiako the origin of 
 
 tne use or the term pnt'ifajo, nf +i, i i- "HftUi \jl 
 
 teim e??/'«K^2/ at the end of a sentence to sive force to it 
 
 o.«,e.o..,...c;e.^;!;:!-:-'tr:ir 
 
 ^^- a contraction of ,,ra„/er, itself a corruption of ,„a„„y„,/,„ 
 
 *tf thilrt" ""'*'• '""■'' i"™ ^^- ""-^^ '-"■ Ireland in :.;„ 
 not, the use of the term io,/« ni addressinj; men. It is used indeed t„ 
 «ome extent elsewhere. Knglish eourn^anders. ei h r " ^^t ' 
 ^d.ers, use ,t when ad.h,«sing their „,e„ in affectionate fa 2 it, 
 Shakespeare also has it : " Then to sen, boy.,," '• Ten.pest " II • '; 
 
 the usage ,s speeiallv einrraeteristie of the 'irish, an., n k vfornd, Z 
 
 .s unrversal, ,„ w,,atever urenare e„,p,oyed, whet,,er on b „" v 
 or worbng on ,and. I believe that the use of the word ro.k, to , 1,2 
 
 mis island, is from the same quarter. 
 
 From t,,e ,„ng tin.e that t,,e FrenC, have been fishing on th^s coast 
 ve nngbt l,ave expected that the language of the residents woul b v e 
 eceived accessions Irom then,. We find, ,,owever, only one or Zl 
 words t,,at we can trace to this source. T,,us the word pL an in.t „ 
 ment co„s,st,ng of a shaft with a sharp piece of iron iikelc' .Ing 
 ork at the end of .t, used for throwing fish fron, the boats on to th 
 stages whence the verb to ,.., to cast then up in this banner, see ,s to 
 be the FrenC, word ,,eu, which is .lefined as meauing a stake or pale, 
 
lillh 
 
 " i i! ' 'I 
 
 ^ll 
 
 Ixviii 
 
 but whicli I am iiifor 
 
 fork. On the west coast tliov I 
 
 ined 
 
 Ja\ 
 
 '.(■(/ue d ferre, Jack a.sl 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 is u.so,l by the French Canadians to denote a 
 
 a corruption of 
 
 oy have the word Ja<'kata,\ 
 
 doso ted hi 
 
 L'l and 
 
 vesse 
 an\ French Canadian from 
 
 lore, a name given to a French 
 
 iving an unsettled hfe asl 
 
 man who has 
 
 the 8t. Lawrence visiting tliat i)art of 
 
 lore, and indeed to 
 the 
 
 isl'i d Th« „ 1 / -.«w.«nce visiung that part of the 
 
 I8l...al. The uor<l vl^a^e ,s u.se.l as an Englishman would say • " I he., 
 your i)ardon, what did vou '^■w ?" P„f fi • • , , ^ ' ^ 
 
 the French j.lait-if. ^ ' "' "'" '^ "'"'*^^' '^''' ^'--''^^i^" «f 
 
 _ We would scarcely have expected to find their speech set off bv 
 .portatums W the classics. Eut some words see.^ t.:':^. "^ 
 ongni. In the prices current in the newspapers one n.av see fish 
 distinguished as A>/.,W^ or faU,uals and .noted at cer in .1 e 
 Tins denotes fish bought and sold without assorting or cu 1 u ^ 
 
 Latin taks ,uaUs, such as it is, and it is likely that he is correct 
 
 Another word which he regards as of classic origin is lonner This 
 '•-supposes a contraction <,f the Latin lon,unus. \ ^o not hink 
 :_y to go beyond the Kng.i.h language to account f^^h^ 
 
 ^.^.r/e>., small sized fence rails; and sta.je l.n,ers, 1 ^^Z 
 
 word accoufrenifmfs. "c '^ ^'"in tne 
 
 It will be seen that several of the old English wonl. ;, .. • xr 
 foundland are also found in New E,>ghin tr V" !''^' 
 
 New England fl,l,e„„„„ vi»mng th,'i 7. t vl d' TTT "'"' 
 an o..ginal importation from the mother countrv Ti • / 
 
