THE
KENTISH DIALECT
A DICTIONARY
OF THE
KENTISH DIALECT
AND
PROVINCIALISMS
IN USE IN THE COUNTY OF KENT.
BY
W. D. PARISH,
CHANCELLOR OF CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL AND VICAR OF SELMESTON;
AND
W. F. SHAW,
VICAR OF EASTRY, KENT.
FARNCOMBE & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1888.
P3
ISS7
LEWES :
FARNCOMBE AND CO., PRINTERS.
INTRODUCTION.
THE KENTISH DIALECT finds its expression in
peculiarities of phrase and pronunciation rather
than in any great number of distinctly dialectical
words. In many respects it closely resembles the dialect
of Sussex, though it retains a distinctive character, and
includes a considerable number of words which are un-
known in the neighbouring County.
The Kentish pronunciation is so much more coarse
and broad than that of Sussex, that many words which
are common to both dialects can scarcely be recognised a
few miles away from the border ; and many words of ordi-
nary use become strangely altered. As an instance, the
word elbow may be taken, which first has the termination
altered by the substitution of ber [ber] for bow [boa], and
becomes elber [el'ber]. The e is next altered to a, and in
Sussex the word would be generally pronounced alber
[al-ber], in which form it is still recognisable ; but the
Kentish man alters the al into ar [aa], and knocking out
the medial consonant altogether, pronounces the word
arber [aa-ber], and thus actually retains only one letter
vi. Introduction.
out of the original five. The chief peculiarities of pro-
nunciation are these, —
Such words as barrow and carry become bar and car [baa, kaa].
a [a] before double d is pronounced aa; as laader [laa'der] for
ladder.
a [a] before double / becomes o; as follcr [fol'er] for fallow,
a [ai] before t is lengthened into ea; as pleat [plee'h't] for plate.
Double e, or the equivalent of it, becomes i ; as "ship in the fil"
[ship in dhu' fil] for " sheep in the field."
Then, by way of compensation, i is occasionally pronounced like
double e; as "The meece got into the heeve" [Dhu' mee's
got nrtu' dhu' hee'v] for " the mice got into the hive"
i appears as e in such words as pet [pet] for pit.
o before n is broadened into two syllables by the addition of an
obscure vowel ; as " Doant ye see the old poany be all skin
and boans " [doa'h'nt ye see dhu' oald poa'h'ny bee aul skin
un boa'h'ns].
ou is lengthened by prefixing a [a] ; the resulting sound being
Eaew]. "The haounds were raound our haouse yesterday."
Dhu' haewnds wer raewnd our haews yesferdai.]
The voiced th [dh] is invariably pronounced d; so that, this, then,
though become dat, dis, den, dough [dat, dis, den, doa].
In words such as fodder (A.S. fodor], where the old d comes
between two vowels, the dialect has th [dh], as [fodh'er].
The final letters are transposed in wasp, hasp, and many words of
similar termination. Hence these become [wops, haps].
w and v change places invariably when they are initial ; as " wery
veil " for very well.
Peculiarities of construction appear in the case of a
large class of words, whereof "upgrown," " outstand," "no-
ought," "over-run" and others may be taken as types.
Almost every East Kent man has one or two special
words of his own, which he has himself invented, and these
become very puzzling to those who do not know the secret
of their origin ; and as he dislikes the intrusion of any words
beyond the range of his own vocabulary, he is apt to show
his resentment by taking so little trouble to pronounce them
Introduction. vii.
correctly, that they generally become distorted beyond all
recognition. Broad titus, for instance, would not easily be
understood to mean bronchitis.
The East Kent man is, moreover, not fond of strangers,
he calls any new-comers into the village " furriners," and
pronounces their names as he pleases. These peculiarities
of speech and temper all tend to add to the difficulty of
understanding the language in which the Kentish people
express themselves.
The true dialect of Kent is now found only in the
Eastern portion of the County, and especially in the
Weald. It has been affected by many influences, most
of all, of course, by its geographical position, though it
seems strange that so few French words have found their
way across the narrow streak of sea which separates it
from France.
The purity of the dialect diminishes in proportion to
the proximity to London of the district in which it is spoken.
It may be said that the dialectal sewage of the Metropolis
finds its way down the river and is deposited on the southern
bank of the Thames, as far as the limits of Gravesend-
Reach, whence it seems to overflow and saturate the neigh-
bouring district. The language in which Samuel Weller,
Senior and Junior, express themselves in the pages of the
Pickwick Papers, affords an excellent specimen of what
the Kentish dialect is, when it is brought under the full
influence of this saturation.
Our collection of Kentish words and provincialisms
has been gathered from various sources. Much has already
been done to rescue from oblivion the peculiarities of the
dialect. As long ago as 1736 Lewis published a glossary
of local words in the second edition of his History of the
viii. Introduction.
Isle of Tenet ; this was reprinted by Prof. Skeat for the
English Dialect Society as * Glossary B n,' in 1874. Dr.
Pegge's attention was drawn to the subject at the same
time, and he compiled a glossary entitled ' Kenticisms,'
which remained in manuscript till it was communicated,
in 1876, by Prof. Skeat, to the English Dialect Society
and to the IX. Vol. of the Archseologia Cantiana. The
MS. was purchased by him at Sir F. Madden's sale, and
will be presented to the English Dialect Society.
A large number of Kentish words were found in the
pages of Holloway's General Dictionary of Provincialisms
(1839), and also in Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and
Provincial words (1872); and when Professor Skeat sug-
gested to us a more complete glossary of the dialect, we
found that these publications had aroused such a con-
siderable interest in the collection of Kentish words, that
several collectors were at work in different parts of the
County, all of whom most kindly placed their lists of
words at our disposal. (One peculiarly interesting collec-
tion was given to the Society many years ago by Mr. G.
Bedo.) The learned Professor has never for a moment
abated his interest in our work, and has been always
ready with a helping hand. Meanwhile the great local
professor of the Kentish language, Mr. H. Knatchbull-
Hugessen, M.P., has given us the full benefit of his thorough
knowledge of the subject.
In order to exhibit the modern dialect more clearly,
references to the specimens of Kentish in the Early and
Middle English Periods have been avoided. It may,
however, be well to observe here that the peculiarities of
the phonology of the old dialect are well shown in some of
these. The most important are the following :
Introduction. ix.
1. The inscription in the Codex Aureus, printed in
Sweet's Oldest English Texts, p. 174, and reprinted (very
accessibly) in Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader, Part II., p. 98.
This incription is of the Ninth Century.
2. Some Glosses in a copy of Beda (MS. Cotton, Tib.
c. 2), apparently in Kentish. Printed in Sweet's Oldest
English Texts, p. 179. Of the end of the Ninth Century.
3. Some of the Charters printed in Sweet's Oldest
English Texts, pp. 425 — 460. See, in particular, a Charter
of Hlothere, No. 4 ; of Wihtred, No. 5 ; of ^Ethelberht,
Nos. 6 and 7 ; of Eardwulf, No. 8 ; and the Charters
numbered 33 — 44, inclusive. Of these, Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
and 34 — 42, inclusive, are reprinted in Sweet's Anglo-
Saxon Reader, Part II., pp. 174 — 194.
4. Kentish Glosses of the Ninth Century, first printed
by Prof. Zupitza in Haupt's Zeitschrift, and reprinted in
Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader, Part II., pp. 152 — 175.
5. Five Sermons in the Kentish dialect of the
Thirteenth Century, printed in Morris's Old English
Miscellany, pp. 26 — 36. Two of these are reprinted in
Morris's Specimens of English, Part I., pp. 141 — 145. The
grammatical forms found in these Sermons are discussed in
the Preface to the Old English Miscellany, pp. xiii. — xvi.
6. The Poems of William, of Shoreham (not far from
Sevenoaks), written in the former half of the Fourteenth
Century, edited for the Percy Society by T. Wright, London,
1849. An extract is given in Specimens of English, ed.
Morris and Skeat, Part II., pp. 63 — 68.
7. The Ayenbite of Inwyt, or Remorse of Conscience,
finished A.D. 1340, by Dan Michel, of Northgate, edited by
Morris for the Early English Text Society in 1866. An
X.
Introduction.
extract is given in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and
Skeat, Part II., pp. 98—106.
It may be added that the Psalter, known as the
Vaspasian Psalter, printed in Sweet's Oldest English Texts,
is now ascertained to be Mercian. It was first printed by
Stevenson for the Surtees Society in 1843-4, under the
impression that it was " Northumbrian " a statement which
will not bear even a hasty test. Mr. Sweet at first claimed
it as "Kentish" (Trans, of the Phil. Soc. 1877, Part III.,'
p. 555), but a closer investigation proves it to be Mercian,
as Mr. Sweet has himself shown.
It may be mentioned that the collection of words
presented in this Dictionary has been in process of
formation for no less than fourteen years, and in the
course of that time we found many instances of folk lore
and proverbial expressions, which have been retained in
expectation that they may form the nucleus of a separate
work to be published hereafter.
At the end of this book a few blank pages will be found
perforated so as to be detached without injuring the rest,
and upon these we hope that many notes on Folk Lore and
Local Proverbs, and quaint words and anecdotes, illustra-
tive of Kentish dialect and character, may be jotted down
from time to time and forwarded to Rev. W. F. Shaw,
Eastry Vicarage, Sandwich, in whose hands they will help
to the completion of a work which promises to be one of
considerable interest.
LIST OF BOOKS
From which Quotations are frequently made in the course of
this Work.
LAMBARDE, WILLIAM. A PERAMBULATION OF KENT. 1596.
LEWIS, REV. J. HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES, AS WELL ECCLESIASTICAL
AS CIVIL, OF THE ISLE OF TENET, IN KENT. 1736.
SANDWICH BOOK OF ORPHANS. 1586 TO 1685. PUBLISHED IN
ARCH^OLOGIA CANTIANA, VOL. xvi.
MS. ACCOUNTS OF S. JOHN'S HOSPITAL, CANTERBURY. 1511 TO
1647. COMMUNICATED BY MR. J. M. COWPER.
M S. ACCOUNTS OF THE CHURCHWARDENS OF S. DUNSTAN'S,
CANTERBURY. 1484 TO 1580. ARCH^OLOGIA CANTIANA, VOL.
xvi.
OVERSEERS' ACCOUNTS, HOLY CROSS, CANTERBURY. 1642. TAKEN
FROM " OUR PARISH BOOKS," VOLS. i. AND IL, BY MR. J. M.
COWPER.
THE BARGRAVE DIARY AND VARIOUS M S. ACCOUNTS OF THE BOTELER
FAMILY HAVE BEEN KINDLY PLACED AT OUR DISPOSAL BY THE
MISSES BOTELER, OF BROOK STREET, EASTRY.
LISTS OF KENTISH WORDS
Have been kindly placed at our disposal, by the following Collectors
REV. PROFESSOR SKEAT.
MR. C. ROACH SMITH.
MR. H. KNATCHBULL HUGESSEN, M.P.
MR. GEORGE BEDO.
SIR FREDK. MADDEN (THE LATE).
MR. J. M. COWPER.
MR. HUMPHREY WICKHAM.
REV. G. R. BAKER.
MR. J, G. GOODCHILD.
MR. R. C. HUSSEY.
REV. CANON W. A. SCOTT ROBERTSON.
REV. J. BOODLE.
REV. F. HASLEWOOD.
MR. F. T. ELWORTHY.
Much information has also been given by Mrs. WHITE (Preston,
Salop), Capt. W. H. TYLDEN-PATTENSON, Rev. A. M. CHICHESTER,
and many others, to whom the Editors desire to offer their best thanks.
DICK AND SAL
AT CANTERBURY FAIR.
The following was written by the late Mr. John White Masters, who was brought
up in the neighbourhood of Faversham, under circumstances which gave him special
facilities for making notes upon the Kentish Dialect as it was spoken in the early part
of the present century. There seems to be internal evidence that the hero and heroine
of the tale started from the village of Sheldwick (with which Mr. Masters was connected}.
The Verses were first published before 1821, but the exact date is unknown.
1. r~invHE bailiff's boy had overslept,
The cows were not put in ;
But rosy Mary cheerly stept,
To milk them on the green.
2. Dick staggered with a carf of hay,
To feed the bleating sheep ;
Proud thus to usher in the day,
While half the world's asleep.
3. And meeting Mary with her pail,
He said, " If you wull stay,
I'll tell ya jest a funny tale,
About my holerday."
4. 'Twas then by some auspicious hap,
That I was passing near 'im,
And as he seem'd a likely chap,
Thinks I, I'll stop and hear 'im.
5. Now, Mary broke her steady pace,
And down she set her pail ;
Dick brush'd the hay seeds off his face,
And thus began his tale :
xiv. Dick and Sal
6. "Ya see when Michaelmas come roun,
I thought dat Sal and I,
Ud go to Canterbury town,
To see what we cud buy.
7. For when I lived at Challock Lees,
Our second-man had bin ;
And wonce when he was earring peas,
He told me what he'd sin.
8. He sed dare was a teejus fair,
Dat lasted for a wick ;
And all de ploughmen dat went dare,
Must car dair shining-stick.
9. An how dat dare was nable rigs,
An men-lander's jokes ;
Snuff-boxes, shows, and whirligigs,
An houghed sight o' folks.
10. But what queer'd me, he sed, 'twas kep
All round about de Church ;
And how dey had him up de steps,
And left him in de lurch.
11. At last he got into de street,
An den he lost his road ;
And Bet and he come to a geate,
Whar all de soagers stud.
12. Den she ketcht fast hold av his han',
For she was reythur scar'd ;
Tom sed when fust he see 'em stan',
He thought she'd be afared.
13. But one dat had a great broad soord,
Did ' left wheel ' loudly cry ;
And all de men scared at his word,
Flew roun ta let dem by.
14. And den de drums dey beat ya know,
De soagers dey was prancin ;
Tom told me dat it pleased 'em so,
They coud'n kip from dancin.
At Canterbury Fair. xv.
15. So I told feyther what I thought
'Bout gooing to de fair ;
An den he told me what he bought,
When moder and he was dare.
1 6. He bought our Jack a leather cap,
An Sal a money-puss ;
An Tom an Jem a spinnin tap,
An me a little hoss.
17. Den moder drummin in my ear,
Told all dat she had done ;
For doe she liv'd for fifty year,
She'd never sin such fun.
1 8. So Sal and I was mighty glad,
Ta hear sudge news as dat ;
An I set off ta neighbour Head,
Ta get a new straa hat.
19. An Thursday mornin Sal an I,
Set out ta goo ta fair ;
An moder an day wish't us good bye,
An told Sal ta taak care.
20. But jest as o'er the stile we got,
She call'd har back agin,
An sed, ' Ya taak yer milkin coat,
Fer Fre afared 'twull rain.'
21. Sal got de coat, an we agin,
Did both an us set sail ;
An she sed, ' Was she sure 'too'd rain,
She never oo'd turn tail.'
22. De clover was granable wet,
Sa when we crast de medder,
We both upan de hardle set,
An den begun concedir.
23. De Folkston gals looked houghed black,
* Old Waller'd roar'd about :
Ses I ta Sal, ' Shall we go back ! '
'Na, na,' says she, 'kip out.'
* This expression cannot be clearly explained.
xvi. Dick and Sal
24. 'Ya see the lark is mountain high,
De clouds ta undermine ;
I lay a graat he clears de sky,
And den it wull be fine.'
25. An sure enough old Sal was right,
De Folkston gals was missin ;
De sun and sky begun look bright,
An Waller'd stopt his hissin.
26. An so we sasselsail'd along,
An crass de fields we stiver'd,
While dickey lark kep up his song
An at de clouds conniver'd.
27. De rain an wind we left behind,
De clouds was scar'd away ;
Bright Pebus he shut-fisted shin'd,
And 'twas a lightful day.
28. We tore like mad through Perry 'ood,
An jest beyand Stone Stile,
We got inta de turnpik road,
An kep it all de while.
29. An den we went through Shanford Street,
An over Chartham Down ;
My wig ! how many we did meet,
A coming from de town.
30. An some sung out, ' Dare's Moll and Jan,'
But we ne'er cared for it ;
Through thick an thin we blunder'd an,
An got ta Wincheap Street.
31. I sed, 'We'r got here sure enough,
We'll kip upon de causeway ; '
But Sal sed, ' 'Tis sa plagued rough,
Less get inta de hossway.'
32. And so we slagger'd den ya know,
And gaap't and stared about ;
Ta see de houses all a row,
An signs a hanging out.
At Canterbury Fair. xvii.
33. An when a goodish bit we'd bin,
We turn'd to de right han' ;
An den we turned about agin,
An see an alus stan.
34. Sal thought it was de Goat or Hine —
I didn' know for my part ;
But when we look't apan de sign,
De reading was de 'White Hart.'
35. Den we went through a ge'at ya see,
An down a gravel walk :
An's we stood unnerneath a tree,
We heard de people talk.
36. So Sal, ya know, heav'd up her face,
Ad see 'em al stan roun,
Upon a gurt high bank an pleace,
An we apan de groun.
37. Den I gaapt up and see 'em all,
An wonder'd what could be —
Sa I turns round an says to Sal,
1 Less clamber up an see.'
38. But she was rather scared at fust
Fer fear a tumblin down ;
An dey at tap made game an us,
An told us ta goo roun.
39- Jigger ! I wooden give it up,
So took her roun de nick,
An holl'd her pattens ta de top,
An dragged her through de quick.
40. An den she turn'd erself about,
An sed 'twas rather rough ;
But when we found de futway out,
We went up safe enough.
41. An when we got to de tip top,
We see a marble mountain —
A gurt high stone thing histed up,
Jest like a steeple countin.
xviii. Dick and Sal
42. An dare we see, ah ! all de town,
Houses, an winmills grindin ;
*An gospells feeding on de groun,
An boys de dunnocks mindin.
43. How we was scared — why, darn my skin !
I lay dat dare was more
Houses an churches den we'd sin
In all 'ur lives afore.
44. An when we'd stared and gaap'd all roun,
And thought we'd sin 'em all ;
We turned about for ta come down,
But got apan a wall.
45. An Sal look't over as we past,
Ta see de ivy stick,
An if I had'en held her fast,
She would a brok 'er nick.
46. Den on we went, an soon we see
A brick place, where instead,
A being at top, as't ought to be,
De road ran unnernead.
47. An dare we pook't and peek'd about,
Ta see what made it stick up ;
But narn o' us cou'den' find it out,
What kep the middle brick up.
48. An Sal sung out, ' Why dis here wall,
It looks sa old an hagged ;
I'm mortally afared 'twill fall : '
And I was deadly shagged.
49. An when we got into de street,
A coach dat come from Dover,
Did gran nigh tread us under feet,
An Sal was 'most run over.
50. And so we stiver'd right acrass,
And went up by a mason's ;
An come down to a gurt big house —
I lay it was de Pason's !
* It is supposed that some error in printing may have created the two words
gospells and dunnocks, which occur in this stanza, for the most careful enquiries have
failed to identify them.
At Canterbury Fair. xix.
51. And den we turn'd to de left ban,
An down into de street,
An see a gurt fat butcher stan,
Wid shop chuck full o' meat.
52. Den all at once we made a stop,
I thought Sal would a fainted ;
When lookin in a barber's shop,
Sa fine de dolls was painted.
53. And dare was one an 'em I'll swear
Jest like de Pason's wife ;
Wid nose, an eyes, an teeth, an hair,
As nat'ral as life.
54. So dare we stopt a little space,
An sed ' How queer it looks ; '
But soon we see anudder place,
And dat was crammed wid books.
55. I sed ta her 'What books dare be,
Dare's supm ta be sin ; '
Den she turn'd round, and sed to me,
* Suppose we do go in.'
56. Now, Sal, ye see, had bin ta school —
She went to old aunt Kite ;
An so she was'en quite a fool,
But cud read purty tight.
57. She larnt her A B C, ya know,
Wid D for dunce and dame,
An all dat's in de criss-crass row,
An how to spell her name.
58. Sa in we went an down we squot,
An look't in every earner ;
Den ax't de ooman if she'd got
De book about Tom Harner.
59. It put Sal almost out a breath,
When fust we went in dare ;
De ooman was sa plaguey death,
She cou'den mak 'ar hear.
xx. Dick and Sal
60. At last de man he hard us bawl,
So out ya know he coom ;
An braught de book, an gin't ta Sal,
An sa we carr'd it hoom.
61. An Sal 'as red it throo and throo,
An lint it to 'er brudder ;
An feyther loike to have it too,
An wisht we'd bought anudder.
62. Den we came to anudder street,
Where all was butcher's shops ;
Dare was a tarnal sight of meat,
An steeks, an mutton-chops.
63. An dare was aluses by swarms —
I lay dare was a duzen !
An he dat kep de Butcher's Arms,
Was old Jan Hillses cousin.
64. And so as Sal lookt purtty fine,
We thoft we'd goo in dare ;
An hav a sup a beer ar two,
Afore we went ta fair.
65. De landlord he lookt moighty brave,
Wid his gurt rosy cheeks ;
An axt us if we loike to have
A pound ar two a steeks.
66. Sa when we lickt de platters out,
An yoffled down de beer,
I sed ta Sal, ' Less walk about,
An try an find de fair.'
67. An's we went prowling down de street,
We met old Simon Cole ;
He claa'd hold on her round de nick,
An 'gun to suck har jole.
68. Now, dash my wig ! dat put me out,
For dare was Sal a squallin ;
I fedge him sich a tarnal clout,
Dat down I knockt him spraalin.
At Canterbury Fair. xxi.
69. Dare he lay grumblin in de gutter,
De folks day gather'd roun' us,
An crowded in wid such a clutter,
De same as if dey'd poun' us.
70. An dis was jist aside de shop,
Where all de picters hung ;
An books an sich like mabbled up,
An now an tan a song.
71. An dare we strain'd, an stared, an blous'd,
An' tried ta get away ;
But more we strain'd, de more they scroug'd,
An sung out, ' Giv 'em play.'
72. Den Simon swore by all dats good,
He'd knock me inta tinder ;
An blow'd if I did'en think he ood,
Fer'e knockt me throught de winder.
73. An tore my chops most cruelly,
De blood begun ta trickle ;
You wou'den a know'd it had bin me,
I was in such a pickle.
74. Now jigger me tight ! dat rais'd my fluff,
I claw'd hold av his mane ;
An' mint ta fetch his head a cuff,
But brok anudder pane.
75. Den I was up, den I gun swear,
De chaps dey did jist laugh,
An Sal she stompt, an tore har hair,
An beller'd like a calf.
76. I thoft I'd fetch him one more pounce,
So heav'd my stick an meant it,
Jist to a' broke his precious sconce,
But through de winder sent it.
77. De books and ballets flew about,
Like thatch from off de barn ;
Or like de stra dat clutters out
De 'sheen a thrashing earn.
xxii. Dick and Sal
78. An den de chaps dey laugh'd agin,
As if old Nick had seiz'd 'em ;
An burn my skin ! if I did'en grin,
A'cause I seed it pleased 'em.
79. But paid gran dearly far my fun,
An dat ya knows de wust an't ;
I sed old Simon right ta pay,
A'cause he was de fust an't.
80. But when de master coom hisself,
He 'gun to say 'is prayers ;
' 'Twas ya/ said he, ' ya stupid elf,
I'll ha' ya ta de Mayer's.
81. Yees, ya shall pay, ya trucklebed,
Ya buffle-headed ass ;
I know 'twas ya grate pumpin 'ead,
First blunnered thro de glass.'
82. So den I dobb'd him down the stuff,
A plaguey sight ta pay ;
An Sal an I was glad enuff,
At last ta git away.
83. But when we got ta de Church-yard,
In hopes ta fine' de Fair ;
Ya can't think how we both was scared
A'cause it was'n dare !
84. So we was cruelly put out ;
An den de head pidjector
Av some fine shop, axt what we thoft
About his purty pictur.
85. Sal said she cou'den roightly tell,
An as you're there alive ;
Doe unnernead dey wrote it Peel,
I're sure it was a hive.
86. I cou'd a gin de man a smack,
He thought we cou'den tell ;
Sa often as ya know we baak,
A beehive from a peel.
At Canterbury Fair. xxiii.
87. So den we stiver'd up de town,
An found de merry fair ;
Jest at de place dat we coom down,
When fust we did git dare.
88. Den I took Sarer by de han',
An wou'den treat her scanty ;
An holl'd down sixpence to de man,
An gin her nuts a plenty.
89. An den, ya know, we seed de show,
An when we'd done and tarn'd about,
Sal sed to me, ' I think I see
Old Glover wid his round-about ;
90. An dat noo boat dat Akuss made,
And snuff-boxes beside ; '
So den we went to him an sed
We'd loike to have a ride.
91. An up we got inta de boat,
But Sal began to maunder ;
For fare de string, when we'd gun swing,
Shud brake an cum asunder.
92. But Glover sed ' It is sa tuff,
'Tud bear a duzn men ; '
An when he thoft we'd swung enuff,
He tuk us down agin.
93. An den he lookt at me and sed,
' It seems to please your wife ; '
Sal grinn'd, and sed ' She never had
Sudge fun in all her life.'
94. De snuff-boxes dey did jest fly,
And sunder cum de rem ;
Dangle de skin an't ! sed I
I'll have a rap at dem.
95. My nable ! there was lots of fun,
An sich hubbub an hollar ;
De donkeys dey for cheeses run,
An I grinn'd through a collar.
xxiv. Dick and Sal.
96. Den Sal she run for half-a-crown,
An I jumpt in a sack,
An shou'd a won, but I fell down,
An gran nigh brok my back.
97. Den we went out inta de town,
An had some gin an stuff;
An Sal bought her a bran noo gown,
An sed she'd sin enuff.
98- Jigger ! I wou'd buy har a ribb'n ;
So when we'd bin and got it,
I told 'er dat 'twas almost sebb'm,
An thoft we'd better fut it.
99. An somehow we mistook the road,
But axt till we got right,
So foun our way throo Perry 'ood,
An got home safe at night,"
100. Thus Dick his canister unpack'd —
I heard his oratory ;
And my poor sides were almost crack'd,
With laughing at his story.
DICTIONARY
OF
THE KENTISH DIALECT.
A.
A. Used as a prefix with a verbal sb., taken actively.
" She's always a making mischief about somebody
or another."
ABED [ubed-] adv. In bed.
" You have not been abed, then ? "
— Othello, act iii. sc. i.
ABIDE [ubei-d] vb. To bear ; to endure ; to tolerate ; to
put-up-with. Generally used in a negative sentence,
as :
" I cannot abide swaggerers." — //. Henry IV. act ii. sc. 4.
ABITED [ubertid] adj. Mildewed.
ACHING-TOOTH, sb. To have an aching-tooth for anything,
is to wish for it very much.
" Muster Moppett's man's got a terr'ble aching-tooth
for our old sow."
ACT- ABOUT, vb. To play the fool.
"He got acting-abouty and fell down and broke his leg."
ADLE [adT] adj. Unwell ; confused.
"My head's that adle, that I can't tend to nothin'."
B
2 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
ADRY [udrer] adj. In a dry or thirsty condition.
AFEARED [ufee'rd] adj. Affected with fear or terror.
" Will not the ladies be af eared of the lion ? "
— Midsummer Nighfs Dream, act iii. sc. I.
AFORE [ufoa*r] prep. Before.
AFTERMEATH [aaft-urmee-th] sb. The grass which grows
after the first crop has been mown for hay; called also,
Roughings.
AGIN [ugin*] prep. Against ; over-against ; near.
" He lives down de lane agin de stile."
AGREEABLE [ugree-ubl] adj. Consenting; acquiescent.
" They axed me what I thought an't, and I said as
how I was quite agreeable!1
AKERS [ai-kurz] sb.pl. Acorns.
ALEING [ai-ling] sb. An old-fashioned entertainment, given
with a view to collecting subscriptions from guests
invited to partake of a brewing of ale.
ALE-SOP [aHsop] sb. A refection consisting of toast and
strong ale, hot ; customarily partaken of by the
servants in many large establishments in Kent on
Christmas day.
ALL-A-MOST [au-lumoast] adv. Almost.
ALLEMASH-DAY [aHmash] sb. French a la meche. The
day on which the Canterbury silk-weavers begin to
work by candle-light.
ALL-ON, adv. Continually.
" He kep all on actin'-about, and wouldn't tend to
nothin'."
ALLOW, vb. To consider.
" He's allowed to be the biggest rogue in Faversham."
ALL WORKS, sb. The name given to a labourer on a farm,
who stands ready to do any and every kind of work to
which he may be set.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 3
ALONGST [ulongst-] prep. On the long side of anything.
ALUS [arlus] sb. An ale-house.
" And when a goodish bit we'd bin
We turned to de right han ;
And den we turned about agin,
And see an a/us stan." — Dick and Sal, st. 33.
AM. Used for are ; as —
" They 'm gone to bed."
AMENDMENT [u'men-munt] sb. Manure laid on land.
AMMUT-CAST [anrut kaa-st] 'sb. An emmet's cast ; an ant-
hill.
AMON [ai-mun] sb. A hop, two steps, and a jump. A half-
amon, is a hop, step, and jump.
AMONGST THE MIDDLINS, adv. phr. In pretty good health.
" Well, Master lumber, how be you gettin' on now ? "
" Oh, I be amongst the middlins! "
AMPER [amp-ur] sb. A tumour or swelling ; a blemish.
AMPERY [amp-uri] adj. Weak ; unhealthy ; beginning to
decay, especially applied to cheese. (See Hampery.}
AN. Frequently used for of.
" What do you think ari\. ? "
" Well, I thinks I wunt have no more an't."
ANDIRONS [and-eirnz] sb. pi. The dogs, brand-irons, or
cob-irons placed on either side of an open wood fire
to keep the brands in the places. Called end-irons in
the marginal reading of Ezek. xl. 43.
ANENTS [unents*] prep. Against ; opposite ; over-against.
ANEWST [uneu-st] adv. Over-against; near.
ANOINTED [unoi-ntid] adj. Mischievous ; troublesome.
" He's a proper anointed young rascal," occasionally
enlarged to : " The devil's own anointed young rascal."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
ANOTHER- WHEN, adv. Another time.
ANTHONY-PIG [ant-uni pig] sb. The smallest pig of the
litter, supposed to be the favourite, or at any rate the
one which requires most care, and peculiarly under the
protection of St. Anthony.
ANVIL-CLOUDS, sb. pi. White clouds shaped somewhat like
a blacksmith's anvil, said to denote rain.
APS [aps-] sb. (i) An asp or aspen tree; (2) a viper.
" The pison of apses is under their lips."
AQUABOB [arkwu'bob] sb. An icicle.
ARBER [aa-ber] sb. Elbow.
ARBITRY [aa-bitri] adj. Hard; greedy; grasping; short
for arbitrary.
AREAR [u'ree*r] adj. Reared-up ; upright.
ARRIVANCE [urei-vuns] sb. Origin ; birthplace.
" He lives in Faversham town now, but he's a low-
hill (below-hill) man by arrivance."
ARTER [aa-turj prep. After.
"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water ;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling arter"
As. Is often used redundantly.
" I can only say as this — I done the best I could."
" I reckon you'll find it's as how it is."
ASHEN-KEYS [ash-nkee-z] sb. pi. The clustering seeds of
the ash-tree ; so called, from their resemblance to a
bunch of keys.
ASIDE [usei'd] prep. By the side of.
" I stood aside him all the time."
ASPRAWL [usprau*l] adj. Gone wrong.
" The pig-trade's all aspraml now."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 5
ASTRE [aast-ur] sb. A hearth.
Lambarde (Perambulation of Kent, Ed. 1596, p. 562)
states, that in his time this word was nearly obsolete
in Kent, though still retained in Shropshire and other
parts.
AUGUST-BUG [au-gust-bug-] sb. A beetle somewhat smaller
than the May-bug or July-bug.
Av, prep. Of.
" I ha' ant heerd fill nor fall av him."
AWHILE [u'werl] adv. For a time.
" He wunt be back yet awhile, I lay."
AWLN [airln, au*n] sb. A French measure of length, equal-
ing 5-ft. 7~in., used in measuring nets.
Ax, sb. An axletree.
Ax, vb. To ask.
This is a transposition — aks for ask, as waps for wasp,
haps for hasp, &c. " I axed him if this was the way to
Borden."
"Where of the seyde acomptantis #.r alowance as hereafter foloyth."
— Accounts of the Churchwardens of St. Dunstarts, Canterbury.
B.
BACKENING [bak-uning] sb. A throwing back ; a relapse ;
a hindrance.
BACKER [bak*ur] sb. A porter; a carrier; an unloader.
A word in common use at the docks.
BACK-OUT [bak-out] sb. A backyard.
BACKPART [bak-paart] sb. The back, where part is really
redundant. " I shall be glad to see the backpart of
you/' i.e., to get you gone.
"I will take away Mine hand and thou shalt see
My backparts ; but My face shall not be seen." — Ex.
xxxiii. 23.
6 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BACKSIDE [bak-seid] sb. A yard at the back of a house.
1590 — 1592. — " It' m allowed to ffrencham for mendinge
of a gutter, and pavement in his backside . . . xixd>"
— Sandwich Book of Orphans.
1611. — "And he led the flock to the backside of the
desert." — Ex. iii. i.
BACKSTAY [bak-stai] sb. The flat piece of wood put on
the feet in the manner of a snow-shoe, and used by the
inhabitants of Romney Marsh to cross the shingle at
Dungeness.
A stake driven in to support a raddle-fence.
BACKSTERS [bak-sturz] sb. pi. (Same as Backstay.]
BACKWAY [bak-wai] sb. The yard or space at the back of
a cottage.
BAG, i)b. To cut with a bagging hook.
1677. — The working-man taking a hook in each hand,
cuts (the pease) with his right hand, and rolls them up
with that in his left, which they call bagging of pease.
— Plot, Oxfordshire 256.
BAGGING-HOOK [bag-ing-huok] sb. A curved cutting imple-
ment, very like a sickle, or reaping hook, but with a
square, instead of a pointed, end. It is used for cutting
hedges, &c. The handle is not in the same plane as
the hook itself, but parallel to it, thus enabling those
who use it to keep their hands clear of the hedge.
BAIL [bail] sb. The handle of a pail, bucket, or kettle. A
cake-<faz7 is the tin or pan in which a cake is baked.
BAILY [barli] (i]sb. A court within a fortress. The level
green place before the court at Chilham Castle, t.e.,
between the little court and the street, is still so called.
They have something of this sort at Folkestone, and
they call it the bale [bail]. The Old Bailey in London,
and the New Bailey in Manchester, must have been
originally something of the same kind, places fenced
in. O.F. bailie ', a barrier.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BAILY [barli] (2) sb. Bailiff is always pronounced thus.
At a farm, in what is called " a six-horse place," the
first four horses are under the charge of the wagoner
and his mate, and the other two, of an under-baily.
BAILY-BOY [barlibor] sb. A bailiff-boy, or boy employed
by the farmer to go daily over the ground, and to see
that everything is in order, and to do every work
necessary. — Pegge.
BAIN'T [bai-nt] phr. For are not, or be, not.
" Surely you bairit agoin' yit-awhile ? "
BAIST [baai*st] sb. The frame-work of a bed with webbing.
— Weald. (See also, Beist, Hoist.)
BAIT [bai't] sb. A luncheon taken by workmen in the
fields.
BALD-PATES [bau*ld-pai-ts] sb. pi. Roman coins of the
lesser and larger silver were so called in Thanet, by
the country people, in Lewis's time.
BALK [bau-k] (i) sb. A raised pathway ; a path on a bank :
a pathway serving as a boundary.
BALK [bau-k] (2) sb. A cut tree.
BALLET [bal-et] sb. A ballad; a pamphlet; so called
because ballads are usually published in pamphlet form.
" Use no tavernys where the jestis and fablis ;
Syngyng of lewde ballette, rondelettes, or virolais."
— MS. Laud, 416, civ. Written by a rustic of Kent, 1460.
" De books an ballets flew about,
Like thatch from off the barn."
— Dick and Sal, st. 77.
BALLOW [bal-oa] sb. A stick ; a walking-stick ; a cudgel.
" Keep out che vor'ye, or ise try whether your Costard or my
Sallow be the harder."
— King Lear, act iv. sc. 6. (first folio ed.)
BALL SQUAB [bau-lskwob] sb. A young bird just hatched.
BANNA [ban-u], BANNER [ban-r] phr. For be not.
" Banna ye going hopping this year?"
8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BANNOCK [ban-uk] vb. To thrash ; beat ; chastise.
BANNOCKING [bairuking] sb. A thrashing ; beating.
u He's a tiresome young dog ; but if he don't mind
you, jest you give him a good bannocking"
BANYAN-DAY [ban*yun-dai] sb. A sea-term for those days
on which no meat is served out to the sailors.
Saddaday is a banyan-day." " What do'ye mean ? "
Oh! a day on which we eat up all the odds and ends/'
H
It
BARBEL [baa*bl] sb. A sort of petticoat worn by fisher-
men at Folkestone. (See also Barvel.)
BARGAIN PENCE [baa'gin pens] sb. pi. Earnest money ;
money given on striking a bargain.
BAR-GOOSE [baa*goos] sb. The common species of shel-
drake.— Sittingbourne.
BARM [baa-m] sb. Brewer's yeast. (See Stzzn.}
BARREL DREEN [barr'*l dre-unj sb. A round culvert; a
sewer ; a drain.
BARTH [baa-th] sb. A shelter for cattle ; a warm place or
pasture for calves or lambs.
BARVEL [baa*vul] sb. A short leathern apron used by
washerwomen; a slabbering- bib. (See also Barbel
above.)
BAR-WAY [baa-wai] sb. A gate constructed of bars or
rails, so made as to be taken out of the posts.
BASH [bash-] vb. To dash ; smash ; beat in.
" His hat was bashed in."
BASTARD [bast-urd] sb. A gelding.
BASTARD-RIG [bast-urdrig-] sb. The smooth hound-fish,
mustelus Icevts. — Folkestone.
BAT [bat] sb. French Baton. A piece of timber rather
long than broad ; a staff ; a stick ; a walking-stick.
The old Parish book of Wye — 34, Hen. VIII. — speaks
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 9
of "a tymber-&z£" Boteler MS. Account Books cir.
!664 — "pd. John Sillwood, for fetching a batt from
Canterbury] for a midle piece for my mill, o ios o."
Shakespeare, in the Lover's Complaint, has, " So
slides he down upon his grained bat" z'.^.his rough staff.
Some prisoners were tried in 1885, for breaking out
of Walmer Barracks ; when the constable said, " One
of the prisoners struck at me with a bat;" which he
afterwards defined as being, in this case, " the tarred
butt-end of a hop-pole."
BAT [bat] sb. The long handle of a scythe. A large
rough kind of rubber used for sharpening scythes.
The stick used for keeping the traces of a plough-
horse asunder is called " a spread bat"
BAULLY [bau-li] sb. A boat. (See Bawley.)
BAVEN [bavin] BAVIN, sb. A little fagot; a fagot of
brushwood bound with only one wiff, whilst a fagot is
bound with two.
" The skipping king, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters, and rash bavin wits
Soon kindled and soon burned. . . ."
— Henry IV. act iii. sc. i.
And
"It yearly cost five hundred pounds besides,
To fence the town from Hull and Humber's tides :
For stakes, for bavins^ timber, stones, and piles."
— Taylor's Merry Wherry Voyage.
BAWLEY [bau-li] sb. A small fishing smack used on the
coasts of Kent and Essex, about the mouth of the
Thames and Medway. Bawleys are generally about
40-ft. in length, 13 -ft. beam, 5 -ft. draught, and 15 or
20 tons measurement ; they differ in rig from a cutter,
in having no boom to the mainsail, which is conse-
quently easily brailed-up when working the trawl nets.
They are half-decked with a wet well to keep fish alive.
" Hawley, Bawley — Hawley, Bawley,
What have you got in your trawley ? "
is a taunting rhyme to use to a bawley-man, and has the
same effect upon him as a red-flag upon a bull — or the
poem of " the puppy pie " upon a bargeman.
io Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BAY-BOARDS [bai-bordz] sb. pi. The large folding doors
of a barn do not reach to the ground, and the inter-
vening space is closed by four or five moveable boards
which fit in a groove — these are called bay-boards.
BE [be] vb. For are, am, &c. " Where be you ? " i.e., " Where
are you?" "I be cominy i.e., " I am coming." This
use of the word is not uncommon in older English ;
thus, in ist Collect in the Communion Office, we have
— " Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all
desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid ; "
and in S. Luke xx. 25. " Render, therefore, unto
Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the
things which be God's."
BEAN-HOOK [bee*nhuok] sb. A small hook with a short
handle, for cutting beans.
BEARBIND [barrbeind] sb. \ Same as Bindweed.
BEARBINE [barrbein] sb. ) Convolvulus arvensis.
BEARERS [barrr'urz] sb. pi. The persons who bear or carry
a corpse to the grave. In Kent, the bier is sometimes
called a bearer.
BEASTS [bee'sts] sb. pi. The first two or three meals of
milk after a cow has calved. (See Biskim, Bismilk,
Poad-milk.}
BECAUSE WKY [bikau-z whei] interog. adv. Why ? where-
fore ? A very common controversy amongst boys : —
" No it ain't "—
" Cos why ? "
" Cos it ain't."
BECKETT [bek-it] sb. A tough bit of cord by which the
hook is fastened to the snood in fishing for conger-eels.
BEDSTEDDLE [bed-stedl] sb. The wooden framework of
a bed, which supports the actual bed itself. " Item in
the best chamber, called the great chamber, One fayer
standing bedsteddle, one feather-bedd, one blanckett,
one covertleed." — Boteler Inventories in Memorials of
Eastry, p. 224, et seq. (See also, Steddle.}
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 1
BEE-LIQUOR [bee'likur] sb. Mead, made of the washings
of the combs.
BEETLE [bee'tl] sb. A wooden mallet, used for splitting
wood (in conjunction with iron wedges), and for other
purposes. Each side of the beetle's head is encircled
with a stout band or ring of iron, to prevent the wood
from splitting. The phrase — "as death [deaf] as a
beetle," refers to this mallet, and is equivalent to the
expression — " as deaf as a post."
BEFORE AFTER [bifoa-r'aaffr] adv. Until ; after.
BEHOLDEN [bihoa'ldun] vb. Indebted to ; under obliga-
tion to.
" I wunt be beholden to a Deal-clipper ; leastways,
not if I knows it."
BEIST, sb. A temporary bed made up on two chairs for a
child. — Sittingbourne. (Same as Baist.}
BELATED [bilai-tid] vb. To be after time, especially at
night, e.g., " I must be off, or I shall get belated."
BELEFT [bilefr] vb. For believed.
" I couldn't have beleft it."
