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HOO AH GAT
Holderness Dialect.
Fost efther Ah was wed
we lived i Olbro, me an
mi weyf. We lived iv a
raw of hooses, an Ah was
sadly plagued wi awd
gossapin wimmen. Ivvry
neet as seer as ivver Ah cam
fra
mi
si
wahk. Ah
RID 0' GOSSIPS.
North Jutland Dialect.
Fost etter A war gift,
hoed we i Aalhorre^ mm o
mi kuen. We hoed i en
rai huhs, o A war tit
stent plawed aw gammsl
sladder - kwind. Hwar
natty saa muar . . . A kam
hiem fra mi arhed^ A
fan olti saa manne gammel
kjellinger sladderend i mi
hulls. Mi kuen hand cet
lie dem^ o A heller cet.
Saa, tinker A vi moesjcd,
A well kurer jer, mi toes.
No da, yen natt A komnier
hiem fra mi arhed, o
der war di, trej eller fier
aw dem, lig sladderend
i daren. Sa>a gceer
A lig hen te daren, o
sa^a sto&er A stell.
" No, A sier A er komm^en
ti de feil huhs" A seyer,
0 A lodd som A wild go wier
te de ncest. Be saa oil po me
en lille ti, o sa^
seyer yen aw dem, ^^ Feyl
hulls I hwa my en do?"
**i)e er din huhs, er et
oit ?" " Mi hulls," seyer A,"
Wha' what besteller
1 da i et? A tint olti
A tow de huhs te moe o
mi kuen, m,en de sier (ud te at)
A er feil po et.
De sier ud te at A kan lie
her huhs
We well go ud 0 Ice, yer hd'
et. We well go ud i monn."
heeam
fan ivver si monny awd
baggishes gossapin i mi
hoose. Mah weyf didnt
want em, nor Ah neeather.
•Seeah, thinks Ah ti missen,
A '11 cure yo', mi lasses.
Whahthen,yanneet Ah com
heeam fra mi wahk, an
there they war, three orfower
on em, stannin gossapin
i deear-steead. Seeah Ah
just gans up ti deear, an
Ah steead still.
" Oh, Ah see Ah 've cum'd
ti wrang hoose," Ah says,
an Ah pretended ti gan on
ti next. They all leeakt
at me' a minnit, an then
sez yan on em, "Wrang
hoose ! what d 'ye meean ?"
"This is thy hoose, isn't
it^ "My hoose," says Ah,
" Whah then what business
he' you in it? Ah awlasthowt
Ahteeak this hoose fo' me an
mah weyf, bud it seems
Ah 's wiang (at it).
It seeams you want this
hoose. Then you sail hev it.
We '11 gan oot an let ya hev
it. We '11 gan oot ti morn."
Mah wod, bud didn't they lewk fond, noo. They
bussled oot shahp ; an se ya. Ah niwer had yan on em i
my hoose gossapin ageean as lang as Ah stopt at Olbro."
THE FOLK SPEECH
OP
EAST YORKSHIKE.
BY
JOHN NICHOLSON,
Author of " Folk Moots" " Beacons of East Yorkshire" Etc,
(HON. LIBRARIAN HULL LITERARY CLUB).
London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
Hull : A. Brown and Sons, Satile Street.
Priffield : T. Holderness, " Observer " Office.
1889.
One Hundred Large Paper Copies of this work have been printed,
and can only be obtained of the Author , 33, Leicester Street, Hull.
Post free for Five Shillings.
THOS. HOLDERNESS, PRINTER, DRIFFIELD,
8&U
TO
WILLIAM ANDREWS, Esq., F.R.H.S.,
PRESIDENT OF THE HULL LITERARY CLUB,
(1888-9),
AUTHOR OF " HISTORIC YORKSHIRE," "MODERN YORKSHIRE
POETS," ETC., ETC.,
THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY THE AUTHOR,
AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE
FOR THE KINDLY SYMPATHY AND ENCOURAGEMENT
WHICH HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN TO HIM,
AND WHICH FIRST INDUCED HIM
TO FOLLOW
THE PATH OF LITERATURE.
123
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in 2008 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/folkspeechofeastOOnichrich
FOREWORDS.
The formation of this work has occupied my leisure
moments during the last three years ; and, though the publi-
cation of " Beacons of East Yorkshire " retarded its
completion, it was a means of bringing me into contact with
dialect-speaking people, and thus materially aiding the
present work, which has formed the subject of a lecture
before the Hull Literary Club ; before the members and
friends of the Congregational Mutual Improvement Society,
Driffield ; and at the Royal Institution, Hull, on the after-
noon of Saturday, April the 27th, 1889.