 New K„g,.a «.,.,„.. „.. ..„ iz :ti .:,;::rr:r :: 
 
PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. Ixix 
 
 generally uffected their lanmiafre Sfill f'^«.n 
 
 which seem fn l,n. . ' ''"'' ''' ^«'^ ^^'«''^1« i" "se 
 
 , ot notes over a ,l„zen .„ch place,, „n the Lab™l r ,. rt We iZ 
 other names fo.n.e.l fn„,„ them as Tickle Point „,. Tickle Bay „ tw" 
 « throe ,„„Unces in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick w fave sLh a 
 place known s„„,et„„cs as a m-k, bnt connnonly as a /,W, which I 
 •leen, a corrupfon of it, I have never ,,ecn a conjecture •« to M,e 
 
 expanahon. The hrst explorers of the coast referre.1 to were the 
 
 ort„g„„,e, who gave names to the leading places on these s re 
 number of which remain to the present ihv A I„.„. " '"-s. » 
 
 these were the names „f places in ^ortu!:, ^0,. iZ. 'STrom 
 
 t^J'Z^t' °" '"""' "' "'""■ '""■■ ^^•>» °" "'» -' ™ 
 
 loitugal may be seen a point calie.1 Santa Tekla, It is a narrow 
 Fo,,ect,on s„n,e miles in length, i„,,ide of which is a Icn -t y Z 
 wrowed by an .sland. As there were few good harbors on ,e eo 
 ot bat country, this formed a favorite resort for shelter, particu .a Iv 
 to her flshennen. What more natural than that they shou g v t I 
 nan.e to places here of similar appearance and .serving he 1 , r „ r 
 The «l.gl;t change from Tekla to Tickle will not appear Strang Z y 
 per,,„n who knows n,to what diflerent forms foreign woals have bee' 
 changed when adopted by Englishmen, 
 
 ' Tramactioii. of the Royal Soclotj- of Canada, vni. (2|, 1«. 
 
Ixx 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 -^t ^:'; ~: :i --7;-;.,. .0 „ 
 
 Mul,cal life. s„,„„ „f y, 'yy MmcHi term, connccto,! ,4|, 
 
 'l-y Lave the word ,„!„,.„,, „•„„?;? "'"'' '-"«"''' »«-,. T 
 
 meat, .tewed with vegetable, a„d tlii, '"! '''t' ™"''»""« "' «'' 
 
 r;?*' "■"■"'' *™'«tobo.ela tt,,r' ■, ^" "'« "-^ «ive the 
 
 An odd „„ra.„ a,„o„„ t„e„ ^Z / "'"■'' "'""""-^>- 
 "Pl'lled to Tuosday, and Frid ! T" "'*'" '"-'«'''"/. It i, 
 " «;■• fl^.-n,. What i, ,,„ , 7^ ;■"■'■'"■« -lav, e„ at t,. ',. 
 
 i-wo o, ^ewfo,„,d,a„d, I ea:',:;:'::;:;;;:;'''''''"' " '■' "-"•■'•■ '■' ".e 
 
 . ;;■■■''<";■%- it wa, „„t„„, y,.,j t' ,,;";■" "-■" and those of K„ro pea, 
 
 'l'0"«:. ,o„,e seen, l„ b„ ,,ec i^, t l T ' '" """' "'"»"« '"" 
 
 " I-""'"' "-a,.. ' °""'-" '" ^'-'foiM.clland or a,.e tl,ere Ll i^,' 
 
 Tl'us .*«'-!■ or /ate is ,, 
 
 .:,;:" /-"!■""■" '' ^vvZ ° ^tt. 7;" '" " "»"■•■« - '-die. 
 
 s , eld ox w,eker work, „«, f„r Uf ■**' ''"l""=''^"r a l„„,|le „r 
 I.ct.onary). Wel,,,ter give, „, '^'"'7 "> ^"«l« (Vigf>.,,e„ I,," 
 »' «".Ia or h„r,lle,, ,„;,,„,,,;, "f. f'-«lH„et.s for a p,„tfor„, ,, ^'^ 
 ''- l™.S bee,, „,ed i„ t i .';, , „"'™"'';°"^' ''>'' ■'•7M,g fi,!,." „ 
 
