^^ .(^ Mm A GLOSSARY OK jEoitl) Countrj? ^^ortis. WITH THEIR ETYMOLOGY, AND AFFINITY TO OTHEE LANGUAGES; AND OCCASIONAL NOTICES OF LOCAL CUSTOMS AND POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. JOHN TROTTER jBEOCKETT, F. S.A., LONDON AND NEWCASTLE. THIRD EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED BY W. E. BROCKETT. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE: EMERSON CHARNLEY, BIGG MARKET; AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON. MDCCCXLVI. Les mots sont le lien des societes, le vehicule des lumieres, la base des sciences, les depositaires des decouvertes d'une Nation, de son savoir, de sa politesse, de ses idees : la connoissance des mots est done un moyen indispensable pour acquerir celle des choses ; de-la ces Ouvrages appelles Dictionnaires, Vocabulaires ou Glossaires, qui offrent I'etendue des con- noisances de chaque Peuple.— Gc&eim. NEWCASTLE ; PRINTED BY T. AND J. HODGSON, UKION STKEET. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND EDWARD MALTBY, D. D., LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM, THIS THIRD EDITION OF A GLOSSARY OF NORTH COUNTRY WORDS, IS, WITH HIS lordship's KIND FERMISSIOK, MOST IlESPKCTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE EDITOR. LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA iSANTA BAiiBARA ADVERTISEMENT. The Compiler of the Glossary of North Country Words, after the publication of the second edition, omitted no opportunity of adding to the work, and correcting what he considered capable of amendment. He had also received from several of his friends sug- gestions and additions of considerable value ; these he unfortunately did not live to digest in such a manner as to fit them for the press ; and, as a third edition was called for, the task devolved upon one who felt his inability to fulfil it as he could wish, but which respect for the memory of his departed father prompted him to undertake. In addition to several of those friends of his late father, whose assistance was acknowledged in the preface to the second edi- tion, the editor has to express his obligation for the valuable communications made to him by his late lamented friend, the Rev. John Hodgson, of Hart- burn, by the late Mr. Brumell, of Moi^peth, and by Mr. Wm. Armstrong, of Castle Eden, whose voca- bulary of terms used in the collieries on the Tyne vi ADVERTISEMENT. and Wear is a curious and necessary addition to the work. For the valuable and laborious services of Mr. Turner, of Newcastle, in preparing this edition for the press, he has also to render his warmest acknowledgments. The examples given from our early writers, both English and Scotch, will prove, what many lexico- graphers have maintained, that the language of Eng- land and Scotland, previous to, and up to, the union of the two crowns, was nearly identical ; and they will also prove, that much of the dialect of the North is not a patois, as many have supposed, but was the language of composition from the dawn of English poetry, in the reign of Edward the Third, to the ac- cession of James the First, when the simplicity of the Saxon tongue yielded to a more ornate style. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 1 HE Glossary before the Reader is the result of those hours of literary amusement, when it was thought necessary to unbend the mind from professional labour. The Author has felt much satisfaction at the favourable reception which his former attempt to collect and preserve the relics of our good old Northern dialect has received from some of the first liter- ary characters of the age. He has, in particular, been gra- tified by the approbation of several gentlemen of great philological learning, in both kingdoms ; among whom he is proud to rank the Rev. H. I. Todd, the profound editor of two editions of Dr. Johnson's national work, with the most valuable additions ; and the Rev. Dr. John Jamieson, whose Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language contains a labour of lexicography, as elaborate and comprehensive as any that has yet appeared. The Author may be permitted to denominate this an entire new work, rather than a second edition of his former publication. Independent of the numei'ous additions, which via PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. further research aud communication, both with the living unci the dead, have enabled him to give, all the old articles have undergone a complete revision, and most of them are re-written. A wider range has been taken, and a variety of circumstances relative to the usages of the olden time, as well as to the local customs and popular superstitions of the present day, have been introduced. The ancient traditions of the country are entitled to more regard than is generally given to them by the fastidious. However hyperbolically exaggerated, or concealed from the perception of this en- lightened age, few of them are wholly false. The Glossary has been made much more copious in the etymological department — alike interesting to the antiquary and the philologist. Every scholar is aware of the extraor- dinary analogy of various languages. In many of the ar- ticles will be frequently found noticed the words of similar origin, appearance, and meaning, in the cognate dialects, ancient and modern, of the North of Europe, which may be truly said to form the warp and the woof of English, and on which the flowers of Greece and Rome have been em- broidered. Notices are also given of striking affinities, in sound and meaning, with different other languages ; though these are not always sufficient to constitute an etymon. It is unnecessary to adduce reasons for preserving our old words. They are generally simple and expressive, and often more emphatic than their modern synonymes. By the PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. IX revival of a more general relish for early English writers, the reader will imperceptibly acquire a habit of regarding them in the light of their pristine dignity. He will no longer hastily pronounce to be vulgarisms what are in reality archa- isms — the hard, but deep and manly, tones and sentiments of our ancestors. The book will prove how much is retained of the ancient Saxon speech — in its pure unadulterated state — in the dialect of the North of England, which also exhibits more of the language of our Danish progenitors than is to be met with in any other part of the kingdom. Our Northern words and terms, though often disguised in different spelling and structure, bear strong affinity to the Scottish language. Indeed, the greater part of them will be found to be in current use in each country. Even laying out of view the opinion expressed by some writers, that the Scottish language is merely a dialect of the Anglo-Saxon, the similarity of words and phrases used both in the North of England and the South of Scotland, may be accounted for by the county of Northumberland, and other parts of the English territory, having anciently formed a portion of the sister kingdom. But it is to be observed, that a number of the words in this Glossary, which are unknown to the South, are in common use in the North of Scotland, It is true that the greater part of these may be traced to the French ; but hence the words used in Scotland may often be explained and elucidated by reference to those of the North of England, and vice versa. VOL. I. b T PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. By a communication from George R. Kinloch, Esq., of Edinburgh, the Author has been furnished with an extensive list of our North Country words which are in use in Scot- land, some of which have escaped the vigilance of Dr. Jamie- son, though Mr. Kinloch says they are well known as Scot- tish words. In some instances where they differ in spelling, or have a wider signification in Scotland, the Author has either given the Scots orthoepy, or the additional meaning. To James Losh, Esq., Major Thain, George Taylor, Esq., Anthony Easterby, Esq., Rev. William Turner, Rev. James Raine, Rev. George Newby, Mr. Edward Hemsley, Mr. Robert Thompson, and those other friends who have con- tributed so much to the interest of the work, by allowing the Author the unrestrained use of their interleaved copies of the former edition, he returns his grateful thanks. For the invaluable and kind assistance afforded him by his antiquarian friends, Robert Surtees, Esq., of Mainsforth, and Sir Cuthbert Sharp ; and by the Rev. W. N. Darnell, B. D., Prebendary of Durham, Matthew Culley, Esq., of Fowberry Tower, I. I. Wilkinson, Esq., Rev. H. Cotes, R. R. Green- well, Esq., and Thomas Fenwick, Esq., in the unreserved communication of various manuscript vocabularies of provin- cial terms, collected in different parts of the Northern Coun- ties, his warmest acknowledgments are due, and he feels sin- cere pleasure in thus publicly recording his sense of the obligation. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. XI With these aids, and with the assistance and encourage- ment he has received, during his undertaking, from different eminent individuals, which it would have the appearance of personal vanity in the Author to particularize, he has endea- voured to the best of his ability, and making the most of the time which he could allow himself from other avocations, to re-construct, and, as he hopes, materially to improve, the Glossary of North Country Words. Of the instances of misconception and inadvertence, which may still remain, those, who are most conversant with the subject, will, in its various and complicated nature, discover the best extenuation. Albion Place, IQth March, 1829. CONTRACTIONS USED IN THIS GLOSSARY. LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS. Br Ancient British Language. Celt Celtic Language. Cumb Cumberland Dialect. Dan Danish Language. Dur Durham Dialect. Dut Dutch Language. Fr French Language. Gael Gaelic Language. Germ German Language. Gr. Greek Language. Ir Irish Language. Isl Islandic (or Icelandic) Language. Ital Italian Language. Lane Lancasliirc Dialect. Lat Latin Language. Moe.-Got Moeso-Gothic Language. Newc Newcastle Dialect. North Northumberland Dialect. Sax Anglo-Saxon Language. Sc Scottish Language. Span Spanish Language. Su.-Got Suio-Gothic, or ancient Language of Sweden. Sw. — Swed Modern Swedish Language. Teut Teutonic Language. West "Westmorland Dialect. York Yorkshire Dialect. AUTHORS AND WORKS REFERRED TO. Boucher Glossary of Obsolete and Provincial Words, 4to. London, 1807. Crav. Gloss Horse Momenta Cravense. or the Craven Dia- lect exemplified, 12mo. Lond. 1824. 2d. edit. Dialectof Craven, with a copious Glos- sary, 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1828. Du Cange Glossarium ad Scriptores Medise et Infimse La- tinitatis, 6 torn. fol. Paris, 1733. Gael. Diet Dictionarium Scoto-Celticum : a Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, comijiled and published under the direction of the Highland Society of Scotland, 2 vols. 4to. Edinb. 1828. Grose Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, 8vo. Lond. 1787. Grose Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Svo. Lond. 1785. Ihre Glossarium Suio-Gothicum, 2 torn. fol. Upsal. 1769. Jam.— Jamieson Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Lan- guage, 2 vols. 4to. Edinb. 1808. Jam. Supp Supplement to the EtjTiiological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 2 vols. 4to. Edinb. 1825. Jennings Observations on some of the Dialects in the West of England, particularly Somersetshire : with a Glossary, 12mo. Lond. 1825. Jun. — Junius Etymologicum Anglicanum. Edid. Lye, fol. Oxon. 1743. Kilian Etymologicon TeutonicEe LingusD, 2 torn. 4to' Traj. Bat. 1777. Le Roux Dictionaire comique, satyrique, critique, burles- que, libre, et proverbial, 2 tom. 8vo. Lion. 1752. Lye Dictionarium Saxonico et Gothico-Latinum. Edid. Manning, 2 tom. fol. Lond. 1772. XIV AUTHORS AND WORKS REFERRED TO. Moor. Suffolk Words and Phrases, by Edward Moor, F.R.S. F.A.S., &c. 12mo. Woodbridgc, 1823. Nares. — Nares' Gloss. A Glossary ; or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, &c. 4to. Lond. 1822. Palsgrave L'Esclaircisscment de la Langue Fran9oise, fol. Black Lettek. The two first books printed by Pynson, and the third (the most copious part) by lohan Hawkins— the only work he ever executed. Prompt, Parv. Promptorium Parvulorum sive Clericorum, fol. Pynson, 1499. Ray Collection of English Words, 12mo. Lond. 1691. Roquefort Glossaire de la Langue Romane, 2 tom. 8vo. Paris, 1808. Supplement, 8vo. 1820. Skin. — Skinner Etymologicon Lingua; Anglicanaj, fol. Lond. 1671. Somner Dictionarium Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum, fol. Oxon. 1659. Spelman Glossarium Archaiologicum, fol. Lond. 1687. Thomson Etymons of English Words, 4to. Edinb. 1826. Todd's John. — Todd's Johnson. Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Edited by the Rev. H. I. Todd, M.A., F.S.A., 4 vols. 4to. Lond. 1818— 2d. edit. 3 vols. 4to. Lond. 1827. Tooke Diversions of Purley, 2 vols. 4to. Lond. 1798 and 1805. Wachter Glossarium Germanicum, 2 torn. fol. Lips. 1737. Watson Vocabulary of uncommon Words used in Hali- fax Parish. Wilb. — Wilbraham. An Attempt at a Glossary of some W^ords used in Cheshire. From the ArchiEologia, Vol. XIX, With considerable Additions, 8vo. Lond. 1820. 2d. edit. Lond. 1826. Willan A List of Ancient Words at present used in the Mountainous Districts of the West Riding of Yorkshue. Archppologia, Vol. XVIL MEMOIR OF THE LATE JOHN TEOTTER BEOCKETT, ESQ, F.S.A. Manibus date lilia plenis : Purpureos spargam flores, His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani Munere. The Life of a Country Solicitor, engaged from "morn to dewy eve " in the round of professional duties, does not or- dinarily afford those incidents which render Biography enter- taining and instructive. And yet, we not unfrequently see, in the faculty of the Law, men with minds so constituted that, in the midst of the most pressing engagements, they can find ease and relaxation in the simple change of study, and grasp intelligence on subjects which, to an ordinary ob- server, seem alien to what has not inaptly been termed " a legal mind." Mr. Brockett, the compiler of this Glossary, was emphatically a Lawyer — a diligent and painful Student of the Law — of great and extensive practice in it — and yet, as matters of amusement and relaxation, he grappled, but al- ways with the hand of a master, with general Literature, An- tiquities, and Lexicography — he brought Numismatics under XVI MEMOIR OF Bearcliing criticism — he sounded the depths of constitutional learning, and disphiyed an acquaintance with political sci- ence, which, in another walk of life, would have led to dis- tinction. Mr. Brockett was the eldest son of the late Mr. John Brockett, formerly of Witton Gilbert, and, afterwards, for a long series of years, the Deputy Prothonotary of the local Courts of Record of Newcastle upon Tyne. On the family removing to Gateshead, which town was conveniently situ- ated for the elder Mr. Brockett's residence, young Brockett was placed under the care of the Rev. William Turner, then the preceptor of a limited number of young gentlemen. His proficiency under this admirable teacher was most gratifying, and laid the foundation of a warm friendship between the master and the pupil, which closed only at death. The elder Mr. Brockett was a profound mathematician, and when his son was not engaged with Mr. Turner, he had him under his own care in the Prothonotary's Office, studying with closeness and intense application, the most exact of human sciences. When the younger Mr. Brockett reached the proper age, he selected the Law as the object of his pursuit, and was placed in the office of the late Mr. Carr, where he remained for a year or two, and then removed to the chambers of Messrs. Clayton & Brumell, at that time the principal soli- citors in the North of England. I had been acquainted with Mr. Brockett since March, 1802, but it was not until he be- came a clerk to Mr. Can*, that a close intimacy was formed between us. The Law, till then, had been a dry and barren field to me, and I had determined on forsaking it the mo- ment I could have my articles cancelled. My friend sug- gested the propriety of our meeting on an evening in every week, after the labours of the day, and discoursing on law JOHN TROTTER BROCKETT, ESQ. XVli subjects only. We did so ; we read — we disputed — we pre- pared pleadings, briefs, and assurances in supposed cases, the consequence of which was, the imparting of a taste for forensic subjects, and an impulse in the acquisition of legal knowledge, of which I yet feel the force, and experience the advantage. I have often seen Mr. B. at those meetings, wield the golden metwand of the law with admirable pre- cision, and anticipate the status he was afterwards to take. After Mr. Brockett had served his articles, he became ma- naging clerk to Mr. Donkin, who was then rising into great eminence as a solicitor. Having spent a short time with Mr. Donkin, he was admitted an attorney, and prac- tised as such for many years in Newcastle, with distinguished ability and success. In the early part of his professional career, he was extensively employed as an advocate in the Mayor's and Sheriff's Courts of Newcastle, then under the able presi- dency of the greatest of provincial lawyers, the late Mr. Hopper Williamson, and dealing with pleas, generally cog- nizable only in Westminster Hall. In the management of his causes, Mr. B. displayed that tact and discriminating judg ment, aided by a manly and impressive eloquence, which, had he been called to the bar, would have secured to him the ho- nours of the noble profession to which he belonged ; but the turn of his mind was to tenures and conveyancing, and in both of those branches of recondite learning he excelled. No man could read an abstract with a clearer head, or with a sounder judgment than Mr. Brockett ; and the conveyances which flowed from his pen, display a beauty, a compactness, and a harmony of parts, most delightful to the student of the For- mulare Anfflicanum. But his highest praise as a professional man is, that his practice was marked by the strictest integrity and liberality, and that his numerousfriends with implicit confi- dence, committed their concerns to his guidance and direction. c XVlll MEMOIR OF When a very young man, Mr. Brockotttook an active part in the affairs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New- castle, and in the various discussions that took place at the meetings of that body. The Society soon appreciated his at- tainments, and placed him, first on its Committee of Manage- ment, and then in the office of Secretary, which situation he held until his death. Mr. Brockett's passion for antiquities, was excited by a friend presenting him with some duplicate Coins, and he be- came, in consequence, a member of the local Society of Anti- quaries, almost, if not quite, from its very commencement, and for many years previously to his death, a member of the Council of that body, and one of the most intelligent and best informed of the gentlemen, who assembled at the meetings of the society. Dr. Dibdin, in his " Northern Tour," very justly states that Mr. Brockett " may be considered the Father of the Typographical Society established at Newcastle : His Hints on the propriety of establishing such a Society having appeared in 1818 : — a short Tract of six pages." But he was not only the Father of that Society, but one of the principal contri- butors to the splendid series of Tracts issued from its press — a series which has raised the typographical character of the town, to a first-rate eminence in the Republic of Letters. He translated and published, in connection with this So- ciety, Beauvais' celebrated " Essay on the Means of distin- guishing Antique from Counterfeit Coins and Medals," to which he added many important notes and illustrations. Mr. Martin, in his Bibliographical Catalogue of privately- printed Books, has enumerated this and several others of Mr. B.'s beautiful productions. But the works by which he was most distinguished, are his " Enquiry into the Question, whether the Freeholders of Newcastle upon Tyue, are enti- JOHN TROTTER BROCKETT, ESQ. XIX tied to vote for Members of Parliament for the County of Northumberlantl," and his " Glossary of North Country Words." The first of those publications, replete with con- stitutional and antiquarian lore, received the high commen- dations of Mr. Hopper Williamson and other lawyers, and the latter is appreciated wherever the English Language is known. Mr. B. had, at the time of his death, made consi- derable preparations for a third edition of the Glossary, and his only surviving son, Mr. William Edward Brock- ett, with filial piety for the memory of his lamented Father, (and to satisfy the demand of the public for a new edition of the work,) has brought the present edition through the press, availing himself of the kindly literary aid of Sir Cuthbert Sharpe, George Taylor, Esq., of Witton-le-Wear j Francis Mewburn, Esq., of Darlington ; the Rev. Dr. Dar- nell, of Stanhope ; Mr. John Turner, of Newcastle, and other respected friends of his late Father, who have taken a lively interest in making the work as perfect as possible. But the general diffusion of education tends to make the English Na- tion " of one language and of one speech ;" and the time seems not to be far distant when the North Country words, which Mr. Brockett has collected ^vith so much care, will, in the strictest sense of the term, be Archaisms even in Nor- thumberland. The health of Mr. Brockett, for the last twenty-five years of his life, was such as to preclude his going much into com- pany, but he spent such portions of his time as he could spare from the laborious duties of his profession, in those literary and scientific pursuits, for which he had so very refined a taste and ability. He formed a splendid Cabinet of Coins and Medals, which, after a sale in June, 1823, often days' continuance, by Mr. Sotheby, of London, realized 1,700/. 13^. Gd, His Library of scarce and curious Books in the Decem- XZ MEMOIR OF ber following, was sold by the same gentleman. The sale continued fourteen days and realized 4,2G0^. Mr. Brockctt had a small collection of Prints and Portraits, which was, with that of the late Dr. Whittakcr, the Historian, sold by Mr. Sotheby in January, 1 824, and realized 601. 3s. 6d. A cata- logue of the books, with the jjrices realized, was published, and is still referred to, as an authority for the value of the works comprised in it.* At those sales Mr. Brockett had the gratification of seeing the most gifted men of the day in com- petition for the beautiful works which he had displayed so much judgment in collecting. But he was not a bare collec- tor. He knew the value of his books, in the intelligence and wisdom treasured in their pages, and the uses of his Coins and Medals, for the illustration and confirmation of history. Immediately after those sales, Mr. Brockett sarted de novo * The late Earl of Durham, then John George Lambton, Esq., pur- chased some of tlie briglitest gems in the eoUection : — The following is a list of them, with the prices at which they were sold. They now constitute part of the library of Lambton Castle : — Allan Tracts, Darlington (Collection of), 52?. 10«. Edmonston's Baronagium Genealogicum, 6 vols., 17?. lis. Gardner's England's Grievance, 1655, 20?. Is. Qd. Garlands (Right Choice and Merrie Collection of), made by William Garret, 6 vols., 10?. IQs. Glossary of North Country Words, an Original Manuscript, compiled by Mr. Brockett, 8?. 8s. Hogarth's Genuine Works, published by Boydell, 13?. 5s. Holbein's Heads of the Court of Henry VIII., 25?. 5s. Holme's Academy of Armoury. Chester, 1579, 13?. IDs. Magna Charta, printed in gold, 54?. 12s. Northumberland Household Book, 1770, 10?. 10s. PrjTine's Works and Parliamentary Writs, 183?. 15s. Mr. Lambton was much disappointed at this sale, in not buying the splendid copy of Bourne's History of Newcastle, on large paper, and illustrated with numerous drawings and prints, which was purchased by Mr. Jupp for 54?. 12s JOHN TROTTER BROCKET!, ESQ. XXI in his favorite pursuit of collecting. And he made such rapid progress in this delightful work, that when Dr. Dibdin visited him in 1837, the learned author of the Bibliographical Decamaron, seems to have been astonished at what he saw and heard at Mr. Brockett's house. The greatest of Biblio- manists thus expresses himself, " In fact, the zeal, ac- tivity, and anxiety of my friend, in all matters relating to the literary, scientific, and antiquarian welfare of his native [adopted] town, have no limits and know no diminution. They rise up and lie down with him. One thing particularly struck me, in his closely-wedged miscellaneous collection — the choice and nicety of each article : — A golden Nero, or a first Walton's Angler, was as well nigh perfect as it might be ; and his Horsley was only equalled by his Hock." In another part of his book. Dr. Dibdin gives the reader the following graphic sketch of his visits to Mr. Brockett : — " More than once or twice was the hospitable table of my friend, John Trotter Brockett, Esq., spread to receive me. He lives comparatively in a nut-shell — but what a kernel ! Pictures, books, curiosities, medals, coins — of precious value — bespeak his discriminating eye and liis liberal heart. You may revel here from sunrise to sunset, and fancy the domains interminable. Do not suppose that a stated room or rooms are only appropriated to his Ijofecg; they are "up-stairs, do^vn-stairs, and in my lad/s chamber.'' They spread all over the house — tendrils of pliant curve and perennial ver- dure. For its size, if I except those of one or two Banna- tyners, I am not sure whether this be not about the choicest collection of books which I saw on my tour. Mr. Brockett is justly proud of his Horsley; — he opened it with evident satisfaction. They are all at Newcastle necessarily Horsley- mad. I suffered him to enjoy his short-lived triumph. His copy was upon small paper : of most enviable size and con- XU MEMOIR OF dition. " Were you ever at Belvoir Castle ?" observed I. — " Never," replied he. " Then take care never to visit it ; for there is a copy, upon large paper such as eyes never be- held. Having seen and caressed it, you will throw this into the Tyne." I shall take care to avoid Belvoir Castle," was my friend's reply. "Mr. Brockett may justly boast of a superb series oi Ro- man gold coins, from Julius Caesar to Michael VIII. Paleolo- gus ; and although his collection does not comprise every kno^vn variety, it contains all the specimens of any rarity and interest. What renders it more peculiarly valuable is the exquisite state of preservation of the whole. But here are also British gold and silver coins, of our Henrys and Ed- wards, and medals which illustrate in particular the local history of Newcastle. Nor is my friend a mere collector of these things. The numismatic blood tingles in his veins : he is deeply read in numismatic lore ; at times evincing the taste of Eckhel, and the learning of Rasch." It only remains for me to state, that in domestic life, Mr. Brockett was a pattern of all that was amiable. His family participated with him in his favorite studies and pursuits, and his home was the abode of peace and happiness. Some years previously to his death, he lost his eldest son, when that sou's genius was streaming forth in every direction, and indicating a career of no ordinary character. He sustained the shock with surprising fortitude, but it may have been the remote cause of his death,^ which occurred on the 12th of October, 1842, when our lamented Glossographer was only in the 54th year of his age. At the time of his death, Mr. B. was F. S. A., London, and, as I have already stated, of the Council of the Society of Antiquaries, and Secretary of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. The Council of the Society of Antiquaries, and the JOHN TROTTER BROCKETT, ESQ. Xxiii Committee of the Literary and Philosophical Society, follow- ed the remains of their old friend and associate to their rest- ing place, whilst his pall was borne by Dr Headlam, Mr. Adamson, and other Friends, who had enjoyed a closer in- timacy with the eminently-talented and honoured individual, whose loss was so generally deplored. JOHN FENWICK. 11, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyue, June, 1846. LIST OF WORKS BY MR. BROCKETT. An Enquiry into the Question whether the Freeholders of the Town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne are entitled to vote for Mem- bers of Parliament for the County of Northumberland. 8vo., pp. 51. 1818 Hints on the Propriety of Establishing a Typograghical Society in New- castle upon Tyne. (200 copies printed.) 1818 A Catalogue of Books and Tracts printed at the private Press of George Allan, Esq., F. S. A., at Darlington. (100 copies printed). 1818 A Letter to the Rev. Henry Phillpotts, M. A., Prebendary of Durham. 1819 Memoirs of Thomas and John Bewick prefixed to the Edition of Bewick's Select Fables. 1820 Selecta Numismata Aurea Imperatorum Romanorum Ex Museo loan- nis Trotter Brockett, Partes Prima & Altera. (32 copies printed.) 1822 A Glossary of North Country Words, in Use, from an Original Manu- script in the Library of John George Lambton, Esq., M. P., with XXIV MEMOIR OF considerable additions, 1>y Joliii Trotter Broekett, V. S. A. Lon- don and Newcastle. " It were pity that such particulars should be lost."— Mirror for Magia- trates. Newcastle upon Tyne : Printed by T. and J. Hodgson, for E. Cham- ley, MDCCCXXv. pp. 243. tiOO copies printed in crown octavo, and 32 copies in royal octavo. A Glossary of North Country Words, iu Use ; witli their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages ; and occasional Notices of Local Customs and popular Superstitions. By John Trotter Broekett, P. S. A., London and Newcastle. Newcastle upon Tyne : Emerson Charnley, Bigg Market, and Baldwin and Cradock, London, mdcccxxix., p)>. 343. Reprinted, 300 copies printed in crown octavo, 60 copies in royal octavo, and 2 in quarto. Printed by T. tSi J. Hodgson. A Postscript to an Enquiry into the Question whether the Freeholders of Newcastle upon Tyne are entitled to vote for Members of Par- liament for the County of Northumberland. 8vo., pp. 50. 1831 Several Papers in the Archaeologia .^liana. LIST OF WORKS EDITED BY MR. BROCKETT. An Essay on the Means of distinguishing Antique from Counterfeit Coins and Medals, translated from the French of M. Beauvais, with Notes and Illustrations by John Trotter Broekett, F. S. A. (209 copies printed.) 1819 The Episcopal Coins of Durham, and the Monastic Coins of Reading, minted during the Reigns of Edward I., II., and III., appropriated to their respective Owners ; by the late Benjamin Bartlet, F. S. A. A new Edition, with Notes and Illustrations, by John Trotter Broekett. (105 copies printed.) 1817 A Short View of the Long Life and Raigne of Henry the Third, King of England; presented to King James, 1627. (100 copies printed.) 1817 An Exact Narration of the Life and Death of the Reverend and Learned Prelate, and Painful Divine, Lanncelot Andrewes, late Bishop of Winchester, 1650. (80 copies printed.) 1817 A Memoir on the Origin of Printing; addressed to John Topham, Esq., F, R. & A. SS. By Ralph Willett, Esq., F. R. & A. SS. (32 copies printed.) 1818 A Remembrance of the Honoui-s duo to the Life and death of Robert Earl of Salisbury, Lord Treasurer of England, &c., 1612. (136 copies printed.) 1818 His Majestic's passing through the .Scots armie ; as also his Entertain- JOHN TKOTTER BROCKETT, ESQ. XXV ment by Generall Lesly. Together with the Manner of the Scots marching out of New-castle; related by the best Intelligence. Printed in the year 1641. (101 copies printed.) 1820 An Experimental and Exact Relation upon that famous and renowned Siege of Newcastle, the Divers Conflicts, and Occurrences that fell out there during the time of Ten Weeks and odd Days, and of that Mightie and Marvellous Storming thereof, with power, policie, and prudent Plots of Warre ; together with a succinct Commentarie upon the Battell of Bowden Hill, and that Victorious Battell of York or Marston Moore, never to be forgotten, by him who was an eye-witness of the Siege of Newcastle, William Lithgow, 1645. (201 copies printed.) 1820 A Particular Relation of the Taking of Newcastle, expressing the faire meanes which were used to gaine the Towne ; the Summons sent unto them, and the many Letters past betwixt His Excellency the Earl of Leven, Lord Generall of the Scottish Armie and them, with the Manner of Storming the Towne ; the Rendering of the Castle, and their Condition since ; together with a Letter from the Com- mittee with the Scottish Army to the Committee of both King- doms here ; all sent by an Expresse to the Commissioners of Scot- land, Oct. 29, 1644. (200 copies printed.) 1825 A Full Relation of the Scots Martch from Barwicke to Newcastle, with Eighteen Thousand Foot, Three Thousand Horse, Five Hundred Dragoons, and a Hundred and Twenty Pieces of Ordnance. Also, their Message to the Govcrnour of Newcastle, and their Proposition to the Cavaliers, and their several Answers about the Surrendering of Newcastle. Together with a Relation of xi. of the Erie of War- wick's ships appointed to fall upon vii. ships which lay at Newcas- tle laden with malignants' goods, intended for Holland ; as it was delivered to the Parliament, by a Messenger from the Scot A mie 1644. (202 copies printed.) 1827 YOL. I. OF NORTH COUNTRY WORDS. A. A . It is a striking provincial peculiarity, in many parts of the North of England, tenaciously to retain this letter in most of the words in which modem English substitutes o ; as awn, for own ; hane, for bone ; hame, for home ; &c. ; and to omit the last two letters in those ending in II ; as a' (aw), for all ; c«' (caw), for call ; &c. But at Hexham, and a district round it, the «, instead of usurping the place of 0, as is common in most other parts of Northumber- land, is itself converted into o, in the vulgar pronunciation ; as 0, for all ; bo, for ball ; fote, for fault ; hofe, for half, &c. " Hexham Jio-penni/" is a bye-word of long standing ; and " Hexham the heart of o England," may be said to be pro- verbial. A, always, ever. — Cumb. A, in the Saxon language, is the adverb here given. Perhaps from the same root the Ger- mans have their ewig, and its dependents. In the forma- tion of our border dialects it has been freely denizened. Vide Aye. " For ever and a," is an expression used by old rustics. Philologers and grammarians will decide how far, in this sense, pleonasm of continuous action, the a is an ad- verbial prefix to our participles agoing, «coming, &c. A, interrogative — a ? what ? what do you say ? Qj/. Eh ? 2 A AC Aac, Aik, Yak, Yeck, or Yaik, the oak tree. Sax. ac, wc. Su.-Got, ek. Germ, eiche. Dut. and Isl. eik. So. aik. The words aik and acorn, oljserves Mr. Boucher, fall under that numerous list of northern terms which differ from the com- mon speech of England, only hy ha\ang retained that strong characteristical mark of their Saxon origin, the a in the place of the modem o, and would not have been adverted to here, had there not been something peculiar in their pronunciation, in which alone their pro^ancialism consists. The former is jironounced yeck or yaik, just as earth is pronounced yerth ; whilst acorii is every where pronounced nearly as it is sjielled. By having thus retained the ortho- graphy as well as the orthoejiy of aik, the people of the North have avoided that inconsistency, which certainly is imjjutable to their Southern neighbours, of rejecting the ancient and original spelling, in the theme, whilst yet it is retained in the derivative : for, to be consistent, acorn should be written ocorn. Both these terms are j^ure Sax- on, ac and (ecern ; the latter importing as literally in the Saxon, as it does in English, the fruit or com of the aik ; and hence the proper names of Aikin, Akenside, &c. Aback, backwards ; en back. Isl. a-hak. Not obsolete, as stated in Todd's Johnson. Aback-a-behint, behind or in the rear. '■'■ Ahack-a-heliint where the grey mare foaled the fiddler ;" that is, I am told, threw him off in the dirt. Abawe, to daunt, astonish, lower — aliash. Fr. a has. Abie, to suffer ; to pay dear for. " Ye shall dearly abie it." " Forsothely, a prentis, a revelour That liandeth dis, riot and paramour. His maister shall it in his shoppe ahie." — Chaucer. Able, wealthy ; as " an able man," Ablins, perhaps, possibly. ]Mr. Boucher justly considers this word a remarkable confirmation of an ingenious gramma- tical position, first strenuously ui'ged by Gebelin, and, since, well sujiported and confirmed by Mr. Home Tooke, ACKE 3 viz. that i^articles were originally verbs. He takes ablins to be the participle of the present tense of the irregular verb, " to be able;^' and as such, easily resolvable into the bmig able. Qy. haplings, quasi haply. Aboon, Abuix, above, overhead. Sax. ahufan. Mr. Todd says, aboon is " common in Westmorland and part of Yorkshire." It is also in constant use in the counties of Durham and Northumberland. V. Junius and Boucher. Abraid, to rise on the stomach, to feel an inclination to vomit, with a degree of nausea ; applied to articles of diet, which prove disagreeable to the taste, or difficult of digestion. See Braid. Both from upbraid : reprove is often used in the same sense. Abrede, in breadth, spread out. Sax. abred-an, to lengthen. Abstract, to take away by stealth. — Borders of North. In the dissertation on Fairies, in the Border Minstrelsy, a curious instance of sui^erstition is related, where the corpse of a deceased person, dug up from the grave, is said to be abstracted. So in Law, abstraction of tithe is the unjusti- fiable removal of it. Ac, mind, heed, care ; as, ne'er ac, don't mind — ^take it not to heart. It is a jilirase used to any one who has suffered injury or aflOiction. " Come, my friend, never cr^," do not lay it to heart. Probably from Sax. ace, pain. Acker, to curl, as the curl of water from the wind. Acker, s. a ripple on the surface of the water. AcKERSPRiT, the premature sprouting of a i)otato, the germi- nation of grain. Gr. «»^oj, the end, and g-^h^cc a curling shoot. V. Skin., Jam., and Wilb. In a Scotch Act of Parliament " Anent Malt -makers," it is said that they " let their malt akerspire and shute out all the thrift and sub- stance at baith the ends, quhare it should come at ane end only." " For want of turning, when the malt is spread on the floor, it comes and sprouts at both ends, which is called to acrospyre.- and then it is fit only for swine." — Mortimer's Husbandry. 4 ACKE AcKERN, an acorn. AcKNow, to acknowledge, to confess. Lat. agnosco. The old form of the word — still in use as a northern provincialism. Acow, or AcAW, crooked, obliquely, a^vTy. Sax. ascunian, devitare. Acre-dale Lands, common fields in which different proprie- tors hold portions of greater or less extent ; from acre, a word common to almost every language, ager (Lat.), and acker (Germ.), and Sax. dcelan, to divide. In ancient times an acre did not signify any determinate quantity of land ; and the Normans had an acre confessedly differing from that of the Saxons. When at length it came to mean a specific part, the measure still varied, until it was fixed by statute, in the reign of King Edward I. Adder-stone, a perforated stone — the perforation imagined by the vulgar to be made by the sting of an adder. Stones of this kind are suspended in stables as a charm to secure the horses from being hag-ridden ; and are also hung up at the bed's head, to prevent the night-mare. They are also called self-bored stones. Boucher says they were used by the Druids as amulets. In Welsh they are called by what is supposed to be their Druidical name, Glain-naidrs, or Glain-y-nadrocdd, i. e. snake stones. See Holy-stones. Addiwissen, had I kno^vn it. An expression nearly obsolete, though still retained by some old persons. It appears, says Mr. Boucher, to have been formed on that poor excuse, to which silly people are apt to have recourse, when, for want of consideration and caution, they have fallen into some difiiculty : had I wist, or had I icisscn (and in the pronun- ciation it is as one word, addiwissen), I would not have done so and so. The phrase is of great antiquity, occur- ring in Gascoigne's Hermit's Tale, in Gower, and in Ho- linshed. Addle, Aidle, Eddle, v. to cam by labour, Addlings, Aid- lings, s. labourer's wages, earnings. Sax. edlean, recom- pense, or requital. AGEE 5 Addled, «. decayed, impaired, rotten; as *■' addle-headed," " addled eggs ;" from Sax. adl., or adel, a disease, or its verb, adlian, to be sick or languid. Addlings, earnings ; wages received for work. Adit, the approach, or entrance to any phice, as the adit of a house, &c. ; but more particularly applied to the hori- zontal shaft, or sough of a mine. Lat. aditus. Ae, Ea, one, one of several, each. — Aewaas, Eaways, always. " Ae lad frae out below the ha' Ees Meggie wi' a glance." — 'Rood Fair. Afear'd, afraid. Pure Saxon. This word is repeatedly used by Shakspeare. Aforn, before, on hand. Sax. at-/bran, Afore, the old Eng- lish word for before, is also in use. Aft, behind. Pure Saxon. The dictionaries call this a sea term, but it is in common use on the banks of the Tyne, and occasionally in other places, in the sense here given, without any relation to nautical subjects. After-damp, the residuary gases after an explosion in a coal pit — carbonic acid, nitrogen, and carbonic oxid — causing great loss of life. Ag, to hack or cut with a stroke. Sax. kaccati. Tliis is no vulgarism, but the pure and genuine pronunciation of the Saxons. Their letter c (between two vowels) answered to, and had the power of, the Greek 7. V. Hickes' Grammatica Anglo-Saxonica et Moesa-Gothica, p. 1. Agate, on the way, agoing — on foot again ; as a person re- covered from a sick bed. " The fire burns agate," that is, is beginning to bum briskly. — York., where it always de- notes incipient rapidity. Agean, Agen, again, against. Sax. agen ; and so used in old English. Ageanth, against. Agee, Ajee, Agye, awry, uneven, aside. Across ; as, " it went all agee" " Rouse up thy reason, my beautiful Annie ; Let ne'er a new whim ding thy fancy ajee."— Allan liamsav- 6 AGGE AoGEK, cartlicn banks, or mounds, thrown up either for de- fence, as in encauqjments, or as l)Oundaries, by the British, Roman, and Saxon inhabitants of Britain. Lat. aggero, to heaji. Aggnailes, or Hag-nails, see Wurtsprings. Aglee, or Agley, wrong, awry. As poor Bums truly said, " The best laid schemes o'mice .and men Gang aft a-gUy." Agog, eager, desirous, on the start. " He's quite agog for it." Great research has been expended, and much has been A\Titten on the etymology of this word. It is strange that all our philologists have marked it as uncertain ; as it may, I think, be satisfactorily derived from Ital. agognare, to wish, to long for. Since this was WTitten, I have been in- formed l)y a valued correspondent in Edinburgh, who has most kindly and liberally aided me in my etymological en- quiries, that there is a Roxburgshire saying " on the gogs for it," synonymous with " quite agog for it" — meaning " he is in the humour for it," or, " is eager for it." This expression, he is of opinion, is derived from, and, indeed, is a pure translation of the French phrase " etre dans ses gogiies" which Boyer gives as synonymous with " dans sa bonne humeur," to be in a merry mood, pin, cue, or hu- mour. V. Boyer, vo. gogues ; which is derived from the reciprocal verb " segogucr (se rejouir) to be or make merry." It is scarcely necessary to remark, that both the French verl) and phrase are only used in a comical or burlesque style, which is the very character of agog. A writer in the Quarterly Re\aew (Vol. LIV,, p. 321) in noticing this article, refers to Icelandic, d gcegium — on the watch, or look out — from the neuter passive verb gcegiaz, to peep or pry. Agrote, to surfeit, cloy, or saturate. An old word used by Chaucer. Ahixt, behind, " To ride aJiint." Sax. a hindan, post. AiG, sourness, in a slight degree. " The milk has got an fl?^." AiGRE, sour. Fr. aigve. Hence Ale-aigre, which see. AIXE 7 AiN, Ane, ji»"o«. the northern 2>i'ouunciation of own ; being, as it were, a compound of a^une, i. e. all belonging to one, in contradistinction to that which is the property of mcmi/. V. Boucher. AiNCE, or Anes, i^ronounced Yence. Adv. once. AiRD. This word, as applied to the name of a place, means high ; as Airdl&/, in Hexhamshire. Br. aird, height. Gael, and Ir. ard, mighty, great, and noble. Qi/. from arduus, lofty ? It is also used to describe the quality of a place or field ; in which sense it means dry, parched ; from Lat. aridus — hence arid. Airly, the northern form of early ; conformable to Dan. aarle. AiRT, or Art, a point or part of the horizon or comjiass ; a district, or portion of the country. Germ, ort, a place — die vier orte, the four quarters. Gael, aird, a cardinal point. In Yorkshire the prounciation is airth. " It is concludit in this parliament That into Elgin, or into Invernesse Sail be ane sute of Clarkis sapient Togidder with ane prudent precedent To do justice in all the northern airtis." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. AiRTH, afraid ; " He was airth to do it." Sax. yrlitTi, fear. AiRTHFUL, fearful — ^producing superstitious dread. " An airthful night." AiTH, an oath. The same in Moes.-Got. and Sc. Aither, order, or course of husbandry in tillage land. Mr. Boucher, whose learning and memory I much respect, is unfortunate in his conjecture on this word. See Arder. Aits, Yaits, Yetts, oats. Sax. ata, ate. The sound expres- sed by yaits, as has been justly observed to me by a literary friend is in fact the proper diphthongal sound of oats — the a being long : — and a broad Yorkshireman talks of the beasts getting oorang {wrang — for lo is a vowel in effect) amang the wheate. Aixes, Axes, a fit or paroxysm of an ague — an access. Used AKEL by several of our old writers. The word api^ears to be de- rived from Sax. ace, the origin of ache, a pain ; wliich, in the plural, Shakespeare has evidently pronounced aitchcs — a pronunciation which, in our own time, brought upon John Kemble much ignorant criticism. Our old women have innumerable prescriptions for the ague ; all of them more or less, depending on something which is to operate as a charm. The opinion of the efficacy of charms in the cure of this disease is at least as old as the time of Pliny. " Thou shalt uprise and se A charme that was ysent right now to the The which can helin the of thine axesse." — Chancer. Akeld, aye-keld. Sax. Perennial Well — always running. The name of a fine well, village, and towTiship, in the pa- rish of Kirknewton, Northumberland. Alane, Alean, alone. Dut. all en. Dan. aliens. Alang, tedious, weary, irksome. Alantem, Alantum, at a distance, a long time. Ital. da lon- tano. Fr. lointain. Ald, old. Sax. aid, eald. This syllable, in the beginning of the names of places, denotes antiquity. Ale, a merry meeting of country people, a rural feast. Bride- ale, and church-ff7f', denoting the time for such hilarious meetings, are of frequent occurrence in old legal documents. Ale-aigre, alegar, sour ale used as vinegar. Allekar. — West. Ale- TASTER, an officer still retained in some of the northern boroughs. His duty is to look diligently after the " brew- ers and tipplers, and to taste the ale within his jurisdiction." A person of this description was formerly appointed and sworn in every court leet. Algates, an old word synonymous M-ith always, or all man- ner of ways ; and compounded of all and gates (which in the North denotes icaj/s). Not obsolete, as stated in Todd's Johnson. It is used for, however, or at aU events, some- times — as 9r«)'sr?. r. quotations in Tooke (Vol. I., p. 179, ALL-H 9 who strangely mistakes the derivation. In the Glossary to Way's Fabliaux, it is attempted to be traced thus : — Algates ; Alguise ; Alwise, always : that is, let the guise or manner be what it may ; at any rate ; by all means ; in any way. Algatis occurs in Wiclif's Translation of the New Testament, Rom. xi,, 10. All-along-of, All-along-on (sometimes by quick articula- tion, pronounced Aw-lung) entirely owing to. This term would almost seem to be a corrupt pronunciation of all owing. It is, however, of considerable antiquity in our language ; being used by Skelton, Ben Jonson, and others ; and may be referred to Sax. ge-lang, opera, causa, impulsu, culpa, cujusvis. V. Lye. An ingenious friend suggests, air longing of; to Hong, he says, being used for, to belong, in some of our old poets. V. Tooke, Vol. I., pp. 424 — 431. Baxter always writes ^'■long of" and "a long of." V. Call to the Unconverted. It is very common in the North, but not peculiar to it. Aller, the alder-tree. Alnus glutinosa. — Smith. Sax. wleVy alor, air. See Eller. Aller-float, or Aller-trout, a species of trout — usually large and well grown — frequenting the deep holes of our retired and shady brooks, under the roots of the aller, or alder-tree ; from which it has its name. Alley, the conclusion of a game at foot-ball, when the ball has passed the boundary. — Dur. Fr. a Vais — to the plank which bounded the course, as at tennis. A marble made of alabaster is also called an Alley. All-hallows, All Saints' Day (1st Nov.). " It is remark- able, that, whilst the old Popish names, for the other fasts and festivals, such as Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas, &c., are generally retained throughout England, the northern counties alone continue the use of the ancient term for the festival of All Saints." — Boucher. In the name of churches, there is, however, an exception. See Halle E'en, and Nut Crack Night. VOL. I. c 10 ALL-I All-in-tiie-Well, a juvenile game in Newcastle and the neiglibourliood ; and perhaps in other places. Aln, water, a river in Northumberland. The alnus is the water tree ; and al-dur pleonastically signifies the same. Al would seem to be an older term than dur. Alnus is the name of a river in Scythia. Mart, vii., 29. Always, however, nevertheless. Its use in this sense is com- mon in the North ; and also in Scotland. See Algates. Amackally, in a manner, as well as one can. Sax. maccalecy opportunely. Amang, among. Sax. mengan, to mix. See Jamieson. A-MANY, a great number, a mixed multitude. According to the author of The Diversions of Purley, many is the past particijile of Sax. mengan, miscere, to mix, to mingle ; and many a is a corruption for many of, and therefore improper- ly used with a singular. Ambry', or Aumbry, a safe or cupboard, where cold and brok- en victuals are kej^t. Sax. celmerige, repositorium, scri- nium, abacus, Norman Fr. amhrey, a cupboard. " If thou wilt anatomize and open thy selfe, thou shalt find with- in, a save, an ambry, nay a store-house and treasurie (as Demo- critus saith) of many evils and maladies, and those of divers and sundry sorts." — Holland's Plutarch's Morals. " Ne seuner up, than her heid's in the anibry." — N. C. Prov. Ameast, Amayst, almost. Amell, between or among, amidst. Ray says, " contracted from a middle ; or perchance from the French word mes- ler, signifying to mingle ;" but there seems little doubt of its being directly from the Swed. emellan, or Dan. imellen, the preposition for between. An, or In, if, should ; as, in anters, should it happen, if it come to pass, in case, &c. In anter, in case I get well home. Anan, what ? what do you say ? Commonly used as an an- swer to questions not understood, or indistinctly heard. Perhaps from a repetition of Fr. ain, noticed by La Roux ANUN 11 as " sorte d'interjection interrogative, commune aux pe- tites gens, et fort incivile parmi cles personnes polies ;" or it may be, as Mr. Boucher suggests, merely a redupli- cative of the Saxon or Gothic particle an, which is defined to be " graticula interrogationibus praemissa." Anchor, the chape of a buckle, i. e., the part by which it is fastened. Fr. ancre. Lat. anchora. Anclet, Ancleth, Anclief, the ancle, a gaiter. Sax. ancleow. And-Irons, the same as End-Irons ; which see. Anenst, over-against, towards, opposite to. A very old word in our language ; supported by the authority of Chaucer, Holinshed, and others, and still in common use in the north- ern counties. " Four times the brazen horse entering, stuck fast Anenst the ruin'd guirdle of the towne." Heywood. Anent, concerning, respecting ; also over against, opposite. V. Jam. anens ; and Watson, anent. Saxon, anan, to give ; anend, giving. " And Jhesus biheld hem and seyde anentis men it is impossible, but not anentis God, for all thingis ben possible anentis God." Wiclif's Bible. Angleberry ; amongst old people in Northumberland this is the name of a vetch, probably so called because it angles, or catches and clings to plants or shrubs, stronger and taller than itself. Ang, or Awn, the beard growing out of barley, rye, or wheat. This term seems to have been adopted from the Danes or Swedes, who got it from the Goths. V. Boucher, awnd. Ang-nails, corns on the toes. — Cumb. See Wurt-springs. Anters, in case, lest, it may be. Dut. anders. V. Ray, au7i- ters, and Boucher, anantres. Anters, needless scrujiles, mischances or misadventures. Antrims, affected airs or whims, freaks, fancies, maggots. Tantrims, angry. Anudder, another. Anunder, beneath. 12 APIE Apiece, with the subject in the plural — pennies apiece ; ones apiece ; to everj- one one. Api'ern, Ai'PREn, a common mode of pronouncing aj/ron, in many of the northern counties, /See Nappren. Appetize, v. to provoke an appetite for food. Juliana Barnes, or Bemers, who, Warton says, wrote about 1480, uses appe- tt/delj/, as an adverb, in the sense of with a good appetite. The i^assage wherein it occurs is sufficiently curious, in more respects than one, to be laid before the reader. " Aryseerly: serve God devowtly: and the world besily. Do thi werke wisely : yeve thyn almesse secretly : goo by the waye sadly. Ansuere the peple demurely : goo to thy meete appetyddy. Sytte therat dyscretly : of thy tonge be not to lyberall : aryse therfrom temperately. Goo to thy souper soberly : and to thy bed merely ; be in thyne inne jocondly. Please thy love duely ; and slepe surely." Apricock, an apricot. Used by Shakspeare ; and perhaps the more genuine form of the word. April-gowk, an April fool. See Gowk. Aran, or Arain, a spider. — York. Lat. aranea. Fr. araignee. Span, arana. Ital. aragno. Arax-web, or Arain-web, gossamer, a cobweb. Arder, order, or course. In husbandry the arders are the divisions of tillage land set apart for regular courses of crops in successive years ; or for courses of cropping in rotation. Arf, Arfish, timid, fearful, apprehensive, afraid. " I'm ra- ther arfish about that." See Airth. Argy, the vulgar jironunciation of argue. Ark, a large chest or coffer in farm houses, used for keeping corn or meal. The original and etymological sense of the word. Lat. area. It is usually made of strong oaken planks, which are sometimes elaborately carved. Many of these arks are of high antiquity. In the will of Bernard Gilpin, 1582, the testator leaves to the " poore of Houghton pishe. the greater new ark for corue, standinge in the hall, to provide them grotes in winter." ARR 13 " Thay leif not spendil, spone nor speit, Bed, bolster, blanket, sark, nor sclieit : Johne of the parke Ryps kist and ark , For all sic warke He is richt meit." Maitland's Complaint. Arles, Arns, Alls, Earles, or Yearles (these variations being undoubtedly in their origin one and the same word), money given in confirmation of a bargain, or by way of earnest for service to be performed. Gael, iarlus. Welsh. ernes. Mr. Boucher seems to consider Aries to be the last and almost expiring remains, in our language, of a word of very remote antiquity, that was once in general use, which the Romans abbreviated into arra, and which the Latins in the middle ages changed into arrha. It denoted an earn- est or pledge in general, and was often used to signify an espousal present or gift from the man to the woman on their entering into an engagement to marry. This, as we learn from Pliny, was a ring of iron, the ancient Romans being long prohibited from wearing rings of any other metal. The giving of arles, as earnest money, for confirming a bargain, is still very common in all the northern counties. It is also an old custom, seldom departed from, for the buyer and sel- ler to drink together on these occasions. Without it the engagement would hardly be considered as valid. " or quhen the arlis, or God's pennie, are given and taken by the buyer and seller, and is accepted be him." Segiam Magistatem, b. iu.,p. 93. Arnut, Awnut, the pig-nut, or earth-nut, Bunium bulbocas- tanum. Sax. eard-nut. Dut. aarde-noot. The roots are gathered by chUtlren, who eat them. Arr, a mark or scar made by a wound, a cicatrice. Hence, PocK-ARRS, a common phrase in the North for the marks left on the face by the small-pox. The word may be satis- factorily derived from Dan. ar, a seam, scar, or mark of a wound ; or from Su.-Got. cerr, cicatrix. The term is also 14 ARRA found in the Islandic language — ie|<« not to be understood by uniniti- ated South country ears. Bang, v. to beat, to exceed, to surpass, to excel, to shut the door with violence. " Harnham was headless, Bradford breadless, Shaftoe picked at the craw ; Capheaton was a wee bonny place, But Wallington bangs them a' ". — Northumb. Ballad. Bang, 5. a leaj), a severe blow. In a bang, suddenly, vio- lently. Bang, a strong, heavy lever for raising stones out of the ground, and such like work. Banger, any thing larger in proportion to the rest of its spe- cies. V. Todd's John, banging. See Beaxger. Bankrout, a vulgar name for a bankrupt ; and, judging by the etjnnology, the right word. Fr. banquerout. Ital. ban- corotto. Teut. banckrote. According to the compilers of the Dictionnaire de Trevoux, the term originally came from the Italians, who formerly transacted their business in a IJublic place, and had benches on which they coimted their money. When a merchant found his affairs in disorder, and returned not to this place of business, it was said that his banco, or bench, was rotto, broken uji, as a mark of disgrace. See Box. Banksman, a man employed in taking the coals from the mouth of the shaft of a coal-pit to the skreen. Bannock, a thick cake of oaten or barley meal, kneaded with water ; originally baked in the embers, and toasted over again on a girdle when wanted to be used. Gael, bonnack. I BARN 25 a cake. Irish, boin-neog. Others think that it may be from Isl. baun, a bean ; such cakes having formerly been made of bean meal. Jamieson however, says, the word is Gaelic, and implies roundness. Bany, B'tany, bony, having large bones. Sc. bainie. Bar, v. to shut, to close, to prohibit, to exclude. " Bar the door" — shut the door. " Bar the yet" — close the gate. Bargh, Berg, a hill, or steep way. Su-Got. berg^ mons. V. Ihre. Bar-guest, a local spirit or demon ; represented as haunting populous places, and accustomed to howl dreadfully at mid- night, before any dire calamity. The name may have come from Dut. berg, a hill, and geest, a ghost ; or from Germ. Bahr-Geist, or Spirit of the Bier. Grose, however, who appropriates the word to Yorkshire, derives it from bar and gheist, owing to the ghost commonly appearing near gates or stiles, there called bars. In Drake's Ebo- racum, p. 7, Appendix, it is supposed to come from Sax. burh, a town, and gast, a ghost — signifying a town sprite. Barge-day, Ascension Day ; when the Mayor and Corpo- ration of Newcastle make an aquatic perambulation in barges, according to ancient custom. Bark, a box for receiving the ends of candles ; formerly made of bark, and sometimes so stiU. Barked, Barkened, Barcled, covered \\ath dirt, as though with bark ; clotted, hardened. Isl. barka, cutem induere. " Quhill bludie harkit was their berd, As thay had worreit lambis." Christ Kirk on the Green. Barker, a tanner — so denominated from bark, the great ar- ticle used in his trade. The word is pure Danish. " The company of Barkers." — Newc. Barkhaam, a draught-horse's collar ; formerly made of bark ; generally pronounced Braffam, which see. Barney-Castle, the old, and still the vulgar, name of Bar- 2<; BARL iiftrd-Ca.stlc. — Dur. " Barney-Castle gingerbread," the best in the worhl. *' Tho rebellshavo gevyn over the sege of Barney-Castle." Sadler's State Papers, 1569. Barlkv, to speak or claim. " Barley me that" — I bespeak that — let me have that. Quasi, in corrupt contraction, " l)y your leave me that." 8ee Wilb. vo. hallow. Bakh.vs. The Barras-l)ri(lge is the name of a place in New- castle, a few hundred yards north of the site of the ancient gate called Newgate. The Rev. Wni. Turner thought it was so called from bar-house, or toll-house, but unques- tionably it is from its having been the barras, where tour- naments were held without the walls. " In Sanct Androis on Whitsiin-monunday Twa champions their manhied did assay Past to the bar res enarmit held and handes." Sir David Lyndsay. Baruiee, a strip of coal left around the boundary of a roy- alty, to guard against eruptions of water from other col- lieries. Barrow-coat, the first under-dress of an infant. Barrow- pio, a gelt pig. Sax. berg, a hog. Baseler, a person who takes care of neat cattle. Bass, Bast, matting, dried rushes or sedges. Isl. hast, phi- lyra. Bass, is also the name of a hassock, to kneel upon, so called from its being covered with bass. In Yorkshire, the slaty part of coal after it is burnt white is called bass. Baste, to put a tar mark upon sheep. It is done with a tar- red stick ; and may, therefore, be derived from old Fr. has- ten, a stick. It is a variation of Buist, Beust, or Bust ; which see. Bastile, a castle, tower, or any other fortified building ; si- milar to a Peel; which see. Fr. bastille. Bastillus, in the sense of a tower or bulwark, occurs in Heanie's edition of Elmham in Vit. Hen. V. ; and hastcllc, with the same meaning, is to be found in old French writers, as is also 9 BATT 27 bastillcr, to besiege. Hence the name of the notorious Bastile of Paris. These strongholds were more numerous on the Borders of England and Scotland than elsewhere, and the ruins of many of them are to be found on the , ^ entire line of the Marches ; and in most Border villages of 1 ""^ antiquity. In Lord Euer's register of his devastations on 'j the borders in 1544, as given in Murdin's State Papers, -S we find " Towns, towers, barnekynes, i^aryshe churches, -4 ' bastill houses, burned and destroyed, 192." " John Ourde with other xl. with him, went to Buschill and won the bastelle howse and toke iij. prisoners and browght away the ,_% goods."— ii/;S. Cott. Calig., b. v.,/. 316, quoted by Boucher. J^ Bat, a blow or stroke. Old Gothic, bata, to beat. — Last- bat, a play among children. See Tig. "^ " But suddenly begued a feast £^ And after that begued a fray, >^ The tykes that were baith weak and least They carried a' the bats away. I3 Ballad of Ecky's Meat. Bat, state or condition, " At the same 5a«," signifying in -"^"«■ the same manner ; " at the aud bat,'' as formerly. Bat, "i also signifies speed ; as, " to go at a great bat,^' to go at £ great speed. "X Batten, v. to feed, to bring up, to thrive. Sax. batan, to 7 fatten. Swed. beta, to feed. Mr. Stephenson (in Boucher) J derives it from the Isl. mier batnar, revaleo. Shakspeare, however, uses the word in a sense opposed to thriving — " Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, ~^^ Aud batten on this moor ?" — Skakspeare's Hamlet. " The wife a good church going and a battening to the bairn," is a common toast at the gossip's feast on the birth of a child. An accomplished scholar, whose suggestions are al- ways valuable, thinks the " toast" is from bate (Germ.) a sponsor at a christening, and batlein, or batelein, a god-child. As valuable presents were always made by the sponsors, the wish was a natural one. 28 BATT Batten, or Battin, s. the straw of two sheaves folded toge- ther. I have been referred to Germ, beythun, to join ; formed from bey, double or both, and thun, to do or make. Sax. ba twa, both two, i. e. two together, seems analogous. It is, however, probably the past participle of ge-boeten, from betan, to improve by adding to. See Beet. Batts, low flat grounds adjoining rivers, and sometimes islands in rivers. Bauk, Balk, a cross beam or dormant. Germ. balk. Dut. balck, a beam. " To be thrown ourf balk," is, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to be published in the church. " To hing ourt' balk," is marriage deferred after publication. y. Crav. Gloss, balk. Before the Reformation, as observ- ed by the author of that amusing little work, the laity sat exclusively in the nave of the church. The balk here ap- pears to be the rood beam, which separated the nave from the chancel. The expression, therefore, would seem to mean, to be helped into the choir, where the marriage ce- remony was performed. See Balk. Bauks, or Balks, the grass ridges dividing ploughed lands ; properly those in common fields. Also lengths of soHd unbroken land left by a bad ploughman. Isl. baulk-ur, lira in agro, vel alia soli eminentia minor. Bauks are not so common as they used to be when land was ploughed by oxen. Bauks, or Balks, a place above a cow-house, where the beams are covered with wattles and turf, and not boarded — a hen-roost, or hay-loft. Mr. Wilbraham supposes the hay-loft is so called, from its being divided into diiFerent compartments by balks or beams. Balk in the old nor- thern languages is a separation or division ; and the word is used for capita, or chapters, in the titles of the ancient Swedish laws. V. Ihre, in voce balk. Bawm, to dress, to adorn. — West. Mr. Wilbraham calls this a good old word, quoting Nychodemus' Gospell, 4to., 1532 ; and derives it from Su.-Got. bo, boa, to prepare. Isl. bna, is the same. BEAK 29 Baxter, a baker, Scots and old English, as Webster is a weaver, and Brewster, a brewer. " I see in this assemble, as ye shal hereafter Bakesters, and brousters, and bouchers many." Piers Plowman. " Then all the baxters will I ban That mixes bread with dust and bran, And fine flour with beir maill." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Bay, to bend. Sax. hygan. Whence a hay window. (Shak. Twelfth Night) — also hay-ice, fresh ice, which is thin enough to bend. Capt. Ross explains hay-ice, " newly formed ice, of the same colour as the water ;" but the above is probably the true origin. Baze, to alarm, to puzzle. To be bazed is to be at a loss to know what course to take. " And quhen thai that in the His war, Hard how the gude king had thar Gert hys schippis with saillis ga Owt our betwixt the Tarbark in twa Thai war abasit sa wtrely."— 37i€ Brwx. " Then up rouse doughty TallentLre At that teyme parish clerk And said ' guod neebors ne'er be hazeA I'll undertake the wark.' " Stagg's Cumberland Poems. Beak, to warm one's self; to soften sticks in the fire for use without burning them. Goth, haeka. " Recreate well, and by the chymnay bekU, At euin be time doun in ane bed me strekit." Douglas' Mneid. " I made the fire and bekid me aboute." CJiaiuxr,—Creseide's Testam&tU,. Beaker, a large drinking vessel, usually of glass, a rummer or tumbler glass. In Scotland it is called a hicker, and made of wood. Germ, hecher, Dan. bceger, a cup. The word is also used figuratively to express any other large thing. Beaking-full, full to repletion. 00 DEAL Beal, to roar, to bellow. Sax. bellan. Teut. bcllcn, to bel- low. Beal, bellow, and liawl, all seem cognate. Beanger, anything larger than ordinary of its kind. Beans, small coals of the size of beans. " Beany coals." Beastlings, or Beastings, the thick milk given by the cow for a short time after calving. Sax. hysting. " So may the first of all our fells be thine, Aud both the heostings of our goats and kine." Ben Jonson, — Hymn to Pan. Beastling-pudding, a pudding made of the first milk of a cow — a favourite dish with many people. In Scotland they boil this milk into a thin consistence, which is called bcistcn cheese. Beatment (vulgarly pronounced Beakment), a measure of about a quarter of a peck ; much used in Newcastle. Mention occurs of a beatment, and also of a milner's beat- ment, in an old book of the Society of Coopers, 1070. It has been suggested to me that beatment may be an abate- ment, a small quantity given in to abate the price ; but I should rather incline to think it more nearly allied to beat- ment, a supply, a ration. See Beet. Bear, four-rowed barley. Sax. bere. Got. bcr. This used to be the only species cultivated in Northumberland, though it is now rarely sown, except on crude soil. The drink called beer is thence derived. See Beir. BEAR-Mouxn, a subterraneous passage by which men and horses descend to a coal mine. Cumb. and ]Vcst. Bear-stone, a large stone mortar, or trough, made use of by our ancestors in the North, to unhusk their bear or barley, as a jjreparation for the pot, long before barley mills were invented. Beas, Beess, cows, cattle ; but never, I think, applied to sheep. Sc. baiss. Obviously a corruption of beasts. In some parts of Scotland, the horse, by way of eminence, is denominated the beast ; no other animal receiving that de- signation. BEEL 31 Beaufet, or Beaufat, s. a cupboard, Fr. Buffet. Hicks deduces it from the Sax. bead, a table, and feet, or fat, a cup. Hence is derived Beaufeteer, corrupted into Beef- eater. Beck, v. to nod the head ; properly to coxirtesy by a female, as contra-distinguished from bowing in the other sex. Isl. beiga. Germ, beigen, to bow. Beck, s. a courtesy ; a nod of the head, whether an intimation of acquiescence, recog- nition, or salutation. " So sone as she knew who was her hostesse, after she had made a beck to the rest of the women standing next to the doore, she went to her ajid kissed her." Sadler's State Papers, Vol. II., p. 505. Beck. A horse is said to beck when its legs are weak. Beck, s. a mountain stream or small rivulet, a brook. Com- mon to all the northern dialects. Hickes (Gram. Franc. Theotisca, p. 92,) says, the word came from the Normans to the French, and from the Danes to the Northern inha- bitants of England. See Burn. Beckett, a little brook. Beclarted, be-clotted, be-daubed, be-smeared. Be-dritten, to be defiled Avith ordure, " Thocht I wald nocht that it war written, Schir, in gude faith, I am be-dritten." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Beds, called also Scotch-hop (and Hop Scotch in the South), a game of children ; in which they hop on one foot through different spaces chalked out, called beds. V. Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, j). 286 ; and Hunter's Glossary of Hallamshire, art. Hopscore. Bee-Bike, a bee's nest, or hive, in a Avild state. Teut. hie- bock, bic-buyek, apiarium. Beeld, shelter, warmth ; Sc. Beild, Beeldixg, a wall of stone or earth erected as a place of shelter for cattle. Isl. boele, domicilium. " Better a wee house than nae heild."—Sc. Prov. 02 BEEL Beeldy, warm, affording shelter from cold. " Beeldy flan- nel." Beerness, the cellar or other place where the beer is kept ; and so milkness for a dairy, or milk-house. Beet, to help or assist, to supply the gradual waste of any thing. Isl. betra, emendare. Dut. boeten, to amend. Sax. betan, restaurare. To beet the fire, is to feed it with fuel. The word, in this latter sense, is most applicable to straw, heath, fern, furze, and especially to the husks of oats, when used for heating girdles on which oaten cakes are baked. Teut. boeten het vier., struere ignem. " And therefore he shall begge and bidde, And no man bete his hunger." — Piers Plowman. Beet-need, resource, assistance in case of need. Applied, also, to the person affording it ; as a helper or assistant on particular occasions. See the preceding article. Beezen, or Beesex, blind. Sax. bisen, caecns. Beir, four-rowed barley. See Bear. " For I tak in my count twyse in the yeir Wanting nocht of my teind, ane boll of beir." Lindsay's Three EstaitU, Belch, a rapid discharge of gas in a coal mine. Belikely, probably. An old word, used by Bishop Hall. Belive, anon, by and by, quickly, briskly, or immediately. It is a word of great antiquity ; as it occurs in a passage in the Anglo-Normannic poem — The Life of St. Margaret^ printed in Hickes' Thesaurus, Vol. I., p. 224. " From Asie to Antioge, bet miles tene ant five, For to slen Christene men, he hiede him biliue." It also frequently occurs in early poetry, both English and Scotch. " He sent them word by letteris That they should hye blyve." Chaucer, — Tlie Coke's Tale of Gamdyn. " And as he thoucht, he did belyff." — The Bruce. Belk, to belch. The old, and, apparently the proper, mode of writing the word. The Saxon J'C was either hard or BENT 33 soft. V. Tooke, Vol. II., p. 138. Hence sh or ch, and sk or k, are frequently convertible. Beller, to cry aloud, to bellow. Sax. bellan. See Beal. Bell is tlie cry of the stag. An inscription on a rock at Whamcliffe states that the lodge there was erected by Sir Thomas Wortley " for his plesur to her the herts bell.''' — Hallamshire Glossary. Bellicon, one addicted to the pleasures of the table — a belli/- god. Belly-flought, belly-flat. See Jamieson. Belly- WARK, the gripes or colic. Wark (which see) is in- variably used for ache. Bex, be in, by in, within, inwards, the inner apartment. " Ben the house," the inner part of the house. See But. Bexd-leather, s. the thick leather of which shoe soles are made. Bend-up, a signal to draw away in a coal mine. " Bend up the crab." Bene, a benison, or blessing. It is, I think, from Sax. benCf prayers ; though Ir. bendhecht, a blessing, has been stated to me as the etymon. See Clapbexny. Bexse, a cow's stall. Bexsel, to beat or bang. Teut. benghelen, csedere fustibus. Bent, a long coarse kind of grass, which grows in the coun- ties of Northumberland and Durham, near the sea, and is sometimes used for thatch. Agrostis vulgaris, Linn. Dr. Willan has Bents, high pastures, or shelving commons ; hence, he says, BEXT-^ra^s, which, from the soil, is neces- sarily harsh and coarse. Our old wi'iters use the word to imply grass-ground generally. Ritson properly observes that " it is used for field, in a general sense, as we say ' the field of battle.' " " The dry vers tliorovre the woodes went For to reas the dear ; Bomen bycharte uppone the hent With ther browd aras cleare." Old Ballad of Chwy Chace. VOL. I. F 34 BERR Berry, to thrash out corn. Isl. beria, pulsare. Su.-Got. haria, has tliu same signification. " Wull is berrying in the harn." JiERuiEu, a thrasher of com. Boucher refers it to Swedish ho'rjo., to thrash. Ihre says that, in an oM version of the Bil)le, Judges vi., 11, it is thus rendered, '■'■bmrj hweite of halme ;" i. e., berried or thrashed the wheat out of the hauhn. Tlie iirimary sense of hoerja is to strike, or beat. Beseek, the iiresent provincial pronunciation of beseech. It is the okl and genuine form of the word, and so used by our early poets. " Nought greveth ns your glorie and honour ; But we he-selcc you of niercie and socour." Cftaiicer, — Hie Knight's Tale. Betterness, rt. superior, eminent. " A betterncss kind of body." Be-twattled, confounded, overpowered, stupified, infatuated. Beuk, Bcke, the common pronunciation of book. Moe.-Got. Su.-Got. Isl. and Sax. boc. The northern nations, no doubt, gave this name to a book, from the beech- tree, of which it was first made, in the same manner as the Latins adopted the designation liber, and the Greeks that of /SioAoj, from the materials on which it was customary for them re- spectively to write. Bevel, a violent push or stroke. V. Jamieson. Beyer, or Bivver, to tremble, to vibrate, to quake with fear. Sax. bcfian, trepidare. Bever, or Bivver, a vibration. " Its a' iv a bivver. Bibber, to tremble, to shake. There is a great similarity between this word and Alem. Franc, bihun, tremere. Bicker, s. a small wooden dish, or vessel, made of staves and hoops like a tub. Germ, bechcr, a cup. Ital. bicchcrre. " I'll take a staji out o' your bicker,^'' is a common exjjres- sion in the North ; that is, I'll repress your impertinence, or saucy behaviour. Bid, to inWte to a wedding, feast, or funeral ; especially to BIGG 35 the latter ; in which case the invitation is called a bidding — probably from Sax. hiddan, to pray — originally meaning, as Mr. Wilbraham suggests, the offering of prayers for the soul of the deceased. Two or four peoijle, called bidders, are sent about to invite the friends to the funeral, and to distribute the mourning. The word was formerly in gene- ral use in the sense of to invite. It occurs frequently in the New Testament, and Shaksjseare makes Shylock say, " I am bid forth to supper." Biddable, obedient, of a compliant temper ; as a biddable child. Bidding, or Bidden-wedding, an invitation to a wedding. Some of the Cumbrians, particularly those who are in needy circumstances, have, on the entrance into the mar- ried state, this ceremony, at which a pecuniary collection is made among the comj^any for the i:»urpose of setting the wedding pair forward in the world. It is always attended with music and dancing. The jji-actice formerly prevailed in Northumberland also, but is now disused. Bide, to bear, to endure. " The pain's so great, I can't bide it." Big, to build. Sax. bi/ggan, sedificare. Isl. hyggi. Dan. bi/gge. Swed. bygga. See Biggix. " Ther servauntes be to them unholde But they can doublin ther rentall ; To higrje hem castles, higge hem holde. And al such false foul hem befall." Chaucer, — The Ploimnan's Tale. Bigg, a coarse kind of barley ; properly that variety which has six rows of grain on each ear, though often confounded with what is called bear, or four-rowed barley. Isl. bygg, barley. Su.-Got. biug. Dan. bi/g. A street in Newcas- tle is called the Bigg-market. " And so we entered and wan Logh-wood, where we found the house truly well purveyed for salted beef, malt, big, heaver meal, butter and cheese." — Account of a Raid in the Borders, in Burn and Nicholson's Cumberland, Vol. II., p. 177. 35 BIGG BiGGEN, to recover after lying-in. The gossips regularly wish the lady a good higgenning. Is it to he again ? BiGGEN, BiGGiNO, a building ; properly a house of a larger size, as opjiosed to a cottage ; but now generally used for a hut covered ^\-ith mud or turf. Isl. bigging, structura. — Swed. hyggning, an edifice. The word enters largely into the composition of local names in the North. BiLDER, a large wooden mallet, with a long handle, used in husbandry for breaking clods. Hence, oljserves the author of the Craven Glossary, halderdash, may ^\-ith propriety be called dirt spread by the bilder, alias hilderdasher . This etymon is certainly as happy as that of Mr. Malone — the froth or foam made by the barbers in dashing their halls backwards and forwards in hot water. See Blather. BiLDERT, a term of contempt. " Ye little hildert." BiLLiE, Billy, a companion or comrade, a l)rother. Germ. hillig. Bin, be on. " Shem hin ye !" " Shame be on you." Binding, or Bindin, the contract or hiring for the year ; the colliery bond. Binding, or Bindin-money, earnest money given to a collier on being bound, formerly a considerable bonus, but now reduced to 2s. Qd. or 3^. Bing, a bin ; as, a wine-&^w^ ; a com-hing. A bing of lead is 8 cwt. " You might have sene them throng out of the town, Like ants when they do spoile a bing of come." Surrey's ^eneeis, b. iv. BiNK, or Benk, a seat of stones, wood, or sods ; especially one made against the front of a house. Sax. henc. Dan. bcenl; a bench, or seat. BiRK, the birch tree. Betula alha. Sax. hire. Teut. herck. " Then byrkis on athyr sid the way, That young and thik war growand ner, He knyt to gidder on sic maner That men moucht nocht weell throu thaim rid. The Bruce, b. ii., I. 394. BISH 37 ^ BiRL, i\ to make a noise, like the rapid turning of a wheel. Probably from the sound. BiRLER, or BuRLER, the master of the revels, or person pre- siding over and directing the feast at a Cumberland bidden- 4 wedding, whose office it is to take care that the drink be duly and plentifully supplied. — Gloss, of the Westm. and Cmnb. Dialect. Birr, or Burr, any rapid, whirling motion, as that of a spin- ning wheel. BiRSE, a triangular chisel to make the comer of mortise holes ^. with, A bristle. ** BiRST, an attack, also a difficulty. As, " I'll bide the birst." ^ ^ " Doughty Dan o' the Houlet Hirst, Thou was aye glide at a hirst ,- Gude wi' a bow and better wi' a speir." Fray of Support. BiSHOPBRiG, or BiSHOPRiG, Bishopric ; by which name the county of Durham is still called by way of eminence. It was made a Palatinate soon after, if not anterior to, the Norman conquest — the Bishop exercising within the county jura regalia as fully as the king did in his palace ; regalem potestatem in omnibus, as Bracton (who wrote in the reign of Henry III.) expresses it. Hence the maxim, Quicquid Rex Jiabet extra Episcopus habet intra. But most of these princely honours and privileges were divested " at one fell swoop" by the act of a monarch, to whom one is prevent- ed, by respect for royalty, from giving the epithet he de- serves. BisHOp's-FooT. When any thing has been burnt to the pan in boiling, or is spoiled in cooking, it is common to say. " the Bishop has set his foot in it, or, it is bishopped The author of the Craven Glossary, under bishopped, says, " pottage burnt at the bottom of a pan. ' Bishop's i' th' pot,' may it not be derived from Bishop Burnet ?" That is impossible ; the saying having been in use long before the Bishop was born ! It occurs in Tusser's Five Hundred in -v 38 Bisr Points of good Husbandry, a well known book ; and also in Tyndale's Obedyence of a Chrysten Man, printed in 1528. The last \\Titer, p. 109, says, " When a thynge speadeth not well, we borrow speach and say the hyshope hath blessed it, because that nothynge speadeth well that they nieilyll witball. If the podecli be burned to, or the meate over rosted, we say tlie byshope luis 2'ut his fote in the potte, or the byshope hath played the coke, because the byshopes burn who they lust and whosoever displeaseth them." This allusion to the episcojial disposition to burn heretics, in a certain reign, presents a satisfactory explanation of the origin of the phrase. BisPEL, a term of reproach, but not severe ; apj^lied in gene- ral to young persons, and charging them with being mis- chievous rather than vicious. — Gloss, of the Westm. and Cwnh. Dialect. Bit, adj. little, without the preposition after it ; as, a " bit bread," a " bit bairn." Bitch, an instrument for extracting bore-rods when they break. Bite, or Bight, a bend or curve in a river — like an elbow (a sea phrase, as the bight of a warj), &c.) Probably from Sax. bi/gan, flectere. BiTTLE, V. to beat, especially hemp, or grain out of gleanings. Bittle, s. the mallet, or beetle, used for the purpose. BizoN, a show or spectacle of disgrace. Sax. bi/sen, bi/sn, ex- emplum, exemplar. In unguarded moments, when the good women in certain districts of Newcastle, glad of any opportunity of giving free license to their privileged mem- ber, indulge in acts of termagancy rivalling the elegancies of the best Billingsgate oratory, it is common to fulminate the object of their resentment with a " Holy Bizon ;" ob- viously in allusion to the 2Jenitential act of standing in a white sheet, which scandalous delinquents are sometimes enjoined to perform in the church before the whole congre- gation. In this sense the word seems connected with Teut. bossinne, arnica. BLAC 39 BizoN, a shame or scandal, any thing monstrous or excessive. " Wiv a' the stravaigin aw wanted a munch, An, maw thropple was ready to gizen ; So aw went tiv a yell-house, and there teuk a lunch. But the reck'ning, me saul ! was a hizon." Song, Canny Newcassel. Bizz, to buzz ; conformable to its Teutonic origin, bizsen. Black-a-viz'd, dark in complexion — black-visaged. Black-bowwowers, bramble-berries — the fruit of the Riibus fructicosiis. — North. See Bummel-kite. Black-fasting, s. rigid, severe fasting. " But black fasting, as they were bom, From flesh or flsh or other food. Drink had they none two days before But water won in running flood." Battle o/Floddon, St. 457. Black-mail, protection and forbearance money, which people on the Borders formerly j^aid to the most notorious ma- rauders — sometimes men of name and power — to be freed from the outrage and plunder that was continued to be perpetrated on the Borders. Though lawless, and gener- ally oppressive, the usage of many ages had sanctioned the practice, so that it was considered neither unjust nor dis- honourable ; and from its beneficial effects in securing the forbearance and protection of those to whom it was paid, it was usually submitted to as an indispensal)le measure. Black-mail, it is said, was levied in Rothbury and Redes- dale, in Northumberland, as late as 1720. Black-Monday, the first day of going to school after the va- cation ; so denominated, no doubt, from the Black Monday recorded in our history ; for which see Stowe. The day following is called Bloody Tuesday. Black-neb, a provincial name for the carrion crow, which is thought to be more numerous in the North of England, than in any country in the world. Black-pudden, Black-pudding, a pudding made of blood, suet, &c., stuffed into the intestines of a pig or sheep. I 40 BLAK take notice of the word because tliis .savoury and piquant delicacy is a standing dish among the common people in the North ; and it affords me an opportunity of rescuing from oblivion, the peculiar cries of the present Newcastle ven- dors of this houdiii ordinaire. — " A nice hlack-pudden, man !" " A nice het pudden, hinnie !" "A nice fat puddcn, smo- ken het, maw jewel !" Blake, yellow, or of a golden colour ; spoken of butter, cheese, &c. Sax. bkec. Dut. bleek, pale. Hence, the yellow bunting (emberiza citrinella) is, in some places, called a blaheling. " Blake autumn."— Chatterton. A wound is said to be blaJcening when it puts on an ap- pearance of healing. Blake, cold, exposed, bleak. '' Blakelaw." — North. Blaring, crying vehemently, roaring loud ; applied to pee- vish children and vulgar drunken noise ; as well as the " music of calves." Dut. blaaren. Blash, to throw dirt ; also to scatter, to plash ; as the " wa- ter Mashed all overT Germ, platscn. Blashcanter, Blashment, any weak and diluting liquor. Blashy, thin, i^oor ; as blashy beer, &c. It also means wet and dirty ; in the sense of plashy. Dr. Jamieson has blash, a heavy fall of rain. " But aw fancl maw sel blonk'd when to Lunuen aw gat. The folks they a' luik'd wishy washy ; For gowld ye may howk 'till ye're blind as a hat. For their streets are like wors— brave and blashy !" Song, Canny A'eivcassel. Blast, an explosion of foul air in a coal mine. In less philo- sophic times, the fatal effects of fire-damp were attributed to the agency of subterraneous demons, the mrunculi mon- tani of the Swedes and Germans ; one of whom, according to George Agricola, the great metallurgist, — who seems to have been as rcmarkul)le for his credulity as his erudition — destroyed an hundred men by the blast of his poisonoiis BLAW 41 breath ! — The sage demonologist quoted by Reginald Scott also speaks of the malignity and violence of the goblings who haunted mines. " They do often slay whole companies of labourers, they do some- times send inundations that destroy both the mines and miners, they bring noxious and malignant vapours to stifle the laborious workmen: briefly their whole delight and faculty consists in kill- ing, tormenting, and crushing." Blate, v. to bleat or bellow. Siix. blcetan, balare. Dryden uses blatant, in the sense of, bellowing as a calf. So Spenser calls detraction, the blatant beast. The puritanical Prynne, in his Histrio-Mastix, very unceremoniously stig- matises the Church music of the day — the " bleating of brute beasts." Blate, a. shy, bashful, timid. Su.-Got. Mode. " A toom (empty) purse makes a blate merchant." — Sc. Proverb. " A blate cat makes a proud mouse." — N. C. Proverb. Blather, to talk a great deal of nonsense. " He blathers and talks," is a common phrase where much is said to lit- tle purpose. A person of this kind is, bj/ way of pre-emi- nence, styled a blathering hash. One of my correspondents derives the word from blatant, used by Spenser and others ; another ingeniously suggests that it may be " from the noise of an empty bladder ;'" but it manifestly appears to me to be from Teut. blceteren, to talk foolishly ; an etymology supported by Su.-Got. bladdra, garrire, and Swed. bladra, to babble. Hence, Blatherdash, Balderdash, idle dis- course, silly talk. See Bilder. Blatter, to clatter, to make a noise as with the feet. Blaw, to breathe thick and quick after violent exertion ; ap- plied to man or beast, to blow. A friend once told me of a Scotch preacher, who having tired himself, and probably his audience, called on the clerk to set a psalm, and give him time to blaw a piece. Shakspeare describes Mrs. Page as " sweating and blowing, and looking wildly." Blaw, to blow, to sound a horn. Sax. blawan. Ritson has VOL. I. G i "A 42 BLAZ published the following Lament on the death of Sir Robert de Nevill, Lord of Raby, in 1282 ; alluding to an ancient custom, of offering a stag at the high altar of Durham Abl)ey on Iloly-rood-day, accompanied with the winding of horns. It is, perhajis, the very oldest rhjone of the North. " Wel-i-\va, sal ys homes Maw, Haly-nule this clay ; Nou es he dede, and lies law, Was wont to Uaw them ay." Blaze, to take salmon by striking them at night, by torch- light, \\'ith a three-pronged and barbed dart, called a Leis- ter. I have often seen this dexterous and beautiful mode of taking fish jjractised in the river Tees. The effect of a torch held over a stream, during a dark night, without being magical, is really astonishing : every fish is rendered visible in places even where the water is some fathoms deep. An animated description of the same custom in Lajiland, has been given by Von Buck in his Travels (p. 351), to which the reader is referred. Blea, Blee, bluish, pale, or lead colour. Sax. bleo. Germ. bley, lead. The word is used to denote a bluish colour like the lijis in a frosty morning. It is also applied to the discolouration of the skin by a blow or contusion. In this latter sense it seems allied to Fr. bleu. Country house- wives speak of " blee lint." Blea-beery, Blay-berry, the bilberry, or black whortle berry, Vaccinium Myrtillus. Isl. blaber. Swed. blab'dr. These berries are sometimes eaten with cream, in the manner of strawberries. They are also made into tarts and jellies. Bleb, Blob, a drop of water or bubble, Dut. bobhcl. Swed. buhla. Also a blister, or rising of the skin. Germ, blaen, to swell. Bledder, the bladder. " A great chorl and a srym, growen as a tonne With a face 80 fat as a fill bleddere." Piers Plnu-man'f Crede. BLOB 43 Blee, or Blea, colour, complexion. An old word ; from Sax. bleoh, colour — not yet obsolete. " Hyr bleo biynketh so bright." Love Song in Har. MSS about the year 1200. " Myne lierte oppressed is so wonderfully Ouely for him which is so bright of Me Alas ! I trowe I shall him never see !" Chaucer's Lament, of Mary Mag. Bleed, to yield ; ajjplied to corn, which is said to " bleed well" when on thrashing it hapjiens to be very jiroductive. Fr. bled. Blendings, or Blendlings, a mixture of peas and beans. Swed. blandning, a medley ; from blanda, to mix. Blin, to stop, or cause to stop, to cease, to desist. Sax. blinnan, cessare, desinere. The word, indeed, occurs in almost all the ancient northern languages, although vari- ously formed. V. Jam. Blink, v. to smile, to look kindly, but with a modest eye ; the word being generally applied to females. Dan. blink, a glimpse. Blink, s. a smile, a glance. " The blithe blinks in her eye" — joy sparkles in her eye. " They persit myne hart, his blenkis amourous." Lyndsay's Dreme. Blinkard, Blenkaed, a person near sighted or almost blind. Blirt, Blurt, to cry, to make a sudden indistinct or un- pleasant noise. " What's thou blirtin* at, lad." — Blirt, is also used, both in the north of England and in Scotland, when a candle burns in the socket, and gives an unsteady light — a blirting light. Bloacher, any large animal. I know not its etymology ; unless it can be connected \A\\\ bloat, in the sense used by Addison, — " I cannot but be troubled to see so many well-shaped innocent virgins bloated up, and waddling up and down like big-bellied women." Blob, a drop " blob ripe," very ripe, ready to burst like a drop of water. 44 BLON Blonk, a blank. — Blonked, disappointed, defeated of expei.ta- tion. From the verl) blank, to damp, to obsmre, used by Shakspeare — " Each opposite that blanks the face of joy." HaniM, Act III,, Scene 2. Blousy, or Bi,(»\vsy, red and coarse, wild, disordered, con- fused. Dr. Johnson has blowzy, sun burnt, high coloured. Blower, a fissure in the broken strata of coal, from which a feeder or current of inflammable air discharges, and owing to the explosion of which such heart-rending misfortunes have occurred in so many of our collieries. •' To give detailed accounts of the tremendous accidents, owing to this cause, would be merely to multiply pictures of death and human misery. The phenomena are always of the same kind. The miners are either immediately destroyed by the explosion, and thrown, with the horses and machinery, through the shaft into the air, the mine becoming, as it were, an enormous piece of artillery, from which they are projected ; or they are gra- dually sufibcated, and undergo a more painful death, from the carbonic acid and azote remaining in the mine after the in- flammation of the fire damp ; or what, though it appears the mildest, is, perhaps, the most severe fate, they are burnt or maimed, and often rendered incapable of labour and of healthy enjoyment for life."— Sir H. Vary on the Safety Lamp, p. 3, 4. Blowx-milk, skimmed milk. I suppose from the custom of blo'vv'ing the cream oif by the breath. It is also called blue milk, from its colour. Blawn-milk, my friend ^Ir. Kinloch informs me, is used in Scotland to milk that is slightly soured by the air — winded. Blush, s. a slight resemblance. He has a bhish of his bro- ther ; that is, he bears a resemblance to him. — It is also used to describe that state of the hands or feet when nearly blistered by hard work or over exercise. " He walked till his feet were bliis/it.'^ Boards, the jjrincipal excavations in a coal mine, made at right-angles to the winning head-Mays. Bob, a bunch. Isl. bobbi, nodus. Fr. bube. " Bob o' rib- bons." BOKE 45 BoBBEROUs, BoBBERSOME, hearty, elated, iu high spirits. Bobbery, or Bubbery, a quarrel, noise, or disturbance. Bobby, smart, neat, tidy. " The varry hobhy-o" Bode, a price or sum bid — an offer at a sale. Germ, hot, licitatio et pretium oblatum ; which Wachter derives from bieten, offerre. BoDEN, to be in difficulty. " He's hard boden" i. e. He is in straightened circumstances. BoDwoRD, an ill-natured errand. An old word for an omi- nous message. Su.-Got. and Isl. bodword, edictum, man- datum. Boggle, or Bogle, Boggle-bo, a spectre or ghost, a nursery bug-bear. — NoHk. and Dur. Celtic, bwg, a goblin. Welsh, bogelu, to affright — bugul, fear. In West, and York, the word is boggard, or boggart. " My mammy bid me gan to bed, My daddy he said, ' No," My mammy said, if I wad na gan, She would fetch the Bogglc-Bo " — N. C. Song. " Swyth beggar bogill haist the away." Lyndsay's three Estaitis. Boggle about the stacks, a favourite pastime among young people in the country villages, in which one hunts several others between the stacks in a farm yard. The diversion was formerly called barley break, or barley brake, and was once an attractive amusement for persons of both sexes " in life's rosy prime." " At e'en, at the gloaming, nae swankies are roaming, 'Bout stacks, wi' the lasses at bogle to play." Flowers oS the Forest. Bogie, the tram, or truck, used by the Newcastle Quayside cartmeu. Boke, to belch, to vomit. Sax. bealcan. Dut. boken. See Bowk. " He bigan Benedicite with a hoik And his brest knakked And raxed and rored And rutte to the laste." — Piers Plowman. 4C liOLD BoLDON I3uKE, BoLDON BooK, ail aiiciciit survey of all the lands within the County Palatine of Durham, held in de- mesne, or l)y tenants in villenage ; taken in the year 1183 by order of Bishoj) Hugh I'udsey. This ambitious prelate, styled by Lambarde, " the joly Byshop of Durham," exer- cised all the state of a sovereign in his own Palatinate, in which there were many royal rights ; and probably it was in some degree in consequence of these exclusive privileges, that, when the Conqueror's General Census, or Domesday Book, was made, the bishopric of Durham was not in- cluded ; though the bishop's property, as a tenant in capite, in other counties, is specifically mentioned in that great national record. The Boldon Book, therefore, forms a valuable Supplement to Domesday ; and is of great im- portance to the See of Durham, having been frequently appealed to and admitted as e"\-idence, on the jiart of suc- ceeding Bishops, to ascertain their j^roperty and seigncurial rights. Besides its value to the toiiographer, it is highly interesting to the antiquary and historian. It tends greatly to elucidate the English tenures, manners, and customs of the twelfth century ; and contains many words which are not to be found in Du Cange, or any of his continuators. — This venerable record derived its name from the services of the manor of Boldon being the first which occur in this compilation of the great rental of Hugh Pudsey. BoLE-HiLLs, a jirovincial term for heaps of metallic scoria, which are often met with in the lead mine districts. They are the remains of an ancient and very simple mode of smelting lead by wood fires, on hills, in the open air. Al- though the nature of mining, till vei-y recent times, was but imiierfectly understood, it is clear that the Saxons, as well as the Romans, worked mines in tliffereut jjarts of our island, and frequently made use of lead in works of eccle- siastical magnificence. Roman pigs, or masses, of lead are exhibited in the Gallery of Antiquities in the British Mu- seum. BOND 47 Boll, Bole, the usual corn measure in the North — iu some places, two bushels ; in others, six. It is common in Scot- land, where it varies in quantity, in different sorts of grain ; but, I believe, it is utterly unknown in the south of Eng- land. Boll, Bole, the body or trunk of a tree. Su.-Got. bol. Bo-MAN, a hobgoblin or kidnapper. V. Todd's John. ho. BoNDAGER, a cottager, or servant in husbandly, who has a house for the year, at an under rent, and is entitled to the produce of a certain quantity of potatos. For these advan- tages he is bound to work, or to find a substitute, when called on, at a fixed rate of wages, lower than is usual in the country. In Northumberland much of this work is performed by the female part of the family, or by children. Swed. bonddrang, a farmer's man, a young jieasant. This bondage service, the exj^ediency of which economists have doubted, may be referred to the villenage tenure of a more barbarous jjeriod. In the ancient feudal ages, the land was generally cultivated by three sorts of persons — the small allodial tenants, who, though originally freemen, and capable of disposing of their estates, sometimes elected, for the sake of i^rotection, to become the vassals of their more powerful neighljours — the villeins, who held on condition of performing such servile works as the lord required, or their tenure was burdened with — and the serfs, or villeins regard- ant, who were literally slaves attached to the soil, and, together with their wives and children, transferred with it by purchase. In cases of great poverty and distress, it seems that it was not uncommon for freemen in this coun- try to sell themselves as slaves. Thus, in 1069, Simeon of Durham relates that there was a dreadful famine in Eng- land, particularly in Northumberland and the adjacent provinces, and that some sold themselves into jjerpetual slavery, that they might in some way sustain a miserable life. Many modes l)y which a man, in a state of villenage, might acquire his freedom, are enumerated by Glanville, 48 BONN and in The Mirror. Before writing was much known, the enfranchisement was accompanied hy great publicity and ceremony ; but when it became common, the act was done by deed. The form for the emancipation of serfs is minutely described in the laws of the Conqueror ; and various later grants and manumissions may be seen in Madox's Formu- lare Anglicanum, p. 416 et seq. One of these is remark- able — being an enfranchisement of two villeins for the soul of the Abbot of Bath. Bonny, beautiful, pretty, handsome, cheerful. Dr. Johnson derives this northern word from Fr. bo7i, honne, good. If this be the etjonon, it may have passed to the Scotch from the French ; with whom, before the Union, the inhabitants of Scotland were closely connected. Through this channel our border country has derived much of its language. Bonny, however, has been viewed by some as allied to Gael. boigheach, hoidheach, j^retty. The word is of frequent oc- currence in the plays of Shakspeare, who apjjears to have understood it in all its different meanings. " We say that Shore's wife hath a pretty foot, A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue." Richard ITT. " Match to match I have encountered him, And made a prey for carrion kites and crows, Ev'n of the bonny beast he lov'd so well." ITenry VI. " Then sigh not so but let them go. And be you blithe and bonny." Much Ado about Nothing. BooDiES, the same as Babbt Boodies ; which see. Boon, a service or bonus, done by a tenant to liis landlord, or a sum of money paid as an equivalent. The remains of the ancient hondagium, or villenage servitude ; from Sax. bond, l)onds or fetters, Love-boon, voluntary labour. Boon-days, days works, which the tenants of some manors are obliged, or bound, to jierform for the benefit of their lord gratis. Vast quantities of land in the northern counties, BOOT 49 particularly in Cumberland, are held under lords of manors by customary tenure, subject to the jjayment of fines and lieriots, and the performance of various duties and services on the boon days. Spelman, vo. precarice, refers to " biden DAYS, quod Sax, Dies precarias sonat, nam hidden est orare et precari ;" and gives a curious extract from the Great Book of the Monastery of Battel, where the custom is plainly set forth. Boor, Bour, or Bower, the parlour, or inner chamber through the kitchen, in country houses, in which the head person of the family generally sleeps, It is undoubtedly to be referred immediately to Sax. bur, which bears exactly the same sense. The analogy between this term, and Isl. bur, a little dwelling, from bouan, to dwell, is striking. Spen- ser uses bower, for a lady's apartment, such as we now call a closet or cabinet. Fair Rosamond's bower, at Wood- stock, is familiar to every reader. " What Alison, heres thou not Absolon That chanteth thus under our houres wal ?" Chaucer,— The Miller's Tale. BooRDLY, BuiRDL?, stout, stroug, robust ; also stately, noble looking. BooRLY, rough, unpolished — boorish. Teut. boer. Sax. bure, a boor. BooR-TREE, or BouR-TREE, the elder tree. I have heard this explained as the boor's tree — growing in cottage-garths, hedges, &c. But see Bur-tree. BoosE, an ox or cow's stall, where the cattle stand all night in winter. It is now more generally used for the upper part of the stall, where the fodder lies. Sax. bosg. Isl. bas. Swe. has. Boot, Bote, or Bute, s. something given to equalize an ex- change, or in addition. In a former edition of this work, I gave old Fr. bote, help, advantage, as a probable deriva- tion ; but I think, on further consideration, that the word VOL. I. H 60 BOOT has been adopted from the Saxon expression, to bote, com- pensationis gratia, insujier, ex abundanti. Booted Bread, bolted bread, bread made of bolted or sifted meal, and better than the common household bread — sometimes with a mixture of rye. Boot may be derived from Germ, bcutehi, to sift. BooT-HALER, a freebooter, robber, or marauder. BooTHER, BooDER, or BowDER, a hard flinty stone, rounded like a bowl. A boulderstone. V. Todd's John, boulder, and bowlder-stones. BooTHMAN, the ancient name for a com merchant. BoRROWED-DAYS, BoRRowiNG-DAYS, the three last days of March. " March said to Aperil, There lie three hogs (sheep) upon yon hill If ye will lend rae days three I'll find a way to gar them dee. The first day shall be wund and weet, The second day shall be snaw and sleet, And or the third day shall be past and gane The silly poor hogs will come drooping hame." Northern Popular Rhyme. These days being generally stormy, our forefathers, as my friend Dr. Jamieson remarks, have endeavoured to account for this circumstance by pretending that March borrowed them from April, that he might extend his jjower so much longer. The superstitious will neither borrow nor lend any thing on any of these days, lest the article should be employed for evil purposes. Boss, empty, hollow, exhausted. Teut. io55f, umbo. Jamie- son. Bottom-board, the trap in the bottom of a coal-waggon. Bottom-room, a vulgar term for a single seat in a pew. In Dr. Jamieson's SuiJi^lement to his Scottish Dictionary, vo. bottom, " the breech, the seat in the human body," the au- thor states that he has not observed that the word is used in this sense in England. It is, however, very common in all our Northern counties. J BOUN 51 Bought, a fold where ewes are milked or put. Tuut. locJit. Sc. hught, " Will ye gae to the ewe huchts, Marion, And wear in the sheep wi" me ? The sun shines sweet, my Marion, But not half sae sweet as thee." — Se. Song. BouGHT-BREAD, bread of a finer quality bolted by the baker, in opposition to a coarser kind made at home. BouGHT-CLOTH, tho cloth used in sifting or temsing meal ; a bolting cloth. BouK, v. to wash linen ; or rather to steep or soak it in lye of a particular description, with a view of whitening and sweetening it. — Bouk, s. the lye used on the occasion. Ital. bucato, lye to wash with. But see Jam. Supp, bouMn- ivashing. Buck is used by Shakspeare, as well for the li- quor in which clothes are washed as for the clothes them- selves. Every one remembers the ludicrous adventure of Falstaff, in the great buck-basket. The process of bouk- ing linen, adopted by the older Northumbrian house- wives, would, I fear, be considered too coarse and homely for their more southern neighbours to imitate, and therefore I refrain from particularizing it. Bouk, Bowk, bulk, quantity, or size ; the body of a tree. Su.-Got. bolk. Chaucer uses bouke, for the trunk of the human body, and in this sense it is yet used in some of the more remote parts of Northumberland — " The clotted blood, for any leche-craft Corrumpeth, and is in his hotike ylaft. That neyther veine-blood, ne ventousing, Ne drinke of herbes ben his helping." diaucer, — nie KnigM's Tale. Mr. Tyrwhitt says, it is probably from Sax. buce, venter. The correspondent term in Swed. is buk. BouN, BowNE, bound) destined, engaged, about to go to some place, or to do something. According to Dr. Jamieson, from Su.-Got. boa, to prepare, to make ready, of which boen, 62 BOUR or loin, is the participle. The word is used in Sir Walter Scott's Poems, jMssim. " Off' (ill his bruderys men in wer, He gert upon their best maner With many men boione thaim to ga In Inglaud for to bryn and sla." Tlie Bruce, b. xiv., I. 21. ' " And bad hem alle bo howne Beggers and othere To wenden with hem to Westmynstere." Piers I'loimnan, I. 1202. BouRD, V. to jest. — BouRD, s. a jest. Old Fr. hoiird. This is one of our oldest words, as Mr. Todd remarks, and is still used in the north of England. " That that I spake, I .sayd it in my hourd." Cfiaucer, — Jlie Manciple's Prologue. " Na schir I dar nocht speik ane word To plaine on preistis is na bourd." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Bout, a contest or struggle ; especially when applied to a jovial meeting of the legitimate sons of Bacchus. Bout, a northern pronunciation of but. V. Todd's John. but. BowDiKiTE, or BowLEY-KiTE, a corpulcut i^erson, probably from a bowl, round. The term most frequently betokens contempt, and is often applied to a mischievous child, or an insignificant jjerson. BowELL-HOLE, a suiall aperture in a bam, a perforation through a wall for giving light or air. V. Jam. Supp. boal. Bower. See Boor. BowERT, plump, buxom ; generally applied to a young fe- male in great health. Bowery and buxom are, in reality, the same word ; both referable to Sax. bocsiim, obediens, mori- gerus, flexibilis ; in old English bonghsome, i. c. (according to H. Tooke) easily bended or bowed to one's will, or obe- dient. In an old form of the marriage ceremony in a MS. Rituale in Usum Sarum, circa 1450, the bride promised " to be boner & buxu" V, Astle on Writing, tab. xxvii., p. 150, specimen 15. BRAC 53 Bowk, Bouk, to eructate, to belch. " BowkinghxW ;" a state of repletion. An old English word. " He hocketh lyke a churle." — Palsgrave. See Boke, Bowling-match, a game with bowls made of stone — not on bowling-greens, but, to the great annoyance of travellers, on the highways from village to village. Box, a club or society instituted for benevolent or charitable purposes, and possessing a common chest, or box : — part- ners in the money deposited in this box ; and derived from that circumstance, as bank is from bench, on which money was placed, weighed, &c. The oldest institution of the kind, which I have been able to trace, is that of the keelmen of Newcastle and the neighbourhood ; who, on the " head meeting day," after assembling at their hospital, walk in procession through the principal streets of the town, attend- ed by a band of music. Much greater interest was formerly manifested in this business by the parties concerned, who made it a point of honourable emulation to rival each other in the grandeur of their apparel ; especially in the pea-jacket, the sky-blue stockings, the long-quartered shoes, and large silver buckles. Cold was the heart of that female, old or young, connected with the " Keel lads o' coaly Tyne," who could look unmoved on such a spec- tacle. Brabblement, a noisy quarrel, or indecent wrangling. Dut. brabbelen, to mingle confusedly. Brabble occurs in Shaks- peare, in more instances than one. Brack, to break. Sax. brecan, frangere. Sc. brak, Brack, broke. Bracken, or Brecken, fern. In Smoland, in Sweden, the female fern is called bracken. Sw. stotbraakin. In is a termination in Gothic, denoting the female gender. V. Jamieson. It was formerly sujiposed that " fern seed" was only obtainable at the exact hour of the night on which Saint John the Baptist was born ; and the supersti- tious believed that if they gathered it at that particular 64 BRAD time, it would endow them with the power of walking in- visible. " Nay, by my faith, I tlilnk you are more indebted to the night than to fern seed, for your walking invisible."— S/tat. lien. IV. BiJADE, to resemble. Mr. Hunter says to breed. She breeds of him, she resembles him, or she favours of him, another colloquialism, and sometimes she favours him. Ray was of the same opinion. But the sense, as Dr. Jamieson has o])served, is precisely the same with that of Isl. bregd-a, bregth-a, Su.-Got. braa, verbs denoting the resemblance of children, in disposition, to their progenitors. Bregdur barni til aettar, progenitoribus suis qiiisque fere similis est G. Andr. p. 38. V. Ihre, vo. Braa. The latter writer views Isl. brag-ur, mos, afifectio, modus agendi, as the radi- dical term. " Since Frenchmen are so traui. Marry that will, I'll live and die a maid." Shak.,— All's Well that Ends Well. The Commentators have mistaken the meaning of this passage. Mr. Steevens refers to bred, an Anglo-Saxon word, signifying f rails, astus j but it has no relation. The error also occurs in Todd's Johnson. Brae, a bank or declivity ; any sloping, broken ground. Welch, bre. Braffam, Braugham, a collar for a draught horse ; some- times made of old stockings stuffed with straw. Gael. braighaidain, a collar ; from braigh, the neck. Sc. brecham. Bragget, a drink made of the wort of ale and mead, mixed together and sjjiced. Braid, broad. Sax. brad, latus. This is the old English, and still the Northern and Scotch pronunciation. " Sync in the more thai entryt thar. It was bathe hey and laug and braid."— T?ie Bruce. " Bessie with the braid apron," was a familiar epithet ap- plied to Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Dacre, the wife of BRAN 55 Lord William Howard (Belted Will), whose broad lands swelled the fortunes of this younger brother, the progenitor of the families of Carlisle and Corby. Braid, to nauseate, to belch ; hence uphraid ; also a sudden burst of impetuosity, wonder, or surprise. Probably from Islandic, hragd, a sudden motion. The word is used by Wiclif, in Luke ix. 42, where our version uses tare ; but he probably used hrayed in the sense of heat^ which the Greek word (ruvs«cr«g«|sv, would equally allow. Braid-Band, com laid out in the sheaf on the band, and spread out to dry after rain, i. e. abroad on the band. The phrase occurs in Scotland ; and Mr. Kinloch informs me that it is also used there in a figurative sense ; as, it's in the braid-band ; i. e. the thing is ready for being finally worked oiF. Braids, Breds, scales. In general use among the lower class of farmers in Northumberland. Braird, or Breard, the first appearance of a plant above ground ; more especially the tender blades of springing corn. Sax. brord, frumenti spicse. Brake, a heavy harrow used for breaking large clods of earth on rough fallow land. V. Nares' Gloss, for other signifi- cations. Branded, having a mixture of red and black. Dut. branden. Brander, v. to broil, to grill. Teut. branden, to bum. — Brander, or Brander-iron, the instrument on which the meat is brandercd, or grilled — a gridiron. Brand-irons, irons used for supporting the wood in a wood fire. See End-irons ; and Skin, andirons. Brandling, a name given to a species of trout caught in the rivers in Northumberland, where salmon is found, j)articu- larly in the Tyne. Early in the year they are seen about three inches long, but in the course of a few months in- crease to six or seven inches ; after which, they are rarely found any larger. Like the salmon-smelt and whitling, they have no spawn. Some authors suppose them to be 56 BRAN only the fry of the common salmon ; but Pennant gives several good reasons for considering them a distint species, They are faintly barred or branded on the sides ; hence, perhaps, the name. Dr. Jamieson traces it to Isl. branda, trutta minima, whence brand-hoed, foetura truttarum. V. Supplement, vo. hranlie. Brandling, a small worm found in beds of dung and tan ; a good bait, after being cleansed in moss, for trout ; probably 60 called from being used in fishing for the brandling species. Brandreth, or Braxdrith, an iron tripod fixed over the fire to support a pot or kettle. A gridiron, Brand-isen, and brandred, are Saxon names of the sustentaculum ferreum, fulcrum focarium, or trivet, used for supporting wood and fire-vessels on a hearth. Dan. brandrilh, is cognate. Brandy-snaps, a small cake of ginger-bread. Probably iran(?-schnap, from being burnt, not from the real or sup- posed presence of brandy. Brank, v. to hold up the head affectedly, to put a bridle or restraint on any thing. Ital. branca, a claw or fang, — or by metonymy, a gripe : brancare, to seize. This word gives me an opportunity of introducing another of kindred import — ^the Branks, an instrument formerly kept in the Mayor's Chamber, Newcastle, for the punishment of. " chiding and scolding women," and still jireserved in the Justice Room in the Manors. It is made of iron, fastens round the head like a muzzle, and has a spike to insert in the mouth so as effectually to silence the offensive organ within. Ungallant, and unmercifully severe, as this spe- cies of torture seems to be. Dr. Plot, in his History of Staf- fordshire, much prefers it to the cucking stool, which, he says, " not only endangers the health of the party, but also gives the tongue liberty 'twixt every dijj." Sec an en- graving of Robert Sharp, an officer of the Corporation of Newcastle, leading Ann Bidlestone through the town, with a pair of branks on her head, in Gardiner's England's Grievance Discovered, orig. edit. p. 110 ; copied by Brand, BRAN 57 iu plate of Miscellaneous Antiquities, Vol. II., p. 4". Ou referring to Wachter, I find prangen, cogere, premere, coarctare. Hence, he says, the pillory is vulgarly called pranger, from the yoke, or collar, in which the neck of the culprit, thus exposed to public shame, is held. " Muzzle 'er, muzzle 'er, put 'er on the bmnks," is yet, I regret to say, occasionally to be heard in the good town where I reside. The following is found in the records of the Kirk Session of Stirling for 1600 :— " Compeared Margaret Wilsone.spous to Duncan Bennet, qiiha be sufficient tryel is fund ane abusar and blasphemar of hir husband, of the elderis of the kirk and her nychburis, raony and diviris tymes, nocht onlie in the day lycht, bot in the nycht, nochwith- standing of mony admonitionis, she has recavit of the elderis of the kirk to abstein thirfra, and therefer the bretherein of the kirk thinkis meit that the bailleis put her in the branJcis, in the nather end of the toun, in the scyht of her nychbouris, quherby she may be movit to abstain fra the 1 vk offences in tymes coming, with certiflcatione gyf the lyk be fund in hir hereafter, that the bailleis will be desyrit to put hir in the govts" Branks, a sort of bridle used by country people on the Bor- ders. — North. Mr. Culley, of Fowberry Tower, who kindly furnished me with an extensive MS. list of local words, thus describes it : "a halter for leading or riding a horse, when the head-stool is made of hemp or birch t'svigs, and the piece that goes over the nose of two pieces of wood united by hemp or leather-thongs, and a hempen or birch-shank." According to Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary, brancas is a bridle. See Kilian, under pranghe, muyl- pranghe. Bran-xew, Brand-new, Braxd-spaxder-new, quite new ; any thing fresh from the maker's hand ; bearing, as it were, his hrand, or mark, uj^on it. Often applied to clothes to denote the shining glossy appearance given by passing a hot iron over them. Teut. brand-new. Dut. brand nieuw. Shakspeare uses '^ fire new arms," and "fire •new fortune." In like manner, a country blacksmith, on VOL. I. I 68 BRAN seeing an honourable Baronet's bride for the first time, exclaimeil, " it's Sir John L , with his jfire new wife !" BuANT, steep. iS'ee Brknt. Brash, or Wateh-i5ua.sii, s. a sudden sickness, with acid rising in the mouth ; as in the heart -bum. V. Wachter, brasscn. My worthy friend, Mr. Turner, suggests a burst- ing forth of water ; from l)urst, often pronounced brast ; at least in Cheshire ; where, he says, he has heard this rustic invitation : " Come, surs, eight {i. e. eat)." " I can eight no more, I'm welly (well nigh, almost) brosten." " Eh, surs, I wud I had aught to brast ye wi'." Brash, a. hasty, impetuous ; a corrujitiou, i>robably, of raah. Brashy, small, delicate in constitution, subject to frequent bodily indisposition, or weakness. V. Jam. brash. Soft stone is also said to be brashy. Brass, money, riches. The word, of course, for wealth when brass was the standard ; as ces was in Rome ; a^yugiox in the cotemporary, but more advanced, states of Greece ; dc V argent now in France ; and gold in England. In the North, a wealthy person is said to have plenty of brass. Brasses, Pyrites, which are often found mixed up with the coal in such abundance, as to render it almost unsaleable for fuel. Brast, burst, broken. Sax. burstan. Not obsolete, as stated in Todd's Johnson. Brat, a rag, a child's bib, a coarse apron. Sax. bratt, pan- niculus. It is also often used to express clothing in ge- neral ; as in the well-known phrase, " a bit and a brat.^^ Brat, in Irish, signifies a cloak, mantle, or covering. Chau- cer uses the word to signify a mean or coarse covering — -" for ue had they but a shete y: Which that they might wrappen hem in a-night, And a brati to walken in by day-light." The Chanone's Tcnmnne's Tale. Brat, the film on the surface of some liquids ; as, for instance that which appears on boiled milk when cooled, or beer BRAW 69 when sour. It is also applied to the crust formed after rain on the surface of the land. Brat, a turbot. In the Newcastle fish market, the hallibut is called a turbot. Bratchet, a contemptuous epithet ; generally api>lied to an ill-behaved child ; and similar in that sense to whelp. Fr. Bratchet, a slow hound. Brattish, a wooden partition (a brattice), used for the pur- pose of ventilation in coal mines. It is also applied to any slight partition dividing rooms ; and sometimes to the high back of the seat placed near the kitchen fire, formerly common in farm and ale houses, and more frequently call- ed the lang settle. Brattle, v. to make a clattering noise, to sound like thunder. — Brattle, s. a clattering noise, a clap of thunder. Brautings, s. a dish formerly prepared for mowers in the hay-harvest, and carried to them in the field ; it consisted of wheaten cakes baked on the girdle, with slices of new cheese between them. When sufficiently baked, they were cut into squares, and eaten with melted butter and sugar. It is a repast on Midsummer eve, and also on St. Thomas' night. — Ex relatione mulieris cetatis sum 99. Grose has braughwJiam, a Lancashire dish made of cheese, eggs, bread, and butter, boiled together. Brave, very, as " brave and blashy ;" very dirty. Bravely, in excellent health — however deficient in courage. Braw, finely clothed, handsome. Teut. brauwe, ornatus. The word is also used in the sense of brave, clever, worthy, excellent, strong. Swed. hraf, good — en brof karl, a good man. " Waes ! Archy lang was hale an' rank, the king o' laddies hraw— His wrist was like an anchor shank, his fist was like the claw." Song, — Bold Archy Drownded. Brawly, very well, in good health, finely. Swed. hraf, well — han mar hraf, he is well. 60 BRAW Brawn, a boar killed and prepared for the table by salt aud other condiments ; also a common northern name for the live animal. F. Tooke, bravm, Vol. II. p. 79. " And there her grace sits mumping, Like an old ape eating a brawn." Beaum. d> Flet. — Mad Lover. The late Mr. Ellis, of Otterboume, to whom I was indebted for several additional articles to this Glossary, was of opi- nion that we should here read prawn ; it being, as he justly remarked, much more natural for the ape to eat a small shell-fish than a boar. I have referred to the original folio of 1647, where it is brawn ; but the mistakes in that book are so numerous that I am not inclined, on its authority, to question the propriety of this, at least very plausible, amendment. One modem edition reads eating brawn. " The Bravm of Brancepath," to borrow the description and remarks of my friend, the late Mr. Surtees, " was a formidable animal, which made his lair on Brandon Hill, and walked the forest in ancient undisputed sovereignty from the Wear to the Gaunless. The marshy, and then woody, vale, extending from Croxdale to Ferry- wood, was one of the brawn's favourite haunts, affording roots and mast, and the luxurious pleasure of volutation. Near Cleves-cross, Hodge of Ferry, after carefully marking the boar's track, dug a pitfall, slightly covered with boughs and turf, and then toling on his victim by some bait to the treacherous spot, stood armed with his good sword across the pitfall — " At once with hope and fear his heart rebounds !" " At length the gallant brute came trotting on his onward path, and seeing the passage ban-ed, rushed headlong on the pitfall. The story has nothing very improbable, and something like real evidence still exists. According to all tradition, the rustic champion of Cleves sleeps beneath a BREE 61 coffin-shaped stone in Merrington church-yard, rudely sculptured with the instruments of his victory, a sword and sjiade on each side of a cross." Bray, to beat, to pound, to reduce to powder* Sax. bracan. This word, although found in all our dictionaries, is pecu- liar to the North in the sense in which it is used there. Bkea, Bree, or Broo, the brink or bank of a river, the steep face of a hill. Gael, and Welsh, bre, a hill. Brae is used in Scotland in a similar sense. " We looked down the other side And saw come branking ower the brae, Wi' Sir John Forster for their guide. Full fifteen hundred men and mae." Raid of the Reidsmyre. Breaker, Brikker, a fissure produced in the roof of the mine, from the pressure on removing the pillar. Brecken, Bricken, to bridle up, or to hold up the head. Brecken, Brackex, fern, Brede, s. breadth or extent. An old English word from the Saxon, breed, broad. See Abrede. Bracton uses brede for broad ; and in that sense I found it in an English inden- ture, temp. Richard III. Brede, the northern pronunciation of bread, at the present day— " Up wi' leede, and down wi' hrede. Is what we drink at Wardale hede." And evidently the original sound of the word. " Schir, be Godis breid that tale is verie trew." Lyndsay'8 Three Estaitis. " We have not half our fil of brede." Yewain and Gawin. " And if I telle any tales, Thei taken hem togideres And doon me fastes frydayes To breed and to watre." Piers Plowman, I. 2818. It also means employment, as, " He's out o' brede, poor man." tv- 62 BREM Breeks, the old, and still vulgar name, for the lower habi- liments. Sax. bnec, braccce, breeches. V. Thomson, breeches. " The bridegroom gaed thro" the reel. And his breeks cam trodling doun, And his breeks cam trodling doun ; And aye the bride she cried— Tie up your leathern whang, Tie up your leathern whang."— OW-Sco^* Ballad. It is proper to mention, that, before the invention of braces, the gentlemen's " smaUs" were usually supported by a leathern whang, or belt, round the waist. Breme, Brim, v, to desire the male ; applied to a sow when maris appetens. Teut. bremen, ardere desiderio. — Breme, Brim, Brimming, s. ardens in venerem. Breme, cold, bleak, severe, fierce. Sax. bremman, to rage. Not used, Dr. Johnson says ; but I have often heard it in the North ; especially in Yorkshire. " Besyde him come than syr Gawayne, Breme as eny wilde bore." — La Morte Arthtire. " He was ware of Arcite and Palemon, That foughten breme, as it were holies two." Chaucer,— Tli£ Knight's Tale. Brent, Brant, steep, difficult of ascent ; as a brent brow, a steep hill. It also means consequential, pompous in one's walk ; as "you seem very brent this morning," i. c. you put on all your consequence. A game cock is said to be brent. Loftiness appears to enter into all the meanings of the word. — Isl. brattr, acclivis, arduus. Swed. braiit, steep. A brent brow is used to describe a high smooth forehead. In this sense we find it in the well-kno%vn Scotch song, John Anderson, my Jo — " John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent Your locks were like the raven ; Your bounie brow was brent." Brere, Brear, to sj^rout, to prick up as grain does when it first germinates. Bishop Kcunett, in his MS. Glossary, I BRID 63 among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum (No. 1098), has to brere, or to be brered, as corn just coming up. See Braird, or Breard. Brewis, a large thick crust of bread put into the pot where salt beef is boiling and nearly ready ; it imbibes a portion of the fat, and when swelled out is no unj^alatable dish. Brewis is also common in Hallamshire, where, Mr. Hun- ter informs me, the bread used in the prejiaration of the dish is commonly of oats. After this, I need hardly re- mark that my late venerable friend, Mr. Wilbraham, was mistaken in thinking that it is used only in Cheshire and Lancashire. The probable etymon of the word is briwas, the Saxon plural of briw, sorbitio ; though a learned cor. respondent of mine derives it from the Greek (igaa-n ; which he also considers, I think justly, as the original of the Scotch hrose. Brewster, a brewer. Hence the Brewster Sessions, when publicans receive their licenses. " Breivsters and backsters, Bochiers and cokes."— Piers Plovrman, 1. 1514. Brian. To brian an oven, is to keep fire at the mouth of it ; either to give light or to preserve the heat. Teut. brennan, to bum. Bride-ale, the marriage feast at a rustic wedding. Sax. btyd eald. " At every bride-ale would be sing and hoppe." Cliaucer, — The Coke's Tale. The day of marriage has always been, and it is to be hoped — in spite of disconsolate old maids and love-crossed bachelors — will ever continue to be, a time of festivity. Among the rustics in Cumberland it glides away amidst music, dancing, and revelry. Early in the morning, the bridegroom, attended by his friends on horseback, pro- ceeds in a gallop to the house of the bride's father. Hav- ing alighted, he salutes her, and then the company break- fast together. This repast concluded, the whole nuptial G4 BRID party depart in cavalcade order towards the church, accom- panied by a fiddler, who plays a succession of tunes appro- priate to the occasion. Immediately after the performance of the ceremony the company retire to some neighbouring ale-house, and many a floAving l)umper of home-l)rewed is quafled to the health of the happy pair. Animated with this earthly nectar, they set off full speed towards the future residence of the bride, where a handkerchief is pre- sented to the first who arrives. In some of the country villages in the county of Durham, after the connuljial knot is tied, a ribbon is proposed as the subject of contention either for a foot or a horse race, — supposed to be a delicate substitution for the bride's garter, which used to be taken off while she knelt at the altar ; and the practice being anticipated, the garter was generally found to do credit to her taste and skill in needle work. In Craven, where this singular sjjort also prevails, whoever first reaches the bride's habitation, is ushered into the bridal chamber ; and after having performed the ceremony of turning down the bed clothes, returns, carrying in his hand a tankard of warm ale, previously prepared, to meet the bride ; to whom he triumphantly offers his humble beverage, and by whom, in return, he is j^resented with the ribbon, as the honour- able reward of his victory. Another ancient marriage ceremony of the same sort, still observed in the remote parts of Northumberland, is that of riding for the kail, where the party, after kissing the bride, set off at full speed on horseback to the bridegroom's house ; the winner of the race receiving the kail, or dish of spice broth, as the chief prize. " Four rustic fellows wait the while To kiss the bride at the church stile : Then vig'rous mount their felter'd steeds— — To scourge them going, head and tail, To win what country call ' the kail.' " Chicken's Collier's Wedding. Bride-cake, the cake provided on the occasion of a wedding 1 BRID 66 — a remnant of the ancient mode of solemnizing a marriage by confarreation. In some places in the North, it is customary, after the bridal party leave the church, to have a thin currant-cake, marked in squares, though not entirely cut through. A clean cloth being spread over the head of the bride, the bridegroom stands behind her, and breaks the cake. Thus hallowed, it is thrown up and scrambled for by the attendants, to excite prophetic dreams of love and marriage, and is said, by those who pretend to under- stand such things, to have much more virtue than when it is merely put nine times through the ring. This custom is generally prevalent in Scotland. V, Jam. Supp. break- ing bread on the bride's head. Bride-spurs, spurs allotted to the best runner after the mar,- riage ceremony. — North. Bride-wain, a custom in Cumberland and Northumberland where the friends of a new married couple assemble to- gether in consequence of a previous invitation (sometimes actually by public advertisement in the newspapers), and are treated with cold pies, frumenty, and ale. The com- pany afterwards join in all the various pastimes of the country, and at the conclusion, the bride and bridegroom are placed in two chairs, the former holding a jJewter dish on her knee, half covered with a napkin. Into this dish every one present, high and low, makes it a point to put something ; and these offerings occasionally amount to a considerable sum. I suppose it has obtained the name of wain, from a very ancient custom, now obsolete in the North, of presenting a bride, who had no great stock of her own, with a waifi or waggon load of articles of use and luxury. On this occasion the wain was crowned with boughs and flowers, and the horses or oxen which drew it decorated vnih bride-favours. — In some parts of the North Riding of Yorkshire, bride-wain was the train of carts that conveyed the goods of the bride, whether presented or not, to her future home. A farmer's daughter was married VOL. I. K 6G BRIG from Thornton, into the neighl)Ourhoo(l of Malton, aLout forty-five years ago, whose bride- wai?i consisted of twenty carts. Brig, Brigo, a bridge. Sax. bricff, bryc, hrygc. " To that hng held thai straucht thair way And to brek it fast gan assay."— r/j« Bruce. Brissle, or BiRSEL, to scorch, to parch by means of fire, to crackle. Sax. brastlian, to bum, to make a crackling noise. Broach, a spire or steeple ; as Chester broach — Darlington broach — the broaches of Durham Cathedral. The Fr. brocJie, a spit, is the probable etymon ; the structure being pointed like a spit or broach. In Yorkshire the pronuncia- tion is broitcJi ; the fine spire at Wakefield being always called " the broitch.'''' Broach, an instrument on which yam is wound. Brock, a badger. Saxon, broc. Dan. brok. V. Thompson. " ThJr Stewarts (stinliards> stinkis as thay warbrokis." Lyndsay's Three Estaiti». " And go hunte hardiliche To hares and to foxes To bores and to brokkes That breken doun myne hegges." Piers Plomnan, I. 3853. Brock, a name sometimes given to a cow, or husbandry horse. Sax. broc, an inferior horse, a jade. Brock, the little insect in the gowk, or cuckoo-spit. Hence, probably, the common vulgar expression, " to sweat like a brock." Brock-faced, a white longitudinal mark down the face like a badger. Su.-Got. brokitg, of more than one colour. Brockle, Bruckle, inconstant, uncertain, variable ; applied to the weather. It also means brittle, and to break ; in a general sense. Teut. brokcl, fragilis. Chaucer writes it brotel, " On brotel ground they bilde, and brotelnessc They fiuden when they wenen sickemess." Oiaiicer.—The Merchante's Tale. BROW 67 Brod, a short nail, an awl. Brod, Broddle, to make holes. See Prog, Proggle. Brossen, Brosten, Brussen, Brusten, part. a. burst. Also broken ; as "brossen hearted." Broggling-road, a rough broken road. Brotchet, Brotchert, or Bratchet, a thin liquor made from the last squeezings of honey-comb. " As sweet as bratchet.''^ Broth, always plural in the North. " Will you have some broth 1''^ " I will take a few, if they are good." Brott, shaken corn. Sax. gebrode, fragments. Swed. brott, fracture, breach, Isl. brot. Brough, or Bruff, a singular appearance round the moon — a sort of halo or circle, in misty weather, prognosticating a storm. It is a popular saying, " A far off brough is a storm near enough." A Greek origin has been assigned to this word — I^qo^ot, a chain about the neck ; but Mce.