BELOW LONDON, phr. An expression almost as common
as " the Sheeres," meaning simply, " not in Kent."
BENDER AND ARRS [bend-ur-un-aarz] sb. pi. Bow and
arrows.
BENERTH [ben-urth] sb. The service which the tenant
owed the landlord by plough and cart.
BERBINE [burbeen] sb. The verbena.
BERTH [burth-] vb. To lay down floor boards. The word
occurs in the old Parish Book of Wye — 31 and 35,
Henry VIII.
BEST, vb. To best, or get the better of.
" I shall best ye."
BESTID [bistid*] adj. Destitute ; forlorn ; in evil case.
12 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BETTERMY [bet'urmi] adj. Superior; used for "bettermost."
" They be rather bettermy sort of folk."
BEVER [bee-vur] sb. A slight meal, not necessarily accom-
panied by drink, taken between breakfast and dinner,
or between dinner and tea.
BIB [bib] sb. Name among Folkestone fishermen for the
pouter.
BIBBER [bib-ur] vb. To tremble.
" I saw his under lip bibber."
BIDE [bei*d] vb. To stay.
"Just you let that bide" i.e., let it be as it is, and
don't meddle with it.
BIER-BALKS [bee-r-bauks] sb. pi. Church ways or paths,
along which a bier and coffin may be carried.
BIGAROO [big'ur'oo] sb. The whiteheart cherry.
BILLET [biHt] sb. A spread bat or swingle bar, to which
horses' traces are fastened.
BINDER [berndur] sb. A long stick used for hedging ; a
long, pliable stick of any kind ; thus, walnuts are
thrashed with a binder. Also applied to the sticks
used in binding on the thatch of houses or stacks.
"They shouted fire, and when Master Wood poked
his head out of the top room window, they hit him as
hard as they could with long binders, and then jumped
the dyke, and hid in the barn."
BING-ALE [bing-ail] sb. Ale given at a tithe feast.
BIRDES NESTES [birdiz nes-tiz] sb. pi. Birds' nests. This
old-world phrase was constantly used some few years
back by some of the ancients of Eastry, who have now
adopted the more modern pronunciation.
BISHOP' S-FINGER, sb. A guide post ; so called, according
to Pegge, because it shows the right way, but does not
go therein. (See also, Pointing-post.}
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 13
BISKINS [bisk'inz] sb. pi. In East Kent, they so call the
two or three first meals of milk after the cow has
calved. (See also Beasts, Bismilk, Poad-milk.)
BISMILK [bis-milk] sb. (See Biskins.)
BLACK-RIND [blak-reind] sb. A small oak that does not
develop to any size.
" Them blackrinds won't saw into timber, but they'll
do for postes."
BLACKIE [blak-i] sb. A black bird. — Sittingbourne.
BLACK-TAN [blak-tan] sb. Good for nothing.
" Dat dere pikey is a regler black-fan."
BLAR [blaar], BLARE [blair] vb. To bellow ; to bleat ; to
low.
" The old cow keeps ail-on blaring after her calf."
BLEAT [bleet] adj. Bleak.
BLIGH [blei] adj. Lonely ; dull.
BLIV, or BLUV (corruption of Believe) vb. Believe ; believed.
" I bliv I haant caught sight of him dis three monts."
BLOOD [bludj sb. A term of pity and commiseration. In
East Kent, the expression, poor blood, is commonly used
by the elder people, just as the terms — " poor body,"
" poor old body," " poor soul," or " poor dear soul,"
are used elsewhere.
BLOODINGS [blud-ingz] sb. pi. Black puddings.
BLOOMAGE [bloo*mij] sb. Plumage of a bird.
BLOUSE [blouzj (i) vb. To sweat; perspire profusely. "I
was in a Mousing heat," is a very common expression.
" An dare we strain'd an stared an bloused,
And tried to get away ;
But more we strain'd, de more dey scroug'd
And sung out, ' Give 'em play.' "
— Dick and Sal, st. 71.
BLOUSE [blouz] sb. A state of heat which brings high
colour to the face ; a red-faced wench.
14 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BLOUSING [bloirzing] adj. Sanguine and red ; applied to
the colour often caused by great exertion and heat,
" a blousing colour."
BLUE BOTTLES [bloo bot-lz] sb. The wild hyacinth. Scilla
nutans.
BLUE-SLUTTERS [bloo-sluf rz]. A very large kind of jelly
fish . — Folkestone.
BLUNDER [blund*ur] (i) sb. A heavy noise, as of a falling
or stumbling.
" I knows dere's some rabbits in de bury, for I heerd
de blunder o' one."
BLUNDER [blund-ur] (2) vb. To move awkwardly and noisily
about ; as, when a person moving in a confined space
knocks some things over, and throws others down.
" He was here just now blundering about."
BLUSTROUS, adj. Blustering.
" Howsomever, you'll find the wind pretty bhistrous,
I'm thinking."
BLY [blei] sb. A resemblance ; a general likeness. [A.S.
bleOj hue, complexion.] (See Favour, which is now
more commonly used in East Kent to describe a
resemblance.)
" Ah ! I can see who he be ; he has just the bly of
his father."
BOAR-CAT [boa-rkat] sb. A Tom-cat.
BOBBERY [bob-uri] sb. A squabble ; a row ; a fuss ; a set
out.
BOBBIN [bob'in] sb. A bundle of firewood (smaller than
a fagot, and larger than a pimp), whereof each stick
should be about 18 inches long. Thus, there are three
kinds of firewood — the fagot, the bobbin, and the pimp.
(See also, Bavin, Kilnbrush, &c.)
BOBBIN-TUG [bob-in-tug-] sb. A light frame-work of wheels,
somewhat like a timber-wagon, used for carrying bobbins
about for sale. It has an upright stick at each of the
four corners, to keep the bobbins in their places.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 15
BOBLIGHT [bob'leit] sb. Twilight.
Bo-BOY [boa-boi] sb. A scarecrow.
BODAR [boa-dur] sb. An officer of the Cinque Ports
whose duty it was to arrest debtors and convey them
to be imprisoned in Dover Castle.
BODGE [boj] (i) sb. A wooden basket, such as is used by
gardeners ; a scuttle-shaped box for holding coals,
carrying ashes, &c. (See also Trug.} The bodge now
holds an indefinite quantity, but formerly it was used
as a peck measure.
1519. — "Paied for settyng of iij busshellis and iij
boggis of benys and a galon . . . xvjd."
— MS. Accounts St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
BODGE [boj] (2) sb. An uncertain quantity, about a bushel
or a bushel and a half.
" Just carry this bodge of corn to the stable."
BODILY-ILL [bod-ili-il] adj. phr. A person ill with
bronchitis, fever, shingles, would be bodily-ill ; but of
one who had hurt his hand, sprained his ankle, or
broken his leg, they would say : " Oh, he's not, as you
may say, bodily -ill."
BOFFLE [bof-1] (i) vb. To baffle; to bother; to tease; to
confuse ; to obstruct.
" I should ha' been here afore now, only for de wind,
that's what boffled me."
BOFFLE (2) sb. A confusion; a blunder; a thing managed
in a confused, blundering way.
" If you both run the saame side, ye be saafe to have
a boffle." — Cricket Instruction.
BOIST [boist] sb. A little extempore bed by a fireside for
a sick person. Boist \ originally meant a box with
bedding in it, such as the Norwegian beds are now.
(See Baist.}
1 6 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BOLDRUMPTIOUS [boa'ldrumshus or bold-rumshusj adj.
Presumptuous.
"That there upstandin' boldrumptious blousing gal
of yours came blarin' down to our house last night all
about nothin' ; I be purty nigh tired of it."
BOND [bond] sb. The wiff or wisp of twisted straw or hay
with which a sheaf of corn or truss of hay is bound.
" Where's Tom ? He's with feyther making bonds."
BONELESS [boa*nlus] sb. A corruption of Boreas, the
north wind. " In Kent when the wind blows violently
they say, 'Boneless is at the door/ '
BOOBY-HUTCH [boo-bi-huch] sb. A clumsy, ill-contrived,
covered carriage or seat.
BOOTSHOES, sb. pi. Thick boots ; half-boots. " Bootshoe
high," is a common standard of measurement of grass.
" Dere an't but terr'ble little grass only in de furder
eend of de fill, but 'tis bootshoe high dere."
BOP, vb. To throw anything down with a resounding
noise.
BOROW [boroa] sb. A tithing ; the number of ten
families who were bound to the king for each other's
good behaviour.
" That which in the West country was at that time,
and yet is, called a tithing, is in Kent termed a borow."
— Lambarde, Perambulation of Kent, p. 27.
BORSHOLDER [boss*oaldur] sb. A head-borough ; a petty-
constable ; a constable's assistant. At Great Chart
they had a curious custom of electing a dumb borsholder.
This is still in existence, and is made of wood, about
three feet and half an inch long ; with an iron ring at
the top, and four rings at the sides, by means of which
it was held and propelled when used for breaking open
the doors of houses supposed to contain stolen goods.
(There is an engraving of it in Arch&ologia Cantiana,
vol. ii. p. 86.)
BORROW-PENCE, sb. pi. An old name for ancient coins ;
probably coins found in the tumuli or barrows.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 17
BORSTAL [borstul] sb. "A pathway up a hill, gener-
ally a very steep one." (Perhaps from A.S. beorg a
hill, stal a seat, dwelling.) Bostal Heath, acquired by
the Metropolitan Board of Works for an open space
in 1878, is situated in the extreme south-eastern suburb
of London, and is one of the most beautiful spots in
Kent, abounding in hills, ravines, glens, and woods.
Snakes, owls, and hawks abound in its vicinity, and the
Heath was formerly occupied by a pure race of gipsies.
At Whitstable there is a steep hill called Bostal Hill.
BOSS-EYED [boss-eid] adj. Squinting ; purblind.
BOSTAL [bost-ul] sb. The same as Borstal.
BOSTLER [bost-ler] sb. A borsholder or constable.
" I reckon, when you move you'll want nine men and
a bostler, shaan't yer"
BOULT [boalt] vb. To cut pork in pieces, and so to
pickle it.
BOULTING- TUB [boa'lting tub] sb. The tub in which the
pork is pickled.
1600. — "Item in the Buntinghouss, one boultinge,
with one kneadinge trofe, and one meal tub."
— Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Rastry. p. 228.
BOUNDS, sb. The phrase, no bounds, is probably the one of
all others most frequently on the lips of Kentish
labourers, to express uncertainty.
"There ain't no bounds to him, he's here, there, and
everywhere."
BOUT [bout] sb. A period of time ; a " go," or turn. In
Sussex, it answers to a "day's work;" but in East
Kent, it is more often applied to a period of hard work,
or of sickness, e.g. " Poor chap, he's had a long bout of it."
BOY-BEAT [boi-beet] adj. Beaten by a person younger
than oneself.
" My father, he carried the sway at stack building for
fifteen year ; at last they begun to talk o' puttin' me
up ; c Now I've done,' the ole chap says — 'I wunt be boy-
beat; ' and so he guv up, and never did no more an't."
1 8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BRACK [brak] sb. A crack ; a rent ; a tear, in clothes.
1602. — "Having a tongue as nimble as his needle, with servile
patches of glavering flattery, to stitch up the bracks, &c."
— Antonio and Mellida.
" You tiresome boy, you ! when you put on dat coat
dare wasn't a brak in it, an' now jest see de state ids in ! "
BRAKE-PLOUGH [brai-k-plou] sb. A plough for braking,
or cleaning the ground between growing plants.
BRAKING [brarking] vb. Clearing the rows betwixt the
rows of beans with a shim or brake-plough.
BRAND-IRONS [brand-ei*rnz] sb. pi. The fire-dogs or cob-
irons which confine the brands on an open hearth.
" In the great parlor . . . one payer of cob-irons or
brand-yrons." — Boteler Inventory, Memorials of E as try, p. 225.
BRANDY COW [brand-i kou] sb. A cow that is brindled,
brinded, or streaked.
BRAUCH [brauch] sb. Rakings of straw.
BRAVE [braiv] adj. Large.
" He just was a brave fox/'
BRAWCHE [brauch] sb. pi. Same as Branch, above.
BREAD-AND-BUTTER [bren-but-ur] sb. In Kent these three
words are used as one substantive, and it is usual to
prefix the indefinite article and to speak of a bren-
butter.
" I've only had two small brenbutters for my dinner."
BRENT [brent] adj. Steep. In a perambulation of the
outbounds of the town of Faversham, made in 1611,
" the Brent " and " the Brent gate " are mentioned.
The Middle-English word Brent most commonly meant
" burnt ; " but there was another Brent \ an adjective,
which signified steep, and it was doubtless used here in
the latter sense, to describe the conformation of the land.
BRET [bret] (\)sb. To fade away; to alter. Standing corn
so ripe that the grain falls out, is said to bret out. (See
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 19
BRET [bret] (2) vb. A portion of wood torn off with the
strig in gathering fruit. (See Spatter.)
BRIEF [breef] (i) sb. A petition drawn up and carried round
for the purpose of collecting money. Formerly, money
was collected in Churches, on briefs, for various chari-
table objects, both public and private ; and in some old
Churches you may even now find a Brief Book, contain-
ing the names of the persons or places on whose behalf
the Brief was taken round, the object, and the amounts
collected. Public briefs (see Communion Office, rubrics
after the Creed), like Queen's Letters, have fallen into
disuse ; and now only private and local Briefs are
in vogue.
BRIEF [breef] (2) adj. Common ; plentiful ; frequent ; rife.
" Wipers are wery brief here," i.e., Vipers are very
common here.
BRIMP [brimp] sb. The breeze or gad fly which torments
bullocks and sheep.
BRIMS [brimz]. The same as above.
Kennett, MS. Lans., 1033, gives the phrase —
" You have brims in your tail," i.e., " You are always
restless."
BRIMSEY [brimz-i]. The same as above.
BRISK [brish] vb. To brush ; to mow over lightly, or trim.
1636. — "For shredinge of the ashes and brishinge of
the quicksettes .... vjd."
— MS. Accounts St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
BRIT [brit] vb. To knock out ; rub out ; drop out. Spoken
of corn dropping out, and of hops shattering. (See
Bret.}
BROACH [broach] sb. A spit. This would seem to be the
origin of the verb, " to broach a cask," " to broach a
subject."
BROCKMAN [brok-man] sb. A horseman. (See Brok.) The
name Brockman is still common in Kent.
20 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BROK, BROCK [brok] sb. An inferior horse. The word is
used by Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 7125.
BROKE [broak] sb. A rupture.
BROOK [bruokj vb. To brook one's name, is to answer in
one's disposition to the purport of one's name. In
other places they would say, " Like by name and like
by nature."
" Seems as though Mrs. Buck makes every week
washin' week ; she brooks her name middlin', anyhows."
BROOKS [bruoks] sb. pi. Low, marshy ground, but not
necessarily containing running water or even springs.
BROOM-DASHER [broom-daslrur] sb. One who goes about
selling brooms ; hence used to designate any careless,
slovenly, or dirty person. " The word dasher is also
combined in haberdasher."
BROWN-DEEP [brou*n-deep] adj. Lost in reflection.
BROWSELLS [brou-zlz] sb. pi. The remains of the fleed
of a pig, after the lard has been extracted by boiling.
BRUCKLE [bruk-1] adj. Brittle.
BRUFF [bruf] adj. Blunt ; rough ; rude in manner.
BRUMPT [brumpt] adj. Broken ; bankrupt.
" I'm quite brumpt" i.e., I have no money.
BRUNGEON [brunj-yun] sb. A brat ; a neglected child.
BRUSH [bruosh and brush] vb. To trim hedges ; to mow
rough grass growing thinly over a field.
" Jack's off hedge-Jtrusfong."
1540. — "To Saygood for brusshyng at Hobbis mea-
dow .... vjd."
— MS. Accounts St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
BRUSS [brus] adj. Brisk ; forward ; petulant ; proud.
" Dese 'ere bees be middlin' bruss this marnin', there
ain't no goin' into de garden for 'em, they've bit me
three times already."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 2 1
BRUT [brut] (i) vb. To browse or nibble off young
shoots.
In the printed conditions of the sale of Kentish
cherry-orchards, there is generally a clause against
" excessive ^rutting" i.e., that damage so done by the
purchasers must be paid for.
BRUT [brut] (2) vb. To shoot, as buds or potatoes.
" My taturs be bruited pretty much dis year."
BRUT [brut] (3) vb. To break off the young shoots (bruts) of
stored potatoes.
BUCK [buk] (i) vb. To wash.
BUCK [buk] (2) sb. A pile of clothes ready for washing.
It is now (1885) some 60 years ago since the farmers
washed for their farm servants, or allowed them a
guinea a year instead. Then the lye, soap, and other
things were kept in the bunting house; and there, too,
were piled the gaberdines, and other things waiting to
be washed until there was enough for one buck.
Shakespeare uses the word 3^^-basket for what we
now call "a clothes basket!'
"Fal. . . . They conveyed me into a buck-basket. Ford. — A buck-
basket! Fal. — By the Lord, a buck-basket; rammed me in with foul
shirts and smocks, socks, foul stockings, greasy napkins "
— Merry Wives of Windsor , act iii. sc. 5.
BUCK [buk] (3) vb. To fill a basket.
BUCKING [buk- ing] CHAMBER, sb. The room in which the
clothes were bucked, or steeped in lye, preparatory to
washing.
BUCK- WASH [buk-wash] sb. A great washing-tub, formerly
used in farm-houses, when, once a quarter, they washed
the clothes of the farm servants, soaking them in strong
lye.
BUD [bud] sb. A weaned calf that has not yet grown into
a heifer. So called, because the horns have not grown
out, but are in the bud.
" His cow came to ye racks a moneth before Christ-
mas, and went away ye 2 1 of January. His bud came
at Michaelmas." — Boteler MS. Account Book of 1652.
22 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
BUFF [buf] sb. A clump of growing flowers ; " a tuft or
hassock."
" That's a nice buff of cloves " (pinks).
BUFFLE-HEADED [bufH-hecHd] adj. Thick-headed; stupid.
" Yees ; you shall pay, you truckle bed,
Ya buffle-headed ass."
—Dick and Sal, st. 84.
BUG [bug] (i)vb. To bend.
BUG [bug] (2) sb. A general name for any insect, especially
those of the fly and beetle kind ; e.g.. May-bug, Lady-
bug, June-bug, July-bug.
BULL-HUSS [bul-hus] sb. The large spotted dog-fish.
Scyllium catulus.
BULLOCK [bul-uk] sb. pi. A fatting beast of either sex.
BULL-ROUT [bul-rout] sb. The goby.
BUMBLE [bumb-1] vb. To make a humming noise. Hence,
bumble bee, a humble bee.
BUMBLESOME [bumb'lsum] adj. Awkward ; clumsy; ill-
fitting.
" That dress is far too bumblesome."
" You can't car' that, you'll find it wery bumblesome."
BUMBULATION [bumbulai'shn]. A humming noise.
BUNT [bunt] (i) vb. To shake to and fro; to sift the meal
or flour from the bran.
BUNT [bunt] (2) vb. To butt.
"De old brandy-cow bunted her and purty nigh
broke her arm."
BUNTING [bunt-ing] (i) adj. The bunting house is the out-
house in which the meal is sifted. (See Bunt above.)
" Ite in the chamber over the buntting house, &c."
" Item in the Buntinge houss, one boulting with one
kneading trofe, and one meale tub." — Boteler Inventory ;
in Memorials of Eastry, pp. 225, 228.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 23
BUNTING [bunt-ing] (2) sb. A shrimp.
BUNTING [bunHng]-HUTCH [huch] sb. A boulting hutch,
i.e., the bin in which the meal is bunted or bolted.
1 600. — " Ite in the buntting house, one Bunting hutch ,
two kneading showles, a meale tub wth other lumber
there prized at vjs. viijd. — Boteler Inventory;
Memorials of E as try, p. 226.
BURR [bur] (i) sb. A coagulated mass of bricks, which
by some accident have refused to become separated,
but are a sort of conglomerate.
BURR [bur] (2) sb. The halo or circle round the moon is
so called, e.g., " There was a burr round the moon last
night/'
The weather-wise in East Kent will tell you, " The
larger the burr the nearer the rain."
BURR [bur] (3) sb. The blossom of the hop.
" The hops are just coming out in burr."
BURY [berr'-i] sb. A rabbit burrow.
BUSH [bush] sb. Used specially and particularly of the
gooseberry bush. "Them there bushes want pruning
sadly."
BUTT [but] sb. A small flat fish, otherwise called the
flounder. They are caught in the river at Sandwich
by spearing them in the mud, like eels. But at Margate
they call turbots butts,
BY-BUSH [bei-bush] adv. In ambush, or hiding.
" I just stood by-bush and heard all they said."
BYSACK [bei-sak] sb. A satchel, or small wallet.
BYTHE [beith] sb. The black spots on linen produced by
mildew. (See Abited.}
BYTHY [bei-thi] adj. Spotted with black marks left by
mildew.
" When she took the cloth out it was all bythy"
BYST [beist] sb. A settle or sofa. (See Baist, Boist, above.)
24 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
c.
CAD [kad] sb. A journeyman shoemaker ; a cobbler ;
hence a contemptuous name for any assistant.
" His uncle, the shoemaker's cad."
CADE [kaid] sb. A barrel containing six hundred herrings ;
any parcel, or quantity of pieces of beef, less than a
whole quarter.
" Cade. — We John Cade, so termed of our supposed father.
Dick. — Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings."
— //. King Henry VI. act iv. sc. 2.
CADE-LAMB [kaid-lam] sb. A house-lamb ; pet lamb.
CADLOCK [ked'luk] sb. Charlock. Sinapis arvensis.
CAILES [kailz] sb. pi. Skittles ; ninepins.
CAKE-BAIL. A tin or pan in which a cake is baked.
CALIVER [kaHvur] sb. A large pistol or blunderbuss.
1600. — "It in Jonathan Boteler's chamb1' fower
chestes wth certain furniture for the warrs, viz., two
corsletts, one Jack, two musketts, fur one Horseman's
piec, fur one case of daggs, two caliurs, fur wth swords
and daggers prized at .... iiij11." — Boteler Inventory;
Memorials of Eastry, p. 225.
CALL [kaul] (i) sb. A word in every-day use denoting
necessity, business, but always with the negative
prefixed.
" There ain't no call for you to get into a passion/'
CALL-OVER [kaul-oa-vur] vb. To find fault with ; to abuse.
" Didn't he call me over jist about."
CALLOW [kal-oa] adj. Smooth; bald; bare; with little
covering; also used of underwood thin on the ground.
" 'Tis middlin' rough in them springs, but you'll find
it as callow more, in the high wood."
In Sussex the woods are said to be getting callow
when they are just beginning to bud out.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 25
CARF [kaaf] sb. A cutting of hay ; a quarter of a stack
cut through from top to bottom.
" Dick staggered with a carf of hay
To feed the bleating sheep ;
Proud thus to usher in the day,
While half the world's asleep."
— Dick and Sat, st. 2.
CANKER-BERRY [kank-ur-beri] sb. The hip ; hence canker-
rose, the rose that grows upon the wild briar. Rosa
canina.
" The cancer-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses."
— Shakespeare — Sonnets, liv.
CANT [kant] (i) sb. A portion of corn or woodland.
Every farm-bailiff draws his cant furrows through the
growing corn in the spring, and has his cant-book for
harvest, in which the measurements of the cants appear,
and the prices paid for cutting each of them.
CANT [kant] (2) vb. To tilt over ; to upset ; to throw.
" The form canted up, and over we went."
CANT [kant] (3) sb. A push, or throw.
" I gave him a cant, jus' for a bit of fun, and fancy
he jus was spiteful, and called me over, he did."
CANTEL [kant'l] sb. An indefinite number; a cantel of
people, or cattle; diminutive of cant (i). A corner or
portion of indefinite dimension ; a cantel of wood, bread,
cheese, &c.
" See how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me, from the best of all my land,
A huge half moon, a monstrous cantle out."
— King Henry IV. pt. I. act iii. sc. I.
CANTERBURY-BELLS, sb. pi. The wild campanula. Cam-
panula medicus. The name is probably connected with
the idea of the resemblance of the flowers to the small
bells carried on the trappings of the horses of the
pilgrims to the shrine of S. Thomas, at Canterbury.
There are two kinds, large and small; both abound in
the neighbourhood of Canterbury.
2 6 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CAP [kap] sb. Part of the flail which secures the middle-
band to the hands fajfoT the swingel, as the case may be.
A flail has two caps, viz., the hand-staff cap, generally
made of wood, and the swingel cap, made of leather.
CAPONS [kai-punz] sb. pi. Red herrings. (See the list of
Nicknames — Ramsgate.)
CAR [kaa] vb. To carry.
" He said dare was a teejus fair
Dat lasted for a wick ;
And all de ploughmen dat went dare,
Must car dair shining stick."
—Dick and Sal, st. 8.
CARD [kaad]. (See Cade.}
Lewis, p. 129, mentions a card of red-herrings
amongst the merchandise paying rates at Margate
harbour.
CARPET-WAY [kaa-pit-wai] sb. A green-way ; a smooth
grass road ; or lyste way.
CARRY-ON [karr'i-on] vb. To be in a passion; to act
unreasonably.
" He's been carrying-on any-how."
CARVET [kaa-vet] sb. A thick hedge-row ; a copse by the
roadside ; a piece of land carved out of another. Used
in the neighbourhood of Lympne, in Dr. Pegge's time ;
so also, in Boteler MS. Account Books, there are the
following entries — " Ye Chappell caruet at Sopeshall
that I sold this year to John Birch at 5 o o ye acre,
cont[ained] beside the w[oo]dfall round, i acre and 9
perches, as Dick Simons saith, who felled it." "I have
valued one caruet at Brinssdale at 7*00 ye acre, ye
other caruet at 6 o o the acre." "Ye one caruet
cont[ained] i yerd and i perch; ye other halfe a yerd
want [ing] i perch" [i.e., one perch wanting half a yard].
CAST [kaast] sb. The earth thrown up above the level of
the ground by moles, ants, and worms, and therefore
called a worm-cast, an emmet-cast, or a mole-^^, as the
case might be.
"Them wum-caastes do make the lawn so weryunlevel."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 27
CAST [kaast] vb. To be thwarted ; defeated ; to lose an
action at law.
"They talk of carr'ing it into court, but I lay he'll
be cast."
CATER [kai-tur] vb. To cut diagonally.
CATERWAYS [kai-turwaiz] adv. Obliquely ; slantingly ;
cross-ways.
" He stood aback of a tree and skeeted water caterways
at me with a squib."
CAVING [karvin] sb. The refuse of beans and peas after
threshing, used for horse-meat. — W. Kent. Called
taufy toff, in E. Kent.
CAWL [kaul] sb. A coop.
CAXES [kaks'ez] sb. pi. Dry hollow stalks ; pieces of bean
stalk about eight inches long, used for catching earwigs
in peach and other wall-fruit trees.
CEREMONY [serr'imuni] sb. A fuss; bother; set-out. Thus
a woman once said to me, " There's quite a ceremony
if you want to keep a child at home half-a-day." By
which she meant that the school regulations were very
troublesome, and required a great deal to be done
before the child could be excused. — W. F. S.
CHAMPIONING [champ*yuning] partc. The lads and men
who go round as mummers at Christmastide, singing
carols and songs, are said to go championing. Probably
the word is connected with St. George the Champion,
who is a leading character in the Mummers' play.
CHANGES [chai-njiz] sb.pl. Changes of raiment, especially
of the underclothing ; body-linen, shirts, or shifts.
" I have just put on clean changes" i.e., I have just
put on clean underclothing.
1 65 1 . — "For two changes for John Smith's boy, 040.
For two changes for Spaynes girle, o 2 10."
— MS. Overseers' Accounts, Holy Cross, Canterbury.
28 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CHANGK [chank] vb. To chew.
CHARNELL, CHARNAIL, sb. A hinge. Perhaps Char-nail,
a nail to turn on.
1520. — "For ij hookis and a charnelle ijd."
— MS. Accounts St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
1631. — "For charnells and hapses for the two chests
in our hall/' —MS. Accounts St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
CHARRED [chaa-d] adj. Drink that is soured in the
brewing. If, in brewing, the water be too hot when it
is first added to the malt, the malt is said to be
charred and will not give its strength, hence beer that
is brewed from it will soon turn sour. The word
charred thus first applies properly to the malt, and
then passes to the drink brewed from it. To char is to
turn ; we speak of beer being " turned."
CHART [chaa-t] sb. A rough common, overrun with gorse,
broom, bracken, &c. Thus we have several places in
Kent called Chart, e.g., Great Chart, Little Chart, Chart
Sutton, Brasted Chart.
CHARTY [chaa-ti] adj. Rough, uncultivated land, like a
chart.
CHASTISE [chasterz] vb. To accuse ; to examine ; cross
question ; catechize.
" He had his hearings at Faversham t'other day, and
they chastised him of it, but they couldn't make nothin'
of him."
CHAT, sb. A rumour ; report.
" They say he's a-going to live out at Hoo, leastways,
that's the chat"
CHATS [chats] sb. pi. Small potatoes; generally the
pickings from those intended for the market.
CHATSOME [chat-sum] adj. Talkative.
CHAVISH [chai-vish] adj. Peevish; fretful.
CHEE [chee], or HEN-CHEE [hen-chee] sb. A roost.
" The fowls are gone to chee."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 29
CHEEGE [cheeg] sb. A frolic.
CHEER [cheer] sb. Constantly used in N. Kent, in the
phrase, " What cheer , meat ?" as a greeting; instead of
" How d'ye do, mate ? " or " How 're ye getting on ? "
CHEERLY [chee-rli] adv. Cheerfully.
" The bailiff's boy had overslept,
The cows were not put in ;
But rosy Mary cheerly stept
To milk them on the green."
—Dick and Sat, st. I.
CHEESE-BUG [chee*z-bug] sb. The wood-louse.
CHEF [chef] sb. The part of a plough on which the share
is placed, and to which the reece is fixed.
CHERRY APPLES [cherr'i ap-lz] sb. pi. Siberian crabs, or
choke cherries.
CHERRY-BEER, sb. A kind of drink made from cherries.
Pudding-pies and cherry-beer usually go together at
these feasts [at Easter].
— Brand's Popular Antiquities, ed. Ellis i. 180.
CHIDLINGS [chid-linz] sb. pi. Chitterlings.
CHILLERY [chil-uri] adj. Chilly.
CHILL-WATER [chil-wau-tr] sb. Water luke-warm.
CHILTED [chilt-id] pp. Strong local form of chilled,
meaning thoroughly and injuriously affected by the cold.
CHINCH [chinch] vb. To point or fill up the interstices
between bricks, tiles, &c., with mortar. — E. Kent.
CHITTER [chit-ur] sb. The wren.
" In the N. of England they call the bird Chitty
Wren."
CHIZZEL [chiz-1] sb. Bran.
CHOATY [choa-ti] adj. Chubby ; broad faced.
" He's a choaty boy."
3O Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CHOCK [chok] vb. To choke. Anything over-full is said
to be chock-fu&.
CHOFF [chof] adj. Stern ; morose.
CHOICE [chois] adj. Careful of; setting great store by
anything.
" Sure, he is choice over his peas, and no mistake ! "
CHOP-STICKS [chop-stiks] sb. pi. Cross-sticks to which the
lines are fastened in pout-fishing.
"Two old umbrella iron ribs make capital chop-
sticks:'—F. Buckland.
CHRIST-CROSS [kris-kras] sb. The alphabet. An early
school lesson preserved in MS. Rawl., 1032, commences
" Christe crosse me speed in alle my worke." The
signature of a person who cannot write is also so called.
" She larnt her A B C ya know,
Wid D for dunce and dame,
An all dats in de criss-crass row,
An how to spell her name."
— Dick and Sat, st. 57.
CHUCK [chuk] sb. A chip ; a chunk ; a short, thick clubbed
piece of wood ; a good thick piece of bread and cheese ;
the chips made by sharpening the ends of hop-poles.
CHUCK-HEADED [chuk-hed-id] CHUCKLE-HEADED [chuk-1-
hed'id] adj. A stupid, doltish, wooden-headed fellow.
CHUFF [chuf] adj. Fat ; chubby. (See Choaty above.)
CHUMMIE [chunri] sb. A chimney sweep.
CHUNK [chungk] sb. A log of wood.
CHURCHING, sb. The Church service generally, not the
particular Office so called.
" What time's Churchiri now of afternoons ? "
CLAM [klam] sb. A rat-trap, like a gin.
CLAMP [klamp] sb. A heap of mangolds, turnips, or
potatoes covered with straw and earth to preserve
them during the winter. It is also used of bricks.
" We must heal in that clamp afore the frostes set in."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 3 1
CLAMS [klamz] sb. pi. Pholades. Rock and wood-boring
mollusks.
CLAPPERS [klap-urz] sb. pi. Planks laid on supports for
foot passengers to walk on when the roads are flooded.
CLAPSE [klaps] sb. A clasp, or fastening.
1651. — "For Goodwife Spaynes girles peticoate and
waistcoate making, and elapses, and bindinge, and a
pockett, o i 8d."
— Overseers' Accounts, Holy Cross, Canterbury.
CLAT [klat] vb. To remove the clots of dirt, wool, &c.,
from between the hind legs of sheep. (Romney Marsh.)
(See also Dag.)
CLAVEL [klavl] sb. A grain of corn free from the husk.
CLAYT [klaait] sb. Clay, or mire.
CLEAN [kleen] adv. Wholly; entirely.
" He's clean gone, that's certain/'
161 1. — " Until all the people were passed clean over
Jordan." — Joshua iii. 17.
CLEANSE [klenz] vb. To tun, or put beer up into the barrel.
CLEDGE [klej] sb. Clay ; stiff loam.
CLEDGY [klej*i] adj. Stiif and sticky.
CLEVEL [klevl] sb. A grain of corn, clean and free from
husk. As our Blessed Lord is supposed to have left
the mark of a Cross on the shoulder of the ass' colt,
upon which He rode at His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem (St. Mark xi. 7) ; and as the mark of a thumb
and fore-finger may still be traced in the head of a
haddock, as though left by St. Peter when he opened
the fish's mouth to find the piece of money (St.
Matthew xvii. 27), even so it is a popular belief in
East Kent that each clevel of wheat bears the likeness
of Him who is the True Corn of Wheat (St. John xii.
24). As a man said to me at Eastry (1887) — "Brown
wheat shews it more than white, because it's a bigger
clevel." To see this likeness the clevel must be held
with the seam of the grain from you. — W. F. S.
32 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CLEVER [klevur] adj. In good health.
Thus, it is used in reply to the question, " How are
you to-day? " "Well, thankee, not very clever" i.e., not
very active ; not up to much exertion.
CLITE [kleit] sb. Clay.
CLITEY [klei-ti] adj. Clayey.
CLIMBERS [klei'murz] sb. The wild clematis ; clematis
mtalba, otherwise known as old man's beard.
CLINKERS [klingk-urz] sb. pi. The hard refuse cinders of a
furnace, stove, or forge, which have run together in
large clots.
CLIP [klip] vb. To shear sheep.
OLIVER [klivr] sb. Goose-grass; elsewhere called cleavers.
Gallium aperine.
CLODGE [kloj] sb. A lump of clay.
CLOSE [kloas] sb. The enclosed yard, or fenced-in field
adjoining a farm house.
Thus, at Eastry we speak of Hamel Close, which is
an enclosed field immediately adjoining Eastry Court.
So, a Kentish gentleman writes in 1645 : "This was
the third crop of hay some closes about Burges had
yealded that yeare." — Bargrave MS. Diary.
The word is often met with in Kentish wills ; thus,
Will of Thomas Godfrey, 1542, has, " My barne ....
with the dosses to the same appertayning."
CLOUT [klout] (i) sb. A blow with the palm of the hand.
" Mind what ye'r 'bout or I will gie ye a clout on the
head/'
(2) A clod, or lump of earth, in a ploughed field.
CLUCK [kluk] adj. Drooping; slightly unwell ; used, also,
of a hen when she wants to sit.
" I didn't get up so wery early dis marnin', as I felt
rather cluck."
CLUNG [klung] adj. Withered ; dull ; out of temper.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 33
CLUTHER [kluth-r], CLUTTER [klut-r] (i) sb. (i.) A great
noise, (ii.) A litter.
" There's always such a lot of clutter about his room/'
CLUTHER [kludh-ur], CLUTTER [klut-ur] (2) vb. To make
a noise generally, as by knocking things together.
Used also of the special sound made by rabbits in
their hole, just before they bolt out, e.g., " I 'eerd 'im
cluther" i.e., I heard him make a noise ; and implying,
" Therefore, he will soon make a bolt." A variant of
clatter.
COAL-SHOOT [koa-1-shoo-t] sb. A coal scuttle.
COARSE [koars] adj. Rough, snowy, windy weather.
COB [kob] vb. To throw gently.
COBBLE [kob-1] sb. An icicle.
COB-IRONS [kob-eirnz] sb. pi. And-irons ; irons standing
on the hearth, and intended to keep the brands and
burning coals in their place ; also the irons by which
the spit is supported.
" One payer of standing cob-yrons." " One
payer of cob-irons or brand-irons." ..." Item in the
Greate Hall a payer of cob-irons." — Boteler
Inventories in the Memorials of Eastry.
COCK-BELL [kok-bel] sb. An icicle.
The Bar grave MS. Diary, describing the weather
in France in the winter of 1645 says, " My beard had
sometimes yce on it as big as my little finger, my
breath turning into many cock-bells as I walked."
COCKER [kok-ur] vb. To indulge ; to spoil.
Ecclus. xxx. 9. — " Cocker thy child and he shall make
thee afraid."
COCKLE [kok-1] sb. A stove used for drying hops.
COG-BELL [kog-bel] sb. pi. An icicle. (See Cock-bell
above); Lewis writes cog-bells; and so the word is
now pronounced in Eastry.
"There are some large cog-bells hanging from the
thatch."
34 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
COGUE [koag] sb. A dram of brandy.
COILER-HARNESS. The trace harness.
COLD [koald] sb. In phrase, " Out of cold."
Water is said to be out of cold when it has just got
the chill off.
COLLAR [kol*ur] sb. Smut in wheat.
COLLARMAKER [kol'ur-markur] sb. A saddler who works
for farmers ; so called, because he has chiefly to do
with the mending and making of horses' collars.
COMB [koam] sb. An instrument used by thatchers to beat
down the straw, and then smooth it afterwards.
COMBE [koom] sb. A valley. This word occurs in a great
number of place-names in Kent.
COME [kum] prep. On such a day, or at such a time when
it arrives.
" It'll be nine wiks come Sadderday sin* he were
took bad."
COMPOSANT [konrpuzant] sb. The luminous appearance
sometimes seen on the masts and yards of ships at sea,
the result of electricity in the air.
" Besides hearing strange sounds, the poor fisherman
often sees the composant. As he sails along, a ball
of fire appears dancing about the top of his mast ; it
is of a bluish, unearthly colour, and quivers like a
candle going out ; sometimes it shifts from the mast-
head to some other portion of the vessel, where there
is a bit of pointed iron ; and sometimes there are two
or three of them on different parts of the boat. It
never does anybody any harm, and it always comes
when squally weather is about.
"Englishmen are not good hands at inventing names
and I think the Folkestone people most likely picked
up the word from the Frenchmen whom they meet out at
sea in pursuit of herrings." — F. Buckland.
CONCLUDE [konkleu-d] vb. To decide.
" So he concluded to stay at home for a bit."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 35
CONE [koan] vb. To crack or split with the sun, as timber
is apt to do ; as though a wedge had been inserted in
it. A derivative of Anglo-Saxon cinany to split.
CONE- WHEAT [koan-weet] sb. Bearded wheat.
CONNIVER [konei-vur] sb. To stare ; gape.
" An so we sasselsail'd along
And crass de fields we stiver' d,
While dickey lark kept up his song
An at de clouds conniver'd?
—Dick and Sal, st. 26.
CONTRAIRY [contrarr'i] adj. Disagreeable; unmanageable.
" Drat that child, he's downright contrairy to-day."
CONTRAIRIWISE [contrarr'iweiz] adv. On the contrary.
CONYGARTHE [kun'igaath] sb. A rabbit warren.
Lambarde, 1596. — "The Isle of Thanet, and those
Easterne partes are the grayner ; the Weald was the
wood ; Rumney Marsh is the meadow plot ; the North
downes towards the Thaymse be the conygarthe or
warreine."
COOCH GRASS, sb. Triticum repens, a coarse, bad species
of grass, which grows rapidly on arable land, and does
much mischief with its long stringy roots.
COOL-BACK [kool-bak] sb, A shallow vat, or tub, about
12 or 1 8 inches deep, wherein beer is cooled.
" Item in the brewhouse, two brewinge tonns, one
coole-back, two furnisses, fower tubbs with other ....
vj11. xiiij8." — Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Eastry, p.
226.
COP [kop] sb. A shock of corn ; a stack of hay or straw.
vb. To throw ; to heap anything up.
COPE [koap] vb. To muzzle; thus, "to cope a ferret" is to
sew up its mouth.
COPSE [kops] sb. A fence across a dyke which has no
opening. A term used in marshy districts.
36 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CORBEAU [korboa] sb. The fish Coitus gobio, elsewhere
called the miller's thumb, or bull-head.
CORD-WOOD [kord-wuod] sb. A pile of wood, such as split-
up roots and trunks of trees stacked for fuel. A cord
of wood should measure eight feet long x four feet
high X four feet thick.
CORSE [kors] sb. The largest of the cleavers used by a
butcher.
COSSET [kos'it] vb. To fondle ; to caress ; to pet.
COSSETY [kos-iti] adj. Used of a child that has been
petted, and expects to be fondled and caressed.
COST [koast] sb. A fore-quarter of lamb ; " a rib/'
COTCHERING [koclruring] partc. Gossiping.
COTERELL [koHr'el] sb. A little raised mound in the
marshes to which the shepherds and their flocks can
retire when the salterns are submerged by the tide.
COTTON [kot-on] vb. To agree together, or please each
other.
" They cannot cotton no-how ! "
COUCH-GRASS [kooch-grass] sb. (See Cooch-grass.)
COUPLING BAT [kup-lin bat] sb. A piece of round wood
attached to the bit (in W. Kent), or ringle (in E. Kent),
of two plough horses to keep them together.
COURT [koart], or COURT LODGE [koart loj] sb. The
manor house, where the court leet of the manor is held.
Thus, Eastry Court is the old house, standing on the
foundations of the ancient palace of the Kings of Kent,
wherein is held annually the Court of the Manor of
Eastry.
