BROAD REPRINTED FROM THE -EASTERN DAILY PRESS." PRICE SIXPENCE. X T :\VS (VOMI'AXY, LTD.. MUSEUM COURT. 1893. Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN BROAD NORFOLK. CONTRIBUTORS. PAGB PAGE A.B.C 65 A.D 63 George 71 Giles' Trip, Author of 4 A.G.D 38, 41 A.J.G 41 Alpha 63 Andrews, Herbert ...72,86 Arch Labourer, An ... 81 Ayers, E. T 73, 84 H.B 16 HetVarke ... 30,78,87 Hewett, E 69 Holland, J 72 Hotson,W.A. ... 88 Baker, 8. E 75 Barker, W. 8. ... 36 B.B 66 J.C.S. .. 60 Bird, M. C. H., 19, 34, 48, 73, J.H 71 83,94 J.L 92 B.O.P 18 Joskin 28 Bor 14 J.E.B 22, 32 Bussey, Chas 23 Bussey, L. A 85 Kendall, E 73 C. ... 95 C.C 16 C-H 4, 13 Clarke, S. T 40 Lawk-a-daisy-me ... 60 Literary World ... 102 Clemence, J. L. ... 26, 80 Clericus 89, 99 L.J 72 Mollie 95 Daisy Dimple 85, 88 Da vies, Christopher ... 78 Davison D 70 Norfolk East ... 67 Doweii, E. w."/. ;;; 49 Norfolk Dumpling, A. 15, 94 Norfolk Farmer, A. 23, 25 Norfolk, A Lover of 18 E 60 92 Norfolk, North ...39,92 E.E.M. '.'.'. '.'.. '.'.'. 71 E.s 99 Norfolk, Old ... 39,90 Norfolk Swimmer, A 74 E.S.B. ... '... 97 Norfolk, West ... 24 Ex-Under-Sheriff ... 65 Norfolk Woman, A... 54 N.S 15 F.G.S. ... .. 86 Forster, F. R.... 27, 34, 41 Octionary 5 F.W.B 36 One Interested ... 24 CONTRIBUTORS. PACE PAGE Patterson, A. ... P.E.D. 49, 52, 100 90 T.C.B T.G.S 70 J4, 100 Perkins, J. P. Pharaoh 21 62 Tew Chaps T.Licec 97 Pitcher, J. 5J T.P.S. ... 56 Pomeroy, E. B. 59 T.T 63 Tucker, R. G. W. .. Tuxford, E. R. 25,61 18 Rambler 59 Rector ... 65, 88 R.L ... 67, 71 Verdant Green 31 R.W.C. 13 "Watson, "W 92 8. 37 "W.C.8. 55 8.E.A. 98 W.F 91 Shaw Leest, \V. "W.H.C. 17, 20, 27, 57,67 S.J.-W. '.'.'. 88 W.L 40,86 Skinner, E. ... Southwell, T. 84 51 "W.N \v.s 61 20 Suffling, E. R. 32,101 w.w 85 PREFACE. The articles and letters in this pamphlet have been re-printed almost literatim et verbatim as they originally appeared in the columns of the Eastern Daily Press. " Broad Norfolk " as a subject for discussion was first broached in that journal on the last day of 1892. Throughout January of the present year a peculiarly animated correspondence was maintained from day to day, and when the topic had practically spent itself there remained perhaps the most remarkable accumulation of provincialisms ever collected in any county in the kingdom. A complete index has been compiled of every curious word and phrase occurring in these pages. Hence it must not be imagined that the tabulated lists represent terms in common use in Norfolk alone, or even in East Anglia alone. Still, it can be said of them with safety that the words they contain form part of the colloquial dialect quite recently, if not at present, in use in the Eastern Counties. To determine to what extent these usages are peculiar to Norfolk must be left to the philologist upon whom the mantle of Forby may fall. For myself, I need only express the pleasure it gives me to have been the indirect means of preserving in this form the scores of little ''natives" which in all human probability the Board Schools will have killed in a generation. COZEXS-HAEDY. Eastern Daily Press, Norwich. BROAD NORFOLK BEIXQ A SEEIES OF ARTICLES AND LETTERS Reprinted from the "Eastern Daily Press. EDITED BY C-H. NORWICH : NORFOLK NEWS COMPANY, LIMITED, MUSEUM COURT, PAGE PAGE Napping or Knap- Quackled 27 ping 53 Quaggled 68 Nation 9,74 Quant . 77,82 Neesen 7 Quicks 12 Next-day-morn 60 Quick-set 84 Nicely 24,61 Nip along 40 Nipper Noah's Ark 2 Rafe-boards ... Rands 84 .. 15,77 Nointer 35 Ranny .. 35 Non-plush 64 Rare 25 Nowt 60 Rattick... .. 25,28 Numm-chance 41,99 Ratticker 28 Rear, In the ... 41 Olf Olland 29 37,54 Refuge Respectable . . . Ridiculous 27 99 98 Ollust 11 Riddle 99 Other some 99 Riffle ... Out abroad 27 Ritr O ut for, who is the bell 60 Right consistent Rightsides o 88 .. 25,68 Pakenose 27,58 Ringe 61 Pakin' 14 Rise ... 61 Pample 5 Roaches 72 Par-yard 27 Rocked 25 Parts, To put on his ... Pawk 18,64 26,58 Rockstaff Rodger or Sir Roger 99 12,33, Pax-wax 35 '7, 82, 95 Ped 90 Roky .. .. 2,63 Pelanders Pensey 85 99 Rely-poly Rootling ... 19,21 ... 100 Perk 61 Rouding-time ... 77 Perse wance 85 Rum 40 Pickcheesin' 14 Rumbustious ... 90 Piece 28 Bun .. 27,84 Pightle 27,58 Runty 5 Pilcochia 94 Pinglin' 41 Pip-patches 35 Sadly ... 21 Pishmires Pit 64 96 late, :v. :; 26, 33, 59 90 Plancher 39 82 Sally 84 Plantain 69 Sammucking .. 24 Pogram 11 Pollard ,33,61 84 Sammy, play .. 35 ... 54,62 Popple 92 Sarshen ... 54,65 Popples , 92 Sars o' mine ... 35 Posset 84 Sawney 68 Pudden-poke Pulk-hole 7 2,58 Scald Scalps 28 93 Pulks 77 Scamel 74, 78, 93, 94 Push 22 Schwad 55 Putty 77 Scocker 61 adv. PAGE , PAGE Scrog .. 84 Snatchet 84 Scu? 2 Sneck ... 52, 90 Scuppet.. 6 8new 4. 52, 59, 61 Sea-pig 99 Snob 40 To see to 60 Solid .. 68 Sele of the day fiofo ... 29,98 Sorzles Soshinir 6 Bets Settle '.'.'. 84 Sowse ... ... 22, 66 5 Several 25 Spink 37 Shack 30 Splarr 27 Shacking 61 Spline 90 Shackled 14 Sploddin 40 Shail 59 Spoat 39 Shammock 92 Spore 25 Shanks' pony ... 84 Spoult ... 40,53 Shanny 25 Springy 62 Sharm ... 23, 59 Spuffling 30 Shepherd's flock ... 84 Squackle 90 Shiffinhisself ... Squeezened 27 Shornt 40 Squinder 25 Shortening 22 Shrubs, herbs, &c., a list of 101 Squit Staithe Stammed ... 7, 55 30 23, 70, 79 Shug or Shig . . . Shuloe 27 22 Stand up Stannicle ... 13, 16 35 Shy Shvwannicking 21 74 Stingy or Stingey Stitch ... 14,25 3 Sib'bits ...11,17, 18, 19, 26, 73 Stove 63 Sidewiper 94 Strappen ... 5, 29 Sidus ... x ... ... 22,59 Stroke, Some ... 65 Siserara 5, 59, 87 Stub 99 Skeins Skeps 87 37 Stukey Blues ... Suffin' 86 24 Skinker ... 66,90 Sumpy 37 Skive 49 Sunk 56 Skran Skruke 55 70 Snnkets, Stmketing Swack 40 35 Skruzzle 35 Kwacken 5 Skutes 12, 38, 59 Swad 92 Slackbaked ... ... 34 Swag 49 Slammakin ... 35 Scaling .. .. ... 59,66 Slaver ... 55,97 Swang 91 Slew .. 56 Swap-tub 35 Slight 90 S wared... 35 Slippy Slobber 91 35 Swidge ... Swimmers ... e, 39 12 Slov 92 Swiping 77 Slus ... 40,59 Swish 25 Slussy hound ... ... 94 Switched 31 Smeaa 70 S wiving 37 Smoultin' ... 80, 94 Swop 26 Snaast '.'.'. ".'. ... "' 6 Take-on ... 41,74 Snasty 12,32,38 Tang 84 I'AOE PAGE IWy 3 Hackering 88 Foumart 99 Hake 17,20 Fourses ... 8,14 Half -rock 58 Frails 77, 81 Hallo largess ... 8.33 Frame 32 Hampered to get hold Frenched 22 of 88 Fresher or Froschy Fribbling 7, 30, 38 60 Hample ".'. Hank 37 3 Fiammicating ... Frowey ... ... 92 27 Hansell Happened 71 63 Frummety 6 Harnser . i3, 57 Full-flopper ... Fungered 84 74 Harwich, Ketched all up at me 41 Funked... 87 Hasel ... ... 3,25 Funky 65 Hawky ... 61,77 Furrin 25 Haze 12 Fursickin' 14, 19, 41 Heater 88 Furfy 58 Heel 62 Fve 3,17,87,98 Fysty 27,58 Heign Hen's polly ... 3, 15, 22 27 Hick-up, snick up 13 Gaddy-wentin' 94 Hidlond 22 Gatfer 24,58 Hid-se-rapf 34 Gaggles 87 Highlows ... 7,30 Gaily 24 Hike ... 65 Gain and Ungaia Gainer Game 61 40 12 Hild Himpin' Hind . 72 12, 25, 33 Gan (for given) Gathered Gatless 81 62 5 Hinder Hingles Hobby 9, 23, 70 66 40 Gavvel 40 Hobby-lantern 99 Gawky 5,29 Hod 84 Gay 27, 37, 54 Hodmandod ... ... 7.30 Gloat Goaf 77,81 39,82 Holger-boy 33 Holl 2.17.19.22 Gobs Golder Goms 6 27, 35, 73 ... y,74 Hoppen-toad ... Hotch-potch ... Hough ... 7, 29 84 53 Good 27 Housen 7,30 Good-steward 40 Hove 81 Good-tidy Gooseberry-fool 24,64 Hovelled ' .'." Hovers .'.. 14 ... 19,77 Gonned Gorn sim your body Gotch 9 25 3, 6, 15 Howsomever ... Hub-ma-grub Huddren 41 81 5 Go-tu-meetin clothe s 56 Hulk 72 Grained 63 Hulkin'"' ".' .'.. 5,29 Greened 6 HuU 5 Grubbing 60 Hulvers ... 24,58 Grup ... 28, 3li Hutkin ... 12,53 Gruttling IH Huush 85 Gukher 56 Hyke 32 Gum-ticklers ... 84 Hyvers 17 xii. PAGE PAGH If so being you can' t go inconvenient 68 25 Loaders Lock 77 40 Imitate 22,25 Loke . ... 3,53 Ingen 6 Lollup 5 I'onthet 68 Lork-a-mercy 40 Lower 90 Lucum 84 Jack up 55 Lug 72 Jammuck 53 Lummock 5 Jangle 72 Jannick 55,59 Jiffey ... Jiffle or Jidgett Jill Jimpsener 55 55 84 62 Main Main, in the ... Mala-hacked ... Malkin 70 41 53 68 Jot Jowl Jumble 84, 86 27 54,61 Malt Mardle Mastrous ... 74,93 11 37 Mauled 25 Kane Keeler 22 Keeping-room Kichell-cakes Kiderer Kidgy Kindling Kind'o King Harry Kinsann 26,33 35,58 31 78 66,92 32 22 16 7 64 Maund Mawkin Mawther Mavish Meetiners Mendin Mentle Mew-heart Miel-banks ... Mifflin ... Miltz ... 100 14, 19, 58 ... 5, 16 7, 29, 57, 62 56 9 58 '.'.'. ' 70 56 Kipper ... 100 Might 61 Knacker Knickled Know Krinkle 72 66 14 61,96 35 Ming Mittens Mocking-church Moderate Moise 7 7 98 25 ... 76,84 Molt 35 Lamming 77 Lamper-along ... 34 Larrup 27 Lash 61,68 Layer 37,54 Lay forrard 34 Lay Over Meddlers 9, 28, 33 Lether 63 Lief 24 Morfrey 56 Mort 39 Mouse-hunter 99 Mother 53 Moultry 25 Mow, old sea 60,93 Muck-crome 3 Muck- wash 97 Mucky ...17,18,21,25,30,78 Muddle 21,92 Liggers BI 77 Mung 17 Like-to-be 88 Lim 3 Limpsy 86 Nab ... 19,68 Lit 3 Nab-the-rust ... 65 Living upright 90 Nag 99 i nsr ID IE Aainter PAGE 35 Bright PAGE 78 Abroad 88 Brumble.. 83 Acabo, that would Bufflc, hull him in a .. 86 puzzle 68 Bulls 66 Act 64 Bullverin 100 Alder 75 Bunker 92 Applejacks 12 Bunny 7, 29,85 Arms and legs . . . 72, 83 Buskin 18 Arradeen Buttress 56 Averdupois 98 Buzzle-head 68 Babbing 77 Caddow .. 57 Back-stalk 27,87 Call 5,59 Balaams-smite 54 Call, no 64 Bannock 85 Carneyirg 34 Barksel 25 Carnser 16,17 Barleycorn, Ho John. . . 83 Carpenter's Soda 63 Barm 83 Carwoo 72 Bauley-boats 77 Carre 77 Baulks 83 Catched him a rum'un 68 Beck 28, 75 Cedar Pencil 78 Beetle Chance 88 Baing Being one's share Betsv 16 29 Chapman Chaiiev, play the Cherubidin . 86,87 35 64 Betty Martin, That's Chife 41 all me eye and . . . Bever 66,71 8 Chitterlings Cholder 6,29 55 Bighes Bile 12 83 Christmas Chummy 25 83 Bing 22 Chump 30 Birds, East Anglian 41 to 52 Bish-a-barneybees... 35,82 Church-hole Clates 83 83 Bishimer 62 Click 62 Bloodulfs 37 Clink 23 Boiler 22 Clip 5 Boke 99 Closes 26 Bor 5, 38, 77 Clout 23 Botty 97 Clung 41 53,99 Brawn 7 Clutch 61 Breakin'abit 63 Cobble 83 Breck 87 Colder ... 28,73,77,79 PAUE PAGE Comeback 8 Do ... 25, 27, 37, 52, 63 Contain 57 Doatedtree ... 92 Comforter 27 Dodman ... 7,30 Cooshies 22 Doke ... 24,29 Cop .. 5,22 Donkey-legs ... 36 Corder A 73, 77 Don't ... ... ... 25,27 Corker ... 60 Don't ought ... 53,63 CoquiUes 78 Doss .. 84,85 Cosh 83 Dotts 56 Cosset ... 8,57 Uouse-a-bit ... 40,68 Cranky 30 Dow ... 23,58 Crick 66 Down-pin ... 41 Grimalkin 58 Dowshie 28 Crinkley-crankley Crock 55 98 Drant Draw-latchin' ... r iO 41 Crome 29 Dreep, on the ... fc6 Crowd ... 5,21 Driftway i.9 Crow-keepers ... Crumb 72 27 Drug Drum 84 65 Crumplin' 20 Dudder 16, 18, 19, 21 Crush 98 Dudman ... 58 Cubbaw 67 Dullor 3, 15, 20, 63 Culch 6 Dump ... 84 Cum-harley ... ,. 12,22 Dumplindust ... 84 Cirm-hether ... ... 8,12 Dutna 3 Cup-bear 12,28,57 27 Cussey 85 Duzzy ... 14,29 Dwil3 !.. '.'.'. ... 22,29 Dydling ... 77 Dabster 99 D'youdut 88 Daft 84 Dag ... 2,74 Daices-headed ... ... 85,94 Ear 72 Dams 77 Ecclester 70 Dang 8,29,57 Euow ... 24,58 Danns 54 Dannies 88 Dauuock 18,60,85 Fang ... 27, 99 Dardle dum due 94 Fare ... 14,25 Darn 8,29,57 Fatagued Da' say 67 Fawny '.'.'. 27 Dead-a-Bird ... ... 2,90 Feeten 85 Deceit 63 Fence 61 Deen ... 6,21 Ferry-fake . 56 Deficiency 58 Few 60 Deke 2, 10,15, 17, 19,20,22, Finnickin' 60 24, 31, 35, 36, 39, Denesquittin' ... 67, 75, 94 14 Fishimer Flare-up 62 94 Dibbling Dickey 84 ... 8,20 Flat Fleet 61 ... 62,77 Dickey-shud ... Dike 88 .. 36,53 Fleeten Fliglit-of-bees.. 73 84 Ding Dingle 32 27 Flopped Forgive 55 25 PAGE PAGE Tangle-leg 83 Unsensed 62 Tantrums 6,29 Tarnation 9 Vardle 86 T'do 27 Tempest Terrify Thape-pie Thew 21 59 86 4 Wadges 55 Wake 33,94 Walentin' Good Mor- Thongy Thow Timbered Time 2 '87 27 rer Wamp Wank Wanklin' "Want t>i M 93 6t Ting Tissicking Titchy 84 26 71 Wanten"" ".' "Wap 61 M Titty Titty totty Titter-ma-torter Toad in the hole Together Tom and Jerry shop 20 56 56,81 84 2,9 67 39 ^Varp Water-delf Water-eynd Water-shutin' Wednesday, Won't get further than Welt 2 77 86 25 61 Top sawyer Toward Towney Trape Trapen Traunce Tremble 84 8,22 40 27 PO 92 Whasking Wheatsel Wheesh 12,38,57 Whopper Wimple-trees ... Wind-jammers Winnock 40 3 ,91 60 37 84 6 Triculate ..'.' '.'. Troll Tumbler Tupe Tupp 12 25 '2? 84 Without 27 Wittery 94 Woorree 8 Woosh 22,23,52 Wort, over 22 Tussock 3 Twilt T winters 85 86,87 Yard of Plum Pudding 41 13 Twizzling T'year 27 Tipper Yows 60 23 BROAD NORFOLK. OUR English language, in virtue of its being a living language, is periodically importing fresh words into its vocabulary as they become fashionable, and is gradually getting rid of useless and cumbersome terms. Illustrations of the latter process will occur to everybody. Examples of terms of recent importation now generally adopted as good English are such as embarrass, chagrin, grimace, repartee, all of which, according to one of Dryden's plays, were considered affected in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Provincial English is often treated with the most unmerited contempt, and no one seems disposed to go to its rescue. Yet after all, what are commonly sat down as vulgarisms, are to a great extent, only terms used in more or less remote part? of the country by people who have not kept abreast with the advance of the language. The man who speaks broad Norfolk, for instance, is at once stamped as below the mark in intelligence ; but the genuine Norfolk countryman is justly entitled to boast that he is never guilty of the un- speakable vulgarism of the townsfolk, who are seldom so happy as when they are running amuck amongst the h's. Oar own county of Norfolk can boast of a prolific vocabulary of provincialisms ; types, for the most part, as philologists tell us, not of bad but merely of BROAD NORFOLK. antiquated English. Several illustrations suggest themselves to me ; scores of others no doubt will readily occur to readers who have seen the inside of a farmyard or come across a typical agricultural labourer. The words dag, smur, and scud, employed to mean a driving drizzle of rain, are all provincial, if they are not peculiar to Norfolk. Dag, it is worthy of note, once signified a dew, whilst scud, in its legitimate sense, refers solely to the actual clouds. To speak of roky weather implies thick, foggy weather. The word evidently is connected with reek (to steam), but its use, though common enough in this county, is not confined to Norfolk. Again, thongy, a thoroughly Norfolk term, describes the oppres- sive heat which often occurs between two summer showers. Noah's Ark is a singular name given to three lines of cloud stretching overhead from the S.W., and supposed to indi- cate fine weather. Pulk-hole denotes an open cess-pool. Water- del/ is used of an ordinary drainage hole by the roadside, the suffix obviously being from the root delve, to dig. Hull is a popular word, meaning a wide ditch of water. Possibly it is a contraction of hollow, used by Addison to indicate a channel or canal. Deke a bank, and has nothing to do with ditch (cf. the Dutch dike] ; it is one of the commonest of Norfolk terms, but its origin is obscure. Bird, in sporting parlance is a partridge. It is interesting to note that deer in the same way once meant any animal ('* Rats and mice, and such small deer "). However, I don't suggest that bird is ever likely to have so exclusive a meaning as- deer now possesses. What is the force of together in " spreed yarselves out together," a direction I have heard given to BROAD NORFOLK. beaters by a head gamekeeper ? And what, too, is the history of the word duller in " Howld yew yar duller,' 1 '' addressed to a noisy " dorg?" Wheatsel is a pretty word, meaning " Wheat drilling." Thus, " We've finished wheatsel " " all our wheat is in." Here the idea is " seed- time," but in haysel, for instance, the notion conveyed is that of harvest. Pn't/, stitch are both used to describe the space between two double furrows. Didfin a halter. " Fetch a dutfin and show the animal off " is a common expression. Tussock is an excellent 'Old English term for a tuft or a sod of grass. It is obsolete so far as the national vocabulary is concerned, and is obsolescent even in remote rural districts. Heiyn (heighten) to raise wages. Gotch jug. Loke a " blind " lane. To hank up a gate to sneck or fasten it. Fosey over-ripe. Lim to suck. E.g., of a bifcoh, the pups wil Urn her to deed cause her death by sucking. Tumbler, for tumbrel. Since the word is used of a cart made so as to tip up, " tumbler" is more logical than "tumbrel." Yet " tumbler " is hardly considered respectable. Muck-crome is a capital word, but is entirely local. Lit stain. This occurs in an old saying, " There's not a blot but will lit" The word or the proverb is said to be early Danish. I don't know whether anybody has met with it outside this county ; at any rate, it is a note- worthy survival. Fye to dress corn. Thus, to go a-fyin, might mean to run wheat through the dressing machine. BROAD NORFOLK. An odd vowel change may often be observed. As, for instance, e for o in sneiv for snow^ i for e in /ma-bird for hen-bird. o and even eu for au in thow or tlieiv for thaw. for a in fond for land, sond for sand, and grovel-hole for gravel hole. 1 think it is Trench who has pointed out how much richer, at least in rural terms, the English language would be if it adopted freely from its country dialects. C-H. (BY THE AUTHOR OF "GILES'S TRIP TO LONDON, " (fee.) The first half of iny life was passed in the southern parts of Suffolk, and the latter half has been passed in Norfolk. So far as the provincialisms made use of in the two counties are concerned, I think there is not much difference. There is, however, a great contrast in the style of speech. Suffolk speaks in a kind of sing-song ; Norfolk in a more broad and sustained tone. There is nothing in Suffolk to answer to the way in which the a in certain words is pronounced in Norfolk. Here we say pauper and baaker, the a being drawn out at extraordinary length. This peculiarity does not exist in the sister county. Neither d the people in Suffolk say rume for room, or glumy for gloomy, as we do here. Neither do they drop the h, as the inhabitants of many parts of Norfolk do in some words. A Mid-Norfolk man will say, and even write, for instance, trow for throw, tree for three, troat for throat, and so on. Many of the provincialisms are, as I have said, BROAD XORFOLK. commoii to both counties. I will run over a few of them, merely premising that I shall give none which I have not myself heard in the cottages of the peasantry and in the roads and fields. The terms applied by men and women to each other are interesting. A gi~l is called a mawther, which, in addressing her, becomes maw. " "Where have you been, maw ? " But she is also called a fine strappen mawther. A lad is addressed as " bor," and he is said to be a great huddren fellow, or a loose hufkin* rascal. If boys or girls are large or jolly they are said to be $ivac\~en ; if they are awkward they are called gawky; when out of temper they are runty ; and when they are half-witted and shiftless they are described as gutless. There are many terms to express their doings. They lollop or lummuclc aoout, or they sarnter in the lanes. In the winter time girls and boys pample in the mud, and at all times clamber up walls or trees. The girls cop balls, the boys cail stones, and both of them hull all sorts of things about. A man will hull on his coat, and a women will hull on her bonnet. A man will give directions to hull a scuppet into the barrow and crowd it up the hill. The scuppet, of course, is a shovel, and to "crowd" is to drive or push. I have even heard of a man who went into a chemist's shop in North Norfolk and asked for " a punno' o' pills to hull a wummen into a sweat." One boy will give another a clip o' the head or a soivse o' the skull, and I once heard a fellow say he had given another a sisserara. There are a good many terms used inside the cottage which are expressive and peculiar. If you go in when the baby is sleeping, the IRQ An NORFOLK. mother will probably hold up her finger and say, " Don't make a deen," which means don't utter a sound. The wick of the candles which at one time were burned in every cottage was called a snaast, which the snuffers were used to trim, but if they should not be at hand, the finger and thumb of the father or of one of the boys would do the work. The girl would be sent with a gotch to the well, and if she should spill any of the water on the floor, she would be ordered to clean up the sividge. If she was disagreeable and put herself into tantrums, or begun to winnock (i.e., cry), she would perhaps be cut off with only a hunch of bread, with maybe an ingen (onion), for her dinner. If the mother happened to be ill she would perhaps tell you that she was tired of sorzhs, the slops which the doctor ordered her, and add that they were nothing but culch. Sometimes she would tie a hand- kerchief around the neck of one of the boys so tightly that he would cry out that he was being greened. I used to think about the meaning of this term when I was being greened myself, and thought it might mean that the tight tying would produce a green hue on the skin similar to the colour of a bruise. I expect, however, I was wrong. But even the cottagers had at times their luxuries. Occasionally they would get fried chitterlings (the intestines of pigs), or have a dish of frummety, which was wheat boiled in milk, or some guseberry-fuh, which consisted of gooseberries stewed with milk and sugar. Sometimes they would get puddings with gobs of fat in them. I remember a song in which the Christmas puddings of the " workhus" were thus celebrated Great gols of fat they did put in As big as my tew thumbs. BROAD NORFOLK. But one of the most charming distresses of the housewife was when she was making a batch of bread and happened to " ming the miller's eye out." Many a time have I heard this dole- ful complaint when the good woman has used more water than her flour would carry. She would then proceed to a neighbour's cottage with a basin for