 --t« «f British A„,eriea, and i„i^""' "'"""■""'■ ''- "djoi,,, 
 
 »» ■• good English word. """' '"'""""I '"'o «- Ui,:t,o„a,'ie: 
 
 A criou, c„,to„, i, de.,eribed i„ ,1,. , 
 
 PMyed on a g,.e,, hand of ,„,,;';,: "';7'«i'* ™«*.« i, „ m.^ 
 
 "«i pre,-, pile c:on,pa„. Tl,e ."v , , " '""" '»■'■«'''»'■ 'o I,orro,v 
 --'^'.irn to the next, and I r'^ :," ^ Z,", "i? ";" °"° '» T-.. ^ 
 
 .-. .aid to be peeuhar ,:t t :,d 'T- "/^'"Vboat known a, a 
 '-■;de„. The deek h., open , a t ,, " ?" """" '" «f'-" »"-' 
 fl^hennen to «tond in while they ,' T"] 7''"'^ »"" "" '" "- 
 board,. Jt i, .sehoonei-.ri^ed iL „ " ^°''' '' '°'"""i "I movable 
 ^^e 'o-aii i. tri„„„ed aS) a'^ eel" rrthet," 'l " -"'" '-' 
 
g so «^oneralIy a 
 s comiocted with 
 |» sailors. Thus 
 "eregrine Pickle, 
 'usisting of .salt 
 lis they give the 
 given as a s]an<' 
 J>'ictionary). 
 '^'•^f'fh//. It is 
 L'li at the seal 
 l'eciih",ir to the 
 
 ;fced M'ith their 
 for over two 
 «f the adjoin- 
 
 ■ of European 
 among theru, 
 
 there used in 
 
 'g or iiiirdlo. 
 ^ hurdle or 
 •fusseii IceJ. 
 form of slats 
 =h." Hut it 
 u adjoining 
 
 PAr,.KK,SO. ON NEW.OUNZ....„ ^„,,,, 
 
 dicti 
 
 onaries 
 
 i« a trick 
 to borrow 
 spare and 
 
 own as a 
 teen tons' 
 't for the 
 movable 
 I in boom. 
 eJ aft to 
 
 horns or pieces of wood proiertinc, f. ., 
 ^he dan, . of either of tli bCl,^;, ':; '7^'''- '' ^'"^ -oids 
 cannot ascertain the origin of ./ ^1 '^"' '^^"■^"^''» "^erboard. I 
 
 brought from either Enghu.d or jZ^T^ "^ '' '' ''^''^^^^ ''^' "^ -s 
 
 breaker; ...,,,,_,, , j,,; ^^^ on '.'//l ' "^"'''^ "' ""^^ ' -^^^•-. « 
 P"''Po.oof fastening the fishinJ n ' ""^^''"g lai<l down for the 
 
 loop at the end for pulling ov Th l^Vn^'J" '" ''' ''^^'^ '^ ^ 
 name to the n,oorin. • fa.lZ [ u ^''' ^'''^ ''"'^ ^''is gives its 
 
 a boat with a board^ii^ t'e^ i''^^ ^^' ''^ f" ''' '-''^ > ^'^^ -^ 
 called a .asM^arrl, a t^ .^ ^ t '"1" VV'^^^^' ^^^"^ -- 
 arrangement; thus u man boa " ' '""^ T'"^^ ^^^'^ ^ --lar 
 sleep in a bed without any 1 L '''''] ""T'^'^'''' ^'-^ be had to 
 
 «- vessel, boat or punt rides ^.r'V' " '""" ^'^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ich 
 pile of fish after havino- been w si /? '"'""^' ^"^' '^'«^^''^'--^^, a 
 
 about the same heigh,;X;:::h,::t "^^^^ '' ''^ '^^ ^^^' 
 
 y<'l/<i</e, is u»Ml to exi,re.<i ii„t fl, • 
 »"°tl.e,, b„t th.. ,„.,„|t „, t „ ,V ' *"'^ I;"-"8" "■"■" one |„„ee t„ 
 ""ey have bee,, s„eee„f,,l i , H ' ■ '^ ™'"'8" '■' •"« "' wliidi 
 a bad vo,„«e the T.!:! " "''■'"' " '■^"'«'- «*'"« »■' '-Ji„« and 
 