COURT-CUPBOARD [koart-cub-urd] sb. A sideboard or
cabinet used formerly to display the silver flagons,
cups, beakers, ewers, &c., i.e., the family plate, and
distinguished from " the livery cupboard," or wardrobe.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 37
In the Boteler Inventory, we find that there were in the
best chamber " Half-a-dowson of high joynd stooles,
fower low joynd cushian stooles, two chayers, one court
cubbard, &c." — Memorials of Eastry, p. 225 ; and again
on p. 227 : "In the greate parler, one greate table . . .
one courte cubbard, one greate chayer, &c."
"Away with the joint-stools, remove the court cupboard, look
to the plate." —Romeo and Juliet, act i. sc. 5.
COURT FAGGOT [koart fag-ut] sb. This seems to have been
the name, anciently given, to the best and choicest
kind of fagot.
1523. — "For makyng of x loodis of court fagot,
iijs., iiijV —Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
COVE [koav] sb. A shed ; a lean-to or low building with
a shelving roof, joined to the wall of another; the
shelter which is formed by the projection of the eaves
of a house acting as a roof to an outbuilding.
COVED [koa'vd] adj. With sloping sides ; used of a room,
the walls of which are not perpendicular, but slant
inwards, thus forming sides and roof.
" Your bedsteddle couldn't stand there, because the
sides are coved!'
COVE-KEYS [koa-v-keez] sb. pi. Cowslips. (See also Culver
keys, Horsebuckle, Peigle?)
COVEL [kovl] sb. A water tub with two ears.
COVERTLID [kuvurtlid], COVERLYD [kuvurlid] sb. The
outer covering of the bed which lies above the blankets ;
a counterpane.
In the Boteler Inventory we find "In the best chamber
.... one fether bedd, one blanckett, one covertleed.
Item in the lower chamber .... two coverleeds. Item
in the midell chamber .... a coverlyd and boulster."
— Memorials of Eastry, p. 224.
COVEN [koa-vn] adj. Sloped; slanted.
" It has a coven ceiling." (See also, Cove, Coved.}
38 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
Cow [kou] sb. A pitcher.
Cow' [kou], COWL [koul] sb. The moveable wooden top
of the chimney of a hop-oast or malt-house.
COW-CRIB [kou-krib] sb. The square manger for holding
hay, &c., which stands in the straw-yard, and is so
constructed as to be low at the sides and high at the
corners.
CRACK-NUT [krak-nut] sb. A hazel nut, as opposed to
cocoa nuts, Brazil nuts, &c.
CRAMP- WORD, sb. A word difficult to be understood.
" Our new parson, he's out of the sheeres, and he
uses so many of these here cramp-words."
CRANK [krangk] (i) adj. Merry ; cheery.
CRANK [krangk] (2) vb. To mark cross-wise.
CREAM [kreem] vb. To crumble. Hops, when they are too
much dried are said to cream, i.e., to crumble to pieces.
GREET [kreet] sb. A cradle, or frame- work of wood, placed
on a scythe when used to cut corn.
CRIPS [krips] adj. Crisp. Formed by transposition, as
Aps for Asp, &c. (See Crup below.)
CRIPT [kript] adj. Depressed ; out of spirits. (See also,
Cr uppish.}
CROCK [krok] (i) sb. An earthen pan or pot, to be found
in every kitchen, and often used for keeping butter,
salt, &c. It is a popular superstition that if a man
goes to the place where the end of a rainbow rests he
will find there a crock of gold.
A.D. 1536. — "Layd owt for a crok. . . ."
— Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
CROCK [krok] (2) vb. To put away ; lay by ; save up ; hide.
" Ye'd better by half give that butter away, instead
of crocking it up till it's no use to nobody."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 39
CROCK BUTTER [krok but-ur] si. Salt butter which has been
put into earthenware crocks to keep during the winter.
CROFT [krauft] sb. A vault.
CROSHABELL [krosh-ubel] sb. A courtezan.
CROW [kroa] sb. The fat adhering to a pig's liver ; hence,
" liver and crow " are generally spoken of and eaten
together.
CROW-FISH [kroa-fish] sb. The common stickleback.
Gasterosteus aculeatus.
CRUMMY [krunri] adj. Filthy and dirty, and covered
with vermin.
CRUP [krup] (i) sb. The crisp, hard skin of a roasted pig,
or of roast pork (crackling) ; a crisp spice-nut; a nest.
" There's a wapses crup in that doated tree."
CRUP [krup] (2) adj. Crisp.
" You'll have a nice walk, as the snow is very crup."
CRUPPISH [krup-ish] adj. Peevish ; out of sorts. A man
who has been drinking overnight will sometimes say
in the morning : " I feel cruppish"
CUCKOO BREAD, sb. The wood sorrel. Oxalis acetosella.
CUCKOO'S BREAD AND CHEESE, sb. The seed of the mallow.
CUCKOO-CORN, sb. Corn sown too late in the spring.
CULCH [kulch] sb. (i.) Rags ; bits of thread ; shoddy.
(ii.) Any and every kind of rubbish, e.g., broken
tiles, slates, and stones. (See also, Pelf.}
" Much may be done in the way of culture, by placing
the oysters in favourable breeding beds, strewn with
tiles, slates, old oyster shells, or other suitable culch
for the spat to adhere to." — Life of Frank Buckland.
CULL [kul] (i) vb. To pick ; choose ; select.
4o Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
CULL [kul] (2) sb. The culls of a flock are the worst;
picked out to be parted with.
CULVER KEY [kulvurkee] sb. The cowslip. Primula
verts.
CUMBERSOME [kumtrursum] adj. Awkward; inconvenient.
" I reckon you'll find that gurt coat mighty cumber-
some"
CURRANTBERRIES [kurr'unt'berr'iz] sb. pi. Currants.
CURS [kurs] adj. Cross ; shrewish ; surly.
CYPRESS, CYPRUS [sei-prus] sb. A material like crape.
D.
DABBERRIES [dab-eriz] sb. pi. Gooseberries.
DAFFY [daf-i] sb. A large number or quantity, as "a
rare daffy of people/'
DAG [dag] (i) vb. To remove the dags or clots of wool,
dirt, &c., from between the hind legs of sheep. (See
also Clat^)
DAG [dag] (2) sb. A lock of wool that hangs at the tail of
a sheep and draggles in the dirt.
DAGG, sb. A large pistol.
Boteler Inventory r, 1600. — "It. in Jonathan Boteler's
chambr : fower chestes wth certain furniture for the
warrs, viz., two corsletts, one Jack, two muskets
fur[nished], one horseman's piec fur[nished] one case
of daggsy two caliurs wth swords and daggers, prized
at iiij11." — Memorials of E as try y p. 225.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 41
DAG-WOOL, sb. Refuse wool ; cut off in trimming the
sheep.
DANG [dang] inter j. A substitution for " damn."
" Dang your young boanes, doant ye give me no
more o' your sarce."
DAWTHER [dau-dhur], or DODDER [dodh-ur] (i) vb. To
tremble or shake ; to move in an infirm manner.
" He be gettin' in years now, and caant do s'much
as he did, but he manages jus' to dawther about the
shop a little otherwhile."
DAWTHER-[dau-dhur], or DODDER-[dod-ur] GRASS (2) sb.
A long shaking grass, elsewhere called Quaker, or
quaking, grass. Briza media.
DAWTHERY [dau-dhur'i] adj. Shaky ; tottery ; trembling ;
feeble. Used commonly of old people — " He begins
to get very dawthery."
DEAD-ALIVE [ded-ulerv] adj. Dull; stupid.
" It's a dead-alive place."
DEAL [deel] (i) sb. A part ; portion. Anglo Saxon dcel,
from dcelan, to divide ; hence our expression, to deal
cards, i.e., giving a fair portion to each ; and dole, a
gift divided or distributed.
Leviticus xiv. 10. — "And on the eighth day he shall
take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb
of the first year without blemish, and two tenth deals
of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and
one log of oil."
DEAL [dee'l] (2) sb. The nipple of a sow, bitch, fox or rat.
DEATH [deth] adj. Deaf.
" It's a gurt denial to be so werry death."
" De ooman was so plaguey death
She cou'den make 'ar hear."
— Dick and Sal, st. 59.
DEATHNESS [deth-nes] sb. Deafness.
42 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
DEEK [dee-k] sb. A dyke, or ditch.
The i in Kent and Sussex is often pronounced as i
in French.
DEEKERS [dee-kurz] sb. pi. Men who dig ditches (deeks]
and keep them in order.
DENCHER-POUT [dench-ur-pout], DENSHER-POUT [den--
shur-pout] sb. A pout, or pile of weeds, stubble, or
rubbish, made in the fields for burning, a cooch-fire, as
it is elsewhere called.
DENE [dee-n], DENNE [den], DEN [den] sb. A wooded valley,
affording pasturage ; also a measure of land ; as in
Somner, Antiquities of Canterbury, p. 27, ed. 1703, where
we read : " The Manor of Lenham, consisting of 20
ploughlands and 13 denes." This word den is a very
common one as a place-name, thus there are several
Denne Courts in East Kent ; and in the Weald
especially, den is the termination of the name of
many parishes, as well as of places in those parishes,
thus we have Bidden<3^^, Benemfe;?, Betherstfk/z,
, Tentenfe?z, Ibornden, &c.
DENIAL [denei*ul] sb. A detriment; drawback; hindrance;
prejudice.
" It's a denial to a farm to lie so far off the road."
DESTINY [dest-ini] sb. Destination.
" When we have rounded the shaw, we can keep the
boat straight for her destiny."
DEVIL-IN-THE-BUSH, sb. The flower otherwise called Love-
in-a-mist. Nigella damascena.
DEVIL'S THREAD, sb. A weed which grows out in the fields,
among the clover; it comes in the second cut, but does
not come in the first. Otherwise called Hellweed.
Cuscuta epithymum.
DEWLAPS, sb. pi. Coarse woollen stockings buttoned over
others, to keep the legs warm and dry.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 43
DIBBLE [dib-lj, DIBBER [dib-ur] sb. An agricultural imple-
ment for making holes in the ground, wherein to set
plants or seeds.
DICK [dik] sb. A ditch. (See Deek, above.)
DICKY-HEDGE-POKER [dik-i-hej-poa-ker] sb. A hedge-
sparrow.
DICKY [dik-i] adj. Poorly ; out of sorts ; poor ; miserable.
"When I has the dicky feelins', I wishes I hadn't
been so neglackful o' Sundays."
DIDAPPER and DIVEDAPPER. The dab-chick.
DlDOS [dei'doaz] sb. pi. Capers ; pranks ; tricks.
"Dreckly ye be backturned, there he be, a-cutting all
manners o' didos."
DiN-A-LlTTLE, adv. Within a little ; nearly.
" I knows din-a-little where I be now."
DISABIL [dis'ubil] sb. Disorder ; untidy dress. Fr.
Deshabille.
" Dear heart alive ! I never expected for to see you,
sir ! I'm all in a disabil."
DISGUISED, adj. Tipsy.
" I'd raather not say as he was exactly drunk, but he
seemed as though he was jes' a little bit disguised."
DISH-MEAT [dish-meet] sb. Spoon meat, i.e., soft food,
which requires no cutting up and can be eaten with
a spoon.
DISHWASHER [dish-wosh-r] sb. The water wagtail. Gen-
erally called " Peggy Dishwasher."
DISSIGHT [disei't] sb. That which renders a person or
place unsightly ; a blemish ; a defect.
" Them there tumble-down cottages are a great
dissight to the street."
Do [doo] vb. To do for anyone is to keep house for him.
" Now the old lady's dead, Miss Gamble she goos in
and doos for him."
44 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
DOATED [doa'tid] adj. Rotten. Generally applied to wood.
"That thurruck is all out-o'-tilter; the helers are all
doated." (See also Doited?)
DOB [dob] vb. To put down.
" So den I dobffd him down de stuff,
A plaguey sight to pay." — Dick and Sat, st. 82.
DOBBIN [dob'in] sb. Temper.
" He lowered his dobbin," i.e., he lost his temper.
DODDER [dod-ur] vb. (See Dawther, above.)
DODGER [doj-ur] sb. A night-cap.
DOG [dau-g or dog] sb. An instrument for getting up hop-
poles, called in Sussex a pole-puller.
DOGS [dogz] sb. pi. Two pieces of wood connected by a
piece of string, and used by thatchers for carrying up
the straw to its place on the roof, when arranged for
thatching.
DOGS' DAISY, sb. The May weed, Anthemis cotula ; so
called, " 'Cause it blows in the dog-days, ma'am."
DOG-WHIPPER [dog-wip-ur] sb. The beadle of a church,
whose duty it was, in former days, to whip the dogs
out of church. The word frequently occurs in old
Churchwardens' accounts.
DOINGS [doo-ingz] sb. pi. Odd jobs. When a person keeps
a small farm, and works with his team for hire, he is
said to do doings for people.
DOITED [doi-tid] adj. Decayed (used of wood).
" That 'ere old eelm (elm) is reglar doited, and fit for
nothin' only cord- wood." (See Doated.)
DOLE [doa'l] (i) sb. A set parcel, or distribution ; an alms ;
a bale or bundle of nets.
" 60 awlns make a dole of shot-nets, and 20 awlns
make a dole of herring-nets." — Lewis, p. 24.
DOLE [doa*l] (2) sb. A boundary stone ; the stump of an
old tree left standing.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 45
DOLES [doa-lz] sb. pi. The short handles which project
from the bat of a scythe, and by which the mower holds
it when mowing. The several parts of a scythe are : (i.)
the scythe proper, or cutting part, of shear steel ; (ii.)
the trai-ring and trai-wedge by which it is fastened to
the bat ; (iii.) the bat or long staff, by which it is held
when sharpening, and which is cut peeked, so that it
cannot slip ; and (iv.) the doles , as above described.
DOLEING [doa-ling] sb. Almsgiving. (See Deal.)
DOLE-STONE [doa-1-stoa-n] sb. A landmark.
DOLING [doa-ling] sb. A fishing boat with two masts, each
carrying a sprit-sail. Boys, in his History of Sandwich,
speaks of them as " ships for the King's use, furnished
by the Cinque Ports."
DOLLOP [dol'up] sb. A parcel of tea sewn up in canvas
for smuggling purposes ; a piece, or portion, of any-
thing, especially food.
" Shall I gie ye some ? " " Thankee, not too big a
dollop:'
DOLLYMOSH [doHmosh] vb. To demolish ; destroy ; en-
tirely spoil.
DOLOURS [dol-urz] vb. A word expressive of the moaning
of the wind, when blowing up for rain.
DOLPHIN [dol-fin] sb. A kind of fly (aphis] which comes
as a blight upon roses, honeysuckles, cinerarias, &c. ;
also upon beans. It is sometimes black, as on beans
and honeysuckles ; and sometimes green, as on roses
and cinerarias.
DOODLE-SACK [doo-dl-sak] sb. A bagpipe.
DORICK [doa-rik] vb. A frolic ; lark ; spree ; a trick.
" Now then, none o' your doricks."
Doss [dos] vb. To sit down rudely.
DOSSET [dos-it] sb. A very small quantity of any liquid.
46 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
DOUGH [doa] sb. A thick clay soil.
DOVER-HOUSE [doa-vur-hous] sb. A necessary house.
DOWAL [dou-ul], DOWL [dou-1] sb. A boundary post. (See
also Dole-stone, above.)
1630. — " Layd out for seauen dowlstones . . . xviijd.
For .... to carrye these dowl stones from place to
place, ijs." —MS. Accounts, St. Johrts Hospital, Canterbury.
DOWELS [dou*lz] sb. pi. Low marshes.
DOWN [doun] sb. A piece of high open ground, not
peculiar to Kent, but perhaps more used here than
elsewhere. Thus we have Up-down in Eastry ; Harts-
down and North-down in Thanet ; Leys-down in
Sheppey ; Barham Downs, &c. The open sea off Deal
is termed the Downs.
DOWNWARD [dou*nwur'd] adv. The wind is said to be
downward when it is in the south.
DRAB [drab] vb. To drub ; to flog ; to beat.
DRAGGLETAIL [drag-ltail] sb. A slut, or dirty, untidy,
and slovenly woman.
DRAGON'S TONGUE [drag-unz tung] sb. Iris fatidissima.
DRAUGHT [dr'aa-ft] sb. The bar, billet, or spread-bat, to
which the traces of all the horses are fixed when four
are being used at plough.
DRAWHOOK [drau*uok] sb. An implement for cleaning
out dykes, and freeing them of weeds, consisting of a
three-tined fork, bent round so as to form a hook, and
fitted to a long handle. — E. Kent.
1627 — " For mending on of the drawe hoockes"
— MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
DRAW- WELL [drau-wel] sb. A hole or well sunk for the
purpose of obtaining chalk.
DRAY [drai] (i) sb. A squirrel's nest.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 47
DRAY [drai] (2) sb. A word usually applied to places
where there is a narrow passage through the slime
and mud.
DREAN [dree*un] (i) sb. A drain.
DREAN [dree-un] (2) vb. To drip.
" He was just dredning wet when he came in."
DRECKLY-MINUTE [drek-li-min-it] adv. Immediately ; at
once ; without delay ; contracted from " directly this
minute."
DREDGE [drej] sb. A bush-harrow. To drag a bundle of
bushes over a field like a harrow.
DRILL [dril] vb. To waste away by degrees.
DRIV [driv] vb. To drive.
" I want ye driv some cattle ! " " Very sorry, but I'm
that druv up I caan't do't ! "
DRIZZLE [driz-1] vb. To bowl a ball close to the ground.
DROITS [droit's]^.//. Rights; dues; customary payments.
DROKE [droa*k] sb. A filmy weed very common in standing
water.
DROPHANDKERCHIEF [drop-angk-urchif] sb. The game
elsewhere called "kiss-in-the-ring."
DROP-ROD, sb. " To go drop-rod" is an expression used of
carrying hay or corn to the stack, when there are two
wagons and only one team of horses ; the load is
then left at the stack, and the horses taken out of the
rods or shafts, and sent to bring the other wagon from
the field.
DROSE [droa-z] vb. To gutter. Spoken of a candle flaring
away, and causing the wax to run down the sides.
Also spelt, Drosley.
"The candlestick is all drosed" i.e., covered with
grease.
DROASINGS [droa-zingz] sb. pi. Dregs of tallow.
48 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
DROVE WAY [droa-v wai] sb. A road for driving cattle to
and from the marshes, &c., wherein they pasture.
DRUV [druv] vb. Driven.
" We wunt be druv."
DRYTH [drei-th] sb. Drought ; thirst.
"I call cold tea very purty stuff to squench your
dryih?
DUFF [duf] sb. A dark coloured clay.
DULL [dul] vb. To make blunt.
" As for fish-skins — 'tis a terr'ble thing to dull your
knife." — Folkestone.
DUMBLEDORE [dumb'ldoar] sb. A bumble bee; an imitative
word allied to boom, to hum.
DUN-CROW [dun-kroa] sb. The hooded or Royston crow,
which is found in great numbers in North Kent during
the winter. Corvus comix.
DUNES [deu-nz] sb. pi. Sand hills and hillocks, near the
margin of the sea. At Sandwich, thieves were anciently
buried alive in these dunes, or sand-hills. Boys, in
his History of Sandwich, pp. 464-465, gives us the
" Customal of Sandwich/' from which it appears that
" .... in an appeal of theft or robbery if the person
be found with the goods upon him, it behoves him to
shew, on a day appointed, how he came by them, and,
upon failure, he shall not be able to acquit himself.
.... If the person, however, upon whom the goods
are, avows that they are his own, and that he is not
guilty of the appeal, he may acquit himself by 36 good
men and true .... and save himself and the goods.
When the names of the 36 compurgators are delivered
to the Bailiff in writing they are to be distinctly called
over . . . and, if any one of them shall be absent, or
will not answer, the appellee must suffer death. But
if they all separately answer to their names, the
Bailiff, on the part of the King, then puts aside 12 of
the number, and the Mayor and Jurats 1 2 more, thereby
agreeing together in fixing of the 12 of the 36 to swear
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 49
with the Appellee that he is not guilty of the matters
laid to his charge. . . . The Accused is first sworn
that he is not guilty, kissing the book, and then the
others come up as they are called, and separately
swear that the oath which the Appellee has taken is
good and true, . . . and that he is not guilty of what
is alleged against him, kissing the book, ... by
which the Appellee is acquitted and the Appellant
becomes liable to an attachment, and his goods are at
the disposal of the King. If, however, one of the 12
withdraws his hand from the book and will not swear,
the Appellee must be executed ; and all who are
condemned in such cases are to be buried alive, in a
place set apart for the purpose, at Sandown [near
Deal] called ' The Thief Downs/ which ground is the
property of the Corporation."
DUNNAMANY [dun'umeni] adj. phr. I don't know how
many.
" 'Tis no use what ye say to him, I've told him an't
a dunnamany times."
DUNNAMUCH [dun-umuch] adj. phr. I don't know how
much.
DUNTY [dunt'i] adj. Stupid ; confused. It also sometimes
means stunted ; dwarfish.
DURGAN- WHEAT [durg-un-weet] sb. Bearded wheat.
DWARFS-MONEY, sb. Ancient coins. So called in some
places on the coast.
DWINDLE, sb. A poor sickly child.
"Ah! he's a terr'ble poor little dwindle, I doant
think he wun't never come to much."
DYKERS [dei-kurz] sb. pi. Men who make and clean out
dykes and ditches. (See also Deekers above.)
1536. — " Paid to a man for helping the dykers"
—MS. Accoimts, St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
DYSTER [dei-str] sb. The pole of an ox-plough. (See Neb.}
50 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
E.
EAR [ee-r] vb. To plough.
" Eryng of land three times." — Old Parish Book of
Wye, 28 Henry VIII.
" Caesar, I bring thee word :
Menocrates and Menas, famous pirates,
Make the sea serve them, which they ear and wound
With keels of every kind . . . ."
— Anthony and Cleopatra, act. i. sc. 4.
EARING [eerr'ing] sb. Ploughing, i.e., the time of ploughing.
..." And yet there are five years in the which there
shall be neither earing nor harvest/' — Gen. xlv. 6.
EARTH [urth] vb. To cover up with earth.
" I've earthed up my potatoes."
EAXE [ee-uks] sb. An ax, or axle.
ECKER [ek-ur] vb. To stammer ; stutter.
ECHE [ee-ch] (i) sb. An eke, or addition ; as, an additional
piece to a bell rope, to eke it out and make it longer.
So we have £cfo-ILnd near Ash-next-Sandwich.
1525. — "For ij ropes for eches for the bell ropys, ijd."
— Accounts, St. Dunstan's, Canterbury.
(2) vb. To eke out ; to augment.
EELM [ee-lm] sb. Elm.
EEL-SHEER [ee-lsheer] sb. A three - pronged spear for
catching eels.
E'EN A'MOST [ee-numoa-st] adv. Almost. Generally used
with some emphasis.
EEND [ee-nd] sb. A term in ploughing ; the end of a
plough-furrow. Two furrows make one eend. Always
so pronounced.
" I ain't only got two or three eends to-day, to finish
the field."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 5 1
EFFET [ef-it] sb. An eft ; a newt. Anglo-Saxon, efete.
ELDERN [eld-urn] sb. The elder tree, and its wood.
ELEVENSES [elevnziz] sb. A drink or snack of refresh-
ment at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. Called in
Essex, Beevors ; and in Sussex, Elevener.
ELLINGE [el-inj] adj. Solitary ; lonely ; far from neigh-
bours ; ghostly.
1470. — " Nowe the crowe calleth reyne with an
eleynge voice." —Bartholomaus de proprietatibns rerum.
ELVIN [el-vin] sb. An elm. Still used, though rarely.
EMMET [enrut] sb. An ant.
EMMET-CASTES [enrut kaa-stiz]. Ant hills. (See Cast.}
END [end] sb. (See Eend above.)
ENOW [enou-] sb. Enough.
" Have ye got enow ? "
ENTETIG [ent-itig] vb. To introduce.
EPS [eps] sb. The asp tree.
ERNFUL [urn-ful] adj. and adv. Lamentable. "Ernful
bad" lamentably bad; "ernful tunes," sorrowful tunes.
ERSH [ursh] sb. The stubble after the corn has been cut.
Ess [es] sb. pi. A large worm.
EVERYTHING SOMETHING [evrithing sup-m] sb. Some-
thing of everything ; all sorts of things.
" She called me everything something" i.e., she called
me every name she could think of.
EYESORE [ei-soar] sb. A disfigurement; &dissight; some-
thing which offends the eye, and spoils the appearance
of a thing ; a detriment.
" A sickly wife is a great eyesore to a man."
52 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
EYLEBOURNE [aHboarn] sb. An intermittent spring.
" There is a famous eylebourn which rises in this
parish [Petham] and sometimes runs but a little way
before it falls into the ground." — Harris's History of
Kent, p. 240. (See Nailbourn.)
F.
FACK [fak] sb. The first stomach of a ruminating animal,
from which the herbage is resumed into the mouth.
FADER [faa-dur] sb. Father.
Extract from the will of Sir John Spyoer, Vicar of
Monkton, A.D. 1450. . . . "The same 10 marc shall be
for a priest's salary; one whole yere to pray for my
soule, my fadyr soule, my modyr soul, and all crystyn
soules." — Lewis, p. 1 2. This pronunciation still prevails.
FAGS [fagz], FAGGS, inter j\ adv. A cant word of affirmation ;
in good faith ; indeed ; truly.
Shakespeare has: " F fecks" = in faith, in Winter's
Tale, act i. sc. 2, where we see the word in process of
abbreviation.
FAIRISIES [farr'iseez] sb. pi. Fairies. This reduplicated
plural of fairy — fairyses — gives rise to endless mistakes
between the fairies of the story-books and the Pharisees
of the Bible.
FAIRY-SPARKS [fai-r'i-sparks] sb. pi. Phosphoric light,
sometimes seen on clothes at night, and in former
times attributed to the fairies. Otherwise called
shell-fire.
FAKEMENT [farkmu'nt] sb. Pain ; uneasiness ; distress.
"Walking does give me fakement to-day." — Sitting-
bourne.
FALL [faul] (i) vb. To fell ; to cut down.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 53
FALL [faul] (2) sb. A portion of growing underwood,
ready to fell or cut.
FANTEEG [fanteeg-] sb. A state of worry ; excitement ;
passion.
" We couldn't help laughing at the old lady, she put
herself in such a, fanteeg"
FANTOD [fan'tud] adj. Fidgetty ; restless ; uneasy.
FARDLE [faa-dl] sb. A bundle ; a little pack.
Amongst the rates or dues of Margate Pier and
Harbour, Lewis gives — "For every far die .... id."
Italian, fardello.
FAT [fat] sb. A large open tub ; a vat ; a ton or tun.
"And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats
shall overflow with wine and oil." — Joel ii. 24.
FATTEN [fat-un] sb. A weed.
FAVOUR [fai-vur] vb. To resemble ; have a likeness to
another person.
"You favour your father," i.e., you have a strong
likeness to your father. (See also Bly.}
" Joseph was a goodly person and 'well-favoured." —
Genesis xxxix. 6.
FAZEN [fai-zn] adj. The fazen eel is a large brown eel,
and is so called at Sandwich in contradistinction to
the silver eel.
FEAR [feer] vb. To frighten.
" To see his face the lion walk'd along
Behind some hedge, because he would not fear him."
— Shakespeare — Venus and Adonis.
FEASE [feez] (\]vb. To fret; worry. (See also Frape.}
FEASE [feez] (2) sb. A feasy, fretting, whining child.
Formed from adj. feasy.
FEASY [fee-zi] adj. Whining; peevish; troublesome.
"He's a feasy child." (See also Tattery^
54 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
FEETENS [fit*nz] sb. pi. Foot-marks ; foot-prints ; hoof-
marks.
" The rain do lodge so in the horses' feetens."
FELD [feld] sb. A field. — Sittingbourne. In other parts
of Kent it is usually fill.
" Which is the way to Sittingbourne ? " " Cater
across that ere feld of wuts (oats)."
FELLET [fel-it] sb. A portion of a wood divided up for
felling; a portion of felled wood.
FELLOWLY [fel-oali] adj. Familiar; free.
FENNY [fen*i] adj. Dirty ; mouldy as cheese.
FET [fet] vb. To fetch.
FEW [feu] adj. This word is used as a substantive in such
phrases as "a goody^ze;," "a goodish/ew," which mean
"pretty many," or "a nice little lot."
FICKLE [fik-1] vb. To fickle a person in the head with this
or that, is to put it into his head ; in a rather bad sense.
FID [fid] sb. A portion of straw pulled out and arranged
for thatching. Four or fiveyfo& are about as much as
a thatch er will carry up in his dogs.
FIDDLER [fid-lur] sb. The angel, or shark-ray.
" We calls these fiddlers because they're like a fiddle."
The following couplet is current in West Kent :
" Never a fisherman need there be,
If fishes could hear as well as see."
FILD [fild] sb. A field. (See also Feld.}
FILL [fil] sb. A field.
FlLL-NOR-FALL [fil-nor-faul]. An expression frequently
used as to any person or anything lost.
" My old dog went off last Monday, and I can't hear
neither fill-nor-fall of him."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 55
FINGER-COLD [fin-gur koal-d] adj. Cold to the fingers ;
spoken of the weather, when the cold may not be
very intense, and yet enough to make the fingers
tingle. (See also Hand-cold?)
" We shall very soon have the winter 'pon us, 'twas
downright finger-cold first thing this marning."
FINKLE [fin'kl] sb. Wild fennel. Faniculum vulgare.
FIRE-FORK, sb. A shovel for the fire, made in the form of
a three-pronged fork, as broad as a shovel, and fitted
with a handle made of bamboo or other wood.
" Item in the kitchen one payer of tongs,
one fire-forke of iron, &c."
— Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Eastry, p. 227.
FLABERGASTED [flab-urgastid] adj. or pp. Astonished and
rather frightened.
FLAM vb. To deceive or cheat ; sb. a falsehood.
FLAW [flau] vb. To flay ; to strip the bark off timber.
"I told him to goo down into de woodflazvm', and
he looked as tho' he was downright flabbergasted."
FLAZZ, adj. Newly fledged.
FLECK [flek] sb. Hares ; rabbits ; ground-game.
" They killed over two hundred pheasants, but not
but terr'ble little fleck."
FLEED [fleed] sb. The inside fat of a pig, from which lard
is made.
FLEED-CAKES [fleed-kaiks] sb. pi. Cakes made with the
fresh fleed of a pig.
FLEEKY [flee-ki] adj. Flaky ; in flakes.
FLEET [fleet], FLETE (i) sb. A creek ; a bay or inlet ;
a channel for the passage of boats and vessels, hence
the name of North-fleet. Anglo-Saxon, fleot.
" A certain Abbot .... made there a certain flete
in his own proper soil, through which little boats used
to come to the aforesaid town [of Mynster]. — Lewis
p. 78.
56 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
The word is still used about Sittingbourne, and is
applied to sheets of salt and brackish water in the
marshes adjoining the Medway and the Swale. Most
of them have no communication with the tidal water,
except through water-gates, but they generally repre-
sent the channels of streams which have been partly
diverted by draining operations.
FLEET [fleet] (2) vb. To float. The word is much used
by North Kent bargemen, and occasionally by " in-
landers/'
" The barge fleeted about four o'clock to-day."
FLEET [fleet] (3) vb. To skim any liquor, especially milk.
FLEET [fleet] (4) sb. Every Folkestone herring-boat
carries a fleet of nets, and sixty nets make a fleet.
FLEETING-DISH, si. A shallow dish for cream. (See
Fleet, 3.)
FLEET MILK, sb. Skimmed milk. (See also Flit milk.)
FLICK [flik] sb. The hair of a cat, or the fur of a rabbit.
(See Fleck above.)
FLICKING-TOOTH-COMB [flik-in-tooth-koam] sb. A comb
for a horse's mane.
FLIG, sb. The strands of grass.
FLINDER [flind-ur] sb. A butterfly.
FLINDER-MOUSE [flind-ur-mous] sb. A bat.
FLINTER-MOUSE [flint-ur-mous] sb. A bat. This form is
intermediate between flinder -mouse anft flitter-mouse.
The plural form is flinter-mees.
FLIT-MILK [flit-milk] sb. Skim milk; the milk after the
cream has been taken off it. (See Fleet milk above.)
FLITTERMOUSE [flit*ur-mous] sb. (See Flinter-mouse above.)
FLOAT [float] sb. A wooden frame, sloping outward,
attached to the sides, head, or back, of a cart, enabling
it to carry a larger load than would otherwise be
possible.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 57
FLOWER [flou-r] sb. The floor (always pronounced thus).
FLUE [floo] adj. Delicate ; weak ; sickly. In East Kent
it is more commonly applied to persons than to
animals.
FLUFF [fluff] sb. Anger ; choler.
" Dat raised my fluff" —Dick and Sal, st. 74.
FLUMP, sb. A fall causing a loud noise.
"She came down with a flump on the floor/'
FOAL'S FOOT, sb. Colt's foot. Fussilago farfara.
FOGO [foa-goa] sb. A stench.
FOG [fog] sb. The second crop of grass. (See Aftermeath^
From Low Latin, fogagmm, or foragium.
FOLD-PITCHER [foald-pich-r] sb. An iron implement, other-
wise called a peeler, for making holes in the ground,
wherein to put wattles or hop-poles.
FOLKS [foa-ks] sb. pi. The men-servants. — East Kent.
" Our folks are all out in de fill."
FOLKESTONE-BEEF [foa-ksun beef] sb. Dried dog-fish.
" Most of the fishermen's houses in Folkestone
harbour are adorned with festoons of fish hung out
to dry ; some of these look like gigantic whiting.
There was no head, tail, or fins to them, and I could
not make out their nature without close examination.
The rough skin on their reverse side told me at once
that they were a species of dog-fish. I asked what
they were? * Folkestone -beej ',' was the reply." — F.
Buckland.
FOLKESTONE GIRLS [foa-ksun galz] sb.pL Folkestone girls;
the name given to heavy rain clouds. — Chilham.
" De Folkston gals looked houghed black ;
Old Waller'd roar'd about ;
Says I to Sal ' shall we go back ? '
* No, no ! ' says she, ' kip out.' "
—Dick and Sal, st. 23.
58 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
FOLKESTONE LASSES [foa-ksun las-sez] sb. pi. ") Same as
FOLKESTONE WASHERWOMEN, sb. pi. j the above-
FOR [for] prep. Used in adjectival sense, thus, " What
for horse is he ? " i.e., What kind of horse is he r
" What/0r day is it?" i.e., What kind of day is it ?
FORCED [foa-st] vb. Obliged ; compelled.
" He's kep' going until last Saddaday he was forced
to give up."
FORE-ACRE [foru'-kur] sb. A headland ; the land at the
ends of the field where the furrows cross.
FORECAST [foa-rkaast] sb. Forethought.
FORE-DOOR [foa*r-doar] sb. The front door.
"He come to the fore-door."
FOREIGNER [furinur] sb. A stanger who comes out of
the sheeres, and is not a Kentish man.
FOREHORSE [foa-r-hors] sb. The front horse in a team of
four. — East Kent.
FORE-LAY [foa-r-lai] vb. To way-lay.
" I slipped across the field and fore-laid him."
FORERIGHT [foa*rr'eit] adj. or adv. Direct ; right in front ;
straight forward. " It (i.e., the river Rother) had here-
tofore a direct and foreright continued current and
passage as to Appledore, so from thence to Romney."
— Somner, Ports and Forts, p. 50.
FORICAL [forikl] sb. A headland in ploughing. (See
Foreacre.}
FORSTAL [forstul], FORESTAL [foaTStul], FOSTAL [fost'ul]
sb. A farm-yard before a house ; a paddock near a
farm house ; the house and home-building of a farm ;
a small opening in a street or lane, not large enough
to be called a common. As a local name, forestalls
seem to have abounded in Kent ; as for instance,
Broken Forestall, near Buckley; Clare's Forestall,
near Throwley, and several others.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 59
Four [foirt] vb. Fought ; being p.t. and pret., of to fight.
— Sittingbourne.
" Two joskins font one day in a chalk pet, until the
blood ran all over their gaberdines."
FOWER [foirur] num. adj. Four. So pronounced to this
day in East Kent, and constantly so spelled in old
documents.
FOY [foi] sb. A treat given by a person on going abroad
or returning home.
There is a tavern at Ramsgate called the Foy Boat.
" I took him home to number 2, the house beside ' The Foy ; '
I bade him wipe his dirty shoes, that little vulgar boy."
— Ingoldsby Legends, Misadventures at Margate.
FOYING [foi-ing] part. Victualling ships; helping them
in distress, and acting generally as agents for them.
" They who live by the seaside are generally fisher-
men, or those who go voyages to foreign parts, or such
as depend upon what they call foying." — Lewis, p. 32.
FRAIL [frail] (i) sb. A small basket; a flail. The flail
is rapidly disappearing and going out of use before the
modern steam threshing machine. It consists of the
following parts : — (i.) the hand-staff or part grasped
by the thresher's hands ; (ii.) the hand-staff-cap (made
of wood), which secured the thong to the hand-staff;
(iii.) the middle-bun or flexible leathern thong, which
served as the connecting link between hand-staff and
swingel ; (iv.) the swingel-cap made of leather, which
secured the middle-bun to the swingel; (v.) the swingel
[swinj-1] itself, which swung free and struck the corn.
There is a proverbial saying, which alludes to the hard
work of threshing:
" Two sticks, a leather and thong,
Will tire a man be he ever so strong."
FRAIL [frail] (2) adj. Peevish ; hasty.
FRAPE [fraip] (i) vb. To worry; fidget; fuss; scold.
" Don't /rape about it."
60 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
FRAPE [fraip] (2) sb. A woman of an anxious tempera-
ment, who grows thin with care and worry.
" Oh ! she's a regular /rape."
FRENCH MAY [french mai] sb. The lilac, whether white
or purple. Syringa vulgar is.
FRESH CHEESE [fresh cheez] sb. Curds and whey.
FRIGHT- WOODS, sb. pi. (See Frith.)
FRIMSY [frimz-i] adj. Slight ; thin ; soft.
FRITH, sb. A hedge or coppice. A thin, scrubby wood,
with little or no timber, and consisting mainly of
inferior growths such as are found on poor soils,
intermixed with heath, &c. Though some of the
old woods bearing this name may now, by modern
treatment, have been made much thicker and more
valuable, they are also still called, as of old, fright-
woods, as the Fright Woods, near Bedgebury.
In the MS. Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canter-
bury, we find frith used for a quick-set hedge — " To
enclose the vij acres wt. a quyk fryth before the Fest
of the Purification."
FRORE [froa-r] //. Frozen.
" . . . . The parching air
Burns frore and cold performs the effect of fire."
— Milton, Paradise Lost, ii. 595.
FRUZ [fruz] //. Frozen.
FURNER [furnvr] sb. A baker. French, fournier.
FURRICK [furr'ik] vb. Same zsfurrige below.
FURRIGE [furr'idj] vb. To forage ; to hunt about and
rummage, and put everything into disorder whilst
looking for something.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 61
G.
GABERDINE [gab-urdin] sb. A coarse loose frock ; a
smock frock, sometimes called a cow-gown, formerly
worn by labouring men in many counties, now fast
disappearing.
" You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine"
— Merchant of Venice, act i. sc. 3.
" Next he disrob'd his gaberdine,
And with it did himself resign."
— Hudibras, pt. I. canto iii.
GADS [gadz] sb.pl. Rushes growing in marshy ground.
GAFFER [gaf-ur] sb. A master.
" Here comes our gaffer ! "
GALLIGASKINS, sb. pi. Trowsers.
GALLON [gal-un] sb. Used as a dry measure for corn,
flour, bread, potatoes. In Kent these dry goods are
always sold by the gallon.
" I'd far rather pay a shilling for a gallon of bread
than have it so very cheap."
GALLS [gaulz] sb. pi. Jelly fish.
GALORE [guloa-r] sb. Plenty.
GALEY [garli] adj. Boisterous ; stormy. " The wind is
galey," i.e., blows in gales, by fits and intervals.
GAMBREL [gamb-ril] or GAMBLE STICK [gamb-1-stik] sb. A
stick used to spread open and hang up a pig or other
slaughtered animal.
GAMMY [ganvi] adj. Sticky ; dirty.
GANCE [gaans or gans] adj. Thin; slender; gaunt.
"Them sheep are doing middlin', but there's here
and there a one looks rather gance."
62 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
GANGWAY [gang-wai] sb. A thoroughfare ; a passage ;
an entry. Properly a sea term.
GARBAGE [gaa'bij] sb. A sheaf of corn, Latin garba ; a
cock of hay ; a fagot of wood, or any other bundle of
the product or fruits of the earth.
GARRET [garr'it] vb. To drive small wedges of flint into
the joints of a flint wall.
GARRETED, adj. The phrase, " not rightly garretedj' means,
something wrong in " the top storey." Spoken of a weak
and silly person, whose brain is not well furnished.
GASKIN [gas'kin] sb. Prunus avium, a half- wild variety of
the damson, common in hedgerows, and occasionally
gathered to send to London, with the common kinds
of black cherry, for the manufacture of "port wine."
GATE [gait] sb. A way from the cliffs down to the sea : —
" Through these chalky cliffs the inhabitants whose
farms adjoin to them, have cut several gates or ways
into the sea, for the conveniency either of fishing, carry-
ing the sea ooze on their land, &c. But these gates or
passages, they have been forced to fill up in time of
war, to prevent their being made use of by the enemy
to surprise them, and plunder the country." — Lewis ,
Tenet p. 10.
GATTERIDGE TREE [gat-ur'ij tree] sb. Prickwood. Euony-
mus Europeans.
GAU [gau], GEU [geu], or Goo [goo], interj. An exclam-
ation, in constant use, expressive of doubt ; surprise ;
astonishment.
GAUSE [gaus] adj. Thin ; slender.
GAVELKIND [gavl-kend] sb. An ancient tenure in Kent,
by which the lands of a father were divided among all
his sons ; or the lands of a brother, dying without
issue, among all the surviving brothers ; a custom by
which the female descendants were utterly excluded,
and bastards inherited with legitimate children.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 63
GAY [gai] adj. Lively ; hearty ; in good health.
" I don't feel very gay this morning."
GAYZELS [gai-zlz] sb. pi. Black currants, Ribes nigrum ;
wild plums. Prunis communis.
GEAT [ge-ut] sb. Gate.
GEE [jee] sb. A lodging ; roost. (Same as Chee.}
GEE [jee] inter j. Go to the off side ; command to a horse.
— West Kent.
GENTAIL [j en -tail] sb. An ass.
GENTLEMAN, sb. A person who from age or any other
cause is incapacitated from work.