Before the construction of roads and railways, and more
perfect drainage, the towns and villages of East Yorkshire,
especially in the low-lying parts, between the Wolds and the
sea, were isolated and cut off' from communication one with
another, by the boggy marshy state of the country ; and thus
an archaic form of speech has been preserved. You may yet
find an aged person who has never been out of the village
(" toon " he very properly calls it) in which he was born.
Such an one is the very incarnation of the dialect.
The Riding of the Stang (p. 8) was performed on February
18, 19, and 20, 1889, at Hedon, a small ancient borough.
VII. FOREWORDS.
about live miles from Hull. A description of it, and the
nominy used on that occasion, appeared in the local papers.
I have to thank Mr. Thos. Holderness, one of the authors
of the Holderness Glossary, for many suggestions, and for
placing at my disposal his unpublished supplement to that
Glossary; also Mr. Wm. Andrews, F.KH.S., for the loan
of the engraving on p. 7 ; also Mr. W. G. B. Page, Sub-
Librarian, Koyal Institution, Hull, for compiling the
Bibliography ; also Mr. Geo. Lancaster, author of " Legends
of Lowgate," for valuable help and kindly sympathy ; and
numerous friends scattered through the Riding, who have
spared neither time nor trouble in gathering information for
me ; and the delegates of the Clarendon Press for permission
to make extracts from " The York Mystery Plays."
Where requisite, the Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse ^ and Jj,
for " th," have been used ; and, where two numbers occur
together, thus, 260, 143, the first refers to the page and the
second to the line on that page ; or, in the case of Hampole's
Psalter, the first refers to the Psalm or page, and the second
to the verse.
The frontispiece was obtained, through Mr. Thomas
Holderness, from Mr. William Porter, Liverpool, who had
it from a friend in North Jutland.
33, Leicester St, Hull. J. N.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. Page.
Introduction - - - - - 1.
History - . - . . 2.
Antiquity ----- 2.
Danish Influence . - - - 3.
Wealth - - - - - -3.
Force - - - - - 4.
Humour ----- 6.
CHAPTER II.— NOMINIES.
Meaning of . - _ . 7,
Christmas ----- 8.
Stang Riding .... 9,
Bird Tending - - ' - - - 10.
Robin Taking - - - - 10.
Telling Secrets - - - - 11.
New Year - - - - - 11.
Harvest - - - - - 12.
The Thatcher - - - - 12.
The Snail - - - - - 13.
Fortune Telling - - - - 14.
JN'ursery Song - » ir v r 14,
X. CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.— SIMILES.
CHAPTER IV.— BELLICOSE WORDS.
CHAPTER v.— SPECIMENS OF THE DIALECT.
A Stooary o' Bonnick Bogglk - - 32.
Hoo Neddy Kirby was Robbed - - 33.
A Eeast Yorksher Stooary - - 34.
Pahson an Keeal Pot - - — - 35.
Riding the Stang . . . . 38.
A Neet ov Horror - - - - 42.
April Feeal Day . - . . 45.
Part of the First Chapter of Genesis - 47.
CHAPTER VL
Illustrated and Illustrative Glossary - 49.
Additional Examples of the Dialect - - 89.
Bibliography of Dialect Pieces and Publications 97.
Gloss ARiAL Index - - - - lOL
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND OF
WORKS CONSULTED.
Andrews.
Best.
Ok. Bk.
Curs. Mun.
Eng. Acc.
Eng. Mis.
Eng. Prov.
F. Q.
Gam.
Havelok.
H. G.
Lauder.
"Punishments in the Olden Time," by Wm.
Andrews, F.R.H.S. London.
"Rural Economy in Yorkshire, in 164L"
Surtees Society. 1857.
"Two 15th cent. Cookery Books." Editor, T.
Austin, London. 1888.
" Cursor Mundi," a Northumbrian Poem. Editor,
Bev. B. Morris, LL.D. London. 1874-8.
" Historical Outlines of English Accidence," by
Bev. B. Morris, LL.D. London. 1879.
"An Old English Miscellany." Editor, Bev.
B. Morris, LL.D. London. 1872.
"English Proverbs," by W. Carew Hazlett,
London. 1882.
Spenser's "Faerie Queene." Editor, Bev. R.
Morris, LL.D. London. 1879.
"The Tale of Gamelyn." Editor, Bev. W^ W.
Skeat, M.A. Oxford. 1884.
"Havelok, the Dane." Early English Text
Society. Extra Series. London. 1868.
" A Glossary of Words used in Holderness," by
T. Holderness, F. Boss, and B. Stead.
English Dialect Society. London. 1877.