-Got. bairgs, mons, seems a more probable etymon. Brow, the face or escarpment of a " trouble" or dyke in a a coal mine. Browden, to be anxious for, or warmly attached to any ob- ject, to be enamoured of it — to brood on, that is to cherish by care. Dut. broeden, to brood. " / hae ne broo orUt" no great hopes of, or liking to, it. Browdin, or Browdant, vain, conceited, bold, forward. Brownie, a domestic spirit ; described. In the Border Min- strelsy, as meagre, shaggy, and wild, in his appearance — lurking in the day-time in remote recesses of old houses, which he delighted to haunt — and In the night sedulously employing himself in discharging any laborious task which he thought might be acceptable to the family. The history of " The Cauld Lad of Hilton," an elf of this sort, may be seen in Surtees' History of Durham, Vol. II. p. 24. The reader, curious in these matters, is referred to the amusing stories of the Scandinavian Nisses, in the 1st Vol. of the 68 BROW Fairy Mythology ; and of the German Kobolds, in the 2d. Vol. of the same entertaining work. Brown-leamer, a ripe brown hazel-nut that easily separates from its husk. I once thought of deducing this word from brown, and Fr. le mur, the ripe one ; but see an ingenious speculation on the word, by the Rev. John Hodgson, in the Archaelogia ^liana. Vol. II. p. 132. Browst, a brewing, the quantity brewed at any one time. — The same peculiarity is found in haking, which see. " Stay and drink of your own hrowstT — Prov. The meaning of which is, that a person should take the consequences of his own act. Browster, a brewer. " To the browsters of Cowper toun 1 leife my braid black malisoun Als hartlie as I may." Lindsay's Tfiree EstaUis. Bruckle, to make dirty. Bruckled, dirty, wet, and stormy ; applied to the weather. Brulliment, a broil, or quarrel. Fr. brotiiller, to quarrel. Brunt, burnt. " A brunt child dreads the fire." Brussle, the same as Brissle ; which see. " Brusslcd peas" — ^peas scorched in the straw. V. Ray, briisle ; and Jam. birsle Bubbly, snotty. " The bairn has a bubblcy nose." — Grose. For a further illustration, if necessary, see The Sandgate Lassie's Lamentation. Bubbly-jock, a turkey cock. V. Jamieson. Bucker, an iron instrument with a wooden handle, used in the country to " bray" (beat) sand with. Buckle, Buckle to, to join in marriage. Significant enough surely. V. Jam. Sujjp. Buckle-horns, short crooked horns turning horizontally in- wards, as though inclined to buckle together. Buckle-mouthed, a term applied to a person with large strag- gling teeth. Bxick-toothcd has the same meaning. /< BULL 69 Buck-stick. See Spell and Ore, and Trippet and Coit. Bud, a common pronunciation of hut, among the vulgar ; and also among some far removed from that circle. Buddy-bud, Buddy-buss, the flower of the burr, or burbock. Arctmm lappa. It is well known how tenaciously it ad- heres to that against which it is thrown. To stick like a burr is indeed proverbial. BuFAT, buffet. Fr. a cuj^board, a sideboard. * . BuER, a common name given to the gnat. "S3 BuEss, BusE, a stall, station, or post of office or business ; a beast-stall, or boose. See Boose. '*Y. Build, to swell, as with an abscess. £ Buist, Buest, or Bust, v. to jjut a mark or brand upon sheep or cattle by their owners. The word is also used as a sub- stantive, for the mark or brand itself. My friend, Mr. ^ v Raiue, derives it from buro, to burn. But see Baste. %.. Bule, or Bool, the bow of a pan or kettle. Sax. bugan, cX flectere. Dan. boeyel, a bending or curvature ; Teut. beughel, hemicyclus ; and Germ, bugel, a bow ; are cognate. Buller, Bulder, s. noise, uproar, disturbance. Swed. buller. -> Dan. bulder, noise, bustle, tumult. Buller, v. to bellow, to bawl, to boil violently. " Great rivers of water running through the town, and ships fight- ing thereupon, as it had been in hullering streams of the sea." Pitscottie's Account of the Marriage of James V. BuFF-FRONTS, tufts of coarse grass. Aira ccespitosa. Bull-head, the Miller's Thumb ; a fish. Bullirao, to banter, to rally in a contemptuous way, to in- sult in a bullying manner. In a Review of the first edi- tion of this Work, in the Gent. Mag. for May, 1825, the writer asks, if it be not a verb formed from bully-rook, a word which is used by Otway in his Epilogue to Alci- biades, and which Steevens calls a compound title, taken from the rooks at chess ? " Mine host" in the Merry Wives of Windsor uses this word repeatedly — " How now, hully-rook ! thou'rt a gentleman : cavalero-justice, I say." 70 BULL Lye imagines it to be derived from Isl. haul, a curse, and raegia, to reproach. Bulls and Cows, the flower of the Arum maculatimi. Some- times called lords and ladies, and also lam-lakens. BuLL-SEGG, a gelded bull. BuLL-STANG, thc dragou fly. Cumb. A common name for the gad fly. Bull-trout, a large fine species of fish peculiar to Northum- berland, and much esteemed. The larger kind of salmon- trouts taken in the Coquet, are in the Newcastle market called bull tro2tts ; but these fish are larger than salmon- trouts in the head, which is a part generally admired for its smallness. " Bilhope braes for bucks and raes, And Carit haugh for swine, And Tarras for the good hull-trout. If he be ta'en in time." — Old Ryme. Bully, the champion of a party, the eldest male person in a family. Now generally in use among the keelmen and pitmen to designate a brother, companion, or comrade. In Cumberland, and also in Scotland, billj/ is used to express the same idea as bully. There is probably some affinity between these terms and the Germ, billig, equalis ; as de- noting those that are on an equal footing, either in respect of relationship or employment. See Kennett, sworn- brothers. Bum, v. to buzz, to make a bumming noise, like a bee or a top. Dut. bommen, to resound. BuMBAZED, confounded, astonished, stupified. BuMLER, Bumbler, Bumble-bee, a large wild bee which makes a great noise. In Scotland called bum-bee. Teut. bommele, a drone. My friend, ]\Ir. Taylor, prefers Germ. bommeln, or bammeln, a reciprocating noise ; as bammehi der glocken, the ding dong of bells. When the late Lord Strathmore raised the Derwent Legion, in 1808, from a principle of economy, he clothed the infantry in scarlet BUNC 71 jackets, with black breeches and accoutrements. From this singularity of dress, the corps obtained the contemptu- ous designation of the Bumlers. BuMLER-Box, or BuMBLER-Box, a Small wooden toy used by boys to hold bees. Also the Sunderland name for a van for passengers drawn by one horse. BuMMEL, or Bumble, to blunder, to bungle. BuMMELER, or BuMBLER, a blundering fellow, a bungler. BuMMEL-KiTE, or BuMBLE-KiTE, a bramble or black berry. Rubus fruticosus. In traversing the recesses of those woods and groves, where, in the words of Gray, " Once my care- less childhood stray'd," I have often been admonished, by the "good old folks," never to eat these berries after Michaelmas day ; because the arch-fiend was sure to pass his " cloven foot" over them at that time. In the northern parts of the county he is said to throw his club over them. BuMMEL-KiTE WITH A SPIDER in't, a bad bargain, a disap- pointment. A high-flown metaphor. Bummer, a carriage that sounds from a distance on the road. " A road for foot, a road for horse, and yen for a' the bvm- niers." Bump, a stroke or blow. Isl. bomps. " Bump against Jar- row," is a common expression among the keelmen, when they run suddenly foul of any tiling. See the song, Little Pee Dee. Bumping, a peculiar sort of punishment amongst youngsters. Too many boys have reason to remember the school discip- line of bumping, admirably described by Major Moore, in his Suffolk Words and Phrases, p. 53. Bun, bound, tied. " Thai said he sal be bun or slaure." — Yewain and Gawin. Bunch, to strike with the foot, to kick. To punch, I believe, means to kick, — in Lancashire ; — to strike straight forward in the body, — elsewhere. BuNcn-BERRY, the fruit of the rubus saxatilis ; of which the country people often make tarts. 72 BUNT BuNTiNs, Buntings, balks of foreign timber, secured in rafts on the shores of the river Tyne ; afloat at high water. " Let's go hikcy on the biiutins." — Newc. Dan. bundt, and Swed. bunt, a bundle or bale, seem cognate. Burden-band, a hay band, being made to bind a burden, or truss, about as much as a man can carry. BuRLEY. Sc. Beirly, Buirdly, stout, large, strong. From " board-like." " Like one that is weU fed." — Jamieson. Burn, a brook, or rivulet. Pure Saxon. Although this word, on both sides of the Tweed, is used to denote any runner of water which is less than a river, yet, properly speaking, a burn winds slowly along meadows, and origin- ates from small springs ; while a beck is formed by water collected on the sides of moimtains, and proceeds with a rapid stream ; though never, I think, applied to rivers that become sestuaries, " The Otterboume's a bonnie lurn, 'Tis pleasant there to be, But there is nought at Otterbourne To feed my men and me." Battle tion of mine, on the contrary, thinks that they may have obtained the name from its being seldom ^Nathout remark- able burrs, or knobs, on its surface, especially on the older trees. A branch of this tree is supposed to possess great virtue in guarding the wearer against the malevolence of witches and other malignant agents. I remember, when a boy, during a school vacation in the country, at the sug- gestion of my young companions, carrying it in my button- hole, with doubled thumb, when under the necessity of pass- ing the residence of a jjoor decrepit old woman, who, though the most harmless creature alive, was strongly sus- pected of holding occasional converse Avith an evil spirit. Under this imjiression, the country people were always reluctant to meet her. It is most extraordinary that Dr. Whitaker should have been ignorant of what is meant by bur-tree. See his History of Loidis and Elmete, p. 156. VOL. I. I, 4 74 BURT BuRTUEE-GUN, BuRTREE-PLUFFER, a Small tube formed by ta- king out the soft pith of an elder-branch — employed by boys as an offensive weapon. Bus, or Busk, a bush. Pure Danish. Su.-Got. and Isl. busie, frutex. Chaucer repeatedly uses the word. " The soune of briddis for to hire. That on the buskis singin clere." Oiaucer, — Rom. of the Rose, 1. 102. " The snaw and sleit perterbit all the air, And flemet Flora from every bank and bus." Lijndmy's Dreme. Bush of a Wheel. Fr. houchon, a cast metal box, em- ployed to fill up the too great vacancy either in the aper- ture of the nave, or between the nave aixdi. \\ie Jiurters ; that is, the knocking shoulder of the axle ; from Fr. heurtery to knock. Busk, a piece of icood worn by females to strengthen their stays ; still in use in the country ; though generally super- seded by steel or whalebone. Fr. busque. V. Kennett's Glossary, vo. biisclie. " Off with that happy husk which I envy. That still can be and still can stand so nigh." — Donne. BusKT, bushy, woody. " How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon busky hill." Sliak. First Part of King Hen. IV. Shakspeare elsewhere uses huskt/ in the same sense, as also does Milton in the following beautiful passage : — " I know each land and every valley green. Dingle or bushy dell, of this wild wood. And every bosky bourn from side to side." — Comu-s. Buss, to dress, to get ready. Germ, putzen, to deck or adorn. Sich aiifs heste putzen, to tlress to the best advan- tage. Fr. busqucr, to dress. The Scotch use busk, in the first sense ; as in their beautiful proverb, " a bonny bride is soon busked." But and Bex, by-out and by-in, or, as is very common. BYAR 76 " in-by," the outer and inner apartment, where there are only two rooms. Many houses on the borders, where the expression is common, were so constructed ; by placing two " close beds" foot to foot, lea\ang a passage between them, the space behind them became " ben," or " ben the house." The phrase is undoubtedly without and within. Sax. butan and binnan ; originally, it is supposed, H utan and bi innan. By and with are often synonymous. " It's ill to bring hut what's no han." — Sc. Prov. Butch, to practice the trade of a butcher, to kill. Butler, a term applied in the North to a female who keeps a bachelor's house — a farmer's housekeeper. Fr. botitillier, a bottle keeper. Butt, a small i:)ortion of ground, which, in ploughing, be- comes disjointed from the adjacent land — a ridge shorter than the rest, or running in a contrary direction. Celt. but, terminus, limes. Schilter. Butter and Brede. While Southerns say, bread and butter, bread and cheese, bread and milk, the Northumbrians Y>^a,CQ in the rear that great article — the staff of life. Probably arising from the greater facility, which, without reflection on their part, is felt, of elevating the voice on a long sylla- ble, as brede, than on butter and milk ; and the habit established in these two instances draws cheese after it, though as long as brede. The elevating of the tone, seve- ral notes, at the close of a sentence, is the characteristic of the Northumberland dialect. Butter-fixgered, said of persons who are aj^t to let any thing fall, or slip through their fingers. In Craven it is confined to j^ersons who cannot hold any thing hot. Butter-wife, a woman that sells butter — a butter woman. An old expression yet in use, Buzzoji, a besom, or broom. — Buzzom-shank, a broomstick. Byar, Byer, Byre, a house in which cows are bound up — a cow-house. The origin. Dr. Jamieson says, is uncertain. But it is, perhaps, to be sought in Lat. boarius, of, or ap- 76 BYE-B pertaining to, oxen ; or in our ancient law-term for a cow- house — boveria ; if not in the Irish huar, which is said to mean oxen or kine, as well as what relates to cattle. Span. hoyera, an ox-stall is cognate. Bye-bootings, or Sharps, the finest kind of bran ; the second in quality being called Treet, and the worst Chizzel. BvKE (Bee Wick), s. a bee's nest. By-name, a nick-name, but originally applied to patronymic names which every man on both sides of the border bore. What Maitland in his " Complaynt" said of the Liddes- dale thieves applied equally to the inhabitants of Northum- berland. " Thay theifs that steillis and tursis hame, Ilk ane of them has ane to-name. Will of the Lawis Hab of the Schawls To make bair wawis Thay think na schame." Byerley's Bull-dogs, a name for Colonel Byerley's troopers — still remembered in popular tradition. — Durham. Byspelt, a strange, awkward figure, or a mischievous person ; acting contrary to reason, or propriety ; as if labouring under the influence of a spell. Or is it an ironical use of Germ, beyspiel, a pattern ? as, " thou's a picture," ad- dressed to a naturally plain, or accidentally disfigured, person. Caa, to drive, to caa the cart, to drive the cart. Ca', to call, also to abuse, to apply reproachful names. Caas, the plural of calves. Cab. Go cab my lug ! a vulgar expression of surprise. " Ye dinna say se," or, "whe wad ha' thought it," is likely enough to follow. Ca' back, Call back, a wear or dam jjlaced across a river or stream for the purpose of turning water to a mill — a dam- back. CADG 77 Cack, v. alvum exonerare. Dan. kakke. Teut. kacke — n. Cack, Cacky, s. stercus. Sax. cac, — Cackhouse, a domes- tic temple. Sax. cac-hus, latrina. For cognate terms in otlier languages, v. Jam. Sup. cacks. Johnson and Todd were too delicate to admit such a word, but comjiilers of provincial glossaries must not be so nice. The Latin cacare is probably from the same source, for there seems no doubt that Italy, before the time of Romulus, had been over-run by some of the Northern tribes, to whose language much of the Latin may be traced. Pope has made the word classical. Cadge, to carry ; hence Cadger ; which see. Teut. ketzen, discurrere. — Cadge also means to stuff or fill the belly. Cade, the sheep louse. Cadus, a barrel, has been suggested as its etymology, on account of its shape. Cadger, a packman or itinerant huckster ; one who travels through the country selling wares. Before the formation of regular turnpike roads from Scotland to Northumber- land, the chief part of the commercial intercourse between the two kingdoms was carried on through the medium of cadgers. Persons who bring fish from the sea to the New- castle market are still called cadgers. Cadgy, hearty, cheerful, merry ; especially after good eating and drinking. I once thought that this word was derived from the second meaning of cadge ; but an intelligent friend in Edinburgh refers me to Sc. caigie, cheerful, merry — ap- proaching to wantonness. In the Gaberlunzie Man, cadgily certainly implies this idea — "My dochter's shouthers he "gan to clap, And cadgily ranted and sang." Mr. Callender, the editor of this ancient poem, whose notes in general contain much valuable etymological learning, is greatly mistaken in the derivation of this word, and gives a very silly reason for it. Dr. Jamieson seems more cor- rect when he derives it from Su.-Got. kaett-jas, lascivire. 78 CAFF Caff, or Kaff, chaff. Sax. ceaf. Germ, and Dut. kaf. " Cum doun dastart and gang sell draff, I understand nocht quhat thow said ; Thy words war nouther come uor caff ; I wald thy toung agane war laide." Lyndsay's JTiree Estaitlt. Caff-bed, a bed-tick filled with chaff. Cagmag, an old goose, which, from its toughness, is utterly unfit for the table. Cagmag is applied, in the south of England, to describe any sort of meat that is of an inferior quality. Caingel, a crabbed fellow. Caingt, peevish, ill-tempered, whining. Q. from Cam ? Cairn, an ancient funeral monument, consisting of a rude heap of stones, often found on the summit of hills and in other remarkable situations, generally supposed to have been thrown together in memory of some distinguished person whose body or urn was buried under it — the simple, but impressive, funeral monument of our earliest inhabi- tants. All mankind, from the most remote antiquity, have agreed in erecting sepulchral monuments of some sort, to mark their admiration of the illustrious dead ; and " I will add a stone to your cairn," is still a significant expression of gratitude. Gael. came. Welsh, kaern. Caitiff, a cripple. Old Fr. clietiff, cliatiff, wretched. This (and not Ital. cattivo, a slave,) is the origin of the word in its classical sense. Cake, i\ to cackle ; spoken of a goose. Dut. kaeclelcn. Cake-creel, a rack at the top of a kitchen, to dry oat-cakes. Calf-lick, a tuft on the human forehead which cannot be made to lie in the same direction with the rest of the hair. This term may have been adopted from a comparison with that part of a calf's hide, where the hairs, having different directions, meet and form a projecting ridge, suj^posed to be occasioned by the animals licking themselves. But the act of licking, probably, has had no part in the original CAM ' 79 meaning. Lick is the assimilating German termination — lich, like. The hair, therefore, is calf-like. Calf- YARD, the dwelling place of our infancy ; for which it is natural to feel so many endearing recollections, even in their minutest traces. Call, s. occasion, necessity, obligation. " There's no call for it." It is also used as a verb. " Please, Sir, may I go out 1" " Well, child, if nature calls you." " She does not ball. Sir, but she shouts." — School Dialogue, between B. A. and Mr, F. Call, ??. to i^roclaim, to give notice by the public crier. To be called at cJi urcli, is to have the banns of marriage pub- lished. The ceremony of proclaiming every fair in New- castle, which is attended by the officers of the corporation, in state, is denominated calling the fair. Callant, a lad or strijjling ; a man clever or much esteemed. The etymology is doubtful. V. Jam. callan, calland. Calleeverixg, Kaleeverixg, wandering abroad gossipping, running about heedlessly. Caller, a. cool, refreshing ; as the caller air. " Caller her- rings" — " caller cocks" or " caller cockles" — " caller ripe grosers." — Newc. cries. The word in form resembles Isl. kalldur, frigidus ; though its meaning does not denote the same degree of frigidity as cold. Callet, to scold. Our old poet, Skelton, who was a native of Cumbei-land, uses the substantive ; and so does Shaks- peare in the Winter's Tale. The only Avord which seema to have any affinity is Germ, kahlheit, nonsense. Calletixg Housewife, a jiert, saucy, confirmed scold. Calling, giving notice by the public crier. Cam, or Kame, a hill, a ridge, an earth dyke or mound. Sax. camb. Fr. kaem. Dut. kam, a crest. The comb of a coek is cognate. The great ridge in Yorkshire between Penygent and Whernside, is called Cam-Fell. Cam, or Camb, clay slate, of which slate pencils are made ; it is found in various parts of Northumberland, and abundantly 80 CAMM at Great Swinburne, In some places it is found par- tially baked by whin dykes. Cammerel, s. a large stretcher used by butchers to distend the legs of a killed animal when suspended to cool. Bul- let, in his Celtic Dictionary, has cambaca, in the sense of a crooked stick. Cammerel, a. crooked. See Jamieson vo. camy, camok. Camp-kettles, reliques of bronze of various sizes, frequently found in the West, in the line of the Roman roads. Cample, to argue, to answer pertly and frowardly when re- buked by a superior. Germ, kamiyfen, to contend. Canch, a perpendicular declivity, like a step. Cange, or Cainge, to whine. See Caingy. Canker, rust. — Cankered, cross, ill-conditioned, peevish, rusty. V. Jam. Supp. cankert, A wound is said to be cankered when it festers. Cannel-coal, a hard, opaque, inflammable fossil coal, suflS- ciently solid to be cut and polished. The origin of the term is uncertain, some considering it to have been derived from Kendal ; others from Canal. The more probable opinion is, that having been used to light the men at their work, and serving as a candle, it became, by corruption, Cannel-Coal. Canniness, caution, good conduct, carefulness. Canny. This useful and comprehensive word has a great variety of meanings, all readily understood from the way in which it happens to be applied ; it is characteristic, not only of persons and things, but of manners and modes of action, though not in the highest degrees ; for we should not say that a very beautiful woman was a canny one, or that a fine picture, or a valuable horse, was either of them canny — the word, in those cases, would be wholly mis- applied. It is confined rather to the kind, agreeable, and useful qualities of persons and things, and to the manner of doing a thing. A well-looking, clean, kind-hearted old woman, we should call a canni/ old wife — an agreeable, CANT 81 good-humoured married woman, would be called a canny wife — a young woman, Avith the like qualities, we should call a canny lass — an orderly, clean, well-kept house, is a canny house. We speak of a canny cow, a canny horse, a canny man ; anything neat and convenient is canny. To he canny, is to be discreet, careful, gentle. If a man was dealing Avith an unruly horse, we should desire him to be canny with it. The word is much used among the lower classes, and with great effect, but not among the higher classes, who have no word equal to it. Dr. Jamieson suspects that the word has been imported from Scotland into the North of England. Being used in so many different senses, it is diflQ.cult to assign a satisfactory ety- mon. Canny hinny, an endearing exj)ression ; metaphorically, a sly person, a smooth sinner ; especially in affairs of gal- lantry. In the first sense it occurs in the Life of Ambrose Barnes, edited by Sir C. Sharp, where the rich daughters and co-heiresses of Alderman Ralph Cock, are called " Cock's canny hinnies." Dorothy married Mark Mil- banke, ancestor of the baronets of that name, Jane mar- ried William Carr, Ann married Thomas Da\'ison, ancestor of the Beamish family, and Barbara married Henry Mar- ley, son of Sir John, the gallant defender of Newcastle. Cant, s. a comer. Germ, kante, an edge, or extremity. Cant, to sell by auction. See Canting. Cant, v. to upset, to overturn. Germ, kanten, to set a thing on end. Cant-dog, a handspike with a hook ; used for turning over large pieces of timber. Canting, a sale by auction. The derivation is evidently Ital. incanto, a public sale. Canting-caller, an auctioneer ; from the nature of his oc- cupation. In sales among the Romans, a crier proclaimed the articles to be disposed of ; and iu the middle ages they added a trumpet, with a very loud noise. VOL. I. JI 82 CANT Cantle, a head. Coopers call a i)art of the head of a cask, the cantlo. Cantrip, a magic spell, but applied iii the North to describe any eccentric or absurd gambol. Canty, merry, lively, cheerful. Su.-Got. ganta, ludificare. Cap, to complete, to finish, to overcome in argument, to ex- cel iu any feat of agility, to crown all. Allied probably to Teut. kappe, the summit. — Capper, one who excels. Capes, ears of corn broke off in thrashing. Teut. cappe. Care-Cake, a cake made by country people of thick batter, like a jiancake, with a mixture of hog's blood. In the Glossary to the Antiquary, it is stated that care cakes are pancakes ; literally redemption cakes, or ransom cakes, such as were eaten on Easter Sunday. Car-handed, left-handed. One of the ancient Kings of Scotland was called " Kinath-Kerr," or Kinath the left- handed. Cark, sorrow. Sax. cark, care. " For hire love y carke and care For hire love y droupe and dare For hire love my blisse is bare Ant al ich waxe won. Ritson's Ancient Bal., Vol. I. p. 61. " Wail ye the wight whose absence is our cark." Spenser, — Sfiep. Cal. Carl, Karl, a country fellow, a gruff old man, a churl. Sax. ceorl, a countryman. Isl. karl, an old man. Germ. kerl, rusticus. The words carl, chorl, or churl, and vilkin, were, among our ancestors, the usual appellations for coun- trymen ; though very often used in a bad sense, and to denote a comijound of ignorance and idleness. In the Northumhrensium Preshytcrorum Leges, the possessors of land were divided into three classes — the king's thanes and lords of land — the jiroprietors of land — and the ceorl-Sy or husbandmen, who cultivated the soil. " The lowest order among the Saxons, I mean of free men, was that of ceorks, that is, merchants, artificers, countrj-men, and CASI 83 others. Hence, no doubt, is derived the vrord churl, or caiic, a name given by way of contempt to people of mean condition." Rapin. " The miller was a stout carl for the noucs, Fill bigge he was of braun, and eke of bones." Chaucer, — The Prologiie. " He was a stout carle and a sture And off him selft'dour and hardy."— 37ie Bruce. Carlings, grey peas steeped some hours in water, and then fried in butter, and seasoned with pepper and salt. In the North they are served at table, on the second Sunday be- fore Easter, called Carling Sunday ; formerly denominated Care Sunday, as Care Friday and Care Week, were Good Friday and Holy Week — supposed to be so called from being a season of great religious care and anxiety. The peas appear to be a substitute for the beans of the heathens. " There'll be all the lads and the lasses Set down in the midst of the ha' "With sybows, and ryfarts, and carlings That are both sodden and ra'." — Rltson's Songs. Carols, small pews, or inclosed seats. See a description of those in the cloister of Durham Cathedral, in P. Sanderson, p. 75. Carr, a piece of flat marshy ground ; a small lake. Su.- Got. kaer, a bog. Corrock, Currack, or Kirock, a large heap of stones for- merly used as a boundary mark, burial jilace, or guide for travellers. See Genesis, chap, xxxi., v. 46 et seq. The word is also used for a mountain at a distance, by which, when the sun appears over it, the country jjcojile compute the time of the day. Casings, Cassons, Cow-blades, cow dung dried in the sun for fuel. Though now rarely used, it was formerly generally resorted to by the lower order of country people, in districts where ordinary fuel was scarce, or unattain- able. A similar practice prevailed in some of our mid- land counties. The droppings of the cows were collected 84 CASK into hea2)s, and beaten into a mass with water : then pres- sed by the feet into moulds like )>ricks, by regular profes- sional persons, called clatters (dodders) ; then dried in the sun, and stacked like peat, and a dry March for the clat- harvest was considered as very desirable. — Journal of a Naturalist. The Calmucks distil their brandy over a fire made with the dung of their cattle, particularly of the dromedary, which makes a steady and clear fire like peat. —Clarke's Travels, Vol. I., p. 239. Casket, a stalk or stem ; as a cabbage-casket. Probably derived from Su.-Got. quist, a branch. Cassen, cast off; as ^^ cassen clothes." — Cassen-top, a top thrown off with a string. The word is, probably, a cor- ruption otcastin, the Sax. paH. of cast. Cast, to twist, or warp — apjilied to wood. Cast, a twist or contortion, a warji. V. Jamieson. Cast, opportunity, chance ; as " a cast" on the outside of a coach. "And shortly for to tellen as it was, Were it by aventure, or sort, or cas, The sothe is this, the cutte felle on the knight. Of which ful blith and glad was every wight." Chaucer, — The Prologue. Cast, a swarm of bees. — Dur. Span, casta, a race or breed. Caster, or Castor, a little box ; as pepper caster. Inserted by Mr. Todd in his 2d edit, of Johnson. Cast-out, to quarrel or fall out. A Reverend friend in- forms me, that he heard a methodist preacher quote Jo- seph's advice to his brethren — " See that you cast not out by the way." Cast-up, to upbraid, to reproach. Sw.-^oX,. focrcasta. Cast-up, to appear, or be found again, after having been lost. A metaphor probably taken from the sea casting up things that have been lost in it. Cat-haws, the fruit of the white thorn. Perhaps so named from cotes, food, because they may be eaten as such by humau beings. When large they are called luU-haws. CAVE 85 Cat-gallows, a game jjlayed by children. It consists of two sticks placed upright, with one across, over which they leap in turns. Cat-mint, Nep. Nepeta cataria. Cats are said to have a remarkaljle antipathy to this plant, tearing it up wherever they meet with it. Catrail, or PicTwoRK-DiTCH, a vast fosse extending from the Peel Fell in Northumberland, to Galashiels, in Scotland, a distance of 45 miles — sujjposed to have been raised by the fugitive Britons, as a line of defence against the inva- ding Saxons. This ramjiart is the most curious remnant of antiquity that can be distinctly traced. Catrail, in the British language, is said to mean, the partition of defence* Cats, a mixture of croio coal with clay, formed into round balls ; a useful, though homely, fuel, which is used by the poorer classes. — Alston Moor. Cat's- FOOT, a common name for ground-ivy. Cat-whin, Burnet rose. Rosa s^nnosmima. Cat-with-two-tails, a term for an earwig. Caud, cold. Teut. kaud. Mce.-Got. kald. Sax. ceald. Dan. kaald. " A caud hand and a warm heart." Caud Comfort, an ineffective consolation. Caud Deed, dead — cold dead. A very common redundant ex- pression in Northumberland. Caud Pie, a cart or waggon overthrown — a disappointment or loss of any sort. " When the axle tree of a loaden waggon breaks, and stops a whole train of waggons on a railway, the workmen call it a caud pie." Brand. Causey, a foot road ; a causeway, the modern word, is a cor- ruption. Fr. chausee. Cave, or Kave, to separate ; as corn from the short straw or chaff. Teut. kaven, eventilare jsaleas. This word, vnth the a long, is used, I am told, in Northamptonshire, for the cracking of the clods, or separation of the earth, in droughty weather ; which is worth notice, as removing 80 CAVE the objection to Milton's " Grassy clods now calo'd." — P. L. Book VII. Cave, to toss, to paw ; as a horse that beats the ground with its fore-foot. In this sense the word seems allied to Isl. aJcafr, cum impetu, vehementer. Cavel, or Kavel, a lot, a share. Tent, kavel. To Cast Cavels, to cast lots, to change situations. Teut. kavelen. Cavil is the place allotted to a hewer in a coal mine, by ballot. " I've getten a canny cavil for this quarter, how- ever." It means also an allotment of ground in a common field. Cawker, the hind part of a horse's shoe sharpened, and turned downwards, to prevent the animal from slipping. Also an iron jilate put upon a Clog ; which see. The ety- mology is uncertain. V. Java, cawker ; and Todd's John. calkin. Celt, an ancient axe, of polished stone, shaped something like a wedge. Celts are found of all sizes, some seeming intended for felling trees, and others designed for war-like purposes. — Brass Celts, or battle-axes, were afterwards, of various forms, more or less rude, as the knowledge of the working in metals began to advance. Chaffs, Chafts, the jaws, chops. Su.-Got. Maeft. kaeft, the jaw-bone, seems the root. Dan. kieft, the chops, and Swed. kiifter, jaws, are cognate. Chaft-blade, the jaw bone. " Heir is ane relict lang and braid Of Fyn Macoull the richt chaft-blade." Lyndsai/s Tliree Estaitls. Chair Day, the evening of life ; that period which, from its advanced season and infirmity, is chiefly passed in ease and indulgence. Chalder, a chaldron. A Newcastle chaldron of coals weighs fifty-three hundred weight. Eight of these chaldrons make one keel. Bishop Kennett derive^the word from old Latin celdra, a certain measure. CHAP 87 Cham, awry, Chamberlye, frequently pronounced Chemmerly, urine. Omitted by both Johnson and Todd, though we have the authority of Shakspeare for it. " Your chamberlie breeds fleas like a loach." First Part of King Henry IV. Chance-bairn, an illegitimate child. There is a legal maxim — bastardus nullius est filius, aut filius populi. Lane, a chonce chyldt. Changeling, a term applied to a child of a peevish or mali- cious temper, or diiFering in looks from the rest of the family — ^from a supposition of its having been changed, when an infant, by the gipsies. The fairies of old have been represented to us as famous for stealing the most beautiful and witty children, and leaving in their places such as were either prodigiously ugly and stupid, or mischievously inclined. Change, or Changer-wife, an itinerant apple woman, or dealer in earthenware, who takes old clothes or rags in ex- change for what she sells. " Cheap aj^ples, wives ! Cheap apples, wives ! Seek out a' your aud rags, or aud shoes, or aud claise, to-day." — Newc. Cry. Channel, gravel. Channer, to scold, not loudly but constantly ; to be inces- santly complaining. " She keeps, channer, channering, all day long." Sax. ceonian, obmurmurare. The word bears a remarkable affinity to Ir. and Gael, cannran, to mutter or grumble. Chap, to knock, or rap ; as at the door. A Scotch term. Probably the same as cJiop, which is sometimes used for, to strike, or knock simply, though more generally for, to strike with a cutting instrument. Chap, Ciiep, a customer. From Sax. ccap ceajj-man. Hence, our word chapman, of which chap is an abbreviation. — Chap, or Chep, is also a general term for a man ; used 88 CHAP ' either respectfully or contemptuously. In this sense it may be from Ital. capo, — quasi caput. " Quia desiderio sit pudor, aut modus Tarn cari capitis :" Horat. Carm. Lib. I. Ode xxiv. Chap-bread, cakes made of oatmeal and baked on a girdle. See Agricultural Survey of Westmorland, p. 337. Char, a species of the genus Salmo, Liti., almost peculiar to the lakes in the North of England. Chare, v. to stop, or turn. Sax. cyrran. Also to counter- feit. Chare, s. a narrow lane, or alley, less than a street. Of these there are several in Newcastle ; particularly on the Quayside. Sax. cerra, vice flexio, diverticulum ; from cj/r- ran, to turn ; a chare being a turning from some superior street. So, a narrow street, in reference to its opening into a wide one, is called a turning in London, and a un/nd in Edinburgh. Hence, too, a cliar-woman is a woman for a turn, and a door a-jar is a door on the turn. Chare, a lane, is not quite peculiar to Newcastle, though nearly so. They have the "Gaunless Chare,^' and the "Wear Chare^'' at Bishop Auckland, lanes leading respectively to the stream, " at the very confluence of which," says Camden, " stands Auckland." " A laughable misunderstanding happened at our assizes some years ago, when one of the witnesses in a criminal trial swore that ' he, saw three men come out of a chare foot.' ' Gentlemen of the jury," exclaimed the learned judge, ' you must pay no regard to that man's evidence ; he must be insane.' But the foreman, smiling, assured the judge that they understood him very well ; and that he spoke the words of truth and soberness." Vint and Anderson's History of Newcastle, p. 30. The late Lord Chancellor Eldon was bom in a chare-foot ; and in a facetious moment admitted it in court. Chat, Chack, refreshment, a short repast, a lunch. Dr. Ja- mieson suggests Teut. schopt, a meal taken four times a day, as the etymon. CHIL 89 Chattered, bruised. I once thought it a corrui^tion of shat- tered ; but am now disposed to view it as allied to the Scots verb to chat, to bruise, to mascerate. Chats, spraj-wood, small twigs. V. Jam. Cliat the. Chavtl, a cleaver, as, a butcher's cleaver. Cheerer, a glass of spirit and water. Not a bad metaphor. It is also in use in the South of Scotland. In Northum- berland, as a poetical friend of mine observes, " No bargain's made, or money paid, But over a canny cheerer." Cheg, or Cheggle, to gnaw or champ a resisting substance. Cheip, to chirp like young birds, denoting feebleness of note. " It is better to hear the lark sing than the mouse cheip." — Sc. Prov. Cheiper, a half- fledged bird. Chepster, a common name for the starling. Sturnus vulgaris. Chessell, or Chesswell, s. a cheese press. Chiel, Chield, a young fellow, and sometimes applied more generally, as, " He's a queer chield." " He's a clever chield." Gael, chil. Sax. cild, probably only a corruption of child. V. Jam. Chieve, to succeed, to thrive, to accomplish any business — to achieve. Used by Chaucer in this form. Fr. ackevir, to master ; attaining d chef, to the top of it. " I say, he toke out of his owen sieve, A teine of silver (yvel mote he cheve)." Chaucer, — The Chanone's Temanne's Tale. Childer, children. The Saxon plural termination. In Pals- grave it is spelled chj/ldre. In the 17th century, as ajipears by the parish books of Bishopwearmouth, John Knaggs had a salary of four shillings for whipping the dogs, sweeping the church, and keeping the childer in order. " The thrid is, that we for our lyvis And for our child/re, and for our wywis. And for our freedome and for our land Ar strenyeit into bataill for to stand." — Tlie Bruce. " I wot it was no chyUler game when they togedyr met." Tournanient of Tottetifiam. VOL. I. N O 90 CHIL Childermass-day, the feast of the Holy Innocents. Sax. cildama'sse dceg. This is a festival of great antiquity. An apprehension is entertained by the superstitious that no undertaking can prosper which is begun on that day of the week on which it falls. Child's-first-visit. The first time an infant visits a neigh- bour or relation, it is presented with three things — a small quantity of salt, bread, and an egg. This practice, which I do not find noticed either by Bourne or by Brand, though not overlooked by my vigilant friend. Sir C. Sharp, is widely extended over the North of England. Also, when the child is ba^jtised, the offering of bread and cheese accompanies it, and these are presented to the first person whose chance it may be to meet the party. Chimlay, a chimney. Cornish, tschiinbla. Pryce. Chijilay-piece, a mantel-jjiece. — Chimlay-xeuk, the chim- ney-corner in a cottage — ^the fire-side. " Where s&w ye her ?" " I' th' chtmley-niiikviM'hm." Ben Jonson, — Sad Shepherd. Chimlay-crook, a bar of iron with a hook at its lower extre- mity, on which to hang a pot. Chingley, Chixley, the largest portion of the small coals, after separation from the dead small. In Scotland, gravel, when free from dirt, is called cJniiglc. Chip, to break or crack ; said of an egg when the young bird cracks the shell. Dut. kippen, to hatch or disclose. " The rois knoppis, tetand furth thare hede, Gan chy2^, and kyth thare vernal lippis red." Douglas' ^neid. Chirm, to chirp ; applied especially to the melancholy under- tone of a bird previous to a storm. It would seem to be derived from the Sax. a/rme, a clamour or noise. But Dr. Jamieson says, the true origin is Belg. kermen, to lament ; lamentari, queritari. Kilian. The term is known among the tribe of fancy cock-fighters, in the sense of I CHUR 91 muttering an unpleasant noise. " These cocks chirm good- bye." " Small birdis flockand throw thik ronnys thrang In chinnynge, and with cheping changit thare sang." Doxtglas' ^Mid. Chirt, to squirt with the teeth. Chizzel, a term for bran. See Bye-bootings. Choak-damp, or Choke-damp, foul air in a colliery — carbonic acid gas. Choller, a double chin. Also the loose flesh under a turkey- cock's neck — a cock's wattles. Sax. ceolr, guttur. Chowls, or Jowls, the jaws. Sax. ceolas, fauces. Chouks, the glands of the throat, immediately under the jaw-bones. Choup, Cat-choup, a hij) ; the fruit of the hedge briar, or wild rose. Rubiis major. Chow, v. to chew, to masticate. Sax. ceowan. — Chow, s. a quid of tobacco. Christmas Eve. The country jieople have a notion that on this evening oxen kneel in their stalls and moan. In boy- hood I was induced more than once to attend on the occa- sion ; but, whether from want of faith, or neglect of the instructions given me, I know not, — they would not do their duty. Chuck, a sea shell. — Chucks, a game among girls ; played with five of these shells, and sometimes with pebbles, called chiickie-stanes. Chuckers, Double Cuuckers, potions of ardent spirits. Terms well known among Northern topers. Double Chuck- ers, a bumper which requires two chucks, or gulps ? Chuckle-headed, stupid, thick-headed. V. Jam. Supp. Churn, or Kerx-supper, harvest home. See Mell-supper. Churly, cheerless, as applied to prospect — rough, as applied to weather. Churnel, or Chirnel, Sc. Kernellis, small hard swellings in the glands of the neck in young persons, called " waxing 92 CLAF (growing) chimels" It is also the name of a place near Rothbury, where there is a vast heap of stones, probably an ancient cairn. Claffer, CiAVVER, to climb uf ; mostly apjjlied to children. It would seem to be a corruption of cleaving or adhering, mixed with the idea of climbing ; though it may be satis- factorily deduced from Teut. klaveren, scandere in subrec- tum. Clag, to stick or adhere. Dan. klceg, viscous, glutinous. In Scotland, and in some parts of the north of England, it is used as a substantive, and in a metaphorical sense. " He has iia clag to his tail ;" i. e. no incumbrance. " He was a man without a dag. His heart was frank without a flaw." Ritson's Sc. Songs. Claggy, sticky, unctuous, clogging by adhesion. In mining it is applied to the imperfect separation of the coal from the superincumbent bed. Clagham, Claggum, treacle made hard by boiling. — Newc. Called in other places in the North, clag-candy, lady's- taste, slittery, tom-trot, treacle-ball, and toughy. Claise, Cl'yaise, the northern pronunciation of clothes. " The mother wi' her needle and her shears Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new." Burns, — The Cottar's Saturday Night. Claith, Cl'yaith, cloth. Sax. clath. — Claithixg, Cl'yaith- iNG, clothing. " Bot nocht for thi. Or thai cum all to thair entent Howis in haile claith sail be rent." — The Bruce. Clam, v. to press, to hold an article tightly ; to castrate, when the operation is performed, not by excision, but by compression, as is still practised in the emasculation of the human race in Italy. The word may be referred to Germ, hlcmmaiy to pinch, to squeeze. Swed. kldmma seems cognate. — Clam, s, an instrument used for the purpose of castration. CLAP 93 Clam, Clem, y. to starve for want of food, to be parched with thirst. Dut. klemmen, to shrink up. Teut. klemmen, striu- gere, coarctare. " When my entrails Were clamm'd with keeping a perpetual fast." Massinger, — Roman Actor. See Nixon's Prophecy, where that mysterious half-idiot, is made to say, that if he went up to Henry Vllth's. Court, he should be clemtn'd ; which j)roved the case by an acci- dent. Clam, s. a kind of small vice or press, in which meaning it may be thought to present a more clear and simple, and probably a more correct idea of the verb " to clam" than in the sense of " to starve," the cause for the consequence ; the effect of short rations being a rigid contraction of the abdominal viscera, as if pressed in a " clam." Clam-shell, a scalloiJ shell. Pecten maximus. Clamb, pret. of the verb to climb. " And with thaim syne Schyr Andrew Gray Thir with thir mengne held thair way. And cla'mh the hill deliuerly."— T7ie Bruc&. Clammersome, Clamersoume, contentious, clamorous, Dan. klammer-vorn, Clammis, iron clamps or cramps to bind together horizontally the stone work of a piece of masonry, a mode of building formerly much used. Clamp, s. a large fire made of underwood. Clamp, v. to make a noise, to tread heavily in walking. Dut. klompen. Swed. klampig. Clamps, pieces of iron placed at the ends of a fire-place. Clank, a blow or stroke that makes a noise. " The door went to with a clank.'" Teut. klanck. clangor. Clanker, a sound beating, a severe chastisement. Clap, to touch gently, to fondle, to pat. " Clap his head." Clap-benny, Clap-bene, a request made to infants in the nurse's arms, to clap their hands, as the only means 94 CLAP they have of expressing their prayers, or of signifying their desire of a blessing. Isl. klappa^ to clap, and been, prayer. Clap-bread, thin, hard, oaten cakes. In Cumberland they are frequently made of the meal of barley, and differ from other barley bread, only by their being unleavened, made in the form of cakes, and not baked in an oven. It has its name of clap-bread from its being clapped, or beaten out, with the hand, while it is dough, into the form of large round cakes. There is a particular board for this purpose, which is called a clap-board. This kind of bread appears to be also in general use in Norway. Vide Boucher, and West, and Cumb. Glossary. Clapper, the tongue — a female weapon of great power and eloquence, especially in that part of rhetoric " stirring the passions." In the quaint title of an old and rare English Poem, in the Author's library, — " The Anatomic of a Woman's Tongue," — it is diidded into five parts — " a me- dicine, a poison, a serpent, fire, and thunder." Clapperclaw, to beat or paw with the open hand ; to scold or abuse any one. Clart, to daub with mud, to bemire, to foul. — Claris, dirt or mire — in short, any thing that defiles. — Cl.\rty, miry, dirty, wet, slippery. V. Jam. clarty and clattie. Clash, v. to gossip, to tell tales. Germ. Hatschen, to prattle. Clash, s. an idle story, tittle tattle, vulgar talk. Clash, v. to throw any thing carelessly or violently, to bang a door, strike more particularly with the oj^en hand, as "I'll clash your jaws." Germ. Matchen, to make a noise. Clatter, to tell idle stories, to prattle. Teut. klettern, con- crepare. Claut, to scratch or claw, to scrape together. V. Jam. clot. Claver, to talk fast, or to little purpose. Germ, klaffcr, gar- rulus. Claver, clover. Sax. claefer. Dut. klaccr. The late Mr. Pegge pronounces claver to be a corrupt pronunciation of CLEC 95 clover ; but it is more analogous to the etymology, and Mr. Todd has shown that it is used by an author of good note. " The desert with sweet eJaver fills, And richly shades the joyful hxVis."— Sandys' Psalms. Claver. See Claffer. Cla^t:rs, din, noisy talking, garrulities. Identical with Clishclash. Claters, goosegrass,' Galium aparine. Clay-daubin, a custom in Cumberland, where the neigh- bours and friends of a new married couple assemble and do not separate until they have erected them a cottage ; some- thing in the style of the old British wattled dwellings, and not unlike the plastered houses in Norfolk, erected by the workmen called daubers. From the number of hands em- ployed, the building is generally completed in a day. The company then rejoice and make merry. Cleax, entirely, completely. This sense is yet in use in the North. V. Psalms, " They are clean gone for ever and ever." Cleap, to name or caU. Sax, clt/pian. Cleat, Cleet, the face of the coal, being the sides of the figure assumed in crystallisation. " She elects bonny." The crystals of coal being imperfectly cubical, there are two cleats generally, the boardways cleat, and the headways cleat, at right angles. In some coal there is no cleat dis- tinguishable. Cleaving, the division of the human body, from the os pubes downwards. Isl. klof. Cleck, Clock, to hatch. Isl. Hekia. Su.-Got. klaecka. A hen sitting, or desirous of sitting on her eggs, is called a Clecker, or Clocker. Cleck, Cleckix, the entire brood of chickens. Dan. Muhken. Clecking, or Clocking, the noise made by a brooding hen, or when she is provoked. Sax. cloccan, to cluck. Isl. klak, clangor avium. In Scotland " decking time is ae canty time," as applied to child-birth. 96 CLED Clep, clad. " Ayenst his will, sith it mote nedes be, This Troilus up rose, and fast him cled. And in his armis toke his lady fre An hundred times, and on his waie him sped." Cfimicer,— Trail, and Cres., 1527. " Into a chambre heo -was led. With riche clothes heo was cled" Romance of the Kyng of Tars. Cleed, to clothe. — NoHh. Probably from Sax. clathian : though the pronunciation is more consonant to Su.-Got. klaeda, Germ, kleiden, and Dan, klaeder, the other cognate terms. — Cleeding, clothing, apparel. " An' O ! quo' she, were I as white As e'er the snaw lay on the dyke, I'd dead me braw and lady like An' awa wi' ye I wad gang." — Tlie Gaberlumie Man. Cleek, to catch at a thing hastily — to click. Cleet, a stay or siajjport ; a term among carpenters. Cleet, Cloot, Clute, the hoof of oxen or sheep. Grose has cluves, a Cumb. term for the hoofs of horses or cows. It seems to have affinity to Su.-Got. kli/fwa, to divide, and Sax. cJeafian, to cleave. Gleets, pieces of iron worn by countrymen on their shoes. Cleg, the gad-fly ; very troublesome in hot weather, particu- larly to horses. Oestrus ovis, Lin. Dan. klaeg. Cleg, a clever person, an adejit. Probably identical with Gleg ; which see. Also a person difficult to get rid of — who sticks like a cleg. Clegning, Cleaning, Cleansing, the after-birth of a cow. Cleugh, Clough, a ravine, a valley between two precipitous banks, generally having a runner of water at the bottom — a narrow glen. Sax. clough, fissura ad mentis clivum. Sc. cleucli. Dan. klof, incisura, is radically the same. The old Norm, or Fr. clough, is a valley ; whence, perhaps, as conjectured by Mr. Todd, the introduction of the word into Domesday Book. The admirers of old ballads are familiar with the valiant exploits of our celebrated Northern out- CLOF 97 laws, Adam Bell, Clpn of the Clough, and William of Cloudeslee, whose skill in archery rendered them formerly as famous in the North of England, as Robin Hood and his companions were in the midland counties. Clepps, a wooden instrument for jDulling weeds from amongst com. — Cumb, Clew, Clews, or Cloose, the flood-gate of a mill dam. Click, to snatch hastily, to seize. Germ, klicken, to throw ; or perhaps a contraction of Sax. gelceccan, apprehendere. *' Click'' em-in" the name of a place in Northumberland. " And quhen the vickar hard tell my wife was deid The thrid cow he cleikit be the held." Lyndsay's Three Estaitlt. " They lower'd the sail, but it a' waddent dee, Sae they click'd up a coal and maist fell'd the Pee Dee." Newc. Song — The Jenny Howlet. Clifty, well managing, actively industrious, thrifty. Cling, to dry up, to consume, to waste. See Clung. ■ If thou speak 'st false Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive 'Till famine cling thee." — Sliak., — Macbeth. Clints, crevices among bare lime-stone rocks. Clip, to shear sheep. Dut. Mippen. — Clipping, a sheep- shearing. Clips, the pot-hooks, or bow, by which a pot or pan is sus- pended over the fire. They are called Pot-kilps in the North Riding of Yorkshire. V. Jam. clip. Clish-clash, Clish-ma-clater, idle discourse bandied about, uninterrupted loquacity. — Click-clack, and Clitter-clat- TER, are also used in the same sense. Clock, the downy head of the dandelion in seed. Child- ren think to count the hour by observing how many puifs it takes to dissipate the seed. Clock, the great dorr beetle. ScaralxBUS stercorarius. Clocking-hen, a hen desirous of sitting to hatch chickens ; so called from the noise which she makes. Cloffey, a slattern, a female dressed in a tawdry manner. VOL. I. o 98 CLOG The nearest affinity I can trace is Isl. hlofa, femora disten- dere. Clog, a sort of shoe, the upper part of strong hide leather, and the sole of wood, plated with iron. It is the sceo of our Saxon ancestors, and is well adapted to country wear. Clogger, a maker of clogs. Clointer, Clunter, to make a noise Avith the feet. A person treading heavily with shoes, shod with iron, is said to cloin- ter. Clointer, s. disorder. Dut. klonter. Cloit, a clown or stupid fellow. Tout, kloete, homo ohtusus. The original idea is a mere log — kloete, a pole or log. Close, a narrow street in Newcastle. Sax. clusa. Frs. Hues, a narrow passage, also a jirison. The Close, in Newcastle, is a confined street of considerable length, to the west of Tyne Bridge, and running parallel with the river. It was formerly fortified by the town wall and the castle. The Earl of Northumberland, Sir John ]\Iarley, Sir William Blackett, Sir Mark Milbauk, the Brandling family, and various other j^ersons of distinction, had houses in this nar- row street ; and until the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, the Mayor, for the time being, resided there. The Close, at Litchfield, was also a fortified street, and was the most distinguished part of that city. It was an exempt jurisdiction, and the dean and canons were sole justices within the precincts. Close-bed, s. a paneled bedstead with sliding doors, for- merly common in farm houses, and still to be found in cot- tages. By being placed foot to foot, with an opening be- tween them, they formed the but and ben of the house. Cloud-berry, the ground mulberry, or rubus chamcemorus. It grows on high uncultivated hills and moors — on Cheviot, in Northumberland, plentifully — and probably received this name from its lofty situation. The fruit is a favourite dish among the Lajjlanders, who give it the name of latsch. With us, however, it has an insipid taste, the sun, jier- haps, not acting upon it with sufficient power to bring it COAL 99 to a state of maturity and perfection. An accurate engra- ving of the jjlant is given in Dr. Clarke's Travels, Vol. V., vignette to Chapter XI. The author speaks highly of its medicinal virtues. See p. 876. According to Pennant, it is served as a dessert in the Highlands of Scotland. CiouTER, or Clowter, to work in a dirty manner, to perform dirty work. Probably allied to Cloit ; which see. Clouterly, clumsily, awkwardly. Dut. klcete. Clour, a small lump or swelling, caused by a blow or fall. Su.-Got. lula, a bump, is apparently allied. Clubby, a youthful game, something like Doddart ; which see. Clud-nut, — quasi clubbed or clustered nut, — two or more nuts united to each other. Probably from the Fr. cl(mey fastened together with nails. The Highlanders believe in the efficacy of two nuts naturally conjoined, as a charm against witchcraft. The word is applied to other things as well as to nuts, as a cludden tree. Clubster, a stoat. Cluff, v. to strike, to cuff. — Cluff, s. a blow, a cuff. Dr. Jamieson conceives the word may have been retained from the Northumbrian Danes. V. Jam. Supp. Clump, a mass of any thing. Germ. Mump, a clod. Clumpy, Clumpish, awkward, unwieldy, mis-shapen, be- numbed. Clung, (p. p. of cling) closed up or stopped ; shrivelled or shrunk. Sax. geclungne. An apple, when shrivelled, is said to be clung. Clungy, adhesive. Clunter. See Clointer. Clut, to strike a blow. Tent, klotsen, to strike. Cluttered, stirred. V. Lowes's Family Nomenclature, p. 100. Clutters, Clutiiers, in heaps, clusters, Welsh, cluder, a pile. Sax. clud, a. lump. Coals, To c
s from the Scotch mode of holding up the hand when taking an oath. CRUS 117 Cruick-yur- HOUGH, crooh youT hough, sit down — a friendly in- vitation — a right hearty welcome. " Wiv huz i' the North, when aw'm wairsh i' my way, (But f knaw wor -warm hearts ye yur-sell come,) Aw lift the first latch, and baith man and dame say, Cruick yur hough, canny man, for ye're welcome." Song, — Canny Newcassel. Cruick-tur-thumb, crook your thumb, a charm against witches. Crull, Crule, v. to work with worsted. — See Crulls, Crules. Crulls, Crules, worsted of various colours — crewel. The term is now chiefly confined to what is used by females in learning embroidery by the working of their samplers at school. Lexicographers seem not to have understood the meaning of the word. One of the commentators of Shak- speare, quite ignorant of its sense, might have spared his remarks. Crummel, a crumb ; conformable to Germ, kriimmel. Crummy, a. crooked. Isl. krumme. Su.-Got. and Dan. krum. Crummy, s. a favourite name for a cow with crooked horns. Crummy, in good case, getting fat, fleshy — quasi crumby, one who " picks up his crumbs." Crump, hard, brittle, crumbling ; as bread or cake of that quality. Sax, acruman, in micas frangere. V. Jam. Crump, the cramj), out of temper. Sax. crump, crooked. Cru>'e, to bellow like a disquiet ox. — Cruning, the cry of the beast ; being the genuine Saxon word to denote that vociferation, and which is still preserved in Dut. kreunen, to groan. The term cruning is also frequently applied to the cowardly and petted roaring of a disappointed child. In TJie Gentle Shepherd, crune is used in the sense of a lowly muttered incantation. " She can o'ercast the night and cloud the moon, And mak the deils obedient to her crune" " A cruning cow and a whistling maiden are twee unsonsy things." N. C. Proverb. Crunkle, to rumple, to ruffle. Tout, krunchelen, to wrinkle. Crush, a great quantity ; as a crush of wet ; a crush of com. 118 CRUT Crut, a dwarf — any thing curbed in its growth. Ft. court, short ; interchanging the r and u, as is so frequent. The Armorican name conveys a similar idea ; crot, according to ~) Bullet, Jjeing a litle child. Isl. hrota, effa-tum animal de- crepitae setatis, is nearly allied. Cruttle, a crumb, a broken piece of small fragment. Crutley, brittle, crumbling. Crutly-iioofed, brittle hoofed. Crutly-tempered, short tempered. Cruve, s, a small low hovel. A stoine cruve, a hog's stye. Probably from Sax. cruft. Tuet. krofte, krufte, a vault or hollow jilace, underground. In Cornish krou, and in Irish cro, signify a hut, a sty. CucKoo's-MAiDEN, a northern name for the wryneck ( Yunx Torquilla) which usually arrives here a few days before the appearance of the cuckoo, and migrates in September. The two birds are often found together ; probably as agreeing in the same taste of food. Though called the cuckoo's attendant and provider, this curious bird is far far from following it with a friendly intent : it only pur- sues as an insulter, or to warn its little companions of the cuckoo's depredations. See Mr. Fox's Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum, p. 59. CucKoo's-spiT, a white fermented froth, in which the eggs of the grasshopper are deposited. It is found in the joints of thistles, and almost all the larger weeds. Cuckoo-spit, white frothy matter, seen on certain plants in the Spring. The froth is that with which a green insect surrounds itself. It derives its name probably from its time of appearance coinciding with that of the cuckoo. Cuddle, v. to embrace, to squeeze, to hug. Teut. kudden. Cuddle, s. an embrace, a squeeze, a hug. " Now aw think its high time to be steppin, We've sitten tiv aw's about lyem ; So then wiv a kiss and a cuddle. These lovers they bent their way hyem." Song,— The Pitman's Courtship. CULL 119 Cuddy, an abbreviation of Cuthbert ; a very common Christ- ian name in the North ; in honour, perhaps, of our Patron Saint. Near Howburn, in Northumberland, there is a na- tural cave, wliich, according to uniform tradition, was at one time inhabited by Saint Cuthbert, and which is called by the villagers Cudd/s Cave, Cuddy, or Cuddy-ass, a common name for that very useful and much-enduring quadruped — the ass. It might seem to have received this designation from Teut. kudde, grex ; though it is probably only the familiar appellation of Cuth- bert. In Norfolk and SufiPolk the term is Dicky ; in Ches- hire Neddy ; and in other places Jacky, or Jack-ass. But Dr. Jamieson says, " this word is most probably of oriental origin, and may have been imported by the Gipsies, this being their favourite quadruped. Pers. gudda signifies an ass ; and I am informed that Ghudda has the same signifi- cation in Hindostanee." Cuddy's-legs, a barbarous term, peculiar to the Newcastle fish market, for herrings, — as large as cuddy's legs. Cuff, a simpleton. Cuff, to strike. As a substantive there is the cuff of the neck, as well as the cuffoi the coat. CuiFF, to walk in an awkward manner ; especially with large broad feet. Cull, s. a fooJ, a stupid person, a cully. Ital. coglione, a fool ; or perhaps a variety of the word gull. Cull, a, silly, simple, foolish. " A cm^? person" — " a ctill let- ter." Mr. Surtees has published the following fragment of a genuine Sandhill ballad, relating to the troublesome times of Charles I. : — " Ride through Sandgate both up and down, There you'll see the gallants fighting for the crown, All the cull cuckolds in Sunderland town. With all the bonny blewcaps, cannot pull them down." The blewcaps did, however, at last succeed in pulling them down; for, after a most gallant defence, Newcastle was 120 CUM stormed on tlie 19th of October, 1644, and entered by the White Fryer Tower and Sandgate. V. Ilist. Dur, Vol. I. p. 257. Cum, used in the definition of the future, as, " This time cum a year :" i. e., a year hence. Cumber, trouble, oppression. Dut. kombean, to disturb. " Domestic fury, and fierce civil strife Shall cumber all the parts of Italy." Stiak.,— Julius Ccesar. CuMMED, past pa. of come. This provincialism is of long standing. V. Jam. cumd. " Here are we cumde, as your obedientis, For to fulfill your just commendentis." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. CuN, or Con, to learn, to know. Sax. cunnan. Teut. kunnen. Germ, konnen. Cunning, knowing, skilful, may evidently be traced to this origin. " Alas ! I took great pains to con it, and it is poetical." S)iak.,— Twelfth Night. CuN, or Con, to express a sense of obligation, to feel grateful. " I cwi you nae thanks," I do not acknowledge myself obliged to you — I cmmt you no thanks. Similar to the French phrase sf avoir gre. " Con hem therefore as mochel thank as me." Chaucer, — Ttte Knight's Tale. " To fly I con thee thanke."— Ga?». Gurton's Needle. " But I con him no thanks for "t." Shak., — All's well ihat Ends Well. CuNDY, CuNDiTH, a Small sewer or shore, a drain or conduit. Cur, a disrespectful term for a man. " A kett^ cur," a very vile person. " What would ye have, ye curs." — Sliak., — Coriolanus. Curfew, the evening bell. Old Fr. carre-feu, or cerre-fue ; now changed into couvre feu. It has been generally sup- posed by historians and law wi-iters, that the regulation of the curfew-bell, by which every inhabitant of England was CURS 121 obliged to extinguish his fire at 8 o'clock in the evening, originated with William the Conqueror, and that the mea- sure was imposed upon his new subjects as a badge of ser- vitude. There is, however, no foundation for this opinion. On the contrary, sufficient evidence exists that the same custom prevailed in most of the monasteries and towns in the North of Europe, before the arrival of our Norman visitor. The law was intended as a precaution against conflagrations, which, when so many houses were built of wood, were very frequent and fatal. See Lord Lyttleton's Hist. Henry II. 8vo. Vol. I. p. 433 ; Warton's Essay on Pope, Vol. I. p. 22 ; and Henry's Hist. Brit. 4to. Vol. Ill, p. 567. See also Lacombe, Diet, du vieux Lang. Fran9. vo. couvrefew. The purpose, as well as the name, of the cur- few-bell, is still retained in Newcastle ; where it is rung at the original time — eight o'clock at night. CuRLYCUE, a twisted flourish, generally on the end of a letter, word, or page. Fr. curl a cu, that is, a tail piece. CuRN-BERRTES, currauts ; " Cliurry'ripe-curn-herries" the New- castle cry for currants ; i. e., currants as ripe as cherries. CuRRiCK, a heap of stones. Curse of Scotland, the Nine of Diamonds, in the game of whist, a name first given to it in Scotland, but long com- mon in Northumberland. It has been said to have origin- ated from William Duke of Cumberland having written his order for the Battle of Culloden on the back of this card. Grose, however, in his Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, gives a very different account of the origin of the term. " The Nine of Diamonds, it is said, implied royalty, being ornaments to the imperial crown ; and every ninth King of Scotland has been obsei-ved, for many ages, to be a tyrant and a curse to that country. Others say that it is from its similarity to the arms of Argyle ; the Duke of Argyle having been very instrumental in bringing about the Union, which by some Scotch patriots has been consi- dered as detrimental to their country." VOL. I. R 122 cusn Cushat, or Cowshut, the ring dove, or wood pigeon. Colum- ba Paluinbits. Major Moor is disposed to derive iliia pretty word from Coochat ; that is cooing and chattering ; but I have little doubt the true etymology is Sax. cusceate, from cusc, chaste — in allusion to the conjugal fidelity of the bird. Among the Greeks and Latins the dove — dedicated to Venus Urania — was the emblem of pure love : the chaste Daphne was purity personified. Cushy-dow, is another of the popular names of this bird. See Pee- wit. " The cushat crouds, the corby crys."— T7ie Cherry and Slae. CusHY-cow, a cow. Perhaps from the word cushy being used to sooth that animal. But what is cushy ? Has it any con- nection with Su.-Got. hisha, to sooth by fair speeches ? Cushy-cows, the stalks of the common dock when covered with ripe capsules : — it is an amusement with children (females especially) to strip off the capsules, and this they call " milking the cows." CusHY-cow-LADY, a bcautiful little scarlet beetle, with black spots ; sometimes called Lady-bird. Coccinella. CcsT, CussEN, preterite of cast. Very common. Cut, a quantity of yarn, twelve of which make what is called &hank, the same as skein in the South. Cute, quick, intelligent, sly, cunning, clever, sharp, active. Generally thought to be an abbreviation oi acute; but, in all probability, direct from Sax. cuth, expertus. CuTE-KiNS, s. additional coverings for the legs during snowy weather ; generally worsted stockings with the feet cut off; a sort of long gaiters. CuTEs, KuTES, the feet. Sc. cute, cuitt, lute, the ankle. Cutter, to fondle, to make much of, to whisper. Sc. cmUh, couthy, loving, affectionate. Su.-Got. kotte, a friend. CuTTERixG, the cooing of a pigeon. Also apjilied to private or secret conversation. Dut. kouten. Germ, kuttern. Cutty, s. a knife. Obviously from Fr. couteau. Dr. Jamie- son observes, that it is singular that in Islandic, kirii, DAFT 123 signifies cultellus, explained in Danish " a little knife." — Haldorswi, Cutty, a. short. I feel much inclined to trace it to Gael. cutach, short. Cutty-gun, a familiar term for a short small tobacco pipe. Cutty-stool, a low stool ; the stool of repentance on which offenders were seated in church. D. 'D, an abbreviation for it, after a verb ; thus — " mind ye dinna spill'd." Dacker, uncertain, unsettled, as applied to the weather. Sax. ducken, to dip. Dad, v. to shake, to strike. Dad, s. a blow, a thump, Teut. dadde, fustis ; also, a lump, a large piece, a thick slice, as of bread or cheese. Daddle, or Dawdle, to walk unsteadily, like a child ; to be slow in motion or action, to saunter, or trifle, to waddle. Mr. Todd refers to Isl. dvdda, to be slow footed. I may add Germ, tandeln, to totter, to loiter. Daddy, a childish name for father. The word is said to have been found in use among the South Americans, and the Africans of Angola. See Thomson, dad, daddoj. Dadge, or Dodge, to walk in a slow clumsy manner. Dadge, a large slice, a lump. The same as Dad. Daff, to daunt, to stun. Su.-Got. dofwa, to stupify. Daffle, to betray loss of memory and mental faculty. Per- sons growing old and in their dotage, are said to daffle, and to be dafflers. In some parts of the North they have the verb deaffle, to become deaf ; which seems allied. But see Daff, and Daft. Daft, simple, foolish, stupid, insane. Su.-Got. doef, stupidus. " Thou dotest daffe, quod she, dull are thy wittes." Piers Plowman. "Thou art the daflcit fuill that ever I saw." Lyndsay's Three Estaitit. 124 DAFT Daftlike, eiiibHrra.ssed, Laving the appearance of folly, ap- proaching to insanity. Dag, v. to drizzle. — Dag, s. a drizzling rain, dew upon the grass. Isl. dauffff, pluvia. Swed. daffff, dew. — Daggy, a. damp, wet. " A dag^j/ day.". Swed. daggig, dewy. Dag, an old North conntiy word for a pistol — not a poniard, as generally suj^posed. Old Fr. dagge, a small gun. The term dagger appears to have sprung out of this word ; because a poniard was often attached to a dag, or pistol, as a bayonet is to a musket. I have the authority of the late Sir Walter Scott for stating that, in Scotland that part of the cock of a gun which holds the flint is still called the dag-head. Minsheu says the Dacians were the first that used daggea. " The Maior of New-Castle with the Aldermen his Brethren rid to visit on hors-backe the colepits, as their office is to do every quatrer of yeer, where by the way he was shot with a dag into the arme, which caused him to fall off his horse." Doleful Newsfrcrm Edinburgh, 4to., 1641. Dagger-money, a sum of money formerly paid to his Majes- ty's Justices of Assize on the Northern Circuit, to provide arms, and other security against marauders. The Mayor of Newcastle still presents each Judge with a piece of gold, generally a Jacobus, on his departure for Carlisle, for de- fence during his journey. " The Northumberland Sheriff gave us all arms; that is, a dagger, knife, penknife, and fork, all together." North's Life of Lord Keeper Guilford. Daggle, to trail in the dirt — ^to draggle. — Daggled, dirtied by walking — draggled. See Dag, from which, perhaps, daggle is originally derived. Daiker, to wander, to saunter. " I was just daikering up street." Dainty, pleasant, worthy, excellent. Isl. daindis, excellen- ter, optimus, It also means, finically nice. " The dainty Mr. Gray." — Johnsoii's Lives. Dairns, a term for small, unmarketable fish. DARK 125 Damage, cost, expense. " Noo, Sir, ye've kirsen'd mi bairn, what's t' damage" Damsels, Damascine Plums, Damsons. Old Douglas, the bellman, at Durham, used to cry " To be sold, in the Market Place, fine fresh Damsels, at Qd. a peck." They were celebrated, it seems, in Pliny's time. " Dicta sunt Damascena [pruna] a Syrise Damasco cognominato." — Nat. Hist. Lih. 15, c. 12 13. Dandering, twaddling, sauntering, going about from plaee to place idly. See Wibraham, v. dander. Danders, the scorea from a forge, the refuse of a smith's forge. Isl. tendra, accendere. Dang, Dang it, a foolish evasion of an oath. V. Jennings. Dang, pret. of to ding, to push. " ScMr, quhen I was the nunnis amang. Out of their dortour they me dang." Lyndsay's Three EitaitU. " Thai dang on othyr at thair mycht Quhill swerdis that war fayr and brycht." The Bruce. " Then from the heuyn down quhirland with ane quhew Cam queue Juno and with her awin handis dang up the yettis." Douglas' ^neid. Danton, to daunt, to intimidate. Daunton is used by James I. in the Basilicon Doron. " Samuel shal sleen hym, And Saul shal be blamed. And David shal be diademed And daunten hem alle." — Piers Plowman. Dap, fledged ; as young birds in the nest. Dark, v. to listen with an insidious attention, to hearken ob- scurely or unseen. Allied to the old verb, dark, used by Chaucer, Spenser, and other early writers. Dark, a. blind. — Almost dark, nearly blind. — Quite dark, stone blind. " Pity a quite dark man." Darkening, the close of the day, evening twilight. Sax. deorcung, crepusculum. 