 From their fishing seems -^hn fn i 
 i" the phrase, <' a si^. of ' to ^x "' """ "" °' *'" "'^^^ '^■^'^^^ 
 
 being asked if he would l-.v an" '' '/"^'" '^""''''•>'- ^^»« '^^ table 
 «lg"-" When after I^ Ct^fi:; •" "' ' "^'^" '^^^'' ^^1'"^^^' "j-t a 
 ««h were to be i.und, U^i:!::^^^^-' ff "'^-^'"^ ^^^^^^^ 
 presence, just as a gold miner sneak, nf ,' "^"'^ ' '''" '^ ^^''^' 
 
 caught them in gr.^ter abm 111^ ' '^''^' "' ^^'^'- ^^'1'^" ^hey 
 
 «l.a.',. c„tti„B wind 1 ', " "r '"""""" '•" «-■""-''■ A very 
 
 ™t the f„ee i„ „ , i ' : ' f'""'- »' »"«-"«' .noist,,,., .hieh 
 
 --oftheeoaJoft , e'e ti:'::::"'*' ',"."'"' " '""■'-• ^" 
 
 -." - .a.eH„ ee.a,,\tate;;;;^h:"::;e'l!:r r:r';? 
 
w 
 
 ■n 
 
 Ixxil 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 given n, tlio Stan.lnrd Dictionary. In Nowfoun.llan,], however, 1 am 
 assured it has always tlie idea connected with it of a cold wind .Irivincr 
 the particles of ice in a way as it were to shave ones face. 
 
 'J'hey have also sonie peculiar names for the creatures coming under 
 their notu^e. Thus the nu-d.m. or sea n-ttles are calle.l s^juid .quads, 
 son.etimes squid squalls, the echinus or sea urchin oxnqqs, fresh water 
 o\m^^. nH-s and h,Hs, and to the westward smelts are known a.s mirm^.r.. 
 1 he black Hy ,s known as the mosquito and the musquito as the ninpn- 
 The sea eagle they call the yr.pe. This seems unrp,osti,.nahly the same 
 as yrebe, but originally it represented certain kinds of water fowl Then 
 stoat IS used for shoat, a young pig, an<l the Ameri.'an brown thrush or 
 mbin ,s called ti.e Mar-k bird. We may add here that raisins are always 
 known asAv-S while tigs arc .I'stinguished as broad ^fi.js. 
 
 But seal hunting is the industry peculiar to the island and in it has 
 onsen a large nun.ber of tern.s, either specially applied or sometimes 
 seemingly produced among themselves, to denote every object and act 
 connected with it. U'e shouM observe how-ver that with them a seal 
 IS rdways a swde,^ sealing vessel or sealer, a swiler and seal hunting is 
 smle hunt.u,, Ihis is an example, of which there are many others of 
 words being pronounc.d so differently as really to seem to be different 
 words Tlius a ho. ,s a hou, the fir is var, ..nuffing is snoffinq, forked is 
 m,/;.^ and never ,s.aa., which is equivalent to .'not." -'naar a bit" 
 being a favorite expression to denote a strong negative. 
 
 Then they have a number of words not only to distinguish the 
 
 species of seals as /.r.^., Ms an.l douheads, but to mark the difference 
 
 of age .iiul condition. Thus the young or b.by-seals till thev leave the 
 
 ce are known as u^lutemafs. When the pelt, that is the skin and fat 
 
 og^t^ier does i.t weigh more than twenty-five pounds, it is called a .^ 
 
 and a uwarf-seal, a fat httle fellow, is called a jar. 
 
 of wLr' tI™"' T' '"^'"^' ""' ' ""''^" ''''^ ^-"-^-" - t'^«t 
 
 Middle Ages, nown at first as " bedlam beggars," so call.:i because when 
 
 referred to"l' T'^ ''''' ''^"^ ""'^ ^'^"'"^' '' '^^^- Tl-y are 
 n as T ^''i'^'T' '^^ ^^''«""" ^-^'^--. but were commonly 
 
 ^.^ /«;..;., which can,e to be generic terms for fools of all classes The 
 ns .used n. Newfoundland with two applications: (.)Itdenotf 
 se.d one year old and half gron-n, which being immature is of little 
 
HTTERSON on NEWFOUNDLAND DlALEt:T. 
 