" The Minor Poems of William Lauder." Editor,
F. J. Furnivall, M.A. London. 1870.
XII. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
L. AND D. " Lincolnshire and the Danes," by the Rev. G.
S. Streatfeild, M.A. London. 1884.
Lister. " A Journey to London," by Dr. Martin Lister.
• 1628.
Micro. " Micro-cosmographie," by John Earle. London.
1628.
Per. Rel. Percy's "Relics of Ancient Poetry." Warne,
London. 1880.
P. P. " Piers Plowman." Editor, Rev. W. W. Skeat,
M.A. Oxford. 1881.
Pr. of Con. Hampole's " Pricke of Conscience." Editor, Rev.
R. Morris.
Pr. Tr. Hampole's " Prose Treatises." Editor, Rev. G.
G. Merry, M.A. London. 1866.
PsAL. Hampole's " Psalter." Editor, Rev. H. R.
Bramley, M.A. Oxford. 1884.
R. R. "Ratis Raving." Editor, J. Rawson Lumby,
M.A. London. 1870.
Sh. Cal. Spenser's " Shepheard's Calender." Editor, Rev.
R. Morris, LL.D. London. 1879.
Skeat. "An Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language," by Rev. W. W. Skeat, M.A.
Oxford. 1882,
Spenser. "The Works of Spenser." Globe Edition.
Editor, Rev. R. Monis, LL.D. London. 1879.
Stephens. "Runic Monuments," by Professor George
Stephens. London. 1866.
Wic. Wicliffe's " Bible." Editors, Forshall and Mad-
den. Oxford. 1850.
YorkPl. "York Mystery Plays." Lady Editor, Miss
Lucy Toulmin Smith. Oxford. 1885.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
CHAPTER I.
«
INTRODUCTORY.
The folk speech of East Yorkshire is almost
Introduction, untrodden literary ground. It is not, and has
not been, used much by writers : it is only
spoken, and that by decreasing numbers. Railways,
telegraph, and School Boards — steam, electricity, and
education — are surely killing dialects, even though of late
years, much attention has been directed to their preservation
in Glossaries and dictionaries — perservation in books, as
antiquarian discoveries.
Though our dialect is rich in vigorous words, and is capable
of expressing humour, pathos, sarcasm, and philosophy, in its
own peculiar way, we possess no literature such as is
produced in the West Riding and Lancashire ; and we have
no writers like Ben Preston, John Hartley, or Edwin
Waugh. We have hitherto been restricted to Glossaries,
and to an occasional fugitive piece in the columns of the local
newspapers or magazines.
In East Yorkshire there is only one large town, and that,
being a sea-port, is cosmopolitan, and contains but a small
2 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
percentage of dialect-speaking people, so that, scarcity of
population, and the absence of " touch " between current
literature and the dialect speakers, may be assigned as
probabjie reasons why there is a dearth of dialect literature.
With ten or twelve large, busy, wealthy manufacturing
centres distributed through the Riding, there would doubt-
less be both a demand for, and a supply of, dialectic writings
and publications.
Before the Norman Conquest there were two
History, dialects in England — Northern and Southern.
Both these dialects were greatly affected where
they came into contact with the Midland dialect, which, rising
into prominence after the Norman Conquest, has ultimately
become our standard English. Had York become the
metropolis, instead of London, standard English would have
been different, in many things, to what it is now.
The Northern dialect was spoken in Yorkshire, Durham,
Northumberland and the Lowlands of Scotland ; and the
folk speech of East Yorkshire presents characteristics which
were marks of the old Northern dialect, most particularly in
the inflection of the verb, present indicative singular —
Northern 1st pers hope or hopes. East Biding (ah) hooap-es
„ 2nd ,, hop es „ (thoo) hooap-es
„ 3rd ,, hop es „ (he) hooap-es
also in the present indicative plural ; for the Northern
dialect had such forms as — kinges rides ; fisches etes ; while
an East Yorkshire man might say " Them as says seeah, tells
a big lee (Jie)." The Northern dialect often had the guttural k
where ch is now found — kaff (chaff) ; kist (chest). And
this accounts for many of the double forms in modern
English, as ditch and dike, pouch and poke, church and kirk,
&c.
The Holderness dialect bears one mark of
Antiquity, antiquity. It has no definite article, while all
other parts of Yorkshire have either the word in
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 3
its entirety, or contracted to "t" (towd man) or "th"
(thowd man) or modified into " d " (he went intid hoose).
Professor Stephens* says that the article is unknown on the
very oldest Runic monuments, as well as in the oldest Scan-
dinavian dialects and the oldest English.