"He's a gentleman now, but he just manages to
doddle about his garden with a weedin'-spud."
GIBLETS [jib -lets] sb. pi. Rags ; tatters.
GIFTS [gifts] sb. pi. White specks which appear on the
finger nails and are supposed to indicate something
coming, thus —
A gift on the thumb indicates a present.
,, on the fore-finger indicates a friend or lover.
„ on the middle finger indicates a foe.
„ on the fourth finger indicates a visit to pay.
„ on the little finger indicates a journey to go.
— W. F. S.
GIG [gig] sb. A billet, or spread bat, used to keep the
traces of plough horses apart.
GILL [gill] sb. A little, narrow, wooded valley with a
stream of water running through it ; a rivulet ; a
beck.
GIMMER [ginrur] sb. A mistress.
" My gimmer always wore those blue and white
checked aprons" (1817).
GIN [gin not}\\\\ vb. Given.
" I cou'd a gin de man a smack." — Dick and Sal^ st. 86.
64 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
GIVE [giv] vb. To give way; to yield ; to thaw. " It gives
now," i.e., it is thawing. So, too, the phrase, " it's all
on the give" means, that a thaw has set in.
GIVE OVER [give oa'vur] vb. To leave off; to cease; to
stop.
" Give over ! will ye ! I wun't have no more an't."
GIVEY [givi] adj. The ground is said to be givey when the
frost breaks up and the roads become soft and rotten.
GLEAN, sb. A handful of corn tied together by a gleaner.
GLIMIGRIM, sb. Punch.
"Tom Julmot, a rapscallion souldier, and Mary
Leekin, married by license, January 4th, 1748-9.
Caspian bowls of well acidulated gltmigrim."
— Extract from Parish Register of Sea Salter, near Whitstable.
GLINCE [glins], GLINCEY [glins*i] adj. Slippery.
" The ice is terr'ble glincey."
Go [goa] vb. To get about and do one's work.
" He's troubled to go" i.e., he has great difficulty in
getting about and doing his work. " He's gone in
great misery for some time," i.e., he has gone about
his work in great pain and suffering.
GOD'S GOOD [Godz good] sb. Yeast ; barm.
It was a pious custom in former days to invoke a
benediction, by making the sign of the cross over the
yeast.
GOFF [gof] sb. The commonest kind of apple.
GOING [goa-in] sb. The departure.
" I didn't see the going of him."
GOING TO'T [goa'in tuot] i.e., going to do it; as "do this or
that ;" the answer is " I am going to't." The frequency
with which it is used in some parts of Kent renders the
phrase a striking one.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 65
GOL [gol], GULL, sb. A young gosling. (See Willow-gull.}
GOLDING [goa-lding] sb. A lady-bird, so called from the
golden hue of its back. (See
GOLLOP [gol-up] vb. To swallow greedily ; to gulp.
" You go Hoped that down as if you liked it."
GOODING [guod-ing] sb. The custom of going about asking
for gifts on St. Thomas' Day, December 21. Still kept
up in many parts of Kent.
GOODMAN, sb. An old title of address to the master of a
house.
1671. — "To Goodman Davis in his sicknes .....
O O 6." — Overseers' Accounts., Holy Cross , Canterbury.
"... If the goodman of the house had known in
what watch the thief would come, he would have
watched." — St. Matthew xxiv. 43.
GOODY [guod-i] sb. The title of an elderly widow, con-
tracted from goodwife.
" Old Goody Knowler lives agin de stile."
GO-TO [goa too] vb. To set.
" The sun goes to!'
GOULE [goul] sb. Sweet willow. Myrica gale.
GOYSTER [goi'stur] vb. To laugh noisily and in a vulgar
manner. A goystering wench is a Tom-boy.
GRABBY [grab'i] adj. Grimy ; filthy.
GRAN NIGH [gran neij adv. Very nearly.
GRANABLE [granai-bl] adv. Very.
" De clover was granable wet,
So when we crast de medder,
We both upan de hardle set,
An den begun concedir."
— Dick and Sat, st. 22.
GRANADA [gran-aada] sb. A golden pippin.
F
66 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
GRANDLY [grand-li] adv. Greatly : as, " I want it grandly."
GRANDMOTHER'S NIGHT CAP, sb. The flower called monk's
hood or aconite. Aconitum napellus.
GRAPE-VINE [graip-vein] sb. A vine which bears grapes.
In other counties, when they say vine, they mean a
grape-vine, as a matter of course ; so, when they use
the word orchard, they mean an apple-orchard; but in
Kent, it is necessary to use distinguishing terms,
because we have apple-orchards, and cherry -orchards,
hop-vines and grape-vines.
GRATTAN [grafun], GRATTEN [grat-un], GRATTON [grat-un]
sb. Stubble ; a stubble field, otherwise called ersh, or
eddish, grotten, podder-grotten.
GRATTEN (2) vb. To feed on a gratten, or stubble field.
To turn pigs out grattening, is to turn them out to
find their own food.
GRAUM [grau-m] vb. To grime ; dirty ; blacken.
GREAT [gurt] (i) adv. Very; as "great much," very
much. Commonly pronounced gurt.
GREAT [grait] (2) sb. " To work by the great," is to work
by the piece.
GREAT CHURCH [grait church] sb. The Cathedral at
Canterbury is always so called at Eastry.
" That fil belongs to the Great Church" i.e., is part
of the possessions of the Dean and Chapter of Canter-
bury.
GREATEN [grai-tn] vb. To enlarge.
GREEDS [greedz] sb. pi. Straw thrown on to the dung-hill.
GREEN-BAG, sb. The bag in which the hops are brought
from the garden to the oast. (See also Poke.)
GREYBIRD [grai-burd] sb. A thrush.
GRIDGIRON [grij-eirn] sb. Gridiron,
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 67
GRINSTONE [grin -stun] sb. A grindstone.
GRIP [grip] sb. A dry ditch ; but about Sittingbourne it
is applied to natural channels of a few feet in width,
in the saltings on the Kentish coasts.
" I crawled along the grip with my gun in my hand
until I got within a few rods of 'em."
GRIPING [grei-pin] vb. The name given in North Kent to
the operation of groping at arms' length in the soft
mud of the tidal streams for dabs and flounders.
GRIST [greist] sb. Anything which has been ground —
meal, flour.
GRISTING [grei-sting], GRYSTING, sb. The flour which is
got from the lease-wheat.
GRIT [grit] vb. To set the teeth on edge ; to grate.
GRIZZLE [griz-1] vb. To fret ; complain ; grumble.
" She's such a grizzling woman."
GROSS [groas] adj. Gruif, deep-sounding.
GROVETT [groa-vit] sb. A small grove or wood.
" Just by it is a grovette of oaks, the only one in the
whole island." — Lewis, p. 115.
GRUBBY [grub-i] adj. Dirty.
"You are grubby, and no mistake." (See also Grabby.}
GRUPPER [grup'ur] sb. That part of the harness of a
cart-horse which is called elsewhere the quoilers ;
the breeching. — East Kent.
GRUPPER-TREE [grup-ur-tree] sb. That part of a cart
horse's harness which is made of wood, padded next
the horse's back, and which carries the redger. — East
Kent.
GAGEY [gai-ji] adj. Uncertain; showery; spoken of the
weather.
" Well, what d'ye think o' the weather ? will it be
fine r It looks to me rather gagey"
68 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
GUESS-COW [ges-kou] sb. A dry or barren cow.
GUESTING [gest-ing] vb. Gossipping.
GUESTLING [ges-lin] (i) sb. An ancient water-course at
Sandwich, in which it was formerly the custom to
drown prisoners.
GUESTLING [gest-ling] (2) sb. The ancient court of the
Cinque Ports, held at Shepway, near Hythe, and other
places.
" In July, 1688, the Common Council of Faversham
commissioned their Deputy-Mayor, two Jurats, the
Town Clerk, and a Commoner * to go to a guestling,
which was summoned from the ancient town of
Winchelsea, to be holden at the town and port of New
Romney, on Tuesday, July 2ist;' and * there to act
on the town's behalf, as they should find convenient.'
They were absent at the guestling five days."
— Archceologia Cantiana, xvi. p. 271.
GUILE-SHARES [gei-l-shairzj sb. pi. Cheating shares ;
division of spoils ; or shares of " wreckage."
" Under the pretence of assisting the distressed
masters [of stranded vessels] and saving theirs and
the merchant's goods, they convert them to their own
use by making what they call guile -shares!' — Lewis,
34-
GULLIDGE [guHj] sb. The sides of a barn boarded off from
the middle ; where the caving is generally stored.
GUMBLE [gumb'l] vb. To fit very badly, and be too large,
as clothes.
GUNNER [gun-ur] sb. A man who makes his living by
shooting wild fowl, is so called on the north coast of
Kent and about Sheppey.
GURT [gurt] adj. Great.
GUTTER GRUB [gut-ur-grub] sb. One who delights in
doing dirty work and getting himself into a mess ; a
low person.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 69
GUTTERMUD [gut'urmud] sb. The black mud of the gutter,
hence any dirt or filth.
" As black as guttermud."
GUT- WEED, sb. Sonchus arvensis.
H.
HAAZES [haa-ziz] sb. pi. Haws. (See also Harvest) Fruit
of Cratcegus oxyacantha.
HADN'T OUGHT [had-nt aut] phr. Ought not. (See also
No ought)
" He hadn't ought to go swishing along as that,
no-how."
HAGGED [hag-id] adj. Thin ; lean ; shrivelled ; haggard.
"They did look so very old and hagged; " spoken of
some maiden ladies living in another parish, who had
not been seen for some time by the speaker.
HAGISTER [hag'ister] sb. A magpie.
HAIR [hair] sb. The cloth on the oast above the fires where
the hops are dried.
HALF-AMON [haaf-armun] sb. (See Amon.)
HALF-BAPTIZED. Privately baptized.
" Can such things be ! " exclaimed the astonished
Mr. Pickwick. "Lord bless your heart, sir/' said
Sam, "why, where was you half '-baptised ? — that's
nothin', that a'nt." — Pickwick Papers, chapter xiii.
HALM [haam], HAULM [haum], HELM [helm] sb. Stubble
gathered after the corn is carried, especially pease and
beans' straw; applied, also, to the stalks or stems of
potatoes and other vegetables.
HALMOT [hal*mut] sb. The hall mote; court leet or manor
court ; from the Saxon heal-mot, a little council.
70 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HAME [haim] sb. Pease straw. (See Halm?)
HAMPER [hamp*ur] vb. To injure, or throw anything out
of gear.
" The door is hampered!'
HAMPERY [hanrpur'ij adj. Shaky ; crazy ; ricketty ;
weak ; feeble ; sickly.
HAND-COLD, adj. Cold enough to chill the hands. (See
also Finger -cold.}
"There was a frost down in the bottoms, for I was
right-down hand-cold as I come up to the great house."
HANDFAST, adj. Able to hold tight.
" Old George is middlin' handfast to-day" (said of a
good catch at cricket).
HANDFUL, sb. An anxiety ; to have a handful is to have
as much as a person can do and bear.
"Mrs. S. says she has a sad handful with her mother."
HAND-HOLD, sb. A holding for the hands.
" 'Tis a plaguey queer job to climb up there, there
an't no hand-hold''
HANDSTAFF [hand-staaf] sb. The handle of a flail.
HANGER [hang'r] sb. A hanging wood on the side of a
hill. It occurs in the names of several places in
Kent — Bettes^#7/£tf/', WestenAafl^ir, &c.
HANK [hangk], HINK [hingk] sb. A skein of silk or thread.
So we say a man has a hank on another ; or, he has
him entangled in a skein or string.
HAPPY-HO, adj. Apropos.
" My father was drownded and so was my brother ;
now that's very happy-ho!" meaning that it was a
curious coincidence.
HAPS [haps] (i) or HASP [haasp] sb. A hasp or fastening
of a gate. — P. (See Hapse.}
1631. — "For charnells and hapses for the two chests
in our hall." —MS. Accounts, St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 7 1
HAPS [haps] (2) vb. Happens.
" Now haps you doant know/'
HAPSE [haps] vb. To fasten with a hasp ; to fasten. In
the Weald of Kent hapse is used for the verb, and
hasp for the noun, e.g., "Hapse the gate after you!5'
"I can't, the hasp is gone."
HARCELET [haa-slit], HASLET [haz-lit], sb. The heart,
liver, and lights of a hog. (See Acelot, Arslet, Harslet^]
HARD-FRUIT, sb. Stone-fruit ; plums, &c.
HARDHEWER [haa-dheur] sb. A stonemason.
The word occurs in the articles for building Wye
Bridge, 1637.
HARKY [haa-ki] inter j. Hark !
HARSLEM [haa*zlum] sb. Asylum.
"When he got to settin' on de hob and pokin' de
fire wid's fingers, dey thought 'twas purty nigh time
dey had him away to de harslem."
HARSLET [haa-zlet] sb. (See Acelot.)
HARVES [haa*vz] sb. pi. Haws. (See Haazes.)
HARVEST [haa*vist] vb. To gather in the corn ; to work
in the harvest-field, e.g., "Where's Harry?" "Oh!
he's harvesting 'long with his father."
HARVESTER [haa*vistur] sb. A stranger who comes into
the parish to assist in the harvest.
HASSOCK [has-ok] sb. A large pond.
HASTY [harsti] adj. Heavy; violent. Often used of rain.
" It did come down hasty, an' no mistake."
HATCH [hach] sb. A gate in the roads ; a half -hatch is
where a horse may pass, but not a cart.
HATCH-UP [hach up] vb. To prepare for.
" I think it's hatching up for snow." " She's
hatching up a cold."
72 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HAUL [hau-1] vb. To halloo ; to shout.
HAULMS AND FIGS [hairmz und figz] sb. pi. Hips and
haws, the fruit of the hawthorn (Crat&gus oxyacanthd]
and the dog-rose (Rosa canind).
HAVE [hav] vb. To take ; lead ; as, " Have the horse to
the field."
" Have her forth of the ranges and whoso followeth
her let him be slain with the sword." — 2 Chron. xxiii.
14.
HAW [hau] sb. A small yard or inclosure. Chaucer has
it for a churchyard.
HAWK [hauk] vb. To make a noise when clearing the
throat of phlegm. An imitative word.
" He was hawking and spetting for near an hour
after he first got up."
HAWMELL, sb. A small close or paddock.
HAYNET, sb. A long net, often an old fish net, used in cover
shooting to keep the birds and flick from running out of
the beat.
HEAF [heef] sb. The gaff-hook used by fishermen at
Folkestone.
HEAL [heel] vb. To hide ; to cover anything up ; to
roof-in.
" All right ! I'll work 'im ; I've only just got this
'ere row o' taturs to heal."
HEART [haat] sb. Condition ; spoken of ground.
" My garden's in better heart than common this
year."
HEARTENING, adj. Strengthening.
" Home-made bread is more heartening than baker's
bread."
HEART-GRIEF, sb. Severe grief.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 73
HEARTH [hee-rth] sb. Hearing; hearing-distance.
" I called out as loud's ever I could, but he warn't no
wheres widin hearth''
HEARTS ALIVE ! [haats ulei-v] interj. An expression of
astonishment at some strange or startling intelligence.
" Hearts alive ! what ever upon earth be ye got at ? "
HEAVE [heev] vb. To throw ; to heave a card ; to play it ;
it being, as it were, lifted up or heav'd, before it is laid
down upon the table.
HEAVE-GATE [heev-gait] sb. A gate which does not work
on hinges, but which has to be lifted (heaved) out of the
sockets or mortises, which otherwise keep it in place,
and make it look like a part of the fence.
HEAVENSHARD [hevnz-haa*d] adv. Heavily; said of rain.
" It rains heavens hard."
HEAVER [hee-vur] sb. A crab. — Folkestone.
" Lord, sir, it's hard times ; I've not catched a pung
or a heaver in my stalkers this week ; the man-suckers
and slutters gets into them, and the congers knocks
them all to pieces."
HEED [heed] sb. Head.
HEEVE [heev] (i) sb. A hive; a bee-hive.
" I doant make no account of dese here new-fangled
boxes and set-outs ; you may 'pend upon it de old
heeves is best after all."
HEEVE [heev] (2) vb. To hive bees.
HEFT [heft] sb. The weight of a thing, as ascertained
by heaving or lifting it.
" This here heeve '11 stand very well for the winter,
just feel the heft of it."
HEG, sb. A hag ; a witch ; a fairy.
" Old coins found in Kent were called kegs pence by
the country people."
74 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HELE [heel] vb. To cover. (See Heal.)
HELER [hee'ler] sb. Anything which is laid over another ;
as, for instance, the cover of a thurrick or wooden
drain.
HELL-WEED, sb. A peculiar tangled weed, without any
perceptible root, which appears in clover, sanfoin or
lucerne, and spreads very rapidly, entirely destroy-
ing the plant. Curiously enough, it appears in the
second cut of clover, but does not come in the first.
(See Devil's Thread.) Cuscuta epithymum.
HELVING [helvin] partc. Gossiping, or " hung up by the
tongue/ ' — Tenter den.
"Where have you been helving?"
HEM, adv. An intensitive adverb — very, exceedingly.
" Hem queer old chap, he is ! "
HEMWOODS [hem-wuodz] sb. pi. Part of a cart-horses'
harness which goes round the collar, and to which
the tees are fixed ; called aimes (hames) in West
Kent.
HEN AND CHICKENS, sb. The ivy-leaved toad-flax, other-
wise called Mother of Thousands ; and sometimes
Roving Sailor. Linaria vulgar is.
HERE AND THERE A ONE, adj. phr. Very few and scattered.
" There wasn't nobody in church to-day, only here
and there a one."
HERNSHAW [hurn-shau] sb. A heron. (See also Kitty
Hearn, Kitty Hearn Shrow.)
HERRING-FARE £herr' ing-fair] sb. The season for catching
herrings, which begins about the end of harvest.
HERRING-HANG, sb. A lofty square brick room, made
perfectly smoke - tight, in which the herrings are
hung to dry.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 75
HERRING-SPEAR, sb. The noise of the flight and cries of
the red-wings ; whose migration takes place about the
herring fishing time,
" I like's to hear it," says an old Folkestone fisher-
man, " I always catches more fish when it's about."
HETHER [hedh-ur] adv. Hither.
" Come hether, my son."
HEYCOURT [hai-koart] sb. The High Court, or principal
Court of the Abbot's Convent of St. Augustine's,
Canterbury.
HICKET [hik-it] vb. To hiccup, or hiccough.
HIDE, sb. A place in which smugglers used to conceal
their goods. There were formerly many such places in
the neighbourhood of Romney-marsh and Folkestone.
HIDE AND FOX [heid und foks] sb. Hide and seek; a
children's game.
" Hide fox, and after all." — Hamlet, act iv. sc. 2.,
means, let the fox hide and the others all go to seek him.
HIGGLER [hig-lur] sb. A middleman who goes round
the country and buys up eggs, poultry, &c., to sell
again. So called, because he higgles or haggles over
his bargains.
HIKE [heik] vb. To turn out.
" He hiked 'im out purty quick."
HILL [hil] sb. The small mound on which hops are planted ;
a heap of potatoes or mangold wurzel.
HINK [hingk] sb. A hook at the end of a stick, used for
drawing and lifting back the peas, whilst they were
being cut with the pea-hook. The pea-hook and hink
always went together.
HIS-SELF, pron. Himself.
" Ah ! when he's been married two or three weeks
he won't scarcely know his-self. He'll find the differ-
ence, I lay ! "
76 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HOATH [hoa-th], HOTH [hoth] sb. Heath ; a word which
is found in many place-names, as
HOBBLE [hob'l] sb. An entanglement; difficulty; puzzle;
scrape.
" I'm in a reg'lar hobble."
HOBBL'D [hobl-d]//. Puzzled; baffled; put to a difficulty.
HOCKATTY KICK [hok'utikik-] sb. A lame person.
HOCKER-HEADED [hok'ur-hed'id] adj. Fretful; passionate.
HODENING [hod-ning] partc. A custom formerly prevalent
in Kent on Christmas Eve ; it is now discontinued, but
the singing of carols at that season is still called hoden-
ing. (See Hoodening.}
HOG-BACKED [hog-bakt] adj. Round backed ; applied
to a vessel when, from weakness, the stem and stern
fall lower than the middle of the ship.
HOG-HEADED, adj. Obstinate.
" He's such a hog-headed old mortal, 'taint no use
saying nothing to him/'
HOG-PAT, sb. A trough made of boards.
HOILE [hoi-1] sb. The beard or stalk of barley or other
corn. (See lies.}
HOLL [hoi], HULL [hul] vb. To throw ; to hurl.
" Ha ! there, leave off hulling o' stones."
HOLLY-BOYS AND IVY-GIRLS, sb. pi. It was the custom
on Shrove Tuesday in West Kent to have two figures
in the form of a boy and girl, made one of holly, the
other of ivy. A group of girls engaged themselves
in one part of a village in burning the holly-boy, which
they had stolen from the boys, while the boys were
to be found in another part of the village burning
the ivy-girl, which they had stolen from the girls,
the ceremony being, in both cases, accompanied by
loud huzzas.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 77
HOLP [hoalp] vb. Helped ; gave ; delivered.
" Assur also is joined with them, and have holpen
the children of Lot." — Psalm Ixxxiii. 8.
"What did you do with that letter I gave you to
the wheelwright ? " " I holp it to his wife/'
HOLP-UP, vb. Over-worked.
" I dunno as I shaant purty soon look out another
plaace, I be purty nigh holp-up here, I think."
HOLT [hoa-lt] sb. A wood. Much used in names of places,
as Birc^tf//, Knock&?//, &c.
HOMESTALL [hoa'mstaul] sb. The place of a mansion-
house ; the inclosure of ground immediately connected
with the mansion-house.
HOMMUCKS [honruks] sb. pi. Great, awkward feet.
HOODENING [huod-ning] sb. The name formerly given to
a mumming or masquerade. Carol singing, on Christ-
mas Eve, is still so called at Monckton, in East Kent.
The late Rev. H. Bennett Smith, Vicar of St.
Nicholas-at-Wade, the adjoining parish to Monkton,
wrote as follows in 1876, — "I made enquiry of an
old retired farmer in my parish, as to the custom
called Hoodning. He tells me that formerly the
farmer used to send annually round the neighbour-
hood the best horse under the charge of the wagoner,
and that afterwards instead, a man used to represent
the horse, being supplied with a tail, and with a
wooden [pronounced ooden or hooden] figure of a
horse's head, and plenty of horse-hair for a mane.
The horse's head was fitted with hob-nails for teeth ;
the mouth being made to open by means of a string,
and in closing made a loud crack. The custom has
long since ceased." (See Hodening above.)
HOOGOO [hoo-goo] sb. A bad smell ; a horrible stench ;
evidently a corruption of the French haut gout.
" A Kentish gamekeeper, noticing a horrible stench,
exclaimed : " Well, this is a pretty hoogoo, I think ! "
7 8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HOOK [huok] sb. An agricultural tool for cutting, of
which there are several kinds, viz., the bagging-hook,
the ripping- hooky &c.
HOP [hop] (i)vb. To pick hops.
" Mother's gone out hopping."
HOP (2) sb. Wood fit for hop-poles.
HOP-BIND [hop-beind] sb. The stem of the hop, whether
dead or alive. (See also Bine.}
HOP-DOG [hop-dog] (i) sb. A beautiful green caterpillar
which infests the hop-bine, and feeds on the leaves.
(2) An iron instrument for drawing the hop-poles out
of the ground, before carrying them to the hop-pickers.
HOPE [hoap] sb. A place of anchorage for ships.
HOPKIN [hop-kin] sb. A supper for the work-people, after
the hop-picking is over. Not often given in East Kent
now-a-days, though the name survives in a kind of small
cake called huffkin, formerly made for such entertain-
ments. (See Huffkin, Wheatkin.)
HOPPER [hop-ur] sb. A hop-picker.
" I seed the poor hoppers coming home all drenched."
HOPPING [hop'ing] sb. The season of hop-picking.
" A fine harvest, a wet hopping." — Eastry Proverb.
HOP-PITCHER [hop*pichur] sb. The pointed iron bar used
to make holes for setting the hop-poles, otherwise
called a dog, a hop-dog, or a fold-pitcher.
HOP-SPUD, sb. A three-pronged fork, with which hop
grounds are dug.
HORN [haun] sb. A corner.
HORN-FAIR, sb. An annual fair held at Charlton, in Kent,
on St. Luke's Day, the i8th of October. It consists of
a riotous mob, who, after a printed summons, disperse
through the adjacent towns, meet at Cuckold's Point,
near Deptford, and march from thence, in procession,
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 79
through that town and Greenwich to Charlton, with
horns of different kinds upon their heads ; and, at the
fair, there are sold ram's horns, and every sort of toy
made of horn ; even the ginger-bread figures have
horns. It was formerly the fashion for men to go to
Horn-fair in women's clothes.
HORNICLE [honrikl] sb. A hornet.
HORSE [hors] (i) sb. The arrangement of hop-poles, tied
across from hill to hill, upon which the pole-pullers
rest the poles, for the pickers to gather the hops into
the bins or baskets.
HORSE [hors] (2) vb. To tie the upper branches of the
hop-plant to the pole.
HORSEBUCKLE [horsbuk*!] sb. A cowslip. Primula veris.
HORSE EMMETS [hors enrutz] sb. pi. Large ants.
HORSE-KNOT, sb. The knap-weed ; sometimes also called
hard-weed. Centaurea nigra.
HORSE-LOCK [hors-lok] sb. A padlock.
A.D. 1528. — " Paid for a hors lok . . . vjd."
— Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
HORSENAILS [hors-nailz] sb. pi. Tadpoles. Probably so
called because, in shape, they somewhat resemble
large nails.
HORSE PEPPERMINT [hors pep*rmint] sb. The common
mint. Mentha sylvestris.
HORSE-ROAD [hors-road] sb. In Kent, a road is not divided
as elsewhere, into the carriage-road and the footpath ; but
into the horse-road and fae foot-road. This name carries
us back to the olden times when journeys were mostly
made on horseback.
HORSES, sb. pi. To set horses together, is to agree.
" Muster Nidgett and his old 'ooman can't set their
horses together at all, I understand
8o Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HORT [hort] vb. Hurt.
" Fell off de roof o' de house, he did ; fell on's head,
he did ; hort 'im purty much, I can tell ye."
HOTCH [hotsh] vb. To move awkwardly or with diffi-
culty in an irregular and scrambling way. French,
hocher, to shake, jog, &c. " He hatched along on the
floor to the top of the stairs." " I hustled through the
crowd and she hotched after me." So, when a man
walking with a boy keeps him on the run, he is des-
cribed as keeping him hotching.
HOUGHED [huff'id] vb., past p. from hough, to hamstring,
but often used as a mere expletive.
" Snuff boxes, shows and whirligigs,
An houghed sight of folks." — Dick and Sal, st. 9.
HOUSE [houz] vb. To get the corn in from the fields into
the barn.
" We've housed all our corn."
HOUSEL [hous'l] sb. Household stuff or furniture.
" I doant think these here new-comers be up to
much ; leastways, they didn't want a terr'ble big cart
to fetch their housel along ; they had most of it home
in a wheelbar'."
HOVEL [hovl] (i) vb. To carry on the business of a hoveler.
HOVEL [hovl] (2) sb. A piece of good luck ; a good haul ;
a good turn or time of hovelling.
In some families, the children are taught to say in
their prayers, " God bless father and mother, and
send them a good hovel to-night."
HOVELER [hoviler] sb. A hoveler 's vessel. A Deal boat-
man who goes out to the assistance of ships in distress,
The hovelers also carry out provisions, and recover lost
anchors, chains and gear. They are first-rate seamen,
and their vessels are well built and well manned.
HOVER [hovr] adj. Light; puffy; raised; shivery; hunched-
up. Hence, poorly, unwell.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 81
HOVER [hovr] vb. To throw together lightly. There is
a special use of this word with regard to hops. In
East Kent it is the custom to pick, not in bins, but
in baskets holding five or six bushels. The pickers
gather the hops into a number of small baskets or
boxes (I have often seen an umbrella used), until they
have got enough to fill the great basket ; they then call
the tallyman, who comes with two men with the green-
bag; one of the pickers (generally a woman) then comes
to hover the hops ; this is done by putting both hands
down to the bottom of the great basket, into which the
hops out of the smaller ones are emptied as quickly
but gently as possible, the woman all the while raising
the hops with her hands ; as soon as they reach the
top, they are quickly shot out into the green bag
before they have time to sag or sink. Thus, very
inadequate measure is obtained, as, probably, a bushel
is lost in every tally ; indeed, hovering is nothing more
than a recognized system of fraud, but he would be a
brave man who attempted to forbid it.
HOWSOMEDEVER [hoirsumdevr], HOWSOMEVER [hou-sum-
evr] adv. Howsoever.
" But howsomdever, doant ram it down tight, but
hover it up a bit."
HUCK [huk] (i) sb. The husk, pod, or shell of peas, beans,
but especially of hazel nuts and walnuts.
HUCK [huk] (2) vb., act. and neut. To shell peas ; to get
walnuts out of their pods.
u Are the walnuts ready to pick ? " " No, sir, I tried
some and they won't huck."
HUFFKIN [huf-kin], HUFKIN, sb. A kind of bun or light
cake, which is cut open, buttered, and so eaten. (See
Hopkin.)
HUFFLE [hufl] sb. A merry meeting ; a feast.
HUGE [heuj], HUGY [heuj-i] adv. Very. " I'm not huge
well." Sometimes they make it a dissyllable, hugy.
The saying hugy for huge is merely the sounding of
the final £, as in the case of the name Anne, commonly
pronounced An-ni. It is not Annie.
G
82 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
HULL [hul] (i) sb. The shell of a pea.
"After we have sheel'd them we throw the hulls
away."
HULL [hul] (2) vb. To throw ; to hurl. (See Holl.]
" He took and hulled a gurt libbet at me."
HUM [hum] vb. To whip a top.
HUNG UP [hung up] vb. Hindered ; foiled ; prevented.
" He is quite hung up" i.e., so circumstanced that
he is hindered from doing what otherwise he would.
HURR [hur] adj. Harsh ; astringent ; crude ; tart.
" These 'ere damsons be terr'ble hurr."
HUSBAND [huz-bund] sb. A pollard.
Huss [hus] sb. Small spotted dog-fish. Scyttium canicula.
HUSSLE [hus-1] vb. To wheeze ; breathe roughly.
" Jest listen to un how he hussies."
HUSSLING [hus-ling] sb. A wheezing ; a sound of rough
breathing.
" He had such a hussling on his chest."
HUSSY [hus'i] vb. To chafe or rub the hands when they
are cold.
HUTCH [huch] sb. The upper part of a wagon which
carries the load. A wagon consists of these three
parts : (i) the hutch, or open box (sometimes enlarged
by the addition of floats] which carries the corn or
other load, and is supported by the wheels ; (2) the
tug, by which it is drawn ; and (3) the wheels on
which it runs.
HUXON [huks-n] sb. pi. The hocks or hams.
HYSTE [heist] sb. A call ; a signal.
" Just give me a hystey mate, when 'tis time to goo."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 83
i.
ICE [eis] vb. To freeze.
" The pond iced over, one day last week/'
ICILY [ei-sili] sb. An icicle.
IKEY [ei-ki] adj. Proud.
ILES [eilz] sb. pi. Ails, or beards of barley. (See also
Hoik;)
ILLCONVENIENT [il'konveen-yunt] adj. Inconvenient.
INNARDLY [in-urdli] adv. Inwardly.
"He's got hurt innardly som'ere."
" He says his words innardly" i.e., he mumbles.
INNARDS [in-urdz] sb. The entrails or intestines ; an
innings at cricket.
"They bested 'em first innards."
INKSPEWER [ink-speu-r] sb. Cuttle-fish.
INNOCENT [in-oasent] adj. Small and pretty ; applied to
flowers.
" I do always think they paigles looks so innocent-
like."
IN 'OPES [in'oaps] phr. For in hopes. It is very singular
how common this phrase is, and how very rarely East
Kent people will say / hope; it is almost always, " I'm
in 'opes." If an enquiry is made how a sick person
is, the answer will constantly be, " I'm in 'opes he's
better;" if a girl goes to a new place, her mother
will say, "I'm in 'opes she'll like herself and stay."
IN SUNDERS [in sun*durz] adv. Asunder.
"And brake their bands in sunder." — Psalm cvii. 14.
INTERFERE [in-turfee*r] vb. To cause annoyance or
hindrance.
" I was obliged to cut my harnd tother-day, that's
what interferes with me,"
84 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
INTERRUPT [in-turrupt-] vb. To annoy; to interfere with
anyone by word or deed ; to assault.
A man whose companion, at cricket, kept running
against him was heard to say : "It does interrupt
me to think you can't run your right side; what a
thick head you must have ! "
ISLAND [ei-lund] sb. In East Kent the island means the
Isle of Thanet.
" He lives up in the island, som'er," i.e., he lives
somewhere in Thanet.
ITCH [ich] vb. (i.) To creep ; (ii.) to be very anxious.
IVY GIRL [ei-vi gurl] sb. (See Holly boys.}
J.
JACK IN THE BOX, sb. A reddish-purple, double poly-
anthus.
JACK-UP [jak-up] vb. To throw-up work ; or give up any-
thing from pride, impudence, or bad temper.
" They kep' on one wik, and then they a\ljacked-up!"
JAUL [jau-1] vb. To throw the earth about and get the
grain out of the ground when it is sown, as birds do.
" The bothering old rooks have jauled all de seeds
out o' de groun'."
JAWSY [jau*zi] adj. Talkative. From the jaws.
JOCK [jok] vb. To jolt; (the hard form of jog).
JOCKEY [jok-i] adj. Rough ; uneven.
JOCLET [jok'lit] sb. A small manor, or farm.
TOYND" 1 STOOL [jornd-stool] sb. A stool framed with
joints, instead of being roughly fashioned out
of a single block.
" It. in the great parlo1', one table, half-a-dowsin of
high joind-stooles . . . " — Memorials of Eastry, p. 225.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 85
JOKESY [joa-ksi] adj. Full of jokes ; amusing ; full of fun.
" He's a very jokesy man/'
JOLE [joal] sb. The jowl, jaw or cheek ; proverbial
expression, " cheek by jole "= side by side.
" He claa'd hold on her round de nick
An 'gun to suck har jole? \i.e., to kiss her.]
— Dick and Sal, st. 67.
JOLLY [joH] adj. Fat ; plump ; sleek ; in good condition,
used to describe the condition of the body, not of the
temperament.
JOSKIN, sb. A farm labourer (more especially a driver of
horses, or carter's mate,) engaged to work the whole
year round for one master.
JOSS-BLOCK [jos-blok] sb. A step used in mounting a horse.
JOUN [jou*n] vb. joined.
" He jouned in with a party o' runagate chaps, and
'twarn't long before he'd made away wid all he'd got."
JOY [jau-i] sb. The common English jay.
JUDGMATICAL, adj. With sense of judgment.
JULY-BUG [jeu*lei-bug] sb. A brownish beetle, commonly
called elsewhere a cockchafer, which appears in July.
(See also Bug.}
JUNE-BUG [jeu'n-bug] sb. A green beetle, smaller than
the July-bug, which is generally to be found in June.
JUSTLY [just-li] adv. Exactly ; precisely ; for certain.
" I cannot justly say," i.e., I cannot say for certain.
JUST, intensive adv. Very ; extremely.
"I just was mad with him." "Didn't it hurt me just?"
JUST-SO [just-soa] adv. Very exactly and precisely ;
thoroughly ; in one particular way.
" He's not a bad master, but he will have every-
thing done just-so ; and you wunt please him without
everything is just-so, I can tell ye ! "
JUT [jut] sb. A pail with a long handle.
86 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
K.
KARFE [kaa-f] sb. The cut made by a saw ; the hole
made by the first strokes of an axe in felling or
chopping wood ; from the verb to carve. (See Carf,
which is out of place on p. 25.)
KEALS [keelz] sb.pl. Ninepins.
KEEKLEGS [kee'klegz] sb. An orchis. Orchis mascula.
(See Kites legs.}
KEELER [kee-lur] sb. A cooler; being the special name
given to a broad shallow vessel of wood, wherein milk
is set to cream or wort to cool.
In the Boteler Inventory, we find : " In the milke
house one brinestock, two dozen of trugs, ix. bowles,
three milk heelers, one charne and one table."
— Memorials of Eastry, p. 228.
"Half a butter -tub makes as good a keeler as
anything/'
KEEN, sb. A weasel.
KEEP -ALL -ON, vb. To continue or persevere in doing
something.
" He kep-all-on actin' the silly."
KEG-MEG [keg-meg] sb. A newsmonger ; a gossip ; a
term generally applied to women.
KELL [kel] sb. A kiln.
KENTISH MAN, sb. A name given by the inhabitants of
the Weald to persons who live in other parts of the
county.
KEPT GOING [kep- goa-ing] vb. Kept about (i.e., up and
out of bed) ; continued to go to work.
" He's not bin well for some time, but he's kep'
going until last Saddaday he was forced to give up."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 87
KERN [kur-n] vb. To corn ; produce corn.
" There's plenty of good kerning \ax\.6. in that parish."
KETTLE-MAN [ket*l-man] sb. Lophius piscatorius, or sea-
devil.
KEYS [keez] sb. pi. Sycamore-seeds.
" The sycamore is a quick-growing tree, but trouble-
some near a house, because the keys do get into the
gutters so, and in between the stones in the stable-
yard."
KICK - UP - JENNY [kik-up-jin-i] sb. A game played,
formerly in every public-house, with ninepins (smaller
than skittles) and a leaden ball which was fastened to
a cord suspended from the ceiling, exactly over the
centre pin ; when skilfully handled the ball was swung
from the extreme length of the cord, so as to bring down
all the pins at once.
KiDWARE [kid*wair] sb. Peas ; beans, &c.
KILK [kilk], KINKLE [kingk-1] sb. Charlock. Sinapis
arvensis^ the wild mustard.
KILN-BRUSH [kil-n-brush] sb. A large kind of fagot, bound
with two wiffs or withs, used for heating kilns. (See
Bobbin, Pimp and Wffi)
KINDLY [kei-ndli] adj. Productive; used with reference
to land which pays for cultivation.
" Some on it is kindly land and som' on it ain't."
KING JOHN'S MEN, one of. A term applied to a short man.
" He's one of King John's men, six score to the
hundred."
Six score, 120, was the old hundred, or long-hundred.
KINK [kingk] (i) sb.9 KINKLE [kingk-1] sb. A tangle; a
hitch or knot in a rope.
" Take care, or you'll get it into a kink."
KlNK [kingk] (2) vb. To hitch ; twist ; get into a tangle.
88 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
KINTLE [kinH] sb. A small piece; a little corner. So
Bar grave MS. Diary, 1645. — " Cutt owt a kintle." (See
also Cantle.}
KIPPERED [kip-urd] adj. Chapped ; spoken of the hands
and lips, when the outer skin is cracked in cold weather.
" My hands are kippered."
KIPPER-TIME, sb. The close season for salmon.
A.D. 1376. — "The Commons pray that no salmon be
caught in the Thames between Gravesend and Henly
Bridge in kipper-time, i.e., between the Feast of the
Invention of the Cross [14 Sept.] and the Epiphany
[6 Jan.] and that the wardens suffer no unlawful net
to be used therein." — Dunkin's History of Kent, p. 46.
KITE'S LEGS [keets-legs]. Orchis mascula.
KITTENS [kit-nz] sb. pi. The baskets in which the fish are
packed on the beach at Folkestone to be sent by train
to London and elsewhere.
KITTLE [kit-1] (i), KIDDLE [kid-1] vb. To tickle.
KITTLE [kit-1] (2), KITTLISH [kit-lish] adj. Ticklish ; un-
certain ; difficult to manage.
" Upon what kittle, tottering, and uncertain terms
they held it." — Somner, of Gavelkind, p. 129.
KITTY- COME - DOWN - THE - LANE - JUMP-UP- AND-KISS-ME, sb.
The cuckoo pint is so called in West Kent. Arum
maculatum.
KITTY HEARN [kit-i hurn] sb. The heron.
KITTY HEARN SHROW [kit-i hurn shroa] sb. The heron.
— Chilham.
KITTY-RUN-THE-STREET, sb. The flower, otherwise called
the pansy or heartsease. Viola tricolor.
KNOLL [noa-1] sb. A hill or bank ; a knole of sand ; a
little round hill; used in place names — Knowle, Knowl-
ton.
Dictionary of the Kentish, Dialect. 89
KNOWED [noa-d] vb. Knew.
" I've knowed 'im ever since he was a boy/'
KNUCKER [nuk-rj vb. To neigh.
LACE [lais] vb. To flog. The number of words used in
Kent for chastising is somewhat remarkable.
LADY-BUG [lai-di-bug] sb. A lady-bird. (See Bug?) This
little insect is highly esteemed. In Kent (as elsewhere),
it is considered unlucky to kill one, and its name has
reference to our Lady, the blessed Virgin Mary, as is
seen by its other name, Marygold.
LADY-LORDS [lai-di-lordz] sb. pi. Lords and ladies ; the
name given by children to the wild arum. Arum
maculatum.
LADY-KEYS [lardikee'z] sb. pi. Same as Lady-lords.
LAID IN [lai'd in] vb. A meadow is said to be laid in for
hay, when stock are kept out to allow the grass to
grow.
LAIN [lain] sb. A thin coat (a laying) of snow on the
ground.
" There's quite a lain of snow."
LANT-FLOUR [lau-nt-flou-r] sb. Fine flour.
LASHHORSE [losh-us] sb. The third horse from the plough
or wagon, or horse before a pinhorse in the team. —
East Kent.
LASH OUT [lash out] vb. To be extravagant with money,
&c. ; to be in a passion.
" Ye see, he's old uncle he left 'im ten pound. Ah I
fancy, he jus' did lash out upon that ; treated every-
body, he did."
90 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
LAST [laast] (i) sb. Ten thousand herrings, with a hundred
given in for broken fish, make a last.
LAST [laa-st] (2) sb. An ancient court in Romney Marsh,
held for levying rates for the preservation of the
marshes.
LATHE [laidh] (Anglo-Saxon, lath] (i) sb. A division of
the county of Kent, in which there are five lathes, viz.,
Sutton-at-Hone, Aylesford, Scray, St. Augustine's, and
Shepway.
• •
LATHE [laidh] (2) vb. To meet.
LATH [? laidh or lath] sb. The name of an annual court,
held at Dymchurch. One was held i5th June, 1876,
which was reported in the Sussex Express of 1 7th June,
1876.
LATHER [ladh-ur] sb. Ladder.