 Ixxni 
 
 ever, 1 fini 
 nil tliivinjr 
 
 lirif,' under 
 id nquads, 
 resli water 
 1 ministers. 
 the nipper. 
 f the same 
 vvl. Then 
 thrusli or 
 are always 
 
 1 in it has 
 sometimes 
 :t and act 
 em a seal 
 uinting is 
 otliers, of 
 ! different 
 forked is 
 ar a bit " 
 
 ,mish the 
 difference 
 leave the 
 I and fat 
 led a raf, 
 
 )n is that 
 Is in the 
 use when 
 riiey are 
 ammonly 
 ites and 
 Bs. The 
 lenotes a 
 of little 
 
 value, and (2), it is applied rather contemptuously to young fellows 
 between 10 and 20. Where we would ajipiy to them such a term as 
 hobbledehoys, a Newfoundlander would always call them Imllariiprs. 
 Judge Bennett says, " I have often had them so described in court. A 
 policeman will say there were a lot of ImUamers standing at the corner, 
 and accused was one of them," etc. There is sufficient rosemb'ance 
 between the two classes to account for the use of the same name, but 
 how this came first to he applied to either does not appear. 
 
 Again for their work on the ice they have their own t'^rms. Thus 
 a cake of ice is uniformly known as a jmn of ice, and to ;>«// is to gather 
 to one place a quantity say of seals. This last, however, seem.s a 
 survival of an olisolete English word meaning to join or close together. 
 Ice ground tine is known as sivish or t^itih ice, but broken into lai-ger 
 pieces is called dob ire, to either of which also might be applied the term 
 loUij, in common use on the North American coasts. When by the 
 pressure of sea and storm the ice is piled in layers one upon the other, it 
 is said to be raf'tad. Large cakes of ice floating about like small ice- 
 bergs are called (jrowJers. Through the melting of the part under water 
 they lose their e([uilibrium, so that sometime even a little noise will 
 cause them to turn over with a sound like a growl. Hence their nanic. 
 J)riven by high winds they acquire such momentum that they carry 
 destruction to any vessel crossing their course. One year so many 
 accidents occurred from them, that it was kno\vn as the year of the 
 growlers. The process of separating the skin of the young seal with the 
 fat attached is called sculpt uy, and the part thus separated is known as 
 the sculp. This is also known as the pelt, in seal hunting that term 
 always including the fat attached, though in hunting on land it is used 
 to denote the skin alone. To these we n)ay add sicatcliiiKj, watching 
 open holes in the ice for seals to come up to shoot them, simply a 
 corruption of seal watching. 
 
 Heing so much engaged with the sea, all their expressions are apt to 
 be colored by life on that element. Thus a person going visiting will 
 speak of going cruising, and girls coming to the maiidand to hire as 
 servants will talk of shijtping for three months, or whatever time they 
 jiropose to engage. 
 
 Independent of the sea, however, they have a number of words which 
 seem to have l)een formed among themselves, some of which may be 
 regarded as slang, but which are in common use. I notice the following, 
 
Ixxiv 
 
 l»HO(JEEDIN(iH. 
 