126 DARN Darn-Crook, the name of a crooked street in Newcastle, th« original meaning being, the secret or obscure crooked street, from Sax. dearnan, dyrnati, occultare. Darntox, the old, and still the vulgar name, of Darlington. " He was in great danger to be robbed about Damton and Neesum by thieves and highwaymen." — Letter qf Bishop Cosin. Darnton Trod, or Darnton Road. To take Darnton Trod, or Darnton Road (that is, I suppose, the London road), is to adopt desperate measures, in order to avoid immediate consequences — to fly the country for debt or crime. — York. Darroc, a day's work. " He has not had a darroc this three months." — Durh. Dashed, abashed. V. Todd's Johnson, to dash. Dash-my-buttoxs, an imprecation. V. Jam. Supp. dashymt. Dauber, a plasterer. In the Prompt. Parv. a dawber, or dayman, is explained by Argillarius bituminarus, lutor. The ancient style of a branch of the fraternity of bricklay- ers in Newcastle was Catters and Daubers. The cat was a piece of soft clay thrust in between the laths, which were afterwards daubed or plastered. See this word in Ezekiel, xiii. 10, &c. Daurg, Darg, or Daeg, a day's work, either of men or hus- bandry cattle ; as four daurg of mowing — four daurg of ploughing. A daywere of land was anciently as much arable ground as could be ploughed up in one day's work. Sax. dow5e-i'-the-chops," a blow on the face. — DowsEY, or DowsEY-CAP, a punishment among boys. Dowsing, a good beating. Dowsing was a great destroyer of Catholic images in the times of the Puritans. See D'ls- raeli's Curiosities of Literature. DowY, sorrowful, melancholy. See Dowly. Doxy, a sweetheart ; but not in the equivocal sense used by Shakspeare and other play writers. Fr. don.v-ml. Dozened, spiritless, impotent, withered, benumbed — in a dose. Nearly the same as Dazed, which see. DozzEL, or DozzLE, a paste flower on the top of a pie cover. Perhaps from Fr. dosil, a stopple. Dkab and Orr, a game. Yorl: The drab is what is else- where called a trippit ; and the drab-stick, a buck-stick. See Spell and Ore, and Trippit and Coit. Drabbl'd, Drabble-tailed, dirtied. See Daggle, Daggled, Draff, brewers' grains, the malt, after it has been used in brewing. Teut. and Swed. draf. Both Hanmer and DREE 143 Johnson have misinterpreted this Shaksijerian word, and Archdeacon Nares hath peri^etuated the error. In Dun- bar's singular performance, " The Testament of Mr. Andro Kennedy," — representing the character of a drunken, grace- less scholar — the facetious testator, after having consigned his soul to the ^vine-cellar, orders his body to be laid " In ane draf-midding for ever and ay." " ' Ye baw !' quod a brewere, ' I wol noght be ruled, By Jhesn ! for al your janglynge With S2Hritiis justitice, Ne after conscience by Crist ! While I can selle Bathe dregges and draf. And drawe it out at oon hole.' " — Piers Plowman. Draker-hen, the land rail, or daker hen. Dur. — See Corn Crake. Drape, a cow whose milk is dried up. Sax. drepen, to fail — having failed to give milk. Drape sheep, oves rejiculae, credo ab A. S. drcepe, expulsio, drosped, abactus. Skinner. Draup, Dreap, to drawl, to speak slowly and monotonously. Draw, for drawer ; and Draws, for drawers ; by the usual Newcastle mode of slurring the r. Drack, to saturate with water. Su.-Got. draenka, aqua submergere. To drack meal or flour is to make it into dough preparatory to baking. Draw-to, s. a home in need. " My father, poor man, has little of this world's gear, but his house is a kind draw-to for his bairns when they stand in need of a home." Dreap, to drop with wet, to drip. Sax. drj/pan,. Swed. drypa. Sc. dreip. Dreap, a term in sj>el.l and ore. " The spell has a good dreap," when it discharges the ore steadily, and to a pro- per height. Dree, s. a hard bargainer ; one who is a long time before he concludes a bargain. Dree, a. weaiy, long, tediously tii'esome. " A dree road." 144 DREE The word is apparently a rapid pronunciation of Germ. durre, dry, both in a physical and metaphorical sense ; but see Jamieson, vo. dreich, where several corresponding terms in other languages are enumerated. See also Wil- braham. Dree, v. to suffer, to endure. Sax. dreogan, to undergo. " Than wes he wondir will on wane ; And sodanly in hart has tane That he wuld travaile our the se, And a quhile in Paryss be, And dre myscheift' quhan nane hym kend." The Bruce. " He did great pyne and meikle sorrow dree," Ross, — HeUnore. Dree, s. a sort of cart without wheels, drawn by one horse, used by the farmers in Northumberland, within the me- mory of old peoj)le. V. Kennett's Gloss, vo. tracfus-7ium. The carriage is probably the same as the traga, traha, or sledge of Du Cange. The sledge peculiar to Bristol is called a draw. Dreigh, deceiving. A piece of ground is said to be dreigh when there is more of it than there appears to be. Drengage, a species of servile tenure, by which, in former times, much land was held in the North. Spelman says, the Drenches or Dregi were tenants i7i capite, and were such, as at the Conquest, being put out of their estates, were afterwards restored. Mr. Surtees informs us that Dren- gage, in the County Palatine of Durham, was a servile tenure which obliged the landholder to Cultivate the lord's land, reap his harvest, feed his dog and horse, attend him in the great (or annual) chase with a leash of greyhounds and five cords of provender, cart one ton of wine and one mill- stone, attend the lord's court, and go on embassies — but that theDrenge tenure might be commuted for a money payment. Surtees Vol. I., pp. 54, 58 ; also Vol. III., pp. 60, 366. We find the etymology of the word in Sax. dreogan, to do, to work, bear, suffer. In Swed. we have drdiig, a man DRIV 145 servant, and drang-arbete, servile work ; also bend drdng, a country fellow, a clown. "The Drengage tenure which prevailed about Brougham and Clif- ton, in this county, and in a few parts of Northumberland, was, in Dr. Burn's opinion, extremely servile. They seem to have been drudges to perform the most laborious and servile offices. He quotes authority to shew that Sir Hugh de Morville, in West- morland, changed drengage into free service, and tells us that one half of the village of Brougham was given to make the other free of drengage." Westmorland, In Beauties of England and Wales. This article should, perhaps, not be found in a Glossary of Words " in use," but it seems to deserve a place here from the fact of its probably being the remote origin of that system which still prevails in the North, called bondage. Driblet, " a small sum ; odd money in a sum," according to Dr. Johnson ; it, however, means a small inconsiderable thing of any sort. Drift, an inlet for the emission of water in a mine. — Drift- way. In Scotch, drift is a drove, as, a drove of cattle ; consequently, the drift-Vfaj is the way on which cattle are driven. Drip, a north country term for stalactites, or petrefactions. Drite, to si^eak indistinctly — to drawl out one's word — as it were through the nose, like country children when they are learning to read. Drite, to void excrement. Isl. dryta, egerere, cacare. " The Erie of Moray asked the Kyng where his menyon Sir James was, that he cam not with hym : the Kyng said he had fawttid sore to him, and shuld never have hys favor agayuc : No, sayd the Erie, by he cannot fawt to you, though he shuld dryte. in your hands." — Pentnan's Intercepted Letters to Sir George Doug- las, in Pinkerton's Hist. Scot., Vol. II. p. 490. Drite-ups, a boy's first clothes, after leaving off petticoats. See Hone's Table Book,—" My son, John." Drive. In the North we still speak of driving the pleugh, and not the horses. Drive, to let drive — full drive. VOL. I. u 146 DRON Droning, a lazy iudolent mode of doing a thing. — Dronish is a very old word. Swed. droenig, dull, sluggish. Drop-dry, water-tight ; said of a building well secured in the roof. Drouk, to drench, to soak, to besmear. Fr. druger, to wet thoroughly. Drouth, thirst, dryness. The old form of drought ; which was also written dri^th and drith. V. Tooke, Vol. II. p. 413, 414. Droutuy, thirsty. "To moisten his drotUhy clay." Drucken, possessed of a *' full measure of the best*' — drunken. Su.-Got. and Dan. drukken. Isl. druchin. Sc. drucken. " And up wi' Geordie, kim-milk Geordie, He has drucken the maltman's ale, But he'll be nicket ahint the wicket, And tugget ahint his gray mare's tail." Jacobite Song. Drumlee, to make muddy — Drumly, Drummely, muddy, thick ; as applied to the mind, confused. Misled by Han- mer and Pegge, to druwble is in Todd's Johnson misinter- preted, to drone, to be sluggish. The example from Shakspeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, " Look how you drumble" unquestionably means how confihsed you are. " I've seen the morning With gold the hills adorning, And loud tempest storming before the mid-day. I 've seen the Tweed's silver streams Shining in the sunny beams, Grow dntmly and dark as he row'd on his way." Mrs. Cockbuni's Imitation oftJie Flowers of the Forest. Drummock, meal and water mixed raw. V. Jam. Supp. dratnock, Drunkard's-cloak, a great tub or barrel of a peculiar con- struction, formerly used for the punishment of drunkards in Newcastle. V. Gardiner's England's Grievance disco- vered, p. 3, and Brand's History of Newcastle, Vol. II. p. 192. DUCK 147 Druve, Druvy, dirty, muddy. Sax. ge-drefan, turbare. Germ. trUbe. " He is like to an hors that seljeth rather to drink drovy or troubled water, than for to drink water of the clear well." Chancer,— The Persone't Tale. " A cockney chep show'd me the Tyems' druvy fyace." Song, — Canny Newcassel. Dry, not diluted, as, drj/ spirits. Dry-dyke, a stone wall built without mortar, a very com- mon inclosure of fields in the North. Dub, a small pool of water ; a piece of deep and smooth water in a rapid river. Celt, dubh, a canal or gutter. DuBERous, doubtful. Used also in some of our Southern counties. DuBLER, or DouBLER, a large dish of earthenware. Dwbler, Mr. Watson says, is a British word for a dish. Old Fr. doublier, plat, assiette. Dub-Skelper, a bog-trotter ; a term applied to the Borderers. " Tarn skelpit on thro' duh and mire." Bums,—Tam O'Shanter. Ducket, a dove-cot. Sc. doucat. Ducket-close, and Ducket- garth, are common names of fields in the North. Ducks and Drakes, a rustic pastime. Flat stones or slates are thrown upon the surface of a piece of water, so that they may dip and emerge several times without sinking. " Neither cross and pile, nor ducks and drakes, are quite so ancient as handy-dandy." — Arhuthnot and Pope, quoted in Todd's Johnson. I do not pretend to know the exact age of handy-dandy, but the sjiort of ducks and drakes is of high antiquity, and elegantly described by Minutius Felix. V. Min. Fel. Octav. Notis Ouzeli, 8vo. Lug. Bat. 1672, p. 24. Ducking-stool, an instrument for the terror of scolds, that used to be put in practice in Newcastle, for the purpose of quelling their unruly member. The ducking-stool was, till lately, the established appendage of every town. 148 DUCK Ducky, a drink. " Give the bairii a ducky ^ Dud, a rag. Gael. dud. — Duds, clothes of a dirty or inferior kind. F Jam, — Duddy, ragged. — Dudman, a scarecrow. Duff, the smallest coal, after separating the nuts^ beans, and peas, DuFFiT, a sod. Identical -with Divet, or Divot. ^' Duffit- theck'd" thatched with sods. Dugs, the teats or nipples of the female sex ; a word now only used among the vulgar ; though it was formerly other- wise. " Lord Chancellor Hatton sent to Queen Elizabeth a ring, against infectious air, 'to be worn betwixt the sweet (?i(jr« of her bosom.'" Fosbroke's E>icyclop. Antiq., Vol. I., p. 213. Dull, hard of hearing. It is the same in Scotland. DuLLBiRT, DuLBARD, a stupid persou, a blockhead — one of dull birth j or it may be a provincial corruption of dullard, a word used by Shakspeare. But see Jam. Supj). dulbaH ; which the learned author derives from Isl. dul, stultitia, and birt-a, manifestare ; qy. one who shews his foolishness. Dumb-cake, a species of dreaming-bread, jjrepared by un- married females with ingredients traditionally suggested in witching doggrel. When baked, it is cut into three divi- sions ; a part of each to be eaten, and the remainder to be put under the pillow. When the clock strikes twelve, each votary must go to bed backwards, and keep a pro- found silence, whatever may appear. Indeed, should a word be uttered, either during the process, or before falling asleej), the charm is broken, and some direful calamity may be dreaded. Those, who are to be married, or are full of hope, fancy they see visions of their future partners hurrying after them ; while they, who are to live and die old maids, or are not very sanguine of obtaining their er- rand, seeing nothing at all. Dumpy, sullen, discontented. — Dumps, ill-humour, sullen taci- turnity. Dut. dom, dull, stupid. Dump is an old word for melancholy, sadness, sorrow. DUSH 149 Drx, a liill, an eminence. Celt. dun. Dunholm was the Anglo-Saxon name of Durham, from dun, mens, and holm, insula amnica. DuNELM OF Crab, a dish of gouty complexion. Dr. Hunter says, it takes its name from an ancient city in the North of England, where ' good eating' and ' good living' are clerically considered as synonymous terms. Dung, beaten, overcome. " It's a sair dung bairn that may not greet."— &. Pr. DuNGEONABLE, shrewd ; or, as the vulgar express it, devilish. — As Tartarus signifies hell and a dungeon ; so dungeon is apjjlied to both. — Ray. See also Jam. dungeon. DuNMAiL-RAisE, a hugc caim near Ambleside, on the lake of Windermere, where the last King of the Cumbrian Britons, / called Dunmail, was slain in battle. '^ DuNSH, or DuNCH, to push or jog with the elbow. Teut. do^isen. DuNT, a blow. " With a dunt of much micht Adoun he gon him here." Romaiicc of the " Kyng of Tars," quoted in Warton, Vol. I. p. 194. DuNT, bad coal, mineral charcoal ; any imperfection in the quality of a seam of coal. DcNTER, a common name for a porpoise. Sold for food in Newcastle market, in 1575. DuRR, numb. DuRDOM, DuRDUM, a loud, confused, riotous noise. Welsh. durdh, DuRTY, dirty. " And as she laynpon the durtie gi'ound Her huge long taile her den all over-sprede." Spcmer, — Fairy Queen. DusH, to push violently, to move with velocity. Tuet. doesen, pulsare cum impetu et fragore. " And he that in his sterapys stud With the ax that was hard and gud, /y / r /> /■ 160 DUST With sa gret niayne raucht him a dynt That iiothyr hat na hehn mycht stynt The heavy dmche that he him gave."— r/ie Brucf. Dust, tumult, uproar. " To kick up a dust." Su.-Got. dj/st, dtist, tumultus, fragor. Also money. " Down with your dust" The association is obvious in both these vulgarisms ; for in many parts wealth is reckoned by the ounce of gold dust. DuNSTANBROUGH DIAMONDS, a name given to the crystals sometimes found at Dunstanbrough Castle, on the coast Northumberland. DwAiN, DwARM, or DwALM, a faint fit or swoon. See Dwine. DwALM, or DwAUM, a swoon. Wachter derives it from Germ, dolen, dwalen, stupere. " The day it was set, and the bridal to be ; The wife took a dwam and lay down to dee." RUson's Sc. Songs. DwiNE, to pine, to be in a decline, or consumption, to waste away. Sax. dwinan, tabescere. Swed. tvyna, to languish, to dwindle. Teut. dwynen. — Dwineng, a lingering illness, a consumption. — Dwiny, ill thriven, dwindled. " Nor yet had neid of ony fruit To quench his deidlie drouth ; Quhilk pyns him and dwyns him To deid I wote not how."— 27te Cherry and Sloe. E. Eald, old age. Pure Saxon. Chaucer uses elde, and Shak- speare, in Measure for Measure, "palsied eld." Ealdren, Eldren, advanced in life — elderly. Dan. ad- drende, old. Eale, low, flat, marshy ground, by the side of a river, liable to be overflown — synonymous to Haugh. Perhaps a cor- ruption oilsle. Eam, Eame, Eme, uncle. Sax. came, avunculus. Germ. ohm. -" Henry Hotspur and his eame, The Earl of Wor'ster.—i>rfl!j/f on,- Poly-olhion. EATH 151 " The nephues straight deposd were by the earne." Mirror for Magistrates. " For his dear erne, young Auchiutosh, dwelt there." Wallace. Eamont, the name of a river rising from Ullswater, and fall- ing into tlie Eden, near Brougham Hall. It is called by the country people near it, the " Yemmont," and accord- ing to Baxter (Vol. II. sub Patriange) is derived from Ui-mant, " quod os est lacus." Celtic words, signifying the mouth of the lake. Ear, a kidney ; as the ear of veal. It is supposed to be so called from its resemblance to an ear, and being a name more delicate than kidney ; but it is probably a corruption of Germ, niere, a kidney — a pronunciation partially retain- ed in the county of Durham, and also in Yorkshire. Swed. njure. — The old name, presenting a less familiar idea, might be retained from delicacy, as the old French words mutton, veal, beef, and pork, are considered less offensive than sheep, calf, ox, and pig, when these animals are brought to table. It is, however, curious, that the meat which would have been, one might have imagined, most annoying to the feelings by its real name, yet retains it — lamb. Earles-penny, or Arles-penny, an earnest-penny, paid down to bind a bargain ; money given to servants when they are hired. See Arles. Earn, to coagulate milk. — See Yearn. Earning, cheese-rennet. — See Yearning. Easings, the eaves of a house. Sax. efese. Somner. Peirs Plowman has evesed, for furnished with eaves — Easing- DROP, an eaves-drop. Eath, Eith, easy. Sax. eath. Sc. eith, eyth. " Where ease abounds yt'a eath to do amiss." Spenser,— Faery Queen. " That baron he to his castle fled, To Barnard Castle then fled he, 162 EATI The uttermost walls were eathe to win The erlea have won them presentlie." Risimj ill the North. " The folk with owt, that were wery, And sum wouudyt full cruelly Saw thaim within'defend them awa : And saw it was nocht eyth to ta The toun." — The Bnicc. Ea^tish, eatage ; corrupted in Lancashire into eddish ; the after-grass, or fog. Eaver, Eever, a corner or quarter of the heavens. Common in Cumberland, and also in Cheshire. V. Wilbraham. EcKY, Hector. EcKY, sorry. " Aw wad be ech/." Edder, the long jmrt of brushwood put upon the top of fences. Not in use, Dr. Johnson says. But I have heard the word in use in most of the Northern counties. Sax. edor, a hedge or fence. — Seo Yedder. Old Tusser recom- mends the farmer to " Save edder and stake Strong hedge to make." Eden, the river Eden, Castle Eden, &c., from Sax. ea, a run- ning stream, and dun, a hill ; the water from the hills. Edder, Eddre, the common viper. Sax. (etter. Still so called in Lancashire. — Todd's John. It may be added, in Northumberland and Durham also. Edder-cap, when ap- plied to a female of a violent temper, has the same signifi- cation as attercop. See Attercop. See also Nedder. Edge, a ridge — the side of a hill ; such as many places in Northumberland. — BiddleMone Edge, Sharperton Edge, &c. Ee, the Northern singular of eye. Sax. eag. " About his hals ane quhissil hung had he Was all his solace for tinsall of his E." Douglas' ^mid. Ee, a spout ; as the mill-ce. Probably eye (the aperture of the spout) by association. Eeleatok, a term among children for a young eol. EIGH 153 Eel-pout, the burbat. The Saxou fisherman, in Elfric's Dialogues, names amongst his fishes, eels and eel-pouts ; selas and celeputoa. — Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. III. p. 26. The name, like many others once in ge- neral use, is now, I believe, confined to the North. Eem, leisure. Sax. cemtan, rest, leisure, spare time. The word, I think, is seldom used, except in Cumberlftnd, Mr. Wilbraham has eam^ or eem, v. to spare time, to have leisure. Een, the eyes. Sax. eagan. " Ful semely hire wimple ypinched was; Hire nose tretis ; hire eyen grey as glas." Chaucer, — The Prologue. Efter, prep, the Northern form of after. Sax. eftj/r, post. Su.-Got. cefter. — Efternuin, the afternoon. " I do my office efter auld use and wount. To your parliament I will mak na mair count." y_ Lyndsay's Three Estaim. Ego, Egg-on, to instigate, to incite. An old word, from Sax. eggian. Dan. egger ; Isl. eggia ; and Swed. agga, are cog- nate. "Simons, and one Matthew Hazard; whom, though I name last, yet deserves to have precedency of all the rest, as being a main incendiary iu the rebellion, violently egged on by his wife, whose disciple the silly man was." — Anthony a Wood. " Adam and Eve he egged to ill." — Piers Plomnan. Eggler, one who goes about the country collecting eggs for sale — hinc forte higgler. Eigh, or Aye, yes ; one of the strongest characteristics of our Northern dialect. Much has been written respecting this contested particle of affirmation. See Tooke, and Boucher, under aj/e. In Newcastle and the surrounding districts, its orthoepy answers to the Greek n, which many South country Grecians find it difficult to i^ronounce properly. Eigh, pronoun interrogative, what ? what do you say ? Eigh-w'ye, a careless mode of expressing assent — yes, yes. VOL. I. X 164 EILD EiLD, not giving milk. See Yeld. EiTH, easy. See Eatb. Eke, s. a piece added to a bee-hive, or skep. Eke-out, to use sparingly. Chaucer has ecke^ to add to, Swed. hha, to increase, to augment. Eldin, Elding, fuel ; such as turf, peat, or wood. Sax. (sled^ ignis. I'&i.clldr. Ban. ild. Swed. e^c?, fire. The word is also used for brushwood for fences. *" Mony thanks to you," said he, scoffingly, 'for collecting sae muckle winter eikling for us, hut if ye step a foot nearer it wi" that lunt, its the dearest step ye ever made in your days." ' Scott,— TJie Black Dwarf. Elf-locks, entangled or clotted hair. In elfin days it was supposed to be a spiteful amusement of Queen Mab, and her fantastic subjects, to twist the hair of human beings, or the manes and tails of horses, into hard knots, which it was not fortunate to unloose. " This is that very Mab, That plats the manes of horses in the night ; And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, Which, once untangled, much misfortune bodes." Sfiak., — Eo'inco and Juliet. Elf-shots, the name vulgarly given to the flint arrow heads, made use of in war by the ancient Britons ; of which quantities have been found in the Northern counties. The common peoi^le here, as well as in Scotland, imagine them to have been maliciously shot at cattle by elces, or fairies. " Cattle which are suddenly seized with the cramp, or some simi- lar disorders, are said to be elf- shot ; and the approved cure is to chafe the parts affected with a blue bonnet, which, it may be readily believed, often restores the circulation." Minstrelsy of the Borders, Vol. II. p. 225. " There every herd, by sad experience knows How wing'd with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly. When the sick ewe her summer food foregoes, Or,stretch'd on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie." Collins,— Ode on the Superstition of the Highlands. Ell-dockens, butter bur, or colt's foot. Tnssilago petasites. ERNE 165 Eller, the alder tree, Alnus glutinosa, Liun. Anglo-Sax. celer. Lower Saxon cller. Germ, eller. Dan. elle. This tree abounds in the North of England more than in any other part of the kingdom, and seems always to have been there held in great respect and veneration. It was the same among other northern nations. V, Keysler Antiq. selec. Septent. et Celt. p. 76. A contrary notion, however, has elsewhere prevailed ; in consequence of Judas (as it is pre- tended) having been hanged on a tree of this kind ; but for which I have in vain searched for a more ancient au- thority than the Visions of Piers Plowman, where it is said — " Judas he japed With Jewen silver. And sithen on an eller Hanged hymselve." — Piers Plowman. Shakspeare makes him hanged on an elder. — Lovers Labour Lost, Act V. Se. 2. Ellerish, dismal, frightful. "An ellerish cry" — a fearful dismal cry. Ell-mother, a step mother, Originally, perhaps, a grand- mother ; from Sax. ealde-moder, avia. Else, already. Sax. elles. In frequent use. Elsin, Elson, a shoemaker's awl. Teut. aelsene, subula. Elspith, Elizabeth. Sc. Elspeth, Elspet. Enanters, lest, in case. V, Jam. Supp. enaunter, Endlang, lengthways. Endways, forward. " Gan cndwa^s'^ — go forward. Enew, plural of enough. Old writers used enow. Enoo, by and by, presently — e'en now, even now. Erne, the cinereous eagle. Falco albicilla. Linn. The term is general in the Northern languages. This powerful bird, common in the wild maritime districts of Scotland, has frequently been seen in Northumberland, during the winter months. "In eche rocke ther ys In tymo of yore an crne'i neat, that hie bredeth in ywys." Robert Qlouceeter. 156 ESII EsH, the ash tree. Teut. esch, fraxinus. Germ. escJie. " The hie eschis soundiij thare and here." — Douglas' JBneid. Ethe, easy. See Eath. EsK. See Ask. Ettle, to intend, to attempt, to contrive. V. Ihre, cetla. " But oft Tailzies the fuli's thocht And wyss mennys etling Cummys noch by to that ending That thai thinlt it sail cum to."— 37ie Bruce. Ettle, to earn. Synonymous with Addle, Aidle, Eddle. Ettlings, earnings, wages. The same as Addlings, Aid- lings. Evendoon, even down, plain, honest, downright; having Evendoon-thump, for the comparative degree. Even- DooN-pouR, a heavy fall of rain. Evil-eyed, envious, maliciously inclined. Superstitious peo- ple supposed that the first morning glance of him with an evil-eye was certain destruction to man or beast. Though the effect were not instantaneous, it was thought to be eventually sure. But if he, who had this unfortunate influence, were well disposed, he cautiously glanced his eye on some inanimate object, to prevent the direful conse- quences. See Crav. Gloss. 2nd. edit. vo. evil-eye. In re- mote ages, talismanic rings were made use of as a charm against the fascination of an evil-eye. Ewe-dyke, a sod dyke on which hazle or willow rods are interlaced, to keep sheep from leaping over them. They are sometimes made by placing a row of short stakes on the top of the dyke, and drawing a rope through a hole in the top of each. EwE-GOWAN, a term for the common daisy. North Tindale. Ewer, Ure, Yure, an udder. Sax. iider. Swed. jur. Germ. enter. Excise, to impose upon, to overcharge — without relation to government exaction. The word is now well known iu this enlarged sense, and ought to be in our dictionaries. FAIN 157 Expect, to suppose, to believe. A common northern expres- sion. F. Faa. See Faw, Face, Feace, the coal wall. Facing, Feaccen, nearly the same as Cleat, which see. Fad, or Faud, a bundle or truss of straw. Sax.feald, plica. Fr. fardeau. It also means fold; as, twee-faud, three- faud, &c., i. e. two-fold, three-fold, &c. Fadge, a bundle of sticks, a fagot. Swed. faffga, onerare. Fadge, a small flat loaf, or thick cake. Fr. fotiace, a bun. It is also applied to a fat, clumsy person, " a great fadge." " Her owsin may die i' the field, Her calves and kye i' the byre. And I'll hae nought to mysell But a fa,t fadge by the tire." — Old Ballad. Fadgy, corpulent, unwieldy, having a shufiiing gait. Faffle, to saunter, to trifle, to fumble — to f addle. Faikes ! By my Faikes ! a kind of minced oath ; equivalent to faith, upon my faith — verily. Sc.feffs. Fail, adj. means soil or turf as used in the North in a fail dyke. Perhaps it may originally have had the same origin as vail, a sod wall ; and it is remarkable that the great German wall, from the Danube to the Rhine, was called the Pfahl or the Stakes, from the materials that composed it.— >S'ee Arch. ^1., Vol. I., p. 221. Fain, glad, earnestly desirous. " Fair words make iool3fain."—Prov. Sax. fcegen, leetus, hilaris. " Ah York, no man alive so fain as I." — Sttak., — 2 Henry VI. ' ' Thai fand oflf all thair company That thar wes but a yuman slayno And lowyt God, and wes tnUfei/ne And blyth that thai eschapyt sua."— T7ie Bruce. " In all the hous ther n" as so litel a knave, Ne no wight elles, that he n'as full fain For that my lord Dan John was come again." Chaucer,— The Shiimiannc's Tale. 158 FAIR Fair, a present at or from a fair — a fairing. Fair, Fairly, evidently, manifestly. " Ifa fair swindling." " Hefairlj/ cheated me." Fair-fall-you, Fair-befall- you, a common benediction — a blessing attend you. Fairy-butter, a fungous excrescence, sometimes found about roots of old trees. After great rains, and in a certain de- gree of putrefaction, it is reduced to a consistency, which, together with its colour, makes it not unlike butter. When met with in houses it is reckoned lucky. Fairy-money, found treasure. The discovery, if revealed, was supposed to bring on the blabber's ruin. " A prince's secrets are like fairy favours, Wholesome if kept, but poison if discovered." Honest Man's Fortune. Fairy-pipes, small tobacco pipes, of an ancient and clumsy form, frequently found in ploughed fields in the North of England. They are also, it seems, met with in Ireland, particularly in the vicinity of those singular entrench- ments, popularly called Danish forts, but which, more probably, were the villages or settlements of the native Irish. See a sketch of one of these pipes, with a curious paper on the subject, in the Anthologia Hibemica, for May, 1793. Fairy-rings, green and highly verdant circles, frequently visible in meadows and pastures ; around which, accord- ding to our traditionary accounts of Fairy Mythology, the popular elves or ^'■pretty creatures," were accustomed to dance by moonlight, in their nocturnal scenes of revelry and merriment. In the dramas of Shakspeare, it was not to be expected that the luxuriant imagination of the im- mortal poet should overlook so characteristic a trait of the Fairies. Accordingly, we find Prosper©, in the Tempest, thus invoking them : — " You demy-puppets, that By moonshine do the green-soMt ringlets make, Whereof the ewe not bites ; and you whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms." FARA 159 Dr. Withering, in his Botanical Arrangement, Vol. IV., p. 277, states, that these circles are caused by the growth of an agaric, which he fully describes. They have also, with less probability, been attributed to the circumgyratory burrowings of the mole. Fall, to fall with child, to become pregnant. Falls, the divisions of a large arable field attached to a vil- lage — annually cultivated in a fixed rotation of crops. Familous, relating to a family. " 'Tis Sifamiloiis complaint." Fand, for found. Retained in Scotland, Dr. Johnson says. It is proper to state, in the North of England also. " Thai fand meit till his company And serwyt him full hamely." — The Bruce. " Alas for wae ! quo William's Wat, Alack for thee my heart is sair ! I never cam bye the fair Dodhead That ever I fand thy basket bare."— ./aiwie Telfer. Fansome, faintish, i. e. faintsome. Fantome-corn, lank, or light com. — Fantome-hay, light, well-gotten hay. V. Ray. Farand, s. state of preparation for a journey — ^fashion, man- ner, custom. — Farand-man, a traveller or itinerant mer- chant. — Farant, a. equipped for a journey — fashioned, shaped ; as fighting-farant, in the fighting way or fashion ; well, or ill-farant, well or ill-looking. — See Aud-farant^ " He had wychtmen and -sseiW farand Armyt clenly, bath fute and hand."— 27ie Bruce. " She knew non suche in her lande. So goodlie a man and -wel farrand." Romance of Ipomcdon, in Warton, Vol.1, p. 198. All these expressions may be traced to the old verb/«re, to go, to travel. Sax. faran. Dan. fare. Swed. fara. We may, as remarked by Dr. Willan, wonder at the ideas of foresight, preparation, and formal style, connected with a journey in our island ; but on reverting to the time of the Heptarchy, when no collateral facilities aided the tra- veller, we shall be convinced that a journey of any consi- derable extent, must have been an undertaking that would 100 FA 11 A require much j^revious calculation, an y^ 170 FLAY Flay, to frighten. — Flay'd, affrighted, terrified, timorous. " Aw's Jlayed^^ I'm afraid. — Flaying, an apparition or hobgoblin. — Flay-some, frightful. — Flay-craw, a scare crow. Probably connected with Germ. ^iehen, to fly away. " Cum on, schir freir, and be noeht fleyit. The king our maister man be obeyit." Lyndmy's Three EstaUls. "01 sleep saft, and I wake aft, Its lang since sleeping wa,a fleyed from me." Kinmont WiUie. " A wee thing /ays cowards."— Sc. Prov. Fleched, spotted, streaked. Is\. Jlecla, discolor. Ban.^ek, and S'wed.j^dck, a stain, spot, blot. Flee, v. to fly. Sax. jffeoffan. — Flee, s, a fly. S&x.Jicoge. " Waite, what thing we may not lightly have, Therafter wol we cry all day and crave. Forbede us thing, and that desien we ; Prese on us fast, and thanne wol we fiee." Chaucer, — The Wife of Bathe's Prologue. Flee-by-the-sky, a silly, flirting, absurdly dressed, giggling girl — a wanton hussy — any silly body. Fleech, to supplicate in a flattering manner, to wheedle. Tent. ^etsen. — Fleeching, flattering, supplicating, or, ac- cording to " The Bee," earnestly entreating, with a desire to gain any one over to the jjurpose wanted, by artfully drawing them to form a good opinion of the Jleecher. " Schirs, freiris wold never I yow assure, That ony prelatis usit preiching And prelatis tuke on them that cure Freiris wold get nathing for their fleichiiiff." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Fleeing-eather, the large dragon fly ; chiefly seen about ponds and marshes. CEslina grandis. The vulgar are afraid of being stung by it ; from which circumstance it is, in some places, called a stanging catJicr, and, in others, a tangivg ncdder ; both meaning a stinging adder. I shall only add, that in Aelfric's Glossary we ^ni\.Jieonde naeddre. FLIR 171 Fleet, shallow ; as a fleet pan or vessel ; fleet water. Sax. fleding fluxus, inimdatio ; hence fleet, a creek where the tide flows. Fleet-milk, milk without cream ; from old verb fleet, to skim. Fleer, to mock at, to grin with scorn. See Flire ; which seems cognate. Stubbes, in his violent philippic, the Ana- tomic of Abuses, uses the word in describing the church- ales of his day. " Then the foolish people they looke, they stare, they laugh, they fleere, and mount upon formes and pewes, to see these goodly pageants solemnised in this sort." Flenders, shreds, broken pieces, splinters. I formerly re- ferred to Dut. flenters ; but, according to Ihre, the true origin of the word is the Gothic flinga, frustrum, utpote quod percutiendo rumpitur. " The moon was clear, the day drew near, The spears in flenders flew, But mony a gallant gentleman Ere day the Scotsmen slew."— Battle ofOtterburne. " The bow ia flenders &evr."— Christ Kirk on the Green. Flesher, a butcher. Nearly obsolete in the North of Eng- land, though in Scotland it is still common. In Newcastle there was formerly a place called Flesher Raw, where the fleshers or butchers resided. Flick, a side or flitch of bacon. Snx.flicce, succidia. " Another broughte a spycke Of bacon flicke." — SIcelton. Fligged, fledged. " Fligg'd ower the doup" Isl. fl^gr^ volucris. YLexLcefliggers, young birds that can fly. Fling, to dance in a peculiar manner, as in the Highland Fling. Perhaps from Swed. fldnga, to romp. Flint, the core of an animal's corn. Flire, to laugh, or rather to have a countenance expressive of laughter, without laughing out. Isl. fl^i/ra, subridere. There is a Scotch expression, to flyre the face, to be in a fierce passion. 172 FLIR FtiRTiaio, a wanton giggling lass — an unsteady girl. Flisk, to skip or bounce. Swed. flissa, to laugh immode- rately. — Flisky, frolicksome. " She's a rsixefliski/ jado." Flit, to remove from one habitation to another. Su.-Got. flytta. Ban. fj/tte. Swed.fj/tta. — Flitting, the act of re- moving the furniture. — Moonligut-flitting, carrying away at night the household goods without paying the rent to the landlord — flying the country for debt. Flitioite is an old term for an amercement where a person, having been a fugitive, returned of his own accord, or without a license. FuTE, to scold, to make a great noise. S&x.Jlitan, to brawl. Sc. Jiytc. — Fliting, the act of scolding or brawling. Flity, giddy, light headed, non compos. Sc. flj^j/. — Mr. Taylor suggests that it should be written, fiigMy^ & fly- away. Flote, to flatten, in plastering. Flough, Flow, cold, windy, boisterous, bleak. " Its flough weather." " Here's Skflow day." Cumb. The word seems alllied to S'WQii.flasning, violent respiration. Floughter, or Flowter, a fright. — Floughtered, affrighted. Fluck, Flucker, or Jenny-flucker, a flounder. Sax. floe. Flum, Flummery, using an illusory pretext — misleading you to expect something — deceitfulness. Flung, deceived, beaten. " He was sadlj flung, poor man." Probably a metai>hor from being thrown off" horseback ; as also he was thrown, he was cast — both which phrases are in use. Fly-by-night, a term for a worthless person, who gets into debt, and runs off", leaving the house empty. Foal, the youngest in the rank of putters in a coal pit. Fog, Fogg, the grass grown in autumn after the hay is mown — the second crop, or aftermath. Law Lat. fogagium. " One with another they would lie and play, And in the deep/ojr batten all the da.y."— Drayton. Fog, a term in the North for moss ; of Danish origia—fuug. Foggy, a, fat, bloated. Sc.foggie, dull, lumpish. J FOND 178 Foist, to smell musty. Shakspeare, in Hamlet, uses to fust ; which is probably the same word. Following-stone, the loose stone lying above the coal, which comes down on its removal. Folly, an appropriate designation given to a building, not meant for use, but for ornament ; or to one, which has not answered the purpose for which it was originally in- tended. FooL-PLouGH, a Christmas Pageant ; consisting of a number of rustics, dressed in white, and bedizened with various coloured ribbons — who drag a plough in procession up and down the country villages, begging money to drink, in al- lusion to their labours having ceased in that severe season. In these perambulations, to say nothing of the music, they are accompanied by a tawdry and grotesque figure in the habit of a woman, denominated the Bessy, as well as by a humourous countryman, called the Fool, distinguish- ed by a still more antic dress ; and whose office it is — in which he is very assiduous — to rattle a box amongst the spectators, and to receive their donations. When any thing is given, the gratitude of the party is expressed by the exclamation. Largess! but if not requited at any house, they draw the plough through the ground in front. The money thus collected, as such contributions usually are, is afterwards spent in feasting and conviviality. This custom is of very ancient origin, derived from the Feast of Fools. In like manner, the keelmen in Newcastle, when the navigation of the river Tyne is blocked up with ice, sometimes haul a boat about the streets, to show that they are deprived of their ordinary means of earning a liveli- hood. FooT-ALE, or Footing, an entertainment given on taking pos- session of any new place or office — a fine imposed on a be- ginner. Fond, silly, foolish. An old Northern word. Su.-Got. fdnigy delirus, stultus. Swed. fdnig, foolish, silly. — Fond- 174 FOR AS-A-BUZZOM, remarkably silly, ridiculously good-natured. — FoNDY, or Fondling, a fool. Old Burton uses fond- ling. " The direction of your paquet was methought fondely wrytten by the clcrke that wrote it, wherin ho maketh me the queue's am- bassadour resydent uppon the frontiers of Scotland." — " I trust you will conceyve that 1 write nothing herein either of any malice or fond ignorance." — Letters from Sir Ralph Saddler to Se- cretary Cecil, 1559." " To starve in full bams were/owcZ modesty." Dekkar's Holiest Whore, Part II. For, lest. This word is still used in Northumberland, as it is frequently found in our early writers, in the sense of preventio)i or 2»'ecaution j as, " Cover him up for catching cold." Joined to what, it is expostulative ; as, " What for hev ye getten sic a wee bit ?" Force, or Forse, a cascade or waterfall. Su.-Got. fors, a cataract. The High Force, or great fall of the river Tees, is a scene of great sublimity, and perhaps the finest cata- ract in the island. FoRDER, to promote, to advance — to forward. V. Jam. Supp. Fore, the present. — To the Fore, still remaining, surviving. " Is he still to the /ore?" that is—" Is he still alive." " If Christ had not been to the fore in our days, the waters had gone over our soul." — Rutherford's Letters. But in the proverb *' If you can spend much, put the more to the fore,^' it seems to imply the future. Fore-door, the door in front of the house, the principal en- trance. FoREBY, besides, over and above. D&n. forhi. by, past, over. Fore-elder, an ancestor. Sax./oreaW/cw, senescere. Swed. fbrdldrar, parents. Dan. foraldre. Mr. Hunter informs me, that he never heard this word south of York ; and there only once. But ancestors, which has supplanted a w^ord better than itself, is hardly quite naturalized, being FOU 175 sometimes pronounced mmcctres, showing through what channel it has come to us. Fore-end, the spring, or early part of the year. FoRE-HEET, forethought ; from Fore-heed, to pre-consider. — Having-to-the-fore, having any thing forthcoming. FoREXENST, FoRNENT, FoRANENT, opposite to, over against, towards — as in part payment of a debt. Sc. foreanent. " A great number of wicked thieves oppressoures, and peace break- ers, and receiptors of thieft, of the surnames of Armstrangis, Ellotes, and otheris, inhabiting the boundouris foreanent Eng- land"— Act James VI. For EVER AND AY, a common expression in the North, but not a pleonasm as some have supposed, for it implies the future and the present. The Northumbrians use ay, for always, constantly; as, "He's ay bragging;" "for ever and ay" therefore, would mean, for all future as well as present time. FoRKiN-ROBBiN, au ear wig ; so called from its forked tail. Ray. FoRPiT, a measure of a quarter of a peck, i. e. the fourth part, as a farthing is the fourth jjart of a penny. Forth, a jjlace in Newcastle, i. e. the Fort. FoRTHERLY, forward, early. " A fortherly harvest" — "/o;-- therly potatos." FoTHER, or FuTHER, in Newcastle, as many coals as a two- horse cart can carry. Sax. father. A fother of lead weighs 21cwt. " With him ther was a Plowman, was his brother That hadde ylaid of dong ful many afoth«r." Oiaucer, — The Prologue. " For Katie Unsell was my mother And common Theif my father-brother; Of sic friendship I had anefuther." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Foil, tipsy, Bacchi plenus— /«^/ of his orgies. The situation of the " wee bit ^vifeikie," who, forgetting both the tem- perance and gentleness of her sex, happened to get "/o?<," 17C FOUL is felicitously ridiculed in a Scottish song attributed to Geddes. Foulness, in a coal pit, is the presence of carburetted hydro- gen in large quantities. Foumart, a polecat. Mustela putorius. Vvohahly fouhnarty from its intolerable scent. There is fulmart in Sherwood's dictionary, and some of our old writers use fulimart. Mr. Cotes derives the word from Fr. feuillemort (dead leaf), a species of weazel, so called from its colour. " The hart, the hynd, the doe, the roe, 'Shefidmart and false fox."— 27ie Cherry and Sloe. Four-o'clock, refreshment in the harvest field at that hour. —Dur. Our ancestors in the 13th and 14th centuries (as may be collected from the Northumberland Household Book), appear to have breakfasted at 7, dined at 10, and supped at 4 ; after which, they had livery at 8 or 9, and then retired to rest. Four, FowT, an indulged or spoiled child ; any foolish person. A friend says, fou'd, stultified. Fr. fol, fou. Ital. folle. FoUTER, a term of contempt. Fr. foutre. — Foutt, base, mean, despicable. In Scotland, it is sometimes used in the sense in which the low people in Spain and Italy apply the term or sigafico. FouTH, abundance, plenty ; generally appHed to provisions. Perhaps from Teut. vulte, plenitude, FoY, an entertainment given by a person about to leave home. Belg. defoi geeven, coenam profectitiam dare. Skinner. FozY, Fuzzy, light and spungy. Sax. wosig, humidus. Teut. voos, spongiosus. Fra, from. A pure Saxon word ; in constant use. Frame, to attempt. " He frames well" — he appears to do it well, " How does 'heframe'^ — how does he set about it ? Sax. fi'cmman, efficere et formare. " Then said they unto him, say now Shibboleth ; and he said Sib- boleth ; for he could not frame to pronounce it right." Judges, xii., 6. FREM 177 Fratch, to scold, to quarrel. Germ, fratzen, fooleries? Fratcher, a scold, or quarrelsome jierson. See Fratch. Fratished, or Frettished, perished, half frozen, benumbed with cold. We also hear of a fratishment, or frettishment. Freed-stool, or Frid-stool, an ancient stone chair or seat, in one of the pews near the altar, in the fine old church of Hexham ; which, until the reign of James I., possessed the privilege of sanctuary, within the four crosses on the outside of the town. The term is obviously composed of Sax. frith, pax, and stol, sedes, cathedra ; that is, the chair or seat of peace — affording to the fugitive perfect security. This stone chair is still carefully preserved in the church of Hexham. The ornaments upon it assign it to the Nor- man period. See an engraving of it in Sanct. Dunelm. et Sanct. Bev., one of the Surtees Society's publications. There is an interesting sketch of the History of Sanctuary, by Mr. Pegge, in the Archaeologia, Vol. VIII. p. 1 and seq. See also Dugdale's Monast. II. 128 note. " TTie Fnd^tool [of Beverley Minster] is placed on the left of the entrance to the vestry ; it is hewn out of a solid stone, with a hollow back ; it has been broken, but repaired with iron cramps. When Leiand saw this chair, he states it to have borne the fol- lowing inscription : — Hac Sedes lapidea Freedstool dicitur, i. e. Pacis Cathedra, ad quem reus fugiendo perveniens omnimodam habit securitatem. No such inscription, however, is now visible." Poulson's History of Beverley, p. 687. Freelage, the freedom or privilege of a burgess, in a Corpo- ration. Germ, frilatz, free. Freet, to lament, to grieve. From fret, to vex. Swed. frata. " ^hefreets dreadfully after the bairns." Freet, or Freit, a spectre or frightful object, a superstitious observance or charm. Isl. frett, an oracle. Frem, Frem'd, strange, foreign, unknown, not of kindred. Sax. and Germ. /rem'J. Dan.freminet. " O fader maist dere Anchises, desolate — why left me thou here Wery and irkit in s.-ae.fremmyt la.nd."— Douglas' JEneid. 178 FREM Freni'diBiilao used to denote any thing uncommon. " It's rather frem^d to be ploughing with snow on the ground." Likewise, in the sense of cold ; as &frem\l day. Frem'd-folk, strangers. Swed. frummande. Fresh, the swelling or overflowing of a river, a flood, a thaw. This word is classical in this sense, and hence Fresh, a. not frosty, applied to weather in a season when frost has been lately, or may be soon expected (for we do not sjieak of fresh weather in summer), so that fresh weather is that in which floods ai'e frequent. So, Sj)ring for the season of reviving vegetation, and Fall for the autumn, when it de- clines. Fretten, spotted, marked. Pock Fretten, marked with the small pox. S&s.. frothian, fricare. Friday. In the calendar of superstition, not only in the North of England but in Scotland, this day is viewed as one of ill omen, on which no new work or enterprise must be begun. Marriages, I believe, seldom happen on it, from this cause. Dr. Buchanan, in his interesting paper on the religion and literature of the Burmas {Asiatic Re- searches, Vol, I., p. 172), inform us, that with them " Fri- day is a most unlucky day on which no business must be commenced." " Friday's noon, Come when it will, it comes too soon." — Prov. Hopton, in his Concordancic of Yeares, is profuse on the subject of unlucky days and hours. Frim, handsome, thriving, in good case. Sax. freom, fortis. Froating, anxious, unremitting industry. Frosk, a frog. — Diir. Sax. frox, rana. Germ, frosch. Frow, Frowe, a slattern — also a lusty female. Dut. rrow. Germ. f)^au, a woman. Su.-Got, fru, signifies a woman of rank, Beaumont and Fletcher, in Wit at several Wea- pons, use /roe, " Buxom as Bacchus' /roe», revelling; dancing, Telling the musick's numbers with their feet." FULL 179 Frowsy, a. slovenly, coarse-looking, bloated. Sc. fruesome. Fruch, brittle, as wood, straw, &c. Fr. froisse, bruised. " Ane other he straik on a basnat of steille, The tre to raiff and /nwc/tif euiredeille." — fVallace. Fruggax, the pole with which the ashes in an oven are stir- red. Fr. fourgon, an oven-fork, and that, no doubt, from Germ, verriichen, to stir ; the v in German being sounded like/. Frumenty, or Frumity, a dish made of bruised wheat or barley, boiled with milk, and seasoned with sugar and spices, liat.ffumentum. Frumpish, scornful, contemptuous. Bailey, has frtttnj), v. to flout, &c., derived from Tuet. frumpelen, to frizzle up the nose, as in derision. FuDDER. See Fother. Fuddle, food ale, drinking to excess, so as to make ale the chief food. This is the derivation (fanciful and unsatis- factory, I confess) inserted in the first edition of this work, but which I omitted to state had been previously given in the Craven Glossary — a publication to which I have been indebted for many words, depending on oral usage alone, which are alike peculiar to the counties of Northumber- land and Durham and the Deanery of Craven. Fuddle, to intoxicate fish. A poaching mode of destroying them — unacknowledged by Waltonians. FuFF, to blow or puff. Germ, lyfuffen. — Fuffy, light and soft. " The irne lumpis, into the cauis blak, Can hysse and quhissil ; and the hate fire Doith/«/and blaw in bleisses birnand schyre." Douglas' ^neid. " The fijst /((/ of a fat haggis is aye the feirsest." — Pr. Full-drive, at a furious rate, as fast as you can go. Full, or Fullen, house-leek, or sen-green, sennyervivum tec- torum. Culpepper, in his Herbal, says it is an herb reput- ed by Megaldus, to preserve what it grows upon from 180 FUN fire and lightning. Country people plant it on the roof of their cottages, as well with this view as for its many sup- posed valuable qualities, which all the old herbalists enu- merate. Fun, Fund (/>. p. oifind) found. Used by old people. Funk, to smoke, or rather to cause an offensive smell. IsL /una, putrescere. — Funking the Cobbler, filling an old person's room with the fumes of brimstone and assafcetida — a mischievous pastime among boys. Funny, comical. V. Todd's John. See also. Jam. Supp., funnie. Fur, a furrow. Sax./w, furh, sulcus. — Rig-and-fur, ridge and furrow. " Big andfurr'd stockings." ¥vsQ\% fiizzball, a fungus found in fields, which, when press- ed, emits quantities of dust — a puff-ball. Lycoperdon pro- teins. FusiN, Fuzzen, nourishment, abundance. V. Todd's John. foisin. — FuzzENLESs, insipid, dry, tasteless. " And thai fand sic foysann tharin Off corne, and flour, and wax, and wyn." The Bruce. FusoME, handy, handsome, neat. Probably viewsome, as viewly, which is common in the sense of pleasant to look upon. In Scotland, Mr. Kinloch informs me, it is the re- verse — it means disgusting. Fuss, v. to attempt to do any thing in a hurried or confused manner. Sax. j'^'saw, to hasten. Sn.-Got.fj/sa. Fy-yaud. An expression used by shepherds in sending out their dogs. G. Gab, v. to prate, to prattle. Ir. gob, a beak, or bill. — Gab, s. idle talk, prating — the mouth ; saucy talk. Gad, Gaed, or Ged, a fishing rod, a wand, a long stick with a pike at the end, formerly used to drive oxen when they were employed as beasts of draught. It is a term still GAIT 181 used for a cartman's whip. The scriptural expression of kicking against the pricks is founded on the same custom. Sax. gad, a goad. " He criyt ' Theyff ! call all ! call all !' And he then lete the gad wand iaXV'—Tlie Bruce. Gadger, or Gauger, a name for that recording angel of the law, ycleped an exciseman — to gauge being a part of his employment. Of the gauger of wines and his office, we have many ancient statutes. The true English gaiige is mentioned in Rot. Pari. 32 Edw. I. Gae, Gie, or Gee, to go. V. Todd's Johnson, gee. Gaed, for went ; common in North, and Dur. The Scots and Danes, also, still use it. Gaily, tolerable, pretty well — in good health and spirits ; a common answer to the salutation, " How are you 1" Dr. Jam. says, " it has been supposed that there is some simi- larity in the use of. gay in O. Fr. But I have met not with an example of this kind." It is, however, in modern French. The Academic say, " aller gaiement, pour dire aller bon train ;" i. e. just/»re«^ well. Gain, a curious Northumbrian expression, of various signifi- cation, generally attached to other words to express a de- gree of comparison ; as gaiii quiet — pretty quiet ; gain brave — tolerably courageous ; gain near — conveniently near or at hand. The etymology is doubtful, though it is probably an abbreviation of gay and. — Gain is also used simply for, near ; with the superlative Gainest, the nearest ; as the " gainest way" — the nearest road. V. Ihre, gagn. " Quhen thai had slayne and woundyt mony man, Till Wallace In, the gaynest way thai can, Thai passyt sone, defendand thaim rycht weiW."— Wallace. Gait, a goat. Su.-Got. get. Sax. gat. Gait, to set up sheaves of com to dry. — Gaiting, a single sheaf of com, especially of oats and barley, set up on end to dry. It has been suggested that it may be from Genn. gate, hasty, done in a hurry, and to be after set up into 182 GALA Btooks. To gait, ill Lancashire, is to prepare a loom for weaving. Galasii, to mend shoes or boots by putting additional leather round them. Probably from the Fr. galache. Gale, or Geal, to ache vnth. cold ; as the fingers do when frost bitten ; or when very cold water is taken in the mouth. Perhaps from Lat. gelu,i.Tos,t, cold ; or Germ, gd- len, to tingle. See Cotgrave, geler, to congeal with cold. Galley-bauk, a balk in the chimney, ^dth a crook, on which to hang pots. Gelte, in Germ, is a vessel with ears. Gallook, Galore, plenty, abundance. Gael. go-leoir, enough. " To feasting they went and to merriment, And tippled strong liquor gillore." Ritson's Robin Hood. Gam, to mock. It is game, shortening the vowel. The cant word to gammon, and the corresponding substantive gam- mon, derivatives. A gammon of bacon, however, is a gam- bone, jambon. Gamashers, Gammashes, gaiters. Sc. gramashes. V. Jam. Gan, Gang, to go. Sax. gan, gangan. Several other lan- guages agree with this ; as the Islandic ganga, Alemannic gangan Dutch ganghen, &c. " Quhen thow was young, I bure the in my arme, Ful tenderlie till thow begouth to gang. And in thy bed oft happit the full warme."— Xyntfoaj/. Ganger, having a good action — a good goer. Dan. ganger. " He's a ganger, like Willy Pigg's dick-ass." Gangeral, or Ganner, a vagrant, or tramper — one who gangs about the country. " The country swarms with gatmers." Gang- way, a thoroughfare, entry, or passage. Sax. gangweg. Swed. gangtag, a pathway. Gangweek, Rogation week — time of perambulating a bound- ary. An old word, still in use, from Sax. gang-wuca. Swed. ghige-vecka is cognate. Gant, or Gaunt, to ya'wn. Sax. ganian, to gape, to gasp. GART 183 Gantree, Gantry, a stand for ale or beer barrels. V. Jam. Gar, to make, to force, to compel, Dan. giore. Swed. ffSra, Not obsolete, as Dr. Jobnson states ; but in com- mon use in all the Northern counties. " Was I not yesterdaye at the Newe-castell That standes so fayre on Tyne ? For all the men the Perssy had He cowde not garre me ones to dyne." Battle ofOtterhurn, Hit. A. B., I. 98. " Bot my gudeman, the treuth I sail thee tell, Gars me kelp Chastitie sair againes my will." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. " But specially I pray thee hoste dere Gar us have mete and drinke, and make us chere." Chaucer, — Tfie Reve's Tale. " And the King a parlyament Gert set thairefter hastily." — The Bruce. " His gret manheid, and his bounte Gerris him yeit renowynt be." — Ihid. " Gregorie the grete clerk gaiie write in bokes The rewle of alle religioun rigtiful and obedient." Cliaucer. Garcil, small branches, cut for the purpose of mending hedges — underwood. Lat. gracilis, slender. — Garcil- HEUCK, a bill-knife for cutting the garcil. Garland, a ■wreath, or crown of glory — formerly carried be- fore the corpse of a young unmarried female, and after- wards suspended in the church. When I was a boy, there were several of these funeral garlands at the church of Witton Gilbert, in the County of Durham, No white- washing, or beautifying, I hope, has since disturbed them. See Virgin' Garland. Garn, the ancient j^ronunciation of yarn ; still retained by old people. Sax. gearn. Dan. and Germ, garri. Gars, Gurse, grass. Sax. goers. Sc, gerss. — Garsing, Gur- siNG, a grazing, a pasture — an ing, or inclosure in grass. Garten, a garter. Gael, gairtein. Sc. gartene. Welsh, gardys. 184 UART Garth, a small inclosurc adjoining to a house. Br. gardd, a garden. Sax. geard, a yard. Swed. gdrd. " And so befell in till ano mirthfull morrow Into my garth I past me to repose." Coniplaynt of the Papingo. " Throw a dark garth scho gydyt liim furth fast." Wallace. A country church-yard is called the garth, or Virk-ganh. The north side is supposed to be not quite so holy as the more sunny sides, and for that reason is usually reserved for the place of interment of such as come to some un- ^ timely end. Gate, or Gait, a right of pasturage for cattle through the summer — their stray or grazing for any specified time. It is derived from go, and means generally agoing, and in this instance a right of going. V, Tooke. Gate, a way, path, or street — a road. An ancient Saxon expression which has been peculiarly preserved in the names of streets or lanes in almost every considerable Northern town : — those ending in gate, as Bailiffgate, Gil- ligate, Narrowgate, Newgate, &c., having no allusion to gates having ever been there ; nor does the frequent use of the word afford any proof of a walled town, although such a conclusion has been erroneously drawn. Su.-Got., Isl. and Swed. gata, semita. Sax., Dut. gat. In many villages, the public road passing through is still called the towngate. Gate is, also, understood in the North in a more general sense; as, " gang your _^«^e," go your way. " What gate are ye ganging ?" what road are you going ? " How many gates hae ye been 1" how often have you gone, or how many journies have you taken ? " To go agatewards," to accompany a short way. " Schyr Edunard, that was sa worthy Tuk with him a gret cumpany And tuk his gayt till Galloway." — The Bruce. " And thaune Reson rood faste The right heighe gate. GEAL 185 As Couscience Iijtu keuned Til thei come to the kjTige." — Piers Plowman. " T. & Z. Lee, to sel 16 gate of lime."— Cliurchwardetis' Accounts, St, Nicholas', Newcastle, 1710. Gauct, fat and comely, — North. V. Jamieson. Gaum, to comprehend, to understand, to distinguish, to con- sider. Mce.-Got. gaumgan, percipere ; or Teut. gauw, acutus. — Gaujiless, silly, ignorant, vacant, stupid. Gaup, to stare vacantly. " What are ye gaiqnng at, ye gowk ?" Dut. gaapen, to gape. Gaute, to stare about in a clownish manner, to look round with a strange, inquiring gaze, said of a young horse not used to the road. Germ, gaffen, adspectare. V. Wach- ter ; and see Gavyson, or Gawvison. Gavelock (often pronounced Geavlick) a strong iron crow, or bar, used as a lever, chiefly by masons and quarrymen. Sax. ga/oeloc, catapulta. Su.-Got. gqfflak, jaculi genus apud veteres Suiogothos. Ihre. Gavy, probably from Guave, an ungainly female, " of a strange gait and unco' manners." Gavysox, or Gaw\t:son, a simpleton, a gaping silly fellow — the son of a gavy. Gawky, a. awkward, stupid, foolish. See the substantive. Gawky, s. a vacant, staring, idiotical person. Swed. gack, a fool, buifoon. Dan. giek. Germ. geek. Gay, tolerable. " He's a gai/ decent man." " Gay luck." Also considerable. " A gay while," a considerable time. " A gay bit off," a good distance. — Gay, preceding some other word, is very common in Northumberland ; as gay and fat, gay and strong, gay and soon. See Gain. " Last morning I was gay and early out." Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd. " Swa that I kan that raid ga rycht."—Tlie Bruce. Geal, Geyal, or Gell, to ache with cold, as the fingers do in frost ; to crack with heat or frost. Green wood geals in the sun, and the earth, when it is rent or cracked with VOL. I. B b 18G GEAN heat, in very dry weather, is said to l)e gelled or gealed. Isl. geil, fissura, raptura. The first sense may probably be from gelus, cold. Gean, Geen, the wild black cherry. Prunus avium. Fr. guigne. Gear, v. to dress. " He's snugly geared," he is neatly dressed. Gear, s. stock, property, or wealth of any kind. " A vast o' gear" Sax. geara, provision, furniture. " And for that nothing of hire olde gere She shulde bring into his hous, he bad That women shuld despoilen hire right there." Cliaiicer — Tlie Clerke's Tale. " Thai delt amang theim that war ther The King of Inglandis ger." — 77ic Bruce. Gears, or Geers, draught or cart horse trappings. In p. 340 of Lege's Mar., Lord Wharton applies it to war-horse trapping. Chaucer also uses it in the sense of armour generally. ' ' An hundred lordes had he with him there All armed save hir hedes in all her gere." Cliaucer,—The Knight's Tak. Geck, v. to toss the head scornfully. Teut. ghecken, deridere. •' Dear Roger, if your Jenne geek. And answer kindness wi' a slight, Seem unconcerned at her neglect, For women in a man delight." Song in the Gentle SJieplierd. Geck, s. scorn, derision, contempt. " Dinna ye mak yor gecJt o' me." — Dur. " Quha cum uncalit, unserved suld sit. Perhaps, Sir, sae may ye, Gudeman, Gramercy for your geck. Quod Hope, and lowly louts." TJie Cherrie and Slae. Ged, a name for the pike in the Northern parts of Northum- berland. Isl. gaedda. Dan. gedde. Swed. gadda. Gee (pronounced hard), an affront, stubbornness. *' She GESL 187 teuk the ^ee," — she became pettish and unmanageable — she went off at a tangent. A friend, conversant with the language, thinks it probable that this word is the prefix ge, of some Saxon descendant of opiniutrete, thus used in abbreviation. Dr. Jamieson, however, refers to Isl. geigr, geig, offensa, pernicies. Geeavle, or Gavel, the gable end of a house or building. Su.-Got. gafwel, Isl. gafl. Geers, an erection of upright proj^s and cross jjlanks for the support of the roof of a coal mine. Geld, to deprive any thing male or female of the power of procreation by the operation of the knife. This is its old meaning, and is so used by Shakspeare in the Winter's Tale, when Antigonus threatens his three daughters. But there is another sense of the word ; as, a geld cow, a geld ewe; by no means implying that the animals have been spayed, but simply that they are not with young. A gelt pair of partridges or grouse, are birds which have no brood. Germ, gelte, sterile, barren — gelto kuh, a cow not with calf. Geld, to crack ; as green wood is apt to do. See Geal. Geld, a tax or imposition ; a pure Saxon word, still retained in nout-geld, or neat-geld, the rate paid for the agistment of cattle. Geordie, George — a very common name among the pitmen. " How ! Geordie man ! how is't ? " The pitmen have given the name of Geordie to Mr. George Stephenson's lamp in contra-distinction to the Davy, or Sir Humphrey Davy's Lamp. Geslin, or Gesling, a gosling. Su.-Got. gaasling. Sc. gaislin. To make the gosling leave the shell, at hatching- time, the farmer's wife burns an old shoe, by way of a charm. Geslin, the beautiful early blossom of the willow — appear- ing about the same time as the geslin, or young goose. It is fabled that these blossoms, falling into a river, become goslings. 188 GETT Getten, forgot; Letten, for lot ; Struck en, for struck ; — are still common in NortluimberIan-y HAUG 211 Harry. To "/»/«/ harty" over a j^erson is, to beat, or punish severely. Harrygaud, a blackguard sort of j^erson. Ray says, a wild girl ; but, I think, I never heard it applied to a female. My friend Mr. Ward, however, informs me that it often is ; and then signifies, unsteady, a gad-about. The word is sometimes pronounced haddygaud. Harumstarum, Harumscarum, wild, unsettled — running af- ter you know not what. Germ, herum-schar, a wandering troop ; plural, scharcn, vagabonds. Hash, a sloven, one who does not know how to act or behave with propriety — a silly talkative person. In 1655, Henry Hedley was fined 35. 4f?. for calling William Johnson, one of the stewards of the incorporated company of Bricklayers and Plasterers, a slavering hash. V. M'Kenzie's Hist, of Newc, p. 700. Hask, coarse, harsh, rough, parched. Germ, harsch, rough — with the common suppression of the r. A hask wind is keen and parching. Hask-Iips are parched lips. The word is also ajiplied to the sense of feeling, when any thing from its touch appears unpleasantly dry or hard. Coarse worted is hask to the feeling, Husky is cognate — the husk of a nut — the rough envelopement. Coal is said to be hash when it is brittle, and hard to work. Hassock, a reed, or rush ; hence, a stool or cushion to kneel upon at church, is called a hassock. Sw. vass, a rush, and Sack, a sack. There is a tract of land adjoining the Tyne, near Dunston, called the Hassocks, which, it is j^robable, was once covered with hassocks. Sir John Swinburne in- forms me, that hassock is used on the moors for a tuft of rushes, or coarse grass, in very soft boggy ground. Hather, Hether, heath. " /Ta/Aer-buzzoms" — besoms made of heath. " ZTe^Aer-bell" — the heath-blossom. Hatter, to shake. " I'm all hattered to pieces." Probably from the Fr. heurter, to knock or shake. Haugh, a low, flat, or marshy portion of land beneath higher 212 IIAUS ground, by the side of a river, liable to be overflowed. Isl. hagiy ager pascuus. In Cumb. they are called Holms, which see. Hause, the neck, the throat. A very old word. Sax. Dan. and Germ. hals. " It's down the wrang hause" Our early writers spell it ?ialse. " ' Lene me a marke,' quod he, ' bat dayes three And at my day I vvol it quiten thee Ami if it so be that thou finde me false, Another day hang me up by the halse."- Oiaucer. " Many a truer man than he base hanged up by the halse." Gammer Gurton's Needle, Act V., Se. 2. " Ther ne was raton in al the route. For al the reaume of Fraunce, That dorste have bounden the belle Aboute the cattes nekke, Ne hangen it aboute the cattes hals." Piers Ploviman. Hause-band, a collar, or necklace. " There's goud i' your garters, my Marian, And silk in your white hause-band." — Old Song. Haver, v. to talk foolishly, to speak without thought. Isl. gifra, blaterare. — Havers, s. silly discourse, idle bantering nonsense. " Dinna deave the gentleman wi' your havers."— RedgauntUt. Haver, s. oats. Dan. Jiavre. Swed. Jiafre. Dut. haver. Haver-bread, Haver-cake, large, round, thin oaten cakes, baked on a girdle. Swed. hafreJcaka, oat cake. " 'I have no peny," quod Piers, ' Pulettes to bugge, Ne neither gees ne grya. But two grene cheses, A few cruddes and creme. And an haver cake." — Piers Plowman. Haver-meax, oatmeal. Swed. hafrenjol. Teut. haveren meel. " O where hae ye getten that haver-vieal bannock ? Silly, blind body, why, dinna ye see V'—Sc. Song. Haver-sack, a bag in which oatmeal is carried. This is the HEAM 213 origin of the haversacks of soldiers — used formerly for car- rying their haver-meal. Haveril, a sort of fool, a half-wit. From Haver, which see. Hawk, to expectorate. Welsh, hochi, to throw up phlegm. Shakspeare uses " haivMng or spitting." Hay-making. When hay is first cut, it is called a swede, or swathe ; which is in fact the grass swayed to one side by the scythe. Germ, schwaden, a row of new mowed hay. Dut. zwade. When it is spread out it is named a teed (properly a ted) ; and when dried ready for gathering, a whin-row, wiiid-row, or ivon-row. It is next put into cocks, several of which are collected into what is called a kyle. Fr. cueilli, gathered. When these again are heaped as high as a man can pitch the hay to the top of the heap, it is called a pike. Haze, to drizzle, to be foggy. V. Ray's North C. Words. Haze-gaze, wonder, astonishment — a state in which one sees dimly and confusedly, as through a hase. Headsman, Heedsmen, the next stage above a half-marrow, amongst putters, requiring Skfoal with him to put a corf of coals. Headways, excavations in a coal pit at right angles to the boardSf for the purposes of ventilating and exploring the mine. Head-sheets, a sloping platform, towards the stem of a keel. Heald, or Heal, to lean or incline to one side, to bend later- ally. Sax. hyldan, inclinare, declinare. Heam, H'yem, home. Dan. Mem. Swed. hem. See Hame. Heams, or Heamsticks, two pieces of crooked wood encom- passing a horse's collar to which the traces are fastened. Isl. hals, collum. Teut. hamme, numella. Lat. hamus. This word is sometimes pronounced Yawmes, with the aspirate H before it — H' yawmes. Heaume in old Fr. is hahillement de tcte ; now as oxen were anciently used in agriculture, and yoked by the head, may not the heams have been thence derived I 214 HEAP Heap, Heuv, a wicker basket, a dry measure Boraewhat cor- resijondeut to the Beatment. Sax. hip, species. Heap, a good many. "A heap of folks." — "A heap of bairns." Heart-scad, any thing disagreeable or contrary to your ex- perience or wishes ; grief, vexation. It is also a provincial name for the heart-bum — heart-scald. Heartsome, merry, cheerful, lively — full oi heart. Heavisome, dark, dull, drowsy. Crav. Gloss. Heck, a rack for cattle to feed in. Su.