a supply sufficient for her needs. Her wise husband would perhaps be flammed that she should be so careless, when she might retaliate by asking him how he came to lose one of his mittens (gloves with thumb hole but no finger holes), and express the wish that he wasn't such a 'struy for Jiighlows, the name given to the rustic's thick lace-up shoes. There are many other domestic terms to which I might refer, but I must pass on. The fields and the woods are responsible for many provincialisms. What strange names are applied to the living creatures. A snail is a doclman or a hodmandod, and the boys on capturing one would say, " Hodmandod, hodmandod, pull out your horns," &c. A toad is a hoppentoad ; a young frog, such as is found in marshes, is a fresher. A boar is a braivn, and a rabbit a bunny. As for birds, a thrush is a mavish, a goldfinch a Kiii;/ Harry, and a wood pigeon a rinydow, while their nests are neesen. By the bye, I may add in a parenthesis that in Suffolk houses are called housen, which is doubtless the old Saxon form. There is one little bird the wren or the tomtit which was called the puddenpoke, from the pudding-like shape of its nest. As for that patieizt creature which in the Scriptures is called an ass, in London a moke or a neddy, and in polite circles a donkey, it is universally styled in Norfolk BROAD NORFOLK. and Suffolk a dickey. To have a dickey and cart is a state of affluence for a countryman. A pet lamb is a cosset and a guinea fowl is a comeback in consequence of the peculiarity of its cry. In the fields the men talk strangely to the horses. When they want them to go to the right they say "woor-ree," and when they want them to go to the left they say " cumhether." I assume woor-ree means " wear to the right," and cumhether " come hither to the left." But I have heard a man say ' ' Woor-ree cumhether wool ye ? " all in a breath. Any horse or other animal which was quiet and gentle was said to be toivard. At four o'clock in the afternoon in those days the men in the harvest field had fourses or lever, which consisted of a "beverage " (which I take to be the derivation of the word) of ale drunk from horns, with harvest cake. What a treat was it then to hear the men " hallo largess." Many a time have I heard them in the distance, and the remembrance even now has in it a touch of romance. The ' ' lord ' ' would ascend a tree and cry aloud "Hallo lar hallo lar hallo lar," then all the men standing round would add in a low base voice long drawn out gees. The effect on a quiet autumn evening just at twi- light was remarkable, and I shall never forget it. The remembrance is as a dream of Arcady. But I must draw these remarks to a close. The expletives, or the mild swearing terms that were adopted by countrymen in my young time, are noteworthy. I refer thus to what things were in the past because, by the influence of the Board schools, everything has been changed, or is rapidly changing. They would dang their jackets, or darn their buttons, or cry out, BROAD NORFOLK. "What the mendin' du yew mean?" Of the origin of this last phrase I know nothing. Every reader will recollect that Dickens was puzzled to think of all that might be involved in Mr. Peggotty's great oath, " I'll be gormed," which however, is nothing like so common as " B y goms." One can see the origin of these terms, as well as why it is said that a thing is nation or tahnation big or ugly. Barnt was a favourite phrase for giving effect to any state- ment. I knew a woman from Peasenhall who always desired to be barnt everlastingly if she did not speak the truth. If you asked her a question she might say, " Barnt if I know," or she might end a long tale by saying, " There, that's true, barnt if it aint." In conclusion, it is a common thing to say that a person lives up hinder or down yinder, and boys and girls are told when they are inquisitive about anything in the house- hold of which they should be kept in ignorance, that it is lay-over-meddlers. This is the form given in Moor's " Suffolk Words and Phrases," published in 1823. I am convinced, however, that it should be "La' o' the meddlers, you are the first." This is " Shame on the meddlers, you are the first of them." Mr. Moor's suggestion is ridiculous. He thinks it refers to layovers or turnovers which might some- times be made of medlars instead of apples. By the bye, I was very near forgetting the extraordinary use of the word "together" in both counties. In Suffolk as I have heard scores of times, and as I have myself doubtless personally exemplified a friend meeting two or three companions will say in the pleasant sing-song of the place, " Where are yew going, together?" " Together " is evidently used as a 10 BROAD NORFOLK. noun applied to the persons addressed. I think, however, what it really means is this, 4 ' "Where are you going, you who are here to- gether?" With this suggestion I close my remarks. It is a mistake to imagine that dialects are everywhere corruptions of the literary language. The real and natural life of language is in its dialects. Even in England the local patois have many forms which are more primitive than the language of Shakespeare, and the richness of their vocabulary surpasses on many points that of the classical writers of any period. Max Mutter. An interesting and useful question iu con- nection with this discussion would tarn upon whether it is within the range of possibilities to rescue from the fields and villages a few of the fine, forcible terms which the established language of literature has long since rejected. Until now all efforts to reinstate any of these evicted words have nearly always been in vain. As a matter of fact the word clever is almost the only instance of an East Anglian dialectic colloquialism rising into classical English. To facilitate the revival and preservation of the worthy localisms that have fallen into disrepute let us hope will be the result of this rustic symposium. " What is a deke " is a question which, it will be seen, has raised a good deal of disputation. I originally suggested that the word is used in Norfolk to mean a banked up hedgerow rather than a ditch or water- course for draining wet land. Opinion, however, seems equally divided amongst the correspondents. Thus it is tolerably clear that deke and dyke in BROAD NORFOLK. different localities of the county are almost interchangeable terms. That curious word usually spelt sibrits, but commonly pronounced sibbits, is, I believe, generally derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyb, meaning "a blood relation." The ubiquitous " plain person " would venture to ask "What have marriage banns to do with blood relations?" Bann is not connected with "bind," but comes from the Saxon word bannan, to issue or display a pro- clamation. Hence the suggestion I heard the other day that sibbits is merely a corruption of "exhibits" seems to be a reasonable, as well as an ingenious, explanation. It is true that a majority of the common country colloquialisms can be traced from the recognised language of earlier times, but all the same for that, Nor- folk yokels are not to be held altogether inno- cent of smothering or mutilating the Queen's English. Such words as backus (backhouse), ollnst (always), and ashup (ash-heap) are mysteries outside East Anglia. A characteristic peculiar to rural folk is their habit of keeping up a conversation between themselves, no matter how far they may be off each other. So long as they are within ear- shot it does not occur to them to approach one another. Labourers (and the old women too) think nothing of gossipping ("having a mardle") across a ten-acre field for instance. Depend upon it, the country folk are clinging to their old forms and usages tenaciously enough, but it is to be feared, as Trench has remarked, they cannot resist the moral and material forces which are gradually rendering obsolete all their picturesque phraseology. Now for one or two additional illustrations of Norfolk speech. Everybody knows that a pogramite or pogrimite is a contemptuous term 12 BROAD NORFOLK. for a Dissenter. It would be interesting to know the derivation of this word. Somebody has traced it to Elijah Pogram, the senator in "Martin Chuzzlewit," who was always imagining that the English had a grudge against his free and enlightened country ; as if the word was not widely in use at least a century before the time of Dickens. A snasty fide with half a tile off interpreted, denotes a snarlish fellow weak in the head. If a woman burnt her finger when cooking apple-jacks (apples baked in thin pastry) or swimmers (light dumplings), she would put a hutkin on it, and in case she was particularly neat and tidy she would triculate it up like, s that the in j ured finger might present a respect- able appearance. Anybody with a game leg (sore leg) would probably be said to go himpin about instead of " limping." To be in one's bighes, a phrase I heard used a day or two ago, seems to imply being in a good mood for the time being. The list of terms in vogue upon a farm is well-nigh interminable. Besides the large number already given, here are several more : Haze, a term used of corn when, under the influence of sunshine or a breeze, it is drying after a shower of rain. The directions teammen give to their horses vary in different districts. Cup bear, meaning come here, i.e., to the left, is of course merely another form of cum hether or cum harley. Weesh or woosh, a command to bear to "the right," is actually said to be derived from the French gauche, which signifies "the left! " Quicks (foul grass) comes from an Anglo- Saxon word with exactly the same meaning. Skutes parts of a field of unequal lengths. The appearance of a rodger (a whirlwind on a BROAD NORFOLK. small scale) is regarded as a sure sign of fine weather. It would be easy to give whole columns of quaint superstitions, such as the old charm, "Hick-up snick-up, Three Drops for aHick-up" or in the condescending injunction of Middle Age to Youth to "eat another yard of plum pudding first," but if I made a serious start in this direction, I should hardly know where to stop. C-H. Perhaps your versatile contributor " C-H." can tell me something about a phrase with which I am perfectly familiar, and which I believe to be entirely indigenous to Norfolk. " To stand up " is frequently used in the sense of " to shelter," thus, " Let us stand up out of the wet." lam a yokel bred and born my- self, and have used, and heard others use, the expression times out of number. So many authorities, however, have expressed themselves entirely ignorant of it that I am tempted to seek further information through your colamus. R.W.C. It was with much interest that I noticed an article in your issue of last Saturday on " Broad Norfolk," since your journal seems the natural medium for placing on record some of those East Anglian terms and phrases which admirers of vigorous expres- sion will not willingly let die. Few people could remain for any length of time in contact with the rural labourers of this district without remarking that they retain the use of many a term obsolescent, no doubt but yet indicating in a single word an idea which would require a lengthy sentence to express with equal accuracy. It is generally adn itted that all local glossaries at present published possess the defect of including a large number of words which are certainly not limited in their use to the Eastern Counties, as well as the more serious fault of omitting many which as certainly are 14 BROAD NORFOLK. part of our dialect. An adequate discussion of the subject in your columns would do much to enable our future lexicographer to steer clear of both the rocks which I have indicated. Among the local terms which immediately occur to me is that singularly complete class of wo'rds which indicate th different conditions of corn when lodged by wind or rain. Thus the crop may be said to be " shackhd," " kti'ckltd," or " hovelled," accord- ing to the state in which the storm has left it. To "riffle," i.e., to disturb the surface with a plough; it shares with "rifle" the indication of shallow grooves. One of the first popular expressions which strikes a stranger to Norfolk villages is the frequent use of the phrase, " It dew fare." "It dew fare wonerful stingy," says the rustic, when the wind is in the east. ' Foursei " is the afternoon harvest meal, which the labourer takes at 4 '30 in the neighbourhood of Norwich. A man who pottered over his work was said by a farm steward dead now, poor fellow to be " pakin\ fussickin\ and detiesquittiri 1 about," which at least sounds a good day's work. Plckcheesin 11 has much the same meaning. I have heard a slow-witted countryman told not to " stand a garpin* theer, bor, like a duzzy maivkin." A stranger to the dialect might wait for more explicit directions. Many such expressions must occur, especially to those of your readers who reside in districts remote from the larger towns. BOB. Your correspondent " C-H.'s" excellent article upon this subject should evoke an interesting cor- respondence in your columns, particularly among rir country readers, many of whom will doubtless able to add to the list of" quaint words and sayings alluded to in the article. A foreigner visiting this county would think the dialect highly euphonious, particularly if he overheard such an expression as " My master say if I du as I oughter du, I shouldn't du as I du du." Some of the expressions alluded to by BROAD NORFOLK. 15 "C-H." call to mind instances in which similar words have been heard by me, parti- cularly the word " gotch," which recalls the f ollowiug thoroughly Norfolk sentence, ' ' Polly she tumbled over the trostle (threshold) and broke the gotch." The word " heign " is by no means confined to "wages." I have often heard a bricklayer talk about " heigaing a wall." The "o" for "a" is very apparent in the pronunciation of the word "rand" (a marsh bank or wall) which is universally called a " rond " in the broad district. One of the most amusing instances of Noifolk ignorance as well as dialect was one I heard some time ago, when one of the North Norfolk railways was first opened. A Norfolk labourer had never seen a train, but was at work in a field near a bridge over a cutting through which the nesr line ran. A friend passing ?aid " Have you seen a train yet, bor ? " " No, bor, I ha'int." " Well just yew run up tew the bridge and yew'l see one." The rustic proceeds to the bridge. Train passes under, whistling. Rustic returns. Fri>nd ' Well, did you see the train? " Rustic" Well, I see suffiu, but as sune as that see me that shruck, and rushed into a burra ! " I could give many other instances, but my time and your space will not allow. A NOEFSLK DUMPLING. Referring to the interesting paper on " Pro- vincial Language," I would suggest that the word duller, like many other obsolete words, comes to us from the French douleur (Latin dolor), and is an ex- pression of mental or bodily pain. N. S. I think "C.-H.," in his very interesting paper on our Norfolk dialect is in error as to the meaning he gi ves to the word deke or dike. He says, "Deke a bank, has nothing to do with ditch." 1 am inclined to think that it is more nearly allied to ditch than bank. It is a narrow channel of 16 BROAD NORFOLK. water on marshes, or by the side of roads when there are no hedges. We constantly hear of the deke's mouth, i.e., where the dike joins the river. Then again we hear of Oulton Dike or Deke, Kewlal Beke (at the latter in many places there are no banks at all only reed beds), and b-.atiug men will remember many other dikes or dekes. In Holland a dyke or dike is, undoubtedly, a raised bank, but a deke in Norfolk is a water channel, and when a roadway has a deke on both sides it is called a caruser. C. C. For the benefit of your correspondent "K. W. C." let me say I have travelled over the greater part of the United Kingdom and have found the expression " to stand up," used in the sense of " to shelter," very general, especially in Kent and Sussex, and, on this side of the Thames, in Essex and Cambridgeshire. H. B. As a native, I have read with great interest what has been written on this subject. Allow me to suggest that instead of " Broad " it should be " Pure " Norfolk. In this part of the county we have many expressions which have not yet been catalogued. Dudder, to shake, or tremble. For example a drover, a Norfolk man, and two of his neighbours, who were in Essex at the time of the earthquake which occurred a few years ago, were once explaining to a Cockney their experience of the phenomenon. All proceeded pretty well, until one said, " Why, lor, bor, we tree kinder duddered," which, to the knowing young gentleman from the Metropolis, was not very explicit. Being is a genuine Norfolk word for a home. Mr. Peggotty is anxious " to purwide a bein' for the old mawther." Mawthcr. Is not Norfolk pre-eminently distin- guished in the use of this word, with its abreviation " mor," which, if not particularly elegant, is, in my opinion, quite as good as " wench" of north country folk any day ? Kinder is in universal use, meaning rather. I sup- pose it is a corruption of " kind of." BROAD NORFOLK. "Norfolk Dumpling" speaks of "trostle" for threshold. I never heard it so our way ; but " tros- hold" is familiar. To ask a stranger to hang the kettle on the hake and rake up the hyvers would puzzle him. Is not hake a pure Flemish word ? To muny is used as meaning to knead dough. Mucky is often used in such a phrase as " mucky action," is one of a disreputable nature. ew for oo. " The man in the mune came down to sune, to ask the way to Norwich," we have known all our lives. fFforV, as wittles (victuals), wezatious, &c. There is a word in use amongst us which I should much like to have explained. I have asked several, but cannot get a satisfactory definition. When banns of marriage are "asked" we hear of so and so's " sibbits " being read. Outsiders may laugh at " our language." We are not ashamed of it. Is it not infiuitely better than the cockney English of our friends, the Yarmouth Beach singers. We can laugh at the young gentleman as he pensively warbles the Hardent wish of 'is art. Ho kerry me beck to my oairae ogoain, Ho kerry me beck once mower. Althow this du fare kinder rum to us dumplins, we kinder laarf , bor, when we heer them theer fules, and think our old frind Giles, when he went up to Luunon, wsi-nt any more of a fule than them theer chaps on Yarmouth Beach. What about 'Arry and 'Arriet, hay, bor ? W. H. 0. As one much interested in Norfolk vernacular, may I say a word or two on the subject. I think your correspondent " C. C." is wrong in assuming that " deke " does not mean a bank. It is certainly used for both ditch and bank. As he says a narrow water course through a marsh is a " mashe deke," and a road between two " dekes " is a " carnser " (cause- way) ; but a bank is a "deke " for all that. Witness the expression, " deke'? hpll." Deke is the tank and " holl " is the ditch (the hollow) adjoining. " Fyeing out a holl " is good Norfolk for cleaning out a ditch. I hope this correspondence will continue, 18 BROAD NORFOLK. and should occasion serve, I shall be glad on a future occasion to give your readers several good old Norfolk words that I have not yet seen mentioned. ' ' Dannock," a hedger's glove without fingers, is one. , A LOVEE OF NOEFOLK. As a north countryman I have been interested in the correspondence on this subject, and I should like to say a word or two. First, I agree with that correspondent who says that " stand up " in the sense of "shelter " is not confined to Norfolk. I have often heard it in other counties. As to " dudder," my acquaintance with Norfolk is not of sufficient length to permit me to express an opinion, but the Lancashire word that has an exactly similar meaning is "dither, "as I have heard jelly jokingly termed by Lancashire people "that stuff that I hardly think that "mucky" is confined to Norfolk. It is often used elsewhere in the sense of dirty. The word "buskin," and the expression " to put on his parts," strike me as somewhat peculiar to Norfolk. Perhaps some of your correspondents will give their opinion. As an outsider I can assure you that I do not laugh at your language. As a matter of fact I think it is extremely pretty and euphonious. B. O. P. I feel little doubt that sibrit, sibrede, or sibbe- ridge (various forms of a provincial appellation of the banns of matrimony) are connected with the old English, or so-called "Anglo-Saxon " word sib, meaning a relation or companion. We find the same stem in the derivatives sibless (without kindred, deserted), sibman (a relative), sibness (relationship), with the old word sibrede, which is synonomous with the last-mentioned. I presume, therefore, that the idea of the banns as preparatory to thie new " relationship," gives rise to the name. Or were the " sibrits " for the purpose of bringing to light any kinship or affinity within the prohibited degrees ? E. ROBERTS TDXFOBD. BROAD NORFOLK. 19 For the edification of neighbour " W. H. C." : S-bbits Siberet Sybb-rit Syb rede banna [Prompt. rarv.] When the banns have been published for the third time, the parties are said to have been "out asked." Jlyrers, or Hovers, not only means peat, or turf cut for burning, but also a floating reed-bed, where, perhaps, from the nature of the " soil," hovers might f>e procured. The island in the midst of Scoulton Mere, which might, in parts at any rate, bear this title, is, however, termed the "hearth." Suggested derivation tor a "hover " is because it hovers between wind and water ! A novice might appreciate the explanation when first experiencing the sensation of the ground for yards around, quivering under his hesitating footsteps. Holl a ditch, particularly a dry one (Forby) and so used at the present time, as opposed to Dekc a \vet-thatis a water ditch. We have not yet had the derivation of " Roly poly." Is it from its shape and make a rolled psle ? M. C. H. BIED. TIMOTHY TIKKELTOBY TU His FRIND ME. GILES. Well, Bor, an wot d'ye think ou't now. All mauder of stuff they'ie talkiii Abeout "Broad Norfolk," when they know No more'n my old mawkin Which I shuv'd up to frite them bahds Wot play sich mazin capers, In f ussicken my baanes and paas, Likewise my arly taters. If I could nab them knowin chaps, I'd make 'em keinder dudder, For laarfin at ower Norfolk tongue, Why I shud like tu smudder Sich fules as haint the sense tu know, They says thay're clever, rawther; (That's how they say that word, old man) Yow shud a heer'd my mawther, She say, yow heer them London chaps Wet sing on Yarmouth Beach, Then yow will see and werry suite Which is the rummest speech. 