 han^lMh,, u low nnd co.rso wor.l .lonotinK a l-oilo.l i.uMing consisting 
 of H.M.r, n.o]n.ssos, so.ln, etc., an.l not uncon.n.only .oal.f,t instead of snot. 
 I tlnnk ne nee.l J.ar.Uy go .oard.ing for the origin of the nan.o chin or 
 c/>ee/r nnmr, singing at dances, where they have no fi.klle or acconieon 
 u« often h.j.pens an.ong the fishern.en ; ./.m/.,-, given by JIailiwell as in 
 .Sussex denoting a luncheon, but in ^.Newfoundland numning a glass of 
 grog taken at eleven o'clock, when the sun is over 'the fore yard ; ^um 
 hean a chew of tebacco ; oar mn/:n., flannel coverings for the ear's in 
 winter ; m>.^.onous, a sort of «lang tern,, .lescribing parties as very 
 angr3 u.ul excite.l, yet it seen.s well forn.ed lu.glish, having its root- 
 wor<l mm,, an.l being kindred with ramj,r._,., raurpanf, rampacious or 
 ran,pa.,eous, with the h.st of which it is nearly synonyn,o-,s ; and /o./., 
 rogar,led as a eonuption of look see, but probably the first part is a form 
 of the Anglo-Saxon /./■., according to Halliwell, .neaning to look upon, 
 to guard, to take care of. 
 
 V Lastly. There are a nnn.ber of words, of which I am unable to 
 trace the origin or relations. Thus a species of white bean is advertised 
 commonly and sold under the nan.e of ralllvanres. E.gleston, in an 
 article n. the <' CVntury Magazine" tor 1894. n.entions "gallivances 
 and potatoes as given in 1782 among the products of Penn.sylvania, 
 and n. the same year, in "a complete discovery of the State of Carolina " 
 a list ,s g.ven of several sorts of pulse grown in the colony, "to wit 
 beans, pea>e, cailavancos," .^e. H. is puzzled about the wonl and sup- 
 poses it to mean pun.pkins, and to b. from the Spanish m/r./.«,va (gourd) 
 But they would not be pulse. Probubly it meant there as it no^- .loes 
 n Ae. oundland, the small white bean, in contrast with the broad 
 i^nghsh bean. H..t what is the origin of the word, an<l how did it 
 come to be found in places so distant and in circumstances so different 
 as in Carolina and A'ewfnundland ? And is it not singular to find it 
 -rvrving in the latter when it has elsewhere disappeared so entirely, 
 that the learne.l are unable to ascertain its meaning ? 
 
 Of other words to me of unknown origin 1 Lie the following :_ 
 aIM,e, used to the northward to .lemne the plaiting of a snow.shoe ; 
 hrmer, apphe.l by boys fishing, to a large trout ; when such is caught 
 a cominon excluna.ion is, M)h, that's a baiser ;" W/«.W«.%r 
 Mtcua-dar, lee al.out the face, also ice along the foot of the cliff, touch- 
 ing the wak-r; ./.;•../., an old stump.; roc/npn., in Harbor (Jrace 
 coi>y^n, m St. Johns, describing an amusement of boys in sprin</ 
 
 '■®SS'S 
 
m- 
 
 PA'rrKRSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. j^xv 
 
 wlKM. the ic i,s breaking „,, springing (ro.n cake to cake in 
 supposed unuation of the seal hunter. : corel, a tub „,ade to hoM 
 blubber or o.l ; crack,, a little dog ; erannock. o„ the we«t coasf 
 .«c^. to t e north, snudl p.eees ot wood for kindling (5.'. 
 the ,nr,Ues, the nightn.are ; rlulo, a biteh ; ,«../,, the fisher 
 mans nan.e for a pancake; ,;,.y, a n.ist or slight shower «« Is t 
 «o.ng to ..an. to.da.y T' •• .X,, i,. ,.„, ,. ,,, ,, , Newfoundlander n.ay 
 >eply So a .>n,w du.j denoUs a .light fall of snow, which is nJt 
 oxpec ed to co.ne to n.uch ; farl or veal, the cover of a book ; ,/,. a 
 sort o, trnp made w.th a ba.-rel ^oop, with net interwoven, a.d h'l 
 and ba.t attached, set afloat to ca.ch gulls and other marine birds known 
 «s hcklacc. and steenns, but what sp.-cies is mea,.t by the last two ..a.nes 
 I have not ascertained ; Ji.ka; there is such a word in modern English 
 connected w.th jink, denoting a hvdy, sprightly girl or a wa-. bui 
 among the Newfoundlanders the word \Ji have' had a ^f^r::^^!::^ 
 