-Got. hcBcJc. V. Ihre, Heck, an inclosure of ojyen work — of slender bars of wood. Germ. hecJce, a hedge or partition. — Heck-board, or Heck- bred, the board at the tail of a cart. — Heck-door, the inner door not closely panneled but only partly so, and the rest latticed. Half-heck, a half, or lower part of a door. Heck, or Hike, a term of cartmen to their horses ; whence, he'll neither heck nor re, hike nor re ; i. e. he is unmanage- able — he will not hear reason. Heck, means " turn to the left," and jce means " turn to the right ;" re seems to mean the same as jee ; and, therefore, if he will neither hech nor jee, he is intractable. Heck-berry. See Hagberry. Heckle, to dress tow or flax to hackle. Swed. hackla. Teut. hekelen. — Heckler, a tow or flax-dresser. Teut. hekeler, carminator. Heckle, comj)lexion. " She's light heckVd," said of one of light hair ; " Ginger heckle" is used to describe the colour of a fighting cock. Heckle, Heckle-flee, an artificial fly for fishing — made of the heckle feather so called, which grows on the neck of a cock. Hede-and-hang, to punish severely, though not to the extent expressed. " Sum sayis ane king is cum amang us That purposis to hede and hang us." Lyiidsay's Tlirec EstaUis. HELM 216 Hee, liigb. " To se the dere draw to the dale And leva the hilles hee. And shadow him in the leves grene Under the grene-wode-tre." Ancient Ballad, — Robin Hood. Heerin, Harrin, herring. " Fresli-heerin — freslx-heerin ; — four twopence caller harriu — four twopence caller harrin ; — here's yor cuddy's legs — here's yor Dumbar-wethers — here's yor January harrin." — Crjf in Newc. Fish-market. Heeze, to lift up with violence. Belg. hysan. " The samen wyse as thay commandit ware They did anone.— Towart the left wyth meny heis and hale Socht al our flot fast bayth with rouch and sale." Douglas' JEneid. Heft, a haunt. Su.-Got. hcefd, usus, consuetudo. Also, a haft, a handle. Hefted, a cow is said to be hefted whose udders are distend- ed for want of milking, in order to make a better shew. Heigh-how, an occasional assistant in the kitchen — a sort of char-woman. So called, in all probability, from a notori- ous propensity which a character of this kind has to all sorts of low gossip and marvellous stories. Hell, Helle, to pour out in a rapid manner — Du)\ and North. Sax. hcegelan, to hail. Isl. hella. Helm-wind, a singular phenomenon so called — generated in that vast column of clouds which frequently hangs over the summit of Cross Fell — a mountain encompassed with the most desolate and barren heights — covering it like a helmet, to an extent of several miles. On its first appear- ance, there issues from it a prodigious noise, which in grandeur and awfuluess has been thought to exceed the roaring of the ocean. It is not confined to any particular season of the year, although it occurs more frequently in the spring and autumn than at other times. Sometimes there is a less cloud, in an opposite direction, called a 210 iiiaT helm-bar, from an idea of its resisting the progress of the wind. The violence is greatest, when the helm is highest above the mountain. Beyond the line of its fury the air is frequently in a dead calm, and the sky serene. When this phenomenon occurs, the wind rushes vrith tremendous violence down the western slope of the mountain, extend- ing two or three miles over the plain at the base, and fre- quently overturning whatever lies in its track. Much da- mage is often sustained in the Fell-side district by this hur- ricane, but the greatest devastation prevails on its occur- rence during the period when ripe corn is standing. See further on this interesting subject, Hutchinson's Cumb., Vol. I., p. 267 ; Hist, of Carlisle, p. 485 ; Jefferson's and the Rev. John Watson's remarks in Jefferson's History and Antiquities of Leath Ward, p. 818 & seq. Helter, the northern word for halter. Sax. hcelster. See Brand's Pop. Antiq. Vol. II., p. .583. Helter-skelter, in great haste, violently, disorderly — un- bridled, as it were. Skinner's derivation from Sax. heolster sceado (unless we reject Dr. Johnson's translation and to adopt that of Dr. Jamieson), seems to me far fetched ; and that given by Grose, is, in my mind, equally fanciful. A friend suggests that it may be from hie ct aliter; while Coles, and the author of the Craven Glossary, refer to the Dutch. But I am satisfied that helter-skelter is halter loose, halter broken, effrsenate. Thus Shakspeare expresses the exact meaning when he makes Pistol say, " Sir John, I am thy Pistol, and thy friend. And helter-skelter have I rode to thee ; And tidings do I bring." 2d Part of King Henry IV. This is quoted, but its peculiar significance has been en- tirely overlooked, in Todd's Johnson. Hemmel, a shed or covering for cattle, a fold. Sax. hcelmc, tectum. Germ, heim, a tent, a house. Hempy, mischievous. Although it is generally applied jocu- HES 217 larly and innocently to giddy young people, of both sexes, yet it seems to have a prophetic allusion to an ignominious end, having the qualities likely to suffer by the halter. Henna, Hanna, have not. Hen-pen, the dung of fowls — manure from the pen where hens are kept. The country people sometimes use it in houking linen. See Bouk. Hen-scrattings, long pencilled clouds — said to indicate rain or wind — significantly called by the common people, " Mare's tails." Herd, a keeper of cattle ; answering to Sax. hyrd, Dan. liyrde^ and Germ, hirt, one who attends cattle. From hirt, the Swiss have made a verb hirten, to tend cattle. In New- castle, and other parts of the North, there is the verb to herd, signifying the same thing. Here's t'ye, the rustic form of drinking healths in the North. Prynne, the oppugner of what he calls " pocular and pot- emptying health," in the same year that he wrote a labori- ous pamphlet on the " Unlovelinesse of Love-Lockes," produced his " Healthes Sicknesse," wherein he labours, with his accustomed enthusiasm, to prove " the drinking and pledging of healthes, to be siufuU, and utterly unlaw- full unto Christians." Heronsew, Heronseugh a heron. Not merely a young one, as stated by Mr. Tyrwhitt. V. Skinner, hernsues. Chau- cer, in the Squire's Tale, describing the feast of Cambus- can, says, " I wol not tellen of hir strange sewes, Ne of hir swannes, ne hir heronsetves. The word handsaw, in the proverbial expression of a man's not being able to distinguish " a hawk from a handsaw, which Shakspeare gives to Hamlet, is obviously a corrup- tion for heronshaw (as it is written and pronounced in some places). There is a possibility of mistake in one case, but not in the other. Hes, has. The old form of the word. VOL. I. F f 218 IIESP Hesp, to liitcli ; as, " hesp the door." Hesp, the fastening of a door or gate. It is properly the looj) that slips over the staple, and is confined there by a lock and key. Het, hot, warmed. Sax. hcet, heated. Swed. het, hot. " These vcrsis of gold and aaure writte were, Of whiche I gan astonied to beholde For with that one encresid all my fere. And with that othir gan my herte to bolde, That one me het, that othir did me colde." Chaucer, — Tlie Assemble of Fovles. Hether-faced, rough-faced. Het-pint, warmed ale, with spirit in it. Hetter, eager, earnest, keen. Perhaps from het, hot. Heuck, Huke, hook, a crook or sickle without teeth. Dut. hoek. Heuk-bane, the huckle-bone. Heuck-fingered, thievish — digitis hamatis. Perhaps, only cant. Heudin, a piece of leather connecting the handstaff of a flail with the swingle — the liooding of the handstafiF. Heugh, a rugged, steep hill side — a raAdne. Sax. hou, mons. Lye. " From that place syne unto ane caue we went Under ane hyngand heuch. in ane darne went." Douglas' Mneid. Heup, or Hoop, a measure, something less than a peck. Hewers, the men who work the coals in a coal pit. Hexhamshire, a large portion of the county of Northumbei-- land ; once a distinct Bishojiric, with the privileges of a separate Palatine jurisdiction, but now an isolated part of the Archiepiscopal See of York. The name, though im- properly, is still retained ; and the manor, comprising this extensive district, ever since the beginning of the reign of James I., has been called the Regality or Manor of Hex- ham, " Regalitas sive manerium de Hexham." In the reign of Elizabeth it is styled merely, " Manerium de Hexham." HILL 219 H'yel, whole, entire. IsL hiell. Su.-Got. hel. Belg. heel, integer, totus. H'yel-water, whole water ; said of a heavy fall of rain : a shower so heavy that the water seems unbroken. HicKUP-SNiCKUP, the hiccough. Shakspeare, in the Twelfth Night, uses the interjection sneck up ! which — coming from such a drunken character as Sir Toby Belch — may fairly enough be supposed to designate a hiccough ; though some of the commentators seem to think otherwise. The following couplet, thrice repeated, is a popular cure for this disagreeable convulsion. " Hickup-snickup, stand up, stick up, One drop, two drops — good for the hiccup." Major Moor gives a different version of the lines — " Hlckup-sniccup — look up— right up — Three drops in a cup— is good for the hiccup." HiDLiNS, adv. secretly, clandestinely — applied to any thing done by stealth — quasi Mde-ling. " Bot Scilla lurkand in deme hiddellis \yia."— Douglas' Mneid. HiDGE, hip. " A pain in the hidge." Higgler, a tramping dealer in small agricultural produce. Hinc fort^ to higgle, to drive a bargain like a higgler. HiGHT, called, named. " Of which two, Arcita highte that on, And he that other highte Palamon." Chaucer,— Tfie Knighte's Tale. Hike, to swing, to put in motion. Germ, hoch, high. A nurse hikes her child when she tosses it up and down in her arms. There is also the hiking of a boat. Hikey, Hikey-board, a swing. It is much better repre- sented, than I can pretend to represent it, in Bewick's tail-piece of two monkeys engaged in the sport. See Quadrupeds, p. 484, ed. 1820, Hilling, a covering. — Bed-hilling, a quilt or coverlet. Sax. hilcm, tegere. " Hylling of a house." Prompt. Parv. ; Wiclif, Matt, xxv., 36. 220 HIND Hind, a servant or bailiff in hu8l)an(lry. Sax. hineman. Chaucer spells it kine. " Ther n' as bailiff, ne herde, ne other hine That ho ne knew his sleight and his covine." 77te Reve'8 Prologue. Hind-berry, a raspberry. Rubies Icedus Sax. hindberian, which Lye mis-translates into fragum. The corresponding term in Danish is hindbcBr. Hinder-ends, the refuse of any thing ; especially the offal of such corn as remains after winnowing. HiNDERSOME, retarding, hindering ; as, " the weather is hindersome" Used in Herefordshire, and also in the Fo- rest of Dean. HiNG, to hang. Isl. hengia. Su.-Got. henga. Tuet. henjen. " By that well hinges a basin That is of gold fine." — Yewain and Gawin. HiNMosT, the hindmost. HiNNY, or HiNNEY, a favourite term of endearment, expres- sive of great regard. A mispronunciation of honey — used with much effect by the Irish. Sometimes the term is ap- plied ironically to a female of no good fame ; as, " she's a canny hinny — implying that she is the reverse of a chaste woman. The French have a similar idiom, in the phrases "jolie fiUe," and " jeune cousine." Hinney is also used in a contemptuous light towards a man ; meaning a poor creature, a Boeotian. HiNNEY HOW ! an interjectional exclamation of surprise, ac- companied with gladness. Hip, to hop on one foot. See Hitch. — Hip-step-and-jump, a youthful gambol. — Hinchy-pinchy, something similar. Hip, the fruit of the dog rose. HiPE, to push, to rip or gore ; as with the horns of cattle. HiPPEN, or Hipping, a cloth for an infant — to put the hip in ? HiPPEN-STONES, HiPPiNG-sTONEs, Stepping stoues — large stones set in a shallow river, at a step's distance from each other, to pass over by. HIRS 221 Hipping, hopping on one foot. " Hope cam hiijpynge after That had so y-bosted How he with Moyses maundement Hadde many men yoholpe." — Piers Plowman. Hiring, a fair or market at which country servants are hired. Those, who ofiFer themselves, stand in a body in the mar- ket-place, with a piece of straw or green branch in their mouths to distinguish them ; or with wool, meal, &c., in or on their hats, as a badge of their trade. The engage- ment concluded, the lasses begin to file of, and pace the streets in search of admirers, while the lads, with equally innocent designs, follow their example. Having each picked up a sweetheart, they retire to different ale-houses, where they spend the remainder of the day in a manner that appears highly indelicate to a spectator unaccustomed to these rural habits. HiRPLE, or HipPLE, to halt, to go lame, to creep, to limp in walking. V. Crav. Gloss, herple. " The hares were hirpUn down the furs." — Burns. HiRSEL, or Herdsel, the number of sheep which one person can attend. Hersill, to slide down a bank on the posteriors. Jamieson very properly derives it from Teut. aerselen, and Belg. aarzeleiiy retrogede. Hirst, Hurst, a woody bank, a place with trees. Sax. hr/rst, hurst. V. Spelman, hursta ; and Kilian, horscht, horst. According to Lord Coke, it is a wood generally. "We have Hirst, and Long-hirst, places in Northumberland. In the south of England it is hurst, and it forms the termina- tion of many proper names. ' The courteous forest show'd So just-conceived joy, that from each rising hurst Where many a goodly oak had carefully been nurst The Sylvans in their songs their mirthful meeting tell." I>rayton, — Poly-olbion. 224 IHTC Hitch, to hop on one foot. Identical with hip. — Hitch- STEP-AND-JUMi', a favouritc amusement among boys. Hitch, a small " trouble," or dyke, in coal-mines, generally limited to a few inches' dislocation, so that it does not in- terrujit the continuity of the coal ; mtdshroom hitches, the inequalities in the floor of a mine, occasioned by the pro- jection of basaltic or other stony substances. HiTiiER-AND-YONT, here and there. Sax. hicler and geond. HiTY-TiTY, Hoity-toity, haughty, flighty. Fr. haute U'te. Hives, water-SM*, or blisters, an erui^tion of the skin. Su.-Got. hacfwa, to rise up. Sax. heafian. Teut. heffen. HoAST, a bad hoarseness, a cough. Sax. hwosta, tussis. Swed. hosta. Dan. hoste, " Stowin came steppand in with stendis No renk mycht him arrest Plat fut he bobbit up with bendis For Maid he maid requeist ; He lap qiihile he lay on his lendis Bot rysind he was prest Quhil he hostit at bayth endis In honour of the feist." Christ Kirk on the Oreen. HoASTMAN, HosTMEN, or (as it was formerly written) Ostemn, an ancient fraternity or society in Newcastle, dealing in sea-coal. They were incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, but appear to have existed as a guild from time imme- morial. A stranger arriving at the port of Tyne, to buy coals, was called an oaste, or oste. V. Brand's Hist, of Newc, PI. I., Seals, No. 11. Hob, the side of a fire-place. Rather, as a literary friend has remarked, the head of the side. Germ, haupt. " Set the kettle on the hob ;" i. e., the flat place on the head. Hob, a clown ; contracted from Robin, a common rustic name. Hob Collingwood, a name given to the four of hearts at whist ; considered by old ladies an unlucky card. HoB-AND-NOB, HoB-OR-xoB, the act of touching glasses in HOFE 223 pledging a health. Much has been written concerning this Northern expression. See Grose's Class. Diet, and Brand's Pop. Ant. hoh or nob; Todd's John, hob or nob; and Nares' Gloss, habbe or nabbe. Sax. habban, to have, and ncebban, to want, are much relied on for derivation ; but is the term any thing more than a burlesque translation of tete a tete ? Haupt is the German word for the head, and knob the ludicrous English word — from knob, a protu- berance. HoBBLETY-HOY, an Uncultivated stripling " neither man nor boy." V. Roquefort, hobereau. Hoyden, with which this term seems connected, was formerly applied to any rude, ill-behaved person of either sex. Children call a large un- manageable top, a hobblety-hoy. HoBBLY, rough, uneven. " A liobbly road, as the man said when he fell over the cow." HoBTHRtJST, a local spirit, famous for whimsical pranks. In some farm-houses a cock and bacon are boiled on Fastern's- eve (Shrove Tuesday) ; and if any person neglect to eat heartily of this food, Hobthrust is sure to amuse himself at night with cramming him up to the mouth with bigg chaff. According to Grose, he is supposed to haunt woods only — Hob o f hurst. Hockey, another name for the game of Doddart — hooky, from the bent stick used. So the synonyme bandy, bendy. The verb bandy appears borrowed from the game, and directly allusive to it. " I will not bandy with thee word for word." 3d. PaH Henry VI. HoDDY, the call to a goose. Hodge, or Hotch, to agitate the body ; " to hodge and laugh," is to laugh so as to shake the whole body, Teut. hutscn. Belg. hotsen, to jog, to jolt. HoFEY ! Hofey ! a term in calling to cows. A gentleman informs me that he heard this word used, with the exact tone of a Newcastle cowherd, by a German on the Rhine, 224 HOFF driving cattle. It was explained to mean, alles: doucemetit. In Sax. hof is a farm and farm-house ; the call, therefore, to the cow, is probably to come home. HoFF, hough, to throw any thing under the thigh. Hoff, or Hock, is also used for the limb itself. Hog, a sheep in its state from a lamb to its first shearing ; after which it is a dinmont if a wedder, and a gimmer if a ewe. Norman Fr. hogetz. In an account relating to the Monastery of Wearmouth, A. D. 1837, the Monks, in describing sheep of this sort, use the barbarous Latin word hoggastri. HoGGERS, old stockings with the feet cut off, used as gaiters — riding stockings. Germ, hocher, higher ; or, perhaps, only a variation of Cockers ; which see. An intelligent friend, however, informs me that hoggers is more likely from the hocks, which they chiefly cover. HoGH, HoE, How, both a hill and a hollow. Sax. hoh, altus hoce, uncus. Properly a hollow on a hill. Hope has the same meaning. HoGMENA, a name appropriated to December, and to any gift during that month, especially on the last day — a new year's day offering. Sc. hogmanaj/. The poor children in the North, in expectation of this present, go about from house to house, knocking at the doors, chaunting their carols, wishing a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and begging their hogmena. The origin of the custom is uncer- tain. Some pretend to derive the term from the two Greek words, xyt» fAYi'in, holy moon ; while others maintain that it is only a corruption from the French, homme est ne, in allu- sion to the nativity. " The cottar weanies glad an' gay, Wi' pocks out owre their shouther, Sing at the doors for hogmanay." —yieoVs Poems. HoGMENA-NiGHT, a Northern term for new year's eve. HoLLiN, the holly tree. Sax. holen. HoLjf, low flat land caused by alluvion — a small island. Sax. HONG 225 holm. Dan. Jiolm. Germ. holm. Swed. holm. Dry grounds nearly surrounded by the course of rivers, and low and level pasture lands near water, are in Cumberland called Holms : — The Holms on Ullswater and Windermere. — DunJiolm, the ancient name of Durham. Holm, in the Saxon language, generally signifies the sea or a deep wa- ter, but it is frequently used with an adjective to designate an insular situation. Holt, a peaked hill covered ^vith wood. Sax. holt, lucus. '^ Holies hare or hore," a common plirase of romance, may either mean grey woods or bleak uplands V. Glossary to Sir Tristram, v. Holtes. Chaucer, in Troilus and Cres- eide, uses it to express simply woods. " But right so as these holtes and these hayls That han in Winter dedde yben and drie Revestin hem in grene, when that Maie is. Whan every lustie beste listith to pleie." — B. 3, 1. 352. HoLY-STONES, holcd-stones, are hung over the heads of horses as a charm against diseases, and to scare the witches from riding the cattle : such as sweat in their stalls are supposed to be cured by the application. I have also seen them suspended from the tester of a bed, as well as jilaced be- hind the door of a dwelling-house, attached to a key — to i:)revent injury from the midnight hags of " air and broom." The stone, in all cases, must be found naturally holed — if it be made it is thought to have no efficacy. See Adder- Stoxe. Honest, decent, well-behaved. An old sense of the word. It is also used as a term of kindness, without reference to the individual being really honest. It is told of a late baronet, who was chairman of quarter sessions in an ad- joining county, that when a prisoner was to be sentenced, the usual commencement of his address was — " Well, my honest man, you have been convicted of a felony." HoxEST-iiKE, respectable in appearance. HONGERED, ill fed. VOL. I. G g 226 HOOR IIooR, a wliore. Sax. hiire ; from hyran, to hire. Welsh, huren, a i^rostitute — huriaw, to take hire or wages. This itlea runs through other languages. Gr. -Trc^r/i, a harlot ; from 7Fi^vxo>, to sell. Lat. mereti-ix ; from mereor, to earn or get money. " Nan Bullen, that Hoore, shall not he Queen." Ellis' Letters illustrative of Eng. Hist. This spelling expresses the classical pronunciation. See Walker. Hop, v. to dance. Sax. hoppan. Teut. hoppen. This is the original sense of the word. Though unnoticed by the great Lexicographer, it has not escaped his able editor, Mr. Todd. Hop, s. a rustic dance. See Hoppex, Hopping. Hope, the head of a vale, frequently near the source of a stream ; a narrow valley ; a sloping hollow between hills ; often confined to a vale without a thoroughfare. Some- times it means a hill, or rather a depression on the top of a hill. The word enters into the composition of several local appellatives in the Northern counties. Hopple, to tie the fore legs of a horse or other animal to pre- vent its straying. — Hopples, the ligatures with which the animal is hoppled. Hoppen, Hopping, a country wake or rural fair ; several of which are held in Northumberland, and many in the imme- diate neighbourhood of Newcastle. Hopping, or dancing, displaying a scene of much old-fashioned sort of fun and merriment, was always the favourite amusement at these meetings ; hence the name. In former days, neither wake nor feast could be ijrojierly celebrated without the lads and lasses footing it on the green. A very humourous description of a hopping, and particularly curious as it enu- merates the names of the dances in vogue among these rustic performers at the commencement of the seventeenth century, may be seen in Heywood's Woman kiWd with Kindness, Dodsley's Old Plays, by Reed, Vol. YII. Allu- HORS 227 sion is also made to these sports in a Joco-serious Discourse betwee?i a Northumberland Gentleman and his Tenant, a Scotchma?i, a rare poem, printed in 1G86, 4to. " To horse-race, fair, or ho])pin go, There play our casts among the whipsters, Throw for the hammer, lowp for slippers, And see the maids dance for the ring. Or any other pleasant thing ; F*** for the pigg, lye for the whetstone, Or chuse what side to lay our hetts on." Of the sports at the hopping near Newcastle, the following notice was circulated, in 1758 : — " On this day (May 22) the annual diversions at Swalwell will take place, which will consist of dancing for ribbons, grinning for tobacco, women running for smocks, ass races, foot courses by men, with an odd whim of a man eating a cock alive, feathers, entrails," &c. &c. Hopple, to tie the legs or hoofs of an animal, so as to pre- vent it from straying. Teut. hoppelen. Hornet, or Horney-top, the end of a cow's horn made like a a top for boys to play with. HoRNEY, or HoRNEY-wAY, an untruth, a hoax. Virgil says, true visions come by the homey way. Can the expression have had its rise from his description 1 " Sunt geminfe somni portae : quarum altera fertur ^ Cornea; qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris : Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto : Sed falsa ad ccelum mittunt insomnia manes." ^neid, lib. vL, v. 893. Hornie, it may be added, is a common name in Scotland, for, to adopt the expression of Reginald Scot, " an ouglie divell having homes on his head." HoRSE-couPER, a horse dealer of an inferior order. " As honest as any horse-couper of them all." — Redgauntlet. HoRSEGODMOTHER, a large masculine wench ; one whom it is difficult to rank among the purest and gentlest portion of the community. 228 HORS HoRSE-KNOPS, knap-weed. Centaurea nigra, a coarse plant in meadows and pastures. Centaurea Cyanus, (Blue-bot- tle) in gardens (var. colore) and com fields. Blue-bottles give a fine blue colour by infusion. HoRSE-suoES, the game of coits, or quoits — because some- times actually played with horse-shoes. Hot, a sort of square basket, formerly used for taking manure into fields of steep ascent ; the bottom opened by two wooden pins to let out the contents. I have heard old people say, that between the confines of Yorkshire and Westmoreland, it was common for the men to occupy them- selves in knitting, while the women were engaged in the servile employment of carrying these hots on their backs. It has been remarked to me, by more than one literary fiiend, that hot is hod, the instrument used by bricklayers. But I would prefer deducing it from Fr. hotte, which Cotgrave defines " a scuttle, corbis dossuaria, a basket to carry on the back.'" HoTT, a clumjD of trees, plants, &c., as " Birk-hott." So, when persons or things are huddled or clumj)ed together, they are said to be " all in a hott." Hot-pot, warmed ale with spirit in it. Called also Het- PINT. HoT-FOOT, HoT-TROD, a term now peculiar to the borders, imjjlying that the delinquent was pursued and taken im- mediately after the offence was committed. Barbour uses it in this sense, in describing the Battle of Bannock Bum, and we find fote hot in Chaucer and other early English writers, used in the same sense. " Ne tlier was Surrien nou that was converted. That of the conseil of the Soudan wot, That he n' as all tohewe, er he asterted : And Custance han they taken anone fote-hot." Chaucer, — TAe Man of Laice's Tale. " The pursuit of Border marauders was followed by the injured party and his friends with blood-hounds and bugle horn, and was called the hot trod." \ HOWD 229 Hotter, to shake, to harass, to weary. " I'm all hottered to pieces," said of a jumbling ride in an uneasy vehicle. See Hatter. HouGHER, the public whijiper of criminals, the executioner of felons, in Newcastle — still a regular officer of the town, with a yearly salary of J4. Qs. 8d. He is said to have ob- tained this name from a jjower which he had formerly of cutting the houghs, or rather the sinews of the houghs, of swine that were found infesting the streets. In Ruddi- man's excellent Glossary to Gawin Douglas's Translation of Virgil's ^neis, to hoc//, from Sax. /tofi, is rendered " suffragines succidere," to hamstring. HousEx, a property in houses. This is merely the Saxon plural ; some instances of which, notwithstanding its hav- ing in general given way to s, are still to be found in our language. HouT ! an exclamation of disapprobation, or disbelief. This interjection, though now used only by the vulgar, may, I think, be traced to Su.-Got. hut, apage ; Welsh, htct, off! away! HouTs ! an expression of dissatisfaction, implying a degree of irritation, and sometimes of contempt — equivalent to pshaw, in more j^olished language. HouT-YE ! an expression of surprise. Hove, to swell. Dan. hovne. Swed. hafva. Used by Tusser. Cattle are said to be hoven, when swoUen by over-feeding in rank clover. How, hollow, empty. Su.-Got. and Sax. hoi, cavus. — How- i'-the-wame, hungry. How ! How-MARROw ! a favourite salutation among the pit- men. HowT)ox-PAN-CAXT, an awkward fall, an overturn. HowDON-PAN-CANTER, a slow, ungi'acoful mode of riding. Howdy, Howdy-wife, a widwife. Brand sneers at the deri- vation from " How d' ye — midwives being great gossipers," but I think that which he supplies is far more ridiculous. 230 IIOWK I have not been fortunate enough to meet with any origin to my own satisfaction, but I may perhaps be permitted to observe, in defence of what has been so much ridiculed, that " How d' j/e," is a natural enough salutation to a sick woman from the midwife ; who, by the way, is generally a great prattler. It may be also remarked, that in Scot- land, the " Clac/ian Hodie" is a common term for the vil- lage midwife. As it is with the antiquaries, so I fear with etymologists — ancient women, " whether in or out of breeches," will occasionally betray themselves. See Ja- mieson, for some judicious remarks on the word. HowK, to dig imperfectly, to scoop — to make a hole in the earth in a bungling manner. Howl, s. a hollow or low place. Sax. hoi, latibulum. " Wherever there's a hill ther's sure to be a howl;" or, as Barthelemi (apologizing for the huge faults of Homer's heroes) expresses it " la nature a place I'abyme k cote de r elevation." Howl, Howle, a. empty, hollow. " To be howl" — hungry. " The howl quarter of the year" — the winter quarter, when times are flat and wages lowered. " And tharme cam Coveitiee, Kan I hym naglit discryve So hungrily and holwe Sire Hervy hym loked." — Piers Plovyinan. " And he was not right fat, I undertake, But loked holwe." — Chaucer, — Clerk's Prologue. Howlet, the barn or white owl, which, in its flight, occa- sionally utters loud screams or howls. Fr. hulotte. Shak- speare introduces the word in Macbeth. " Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing." " Gode Ivy What byrdys ast thu ? Non but the hoiclat That kreye how, how." The Contest of the Ivy and Holly, temp. Tien. VI, Ritson A. B. i., p. 133. HUIL 231 HowLET, a term of reproach ; probably from the owl being considered a bird of ill omen. HowL-KESLOP, an empty stomach. See How. Howl-kite, a vulgar name for the belly. How 'way, come away ; a term of solicitation very common in Newcastle and the vicinity. It is also called out by rustic auctioneers to gather an audience. If not hie, or hoy away; it may, perhaps, claim descent from oyez. Some of these personages use the word, or pronounce it, Jioze — yaze. How's a' wi' ye ? how are you ? a common mode of saluta- tion. Hoy, v. to heave or throw ; as a stone. Hoy, Hoy-cart, s. a, cart drawn by one horse only. Hoyt, an awkward ill-bred youth, a lazy idle fellow. HoYTiNG, riotous and noisy mirth — an old sense of the word. Hubby-shew, Hubby-shoo, Hubbledeshew, a disturbance, a noise, a state of confusion. Teut. hohbelen, inglomerare ; and schowe, spectaculum. Hud, the side, or rather the covering of the top of the side, of a fire-place within the chimney of a country cottage — the hood. Pans not in use are i)laced on the ^^hud stane" See Hob. Huddick, or Huddock, the cabin of a keel or coal barge. Dut. hut, steerage. HuEL, or Heul, the skin or shell, the husk of a nut, or of grain. Huel, a gluttonous, greedy fellow. " He's a huel for fish." Hug, to carry ; requiring the grasp of the arms. Huggermuggerixg, doing any thing in a confused, clandes- tine, or unfair manner. V, Todd's Johnson, and Nares* Gloss. HuiLLY, or Heully, delicate in health, often complaining, weak, feeble, tender, timid, petted, peevish. It does not correspond to Sc. hooly, which implies slow and softly ; 232 HULK but seems to be derived from heul ; being, as it were, thin skinned — soon hurt. Hulk, a lazy, clumsy, bulky fellow. Shakspeare has " the hulk Sir John ;" and in Newcastle they talk of an " idle \azj pay-tvife hulk." Hull, a place in which animals are confined for the purpose of fattening; as a svnne-hull ; a duck-hull. Germ, hohle, a den. Humble, or Hummel. To humble barley, is to break off the beard or awns, with a flail or other instrument. It is a sort of second thrashing. Su.-Got. hamla, to muti- late. Allied to this, is a hummellcd-cow, a cow without horns. HuMLiCK, the Northern pronunciation of Hemlock. HuMMA, as much as can be held between the finger ends and the thumb. A housewife gi^^ng directions for the stuffing of a duck, includes a " humma" of sage. Hummer, to make a low rumbling noise. V. Jam. Supp. HuMouRsoME, full of whims — humourous in Shakspeare's sense. Hunkered, elbowed, bowed, crooked. Lat. uncus. " This wheat is sadly hunkered." Hunkers, haunches. This word seems used by the Northum- brian vulgar only in the sense of sitting on the hunkers ; that is, with the hams resting on the back part of the ankles, the heels generally being raised from the ground. Such is the position of a woman milking a cow, which in Durham is called hencoicr fashion, probably from hen and couver, to sit on eggs — from the jiosition of a brooding hen. A friend of mine connected with a colliery, where a child had been injured, enquiring of the father how the accident happened, received the following answer, which I am in- duced to give as a specimen of Pit language : — " It was sittcn on its hunkers howkiug gliuters fra amang the het ass, when the lowe teuck its claes, and brant it the varry a*se ;" which may be translated, it was sitting on its haunches digging vitrified shining scorise among the hot HUTH 233 ashes, when the flame caught its clothes, and burnt it to the very buttocks. HuNT-THE-HARE, a common game among children, played on the ice as well as in the fields. HuRCHix, or Urchix, a hedgehog. Armoric. hmrreachen. See Urchin. Htjrl-barrow, a wheel-barrow. HuRTER, the shoulder of the axle against which the nave of the wheel knocks. Fr. heurter, to knock. Hurtle, to contract the body into a round form, as through pain, severe cold, &c. Hurtle, to crowd confusedly toge- ther, is classical. " Iron sleet of arrowy shower, Hurtles in the darkened air." — Gray. HuRTSOME, hurtful. Husbandman, an agricultural labourer, though its original sense was much more extended, implying the head of a family. Sax. husbanda, a husband. Chaucer uses it, for the master of the house, " So long he went fro hous to hous, til he Came to an hous, ther he was wont to be Refreshed more than in a hundred places, Sike lay the hosboiid man whose that the place is." TJie Sompnoure's Tale. Huse, a short cough, a hoarseness. Germ, husterif a cough. See HoAST. — Huseky, ill of a cold, hoarse. Hutch, a chest. The Hutch, in the Guildhall of Newcastle, is a fine old chest, on which the Chamberlains of the Cor- poration transact their business. It is, in fact, the town's treasury. Lat. huchia. Fr. kuchc. " Why dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that ho\iing-h utch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack.— S/iafr., — \st. Hen. IV. " Till Pamelles purfill Be put in hire hucche." — Piers Plow-man. HuTHERiKiN-LAD, a ragged youth — an uncultivated boy. Germ, hutte-kind, a cottage child. VOL. I, H h 234 HUTT HuTTOCH, ten sheaves of corn, set two and two upright, and two hoods, one at each end, to cover them. The huUoch is used when corn is short in the straw, the stook, when of moderate or ordinary length. Huz, Uz, we, as well as, us. In very general use. I IcE-SHOGGLE, an icicle. Sax. ice-icel. Dut. ysTcegel. Mr. Todd, on the authority of Grose, has admitted ickle, which I should have thought the proper name for these stalac- tites (and not icicle) had not Shakspeare left us, " When icicles hang by the wall." The ice has certainly very much the appearance of a corrupt addition. I have been in- formed, since writing this article, that icle is a general name for stalactite. " Ouer craggis and the frontis of rockys sere Hang grete yse schokkilis lang as ony spere." Gawin Douglas. I'fakins, in faith — a frequent asseveration among the com- mon people. Shakspeare uses i'faith, on several occasions. Ilk, each, every — the same, the like. Sax. celc — ilc. Ill, v. to reproach, to speak ill. — Illwilled, a. malevolent, ill-natured. Isl. illdlie, malevolentia. Ill-faured, ill-favoured, ugly. Ill-twined, peevish, ill-tempered. Imp, an addition to a bee-hive. Also, one length of hair twisted, as forming part of a fishing line. Ix-BY, the inner chamber of a house. Incling, a desire, an imperfect hint or intimation. Etymo- logists have differed as to the derivation. I was once in- clined to view it as from Fr. wi din (d'ceil) a wink, if not from Su.-Got. wincla, connivere. But Mrs. Hutchinson (Memoirs, 4to., p. 357) writes the word inclin, quasi pen- chant — a leaning, an inclination. " I had an inlUny of that yester night, That Flowerdale and he should meet this morning." London Prodigal, Act III-, Sc. 3. INME 235 Income, any swelling or other bodily infirmity, not appa- rently proceeding from any external cause — or wbicli has formed unexpectedly. Ancome, in the same sense, is an old word. Incoming, ensuing, as "the incoming week," the next week. Indifferent, tolerable, in pretty good health. V. Crav. Gloss. Infield-land, arable land which receives manure, and ac- cording to the old mode of farming, is kept still under crop. V. Jam. Ing, a meadow — a pasture. The word often occurs in the names of places ; and is common to the Saxon, Danish, and other Northern languages. It seems originally to have meant an in or inclosure, as distinguished from the com- mon field ; though it is now chiefly applied to low moist ground, or such as is subject to occasional overflowings. Ihre says, (xng is a flat meadow between a town and a river on which the market or fair is held ; which is an exact de- scription of the Ings on which the great fortnight fair for cattle is held at Wakefield. Ingate, the entrance to a working place in a coal mine. Ingate, the entrance or inlet for a current of air in the work- ing of a pit. Ingle, a fire, or flame. Gael, aingeal. V. Todd's Johnson. " Sum vtlieris brocht the fontain wattir fare, And sum tlie haly ingU with thame bare." Douglas' JEiieid. Inkle, an inferior kind of tape. " Beggars inlle." See Thick. Inkle was a sort of coarse tape wove by beggars and other itinerants. Cartwright, in "The Royal Slave," makes one of the prisoners say to the gaoler — " I know the pro- motion of your family ; she came from the web-errantry of highway inkle, to the domestique turning and winding of home-bred hemp." Cartwright s Royal Slave, Act I., Sc, 1. Inmeats, those ijortions of the inside of an animal which are used for food. Sw. inmaete, intestines. Inwards, the en- trails of an animal. 23G INNO Innocent, 5. a silly person, an idiot. " 1G22, John Stephenson, innocent, buried the 20th December." Medo'tnaley Parish Kegiiitet. Insense, to make to understand, to inform or impart know- ledge — to have sense, as it were, infused into the mind. V. Nares' Glos. incense. " I have insens'd the lords 0' the Council that he is a most arch heretic"— Shak.,— Henri/ VIII., Act V., Sc. 2. Insight-gear, the furniture of a house. " Henry Hume reft of two neiges and all his insight geare, to the vale we of 5^" Losses in the Middle Marches, Lansd. MS. m Brit. Mus. Intack, an inclosure. A part taken in from a common. In- hoke is an old law term for any comer or any j^art of a common field fenced in from the rest. V. Kennett's Pa- roch. Antiq. p. 297, and Gloss, vo. inhoc. Irons, a term for spurs ; probably as being made of iron. Is, the third person singular of to be, is almost constantly used among the common people for the first and second persons. " Is sure, thou is" — am sure, thou art. In the Canterbury Tales, is the following line — " I fe as ill a miller as is ye." Mr. Tyrwhitt, whose high authority it is a sort of heresy to question, seems to think that Chaucer has designedly given his Northern Clerks a vulgar, ungrammatical phrase- ology. But, I must confess, I have some doubt on the subject. Isca! Isca! Iska! Iska! a Northumbrian shepherd's call to his dog. Sc. isk, iske. Mr. Lambe, in his Notes on the old poem of The Battle of Floddon, -p. GG, fancifully ob- serves, that this term is evidently an abbreviation of Lj/- sisca, the name of the Roman shepherd's dog. " multrum latrante Li/sisca."—yirg. Ed. 3. With greater probability it has been said, that it is from Fr. icy, hither ; the word used in France for the same pur- JAIST 237 pose. Dr. Jamiesou, however, remarks that Tuet. acs, aesken, and Germ, ess, signify a dog. IsE, I shall, and sometimes / am. Iv, in. — Intiv, into. So pronounced by country people. Ivy-tod, an ivy bush. IzLE-sToxE, a stone on the shore, near Bamburgh Castle ; the Isle-stone. Probably the old pronunciation of Isle Fr. is here preserved, as it is in Isleworth on the Thames, which, by the Londoners, is always called Izleworth. — Izle, a hoar frost. Gloss. West, and Cumb. IzzARD (often pronounced like the Germ, z), Izzet, the letter Z. Derived by Johnson from s hard, and by Walker, who contends it is s soft, from s surd. Jabber, s. garrulity. The verb is old. V. Todd's Johnson. Jackalegs, a large knife with a joint, so as to be carried in the pocket. Generally supposed to have obtained this name from Jacques a Liege, a famous Flemish cutler — be- fore England had learnt to excel all the world in hardware. J^ST, a joist, from giste, old Fr. (and not irom. joindre, as Dr. Johnson says, Todd not contradicting) and now spelt gete, a place of rest, and thence in Scotland and Northumber- land joists are called dormants, in classical English, sleepers, Jag, a cart load. — York. Moor bas jag, a waggon load. Jagger-galloway, a pony with a peculiar saddle for carry- ing lead, &c. In Teesdale, near Middleton, droves of these animals are to be seen carrying lead to the smelting mill. Jagger, in the Scottish language, means a pedlar — jagger- galloway, a pedlar's pony. Some of these itinerant mer- chants, as they are called, are yet in the practice of convey- ing their wares on galloways, a small, but spirited, breed of horses, from Galloway, a district of country in Scotland, famed for rearing them. Jaible, to shake water to and fro in a vessel. Jaistering, swaggering, gesturing — gesticulating. It is 238 JAM common to call a person of iin airy manner, if a male, " a jaistering fellow ;" — and if a female, " a jaistering jade." Jam, Juam, s, jamb. Formerly written jaiimb. Jannick, staunch, firm. Yorkshire. Janxock, oat-bread made into a loaf. Lancashire. See Ban- nock. Janty, cheerful, smart. Su.-Got. gantus, to sj^ort like child- ren. Jarble, to wet, to bedew ; as by walking in long grass after dew or rain. V. Todd's John, javel. Jar-wojian, an occasional assistant in the kitchen — a sort of char-woman ; which Tooke derives from Sax. cyrran, to turn — she not being regularly hired, but only for a turn. Mr. Jennings, however, thinks it ought to be choor-woman ; from cJioor, a West of England word for a job, or any dirty household work. See Chare. Jau, a wave. See Jock. " Hie as ane hill the yaw of the watter brak, And in ane hepe come on them with an swak." Douglas ' ^neid. Jaunis, Jaunus, the jaundice. Fr.jaunisse; from jaune, Jaup, v. to move liquid irregularly — to splash. " The water went jauping in the skeel." A rotten eg^, also, is said to jauj), when, ujoon being shaken, a noise is heard like that proceeding from a bottle not full. Jaup, s. the sound of water agitated in a narrow or irregular vessel. Isl. gialfur, a hissing or roaring wave ? Jaup, to strike, to chip or break by a gentle though sudden blow. Jauping paste-eggs at Easter, is a youthful amuse- ment in Newcastle and the neighbourhood. One boy, holding an ^gg in his hand, challenges another to give blow for blow. One of the eggs is sure to be fractured in the conflict, and its shattered remains become the spoil of the conqueror. Jawdy, the stomach of a pig, Jay-pyet, the Jay. JIMM 239 Jealous, v. to suspect. Jeddart, the vulgar pronunciation of Jedburgh. The speedy- execution which was sometimes done by the Scottish war- dens, on notorious freebooters and border riders, at Jed- burgh, gave rise to the proverb of " JeddaH justice,^^ which means, to condemn first, and examine the evidence afterwards. Jee, v. to move on one side. Swed. gaa, to turn round. — Jee, a. crooked, awry ; applied to a horse when driven in a cart. It is an intimation to move to the right. Jeeps, a severe beating — a sound thrashing. Jexk, to jaunt, to ramble. From junket, to feast secretly. Jexkix, a narrow place driven up the middle of a pillar of coal when it is about to be excavated. Jenmck, true, proper, right. To be " not jetmick ;" to act improperly or shabbily. Jennt-howlet, the tawny owl ; very clamorous at night, and easily known by its hootitig. " When the gray howlet has three times hoo'd, When the grimy cat has three times mewed." Witches' Gathering Hymn. Jesp, a hole or rent in cloth. Isl. geisjn, oscitatio. Jewel, an expression of affection — familiar regard. Fr. mon joie, provincially maw jeivel! It is also Irish. " Ye jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes Cordelia leaves you." — Sliuk., — King Lear. Jigger, an airy, swaggering person. " A comical jigger." Perhaps, originally, one disposed or suitable to a jig. Jimp, a. slender, neat, elegant, also scanty. See Gimp. " And wha will lace my middle jimp Wi' a lang linen band ?" Ballad in Border Minstrelsy. Jimmer, a small hinge for a closet door or desk. See an ex- planation o{jimmers, with which the gimmal ring is thought to be connected, in Brand's Pop. Ant. Vol. II., p. 27. Al- so Nares' Gloss. ^m/««^y and 'Moor,jimmers. X 240 JING Jingle-cap, ehake cap. A game much practised among the yomig pitmen ami keelmen. Sc. jinffle-the-honnet. Jink, v. to sound or ring, to jingle. — Jink, 5. a clink, or sharp rattle. JiNKERs, By JiNKERS, a sort of demi-oath. From jinffo. Jinny-spinner, a very long slender-legged fly. Tipula rico- sa. Father Long-legs. JocKALEGs, the same as Jackalegs ■which see. In Meyrick's Glossary of military terms of the middle ages, I find " Jock- eli/s, a strong knife with two blades." Our modem jocka- legs, however, has only one blade. Jock and Jock's-man, a juvenile sport, in which the bon ca- marada is to repeat all the pranks which Uie leader can perform. See the Tale of " Master and ]\Ian," in the Irish Fairy Legends. See, also, a long list of youthful games — many of them common in the North of England — in Moor's Suffolk words, move all. Joggle, to cause to totter. Teut. schochelen, vacillare. Jolly, fat, stout, large in person. " K jolly landlady." JooK, to crouch or stoop suddenly, as if to avoid a blow. Germ, suchen, to shrink, " Jooh and let the jau gan by ;" that is, " stoop and let the wave go over you," i. e. yield to a present difficulty. JooKiNGS, corn beat out of the sheaf in throwing off the stack ; often a perquisite to those who assist in carrying the sheaves into the barn. Jorum, a pot or jug full of something to drink. Chaucer has jordane, and Shakspeare jordcn ; both in the sense of a chamber substitute pour \ejardm. " The horrible crew, That Hercules slew, Were Poverty — Calumny — Trouble — and Fear : Such a club would you borrow. To drive away sorrow, Apply iovvi jorum of Newcastle beer." — Cunningham. Joseph, a woman's great coat, the origin of the riding habit, and with country people still a substitute for it. KAIL 241 Joskin, a mason's labourer. V. Jam. Supj). jaskin. JouKEEEY-PAUKEREY, any sort of underhand trick or dexter- ous roguery, artifice, or legerdemain. A friend in Edin- burgh says, this phrase is derived from the two Scots words ./omZ-, to elude, and paukie, cunning, sly — the essen- tial requisites of a juggler. Jowl, v. to knock, or rather to call attention by knocking. Pitmen ascertain, \>j joivling against the coal, the probable thickness and direction of two approaching workings. " Gan an gie us a jowl to see if she's fair on." JuD, the portion of coal about to be removed by blasting. See Kerve. JuDD, to butt as a sheep. Jug, to go to rest ; as partridges when they roost on the ground. Su.-Got. Jmka, avium more reclinare. Serenius. JuMP-wiTH, JuMP-iN-wiTH, to meet with accidentally, to coincide. Jump occurs several times in Shakspeare ; meaning in some places to agree with, in others to venture at, or hazard. In one place it appears to be intended for just. JuRNUT, an earth-nut. The same as Arnut ; which see. JusT-Now, ado. presently. In the South, bi/ and hj/. Jye, to stir, to turn round. " I cannot jt/e my neck, its so stiff." — Jye, a. awry, crooked. See Jee. K. Kae! an interjectional expression of disbelief, contempt, or abhorrence ; very common in Newcastle. Kail, cabbage, greens. — North. Isl.kal. Dan. kaal. Swed. kal. Welsh, cawl. See Appendix to Johnstone's Anti- quitates Celto-Scandicse, p. 276. Kail, broth or pottage. V. Jam, Supp. kail. 2d. sense. There is a place in Newcastle called the Kail-cross ; where broth was sold in former times. Kail, a turn ; so used among school-boys in their games. « It's my kail" VOL. I. I i 242 KAIL KAiL-QAUxn, a kitchen-garden — a cabbage-garth — though often adorned with a profusion of flowers. Swed. klilgard. Kail-pot, a largo metal pot for culinary purposes ; origin- ally, as Grose explains it, pottage pot. Kaingy, cross, petted. See Caingy. Kairn, the same as Cairn ; which see. Kame, or Kaim. See Cam. Kame, K'yame, a comb. Sax. canib. Dan. kam. Sc. kaim. Kamstary, mad. Perhaj^s the same as Sc. camsterie, cam- stairie, froward, perverse, unmanageable ; which Dr. Ja- mieson derives from Germ, kamp, and starrig stiff; or it may be a sort of pleonasm, from cam ; which in Gael, is ap- plied to any thing crooked or awry, and stary, staring, wild-looking. Karl-cat, or Carl-cat, a male cat. Sax. carl, masculus. Karl-hemp, or Carl- hemp, the largest stalk of hemp — that which bears the seed. Kaed, a sheep's louse. Kebbuck, a cheese. Gael, cahag. Keckle, to cackle, to laugh aloud. V. Jam. kekkil. " And kayis keklys on the roof abone."— Gairi'n Douglas. Kedge, to fill, to stuff. Hence Kedge-belly, a large pro- tuberant body, a glutton. Kee, Kee-side, emphaticalli/ the Newcastle Quay, extending from Tyne Bridge eastward, " Fareweel Tyne Brig and cannie kee." Gilchrist, — Voyage to Lunnin. Keek, to peep, to look with a prying eye, to view slyly. Su.-Got. kika, intentis oculis videre. Dan. kige. Dut. kijken. " And at the last he had of him a sight This Nicholas sat ever gaping upright As he had kykecl on the new mone." C}iaucer,—The Miller's Tale. " TVe went big St. Paul's and Westminster to see, And aw war'nt ye I thought they luick'd pretty ; KEEL 243 And then we'd a keek at the Monument te, Which maw freind ca'd the Pearl o" the City." Song, — Canny Newcassel. Keeker, in coal mining, a person employed to see that the coals are sent to bank in a jiroper state. Keel, v. to cool, to render cool. Sax. ccelan, algere. Sir Thomas Hanmer — at best but a sorry expounder of our immortal bard — in attempting an explanation of " While greasy Joan doth keel the pot." Shak., — Love's Labour Lost. strangely says, " to drink so deep, as to turn up the bottom of the pot, like turning up the keel of a shij) .'" Major Moor is equally in error : — he thinks " scouring the pot with its bottom inclined conveniently for that operation ; or keeling it in the position of a ship rolling so as to almost show her keel out of the water" V. Suffolk Words, killer or keeler. The expression " keel the pot," really means neither more nor less than to render it cool ; that is, to take out a small quantity of the broth, &c., and then to fill up the pot with cold water ; a common practice in Northumberland. Another mode of keeling the pot — and my friend, Mr. Raine, says, by far the most frequent one — is by raising a ladle full of the boiling liquid, which, after being exposed to the air for a few moments, is returned to its place. When this is done five or six times, in rapid succession, the boiling over is for a while effectually put a stop to. The word, in the sense of cooling, however, as used by Chaucer, is not confined to the kitchen — " And then I drede to speke, till at the laste I grete the ladie reverently and well, When that my sigh was gon and overpaste, And doune on knees fall gau I knele Besechyng her, my fervent wo to kele." Court of Love. A friend informs me that he has seen a game played amongst children in Northumberland, the subject of which was keeling the pot. A girl comes in exclaiming " Mother, 244 KEEL mother, the pot's boiling ower," The answer is " Then get the ladle and keel it." The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is " up-a-height," and the " steul" wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead. Keel, s. ruddle, or red ochre. Hydrated oxide of iron, used for marking sheep, &c. Gael. cil. Fr. chaille. Jamieson. Keel, a low, flat, clumsy-looking vessel or barge, evidently built after an ancient model, in which coals are carried from the colliery -staiths to the ships in the Tyne and Wear. Keel is a very ancient name, of Saxon origin, for a ship or vessel — ceol, uavis — though now restricted to mean the bottom only. On the first arrival of the Saxons they came over in three large ships, styled by themselves, as Verste- gan informs us, keeles. In the Chartulary of Tynemouth Monastery, the servants of the Prior who wrought in the barges (1378), are called kelers, an appellation plainly sy- nonymous with the present keelmen. In a writ of Bishop Neville (1440) the craft in which coals were brought from the upjier to the lower part of the Wear are denominated " keeles." Keeling, a cooling vessel. " Kynlyn or Kelen vessel, Cuvu- la." Promp. Parv. Keel-of-coals, eight Newcastle chaldrons — 21 tons, 4 cwt. Keel-bullies, the keelmen, or crew of the keel — the partners, or comrades in the vessel ; keel-brothers. See Bully. Keel-deeters, the wives and daughters of the keelmen, who sweep the keels, ha^dug the sweepings of the small coals for their pains. To deet, or dight, in Northern language, means to wipe or make clean. See Deet. Keelage, keel dues in port — payment of custom for every keel or bottom that enters a harbour. This word is in Todd's Johnson, but in too limited a sense. Keelmen, the watermen who navigate the keels ; an exceed- ingly hardy and striking race of men. Keely-vixe, a black-lead j^encil. See Monthly Mag. Vol. VI., p. 434. Sec, also, Jam, Supp. KEMP 245 Keen, a chap. The hands are said to be keened, when the skin is broken or cracked by the frost, and a sore induced. Keen, is also used by the lower classes for caustic applied to wens or ulcers ; probably from the pain it occasions. Keep-the-pot-boiling, a common metaphorical expression among young people, when they are anxious to carry on their gambols with more than ordinary spirit. Keld, the still part of a river, which has an oily smoothness while the rest of the water is ruffled. I have only heard this word on the Tyne, and confined to the meaning here given ; but a friend, who lately visited Ullswater, informs me, that when the day is uniformly overcast, and the air perfectly still, that lake has its surface dappled with a smooth, oily appearance, which is called a keld. The word is also, I find, a common term in Yorkshire, Westmorland, and Cumberland, for a well or spring. Isl. kelda, palus. Keld is the name of a remote Aallage at the head of Swale- dale, which, I have no doubt, must have had its name from a deep still pool in the river. See Akeld. Kelk, v. to beat heartily. — Kelk, Kelker, s. a severe blow. V. Gael. Diet, sgaile. Kelk, the roe or milt of fish. " Haddock kelks." — Newc. Kelk, a term commonly used for the ordinary field hemlock — pronounced humlick. The Durham boys also call the young birds, just emerging from the shell, a " new kelk" Kelps, Pot-kelps, iron hooks from which boilers are hung. Kelter, frame, order, arrangement, conditiou. V. Todd's Johnson. It also means money, cash. Germ. geld. Kemb, a stronghold — a term used by the Borderers. — North. Sc. kaim, a camp, or fortress. Kemp, to strive against each other in reaping com — rarely for any other superiority. Sax. campian, militare. Teut. kampen, dimicare. Swed. kampa, to contend, to struggle. — Kempers, the competitors. Dut. kamp, a combat. Ac- cording to Verstegan, the word is of noble descent. V, Rest. Decayed Intell. 8vo. p. 233. 246 KEMP Kemps, hairs among wool, coarse fibres. V. Crav. Gloss. Ken, -0. to know, to descry, to be acquainted with. Su.-Got. kaeima. Dut. kennen. " Aw kent him weel" — I knew him well. " Says t' auld man tit oak tree, Young and lusty was I when I kenn'd thee — But sair fail'd am I, sair fail'd now, Sair faird am I, sen I kenn'd thou." Kortli, Country Song. Ken, v. to see. — Ken, s, a sight. Kenning, seeing. Arch- deacon Nares says, " In Scotland these words are still in full currency." He might have added, in the North of England also. -" Fast by the eoune on hie As kennyng mycht I with mine eie Methought I saw an egle sore." Cliaucer, — Troilus and Cresseide. Kendal Green, a kind of green cloth made in Kendal. Kennel, to kindle, to bring forth young. Kennen, Kenning, a measure of two pecks of corn, half a bushel. Kenspecked, Kenspeckled, conspicuous — specked, bo as to be easily kenned, V. Skinner. Kep, to catch, to receive any thing in the act of falling. Sax. cepan. Teut. keppen, captare. " Mourn, Spring, thou darling of the year ! Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear." — Burns. Keppy-ba', hand-ball. In former times it was customary^ every year at Easter and Whitsuntide, for the mayor, al- dermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth — a sort of mall — ^to countenance, if not to join in the play of keppy-ba^, and other sports. The esprit de corps is gone, though the diversion is still in part kept up by the young jjeople of the town ; but it would of course, in these altered times, be considered highly indecorous to " unbend the brow of authority" on such an occasion. Puerile, however, as it KETM 247 may seem, there was a time — if we may credit Belithus, an ancient ritualist — when the bishops, and even arch- bishops, of some churches, used to play at hand-ball with the inferior clergy. — Tempera mutantur, et nos mutamur cum illis. Kern, v. to chum. Goth, kerna. Sax. cernan. Teut. ker- nen. Kern, s. a chum. Sax. cerene. Teut. kerne. Also (by a dialectical variation of quern), a hand-mill for grinding corn. See Querx. Kern-baby, an image dressed up with com at a harvest home — corn-hahy. The same as maiden, or carline, in Scotland. — Kern-supper, the feast of harvest home. See Mell-supper. — WiN-THE-KERN, to finish the reaping of com. See Mell-doll. Kern-milk, butter-milk, churn-im\k. Teut. kem-melck. An Anglo-Saxon supper ; and stiU a favourite beverage among the rustics of the North. Kersen, Kirsen, Kursen, to christen. Dut. kersten. Kersen is an old way of writing the word. Kersmas, Kirsmas, Kursmas, Christmas. Kerve, the first operation in preparing a jud, in a coal mine, for blasting, is the removal of a large portion of the foun- dation of the block ; the exjjansive action of the gun- powder detaching the remainder in large masses. Kesh, the kex, or hollow stem of an umbelliferous plant. Ki/x, a hemlock, occurs in Peirs Ploughman. Welsh, ceci/s. Keslip, Keslop, a calf's stomach salted and dried for rennet — that which loppers or curdles the milk in order to make cheese. Sax. ceselib, coagulum. Germ, kaselab, rennet. Keslop, the belly, or stomach. Kittle yor keslop, a Newcas- tle trope for a chastisement. Warm yor keslop, a meta- phor for a hot-pot. Ket, carrion, filth, useless lumber. Su.-Got. koett. Ketment, a dirty mixture, any sort of filth. 248 KETT Kettle of Fish, a mode of cookinj^ salmon. See an article by the late Sir Walter Scott on Sir Humphrey Davy's Salmonia, in Quarterly Review, No. 76. Ketty, bad, filthy, dirty, worthless. " A ketty fellow." Kevel, a large hammer for quarrying stones. Ki, quoth. — Kiv-Aw, Kiv-i, quoth I. See Labberixo. Kick, the top of the fashion — in other language, quite the go — just the thing. Q,. Isl. hosier, gestus indecorus? Kill, the Northern word for a kiln. V. Jam. Supp. Kill-cow, a matter of moment, or of consequence. " It's no great Mll-coio" — it is only a trifling loss, an inconsider- able sacrifice. KiLLicoup, a summerset. Probably from Fr. cul-a-cap, tail to head — head over heels. Killing the calf, a droll per- formance. V. Glossary to the Priory of Finchale. V. Laerchambre. Kill-priest, a jocular name for port wine — from which a very irreverent inference is drawn. But as Shakspeare says, " Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used ; exclaim no more against it." — Othello. Kilt, to truss up the clothes — to make them like the Scotch kilt. Dan. lilte-op, to tuck up. Kind, intimate.-^Noi kind, unfriendly, at enmity. See Thick. King's-cushion, a sort of seat made by two persons crossing their hands, on which to i^lace a third. The thrones on the reverses of the early Royal Seals of England and Scotland, consist of swords, spears, snakes, &c., placed in the manner of a king' s-cusMon. King's-dykes, the entrenchment which once surrounded the outside of the town walls of the town of Newcastle. Kink, v. to laugh immoderately, to labour for breath as in the hooping cough ; most likely derived from the spasmo- dic action which accompanies it. Teut. Hncken, difficulter spirare. — Kink, s. a violent or convulsive fit of laughter or I KIRK 249 coughing, esi^ecially when the breath is stopped. Sax. cincung, cachinnatio. Kink, s. a twst or short convolution in a rope, especially when it is too hard " laid," KiNK-couGii, the hoojsing-cough — chin-cough. The ignorant and the superstitious have various fooleries, for curing or alleviating this ejiidemic disorder — such as eating a mouse- pie, or hanging a roasted mouse round the neck — dipping the persons affected nine times in an o^^en grave, or putting them nine times under a pie-hald horse — passing them nine times through the mill-hopjyer — making them ride on a hear — any thing, in short, to disgust and frighten them : — which, so far as it is a nervous disease, may possibly have a temporary effect. Another vulgar remedy was, three things prescribed by a man riding on a pie-bald horse. — A person so mounted, passing through a village in Nor- thumberland, was stopped by the mother of a child that had the kink-cough, and requested to name three things as a cure. He declared that he knew nothing of physic, nor of anything likely to mend the child ; but being still urged to name three things, he at length answered " then gan thy ways h'yem and gie the bairn a piece butter and brede wi' sugar on't." KiNK-HAUST, the hooping cough. Teut. hinch hoest, asthma. Kip, an overgrown calf. Kirk, a church. A very old English word, still retained in Northumberland. Sax. ci/rc, circ. Su.-Got. kyrka. Germ. kirche. Dut. kerk. Gr. tcv^txxvi. — Kirk-garth, the church yard. " The Friars followed Folke that were rich, And folke that were poor At little price they set ; And no cors in the kirke yard Ne Kirke was buried, But quick he bequeath'd them ought, Or quit part of his debt."— Piers Ploxvman. VOL. I. K k 250 KIRK KiRK-GARTir, a church yard. In remote country parishes, the kirk-garth, on a Sunday morning, is to the country people what the Exchange is to the London merchants : all general information being made known to the congre- gation , KiRK-MAiSTER, or KiRK-MASTER, a church Warden. Teut. kerk-maester. — Kirk-folk, the congregation at a church. — Kirk-hole, a grave. KiROK, a large heap of stones. See Carrock. KisT, a box, a chest. Sax. cist, cyst, cest. Low Dut. kiste. Dut. kist. Common to all the Northern, and also to the Welsh and Cornish languages. The over-sea kist is an in- variable item of furniture in ancient inventories. It is still to be found in old houses. KisTiNG, a funeral. Borders of North. V. Tomlin's Law Diet, ki/ste ; and Jamieson, kisting. Kit, properly a covered milking pail with two handles, but often applied to a small pail of any sort. Adopted, pro- bably, from Sax. kitte, a bottle, or leathern bag for holding liquors. Kit, a small barrel for pickled salmon — ^for which Newcastle, in days gone by, was much celebrated. Kit, the stool on which a cobbler works, including all his tools. Kit, a set or company. A general provincialism. Kitchen, v. to use thriftily, to be sparing of. — Kitchen, s. all kinds of provisions, except bread. Also, a tea-urn. Kitchex-physic, substantial fare — good living — ojiprobrium medicorum. " There was of old no use of physieke amongst us, and but little at this day, except it be for a few nice idle citizens, surfetting cour- tiers, and stauled gentlemen lubbers. The country people use kitchen physieke." — Burton, — Anatomy of Melancholy. Kite, the belly. Allied to Moc.-Got. quid, and Su.-Got. qwcd, venter. Bag-kite and pod-kite, are ludicrously ap- plied to persons with larger capacities than common. " Running to kite" — becoming corpulent. KITT 251 Kith, acquaintance. Sax. cutha. Not obsolete, as stated by Dr. Johnson. — Kith-and-kin, friends and relations. " It is ruthe to rede How rightwise men ly vede, How thei defouled hir flessh Forsoke hir owene wille Fer fro kyth and kyn Yvell y-clothed yeden Baddely y-bedded, No book but conscience Ne no richess but the roode To rejoisse hem irmQ."— Piers Plovmmn. Kittle, v. to tickle, to enliven. Sax. citelan, titUlare. Fr. kitelje. Dut. Uttelen. Teut. hitzelen. Swed. Httla. The word in this form is in Sherwood's old Dictionary. Kittle, v. to litter, to kindle — ^to bring forth kittens. A very old word, written in Palsgrave, hyUell. This recalls to our memory the prophecy, which Thomas the Rhymer is said to have uttered concerning the desolation of his own house. " The hare sail Mttle. on my hearth stane. And there will never be laird Learmont again." Kittle, a. ticklish, hard, difficult. " Kittle wark" — " as kittle as a match." " ' O mony a time, my lord,' he said, ' I've stown a kiss frae a sleeping wench ; But for you I'll do as kittle a deed, For I'll steal an auld lurdane afF the bench." Christie's Will. This word has other meanings ; as kittle weather— change- ablo or uncertain weather ; a kittle question — such as it is inconvenient or impolitic to answer ; a kittle horse — one unsafe to ride, or not easily managed — skittish. Kittle-busy, officious, interested about trifles. Kittle-the-chumps, to stir the fire. — Durham. Kittling, a kitten. A very ancient word. In Palsgrave, it is kytlynge ; in Prompt. Pai-v. kytlinge ; and in the Ortus Vocabulorum, kyttelynge. Juliana Barnes, or Bemers, 252 KITT writes kcndd of cats, for a litter of cats. Hence, khiflle, to bring forth young ; still in general use. Kitty, a name formerly given to the house of correction in Newcastle. Su.-Got. kaitta, includere. Germ, ketten, to fetter. A similar place of confinement at Bridlington was formerly called the kit. Kitty-cat and Buck-stick, a puerile game, described by Moor, in his Suffolk Words, under kit-cat. Strutt men- tions a game, which used to he played in the North, called tip cat, or more properly cat. V. Sports and Pastimes, p. 8G. Kitty-wren, the common wren — an elegant little bird, the reputed consort of the red breast, and generally regarded with reverential affection. " The robin and the wren Are God's cock and hen."' KizoNED, or Kizzened, parched or dried. Children are said to be so, when, from a weakened or pampered appetite, they loathe their food. " Kizzened meat" — meat too much roasted. See Gizen ; to which it is allied. Klick, a peg or knob for hanging any thing upon. Klick-hooks, large hooks for catching salmon in the day- time. V. Crav. Gloss. Knack, to speak affectedly, to ape a style beyond the speak- er's education. Germ, knacken, to crack, to " clip the king's English." — Knackit, one quick at a repartee, a clever child. Knack-and-eattle, a quick and noisy mode of dancing with the heels, among the lower orders of society. " He jumps, and his heels knack and rattle." The Colliers' Pay Week. Knack-knee'd, in-kuee'd — having the knees so that they knack, or strike, against each other in walking — knock- knee^d. Knaggy, testy, ill-humoured, waspish. Derived, perhaps, from Swed. ^naga, to tease, to tormeut. 1 KNOO 253 Knags, Knaggs, pointed rocks, the rugged tops of a hill. V. Ihre, knagglig. See, also. Knap. Knap, v. to break anything short off. To talk glibly with an attempt at refinement. Knap, the brow or projection of a hill. Sax. cncep, vortex montis. Isl. gnop, prominentia. Su.-Got. hicep, summi- tas montis. In the Gospel of Saint Luke (chap, iv,, v. 29) where the Jews led our Saviour — unto the brow of the hill, the Saxon expression is, wees muntes cncep. Knap, a blow. " Colbrande was wroth of that rap, He thought to give Guy a knap." Romance of Sir Guy. Knarl, a hunch-backed or dwarfish man. Old Eng. knurle, knot. Hence, a knurled or knurled tree, for a stunted or knotty tree. Knaw, v. to know. Sax. cnawan. " Aw knaw it weel." Knedde-cake, a cake kneaded with butter and baked on the girdle. Knedde is the ancient spelling of kneaded, as we find in Chaucer. If love be serched well and sought It is a sickness of the thought, Annesid and knedde betwixte twinne." Rom. of Rose. Knifle, to steal, to pilfer. Q,. Celt, cnefio, to shear. Knobble, to hammer feebly. Also used in Herefordshire. Knocking-mell, a large wooden mallet with which our an- cestors used to bruise and take the outer husk from the barley to fit it for the pot, before barley-mills were used. Knocking-trough, a stone-trough, or mortar, in which the operation alluded to in the last article was performed. Many hollow stones, originally applied to this purpose, are still to be seen about farm-houses. See Creeing-trougu. Knop, a knob or bauble. Knoop, the cloud-berry. Rubus CTiamcemorus, from cncep. Sax. a knob. See CtouD-BERRv. 