20 BROAD NORFOLK. Yars, or them cockney chaps wot cum And kick up such a duller, In murderin that poor letter H. Yow'l sune see they are fuller Of cheek than sense, so let 'em laarf . Doant it seem mazin funny If we're fules tbey care tu cum And glad tu take ower money. So doant you mind a titty bit As yow stand theer a garpin, But let 'em know ower Norfolk tongue Will stan theer jeers and larfin. Tell 'em, old man, if we're slow We arnt at sich a pass, To brake all rules, and be sich fules To call our Dickey Hass. Ower temper's smuthe, we'll stan theer grins, An put up with theer crumplin, We'll hang the biler on the hake And stick tu NOEFOIK DUMPLIN. W. H. C. I have read the version of " C.-H." on the word deke; he is much more to the point in its use and meaning than "C. C." You will frequently hear the following expression in the country in reference to the word : " Let's get out of the holl and sit down on the deke." Or when one is jumping over a deke (that is a bank) a caution will be given you" icarr (for beware) the holl on the other side." The Norfolk fences separating fields are frequently called "dekes." Having had residing experience in Holland, I must say I never heard a dyke is the name given to a "raised bank." There are various dykes named by " C. C." as tributaries to the river, and there are also mill dykes and marsh dykes, which are outlets to drainage mills ; but a deke in Norfolk is not necessarily a water channel. W. S. Your correspondents have afforded much interest and amusement with their various contributions. The cases cited have beenmostly rural words and idioms, many of which one never hears in the city. But there BROAD NORFOLK. are several words which strike the ear of a stranger as peculiar. The first which misled me for the moment, was " sadly " used in the_sense of ill-health, rather than of mental condition. " Others were " tempest " for "storm," "coarse" for " rough " weather, and especially the word "muddle" which is a favourite word of Norfolk house-wives, the real English mean- ing of which is by no means their habit. To a stranger it is very curious to hear methodical industrious people, who seem to have everything in order at the time, describe themselves as " in a muddle." "B. O. P." cites the word " dudder," which is thoroughly Norfolk. The corresponding word "dither," used in other places, is not a dictionary word, but it is not provincial, for you hear it in the Midlands, as well as in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Its meaning is " slight trembling all over with cold." I should say " mucky" is essentially a northern provincialism, and one only rarely hears it in Norfolk. In muddy weather it is ever on the people's lips in Lanca- shire and Yorkshire. " Here t' be " I never heard save in this county, and perhaps Suffolk. The use of the word " shy " I have never heard explained, but its Norfolk sense is exactly the opposite to its ordinary meaning. I think " M. C. H. Bird " is right as to the deriva- tion of " roly poly." It appears to stand for " rolled pole," and its diminutive suffixes arose from some maternal desire to give a favourite dish for children, a popular name among them. In this rhyming manner words are better remembered by our juveniles. P. PEEKEfS. The correspondence now appearing in your columns is very interesting. Here are a few words I have not yet seen mentioned ; and I should like to know if they are confined to Norfolk? They are constantly used amongst us. To crowd (past crud). To thrust or push, as " Git the mawther to crovd the barra'. She crud it yisterdaay ! " Decn (for din?) Strangely enough, this does not mean a loud or continued noise, but the slightest possible sound, as " Now, yow mussent maak a deen, bor ! " meaning that one must be absolutely quiet. BROAD NORFOLK To imitate. To attempt, as " I shawn't d'ut, nor yit imitate t' d'ut, bor." Cooshies. Sweetmeats. Is this ever heard out of Norfolk? Kindling. Firewood. Shortening. Lard or butter for pastry -making. J. E. B. Your correspondents have by no means exhausted the list of Norfolk provincialisms, and have hardly touched upon the many funny terms we use upon our farms and in our country houses. Here are a few : A " holl " means a ditch, a. " deek " means a dyke, a " keeler " means a shallow tub, " kindling " means firewood, a " boiler " means a small tin with a lid, a " dwile " means a house flannel, a " push " means a boil, " over wort" means across, " soshing " means askew, " sidus " means a sloping, " cop " means to throw, " hain " means to rise (vide the Rev. W. Hudson's " Norwich Chronicles.") Then there are no end of miscalled words. For instance, a tumbrel is called a " tumbler," a bin \*. called a" bing," a shovel is called a " bhuloe," a head- land is called a " hidlond." bran is called " brun," a marsh is called a " mash," and curiously enough we still talk of going down to " mash," and giving a horse a " brun marsh." The language we address to our cart horses would puzzle the carters of other counties. When a horse is wanted to go to the right we say " woosh," to the left " cum harley." When he is is stop we halloo " way." A team of horses is called a " teaiuer," and the carter a " teamerman." I once cautioned an ostler to be careful how he took out my mare, whereupon he patted her on the neck and said '' She fare toward like tho." A London friend I was driving was sorely puzzled at the remark, and I had to translate it " Notwithstanding what you say the mare appears to be quiet and gentle." The same gentleman was also surprised to hear a labourer at an agricultural show remark, upon looking at a sleek black pig, that it put it put him ' ' mazen in mind of a moll," which we need not say meant that the pig very much resembled a mole. I can remember, when a child, hearing some old folk use the word " Frenched " BROAD NORFOLK. (violent anger), and the "ham" with which many places ended was always " gim," as " Gimmingim," but they are extinct, as also "silly bold "for im- pudence; but "dicky," " dodmaii," and other rustic names still survive. Many of your readers may re- member the picture of two Norfolk boys in Punch and one exclaiming, " Hinder come a dow," which had to be rendered into the Queen's English thus, ' ' In the distance a wood pigeon is coming," The number of old Xorfolk phrases and miscalled words are still almost endless, but the Board schools will possibly eradicate most of them in the next generation. A NOBFOLK FABMEB. Will one of your philological correspondents give the origin and ideal meaning of the teamman's (Norfolk for " teamster," never heard " teamster " used) " hait " and " woosh " ? I don't suppose these are exclusively Norfolk words, but I know they are indispensable to the Norfolk ploughman, and with " u~ae " are among the best understood by our farm horses. If I say " hait " my horse turns to the left," ivoosh " and he turns to the right. Why? and whence come these words ? I have my theory, but wish for a scholar's opinion. CHAS. BUSSEY. I think your correspondent " W. H. C." will find that the use of the vowel "z" for "0" is restricted to East Norfolk. One never hears of " mune," " spune," and"butes" in West Norfolk. I append a few more Norfolkisms which I have not at present seen mentioned: The heron is very often called a " harnser," whilst the wood pigeon is a " dow," as illustrated in the thoroughly Norfolk . sentence of " Hie into the holl, bor ! hinder 's letter, I should like to supplement it by adding a few more phrases that have since occurred to me. Bread, when coming from the oven underdone is described as slackbaked. If a person denies the state- ment of another he is denounced for tellin' me to my hid '(was a story, A foremost person in some assembly is reckoned a " kinder hid-se-ray." If an unusual number of people are met together there is bound to be, on first seeing them, stiffiti 1 the matter. One who has a well -supplied table at meals is said to " live like old Pamp." Should the fumes from burning garden refuse assail the nasal organ there is i( a quick- fire somcicheic." When a person has little to do and is asked to go somewhere with a message, &c., he is in- formed it will be all honest your time. To " rip and slash abouV is to drive furiously. To seem insincere and smooth tongued is to keep a carneyin'. Taking big strides when walking is to lampcr along. Goods being sent abroad &ie gain 1 forrin' . To hasten work un- usually in preparation for something is to lay forrard. I do not know whether this final example is peculiar to Norfolk, but it is very prevalent hereabouts. For instance, after two or more persons have been en- gaged in a lengthy argument, one of them caps the whole thing by ejaculating that encouraging phrase, Jf'ell, there 'tis ! Beyond this statement in a case of that kind it seems (to me) impossible to go ! FEED. E. FOESTEE. BROAD NORFOLK. 35 All interested, . in the preservation and record- of our Norfolk dialect must feel greatly obliged to you for the very entertaining and valuable help you are now according the subject. As I have had some opportunity in- various parts of Norfolk of noticing the many peculiarities of our phraseology and pro- vincialisms, may I add a few to the list of words fast becoming obsolete in our 'county ? As to dele, might I suggest that when used for dyke or hoH the derivation comes from the Anglo-Saxon die, connected with the German ici-h a pond ; and when used as synonymous with bank, it comes from the Dutch tKjk. or dike, the "i" having the usual "e" sound peculiar to Norfolk. Now for a few Norfolkisms which I have not yet noticed in your paper. Amongst verbs we have shruck for shrieked ; scriggle, to turn about worm -like ; ffoldcr, to laugh noisily ; to hoice, for to hoe ; thotct, past tense of think. Amongst food names everyone says rows and milches for roes and milts ; the baked skin of pork is cracktey or skruzzle ; long suet puddings are donkey-leys ; pork cheese is su-ared ; and the cartilege in beef i&pax-icax. The nicknames of animals are often very pretty ; winkles become pinpatches ; ladybirds are llnh-a- barney bees ; and the stickleback is a stannlclc. A little animal of the dormouse kind I used to hear called a ranny. A common expression for a bad boy is an aahifcr or nomter ', while one who is inured to hardships is a hard-icoolled-iin. A number of our provincialisms are of course onomatopoetic in character, as instance krlnkle, slammakin, swack, and the terms for crying, such as slobber and blare. Norfolkers, as well as other people, have a habit of transposing consonants, as in mips for wasp, ax for ask, &c. One wonders why a lad who " truants," your yokel would say is said to play the Charley, or play Sammy. It is easier to see why the boy, if in hiding, is told to keep squat, or- close and quiet ; and doubtless he'd be all o' a molt for fear of getting summit of a hiding were he found in hiding by his feyther. A woman's ejaculation is often " Sakes alive," or " sars o' mine." I see one of your correspondent's, says a wash tub is a kccler, but is it not oftener called a killer. What is a swap- tub ? Some of your readers may not know that Bartlett c2 3G BROAD NORFOLK. in his " Dictionary of Americanisms " says, " Those parts of Great Britain which have contributed most to our provincialisms are the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Scottish Borders."^ And Elwyn, in his " Glossary of Supposed Americanisms," thinks one would find more true Saxon and Anglian words in the New England States than even in England itself. It would be a splendid thing were someone with the time and ability to revise and supplement our local works on East Anglian dialects, of which even the leading works, like the Rev. Rob. Forby's "East Anglian Glossary," Major Moor's " Suffolk Words," and Nail's "Dialects and Provincialisms of East Anglia," are very imperfect. A very amusing speci- men of Norfolk language is "The Song of Solomon," written by the Eev. E. Gillett (of Runham) for Prince Louis Bonaparte's collection of English dialects. The 10th verse of chapter vi. reads " Who's she as star out as the mornen, feer as the mune, shear as the sun, and frightful as a army wi banders." W. S. BABKEB. In view of the very interesting correspondence on this subject, perhaps some of your readers may be glad to know of a local variation of usage in two of the words which have been much discussed, viz., dike and deke, or deck. Here ia Lynn and the neighbourhood the word dyke is invariably used for a watercourse or drain, and the last few weeks everybody has been skating on the dykes. In my native village, less than twenty miles from here (in the neighbourhood of Hunstanton) the word "deck" was always used to signify a hedge lank, the waterway being & ditch, or more commonly a 'ffntp." This was the case from twenty to thirty years ago, and for aught I know the same usage prevails now. " Now then, come down orfethat there deck together," would be a very common salutation to us youngsters if we got up to look over a hedge, &c. This would appear to be a corruption of the Dutch use of the word "dyke" for bank, which, notwith- standing what one of your correspondents feems to imply, has been immortalised in the great historic scene of the cutting of the dykes by William of Orange to drown out the Spanish armies. F. W. B. BROAD NORFOLK. 37 In the unique list of Norfolk terms you are giving, the following I think have not been mentioned : sicicing I remember being used when a " yunker " to mean mowing with a reap -hook. The words hample and u'lmple trees are often used of the poles con- necting horse traces with farm harrows or the like. We call bullfinches bloodulfs, and chaffinches spinks about here. If our wives make us heavy dumplings we complain that they are mastrous sumpy. But we don't often have to find fault with them. Bullock- tenders always call their baskets skeps. S. Under your heading " Broad Norfolk" you have started a most amusing subject of discussion. I have been waiting to see what would be said about the common and very curious use of what has come to be an adverb or adverbial particle, the word do, pronounced, of course, "dew." Two of your correspondents this morning, Messrs. Tucker and Forster, are on the right scent, the latter treating it as equivalent to " or," the former rightly explaining it as short for "if you do." This is simple enough, after negative propositions, such as prohibitions, e.g,, " Don't you do that again, dew I'll give you a hiding." But I have constantly heard it used after positive sentences, with the meaning, " If I or you don't or didn't." A good instance I remember when I was out shooting. Some birds having lighted in a bare clover field, and it being desirable to drive them back to turnips, the keeper peeps incautiously over the fence and the birds go wrong. "Peter," I say, "why did you show yourself ? Didn't you see the birds?" Peter replies, "Well, sir, I see somethin' in the olland, but I thought it was muck, dew I'd a bopped." That is, if he had not thought so he would have ducked his head, (flopped bobbed.) Mr. Forster seems to think don't would be used in such cases where "if not" is required. But do is em- ployed in both collocations, and may be said generally to be equivalent to " under changed conditions and circumstances" a brief and handy substitute. Olland in the above dialogue is old land where the clover has been twice mown or fed off, and so effete, ready to be ploughed up for wheat. It is more commonly called layer or lay, which I take to be the same word as lea. 38 BROAD NORFOLK. Let me make a remark or two on other words men- tioned in your correspondence this morning;. A qay is not only a bright picture, but a bright flower. "Can't you mow the aftermath in the churchyard before Sunday ?" " Not time enough, sir, but I'll cut off they gays" meaning conspicuous hemlock heads, dandelions, &c. , growing on the fence. Froschy is pure Anglo-Saxon, frosch being a frog in German. or again may be the German batir, which also sur- vives in boor. But some take it to be neighbour be- headed. Snasty I take to be a sort of unconscious crasis, or combination of marling or sneering and nasty. Com- pare the phrase in Article XVII., " wretchlessness of unclean living." where I have always thought the compilers of that document had " wretched reckless- ness" in their minds and slurred the two words to- gether. Let me add to Mr. Tucker's illustrations of a Nor- folk man's caution when you offer him something dis- tinctly good he never says he will be glad to accept it. "Will you come up to the house to supper to- night?" "Well, sir, I drtft mind." C-H's account of skute is hardly complete. It is an acute-angled triangle. "Lynn Scute" is a well known whin covert so shaped. There is a verbal form "That there piece go skuting away "meaning to a point. I hope somebody will give us the etymology of wheesh, used to turn a horse to the right. It cannot surely be gauche. A. G. D. I am glad to find the " Broad " Norfolk corres- pondence has " caught on" so well and is still flourishing. The same idea has struck me that has occurred to your correspondent, " M. C. H. Bird," viz. , that Broad Norfolk may mean the dialect of the "Broad " districts, and this idea is strengthened by your correspondeat from Swaffham who repudiates the use of u for oo, as in the words " bate, " " spune," " sunc" " mine" i!cc., in the West Norfolk district. It is certainly a most marked attribute of the Broad district dialect. Surely, sir, some of your correspondents must have a very imperfect sense of sound. I know very well BROAD NORFOLK. 39 the difficulty of phonetic writing, and of conveying sound by letters, but surely it is a little too much when we find the common teamman's words, " kep haa" (come hither), and tcoosh, made into "cum harley " and " worree" sounds which I venture to say were never heard in this part of Norfolk. Mr. Tucker gives us a " swish " of water. I think the phrase ought to be "swidge." I append two or three examples which I have not yet observed. . Tolc, to entice. The last time I heard this was in this wise. I lent a man a young dog for snipe shoot- ing. He got on very well till he had to cross a river. He tried to tole the dog into the boat, but he declined to be tolced, and came off home. Another good old word which will probably soon become extinct is goaf, corn stacked in a barn. " Git on to the goaf, bor, and hull down some ' shoves.' " Plancher or planchard, a chamber floor, is still frequent, and till within the last forty years was commonly used by persons of some education. In " Webster " it is given as an obsolete word, meaning, 1st, a floor, and 2nd, a plank, from which I infer it was used by our forbears to designate the wooden chamber floor ia contradistinction to the brick floor of the lower room. Turn to, in the sense of to set about a job, is a fre- quent expression in this part. I fear I have already trespassed too far, so must reserve any further remarks for a future occasion. OLD NORFOLK. To your very interesting list of words may I add that many years ago I heard more than once the word mot (, used for illness i.e., "I am very mart to-day? " Has the strange word been given of spoat, for short- grained wood ? I think deke certainly means a hedge bank about here, but then there are no water ditches. I may add that though many strange words are in constant use about here (the Cromer district) , yet it is easy to know any countryman from inland by his far stronger accent. N. NORFOLK. 40 BROAD NORFOLK. I have been much amused by the letters and articles which have appeared in .your paper on the above. There is one word (there may be many) which I have not seen ; that word is sunkets or sun he tin ff. It is applied in this way. Say a man has been on tne fuddie or boose for a week ; he naturally feels rather shaky, and in order to get himself back to his normal state he takes all sorts of niceties i.e., sunkets; or he is said to \& sitnketting himself. It is not peculiar to Norfolk, as I have heard it in Suffolk. As to the Norfolk dialect being recognised in far off climes, I can fully bear out your correspondent, "Joskin." Some years ago I was an officer on a barque lying in Valparaiso Bay. One day I took the ship's gig and four hands to fetch the captain, who had gore on a visit to another ship. On approaching it I gave the order for the men to lay in their oars. A man who was leaning over the rail or bulwark immediately called out, " Come on, bor, you're a toicney of mine ; you're Norfolk." When we got into conversation I found he was like me a Yarmouth man. S. T. I have read with considerable interest the " Broad Norfolk " correspondence, and offer a few more words of that language. Lock, a bunch ; u-haskiny, a beating ; mm, funny : spoilt, brittle ; gai'vel, a bundle of hay ready for cutting ; douse-a- bit, how-so-be-it ; lork-a-masser, Lord have mercy ; snob, shoemaker : nip along, run fast ; a frosty day is called a good steward ; hobby, pony; shorn t. shall not ; gainer , handy. W. L. "With this, my " third time of asking " your permission to insert some iurther provincialisms, I close the list so far as I am concerned, at the same time thanking you for the indulgence shown me. To be brief the thing m't is this here : A sploddiri* all in the slugs and not lookin' what he was arter, that there little brudle-r tumbled down and made his clothes in a rare pass, for his coat wi' the daarrt dried on to't fare as tho' t' would *ta' al-ne o 1 muck. Wot the plague d'yow aiJ, bor? Well, mor, I don't BROAD NORFOLK. 