 sT^c^e d nTsh,n'""";,T ;"''"1^^ '■^^'""' ^"'' ^'*'« — ^ or does^no; 
 succeed .n fish.ng ; old teaks .ud jannies, boys a,..l men who turn out 
 
 in var,ous disguises and carry on va.-icus pranks during the Christmas 
 hol.days, which last f.'on. 25th Decen.ber to old Old Christmas day 6th 
 January ; matchy, taint..], applied to salt beef or pork supplied to the 
 tshermen ; j^elm, a..y light ashes, such as those from burnt cotton, card- 
 board .^c also the light dust th.t arises from the ashes of wood and 
 some k.nds of coal ; s.rape, a rough road down the face of a bat.k or 
 steep hill, used specially in regard to such as are formed by sliding or 
 hauling logs down ; shhnmick, used on the west coast as a ter.n of 
 contempt for one who bon. of English parents, attempts f conceal 
 or deny his birth i.. Newfoundlan.l ; spmwfs, soil, of snow, heavy drifts • 
 sprayed, describing chapped hanrls or arms ; sfarriffan, a young tree' 
 which IS neither good for fi.-ewood, or large enough to be used as tin.ber 
 hence applied with contempt to anything constructed of unsuitable 
 materials ; tolt, a solitary hill, usually somewhat conical, rising by itself 
 above the surrounding country: fruckly muck, a small two-handed car 
 for dogs, with a handle for a .nan to keep it straight ; touieuts, pork 
 cakes, made of pork chopped fine and mixed with flour; tuckamore, in 
 some places fuckamil, a clump of spruce, growing almost flat on the 
 ground, and matted together, found on the barrens a..d bleak exposed 
 places ; and icilligi,jgin, half between a whisper and a giggle. 
 
 A large proportion of the people of Newfoundland being uneducated 
 persons trying to use fine English words often substitute one for another 
 
! 
 
 Ixxvi 
 
 I'mxKEDLVGS. 
 
 .m 
 
 """"■"'"" "'''" <" '""".i b„l MMy ,li(f,.ro„i ,„ , . 
 
 '■■"'■"K-. i.r. I'M.. I y , ' : ",""™r." ■ - "-^ » -/ «.. 
 
 -v„„tw„„„„.,, ^,„, „„„;„7, ■»;""; -»/- ..x„„„„., „ 
 -:. T„„„ .„„. .,„ „„i „;i,. ;„;;;- -"'■'-w o.„.„„„„., 
 
 tl>« >K""m.,t, ,„ ,/,„,„„,,„;, f,,,. ,|e„.„Ji r 7 pr"nu„dar,i„„ by 
 
 ;--■., n „. „, .„„„ i, JZ:'' ;iz, -r' f' -»i..' 
 
 I'oyondasii.ul,, imlivUml [„ »„^ f ' '""''"''" '"" ""'•■■"ling 
 
 of tl.» isnon.,,, and u„l,.„.„ , / "f, "| '"•« -"Piv ll,„ ,,h„„,„^ 
 
 th« won) <,.,,™«fc ,„, ^J2Z '"'" ■'"'■• "' '""^ '- »™" i» 
 
 Like nil uiieduenlcl neonle t,l,«,. l, . • i 
 
 -'«c,-ibe a ,i„„|,„ „„„,„,f ,t it:;"'^ ,":'■'• «-'• The, will , , 
 'hat i3 m.,„Un. a „,„„ l,„v L t Ij^ *'^ ^^' ■"''-"■« the ,„„,e 
 