" They went up a lather to the stage." — MS. Diary
of Mr. John Bargrave, Fellow of Peterhouse, Cam-
bridge, 1645. Mr. Bargrave was nephew of the Dean
of Canterbury of that name, and a Kentish man.
The family were long resident at Eastry Court, in
East Kent. This pronunciation is still common.
LAVAST [lavust] sb. Unenclosed stubble.
LORCUS- HEART [lau'kus - hart] inter j. As " O lorcus-
heart," which means " O Lord Christ's heart."
LAWYER [laa'yur] sb. A long thorny bramble, from which
it is not easy to disentangle oneself.
LAY, LEY [lai] sb. Land untilled. We find this in place-
names, as Z^sdown in Sheppey.
LAY-INTO, vb. To give a beating.
" It's no use making friends with such beasts as
them (bulls), the best way is to take a stick and lay
into them.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 91
LAYSTOLE [lai-stoal] sb. A rubbish heap.
"Scarce could he footing find in that fowle way,
For many corses, like a great lay-stall
Of murdered men, which therein strowed lay
Without remorse or decent funerall."
— The Faerie Queene, I. v. 53.
LEACON [lee*kun] sb. A wet swampy common ; as, Wye
Leacony Westwell Leacon.
LEAD [leed] (i) sb. The hempen rein of a plough-horse,
fixed to the halter by a chain, with which it is driven.
LEAD [leed] (2) sb. Way ; manner.
" Do it in this lead" i.e., in this way.
LEARN [lurn] vb. To teach.
" O learn me true understanding and knowledge."
— Psalm cxix. 66 (Prayer Book version).
LEASE [leez] vb. To glean ; gather up the stray ears of
corn left in the fields.
LEASE-WHEAT [lee-zweet] sb. The ears picked up by the
gleaners.
LEASING [lee-zing] partc. Gleaning.
LEASTWISE [lee-stweiz] adv. At least ; at all events ; any-
how ; that is to say.
" Tom's gone up int' island, leastwise, he told me as
how he was to go a wik come Monday."
LEATHER, vb. To beat.
" Catched 'im among de cherries, he did : and leathered
'im middlin', he did."
LEAVENER [levunur, levnur] sb. A snack taken at eleven
o'clock ; hence, any light, intermediate meal. (See
Elevenses.)
LEER [leer] sb. Leather; tape.
" I meane so to mortifie myselfe, that in steede of
silks I wil weare sackcloth ; for owches and bracel-
letes, leere and caddy s ; for the lute vse the distaffe."
— Lilly's EuphueS) ed. Arber, p. 79.
9 2 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
LEES [leez] (i) sb. A common, or open space of pasture
ground. The Leas [leez] is the name given at Folke-
stone to the fine open space of common at the top of
the cliffs.
LEES [leez] (2) sb. A row of trees planted to shelter a hop-
garden. (See Lew.)
LEETY [lee-ti] adj. Slow ; behind-hand ; slovenly. Thus
they say :
" Purty leety sort of a farmer, I calls 'im."
LEF-SILVER, sb. A composition paid in money by the
tenants in the wealds of Kent, to their lord, for leave
to plough and sow in time of pannage.
LEG-TIRED, adj.
"Are ye tired, maate ? " " No, not so terr'bly, only
a little leg-tired."
LERRY [lerr'i] sb. The "part" which has to be learnt by
a mummer who goes round championing. — Sitting-
bourne. (See Lorry.}
LET, vb. To leak ; to drip.
" That tap lets the water."
LETCH [let'ch] sb. A vessel, wherein they put ashes, and
then run water through, in making lye.
LEW [loo] (i) sb. A shelter. Anglo-Saxon hleow, a
covering ; a shelter.
(2) A thatched hurdle, supported by sticks, and set
up in a field to screen lambs, &c., from the wind.
" The lambs 'ud 'ave been froze if so be I hadn't
made a few lews."
LEW [loo] (3) adj. Sheltered.
" That house lies lew there down in the hollow."
LEW [loo] (4) vb. To shelter, especially to screen and
protect from wind.
" Those trees will lew the house when they're up-
grown," i.e., those trees will shelter the house and
keep off the wind when they are grown up.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 93
LIB, vb. To get walnuts off the trees with libbats.
LlBBAT, sb. A billet of wood ; a stick.
1592. — "With that he took a libbat up and beateth
out his braines." —Warner, Albion's England.
LID [lid] sb. A coverlet.
LIEF [leef] adv. Soon ; rather ; fain ; gladly.
" I'd as lief come to-morrow."
LIEF-COUP [leef-koop] sb. An auction of household goods.
LIGHT [leit] (i) sb. The whole quantity of eggs the hen
lays at one laying. (2) The droppings of sheep. (See
also Tr eddies.}
LIGHT UPON [leit upon] vb. To meet ; to fall in with any
person or thing rather unexpectedly
" He lit on him goin' down de road/'
LIGHTLY [lei-tli] adv. Mostly.
LIKE [leik] ( i ) vb. To be pleased with ; suited for ; in
phrase, to like one's self.
" How do you like yourself* " i.e., how do you like
your present position and its surrounding ?
LIKE [leik] (2). Adverbial suffix to other words, as
pleasant-//^, comfortable-/^, home-/z#£, &c.
"It's too clammy-//^/'
LINCH, LYNCH [lin-ch] sb. A little strip of land, to mark
the boundary of the fields in open countries, called
elsewhere landshire or landsherd, to distinguish a share
of land. In Eastry the wooded ridge, which lies over
against the church, is called by the name of the Lynch.
LINGER [ling-ur] vb. To long after a thing.
"She lingers after it."
LINGERING [ling-uring] adj. Used with reference to a
protracted sickness of a consumptive character.
" He's in a poor lingering way,"
94 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
LlNGY [linj'i] adj. Idle and loitering.
LINK [link] vb. To entice ; beguile ; mislead.
"They linked him in along with a passel o' good-for-
nothin' runagates/'
LIRRY [lirr'i] sb. A blow on the ear.
LISHY [lish-i] adj. Flexible ; lissome. Spoken of corn,
plants and shrubs running up apace, and so growing
tall and weak.
LISSOM [lis*um] adj. Pliant ; supple. Contracted from
lithesome.
LIST, adj. The condition of the atmosphere when sounds
are heard easily.
"It's a wonderful list morning."
LlTCOP [lit-kup] sb. Same as Lief -coup.
LlTHER [lidh-ur] adj. Supple ; limber ; pliant ; gentle.
LIVERY [livuri] adj. The hops which are at the bottom
of the poles, and do not get enough sun to ripen
them are called white livery hops.
LOB [lobj vb. To throw underhand.
LODGE [loj] (i) sb. An outbuilding; a shed, with an im-
plied notion that it is more or less of a temporary
character. The particular use to which the lodge is
put is often stated, as a c&rt-lodgey a
" The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a
vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." —
Isaiah i. 8.
" As melancholy as a lodge in a warren."
— Much Ado About Nothing, act ii. sc. i.
LODGE [loj] (2) vb. To lie fast without moving.
" That libbat has lodged up there in the gutter, and
you can't get it down, leastways not without a lather."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 95
LODGED [loj-d] adj. Laid flat ; spoken of corn that has
been beaten down by the wind or rain.
" We'll make foul weather with despised tears,
Our sighs, and they shall lodge the summer corn."
— Richard II. act iii. sc. 3. (See also Macbeth, iv. 1.55.)
LOMPY [lomp-i] adj. Thick ; clumsy ; fat.
LONESOME [loa-nsum] adj. Lonely.
LONG-DOG [long-dog] sb. The greyhound.
LONGTAILS [long-tailz] sb. pi. An old nickname for the
natives of Kent.
In the library at Dulwich College is a printed
broadside entitled "Advice to the Kentish long-tails
by the wise men of Gotham, in answer to their late
sawcy petition to Parliament." — Fol. 1701.
LOOKER [luok*ur] (i) sb. One who looks after sheep and
cattle grazing in the marshes. His duties with sheep
are rather different from those of a shepherd in the
uplands.
LOOKER [luok-ur] (2) vb. To perform the work of a looker.
" John ? Oh ! he's lookering."
LOOKING-AT [luok-ing-at] sb. In phrase, " It wants no
looking-at" i.e., it's plain ; clear ; self-evident.
LOOK UPON [luok upun*] vb. To favour ; to regard kindly.
" He's bin an ole sarvent, and therefore I dessay
they look upon 'im."
LOPE-WAY [loap-wai] sb. A private footpath.
LORRY [lor-r'i], LURRY [lurr'i] sb. Jingling rhyme; spoken
by mummers and others. (See LerryT]
LOSH-HORSE, sb. The third horse of a team. (See Rod-
horse^
96 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
LOVE [luv ; loov] sb. A widow.
" John Stoleker's loove."
— Burris History of Parish Register s, p. 115.
1492. — "Item rec. of Belser's loue the full
of our kene xvjs viijd.
"Item rec. of Sarjanti's loue . . xiijs ivjd.
" Item payde for the buryng of Ellerygge's
loue and her monythis mynde . . . iiijs.
— Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Dunstarts, Canterbury.
1505. — " Rec. of Chadborny's loove for waste
of ij torchys [at his funeral] . . . viijd.
" Rec. of Chadborny's widow for the bequest
of her husband iijs iiijd.
— Churchwardens'1 Accounts of St. Andrew '.y, Canterbury.
'Low [lou] vb. To allow; to suppose, e.g., "I 'low not,"
for " I allow not."
'LOWANCE [lou-ans] sb. An allowance ; bread and cheese
and ale given to the wagoners when they have brought
home the load, hence any recompense for little jobs of
work. (See Elevenses.}
LOWEY [loa*i] sb. The ancient liberty of the family of
Clare at Tunbridge, extending three miles from the
castle on every side.
" The arrangements made by the King for the ward-
ship of Richard de Clare and the custody of the castle
appear to have given umbrage to the Archbishop, who
(circa, A.D. 1230) made a formal complaint to the King
that the Chief Justiciary had, on the death of the late
Earl, seized the castle and lowey of Tunbridge, which
he claimed as fief of the archbishopric."
— Archaologia Cantiana, xvi. p. 21.
Lows [loaz] sb. pi. The hollows in marsh land where the
water stagnates.
LUBBER HOLE, sb. A place made in a haystack when it is
three-parts built, where a man may stand to reach the
hay from the men in the wagon, and pitch it up to those
on the top of the stack.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 97
LUCKING-MILL, sb. A fulling-mill.
LUG-SAND [lug--sand] sb. The sand where the lugworm is
found by fishermen searching for bait.
LUG [lug], SIR PETER, sb. A person that comes last to
any meeting is called Sir Peter Lug ; lug is probably
a corruption of lag. (See Peter Grievous below.)
LUSHINGTON, sb. A man fond of drink.
" He's a reg'lar lushington, 'most always drunk."
LUSTY [lust-i] adj. Fat; flourishing; well grown; in good
order.
" You've growed quite lusty sin' we seed ye last."
LYSTE-WAY [list-wai] sb. A green way on the edge of a
field. This word occurs in a MS. dated 1356, which
describes the bounds and limits of the parish of Eastry,
" And froo the weye foreseyd called wenis, extende the
boundes and lymmites of the pishe of Easterye by a
wey called lyste toward the easte."
— Memorials of Eastry ', p. 28.
M.
MABBLED [mab-ld] vb. Mixed; confused.
"An books and such like mabbled up." — Dick and Sal, st. 70.
MAD [mad] adj. Enraged ; furious.
" Being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted
them." — Acts xxvi. n.
MAGGOTY [mag-uti] adj. Whimsical ; restless ; unreliable.
" He's a maggoty kind o' chap, he is."
MAID [maid] sb. A little frame to stand before the fire to
dry small articles. (See Tamsin.)
H
g 8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialed.
MAN OF KENT, phr. A title claimed by the inhabitants
of the Weald as their peculiar designation ; all others
they regard as Kentish men.
MANNISH [man'ish] adj. Like a man ; manly.
" He's a very mannish little chap."
MAN-SUCKER [man-suk-r] sb. The cuttle fish. — Folkestone.
MARCH [march] sb. Called in East Kent "March many
weathers."
MARM [maam] sb. A jelly.
MARSH [maa-sh] sb. In East Kent the Marsh means
Romney Marsh, as the Island means the Isle of
Thanet in East Kent, or Sheppy in North Kent.
Romney Marsh is the fifth quarter of the world,
which consists of Europe, Asia, Africa, America and
Romney Marsh. (See Mash.)
MARYGOLD [marr'igold] sb. A lady bird. The first part
of the name refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the
latter, gold^ to the bright orange, or orange-red, colour
of the insect. This little insect is highly esteemed in
Kent, and is of great service in hop-gardens in eating
up the fleas and other insects which attack the hops.
(See Golding'.)
MASH [mash] sb. A marsh. (See Marshy Mesh.}
MATCH -ME -IF -YOU -CAN, sb. The appropriate name of
the variegated ribbon-grass of our gardens, anciently
called our lady's laces, and subsequently painted laces,
ladies' laces, and gardener's garters. Phalaris arun-
dinacea.
MATCH-RUNNING, MATCH- A-RUNNING, sb. A game peculiar
to Kent, and somewhat resembling prisoner's base.
(See also Stroke-bias)
MATE [mait, and also mee-ut] sb. A companion ; comrade ;
fellow-labourer ; friend ; used especially by husband or
wife to one another.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 99
MAUDRING [mau-dring] vb. Mumbling.
MAUND (i) [maand, maund], MAUN [maun], MOAN [moan],
sb. A large, round, open, deep wicker basket, larger at
top than bottom, with a handle on each side near the
top (some have two handles, others of more modern
pattern have four) ; commonly used for carrying chaff,
fodder, hops, &c., and for unloading coals.
Shakespeare uses the word —
" A thousand favours from a maund she drew,
Of amber, crystal and of braided jet."
— Lovers' Complaint, st. vi.
MAUND (2) sb. A hay-cock is called a maund of hay (? a
mound of hay).
MAUNDER [mau-nder] vb. (i.) to scold; murmur; complain.
(ii.) To walk with unsteady gait ; to wander about
with no fixed purpose.
MAXUL [maks'l] sb. A dungheap ; also called max hi II ;
maxon ; mixon ; mis ken.
MAY-BUG [mai-bug] sb. A cockchafer, otherwise called a
July-bug.
MAY HILL [mai hil] sb. Used in the phrase, " I don't
think he'll ever get up May hill," i.e., I don't think he
will live through the month of May. March, April and
May especially, owing to the fluctuations of tempera-
ture, are very trying months in East Kent. So, again,
the uncertain, trying nature of this month, owing to
the cold east or out winds, is further alluded to in the
saying —
" Ne'er cast a clout
Till May is out."
MAY- WEED, sb. Anthemis cotula.
MAZZARD [maz-urd] sb. Prunus amum.
MEAL, sb. Ground wheat or any other grain before it
is bolted. In bolting, the bran is divided into two
qualities, the coarser retains the name of bran, and
the finer is called pollard.
ioo Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
MEASURE-FOR-A-NEW- JACKET, TO, vb. To flog; to beat.
" Now, you be off, or I'll measure you for a new
jacket."
MEASURING-BUG, sb. The caterpillar.
MEECE [mees] sb. pi. Mice.
"Jus" fancy de meece have terrified my peas."
MEACH [mee-ch] vb. To creep about softly. (Sometimes
Meecher.}
MEEN, vb. To shiver slightly.
MEENING [meen-ing] sb. An imperfect fit of the ague.
MEGPY [meg-pi] sb. The common magpie.
MELT [melt] sb. A measure of two bushels of coals.
MENAGERIE [menaaj-uri] sb. Management; a surprising
and clever contrivance.
" That is a menagerie ! "
MENDMENT, sb. (Amendment.) Manure.
MENNYS [men*is] sb. Same as Minnis.
MERCIFUL [mersiful] adj. Used as an intensive expletive,
much in the same way as "blessed" or "mortal" are
used elsewhere.
" They took every merciful thing they could find."
MERRIGO [merr'igoa] sb. A lady bird. (Corruption of
Mary gold.}
MESH [mesh and maish] sb. A marsh. (See Mash.}
MESS-ABOUT, vb. To waste time.
" Don't keep ail-on messing-about like that, but come
here directly-minute."
METT [met] sb. A measure containing a bushel. Anglo-
Saxon metan, to measure.
1539. — " Paid for a mett of salt xjd."
— MS. Accounts, St. Johris Hosptial, Canterbitry.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 101
MEWSE [meuz] sb. An opening through the bottom of a
hedge, forming a run for game.
MIDDLEBUN [mid-lbun] sb. The leathern thong which
connects the hand-staff of a flail with the swingel.
MIDDLEMAS [mid-lmus] sb. Michaelmas.
MIDDLING [mid-ling] adj. A word with several shades of
meaning, from very much or very good, to very little
or very bad. The particular sense in which the word
is to be taken for the time is determined by the tone
of the speaker's voice alone.
MIDDLINGS, sb. An instalment of shoe-money, sometimes
given to the pickers in the middle of the hopping time.
MILCH-HEARTED [milch-haaHd] adj. Timid; mild; tender-
hearted ; nervous.
" Jack won't hurt him, he's ever so much too milch-
hearted!'
MILL [mil] vb. To melt.
MILLER'S EYE [mil*urz ei] sb. To put the miller's eye out
is when a person, in mixing mortar or dough, pours
too much water into the hole made to receive it ; then
they say, " I reckon you've put the miller's eye out
now ! " — Eastry.
MILLER'S-EYES [mil-urz-eiz] sb. pi. Jelly-fish. — Dover.
MILLER'S THUMB [mil-urz-thum] sb. A fish which is other-
wise known as bull-head. Coitus gobio.
MlND [meind] (i) sb. To be a mind to a thing; to intend ;
purpose; design it. The complete phrase runs thus,
" I'm a mind to it."
MIND [meind] (2) vb. To remember.
" Do you mind what happen' d that time up in
Island?"
MINE [mein] sb. Any kind of mineral, especially iron-stone.
102 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
MiNNlS [miiris] sb. A wide tract of ground, partly copse
and partly moor ; a high common ; a waste piece of
rising ground.
There are many such in East Kent, as Swingfield
Minnis, Ewell Minnis, &c.
MINT [mint] sb. The spleen.
MINTY [mint'i] adj. Full of mites, used of meal, or cheese.
MINUTE [min-it] sb. A Kentish man would say, " a little
minute" where another would say, " a minute." So,
" a little moment" in Isaiah xxvi. 20, " Hide thyself
as it were for a little moment, until the indignation
be overpast."
MINUTE [mirrit] sb. Directly -minute, immediately. (See
Dreckly -minuted)
MISCHEEVIOUS, adj. Mischievous.
MISERY [miz*ur'i] sb. Acute bodily pain ; not sorrow or
distress of mind, as commonly.
" He's gone in great misery for some time."
MiSHEROON, sb. A mushroom.
MISKEN [mis -kin] sb. A dunghill. (See Mixon, Maxon,
Maxul.)
MlSS, sb. Abbreviation of mistress. Always used for
Mrs., as the title of a married woman.
MIST [mist] impers. vb. "It mists" i.e., rains very fine
rain.
MlSTUS [mis'tus] sb. Mistress ; the title of a married
woman.
" My mistus and me's done very well and comfortable
together for 'bove fifty year ; not but what we've had a
misword otherwhile, for she can be middlin' contrairy
when she likes, I can tell ye."
MiSWORD [mis'wurd] sb. A cross, angry, or abusive word.
" He's never given me one misword."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 103
MITHERWAY, interj. phr. Come hither away. A call by
a wagoner to his horses.
MITTENS [mit-nz] sb. pi. Large, thick, leathern gloves
without separate fingers, used by hedgers to protect
their hands from thorns.
MIXON [miks-un] (Anglo-Saxon, mix, dung; mixen, a
dung-hill) sb. A dung-heap ; dung-hill. Properly one
which is made of earth and dung ; or, as in Thanet, of
seaweed, lime and dung. Otherwise called maxon ;
in E as try, maxul.
MIZMAZE, sb. Confusion ; a puzzle.
" Time I fell off de stack, soonsever I begun to look
about a little, things seemed all of a mizmaze."
1678. — "But how to pleasure such worthy flesh and
blood, and not the direct way of nature, is such a miz-
maze to manhood/' — Howard, Man of Newmarket.
MOAN, sb. A basket, used for carrying chaff or roots for
food ; and for unloading coals. (See Maun, Maund.)
MOKE [moak] sb. A mesh of a net.
MOLLIE [mol-i] sb. A hedge sparrow ; otherwise called
dicky hedge-poker.
MONEY [mmri] sb. The phrase, " good money," means good
pay, high wages.
" He's getting good money, I reckon."
MONEY-IN-BOTH-POCKETS, sb. Lunar ia biennis. The plant
otherwise known as honesty, or white satin- flower, as it
is sometimes called from the silvery lustre of its large
circular-shaped saliques, which, when dried, were used
to dress up fire-places in summer and decorate the
chimney-mantels of cottages and village inns. The
curious seed-vessels, which grow in pairs, and are
semi-transparent, show the flat disc -shaped seeds
like little coins within them, an appearance which
no doubt originated the name, Money -in-both-pockets.
iO4 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
MONEY-PURSE [mun*i-pus] sb. A purse.
" He brought our Jack a leather cap
An' Sal a money-puss" — Dick and Sal, st. 16.
MONEY-SPINNER, sb. A small spider supposed to bring
good luck.
MONKEY-PEA [mun-kipee] sb. Wood-louse ; also the ligea
oceanica, which resembles the wood-louse, and lives in
the holes made in the stone by the pholades.
MONT [munt] sb. Month.
MOOCH [mooch] vb. To dawdle.
MOOR [moor] sb. Swampy and wet pieces of ground.
MOORNEN [moo'rneen] sb. A moor hen.
MOOT [moo't] sb. The root or stump of a tree, which,
when felled, is divided into three parts ; ist, the moot ;
2nd, the stem ; 3rd, the branches.
MORE [moa'r] adv. Used of size or dimensions ; as, " as
big more" i.e., as big again.
MORT [mort], MOT [mot] sb. Abundance ; a large
quantity; a multitude. A mort of money, apples,
birds, men, &c.
MOSES [moa-ziz] sb. A young frog. — East Kent.
MOST-TIMES [moa'st-teimz] adv. Generally ; usually.
MOSTEST [moa*stist] adv. Farthest ; greatest distance.
" The mostest that he's bin from home is 'bout
eighteen miles."
East Kent people seldom travel far from home.
MOTHER OF THOUSANDS [mudh-ur uv thou-zundz] sb.
Linaria cymbularia.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 105
MOTHERY [mudh'ur'i] adj. Out of condition ; muddy ;
thick ; with a scum or mould upon it.
" The beer's got pretty mothery, seeminly."
MOVE, sb. An action or plan.
" Well, that's a middlin' silly move, let be how 'twill."
MOWL [moul] sb. Mould.
MUCH [much] (i) vb. To fondle; caress; pet.
" However did you manage to tame those wild
sheep?" "Well, I mutched 'em, ye see."
MUCH [much] (2) adj. Used with regard to the state of
the health.
" How are ye to-day ? " " Not much, thank ye."
MUCH AS EVER [much az evr] adv. Hardly ; scarcely ;
only just ; with difficulty.
" Shall you get done (i.e., finish your job) to-day ? "
"Much as ever"
MUCH OF A MUCHNESS, advl. phrase. Very much alike ; as
like as two peas.
MUCK [muk] (i) vb. To dirty ; to work over-hard.
MUCK [muk] (2) sb. A busy person.
" De squire was quite head muck over this here
Jubilee job."
MUCK ABOUT [muk ubou-t] vb. To work hard.
" He's most times mucking about some where' s or
another."
MUCKED UP [muk*t-up] adv. All in confusion and dis-
order.
" I lay you never see such a place as what master's
study is ; 'tis quite entirely mucked-uf with books."
MUDDLE ABOUT [mud-1 ubou-t] vb. To do a little work.
"As long as I can just muddle about I don't mind."
io6 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
MULLOCK [mul*uk] vb. To damp the heat of an oven. A
diminutive of Old English mull, which is merely a
variant of mould.
MUNTON [munt-n] sb. The mullion of a window. This
is nearer to the medieval form munnion.
MUSH [mushj sb. A marsh.
MUSHEROON [mush-iroon] sb. A mushroom. French,
moucheron.
MUSTER [must'r] sb. Mister (Mr.), the title given to an
employer, and often contracted into muss. The
labourer's title is master ', contracted into mass.
" Where be you goin', Mass Tompsett ? "
" Well, I be goin' 'cross to Muss Chickses."
N.
NABBLER [nab-lur] sb. An argumentative, captious person ;
a gossip ; a mischief-maker.
NAIL [narl] sb. A weight of eight pounds.
NAILBOURN [narlburn or narlboarn] sb. An intermittent
stream.
Harris, in his History of Kent \ p. 240, writes, "There
is a famous eylebourn which rises in this parish [Petham]
and sometimes runs but a little way before it falls into
the ground;" and again at p. 179, Harris writes,
" Kilburn saith that A.D. 1472, here (at Lewisham)
newly broke out of the earth a great spring ; " by
which he probably meant an eylebourn or nailbourn.
"Why! the nailbourn 's begun to run a' ready."
NATCHES [nach-ez] sb. The notches or battlements of a
church tower.
NATE [nait] sb. Naught ; bad.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 107
NATIVE [nartiv] sb. Native place ; birthplace.
" Timblestun (Tilmanstone) is my native, but I've
lived in Eastry nearly forty years come Michaelmas."
NATURE [narchur] sb. Way ; manner. " In this nature,"
in this way.
NAWN STEERS [naun steerz] sb. pi. Small steers. Cf.
French nainy dwarf.
NEAT [neet] vb. To make neat and clean.
NEB [neb] sb. A peg used to fasten the pole of an ox-
plough to the yoke. (See Dyster.)
NE'ER A ONCE, adv. Not once.
NEIGHBOUR, vb. To associate.
" Though we live next door we don't neighbour."
NESS [nes] sb. A promontory ; a cape ; a headland. Seen
in place names as ~Dungeness, Sheerness, &c. French,
Nez ; Scandinavian, Naze. So the English sailors call
Blanc NeZy opposite Dover, Blank-?z£$\y or ^Black-ness.
NET [net] sb. A knitted woollen scarf.
NEWLAND [neu*lund] sb. Land newly broke up or ploughed.
NICKOPIT [nik-uphv] sb. A bog ; a quagmire ; a deep hole
in a dyke.
NlDGET [nij-it] sb. A shim or horse-hoe with nine irons,
used for cleaning the ground between the rows of hops
or beans.
NIGGLING [nig-lin] adj. Trifling ; petty ; troublesome on
account of smallness.
" There, I tell ye, I aint got no time for no sich
niggling jobs."
NIMBLE DICK [nimb-1 dik] sb. A species of horse-fly or
gad-fly, differing somewhat from the Brims.
NIPPER [nip-ur] sb. A nickname given to the youngest or
smallest member of a family.
io8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
NiSY [nei'si] sb. A ninny ; simpleton.
NIT, sb. The egg of a louse or small insect.
" Dead as a nit" is a common expression.
NOD [nod] sb. The nape of the neck. With this are
connected noddle, noddy; as in the nursery rhyme —
" Little Tom Noddy,
All head and no body."
NOHOW [noa-hou] adv. In no way ; not at all.
" I doant see as how as I can do it, not nohow."
NONCE [nons] sb. The phrase, "for the nonce" means
for the once, for that particular occasion ; hence, on
purpose with design or intent.
NONE [nun] adj. " None of 'em both/' i.e., neither of 'em.
NONE-SO-PRETTY, sb. The name of the little flower, other-
wise known as London pride. Dianthus barbatus.
NOOKIT, sb. A nook.
No OUGHT [noa aut] advbl. phrase. Ought not.
" The doctor said I no ought to get out/' The ex-
pression " you ought not " is seldom used ; it is almost
invariably no ought. A similar use of prepositions
occurs in such phrases as up-grown, out-asked, &c.
No PRINCIPLE. This expression is only applied in Kent to
people who do not pay their debts.
NORATION [noar'ai'shun] sb. A fuss ; a row ; a set out or
disturbance by word or deed. (See also Oration.}
"What a noration there is over this here start,
surelye ! "
No SENSE, adj. phr. Nothing to speak of ; nothing to
signify.
" It don't rain ; leastways, not no sense."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 109
NOTCH [noch] vb. " To notch up" to reckon or count ;
alluding to the old method of reckoning at cricket,
where they used to take a stick and cut a notch in it
for every run that was made.
NOYES [noiz] adj. Noisome ; noxious ; dangerous ; bad
to travel on.
" I will it be putt for to mende fowle and noyes ways
at Collyswood and at Hayne." — Lewis, p. 104.
NUNCHEON [nunch-yun] sb. A mid-day meal. The original
meaning was a noon-drink, as shewn by the old spell-
ing, none-chenche, in Riley's Memorials of London, p.
265.
" When laying by their swords and truncheons
They took their breakfasts or their nuncheons?
— H^id^bras, pt. I. canto I.
NURITY [neu*r'iti] sb. Goodness.
"The bruts run away with all the nurity of the
potato." — West Kent.
NUTHER [nudh-ur] conj. Neither; giving an emphatic
termination to a sentence.
" And I'm not going to it, nuther" i.e., I am not
going to do it, you may be sure !
o.
OARE [oar] sb. Seaweed ; seawrack. This is the name
of a parish in North Kent, near Faversham, which is
bounded on the north by the river Swale, where pro-
bably great quantities of seaweed collected.
" To forbid and restrain the burning or
taking up of any sea oare within the Isle of Thanet."
— Lewis, p. 89.
OAST [oast] sb. A kiln for drying malt or hops, but
anciently used for any kind of kiln, as a bryk-^atf,
i.e., brick-kiln. — Old Parish Book of Wye, 34 Henry
VIII.
1 1 o Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
Canon W. A. Scott -Robertson, says, "This name
for a kiln was used in Kent long before hops were
introduced/' In a deed, dated 28 Edward I. (copied
by Mr. Burt, in the Record Office), we find, " Roger
de Faukham granting to William de Wykewane, and
Sarah, his wife, 3 acres of land which 'jacent apud le
Lymoste in parochia de Faukham/' " During Wat
Tyler's insurrection, some of the insurgents went to
a place called the Lymost, in Preston-next-Faversham,
on the 5th of June, 1381, and ejected .... goods and
chattels of Philip Bode, found there, to wit, lime,
sacks, &c." — Archceologia Cantiana, III. 90. In a
lease, dated 1455, and granted by the Churchwardens
of Dartford to John Grey and John Vynor, we read,
" The tenants to build a new lime-oast that shall
burn eight quarters of lime at once." — Landale's
Documents of Dartford, p. 8. Limehouse, a suburb
of London, seems to have been named from a lym-
oste ; it was not formed into a parish until the i8th
century. In a valuation of the town of Dartford, 29
Edward I., we find mention of "John Ost, William
Ost and Walter Ost."
OBEDIENCE [oabee*dyuns] sb. A bow or curtsey ; an
obeisance.
" Now Polly, make your obedience to the gentleman ;
there's a good girl."
'OD RABBIT IT [od rab-it it] inter j. A profane expression,
meaning, "May God subvert it." From French rabattre.
OF [ov] prep. Used for with, in phrase, " I have no
acquaintance of such a person."
OFFER [of -ur] vb. To lift up ; to hold up anything for the
purpose of displaying it to the best advantage.
I once heard a master paperhanger say to his assist-
ant, when a customer was inspecting some wall-papers,
" Just offer this paper up for the lady to see."
OFF FROM, vb. To avoid ; prevent.
" I couldn't be off from going, he made such a point
of it."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 1 1
OLD, adj. This word is constantly applied to anything or
anybody without any reference to age.
OLD MAN, sb. Southernwood. Artemisia abrotanum.
ONE-EYED, adj. Inconvenient ; a general expression of
disapproval.
" That's a middlin' one-eyed place."
" I can't make nothin3 of these here one-eyed new-
fashioned tunes they've took-to in church ; why they're
a'most done afore I can make a start."
Oo [oo] sb. In phrase, " I feel all of a oo," i.e., I feel ill ;
or, " That's all of a oo" i.e., that is all in confusion.
OOD [ood] sb. Seaweed ; also wood.
ORDER, sb. To be "in order" is a common expression for
being in a passion.
" When the old chap knows them cows have been
out in the clover he'll be in middlin' order ; he'll begin
to storm and no mistake ! "
ORNARY [aun-ur'i] adj. Ordinary ; common ; poor ; in-
ferior ; bad.
"Them wuts be terr'ble ornary."
OTHERSOME [udh-ursum] phr. Some others.
"And some said, what will this babbler say? Other-
some^ he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods."
— Acts xvii. 1 8.
OTHER WHERE-ELSE [udh-urwair'els-] adv. Elsewhere.
OTHERWHILE [udh-ur-werl] adv. Occasionally. " Every
otherwhile a little," z.e.9 a little now and then.
" And otherwhiles with bitter mocks and movves
He would him scorne." — Faerie Queen, b. 6, c. vii. xlix.
OURN [ou-urn] poss. adj. Ours. (See Hisn.}
1 1 2 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
OUR SAVIOUR'S FLANNEL [Our Saivyurz flan-1] sb. At
Bridge, near Canterbury, this name is given to Echium
vulgare (L.), and at Faversham to Verbascum thapsus
(L.) — Britten's Dictionary of English Plant Names.
OUT [ou't] adj. A north, north-east, or east wind.
" The wind is out to-day," i.e., it is in the east, north-
east, or north. (See also Upward'}
OUT-ASKED [ou-traa-st] adj 7. phrase. Used of persons whose
banns have been asked or published three times, and
who have come out of that stage unchallenged.
OUTFACE [outfai-s] vb. To withstand ; resist face to face ;
brazen it out.
OUT-OF-DOORS, adj. Out of fashion.
"I played de clarrynet, time we had a band in church
and used to sing de psalms ; but 'tis all upset now ;
dere's nothing goos down but a harmonium and a
passel o' squallin' children, and dese here new-fangled
hymns. As for poor old David, he's quite entirely put
out o3 doors."
OUTROOPE [outroo-p] sb. An auction of household goods.
— Sandwich Book of Orphans.
OUTRUNNINGS, sb. pi. Straggling wood beyond a hedge-
row, not measured-in with the part to be cut.
OUTSTAND [outstand-] vb. To oppose; to stand out
against, either in making a bargain or an assertion.
(Forerighty Upstand, &c.)
" He outstood me that he hadn't seen him among de
currants."
OVEN [uvn] sb. "To go to oven" is to bake. (See also
Forge.}
OVER [oa'vur] prep. To. " I'm gooing over Oare," i.e.,
I'm going to Oare.
OVER-RUN [oa'ver'un] vb. To overtake and pass.
OXBIRD [oks-burdj sb. The common dunlin. Tringa
variabilis. Called Oxybird in Sheppy.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 1 3
P.
PADDOCK [pad-uk] sb. A toad.
PADDY [pad-i] adj. Worm-eaten.
PAIGLE [pai-gl] sb. Cowslip. — East Kent. (See also Pegle.}
PALM-TREE [paa-mtree] sb. The yew tree.
Dr. Pegge says : u They will sometimes, on Palm
Sunday, dress a church with yew-branches, which I
think very strange, because this was always esteemed
a funeral tree, but after they once called it the palm-
tree^ the other mistake follow' d as it were on course/'
— See Gentleman's Magazine, December, 1779, P- 57^'
To this day (1885) the old people in East Kent call
the yew-tree the palm-tree, and there is, in the parish
of Woodnesborough, a public-house called "The Palm-
tree," which bears for its sign a clipped yew tree. —
See Memorials of Eastry, p. 1 16.
PALTER [pau-ltur]. To wreck or pilfer stranded vessels
and ill-use shipwrecked sailors.
PANDLE [pand-1] sb. A shrimp. (Low Latin, pandalus.}
PARCEL [paa'sl] sb. A portion ; a quantity; as "a. parcel
of bread and milk." (See also Passel.)
" He took a good parcel of bread and milk for
breakfast/'
PARGE [paa*j] vb. To put on an ordinary coat of mortar
next to brick-work and tiling.
PARGET [paa-jit] sb. Mortar.
PAROCK [parr'uk] sb. A meeting to take an account of
rents and pannage in the Weald of Kent.
"When the bayliff or beadle of the lord held a
meeting to take account of rents and pannage in the
Weilds of Kent, such meeting was called a parock."
— Kennett MS. Parock is literally the same word as
paddock.
H4 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
PART [paat] sb. This word is frequently used redundantly,
especially after back, e.g., " You'll be glad to see the
back part of me," i.e., to see my back, to get me gone.
PARTIAL [paa-shul] adj. Fond of.
" I be very partial to pandles."
PASS THE TIME o' DAY, vb. To salute those you meet on
the road with " good morning," " good afternoon," or
" good evening," according to the time of day.
" I don't know the man, except just to pass the time
d day."
PASSEL [pas-1] sb. A parcel ; a number.
" There was a passel o' boys hulling stones."
PATTERN [pat-rn] vb. To imitate.
" I shouldn't think of patterning my mistress."
PAWL [pau-1] sb. A pole ; a stake ; a strut or prop, placed
against a lodge or other building to support it.
PAY-GATE [pai-gait] sb. A turnpike gate.
PEA-BUG, sb. The wood-louse. (See Monkey-pea.}
PEA-HOOK [pee-huok] sb. The implement used in con-
junction with a hink for cutting peas. It was like a
ripping -hook, only mounted on a longer handle.
(See also Bagging-hook, Sickle.}
PEART [pi-urt] adj. Brisk; lively.
"He's bin out of sorts for a long time, but he's
gettin' on better now ever s'much ; he's quite peart
this mornin'."
1592. — "There was a tricksie girle, I wot, albeit clad in gray,
As peart as bird, as straite as boulte, as freshe as flowers
in May." — Warner, Albiorts England.
PECK [pek] sb. A heading knife, used by fishermen.
PEDIGREE [ped-igree]. A long story ; a rigmarole.
" He made a middlin' pedigree over it."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 115
PEEK [peek] vb. To stare ; gape ; look at.
"An dare we pook't and peeked about
To see what made it stick up."— Dick and Sal, st. 47.
PEEKINGS [pee-kingz] sb. pi. Gleanings of fruit trees.
PEEKY [pee'ki] adj. Looking ill, or poorly ; often used of
children when out of sorts. French, pique.
" He's peart enough to-day agin', but he was terr'ble
peeky yesterday."
PEEL [peel], PEAL, sb. A long-handled, broad, wooden
shovel, used for putting bread into the oven.
1637. — « Payed for a peale for the kitchen, js iijd."
— MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
PEELER [pee-lr] sb. A round iron bar, used for making
the holes into which hop-poles or wattles are placed.
(See also Fold-pitcher.}
PEGGY [peg-i], PEGGY -WASH -DISH [peg-i-wash-dishj sb.
A water- wagtail.
PEGLE [pee-gl] sb. A cowslip. Primula veris. • (See Cul-
verkeysy Horsebuckle.}
"As yellow as a pegle."
PELL [pel] sb. A deep place or hole in a river.
PELT [pelt-] sb. Rags ; rubbish, &c. (See Culch.)
PENT [pent] sb. (French, pente, a slope or declivity.)
There is a place called " The Pent,' on a hill-side, in
the parish of Postling.
PERK [purk] vb. To fidget about restlessly.
" How that kitten doos 'ks&p perking about."
PESTER-UP, vb. To bother ; to hamper ; to crowd.
" He'd got so much to carry away, that he was
reg'lar pester ed-up, and couldn't move, no form at all."
PET, sb. A pit.
1 1 6 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
PETER -GRIEVOUS [pee-tur-gree-vus] adjl. phr. Fretful;
whining ; complaining. (See Sir Peter Lug, where
the name, Peter , is also introduced ; hence, it would
seem not unlikely that the words were first used sar-
castically of ecclesiastics.)
PETH [peth] vb. To pith ; to sever the spinal cord or
marrow of a beast.
PETTYCOAT [peHkoat] sb. A man's waistcoat.
PHARISEES [farr'iseez] sb. pi. Fairies. (See Fairisies^}
PICK UPON [pik up*on] vb. To tease ; annoy ; make a
butt of.
" They always pick upon my boy coming home from
school/'
PIG-POUND [pig-pou*nd] sb. A pig-sty.
PIKY [pei'ki] sb. A turnpike traveller ; a vagabond ; and
so generally a low fellow.
PlLCH [pilch] sb. A triangular piece of flannel worn by
infants.
FITTER [pit-ur] vb. To loosen the earth or throw it up
lightly ; to throw it up gently ; also in phrase " To
pitter about," meaning to go about fussing or fidget-
ting. Sometimes miswritten pither.
PILLOW-BERE [pil'oa-bee*r] sb. A pillow case.
PILLOW-COOTS [pil-oa-koo-ts] sb. pi. Pillow coats or
pillow cases.
Amongst other linen in one of the chambers at
Brook-street, we find " syx pillow-coots."
— Boteler Inventory in Memorials of Eastry, p. 229.
PIMP [pinrp] sb. A small bundle of cleft wood, used for
lighting fires. (See Kilnbrush, Wiff.}
PlN-HORSE [piirus] sb. The second horse of a team, next
in front of the rod-horse. — East Kent.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. t 1 7
PINIES [pei-niz] sb.pl. Peonies. Pczonia.
PINNER [pirrur] sb. The little button or fastening of a
cupboard door. Allied to pin and pen.
PINNOCK [pin'uk] sb. A wooden drain through a gateway.
(See Thurrock.]
PITTERING-IRON [pituring-eirn] sb. A poker.
PLACE [plais] sb. A barton ; a courtyard.
PLAGUESOME [plai-gsum] adj. Troublesome.
PLANETS [plan-its] sb. pi. " It rains by planets," when
showers fall in a small compass, in opposition to
general rain.
PLASH [plash] vb. To repair a live hedge, by cutting half
through some of the stems near the ground and then
bending the upper parts down, and keeping them so
by means of hooked sticks driven into the bank.
1536. — " Payd .... for dykying and plasshing off
a hedg." —MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
PLATTY [plaH] adj. Scattered ; uncertain ; here and
there ; uneven ; fastidious. Used of a thin crop of
corn, or of a child who is sickly and dainty.
PLAY [plai] UPON, vb. To dwell upon ; to work ; to worry.
" It plays upon her mind."
PLAYSTOOL [plai-stool] sb. An old word which apparently
meant a public recreation ground, though certainly lost
as such now, yet the word is very common throughout
Kent as the name of a field which was once parish
property. It is easy to see that playstool is a corruption
of playstall, i.e., a play place, exactly as lay stole is a
corruption of laystall. The plestor at Selborne, men-
tioned by Gilbert White, is the same word.