41 feel up to d sight. Don't ye ? I noticed yesterdaay. thinks I, he rarely well keep a pinylin' over and champin' his wittles ; sure/// he ain't a goin' to the moid country ? Less 'ope 1 ain't got the dine, mor ; I spooze I shall het-a-git a bottle o' stuff from the doctor's, for I don't want to keep a taki-H? on a' this manner. Wot, fussickin out agin, Maria ? Yow look as if yow a got a takin' 1 job. You're right, I thoict I did heer the door knock. "Well you a now ketched me all up at Harwich, so I doant like to arst ye in, beside I ain't got nothin' for tea only a little salary wot's right clung ; why, lawks, the fire is nearly out for want of a chife o'coal, and I ain't had which, but yow jest lerrim off the striug, mine is all rip and tare' while the t'other is a drawlatchin" 1 sort of a customer ; hae ? well, thankee we're all kinder mirldUn\_ baaby annall ; only my husband he felt like a doicnpin when he gorrup ; hoicsomerer he managed to eat a little saumple for his brakfest and yow know he on't give up till he's fooss'd to 't ; well there we fare to stan' here litfe num" 1 cnaance, so we do. R. FOESTEB. Can any of TOUT contributors to this most interesting corresoondence give the origin of the term main. "Lor bor, I conn't ate my maate so, I likes it in the main." I was dining in a restaurant in Norwich recently and drew the waiter's attention to the fact that some beef he brought was nearly raw : to which he replied. "I'll change it if you wish it is rather in the main" A. J. G. In the 'inain means the same as in the rear, and is applied to underdone meat. "We believe people ask for it in the main because in the main means " in the middle," where the meat is likely to be least cooked. Meat well cooked is said to be home-done. ED. JN'.V. EAST ANGLIAN BIEDS. I am anxious to collect the various local names by which our British birds are known, and therefore, with BROAD NORFOLK. your kind permission, will take advantage of the present correspondence to give those which I have culled fron various sources. I have affixed authors' names to those words which I have not myself heard used, and sha.H be very glad to receive any additions to the lish. So long as" the word is now used in East Anglia to desciibe a certain bird it need not, for my purpose, be restricted to the county. In fact I doubt whether the following list contains a purely Norfolk word at all. Even " Pudden-ppke " is used in Suffolk, and according to Johnson's Dictionary, poke means " a sack in the north of England, Camden ; pocca, Sax. poke, Icel." Olf or ulph is also common in the sister county, and "Harnsei" is only a shortened form of Hern- shaw. Arps, Scamels, and Mows I have not met with, nor can I find a derivation for. The term Beed Pheasant still survives in Essex (Miller Christy), and the Norfolk Plover is known as such elsewhere, and breeds as frequently perhaps in other counties as it does with us. It will be noticed that the names given to some birds are descriptive of their peculiar make or markings, note or nest, flight or food, habitat or time of arrival. Those people who talk of May Birds and Danish Crows are no believers in the lately revived theory of the hibernation of birds (c.f. " Migration of Birds," Charles Dixon, 1892) , although some restrict the limits of the seasonal flight of the last mentioned, and dub him only Kentishman. It is remarkable how very few birds are distinctively known by our villagers except in the neighbourhood of a Grammar School ; birds' eggs there finding a ready sale. Some of the marshmen, professional punt-gunners, and "paulkers" are among the most practical of naturalists, being able to distinguish " fowl " at any rate, not only by their note by day, but their wing sound at night. Numerous causes have combined to render many avian provincialisms obso- lete. The high price of corn some fifty years ago caused much waste land to be drained, enclosed, and broken up (dibtance only lends enchantment, &c., to those "good ' old times). [A plan was formed for turning Hickling Broad into corn fields.] Game preserving has cut both ways; acting deleteriously upon raptorials, but affording the sanctuary of the coverts to smaller birds generally. The scarcity, even as occasional visitants, of such birds as the Avocet, e.g., which used to breed in Norfolk, has caused their BROAD NORFOLK. 43 "proper" names to be forgotten. The ten-shilling license has increased the number of shooters, and the spread of education and accompanying knowledge of natural history popularised through the Press has increased the number of collectors and taxidermists. The scientific title is duly given to every specimen, and its price has " riz accordin'." The impossibility of distinguishing "a hawk from a harnser " (on the wing at any rate) will soon be a pardonable ornithological offence from the very dearth of individuals upon which to excercisa our powers of observation. Alexandra Plovers Kentish Plover (E. T. Booth). Arps Tufted Ducks (D. Girdlestone, South well.) Bird A partridge, " Ha' you many bads te year r" English Birds and French Birds, meaning English and French Partridges. Slue Hawk Hen Harrier, male. Bilh/ Whit The Barn Owl The bird of wit or wudom ; also Willie Whit and Billy Wix. Butcher Bird Red-backed Shrike -From its habit of killing and " spitting " small birds and insects. Barley Bird Nightingale (Forby), Siskin (Miller Christy) arriving about barley sowing time. Black Cap Black Cap, and more usually the Mai sh Tit. Bottle Tom Lougtailed Tit, Featherpoke. Bramble Finch Brambling. Bloodolf Bullfinch. Blue Rock, Rock Dow The Stock Dove, Rock Dove not occurring in Norfolk. Baldie Coot Coot. Black Goose Beruicle and Brent Goose, or Brant. Bargoose and Bargander Bar, Sheld, Patched, male and female Sheldrake. Black Duck Scoters. Black and White Pokers Both Immature Golden Eye and Tufted Duck. Black Poker Tufted Duck. Bluegill Scamp Duck, also Greybacks, c.f., "Trans, of Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society," 2, 397. Blue Darr Black Tern (Dar-dart?) Bitte icren Bittern . Black Curlew Glossy Ibis. .Baw/oiiK-Spoonbill (A. Patterson). Caddie Jackdaw (Jack '. Cade ? ! !) Caddow. Chit-Perl Chit, small, Lesser Tern ; Sea Swallows and Mackerel Birds. 44 BROAD NORFOLK. Cobs Any of the larger Gulls. Come-back Guinea fowl. Female only calls " Come back ! " Cow Bird Ytllow Wagtail, from frequenting cows at marsh for the purpose of insects attracted thereby. 'Coy Ducks A small and loquacious breed of domesticated Ducks used for decoying purposes. Crow Rooks generally, I have actually heard " whose rooks as those crows?" c.f., " crow scaring. Draw-water King Harry, or King Harry Diaic- water The former from its being taugat in captivity to draw water for itself with a thimble and chain. Derellng or Deril Bird The swift, from its blackness and uncanny tout ensemble. Its note is a weird cry, and only as night approaches does it fly low enough to be specially noticed. It inhabits, for roosting and nesting purposes, high and lofty places (frequently church towers), and never alights upon the ground. Doddy WrenThe Wren doddy, diminutive - all teeney, tiny things are familiarly addressed and re- spected inNorfolk parlance, c.f., " little old," old being a term of endearment, pitman, the petman, &c. Dickey Eirdo* Sea fie Oyster Catcher. Dickey c.f. t slang for shirt-front. The black and white on breast being conspicuous in its uniting. Di< Guillemot, Willock (E. F. G.). Dobchick Little Grebe or Dabchick. Englishman English Partridge. Fulfer The Missel Thrush, but indiscriminately applied to the Redwing and Fieldfare as well. Felt Fieldfare. Not common (felt, to flock). Firettnl Redstart, synonymous. Ittzhackcr (Haccan, Sax., c.f., hacker, a stam- merer) Made to do duty for Stone and Whinchat. French Linnet Tvfite (A. Patterson). Frenchman French Partridge, also Red Leg. Goldtn Eagle This is the name given to the im- mature White -tailed Eagle? that from time to time occur in East Anglia. Game HawkThe Peregrine. Guler, Goolie, and Goldfinch -Yellowhammer. Greenelf Greenfinch, Green Linnet, Greenie. Goat Sticker or Xight Hawk Xightjar. The former name is dependent upon a popular fallacy, and the second is derived from its hawk-like flight. Golden Golden Plover. BROAD NORFOLK. 45 Grey Goose Grey Lag, Bean and Pink-footed Goose. Golden Eyes Tufted Ducks, immature. Grey Gulls, Grey Cobs Immature Black-backed or Herring Gulls. Hay Jack Whitethroat, Nettlecreeper. Hedge Betty Hedge Sparrow and Hedge Spike (spidzo to chirp). Its note is said to betoken rain. Herring Spink Golden Crested Wren, from its some- times alighting upon boats engaged in herring fishing during the period of autumnal migration. Hoodie Grey Crow, also, Norway Crows, Danish Crows^ Kentishmen, and Carrion Crows. Harnser or Frank Heron Crane Common Heron, Hernshaw. " I ha seen the rooses blume, I ha seen the wiolet blow, I ha seen the harnser fly high, But I ha seen northin loike yow." (Love sick swain to his inamorata). Hart Duck or Grey Duck - Gadwall ^Ste^enson, Southwell, Lubbock ; Grey Duck also female of Mal- lard.) Half Fowl I, Teal and Widgeon ; 2, DivingDucks. Holland Goose Solan Goose or Gannet, evidently a corruption of the former. Jacks Jack Snipe. Kitties Any of the smaller Gulls. Laughing Goose White-fronted Goose. Little Mealy 2)w7,--Longtailed Duck, female (E. T. Do well, Southwell;. Little Rattlcwing Morillon (Bewick), immature ; Golden Eye (Paget, Yarmouth, 1834). Loon Loen, Dutch, Great-Crested Grebe, also Greeve. Mesh Herrier Marsh Harrier and Montagu's ditto. Mavish Thrush. The "h" is pronounced, especially in plural. Mudlark Rock Pipit. Mai/bird, Titterel Whimbrel, Jack Curlew. Molberries Skuas (E. T. Booth). Norway Thrush Redwing, not common. Nope Bullfinch [Ray], W. Rye, Dray ton. Norfolk Plover Thick-knee, Stone Curlew. 46 BROAD NORFOLK. Ostril or Orstril Clearly a corruption of " Osprey," sometimes called the Fish Hawk. Oxeye The Great Tit. Oxbird or Stint Dunlin, the smaller waders are not often excluded. Pudddipokf', Ground Oven, Oven Tit, Ovcnbuilder Willow Wren and Chiffchaff from shape of nest. That these two birds and their nests should be confounded is excusable since externally they are so much alike. Pickcheese Blue Tit, sometimes "Beebird" and Tomtit. folly Wash Dish Pied or " Penny " Wagtail. Pyii-ipe Pewit, Green Plover. Pigmies Curlew Sandpiper. Pintail Smee Pintail Duck. Poker, Sandy Head, or Sandy Headed Pokers Pochard, male sometimes called Redhead drake ; female ditto, " Dunbird." Perl Perl, purl (:) to turn over, c.f., he came a purler. Common Tern. Ringtail Hen Harrier, female. Reed Pheaant Bearded Tit. Reed Sparrow Reed Bunting. Red Linmt - Gammon Linnet. Ring Dow Wood Pigeon. "Drop down the deke, bor, hinder come a dow ; " deke may be a wet ditch or a dry one, but dike is always a wet one. Deke may also mean the bank, that is the earth thrown out in making the dike. Red Leg- Redshank ; also the French Partridge. Red Knots Knots in summer plumage ; grey ditto in antumn, or immature. Runners Land and Water Rails. Rattlemng Golden Eye, adult. Rattle Wings Golden Eye, from the noise it makes in flight. Shepherd's Bird Wheatear (A.. Patterson). Sedgebird Sedge Warbler ) Sometimes not distin- Keedbird Reed Warbler / guished inter se. Snow Fleck Snow Bunting, fleck-flake, from its mottled plumage, and coming at snowtime. Scribbling Finch Corn or Common Bunting and the Yellowhammer, from the pencilling of their eggs. Spink Chaffinch, phonetic (wine, ancient British) spidzo, to chirp. Spurrer Sparrow. Snakebird, Cuckoo's Mate Wryneck. Snakebird BROAD NORFOLK. from its hissing note when disturbed on its nes<", and Cuckoo's Mate because it arrives about the same time a the Cuckoo. Stone IttmntrRing Dotterel. Summer Snipe Common Sandpiper. Summer Lamb Common Snipe, from its " drum- ming " or lambing in summer. Sko'-el Duck Shoveller, Shovelbill- drake. Summer TcW Gargauey. Smee -Widgeon, Smeeth Duck ? Sea Phaysant Pintail (Sir T. Browne, Southwell) ; Longtailed Duck (E. T. Dowell, South well). Since or Smew The Smew, Weasel Duck (C. A. Johns). Sdicbiil Merganser and Goosander, generally the latter, which is also called by its proper name, with emphasis on second syllable. Sprat Loon Ked-throated Diver. Scotilton Cobs or Pint Black-headed Gull, Mow. c.f., Mow Creek, WeUs (Colonel Fielden). Titlark or Ground Lark Meadow Pipit. Turkey Buzzard or Buzzard Hawk or " Great Old" The Rough-legged, Common, and Honey Buzzard, not generally distinguished. Turtle Duw Turtle Dove. Tufted Golden Eye Tufted Ducks, mature. Te uke Curlew, Whimbrel, and Godwit but usually the Redshank on the coast. Windhover The Kestrel. Widgeon At Blakeney, the Golden Eye (E. T. Do well). Weasel Duck Smew (Mustek variegata), Sir T. Browne. White-Eyed Poker Ferruginous Duck. Woodcock Oicl Short-eared Owl So-called because it arrives here about the same time as the Woodcock. Words connected with above subject : Dutch Nightingale Frog (Spur) W. Eye. Egging Bird's nesting, especially applied to taking eggs of game, Fen Nightingale Frog {Forby). Fat-hen Gocse grass,- Chenopodium album. The seed of this weed is a favourite food of game birds and wild fowl, &c. Gobbler or Stag Cock Turkey over a year old. 48 BROAD NORFOLK. Gay bird Any bright-coloured bird the male of any species. Hopping Toads Frogs, E. T. Booth ; perhaps Natterjack Toads ? (M.C.H.B.) Htiddle-me- Close- Sidebone. Little Bads Fried Mice, given to children for whooping cough, and so called to deceive them. March SirtU or Marsh Birds Frogs. Nest Gulp The smallest and weakest of a brood of nestlings (Forby). Skipjack The clavicle, merry thought, or wishing bone. Up A bird is said to be " up," or have his " bloom up," when in full breeding plumage. M. C. H. BIRD. The thanks of all local naturalists are due to the Eev. M. C. H. Bird for putting into such a portable compass the " Broad Norfolk " nicknames of our Norfolk birds. As there are a few others which might be added, it may not be thought superfluous to mention them. Cuckoo's mate Wryneck, " 'cause he comes with the t'other." Cute Coot. " There' ve been a body of cutes on Breydon since the Broads ha'/nz." JJarelin Swift, pronounced as if an " r " had a right to come between the " a " and " v." Dottrel Ring Plover, and I have heard it described as dodlin. French mavish Eedwing. Indeed, many folks really believe he left that excitable Republic to spend the winter with us. GullchaserSkuii. ' ' Tha's all he is." Hornpie. Lapwing. He carries a crest or horn ; and is pied to boot. Mussel duck'Bleicls. Scoter. "The mussel ducks allers lay off the North Beach in the dead of winter." Sandlinnct and Sandlark Sanderling. Scotch goose. Brentgoose. "The old Scotch geese allers show up in hard frost, but 'aint they shy ! " Shoe-horn and Cobbler's awl Avocet. Shovel-bill and Spoonbill-duck Shoveller. "Lor', aint they a treat, when nicely cooked ! " BROAD NORFOLK. 49 SnotvmanSnow bunting. Birdcatcher : "I copt a mcaff of snowmen yesterday, and some tidy white 'tins among 'em." Stints Dunlin, "there's a rare mess of stints on Breydon sometimes " Water-hen Moorhen, often pronounced with an " i " instead of " e." Wil-ducks Guillemot and Bazorbill. " Can't they skive under water when they want tu ! " A. PATTERSON. Allow me to send you a list to supplement that which appeared in your issue of yesterday signed " M. C. H. Bird" of local names of shore birds of the North Norfolk coast, which he omits. Blue dar Black Tern (E. Norfolk.) Clinker Avocet. Cam brief ye Godwi t Greenshanks. Cream-coloured How Irani, of Glaucous, or Iceland gull. Dipeere Tern . Didopper Grebe. Grey Mallard- Gad wall. Green Plover, Pywipe Peewit. Loon or Lowan Red-throated diver. Mud Plover Grey plover. Magloon Great Northern Diver. Mow Gull (in general.) Parrotbeakfvma.. Rattlewings Adult Goldeneye. Stint Dunlin. Seap ie Oy stercatcher. Spoonbeak Shoveller duck. Steeldttcktos imm. merganser. Stone Runner Einged plover. Skeleton, Mud Snipe, Martin Snipe - Green rand -piper Scammell, Pick God wits. " I'll fetch three young scammels from the rock." Caliban, in " The Tempest." TanqlePicker Turnstone. Willie- Guillemot. I have spelt these words phonetically, knowing no other way. It is worth noting how most of these local names point to some peculiarity in the habits, plumage, or voice ; but for skeleton, scammcll, stint, and moil- 1 can assign no reason. E. W. DOWELL. 50 BROAD NORFOLK. It would be very interesting if some person with the necessary leisure would make as com- plete a list as possible of the local names used by our Norfolk gunners and beachmen, many of which, al- though very expressive and even poetical, are fast dying out ; the names also applied to many of the land birds are equally interesting. I have from time to time noted such as I have met with, but I am sorry to say not with any degree of industry. One great difficulty is the uncertain way in which these men pronounce the names of birds, and if any attempt is made at getting a more distinct utterance the result is always con- fusion ; it thus happens that the phonetic spelling varies considerably, and sometimes there is quite a family of similar names, all evidently of the same origin. Thus the Black Guillemot is known as the tyste, taiste, toy at, and tysty. Referring to Mr. Dowell's list, I notice the same thing. " Dipeese " I have always interpreted " dip-ears " a very appropriate name for the terns, which are also called " Shrimp pickers." "Magloon " (probably the prefix means " large ") is applied to the Great Northern Diver, which is also known as the Herring Loon, to distinguish it from its smaller relative, the Red-throated Diver, or " Sprat Loon." Scammell and pick for Godwits certainly are rather puzzling. The term "Pick " may refer to its mode of feeding. Thus the Turnstone is known as the " Tangle Picker," but that Scammell has any connection with the my stenou 8 Scamel which Caliban promised to procure from the rocks I much doubt. Godwits do not breed on rocks but in marshes, and if we can imagine a printer's error (a not unfrequent occurrence even now- a-days) by which the letter " c " was made to do duty for "e" we have ' ' Seamels " or Sea-gulls, which would seem to clear up the whole matter. I have heard many very pretty and descriptive names derived from the habits or notes of birds ; thus the Snipe is known as the "Air Goat," "Heather Bleater," and " Summer Lamb ; " the Little Grebe," Dive-an-dop ; " the Night-- jar, " Razor-grinder, " " Scissor- grinder, " and Churn Owl; the Quail, "Wet-my-lip" (from its note) ; the Mistletoe Thrush, " Storm-cock," from its habit of singing in rough weather ; the Kestrel, "Windhover," " Windfanner, " highly descriptive of its graceful hovering flight ; the Green Woodpecker, " Reunbird:" the Sheld-duck, " Burrow Duck," from BROAD NORFOLK. its nesting in rabbit burrows ; the Pintail Duck, "Caloo," or " Coal-and-Candlelight," from a fancied interpre- tation of its singular cry ; the Lapwing, " Flapjack," and many others. I do not think the following -occur in either of the lists you have published : Bottley Bump, Bottle Bump, Bitour Bittern. Coll* Kird or Cobble Bird - Hawfinch (Sir T. Browne) . Clod Bird, JJtuit Lark Common Bunting. Coney Chuck, White Rump Wheatear. 