254 KNOT Knotty-tommy, milk boiled and poured upon oatmeal. Knoutberry, a dwarf mulberry. Ruhus chamcemorus. The common people give it this name from a tradition that king Knut, or Canute, once relieved his hunger by it. Knowe, the top of a hill — a bare rounded hillock or eminence. Sax. cnolle. Tout, knolle, a hill or knoll. Kuss, v. to kiss. Welsh, cusan. — Kuss, s. a kiss. Welsh, cus. Ky, Kye, or Kie, the plural of cow — kine. Sax. cj/, vaccse. " We had three ky that was baith fat and fair." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. " We have also another kind of dock growing Ln orchards, gar- dines, and about tonnes, and suche places as kye and oxen and other beastes use commonly to haunt and stand in." Turner's Herbal, 2d Part,fol. 21. Kyle, a cock of hay. Fr. cneillir, to gather. Kyloes, a small sort of cattle, bred in the Highlands of Scot- land — said to be from kj/le, a Gaelic word for a ferry — over which they are transported. But may it not be from Germ, huli-hlein, a email cow? Kyne, cattle. end of vol. I. NEWCASTLE : PBINTED BY T. AND J. HODGSON, UNION STREET. GLOSSARY op iEortf) Cotmtrp ISSortis. WITH THEIR ETYMOLOGY, AND AFFINITY TO OTHER LANGUAGES; AND OCCASIONAL NOTICES OF LOCAL CUSTOMS AND POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. JOHN TROTTER BROCKETT, F. S. A., LONDON AND NEWCASTLE. THIRD EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED BY W. E. BROCKETT. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE: EMERSON CHARNLEY, BIGG MARKET; AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON. MDCCCXLVI, Les mots sont le lien des eocietes, le vehicule des lumieres, la base des sciences, les depositaires des decouvertes d'une Nation, de son savoir, de sa politesse, de ses idees : la connoissance des mots est done un moyen indispensable pour acquerir celle des choses ; de-la ces Ouvrages appelles Dictionnaires, Vocabulaires ou Glossaires, qui ofirent I'etendue des con- noisances de chaque Peuple. — Gebelin. NEWCASTLE : PRINTED BY T. AND J. HODGSON, UNION STREET. OF NORTH COUNTRY WORDS. L. Laag, a word used only in driving geese. " Fy-laag.^'' Grose has Le-egging, waddling. Labbering, floundering, struggling, or labouring in water. " Aw was settcn the keel, wi' Dick Stavers an' Mat, An' the Mansion-house Stairs we were just alangside. When we aw three see'd sumthing, but didn't ken what, That was splashing and labbering aboot i' the tide. ' It's a flucker ." ki Dick ; ' No,' ki Mat, ' its owre big," It luick'd mair like a skyat when I first see'd it rise ;' ' Kiv aw' — for aw'd getten a gliff o' tlie wig— ' Odds mercy ! Wye, marrows, becrike it's Lord 'Size." Newcastle Song,- -My Lord 'Size. These lines allude to an accident that befel the late Mr. Baron Graham, who unfortunately slipped into the Tyne a few years ago, while walking on the river wall in front o"f the Mansion House. Labies, a store, plenty, abundance. From lay-hy. Laboursome, made with much labour. " Not now in use." Todd's John. It is still in use among the Northern pea- santry. Laced-tea, tea having spirits in it. Lacing, a good beating. V. Todd's John, lace, 6th sense. Lackits, small sums of money — odd things, generally. Lad, a boy ; originally a man ; from Sax. Icode, the people. VOL. II. B 2 LADD Langland, the reputetl author of the Visions of Piers Plowman, uses ladde, in its primitive sense ; from which, no doubt, proceeded lasse, lass. In Scotland, the men are all lads, however old, so long as they remain in a state of "single blessedness." Sometimes applied to all manner of men. The grandfather of a friend of mine, at the age of 88, used to ask for his servant, aged about 65 or 60 — "Where is my ?«rcen-cod. Pinch-gut, a penurious person — a covetous, miserable wretch, quasi pinched. PITM 75 PiND, to impound, or i)ut into the pinfold. Pinging, complaining, whining, as from cold or hunger. PiNGLE, to work assiduously but inefficiently — to labour until you are almost blind. Germ, jyeiniffen, to pain, to harass. " Pintle in yur awn poke neuk." That is, help yourself sparingly out of your own means. Pink, v. to look sly at — to look with the eye half open. Pink, a. small. — Pinky, very small. Dut. pinlje. — Pinky- wiNKY, the smallest imaginable. " You're all pinly-winky , and ready for Qiebbi/" — said to children who sit up until they are half asleep. Neb is a pure word for bill, and the figure is a bird putting its head under its wing. PiN-PANNiERLY-FELLOw, a miserable, covetous, suspicious fellow, one who pins up or fastens his panniers and baskets. Grose. Piper, a minstrel. North. Sax. pipere. The noble house of Percy still retains pipers in its service. They wear, on the right arm, a silver crescent, granted as a badge of cognizance to the family, for having taken the Turkish standard, in a warlike expedition against the Saracens, in the Holy Land. The pipers attend the court leet and fairs held for the Lord : — and pay suit and service at Alnwick Castle. Their instrument is the ancient Northumbrian bag-pipe, different in form and execution from the Scotch ; it being much smaller, and blown, not with the breath, but by a pair of bellows fixed under the left arm. The music possesses all the wild and spirited characteristics of the Highland pibroch, without its heavy drone. Pipestoppel, a fragment of the shank of a tobacco-pipe. Germ, stopsel^ a bung or stopper. Sc. pipe-stapple. Pirn, a quill or reed on which yarn is wound. Pitman, a collier — a man who works in a coal pit. The pit- men are a distinct class in society, almost entirely sepa- rated from the agricultural part of the community. They principally reside within a few miles of the rivers Tyne and Wear, chiefly in long rows of one-storied houses. 76 PITM called pit-rows, in the vicinity of the mines. They com- mence their laborious calling at a very early period of life, and have been accustomed for generations to marry with their own race ; the sons regularly following the oc- cupations of their sires. Pitman's-pink, a name given to the single pink, which is a great favourite among the pitmen, who, in general, pay much attention to the cultivation of flowers. Pitter-patter, to beat incessantly, like a heavy fall of rain. PiTTY-PATTY, palpitation, a quick movement of the heart. Planet, pro climate — also, in the sense of partially ; as " the rain falls in planets." Plash, v. to splash. Su.-Got. plasJca. — Plash, s. a heavy fall or severe shower of rain. Germ, platzregen. Dut. plasregen. Plat, clear, plain. " My will is this tor plat conclusion TVithouten any replication. That everich of you shal gon wher him leste !" Chaucer,— The Knighte's Tale. Play, is used in the North as a reflective verb. — " He has been splaying hissel." Pleach, to bind a hedge, to interweave branches of trees to- gether. Fr. plesser. V. Cotgrave. Plean, to complain. An old word ; from Fr. plaigner. Plean, or Pleany-pye, a tell-tale, or prating gossip. Pldg- nen occurs in Gower. Plenish, to furnish a house, to stock a farm. Old Fr.plenir, to replenish. — Plenishing, household furniture. — Plenish- ing-wain, the wain or waggon laden with furniture belong- ing to a bride. Plett, to fold, to twist or plait. Su.-Got. plata, nectere, con- nectere. Pletts, folds, plaits. " I must put my mouth into small plots when I go there ;" meaning, I must be circumspect in my behaviour. PLUF 77 Plie, a fold, or wrapping. " Twee plie, three plie." Two fold, or double ; three fold, &c. " Thorowe ryche male and mjTie-ye-ple ]\Iany sterne the stroke done straight Many a freyke, that was ful fre Thar undar fool dyd lyght." Old Ballad of Chevy Chace. Plodge, to wade through water, to plunge. Dut. ploegen. Plooky, Plooky- faced, pimpled. Gael, pliicany a pimple. " Plooky , plooky , are your cheeks. And plooky is your chin." Ballad,— Sir Hugh le Blond. Plote, to pluck feathers ; metaphorically to chide vehemently. " How she plotes him." Teut. ploten. Plote, to scald. To plote a pig, is to pour scalding water upon it, which causes the hair to come off, and makes it easier to scrape. — Ploting-hot, scalding hot. Plough-shoe, the iron work upon which the sock is fixed ; the casing of iron at the nose, or fore part of that part of the plough which enters the ground. Ploute, a long walking stick, generally used (with the thick end downward) by foot-hunters. — Dur. and North. Plouter, to wade through water or mire — to be engaged in any dirty work. Teut. plotsen. Germ, pladern. — Plowd- ing, is also used in the same sense ; though probably only a variation niplodging. Ploy, a harmless frolic in which a party is engaged ; a merry meeting. Dr. Jamieson is inclined to view the word as formed from Sax. plegan, to play. Pluff, to blow in the face, to explode gunpowder — to puff. Pluff, Pleugh, a plough. Su.-Got. ^;fo^. Qi&rca..p>jiug. Sc. pleuch. This gives me an opportunity of presenting to the reader a genuine Northumbrian specimen of an agricul- tural reproof ; communicated to me by a friend, who heard it. " Ye ill far'd body ye ! ye pretend to guide the plutff ! to leeve a saet a baaka in aa the faugh quarter. I'll ha ne mair o" thee ! 78 PLUM Se ye may gang at the Fair, honest man ! Thou mun de't better nor that, else thou may gang heam." Plump, a clump of trees. Plumbe, is an old word for a woody place. PocK-ARRED, pitted with the small pox. See Arr. PocK-FRETTEN, marked with the small pox. See Fretten. PoE, a turkey. Fr. j^aon, Lat. pavo. Sax. pawa, — Poe ! Poe ! a call to turkies. Poke, to thurst. " To pohe the head." " Poling his nose into every thing." Germ, pochen, to knock, as if the head were projected for the purpose. Poke, a bag, a sack. The parent of pocket. Sax. poceo, a pouch. Isl./:)oH, saccus. Tent poie. " A -pig in a poke." is an old, well-known. Northern proverb. " Gerveis answered : ' Gerties were it gold. Or in a poks nobles all untold." Cliaucer, — The Miller's Tale. " And on the nose he smote him with his fist ; Down ran the blody streme upon his brest : And in the flore with nose and mouth to-broke They walwe, as don two pigges in a poke." Chaucer, — Tlie Meve's Tale. Poked, offended, piqued. " He was sure poked." PoKEMANTLE, a name for a portmanteau. See Portmantle. Poker and Tongs, when a horse strikes the hind against the fore shoe. Also called Hammer and Pincers, and Forging. PooDLERS, a name given to the fry of the coal-fish or cole-say when about a foot in length. PooMER, any thing very large. " Ee ! what a poomcr it is." Poorly, indifferent in health. — Very poorly, very unwell. PoR, Pore, an iron bar, or poker, for stirring the fire. Teut. porren, urgere, compellere. Porky, plump in the person. " What ? the porky gentle- man." Porrage, hasty-pudding, or ^ornaj^e-oatmeal mixed in boil- ing water, and stirred on the fire till it be considerably thickened. In Durham it is Poddish. " Put on the pod- dish-pot." POT-L 7» PoRTMANTiE, a vulgar, though old, name for a portmanteau ; which was originally a hag for a cloak or mantle. Pose, a rheum from the nose, a cold in the head. Sax. gipose. PosiE, a nosegay. See Brand's Pop. Antiq. Vol. II., p. 48. PosiE-JACKETS, the holiday waistcoats of the pitmen, fre- quently of very curious patterns, and displaying flowers of various dyes. Poss, to dash violently in the water, to beat ; as to " poss clothes" in what is called a Poss-tub. " For a cat of a contree Cam whan hym liked And overleep hem lichtliche And laughte hem at his wille And pleide with hem perillousli And passed aboute." — Piera Plotoman. PossET-cup, a cup of silver or pewter, in which warm drinks were served. " Before the introduction of tea, it was customary to give strangers at festival times, ale-possets ; they were served up in bowls called doublers into which the company dipped their spoons pro- miscuously, for the simplicity of the times had not then seen the necessity of accommodating each guest with a basin or soup- plate. The posset cup shone as an article of finery in the better sort of houses ; it was made of pewter, and was furnished with two, three, or more, lateral pipes, through which the liquid part of the compound might be sucked by those who did not choose the bread." — Gloss, to Wettm. and Cunib. Dialects. PossY, short and fat, thick-set, protuberant ; applied to the person. Apparently the same as Powsey. Post, sandstone. PoTATO-BOGLE, a scarccrow. PoT-cLEPs, pot-hooks. Ray says, from clip or clap, because they clij} or catch hold of the pot. Pot-luck, an invitation to a family dinner, or friendly re- past, excluding the idea of any previous or ceremonious preparation — the chance of the table. The Roman condi- cere ad ccenam. Fr. la fortune du pot. A Northern squire 00 POTS invited his late Majesty King George IV., when Prince Regent, to take pot-hiclc with him. PoTSHARD, a piece of broken tile or pot. Sec Shard. Potter, to stir, to poke ; as to potter the fire. \)\iX.peutcren. PoTTicAR, an apothecary. Potycary is the genuine old word, derived from Span, boticario (which signifies the shop of a vendor of medicines, as distinguished from a travelling em- piric), and is not a contraction of apothecary, as Dr. John- son and others have pretended, Mr. Taylor judiciously observes on this word, that from its Greek origin, it must necessarily have brought the A with it at first, and, there- fore, however ancient paticary may be, it is only an ancient corruption, and probably proceeded from the unlearned considering apothecary as a pothccary. PoTTiNGER, a coarse earthen- ware pot, with a handle. Germ. pott enge, a narrow pot. Porringer, therefore, would seem to be a corruption. Pou, Poo, or PooGH, to pull. " Poo away my lads" PoucE, nastiness. — Poucy, untidy, all in a litter. PouK, to strike ; or rather to push or poke. In Scotland, it means to pull with nimbleness or force, like English pluck. PouLTER, a poulterer. This is the ancient and correct way of spelling the word. PouNCET-Box, a small bos, with open work on the lid, in which to keep perfume. Pout, to kick or strike with the feet. V. Ray, p)ote. Pout, a chicken. Fr. jyoulet. Poult is classical. Pow, a term for the head ; obviously from poll. " Albeit my pow was bald and bare." — Ramsay. Pow, a large open drain. Pow-HEAD, a tad-pole before it has legs. PowsET. fat, decent-looking, respectable in appearance. See PossY. PowsoDDY, or Pansoddy, a pudding jilaced under the roast. Also called Yorkshire-pudding, Aud-wife's-sod, and Cin- PUIZ 81 DER-CATCHER. In Scotland there is a dish — sheep's head broth, pov)-soddcn. Freeze, to strain, or make ineffectual attempts to evacuate the bladder, or bowels — from press. But see Jamieson on prize-up. Preuve, prove. Genuine French. Pricking, a thin layer of bad soft coal or metal, generally found at the bottom of a seam of coal. Prickle, a basket or measure of wicker work among fruiter- ers. Formerly made of briers ; hence, perhaps, the name. Prig, to plead hard in a bargain, to higgle in price, Dut* prachen, to beg. Prigged, entreated earnestly and perseveringly. Priggish, vain, conceited, affected, coxcomical. From prig. Primp, to behave in a ridiculously formal or affected manner. pRiN, a pin. Isl. prion, acus capitata^ Dan. preen, a bod- kin, or punch. Dr. Jamieson has satisfactorily proved that this is no corruption of the word. " To mix set ye nocht by twa i^rinnis Fyne ducat gold with hard gudhingis Lyke as I leirnit yow last." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. pRiN-coD, a pincushion. In the reign of Henry VIII., the men stuck pins in a disgusting part of their dress ; before alluded to under the article Cod, Codd. Strutt's idea that this fashion of wearing a cod-piece came from the French guadipise, seems without foundation. That word, so far as the researches of the present writer extend, is used only by the satirical Rabelais, and in all probability proceeded from the mint of his own fertile imagination, in the triumph of his wit and drollery. Princox, a pert, forward fellow. V. Todd's John. ])rincockt Prize, to lift with a lever, ^ec Jamieson on prize-up ; but it is probably from press, as the lever acts at one end, by pressure at the other. So paze is used in the same sense, from peser, to weigh, because acting by a weight. VOL, II. M 82 PROD Prod, Proddy, a j^rick, a skewer. Su.-Got. Irodd, acnietis. Dau. hrod, a sting, a prick, B and p are often used indis- criminately in the Gothic languages. Prog, Proggle, v. to prick, to pierce. Isl. hri/dda, pungere. Prog, s. a prick. — Progly, a. prickly. See Prod. Proper, very, complete. " It is a proper wet day." Pross, v, to chat, to talk familiarly. Fr. prosner, or proner, to gossip. Pross, s. talk, conversation — rather of the gossiping kind. " Let us have a bit oi pross." The prose of modem times, as Mr. Todd justly remarks, is akin to this Northern word. Proud, luxuriant ; as proud corn. Snx. jyrot. Ital. prode. Proud, a seam of coal is said to be proud when its section is higher than ordinary. P's AND Q,'s, a nicety of behaviour ; the observance of all due formalities. Perhaps from the French injunction to make proper obeisances, " Soyez attentifs k vos pies et a ros queues;" in other words, " miiid your P^s and Q^s." PuBBLE, full, plumj) ; usually spoken of corn or fruit ; in op- position to fantome — any thing fat, or distended. Pucker, flutter, agitation, confusion. " What a, pucker he's in !" A figurative apiilication of the word. Puggy, damp, most ; arising from gentle perspiration. " A puggy hand." " A puggy face." Pule, or Puel, a hole of standing water — ^pool. Sax.pul. Welsh, pivl. Ray and Grose have pull: Pule, to eat without appetite. — Puling, sick, without appe- tite. PuLLEN, poultry. An old word. V. Todd's Johnson. The Pullen market in Newcastle. Pullcn is also a term for the small crab used for baiting sea-fishing-hooks. The cor- rect name is pina7i, frompcel, to skin ; because if you crack the shell of the jnllan, you may strip it off, leaving the substance of the claw entire. That is pillan, i. e., peeled, because the fishermen peel off the sliell before they bait the hooks ^nth them. PURL 83 Pummel, to beat severely, to chastise with the fist. Lat. piegno. " For your pate I would p?(?»ime/." Beaum. and Flet., — Foxir Plays in One. Punch, to strike with the feet — to thrust as with a point. Germ, punct, a point. PuND, a pound. Sax. pund. The Gothic, Islandic, and Swe- dish are the same. Welsh, 2>U7iU Pund, to imi^ound, to put into the pin-fold. PuN-FAUD, or PiN-FAUD, a pin-fold. Sax. pz/ndan, to inclose. — PuNDER, the pindar or pounder, who has the charge of the pinfold — a pound keeper. PuoY, PuY, or PouiE, a long pole, with an iron spike or spikes, at the end ; used in propelling keels in shallow water, or when it is inconvenient to use sails or oars. Span, apoyo, a prop, stay, or support. Fr. appui ; and so a pouie, by erroneously supposing a to be an article, in- stead of a part of the word. Poles, for pushing on boats, occur in all ages. PuRDY, a little thickset fellow. I owe this word to the com- munication of a clerical friend in the County of Durham, who first heard it at Barnard Castle. On ascertaining the meaning, the following dialogue took place. " Q. What does purdjj mean ? A. A little throstan up tliiiig like a Jack at Warts. Q. What's that. A. Something like a lime burner. Q. What is a lime burner? A. Oh nobbit a Kendal stockener. Q. What is that ? A. A little thick-set fellow." Moor has purdy, in the sense of j)roud, ostentatious. Purely, quite well in health — pi(,re well. PuRLicuE, or Curlicue, a flourish in writing — a dash at the end of a word. F. pmtr la, queue. V. Jamieson. PuRLicuE, the space inclosed by the extended fore finger and thumb. A " spang and a purlicuc'^ is a measure allowed in a certain game at marbles. 84 PURN PuiiN, s. the same as Twitch ; which see. Purpose-like, a person or thing well suited to the purpose intended. Pursy, fat, bloated, swolu out ; implying also the difficulty of breathing arising from such a state. V. Jam. and Jam. Supp. Put, to push, to pro2)el ; as, putting a keel. W elah. pwtiaw. Put-about, jjerplexed, at a dfficulty. Shakspeare repeatedly uses put to it, in the same sense. Putter, a person who conveys coals from the hewers. Put- ters are commonly young men from sixteen to twenty years old. PuzziN, s. poison. This is the pronunciation at this day in Northumberland. " For in till Ms neyst potion He suld gifF him dedly pugcrun." — 77(6 Bruce. " But syne allace ! pusaynt was he." — Ibid. Pyrrht-dancers, a name given to the glancings of the Au- rora Borealis. The same as Merry-daxcers ; which see. This term may have been adopted from the Pyrrliica sal- tatio, or military dance of the ancients ; from which, no doubt, the sword-dance of the Northern youths, at Christ- mas, has had its origin. But Mr. Forby says, an allusion to the revels of the fairies is more likely among our ances- tors, than to the Pyrrhic-dance of the ancients. V. Voc. East Anglia, perry-dancers. Q. Quail, to fail, to fall sick, to faint. F. Todd's Johnson. Quandary, a dilemma, an unpleasant jiredicament, a state of perplexity. Skinner's derivation from Fr. qv^e^i dirai ja? what shall I say about it ? is adopted in Todd's John- son. But the pronoun (nominative) was often left out by old French writers, which would here make the derivation more accurate — qit^en dirai ? Quean, a term of abuse to a female — sometimes implying the Q,UIC 86 most disgraceful name that can be a23plied to the sex. Moe.-Got. queins, quens. Sax. cwen, a wench — though pri- marily not always used in a reproachful sense ; nor always so now, for we say, " a sturdy quemi," — " a good-like quean" — without affixing any bad meaning to it. " Or Provost full of trecMrie, Or Prelate lining jolilie, Or Priest that halt his quein him by." Chaucer, — Rom. of Rose. " A witch, a qiiean, an old cozening quean." Shak. — Men-y Wives of Windsor. Q,UEER, the choir, or quire of a church. Old Eng. quier. Q,uEER, a quire ; as of paper. Old Eng. quaire. Old Fr. quaver. Q,UERN, a hand mill for grinding com, made of two corres- ponding stones. It exhibits the most ancient methods of grinding corn ever known in the world, and is the same to which allusion is made in the New Testament. Matthew xxiv., 41. Travellers tell us that this kind of hand mill is used in the East Indies. Dr. Clarke saw it in use among the native Laplanders. Quern may be considered as one of our oldest woi'ds ; and, with slight variations, is found in all the Northern languages. — Moe.-Got. quairn, mola manualis. Su.-Got. quern. Sax. cioeorn. Dan. quern. Swed. quarn. Teut. querne. " But or his here was clipped or yshave, Ther was no bond, with which men might him bind, But now is he in prison, in a cave. Whereas they made him at the querne grind." Chaucer, — The Monke's Tale. Q,uEY, generally pronounced Whye, a heifer, or young cow, until it has had a calf. Dan. quie. Swed. quiga. " 1538, paid for four cows, called whyes, 36«." Finchale Glossary. Q,UEY-CALF, a female calf. Dan. quiehalo. Swed. quighalf. Quick, alive. Sax. civic. This word is classical ; but in the 86 QUIC South is not in the general sense in which we hear it in the North. " Not fully (iuik, ne fully ded they were." « OMVAxr,—The Knight's Tale. " The quick and the dead."— 37i« Lord's Prayer. Q,uiCKEN-TREE, the mountain ash. See Roun-tree, Quick-wood, thorns. " The first hedges were made of dead wood, but quick wood was soon found to be more durable, and when the thorn came into general use for the purpose, on account of its valuable proper- ties, the term quick wood was appropriated to it exclusively." Finchale Glossary. QuisEY, confounded, dejected. V. Todd's John., queasy. Quite, got quit of. — Quite-better, (not certainly, or un- doubtedly better, but) quite well, completely recovered. It is the comparative joined with the superlative — an in- veterate Northumbrianism. QuoRN, or QuoARN, a Northern pronunciation of com. R. R. The very broad or gutteral pronunciation of tliis letter in the dialect of the people of Newcastle and of Northumber- land generally, is one of its most striking characteristics. The broad dialect of the English, north of the Humber, is not unfrequently alluded to by old authors. Chaucer, in particular, gives specimens of dialect, in which it is not diffi- cult to discover many peculiarities of phrase and pronun- ciation which are quite common in Northumberland at the present day. Rabble, to speak in a confused manner. Tout, rahelen, blate- rare. Apparently identical with Ravel ; which see. Rabblement, a tumultuous crowd, a mob. A very old word, still in use, though Dr. Johnson has stated it to be obso- lete. Rack, s. a narrow path, a track, a trace. Dut. racke. This is the meaning of the word used by our great dramatic RAID 87 poet, in the following exquisite and well-known passage in the Xempest, whatever the commentators may be pleased to say to the contrary. " The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve ; And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind." — Shakspeare. Rack, s, the clouds ; or rather the trad- in which they move by the action of the wind. Sax. rec, vapour. Swed. reka. Archdeacon Nares is mistaken in thinking that the word is not now in use. " But, as ws often see, against some storm, A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still. The bold winds speechless, and the orb below As hush as death..— SfMk.,—Ha7nlet. Rack, s. wreck. Sw. rak, bona naufragorum in littus ejecta. Rack, -v. to care, to heed. Sax. recan, to reck. V. Ray. Rack, a name given to the Brandling trout in some parts of Northumberland . Rackless, sometimes Rackle, thoughtless, careless, heed- less, improvident. Old Eng. retchless, recJceless; from Sax. recceleas. Rack-rider, a small trout, 6 or 8 inches long, caught in the alpine rivulets of Northumberland. Raff, a raft. Hence, Raff-merchant, for a timber-mer- chant ; and Raff- yard, for a timber-yard. Raff, abundance, a great quantity, a great number. " A raff oi fellows," a great many men. Raffling, idle, worthless, dissolute. " A raffling chap." Rag, to rate or reproach, to scold. Isl. raega, to accuse. Ragabasu, Ragabrash, low, idle people — such as are gene- rally in rags. — Rubbish is used in the same sense. Both terms may be said to be synonymous with ragamuffin. Rageous, in a rage, in excessive pain, violent — rageful. Raid, an incursion, or ijlundering inroad of the Borderers 88 RAIN into the territory of their neighbours Sax. rad, radr, invasio, incursus, irruptio. V. Somner. " And by my faith, the gate- ward said, I think 'twill prove a warden raid." Scott, — Lai/ <4 tf>^ I'd^t Mimtrel. Rain. *' Happy is the corpse that the rain rains on," a po- pular saying in Northumberland ; meaning, that rain at a funeral is a sign of future happiness to the person whose remains are about to be interred. Rain-birds, Rain-fowl, jjopular names for woodpeckers. These birds are well known by their loud and peculiar cries, which, frequently repeated, are thought to prognos- ticate rain. The Romans called them pluvice aves, for the same reason. Raise, a cairn, tumulus, or heap of stones. In the parishes of Edenhall and Lazonby, in Cumberland, there are yet some considerable remains of stones, which still go by the name of raises, though many of them have been carried away and all of them are thrown out of their ancient form and order. Hutchinson's Hist, of Cumb., Vol. I., p. 252. There is also Womidale Raise, in the parish of Winder- mere, in Westmorland. V, Nicolson and Bum, Vol. I., p. 188. Rake, v. to walk, to range or rove about. Su.-Got. reka, to roam. — Rake, s. the extent of a walk or course. Hence, a sheep-rake. " Robene answerit, Be the rude Na thing of lufe I knaw, Bot keipis my scheip undir yone wud, Lo quhair thay raik on raw." Henrysone's Robene and Makyne. Rake, to cover, to gather together. To rake the fire, is to supply it with coals, or to i:»ut it in such a condition that it may continue burning all night, so as to be ready in the morning — a common practice in many kitchens in the North, where coals are plentiful. Shakspeare uses the RAND 89 word in this sense, when, in King Lear, he makes Edgar saj, " Herein the sands Thee I'll rake vp."—Act IV., Sc. 6. Ram, Rammish, foetid, rank, like a ram. Isl. ramtnr, ama- rus. Dan. ram, rank, rancid, " A ram smell" — " a ram taste." " For all the world they stinken as a gote, Hir savour is so rammish and so hote." Chaucer, — The Chanone's Teman's Tale. Rame, Ream, to cry aloud, to ask over and over again in a teasing manner. Sax. hreaman, clamare. Su.-Got. raama. — Ramin'g, Reamixg, crying ; especially as denoting re- iteration of the same sound. " Sche full vn happy in the batell stode— Her mj-nd troublit, gan to rame and cry." Douglas' Mneid. Rame, Raim, Rawm, to reach anything awkwardly or greed- ily, to stretch after. Teut. raemen, extendere, distendere. Ramell-wood, natural copse-wood. In the " Complaynt of Scotland," mention is made of a "a banc ful of rammel grene treis." Ramlix-lad, a tall, fast growing, rambling youth — a sort of hohhlety-lioy, Rammely, tall, and rank. V. Jam. rammel, 2d. sense. Ramp, a lowering in the top of a wall. Rampadge, to prance about furiously, to make a great noise or disturbance. Sax. rempend, rampant. Rampageous, furious, uncontrollable. Ramps, ramson, allium xirsinum, a pernicious herb in grass fields, as it imparts a flavour like that of garlic to the milk of cows that eat of it. Ramshackle, or Ramsheckle, to search narrowly, to ran- sack. RanshacUe, for plunder, is old in our language. Randy, s. a vulgar, brawling woman — a coarse, fiery virago. Rand (German) is the strand or margin of the river. Has VOL. II, N 90 RAND the word reference to the vulgar character of the lower orders of women usually inhabiting such localities ? Randy, o. boisterous, obstreperous, disorderly in behaviour. Range, to cleanse by washing, to rinse. See Rencii. Rannel-bauk, Ran\el-tree, a beam or bar across a chimney on which boilers and other culinary vessels are hung. V. Jam. rantle-tree. Ranty, riotous, in high spirits, disorderly. — North. Wild, mad. — Cumb. — Ranty-tanty, in great wrath, in a violent passion. There is a troublesome weed in com fields of this name. Rape, a rope. Moe.-Got. raip. Sax. rape, funis. Rapier-dance, nearly the same as the sword-dance of the ancient Scandinavians, or as that described by Tacitus among the Germans. See a full account of in the Archaeo- logia. Vol. XVII., p. 155. Rapscallion, a low, worthless fellow ; apparently the same with rascallion used in Hudibras. Rash, dry ; as rash-corn — com so dry in the straw that it falls out with handling. Rash, brisk, hearty. " She was vary rash when I left her, but she's sair fail'd now." Rasher, a rush. Rasher-cap, rasher-duclet, rasher-whip, articles made of rushes by children. See Resh, Reshejr. Rasp, raspberry — both the bush and its fruit. Ital. raspo. Rat, a wart. See Wrat. Ratch, v. to stretch, to pull asunder. See Rax. Ratch, v. to mark with lines. — Ratch, s. a strait line, a stripe. Germ, recht, straight. Ratch, s. the straight course of a navigable river. The word is used on the Tyne, in the same sense as Reach on the Thames. The Newcastle keelmen generally call it Rack. It is a strait line of any kind, as a white ratch down a horse's face. Germ, recht, straight. Rate, v. a. and n. to loosen any fibrous texture so as to make it approach to decomposition ; or to be in a state RAW 91 caused by such action. " Quicklime rates the sods in a compost heap" — or, " Sods rate fast in that heap." Sax. rotian, to rot. Rather. To ham rather is a common North country expres- sion, when a preference is desired. See Dr. Johnson's 6th sense of rather. The corruption may be thus traced. It is customary to contract both / would, and / had, into I'd. I had rather was probably first used as a false translation for Pd rather, written for / would rather ; and when I had rather was once received, to have rather followed of course. Ratherlings, for the most part. Dur. and North. Ratten, our Northern provincial name for the mus rattus, the well-known and plundering animal, which, as Gesner ob- serves, is called rat, not only in Germany, but in Spain, France, Italy, and England. " With that ran ther a route. Of ratons at ones, And small mees myd hem Mo than a thousand." — Piers Plowman. " Al this route of ratons To this reson thei assented. — Ihid. " And forth he goth, no longer wold he tary Into the town unto a Potecary And praied him that he to him wolde sell Some poison, that he might his ratonns quell." Chaucer,— The Pardonere's Tale. Ratten-crook, a long crook, reaching from the rannel-hauh to the fire. See Rannel-bauk. Rattlepate, a giddy, thoughtless, volatile person. Rauk, to mark with lines, to scratch. See Ratch. RA^^<;L, to speak in an unconnected manner, to wander. Dut. revelen, to rave, to talk idly. Raw, a row of buildings, the side of a street. Sax. raiwa. " Row and Raw," Mr. Hodgson observes, " are akin to the French rue ; but in the upland part of the Northern coun- ties were formerly chiefly confined to those lines of dwell- ing-houses which lay along the fell sides, and had between them and the beck, or river of the dale, the inclosed 92 RAX ground, of which the houses -were the several messuages. In later times, coal and manufacturing districts ahound in Rows of vast variety of description and designation." V. Hist, of North. Part II., Vol. I., p. 134, n. Rax, to stretch, to enlarge, to reach. Sax. rcecean, porrigere. To rax oneself, is to extend the limbs, after sleep or long sitting. As applied to the weather, to rax out, means to clear up, when the clouds begin to open, and expand them- selves, so that the sky is seen. " He raise and rax'cZ him where he stood, And bade them match him with his marrows ; Then Tindaill heard them reasun rude, And they loot off a flight of arrows."— TJaid o/tfie Redawire. Re. See Heck. Read, Rede, v. to counsel, to advise. Sax. rcedan. Teut. raeden. " And askyt his consaile tharto, AVhat he wold rede him for to do." — TIxe Bruce. Read, Rede, s. counsel, advice. Sax. reed. Teut. raed. There has been handed down to us the barbarous cry of " Good rede, short rede, slea ye the Bishop ;" raised during a general council or assembly at Gateshead, by the mur- derers of Bishop Walcher, the first Norman prelate who filled the see of Durham. V. Surtees' Hist, of Dur., Vol. L, p. 17. Reade, a calf's stomach, used for rennet. Teut. roode. Reang, a furrow, in old husbandry generally twisted. Rectng therefore, like wrong and wring, is from the Saxon wringan, to distort ; so wrong and tort, in law, mean the same thing, something toasted out of its right course. Reap, a bundle of corn, parcels of which are laid by the reapers to be gathered into sheaves by the binders in har- vest time. Sax. rijya, ripe. Sc. rip. Rear, raw, unripe ; as rear corn. Reast, restiveness. — Reasty, restive, stubborn. Ital. restio Old Eng. restie. " A reasty horse," Sometimes applied RED 93 to a man. " He's reasty now." See Glossary of Provincial Words used in Herefordshire, v. Rusty. Reasty, rancid ; particularly applied to bacon spoilt by long keeping. Skelton uses the word. In the Prompt Parv. it is rcsty. See Reest. Reave, to take away violently, to bereave, to rob or plun- der. Sax. reafian. Sw. rbfva. See Reaver. Reavel, or Raffle, to entangle, to knot confusedly together — to ravel. Dut. ravelen, " A reavelled hank" — a twisted skein. Reaver, a plunderer, or freebooter — who bereaves others, by violence, of their property ; a person who, in the days of good Queen Bess — when, in the Border districts, every man's hand seems to have been set against his neighbour — was alternately the robber and the defender of his country — who alike pillaged friend and foe. Sax. reafere. Not far from Debdon, in the parish of Rothbury, is the famous Reaver's Well, where the noted thieves of old refreshed themselves, when " labouring in the vocation of their fa- thers." These Illustrious Personages, besides their own names, generally assumed a sort of twm cle guerre, from their residence, or their exploits ; or had a soubriquet, to distinguish them from others of the same clan. See Thief- and-reaver-bell. Reckox, to suppose, to conjecture. Local in this sense. Red, to put in order, to clear, to disentangle. " To red up the house." Su.-Got. reda. Dan. rydde. Pronounced in Durham, reel ; i. e. right. To part, to separate. " Falset, Alace for ever my eye is out Walloway, well na man red the vaQTi."—Lynd8ay. " And quhen the man Saw his mantill ly brinnand than To red it ran he hastily. "^T/je Bruce. " She's aye sae clean, red up, and braw, She kills whene'er she dances." Bessy Bell and Mary Gray. 94 REDD Redding-k'yame, a comb for the hair. Ree, to cleanse corn by whirling it about in a weight, 80 as to collect the lighter substances at the top. Germ, rein, pure, clean, unmixed. Reed, red. Sax. read. Old English, rede. Reeder, red- der. " Why shulde I not as wel eke tell you all The purtreiture, that was upon the wall Within the temple of mighty Mars the rede." Chaucer,— Tlie Kaighte's Tale. Reef, a cutaneous eruption. Sax. Jtreof, scabies. — Reefy, scabby. Reek, v. to smoke. Sax. recan. Swed. rbka. — Reek, s. smoke. Sax. rec. Swed. rbk. — Reek-penny, money paid to be permitted to have fire, hearth-money — a modus paid to the clergy in many parts of Northumberland and Dur- ham. See Tomlins' Law Diet., smoke-silver. " Yet in our ashen cold is fire yreken." Cliaucer, — The Reeve's Tale. Reek, a term for money — that which makes the pot to boil and the chimney to smoke ; but probably that which is the principal subject of reckoning. Reekin, or Reeking-crook, a horizontal bar of wood or iron, placed at a suitable height in the reek or smoke of a chim- ney, from which vessels are suspended over the fire. Reest, rust. Teut. roest. — Reesty, rusty. Teut. roestigh. Reet, v. to make right, to do justice to. — Reet is also used, both as a substantive and an adjective, for right. Reet, right, sane in mind. — Not-reet, not right, not in the exercise of sound reason. Germ, nieht recht. Reet, a wright, or carpenter. Sax. wryhta, opifex. Reins, Reinds, balks or portions of grass land in arable fields — the furrows of a field. Germ, reihen, rows. In the northern counties, in sloping situations, we still occa- sionally meet with regular flights of terraces, called reins; a method of cultivation probably introduced by the RICE 95 Romans. It has prevailed much about Haltwhistle, in Northumberland, and near the Roman Wall in that parish. Rench, to rinse. Isl. hreinsa, to make clean. Dan. rense, to clean. Swed. rensa, to cleanse. Render, to separate, to melt down, to dissolve any thing fat by the heat of the fire. V. Wilbraham. Renegate, a reprobate. Span, renegaclo, an apostate, qui fidem renegat. It is a genuine old word. " How may this weke woman have the strength Hire to defend again this renegate." Cliaucer, — Man of Lawes' Tale. " A false knight, and a renegate." Gower ,—Confessio Ainantis. Renk, the distance of the face of the workings in a coal pit from the crane, determining the wages paid to the putters. The places are balloted for by the putters each day. Rentt, well shapen ; spoken of horses or horned cattle. Resh, Resher, a rush. Sax. resce. Respectively, for respectfully. I had a correspondent — by no means deficient in learning — who invariably subscribed himself — " your's respectively.^^ He, perhaps, relied on the authority of Shakspeare, and Beaumont and Fletcher. Rheumatiz, the vulgar word for the rheumatism. Rice, small twigs of trees or bushes, brushwood for the pur- pose of hedging. Used by our early writers in a more ex- tended sense. Isl. hrys. Su.-Got. and Swed. ris. Dan. rii^. Germ. reis. " What is there in Paradis, But grass and flure, and green ris" " Cokaygne," a Poem of the Vith Century, in Hicks' Thesaurus. " And thereupon he had a gay surplise As white as is the bloom upon therwe." Chaucer, — The Miller's Tale. " She was brighter of her blee than was the bright sonn : Her reed redder than the rose that on the rise hangeth." From " Death and Life," a Poem, of which specimens are given in Dr. Percy's Essay on the Metre of Piers Plomnan. 96 RIDD " Heicli Iluchan with ane hissill ryss To red gan throw thame ruiiimill.", Girist Kirk on the Green. Ridding, a piece of land converted from wood-land into ara- ble — an assart. Riddle, a coarse sieve with large insterstices ; much used about farm-houses. Sax. hriddel. Welsh, rhidyll. The vulgar, in many parts, have an absurd practice of using a riddle and a pair of shears in divination. If they have had any thing stolen from them, the riddle and shears are sure to be resorted to. A similar mode of discovering thieves, or others suspected of any crime, prevailed among the Greeks. V. Potter's Gr. Antiq., Vol. I., p. 352. In Northumberland young people tur7i the riddle for the pur- pose of amusing themselves with the foolish idea of raising their lovers. It is done between two open doors at mid- night and in the dark. Ride, to rob ; or rather to go out on horseback for such a purpose. A Border word. " A saying is recorded of a mother to her son (which is become proverbial) Ride, Row- lie, hough'' s i' the pot ; that is, the last piece of beef was in the pot, and therefore it was high time for him to go and fetch more." Nicolson and Burn's Hist, of West, and Cumb., Vol. II., p. 466. Rider, a moss-trooj)er, or robber on the Borders. Riding, a term among the Borderers for making incursions on the opposite country. See Introduction to the Border Antiquities of England and Scotland, jj. cxxi. " Then Johnnie Armstrong to Willie gan say Billie a riding then will we, England and us have been lang at feud — Perhaps we may hit on some bootie." — Border Ballad. Riding, a division or third part of a county ; now peculiar to Yorkshire ; though formerly common to many other coun- ties. Sax. thrihiiige, tertia 2)ars provinciae alicujus. Ex- press mention is made of this ancient partition in the laws RIG 97 of Erlwartl the Confessor, cap. ,'34. In those early days, appeals were made to the Riding in such causes as could not be determined in the Wapentake court. Riding- FOR-THE-KAiL, a marriage ceremony. See Bride- ale. RiDiNG-TiiE-FAiR, proclaiming a fair. See an interesting ac- count of the North country mode of performing this cere- mony at Ovingham (erroneously printed Avingham) in Hone's Every Day Book, 1653. RiDiNG-THE-STANG, a burlcsque punishment. See Stang. Rife, abounding, common, prevalent. Sax. ri/f. Tent. riif. Swed. rif. Dr. Johnson is mistaken in confining the use of this word to epidemical distempers ; and Archdeacon Nares (who points out Mr. Dibdin's very erroneous explanation) is equally in error in thinking it obsolete. " There is a brief, how many sports are ryfe." Shak., — Midsum. Night's Dream. This reading occurs in most of the old editions — I believe in all but one. The modern editors, however, without any sufficient reason, read ripe. Rife, also means apt, ready, quick to learn. Riff-raff, a common alliterative term of reproach — the rab- ble, or mere canaille. Dan. ripsraps, the dregs of the people. Rift, a chasm, a chink, a crevice. " Than shalt thou go the dore before, If thou maiste finden any shore, Or hole, or reft.e what ere it were ; Than shalt thou stoupe, and lay to ere, If thei within a slepe be." ClMUcer, — Rom. of Rose. Rift, v. to belch. From Dan. rwhe; and not raevcr, as given by Dr. Jamieson, who appears to have been misled by Skinner. — Rift, s. an eructation. Dan. raeben, belching. Rift, v. to plough out grass lands. Su.-Got. rifwa. Sw. rifva. Rig, a female light in her carriage, a wanton, an imprudent woman. VOL. II. o 98 RIG Rig, a ridge, an eminence. Sax. hricg. Isl. hriggr. Su.- Got. rygg, dorsum. " Riggc of land, agger," occurs in Prompt. Parv. " As thai war on this wiss spekand Our ane hey rUj thai saw ridand Towart thaim ewyn, a battaill braid."— 77i« Bruce. Rig, among quadrupeds, to perform the act of supersaliency only, to back. Sax. hricg, dorsum. Hence, Riggot, or RiGGELT, a male animal imperfectly emasculated — very troublesome to the female. RiG-AND-FUR, RiG-AND-REiN, ridge and furrow. Also ribbed ; as a jjair of rig-and-fur stockings. RiGGE, the bark. Sax, hngg. RiGGiN, the ridge or roof of a building. Sax. hricg, fasti- gium. To ride the riggin is a Northern phrase denoting excessive intimacy. The Scotch have a saying that " a man may be very fond of the kirk without aye riding on its riggin" RiGGiN-TREE, the beam along the roof of a building. Right, v. a. To stretch and fold, in right order, clothes to be mangled or ironed before they are quite dry. Rile, to render turbid, to vex, to disturb. V. Moor. Rim, Belly-rim, the jjeritoneum, or membrane inclosing the intestines. " Mind dinna brust yor belly-rim" — a caution among the vulgar in Northumberland. Sax. ream. " For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat. In drops of crimson blood." — Shak., — Ken. V. The original reading, says Nares, is rymme, which Capell, judging from the main object of the speaker, boldly pro- nounced to signify money ; others have wished to read ryno, but that term is probably not of such antiquity : and the conjecture sujiposes the original word to be printed rym, which it is not. Pistol, with a very vague notion of the anatomical meaning of rymme, seems to use it in a ge- neral way for any part of the intestines ; his object being to terrify his prisoner. It may lie further stated, that RIVE 99 rimhursin is a common term on the Borders of Northum- berland for a rupture of the abdominal muscles, to which horses and cows are subject. Rind, to melt or dissolve tallow or fat. V. Jamieson. RiNE, Rind, frozen dew, hoar frost. A corruption of rime ; from Sax. and Isl. hrim. Ring, a circular spout in the shaft of a coal pit for collecting the side feeders of water into a box. Rip, a profligate. Half of Germ, ripps-ro.pps. In fashion- able cant — for all ranks have their cant — demirep is one of dubious, or half reputation. Ripe, to search, to steal privately, to plunder. Sax. hyrpan, dissuere. " To ripe for stones in the foundation of an old wall." — " She riped my pockets." — " He riped the nest." " Gif I haif mair, schir, cum and rype my coat." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Ripple, to clean ; applied to flax. Su.-Got. repa lin, linum vellere. Teut. repen, stringere semen lini. Rise, the angle of the coal stratification with the horizon. " She's a heavy rise." Riser, a trouble or dislocation ; the coal being so affected as to be above the level at which the seam is working : in opposition to a " dipper." Ruling, the smallest and last hatched youngling. — Lane, See DowpY, Wreckling. In Norfolk, ricHing. Rive, v. to tear membrane from membrane, to eat voraciously without knife or fork. " Aw hae been rivin at the leg iv this aud guse for half an hour, and am ne farther end- ways." Rive, to separate into j^arts by applying force to each side. Dan. rive, to tear or rend in j^ieces. Swed. rifva. There is a difference between riving and splitting — the hands rive, a wedge splits. " Paid for fellying of wood and ryving of spilys." Bishop of Durham's Accounts, circ. 1515. 100 RIVE Rive, s. a rent, or tear. The very term occurs in lal. ryf. " Him had levir a sondre shake, And let al his limmes a sondre rioe." Cliancer,—Rom. of Rose. RoAN-TREE, RoYNE-TREE, the mountain ash. See RouN- TREE. Robin, the popular name of the ruddock or red-breast. The innocence, tameness, and its approach in a season when its sustenance is precarious, may be the reason that this bird is usually so much pitied and respected. The author of the old ballad of The Children in the Wood — a story with which our earliest literary recollections are associated — selected the red-breast as an object of sympathy, no doubt for the causes here cited ; but I am informed that about Heworth, near Newcastle, it is looked upon as a bird of bad omen. I am also told that among the lower classes in Northumberland and Scotland, it is considered as the har- binger of death. This is the more remarkable, because its general familiarity and confiding manners, as observed by Mr. Selby, have procured for it an api^ellation of endear- ment in most of the countries that it inhabits. Rock, a distaff; not only from which thread was sj)un by twirling a ball below ; but that attached to the spinning wheel upon which the yarn or lint was wound. RoGGLE, to shake, to jumble. A variation of wriggle. Rode, the complexion of the face. " His rode was red, his eyen grey as goos." aiaucer,—The Miller's Tale. RoiLE, to ramble or gad about. RoiNT, be gone, stand off. Aroint. Roister, to behave turbulently, to make a great noise, to in- dulge in rough mirth and jollity. Roisterer, a turbulent, swaggering, and uncontroulable person. Junius refers to Isl. hrister, a \'iolent man ; but I am inclined, with Dr. Jamieson, to look to Barb. Lat. Rmtarii, the same with Butarii (old Fr. Routiers) — free- I ROU 101 bootei's who committed great devastation in France, in the eleventh century. Riiptarii and Rutarii were names given to the stipendiary troops (perhaps some of the same sort of brigands) employed by King John in his exterminating expedition into the Northern parts of the kingdom — where the castles, towns, and villages were given to the flames by that wicked and j)usillanimons monarch, and the miser- able inhabitants abandoned to the murderous cruelty of his rapacious followers, without resjject of age or sex, rank or profession. The epithet Rot/tercr, or Roi/stercr, was be- stowed on the cavaliers by the puritanical party, in the accounts of the civil wars of a subsequent period. RoLLEY, similar in construction to a tram (which see), but larger ; a long carriage for conveying the corfs or tubs of coals from the crane or flat, to the bottom of the shaft, drawn by horses. RoLLEY-wAY, the under-grouud waggon-way along which the rollers travel. Rone, properly a thick plantation of bushes ; but in the North usually applied to a thick cover of whins, which is called " a rone of whins." The origin seems to be Isl. and Goth, runn, a bush or shrub. RooF-TREE, the beam which forms the angle of the roof, to which the couples are jointed. Rook, Rouk, a mist, or fog. Teut. roock, vapor. — Rooky, RouKY, misty, damp, foggy. Old Eng. roki/. Roop, or Roup, a hoarseness. Isl. hroop, vociferatio.— RooPY, or RouPY, hoarse ; as with cold. Rooty, coarse, or over rank ; said of grass or corn when in that state. Old Eng. roi/tish, wild irregular. See Routh. RossEL, to heat, to roast, to bask over a fire until what is below the skin is ready to exude — the same idea as rosin. — RossELLED, decayed ; as a rosselled ajjple. RossEL, rosin. " Rossel and pick" — rosin and pitch. Rou, cold, bleak, and damp ; especially as applied to a place, or to the weather— mtc. Sax. hreaw. Germ, roh, ratih. 102 ROUX RouN, to whisper or speak in secrecy. Sax. runian. Germ. runen. RouN-TREE, or Rowan-tree, the quicken tree, mountain ash, or witch-wood — a tree of high consideration in the North, and considered by the superstitious peasantry of wonder- ful efficacy in depriving witches of their infernal power. This notion has been handed down to us from early anti- quity — perhaps from the Druids. Skinner is uncertain whether the tree may not have received its name from the colour called roan ; but, as observed by Dr. Jamieson, the term is Gothic — Su.-Got. ronn, runn, sorbus acuparia. Dan, ronne. Ihre conjectures, with great probability, that the etymon may be from runa, incantation ; because of the use made of it in magical arts. Mr. Thomson adds Welsh, rMn, mystery, sorcery, religion, and apparently used in the Runic ceremonies. In Wales these trees are reputed so sacred, that, according to Evelyn, there is not a church- yard without one of them planted in it. " In my plume is seen the holly green,' With the leaves of rowan tree. And my casque of sand, by a mermaid's hand. Was formed beneath the sea." The Cout of Eeeldar. " They built a ship without delay, With masts of the roican tree ,- With flutt'ring sails of silk so fine. And set her on the sea."— 274C Laidley Worm. Roup, sale by auction. Rout, Rought, or Rowt, to make a bellowing noise, to roar, as the sea. " And what sowne is it like (quod he) ? Peter, lyke the beting of the se (Quod I) against the rochis halowe When tempestes done ther shippes swalow. And that a man stande out of doubte A myle ofl'thus, and here it route" Chaucer, — Home of Fame. It also means to grunt, to snore. Sax. hrutan. " And eft he routeth, for his bed mislay." Chaucer,— The MiUer's Talc. RUCK 103 RouTH, plenty, abundance ; especially applied to rank grass or corn. V. Jamieson. RouTixG, or RouGHTixG, the lowing or bellowing of an ox. In Ingram parish, a wild part of Northumberland, there is a place called the Rougliting Linn — deriving its name, no doubt, from the great noise made by the fall of water after heavy rains. Also snoring. " His wif bare him a burdon a ful strong, Men might his routing heren a furlong." Cliauecr, — The Reeve's Tale. Rowley- powLEY, a sort of childish game at fairs and races. RoYAL-oAK-DAY (the 29th of May), the restoration of lOng Charles II. ; in commemoration of which it is customary for the common people, in many parts of the North, to wear oak leaves in their hats, and also to place them on their horses' heads. Formerly, in Newcastle, " Wlien civil dudgeon first grew high, And men fell out they knew not why," — Hudibras. the boys had a taunting rhyme, with which they used to insult such persons as were not decorated with this re- membrance of the facetious monarch ; " Royal oak The Whigs provoke." It was not, however, to be expected that this sarcastic ebullition of party-spirit should escape the retort cour- teous. The contemptuous rej)ly was, " Plane-tree leaves; The church-folk are thieves." RoYNE, to grumble or growl ; and not, as Dr. Johnson has defined it, to gnaw, to bite. Fr. rogner. RozzLE, to beat. " I'll rozzle your hide for you." Rosser, French — " battre quelque violement." Diet. Acad. Also, to redden by di-ink. " He rozzled his nose." Ruck, a rick of corn or hay. — North. A heap, or large quan- tity. — York, and Lane. Su.-Got. rbk. V. Ihre. Ruckle, to rumple, to crease. Germ, rilck. •< 101 RUD RuD, ruddle for marking sheep. Sax. riidu, rubor. See Keel. Rue-Bargain, something given to be off an agreement — a bargain repented of. Rug, to pull hastily or roughly. Teut. ruckcii, detrahere.— RuGGiNG-AND-RiviNG, pulling and tearing with force. 7^ Ruinated, reduced to ruin, ruinous. Pegge erroneously con- sidered this word, which is in common use in the North, as peculiar to Londoners. RuLE-o'-THUMB, gucss work. Primarily the measuring of inches by the thumb ; but as this is at best an inaccurate mode, it comes to mean — no rule at all. Rum, a very common North country word for any thing odd or queer — a comical person, for instance, being called a rum sticl'. May not Dr. Johnson's rum parson be what is called a hackney jiarson, and come from Germ, rum, which is from herum, about, as herum laufer is a vagabond ? He- rum parson, or rum parson, may, therefore, be a vagabond parson. RuMBUSTiCAL, rude, noisy, overbearing, turbulent. Rum-gumptious, pomjious, forward, violent, bold, rash. RuMMEL-GuMSHiox, the same as Gumshon. Sc. rumgump- tion. Rumpus, a great noise, a disturbance, an uproar. V. Jen- nings. Run or Rund, the selvage of woollen cloth, list. Sax. rand, a border, an edge. Run away Dr. Bocanki, a proverbial expression, familiar in the couuty of Durham, near the river Tees — said to have originated in the trepidation and sudden flight of Dr. Bal- canquall. Dean of Durham, a Scotchman, who was pecu- liarly obnoxious to his countiymen, on account of having penned the King's declaration against the Covenanters- V. Surtees' Hist, of Dur., Vol. I., p. xcvi. RuNCH, wild mustard, charlock. Sinapis arvensis. Rung, a s^^oke, the step or round of a ladder. Moe.-Got. <^/, ^/a. Isl. sapa. Sapscull, a simple, foolish fellow — a blockhead. Sare, sore, painful. Sax. sar. Su.-Got. saar. So. sair. — Sare-heed, sore head, the head ache. Sare, very much, greatly, intensely. Tevit. seer. Germ. sehr. ^^ Sare hadden" — (sore holden) — very much dis- tressed by pain or sickness. " A dynte he gaff with mekill mayne Syr Ewayne was unhorsid thare That al men went he had ben slayne So was he woundyd wondyr sare." LaMorte Arthur e. Sark, a shirt — sometimes a shift. Sax. syrc. Su.-Got. s(erk. See a curious quotation from Scotch Presbyterian Elo- quence Displayed, in Boucher, vo. agee ; and Kelly's Scot- tish Proverbs, p. 139, 140. '* Ane cuppill oisarlcs, with all my hart The best claith in the land." Lyndsay's Tliree Estaitis. " They leif not spindell, spoone, nor speit, Bed, bolster, blanket, sark, nor scheit." Maitland's Complaynt. " Near is my sark, but nearer is my skin."— iV. C. Prov. Sarra, to serve with meat. " Aelsie Marley 's grown se fine, She wunna get up to sarra the swine." Song on Alice Marley, an aie wife at Pictree. Is it from serian (Sax.), to set in order ? as we use serve in 110 SART the double sense of, to supply with meat, and to arrange the table. Sarties, certainly, in good truth. Spenser and other early poets use certes. Sartin, sure, positive, certain. — Sartinly, certainly. Sattle, to settle. This pronunciation is conformable to the Saxon origin of the word. Sattle-bords (from Settle), the boards or frame-work at the top of a coal-pit upon which the tram or sledge stands, to receive the corf. Sauce, insolence of speech, impertinence — saueiness. Sauce piquante no doubt faire la sauce a qudqiC un — to repri- mand him — originally salsus, attic salt, somewhat altered in its quality after being landed at the Quayside — not quite " neat as imported." Sauce, vegetables. An ancient use of the word. Saufey Money, protection money formerly paid by many of the inhabitants of Northumberland and Durham to marau- ders in consideration of their not stealing their cattle. Safety money. Saugh, the great round-leaved sallow. Salix caprea. Sax. salh. Ir. saleog. Many of the common people imagine this to be the real Palm-tree, branches of which were strewed by the multitude in commemoration of our Savi- our's triumphal entry into Jerusalem ; and seldom omit to gather its flowers or buds, early in the morning of Palm- Sunday. With these flowers they decorate small pieces of wood formed into crosses, called Palm-crosses, which are stuck up or suspended in their houses. Saul, the soul. Pure Saxon ; and the ancient mode of writ- ing the word. " Thou, John, thou swineshed awake, For Christes saiUe."— Chaucer,— The Reve's Tale. Saul, the solid substance in the inside of a covered button. Fr. saoid, soul, a filling. Saul, a part of the viscera of the goose, when cooked. Q. ths SCAL 111 pleura 1 for it seems to line or fill the inside of the upjjer cavity. Fr. saoul, or souler, to fill, to glut. Saut, Sote, salt. Sax. sealt. Teut. saut, sout. In the pro- nunciation of many of the provincial dialects of the North, the sound of the I is omitted. — Saut-kit, a salt-box of a peculiar form ; often found in old farm-houses. Savelicks, an excrescence from the brier, placed by boys in their coat cuffs, as a charm, to prevent a flogging. In Durham it is called Tommt-savelicks. Saw, to sow. Ma\-Got. saian. Sax. sawan. Su.-Got. sa. Germ, sllen. Sawney, a silly, stupid fellow — a sarcastic designation for a native of Scotland. Sawney is the Scotch abridgment of their common name of Alexander ; but in the sense of foolish, it is, perhaps, as many Scotch phrases are, derived from the French, who use nez for sagacity — sans nez may be foolish, as " on dit un homme a bon nez pour dire, il a de la sagacite." See Diet, de I'Academie sub voce nez. Say, authority, influence, sway. " She has all the say" ScABY, Scabie, mean, paltry, shabby. Lat. scabies. Scad, to scald. — Scaddixg of Peas, a custom in the north of boiling the common grey peas in the pods, in a green state, and eating them with butter and salt. The com- pany afterwards pelt each other with the swads, or husks ; and the entertainment is sometimes in consequence called peas and sport. It is generally a scene of uproarious mirth, but frequently a filthy aff'air. Grose mentions that a bean, shell and all, is put into one of the pea-pods ; and that whoever gets this bean is to be first married. Dr. Jamieson views this custom as having the same origin as the King of Bane, in Scotland. ScADDLE, wild, skittish. York. Craven Glossary. Scale, to spread abroad, to separate, to divide, to shed, to scatter. Sax. scyhm. " I shall tell you A pretty tale ; it may be, you have heard it ; 112 SCAL But since it serves my purpose, I will venture To scale 7 a little more." — Shale. — Coriolanug. Nearly all the commentators have mistaken the meaning of to scale't. I am quite satisfied that it was the author's intention to have the tale spread a little more minutely ; or, as Home Tooke better expresses it, to have it dividedmio more particulars and degress ; told more circumstantially and at length. In some parts of the North, they say, " The church is scaling" " The school is scaling ;" and every agreement between landlord and tenant in Northum- berland contains a stipulation that the tenant shall scale the mole-hills. " Scaling and dressing the ground." House Expenecs, Slierburn Hospital, lt)86. " An aud poke is a.ye scaling." — N.C. Prov. " Fie, fie; he's no Frenchman to fret at the loss of a little scal'd haAi. "—Dekkar's Honest Whore. Scale-away, a disorder — a whitlow, a rush in children. ScALE-DiSH, a thin dish used in the dairy for skimming milk. ScALLiONS, a punishment among boys — a good drubbing. Scallop, to work coal in a mine entirely by the hand, with- out the use of gunpowder. Scam, Scaum, to bespatter, to stain, to discolour. Lat. squama. Scamp, a mean rascal, a fellow devoid of honour and princi- •ple. Properly, a runaway ; from Ital. scampare. ScANTisH, scarce — Scantly, scarcely. Scar, Skar, a bare and broken rock on the side of a moun- tain, or in the high bank of a river. Su.-Got. slcer, rupes. Sax. carr. " Hence," says Bosworth, " Scarborough de- rives its name." — Scars, cinders burnt to a very hard substance, often used to mend the roads. Scare, to fasten two broken or sliced pieces of wood, Isl. skara, asseres reciproce adaptare. ScAREY, streaky, smeared, as walls badly coloured. ScARN, Sharn, dung of cattle. Su.-Got. 5/{ff;7J, stercus. Sax. scearn. Dan. skarn. See Cow- shaken. SCOT 113 ScARN-BEE, a beetle. ScART, V. to scratch. — Scart, s. a scratch. See Scrat. Scathe, Skaith, Scath, loss, spoil, damage, harm, destruc- tion. Pure Saxon. Dan. shade. " Without gilt, God it woot, Gat I this scaithe." — Piers Plovmian. " All these could not procure me any scatfie."—Shaksp. " And all my hoped gain is turned to scathe." Spenser,—Shep. CaU ' ' And thai couth nocht persawe the skaith That towart thaim was appearand."— 27ie Bruce. Scatter-brained, weak, giddy, thoughtlesss, light-headed. ScHAw, a wood or thicket of trees. See Shaw, Sclafe, shallow, as a sclafe dish. ScLooT, to squint. Scobes, Scopes, or Scoubes, hazel sticks sharpened at each end, and used in a bow shape to fasten down thatch. Scon, to strike, to inflict punishment ; a common word amongst the coal miners. Sconce, a fixed seat at one side of the fire-place in the old large open chimney — a short partition near the fire upon which all the bright utensils in a cottage are suspended. An amateur of the Italian language derives the word from sconnessa [seggia], an insulated or sejjarate seat. I should prefer Germ, schanze, a defence, a screen, a shelter. Sconce, the head. Scooter, a syringe. Shooter, perhaps, would be more cor- rect. Sc. skj/ter, from ski/te, to eject forcibly. Score, a notch. Sax. scor. The old custom of numbering and keeping accounts by notches on a tally is not yet wholly disused in the North. Scotch and English, an amusement similar to Stealy- CLOTHES ; which see. The game seems evidently to have had its origin and name from the raids, or inroads, of the Scotch and English " in times of old" — tho language used on the occasion, consisting, in a great measure, of the terms VOL. ir. Q 114 SCOT of reproach common among the Borderers during their pil- fering warfare. Scotch-fiddle, a musical instrument of a peculiar nature ; for an amusing description of which I refer the reader to the new edit, of the Crav. Gloss, vo. Fiddle. Scotch-mist, a small soaking rain — such as will wet an Eng- lishman to the skin. Scotch mists, like Scotchmen, are proverbial for their penetration. Scout, a high rock or large projecting ridge. Sax. sceotan, to shoot out. ScowDER, to mismanage any thing in cooking, to scorch it. Grose has scourder'd, overheated with working ; perhaps only a figurative sense of the word. V. Jamieson. ScRAB, a wild apple — the crab. — Scrab-tree, a crab-tree. ScRAFFLE, 5. to Scramble, to climb up by the help of the hands. " Wey hinny, says aw, we've a Shot-Tower see hee, That biv it ye might scraffle to Heaven ; And if on Saint Nicholas* ye ance cus an ee, Ye'd crack on't as lang as ye're livin." Song, Canny Neiccassel. ScRAFFLE, s. a Scramble, or eager contest for any thing. Scraffle, to be assiduously industrious, to struggle. — ScRAFFLiNG, Working hard to obtain a livelihood. ScRANCH, to grind any hard or crackling substance between the teeth. Dut. schrantsen. Dr. Johnson says, the Scots retain it. So do the peoi^le in the North of England. ScRA>xHUM, thin wafery gingerbread ; so called from the sound when eaten — scranched. ScRANNY, thin, meagre. Su.-Got. shrinn, macer, gracilis. Dan. skrantcn, weak, sickly, infirm. ScRAT, ScRAUT, V. to scratch. Anglo-Norman, escrat Swed. Iratsa. — Scrat, s. a scratch — the itch. Welsh, crach, scabies ; and Ir. scraw, scurf, seem allied. ScRAT, an hermaphrodite. Sax. scritta. V. Todd's John. Screed, a rent or tear — a shred or fragment. Sax. screade. f SEA-F 116 Teut. schroode. — Screed, is also used for a border ; as, a cap-screed. Scribe, to write. Lat. scribere. — Scribe-of-a-pen, a letter. Scrimmage, a battle, an argument, an overthrow — a skir- mish. The word was formerly written skaramouche. Scrimp, v. to spare, to scant. Teut. krimpen, contrahere. — ScuiMP, a. short, scanty, little. ScROG, a stunted bush, or shrub. Sax. scrob, frntex. — Scrog- GY, full of old stunted trees or bushes. Scrounge, or Scruxge, to crowd, to squeeze. See Skreenge. ScRows, the small shrimp-like insect found in fresh-water pools, ScRUDGE, V. to crowd thickly together, to squeeze. — Scrudge, s. a crowd, a squeeze. Scruff, scurf. A transposition of letters very common. ScRUNTY, short, meagre, stunted. See Scranny. ScuDDicK, the lowest measure of value. Perhape from sceah sceata, a small coin among the Saxons ; or from some other denomination of money. Scuff, the hinder part of the neck. V. Wilb. skuff. ScuG, to hide, to shade, to lurk. See Skug. ScuiLL, the ordinary and ancient pronunciation of school. " I send my sones to Pareis to the nciiiUis I trust in God that thay sail be ne fuillis." Lyndsai/'s Three EstaitU. Scum, to strike a person on the mouth. A low word. ScuMFiSH, to smother, to suffocate with smoke. Wood em- bers, the snuffing of a candle, sulphur, &c., have scumfish- ing effluvia in close rooms. Ital, scoiifiggere, to discomfit. Scunner, to nauseate, to feel disgust, to loathe — to shy, as a horse in harness. It is also applied, figuratively, to a man whose courage is not at " the sticking place" — who shrinks through fear. Sax. scitnian, to fear, to abhor, to shun. Scurf, or Salmon-scurf, salmon trout. Tees, Wear, &c. Scurry, unthriving ; applied to trees. Sea-fret, a wet mist, or haze proceeding from the sea inland. 116 SEAM Seam. The seams, or strata, of coal, are not perfectly hori- zontal, but have a considerable inclination, generally rising from the north-east to the south-west. From the pieces of coal and cinders which have been discovered in digging up the ruins of several Roman stations in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, it is almost certain that the Romans were acquainted with the article of coal, though scholars may dispute about the name by which it was known to them. Sear, s. autumn — the time of the drying and ^vithering of leaves. Sax. searian, to nip, or dry. — Seak, a. dry, of a yellow hue ; ojpposed to green. " I have liv'd long enough ; my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf." — Macbeth. Dr. Johnson and some other of the commentators object to wai/ of life, and wish to substitute May ; but I must confess that I am not convinced by their arguments. — The May of life cannot fall into the sear. Dr. Johnson and others were far too fond of altering Shakspeare, just because they thought what ih^ did not understand must be wrong. Seave, a rush. — Seavy, overgrown with rushes. " Sem>i/ ground." Hexhamshire. Seck, the Northern word for a sack. " A seek of flour." Seck, Seek, provincial pronunciations of such. See Sick. Secket, a term of contempt to a child. See Segkite, or Sagkite. Seed, saw. Universal among the vulgar. " Aw seed it." Seedy, poor, distressed, without money. Seeing-glass, a mirror, or loolmg-glass. Isl. sibnargler, speculum. The term often occurs in old inventories of household furniture. Seek, sick. Sax. seoc. Old Eng. sclc, as used by Chaucer. " The holy blissful martyr for to seke, That him hath holpen when that they were selte." Chaucer,— Prologue to Cant. Tales. SEMP 117 Seekening, sickening, the period of confinmeut at child-birth. Seer, several, divers. Su.