PLAY THE BAND, phr. Instead of saying " The band is
going to play/' it is common to hear " They are going
to play the band."
1 1 8 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
PLENTY [plent-i] sb. A plenty ; enough.
"There, there, that's aplenty."
PLOG [plog] (i) sb. The block of wood at the end of a
halter, to prevent its slipping through the ring of
the manger. An intermediate form between plug
and block. Elsewhere called a clog.
PLOG [plog] (2) vb. To clog; to hamper; to retard; to
be a drawback or disadvantage.
" I reckon it must plog him terribly to be forced to
goo about wid a 'ooden-leg."
PLOT [plot] sb. A plan ; design ; sketch ; drawing.
" Given to Mr. Vezy for drawing a plot for an house,
O2 OO OO. — Expense Book of James Master, Esq., 1656-7.
PLUMP [plump] adj. Dry ; hard.
"A plump whiting/' is a dried whiting. "The
ways are plump" the roads are hard.
POACH [poach] vb. To tread the ground into holes as the
cattle do in wet weather. (See Putch.}
POACHY [poa-chi] adj. Full of puddles. Description of
ground which has been trampled into mud by the
feet of cattle.
POAD MILK [poa*d milk] sb. The first few meals of milk
that come from a cow lately calved. (See also
Beasts, Bis 'kins , Bismilk.}
POCKET [pok-it] sb. A measure of hops, about i68-lbs.
PODDER [pod-r] sb. A name given to beans, peas, tares,
vetches, or such vegetables as have pods.
PODDER-GRATTEN [pod'r-grot'n] sb. Podder-stubble ; the
stubble of beans, peas, &c. (See Grotten.]
PODGE [poj] sb. A pit or hole ; a cesspool.
POINTING-POST [poi-nting-poast] sb. A sign-post, finger-
post, direction post, standing at a corner where two or
more ways meet, and pointing out the road travellers
should take.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 1 9
POKE [poak], POOK [pook] sb. (i.) A sack. Hence, the
proverbial phrase, " To buy a pig in a poke," i.e., to
buy your pig without seeing it; hence, to make a bad
bargain.
" His meal-/0&? hang about his neck
Into a leathern whang,
Well fasten'd to a broad bucle,
What was both stark and strang."— Robin Hood, i. 98.
The word is also specially used for the "green-bag"
in which hops are conveyed from the garden to the
oast.
(ii.) A cesspool.
POLDER [poa-ldur] sb. A marsh ; a piece of boggy soil.
" In Holland the peat polders are rich prairies
situated below the level of the sea, containing a
stratum of peat more or less thick." There .is in
Eastry a place now called Felder land, but anciently
" Polder land." There is also a place still called
Polders, between Sandwich and Woodnesborough.
POLP [poa'lp] sb. Pulp. The name given to a modern
food for cattle, consisting of roots, chaff, grains, fodder,
&c., all mashed and cut up small, and mixed together.
—East Kent.
POLRUMPTIOUS [polrunrshus] adj. Rude ; obstreperous.
POLT [poa-lt] (i) vb. To knock; to beat ; to strike.
(2) sb. A peculiar kind of rat-trap.
(3) adj. Saucy ; audacious.
PONGER [pong-ur] sb. The large edible crab, Cancer-
pagurus, is best known by this name in North Kent ;
the name crab being restricted to the common shoe-
crab. (See Pung.}
POOCH OUT [poo'ch out] vb. To protrude. Rarely used
except in speaking of the lips.
"When I axed him for a holiday, I see his lip pooched
out purty much ; didn't like it much, he didn't."
POOCHY [poo'chi] sb. A bathe; a paddle in shallow water.
"Let's go and have zpoochy."
i2o Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
POOK [poo'k] sb. The poke or peak of a boy's cap.
POOR [poo-r] adj. Bad. As, "poor weather ;" " a poor
day." " Tis terr'ble poor land."
POPEING [poa*ping] partc. To go popeing is to go round
with Guy Fawkes on the 5th of November.
"Please, sir, remember the old Pope!"
POPY [poa-pi] sb. The poppy. Papaver.
POST-BIRD [poa-st-burd] sb. The common spotted fly-
catcher. Muscicapa grisola.
POST HOLES [poa-st hoalz] sb. pi. Holes dug in the ground
for the insertion of gate or fencing posts ; it is used in
North Kent as a comic word for nothing.
" What have ye got in the cart there?" "Oh! only
a load of post-holes.'' — Sittingbourne.
POTHER-HOOK [podh'ur-huok] sb. A hook used for cutting
a hedge. (See also Hook, Bagging-hook, &c.)
POTHERY [podh*uri] sb. Affected by a disease to which
sheep and pigs are liable ; it makes them go round
and round, till at last they fall down.
POUNCE [pou-ns] sb. A punch or blow with a stick or the
closed fist.
" I thoft I'd fetch him one more pounce,
So heav'd my stick an' meant it."
—Dick and Sal, st. 76.
POUT [pou't] (i), POWT, sb. A small round stack of hay
or straw. In the field hay is put up into smaller heaps,
called cocks, and larger ones, called pouts; when carted
it is made into a stack.
POUT [pou-t] (2) sb. The phrase, " Plays old pout,"
seems equivalent to " Plays old Harry," and similar
expressions. Probably a variant of pouk, which, in
Middle English, means "the devil."
" I've been out of work this three days, and that
plays old pout with you when you've got a family."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 121
POUTERS [pou-turz] sb. pi. Whiting-pouts. — Folkestone.
PREHAPS [pree-hapz] adv. Perhaps.
PRESENT [prez-unt] adv. Presently ; at present ; now.
PRETTY BETTY, sb. Flowering Valeriana rubra.
This plant grows luxuriantly at Canterbury, on some
of the walls of St. Augustine's College.
PRETTY NIGH [purt-i nei] adv. Very nearly.
" 'Tis purty nigh time you was gone, I think."
PRICK UP THE EARS, vb. A proverbial saying is " You
prick up your ears like an old sow in beans."
PRICKLE [prik-1] sb. A basket containing about ten
gallons, used at Whitstable for measuring oysters.
Two prickles equal one London bushel. One prickle
equals two wash (for whelks). But the prickle is not
exact enough to be used for very accurate measuring.
PRICKYBAT [prik-ibat] sb. A tittlebat.
PRIM [prim] sb. The privet. Ligustrum vulgar e.
PRINT [print-] adj. Bright; clear; starlight; light enough
to read by.
"The night v& print ;" "The moon is print; " "The
moonlight is very print."
PRITCHEL [prich-1] sb. An iron share fixed on a thick
staff for making holes in the ground.
PRODIGAL [prod-igl] adj. Proud.
" Ah ! he's a proper prodigal old chap, he is."
PROLE [proa-1] vb. To prowl, sb. A stroll ; a short walk,
such as an invalid might take.
" He manages to get a liddle prole most days, when
'tis fine."
PROPER [prop-ur] adj. Thorough; capital; excellent;
beautiful ; peculiarly good or fitting.
" Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents,
because they saw he was a proper child." — Heb. xi. 23.
122 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
PROPERLY [prop-urli] adj. Thoroughly.
" We went over last wik and played de Feversham
party; our party bested 'em properly, fancy we did!"
PRULE [proo-1] sb. A gaff-hook. — Folkestone.
PUCKER [puk-er] sb. A state of excitement or temper.
" You've no call to put yourself in a pucker."
PUDDING-PIE, sb. A flat tart made like a cheese-cake, with
a raised crust to hold a small quantity of custard, with
currants lightly sprinkled on the surface. These cakes
are usually eaten at Easter — but a Kent boy will eat
them whenever he can get them.
1670. — "ALB. And thou hadst any grace to make
thyself a fortune, thou wou'dst court this wench, she
cannot in gratitude but love thee, prethee court her.
" LOD. I'll sell pudding-pies first."
— Benjamin Rhodes. Fiords Vagaries (a comedy).
PUDDOCK [pud-uk] sb. A large frog. (See also Paddock
and Puttock^
PUG [pugj sb. Soft ground ; brick-earth, ready for the
mould.
PULL [pul] vb. To pull up before the magistrates ; to
debilitate.
" If he knocks me about again I shall pull him."
" The ague's properly pulled him this time."
PULL-BACK [pul-bak] sb. A drawback ; a hindrance ; a
relapse after convalescence.
PUMPIN [pump-in] sb. Pumpkin.
" I know 'twas ya grate pumpin 'ead
Fust blunnered through de glass."
—Dick and Sal, st. 81.
PUNG [pung-], PUNGER [punj-ur] sb. The same as ponger.
PUNNET [pun-it] sb. A pottle, or small basket, in which
strawberries are sold.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 123
PURTY TIGHT [purH tei't] adv. phrase. Pretty well ; very
fairly.
" Now, Sal, ya see had bin ta school,
She went to old aunt Kite ;
An' so she was'en quite a fool,
But cud read^r/y tight?— Dick and Sal, st. 56.
PUTCH [puch] sb. A puddle ; pit or hole.
A putch of water.
PUTTICE [put-is], PUTTAS [put'us] sb. A weasel ; a stoat.
PUTTOCK [pufok] sb. A kite.
So Puttrtfcs-down, a place in the ancient parish of
Eastry, now in Worth parish, means kite's-down.
PUTTOCK-CANDLE [put'uk-kand'l] sb. The smallest candle
in a pound, put in to make up the weight.
PUT-UPON [put'-upoir] vb. To worry and bother a person
by giving him an unfair amount of work, or exacting
from him time, strength, or money, for matters which
are not properly within his province.
" He's so easy, ye see, he lets hisself be put-upon by
anybody/'
Q.
QUANT [kwont] sb. A young oak sapling; a walking stick;
a long pole used by bargemen.
QUARRELS, sb. pi. Quarries, or panes of glass.
" Item for newe leadinge of the wyridow and for
quarreles put in in Tomlyn's hale [hall] wyndowe,
beinge 20 foote of glasse and 28 panes . . . vijs viijd."
— Sandwich Book of Orphans.
QUEER [kwee-r] vb. To make or cause to feel queer; to
puzzle.
" It queers me how it ever got there."
" I'll queer 'em."
" But what queered me, he said, 'twas kep
All roun about de church." — Dick and Sal ', st. 10.
124 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
QUEER-STREET [kwee-r-street] sb. An awkward position ;
great straits ; serious difficulties.
" But for that I should have been in queer -street!'
QUERN [kwurn] sb. A handmill for grinding grain or seed.
" Ite in the mylke house . . two charnes, a mustard
quearne . . . ." — Boteler Inventory, Memorials of E as try.
QUICK [kwik] sb. Hawthorn, e.g., a quick hedge is a haw-
thorn hedge.
QUICKEN [kwik'en] sb. The mountain ash. Pyrus aucu-
paria.
QUID [kwid] sb. The cud.
" The old cow's been hem ornary, but she's up again
now and chewing her quid."
QUIDDY [kwid-i] adj. Brisk.
QuiLLY [kwil'i] sb. A prank ; a freak ; a caper.
QUITTER FOR QUATTER [kwit-r fur kwat*r] phr. One
thing in return for another. (See Whicket^)
QUOT [kwot] pp. or adj. Cloyed ; glutted.
R.
RABBIT'S MOUTH [rab-its mouth] sb. The snap-dragon.
Antirrhinum majus.
RACE MEASURE [rais mezh-r] sb. Even measure ; as dis-
tinguished from full measure, which is 2 1 to the score,
as of corn, coals, &c. ; while race measure is but 20.
But full in this case has reference to the manner of
measurement. When the bushel is heaped up it is
full ; when struck with strickle and made even it is
race measure.
RACKSENED [raks*nd] adj. Overrun with ; given up to.
" That oast yonder is racksened with rats."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 125
RAD [rad] sb. A rod; a measure, i6j feet. A rod of
brickwork is i6j feet square ; but the ancient rod
seems to have been 20 feet.
"And then also the measurement of the marsh [i.e.,
Romney Marsh] was taken by a rod or perch, not of
i6j feet, which is the common one now, but of 20 feet
in length." —Harris's History of Kent, p. 349.
RADDIS-CHIMNEY [rad-is-chinrni] so. A chimney made
of rods, lathes, or raddles, and covered with loam or
lime.
RADDLE-HEDGE [rad-1-hej] sb. A hedge made with raddles.
RADDLE [rad-1] sb. A green stick, such as wattles or
hurdles are made of. In some countries called
raddlings. Raddle is simply the diminutive of rad
or rod.
RADE [raid] adj. or adv. Coming before the usual time ;
early. Milton has rathe.
" Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies."
— Lycidas, 1. 142.
RADICAL [rad-ikl] sb. A wild, ungovernable, impudent,
troublesome fellow.
" He's a rammed young radical!'
RAFF [raf ] sb. Spoil ; plunder.
RAFT [raa-ft] sb. A crowd of people ; a rabble.
" There was such a raft of people there."
RAGGED JACK [rag-id jak] sb. Meadow lychnis. Lychnis
flos-cuculi.
RAMMED [ranrd]. A substitute for a worse word.
RAN [ran] sb. A Folkestone herring net, which is about
thirty yards long, is made four rans deep ; and there
are sixty meshes to a ran.
RANGERS [rai-njurz] sb. pi. The bars with which the
herring-hangs are fitted. Upon these rangers are
placed the spits upon which the herrings are hung up.
126 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
RAPID, adj. Violent ; severe ; as applied to pain.
An old woman in Eastry Union Workhouse, who was
suffering from sciatica, told me that " It was rapid in
the night;" where there was no allusion to quickness
of movement, but to the severity of the pain.
RASTY [raa'sti] adj. Rank ; rancid ; rusty ; spoken of
butter or bacon.
RATTLEGATE [rat-lgait] sb. A hurdle or wattle. (See
Raddle-hedge above.)
RAVEL-BREAD [ravl-bred] sb. White-brown bread.
RAW [rau] adj. Angry. — Sittingbourne.
REACH [reech] sb. A creek.
REASTY [ree-sti] adj. Rusty ; rancid ; rank. (See Rasty.}
RECKON [rek-un] vb. To consider; to give as an opinion.
"I reckon" is an expression much used in Kent to
strengthen observations and arguments.
" I reckon we shall have rain before night."
REDGER [rej-r] sb. A ridge-band; a chain which passes
over a horse's back to support the rods.
RED PETTICOAT, sb. The common poppy ; sometimes also
called red-weed. Papaver.
REECE [ree-s] sb. A piece of wood fixed to the side of the
chep, i.e., the part of a plough on which the share is
placed.
REEMER [ree-mur] sb. Anything very good.
" I wish you'd seen that catch I made forty year
agoo, when we was playin' agin de Sussex party.
Ah ! that just was a reemer, I can tell ye ! Dey all
said as how dey never seed such a catch all their
lives."
REEMING [ree-ming] adj. Very good ; superior.
REEVE [reev] sb. A bailiff. (See Reve.)
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 127
REFFIDGE [refij] adj. Refuse ; good-for-nothing ; worth-
less.
" I never see so many reffidge taturs about as what
there is this year."
REFUGE [ref *euj] adj. Refuse ; the worst of a flock, &c.
(See Reffidge.}
" I sold my refuge ewes at Ashford market for thirty
shillings."
REMEMBERING, partc. To go round with Guy Fawkes
on 5th November is called remembering. (See also
Hoodening and Popeing^)
" George and me went round remembering and got
pretty nigh fower and threepence/'
RENTS [rents] sb. pi. Houses ; cottages.
A.D. 1520. — "For a key to Umfrayes dore in the
rentis" —Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
There is a street in London named Fullwood's Rents.
REVE [reev] sb. A bailiff.
1596. — "In auncient time, almost every manor had
his reue, whose authoritie was not only to levie the
lord's rents, to set to worke his servaunts, and to
husband his demeasnes to his best profit and com-
moditie ; but also to governe his tenants in peace,
and to leade them foorth to war, when necessitie so
required." —Lambarde's Perambulation, p. 484.
REXON [reks-n] //. To infect, as with the small-pox, itch,
or any other disorder. (See Wrexon.)
REZON [rez*un] sb. A wall-plate ; a piece of timber placed
horizontally in or on a wall, to support the ends of
girders or joists.
RIB [rib] sb. pi. A stick about 5 -ft. long and the thickness
of a raddle. Ribs are done up into bundles, with two
wiffs, and are used for lighting fires and making raddle-
fences.
RiBSPARE [rib-spair] sb. The spare rib.
128 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
RICE [reis] sb. Small wood ; a twig ; a branch. (See
Roist.} Hamble, in Hants, is called Hamble-le-7-z'^.
RID [rid] vb. Rode.
" He rid along with him in the train o' Tuesday/'
RIDDLE-WALL [rid-1-waul] sb. A wall made up with split
sticks worked across each other.
RIDE [reid] (i) vb. To rise upon the stomach.
" I caan't never eat dese here radishes, not with no
comfort, they do ride so/3
RIDE [reid] (2) vb. To collect ; to ride tythe, is to ride about
for the purpose of collecting it.
RIDE [reid] (3) sb. An iron hinge on which a gate is hung,
and by which it swings and rides.
" It'm pd for makinge a newe doore in John Marten's
house, the rydes, nayles and woork, ijs, viijV
— Sandwich Book of Orphans.
(See also Arch<zologia Cantiana iv. 220.)
RIDER [rei-dur] sb. A saddle-horse.
" He kips several riders."
RIG [rig] sb. The common tope. Galeus vulgaris. —
Folkestone.
RIGHT, sb. The phrase, "To have a right to do anything,"
means, it is right that such a thing should be done.
" I sed old Simon right to pay
A'cause he was de fust an't."
— Dick and Sal, st. 79.
RIGHTS [reits] sb. pi. To go to rights ; to go the nearest
way.
To do anything to rights, is to do it thoroughly.
RING [ring] sb. A row. (See Ringey 2.)
RINGE [rinj] (i) sb. A large tub containing 14 or 16
gallons, with which two servants fetch water from a
distant place ; a pole, which lies upon the shoulders
of the bearers, being passed through two iron rings
or ears.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 129
RiNGE [rinj] (2) sb. (i.) Wood, when it is felled, lies in
ringes before it is made up into fagots, &c.
(ii.) A long heap in which mangolds are kept for
the winter.
RlNGE [rinj] (3) vb. To put up potatoes, mangolds, &c.,
into a ringe.
" Well, Job, what have you got to do to-morrow ? "
" I reckon I shall be ringeing wurzels."
RlNGLE [ring-1] (i) sb. A ring put through a hog's
snout ; and generally for any ring, such as the ring of
a scythe.
A.D. 1531. — " Paid for a ryngle to a cythe .... jd."
— Accounts of St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
RlNGLE [ring-1] (2) vb. To put a ring through a pig's snout.
RlNGLE [ring-1] (3) sb. An iron ring which forms the
bit of a horse at plough.
RIP [rip] (i) vb. To reap. So pronounced to this day.
In one of the Boteler MS. Account Books (1648-1652),
we have, " Disbursed from ye beginning of harvest . .
It. more for ripping of pease, 6 shil. . . . It. for ripping
of wheat at 3 shil. and 4*." (See Ripping-hook^)
RIP [rip] (2) vb. To cover a roof with laths and tiles, &c.
Thus, to \mrip the roof of a stable or outbuilding, is
to take off the tiles, slates, &c., and to rip it, or new
rip it, is to put on fresh laths and replace the tiles.
May 3rd, 1850. — "Visited and ordered the north
and south side of the chancel roofs to be ripped and
relaid ; a window in the south side of the church to
be generally repaired once every year .... James
Croft, Archdeacon/' —Memorials of Eastry, p. 206.
1640. — " For ripping of Broth. Vause's house/'
— MS. Accounts ; St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
RIP [rip] (3) sb. A pannier or basket, used in pairs and
slung on each side of a horse for carrying loads, such
as fish, salt, sand, &c. (See Ripper below.)
" Two payer of ripps, five payells, &c."
— Boteler Inventory, in Memorials of Eastry, p. 226.
K
130 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
RIPE [reip] sb. A bank ; the sea shore, as " Lydd Ripe."
In East Kent, the village of Ripple derives its name
from the same Latin word, ripa.
RIPPER [rip-r] sb. A pedler; a man who carries fish for
sale in a rip or basket.
RIPPING-HOOK [rip-ing-huok] sb. A hook for cutting and
reaping (ripping) corn. Unlike the sickle, the ripping-
hook had no teeth, but could be sharped with a whetstone.
RlSH [rish] sb. A rush.
" There be lots o' rishes in them there meyshes."
RlT [rit] vb. To dry hemp or flax.
RlTS [rits] sb. pi. The ears of oats are so called, and if
there is a good crop, and the ears are full and large,
they are said to be well ritted.
RIVANCE [rei-vuns] sb. Last place of abode. " I don't
justly know where his rivance is," i.e., where he came
from or where he lived last. — East Kent. Short for
arrivance.
ROAD-BAT [roa*d-bat] sb. A bat or piece of wood that
guides the coulter of a plough. (See Bat (i), Spread-
bat.}
ROAD-PROUD, adj. Crops which look well from the road,
but are not so good as they look, are said to be road-
proud.
ROBIN-HUS [rob-in-hus] sb. The small spotted dog-fish.
Scyllium canicula. — Folkestone.
ROBIN-ROOK [rob-in-ruok] sb. A robin redbreast. (See
Ruddock.}
RODFALL, sb. Sometimes in a wood there is a belt of wood
about a rod (i6j-ft.) deep, not belonging to the same
owner as the bulk of the wood, and felled at a different
time ; as,
"The wood belongs to Mus' Dean, but there's a
rod/all joins in with Homestall."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 131
ROD-HORSE [rod-us] sb. A horse in the shafts or rods.
The four horses of a team are called — (i) The rod-
horse ; (2) the pin-horse; (3) the losh-horse ; (4) the
fore-horse.
RODS [rodz] s. pi. The shafts of a cart or wagon.
" He was riding on the rods when I see'd him/'
ROIL [roil] vb. To make a disturbance ; to romp in a
rough and indecent manner.
RoiST [roi-st] sb. A switch ; brushwood, before it be made
up into fagots. Called also Rice.
ROMANCE [roamans*] vb. To play in a foolish manner ;
to tell exaggerated stories.
" My son never romances with no one." — Weald.
ROMNEY MARSH [Runrni Maa-sh] sb. Romney Marsh is
considered to be a place so completely by itself, that
there is a saying in Kent and in East Sussex, that the
world is divided into five parts — Europe, Asia, Africa,
America and Romney Marsh.
ROOKERY [ruok-ur'i] sb. A dispute accompanied with
many words ; a general altercation.
" He knocked up a hem of a rookery."
ROOK-STARVING, partc. Scaring rooks.
" The boy, he's rook-starvin down in the Dover field."
ROOMS [roomz] sb. pi. Mushrooms ; as they say grass for
(asparagus) sparrowgrass.
ROOTLE [roo-tl] vb. To root up.
" The pig must be ringled, or else he'll rootle up all
the bricks in the stye."
ROUGH [ruf] (i) sb. A small wood; any rough, woody
place.
ROUGH [ruf] (2) adj. Cross ; of uncertain temper ; difficult
to please.
" I lay you'll find 'im pretty
132 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
ROUGHET [ruf-it], ROUGHIT, sb. A small wood.
ROUNDLE [rou-ndl] sb. Anything round; the part of a
hop-oast where the fires are made, which is generally
circular.
ROUND-TILTH, sb. The system of sowing of land con-
tinuously without fallow.
ROWENS [rou-inz] sb. pi. Stubble. (See Ersh.)
The second mowing of grass ; the third cut of clover.
— East Kent.
1523. — " Rec. of Cady for the rowen gras, xiiijd."
— Accounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
ROYSTER [roi-stur] vb. To play about roughly and noisily.
From sb. roister, a bully ; French, rustre, a ruffian. —
Cotgrave.
" That there old Tom-cat has been &-roysteriri all
over de plaace, same as though he was a kitten ; I
reckon we shall have some weather before long."
RUBBER [rub-r] sb. A whetstone. The mowers always
carry one in a leathern loop attached to the back of
their belts.
RUBBIDGE [rub-ij] sb. Rubbish; weeds.
RUCK [ruk] sb. An uneven, irregular heap or lump ; a
wrinkle or uneven fold in cloth, linen, silk, &c.
About Sittingbourne, when a man is angry, he is
said "to have his ruck up."
RUCKLE [ruk-1] sb. A struggle.
RUDDLE [rud*l] vb. To make a fence of split sticks plaited
across one another.
RUDDLE-WATTLE [rud-1-waH] sb. A hurdle made of small
hazel rods interwoven. (See Raddles.}
RUDDOCK [rud-uk] sb. The robin redbreast.
" The ruddock would
With charitable bill — O bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument ! — bring thee all this."
— Cymbeline, act iv. sc. 2, 224.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 133
RUDE HEART, abv. By heart.
" She read the psalms down ; but lor ! she didn't want
no book ! she knowed 'em all rude heart"
RUDY [retrdi] adj. Rude.
RUGGLE-ABOUT [rug'l-ubou't] vb. A term used by old
people and invalids to express walking or getting
about with difficulty.
"I'm troubled to ruggle-about"
RUMBAL WHITINGS [runrbul wei-tingz] sb. pi. " The
present minister, Mr. Sacket, acquainted me with an
odd custom used by the fishermen of Folkestone to
this day. They choose eight of the largest and best
whitings out of every boat, when they come home
from that fishery, and sell them apart from the rest ;
and out of this separate money is a feast made every
Christmas Eve, which they call rumball. The master
of each boat provides this feast for his own company,
so that there are as many different entertainments as
there are boats. These whitings they call also rumball
whitings. He conjectures, probably enough, that this
word is a corruption from rumwold ; and they were
anciently designed as an offering for St. Rumwold,
' to whom, a chapel/ he saith, ' was once dedicated,
and which stood between Folkestone and Hythe, but
is long since demolished.' "
— Harris's History of Kent, p. 125.
RUNAGATE [run-ugait] sb. A wild, reckless, dissolute young
man ; a good-for-nothing fellow. Corruption of rene-
gade. French, renegat.
" But let the runagates continue in scarceness." —
Psalm Ixviii. 6. (Prayer Book version.)
RUN AGIN [run ugin*] vb. To run against, i.e., to meet.
" I'm glad I run agin ye."
RUN-A-HEAD [run-uhed-] vb. To be delirious.
" He was running-a-head all night long."
RUNNET [run-it], RENNET, sb. The herb Gabium verum,
yellow bed-straw.
134 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
RUNNING [run-ing] sb. (See Stroke-bias.)
RUNT [runt] sb. A small pig ; a diminutive or under-
sized person.
RUSH [rush] sb. The rash, or spotted fever.
RUSTY [rust-i] adj. Crabbed ; out of temper.
RUT [rut] vb. To keep a rut. To be meddling and doing
mischief.
RUTTLE [ruti] vb. To rustle ; to rattle.
" I doant like to hear him ruttle so in his throat o'
nights ; I am most feared he wun't be here long/'
s.
SAFE-SOWN [saif-soan] adj. Self-sown ; said of corn
which comes up from the previous year's crop.
SAG [pron. sag; saig; seg] vb. To sink; bend; give way;
to be depressed by weight. A line or rope stretched
out sags in the middle. The wind sags. Compare
Anglo-Saxon sdgan, to cause, to descend.
" The mind I sway by and the heart I bear,
Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear."
— Macbeth, act v. sc. 3.
SAGE [saij] sb. They have a saying round Appledore
that when a plant of sage blooms or flowers then
misfortune is nigh. It rarely flowers, because house-
hold requirements generally keep it well cut. My
informant told me of a man who saw the sage in his
garden in bloom ; he was horrified, and told his
daughter to cut off all the blossoms, but before she
could do so, he met with an accident, by which he
was killed.
SAIME [saim] sb. Lard. (See also Seam.)
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 135
SAINT' S-BELL [sarnts-bel] sb. The small bell, which is
rung just before the service begins.
" The only Saints-bell that rings all in."
— Hudibras HI. c. 2, 1224.
1678. — In the Character of a Scold we have — " Her
tongue is the clapper of the Devil's saint' s-bell, that
rings all into confusion."
Saint's -belly is simply the old sanctus-bell, formerly
rung at the elevation of the host, and now put to a
different use.
SALTERNS [sau-lturnz] sb. pi. Marshy places near the sea,
which are overflowed by the tide. — North Kent. (See
also Saltings, Salts.)
SALTINGS [sau-ltingz] sb. pi. Salt marshes on the sea-
side of the sea-walls ; generally rich alluvial land,
but too much cut up by grips to be of much use for
grazing. — North Kent.
SALTS [salts] sb. pi. Same as Salterns.
SALVEY [sal-vi and saavi] adj. Close ; soapy ; spoken of
potatoes that are not floury.
SAND-RATE [sand-rait] sb. The Ray. Raia clavata. —
Folkestone.
SAP [sap-] vb. To catch eels with worms threaded on
worsted ; elsewhere called Bobbing.
SARE [sair] adj. Tender ; rotten ; worn ; faded ; as " My
coat is very sare." (See Sere.}
SARTIN [saat-in] adj. Stern ; severe ; stedfast.
" He knowed there was something up, he did look
that sartin at me."
SAUCE, sb. For sauciness.
" I don't want none o' your sauce."
SAY [sai] (i) vb. To try; to essay.
"When a hog has once say'd a garden, you'll be
troubled to keep him out."
136 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SAY [sai] (2) vb. " Give us something to say" means,
give us a toast.
SAY SWEAR [sai swair]. In the phrase, " Take care or I
shall say swear" i.e., don't exasperate me too much,
or, "if you go on, I shall say swear," i.e., I shall be
thoroughly put out and use any amount of bad
language.
SCAD, SKAD [skad] sb. A small black plum, between a
damson and a sloe ; a bastard damson, which grows
wild in the hedges. The taste of it is so very harsh
that few, except children, can eat it raw, nor even
when boiled up with sugar.
SCADDLE [skad-1] adj. Wild ; mischievous ; spoken of a
dog that worries sheep ; of a cat that poaches ; of a
cow that breaks the fences; and of a boy that is
generally thievish, inclined to pilfer, mischievous
and troublesome. From the verb to scathe.
SCALLION [skal'yun] sb. The name given to the poor and
weakly plants in an onion bed, which are thinned out
to make room for the growth of better ones.
SCARCEY [skai-rsi] adj. Scarce.
SCAREFUL [skai-rfl] adj. Frightful ; that which tends to
scare.
SCEDDLE [sked'l] adj. Another form of Scaddle.
SCHOAT [shoat] sb. A kneading trough.
SCIMMINGER [skinrinjur] sb. A piece of counterfeit money.
SCITHERS [sith-urz] sb. Scissors.
SCITTLE [sit-1] adj. Skittish.
SCOASE [skoa'us] vb. To exchange.
" I'll scoase horses with you."
SCOPPEL [skop-ul] sb. A broad wooden shovel used by
the threshers. (See Scubbit, which is the word used
in East Kent.)
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 137
SCORF [skau-f] vb. To gobble ; eat greedily. (See also
Scoff.}
"You've scorfed up all the meat purty quick, ain't
ye?"
SCORSE [pron.' skoa-us] vb. To exchange. (See Scoase.}
SCORE, sb. In East Kent oxen and pigs are sold by the
score ; sheep and calves by the stone of 8-lbs.
Score was properly a cut ; hence, twenty was denoted
by a long cut on a notched stick.
SCOTCHEN, sb. A badge ; shortened from escutcheon.
" For ij dosen skotchens of lede for the poore people
of the citie [of Canterbury], that they myght be knowen
from other straunge beggars."
—Historical MSS. Commission, Appendix to Ninth Report, 1550.
SCOURGE [skurj] vb. To sweep with a besom.
SCOUT [skou-t] sb. A kneading trough. Also called a
shoat.
SCRAN [skran] sb. A snack of food ; the refreshment that
labourers take with them into the fields.
" What scran have ye got ? "
SCRAP [skrap] vb. To fight; restricted to the encounters
between children.
SCRAPS [skraps] sb. Herrings which, being broken, cannot
be hung up by their heads to dry. Also called tie-tails.
— Folkestone.
SCRATCH [skrach] (i) vb. To do anything in a hurried,
hasty, scrambling way.
" I scratched out of bed and struck a light."
SCRATCH [skrach] (2) sb. A rough pronged prop, used to
support a clothes' line ; a pole with a natural fork at
the end of it. An older form of the word Crutch.
138 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SCRATCH ALONG [skrach ulong] vb. To pull through hard
times.
" Times is bad, but I just manage somehows to keep
scratching along."
SCREECH-OWL [skreech-oul] sb. The common swift.
Cypsellus apus. — Sittingbourne.
SCROOCH [skrooch] vb. To make a dull, scraping noise.
SCROW [skroa] sb. A cross, peevish, ill-natured person.
SCROUGE [skrou-j], SCROOGE [skrooj] vb. To squeeze or
crowd ; to push rudely in a crowd.
" An dare we strain'd an' stared an' blous'd,
An tried to get away ;
But more we strain'd de more dey scroug'd
An sung out, ' Give 'em play.' "
— Dick and Sat, st. 71.
SCRUMP [skrump] sb. A stunted, badly-grown apple ; a
withered, shrivelled, undersized person. — North Kent.
" This orchard isn't worth much, one sieve out of
every four 'ull be scrumps."
" The old gen'lman does look a little scrumpy doant
he ? "
SCRUNCH [skrunch] vb. To crunch.
SCRY [skraai and skrei] sb. A large standing sieve, against
which, when it is set up at an angle on the barn floor,
the corn is thrown with a scubbit to clean and sift it.
It is used also for sifting coal.
SCUBBIT [skub-it] sb. A wooden shovel. That form of
scubbit now used by maltsters and hop driers has a
short handle ; that formerly used by farmers for
moving corn on the barn floor, prior to the intro-
duction of the threshing machine, had a long handle.
SCUFFLING [skuf-ling] adj. A scuffling apron is one to
do hard or dirty work in.
SCULCH [skulsh], SCULTCH [skulch] sb. Rubbish ; trash.
Generally used with reference to the unwholesome
things children delight to eat. A variant of Culch.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 139
SCUPPER [skup-ur] sb. A scoop or scooper.
SCUT [skutj sb. The tail of a hare or rabbit.
SCUTCHEL [skuch-ul] sb. Rubbish. (See also Scultch^)
SEA COB [see kob] sb. A sea gull.
SEA GRAPES, sb. pi. The eggs of the cuttle-fish.
SEA KITTY [see kiH] sb. A sea gull.
SEAM [seem] (i) sb. Hog's lard.
SEAM [seem], SEME (2) sb. A sack of eight bushels is
now called a seam, because that quantity forms a
horse-load, which is the proper and original mean-
ing of seam. The word is used in Domesday Book.
" To Mr. Eugh, a twelve seames of wheate at twenty
shillings the seame. ... It. vnto Mr. Eugh, a twenty
seames of peas and tears [i.e., tares] at thirteene the
seame." —Boteler MS. Account Books.
SEA-NETTLES, sb. Jelly-fish. — Dover.
SEA SNAIL [see snarl] sb. A periwinkle.
SEARSE [seers] vb. To strain or shift, as through a sieve
or strainer.
SEASON [see-zn] vb. To sow corn. Also said of the
condition of land for sowing.
" I'm going wheat seasoning to-day/'
" That Dover fill's nice and plump now after the
rain. We shall get a season."
SEA STARCH, sb. Jelly-fish.— Dover.
SEA-WAUR [see-waur] sb. The wrack, ore or sea weed
used largely in the Island of Thanet and elsewhere,
for making maxhills.
SECOND-MAN, sb. Amongst farm servants there is a
regular gradation of ranks; the first -man is the
wagoner, par eminence, who has charge of the first
140 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
team and is assisted by his " mate ; " the second-man
has charge of the second team and is assisted by his
" mate," and so on ; whilst there is generally a
" yard man/' whose duty it is to look after the stock
in the yard, and an odd man whose title, "all work/'
describes his duties. When a number of men are
going along the road with their respective teams
the first man will be found leading, the second man
next, and so on ; each walking with his horses.
SEE [see] pt. /., SEED [see-d, sid] vb. Saw.
" I see him at Canterbury yesterday."
SEED-CORD [seed--kord], SEED-KOD [seed--kod] (Boteler
MS. Account Book, 1653) sb. A box or basket used
by the sower for holding the seed, and suspended from
his neck by a cord or strap. It was an instrument of
husbandry in common use before the invention of the
seed drill, and generally contained some five or six
gallons of seed.
SEED-LIP [seed-lip] sb. The wooden box, fitting the shape
of the body in which the sower carries his seed. (See
Seed-cord.]
SEEMING [see-ming], SEEMINGLY [see-mingli] adv.
Apparently.
SEEN [seen] sb. A cow's teat.
SELYNGE [seHnj] sb. Toll ; custom ; tribute.
" The Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury . . . used
to take in the stream of the water or river Stoure, before
the mouth of the said Flete, a certain custom which
was called Selynge, of every little boat which came
to an anchor before the mouth of the said Flete."
— Lewis, p. 78.
The parish of Sellindge, near Hythe, probably takes
its name from some such ancient payment.
SEN [sen] vb. pp. Seen.
" Have ye sen our Bill anywheres ? "
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 141
SENGREEN [sin-grin] sb. Houseleek. Sempervivum tectorum.
Anglo-Saxon singrene, ever-green ; the Anglo-Saxon
prefix sin, means " ever."
SENSE [sen-s] adv. phr. Used with the negative to mean
"Nothing to signify;" anything inadequately or
faultily done.
" It don't rain, not no sense" i.e., there is no rain to
speak of.
SEP [sep] sb. The secretion which gathers in the corners
of the eyes during sleep. Allied to sap. — Eastry.
SERE [seer] adj. Dry, as distinct from green wood ;
not withered, as sometimes explained. The term is
generally applied to firewood.
" They say that Muster Goodyer has a lot of good
sere fagots to sell." (See Sare.}
SERVER [survr] sb. Where there are no wells, as in the
Weald of Kent, the pond that serves the house is
called the server, to distinguish it from the horse-
pond.
SESS, SESSE [ses] sb. A levy ; a tax ; a rate ; an assessment.
1648-1652. — "It. to John Augustine, i8s., for a
church sesse. ... It. to Mr. Paramore, 175. and 6d.,
for a sesse to ye poore." —Boteler MS. Account Book.
SESSIONS [sesh-nz] sb. A disturbance ; a fuss.
" There's goin' to be middlin' sessions over this here
Jubilee, seemin'ly."
SET [set] (i) vb. To sit; as, " I was setting in my chair."
SET [set] (2) sb. A division in a hop-garden for^picking,
containing 24 hills.
SET [set] (3) adj. Firm ; fixed in purpose ; obstinate.
" He's terrible set in his ways, there ain't no turning
an 'im."
142 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SET-OUT [set-out] sb. A great fuss and disturbance; a
grand display ; an event causing excitement and talk.
" There was a grand set-out at the wedding."
SET UP, vb. A word expressing movement of several
kinds, e.g., a man " Sets up a trap for vermin/' where
they would ordinarily say, " Sets a trap ; " a horse sets
up, i.e.) he jibs and rears ; whilst the direction to a
coachman, "Set up a little," means, that he is to
drive on a yard or two and then stop.
SEVEN-WHISTLERS, sb. The note of the curlew, heard at
night, is called by the fishermen the seven -whistlers.
" I never thinks any good of them, there's always
an accident when they comes. I heard 'em once one
dark night last winter. They come over our heads
all of a sudden, singing, ' Ewe-ewe,' and the men
in the boat wanted to turn back. It came on to rain
and blow soon afterwards, and was an awful night,
sir; and, sure enough, before morning a boat was
upset and seven poor fellows drowned. I knows
what makes the noise, sir; it's them long-billed
curlews ; but I never likes to hear them."
SEW [soo] (i) adj. Dry. " To go sew," i.e., to go dry ;
spoken of a cow.
SEW [soo] (2) vb. To dry ; to drain ; as, " To sew a pond,"
i.e., to drain it and make it dry.
SEWELLS [seu-elz] sb. pi. Feathers tied on a string which
is stretched across a part of a park to prevent the deer
from passing.
SHADDER [shad-ur], SHATTER [shat-ur] vb. To be afraid of.
SHAGGED [shag- id] adj. Fatigued ; fagged ; tired out.
" An' I was deadly shagged?— Dick and Sal, st. 48.
SHALE [shail] sb. The mesh of a fishing-net.
SHALINGS [shai-lingz] or SH ALES' s [prob. shailz] sb. pi.
Tenements to which no land belonged. — Lewis, 75.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 143
SHATTER [shat-ur] (\}vb. To scatter; blow about; sprinkle.
" Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year."
— Milton, Lycidas, 5.
SHATTER [shat'ur] (2) sb. A sprinkling, generally of rain.
" We've had quite a nice little shatter of rain."
" There'll be a middlin' shatter of hops."
SHATTER (3) vb. To rain slightly.
SHAUL [shau-1] (i) adj. Shallow; shoal.
SHAUL [shau-1], SHOWLE [shou-1] (2) sb. A wooden tub
with sloping sides. The shaul was of two kinds, viz.
— (i) The kneadinge showle, used for kneading bread,
generally made of oak, and standing on four legs,
commonly seen in better class cottages. Of which
we find mention in the Boteler Inventories — "Ite. in
the bunting house one bunting hutch, two kneding
showles, a meale tub wth other lumber ther, prized at
vjs. viijd." — Memorials of E as try, p. 226. And 2nd,
the washing shaul, made of common wood, without
legs.
SHAW [shau] sb. A small hanging wood ; a small copse ;
a narrow plantation dividing two fields.
SHAVE [shaiv] sb. Corrupted from shaw, a wood that
encompasses a close ; a small copse of wood by a
field-side. (See also Carvet^]
SHAY [shaai] (i) adj. Pale; faint-coloured.
" This here ink seems terr'ble shay, somehows."
SHAY [shaai] (2) sb. A shadow ; dim or faint glimpse of
a thing ; a general likeness or resemblance.
" I caught a shay of 'im as he was runnin' out of
the orchard, and dunno' as I shaant tark to 'im next
time I gets along-side an 'im."
SHE [shee] sb. In phrase, "A regular old she;" a term
of contempt for anything that is poor, bad or worth-
less ; often applied to a very bad ball at cricket.
144 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SHEAD [sheed] 5$. A rough pole of wood.
" Sheads for poles."
SHEAR [sheer] sb. A spear; thus they speak of an eel-shear.
SHEAT [sheet] sb. A young hog of the first year.
"John Godfrey, of Lidd, in his will, 1572, gave his
wife one sowe, two sheetes."