'I)unnrjck Hedge Sparrow. Hobby Bird Wryneck (Sir T. Browne). Mealy Bird Longtailed Duck. .' -Me&lin Bird- Fieldfare. Home Hau-fc, Woodcock. Owl Short-eared Owl. Popeler Shoveller (Le Strange Household Book). Sedge Mari ne Sedge Warbler (F. Norgate). Sea Dove Little Auk. Shovelard Spoonbill (Sir T. Browned. Spoice Whimbrel (Le Strange Household Book). Stag Common Wren. Stone Falcon Merlin. Summer Teal, Crick - Gargany Teal. As specimens of broad Norfolk I remember years ago in a village near Lynn hearing a woman tell her daughter to " put the gotch 'er the winden." A virago in the same old town was peculiarly inventive in her threats to her children, and I have heard her exclaim, " Yow maw Haryet, come yow hare ; I'll pull yar liver-pin out for yow." Poor Harriet! on such occasions I have not unfrequently heard the blows inflicted with the "short brush." " Go on" is frequently used as an expression of surprise. ' ' Why, go on, bor !" or it may in some cases be interpreted, "leave off," much depends upon the inflection. T. SOUTHWELL. I do not remember noticing in the "Broad Norfolk" bird names any of the following : Com. Sandpiper S/t richer, on account of its note. Fieldfare French Fxlfer. Goldfinch King Harry, Thistlejinch, and according to differences in throat markings Peathroat and Chh-ellcr. Grey Plover Full-eyed Plover, from its large eyes. BROAD NORFOLK. Green Sandpiper Black Sandpiper ; looks so when flying. Grey-leg Goose Home-leg Goose Missel-thrush English Fttlfcr. Partridge Short, on account of its build. Stonechat and Whifichat- -Furzechucks. Starlisg Chimney-pot-plover (good reason for why ! ) Scaup (male) Grey-lack ; correctly so. Scaup (female) White-noted Day-fowl, from its white-handed forehead. A. P. In the list of Norfolk birds given by Mr. Bird, and supplemented by Mr. Southwell, no mention is made of "The Spotted Fly-catcher, called " Wall Bird," common in the neighbourhood of Norwich, and very noticeable both from its note and its peculiar method of darting out from a branch or rail to seize its prey; nor of the "Nuthatch," commonly called ' Creeper " or " Free Creeper." Mr. Bird gives the Norfolk name for Whinchat as "Fuzhacker." I have not heard it so called, the name I am familiar with is " Furchuck," which I take to be a corruption of Furze Chick. Can any of your readers tell me whence certain specimens of the common domestic duck obtained the crest or " top-knot " which adorns their heads ? I have from time to time seen various individuals so distinguished, but have never seen or heard of any breed to which it is peculiar, unless it be the Wild Crested Duck. Here are one or two additional speci- mens of Broad Norfolk. SnecJc, a door-latch ; Warik, usually used in half contemptuous, half good humoured way as, " What, did you do thab for, you wank, you." I am sorry no one can explain " Woosh," my own opinion is that it is a " missing link," a sur- vival of the language once common to horses, bipeds, &c. J. PITCHEE. May I be allowed to add a line on the much vexed question of the meaning of the word do, used in opposition to the former clause of a sentence '; It is simply another form of the word " though," and answers to the German dock. " Js there a rake on the BROAD NORFOLK. premises?" I asked of the daughter of the farm- bailiff in whose house we were lodging. " Do Father has got the key," was 1he reply, evidently equivalent to ' Father has got the key, though ! " implying that it could not he had without his permission. And in all sentences, however apparently ungrammatical, this will apply. _ Spoull means brittle. The nurseraaids used to put vinegar into " tuffey" (tough enough, no doubt, with- out it) to make it^poult. Wood too old or dry is apt to be spoult, and unfit for working. Clmuj is used for fruit or vegetables which have been kept so long as to be flaccid ; a malady most in- cident to cucumbers and gooseberries. Mother appears on pickles and jams as a sort of whiteness on the top when fermentation has set in called also a hough, and applicable to the appearance in certain cutaneous diseases. Rokej reek, and wrack are all forms of the same word, indicating steam or cloud ; Shakespeare alludes to cloud-capped palaces, dissolving into thin air, and " leaving not a wrack behind." Your correspondents do not seem to be aware that the Yorkshire and Lancashire divisions of the fields are made of dry stones and called dykes. Whin dykes, too, are heard of. I knew a small lane, or loke, leading from a farmyard inclosed on both sides with a stone wall, and called " the dickey." This was near Banbury. Don't ought is a favourite expression ; but pur people do not generally adsl "to." Don't ought to is used in many counties, and it is good Anglo-Saxon never- theless. The reply of a friend's coachman who was remon- strated with for certain irregularities may be amusing. " Well, ma'am ! the truth is, I am like St. Paul. What I ought to do I don't do, and what 1 do do I don't oiight." A Yorkshire friend coming to reside in Norfolk was attracted by the sound of a continued tapping in his garden, and, inquiring the cause, was told, " It is northin, only the mavishes napping (or knapping) the dodmans." " But what are mavishes and what are dodmans ? " was his reply. He recognised "knapping " from "kuappeth the spear " in the Psalms. I have not observed malahackcd and jamtmick amongst your correspondents' lists. I heard of a B NORFOLK. donkey purchased for little money on account of some injury ; but it was not so malahacked as to be jammucked for all that." Has any one heard now-a-days of a popular remedy for whooping cough, namely, pills made from the hair cut off the dark brown mark on the donkey's back, and called Balaam's smite, made up with butter or -dripping, I believe ? Also fried mice, always pro- nounced meece, or dragging a. child through the space formed by a bramble grown at both ends. Four moles' feet, tied up in a bag, and worn round the neck are good for rheumatism, but it must be the forefeet which are to be worn in case of rheumatism in the arms, and hindfeet for the legs. Hoping I have not been too garrulous, A NOEFOLX WOMAN. I notice that " A, G. B." in his letter to-day refers to an olland being frequently called a layer or lay. This is not quite correct. A layer or lay is the term applied to grass growing for hay from the tin-e the barley is cut till it is well grown and almost ready to cut ; and the term olland is applied to the land after the second crop of hay has been taken off. Amongst the words I have not yet seen in your paper are the following: Sanni- ken, silly, foolish ; jumble, porter and beer mixed ; danks, tea leaves. A man once explained to me of two main drains in a heavy laud field that ?one come _sarshen, father one go yin. I have heard a wedding favour, i.e., rosette, called a gay as well as flowers and pictures. I have also by me many letters from work- jng men, which, as lessons in phonetic spelling, are as good as one can wish for, and I once received a letter on the envelope of which was written, OCTIONABY. Having been much interested in reading your correspondence on "Broad Norfolk," permit me to contribute my quota, and to observe that our Norfolk peasantry have been the conservators of many words that have been handed down since .East Auglia was peopled by Saxons, Danes, and Norman invaders. 4., the other day! asked a person who was long in arrears to me when it would be convenient BROAD NORFOLK. to pay, at which he rather tartly told me I was not " Jarmeck^ Some friend will perhaps interpret. Another, a tenant in trade, told me that business was so down that he should " Jack j." A Norfolk man may generally be spotted by his brogue ; for instance, I was once at an inn-room in a small town in Scotland, where sat a solitary gentleman eating his dinner. He suddenly arose and rang the bell. Waiter put in his appearance, a dirty napkin on his arm. "Waiter, have you got any tetters ? " I interrupted, " Bor, yew are Norfolk." Aud the stranger replied, " So are yew, bor." After further confab he informed me that he "did in the beut and shue line, and hailed from Norwioh." Eustic ignorance, too, is conspicuous. I was walking near Sandringham on a -sketching excursion, and trying to depict some ruins. A boy tending some pigs was near me. On asking the youth in what parLsh the ruins were he, pitying my ignorance, informed me, " Don't yer see they beant in no parish ; they be in a feld." I know Forby's " Vocabulary of East Anglia " is an authority, but something in the shape of an addenda would be of value to preserve these quaint old words. W. C. S. The curious expressions appearing in the Press under the heading of " Broad Norfolk " have been numerous, yet some have escaped the notice of previous writers. Some people may look upon this corres- pondence as a lot of squit and slaver (nonsense), but they need not look "as sour as u-adges" about it. Having^;; (given) us the opportunity of " airing our lingo," which we haa'nt (have not) had lately, "7'fe git ire it (I will get through) mine in a.j\Jfey (a short space of time). There seems to be such a cholder (quantity) of these phrases, but I think we true Nor- folk j/iaps (fellows) will gie you: all onem in time. When I went to school the boys brought their skran (dinner) with them. Some would have schu-ad (pork cheese or brawn). But I won't go on in this fashion. Flop2)ed is a word in common use, meaning thrown down. Crinkk>/ erankky^ like is explained by the compound word " zig-zag." Children jtffle or jidgctt about, and you might as well 50 BROAD NORFOLK " gape aginst a red hot oven as to stop em." If in- sinuating, I have been asked " what are yer minten at " this may mean hinting. In buying herrings I have heard Norfolk people ask for either " miltz " or dotts, the latter probably owing to the formation of the roe, which appears to be made up of specks or dots. I find, however, that the use of u for o and oo as in lutes, soii)ie,&c., is more marked in Norwich than outside of it. T. P. S. Verily we shall soon have a recorded language peculiarly our own. In order, as we say, to keep the pot a bi'.in, I sei^d a further list of words in daily use (in East Norfolk). Slew, slewed, this word doos not (with us) mean a departure from temperance principles, it is used thus : "Let's slew the elevator round." Ferry fake, impudent prying. What are you ferry f aken arter ? Gulcher, to fall heavily. " It came down a gulcher. Morfrey, an hermaphrodite agricultural carriage, such as tumblers for instance. Huttress, an implement used by blacksmiths for paring hoofs of horses. Meetiners, Protestant Dissenters. Go tu meetin clothes, the Sunday or best suit. Titty totty, extremely tiny. Titty-ma-tortcr, a see-saw, or a see-saw action. Sunk, ill cooked food. "Here's a sunk to sit down to." An old man once addressed his master, a shopkeeper, who was busily engaged in putting the price to some goods, with the following request " Mar hum tru ? " " I am," said the employer. " Yes, sur," said Jemmy, " but mar kum tru, sir ? " After a little " argerfymg '' it turned out that the inquiry really was ' ' May I come through ? " that is, pass by the counter, and not " Mark them true." At prayer meetings I have some- times heard expressions that would puzzle theologians. One good old man always asked that he might be " blowed up like a grain o' mustard seed," which we somehow imagined was a desire that his spiritual graces might bloom (blow) with the celerity of the seed mentioned. It was only the other day I heard an irate rustic, with infinite scorn, express it as his opinion that if he " warn't much of a,rithmetickerer he knowed wot BROAD NORFOLK- 57 tu and tu wos." Possibly lie had heard much of arith- metic from his grandchildren attending the Board " schule." W.H.C. If you are not surfeited with " Broad Nor- folk " I offer the following. Many of the so-called "Broad Norfolk" words which have been referred to in your correspondence are proper words, and in general use throughout a great part of the Kingdom, but somewhat corrupted in pronunciation. /, Harnser, for Heron (pron. Hern}. The former is the scientific name of the tribe of which the Heron is a member. Anser fat is said to be an infallible cure for incurable diseases, probably from the fact that the Heron is nothing but skin and bone. In this respect it is akin to pigeon's milk, so much in request on the 1st of April. Mavis, a thrush, called a grey bird in Devonshire, where the blackbird is sometimes called a black thrush. Cosset, Cocset, a lamb, &c., brought up by hand Spenser. [Bailey.] Cub-baw. A young Frenchman many years ago came to England, and applied himself to the study of the language and idioms. He heard a Norfolk farmer shout " Cub-baw ! " to his lad, who was slow in bringing his horse. The pocket dictionary was brought into requisition without effect. " What did he say ? " says the Frenchman to a friend ; " I've looked through C and K and can't find anything like it." This was the first occasion that M. du Maurier (for he it was) heard the Norfolk pronunciation of " Come boy." Caddow, a Jackdaw, or chough, Norf. [Bailey], sometimes called " Gadder.'' 1 I suppose you have heard the tale of Bishop Stanley and " Jim Crow's cadders." Cupbear, should be " Come hither," or " Come hither tci' ye" When a teamman leads his horse he is on the left, or near side ; therefore the expression would mean "turn to the left." Whisk, or whosh, a frightening sound, to drive the horse to the right. " Come hither wi' ye " is used in the west of England, but I have never heard " ivhish " out of Norfolk. Contain is sometimes used for "detain," e.g., "I won't contain you." Dartff, darn. The first word seems to be Norfolk, BROAD NORFOLK. ftie other is heard in other places. Both words may be as near an approach to a great big D as politeness would permit. Dow, dove. This is in use in tlie north of England and in Scotland. Deficiency, for sufficiency. Heard at a village tea meeting, "Do 'ee have another .cup of tea, Mr. Lemon." [He had already had 18.] "Nothank'ee marm, I've had quite a deficiency." Enow, plural of enough [" Walker's Dictionary."] Used elsewhere. Fysty, foisty. Spoken of food whea going bad or mouldy. Fust, a strong smell, as that of a mouldy barrel. Fustiness, mouldinesa, stink. Fusty, smell- ing mouldy. [Walker.] Keeler, a shallow tub query from " Cooler." Huh-er, for holly (hulfere, holly, "Chaucer") "Query, wholly green, always green, wholly-vert. A Bhmb that is green in wiuter and summer. ^ Half- rucl\ hall- w. Un:7.l,>, Ttiiakin, 't-ry _ hoodkin, dim. of hood ; a cevering for a cut finger. . Gii/e>; good father, Saxon, use* all over the ', Mentle, Mantle, a working apron. Mawkin, a figure set up to scare birds. Malkin (of Mall, contrac. of Mary, and 'kin, or mannikiri), a sort of mop or shovel for sweeping an oven. [Bailey], " Malkintrash," one in a rueful dress, enough to fright one [Bailey]. " Crimaikiii," lie. a grey malkin ; an old cat [gray, and malkin, a dirty drab, a corruption of Moll or Mary. fi Chambers's Dictionary."] Dudman, Tnfl.11rin > or scarecrow, a hobgoblin, a spright Plantain, plantation. Pig h tie, alias Picle, Pictellum, a small parcel of land .inclosed with a hedge, which the common people of .England do, in some places, call a Pingle, and may perhaps be derived from the Italian word Picciola, i. jmrvus ["Dr. Co wel's Dictionary, 1708]. ' Paick, poke (?) Pakenose, an inquisitive person, pokenose (?) '' Pulk hole. Pulla, a pool or lake of standing water, - whence a pulk is a small pond or hole of standin^ 'water. ["BlometieldV Norfolk," vol. III., p. 271. .Title, "Pulham."] 1 Romant, a corruption of romance, a suggestion that BROAD NORFOLK. 59 the person who has "romanted" has drawn on his imagination. Skarm, Shawm (?). From its sound it would seem to infer a noisy instrument ; but I believe the shawm was a stringed instrument. Swelling, a candle wasting from draught. "The candle was swaling in the wind." SJ;ide, a part of a field in the shape of a shield (?), from scutum (Latin), a shield. A Sis.wrara, does this refer to a blow such as Jael dealt Sisera? Sag, to hang down on one side. [Bailey.] Sidus, sideways. Theiv and sneiv. An old shepherd once said to me, " First it blew, then it anew, then it thew, and thfn it turned round and friz." E. B. POUEEOY. Among the words not already mentioned may be included shall, which, as well as cail, means to throw, more especially, I think, a missile at any living creature ; and jannick, fair or candid, as, for instance, " I hope he will be jannick, and tell the whole truth about the matter." Is jannick a corruption of genuine ? EAMBLEE. 1 Though rather late in the day, I venture to send you a small contribution on this subject. When a boy I constantly heard a curious expression which I find it somewhat difficult to describe. It was a prefix like the word " saint," only pronounced short, thus, "Don't s'nt antickin like that, don't." The word* " mischievous " is commonly pronounced mischecvous, with the accent on the second syllable, and I have heard it used in the sense of active and restless, as "I'm a mischeevous sort of man, and must be doing something." The word terrify is, I believe, often used in the sense of tease, as "The flies terrify the hoss." I was pleased to see the word slitss in one of . your correspondent's letters, as it seems to me to be the true Nortolk pronunciation; but the word maris, . mentioned earlier, I have always heard called marisli, and come-arther and whoosh seem to my recol- lection the sounds of the guiding words of the driver of a waggon to his horses. I BROAD NORFOLK. once heard the gable end of a house called the gavel end, and this struck me, as there is a mountaiu in Cumberland commonly called Great uable, but de- scribed in a guide book as Great Garel, the explanation of the name being that it is like the gable end of a house. What is now called Boxing Day was in my young time called Offering Day, and as their Christmas boxes are said to have originally been religious gifts, there may be a trace of this origin in the name of the day. There is one other point I should like to men- tion. I have often noticed that strangers to this county have a tendency to pronounce names of places enoing with " ham " as if they ended with "sham." Thus they call Aylsham ^iyl-sham, instead of Ayls- ham, as it should be, and as I believe it would be called by natives of the place, unless they have been "educated " out of it. This is of some importance, because the new pronunciation destroys the historical value of the name. E. The following expressions struck me as being peculiar to Norfolk when I first came to reside ia the county. For instance, when the church bell is tolling for the dead, I have been asked, " Who the bell is out for ? " Do you know so and so ? "I know him to see to." For next morning you often hear "next day morn." J. C. S. I don't remember having seen the following odd words in your interesting correspondence. I have heard them used in different parts of this county all my life. A man went fhhiug and caught a corker and a tchopper, meaning a large fish ; another shot an old sea mow. A gardener told me one day, " I see our old missis this mornin', and she was right yipper, meaning in good spirits. Othei phrases are to go fribbling and famick'm or grubbing about for noic't, to be trapen about when it smurs of rain, and then go home and have a feu- gruel or broth to keep the cold out ; to have a hot dannock for tea (a piece of dough baked in the frying pan as you would a pancake). There appears to be no end of these odd expressions, but a country village amongst the old folk'is the place to hear them. LAWK-A-DAIST-ME. BROAD NORFOLK. Gl On consulting my note book, in which I jot down such little matters of personal observation, I find a few phrases which may not yet have appeared in this correspondence. Several of the so-called words that have been given are combinations, and ould never rightly appear in any vocabulary. I observe a few common words with an unusual application, such are know used as a noun, as " to lose one's know;" rise, in the sense of "raise;" might, as a noun, as in "a might of corn;" welt, to droop ; fence for hedge ; gain and imgain, convenient, fcc.; lash, cold, raw ; clutch, a seat of eggs ; andjfe, as in " flat milk." The word Jumble may be merely slang. A little girl came running up to mo one day, and with intonation and accent that can never be expressed on paper, said, " Oh ! I have had such a ride in Mr. Blackburn's dickey caat, that went so fast, that it jumble right up agen the deke." Also a few peculiar words ; such are ringe, meaning a row or ridge ; scocker, a verb expressing the break- ing or bursting of the bark of a tree ; snew, a noose ; shacking, turning out pigs to gather stray ears in a harvest field. One might notice also such expressions as perk for perch, and u-anten for wanted. "Fosse," mentioned by one of your correspondent;, is familiar in Lincoln- shire. E. G. W. TTJCKKE. I don't know if my explanation will be satis- factory to your correspondent "M. C. H. Bird," as I am prepared with no proof. I may say, however, that when a lad my father informed me that in his young days the three Miss Pograms were prominent characters in a novel much read at the time. They were Nonconformists af a very sanctimonious type; hence, in ridicule, it is to be feared, Dissenters came to be spoken of as Pograms, and their chapel as a -shop. Amongst the instances of Xorfolk expressions I have not noticed in your coloumns ttaicky, a harvest frolic. If I mistake not I have met with this term in Bloomfield's " Farmer's Boy." "W. N. Your various CDrrespoudents are getting to- gether quite a copious vocabulary of the words and 62 BROAD NORFOLK. phrases peculiar to our own and our sister county, Suffolk. So far, however, I have not noticed any allusion to two words in very general use onede-' scriptive of a fretful baby, who is said to be> ' sannicking," and the other of a handyman in amateur carpentering, &c., who is coinplimentarily referred to as a good "jimpsener." I spell both words ^ phonetically, not being acquainted with any other mode. More than one- of the letters published under this heading give mavis as a Norfolk word. This is cer- tainly good Lowland Scottish as well as Norfolk. Witness the adorer of "Bonnie Mary of Argyle," who used to hear The n-.avis singing It's love-song to the morn. Scott also commences one of his minor lays with "Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, "When mavis and merle are singing and many other references to the thrush under the name of " mavis " might be quoted. The distinguishing characteristics of East Anglian patois, however, are the suppression of the letter " r " when it comes after a vowel, and, less frequently, of the " g " final. For instance, in the " Cairn" Hall on any Saturday one is not unlikely to be made the re- cipient of a communication somewhat in this strain : " Sam ' Pouter's' coV bolted this ' maunin,' and broke the ' hahness " and smashed the '-caht.' " PHABAOJB. If your space will admit I shall be glad if you wiil insert the following instances of "Broad " language which I have not already seen mentioned in the corres- pondence on the subject : Bishimer or fshiincr, the ant. Unsensed, rendered insensible. Kicking up a row, talking loudly to the annoyance of others. Springy, a little the worse for dnnk. FUet, of little depth, as "a. fact dish.' Heel, remains of tobacco left in a pipe after smoking. Click, to throw as "I'll click .a. stone into tLe dog. I gathered myself up, I rose up (after being thrown down on the ground from any cause). BROAD NORFOLK. 