 " ■:"'"•'* '"«■ A„ increase oIomZ'IV T " '""" »» '"'"« 
 
 »W^</ Wtt cold. Again, a „,„„ ^ ''."' """"'J" "■"J' "P™!- "f being 
 
 nothing to eat but ^ ^a^sl^^ ^"^ '"«. '-"^ -<■! h- bad 
 
 "nyth.ng ,0 eat with it. JLkllll ""« " '""""»? >vi"'out 
 
 ;""'* - »-*«, aa the M: . If;:^, 7. '" '™ -"""" -"k or .veet- 
 
 r t"" " '° '"^ ■' -'Jo 30 care :, ,„;,"" <"™* « '''% 
 
 ■'•. -To p«y „„e, p,.„rt-„ i, j^ '"f "■" "0' to be able to find 
 
 ■"■■■■»ter or doctor. 0„ „•„;„ ;, ^Z, ""^ ""''"'"on.ed dne,, ,0 tbe 
 
 a good catch of „,, ,'; Z ^1 "'""■ «''-" « «»'-„■».. 
 ;■"' on,, ,„tia, ,„ce„3, T,, "„ .i! r'T/-' ""' '' >'« has „et 
 "^ have been ve,, scarce he ;,| ;*""." T"^" '"' ""'' "■ 
 
k'- 'SoriicfiniBs 
 ? "time of vlrn. 
 f thin kitwl, HK 
 irruH f'ourf for 
 ■ «xaiiipfp, u 
 "f n chij It'll 
 *< (antliiacite) 
 luiiciiitinji by 
 ' 'KJiiaeiisicul. 
 ot »!Xtnn(liiig 
 t''« liliiiiders 
 'itereatto the 
 y '>e dfcn ill 
 
 »r a sort of 
 
 th(Mr daily 
 he a siinpJe- 
 ey vvijl also 
 f» tlie same 
 PP*^ sUn-y. 
 '"itiy ; hut 
 
 they have 
 
 as h.iving 
 i« Weather 
 ^ of being 
 fl he had 
 ? without 
 : or sweet- 
 tnowii as 
 ' « thin(/ 
 i to find 
 
 fo the 
 
 nan has 
 Jifis met 
 . and if 
 getting 
 '!/ info 
 
 '""<"■ '" Jen,.te w,.iki„.. „„ „ 1- 
 
 l-t Ko to a danca or .el, ! ' "" '" ""■' '"™"'»«"n. to U 
 
 "f M.« ...o.t ,u„„.i„r„ :'"■'"■';'" ''•' '■' ""■■ B"' »"« 
 
 '.Hensive. Tl,,,., „ ,^„::;, " J' '« "."" °f »-««« ,i„,„„ „„ 
 
 In these two paper.s f mo f..., r , 
 I '»lieve .hat M.-y will I,. 1„ , °°' '";""' '"'''"""''"' "'" «"*rt, but 
 
 '■'■ speech br,n„.|,t l,y | , ^ ' J 'f T"""^ """' ''"'"°™» 
 
 »me li„,ite.l diatrict, I,', [,■! '"!"'"?'' ""'^^ " P^vincialia,,,, i„ 
 M%'l-ted hitherto. Per „,,,?""?' "" '"^"'^ <" "-» '- b.e„ 
 
 ='.ou,d have dee,„ed' th ' >: h ; tll'TrA "™ """"'^ '"»' ' 
 could scarcely conceive that 1^1™/ ''^ "' " '''"Sa'io.,. They 
 
 «-■ -»lly part „f the la „,..!„ s T "' ""'"""^'' «»''"-' 
 "•I.»t I have done will f?"" »l'«k«pearo, 5Iilt„„ ,„„] Chaucer. 
 
 "ithout delay. Kd„cati'o, a ;,t! r ""'" ""l"''-'' ™1 """ 
 
 »■'■" «»»„ „„.,li,y if „,„ „„ , " ""-"■■- ;v.th people „, other land., 
 
 '■e Loped, therefore, thuwl ■■.!?'■ "7 "'™'' ''^"'"'•"''^•^- " ^ «. 
 
 '""""x "■•« •. ; int;:':;;L :r"; :;r^ '-"^ "•™ -" ^e found 
 
 "iquiry farther, and to seek f„ „ '7"^"" '° P^o^ute the 
 
 subject intereating in itself L '""'n' "■" '""«»' '"formation on , 
 "."■ Kngliah m„ther.to„' ■ "'""■"'"^' ^^ "^ ■'-"•"«? »» ".^ past of