SHEEL [sheei], SHEAL, vb. To peel; scale off; used of
the scales or flakes of skin peeling off a person who
has been ill of measles, scarlet fever, &c. Allied to
scale, shell ; and used in the sense of shell in Bar grave
MS. Diary > 1645 : "Before they come to the press the
walnuts are first shealed, then dryed in the sunne."
'SHEEN [shee-n] sb. Machine.
" Or like de stra dat clutters out,
De 'sheen a thrashing earn." — Dick and Sal, st. 77.
SHEEP-GATE [ship-gait] sb. A hurdle with bars.
SHEEP'S TREDDLES [shipz tred-lz] sb. pi. The droppings
of sheep.
" There's no better dressing for a field than sheep's
treddles."
SHEER [shee-r] adj. Bright ; pure ; clear ; bare. Thus,
it is applied to the bright, glassy appearance of the
skin which forms over a wound ; or to the appear-
ance of the stars, as an old man once told me, " When
they look so very bright and sheer there will be rain."
SHEERES [sheerz], SHIRES [sheirz] sb. pi. All parts of
the world, except Kent, Sussex or Surrey. A person
coming into Kent from any county beyond London, is
said to " Come out of the sheer es ; " or, if a person is
spoken of as living in any other part of England, they
say, " He's living down in the sheeres som' 'ere's."
SHEER-MOUSE [shee-r-mous] sb. A field or garden mouse.
Probably a mere variation from shrew-mouse.
SHEER- WAY [shee-r-wai] sb. A bridle-way through grounds
otherwise private. So Lewis writes it, Shire-way, as a
way separate and divided from the common road or
open highway.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 145
SHELL-FIRE [shel-feir] sb. The phosphorescence from
decayed straw or touchwood, &c., sometimes seen in
farmyards. (See Fairy sparks?)
SHENT, SHUNT, vb. To chide; reprove; reproach.
"Do you hear how we are shent for keeping your
greatness back ? " —Coriolanus, act v. sc. 3.
SHEPPEY [shep-i], sheep-island, sb. The inhabitants of
the isle at the mouth of the Thames call themselves
"sons of Sheppey" and speak of crossing the Swale
on to the main land, as " going into England ;" whilst
those who live in the marshes call the higher parts
of Sheppey, the Island, as indeed it once was, being
one of the three isles of Sheppey.
SHLDE [sheid], SHYDE, sb. A long slip of wood; a plank;
a thin board, &c.
1566. — " For a tall shyde and nayle for the same
house, jd." —Accounts of St. Dunstarts, Canterbury.
SHIFT [shift] (i) vb. To divide land into two or more
equal parts.
SHIFT [shift] (2) sb. A division of land. (See above.)
SHIM [shim] sb. A horse-hoe, used for lightly tilling the
land between the rows of peas, beans, hops, &c.
SHINGLE [shing-1] sb. A piece of seasoned oak about 12
inches long by 3 inches wide, \ inch in thickness ;
used in covering buildings, and especially for church
spires in parts of the country where wood was
plentiful, as in the Weald of Kent.
SHINGLER [shing-lur] sb. A man who puts on shingles ;
a wood-tiler.
In the Parish Book which contains the Church-
wardens' Accounts of the Parish of Biddenden, we
find the following entries : —
March, 1597, "To Abraham Stedman, for
nayles for the shingler to use about the
shingling of the church at Biddenden, at
iiijd. the hundred ..... 28
146 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
August, 1600, "To the shingler for 2000
shingles at i6s. the thousand . . 32 o
To him for the laying of the two thousands 1 2 4
July, 1603, " Itm payde to Newman the
shingler for 2000 [?] of shingles . .280
It may be noted that one of the Editors has before
him a shingler 's bill for repairing a church spire in the
present year (1887), in which the following items will
shew that the prices have " riz " considerably in 300
years : —
2of-lbs. copper nails, at is. yd. . . .1128
150 new shingles, at id. . . . .192
Time, 14^ days, at 48. ; 12 \ days, at 55. . 6 o 6
SHINING STICK [shei-ning stik] sb. A thin peeled stick,
formerly carried by farm labourers at statute fairs,
to shew that they sought work for the coming year.
" He sed dere was a teejus fair
Dat lasted for a wick ;
An all de ploughmen dat went dare
Must car dair shining stick"
—Dick and Sal, st. 8.
SHINY-BUG, sb. The glow-worm. (See also Bug.}
SHIP [ship] sb. pi. sheep. The word sheep must have
been pronounced in this way in Shakespeare's time,
as we see from the following : —
"Twenty to one, then, he is shipped already,
And I have play'd the sheep [pronounced ship] in loving him."
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, act i. sc. i.
SHIP-GATE [ship'gait]. A sheep-gate or moveable hurdle
in a fence.
SHIRE-WAY [sheir-waij sb. A bridle-way. (See Sheer-
way.}
SHOAL-IN, vb. To pick sides at cricket or any game.
" After the match, they had a shoal-in among their-
selves."
SHOAT [shoa-t], SCOUT [skout] sb. A kneading trough.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 147
SHOAVE [shoav] sb. A kind of fork used to gather up
oats when cut.
SHOCK [shok] sb. A sheaf of corn.
" I see that the wind has blowed down some shocks
in that field of oats."
SHOE-MONEY, sb. When strangers pass through a hop-
garden their shoes are wiped with a bundle of hops,
and they are expected to pay their footing, under
penalty of being put into the basket. The money
so collected is called shoe-money, and is spent on
bread and cheese and ale, which are consumed on
the ground the last day of hopping. The custom of
wiping the shoes of passers-by is also practised in
the cherry orchards, in the neighbourhood of Faver-
sham and Sittingbourne.
SHOOLER [shoo-lr] sb. A beggar.
SHOOLING [shoo-ling] part. Begging. " To go a shooting"
SHOOT [shoot] sb. A young pig of the first year. (See
Sheet.)
SHOP-GOODS, sb. pi. Goods purchased at a shop, especially
groceries.
SHORE [shoar] (i) sb. A prop ; a strut ; a support.
" M.E. schore — Icel. skorda, a prop ; stay ; especially
under a boat .... so called, because shorn or cut off
of a suitable length."
SHORN BUG [shorn- bug], SHARN BUG [sharn- bug] sb.
The stag beetle. (See also May bug, &c.)
SHORT-WORK [shaut-wurk] sb. Work in odd corners of
fields which does not come in long straight furrows.
SHOT [shot] sb. A handful of hemp.
SHOT-FARE [shot-fair] sb. The mackerel season, which is
the first of the two seasons of the home fishery. It
commonly commences about the beginning of May,
when the sowing of barley is ended.
148 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SHOT-NET [shot-net] sb. A mackerel net.
SHOTTEN [shot-n] adj. " The proprietor of the Folkestone
hang told me that at the beginning of the season all
the fish have roes; towards the end they are all
shorten, i.e., they have no roes/' — F. Buckland.
SHOTVER-MEN [shot-vur-men] sb. pi. The mackerel fishers
at Dover ; whose nets are called shot-nets.
There is an old saying —
" A #orth-east wind in May
Makes the shotver-men a prey,"
The N.E. wind being considered favourable for fishing.
SHOUL [shou-1] sb. A shovel (not to be confounded with
shaul).
SHOUN [shou-n] vb. Shone.
" And glory shoun araound."
SHOWS FOR [shoa-z fur] vb. It looks like.
" It shows for rain/'
SHOY [shoi] adj. Weakly ; shy of bearing ; used of plants
and trees.
SHRAPE [shraip] vb. To scold or rate a dog.
SHREAP [shreep], SHRIP [shrip] vb. To chide ; scold.
SHRIVE [shreiv] vb. To clear the small branches from
the trunk of a tree.
" Those elm-trees want shriving"
SHROCKLED [shrokl-d], SHOCKLED [shokl-d] //. Shrunk ;
shrivelled ; wrinkled ; puckered up ; withered.
"A face like a shrockled apple."
SHRUGGLE [shrug-1] vb. To shrug the shoulders.
SHUCK [shuk] (i) sb. A husk or shell ; as bean shucks, i.e.,
bean shells. (See also Huck.] It is sometimes used as
a contemptuous expression, as, "A regular old shuck."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 149
SHUCK [shuk] (2) vb. To shell peas, beans, &c.
SHUCK [shuk] (3) vb. To do things in a restless, hurried
way, as, e.g., to shuck about.
SHUCKISH [shuk'ish] adj. Shifty; unreliable; uncertain;
tricky.
" Looks as though we be going to have a lot of this
shuckish weather."
SHUCKLE [shuk-1] vb. To shuffle along, or slink along, in
walking. (See Shuck.}
SHUT [shut] (i) sb. A young pig that has done sucking.
(See Sheet.}
SHUT [shut] (2) vb. To do ; to manage.
SHUT-OF [shut-of] vb. To rid oneself of; to drive away.
" I lay you wun't get shut-of him in a hurry/'
SHUT-OUT [shut-out] phrase. Exceedingly cold.
"You look quite shut-out."
SICKLE [sik-1] sb. A curved hook for cutting corn. The
sickle or wheat-hook [whit-uok] had a toothed blade,
but as it became useless when the teeth broke away,
the reaping-hook [rip-ing'-uok], with a plain cutting
edge, took its place, only to give way in its turn to
the scythe, with a cradle on it.
SIESIN [see-zin] sb. Yeast ; barm. (See Sizzing.}
SIEVE [siv] sb. A measure of cherries, containing a
bushel, 56-lb. In West Kent, sieve and half-sieve are
equivalent to bushel and half-bushel.
SIFTER [sift-ur] sb. A fire shovel.
SlG [sig] sb. Urine.
SIGHT [seit] sb. A great number or quantity.
" There was a sight of apples lying on the ground."
150 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SIMPLE [simp'l] adj. Silly ; foolish ; stupid ; hard to
understand.
"Doan't be so simple, but come along dreckly
minnit."
SiMSON [sinrsun] sb. The common groundsel. Senecio
vulgaris.
SIN [sin] adv. Since.
" Knowing his voice, although not heard long sin!'
— Faerie Queen, b. 6. cxi. xliv.
SINDER [sind'ur] vb. To settle or separate the lees or
dregs of liquor.
SINDERS [sind-urzj adv. Asunder.
SlPlD [sip'id] adj. Insipid.
" I calls dis here claret wine terr'ble sipid stuff."
SISSLE [sis*l], SISSLING [sis'ling] vb. To hiss or splutter.
" De old kettle sissies, 'twun't be long before 'tis tea-
time, I reckon."
SIVER [sei-vur] sb. A boat load of whitings. — Folkestone.
SIZING [sei-zing] sb. A game with cards, called "Jack
running for sizing."
SIZZING [siz-ing] sb. Yeast, or barm ; so called from the
sound made by beer or ale in working.
SKARMISH [skaam-ish] sb. A fight ; row ; bit of horse-
play.
SKEER'D [skee*rd] adj. Frightened.
" Dractly dere's ever so liddle bit of a skirmish he's
reglur skeer'd, he is."
SKENT [skent] vb. To look askant ; to scowl.
SKEVALMEN [skevulmen] sb. pi. From scuffle, a shovel.
Men who cleaned out the creek at Faversham were so
called in the town records of the seventeenth century.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. \ 5 1
SKILLET [skil-it] sb. A stewpan or pipkin.
SKIP- JACK [skip-jak] sb. pi. The sand-hopper. Talitrm
saltator. — Folkestone.
SKIVER [skivurj sb. A skewer. In East Kent, in winter
time, men come round, cut the long sharp thorns from
the thorn bushes, then peel, bleach and dry them, and
sell them to the butchers to use in affixing tickets to
their meat.
SKUT [skut] vb. To crouch down.
SLAB [slab] sb. A rough plank ; the outside cut of a tree
when sawn up.
SLACK [slak] adj. Underdressed ; underdone ; insuffi-
ciently cooked ; applied to meat not cooked enough,
or bread insufficiently baked.
" The bread is very slack to-day."
SLAGGER [slag-ur] vb. To slacken speed ; to walk lame ;
to limp.
" An so we stagger* d den ya know,
An gaap't an stared about ;
To see de houses all a row,
An signs a-hanging out." — Dick and Sal, st. 32.
SLANT [slan-t], SLAINT [slai-nt] vb. To miscarry ; to give
premature birth ; to slip or drop a calf before the proper
time. In Eastry it is pronounced slaint.
SLANK [slangk] sb. A slope or declivity.
SLAPPY [slap-i] adj. Slippery through wet. The form
sloppy, meaning wet but not slippery, is common
everywhere.
SLATS [slat's] sb. pL Thin ; flat ; unfilled pea-pods.
SLAY- WATTLE [slai-wat-1] sb. A hurdle made of narrow
boards.
SLICK [slik] adj. Slippery.
SLIMMUCKS [slinruks] sb. A slinking fellow.
152 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SLIPPER [slip*ur] (i) sb. A curious eel-like fish, with an
ugly pert-looking head, and frill down the back (like
the frill to an old beau's dining-out shirt), and a
spotted and exceedingly slimy body. So called at
Herne Bay, because it slips from the hand so easily.
(See Life of Frank Buckland, p. 171.)
SLIPPER [slip-ur] (2) sb. The small sole. — Folkestone.
SLIVER [slivur] (i) sb. A thin piece of split wood; a
slice ; a stiff shaving ; a splinter. Allied to Slice,
from Slit. Anglo-Saxon slefan, to cleave.
" There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke."
— Hamlet, act iv. sc. 7.
SLIVER [slivur] (2) vb. To slice ; cut off a thin portion.
SLOBBED [slob-d] pp. Slopped; spilt.
SLOP [slop] sb. A short, round smock frock, of coarse
materials, slipped over the head, and worn by work-
men over their other clothes.
SLORRY [slorr'i] sb. A slow-worm, or a blind worm.
SLOSH [slosh], SLUSH [slush] sb. Dirty water ; a muddy
wash ; liquid mud. They are both formed from the
sound, hence slosh represents rather " a muddy
wash/' which makes the louder noise when splashed
about, and slushy "liquid mud," which makes a duller
sound.
SLOY-WORM [sloi-wurm] sb. A slow- worm. Anguisfragilis.
(See Slorry.}
SLUB [slub] sb. A slimy wash ; liquid mud.
Lord Hale, in his work, De Jure Mart's et Brachio-
rum Ejusdem, pt. i. c. 7., alludes to "The jus alluvionis,
which is an increase of land by the projection of the
sea, casting and adding sand and slub to the adjoin-
ing land whereby it is increased, and for the most part
by insensible degrees."
SLURRY [slurr'i] sb. Wet, sloppy mud.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 153
SLUTHERS [sluth-urz], SLUTTERS [slut-urz] sb. pi. Jelly-
fish ; also called water-galls, miller' s-eyes and sea-
starch.
SMAAMER [smaa'mur] sb. A knock.
SMACK-SMOOTH [smak-smoodh] adv. Flat ; smooth ; level
with the ground.
" The old squire had the shaw cut down smack-
smooth."
SMART, adj. Considerable.
" I reckon it'll cost him a smart penny before he's
done."
SMICKERY [smik*ur'i] adj. Uneven ; said of a thread
when it is spun.
SMIRK [smurk] vb. To get the creases out of linen, that
it may be more easily folded up.
" Oh ! give it a smirking, and you'll get it smooth."
SMITHERS [smidh-urz] sb. pi. Shivers, or splinters.
SMOULT [smoa-lt] adj. Hot; sultry.
SMUG [smug] vb. To steal.
SNAG [pron. snag ; snaig ; sneg. — East Kenf] sb. A name
applied to all the common species of garden-snails, but
especially to the Helix aspersa. (Anglo-Saxon snceg-el ;
snag is a variant of snake, a creeping thing.) In West
Kent the word is applied to a slug, whilst snails are
called shell-snags.
SNAGGLE [snag'l] vb. To hack, or carve meat badly ; to
nibble.
SNATAGOG [snatugog] sb. A yewberry.
SNEAD [sneed] sb. The long handle or bat of a scythe.
— West Kent.
The family of Sneyd, in Staffordshire, bear a scythe
in their arms.
154 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SNIGGER [snig-ur] vb. To cut roughly, or unevenly.
SNIRK [snurk] vb. To dry; to wither.
"You had better carry your hay or it will all be
snirked up, sure as you're alive."
SNIRKING [smirk-in] sb. Anything withered.
" As dry as a snirking."
SNOB [snob] sb. A cobbler. By no means a term of
contempt.
SNODGOG [snod-gog] sb. A snodberry, or yewberry ; just
as a goosegog is a gooseberry.
SNOODS [snoodz, or snuodz] sb. pi. Fishing lines.
The lines laid for ness-congers are seventy-five
fathoms long, and on each line are attached, at right
angles, other smaller lines called the snoods ; twenty-
three snoods to each line, each snood nine feet long.—
Folkestone.
SNYING [snering] adj. Bent ; twisted ; curved. This
word is generally applied to timber.
So [soa'] inter j. of correction or assent. Thus it is used
in the way of correction, " Open the door, the window
so" i.e., open the door, I mean the window. It is also
used for assent, e.g., " Would you like some drink ? "
" I would so."
SOB [sob] vb. To soak, or wet thoroughly.
" The cloth what we used to wipe up the rain what
come in under the door is all sobbed with the wet."
SOCK [sok] (i) so. A pet brought up by hand ; a shy
child that clings to its nurse, and loves to be fondled.
SOCK [sok] (2) vb. To shroud or wrap a corpse in grave-
clothes ; to sew a body in its winding sheet.
1591. — " Paid for a sheet to sock a poor woman that
died at Byneons, is. 6d." —Records of Faversham.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 155
1643. — "Bought 2 ells of canvass to sock Margaret
Abby in, o 2 6."
1668. — "For Dorothy Blanchet's funeral, for laying
her forth and socking, o 08 o."
— Overseers' Accounts^ Holy Cross, Canterbury.
SOCK-LAMB [sok-lam] sb. A pet-lamb brought up by hand.
SOCKLE [sok-lj vb. To suckle.
SOIL [soii] (i) sb. Filth and dirt in corn; as the seeds of
several kinds of weeds and the like.
SOIL [soi-1] (2) vb. To scour or purge. The use of green
meat as a purge gives rise to this old East Kent
saying —
" King Grin (i.e., green),
Better than all medcin'."
SOLE [soal] sb. A pond, or pool of water. Lewis says,
" A dirty pond of standing water ; " and this it pro-
bably was in its original signification, being derived
from Anglo-Saxon sol, mud, mire (whence E. vb.
sully], allied to the Danish word sol, and German
suhle, mire. It enters into the name of several little
places where ponds exist, e.g., BarnW^, Butts^,
Maidens<9/£, Sole-street, &c. The Will of Jno. Frank-
lyn, Rector of Ickham, describes property as being
" Besyde the wateringe sole in thend [i.e., the end]
of Yckhame-streete."
SOME'RS [sunrurz] adj. Somewheres, for somewhere.
" Direckly ye be back-turned, he'll be off some'rs
or 'nother."
SOME-ONE-TIME, adv. Now and then.
" 'Taint very often as I goos to Feversham, or
Lunnon, or any such place, but some-one-time I goos
when I be forced to it."
SONNIE [surri] sb. A kindly appellative for any boy.
" Come along sonnie, you and me '11 pick up them
taturs now 'tis fine and dry."
156 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
Soss [sos] (i) sb. A mess. If anyone mixes several
slops, or makes any place wet and dirty, we say in
Kent, "He makes a soss."
Soss [sos] (2) vb., SOSSEL [sos-ul] vb. To mix slops, or
pour tea backwards and forwards between the cup
and the saucer.
" When we stopped at staashun, dere warn't but
three minuts to spare, but howsumdever, my missus
she was forced to have a cup o' tea, she was, and
she sossed it too and thro middlin', I can tell ye, for
she was bound to swaller it somehows."
SOTLY [sot-li] adv. Softly.
Sow BREAD [sou-bred] sb. The sowthistle, or milkthistle.
Sonchus oleraceus.
SOWSE-TUB [sous-tub] sb. A tub for pickling meat.
SPADDLE [spad*l] vb. To make a dirt or litter ; to shuffle
in walking.
SPALT [spau'lt or spolt] adj. Heedless ; impudent.
SPALTER [spolt'ur] vb. To split up and break away, as
the underside of a branch when it is partially sawn
or cut through, and then allowed to come down by
its own weight. (See Spolt.}
SPAN [span] vb. To fetter a horse.
SPANDLE [spand'l] vb. To leave marks of wet feet on
the floor like a dog. The Sussex word is spannel.
SPANNER [span*ur] sb. A wrench; a screw-nut.
" Hav' ye sin my spanner anywheres about ? " " Yis,
I seed it in the barn jest now."
SPANISH [span-ish] sb. Liquorice.
" I took some Spanish, but my cough is still terrible
bad, surely/'
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 157
SPARR [spar'] sb. The common house-sparrow; as, arr
for arrow, barr for barrow.
" Who killed cock-robin ?
I said the sparr,
With my bow and arr."
SPAT [spat] sb. A knock ; a blow.
" He ain't no ways a bad boy ; if you gives him a
middlin' spat otherwhile, he'll do very well."
SPATS [spats] sb. pi. Gaiters, as though worn to prevent
the spattering of mud.
SPEAN [speen] sb. (See Speen.} (i.) The teat of an animal.
(ii.) The tooth or spike of a fork or prong.
SPEAR [spee-r] (i) sb. A blade of grass, or fresh young
shoot or sprout of any kind.
SPEAR (2) vb. To sprout.
" The acorns are beginning to spear." (See Brut.}
SPEAR [spee-r] (3) vb. To remove the growing shoots of
potatoes.
" Mas' Chuck's, he ain't got such a terr'ble good
sample of taturs as common ; by what I can see,
'twill take him more time to spear 'em dan what
'twill to dig 'em up."
SPECK [spek] sb. The iron tip or toe of a workman's boot.
SPEEN [spee-n]. (See Spean.)
SPEER-WORTY [spee-rwurH] adj. The liver of a rotten
sheep when it is full of white knots, is said to be speer-
worty. There is a herb called speer-wort [Rangniculus
lingua, great spear-wort ; R. flammula, lesser spear-
wort], which is supposed to produce this disorder of
the liver, and from thence it has its name.
SPILLED [spil-d] pp. Spoilt. And so the proverb, " Better
one house filled than two spill' d."
158 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SPILT [spil-t] vb. Spoilt.
" I are goin' to git a new hat ; this fell into a pail of
fleet-milk that I was giving to the hogs and it got spilt."
— Sittingbourne.
SPINDLE [spin-dl] sb. The piece of iron which supports
the wreest (or rest) of a turn-wreest plough. (See
Under spindled.}
SPIT [spit] (i) sb. A double or counterpart.
" He's the very spit of his brother."
SPIT (2) sb. The depth of soil turned up by a spade or
other tool in digging.
"The mould is so shallow that it is scarce a spit
deep."
SPITS [spit's] sb. pi. Pieces of pine -wood, about .the
length and thickness of a common walking-stick, on
which the herrings are dried. (See Herring-hang and
Spit.]
SPLASH [splash] vb. To make a hedge by nearly severing
the live wood at the bottom, and then interweaving it
between the stakes : it shoots out in the spring and
makes a thick fence.
SPLUT [splut] vb. Past of split.
" It was splut when I seed it."
SPLUTHER [spludh-ur] vb. To sputter.
SPOLT [spol-t]. To break.
" A terr'ble gurt limb spolted off that old tree furder
een de laane las' night." (See Spalter.}
SPONG [spong] vb. To sew ; to mend.
" Come here and let me spong that slit in your
gaberdin."
SPONSIBLE [spons-ibl] adj. Responsible; reliable.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 159
SPOTTY [spot-i] adj. Here and there in places ; uneven ;
scattered ; uncertain ; variable. Said of a thin crop.
"The beans look middlin' spotty this year."
SPRAT-LOON [sprat-loon] sb. The red-throated diver ; a
bird common on the Kentish salt waters. — North Kent.
SPREAD-BAT [spred-bat] sb. The bat or stick used for
keeping the traces of a plough-horse apart.
SPRING, sb. A young wood ; the undergrowth of wood
from two to four years old.
SPRING-SHAW [spring-shau] sb. A strip of the young
undergrowth of wood, from two to three rods wide.
SPROCKET [sprok-it] sb. A projecting piece often put on
at the bottom or foot of a rafter to throw the water off.
1536. — "Payed for makyng sproketts and a grunsyll
at Arnoldis . . . ijd."
—MS. Accounts, St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
SPROG [sprog] sb. A forked sprig of a tree. — Sittingbourne.
SPROLLUCKS [sprol'uks] sb. One who sprawls out his feet.
SPRONKY [spronk'i] adj. Having many roots.
SPRY [sprei] ( i ) sb. A broom for sweeping the barn-floor ;
formerly used in the threshing of corn. (See also Frail,
Scubbity Toff-sieve.} Allied to sprig.
SPRY [sprei] (2) adj. Smart ; brisk ; quick.
SPRY -FOOT [sprei -fuot], SPRAY -FOOT [sprai-fuot] adj.
Splay foot.
SPRY- WOOD [sprei-wuod] sb. Small wood ; spray-wood.
SPUD [spud] (i) sb. A garden tool for getting up weeds.
SPUD [spud] (2) vb. To get up weeds with a spud.
SPUR-FISH [spur-fish] sb. The pike dog-fish. Spinax
acanthias. — Folkestone.
160 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SQUAB [skwob] (i) sb. A pillow; a cushion; especially
the long under-cushion of a sofa.
Lewis, p. 158, in his account of the way in which
Mrs. Sarah Petit laid out ^146 towards the ornament-
ing of the parish church of S. John Baptist, Thanet,
mentions,
" Cushions or squabs to kneel on, O51 , o8s . ood."
SQUAB [skwob] (2) sb. An unfledged sparrow.
SQUASHLE [skwosh-1] vb. To make a splashing noise.
" It was so wet, my feet squash led in my shoes."
SQUAT [skwot] (i) vb. (i.) To make flat.
(ii.) To put a stone or piece of wood under the
wheel of a carriage, to prevent its moving.
SQUAT [skwot] (2) sb. A wedge placed under a carriage-
wheel to prevent its moving.
SQUATTED [skwot'id] pp. Splashed with mire or dirt.
SQUIB [skwib] (i) sb. A squirt ; a syringe.
' ' He stood back of the tree and skeeted water at
me caterwise with a squib."
SQUIB [skwib] (2) sb. Cuttle-fish ; so called, because it
squirts sepia. (See Squib above.) Sepia officinalis.
SQUIRREL-HUNTING, sb. A rough sport, in which people
used formerly to assemble on S. Andrew's Day
(3oth November), and under pretence of hunting
squirrels, commit a good deal of poaching. It is
now discontinued.
STADDLE [stad-1] sb. A building of timber standing on
legs or steadies, to raise it out of the mud. Poor
dwellings of this kind were formerly common enough
in small fishing towns, such as Queenborough. The
word occurs repeatedly in the Queenborough Records
of the time of Queen Elizabeth, as for instance, " De
viginti sex domibus que vulgariter vocantur, the old
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 161
staddeleSy or six and twentie houses." Staddle is now
used only for the support of a stack of corn (see Steddle
below.) It is a derivative of the common word stead.
Anglo-Saxon stede, Icel. stadr, a stead, place ; and
Anglo-Saxon stathol, a foundation, Icel. stodull, a shed.
Stead can still be traced in LynsW, Frinsted, Wrin^/^,
Beary&d", and other names of places in Kent, and in
such surnames as T$ensted, Max&df, &c.
STADEL, sb. The step of a ladder. (See also Stale, Stath.)
STALDER [stairldur] sb. A stillen or frame to put barrels
on.
STALE [stall] vb. To put stales or rungs into a ladder.
1493. — "Item payde to John Robart for stalyng of
the ladders of the churche, xxd."
— Accounts of Churchwardens of St. Dunstarts, Canterbury.
STALES [stailz] sb. pi. The staves, or risings of a ladder,
or the staves of a rack in a stable. From Anglo-
Saxon steely stely a stalk, stem, handle. Allied to stilly
and stall i the stale being that by which the foot is
kept firm.
STALKER [stau-kur] sb. A crab-pot, or trap made of hoops
and nets. — Folkestone.
STAND [stand] vb. To stop ; to be hindered.
" We don't stand for weather/'
STANMEL, STAMMEL, adj. The name given to a kind of
woollen cloth of a red colour.
" It'm paied to George Hutchenson, for a yard and
a half of stanmel cloth to make her a petticote, at
Xs. vjd. the yard, xvs. ixd." —Sandwich Book of Orphans.
STARE TAKE YOU, interj. phr. An imprecation in Kent,
from Anglo-Saxon steorfa (a plague). " What a star/
be ye got at now ? " is also another use of the same
word.
M
1 62 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
START [staat] sb. A proceeding ; a business ; a set-out.
"This's a rum start, I reckon/'
STARVE-NAKED [staav-nai-kid] adj. Stark naked. Starved
in Kent, sometimes means extremely cold, as well as
extremely hungry.
STATH [stath] sb. A step of a ladder.
STAUNCH [stau-nsh] vb. To walk clumsily and heavily.
STEADY [sted'i] adv. and adj. Slow.
" I can git along middlin' well, if I go steady."
STEAN [steen], STEENE, vb. To line, or pave with bricks
or stones. Hence the name of the Steyne at Folke-
stone and at Brighton.
In Faversham Churchyard we read, " In this steened
grave rest the mortal remains, &c."
STEDDLE [sted-1] sb. A frame on which to stand anything,
e.g., a *be&steddle, i.e., a bedstead ; especially a frame-
work for supporting corn stacks.
" Item in the best chamber, called the great chamber,
one fayer standing bedsteddle." " Item in the chamber
over the buntting house, two boarded bedsteddles"
—Boteler Inventory in Memorials of Eastry, p. 224, 225.
STEEP [steep] vb. To make anything slope. To steep a
stack, is to make the sides smooth and even, and to
slope it up to the point of the roof.
STENT [sten-t] sb. A word used by the oyster dredgers
in North Kent, to denote that amount or number of
oysters, fixed by the rules of their association, which
they may dredge in one day. This quantity, or
number, is much less than it would be possible to
get up ; hence, stent is probably formed from stint,
and means, a restricted amount.
STILLEN [stiHn] sb. A stand for a cask, barrel, or wash-
ing-tub. (See Stalder.)
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 63
STILT [stil-t] sb. A crutch.
In 1668 we find the following entry: "For a paire
of stilts for ye tanner, o oo 3d."
— Overseer? Accounts, Holy Cross, Canterbury.
STINGER [sting-ur] sb. A jelly-fish. — Dover.
STINK -ALIVE [stink-ulei-v] sb. The whiting pout ; so
called because it soon becomes unfit to eat after
being caught. — Folkestone.
STIPERS [stei-purs] sb. pi. The four poles at the sides of a
bobbin-tug, which stand up two on each side, and keep
the bobbins in their places. — East Kent.
STIVER [stivur] vb. To flutter ; to stagger ; to struggle
along.
" An so we stivered right acrass,
An went up by a mason's." — Dick and Sal, st. 50.
STOCK [stoach] vb. To work about in the mud and dirt ;
said of cattle treading the ground when it is wet.
"He's always stochin about one plaace or t'other
from mornin' to night."
STOCK [stokj (i) sb. Cattle of all sorts.
(2) The udder of a cow.
STOCK [stok] (3) sb. A trough ; a stoup ; usually in com-
position, as a holy water-stock ; a brinfe-%£&v£ ; a pig-
stock. Probably so called because it was originally
made by hollowing out the stock of a tree.
" For a stock of brass for the holy water, 7s/'
—Fuller's History of Waltham Abbey, p. 17.
" Item in the milke-houss, one brine-j/^, &c."
— Boteler Inventories.
STOCK [stok] (4) sb. The back of the fireplace. And since
this is generally black with soot, hence the phrase,
" Black as a stock," is a very common one.
STOCK-BOW [stok-boa] sb. A cross-bow.
STOCK-LOG [stok-log] sb. The larger piece of wood which
is laid behind the rest on a wood fire to form a back
ing for it.
164 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
STODGER [stoj'ur], A sturdy fellow able to get about in
all sorts of weather.
STODGY [stoj'i] adj. Thick; glutinous; muddy.
" The church path's got middlin' stodgy."
STOLDRED [stoa-ldurd] sb. Stealth.
1657. — "Some little corn by stoldred brought to
town. — Billings ley^s Brady-martyrologia, p. 107
STOLT [stoalt] adj. Brisk and hearty ; stout (Anglo-Saxon
stolt, firm). This is a word in common use among
poultry keepers.
" This here lot of ducks was doin' onaccountable
bad at first going off, but now they'm got quite stolt."
STONE [stoan] sb. A weight of eight pounds.
STONE-FRUIT, sb. Plums, peaches, cherries, &c.
Fruit is classed as — Hard-fruit^ apples and pears.
Stone-fruit, as above, and Low -fruit, gooseberries,
currants, &c.
STONE-REACH, sb. A portion of stony field, where the
stones for a considerable distance lie very much
thicker than in any other part. These stone -reaches
are fast disappearing in East Kent ; the stones have
been so thoroughly gathered off the fields, that stones
for road purposes are scarce, and have risen consider-
ably in price during the last twenty years.
STOTCH [stoch] vb. To tread wet land into holes. (See
Stocky Poach.}
STOUNDED, adj. Astonished.
STOVE [stoa'v] vb. To dry in an oven.
STOW [stoa]. Same as the above.
STOW -BOATING [stoa-but-in] vb. Dredging up stone at
sea for making Roman cement.
STRAIGHT [strait] adj. Grave; serious; solemn; shocked;
often used in phrase, "To look straight," i.e., to look
grave or shocked.
" He looked purty straight over it, I can tell ye."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 165
STRAMMERLY [strain- urly] adj. Awkwardly ; ungainly.
STRANDS, sb. pi. The dry bents of grass run to seed.
STRAY [strai] sb. A winding creek.
STRIKING-PLOUGH, sb. A sort of plough used in some parts
of Kent.
STRICKLE [strik-1] sb. A striker, with which the heaped-
up measure is struck off and made even. The measure
thus evened by the strickle is called race measure, i.e.,
razed measure.
STRIG [strig] (i) sb. The footstalk of any flower or fruit,
as the strigs of currants, gooseberries, &c. ; the string
of a button.
" Now doan't 'ee put the cherry- strig in's mouth."
STRIG (2) vb. To take the fruit from off the stalk or strig ;
as to strig currants, gooseberries, &c.
" Will you help me strig these currants?"
STRIKE [streik] (i) sb. The same as Strickle above.
STRIKE [streik] (2) vb. " To strike a bucket," is to draw a
full bucket towards the side of the well as it hangs by
the chain of the windlass, and land it safely on the
well-side.
STRIKE [streik] (3) vb. To melt down, to re-cast, and so
make smooth (as of wax). One sense of strike^ is to
stroke ; to make smooth.
1485. — " Item for strykyng of the pascall and the font
taper, ijs. iijd."
— Churchwardens' Accounts, St. Durtstarfs, Canterbury.
STRIKE-BAULK [streik-bauk] vb. To plough one furrow
and leave another.
STRIP-SHIRT [strip-shur't] adv. In shirt sleeves. A man
is said to be working strip-shirt when he has his coat
and waistcoat off.
STROKE-BIAS [stroak-berus] sb. An old sport peculiar to
Kent, and especially the eastern part of the county ;
1 66 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
it consisted of trials of speed between members of
two or more villages, and from the description of it
given in Brome's Travels over England (1700), it
appears to have borne some resemblance to the
game of prisoners' base.
STROOCH [stroo-ch] vb. To drag the feet along the ground
in walking.
" Now then ! how long be ye goin' to be ? D'ye
think the train '11 wait for ye ? stroochin along ! "
STUB [stub] (i) sb. The stump of a tree or plant.
" Ye'll find a pretty many stubs about when ye gets
into de wood. Ye must look where ye be goin'."
STUB [stub] (2) vb. To grub up ; used of taking up the
stubble from a field, or of getting up the roots of a
tree from the ground.
STUD [stud] (i) sb. A stop ; a prop ; a support. The feet
on which a trug-basket stands are called studs.
STUD [stud] (2) sb. The name given to a row of small
trees cut off about two feet from the ground, and left
to sprout so as to form a boundary line. (See Dole.}
STULPE [stuolp] sb. A post ; especially a short stout post
put down to mark a boundary. Sometimes also spelt
stoop and stolpe.
1569. — " Ij greate talle shydes for stulpes, iiijd."
— Accounts, St. Dunstarts, Canterbury.
STUNT [stunt] adj. Sullen ; dogged ; obstinate.
STUPPIN [stup'in], STUPEN [stup'in] sb. A stew-pan or
skillet.
STUPPNET [stup*nit] sb. A stew-pan or skillet. (See Stuppin
above.)
In Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Eastry, p. 226,
amongst other kitchen furniture, we find, " Fower
stuppnetts, five brass candlesticks, five spitts, &c."
" In the Sandwich Book of Orphans, it is spelled
stugpenet."
" It. Rc'd for a brass stugpenet, oo 02 oo."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 167
STURM [sturm] adj. Stern ; morose.
SULING [seirling], STILLING [suHng], SOLIN [solin] sb.
A Domesday measure of land which occurs only in
that part of the Domesday Record which relates to
Kent. It is supposed to contain the same quantity
of land as a carucate. This is as much land as may
be tilled and laboured with one plough, and the
beasts belonging thereto, in a year; having meadow,
pasture and houses for the householders and cattle
belonging to it. The hide was the measure of land
in the reign of the Confessor; the carucate, that
to which it was reduced in the Conqueror's new
standard. From Anglo-Saxon sulk, a plough.
"The Archbishop himself holds Eastry. It was
taxed at seven sulings." — Domesday Book.
SULLAGE [suHj], SUILLAGE [swiHj ] sb. Muck ; dung;
sewage ; dirty water.
1630. — " To the Prior and his sonne for caryinge out
the duste and sullage out of Sr. [Sister] Pett's house
.... vjd." — MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital^ Canterbury.
SUM [sum] vb. To reckon ; to cast up accounts ; to learn
arithmetic. So the French sommer.
SUMMER-LAND [sunrr-land] sb. Ground that lies fallow
all the summer.
SUMP [sunrp] sb. A small cove ; a muddy shallow. The
Upper and Lower Sump in Faversham Creek, are
small coves near its mouth where fishing vessels can
anchor. The word is the same as swamp.
SUMMUT [sunrut] sb. Something.
SUNDAYS AND WORKY-DAYS, i.e., all his time ; altogether.
A phrase used when a man's whole time is taken up
by any necessary duties.
"Sundays or worky-days is all one to him."
SUN-DOG [sun-dog] sb. A halo round the sun ; seen when
the air is very moist ; generally supposed to foretell
the approach of rain. The same as Sun-hound.
1 68 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
SUN-HOUND, sb. Same as the above.
SUPM [sup-in] sb. Something.
" I sed ta her ' what books dere be,
Dare's supm ta be sin ; '
Den she turn'd round and sed to me,
'Suppose we do go in.'"
—Dick and Sal, st. 55.
SURELYE [sheu-rlei] adv. Surely.
" Well, that ain't you, is it ? Surelye ! "
.•
SWALLOWS [swal-oaz] sb. pi. Places where a stream
enters the earth and runs underground for a space,
were formerly so called in the parish of Bishops-
bourne.
SWAP [swop] (i) vb. To reap with a swap-hook.
SWAP [swop] (2) sb., or SWAP-HOOK [swop-huok] sb. An
implement used for reaping peas, consisting of part
of a scythe fastened to the end of a long handle.
SWART [swaurt], SWARTH [swaurth] (Anglo-Saxon swearf]
adj. Of a dark colour.
" The wheat looks very swarth."
SWARVE [swor'v] vb. To fill up ; to be choked with sedi-
ment. When the channel of a river or a ditch becomes
choked up with any sediment deposited by the water
running into it, it is said to swarve up.
SWATCH [swoch] (i) sb. A channel, or water passage,
such as that between the Goodwin Sands.
"As to the Goodwin, it is by much the largest of
them all, and is divided into two parts, though the
channel or swatch betwixt them is not navigable, except
by small boats." — Lewis, p. 170.
SWATCH [swoch] (2) vb. A wand.
SWATCHEL [swoch-1] vb. To beat with a swatch or wand.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 169
SWATH [swau-th], SWARTH [swau-rth], SWEATH [swee-th]
sb. A row of grass or corn, as it is laid on the ground
by the mowers.
" And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,
Fall down before him like the mower's swath?
— Shakespeare — Troilus and Cressida, act v. sc. 5.
SWAY [swai] sb. To carry the sway, is to excel in any-
thing; to be the best man.
"No matter what 'twas, mowin', or rippin', or crickut,
or anything, 'twas all the same, I always carried the
sway, time I was a young chap."
SWEAL [sweel] vb. To singe a pig.
SWEEPS [sweep-s], SWIPS [swip-s] sb. pi. The sails of a
windmill.
SWEET-LIQUOR [sweet-lik-r] sb. Wort ; new beer unfer-
mented, or in the process of fermentation.
SWEET- WORT, sb. Same as the above.
SWELKED, pp. Overcome by excessive heat.
SWELTRY, adj. Sultry ; excessively close and hot.
SWIFTS [swift's] sb. pi. The arms, or sails of a windmill.
(See Sweeps?)
S WILLING-LAND, sb. A plough land. Same as Suling.
SWIMY [swei-mi], SWIMMY [swim-i], SWIMMY- HEADED
[swinri-hed-id] adj. Giddy ; dizzy ; faint. (Anglo-
Saxon swima, a swoon ; swimming in the head.)
" I kep' on a lookin' at de swifts a gooin' raound
and raound till it made me feel quite swimy, it did."
SwiNGEL [swinj-ul] sb. The upper part of the flail which
swings to and fro and beats the corn out of the ear.
(Anglo-Saxon swingel, a beater.)
SWISH-ALONG [swish-ulong-] vb. To move with great
quickness.
SWOT [swot] sb. Soot.
170 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
T.
TAANT [taa*nt, taa'unt] adj. Out of proportion ; very
high or tall. This is a nautical word, usually applied
to the masts of a ship.
TACK [tak] sb. An unpleasant taste.
TAFFETY [tafiti] adj. Squeamish ; dainty ; particular
about food. — East Kent.
TAG [tag] sb. Tagge, a sheep of the first year.
TAKE [talk] vb. A redundant use is often made of this
word, as " He'd better by half take and get married."
— East Kent.
TALLY [taH] sb. A stick, on which the number of bushels
picked by the hop-picker is reckoned, and noted by
means of a notch cut in it by the tallyman.
TALLYMAN [taHmun] sb. The man who takes the tallies,
notches them, and so keeps account of the number of
bushels picked by the hop-pickers.