-Got. saer, an adverb denoting separation. Ihre. " They are gone seer ways." Seer, sure, certain. See-saw, a sort of swing — from its reciprocating motion. Fr. ci-(;a. V. Brand's Pop Antiq., Vol, II., p. 304. Seestah, Seestow, seest thou. Also so pronounced in Aber- deenshire. " Seestow this peple, How bisie thai hen."— Piers Plowman. Seg, a sedge ; according to the Saxon form — secg. " Segge, or star. Carix." Prompt. Parv. Seg, Segg, a bull castrated when full grown. V. Jamieson. Seg, v. to hang heavily down ; as, the sacking of a bedstead when it becomes slack, is said to seg. Segger's-clay, a name given by miners in the county of Durham, to a kind of clay lying immediately over a seam of coal. It falls into powder when exposed to the air, and is used to make fire-bricks. Can it also be employed for filtering, as by sugar boilers, who force their liquor through a stratum of clay to separate impurities ? If so, it is pro- bably from seiger. Germ, a strainer or filterer. Segging, the heavy laborious walking of a person of unwieldy corpulence. " What a segging gait he has." Segkite, or Sagkite, a term applied to a young person who is overgrown and not easily satisfied with food. From seg and kite. Seiter, thin. When a piece of cloth is worn so thin as to be nearly in holes, it is said to be all in a seiter, Sele, a marshy water course, a stream creeping through reeds and rushes. Sell, pronoun, self — used in compounds of niysell, hissell, her- sell, yoursell. Plural sells, for selves. Semmant, soft, slender, weak, thin, supple, pliant, active. Semple, ordinary, vulgar — simple; api)lied to a person of ignoble birth. " Gentle and semple.'" — high and low. 118 SEN Sen, Sin, Syne, since. V. Jam. scti. — Sex-syne, Sin-syne, Bince then. " It's lang syne sen he left us. " Bot ladie Sensualitie Semyne has gydit this countrie." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Seng, shelter ; as the seng of a hedge. Dan. seng, a bed. Sess-pool, an excavation in the ground for receiving foul water. I do not find the word in any Dictionary, though it is in use by architects. V. Laing's Custom House Plans. Sus-pool occurs in Forster on Atmospheric Pho'nomena. — Perhaps it is sous-pool — pool below the surface ; or it may havs been adopted from Lat. cedo, cessi, &c., to settle down. See Soss. Set, disposal. " She has made a pretty set of hersell." Set, a permanent deflection, or settling of a railway or ma- chinery. Set, to propel, to push forward ; as setting a keel. Also, to accompany ; as in a common expression — " Set me a bit on the road." Bit, however, is not more misapplied in the North than it is in some parts of the South. Set-down, a powerful rebuke, or reprehension. V. Todd's Johnson. Set-out, a term applied to a corf of coals deficient in the quantity stipulated to be sent to bank. When a corf is set out, it is forfeited as a penalty for negligence or attempt to defraud. Sets-ye-weel. It becomes you well ; said tauntingly or ironically. Setten, the old participle of set, is still used colloquially by the common people ; and so are kitten, letten, piitten, and many others. Setten-on, short in growth, ill thriven ; said of feeble, dimi- nutive children. The term is also applied to what is slightly burnt in a pan. Settle, a seat, or bench stool ; but more generally a long wooden bench with a high back, part of the furniture of ^& ft- SHAF 119 ancient halls, and still frequently to be found in old houses in the country. Sax. setel, setl, sedes, sella. Our Saxon ancestors had their high settle, or king's settle ; the bishop's settle, or see ; the ceap settle, or tradesman's bench or booth ; and the dom settle, or court of justice. In their Psalter, published by Spelman, in 1640, thrymsetle is used for our ^^ seat" of the scornful. Set-to, an argument, a strong contest, a warm debate. Set-up, a verb expressive of contempt for a person, assuming a rank, or receiving a distinction, which is viewed as un- suitable to his or her station or merit. " She rides in a coach — set her iq?, indeed !" V. Jam. Supp. Seugh, a wet ditch ; such as that out of which the contents of a sod dike have been cut — any watery or boggy place — a sough. V. Jamieson, seuch. Shab-off, Shab-away, to sneak away. Germ, schaben, to scrape off ; and by some gradations of meaning used with the preposition and in the imperative mood, schab ah, sneak away. Shab-eag, a mean person. — Shag-rag, is identical. Shack, Shak, to shed, or shahe ; as corn in harvest time. Shack-fork, Shak-fork, a pitch-fork — a shake-fork. Shackle, a moveable iron hoop, fixed to the extremity of the plough beam by a loose bolt and screw. The team of oxen or horses to draw the ploUgh is yoked to the shackle. Teut. schaechel. Shackle, the wrist. Sc. shacMe-bone, the wrist bone. Shaffle, to move with an awkward or irregular gait ; to hobble. A corruption of shuffle. To " mack a bad shaffle ont," is to do a thing clumsily. Shag-hat, a hat made very long in the down ; much worn by pitmen and keelmen in the environs of Newcastle. Shaft, the pit, or perpendicular entrance to a coal mine. There are commonly two shafts to every large colliery, the second being required for the purpose of ventilation. The shaft by which the air enters the mine, called the downcast 120 SIIAK shaft, is that by which the men descend to their work, and by which the coals are drawn up. At the Ijottom of the other, called the upcast shaft, a large fire is somestimes kept burning, though more frecjuently there is a furnace at its mouth, with a high chimney, to promote a current of air. Shakes, not much worth. " They are no great shakes" — little can be said in commendation of them. Shale, v. to peel, to shell. Sax. ascealian, ascilian. See Shill. Shale, s. alum ore, — any other loose substance from a mine or quarry. The characteristic is the slaty, or laminated appearance. V. Tooke, Vol. II., p. 233. Shally-wally, a sign of contempt — shallow brained. Sham, shame. Sax. sceam. — Shamfaced, bashful — shamefacecl. Sax. scamfcest. " Of hunting and of shamefast chastitie-" Chaucer, — The Knight's Tale. " But rather would I wish the ground to gape for me below. Or God himself with thunder dint to hell my soul to throw, O Virtue ! ere I thee refuse, or shamefastmss iorsake." Phear. and Twyne, Virgil, B. iv. Sham-a-sterne, a vulgar phrase, equivalent to not one. This may possibly serve to explain an obscure and difficult pass- age in the fine old heroic ballad of C7iep_y Chase, Fit. 2. " Thorowe ryche male and myne-ye-ple Many sterne the stroke downe streght." Which may be read, — Mr. Lambe says — " they struck down straight mani/ a one, through rich coat of mail and many folds." Sterne, here, seems to be in the sense of stour — store, collective numbers. See Tooke's curious dis- quisition on these words, Vol. II., p. 73 and 185. Or Sterne may be parenthetical. " Many (sterne) they," &c. Shandy, wild, frolicksome. Hence Tristram Shandy. V. Suffolk Words, shanntf. Shangy, Coally-shanky, Culley-shangy, a row, a tumult, a riot. V. Jam. Supp. shangie. SHAR 121 Shank, the projecting point of a hill— joining it with the plain. Shanks, the legs. — Shank's-nagy, or Shanky's-nagy, the feet — " Adam's ten-toed machine" — if I may quote the term. " And ay until the day he died, He rade on good sJtanhs na• broke." Shak.,— Hamlet, Act IV., Sc. 7. Slocken, to slake, to quench. Su.-Got. slockna, extinguere. Isl. slolca. Old Eng. slokkyn. " To slocken your thirst." See quotation to Lowe. Slogan, or Slughorn, the war-cry or gathering word of a Border clan — the watch-word by which individuals of the same party recognized each other, either amidst the dark- ness of night, or in the confusion of battle. Gael, sluagh- ghairm, the signal for battle among the Highland clans. Sax. sla, slag, bellicum, an alarum to war, a warning or sig- nal to battle. " Our slogan ia their lyke-wake dirge Our moat, the grave where they shall lie." Lay of the Last Miiistrel. The ancient Britons had their war-song, intituled Arymes Prydain, or the armed confederacy of Britain, which may be seen in the Cambrian Register. Taci- tus mentions the chaunters in the army who excited the soldiers to exert themselves, setting forth as examples the glorious deeds of renowned heroes. The Ubooboo Cean- nan, or yell of the Irish, became proverbial. Mottoes are supposed to have been originally the war cries or slogan of the family or faction ; but this opinion is not confirmed by the earliest knovra instances of their employment, and among the Scotch clans, so far back as we can trace their SMAC 1S9 history, the slogan seems to have been quite distinct from the motto of the chief — being generally either a shout of his name, or of the usual place of rendezvous. Certain it is, however, that after the change of manners, several fami- lies in Northumberland converted their slogans into mot- toes to their arms. Sloggering, loose, untidy, slovenly ; especially in the under garments. Swed. slushig, slovenly. Sloom, Sloum, a gentle sleep, or slumber. Teut. sluymen^ leviter dormire. Sax. slumerian, to slumber. Sloppy, loose, wide. Sax. slopen, laxus ; from to-slupan. Slore, dirt, sump. Sax. slog, a slough. Teut. slorig, nasty. Slorp, to make a noise when supping with a spoon, to swal- low ungracefully. Teut. slorpen, sorbere. Isl. slurla, deglutire. Dan. slurker, to swallow. Slot, v. to fasten by a bolt. " Slot the door." T«ut. sluy- ten. Swed. sluta, to shut, to close. Dan. slutte. Germ. schliessen. Slot, 5. a small bolt or sliding bar. Teut. *^^, sera. Germ. schloss, a bolt. Sludder, Sluther, to eat in a slovenly or sluttish manner. Sludderment, Slutherment, dirt, filth, nastiness. Slump, to slip or fall into a wet or miry place. V. Jam. Supp. Slunken, having a lank and scraggy appearance. This is the Danish word retained — slunken, thin, lean, slender. Slush, any thing plashy, wet, or muddy ; but most com- monly applied to snow in a state of liquefaction. Su.- Got. slash, humor quincunque sordidus, seems the root. Dan. slud, sleet, is allied. Slush, a reproachful term for a dirty person — a greedy eater. In the latter sense it seems allied to Dan. slughals^ a glut- ton. Slushy, muddy, wet, or plashy. Smack, v, to kiss with a noise. — Smack, s. a loud kiss ; such /. 140 SMA'-C as was giTen at the ludicrous wedding of Catherine and Petruchio. " He took the bride about the neck ; And kiss'd her lips with such a clamorous smack That, at the parting, all the church did echo." Sfiak.,— Taming of the Shrew. The ceremony of saluting a bride at the altar, imme- diately after the i^erformance of the marriage service — a very ancient custom — has not yet fallen into disuse. There are two sources whence to derive the word stnacJc. Dr. Johnson says, Sax. smceccan j which no doubt is the origin of Germ. schmeicJieln, to coax ; but this seems too gentle a procedure. It is rather, a friend remarks, the German mode of doing the thing with a schmach — gout, relish, gusto ; and hence their schmatzen, which is to make a noise with the mouth in eating or kissing, when doing either with a relish. Sma'-co'-fizzer, & fizzing singing-hinny full of currants — figu- ratively, small coals. See Singin-hinnie. Small, not grown up. In our Northern phraseology, a small family means a family of young children, however numerous. Smally, little, puny. " A smally bairn." Isl. smalig. Smartle, to waste, or melt away. Su.-Got. smaelta, to melt. Smash. «. to crush, to break in pieces, to shiver. — Smash, s. a crush, the state of being shivered, atoms. Gael, smuais, broken in shivers. Smash, a kind of oath among the pitmen. Nothing ener- getic can be said without it. Indeed, it is the most strik- ing characteristic of their uncouth phraseology — and natu- ral enough considering their liableness to be smashed. Smash, to pass bad money. Smasher, a paper of counterfeit coin. Smasher, a small standing pie, or raised tartlet ; generally made of gooseberries. — Newcastle. This word almost means any thing larger than another of the same sort. It is like- wise a cant name for a pitman ; in which I am told by an / SMOC 141 ingenious friend, we are to seek for the etymology of the word ; a smasher being originally such a tart as a pitman could smash or eat up at a mouthful ! But it is, I think, more likely from Germ, schmausen, to feast — schmauser, a feaster. As great quantity and feasting are in a pitman's glossary of taste quite synonymous, a smasher signifies necessarily something A?y, just as in the English idea of prettiness always including plumpness, the French joli becomes in English jolli/. Smatch. a slightly-unpleasant savour, " a twang." " I had only sweetened their lips, and left them a smatch of some honey in their mouth." — Ousman, Part ii., p. 157. Smeeth, to smooth. It is the ancient Saxon form of the word. Smelt, the fry of the salmon ; usually pronounced smout. Sax. smelt, a smelt. Sardina jiiscis. Lye. See Sparling. Smiddy, a blacksmith's shop — a smithy. Sax. smiththa, fabri officina. Sw. smedia. Germ, schimdte. Smiddy-gum, the refuse of the smith's shop, the fragments struck oiF from the hot iron by the ha.mmer. Smirk, Smirkle, to smile pleasantly, to laugh in the sleeve or secretly, but not satirically. Sax. smercian, subridere. Smit, Smittle, v. to infect. Sax. smittan. Dan. smiite. — Smit, Smittle, s. infection. — Smittle, Smittlish, a. infec- tious, contagious. Dan. smitsom. Teut. smettelick. Smock, the under linen of a female. Sax. 5»ioc. A good old word, though in the index cxpurgatorius of fashionable delicacy. In former days, gifts of land for the singular purpose of purchasing smocks for Nuns were not uncom- mon. The Nuns of the Priory of Saint Bartholomew in Newcastle, about the time of King John, obtained a grant of this sort from Marmaduke de Tweng and Margaret his wife. Among the presents to Queen Elizabeth, we find " a smock of fine Holland, and the bodies and sleeves wrought all over with black silk." As remarked by Fos- broke, this may appear to modern ideas an odd kind of 142 SMOC present ; but a shirt, partly gilt, is mentioned by Bede as a present sent by the Pope to Edwin, an Anglo-Saxon king ; and Joinville observes, that shirts were presented to kings, as the first token of affection, because worn nearest to the body. Smock-race, a race run by females for a smock. These races were frequent in my recollection among the young country wenches in the North. The prize, a fine Holland chemise, was usually decorated with ribbons. The sport is still continued at Newburn, a village near Newcastle, on As- cension-day. Smoor, to smother, to suffocate. Sax. smoran. Teut. smoo- ren. Common in Lancashire and Westmorland Mr. Todd says. It may be added, in Northumberland and Durham also. " Als I pray to the rude That Martin Luther, that fals loun Black BuUinger, and Melancthoun, Had bene stnorde in their cude." Lyndsay's Tliree Estaitis. SouTHERLicK, of a dusky complexion. A word used by Chaucer. Smouch, to salute. An old word. V. Todd's Johnson. Smudge, v. to laugh in a clandestine or concealed manner. Ger. schmimzcln, to laugh in one's sleeve. Smudge, v. to burn without a flame, or any appeai'ance of fire, except smoke. — Smudge or Smush, s. a sulphureous smell occasioned by smoke and dust — close suffocating air. Germ, schmutz, smut, dirt. Snaffle, to pilfer. " Ye snaffled that fra Meg." Snag, v. to hew or cut roughly Avith an axe. For etymology, see Todd's Johnson. I am informed that the trees drifted down by the Mississippi are classified as snags, mags, plan- ters, and sawyers. Snag, s. the part left on the tree after a branch is cut off. Snake-stones, petrified shell fish or ammonites, resembling snakes coiled up, without heads, for which Whitby has long SNED 143 been celebrated. They were supposed to have been real snakes ; and the want of heads was no valid objection to the hyijothesis, since monkish tradition alleged, that the whole race of serpents, by which the territory of Lady Hilda had been infested, were at once decapitated and pe- trified, through that good saint's prayers. V. Young's Geology of the Yorkshire Coast, p. 245 & seq. and the plates there referred to. " They told how, in their convent cell, A Saxon princess once did dwell. The lovely Edelfled ; And how, of thousand unakes, each one Was changed into a coil of stone, When holy Hilda prayed."— ,Sco«'s Marmion. Snap, a small round cake of brittle gingerbread — liable to be snapped. Snap-apple, or Snack-apple, a kind of play. See Halle- e'en. Snape, to chide, to reprimand. IsL sneipa, contumelia affi- cere. V. Todd's John, sneap. Snarl, v. to ensnare ; as to snarl hares. — Snarl, s. the snare itself, made of wire. " Snaryn or snarlyn, illaqueo." Prompt. Parv. Snarle, s. a hard knot. Snathe, to prune, to lop. Sax. snithan, to cut. Swed. snida, to cut or carve in wood. See Sned. Snaw, snow. Pure Saxon. — Snaw-broth, melted snow. Sneck, s. the latch or fastening of a door or gate. It is also used as a verb — to sneck the door, being to fasten it by a latch. Teufc. snacken, captare. V. Ray. See 9th acceptation of Catch, in Todd's Johnson. Sneck-drawn, narrow-minded, covetous. V. Jam. sneck- drawer. Sned, v. to lop, to cut. " To sned sticks." Apparently the same as Snathe. Dut. sneeden, Teut, sniiden, and Germ. schneiden, cognate. Sned, 5. the long shank or handle of a scythe. Sax. snced.— To Sned is a Hartlepool word for to catch. A boy fishing 144 SNEL at the Pier-end, exclaimed " Eh ! aw've snedded twee at a band :" i. e. I have caught two fish on one line. Snell, sharp, keen, piercing ; as a snell air. Teut. snel, acer- Ital. snello, brisk. " December fell, baith sharp and snell" " Sa hard anoythaim then assayit, Off hungir, cauld, with schowris snell That nane that levys can weill it tell."— 37ie Bruce. Sneul, a pitiful, sneaking, crow-trodden fellow. Sneulls, the internal lining of a sheep's nostrils. Snew, snowed. " It stiew all day." It is the old preterite, as used by Chaucer and other ancient writers. " It snewed in his house of mete and drinke Of all deintees that men coud of thinke." Cliaucer, — Franklein's Prologue. Sneeze-horn, or Sneesh-horn, a common sort of snuff-box, made of the tip of a cow's horn. Snifter, to snuff up the nose, to sniff. Su.-Got. sni/fsta. Snig, an eel. Hence, to sniggle, to fish for eels. Snippy, parsimonious, niggardly. Teut. snippen, resecare. Snirle, an iron instrument for holding a bull by the gristle of the nose. Snirt, v. to laugh suddenly and involuntarily. — Snirt, 5. a suppressed laugh. V. Jam. Supp. Snithe, sharp, piercing, cutting ; applied to the wind. Sax. snithan, secare. See Snell. Snivt, Sneavel, to speak through the nose, to sniff — to snuffle. Su.-Got. snyfsta. V. Ihre. Snivy, mean, covetous. Identical Avith Snippy. Snock-snarled, entangled, much twisted, curled up like hard twined worsted. Germ, knilpfen, a fastening, and knorr, a knot — the fastening knotted. Snod, smooth, neat, even, trimmed. Sax. snidan, to cut. Applied to persons, it means sly, cunning, demure. " The s7iod fellow would kiss the lass if he could." Snoke, to smell, to pry about curiously, to look closely at anything, to ferret. Swed. snola, insidios^ scrutari, Se- SODD 146 reiiius. — JSnoka i hear vrd, to thrust one's nose into every corner. Widegren. Snood, or Snudge, a fillet, a ribbon. Sax, snod, vitta. Welsh, ysnoden. Cornish, snod. Snort, to laugh outright. — Snorting, laughing out. Snot, Snotty, a contemptuous epithet for an insignificant fel- low — a snot, mucus nasi. " What rich folks put in their pocket, and poor folks throw to the door." — North, riddle. Snot, used by the common people to designate the burnt wick of a candle — the snuff. Snotter, v. to snivel, to sob or cry. Sax. snytan. — Snotter, s. mucus nasi. Sax. snote. Tuet. snot. Snudge, a mean, sordid, and avaricious fellow. Soak, or Soke, the same privilege as Sucken, which see. Sax. soc. V. Grose, soke. Soak, a small spot of marshy ground in which a spring rises, or which is kept moist during the winter by the action of water. Also used in Herefordshire. SoAM, a trace used in ploughing, generally of iron. It oc- curs in the inscription at Houghhead, in Roxburghshire, recording Habbie Hall's defence of his land against the Kerrs, quoted by Sir Walter Scott in his introduction to the Minstrelsy. Soani is also the name of a short rope by which the tram in a colliery is drawn. SoBBLE, to thrash, to beat. Probably a contraction of disable. It is a very common word among the pitmen. " Aw'U sohble thy body." Sock, a plough-share. Fr. soc. In Palsgrave, " socke of a plough" is defined " soc de la cherue." See, also, Cotgrave, soc d'unc charrue. See a good article upon the word in Jamieson. SoDDY, Soddent, heavy, sad. Perhaps from sodden, the part. of seethe, boiled down, all the goodness taken out. — Sod- den-wheat, furmety, or, as it ought to be sj^elt, frumertj/ ; a preparation of newly reaped corn, which, rcboiled with vol. II. u 146 SODS milk, and a little sweetened, makes a pleasant and nutri- tive meal. Sods, a primitive saddle, used among countrymen — made of coarse cloth, or skin, stuffed with straw. Sax. seod (pi. seodas) sacculus. Sc. soddis, sodds. Soft, moist, mild, open ; as applied to the weather. " A soft day" — a mild damp day, threatening rain. " A softly day." — Westmoreland. Soft, weak, foolish, innocent. Soil, the fry of the coal-fish, or colesay ; appearing in the river Tyne, at North Shields, about June. " In a short time they increase to about five inches in length, when they are called liallan, and are caught near the shore in considerable numbers, with a small hook baited with a muscle. By September they increase to about a foot in length, and are then called poodlers. — Rambles in North., p. 23. Solar, Soller, an upper room. An old word. See Glossary of provincial words used in Herefordshire. Sole, the bottom of a waggon. Sole, the surface of meadow ground ; if it be smooth and level it is said to have a good sole. Solid, steady and serious. Used also in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Some, a collective termination. " The tweeso/rte" — " the three5(M»c." SoNCT, or Sonsy, pleasant, agreeable, engaging ; as applied to a person's looks. It may, as a literary friend supposes, be referred to Ital. concio ; though it is, perhaps, merely a corruption of Fr. sans souci. SoNCY, Sonsy, plump, fat, thriving — also lucky. " A so7isi/ lass," Probably from Tuet. sanse, increase, prosperity. Todd. " But I've twa sonsy lasses, young and fair." Romsay. " Better be sonsy than soon up."— i\". C. Prov. SOTT 147 SooM, the Northumbrian pronunciation of swim. — Soomer, a swimmer. " A top soomer.''^ Soop, our Northern word for sweep. Su.-Got. sopa. SooPLE, s. the heavy end of a flail, the part which strikes the corn. Sooth-fast, true. " Myght he not make liis grayne to growe and sede AVithin her brest, that was both mayd and wyfe Wherof is made the sooth-fast bread of lyfe." Lydgate. " Tharfor I wald fayne set my will Giff my wyt mycht suffice thartill To put in wryt a suthfast story." — "Die Bruce. Sort, a lot, a parcel, a number. " A sort of old wives." V. Jam. Supp. Archdeacon Nares is mistaken in thinking that the word is out of use. " Now vengeance light on all the sort, that better shold have kept it." — Gamtner Gurton's Needle, Act I., Sc. 3. " But like a sort of sheep dispersed farre." Spenser, — Fairie Queene. " They can see a sort of traitors here." SliaJc, — King Richard III. " Gif that be trewe, the feind resave the sort." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Soss, V. to lap like a dog. — Soss, s. a call of dogs to their meat. " Soss, houndis mete." Prompt. Parv. Soss, s. a heavy, clumsy fall ; the sound caused by the act of falling. See Souse. Dr. Jamieson refers to Ir. and Gael. sios, down, downwards. V. Supp. Ital. scossa, seems al- lied. " Cham faine abrode to dyg and delve in water, myre and claye Sossing and possing in the durte styll from daye to daye." Gammer Gurton's Needle, Act I., Sc. 4. Soss, s. puddle, any thing foul or muddy. " The beer's as thick as soss." V. Gael. Diet, sos ; and Jam. soss. SoTTEB, to boil slowly, to simmer. Sax. seothan. 148 SOUG Sough, v. to sigh, as the wind. " No preia of Grekis routis maid agast Ilka sowch of wynd, and every quhisper now." Douglas' Mneid. Souk, the Northern form of suck. — Souring, sucking. V. Crav. Gloss. SouPLE, elastic — supple. Fr. souple. " He's as souple as an eel." — SouPLEJACK, a cane. SouR-DOCKEN, common sorrel. Rumex acetosa. Welsh, suran. SouR-MiLK, butter niilk. ^weA. sur miolk . Widegren. Souse, v. to fall upon, to fall with violence. This common North country word is in Todd's Johnson, derived from Fr. sous, or dessous, down. With deference, I submit that it comes from siis, the old French word for above or upon, for which they now use sur, though still retained in some phrases ; as courir sus a quel qii'un, to fall upon one. The modern proposition dessus, upon or above, is only a com- pound of de and the old sus. Mr. Todd, I observe, in his 2d. edition, prefers this etymology. See Diet, de I'Acad. sub voce sus ; and that is derived, perhaps, from Greek o-x? , contracted from e-o'oj, impetus ; at least this seems as likely as Murray's " sursum, susum, sus." Souse, s, a great thumj), a severe fall, a blow. Souse, s. the ear ; properly that of a pig. Hence, Souse, a dish composed of pig's ears, &c. fried. Sow, by metonymy, an inelegant female, a dirty wench. The word in this reproachful and detestable sense, is much too common. The Danes have a corresponding term — en slciden soe, a nasty, greasy, stinking jade. Wollf. Sowings, a dish made by jjouring boiling water upon oat- meal seeds, by which a fine meal is extracted, and then boiled. Perhaps, from sodden, the particijile of seethe, to boil down. Sodden wheat is frumerty. Sow-KiLL, a kiln for burning lime, made by heaping up the limestones and coals, and covering them with sods, in dis- tinction from a regular built kiln. SPAN 149 SowTHER, V. to solder. Fr. soiuler. — Sowther, s, solder, used by plumbers, braziers, &c. Spack, or Spak, the ancient preterite of spcal ; still in com- mon use in the North. Spait, Spate, Speat, or Spyet, a great fall of rain, a torrent, a spout. Sax. speyte, sipho, siphon. Teut. spuyte. Gael. speid, a great flood, seems allied. Spale, Spail, Sptel, Spell, a chipping of wood, or splinter. Su.-Got. spiaell, segmentum. Swed. spjcde, a pale, a splint. Old Eng. spall, a chip. Spaxcel, a fetter, especially a rope to tie a cow's hinder legs. Spang, a measure by the hand expanded — manus expansa. Spang, v. to leap with elastic force, to spring. Germ, span- nen, to extend. — Spang, s. a leap, a bound, a jump. Spang-axd-purley-q, a mode resorted to by boys, of mea- suring distances ; particularly at the game of marbles. — It means a space and something more pour le queue — the flourish a Frenchman makes with his pen at the end of a paragraph. Spanghew, to throw with violence. The word is sometimes used to express a barbarous operation on the toad, a reptile to which rustics have a great antipathy. In performing it they rest one-half of a long wooden bar on a large step- ping stone, or over a cart, placing the toad at its extre- mity. A person, with a club, then strikes the unsupported end with all his force. The poor animal, in consequence, is driven into the air to an immense height ; and, falling to the ground, is bruised to a jelly. Toads, as observed by Dr. Willan, may perhaps do some slight injury in fields or gardens, but the above cruel practice is directed not so much against the animal as against its supposed inmate ; for the clowns imagine, that by the process they shall give a coup de grace to a witch. A similar diversion, called filipping the toad, appears to be common with boys in War- wickshire and the adjoining counties. V. Boswell's Shak. 160 SPAN Vol. XVII., p. 38. The same cruel sport prevails in Scotland, See Jam. Snpp. spang-tade. Spanker, a tall active young person, one who walks with quickness and elasticity. Dan. spanke, a dignified gait ; or, as it is defined in Bay's Lexicon, " to walk an Aid er- man's pace." Spanker-eel, the lamprey. Spar, to dispute angrily. Germ, sperren, to resist, to op- pose. Spar, Spare, to shut, to close. A very common word in the North. Sax. sparran, to bar. Dan. sperre. Germ, sperren. When the stede is stolen, sparre the stable A\xt.— Helton. " Orgayn unto the yatis he yade. But they war sperred ferly fast With lokkes." — Yewain and Gawin. " Lyke as the byrde within the cage inclosed The dore unsparred, his foe, the hawke, without, 'Twixt death and prison pitiously oppressed." — Wyat. Spar, A-spar, in a state of opposition. To set the legs a-spar, to place them like the spars in a roof A. "I thought you were going to America, Thomas ?" " Aye, Sir, but our wife set her legs a-spar, and nebody could mack her budge." Spark, to splash, to make foul with mud. " I've spark' d my boots." Elsewhere to sparkle. Sparling, the smelt of the Thames, but not so of the Tyne ; occasionally caught in the latter river. Sahno eperlanus. Pennant derives it from French eperlan ; but which is not satisfactory to Dr. Jamieson. Its Southern name is said to have been adopted from the peculiar scent of the fish, not unlike cucumber — smell it. Its German name is stinck- fisch. See Smelt. Spart, a dwarf rush ; common on the Northern moors and wastes. Stipa tenacissima. Linnaeus. The Spaniards, who make it into ropes, call it esparto. Perhaps it is de. rived from Gr. a-Trei^roi. Eurip. Phoen., or Lat. spartum. Sparty-ground, ground wet, and with rushes here and there — such as are seen in sour pastures. SPER 161 Spave, Speave, to castrate, to spay ; properly confined to the taking out of the ovaria from female animals. Lat. spadare. Germ, spadden. Welsh, dispaddu. V. Gael. Diet, spoth. Spean, Spaen, or Spane, to wean a child, to dej)rive a crea- ture of its mother's milk. Germ, spenen. Young corn is said to be speancd, when the saccharine, milky juice of its grain is exhausted, and it is obliged to depend on the nu- triment collected by its own roots. Speat-of-wet, a very heavy rain. See Spait. Speel, Speil, to climb, to clamber. Sc. spele, speil. " This bird I set upon ane branche me by Bot scho began to speill richt spedilye." Lyndsay's Complaynt of the Faplngo. Spelder, to spell. Very common in Yorkshire. Spelk, a small splinter, a thatching stick. Sax. spelc. Teut. spalcke. Swed. spjMka. Spelk, a little, slender creature; used as a term of reproach. The word is often applied contemptuously to a puny, ac- tive child — a mere splinter. Spell-and-ore, a game. — Durham. In Yorkshire it is Spell- AND-NURR, or knur ; the ore, or wooden ball, hav- ing been, perhaps, originally the knurl, or knot of a tree. The spell is the instrument in which the ore is placed. See Trippit-and-coit. Spence, an inner ajjartment, a country parlour. Meaning a larder, or store-room, — this is a very old word ; from Fr. despence. V. Todd's Johnson. " Me thinketli they ben like Jovinian, Fat as a whale, and walken as a swan ; AI vinolent as hotel in the spence." Chaiccer, — Tlie Sompnoure's Tale. Spere, v. to ask, to enquire, to search. Sax. spyrian, investi- gare. Swed, spbrja, to ask, to question. Isl. spyria, in- vestigare, quserere. " This terme \_spere'\ is far Northerne, and nat usyd in commyn speche." Palsgrave. See Spur, in Hunter's Glossary. 162 SPER Spere, s. a screen across the lower end of a hall ; any parti- tion within the entrance of a room. Spetchel, a stone or spetchel dike is one made of stones laid in horizontal rows with a bed of thin turf between each of them. This fence will stand many years if well built at first. In building it, care should be taken to let each row of stones rest upon the joints of the row below. Spice, gingerbread. Germ, speise, a mixture of different in- gredients. Fide Glossary to the Priory of Finchale vo. species. Spice, dried fruit. Hence, Spice-cake, a cake full of cur- rants ; and Spice-pudding, a plum-pudding. Spiddick-and-fawcett, a wooden instrument used as a sub- stitute for a cock to let out liquors. Spigot-and- faucet. Spile, a peg in a cask of liquor. Germ, spcilcr, a skewer. — Spile-Hole, the receptacle for the same. Spile, to make a foundation in soft or boggy ground ; as, for instance, for a bridge, by driving in spiles ; i. e. piles, or large pieces of timber ; probably from Su.-Got. spiale, lamina lignea. Spilling-the-salt, an ominous accident ; said to presage some future calamity ; particularly, I believe, a domestic feud — if it fall towards a person — but which may be averted by throAving a little of the fallen article over the left shoulder, into the fire. Major Moor asks, if the Latin or Greek classical authors make any mention of it ? Un- questionably. From Festus, we learn that to spill the salt at table was esteemed ominous ; and for the great care with which, on that account, a family salt-cellar was always kept, we have the authority of Horace. Accord- ing to the well-known custom of our ancestors, they for- merly dined at long tables ; in the centre of which was placed a large, and often very magnificent, salt-cellar. It being a mark of distinction, whether persons sate above or below the salt, particular care was taken to place the guests in a situation suitable to their rank. It would seem SPUN 163 that persons of superior station were sometimes placed below the barrier, in order to mortify them, " My proud lady Admits him to her table, marry, ever Beneath the salt, and there he sits the subject Of her contempt and scorn." — Massinger, — City Madam. Spink, a spark of fire or light. Identical with Spunk, which see. Spinny-wye, or Spinnywhy, a game among young persons in Newcastle. V. Brand's Pop. Antiq., Vol. II., p. 805. Spital, Spittle, a corruption of the word hospital, and hav- ing the same signification. Su.-Got. spetal. So. spittle. The late Mr. Gilford endeavoured to distinguish between Spital and Spittle. V. Todd's John. Spittle. Spirt, Splirt, Splurt, to spit out, to eject from the mouth. Splay, to fasten down the edges of a seam — from display, to spread out. Splint or Splent, an inferior coal ; a highly bituminous shale. Sponsible, worthy of credit in the world — responsible. Sprackle, to climb, to clamber. Isl. sprikla, membra con- cutere. Sprag, lively, active, ingenious. Grose. V. Jam. Supp. sprack. Spreckled, streaked, speckled. Su.-Got. spreklot. Spree, sport, merriment, a frolic. Fr. esprit, spirit, vivacity. Sprent, bespattered, splashed with dirt. Sax. sprengatiy spargere. Chaucer uses spreint. " O soden wo, that ever art successour To worldly blis, spreint is with bitternesse, Th' ende of the joye of our worldly labour." The Man of Larce's Tale. Spring, a growth of natural wood. Spunk, a spark, a small fire. Also a piece of wood dipped in brimstone — used as a match. Spunk, mettle, spirit, vivacity ; usedjf?y?wa?««e^ for life. In the North, this is considered a good and very expressive word, though stated in Todd's Johnson to be a low and VOL. II. X 164 SPUN contemptible expression. But see Dr. Jamieson's Sup- plement. Spunky, sparkling, fresh, spirited. So. spunMe. Spurlino, the deep track of a coach or cart wheel. Germ. spur, a rut ; plural, spurcn. Sw. spdr, track, trace. Squab, a rustic seat, a long settle of wood. See Lang-saddle. " In the Task of Cowper, there is a history of the progress of in- vention, to rest our weary or idle limbs : but his ignorance of one stage in the progress, makes it seriously defective, for in his ac- count he has made no mention of the long settle, not unusually called a squab, with which every cottage in this neighbourhood has from time immemorial been furnished." — Pijter on the Dialect of Sheffield. Stacker, to reel, to totter, to stagger. The old form of the word. Swed. stagra. — Stackers, a disease in horses — the staggers. Staddle, the bottom of a corn or hay stack, a mark left in the grass by the long continuance of the hay in bad wea- ther. Sax. stadel, a foundation, or ground work. Isl. studull, pes. Welsh, ystadledd, a continuous state. Stag, a colt, or young horse. V. Jam. staig, stag. Stagnate, to astonish. " I'll stagnate h-er wi' my story." Staid, advanced in years. Local in this sense. Staidlin, a part of a corn stack left standing. Sec Staddle. Stainchils, the door-posts. Stair-head, the landing of a staircase. Staith, often pronounced Steeth, or Steith, a place to lay up and to load coals at — either a storehouse or wharf, as occasion may require. Sax. stath, stathe, ripa, littus, sta- tio navium. The word occurs in a demise from the Prior of Tynemouth, A. D. 1338. Stake-and-rice, Stake-and-yeathee, a sort of wattled fence. See Rice and Yeather. Stalwart, stout, strong, hale, valiant. Sax. stcel-iccorth. Stammer, to stagger, to stumble. Isl. stiimra, collabi. Stanchil, or Stannel-hawk, the Kestril or Windhover ; in- habiting rocks and old buildings. Falco Tinnunculus. Lin. Shakspeare, in the Twelfth Night, calls it stanyel. STAN 155 jTANCHiL, Staneshel, the iron-bar of a window — a stanchion. Stand-for'd, I'll engage, I'll be bound. " Thou art ane limmer, / stand for'd." Lyndsay's TJiree Estaitis. Standstill, a stoppage, a cessation. An inversion of the classical stillstand — Dan. and Dut. stilstand. Swed. stille- stund. Stane, Stahan, St'yan, a stone. Sax. stan, Dan. steen. Germ, stein. Isl. steinn. Sc. stane. " And schot and tumblet on him stanys, Rycht gret and hewy for the nanys." — The Bruce. Stang, v. to shoot with pain ; as in the tooth-ache — to sting. Isl. stanga, pungere. — Stang, s. an acute pain, a sting. Stang, s. a long bar, a wooden pole — a piece of timber adapt- ed for the shaft of a cart or carriage ; or for railing or put- ing across a brook ; or, indeed, for any other purpose re- quiring strength. Dan. stang, a bar, a pole. Su.-Got. and Swed. stang, a pole. Isl. staung, pertica. Sax. steng, vec- tis. Dut. stang, a pole. Ital. stanza, a bar. Sec Steng. " Wallas that stelng tuk up in till his hand." Wallace, B. it, I. 41. " Upon the hed ane with the steing hitt he, Till bayn and brayn he gert in pecis fle." lb., B. a., I. 49. Riding-the-stang, a punishment among the vulgar ; inflict- ed upon fornicators, adulterers, severe husbands, and such persons as follow their occupations during particular festi- vals or holidays, or at prohibited times, when there is a stand or combination among workmen. Offenders of this description are mounted astraddle on a long pole, or stang, supported upon the shoulders of their companions. On this painful and fickle seat, they are borne about the neigh- bourhood backwards, attended by a swarm of children, huzzaing and throwing all manner of filth. It is consi- dered as a mark of the highest reproach ; and the person 166 STAN who has been thus treated, seldom recovers his character in the opinion of his neighbours. When they cannot lay hold of the culprit himself, a boy mounts the stang ; but he is unmolested, though attended with the same tumul- tuous cries, if not with increased shouts of acclamation. The proxy vociferously proclaims, that it is not on his own account that he is thus treated, but on that of another per- son whose crime he names. I have been witness to pro- cessions of this kind myself. School boys are slanged by the other scholars, for breaking, what they call, the rules or orders of the school. The ceremony is also resorted to, when a woman has gained an improper ascendancy over her husband, so as to make him bear every species of in- dignity. In this case, it is called " Riding the stang for a neighbour's wife ;" and a man is placed in the same un- easy situation as before described, so that he may be sup- posed to represent, or to sympathize with his henpecked friend, whose misery he sometimes laments in doggrel rhyme, applicable to the occasion. He is carried through the whole hamlet, with a view of exposing or shaming the viraginous lady, and of thus preventing further outrages on the person of her pitiable partner. This mark of dis- grace may be traced to very remote times. The Goths were wont to erect, what they called Nidstaeng, or the pole of infamy, with the most dire imprecations against the person who was thought to deserve the punishment. He, who was subjected to this dishonour, was called Niding, or the infamous ; being disqualified from ever giving evi- dence in any judicial matter. Eric, Iving of Norway, was compelled to fly from his dominions, so great was the ha- tred against him, for having been the means of inflicting this tremendous stigma on Egill Skallagrim, a celebrated Islandic bard. In Cumberland, it was a constant holiday custom, on Old Christmas Day, to carry every man they could catch, on a stang, and every woman, in a swill, to a public-house, and fine them a pint of beer. STAY 167 Stangey, a common North country name for a tailor. Obvi- ously from the power of the needle. Stank, to sigh, to moan, to gasp for breath. Isl. and Su.- Got. stanha, to pant for breath. Swed. stdnla. Stank, a wet ditch or boggy piece of ground. It is an old English word, in the sense of a pond, or dam of water. Stap, the stave of a tub. " To take a stap out of your bicker," implies, to humble you. Su.-Got. staaf, a stave. Staple, a small shaft of a coal pit, generally connecting two seams. Starring, quick ; as, " he's going at a starking pace." Starn, a star in the heavens. Mce.-Got. staimo. Su.-Got. stierna. Sax., Teut., and Germ, stern. Starne, a portion, used negatively, as, " De'il a stariie" Devil a one. Devil a bit. Starrish, powerful ; as medicine that is too much for the strength of the patient. Germ. Storrisch, rough. Start, the tail, or handle of any thing. Sax. steort, cauda. 7^ Startings, in coal mining are openings between the winning headways (which see) cut through the intervening wall of coal. Statesman, a person possessing a landed estate — whether versed in the arts of government or not. Cumb. and West. See Laird ; with which it is synonymous. Staud, cloyed, saturated, overloaded, fatigued. Properly stalled, surfeited. Some think it is the past participle of stow, to cram — stowed, Staul, Stall, to fill to a loathing, to surfeit. V. Jam. staw. Staup, to lift the feet high, and tread heavily in walking. Grose. V. Jam. Supp. Stavelling, or Stavering, wandering about in an unsteady or uncertain manner ; as in the dark — stumbling. Swed. stappla,, to stumble, to trip, to falter. Stay-leave, according to the custom and understanding of miners, and other persons conversant in coal mines, means a right in the coal owner of having a station, where he 158 STEA may deposit his coals for the purpose of disposing of them to the purchaser. This place of deposit and vend is either at the pit mouth, or, when detached, it is, in the case of land-sale collieries, at some station by a highway ; and in the case of sea-sale collieries, at a staith, trunk, or spout, on some navigable river. Stead, Sted, Stid, a place, a farm house and offices. Sax. sted, stede. Su.-Got. stad, locus, situs. Swed. stalle. It is a common affix to names of places in the North. Stealy-clothes, an ancient game, still played at by boys. The little party divide themselves into two bands, drawing a line as th« boundary of their respective territories ; and at equal distances from this line, deposit the hats, coats, or handkerchiefs of each in a heap. The game commences with a defiance, and then they make mutual incursions, each trying to seize and carry away some article from the other's store ; but if they are unfortunately caught in the attempt, they must not only restore the plunder, but re- main prisoners until one of their own party can make his way to them, and touch them. When all the things of the one party are transferred to the other's head-quarters the game is won. It is an active and even violent re- creation. See SCOTCH-AND-ENGLISH. Steck, a stop, a sticking place. " To take the steck" — to be- come restive. Stee, or Stey, s. a ladder. Sax. stceger, gradus. Su.-Got. stege^ scalae. Dan. stige, a ladder. The word is also used adjectively for, very steep. Chaucer has stei/e, to ascend, and st>/e, with the same meaning, occurs in Palsgrave. " For a schor crag, Ley and hidwouss Raught to the se, doun fra the pass On athyr halff the montane was Swa combrowss, hey, and stay That it was hard to pass that way."— T/i« Bruce. " Sometimes we clamb o'er craggy mountains high. And sometimes stay'd on uglie braes of sand ; They were so stay that wonder was to see." Lady Culross's Dream in Pinkerton's Collection. STID 159 Steek, to fasten, to close. Tout, stecken, clauclere. Sax. sti- ff ean, to inclose. " Steek the heck" — fasten the door. " steek the stable door, when the steed's stowen."— iV^. C. Prov. " Kittle t'coal, and mak t'ingle shine ; Steek t'dere, and keep out t'swine." — Cumb. Steel or Stele, the wooden handle of a rake or pitch-fork. An old word. Steeping, very wet ; applied to a rain which steeps every thing. Steer, a three years old ox. Sax. sti/re, steor. Germ, stier. Steg, a gander. Isl. steggr, the male of birds, as well as of most quadrupeds. The word is applied ironically to a clownish fellow. " A stupid steg" Stell, Stelle, a large open drain in a marsh, a wide gut- ter of water. Dan. steil, steep ? Stell, a fold, or small inclosure for cattle. V. Jam. Supp. Stend, v. to strike, to walk with long strides. " Stawin came steppand in with stendis," Christ Kirk on the Green. Steng, a bar, a pole, a post. The pole of the old Northum- brian " drees" was called a ste7ig. The post on which the notorious William Winter (convicted at Newcastle in 1792) was gibbeted, on Whiskershields common, obtained the name of Winter's steng. Before his execution the place was called Steng Cross, from a cross with a tall shaft. Steng is a pure Saxon word. See Stang. Stent, grass for a season, a right of pasturage — a stint. Stew, a confusion. V. Grose ; and Todd's Johnson. Stick, a stand or combination among workmen ; generally in regard to wages — what is elsewhere called a strike ; cor- responding, with Sax. gcstric, strife, mutiny. Sticky-stack, a game among young people in running up the face or cut part of a hay stack, to try who can put in a stick the highest. Stiddy, Stithy, an anvil — used sometimes, but I think im- ICO STIF properly, for the smith's shop. Isl. stedi, incus. Stithe, is old English. Shakspeare employs the word stithy, in both senses ; and he also uses the verb to stithy, to employ an anvil. Ray has, among his Northern words, stith, strong, hard, which is pure Saxon ; but it is not now in use, that I am aware of, excejit in Scotland. " There was also Marti's devision Th' armorer, and the bowyer, and the smith That forgeth sharpe swerdes on his stith. Chaucer, — The Knighte't Tale. Stiff, wealthy. " He's a rare stiff one" — he is immensely rich. Stilt, the handle of a plough. Sax. stele. V. Somner. Stime, Sttme, the most indistinct, or the faintest form of any object — a glimpse, a whit. " I cannot see a stime." Sax. scima, fulgor. Welsh, ystwn, figure, shape. Sting, to thatch ; as to sting a stack, to cover or thatch a stack with straw or rushes ; — to repair thatch by thrusting portions of straw into the decayed parts, with a sting, or forked instrument for the purpose. Stint, ^. to stop, to cease, to desist. Sax. stintan. " Axe him thyself if thou not trowest me, Or else stint a while and thou shall see." Chaucer, — The Frier's Tale. " And pretty fool, it stinted and said — Aye." Shak., — Romeo and Juliet. Stint, s. a limit, a quantity or allowance of anything. Stirk, Sturk, a yearling ox, or heifer. Sax. sfj/rc, juvencus. See Stot. Stirrup-glass, parting drink taken ■with a friend ; literally, at the door on horseback — similar to the Irish duc-an-dur- ras. The expression may be referred to an old Xorthem custom of the landlord presenting a stirrup-cup to his guests for which no charge was made. Stitches, narrow ridges of land. Stive, strong, muscular. Sax. stife, durus. STOO IGl Stob, a stump, a stake, a post. Teut. stobbe, truncus. Swed. stubbe, the stump of a tree. " Upon ane stub scho lichtit on hir breist ; Theblude ruschit out and scho cryit for ane preist." Lyndsay ,—Complaynt vfthe Paptngo. The gibbet near Ferryhill, a portion of which was stand- ing within my recollection, was constantly called Andrew MilW Stob. Mr. Surtees, who gives a detailed account of the prevailing traditions respecting the tragical catas- trophe which led to the execution of Mills, remarks, that the Stob was in a fair way of being pulled down piecemeal, under the effects of a belief in its efficacy as a charm against ague or tooth-ache. The value attached to any portion of a murderer's gibbet, in incantations, is well known. V. Surtees' Hist, of Durham, Vol. III., p. 281. Stob, metaphorically, an ignorant, stupid fellow. Stob-feathers, the short unfledged feathers that remain on a fowl after it has been plucked. The synonymous terms in Teut. are stoppel-veder, and stock-veder. V. Jamieson Supp. Stodge, to satiate. — Dur. Stomachy, easily offended, resentful — stomachful. Stone-spitchil-dike, a raised earthen dike, faced with stones. Stock, twelve sheaves of corn, ten of them being set up- right, and two, called hoods, or hood-sheaves, placed on the top, to protect them from the wet. Teut. stook, meta, a heap. V. Jam. and Todd's John. Stoop, a post fastened in the earth. Su.-Got. stolpe, ful- crum. Lat. stupa. Sc. stoitp. " A gscie-stoop," — a guide stoop. Stoor, dust in motion. — Stoort, dusty. Sax. styran, tur- bare, movere. Dut. stoorcn, to disturb. — Stoor also means a bustle ; as, all in a stoor, all in a hurry. " Yet up he raise, the treuth to tell ye. And laid about him dints full dour 162 STOO HiH liorsenien they rode sturdilie And stude about him in that stoure." Said of the Redeswire. Stoorey, a mixture of warm beer and oatmeal with sugar — that which is stirred up. V. Jam. Supp. stourum. Stop, to thrust ; e. g. to stop the poker into the fire ; to stop out your een — to put out your eyes. Stoppings, a barrier of plank, brick, or stone, filling up an excavation to give direction to a current of air in a coal mine. Store, estimation, regard, esteem. Dan. stor, great. Storken, to strengthen, to stiffen. Germ, starken, to strengthen. Storm, a fall of snow — a long continuance of frost and snow. — Feeding-storm, such a fall of snow as indicates an ap- proaching storm of long continuance. The Lambing- STORM, and the Pee-wit, or Tuiffit-storm, are also spoken of ; a cover of snow frequently falling at the time. Storm-staid, delayed on a journey by reason of a storm. Stot, to rebound from the ground, to strike any elastic body so as to cause it to rebound. Dut. stuiteii, to bounce, to rebound. — Stotting-ball, a rebounding ball. Stot, a young ox from one to four years old. Su.-Got. stut, juvencus. Dan. stud, an ox. " A Coldingham Roll (1G50) proves that the stotters and its female juvenca were animals of three years old ; and that the stercus and ferrella were applied to those males and females which had only reached two years." — Baine's North Durham, page 111, note Y. Stotjnd, a small portion of time, a moment. Sax. stund- There are many cognates in the Northern languages. Stound, v. to ache, to smart, to be in pain. Isl. stj/n, inge- mescere. — Stound, s. the sensation or first impression of sudden pain, arising from a knock or blow. Stow, to crop, to lop, to cut off. Su.-Got, styfioa, amputare. Stowen, the participle passive oi steal — stolen. Sc. stoicn. STRE 103 Stower, a hedge or other stake ; also an upright bar in the body of an open cart. Su.-Got. 5?oer, palus. In old Latin charters estuarium, estouarium. Strain, to link together ; expressive of the union of the sexes in the canine race. Sax. stiynan, gignere, generare, pro- creare. V. Tooke, Vol. II., p. 289. Stramash, v. to beat, to bang, to break irreparably, to de- stroy. Ital. strammazzare, to fling down vsdth force. Stramash, s. a complete overthrow, with great breakage and confusion. " He made a sad stramash amang the pots and pans." A.-p-p\ie(}i,metaphoricalli/, to a violent party contest, or to the disorder arising in a popular tumult or commo- tion. Dr. Jamieson refers to Fr. estrama(;on, a blow. There is a Latin word strummum, which Du Cange explains to mean a skirmish. Stramp, to tread upon, to trample. Germ, strampfen. Su.- Got. tramjm. V. Wachter ; and Ihre. Stbandt, restive, passionate, and contradictious. Germ. stranden, to run aground — to set the legs a-spar y if I may so translate it. See Spar. Strang, strong. Pure Saxon. Isl. strangr. Sw. streng. Strap, a cluster, a bunch ; as of onions or currants. Strapping, tall. — Strapper, a large man or woman. Stravaiging, Strataging, strolling about ; generally in a bad sense. Isl. stravagare, to wander abroad. Streamers, the Northern lights. See Merry-dancers. Stree, Strea, Strew, provincial pronunciations of straw. Sax. slrea, stre, streow. So. strae. Chaucer writes it stre. " Of stre first there was laied many a lode." nie Kni'jlite's Tale. " Ne how the fire was couched first with stre. And then with drie stickes-cloven a-thre." — lb. Streek, to stretch or expand, to lay out a corpse. Sax. Sax. streccan, extendere. Swed. stracka, to stretch, to extend.— -Streeking-board, a board on which the limbs of a deceased person are stretched out and composed. 164 STRE Streek, to measure corn exactly, by passing a very straight piece of wood, called a streek or strike, over the top of the measure. Su.-Got. strj/ka. Sax. stracan. Germ, streichen. Streeked-measure, exact measure — in opposition to heaped measure. Stretcher, an untruth ; a softer term for a falsehood. Strickle, an instrument used in whetting a scythe — that with which it is streeked, or stroked, and usually attached to the end of its handle or pole. Sax. stracan, stracian, to stroke. This word diifers very little, either in name or use, from its etymon strigil, a rubber or scraper. The use of the strigil has been frequently mistaken ; and in dictionaries the strigil cquisonvm is stated to be a currycomb, though, in fact, it is nothing more than a scraper, and used to remove profiise sweat and moisture. At the jiresent day, in common stables, a piece of an old iron hoop is generally the substitute for the ancient strigil ; though blood horses, after running, are most frequently scraped with a jiiece of smooth flat wood, in shape not unlike a cooper's draw-knife. An excellent account of the form and use of the strigil is to be found in Battley's Antiquitates Ruterpinte, pag. 70 to 83. An en- graving of one is given in La Cabinet de la Bibliot. de Genevieve, Plate 2d., fig. 7 ; and in Jabes Hughes' transla- tion of Suetonius, page 127, London edit., 1717. Striddle, to straddle. — Striddle-legs, astride, cross-legged. Strinkle, to spread by scattering, to besprinkle. Strip, to draw the after milking of a cow. — Strippings, the last part of the milking ; said to be richer than the rest — the strokings or afterings. Stroke, quantity ; as a great stroke of business. Meaning sway or influence, it is an old word. Strons, tenants who are bound to assist the lord in hunting, and turning the red deer on the tops of the mountains to the forest. Nicohon and Burns' JVcst. and Cumb. Strounge, harsh, surly, morose. V. Jamieson. STY 165 StrUnt, a sullen fit. To take the strunts, to be under the in- fluence of a pettish humour. — Strunty, petted, out of humour. V. Jamieson. Strunt, the tail or rump. — Strunty, any thing short or con- tracted. Yt. estreint, shrunk up. V. Skinner, and Ray. Stubbed, grubbed up ; metaphorically/, ruined. Swed, stvh- big, cut off, curtailed. Studdy, a smith's anvil. See Stiddy, Stithy. " Fling off their black duddies, Leave hammers and studdies." — Song, Bonny Geateiders. Study, to astonish, to amaze. — Study, astonishment, amaze- ment. V. Crav. Gloss,, 2d. edit. Stummer, to stumble, to stagger. Isl. stumra, collabi. Stump, a heavy, thick-headed fellow. Germ, stutnpf. Stump, to put down, to pay ready money ; stump your cash, being synonymous with down with your dust. It has ob- viously the same origin as on the nail — solvere super un- guem. Stumps, a term for the legs. " Stir your stumps." V. Jam. Supp. Stupid, obstinate ; though possessing good talents. A per- son really stupid, is generally called soft. Sturdy, a disease in the head of cattle, especially sheep, by which the animal becomes stupified — a vertigo. Old Fr. estourdi, dizzy-headed. Teut. stooren, vertere. Gael. stuird, a vertigo. Sturt, disturbance, vexation, complaint. Dan. styrte. " And cast asyde all sturt and stryfe."— jtyn(?«aj^. Stut, to stammer, to stutter. An old word, still in general use. Stot, to rebound or reduplicate sounds, seems cog- nate. " She spake somewhat thicke, Her fellowe did stummer and stut. But she was a foule slut \"—Skelton. Sty, a troublesome and painful swelling on the eye- lid. Sax. stigend. Great relief, if not a perfect cure, is supposed to 1G6 STYT be effected by the application of a wedding ring nine times repeated. The use of talismanic rings, as a charm against diseases, appears to have l)een general, and in great esti- mation, in remote ages, and among many different nations. These rings were considered to be equally potent against the influence of demons ; and indeed against danger of every sort, but more especially the plague. Styth, foul air ; a black suffocating damp in a colliery. " And oft a chilling damp or unctuous mist, Loos'd from the crumbling caverns, issues forth ; Stopping the springs of life." — Jago's EdgehUl. Subterraneous-passages. Near every ancient castle, cathe- dral, abbey, or hall, the common people have traditionary tales of underground (vaulted) roads, sometimes to great distances ; such as — from Newcastle to Tynemouth — from Tynemouth to Carlisle — from Hexham to Alnwick Castle — from Durham to Findchale Abbey, and other places. The interminable cavern, ending in hidden treasure, guarded by spell or wakeful demon, is another common topic of pojiular superstition, concerning which a variety of incredible stories have been fabricated. SucKEN, an exclusive privilege of grinding, or other jurisdic- tion attached to a mill ; the dues paid to the miUer as a remuneration for grinding. Sax. socne, a liberty, privi- vilege, or franchise. Su.-Got. sokn, exactio rei judicatse vel mulctte. Dan. sogn, a jDarish or district ; and Swed. sockcn, a parish, are allied. In England, in early times, all mills belonged to the lords of manors, by whom they were for the most j^art originally founded ; nor were the tenants, who owed service, permitted to grind except at such mills. In after ages, especially in districts where the population had increased, the obligation to grind at a par- ticular mill was felt to be a vexatious exaction. Hence the miller, who had so much in his power, was usually an obnoxious character. Mills also seem to form one of the principal heads of the law of Scotland ; where that extent SWAI 167 of ground, the tenants of which are bound to bring their grain to a particular mill, is called the sucken. The word is still retained in leases from the Bishop of Durham, See more on this subject in Tomlins' Law Diet, vo. thirlage. SuDDLE, or SuTTLE, to soil, to tamish — to sullt/. Germ, sudeln. Swed. sudda. SuMF, a term of reproach — a fool. V. Jamieson, simph. Summer-goose, the vulgar name for Gossamer ; which see. Sump, Sumph, a bog, a swamp, a miry jjool. Su,-Got. and Dan, sump. — Sumpy, miry, dirty, Dan. sumjng. — Sumph, an epithet for a dirty person. It also means a secondary shaft in a mine. Sun. " Happy is the bride that the sun shines on," a pojiu- lar saying well known in Northumberland, meaning that sun-shine at a wedding is a sign of hapjiiness in the mar- riage state to the bride. Sun-dance. It was formerly a custom, scrupulously ob- served, to rise early on Easter Sunday, and to go into the fields to see the sun dance, which, according to ancient tradition, it always does on this day. The practice, I have some reason to believe, is not yet entirely laid aside among those that have eyes for such things. Our ancestors deco- rated the churches with flowers, as emblems of resuscitation, Sunderland-fitter, a jocular term at cards for the knave of clubs. SuNKs, a rustic substitute for a saddle ; not unlike Sods ; which see. Dan, scng, a pad, SwAD, the pod or shell of peas, the husk of any kind of pulse. Skinner deduces the word from Sax. swelhan, fasciare ; hence to swaddle. SwAiR, or Swire, the descent of a hill. In the boundary be- tween England and Scotland, near the head of Reedsdale, there is a place called the Reedswire, which was the scene of a contest, in 1575, between the English and Scotch bor- derers, arising out of a quarrel between the wardens, Sir John Forster and Sir John Carmichaol. 168 SWAM SwAMiSH, SwEAMiSH, shy, awkwardly bashful. Perhaps from squeamish, to which it certainly bears an affinity Swanky, a strapping young country-man — an athletic, efficient labourer. Sax. swayi, swang, a country swain ; from swin- can, to work, to labour. Swap, to exchange, to barter. Isl. sMpta, mutare. V. Jam. SwAPE, V. to sweep. Sax. swapan, verrere. Isl. sweipa, per- cutere. SwAPE, s. a long oar or sweep, used in working a keel on the Tyne ; that at the stem acting as a rudder. Swappe, to strike or throw down with violence, similar to the action of using the swape, occurs in Chaucer. See the verb. SwAPE, an instrument used in spreading, or, as is commonly called, scaling, manure. SwARBLE, to climb up the bole of a tree by the muscular ac- tion of the arms, thighs, and legs — to swarm. SwAREY, useless, worthless. " A swarcy Jack," a useless fel- low. From yeiu.1, idle, heavy, burdensome. SwARFE, to faint, to swoon. SwARTH, Swath, the apparition of a person, about to die. Ray says from Sax. sweart, black, dark, pale, wan. See Waft. Swatch, v, to swathe, to swaddle. Sax. swcdan, to bind. Swatch, s. a pattern, a sample, a tally. V. Ray, swacJie. SwATTLE, to consume, to waste ; generally applied to fluids. SwEAL, V. to melt, to waste or blaze, to bum away rapidly ; as a candle when exposed to the wind. Sax. swelan, to bum. An old English word. — Sweal, s. a blaze, an en- larged flame. SwEARLE, or SwEEVEL-EYE, an eye with a particular cast. Sweat-cloth, a very vulgar (though the classical Roman) name for a handkerchief ; obviously the swat-clath, or su- dary of the Saxons. SwEDDLE, to swell. — SwEDDLED, Swelled or puff'ed out. Swede, or Swathe, a row of moAvn grass. See Hay-making. SwEEL, a sudden burst or swell of laughter. SWIL 169 SwEER, unwilling, backward, burdensome. Sax. swcer. V. Somner. " Cum heir, gossop, cum heir, cum heir, Your raikles lyfe ye sail repent Quhen was ye wont to be sa stceir ? Stand still, and be obedient " Lymlsay's Three EstaUis. Sweetheart, v. to court, to woo. — Sweetheartixg, s. court- ship. Sweeties, confections, or sweetmeats, for children. SwEiGH, or SwEY, to poisc, to swing, to lean or incline to one side. Isl. sweigia, inclinare. Germ, schwebcn, to move. It appears to be the origin of the legitimate sway. SwELT, to broil, to swoon, to faint — sometimes to expire. — SwELTED, overcome with heat and perspiration. Sax. sweltan, to die, seems the probable origin. Kilian gives a correspondent term in vet. Fland. — sicelten, deficere, languescere, I may add Swed. svalta, to starve with hun- ger, as allied. Swerle, to roll from side to side in walking. Teut. swieren, circumvolvere. It is also applied to express the meander- ing of a stream of water. A small runner in Sandgate, Newcastle, was anciently called the Swerle. Swerle, or Swirle, a t^vist in the hair ; same as Calf- lick. SwiDDEN, to scorch, to singe, to burn off the wool or nap. Ray writes it swizzen. SwiDDER, to doubt, to hesitate. Su.-Got. swaefwa, fluctuare. Teut. swieren, vagari. — Swidders, doubt, hesitation. Swig, a hearty draught. Swig, to drink heartily. Swill, a round basket of unpeeled willows ; generally car. ried on the head. Hence its Newcastle name, Keyside um- brella, when reversed in wet weather. Probably from Sax. ceawell, basket. Swill, to rinse, or wash out. Sax. swilian, to wash, Swillixgs, the washings of vessels given to swine — sioill. Sax. swilgan, to drink largely — to swill. VOL. II. z 170 SWIN SwiNQE, to chastise, to beat soundly. Sax. svnngan, flagel- lare, castigare. It occurs in Two Gentlemen of Verona. Swingle or Swingel, that part of the flail which comes in contact with the com. Swingle-tree, a moveable piece of wood to which the traces of husbandry horses are fastened — the splinter bar. Teut. swinghelen, vibrare. SwiNKED, oppressed, vexed, fatigued — literally worked. Sax. swincan, laborare, fatigari. Used in Peirs Ploughman; and several times by Chaucer. " The thridde he kepte clene for his drinke For all the night he shope him for to swinke In carying of the gold out of that place. Chaucer, — The Pardonere's Tale Swipe, to drink off to the very bottom. — Swipes, dregs. SwipPEK, nimble, quick. Sax. swipan, cito agere. V. Lye. Swire, Swyre, the hollow or defile near the summit of a hill. — North. V. Jam. sivare, swirc, swyre; 2d sense. Swirl, v. to whirl round, as a gust of wind sometimes does the dust, straws, and other light bodies. SwiRT, a syringe, a squirt. Su.-Got. sqiicetta, liquida effundere. Swirtle, to proceed with a moving motion like an eel. Su.- Got. swarfwa, circumagere. Switch, to walk with a light quick step, to go with a sort of jerk. Su.-Got. swiga, loco cedere. " He switched by." Switched, to be hard pressed ; to be in diflSculty. SwiTHER, to fear, to tremble. Apparently identical with Swidder. SwiTTERED, flooded. Sword-dance, a curious and ancient Christmas game or cus- tom ; still continued in many parts of the North, especially in the counties of Northumberland and Durham. It is fully described in Brand's Pop. Antiq., Vol. I., p. 400, & seq. There is also an interesting dissertation on the an- cient English Morris Dance, introduced into these regions many centuries since by natives of Morocco, in the 2d vol. of .Mr. Deuce's Illustrations of Shakspeare. TAIL 171 SwupPLE, or SouPLE, the upper joint of a flail, Fr. souple. supple ; or Isl. sioeipa, to strike. In Cheshire, swippo. Syles, the jjrincipal rafters of a house, or building. Isl. sillur, tigni proceres latus jugentes. T. Tab, a strap. Sax. tceppe, tape, tsenia lintia. Table, to board. To table with a person is to board with him, and is a common expression. Tack, v. to take. — Tack, s. a lease or farm — a taking. V, Co. Litt. o a. Tacke, endurance, lasting. " None of their lean carrion commodities, but one that may have some tacke and substance in it." — Gusman. Tacket, a small nail. " Used in Scotland." Todd's John- son. It is also in common use in the North of England. Tae, the toe ; according to the Scottish form. Sax. ta. Dan. taa. Taed, T'yed, a toad. Sax. tade. Sc. taid. — Taed-red, T'ted-red, the seed, or spawn of toads ; generally seen in a mass like a bunch of grapes. V. Bewick's iEsop, p. 290. " Hunger and thirst, insteid of meit and drink, And for thair cleithing taidis and scorpions." Lyndsay's Dreme. Taffy, a sort of candy made of boiled treacle thickened with flour. A company of young people often make it in a winter evening by way of amusement — called joining for taffy. Mr. Wilbraham derives the word from Fr. ia^a, or taffiat, sugar and brandy made into cakes. Others think the \)XQ- per spelling and pronunciation is toughy, which explains itself. See Clagham. Tailor' s-mense, a small portion left by way of good manners. In some parts of the North it is the custom for the village tailor to work at his customer's house, and to partake of the hospitality of the family board. On these occasions the 172 TAIS best fare is iuvariubly provided ; and the tailor, to show that he has had enough, generally leaves a little on his plate ; which is called tailor's mense ; perhaps pro mensd This term is also given to the cuttings sent home by such of the fraternity as do not labour under the old imputation of loving too much cabbage. Taistrel, Testril, a mischievous, ill-behaved boy. When applied to an adult, it is an expression of great contempt, equivalent to scoundrel. Perhaps only a variety of lais- trel, or kestrel, a bastard kind of hawk. Take-off, to ridicule, to jeer — by means of mimicking. Dan. tage-een-af, a twin expression, to take one off. Taking, distress of mind \ as " to be in a taking about some- thing." Also used in Herefordshire. Tale-pie, Tell-piet, a malicious informer — a tell-tale. Tang. To tang bees is to make a clatter in order to draw a swarm into the hive. An old word. ">• Tang, Teng, v. to sting. — Tang, Teng, s. a sting, an acute pain. Tang, the pointed part of an instrument that is inserted in the haft, the tongue. Sax. tang, Swed. tang. Tang, sea-weed, Su.