63 Grained. The author of "Giles's Trip to London " calls this "greened,'' 1 but "grained " I hiive always heard in this district. My cold is breaking a bit refers to convalescence after a cold. I heard an old lady ask fora "deceit" the other day, meaning " a receipt." Some pronunciations of scientific terms are peculiar. Carbonate of soda becomes Carpenter's soda, and Iodine, Arradeen. " ALPHA." Has anyone noticed the Norfolk peculiarity of using more verbs than in any other counties, especially as regards do, did, and have ? Thus " he didn't ought to do it ; " " he didn't ought to have done it," &c. f f Many persons supposed to be educated make this mistake as well as uneducated people, who pro- bably would say " C?M, he didn't ought to have done it." A. D. I have not seen in your very interesting cor- respondence reference yet to the word stove, meaning to fumigate. As for the word dullah, I once heard it used in the following expression : " If you don't leave off that ther dullah I'll cop you into the deke's holl and leave you there to blar ! " There were the words of a sister to her little brother. Have you had the tword lether, meaning ladder ! I heard it once used in this way" Haiir the lether." T. T. -, I have been very much interested in the cor- 'respondence on this subject in the Daily Press. lam _a Norfolk man, and iave livtd in West, South, and North Norfolk, and have noticed varieties of dialect peculiar to each division of the county. On my return to the county, after many years' absence, I . listen with renewed delight to the old expressions, many of which I had almost forgotten. Thirty years ago I . could have giveu you a formidable list of them. I have - not noticed that any of -your correspondents have men- tioned the use of the word happined as signifying "met." " I Iir, I up and c*tch'd him a rum'un ! I reckon his hid wuz sore, BROAD NORFOLK. 69 Least-ways, he haint bin cotnin' his tricks wi' Sairey no more, And I think, if ever she fancied him, when Sairey cum to see How I luther'd his hide, she'll repent on't, and git harself spliced to me. For Sally is none o' yar dollops, she aint no dawdlin' slut, "With bar faace all a-muck an' untidy like a sow an" nine pigs in a rut ; She's a slap-up mawther, I te'l ye, and lawk-a-daisy me ! I well might be torken about her, for, dang it why, haar she be ! E. HEWETT The articles and letters in your recent issues on " Broad Norfolk " are most interesting, and I should like to say a word on the point raised by <( Joskin" in list Tuesday's paper, where he says that we do not often hear of a Norfolk man being recognised by his brogue. This arises, I am inclined to think, more from the circumstance that such events are not recorded rather than that they do not occur. I am myself a native of the " City of Gardens," but left it thirty-eight years ago, and have only been there once since, viz., at " Festival " time, 1863. During the interval I have,in consequence of my connection with one of the departments of our Army, lived at many different places, both at home and abroad, and I think I am right in saying that in every one of them I have been recognised as a Norfolk man simply from my speech. The last instance may suffice, which was that shortly after my joining my present station, I was introduced to the Town Clerk. Almost as soon as I spoke he said, "Pardon me, but from what part of Norfolk do you come? "he himself, I found, having been born in Surrey Street, Norwich. Now, as I may, without vanity, lay claim to be considered a well - educated man, and thus not given to "provincialisms," and as my experience is some what cosmopolitan, I think that the incident above mentioned may be worth recording (and I doubt not there might be hundreds, or thousands, of similar ones), as showing how one's early associations with the East Anglian capital still cling around us, although two-thirds of our life have been spent away from the old city ; indeed, the problem is as interesting as those your chess editor gives us week by week, only that I am unable to solve it so easily as I can the latter. W. SHAW " 72 BROAD NORFOLK. j. v *n.v me school Board came into operation. Treu at the age of seven or eight years were sent into the fields to scare birds or to gather stones at so much per bushel, without ever having had the oppor- tunity of learning the alphabet, that they should call a potato a "tater" and tobacco "bacca," &c. I am glad to think that many of your correspondents have had the advantage of a grammar or School Board education, and know how to avoid the errors which the poor and uneducated Norfolk and Suffolk labourers have fallen into. L. J. " Car woo ! Car woo ! Here come the clappers to knock ye down backards and halle car woo." About fifty-five years ago I resided at Thetford. It was the custom round about there to have boys in the corn fields to frighten away the birds. They did so by shouting out the above words, and at the same time using the clappers, which consisted of thin pieces of wood fastened to a handle, which when shaken caused a loud rattling noise. The boys were called " crow keepers." Should you consider the above quoted example sufficiently broad Norfolk, kindly insert it. JNO. HOLLAND. The following eccentricities will probably interest your East Anglian readers : Roaches signifies sweets (this word is far more popular than cooshiesj ; arms and legs home-brewed beer (this term implies that this beer has no body in it) ; ear handle ; kit milk can ; luaesn ; hildje&st ; jangle to argue ; ftulkio clean a rabbit or hare. 1 join with many other readers in hoping that you will produce a pamphlet on the above subject. HEEBEET AXDBEWS. The articles and correspondence in your columns on this subject have been most interesting to me and many friends, and I hope when they are con- cluded you will publish them in a reprint. Another kindred subject is comprised in the names of fields, roads, &c., containing veritable "mines" of historical and traditional information. The names of BROAD NORFOLK. 73 fields were well treated of in a recent number of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society's publica- tions, but by no means exhaustively, and I hope you may see ycur way to make your columns the means of rescuing from oblivion the wealth of history and tradition represented in these names. EDWABD T. AYEES. While fishing close to Barton Broad with a friend, I happened to let my line drag along the bottom, when to my surprise a countryman near gave me the advice " You shud fleeten yar fut line, bor." This I presume meant not to fish quite so deep. E. KENDALL. " Het Varke" asked the other day for the meaning of carder, but gave no context, or example of the way in which the word was used. I have never heard it myself, nor can I find it " registered " any- where. We have a cord of faggots, but this does not appear to be a purely East Anglian expression, for Evelyn used it in Surrey for " a quantity of wood supposed to be measured with a cord (chorda, Latin). It is just possible that "corder" may have been written in mistake for " golder " loud laughter, or Gord a'mercy or Gord ' a'mighty or "colder" rubbish. A friend suggested si vis or si velis as the derivation of " sibbits ; " but we have the true stem occurring in the now perverted "gossip" which originally meant a God parent (God sibj. Perhaps the most loquacious inhabitants of a parish used most frequently to stand proxy. But although Shakespeare used the word gossip in a bad sense, my Johnson's Dictionary reminds me that Spenser used it in a good one. The term " idiot " has passed through a similar change of meaning. Once implying a private gentleman, it now conveys the idea of one deprived of his reason. Please allow me to thank those who publicly and privately have written me about bird names subsequently to your kindly publishing my list. M. C. H. BIED. 74 BROAD NORFOLK. As the correspondence now appearing in your columns is very interesting, here are 'one or two words I have not yet seen mentioned. Shy-tcannicking ; as wherey yow bin shy-wannicking tew. Upon inquiring after a person's health, we hear, " Oh, I'm tolerable, kinder arter the ould sort." A "NORFOLK Kindly allow me space for a word or two anent the patois of Norfolk. Once upon a time, as the story books begin, I owned an Irish cob that was a confirmed biter, and on going to see a friend at Eeepham I told his factotum of the cob's vicious propensity, but notwithstanding this he attempted to clean him without either putting on a cradle provided or tying him up short. The result was that the old man soon came trembling to my friend, and said, "By gom, master, he very nearly /lingered me." It strikes me the following is somewhat " broad " : " I never rid sich a boss. Well there, bor, he kin go. When we got to the tree acres, where the owd yowsare, he was all of a malt. There was a heavy day afore breakfast, and strus as I'm alive I just felt a tpit o raiu, so I must see arter them woats else our master'll be nation riled, and them calves '11 be blaring for their wittles as they allus du if they are kep waitin a minit. My missus ha' scrushed har little nnger good tidily and had to go to the chetnisters for some stuff, it finely ache and take on. T. G. S. In common with many of your readers, I have been a pleased observer of the correspondence which has taken place in your valuable paper on " Broad Norfolk." Being especially interested in " M. C. H. Bird's " capital contributions, I was some- what surprised to see the " Scamel " omitted from tha list of peculiar names applied to the birds of Norfolk. The sweet bard of Avon makes the lick-spittle Caliban to address the drunken Stephano thus : I prithee let me bring thee where crabs grow, And I, with my long nails, will dig thee pig nuts, Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmozet. I'll bring thee To clustring filberts, and sometimes I'll get thee Young scamels from the rock. BROAD NORFOLK. One of our mast eminent ornithologists tells us that the gunners of Blakeney, Norfolk, still call a bird of the Godwit type by this name, a fact which I can confirm. An old taxidermist showed me a specimen there some four years ago. Some of Shakespeare's commentators have been dubious in accepting this bird as the one referred to in the text, one of the chief objections being that there are no rocks at Blakeney. The beautiful pebbly beach at this seaport, how- ever, points to there being some substance of a very hard nature in the far off ages, and the number of eggs still laid among stones which are beyond the reach of the waves, and the number of young ones reared would surprise many of your readers. I venture to express a hope that some handy publi- cation on this subject may be the outcome of this cor- respondence, in the compiling of which a distinction should be made between words of purely Saxon-cum- Norfolk origin and those phrases which murder the English language. Some of your correspondents hav failed to make this distinction. The following are such good specimens of how Nor- folkers can mutilate the Queen's English that I hope you will find room for them. A youth was once asked by his schoolmaster to account for his absence on the pre- ceding day. " It snewed and it blewed and of course I couldn't corned," was the answer. Before the Educa- tion Act, in the "good old times," when the endow- ment of nearly every village school was used for the purposes of secondary education an unnamed pedagogue had, well to put it mildly, the temerity to label his "Dotheboys Hall" as the "Commercial Academy." An old fisherman was struck " all of a haaps " one morning by this notice, and after looking at it for some time to decipher it he was heard to mutter as he jogged along : "Com- i-cal Ak-e-denay: what the dickens is that?' A native who has not been schooled always says "each" for itch. Villagers call a prop a promp, the running stream is still called the beck, while the island on which the alder grows has itself become the alder. I wish to confirm what has already been stated on one side in reference to the term "deck" or "deke." In North Norfolk it is never used to designate a holl or ditch, but refers to the banks of the hedges. Koughton. S. E. BAXEB. 74 BROAD NORFOLK. As the correspondence now appearing in your columns is very interesting, here are one or two words I have not yet seen mentioned. Shy-wannicking ; as wherey yow bin shy-wannicking tew. Upon inquiring after a person's health, we hear, " Oh, I'm tolerable, kinder arter the ould sort." A. "NOBFOLK SWUIMEE." Kindly allow me space for a word or two anent the patois of Norfolk. Once upon a time, as the story books begin, I owned an Irish cob that was a confirmed biter, and on going to see a friend at Reepham I told his factotum of the cob's vicious propensity, but notwithstanding this he attempted to clean him without either putting on a cradle provided or tying him up short. The result was that the old man soon came trembling to my friend, and said, "By gom, master, he very n&atyfimgetvd me." It strikes me the following is somewhat " broad " : " I never rid sich a hoss. Well there, bor, he kin go. When we got to the tree acres, where the owd yows are, he was all of a malt. There was a heavy dag afore breakfast, and strus as I'm alive I just felt a spit o raiu, so I must see arter them woats else our master'll be nation riled, and them calves '11 be blaring for their wittles as they allus du if they are kep waitin a minit. My missus ha' scrushed har little finger good tidily and had to go to the chemisters for some stuff, it finely ache and take on. T. G. S. In common with many of your readers, I have been a pleased observer of the correspondence which has taken place in your valuable paper on " Broad Norfolk." Being especially interested in " M. C. H. Bird's " capital contributions, I was some- what surprised to see the " Scamel " omitted from tha list of peculiar names applied to the birds of Norfolk. The sweet bard of Avon makes the lick -spittle Caliban to address the drunken Stephano thus : I prithee let me bring thee where crabs grow, And I, with my long nails, will dig thee pig nuts, Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmozet. I'll bring thee To clustring filberts, and sometimes I'll get thee Young scamels from the rock. BROAD NORFOLK. 75 One of our most eminent ornithologists tells us that the gunners of Blakeney, Norfolk, still call a bird of the Godwit type by this name, a fact which I can confirm. An old taxidermist showed me a specimen there some four years ago. Some of Shakespeare's commentators have been dubious in accepting this bird as the one referred to in the text, one of the chief objections being that there are no rocks at Blakeney. The beautiful pebbly beach at this seaport, how- ever, points to there being some substance of a very hard nature in the far off ages, and the number of eggs still laid among stones which are beyond the reach of the waves, and the number of young ones reared would surprise many of your readprs. I venture to express a hope that some handy publi- cation on this subject may be the outcome of this cor- respondence, in the compiling of which a distinction should be made between words of purely Saxon- cum - Norfolk origin and those phrases which murder the English language. Some of your correspondents have failed to make this distinction. The following are such good specimens of how Nor- f oikers can mutilate the Queen's English that I hope you will find room for them. A youth was once asked by his schoolmaster to account for his absence on the pre- ceding day. " It snewed and it blewed and of course I couldn't corned," was the answer. Before the Educa- tion Act, in the " good old times," when the endow- ment of nearly every village school was used for the purposes of secondary education an unnamed pedagogue had, well to put it mildly, the temerity to label his "Dotheboys Hall" as the "Commercial Academy." An old fisherman was struck " all of a haaps " one morning by this notice, and after looking at it for some time to decipher it he was heard to mutter as he jogged along: "Com- i-cal Ak-e-demy: what the dickens is that?' A native who has not been schooled always says "each" for itch. Villagers call a prop a promp, the running stream is still called the beck, while the island on which the alder grows has itself become the alder. I wish to confirm what has already been stated on one side in reference to the term "deck" or " deke." In North Norfolk it is never used to designate a holl or ditch, but refers to the banks of the hedges. Eoughton. S. E. BAKEE. 7G BROAD NORFOLK. Our attention has been called to the following letters which appeared in the " Gentleman's Magazine" in 1791:- It is a common saying amongst the common people in this place (Norwich), when a person does not seem to recruit after a fit of illness, or when he does not thrive in the world, that such an one does not moise. Now, sir, I have ransacked several of our English dictionaries, both ancient and modern, but can find no such word, nor indeed any word that this is likely to be a corruption of ; and, as I never heard it used anywhere else but here, and can find no one acquainted with its etymology, I thought, perhaps, some of your ingenious correspondents might be able to trace its original ; or if not, thai it might possibly be an addition to the long catalogue of nondescripts with which Mr. Croft's Dictionary is to abound. M. The subjoined appeared in reply: "M," in p. 1022, wishes to know the meaning of " He does not moise," a Norfolk phrase when a person does not seem to recruit after a tit of illness, or does not thrive in the world. It appears to be the verb belonging to moison, which, with some of its family, is still found in French. Jloison has been in our language. Chaucer uses it, and Tyrwhitt's " Glossary " explains it, "harvest," " growth," Urry's, from Skinner, " ripe- ness." Moise moison had the same relation, perhaps, as grow- growth, succeed success, $c. The dictionary of the gentleman whom " M " mentions is likely to tnoise, 1 hope ; and will, perhaps, go to press this winter with more than 20,000 words which are not in Johnson, supported by authorities. " M " will oblige Mr. C. very much by communicating to your magazine or your printer any other provincial phrases, all of which will turn out, perhaps, not to be corruptions (as "M" supposes moise}, but the language of our ancestors, and the seeds of our own language. H. C. N.B. The dictionary referred to above, which was to have been entitled, "The New Dictionary of the English Language," by the Hev. Herbert Croft, LL.B., London, 1788, was for some reason never published. BROAD NORFOLK. 77 I hasten to reply to the Rev. M. C. H. Bird as regards the word carder. In my first communication I stated that it appears on notice-boards at Catton. It is in the shape of a warning" Corder must not be thrown here" and no doubt is the same as the word colder, instanced by Mr. Bird. Dr. Murray, who is editing that magnificent work, the "New English Dictionary," asked me long ago about "corder," and remarked that someone had said it should be colder. Professor Furnivall, in 1864-, noted the word " corder" on a Norwich notice-board. What is the origin of these words ? Allow me to join with others in the hope that the correspondence on " Broad Norfolk" maybe re-pub- lished in pamphlet form. The spelling of the East Anglian dialect words is evidently very unsettled. One of your correspondents writes of a, hawkey, bloomfield and others who used the word wrote horkey, and I believe Dr. Jessopp writes baw instead of the more familiar "bor." Among Sorrow's localisms quoted in my former letter I should have included lash. He writes of the grass being " lash and sour." Rodger 1 s blast, or rodges-blast, is a puzzle. I think the suggested derivation from sirocco is too far- fetched. As a fact, does anyone call this windy visita- tion Sir Roger } A possible etymology is from, the Anglo-Saxon rogge, to shake, used by Chaucer. With your permission I will add a few more local words -.BaWmy, a local mode of fishing ; bauley- loats, Harwich fishing smacks ; boulders, clumps of fldgs ; carrs, low copses in marshes ; dams, drained marshes ; dydling, cleaning river bottoms with a scoop ; fleet, a shallow; frails, straw baskets ; gloat, a species of eel ; hover, a floating island ; lamming, bleating of snipe ; llggers, bundles of reeds to which fishing lines are attached ; loaders, herring of specially beautiful tints ; miel-banks, banks of sand blown up by the wind and consolidated by the marum grass also called " meal-banks" ; pulks, miniature broads which open off rivers ; putty, mud on river bottoms, &e. ; quant, a boating pole perhaps derived from Latin contits, a pole; rands or ronds, reed- covered banks ; rounding time, spawning time ; swiping, raising old anchors for an Admiralty reward ; water- cynd, sea smoke, a dense vapour from the sea. BROAD NORFOLK. These examples are all from Mr. Christopher Davies' work on the "Norfolk Broads" (Blackwood, 1884.) [Other illustrations Mr. Christopher Davies has men- tioned to me: When a marsh is covered with water it is said to be bright ; a lead pencil is usually called a cedar pencil. C-H.] I have asked in vain for an explanation of the word coquilles, which Mr. Rye, in his " History of Norfolk," calls " our Norwich coquail." I do not know his authority for this strange spelling. It may be con- nected with cockell bread, or kichell cakes. The latter were given by godfathers and godmothers when- ever their godchildren sought a blessing from them. Perhaps when godchildren ceased to ask for these blessings, kichell cakes also became obsolete. The word scamel has a special interest from Shakspeare's use of it. Not long since there was a leaderette on the subject in the Daily News, which I cut out, but cannot now find. I fear the interest of the subject is leading me to an inordinate trespass on your hospitable columns, but I should just like to state that the Greek word from which we derive idiot was not specially applied to gentlefolks, but rather t the " dim common popula- tions," for, no doubt as Mr. Bird is aware, our earliest versions of the Bible have " the idiotes heard him gladly" i.e., the common people, a Greek idiot being any private, ordinary person, having no official status. Just as the common people