TAMSIN [tanrzin] sb. A little clothes' horse, or frame, to
stand before a fire to warm a shirt or a shift, or child's
linen. Tamsen, Thomasin, Thomasme, is a woman's
name, and is here used as though the "horse" did the
work of the servant of that name. For the same reason
it is otherwise called a maid, or maiden. It is not only
called Tamsin, but Jenny, Betty, Molly, or any other
maiden name ; and if it is very small it is called a girl.
TAN [tan] (i) sb. The bark of a young oak.
TAR-GRASS [taa*graas] sb. The wild vetch. Vicia cracca.
TARNAL [taa-nl] adj. A strong expletive, really " eternal,"
used to denote something very good or very bad, gene-
rally the latter.
" Dare was a tarnal sight of meat."
— Dick and Sal, st. 62.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 7 1
TAS [tas], or TARSE [taas] sb. A mow of corn.
In Old English taas was any sort of heap.
" An hundred knyghtes slain and dead, alas !
That after were founden in the taas"
— Chaucer, Troilas and Cressede, 1. iv. c. 30.
TASS-CUTTER [tas-cut-r] sb. An implement with which to
cut hay in the stack.
TATTER [tat-r], TATTERY [tat-ur'i] adj. (i.) Ragged, (ii.)
Cross ; peevish ; ill-tempered ; ill-natured.
" The old 'ooman's middlin' tatter to-day, I can tell
ye."
TATTY [tat-i] adj. Testy. (See above.)
TAULEY [tairli] sb. A taw or marble.
TEAM [teem] sb. A litter of pigs or a brood of ducks.
TEAR-RAG [tair-r'ag] sb. A rude, boisterous child; a romp;
one who is always getting into mischief and tearing
his clothes, hence the name. — East Kent.
TED [ted] vb. To make hay, by tossing it about and
spreading it in the sun.
1523. — "For mowyngand teddyng of ye garden, xijd."
— Accounts of St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
TEDIOUS [tee-jus] adj. and adv. Acute ; violent ; excessive ;
" tedious bad ; " " tedious good/' Also, long, but not
necessarily wearisome, as we now commonly under-
stand the word.
" Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast."
— Shakespeare — Richard II. act ii. sc. i.
"He sed dare was a teejus fair
Dat lasted for a wick." — Dick and Sal, st. 8.
TEEN [teen] vb. To make a hedge with raddles.
1522. — "Paied for tenying of a hedge [_i.e.y trimming
it], vjd." —MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
172 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
TEENER [tee-nur], TENER, sb. A man who teens or keeps
in order a raddle-fence.
1616. — "For bread and drink for the teners and
wood-makers."
— MS. Accounts St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
TEES [teez] sb. pi. A part of a cart-horse's harness ; the
draughts which are fixed to the hemwoods of the collar
and to the rods of the cart. — East Kent. (Literally, ties.)
TEG, sb. A sheep of the first year. (See Tag.)
TELL [tel] vb. To count. " Here's the money, will you tell
it out on the table ? " The teller in the House of Com-
mons is one who counts the number of members as
they go into the lobby.
" And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the vale." — Grafs Elegy.
TENTER-GROUND [tent-r-grou-nd] sb. Ground where tenter-
hooks were placed in former times for stretching skins,
linen, &c.
TERRIBLE [terbl or tarbl] adv. Extremely ; exceedingly.
" He's a terrible kind husband, and no mistake."
" Frost took tops terrible, but 'taint touched t' roots
o' taters."
TERRIFY [terr'ifei] vb. To annoy ; to tease ; to disturb.
A bad cough is said to be " very terryfying" And
the flies are said "to terrify the cattle." The rooks
also " terrify the beans."
TETAW [tet-au] sb. A simpleton ; a fool.
THAT [dhat] adv. So ; to such a degree.
" I was that mad with him, I could have scratched
his eyes out."
" He's that rude, I doant know whatever I shall do
with him."
THEM [dhem] phr. Contraction from they'm, i.e., they am.
" How be um all at home r " " Them all well, without
'tis mother, and she be tedious bad wid' de brown
titus." (See Am.)
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 173
THICK THUMB'D [thik-thumd] adj. Sluttish; untidy;
clumsy.
THIS-HERE, den. pron. This. (An intensive form.)
" That there man was a sittin' on this- ere wery
chair, when, all of a suddent, down he goos in one
of these 'ere plexicle fits. * Who'd 'ave thoft it!'
said the missus."
THOFT [thof-t] vb. Thought.
THOVE [thoa-v] vb. Stole. (The perfect tense of thieve.)
THREDDLE [thred-1] vb. To thread a needle.
THRIBLE [thrib-1] adj. Treble ; threefold.
THRO [throa] prep. Fro ; from.
THROT [throt] sb. Throat.
" He's throt was that bad all last week, that he was
troubled to go to and thro to work."
THROWS [throaz] sb. A thoroughfare ; a public way.
The four- throws, a point where four roads meet.
THUNDERBUG [thun-durbug] sb. A midge.
" The thunderbugs did terrify me so, that I thought
I should have been forced to get up and goo out of
church."
THURROCK [thurr'uk] sb. A wooden drain under a gate ;
a small passage or wooden tunnel through a bank.
In Sheppy, if the hares gain the refuge of a thurrock,
before the greyhounds can catch them, they are consi-
dered to have gained sanctuary and are not molested.
(See Pinnock^]
TICKLER [tik-lur] adj. Particular.
" I lay he's not so tickler as all that."
TIDE [teid] sb. The tithe. This is a remarkable instance
of the way in which th is converted into d in Kent, as
wid for with, &c.
174 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
TIDY [tei'di] adv. Considerable. " A tidy few," means a
good number.
" It's a tidy step right down to the house, I lay."
TIE [tei] sb. A foot-race between two competitors. The
expression, " Ride and tie" is commonly interpreted
to mean, that when two people have one horse, the
first rides a certain distance and then dismounts for
the second to get up, so that they always tie or keep
together.
" Sir Dudley Diggs, in 1638, left the yearly sum of
^20, to be paid to two young men and two maids, who,
on May igth, yearly, should run a tie at Old Wives'
Lees, in Chilham, and prevail. The lands, from the
rent of which the prize was paid, were called the
Running Lands." —Hasted, ii. 787.
TIE-TAILS [tei-tailz] sb. pi. Herrings, which being gill-
broken cannot be hung up by their heads ; they are
therefore tied on the spits by their tails. Though they
are just as good eating as the others, they fetch less
money; and when I was in the hang, a tiny child
came in and addressed the burly owner thus, " Please,
sir, mother wants a farthing's worth of tie-tails for her
tea." She got two or three, and some broken scraps
into the bargain. — F. Buckland.
— Curiosities of Natural History, 2nd series, p. 274.
TIGHTISH LOT [tei'tish lot] phr. A good many. (See
also Tidy.]
TlGHT-UP, vb. Make tidy. (Dight.}
" My missus has gone to tight-up."
TILL [til] adj. Tame ; gentle.
TILLER [til'ur] sb. An oak sapling, or other young timber
tree of less than six inches and a quarter in girth.
In other places it is called teller. Anglo-Saxon telgor,
a branch, a twig.
TILT [til't] (i) sb. The moveable covering of a cart or
wagon ; generally made of sail-cloth or canvas.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 175
TILT [til-t], TILTH [tilth] (2) sb. Condition of arable land.
" He has a good tilth,' or, " His land is in good tilth"
TILTER (out-of) sb. Out of order ; out of condition.
" He's left that farm purty much out o' titter, I can
tell ye."
TiMANS [termunz] sb. pi. Dregs, or grounds poured out
of the cask after the liquor is drawn off. Literally
teemmgSy from the Middle -English word temen, to
pour out, to empty a cask.
TlMBERSOME, adj. Tiresome ; troublesome.
TIME-O'-DAY [teim-u-dai] sb. " To pass the time-o'-day"
is to salute a person whom you chance to meet on the
road, with " Good-morning; " " A fine day;" "Good-
night," &c.
" I an't never had no acquaintance wid de man, not
no more than just to pass de time-d-day."
TIMMY [tinri] adj. Fretful. (See Timbersome, from which
this is probably abbreviated.)
TIMNAIL [tinrnail] sb. A vegetable-marrow. — East Kent.
TINE [tein] (i) sb. The tooth, or prong of a rake, harrow,
or fork.
TINE [tein] (2) vb. To shut; to fence.
TIPTOE [tip-toa] sb. An extinguisher. — West Kent.
TlP-TONGUED [tip-tung*d] adj. Inarticulate ; indistinct in
utterance ; lisping.
" He tarks so tip-tongued since he've come back from
Lunnon, we can't make nothin' o' what he says other-
while."
TIRYEN [tiryun] sb. An anagramatical form of Trinity.
Thus, " Tiryen Church," Trinity Church.— East Kent.
TISSICK [tis-ik] sb. A tickling cough.
TiSlCKY, adj. Tickling. " A tisicky cough."
176 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
TITHER [tith-ur] vb. To trifle ; e.g., to tither about, is to
waste time.
TIVER [tivur] sb. Red ochre for marking sheep.
To-AND-AGiN [too-und-irgin] prep. phr. Backwards and
forwards ; to and fro.
" Ah, I likes to goo to church o' Sundays, I doos ;
I likes to set an' look tat de gurt old clock, an5 see de
old pendylum goo to-and-agin; to-and-agin ; to-and-
agin, all de while."
TOAR [toar] sb. Long, coarse, sour grass in fields that
are understocked.
TOBIT, sb. A measure of half a bushel. (See Tovet.)
TOFET or TOVET [tof-it or tovit] sb. (See above.)
TOFF [tau-f] sb. The pods of peas, and the ears of wheat
and barley, after they have been threshed. — East Kent.
(See Caving
TOFF-SIEVE [tauf-siv], TOFT-SIEVE [tau-ft-siv] sb. A screen
or sieve for cleaning wheat.
TOFT [toft] sb. A messuage ; a dwelling-house with the
adjacent buildings and curtilage, and the adjoining
lands appropriate to the use of the household ; a piece
of ground on which a messuage formerly stood.
To IT [too-t or tu-ut] phr. Omitting the verb do, which
is understood. Remind a Kentish man of something
he has been told to do, but which you see is still undone,
and the chances are he will reply, " I'm just a going to
it," i.e., I am just going to do it.
TOLL [toal] sb. A clump ; a row ; generally applied to
trees ; so a rook-A?//, is a rookery.
" There was a toll of trees at Knowlton which was
blown down in the great November gale."
TOLVET [tolvit] sb. (See Tovet.)
1522. — "Paied for vj busshellis and a tolvettvi grene
pesen, price the bushell, xd., sm., vs. vd."
— Accounts of St. Johris Hospital, Canterbury.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 177
TOM, sb. A cock.
" I bought a torn and three hens off old farmer Chucks
last spring, but I never made but very little out of 'em
before the old fox came round."
TOMMY [tonri] sb. A workman's luncheon.
" One of these here pikeys come along and stole
my tommy, he did."
TON [tun], TUN, sb. The great vat wherein the beer is
worked before it is tunned, or cleansed.
" Item in the brewhouss, two brewinge towns, one
coolbacke, two fornisses, fower tubes with other
lumber, vj11. xiij8."
— Boteler Inventory, in Memorials of Eastry, p. 228.
TONGUE [tung] (i) vb. To use the tongue in a pert, saucy
and rude way ; to scold ; to abuse.
" Sarcy little hussey ! I told her sl^e shouldn't go
out no more of evenings ; and fancy, she just did turn
round and tongue me, she did."
TONGUE [tung] (2) sb. The projecting part of the cowl of
an oast, which causes it to turn round when acted on
by the wind.
TOOAD [too-ud] sb. A toad.
TOOAT [too-ut] sb. All ; an entirety.
" The whole tooat av't." (? the total.)
TORF [tauf] sb. Chaff that is raked off the corn, after it
it is threshed, but before it is cleaned. (See Toff.)
TORTOISE [tau-tus] sb. The cuttle-fish. — Folkestone.
T'OTHER DAY [tudlrr dai] sb. The day before yesterday.
A most correct expression, because other, in Early
English, invariably means second, and the day before
yesterday is the second day, reckoning backwards.
It is remarkable that second is the only ordinal
number of French derivation ; before the thirteenth
century it was unknown, and other was used instead
of it.
178 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
TOVET [tovit] sb. Half a bushel. (See Tofet.) Etymolo-
gically, vet is here the Anglo-Saxon/^/^, pi. of fat, a
vessel, a native word now supplanted by the Dutch
word vat. A vat is now used of a large vessel, but the
Anglo-Saxon feet was used of a much smaller one. In
the present case, it evidently meant a vessel containing
a peck. The Middle-English e represents the Anglo-
Saxon O3.
TOVIL [toa*vil] sb. A measure of capacity. This word
looks like a corruption of two-fill, i.e., two fillings of a
given measure.
To-YEAR [tu-yur] adv. This year ; as, to-day is this day.
TRACK [trak] vb. To tread down ; mark out the road ;
as is the case with a snow-covered road, if there has
been much traffic on it. At times, after a heavy fall
of snow, you may hear a person say, " I couldn't get
on, the snow isn't tracked yet."
SS *. ^e fastenings by Wnich
the scythe is secured to its bat.
TREAD [traid, or tred] sb. A wheel-/raz^; a rut ; a track.
Called in Sussex the trade [trard].
TREDDLES [tred-lz] sb. pi. The droppings of sheep.
TREVET [trivit] sb. A trivet ; a three-legged stand
whereon to set a tea-kettle, or saucepan. "As right
as a trevet" because, unless the trivet be placed just
upright, it will lob, or tilt over. Literally, " three feet/'
Compare Tovet, " two vats."
" Ite. in the kitchen, seavin brass kettells . . . two
greedyrons, one trivett with other lumber there, &c."
— Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Eastry, p. 226.
TRILL [tril] vb. To trundle a hoop, &c.
TROLE [troa'l] vb. To trundle a hoop.
TROUBLED TO GO [trub-ld tu goa] phr. Hardly able to
get about and do one's work.
"Many a time he's that bad, he's troubled to go."
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 179
TRUCKLEBED [truk-1-bed] sb. A bed that runs on truckles,
or low-running wheels, i.e., castors, and is thus easily
run in and out under another and higher bed. In
the day-time the trucklebed was stowed away under
the chief bed in the room, and at night was occupied
by a servant or child. Hence, the word is used con-
temptuously of an underling or low bred person.
" Yees, ya shall pay, ya trucklebed j
Ya bufHe-headed ass ;
I know 'twas ya grate pumpkin 'ead,
First blunnered thro' de glass."
— Dick and Sat, st. 81.
TRUG [trug], TRUGG, sb. A kind of basket, much used by
gardeners and others ; formed of thin slivers of wood,
with a fixed handle in the middle, somewhat like the
handle of a bucket, and with studs at the bottom to
keep it steady. (See also Sliver, Stud.} Etymolo-
gically connected with (or the same word as) trough.
" Ite. in the mylke house, a bryne stock, a table,
two dowsin of bowles and truggs, three milk keelars,
two charnes, a mustard quearne with other lumber,
then prized at xxs."
— Boteler Inventory, Memorials of Eastry, p. 226. (See also p. 228.)
TRULL [trul] vb. To trundle. (See Trole.)
TRUSH [trush] sb. A hassock for kneeling in church.
In the old Churchwardens' Accounts for the parish of
Eastry the entry frequently occurs, " To mending the
trushes;" and the word is still occasionally used.
TRUSSEL, sb. A tressel ; a barrel-stand.
TRY [trei] vb. To boil down lard. (See Browsells.)
TUG [tug] sb. The body of a wagon, without the hutch ;
a carriage for conveying timber, bobbins, &c. (See
Bobbin-tug.)
TUKE [teuk] sb. The redshank; a very common shore-
bird on the Kentish saltings. — Sittingbourne.
TUMBLING-BAY [tumb-ling-bai] sb. A cascade, or small
waterfall.— West Kent.
i8o Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
TUMP [tump] sb. A small hillock ; a mound, or irregular
rising on the surface of the pastures. Often, indeed
nearly always, an old ant-hill. — Sittingbourne.
" Ye caan't make nothin' o' mowin', all de while
dere's so many o' dese here gurt old tumps all over
de plaace."
TUNNEL [turrl] sb. A funnel for pouring liquids from one
vessel into another.
TURN-WRIST-PLOUG [pro., turn-rees-plou] sb. A Kentish
plough, with a movable mould-board.
TUSSOME [tus-um] sb. Hemp or flax. — West Kent.
TWANG, sb. A peculiar flavour ; a strong, rank, unpleasant
taste ; elsewhere called a tack.
TWEAN- WHILES [twee*n-weilz] adv. Between times.
TWIBIL [twei-bil] sb. A hook for cutting beans. Literally,
"double bill."
TWINGE [twinj] sb. An ear- wig.
TWINK, sb. A sharp, shrewish, grasping woman.
" Ye've got to get up middlin' early if ye be goin'
to best her, I can tell ye ; proper old twinky an' no
mistake ! "
TWITTER [twit-r] (i) vb. To twit ; to tease.
TWITTER [twit-r] (2) sb. A state of agitation ; a flutter.
Thus, " I'm all in a twitter" means, I'm all in a flutter,
or fluster.
Two [too] adj. "My husband will be two men," i.e., so
different from himself; so angry, that he won't seem
to be the same person.
TYE [tei], TIE, sb. An extensive common pasture. Such
as Waldershare Tie ; Old Wives' Lees Tie.
I5I0._« A croft callid Wolnes Tie."
— MS. Accounts^ St. Dunstaris^ Canterbury.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 181
u.
UMBLEMENT [umb-ulmunt] sb. Complement.
" Throw in another dozen to make up the umblement."
— Hundred of Hoo.
UNACCOUNTABLE [mrukount'ubl] adj. and adv. Wonder-
ful; excessive; exceedingly.
" You've been gone an unaccountable time, mate."
UNCLE-OWL [unk-1-oul] sb. A species of skate. — Folkestone.
UNCOUS [un*kus] adj. Melancholy. (See Unky.}
UNDERNEAD [mrdurneed*] prep. Underneath.
" Den on we went, and soon we see
A brick place where instead
A bein' at top as't ought to be,
De road ran undernead? — Dick and Sal, st. 46.
UNDER -SPINDLED [und-r-spind-ld] adj. Under -manned
and under-horsed, used of a man who has not sufficient
capital or stock to carry on his business.
In Sussex the expression is under -exed; ex being
an axle.
UNFORBIDDEN [un*furbid*n] adj. Uncorrected ; spoiled ;
unrestrained ; troublesome.
" He's an unforbidden young mortal."
UNGAIN [ungain-] adj. Awkward; clumsy; loutish.
" He's so very ungain''
UNHANDY [unhand- i] adj. Inconvenient; difficult of access.
"Ya see 'tis a werry unhandy pleace, so fur away
fro' shops."
UNKY [un-ki] adj. Lonely; solitary; melancholy. (See
" Don't you feel a bit unky otherwhile, livin' down
here all alone, without ne'er a neighbour nor no one
to come anigh ? "
1 82 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
UNLEVEL [unlevl] adj. Uneven ; rough.
UNLUCKY [unluk-i] adj. Mischievous.
"That child's terr'ble unhtcky surelye ! He's always
sum'ers or 'nother, and into somethinV
UNTHRUM [unthrunr] adj. Awkward ; unhandy.
UPGROWN [up'groan] adj. Grown up. " He must be as
old as that, because he's got upgrown daughters." (See
Foreright^) — East Kent.
UPSET [upset-] vb. To scold.
" I upset her pretty much o' Sunday mornin', for she
kep' messin' about till she got too late for church."
UPSETTING [upset-in] sb. A scolding.
" His missus give him a good upsettiri, that she did."
UPSTAND [up-stand] vb. To stand up.
" That the members shall address the chair and speak
Upstanding." —Rules of Eastry Cottage Gardeners' Club.
UPSTANDS [up-standz] sb. pi. Live trees or bushes cut
breast high to serve as marks for boundaries of
parishes, estates, &c.
UPWARD [up-wurd] adj. The wind is said to be upward
when it is in the north, and downward when it is in the
south. The north is generally esteemed the highest
part of the world.
Cczsar's Commentary, iv. 28, where "inferiorem partem
insulae " means the south of the island ; and again,
v. 13, " inferior ad meridiem spectat."
URGE [urj] vb. To annoy ; aggravate ; provoke.
" It urges me to see anyone go on so."
USE [euz] (i) vb. To work or till land ; to hire it.
" Who uses this farm r " " He uses it himself," i.e.,
he keeps it in his own hands and farms it himself.
To use money is to borrow it.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 1 83
USE [euz] (2) vb. To accustom.
" It's what you use 'em to when they be young/'
USE-POLE [euz-poal] sb. A pole thicker than a hop-pole,
and strong enough to use for other purposes.
v.
VALE [vail] sb. A water-rat ; called elsewhere a vole.
VAMPISHNESS, sb. Frowardness ; perverseness.
VAST [vaast] adv. Very ; exceedingly. This word is often
used of small things : " It is vast little." " Others of
vastly less importance."
VIGILOUS [vij'ilus] adj. Vicious, of a horse; also fierce,
angry.
VILL-HORSE [vil-urs] sb. The horse that goes in the rods,
shafts, or thills. The #z7/-horse is the same as the
fill-horse, or thill-horse.
VINE [vein] sb. A general name applied to the climbing
bine of several plants, which are distinguished from
one another by the specific name being prefixed, as
the grape-vme, hop-vme, &c. (See Grape-vine^)
w.
WACKER [wak-ur] (i) adj. Active "He's a wacker little
chap." (2) Angry; wrathful.
" Muster Jarret was wacker at his bull getting into
the turnip field."
Anglo-Saxon, wacor, vigilant.
184 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
WAG [wag] vb. To stir ; to move. The phrase, " The dog
wags his tail," is common enough everywhere ; but to
speak of wagging the whole body, the head, the tongue,
or the hand, is local. " There he goes wagging along/'
" Everyone that passeth by her shall hiss and wag
his hand/' — Zeph. ii. 15.
WAI [wai] vb. Word of command to a cart-horse, meaning
" Come to the near side." — East Kent.
WAISTCOAT [wes-kut] sb. This word, now restricted to a
man's garment, was formerly given to an under-coat
worn by either sex. (See Petticoat?)
" Item more paid (for Thomasine Millians) to George
Hutchenson for iiij. yeardes of clothe to make her a
petticote and a waste cote, at ij8. vjd. the yarde . . . xs."
— Sandwich Book of Orphans.
WAKERELL [wai-kur'ul or wak-ur'ul] BELL, sb. The waking
bell, or bell for calling people in the early morning,
still rung at Sandwich at five a.m.
" Item for a rope for the wakerrel .... iijd/'
— Churchwardens' Accounts, St. Dunstarfs, Canterbury, A.D. 1485.
It was otherwise called the Wagerell bell, and the
Wakeryng bell.
WALE [wail] sb. A tumour or large swelling.
WALLER'D [wol-urd] sb. The wind.
" De Folkston gals looked houghed black,
Old waller 'd roar'd about." — Dick and Sal, st. 23.
And again —
" De sun and sky begun look bright,
An waller'd stopt his hissinV — St 25.
WAN [wan] sb. A wagon, not necessarily a van, as
generally understood. — Sittingbourne.
WANKLE [wonk-1] adj. Sickly ; generally applied to a
child. A man said of his wife that she was " a poor
wankle creature."
WAPS [wops] sb. A wasp. So haps for hasp, &c.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 185
WARP [waup] sb. Four things of any kind ; as a warp of
herrings.
WARPS [waups] sb. pi. Distinct pieces of ploughed land
separated by the furrows.
WARP-UP [wau-p-up] vb. To plough land in warps, i.e.,
with ten, twelve or more ridges, on each side of which
a furrow is left to carry off the water.
WAR WAPS [waurwops] phr. Look out ; beware.
WASH [wosh] (i) sb. A basket used at Whitstable for
measuring whelks, and containing about half a prickle,
or ten strikes of oysters. Amongst the rates and dues
of Margate Pier, Lewis gives, "For every wash of
oysters, 3d." A prickle is twenty strikes, a strike is
four bushels.
WASH [wosh] (2), WASH -WAY [wosh-wai] sb. Narrow
paths cut in the woods to make the cants in a woodfall.
A fall of ten acres would probably be washed into six
or seven cants.
" You've no call to follow the main-track ; keep
down this here wash -way for about ten rods and
you'll come right agin him."
WASH [wosh] (3) vb. To mark out with wash-ways.
WASTES [wai-sts] vb. Waste lands.
WATER -BURN [waa-tur-burn] sb. The phosphorescent
appearance of the sea.
It is much disliked by the herring-yawlers, as the
cunning fish can then see the net and will not go into
it. — F. Auckland.
WATER-GALLS [waa-tur-gaulz] sb. pi. Jelly-fish. — Dover.
WATER-TABLE [waa-tur-tarbl] sb. The little ditch at the
side of the road, or a small indentation across a road,
for carrying off the water.
WATTLE [wot-1] sb. A hurdle made like a gate, of split
wood, used for folding sheep.
1 86 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
WATTLE-GATES [wot-1-gaits] sb. pi. Same as the above.
WAUR [waur], WAURE, sb. Sea-wrack ; a marine plant
(Zostera marina], much used for manure. (See Oare.)
Anglo-Saxon, war, waar. "Alga, waar ;" Corpus
Glossary (8th century).
WAX-DOLLS [waks-dolz] sb. Fumaria officinalis. So called
from the doll-like appearance of its little flowers.
WAY-GRASS, .y$. A weed; knot-grass. Polygonum aviculare.
WEALD [wee*ld] sb. The Weald of Kent is the wood, or
wooded part of Kent, which was formerly covered with
forest, but is now for the most part cultivated.
WEASEL-SNOUT [wee-zl-snout] sb. The toad flax. Linaria
vulgaris.
WEATHER, sb. Bad weather.
"'Tis middlin' fine now; but there's eversomuch
weather coming up."
WELFING [welf-in] sb. The covering of a drain.
WELTER [welt'ur] vb. To wither.
" The leaves begin to welter!'
WENCE [wens'] sb. The centre of cross-roads. (See Went.)
WENT [went] sb. A way. At Ightham, Seven Vents is the
name of a place where seven roads meet. The plural
of wents is frequently pronounced wens. (See above.)
Middle-English, went, a way ; from the verb to wend.
WERR [wur] adv. Very ; " werr like/' very like.
WERRY [werr'i] sb. A weir. The Abbot of Faversham
owned the weir in the sea at Seasalter. It was called
Snowt-werry in the time of Hen. VII., afterwards
Snowt-weir.
WET [wet] vb. "To wet the tea" is to pour a little boiling
water on the tea ; this is allowed to stand for a time
before the teapot is filled up. " To wet a pudding" is
to mix it ; so the baker is said to wet his bread when
he moistens his flour.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 187
WET-FOOT [wet-fuot] adj. To get the feet wet or damp.
" He came home wet-foot, and set there wid'out
taking off his boots, and so he caught his death."
WHAT-FOR [wot-fur] inter, adv. What kind or sort of?
" What-for day is't ? " i.e., what kind of day is it ?
" What-for a man is he ? "
" What-for a lot of cherries is there this year ? "
So in German, was fur.
WHAT'N, inter, pron. What sort ; what kind.
" Then you can see what'n a bug he be ? "
Short for what kin, i.e., what kind.
WHATSAY [wot-sai] interog. phr. Contracted from "What
do you say ? " Generally used in Kent and Sussex
before answering a question, even when the question
is perfectly well understood.
WHEAT-KIN [wit-kin] sb. A supper for the servants and
work-folks, when the wheat is all cut ; the feast at the
end of hop-picking is called a hop-kin.
WHEAT-SHEAR [wee-t-sheer] vb. To cut wheat.
WHER [wur] conj. Whether.
" I ax'd 'im wher he would or not, an he sed, * No.' '
WHICKET FOR WHACKET [wik-it fur wak-it]. A phrase ;
meaning the same as " Tit for tat."
WHIFFLE [wif-1], WIFFLE, vb. To come in gusts ; to blow
hither and thither ; to turn and curl about.
" 'Tis de wind whiffles it all o' one side/'
WHILK [wilk] (i), WHITTER [wit'ur] vb. To complain; to
mutter. (See Winder, Witter.}
" He went off whilkin when I couldn't give him
nothing."
WHIP-STICKS [wip-stiks] adv. Quickly ; directly.
1 88 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
WHIRTLE-BERRIES [wurH-berr'iz] sb. pi. Bilberries.
WHISPERING THE DEATH OF A PERSON. When the master
or mistress dies, or other member of a family, where
bees are kept, it is customary (in Eastry) for some one
to go to the hives and whisper to the bees, that the
person is dead. The same custom is observed with
regard to cattle and sheep, as a writer in Notes and
Queries thus notices : " For many years Mr. Upton
resided at Dartford Priory, and farmed the lands
adjacent. In 1868, he died. After his decease, his
son told the writer (A. J. Dunkin) that the herds-
men went to each of the kine and sheep, and
whispered to them that their old master was dead/'
WHIST [wist] adj. Quiet ; silent.
" Stand whist ! I can hear de ole rabbut ! "
1593. — " When all were whist, King Edward thus bespoke,
' Hail Windsor, where I sometimes tooke delight
To hawke and hunt, and backe the proudest horse.'"
— Peele: Honor of the Garter.
WHITE-THROAT [weit-throa-t] sb. The bird so called is
rarely spoken of without the adjective jolly being
prefixed, e.g., "There's a jolly white-throat!'
WRITTEN [wit-n] sb. The wayfaring tree. Viburnum
lantana.
WHORLBARROW [wurl-bar]. Wheelbarrow. — West Kent.
WHOOT [woot] vb. Word of command to a cart-horse,
" Go to the off side."—£ast Kent.
WIBBER [wib-ur] (i) sb. A wheelbarrow. Short for wilber,
a contraction of wheelbarrow.
WIBBER [wib'ur] (2) vb. To use a wibber.
" I wibber 'd out a wMerfall."
WlD [wid] prep. With. " I'll be void ye in a minnit,"
e.g., I will be with you in a minute. So widout, for
without.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 189
WlFF [wif] sb. A with, withy or bond, for binding fagots.
Formerly only the large kind of fagot, which went by
the name of kiln-bush, was bound with two wiffs, other
smaller kinds with one. But now, as a rule, all fagots
are tied up with two wiffs.
WIG [wig] vb. To anticipate ; over-reach ; balk ; cheat.
WIK [wik] sb. A week.
" He'll have been gone a wik, come Monday."
WlLLjlLL [wil-jil] sb. An hermaphrodite.
WILK [wil-k] sb. A periwinkle. (Anglo-Saxon, wiloc.)
WILLOW-GULL [wil-oagul-] sb. The Salix caprea ; so called
from the down upon it resembling the yellow down of
a young gosling, which they call in Kent a gull.
WIMBLE [wimb-1], WYMBYLL, sb. (i.) An instrument for
boring holes, turned by a handle ; still used by wattle
makers.
1533. — "For a stoke [stock, i.e., handle] for a nayle
wymbyll. ' ' —A ccounts of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
(ii.) An instrument for twisting the bonds with which
trusses of hay are bound up.
WIND [weind] vb. To twist; to warp. Thus, a board
shrunk or swelled, so as to be warped, is said to wind ;
and when it is brought straight again it is said to be
" out of winding." So a poor old man in the Eastry
Union Workhouse, who suffered much from rheuma-
tism, once told me, " I had a terrible poor night surely,
I did turn and wind so."
WIND -BIBBER [wind-bib-r] sb. A haw. The fruit of
Cratczgus oxyacantha.
WINDER [wind-r] (i) vb. To whimper. (See Whelk, Witter.}
" 'Twas downright miserable to hear him keep all on
windering soonsever he come down of a morning, cos
he'd got to go to school/'
i go Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
WINDER (2) sb. A widgeon.
WINDROW [wind-roa] sb. Sheaves of corn set up in a row,
one against another, that the wind may blow betwixt
them ; or a row of grass thrown up lightly for the same
purpose in haymaking.
WINTER-PROUD, adj. Said of corn which is too forward
for the season in a mild winter.
WIPS [wips] sb., for wisp ; like waps for wasp. (Middle-
English, wips, a wisp.) Anything bundled up or
carelessly thrown up on a heap ; as, " The cloaths
lie in a wips" i.e., tumbled, in disorder. The spelling
wips occurs in the Rawlinson MS. of Piers the Plowman,
B. v. 351, foot note. (See Waps, Haps.}
WIRE-WEED, sb. The common knotgrass. Polygonum
aviculare.
WITTER [wit*ur] vb. To murmur; to complain; to wimper;
to make a peevish, fretting noise. (See Whilk, Winder?)
WITTERY [wit-ur'i] adj. Peevish ; fretful.
WITTY [wiH] adj. Well-informed ; knowing ; cunning ;
skilful.
" He's a very witty man, I can tell ye/'
" I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out know-
ledge of witty inventions/' — Prov. viii. 12.
WiWER [wivur] vb. To quiver ; to shake.
WODMOLE, otherwise WOADMEL, sb. A rough material
made of coarse wool.
" . . . . One yeard of greene wodmole for an aprune
at xijd." — Sandwich Book of Orphans.
WONLY [won-li] adv. Only.
WOOD-FALL, sb. A tract of underwood marked out to be
cut. The underwood for hop-poles is felled about
every twelve years.
WOOD-NOGGIN, sb. A term applied to half-timbered houses.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 191
WOOD -REEVE [wuod-reev] sb. (i.) A woodman; wood-
cutter; forester; an officer charged with the care
and management of woods.
(ii.) Sometimes, in North Kent, men who buy lots
of standing wood and cut it down to sell for firing,
are also called wood-reeves. (See Wood-shuck below.)
1643. — The following extract uses the word in the
first sense : " Spent upon our wood reefe for coming to
give vs notice of some abuses done to our wood/'
— MS. Accounts, St. John's Hospital, Canterbury.
WOOD-SHUCK [wuod-shuk] sb. A buyer of felled wood.
(See above.)
WORKISH [wurk-ish] adj. Bent upon work ; industrious.
" He's a workish sort of a chap."
WORKY-DAY [wurk-i-dai] sb. Work -day, in contradis-
tinction to Sunday.
" He's gone all weathers, Sunday and worky-day,
these seven years/'
WORM [wirm] sb. A corkscrew.
WORRIT [wurr'it] vb. To worry.
" He's been a worritin* about all the mornin' because
he couldn't find that there worm." (See above.)
WORST [wirst] vb. To defeat; to get the better of; to
overthrow.
"He's worsted hisself this time, I fancy, through
along o' bein' so woundy clever."
WOUNDY [wou-ndi] adv. Very.
WREEST [reest] sb. That part of a Kentish plough which
takes on and off, and on which it rests against the land
ploughed up. (See Rice.)
WRAXEN [rak-sun], WREXON [rek-sun] vb. To grow out
of bounds (said of weeds); to infect; to taint with
disease.
192 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
WRING [ring] (i) vb. To blister.
" I wrung my shoulder with carrying a twenty-stale
ladder/'
WRING [ring] (2) vb. To be wet.
WRONGS [rongz] TO, adv. Out of order. "There's not
much to wrongs." The antithetical phrase to rights is
common enough, but to wrongs is rarely heard out of
Kent.
WRONGTAKE [rong-taik] vb. To misunderstand a person.
Wux [wut] vb. Word of command to a cart-horse to stop.
— East Kent.
Wuxs [wuts] sb.pl. Oats.
T.
YAFFLE [yafl] (i) sb. The green woodpecker.
YAFFLE [yaf-1] (2) vb. (See Yoffle.)
YAR [yaar], YARE [yair] adj. Brisk ; nimble ; swift.
" Their ships are yare; yours, heavy."
— Antony and Cleopatra, act iii. sc. 7.
YARD [yaa*d] sb. A rood ; a measure of land. " A yard
of wood" costs 6s. 8d., in the Old Parish Book of Wye.
(See Lambarde's Perambulation, p. 257.)
YAUGH [yau-1] adj. Dirty; nasty; filthy.
YAWL [yau-1] vb. When the herrings come off Folkestone
the boats all go out with their fleet of nets "yowling"
i.e., the nets are placed in the water and allowed to
drive along with the tide, the men occasionally taking
an anxious look at them, as it is a lottery whether they
come across the fish or not. — F. Buckland.
Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect. 193
YAWNUP [yairnup] sb. A lazy and uncouth fellow.
YAX [yaks] sb. The axle-tree. Anglo-Saxon, eax,
pronounced nearly the same [yaaks].
YELD [yeld] vb. To yield.
" 'Tis a very good yelding field though it is so cledgy."
YELLOW -BOTTLE [yel-oa-bot-1] sb. The corn marigold.
Chrysanthemum segetum,
YENLADE [yen-laid] or YENLET, sb. This word is applied
by Lewis to the north and south mouths of the estuary
of the Wantsum, which made Thanet an island. The
Anglo-Saxon, gen-ldd, means a discharging of a river
into the sea, or of a smaller river into a larger one.
(See Beda, Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 8.)
YEOMAN [yoa-mun] sb. A person farming his own estate.
" A knight of Cales [i.e., Cadiz],
A gentleman of Wales,
And a laird of the north countree;
A yeoman of Kent
With his yearly rent
Will buy 'em out all three." —Kentish Proverbs.
YET [yet] adv. Used redundantly, as " neither this nor
yet that/'
YET-NA [yet-na] adv. Yet ; as " he is not come home y et-
na." Here the suffix na is due to the preceding not.
Negatives were often thus reduplicated in Old English.
YEXLE [yex-1] sb. An axle.
YOFFLE [yof-1], YUFFLE [yuf'l] vb. To eat or drink
greedily, so as to make a noise.
" So when we lickt de platters out
An yoffled down de beer ;
I sed to Sal, less walk about,
And try and find de fair." — Dick and Sal, st. 66.
YOKE [yoak] (i) sb. A farm or tract of land of an uncertain
quantity. It answers to the Latin, jugum. Cake's Yoke
is the name of a farm in the parish of Crundale. It
would seem to be such a measure of land as one yoke
of oxen could plough and till.
194 Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect.
YOKE [yoak] (2) sb. The time (eight hours) for a team to
work. Thus, when the horses go out in the early
morning and work all day till about two o'clock, and
then come home to their stable, they make what is
called "one yoke;" but sometimes, when there is a
great pressure of work, they will make "two yokes"
going out as before and coming home for a bait at ten
o'clock, and then going out for further work at one and
coming home finally at six p.m.
YOKELET, sb. An old name in Kent for a little farm or
manor.
YOUR'N [yeurn] poss. pron. Yours.
YOWL [you*l] vb. To howl.
" Swich sorwe he maketh, that the grate tour
Resouneth of his youling and clamour."
— Chaucer, Knightes Tale, 419.
Farncombe & Co., Printers, Lewes.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
A DICTIONARY
OF
THE SUSSEX DIALECT
AND
COLLECTION OF PROVINCIALISMS
IN USE IN THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX.
BY
W. D. PARISH,
VICAR OF SELMESTON, SUSSEX.
A FEW COPIES STILL REMAIN ON SALE at a REDUCED PRICE,
Bound in Cloth, price 55., Post Free.
LEWES: FARNCOMBE & CO., PUBLISHERS.
SECOND EDITION.
300 pp. demy 8vo, cloth extra, bevelled boards. Price 55., Post Free.
0f am jEtttceste in
WITH
SKETCHES OF SUSSEX CHARACTERS,
REMARKABLE INCIDENTS, &c.
BY CHARLES FLEET,
Author of " Tales and Sketches," " The City Merchant," &c.
CONTENTS :
i. THE SUSSEX DIARISTS. 2. THE SUSSEX IRONMASTERS. 3. THE SUSSEX SMUGGLERS.
4. THE SOUTHDOWN SHEPHERD. $. THE SUSSEX SHEKP-SHEARER.
6. SUSSEX CHARACTERS : The Sussex Cottage Wife, The Old Sussex Radical, The Old Sussex
Tory, The Sussex Country Doctor, Self-Educated Sussex Men, The Last of the Sussex
M.C.'s, The Last of his Kind.
7. THE SUSSEX REGICIDES. 8. SUSSEX TRAGEDIES AND ROMANCES. 9. SUSSEX POETS.
10. SOCIAL CHANGES IN SUSSEX : Servants and their Wages, Sussex Roads, Music in Sussex.
"The contents of the volume are compiled with evident care and diligence, making very
pleasant reading." — Globe. " It speaks well for the Sussex folk that this amusing book has
reached a Second Edition. The paper on 'Sussex Diarists' is a most interesting production."
— Notes and Queries. " We wish someone in every county would do for it what Mr. Fleet has
done for Sussex." — The Graphic.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED.
300 pp. demy 8vo, cloth extra, bevelled boards. Price 55., Post Free.
0f 0ur j9Duest0rs in
BY CHARLES FLEET.
A SECOND AND ENTIRELY NEW SERIES.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.
CONTENTS I
A Noble Sussex Family, the Pelhams ; the Percies in Sussex; the Shirleys of Wiston ;
the Ancestor of the Shelleys, Sir John Hawkwood; Ups and Downs of Sussex Families; the
Sussex Martyrs ; the Quakers in Sussex ; Hermits in Sussex; Race Tracks in Sussex; Royal
Visits to Sussex ; the Great Noble and the Yeoman in Sussex ; Christmas in Sussex in the Olden
Time ; the Knights Templars in Sussex ; Liberty of Speech in Sussex in Past Days; a Sussex
Sedition, an Episode of Brambletye ; Witchcraft in Sussex ; the Antiquity of Brighton as a
Health Resort ; an Institution of the Past.
GLEANINGS IN EAST AND WEST SUSSEX.
Lindfield : Its " Colony," Church, Schools, &c. East Mascalls and its Owners. Midhurst,
Cowdray and Easebourne. Trotton, the Birth-place of Otway. " Up the Arun :" Houghton and
Amberley. "By the Rail" to Pulborough, and "By the River and Road" to Fittleworth.
Bosham : Its Past and Present. Middleton : The Fight of Sea and Land. Pagham and its
Harbour. A Sussex Sporting District: Charlton and Singleton. Cricket in Sussex.
ILLUSTRATIONS.— i. Pelham Monument in St. Michael's Church, Lewes. 2. Burning
the Martyrs before the Star Hotel, Lewes. 3. The Manor House of the Challoners. 4. East
Mascalls : The Road Front. $. East Mascalls : The River Front. 6. A Cottage of " The Colony."
" This is a book eminently 'after our own heart,' and we are glad to have the opportunity
of calling attention to it, and of advising our readers to add it to their literary stores."— The
Reliquary.
FARNCOMBE & CO., LEWES and EASTBOURNE,
AND OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.
PE
1942
P3
1888
Parish, William Douglas
A dictionary of the
Kentish dialect
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