-Got. and Swed, tang, alga marina. Tanging-nadder, the large dragon-fly. See Fleeing-eather. Tang-o'-the-trump, identically, tongue of the gewgaw, or Scotch trump ; but, figuratively, the active partner in a commercial firm — the principal person, or chief spokes- man, in any outbreaking of popular violence. Borders of NoHli. Tank, a piece of deep water, natural or artificial. Willan. Tanter, to quarrel, and Tantrums, fits of violent passion, may be both from tintimar, for which see Todd's John. Taplash, bad small beer, dregs. An old word, still in use. *^ Tappt-lappy, as hard as you can ; applied to running. Tarn, a large pool, or small lake ; a very old Northern word. Isl. tiorn, stagnum. Swed. tiarn, a pool, standing water. Tat, to mat, to entangle. Su.-Got. ttidda, intricare. TAWS 173 Tate, or Ta'et, a lock, or small quantity ; as of hair, wool, &c. V. Jamieson. " At ilka tctt of her horse's mane Hang fifty siller bells and nine." Ballad of T/iomas the Rhymer. Tatee, a potato. — Tatee-bogle, a scarecrow in a potato field. Tatee-and-point, a repast consisting of a plentiful enough dish of potatos, but where the meat is merely pointed at — by way of indulging the fancy. They seem to imjjrove upon this in the romantic regions of the Emerald Isle, vul- garly called the land of potatos. V. Memoirs of Captain Rock, p. 243. Tath, Tath-grass, profuse coarse grass that grows about the dung of animals ; on which a correspondent remarks, " it is singular that every animal is fond of such grass, but the kind of animals by which the dung was dropped — a beauti- ful provision of Providence." An examination of the works of infinite power always reminds us of the benevolence with which it is combined. For etymology see Jamieson. Tathy-grass, short grass without seed, refuse grass. See Tath. Tatter-wallops, ragged clothes fluttering in the wind. iSee Wallop. The term is also applied to a female whose dress and manners are indecorous. Tatty, matted. " A tattj/ jjow." See Tat, and, I suspect, more immediately derived from Fr. tate, fingered. Taving, s. irregular motion ; picking the bed clothes in febrile delirium. Willan. V. Jamieson, taiver ; and Ray, tave. Tawm, Tome, Tam, a fishing line. "^ lang twine tarn" Apparently corrupted from team. But see Jam. Supp^ tome. Tawm, to fall gently asleep. " He'll soon tavrni over." Gael. tamh, rest, sleep. V. Gael. Diet. Taws, a pair of taws, a leather strap used by schoolmasters for chastising chiklren. Isl, taug, lorum, V. Jam. tawis. 174 TAYL Taylior, or Teaylear, a tailor. Old Eng. talyovore. " What mon aw flee te next, as the teaylear's lad said, when he had been all day stitching a l)utton hole." North. Prov. Tea, the one ; as " tea hand" — the one hand. Sc. tae. Tea, toe, Germ, zehe, pronounced tsche, and that corrupted from Sax. ta ; so we have mixed the Saxon and German. Teady, Teedy, weary, peevish, fretful. See Teetiiy. Teagle, an apparatus for raising weights ; a tackle, de- scribed in Vitruvius 10, 2, 1. Teangs, T'tengs, a pair of tongs. Sax. tangan, forcipes. Tangs is an ancient form of spelling the word. Tearan, tearing. A tearan fellow is a rough, hot-headed person, who drives every thing before him, regardless of danger or of consequences. Teut. tieren, tumultuari. Teave, to paw and sprawl about with the arms and legs. Grose. Ted, to dress hair and flax, as well as to spread abroad new- mown hay. V. Todd's John, and Jam. Supp. Tee, adv. too. A general Northern pronunciation. Tee, or Tie, a hair- rope with which to shackle cows in milking. Tee-draw, a place of resort, a house ; a place resorted to by idlers ; applied as well to a person as a place. Tee-fall, a mode of building in the penthouse form, to which the Northumbrians are wonderfully attached. For the benefit of the South-country reader, as well as to improve orthography, I shall adopt my late friend Mr, Cotes' sug- gestion, that this provincial word should be written "T -fall^ or T -fall, with the cross bar of the letter T reclining to de- note the peculiar form of the building. Teem, to pour out of one vessel into another. Isl. taenia, to empty. Swed. tBma. " Teem out the tea, hinnt/." Teem, a brood of young ducks. Sax. team, offspring. Teeming- WDM an, a dame who is more prolific than every loving husband considers indispensably necessary to his happiness. Sax. team-full, prole plenus, foecundus. THAC 175 Teen, v. to kindle, to light. " Teen the candle." IVest, V. Jamieson, teind j and Wilb., tin. Teen, s. sorrow, injury. An old word ; used by many of our early writers. — Teen, a. angry. V. Lye, teon, " And Emelie him loveth so tendrely, And he hire serveth al so gentilly That never was ther no word hem betwene Of jalousie ne af non other tene." Cliaucer, — 37tc Knighte's Tale. Teedy, Teethy, cross, fretful, peevish ; generally spoken of children. The term has been viewed as having some con- nection with the teeth. V. Grose. See also Todd's John. techy ; and Jam. teth. Tell, a tale. To hear tell, to learn by report. Tell'd, for told. A corruption authorized by Spenser. Temse, 10. to sift. — Temse, s. a sieve of hair cloth, used in se- parating flour from bran, or fine flour from that of a coarser nature. See Timse. Tennel, to die away ; applied to trees. Tent, to observe — to tend or look to, to watch over. V. Ray. Terr, v. to uncover ; as, " to terr the thatch ofi" a roof." See Tirl. Teugh, Tough, tedious, difficult. " A teugh journey." — " Teugh wark." Apparently, the original sense of the word. " Al be ye mate it never sa tewehe. To me your labour is in vain." Mrs. Maitland. The mourning Maiden ,- quoted by Tyrwhitt. Th, frequently changed into D ; as father, io fader ; mother, to moder ; Rothbury, to Rodbuiy, &c. Although the powers of th are generally given to the Saxon D and 'S, yet there is little doubt that these letters were often used indiscriminately for D only. In German the cognate t in vater and mutter is without the asj^irate. Thack, thatch ; both as verb and substantive. Sax. thaccan, to cover ; tJiac, a roof or covering for a house. The original 17C THAC meaning is straw or rushes ; onr Saxon ancestors using no other covering for the roofs of their houses. The word is still retained in Yorkshire for a roof, of whatever kind. — Thacker, a thatcher. " Wi ae lock o' his gowdenhair We'll theck our nest when it grows bare." Ballad of the two Corhiet. " Then said the lords of the host And so conclude least and most, That they would ever in houses of thacke Their lives lead and weare but black." Chaucer's Dremc. Thack-nail, a wooden pin or stob used in fastening thatch to the roof of a building. Thaft, or Thoft, a-thwart ; the cross bench in a boat. Tharm, or Thairm, the small guts of an animal made into cords, and used in spinning wheels. That, as an adverb of comparison. " He's not that old." Thatadonnet, a good for nought, the devil. Is it, that " adone " (Fr.) abandoned one ? Mr. Ward says, it is " that that doivs not." To dow, is to avail, to be useful. "Better be in with that adonnet than out." — Yorlslnre saying. Thatjf-Cake, or Tharf-cake, a cake made of unfermented dough — chiefly of rye and barley — rolled very thin, and baked hard. In some country kitchens these cakes are hung up in large quantities, with a pole run through the centre, similar to the manner of preserving bread in Swe- dish families, where they bake only once or twice in the whole year. An ingenious friend conjectures that we have the term from Sax. thcarfan, opus habere, necesse habere — necessity cake, or cake made in urgent haste, as what used to be calied soldier's bread at the time when soldiers were quartered, during marches, on private families. But, according to Lye, derf-brode, is an old North of England expression, for unleavened bread. Sax. therrf, vel theorf panis azymus. Wiclif uses therf-loavcs. THIE 177 Tharf, cold, forbidding, shy. — Tharfly, denoting a cold re- ception — unfriendly. V. Somner, thrafian. Theak, Theek, thatch ; both as i\ and 5. Sax. thecan, tegere — thcec, tectum. See Thack. " Wi ae lock o' his gowden hair. We'll theek our nest when it grows bare." Ballad of the " Twa Corbies." " Then said the lordis of the host And so concludid lest and most, That they would in housis of thacke Ther lives lede and were but blacke." Chaucer's Dremc. Theaker, Theeker, a thatcher. So the Latin theca, a sheath, or covering ; and that, of course, from Syikyj, which Varro derives from riSyipi, but is, much more probably, from the Saxon ; for thatching would be one of the earliest arts taught by those who taught both the Greeks and Romans. Hence, too, " a ihcaking snoio,'^ quietly but continuously falling, so as to cover thickly, as thatch does, a house. Theam, anciently the privilege of repossessing yourself of your native, or bondmen, and their families and goods, wherever you might find them ; saving only, that if any one of your bondmen had lived for a year and a day in any privileged to^^Ti, and had been received into its guild as a citizen, he was freed from villainage. See Glossary to Priory of Finchale, v. Theam ; and History of North Durham, Appendix, p. 106. The-day, for to-day. A Scotticism. V. Jam. Supp. the. Thee, the thigh. Sax. theoli. Old writers use thie. Thew'd, towardly. Grose. V. Lye, tlieaw ; and Jam. thew. Thick, intimate, familiar, on friendly terms. " As thick as inkle weavers," said of great intimates — from the narrow- ness of the woof the weavers must sit close — close inti- mates. Thief-and-reaver-bell, the name given to the tolling of the great bell of St. Nicholas', Newcastle, which is rung at 8 o'clock of the evening preceding every fair — as a sort of A'OL. II. A a 178 THIL invitation to all thieees and rogues to cuter that good town. See Reaver. Thill, the bottom stone of a coal .seam. Think-on, is either v. n. to remember ; or v. a. to remind ; to think sham, to be ashamed. Thirl, to pierce or stab, to perforate, to bore. Sax. thirlian. Thirl, in the old Northumberland dialect, means to bind or enthral. The word, as applied to places, occurs fre- quently in the North ; as Thirlwall Castle, Thirlstane, &c. " Whoso wol fleshye lust forgon and hevene-blisse abyde. On Jhesu be his thoht anon, that tharled was ys side." From a Norman- Saxon Poem qttoted in WaHon, Vol. I., p. 30. " Al were they sore yhurt, and namely one That with a spere was thirled his brest bone." Chaucer, — Hie Kaighte's Tale. Thirlage, the service of certain lands, the tenants of which are bound to take their corn to grind at the lord's mill. Thivel, a smooth stick, used for various purposes of domes- tic economy ; especially for stirring hasty pudding. Sax. thyfel, a stem or stalk. " He's a queer stick to make a thivel of" — said of an awkward or wayward person. Thoji, the thumb ; the true ancient orthography of that member of the hand, still retained in our oral language. Thole, to wait awhile. Su.-Got. tola, expectare. Also, to bear, to endure ; in which sense it may be derived from Swed. tdla, to suffer. " And if the kyng of that kyngdom Come in that tyme There feloun thole sholde Deeth or oother juwise." — Piers Plowman. " So mochel wo as I have with you tholed." Cltaucer,—The Frere's Tale. " Quaharefore my freind thou mon returne agane And for thy sinnis be penence suffer pane And thole the deith with cruell panis sore, Or thow be digne to dwell into this glore." Lyndsay's Dreme. " He that has a good crop may thok some thistles.— iV'. C. Prov. THRE 179 Thonder, there, yonder. Sax. geond, geonda. Thout, Thought, a small portion, a little more or less. Thralage, a state of pecuniary difficulty. Thrang, y. to press, to thrust, to squeeze. See Thring. Thrang, s, a crowd, a throng — pressure of business. Pure Saxon. Thrang, a. crowded, much engaged, busily employed. Thrave, a certain number of sheaves of corn, or bundles of straw ; generally, I believe, twenty-four — a quantity of straw, consisting of twelve fads, or fauds. Sax. threaf. This word, as remarked by Mr. Singer in one of his notes to Hall's Satires, was often used metaphorically for a great number or huge collection of other objects. In this sense we may safely refer to Su.-Got. trafwe, a heap of any kind. V. Ihre. Thraw, a pang, an agony. In the Deed Thraw, in articulo mortis. Sax. threa, afflictio, inflictio. Thraw, v. to writhe, to twist — to turn. Sax. thrawan, tor- quere. — Thraw, s. a turner's lathe. Thrawcrook, an instrument acting on a swivel, fastened to the waist by a strap for twisting ropes. Threap, v. to persist vehemently in assertion or argument, be it Wright or wrong — to aver pertinaciously in reply to de- nial. " Threap him down." Sax. threapian, redarguere. " Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe." Chaucer, — Tlie Clmnom-'x Temanes's Tale. " Itt's not for a man with a woman to thieape. Unless he first give o'er the plea." Ancient version of " Take thy old Cloak about thee." Threap, a. disputed. — Threap-ground, property that is, or has been, in dispute — contentionis terra. In 1774, an agree- ment was entered into for dividing land of this kind near Bamborough, in Northumberland, between Sir Henry Grey and the Trustees of Lord Crewe and others ; which was confirmed by an vVct of Parliament passed in 1774. Pen- nant, in his Tours in Wales, gives a curious picture of a 180 , THRE noted common, called Threap-wood, from time immemorial a placo of refuge for the frail fair, who make it a tran- sient abode, clandestinely to be freed from the consequences of illicit lovo. V. Vol. I., p. 289. Threesum, consisting of three persons ; as " the threesum." " Bot it sa Utile wes, tliat it Mycht our the watters bot thaeesxtm flyt." Tlie Bruce. Thring, to thrust, to press, to squeeze. Sax. thringan. Thrist, thrust. " The fiend a faster I micht gang, I micht not thrist out throw the thrang." Lyndsay's Tltree Egtaitis. Throdden, v. to make grow, to thrive. Hence, Throdden, and Throddy, plump, fat, well thriven. Throme, or Thrum, any collection of short threads ; gene- rally the end of the warp in weaving. Norm. Fr. thrommes. The reader needs hardly be reminded of Bot- tom's passionate exclamation — " O fates, come, come, Cut thread and thrum." Throng, a press of business. It is the polite pronunciation of Thrang ; which see. Thropple, the windpipe, the throat. Sc. thrapple. V. Jam. Throstle-cock, the song-thrush. Turdus musicus. Linn. Throw. To throw on the fire, to make, or heap it up. Throwing-the-stocking, an odd sort of love di\'inatiou, on the first evening of a wedding. After the bride has retired, and while she is undressing, she delivers one of her stock- ings to a female attendant, who throws it at random among the company assembled on this occasion. The per- son, on whom it happens to alight, will, it is sujjposed, be the next to enter into the blessed state of matrimony. Another, and more curious, though perhaps obsolete mode, was for the guests invited to repair to the bridal cham- ber, where it was customary for the happy pair to sit up THRU 181 in bed, in full dress, exclusive of their shoes and stockings. One of the bride's maids then took the bridegroom's stock- ing ; and, standing at the bottom of the bed with her back towards it, threw the stocking with the left hand over the right shoulder, aiming at the face of the bridegroom. This was done by all the females in rotation. When any of them were so fortunate as to hit the object, it was a sign that they were soon to be married. The bride's stocking was thrown by young men at the bride in like manner ; from which a similar j^rognostic was taken. Thruff, Thruff-stone (properly Thorough-stone), a large stone put through the entire thickness of a jjeculiar species of dry stone wall, serving as a fence, with which the reader, if at all acquainted with the north of England, is sure to be familiar. These walls being composed of fragments of all shapes and sizes laid together without mortar, the thruffs are used as bond stones, and give them great sta- bility and firmness. Considering the nature and intract- ability of the material, the skill of the workman is often wonderful. These fences may be compared to Cyclopean walls in miniature. A much regretted gentleman of New- castle was accustomed, when claret and port ^vine were in circulation together, to take every third glass of -poTt which he facetiously called a thruff. Thruff-stoxe, a flat tomb stone. Sax. thnih, loculus, sar- cophagus. Lye. Sc. thruch-stane. Thrumble, or Thumble, to handle awkardly — to thumb. Thruiimy Cap, the name of a sprite who occasionall}^ figures in the fairy tales of Northumberland, lie is mostly de- scribed as " a queer-looking, little, auld man ;" and the scene of his exploits frequently is in the vaults and cel- lars of old castles. Thrunty, stout, robust, strong-built. " A tlirurdy fellow." Thrust, the crushing or grinding the sides of the coal pillars by the cover, when the pillars are insufficient for its sup- port. 182 THRU Thrusty, thirsty. Sax. thurstig. " My soule for anguishe is now ful thrunly I faint, 1 faint right sore for hevlnes." Cliaucer, — Lara, of Mary Mag. Thud, the noise of a fall, a heavy stroke — causing a dull and hollow sound. Sax. «A(?<7m, turbo, noise, din. Somner. Thumping, great, huge, large, ; as a thumping bairn — also obvious, notorious ; as a thumping lie. Thunderbolt, a name given to the Belemnite. So called from its shape — resembling a dart. This singular fossil shell is very common in the rocks about Whitby ; but is rarely found entire. See Young's Hist, of Whitby, Vol. II., p. 782 ; and Geology of the Yorkshire Coast, by the same author, ji. 25G & seq. Thunner, thunder. Sax. thuner. Dan. thorden, as Mr. Thomson remarks, signified the voice or din of Thor, and Goth, thordunur was Jupiter Tonans. Mr. Wilbraham has thimna^ s, and v. Thur, Thor, these, those. Isl. thej/r, illi ; thaer, illae. Sc. thir. " Whae drives thir 'kye? gan Willie say." — Jamie Telfer. Thwaite, land grubbed up and cleared of wood for cultiva- tion — an assart. Norm. Fr. twaite. The word, in the composition of local names, is very frequent in Cum- berland and Westmorland, and also in some parts of Lan- cashire. Thwart-saw, a cross-cut saw, used in sawing trees into lengths. Thwite, to cut, chip, or hack with a knife. See Whet. Thwittle, a kind of knife. Sax. hioitel. Our venerable poet, Chaucer, writes it thwi/tel. See Whittle. TiBBY, Isabella. We have all read of " Tibbie Fowler o' the glen," who had so many followers, that " a' the lads were wooing at her." TiCE, to entice. Old English, tj/ce, in the same sense. TILL 183 TiD, Mid, Miseray, Carling, Palm, and Paste-egq-day, popu- lar names for Sundays in Lent. Three of them are obviously from the old Latin service, Te Deum, Mi Deus, Miserere, mei. The rest elucidate themselves. Tidy, honest, well-disposed. A '■Hidy man," a good sort of man. V. Jamieson, Tydy. Tied, obliged, compelled, sure, certain. ''It's tied to be so" — " I'm tied to go" — " He's tied to make money" — " He's tied to lose his way." Tie-pot, or Tye-top, a garland, TiFFY-TAFFY, a difficult piece of work. In Craven, an insig- nificant trifler. V. Crav. Gloss. 2d. edit. Tifle, Tyfell, to entangle, to mix and knot threads toge- ther, to ruffle. Sax. twy-fyldan, duplicare. V. Jam. Supp. tuffle. Tift, a fit of anger, or rather the act of quarrelling, ill hu- mour. — TiFTY, ill-natured, petulant, quarrelsome. Tig, a slight touch ; as a mode of salutation — a play among children, on separating for the night, in which every one endeavours to get the last touch ; also called Last Bat. TiGGY-Toucii-wooD, a play where children pursue each other, but are exempt (by the law of the game) from capture while touching wood. Like Tig, it probably means a slight connection, from Sax. tian, ligare. Tike, or Tyke, a blunt or vulgar fellow — affording grounds of an unfavourable impression. Also a name for a dog. Tijh, according to Mr. Steevens, is the Runick word for a little or worthless dog. " If you can like, A Yorkshire tike." Carey, — The Wonder, an Honest Torkshircman. Till, to or unto. It is still quite common in many parts of Northumberland. Dan. Sw. and Isl. til. — Till and frae, to and fro. " Tlaer saw I Dane yturned til a tree." aimicer,—The Knighte's Tale. 184 TILL " Hethene hoiinde he doth the calle ; And or his dogter he give the /illc Thyn herte blode he wolle spille And thi barrens alle." Romance of the Kyng of Tars, quoted in yvarton. Vol. J., p.l9Z. Tiller, to send out slioots ; as wheat, Dtir. Germ, theilev, to separate into parts. V. Jam. Supp. TiMERSOME, TiMMERsoME, fearful — timorous. Sc. timersotne. TiMMER, timber. So spelled in Skene's Lawes and Actes of Parliament. Swed. timmer. TiMSE, V. to sift. — TiMSE, s. a sieve. Dut. teems. Fr. tamis. Ital. tamiso. All, perhaps, from Lat. tympanum, stretched like a drum, and that from Gr. tottto), to beat. Ttxe, to shut, to inclose. Sax. tynan, claudere. — Tixe, to lose. V. Jam. tine, tyne ; and Supp. tine. TiNG-TONG, the little bell of a church. Fr. tintouin, a ting- ling ; or Teut. tinghe-tanghen, tintinare. " The primary signification of ting-tong," an ingenious literary corres- pondent remarks, " was only expressive of the sound of a little bell — the sound of a large one being termed di7ig- dong, from its being more hollow. Ting-tong has, there- fore, by transference, come to signify the bell itself." " The tingle tangle of the convent bells made fine music " A uhrey. TixKLER, a tinker. Various extraordinary feats have been ascribed to our ancient tinkers. The noted WnU Allan was for many years king of this honourable profession in the North. He had a son, Jamie Allan, the celebrated Northumberland piper, a still more enterprising Aaga- bond, who, on the 13th November, 1810,uuder sentence of death, died in Durham Gaol, and whose relict, Tibhu Allan, lived to the advanced age of 109, and died at Rothbury, on the 27th March, 1830. " Nae mair he'll scan wi" anxious eye, The sandy shores of winding Reed, TOAD 185 Nae mair he'll tempt the finny fry, The King o" Tinklers, Allan's dead !" Roxby ,—Reedwater Minttrel. " A boy of the Tinklers, of Byers Green, bur. 16th Oct., 1609." Register of St. Andrew's AucMand. TiNNEL, to (lie away ; applied to trees. Tint, lost. See Tine. Tint-tiny, the proclamation when anything is found ; and the claimant answers — minej/-mme^. Tine, to lose. See Tine. Tipple, to touch lightly. The game of trippit and coit is played either as " farrest batter," or " tippler saves." Tippy, smart, fine, modish — tip top. " Tippy Bob." Tire, s. the iron hoop which surrounds a cart wheel. TiRL, to make a slight scratching noise — to turn over the leaves of a book quickly — to strip off a roof. Tirling, the unroofing of a house. " Whyles rangin' like a roarin' lieu, For prey a' holes and corners tryin", Whyles on the strong-wing'd tempest flyin', Tirling the kirks." Burns, — Address to the De'il. TiTE, soon, easily, well. — Titter, sooner, rather, earlier. See AsTiTE, Asty ; and Jam. tyte. Titivate, to restore, to renovate — to make " old things look as good as new," like " the renovators of old clothes," as they now style themselves. Titling, a small bird attendant on the cuckoo. Also, one who obsequiously follows another. Hence, the gowk and the titling, a ludicrous designation given to such dummiri. Titty, a diminutive of sister. " Black Titty Bet." Tiv, to. — Tiv-a-tee, just the thing, exactly — to a T. ToAD-BiT, a disease among cattle, absurdly imjiuted to the poison of toads ; and against which lustration by need-fire is employed. Dr. Willan mentions a recent instance of the practice, as occurring near Sedbergh, in Yorkshire. Toad-under-a-harrow, a proverbial saying of considerable VOL. II. a b 186 TOCII antiquity ; meant to express the comparative situation of a poor fellow, whose wife, not satisfied %\'ith the mere hen- pecking of her helpmate, takes care that all the world shall witness the indignities she puts upon him ; or any other similar state of misery. " Ower mony maisters, ower mony maisters ! as the toad said when under the harrow, A/hen every tooth gave him a tig." Tocher, dowry. See Tougher. Tod, a name for the fox. In consequence of what is said in Dr. Jamieson's Supplement, it is proper to mention that this word is in common use in Northumberland ; and that it was inadvertently omitted in transcribing the first edition of this Glossary for the press. " Birdis hes thair nestis, and todls hes their den." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. " He maun be seun up that cheats the tod." — N. C. Prov. Toddy, a mixture of whisky and warm water. — North. There is a tree in the East Indies from which a liquor called toderson ; termed by Bewick (Fables of iEsop, p. 138), " an old filtering stone." Seneca humour- ously said of Tiberius — that he was never drunk but once ; and that once was all his life. In Kelly's Reminiscences, the eccentric author gives us an epitaph, extracted from a tomb in the Cathedral at Sienna, characteristic enough of the present subject : " Wine gives life ! it was death to me. I never beheld the morning sun with sober eyes ; even my bones are thirsty. — Stranger ! sprinkle my grave vrith wine ; empty the cup and depart." Wevil, an insect infesting granaries. Wezzle, a weasle. Sax. wesel. Wha, the vulgar pronunciation of who. Whack, v. to strike or beat with violence. A variation of thwack. — Whack, s. a loud blow. Not confined to the North. Whacker, v. to tremble, to quake. — Whackering, trembling. Whacker, s. a great lie. In a metaphorical sense. Whacking, large, strong, bouncing. " A whacking fellow." Whang, v. to flog — properly, to chastise with a thong. — Whang, s. a small leather-thong, such as is used for tying shoes. Sax. thwang. " But they hae run him thro' the thick o' the thie, And broke his knee pan, And the mergh o' his shin bane has run Down on his spur-leather tcMng'."—Frrt2/ of Svpport. Whang, a thick or large piece of any thing eatable — espe- cially of bread or cheese. — Whanging, large, great. Whap, v. to beat soundly. — Whap, s. a knock-down blow. Wrapper, or Wapper, any thing uncommonly large. In many instances, as remarked by Dr. Willan, our fore- fathers seem to have estimated weights and magnitudes by the force of their blows. Thus, they employed in grada- tion the terras slapper, smacker, banger, thumper, thwacker, VOL. II. F f 218 WHAR swinger, and rattler. The word btmper, concerning which so much has been said and surmised, the Doctor thinks, ie not of a more exalted origin than what is here stated. Whart, or Wheart, a Northumberland pronunciation of quart. " Each pay-day fairly. He takes his wheart right dearly, 'Bout Latin, Greek — o rarely — Maybee he'll jaw ayfuy.— Keel Row, T. T. Whatsomever, or Whatsomdever, whatever. A vulgarism, but very common. Whatten, what kind of, what. " Wkatten o'clock is it ?" Whaup, the larger curlew. Scolopaz arquata. Linnasus. In the Satistical Account of Scotland, an amusing trait of nationality is recorded, where the Scotsman's taste led him to prefer "the wheeple (whistle) of a whaup" to " a' the nightingales that ever sang." V. Vol. VII., p. 600. Whaup-i'-the-rape, knot or twist i7i the rope — any thing going wrong. Whazle, or Wheezle, v. to draw the breath with difficulty. Su.-Got. hwaesa. — Whazle, or Wheezle, s, an indication of asthma. Applied also to the throat. Whe, Whee, who. Sc. Wha. " Whe's tliere ?" " Whee's wi'yel" Wheal, v. to gather, to suppurate. Sax. huylca, a pustule. This verb is not in Todd's Johnson. Wheam, snug, sheltered, imjjervious to the wind. Perhaps, as suggested to me by a skilful etymologist, a corruption of Holm. In Knaresdale, my correspondent remarks, there is a place called IVhit- Wham, which he always believed to be White-Holm ; and in West Allen, there is another place called Wliam-Lands, evidently from the situation, the Holm-Lands. But see Kennett. Whean, to coax, to flatter. " What a wheaning way she has." WHIG 219 Whean, a few, a small quantity. " A lohean nout," said of cattle. " A whean bairns." Sax. hwcene, a little, Mr. Lamb writes it toheen. V. Notes on the Battle of Flod- don, p. 72. Wheel, a deep pool immediately above Brinkbum,in North- umberland, affording an excellent shelter for trout. Whelk, a thump or blow, the noise made by the falling of any thing heavy. Whemmel, Whommel, or Whummel, v. to turn upside down, to tumble over. Teut. wemelen, frequenter et leviter mo- vere. Whemmel, 5. an overthrow ; figuratively, a dovm-pour, or continuous fall of rain. Wherewith, used substantivelj/ for money, or property. Whetstone. To give the whetstone as a prize for lying, was a standing jest among our ancestors, as a satirical premium to him who had the most creative imagination, and is not yet out of use in the North. Perhaps this proverb might be derived from the 52d Psalm, v. 3d, "With lies thou cuttest like a sharp razor," of which a whetstone would increase the power ; and so we have " rasurs of slan- dorynges" in Townley Mysteries, p. 204 (published by Surtees Society). Brand, on the authority of the late Mr. Punshon (Pop. Ant., Vol. I., p. 481), mentions a custom, among the colliers at Newcastle, of giving a pin to a person in company by way of hinting to him that he is fibbing ; but which, I think, is now obsolete. It is, however, still usual in Northumberland to give a person a cork when he is thought to exaggerate in his narration. Whetstone. To look as blue as a whetstone, to look blue with cold. Whew, or Whue, v. to whistle. — Whew, or Whue, s. a whistle. Whick, quick, alive. " Wliick and alive" a common lauda- tory expression in Newcastle, among certain ladies, who 220 WHIG neither sell the best fish, uor speak the plainest English. JVh, and quh, seem convertible modes of spelling, especi- ally among the old Scots. It seems merely omitting the first part (the k) of the compound sound q — hence, as in the next word, whick for quick — whyat for qmet — whean for qttean, &c. Whickens, a general name for all creeping or stoloniferous grasses or plants, which give the farmer so much trouble to eradicate from his fields. Quick-ones — for there is no killing them. Whicken-tree, the mountain ash. See Roun-tree. Whicks, plants or slips of the white thorn. "A whick- hedge." Whidder, or "Whither, to shake, to quake, to shiver ; hence a whither of cold, a shivering cold. " All in a whither " — all in a tremble. Probably from quiver. Whiew, to fly hastily, to make great speed. Whiff, a transient view, a glance. In a whiff, in a short time. Whig, sour whey. Sax. hwceg, cerum. — Whiggenn'd-whey, a pleasant liquor made by infusing various aromatic herbs in whey, and suffering it to undergo a fermentation — used by the labouring people as a cooling beverage. While, until. " Stay while I come back." While is here for till, and till for " to the time" — for while is time, and till is to while. V. Tooke, Vol. I„ p. 363. Whiles, sometimes. " It rains whiles." — Whiloms, is also in use in the same sense. Whilk, Whulk, which. Sax. hwilc. Dan. hvilke. Chaucer uses whilke ; and the same form of the word occurs in a very curious old English instrument (temp. Henry V.) in the possession of Sir Henry Lawson, Bart. Whilt, a term for an indolent person. " An idle whilt." Whinge, to whine, to sob or cry peevishly. Su.-Got. wenga, plorare. V. Jamieson, qnhynge. WHIS 221 WniNNERNER, a meagre, thin-faced person, with a sharp nose. Grose, following Ray, says, perhaps from some bird that feeds, or is bred, among whins ; but I think is is more likely from Welsh, wi/neb, a face, a visage. Whins, gorse or fm-ze. Ulex Europceus. Welsh, chwyn, " Wliinns, for baking." — House Expences Sherbum Hospital, 1686. Whipper-and-hougher, an officer of the Corporation, New- castle. See HouGHER. Whipper-snapper, a diminutive, insignificant person. Mr. Todd says, it is a common expression, usually in ridicule or contempt. Whipping-the-cat, the custom of itinerant tailors, carpenters, &c., going from house to house to work. Whir, v. to fly off with a noise like game when sprung. Su.- Got. hurra, cum impetu circumagi. — Whir, s. the sound made by the wings of game — often startling the nerves of a young sportsman. "Full ninety winters hae I seen And piped where gorcocks whirring flew." Pickering, — Donocht Head. Whisht ! be silent, hush ! hist ! " Whisht, woman, ivhisht .'" This vulgarism, if such it be, is not without ancient author- ity, being used by honest old Latimer. Whisk, ■??. to go out, or to pull any thing out, hastily. Whisk, s. a vulgar pronunciation of whist. This game is more ancient than is supposed. Strutt is mistaken in saying, that it first occurs in the Beaux Stratagem ; for it is mentioned, under the old name of whisk, in the works of Taylor, the Water Poet, a noted character in the reign of Charles I. Whisket, or WisKiT, a sort of basket. V. Nares's Glossary. Whisky, the modern and well-known term for usquebaugh, a Gaelic word signifying the water of life. Whissontide, Whitsuntide. — Whisson-sunday, Whitsunday. Whitsun-sundat/ is also used : and if whitsun-tide be cor- rect, this will be so too. 222 WHIS Whistle, " the mouth ; the organ of whistling," says Dr. Johnson ; quoting Walton's Angler. " Let's drink the other cup to icet our whistles, and ao sing away all sad thoughts." Here whistle surely means the throat. In the North, to wet one's whistle is a common phrase for, to take a good drink ; and — without charging the amiable old Izaac with tippling — that, in all probability, was his meaning. In- deed, the use of the expression in this sense is very ancient. " I wete my whystell as good drinkers Ao."—PaUgrave. White, to requite. " God white you !" V. Ray. Whiteheft, flattery, cunning. " Whiteheft o' Lunnun." White-plough, another name for Fool-plough ; so denomi- nated from the young men composing the pageant being dressed in white. See Fool-plough. White-herring, a pickled, and not a fresh herring — with all due deference to Mr. Archdeacon Nares. See his Glossary, where it is stated, in regard to Steevens's ex- planation (similar to my own) and his reference to the Northumberland Household Book, that " there three are or- dered for a young lord or lady's breakfast, and/oMrformy lord's, which no lord or lady could j^ossihly eat." This may be quite true ; but what does it prove ? From Bi- shop Percy's preface to the book, it appears that the Earl was a nobleman of great magnificence and taste ; and considering the splendid establishment detailed in that curious memorial of the olden time, more white herrings might be provided " for a young lord or lady's breakfast," as well as " for my lord's," than they actually did, or " could possibly eat." White-neb'd-craw, a provincial designation for the rook. Whitling, a much-admired species of trout, the history of which is but imperfectly known. It is sometimes taken in the river Tyne ; but more frequently in the Tweed and its tributaries. In some parts it is called whiting, or whit- WHO 223 ten. Sw. hwitling, a whiting. Many persons have suppos- ed this fish to be a young salmon ; but the better opinion seems to be that it is a distinct species. It has probably obtained the name from its light silvery appearance, being free from any red or dark spots on its sides, as other trouts have. The flesh is of a reddish colour, like that of salmon. Whitster, a bleacher of linen. Whittee-whatteeing, speaking low and privately — whisper- ing between two persons, to the exclusion of a third — also indecision, or procrastination, on frivolous pretences. The etymology of words of this peculiar form is extremely un- certain. Whittle, v. to haggle in cutting. Cumh. and West. Whittle, s. a knife ; generally a clasp-knife. Sax. whi/tel ; and that, probably, from Goth, huet tol, a sharp instru- ment. A whittle was a knife, such as was formerly carried about the person by those whose quality did not entitle them to the distinction of a sword. Long knives were for- bidden to be worn in the City of London or Westminster in 1351, during the sitting of Parliament. " An harden sari; a guse grassing, and a whittle gait " were all the salary of a clergy- man, not many years ago, in Cumberland ; in other words, his entire stipend consisted of a shirt of coarse linen, the right of commoning geese, and the more valua- ble privilege of using a knife and fork at the table of his parishioners. " There are schools in this parish (Bewcastle), supported by pub- lic subscription ; the masters are hired for about 10/. a year, aad they go about with the scholars in rotation for victuals, a privi- lege called, in many places, " a whittle gate." — Hutchinson's Cumb. Whizzer, a falsehood. More wind than truth. See Fizzle. Who, Sho, Shoe, for she. I am indebted to Mr. Justice Bay- ley for reminding me of this strange mutation in our Nor- thern usage — occasionally to be met with. Heo is the ancient Saxon form, still retained in some jilaces. V. Verstegan. 224 WHOP Whopt, Wiiupt, put, i^laced — embracing the idea of whipped. " He whopt his foot o'nt." Whripe, to complain peevishly, to whimper, to whine. Whummel, v. a. to invert, as to whummel a dish over any- thing, is to cover it by turning the dish upon it. Whurry, wherry, a large boat — a sort of a barge or lighter. Newc. Bryant says, the name of wherry is very ancient, and, by the Romans, was expressed horia. Thomson de- rives it from Goth, veerje, a ferry-boat. " Aw thowt aw'd myek a voyage to Shields Iv Jemmy Joneson's whurry." — Local Song. Whussel, a corruption of whistle. — Whussel-wood, the alder and plane-tree ; used by boys in making whistles. Whuther, to beat, to flutter. Cognate to Whidder, or Whither. — Whuthering, a throbbing or palpitation at the heart. Why, or Whye, a young cow. See Quey. Whyllymer, a species of cheese remarkable for its poverty ; which it might be safely asked (saving both meat and mense) "who'll ha' mare ?" In a note to Anderson's Bal- lads, its surface is said to be so hard, that it frequently bids defiance to the keenest edge of a Cumhrian gulJu, and its interior substance so very tough, that it affords rather occupation to the teeth of a rustic than nourishment to his body, making his hour of repast the severest part of his day's labour. Widdersful, laboriously endeavouring, actively stri\'ing. WiDDEY, a tough band made of oziers, partially dried in the fire ; used for many agricultural purposes. The iron ring, uniting the band of a cow and the post to which she is tied, is, in some places, still called a widdey, from its hav- ing been made of oziers before the common use of iron. " As tough as a loiddey." Old Eng. wtfthe ; from Sax. withig ; and that from tvilhan, to join ; whence, says Tooke, the preposition loith. WILE 225 WiDDLE, to fret. Germ, ivedeln, to wag, to move. V, Jam. widdill. Wide-coat, an upper or great coat. Perhaps not peculiar. Wife, any woman, whether married or not, in fact, the fe- male sex generally.— " ^« apple wife"— " A fish wife.'"— '*A tripe wife." Sax. wif mulier, foemina. Bede uses wif-cild for a female infant. " Makbeth turned hym agayne, And sayd ' Lurdane, thow prykys in wayne, For thow may noucht be he, I trowe, That to dede sail sla me nowe. That man is nowcht borne of wyS Of powere to rewe me my lyfe." " — ^yyntoxcn. Wig, a kind of small cake, or bun, much used in the North as a tea cake. "^ plain loig" — "^ spice wig ;" that is one baked without, and one with, currants. Teut. wegghe, panis triticeus. Kilian. Wiggle-waggle, tremulous undulating motion, a WTiggle. Wight, a hoop with a skin stretched over it for lifting grain, differing from a riddle or coarse boulter for sifting the grain by being unperforated, called loiglite. {See Raine's North Durham, p. 92), from Germ, weighten, to remove. WiGHTY, strong and active. V. Todd's Johnson, ivight. Sax. ivig-lie, bellicosus. WiK, Wyck, or Wyke, a crook or corner, as in a river or the sea shore. Hence the names of numerous places in such situations. The comers of the mouth are called the Wicks of the mouth. Su.-Got., wik, angulus. Sc, weik; week. Wike, Wick, Wicker, a mark used in setting out tithes ; generally a small branch of a tree. Wile, to entice, to accomplish by coaxing, or cunning ; as, " I'll wile it out of him." I'll get his secret from him. Su.-Got. wela, to deceive ; to use art or stratagem in a good as well as a bad sense. " Beleif ye that we will begyle yow, Or from your vertew for till wyle you 1—Lj/ndsap. VOL. II. G g 226 WILL Will, for shall; and Woiild, for should; are misapplied j9as- sitn in "The North Countreye." The Northumbrian gen- try, though much addicted to the use of tliis peculiar idiom, disrelish any admonition of their mistakes. Such errors, however, are incorrigible, both in them and in their neighbours, the Scots. Even such WTiters as Blair and Robertson are not always exempt from this inveterate dis- figurement. WiLLET-WAND, a wiUoW rod. Sax. welig, and wand. " A mere willey-waiid'^ — applied to a tall, thin person. Win, to dry hay by exposing it to the air, to get in harvest generally. Sax. loindwain, ventilare. Taut, winnen, colli- gere fructus terrjE. Our farmers speak of " Well won hayT " Yt fell abowght the Lammas tyde. Whan husbondes xcynn ther h£^e, The dowghtye Dowglasse bowynd him to ryde, In Ynglond to take a praye."- Battle, of Otterbourne. Barbour uses the word in a more general sense, applying it to the harvesting of corn. " This was intill the harvest tyd, Quheu feldis, that ar fayr and wid, Chargyi with corne all fully war. For syndry connys that thai bar Wax ryp to wyn, ti mannysfed." — The Bruce. Win, to get up, to attain to. Win, to gain, to raise, to get ; as coals from a pit, or stones in a quarry. Su.-Got. icinna, laborare, labore acquirere. Sax. winna7i. " Reserved all manner of mines and mi- nerals full liberty to work, win and carry away the same," is a usual covenant in North country leases. Win, to dwell. See Won. Winder, v. to separate grain from the chaff — to winnow. Winder, a window ; originally a wind-door, or aperture for air. V. Craven Glossary, winder ; and Nares, windore. Windle-strea, or Winnel-stree, crested dog's-tail grass ; Ci/nosurus cristatus. Lin. Sax. icindel-streowe. " Branchis brattlyng and blaiknyt schew the brayia, AVith hirstis harsh of waggand wymlil-stravis.— Douglas. WISE 227 Windy, noisy, loquacious, marvellous in narration. "Though he is a, ivindij body, when he gets in his auld warld stories, he has mair gumption in him than most people." Jiedgauntlet. Windy- WALLETS, a noisy, gasconading fellow — one who is ac- customed to magnify in conversation. Winn A, Winnot, provincialisms for will not. Winning head-ways, two parallel excavations in the work- ings of a colliery, about six feet wide, and twenty feet apart, extending in a direction from north to south. — The principal exploring drifts of a colliery, for opening out the seams for the daily supply. WiNRAw, hay, when raked up in long rows for the purpose of being more easily dried, is said to be in the icinraw. Winsome, engaging, lively, cheerful, gay. Sax. winsum, " Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie bride, Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow. Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bride. Busk ye, and go to the braes of Yarrow." Scottish Song. Winter, an instrument of iron hung against the bars of a fire-place, used to heat smoothing irons upon. V. Jam. Supp. Wirdle, to perform anything laboriously and slowly. A re- spected friend, now no more, suggested work and dele — to work gradually. Wise, to let in or out. Sax. wisian, wissian, monstrare, monere, docere. Swed. visa, to show, to exhibit. " JVise him in." — " Wise out the horse." — " Wise the door open." It also means, to insinuate, to work into ; as to wise into company or into favour ; that is, to do it cunningly. Wise, to let go. " Wise off that rope." — " Wise off your gun." Wise-like, possessing the appearance of wisdom or pro- priety. Sax. wis-lic, sapiens, prudens. Wise-man, a periphrasis for a conjuror, or wizard. In the dark ages, when astrology was in vogue, thieves were kept 22B WISH in surprising awe by the cunning men Avith long beards and white wands. If the same effect could now be produced, it might do well to revive the Black Art. Certain it is, that wretches, pretenders to occult science, are still occa- sionally consulted by the lower and more ignorant classes, ever the dupes of empiricism and knavery. Wish to, to help to. Can you wish me to a customer. WisKET, a small clothes basket. — Yorkshire. Wist, Wiste, the pret. of wissen, to know. Witch- WOOD the mountain ash. A piece of this tree, worn about some part of the dress, is still believed to be a pre- servative against the charms of withcraft. See Roux-tree. Wit, v. to know. Ma?.-Got. and Sax. loitan. Su.-Got. weta, scire. " Lat not thi left half Late ne rathe Wite what thou werchest With thy right syde."— Pier« Plowman. " But the lord Douglas, that ay was war And set owt wachis her and thar, Gat viyt of their enbuschement." The Bruce. WiTE, V. to blame, to reproach. Sax. loitan, imputare. — Wite, s. blame, imputation. A Chaucerian word, retained by Spencer. Su.-Got. wite, poena. Swed. vite, pecuniary punishment. Sc. im/te. " As helpe me God I shall thee never smite, That I have done it is thyself to wite." Chaucer — Wife of Bath's Prologue. " That I am dronke, I know it by my soune, And therefor if that I misspoke or say, WUe it the ale of Southwerk, I you pray." Chaucer— The MUlere's Prologue. " So as their begging now them failed quite, For none would give, but all men would them wite." Spenser. " I wyte the Emperour Constantine That I am put to sic mine."— Lyndsay't Tlirce Estaitii. WiTiNG, Witting, knowledge, judgment, vnt. See Wit. WORM 229 WiTTEUiXG, a hint. Sc. wittryng, information, knowledge. WiTEE-wiTTE-WAY, a game among boys — which I do not re- member in the South of England. Wiv, with.— iVb/tA. a,\xA Dur.—W\' .— York. Wizened, Wizzened, Wizzent, dried, parched, withered, wrinkled, shrivelled. Sax. wisnian, arescere. Sw. vistna. " Fast by my chalmer on hie loisnit treis The sary gled quhissillis with money ane pew." Douglas's Mnied. WoAD, WuD, WuDE, mad, frantic, furious. Sax. wod^ insa- nus, furiosus. Sc. icod, toted. " On Monday next, at quarter night, Shal fall a rain, and that so wild and wood. That half so great was never Noes flood." Chaucer,— TJie Millere's Tale. Wo-le-tot, an execration. " Woe light on't." Wommel, or WuMBLE, an auger. From Wivible. Won, Wun, to dwell, to haunt or frequent. A very old word but not obsolete, as stated by Ash ; being quite common in Cumb. and Lane, as well as in Northumberland. Sax. tvonian, wunian. Teut. tcoonen, habitation, frequentare. Cornish, wonnen, to stay, to tarry. " Schir Robert Nevill that tid Wounyt at Berwek, ner besid" — 77te Bruce. " Thou lourede leches And lettres thei sente That he sholde wonye with hem."— Piers Plowman. " A sturdy pass doun to the court he gothe, Wher as ther ivoned, a man of gret honour, To whom that he was always confessour." Chaucer— The Sompnoure's TaU. Woo, wool. A common pronunciation in many places. WoR, our. — WoRSELLs, oursclvcs. WoRSELL, V. to wrestle, to strive. Dut. worstelen. — Wok- sell, WoRSTLE, s. a struggle. Worm, a serpent of great magnitude, and of terrific descrip- tion — a hideous monster in the shape of a worm or dragon. The application of this title to the serpent tribe is very 230 WORM general, and has been used with great latitude. Indeed, the similarity of form naturally led to it. The Italian poets call the infernal serpent of old, " II gran Vermo ;" and Milton's Adam is made to reproach Eve mth having lent an ear " to that false worm.'" Shakspeare, too, speaks of slander's tongue as outvenoming " all the worms of Nile." Worm is a Teutonic word for serpent ; and Germ. wUrmy is used for a dragon, as well as a worm. Moe.-Got. waurm, signifies a serpent ; and orm has the same meaning in the Su.-Got. and Dan. languages. Sax. wurm, also, sometimes occurs in this sense. In Northumberland and Cumber- land, the viper, coluber verics, is called the hagworm ; and the unguis fragiUs, the blind or slow- worm. Pojiular tra- dition has handed down to us, through successive genera- tions, with very little variation, the most romantic details of the ravages committed by these all-devouring worms, and of the valour and chivalry displayed by their de- etroyers. Without attempting to account for the origin of such tales, or pretending in any manner to vouch for the mattei's of fact contained in them, it cannot be dis- guised, that many of the inhabitants of the county of Dur- ham in particular, still implicitly believe in these ancient superstitions. The Worm of Lamhton is a family legend, the authenticity of which no true born native will suffer to be impugned or challenged. Various adventures and supernatural incidents have been transmitted from father to son, illustrating the devastation occasioned, and the miseries inflicted by the monster — and marking the self- devotion of the Knight of the Lambton family, through whose intrepidity the worm was eventually destroyed. But the lapse of centuries has so completely enveloped in obscurity the particular details, that it is impossible to give a narration which could in any degree be considered as complete. The story related in my late friend Mr. Surtees' splendid and elaborate History of Durham is in- correct in many particulars. Those parts, which allude WORM 231 to the profane fishing on a Sunday, and the consequences resulting from it, are mere modern disfigurements of the original tradition, utterly at variance with the state of the times — amusements on the Sabbath, in those days, when Catholicism i^revailed, not being regarded as an act of profaneness. A history of the worm, " gleaned with much patient and laborious investigation, from the mvd voce narrations of sundry of the elders of both sexes" in the immediate neighbourhood of the scene of action, by another literary friend, has recently been privately printed under the title of The Worm of Lambton,4to., 1830. There is a conical hill of considerable size, on the banks of the Wear, near Fatfield, about two miles from Lambton Castle, which from time immemorial has been called the Worm Hill, and round which this great serpent is said to have coiled it- self. — Another old, and well-authenticated Durham legend, is the Dragon, Worm, or Flying Serpent of Sockburn ; de- scribed as a monster that devoured men, women, and children, and which was vanquished and slain by Sir John Conyers in the year 10(50 ; in memory whereof, and as a reward for his bravery, his sovereign gave him the manor of Sockburn, to hold to him and his heirs for ever, by the tenui'e of presenting to every Bishop, on his first entrance into the county after his election to the see, the falchion with which this gallant and successful adventure was achieved — a ceremony still continued, honoris causa. In the neighbourhood of Bamburgh the stoiy of the Laidley Worm of Sj)indleston Heughs is an ancient tradition, which supplied Mr. Lamb with the materials for his very clever ballad. " I seigh the sonne and the se, And the sond aftar ; And where the briddes and beestes By hir makes yeden ; Wild wormcs in wodes, And wonderful foweles With fleckede fetheres And of fell colours.— Pte)'« Ploinnan. 232 WORM WoRMiT, worm-wood. The common 2>tople consider this herb as prophylactic against fleas, and accordingly place it about their beds. Worry, to eat voraciously, to choak, to sufifocate. T. Ray. Worsen, v. n. to become worse. Used as v. a. by Milton. Wot, to know. Cumb. " If iSkiddaw hath a cap, Criffel loots full well of tha.t."— Proverb. Wou, the worst kind oisioipes. •' Farthing wou.'' The word is also applied to weak tea, or any other worthless liquor. WowL, to cry, to howl. Shakspeare uses wawl. Wraith, or Wauf. See Waff. Wramp, a sprain. Wrang, wrong. Pure Saxon. — Wrangsly, falsely. " What is right, and what is icrang, by the law, by the law ? What is right, and what is wrang, by the law ? What is right, and what is wrang ? A short sword and a lang, A weak arm and a Strang For to dTa,w.— Jacobite Song. Wrangous, wrongful, false. " Cum follow me, all curst unhappie wyfis, That with your gudeman dayly flytis and stryfis, And quycklie with rybaldis makis repair. And takis na care to mak ane ivrangoiis air." Lyndsay, — Tliree Estaitis. Wrat, or Rat, a wart on the finger or face. Dut. and Sc. wrat. Wreck, sea-weed ; much used for manuring land. Wreck, a great quantity — from wreck — as a confused heap. This is the sense of the word in Norfolk, given in sixth acceptation by Todd. Wrecken-dike, a Roman military way crossing the county of Durham, from the station at Lauchester, to the sestuary of the Tyne. See Arch, ^liaua, Vol. I. Wreckling, an unhealthy feeble child — the youngest or weakest of the breed among animals — the smallest bird in the nest — anv ill-orown creatui-c. See Dowry. Ritling. WYE 233 Gifford has used " wretchcock" in this sense in the note on 1. 55 of his 2d Satire of Persius. I have not met with wretchcock in any other author. Little wretch is obviously the meaning. Wriddex, or Wreedex, cross, ill-natured, perverse — tori- then ; applied in particular to children. I have heard weirdy used in the same sense. Wrout, to bore, to dig up like a hog, to root. Sax. wrotan, subigere. Chaucer has wrote. " O good God ! ye women that ben of gret beautee, remembreth you on the proverbe of Salomon, that likeneth a faire woman, that is a fool of hire body, to a ring of gold that is wome in the groine of a sowe : for right as a sowe wroteth in every ordure, so UTOteth she hire beautee in stinking ordure of sinne." The Persone's Tale. " Or like a worm, that tcroteth in a tree." — Lydgate. WuD, with. — Cumb. " God be wud her." God rest her soul. WuDDLE, to sever by short and frequently-renewed efforts. For authority see Weasan. WuLL, for will, very common in the country dialect. Chau- cer uses wol. " And eke in what araie that they were iuu ; And at a knight than wol I firste beginne.'" — The Pfologuc. Wunnel-stree. See Windle-strea. WuNSOME, engaging, giving joy. Same as Wixsome. WuRSUJi, s. Pus ; particularly when foul. WuRT-sPRiNGS, s. The cracking of the skin at the roots of the nails, called also Agg or Hagg-nails. Wus, to wish. " I wus ye well." " His bushopricke he wust wel, and eke his prioric, And forced him to serve wel God and Seinte Marie." FfOM the Lives of the Saints , printed in Hicks, from a MS. in Trin. Col, Camb. Wartonsays it is cer- tainly prior to 1200. Wye, Wya, well, yes. — Wye — W^ye, very well ; yes, yes. A common expresssion of assent. Fr. oui, VOL. II. H h 234 WYLE Wylet, Wylecoat, a night gown, vest for a child ; generally of flannel. " In this congelit sesoun scharp and chill. The callour are penetrative and pure — Made seik warme stouis and bene fyris hote, In doubill garment cled and wylecote."— Douglas. Wyllement, or Wullement, a pale, sickly looking person. Y. The use of this letter, as a vowel, is very frequent in the diphthongal language of the North ; as yaits, oats ; yak, oak ; yearih, earth, &c., &c. In the country dialect the Saxon ea is almost uniformly j^ronouncedya. In a glos- sary of this kind, where words are recorded which are sel- dom elsewhere written, and threfore spelt merely for con- veying the sound, there ought to be a distinct character for y, the vowel employed to express i long, and for^ the con- sonant. Thus, at page 72, Vol. II., a mag-pie is said to be called a pyanot ; and at page 26, Vol. II., the preterite of mack is said to be m^yed. Now a southern would not hence learn tliat^ in the first instance is a long «', and in the second a consonant, though he might be puzzled with the ' between the m and y, \vith which the difference is there designated. \iy consonant were accented, it mi(yht serve as some guide, though not a perfect one. Yables, Yeblins, Yeablesae, Yebblesee, perhaps. »Sec Ablins. Yaddle, drainings from a dunghill. — Cumb. Yaitixg, or Yeating, a single sheaf of corn. Identical M-ith Gating, or Gaiting. See Gate, or Gait. Yal, Yall, ale. A, in this, and many other provincial words, is sounded like j/«w. Yammer, to fret, to whine, to complain — or rather to repeat the same comjjlaint. Also to cry like a dog in pain, or when it is wanting to follow its master if shut up from him. Gferm.. jammern, to complain. '&vfed.. jamra sig, to lament — -jammer, lamentation. YARE 235 Yammering, making a loud and continual noise ; such as pro- ceeds from contentious women, or from fretful and peevish children. The word, indeed, stands for a very complex idea, into which enters a combination of habitual fretful- ness, discontent, brawling, and anger. " The birsit baris and beris in thar styis Raring all wod furth quhrynis and wyld cryis, And grete figuris of wolfes eik in fere, Youland and yammerand grislie for to here." Douglas' Mneid. " Come, dinna, dinna whinge an' whine, Like yammering Isbel Macky." Song, — Boh Cranky's Adieu. Yan, Yen, one. — Yance, Yence, one. — Yansell, Yensel, one's self. Yap, apt, quick. Sax. gep, astutus. In Peirs Plowman we find yeep, which Dr. Whitaker considers of the same origin, and explains in the sense of alert and vigorous. " Concupiscentia-carnis Colled me aboute the nekke, And seide, ' Thow art yong and peepe. For to ly ve longe And ladies to love." — The Vision. Yap, Yep, an opprobrious epithet to a youngster — an ape. Yare, alert, nimble, fit, ticklish. The word occurs in The Mad Lover of Beaumont and Fletcher, in a sense not very delicate to modern ears. " Good: speak to the mariners : fall to it yarely, or we run our- selves aground." — Shah., — Tempest. Yare, a kind of hedge formed of stakes and wicker work extending from the bank towards the middle of a river for the purpose of catching fish. An extract from an original writ issued by Neville, Bishop of Durham, in 1440, com- manding certain j/arcs in the river Wear to be removed, because they interrupted the navigation and prevented salmon and trout from ascending, is given in Spearman's Enquiry, p. 36. 236 YARK Yark, or Yerk, to wrench or twist forcibly — to jerk. Yark, to beat soundly, to correct severely. Isl. hreckia, pulsare. A favourite word among the vulgar. Yarnut, an earth-nut. See Arnut, Awnut. Yate, Yat, Yet, a gate. Sax. zcat. Both Chaucer and Spenser use i/ate. " As old as Pandon-yate" is a local proverb of great antiquity ; but Pandon Gate — the oldest of all the fine antique towers that once adorned the ve- nerable walls of Newcastle, which, in the days of Leland, who visited them three hundred years ago, for " strength and magnificens far passeth al the cities of England, and most of the townes of Europe" — to the regret of every man of taste, was totally demolished in l795 ; since which, a spirit of innovation, has attacked with unrelenting gripe, many other interesting memorials of our former state. The antiquary, who remembers, with kindred emotion, those ages that are gone by, has the yearly mortification of seeing one vestige after another give way to substitutes less picturesque, yet it must be confessed better adapted to our present wants. Diversi tempi, diversi costumi. " ' SufFre me,' seide Trutlie : I here and see bothe How a spirit speketh to belle And bid Jetli unspere the yates."— Piers Plowman. '• Ful besy was Grisilde in every thing That to the feste was appertinent Right naught was she abaist of hire clothing. Though it were rude and somdel eke to-rent, But with glad chere to the yate is went With other folk, to grete the markisesse." aiaucer,—Thc Clerke's Tale. " Thai fled for owtyne mar debate, And thai thaim folowit to the yate ,■ And.slew of thaim as thai in past, Bot thai thair yate barrit fast.""— 77ie Bruce. " Quhair they onsett Ay in thair gaitt Thair is na yet Nor der them l>ydiii."—Mailla nil's Cvmplaynt. YEAR 237 Yate-stoop, Yat-stoop, Yet-stoop, gate post. Yaud, or Yawd, a common name among country people for a horse — a jade. A druidical temple, in Cumberland, goes by the name of the " Grey Yauds," probably from the colour of the stones. " On his grey yaud as he did ride."— Ritson's Sc. Songs. Yaud, "Fie^awc?," or "far yaud" is the cry of the shep- herds on the borders when they wish the dogs to drive the sheep at a distance. Sax, yoden, to go. " Hey ! Bally lad! far yaud/ far yaud! These were the morning sounds heard he, And 'everalack!' old Durie cried, ' The deil is hounding his tykes on me.' " Border Minstrelsy. Yaup, to cry loudly and incessantly, to lament ; to yelp as a dog. Teut. galpen, gannire instar vulpis. Kilian. — Yaup- iNG, crying, shouting. Sax. Yppe, open — with open mouth, as in hunger or wonder. Yaup, v. to be hungry. — Yaup, a. having a keen appetite — hungry. Year, used for the plural, as well as the singular ; as " I henna seen him this twenty year." Yearn, v. to long for, to desire. " The golden sun his glistring head gan shew And sad remembrance now the prince amoves With fresh desire his voyage to persew As Una earned her traveill to renew." — Spenser's F. Q. " Quhen kirkmen yairnis na dignitie Nor wyffls na soverainitie." — Lyndsay's Complaynt. Yearn, to coagulate milk. Germ, gerimien, to coagulate ; or probably Sax, t/ernan, to run ; for it is commonly said when milk coagulates, that it rins or runs. Yearning, cheese rennet, or that which curdles milk. Sax. ge-runnen. V. Lye. A plant used in Nortli Tindale, for the purpose of curdling milk for cheese, is called yerning grass. See Keslip. 238 YEAT Yeatuer, v. a. To yeather is to twist in the rise, or flexible twigs among tlie stakes in making a hedge. " Canst steak and yea^/ier, lad?" was formerly the first question put to a farmer's servant offering himself for a place. Yeats, oats. " The oats which they call yeats, are commonly first covered with snow." —North's Lije of Lord Keeper Guildford. Yebble, the common Northern pronunciation of able. Yeis, you shall. " I gang this gait with richt gude will Schir Wantonnes, tarie ye stil And Hamelenes the cup yeis fill And beir him cumpanie." Lyndsay's Three Estaitis. Yek, the oak. See Aac. " He's as hard as yek and iron" — a common Northumbrianism. Yeld, barren, unprofitable ; as a cow that does not give milk, or from its age is too young to bear ; or, as applied to males, not ready for profit. See Geld. Yell, ale. Sax. eale. — Yell-house, an ale-house. — Yell- wife, the lady of " mine host," — also a hostess in her own right. See Yal, Yall. Yellow-yowley, a Northern name for the yellow bunting, or yellow hammer. Emberiza citrinella. Linnaeus. A vulgar prejudice exists in Scotland against this bird. V. Jam. yeldring. Yelp, to shout, to cry out ; as it were like a dog. See Yaup. Yelper, a popular name for the avoset, which frequents the sea shores of this kingdom in winter, and makes a shrill noise. Yerbs, Yarbs, the Northern pronunciation of herbs. Yerth, earth ; both vowels being pronounced. Yetling, a small metal pan or boiler, with a bow handle. V. Jam. yetlaiid. Yeuk, Yuck, v. to itch. Teut. jeuclo?, prurire. Dut-jeukcn. — Yeuk, Yeck, s. a cutaneous disease — jocosely denomi- YULE 239 natecl the plague of Scotland ; from an idea of its being so prevalent in that country. See Scotch-Fiddle. Yeuky, Yucky, prurient ; especially in a sense inadmissible here. YeMn, pruritus, occurs in Prompt. Parv. Yevering Bell, a curious hill near Wooler, in Northumber- land, where very ancient remains still exist on its summit. Yiffer, a long fir pole, used in scaffolding. YissERDAY, yesterday. — Yisserneet, yesternight. YoR, your. — Yor-sell, yourself. Yore, the ore of metal, York has the higher rack, but Durham the deeper manger, was the reply of a Bishop of Durham who declined an ele- vation in the Church. It has now passed into a pro- verb in the North. Youl, Yowl, to cry, to howl. Isl. gola, ululare. The super- stitious are much afraid when they hear a dog j/om? near their dwelling, and consider it a prediction of an early death in some of the family. This is a very old ai*ticle of popular belief. YouT, to cry, to roar. Teut. iuj/ten, vociferari. Youth, is often used in the sense of vigorous age ; as, "he is a fine old youths Yow, Yowe, a ewe. Sax. cowa, ovis fQ?mina. Yule, the time of Christmas — a festival observed among the northern nations long before the introduction of Christi- anity. The feast was evidently, in its origin, in honour of the Sun's passing the winter solstice. The Romans at this period of the year also celebrated the Saturnalia. The Greenlanders still keep a feast to testify their joy at the return of the sun to the Northern hemisphere. V. Crantz, Vol. I., p. 176. Various conjectures have been formed as to the origin of the name, but it is difficult to determine which etymon ought to be preferred. The chief cognate terms are Su.-Got. and Swed. jul, Dan. jxml. Isl. jol. Sax. geola. Teut. jocl. 240 YULE " Welcome yol, thou mery man, In werchepc of this holy day." From a CJiristnias Carol, called " Welcome Yol," in RU. A. B. " She might have been ane menatral againis yule." Complaynt of the Papingo. In the good old days of English plenty and hospitality, the festivities at Christmas were universally felt and en- joyed by all ranks of society, from the humblest of the poor to the mightiest of the rich ; and this, otherwise gloomy and desolate, was the season of social indulgence ; or, as the poet has more aptly termed it, " The long night of revelry and ease." This cheerful conviviality and friendly intercourse, it is pleasing to remark, are not altogether driven from your ^ule fire-sides in the North ; though the superstitious observances, which used to be celebrated, are now grown rare, if not entirely discontinued. A vmter in the Quar- terly Review (Sept. 1835, p. 307,) says, " Much has been written, to little purpose, respecting the origin of yuUy Dr. Jamieson, however, has amassed a fund of curious information respecting it. And, amongst other things, says, " it is believed by some that, if one were to go into the cow-house at twelve o'clock at night (on yule e'en), all the cattle would be seen to kneel. This wild idea seems to refer to our Lord's being born in a stable." This belief is not confined to Scotland ; on the English Border it is still by many an article of faith. Yule-candle, a large mould-candle, lighted and set on the supper-table on Christmas eve. It is considered unlucky to snuff it until the conclusion of the repast. This custom, no doubt, originated in times of heathenism. It bears great resemblance to the Roman Saturnalia, in the celebra- tion of which lights were used. Yule-clog, a large block or log of wood, sometimes the root of a tree, laid on the fire on Christmas Eve, and kept YULE 241 burning all the following day, oi* longer, if possible. The yule clog is still burnt in many farm-houses and kitchens in the North of England ; and there are several supersti- tions connected with it among the peasantry. A portion of the old clog of the preceding year is sometimes saved to light up the new block at the next Christmas, and to pre- serve the family from harm in the mean time Herrick, a minute describer of the superstitions of his times, in allu- sion to this custom, says, " Come bring with a noise, My merrie, merrie boys, The CJiristmas log to the firing: While my good dame she Bids ye all be free. And drink to your heart's desiring." Ceremonies for ChrUstmasse. " Part must be kept wherewith to teend, The Christmas Log next yeare ; And where 'tis safely kept, the Fiend Can do no mischiefe (there)." Ceremonies for Candlemasse Day. " Yule sits upon Yule-clog With a white feather in his cap Red Rose, when wilt thou spring?" Ancient Ballad. As knowledge advances, superstition almost necessarily recedes. Yet even now — extensively as rational education and intelligence are diffusing among every rank of society, and rapid as has been " the march of intellect" — many grave and sensible persons, though ashamed to own a belief in supernatural agency of any sort, are still so far in- fluenced in their manner of thinking, as to be uncomfort- able in the idea of entirely neglecting the superstitious notions imbibed in early life. They affect to doubt what, in their hearts, they believe and are afraid of. Such is ever the despotism of the imagination over minds impei*- fectly cultivated. No extent to which national education VOL. II. I i 242 YULE can be carried can extirpate superstitions, so long as cre- dulity is one of the characteristics of the human mind. Yule-dough, a Christmas cake, or rather a little image of paste studded with currants, and baked for children at this season of the year ; intended, originally, perhaps, for a figure of the child Jesus, with the Virgin Mary. V. Ihre, julhrocl — and Brand's Pop. Antiq., Vol. I., p. 410. Yule-games, gambols customary during the hilarity of Christ- mas. Yule-plough, a name for the Christmas Pageant described under Fool-plough. Yure, the udder of an animal. Dan. yver, a dug. Dut. ujer. NEWCASTLE: VIUM'KO BY r. AMJ J. IIOIK^SON, INION STllEET. (^ THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001063 636 3