became idiots, so did the holy people become silly selig, holy, and as the dire Gehenna, the ever-burning rubbish heap outside Jerusalem, has dwindled amongst infidel Frenchmen into gene, a bore ! I don't know why muck should be claimed as a native word of these parts. Lord Verulam, sometimes wrongly called Lord Bacon, said " Money is like muck, not good except it be spread." HET YAEEE. Before closing the interesting correspondence on this subject I should like, with your permission, to make one or two suggestions. The Rev. M. C. H. Bird and Mr. A. Patterson having given us the local nicknames by which the feathered tribes of East Anglia are known, would it not be equally interesting if some one would do the like for the BROAD NORFOLK 79 weeds and wild flowers, trees, and shrubs of the same district ? In the building trade amongst labourers and artisans a great number of local terms are used which are not found in any architectural dictionary such as Jimmies or Jimmers for hinges, Pamments for pave- ment tiles, colder for brick rubbish, &c. A list of all which provincialisms would be very valuable. The suggestion to reprint these contributions in book form is good ; but to be of use they should all be re- cast in alphabetical order, and at the same time it would be as well to annotate the present collection with Halliday, Moor, Faby . Nail, Isaac Taylor, and the "East Anglian Notes 'and Queries," which last contains a great number of provincialisms not be found elsewhere. Every district and county in England has its peculiar dialect, though making use of many word which are common to several, or even all ; but with the School Board in full operation everywhere they will probably in the course of a generation or so entirely disappear and be lost. This would be a great pity, and therefore before such a catastrophe takes place, would it not be well for the leading daily paper iu each county to open its columns for correspondence on the subject, and so make collections similar to the one you are now making, which will be priceless hereafter. How this is to be brought about I do not know. Possibly the " Philological," " Folk Lore," or other societies might see their way to undertake it ; but it appears to me it should be done through the newspapers, and not by the different archaeo- logical journals. Their circulation is not sufficient, and they do not reach the class which would be likely to forward the matter. Every one takes the newspaper, and the response which has been made since " C-H." first threw down the gauntlet on the last day of last year has been simply astonishing, one feels wholly stammed to find such a large body of informa- tion forthcoming in so short a time. No less thau 91 letters from 75 different writers have appeared from December 31st, 1892, to January 18th, 1893, iiiclu- a period of nineteen days only ! It is worth while contrasting this with the twenty years gatherings of a local archaeological journal upon the same subject simply to show without any disparage- ment whatever to the journal the superior collective power of the daily Press, its extensive 80 BROAD NORFOLK. publicity and far-reaching ramifications. The "East Anglian Notes and Queries," commenced in 1858 by by the late Mr. Samuel Tymms, F.S.A., and continued to the time of his lamented decease in 1870, re- commenced in 1885 by the Rev. Evelyn White, and continuing to the present time, has only published fifty-nine communications from forty-five writers upon this subject, and very many of these letters have been discussions upon single words only. It will, therefore, be seen at once the superior agency of the daily Press in forwarding this work all over the kingdom, and to be of use it should be done at once. I was sorry to see the letter of your correspondent " L. J." in this morning's issue. It is the only jarring note that has been heard, and is calculated to damp others. " L. J.," if not bilious, is unreasonable. He should remember that a newspaper is like a fishing net it gathers everything. The fisherman does not reject the whole of his " haul " because it contains some "rubbidge" he very wisely separates the one from the other as the farmer does " the wheat from the tares " and the " sheep from the goats." Let him listen to the Eev. Isaac Taylor, " Nineteen-twentieths of the vocabulary of any people lives only in the literature and the speech of the cultured classes. But the remainder the twentieth part has a robust life in the daily usage of the sons of toil, and this limited portion of the national speech never fails to include the names of those objects which are the most familiar and the most beloved. JOHN L. CLEXIEHCE. I have been much interested in the articles and correspondence in your paper concerning provincial words more or less peculiar to the Norfolk dialect, and if not too late I should like to mention an incident from my own experience. A fisherman on Cromer Beach once remarked in the course of a con- versation " The sea is a smoultin now." and further explained this by saying that " it gits kinder smoother when the tide is goin' out." It is a well known fact that in stormy weather the sea becomes calmer during the ebb tide, and " smoultin " appears to be the colloquial expression on the Norfolk coast which describes this phenomenon. AETHTTE W. WISEHAN. BROAD NORFOLK. 81 Now we ha got our 'lotments we can grow greens, grains, and taters, and roisberries and guse- berries tu, which is suffin new ; and a good help 'tis to find wittles for our housen. Besides, now larning is gan in, and since wages is hained to what they warr a few year back when Joe Arch axt us all to jine the Union and pull straight we ought, afore long, to be a heap better to do than the old uns wore, who had to live on dry brade. They wore nowhere then no wage, no 'lotments, no edication. Just you come and pake round my 'lotment and see my nuvering (manoeu- vring), and I will show you what the lond will grow. I ha got a rum funny lot of taters ; they are some bigness, and rare good ating into the bargin ; besides parsnips and carrots and the like, which help to stop a gap where you have a lot of kids to find wittels for. I keep a pig in the sty now, John bor, and he ate up all the cayed taters and other refuge that we het to grow that would be 'stried. Lately my missus have been tending him on male and fine brun, and being a good grubber is right fit for the knife ; which (hold your whip) will come in for rent, which hev allus been a puzzler for us iver since we heb been spliced. What do make me so fidgety when the gals and chaps fall out is that they soon get from words to blows about nothing. There is such a duller made with them mawthers. You can hear them blubbering, blaring, and mobben, when I het to go arter them and square em all, they du fare such duzzy f ules. I say, together, you ha got what a good many hant, a place to antic in. You can all muse yarselfs and play tit a ma torter, and hub ma grub, and the likes. Therefore sattle down and let us hear no more of your squalling and squaking. AN AECH LABOUEEE. "Het Varke" and other correspondents have pointed out how difficult is the orthography of dialectic pronunciation. This accounts for " corder," "colder," &c. A few such instances occur in the words quoted by " Het Varke " from Mr. Da vies' "Norfolk Broads." Frails I have always heard of as "Flail baskets ; " the former gives the meaning but the latter is the provincial term. Gloat becomes " glotts " or "glutts." Hove should be "hover" or "huvver." 82 BROAD NORFOLK. Miel banks is never used in E. Norfolk, but always " hills " or " sandhills." Quant approaches its Latin equivalent more nearly when pronounced, as it some- times is, " quont." Although the rudd are here called roud, yet all Broadland fishes are said to be on the roud (not round) when spawning. I did not intend to use "gentleman" in its present restricted sense, in my last communication, as the latter part of the sentence in which it occurred shows, for both a gentleman and a scavenger are equally liable to lose their reason. Even this "gentleman" has a better provincial meaning than is usually conveyed by the term. Here it means " generous," not necessarily " one as lives right up," but "you're a gentleman" means you're a real one. Whenever I have heard the Broadland sirocco spoken of it has always been as " Sir Epdger." Perhaps it happened thus : A boat- man might have heard a yachting gent say, "Why, that was a regular sirocco." There is no doubt that many modern Norfolk words are corruptions from some such repetitions and hurried readings. The pre- sent correspondence is very useful, because it shows what words are now in use, and several almost obsolete, " plaucher" and " goaf," e.g., have been brought to light and life. Mr. Clemence made a good suggestion when he said that individuals should become specialists, and make separate collections of terms used in special branches of what shall I say " work and play." A builder's list would have given us colder, and a coleopterist's collection should contain a " Bishop -Barnabee " (Bishop pro- nounced Bisher). With the same idea in my head I wrote to Mr. Patterson to give us a catalogue of piscatorial nick-names. These he sent to me instead of to you, as I suggested, thinking in his native modesty that they would not be sufficiently interesting for publication. Marshall's " Rural Economy " (1795) contains some 300 provincialisms connected with agri- culture, collected by himself in two years. It was more easy for him to " spot " such things then, for he was a stranger amongst us, whereas we who have been accustomed to hear these words and phrases from our youth up fail to notice some of them. Moreover, there was not so much "slang" in those days, nor had books, papers, and railways reduced the mother tongue to such a dead level as now. " Herbert Andrews " calls BROAD NORFOLK. 83 homebrew " arms and legs." I once heard something like it applied to the much maligned, but muchly imbibed, brewer's " stuff." TTpon asking at a village pub. for some of their " best and mildest " to take on to the broad, a man in the bar said ' ' Tangle leg, you mean." " What do you mean by tangle leg ?" said I. "Oh, what get inter yer legs, and make yer legs fly about afore it get inter yer heead," says he. We have a curious custom surviving in this little village, that of the children going r und and hollering (singing) " Good Morrer, Walentin," in expectation of some trifling recognition of their good wishes, which in order to perpetuate the harmless amusement I make a point of reciprocating. What is the origin of the children of Horning hollerin, " Ho John Barleycorn " to river passengers ? Does any such custom prevail elsewhere ? I wonder no reference has been made to superstitions, charms, and witchery, but I must desist or I shall have some bodies, "Sprites" perhaps, " over -looking " me to-morrow. ~ M. C. H. BIBD. P.S. I was glad to see this morning in the Eastern Daily Press that a suggestion of mine was likely to be acted upon, viz. , that the local Mutual Improvement Society might with pleasure and profit discuss Broad Norfolk. Will "An Arch Labourer" tell us how he plays "hub ma grub ?" I venture to trouble you with a few words which I have been accustomed to hear in common use. I think they are fresh to your interesting collection. I should like also to see a collection of Norfolk sayings and superstitions. Beetle, a wooden mallettused with wedges to "rive" up timber ; baulks, ridges for sowing mangold ; bile, the bale or handle of a pail ; betsy, a teakettle ; barm, yeast or leaven, beer tasting of " yist " is " barmy ; " barmy, a, soft person, a "Susan;" brumble, bramble or blackberry bush. Cosh, the chaff or husk of wheat, also a stick; chummy, a sparrow and a soft felt hat ; clates,hee\ irons on boots ; cobble, the stone of fruit, lime, and paving- stones ; church-hole, a grave, a term used to frighten children. '84 BROAD NORFOLK. lioss or Dossett, a hassock for kneeling upon ; dump, a term in brickmaking, a short, fat person is called "a little dump; " daft, demented; dibbling, using dibbles for " corn droppers," mostly done by women walking backward ; dumplin dust, flour. Faut for fault ; full flopper, a full-fledged nestling ; flight of bees, a swarm, not being the first one from the hive. Hod, as coal hod, brick hod, mangold hod, etc.; hotch-potch, Irish stew (also a legal term); hind, a term of reproach, a scoundrel. Jill, a two-wheeled carriage for timber, one with four wheels is a drug; jot, part of the inside anatomy of a pig. Litonn, a garret window. Pollard, a tree that has been " topped and lopped ; " posset, a mixture of treacle and milk for a cough Quick-set, ycung white thorn-plants. Rafe -boards, on v wagons ; also applied to high shirt collars ; run, a brook of water. Scrog, to cut field beans with a sickle or hook ; shanks' a pony, one's own legs ; shepherd's fock, white fleecy clouds, indicative of fine weather ; Sally, a hare ; settle, a high-backed seat used in inns. Ting, to beat a shovel with a key when bees swarm ; tttpp, a rani ; tang, the tongue of a buckle or " Jew's harp;" top-saicyer, " the boss ;" toad-in-the-hole, a batter pudding baked with a piece of meat in it. Wap, flog or "trounce." E. SKINNER. " Moise " I have frequently heard used by nonscoring partners at whist or bowls. One will remark, "We don't seem to 'moise,' partner." Snatchet is a word I have heard frequently when somebody has done what he thought a clever thing, but got defeated in his object. " You thought you had done a snachet." It seems to refer to some kind of sharp practice. I hear occasionally dentists referred to as gum ticklers, and organists as wind jammers, but are these terms confined to Norfolk ? T. ATEES. BROAD NORFOLK. 85 It is with no small interest that I have read the numerous letters on "Broad Norfolk." Although so large a number of words and sayings have been inserted in your columus, I believe the following have up till now been omitted. The word doss (mean- ing a hassock) , and bunny (a swelling caused by a blow on the head), as well as cussy for a rap on the hand, are all pure Norfolk words. Then there are expressions such as ; "There mor doan't stand ther' star garping at me, but go inter shud aud git the biler, and doau't forgit to bring the leed, and look here, bor, if yow twilt him I'll twilt yow, so mini yer that." The latter expression I heard (no later than last month) used by an old lady to a boy who had been " t wilting" (fight- ing) her grandson. DAISY DIMPLE. I should like to tell you I have seen the feeten of an old hin amun the pelanders (polyanthus), and to drive her out of the garden hive said Hush, Httush, many times. Is not " Huush " another form of " Woosh" go from me ? L. A. BUSSEY. I have read most of the correspondence in your paper respecting "Broad Norfolk." The majority of the words dealt with I have heard spoken in. that part of Norfolk which lies between Wroxham and North Walsham. A bannock is a word in common use, meaning a cake baked in a French oven. When a labourer has had one of these for his morning meal he tiridges off to work on the farm. If the man is a stupid fellow he is called by his comrades a. " duke's headed fule ; " if he is occasionally the worse for drink, and not to be depended upon, they say he has no persayvance over hisself. I have heard this word used hundreds of times in the parish of Tunstead, Norfolk. W. W. I am glad to hear that the highly entertaining correspondence on this subject is to be gathered together in a pamphlet. Such a volume will form a really valuable Norfolk dictionary, and must prove curious and interesting to many in city and county. BROAD NORFOLK. May I be allowed to add one or two strange localisms which have escaped notice hitherto? In many parts of the county the phrase, "That'll hull him in a buffle," is often heard, which, being in- terpreted is, " That'll put him in a difficulty, or a bother." When the crescent moon is in a certain position it is said" the mune lays water-shutin'." As soon as it has passed "full " it is said to be on the dreep. Some in the country districts will perhaps remember that ripe gooseberry pie is known as thape pie. F. G. S. In perusing an edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser of March, 1815, I found several words differently spelt, as " Smoak " for smoke, "compleat" for complete, "chuse" for chose, "tythe" for tithe, " chissel " for chisel. A gun was advertised as a " fowling piece." Another paragraph contained " And tools of every 'denomination.'" A man was advertised as a draper, mercer, dealer, and chapman ; also another, including, " three cows, three ticinters, and two calves." Can anyone please inform me what is meant by " chapman " and " twinter." The plural of shoe was shoeses, as in : " My wife and myself and the muses, with forty -five pair of new shoeses." Can anyone please inform me where "Cockey Lane," in which Brown & Barker were hatmakers, was in Norwich, as published in an old publication of the Norfolk Chronicle, November, 1809. TV. L. The following words and expressions occur to me at the present moment as being peculiar to Norfolk : Jot, a heavy article of any description ; tremble, pork cheese ; limpsy. loose, flabby ; vardlt, bottom hinge of a gate. The 'famous Stiffkey cockles are always called "Stukey Blues." ANDREWS. If your correspondent " W. L." had been in the habit of reading old books he would know that compleat, smoak, and tythe were quite correct spellings not long ago. It is a great pity that more people do not read Chaucer and Spenser, in whose BROAD NORFOLK. 87 writings they would find plentiful examples of common words in their infancy. Chapman, a merchant or trader, is of very common use in Chaucer, and by no means uncommon to this day. Borrow uses the word in " The Gypsies of Spain," 1872, page 137. " T winters " is an abbreviation of two -winters, and means cattle two winters old. Ei'eck districts are, I think, only so described in the Eastern Counties. There is a full account of them in Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk, Vol. I.," Introduction p. 6. Gaggles and skeins of geese are referred to in vol. iii. of that work ; no doubt Mr. Southwell can say if they are local terms. From the same work I learn that when swans have nested the marshmen say that they have timbered. "Whether Cob and Pen, for the cock and hen swan are local words or not I cannot say. The word susserara, or sisserara, I believe occurs in the " Vicar of Wakefield," and has proved a hard nut. It ;,iay be connected with poor Sisei/a's experience, but the derivation is unlikely. The sound reminds one of the Latin sussurrtis, a whispering. To answer Mr. Bird's inquiry as to saying " God bless you " to a person who sneezes would take me far afield. The custom is general all the world over. Years ago in the wilds of Brazil I hardly ever heard a person sneeze without the ready exclamation from the bystanders, " Dios guarda vossa mcreed /" God preserve you! A legend on the subject was that one of the Popes was choked and died through sneezing, hence the prayer. But the custom dates back far beyond Popes. There is an instructive article on the subject in " The Comet" for the 14th inst. HET VABKE. Since my letter of the 20th I have thought of a few more words (contained in the follow- ing) which are peculiar to the people of Norfolk : "Hallo, narbor, yow look kinder riled this mornin'. "Wo's up wi' yer ? " "Bor, I'm nearly off my nut. That old sweep ha' been here to fye my chimbly out, and I'm blow'd if hehaiut/w/cerf the sut all over the place. The backstork (back stove) is chock f ull, and my backus is smuddered wi't, and if that ain't enough to make a parson swear I don't know what is, du BROAD NORFOLK. yow ? " The word stuttering is called hackering, and hands are termed dowries in such sentences as " Tha's right, me little darlin', clap your dannies ; " and I may add in closing that by very " broad Norfolkers" an umbrella is a dickey-shud. DAISY DOEPLE. I have been trying to remember Norfolk phrases not hitherto mentioned by your correspondents, but, alas ! my memory fails me. However, I do not think the following peculiarities have yet been noticed : ' Without a chance," for " without a doubt." 1 Like to be," for " likely to be." ' I'm hampered to get hold of my breath," for " I find it difficult to breathe." ' Fatagued," for "annoyed." ' Eight consistent" to do something, for "quite determined." ' Can't-a-bide," for "dislike." 'Pick-cheese," for "tomtit." Many of the Norfolk gentry talk " Norfolk " quite unwittingly, and can easily be recognised by other Norfolk persons in all parts of the world. EECTOB. Perhaps I am late in the field to give one or two expressions which have occurred to me while travelling in various parts of Norfolk on the iron steed. I have been asked, " Isn't it rough travelling abroad, master?" Frequently "abroad" is spoken only to mean outside. We have been directed to keep straight on till you come to a heater, and take th^ road to right or left, according to where we were bound for, a heater meaning where two roads meet, forming the apex of a triangle. Many other phrases crop up to the observant cyclist, and words which to many are quite foreign in meaning. W. A. HOTSOX. Look yow here, bor, don't yow mailer writ ; if yow get a pint of allers inter yow, yow don't know now to fare. If yow want a thackin or a smack o' the chaps dew yow dnt. S. J. W. BROAD NORFOLK. In the "vulgar tongue," to change one's linen is to " shiffen oneself." Many years ago a curate-in-charge was appointed to a parish where I myself had been formerly curate. He was the first clergyman of that parish who had ever preached in his surplice. One day, when driving through the parish, I called upon a singular old couple, who used to be constant attendants at the church in my day. Quoth the old man, " Du you know our new pareson, sir ?" On my answering in the affirmative, he replied, " Wall, for a dark man, he is the prettiest little man I ever see in my life." My friend was evi- dently not an admirer of dark men. The old lady now chimed in, and said in a confidential tone, " Du yow know, he never shiffen hisself all thro the sarvice," by which she meant me to under- stand that he preached in his surplice, and did not sub- stitute a black gown for a white one. CLEEICTJS. At the risk of being called bilious or un- reasonable by your correspondent "John L. Clemence," I must say that to a large extent I agree with " L. J." that a lot of nonsense has crept into this Broad Norfolk correspondence. I take it, sir, that your original intention in starting the correspondence was to rescue from oblivion certain archaic words and phrases that are fast disappearing from the vocabulary of the county, and also if possible to ascertain their derivation. Many of the letters you have published centain little else than mispronounced or misused words : " Harbert " for Herbert, " labarueum " for laburnum, the use of " contain " for detain, " deficient " for sufficient, tc. What these and such as these can have to do with " Broad Norfolk " I cannot see, and I trust when you bring out your glossary you will eliminate all such words, and, as I before suggested, submit the list to a competent tribunal of old Norfolkeis before publica- tion. I am quite suie when it does come out it will be a most interesting compilation, and wiil be eagerly sought after by many. Tree is the common pronunciation of " three," but surely no one ever heard of '' tree threes " for three trees. 90 BROAD NORFOLK. Skinker is a capital old word still used in this district. I should very much like to know its root. Sneck, a door latch is in common use here, but I question whether it is distinctively Norfolk ; an old dictionary gives it as Scotch. Dead-a-bird, with an indescribable pronunciation of the last word something between "bird" and "bud" was in common use when I was a boy, meaning nearly dead or dying. Daisy Dimple's, " twilt," is a good specimen of Broad Norfolk. OLD NOEFOLK. Allow me to add a few words to the list of Norfolkisms which have already appeared in your columns. A spline, i.e., a thin strip of wood. A lower, used for a lever. Rumbustious, used of plants when growing rank. Living upright, i.e., living on one's means, not having to earn one's living. Sales, for hames, part of the harness of a horse. Fed, a hamper. To have a great slight for clothes, i.e., to wear them out very quickly. To buy a thing off a person is also a very common expression. It is also exceedingly interesting to notice how much more nearly our Norfolk pronounciation of many words approaches the German rather than the English pronounciation when the words are similar in the two languages ; instances are fire, butter, post, pain ; to give a person a "dressing" or " troshing," cf. Ger- man, dreschen, gedroschen. We have also a few instances of a plural in-n, so common in German, as nezen for nests, housen for houses, meezen for mice. These instances are interesting as showing that the old Saxon language, the language of the Teutons, has not quite died out in Englaud. P. E. D. As "Broad Norfolk" is to be republished in a more permanent form, with your permission cxplebo rtumcrum of your correspondents and letters on the subject, reddesque teiicbris. The following words and quaint local expressions I have not yet seen recorded. SquacWe, an old parishioner once BROAD NORFOLK. said to me, on being asked how she was Well sir, no matters, only pretty middlin, a tissicking cough has troubled ine a good deal, and last night I was nearly squackled ! (Compare this with " quaggled " under E. Hewett, Eastern Daily Press, January 16th.) Gruttling" I heard a gruttling (queer noise) up the chimbly." Swang " Swangon to him," i.e., give him a good smack. Slippy " Look slippy," i.e., be quick. (Is this Norfolk ?) In Eastern Daily Press, January 16th, "Rector "says " Norfolk people are fond of using long words, of which they do not know the meaning." Now had he said fine words I should have been at one with him, but Norfolkians as well as John Bull in general hate long words, and cut them short as they can, as in 'bacca, 'cayed, 'taters, &c. Sometimes they will divide them into two, as chrysanthemums into Christmas anthems ; and sometimes in a waggish spirit they will call China asters Chinese oysters. We shorten words much as a Norfolk bucolic tops and tails a turnip, cnly with this difference: We are thrifty, and save our tops and tails for use. Thus maw for rnawther (as cab for cabriolet), bor (not baw) for neighbour ; and so mums for chrysanthemums and 'bus for omnibus. It certainly seems odd that no explanation or derivation has been found for wheesh (or woosK) except that which Forbey gives, and he says it certainly comes from gauche (left), whereas it means " go to the right." If so the word, like the rule of the road itself, is a paradox. The rule of the road is a paradox quite, For as you are driving along, If you go to the left you're sure to go right, If you go the riyht you go wrong. We have in our language another word ivhist parallel to wheesh and very like it, especially if it is pronounced icheest ; and for neither of them has any explanation or derivation yet been found. In all probability these words were originally spelt hicecsh and Jiwist, and this possibly may suggest some solution. W. F. BROAD NORFOLK. The following broad Norfolk words are con- stantly used in the parish of Tunstead and neigh- bourhood: Traimce, a great deal of walking to no purpose ; icanklin, a delicate child ; and bunker, one who fails to face danger. W. WATSON. I fear your very interesting list of Norfolk words will be coming to an end, and am therefore much pleased with the proposal that they are to he printed in a pamphlet. Before the list is concluded I venture to add some words which I believe have not been included. Slov (from slovenly) "She did fare to slov." [Yarmouth.] Poppks For willow trees (from poplar?). Eider-er Pork butcher (.local). Doatcd tree A dying tree (local). Has the following expression been given: "That tree da fare to have a muddle head \ " NORTH NOBFOLK. As it seems likely that there may be some permanent outcome of the present correspondence I venture once more to trouble you for the purpose of mentioning one expressive word I do not remember to have been noticed. The word is popple. " There, there don't popple "means don't talk nonsense. To me the word is very suggestive of sound without sense. E. As a west countryman, and therefore in Norfolk parlance a "furriner," may I be allowed to mention one or two words that I have not noticed in the correspondence on this subject, viz., sicad, pork- cheese ; frimmlcating or frimmocky, one who is particular as to dress ; and tMMMOCfc, sloven ? On the road to Cossey I once asked a labourer what the time of day was, and he informed me, " A little arter tree, and a good deal." J. L. BROAD NORFOLK. 93 In the list of local bird names I said that I could .not find a derivation for "mow." I don't know how it was that I did not think of it at the time, but the word is evidently a corruption of " mew," a term of general application to all the smaller gulls, probably from their " cry." TheEev. E. W. Dowell has kindly written me as follows : " Mag loon " or " lo wan ' ' is, I take it, given to the northern diver because of its greater size compared with the red throat, as the large plaice trawled in the North Sea are called mag plaice, when caught among the smaller ones of the harbours and estuaries (query, magnus). There is no surer find for scammells and picks in autumn than the " rocks " (as they are called at Cromer, and " scalps " at Hun- stanton), i.e., large stones with sandy water courses between, where small molluscs and crustaceans abound. Andrew .Lang asked what Shakespeare meant by " Scammells from the rock " in the Illustrated London Neics a few months ago, and seemed satisfied when I told him of the Norfolk meaniug of the word. The gunners used to distinguish the " scammells," that is, the large female go i wits from the "picks," the smaller males and young birds." From the above quotation, in which the prefix " mag " is applied to both fish and fowl, there can be little doubt as to the meaning or derivation of the term. The only locality in which I have met with godwits frequently, or in any quantity, was at the mouth of the Thames. There the deep black mud is stoneless, and so the explanation of scammells, as scr-mells had not hitherto occurred to me. Moreover, I thought that Caliban's words referred to seme birds bred, upon the rocks, and therefore thought, as Mr. Southwell suggested and many footnotes to the passage have explained, that " sea" was a misprint for " sea." There yet remains the"mell" to be derived. Porby gives " mell " to swing or wheel round, to turn any- thing slowly about, from resemblance to the motion "of a mill. Such " tumbling" or headlong flight g" or headlong flight would e more appcae o the dipping and shailing of gulls than the far steadier flight of godwits. When helping a man to " shove" a punt along the ice into a " wake" one day last week he exclaimed, whilst resting a moment to get wind, " This here is fit to malt yar blood," malt or molt being the provincial for perspiration, a mere corruption of melt ; in fact, we speak correctly when we talk of molten lead. On January 19th Mr. Wiseman wrote, 94 BROAD NORFOLK " The sea is smoultin' now," that is, melting away, only " smouldering " after passing through the process of "smelting" during the storm. "Wake" as used above is an open piece of water in the midst of a broad, the remaining surface of which is " laid " or frozen over. " Wak" is the Norwegian term for the same. (Lloyd's " Game Birds and Wildfowl "). M. C. H. BffiD. P. S. Harting in his Ornithology of Shakespeare quotes the passage from Tempest, Act II., Scene 2, as " Sometimes I'll get thee Young sea-mells from the rock." He remarks : i( It is evident that the eea-meli, sea- mew, or sea-gull is intended, the young birds being taken before they could fly." Harting does not so much as suggest that scameh was the reading of the Old copy. Johnson suffered scamels to stand because, as he tells us, somebody had observed that limpets are in some places called scam*. Here are still a few more words : DardledumdueA. person without energy or knack. " She's a poor dardledumdue." SidetciperA. blow on the side of anything with a stick. "I gave her such a side -wiper." Pilcochta-A. thrashing. "I gave him pilcochia." Dakes-headed 6 ' You great dakes-headed thing," Slttssy -hound One fond of drink. Gaddy-wentin 1 Gossiping. FlareupK row. The compiler of the coming pamphlet cannot do better than consult three or four agricultural labourers, and I hope he will ask them particularly whether they know a deke from a holl, as one writer maintained that a deke was a holl ! I quite agree with all " Old Norfolk " says in your Monday's paper. NORFOLK DUUPLTNG. Before you close the interesting correspon- dence on Norfolk words will you allow me to give one, which I do not think has already appeared, i.e., " witter y" meaning weak, frail. A feeble puny child BROAD NORFOLK. I have heard described thus, and also as a " witterer." I have never seen the word written, so can only spell it phonetically. C. Kindly allow me to add a few words to your very interesting correspondence on " Broad Norfolk," which, after all, is not more broad than Lincolnshire, where they speak of girls as " wenches." The other day I overheard the following : " Chuck a snowball inter owd Biller ;" to which Billy replied, " Bor, yow batter nut dut, du I'll woller yer. MOLLIE. I see that your correspondent " C. H. Bird " suggests that the term Sir Roger, as applied to the squalls which are encountered in Broadland, may have had for its origin possibly some remark addressed by a yachting gentleman to his subordinate describing one of the squalls as a " sirocco," and which the afore- said subordinate perhaps laid hold of as Sir Roger. But long before the yachting gentleman ever aired his resplendent rig out or his siroccos in the presence of a gaping and prehensile waterman, these heavy gusts of wind were called Sir Roger's blasts. The sudden and mysterious manner in which (on an otherwise per- fectly still and calm day in summer) they come sweeping and whistling over the reed and sedge clad country, bending the rushes to the surface of the water as if compelling their proud and feathery heads by one rough blow to make obeisance, filled the heart of the lonely countryman in days gone by with superstitious fear. Not because some wiseacre had alluded to them as "siroccos," which in itself would be calculated to cause sensations of alarm in the mind of the average marshman : but because tradition had handed down to him that the icy breath of the restless spirit of Sir Eoger Ascham fanned his cheek, causing him to tremble like one who (according to his superstitious notions) shudders only as he steps across his own grave. Details of the legend I am unable to give, having forgotten them ; and the work on Folk Lore of Norfolk, which I take as my authority for the origin of the appellation of "Roger's blast," has unfortu- nately been mislaid. 96 BROAD NORFOLK. I have not noticed amongst the words already given as peculiar to Norfolk, the word pit for pond. A youth invariably requests the pleasure of the company of a friend at a select sliding party by couching his invitation in the following graceful language: " C'e on booy les we goo on't pit." I am not aware whether the omission of the final " s " in the third person singular, present tense, is confined to Norfolk and Suffolk, but it certainly is more marked in these two counties. As examples, perhaps the following will be sufficient to explain " He hev," "he do," " she say." The last is the most common of all, and the odds are very heavy indeed against anyone passing or overtaking a bevy of factory girls without overhearing them (chiefly by the reiteration of the three words " soo she say") pulling to pieces, after the manner of all womankind, some lady of their acquaintance, who has apparently, from the fragments of invective that you catch, been guilty of piracy in her conquests. There is no doubt that the Norfelk labourer has his full share of original wit, as anyone will discover who discourses with him. Moreover, there is also some mysterious fountain head of standard wit from which each one in the county draws his supply of repartee, and with which each is fully equipped. The efficiency and universality of this was distinctly proven by a cleric who ventured to indulge in a political discussion with certain knights of the most ancient arid honour- able order of the ploughshare. The first one was polite enough until he suspected that some expressions beyond " his know " were introduced with the object of enticing him out of his depth ; then he speeext parish, and even then he deemed it expedient to approach "number two " with caution, liberally served up with melted butter. " Well, my good man" (every man below a certain status in society a parson considers to be strictly his own property) "Well, my good man; it's very fine weather for your work." "Thas jest wer yere wrong, BROAD NORFOLK. bor ; cum, and yew try it, and see if that a<'nt a goin to hull ver in a muck wash ! " Such familiarity por- tended evil, and the ecclesiastic wished himself out of it. A fleeting smile of a sickly nature o'erspread his features, and he resolved to make one more attempt. " Well, my good man," the reverend gentleman essayed again, with a very third-rate attempt to combine conciliation, pleasantry, and banter in one, " I'm sure a fine, healthy, strong fellow like you has no distorted views on politics. You'll go and vote for the right candidate to-night, won't you ? " Never try to draw an agricultural labourer by flattery or banter. Before you can wink the other eye he twigs what you're up to. Straightway came the answer back No, 'twas not Excelsior, but " Gorstreuth, hold ye yer slaver dew, my politics is, and yerl excoose me" butthatwasall his audience having vanished, his politics were not revealed, although they may perhaps be guessed at. This preference which the toiler on the land shows for the porcine race over the clergy accounts in a great measure for the "lapsed masses," so far as rural districts are concerned. Slaver is applied to any mode of speech which may be of a soapy nature, or any continued nagging which may be considered to require a copious flow of saliva to support its protracted deliver/. TLICEC. In the interesting correspondence in your columns, I believe reference has not been made to a peculiar characteristic of the Norfolk peasant, which at once strikes a stranger to the county, namely, the apparent inability to give a decided "Yea, yea," or " Nay, nay." The true Norfolkiau commits himself to nothing. There are three answers I received to the question, " Do you think it will rain to-day ? " "I don't know as it won't." "It nia'ay and it mayn't." " I don't know but it will." I am a native of Somerset, and have been much amused to hear that county (with others) habitually alluded to as " The Shires, "and the dwellers therein as foreigners. Why are all Norfolk verbs in the singular number only? The phrases, "I like myself," and " I made a purposed journey," strike on the foreigner's ear as being quaint, but they explaia themselves. Has botti/, meaning impertinent, been given? E. S. B. 98 BROAD NORFOLK. Although not Norfolk or Suffolk born, I have spent the greater portion of my life in East Anglia first in Suffolk, and later in South Norfolk, where I heard words unfamiliar to me while living in Suffolk. Some of these have been referred to in the " Broad Norfolk " correspondence, viz., mardle, hutkin, draimt. A servant astonished me one day by the following : " I saa, 'm, 1'a had a rare fye out on that back staircase (now unused) and there was a load o' spiders." A Suffolk servant once scared her mistress with " O, ma'm, you're got a great crock on yer face." Her mistress a Norfolk woman had never hpard the word, and in a fright, thinking it was some noxious creature, begged the girl to take it off. It was a " smut " from the kitchen stove. In a Methodist chapel some years since a good old local preacher of the labouring class said in the course of his sermoii, " Dare frinds, ef ye arn't learned in the skule o' Christ ye might as well be fules.'' I heard this myself, and it made a lasting impression upon me. I have'been much interested in "Broad Norfolk," and trust it may be published in permanent form. S. E. A. Seal of the day I have always thought a rather poetical expression ; it is applied to the greeting of a casual acquaintance " Do you know so-and-so, John ? Is he a friend of yours? " " Wall, sir, he ain't much of a frind ; but I give him the ' seal of the day ' when I meet him." The word ridiculous is used in the sense of shameful. " I never heerd of such conduct. I call it right down ridiculous." The coroner is, of course, called the "crowner." A man named King died rather suddenly.The villagers were perplexed as to whether the coroner ought to be sent for, or not. One of them went to a Guardian with the remark, " Old King be dade, and we are all on the averdupois (uncertain in our minds) as to whether he ought to be ' crowned ' or no." J Crush is Norfolk for gristle. Mocking the Church is a curious expression. The villagers have an idea that if after the banns of mar- riage have been duly published the couple refuse to be married they must pay a fine for ' ' mocking the church." BROAD NORFOLK. 99 Pensey, fretful ; applied to children. Ah ! the child ain't well ; she is a poor " pensey little thing." Clung is an almost untranslatable word. A shrivelled apple is not tough ; it is clung. To my mind no other word conveys the exact meaning of " clung." The word respectable is used not si much in the sense of worthy of respect as to convey the idea that the person to whom the epithet is applied is a little superior in position or circumstances to the speaker. A man who had recently been released from Norwich Castle, once said to me that I should be surprised if I could see how many respectable people there were among the criminals. "Some du say so ; other some don't." In Acts xvii, 18, we read, "And some said, what will this babbler say ? other some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods." I wouH say, in conclusion, that, although a stranger, after a few years' residence in the county, would have no difficulty in understanding the Norfolk dialect, he would never speak it like a native. As a Norfolk man, bred and born, I think that I have accomplished that art, or perhaps it comes to me naturally. Doubt- less, when I am often least conscious of the fact, my speech betrays me. ULEBICUS. Here are a few more Norfolkisms : Sake, the body of a wagon or cart. Dabster, an adept, good hand. Hobby-lantern, a " Will-o'-the-Wisp." Fan, a large basket for holding corn, used on a threshing floor. Mew or muir heart, faint hearted. Nag, to " jaw." Numm chance, a speechless stupid. Riddle, a sieve. Rockstaff, a tale, " an old woman's rockstaff." Stub, to grub up tree roots. Wamp, to splice, as on a boot. E. S. I send you a few sundry and fishy items used hereabouts. The weasel is called a mouse-hunter ; the stoat is a foumart ; porpoise, a sea-pig. In fishing lore a teller is a counter ; a shot net is one when put over- board ; waist, side of a vessel ; warp, a rope ; warp of 100 BROAD NORFOLK. hem'Dg, four in number ; stuff, herring, e.g., "salt stuff,'' &c.; s-will, a herring basket holding 500 herring; maund, a basket into which the herring are counted : holds 100 : a long-tale hundred is really 132 ; a last of herring, 13,200 ; Jish-/ioi