In the dialect strong forms of past tenses abound : thus —
he clam (climbed) three like a squerril. He dhrade (dreaded)
maisther gettin ti knaw. We grov (graved, dug) that piece
o' grund ower last neet. Lads mew (mowed) 12 acre afooar
dinner. It snew (snowed) heavy last neet ; an this mooanin
snaw clov (cleaved, stuck) like cobbler wax.
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire became so much
Danish subicct to the influence of the Northmen that
Influence. "^
they were divided into Wapentakes and Ridings,
as their own country over the sea was. Place names and
personal names (such as Thirkell, Straker, Trigg, Dring,
Lill, Tock, Stott, Beal, Swain, Dougall, Brand, Ross,
Seward) in abundance, prove their ascendancy ; and in East
Yorkshire, the battles of Stamford Bridge certainly, and
Brunanburh probably, were fought.
The frontispiece shews how closely the dialects of East
Yorkshire and Jutland are similar, and the Rev. J. C.
Atkinson f has shewn how much the Cleveland and Jutland
dialects are alike; and the Rev. G. S. Streatfeild's "Lincolnshire
and the Danes," shews what influence they exercise there.
These Northmen have given to standard English such words as
are, bask, scud, &c., and to our dialects beck, garth, gate (way)
middin, rafter, sen or sin (self), flick (flitch) and scores more.
The dialect is rich in meaning and in numbers
Wealth. of words. In modern English, we still retain
" daft" but where are daffen, dafiener, dafienin,
daft-like, dafty, daft-heead, daftish, and daftness.
We still retain gohhle, but where are gob, gobbet (Spenser)
♦ Rujiic MonumentB, p. 30. f Glossary of CleTeland.
4 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
gobbler, gobful, goblock, gob-fight (fight with words from
the mouth) gob-sludge, gob-stick, and gob-meeat]
How good such words as these are : — lowth (lowness)
fulth (fulness) growsome (favourable to growth) laboursome,
healthsome, lithesome, contracted to lissom; betterment,
botherment, oddment, muckment, messment.
Force. Dialectic speech is vigorous and forceful.
(a) A cake is left too long in the hot oven. Is it simply-
burnt or scorched'? Oh, no! Ifs getten Jlre-fanged.
(6) A new hat has been soaked by a heavy shower of
rain. It is not simply spoiled, but "all mense is off it,"
an expression which will compare most favourably with its
modern equivalents — all the gilt is off the ginger-bread, or
the bloom is off the peach.
(c) Said a sympathiser to a friend in trouble " If Ada
dees. Ah think thoo'll sluf thi heart oot." Compare this
with being broken hearted, or eating your heart out.
(d) The word " dowly " is very expressive. If the morn-
ing be wet and miserable, with no sign of amendment, here
is " a dowly leeak oot." A sick person is weak, and lonely,
and sad, and is " varry dowly " when a friend calls. A
lonely, gruesome spot, is a dowly spot, and a dispirited
person is said to be dowly ^ and carrying that look, " hez a
dowly leeak aboot him."
(e) A hawker is a "run-aboot man"; and a morose cross-
grained person is "rusty." A huge roaring fire is "up ti
galli-balk " the balk or beam on which the reckons are hung.
A person who uses filthy language is a " muck-spoot," and a
silly foolish person is an " otther-pooak," that is a poke or
sack of otther (nonsense).
{/) A. piece of fallen wick in a candle flame, which causes
the tallow to run to waste, is a " thief " ; and a thoroughly
forlorn despairing man is said to be a " hing lug ;" while
an old woman who dresses like a young girl, is said to be
" a awd yow i' lamb fashion."
FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 0
(g) What wisdom and philosophy there is in styling one
who spends his whole life in hoarding riches, a "yath
worrum " ; that is an earth worm.
(h) " Heead-wark's as laboursome as backwark " is the
dialectic method of saying that brain work is as hard as
hand work.
(1) As the days in spring time are lengthen-
Humour. ing, they are said to be getting " a cock sthraade
(stride) langer noo."
(2) If, in making dough, the good wife should put too
much water, she has ' ' dhroondid minler " (drowned the miller) ;
and there are those living who had no yeast in their younger
days, but used sour dough to leaven the bread. So Wicliffe
translates the well-known text " Beware of the sour dough
(leaven") of the Pharisees."
(3) Out of the carrs, black timber is often obtained, and
is known as Awd Nooah (old Noah) ; the mouth is a " tatie
thrap " (pOtatoe trap), and the throat is a " reead looan,"
(red lane).
(4) The narrow spaces allowed for eaves droppings,
between houses, is known as a " dog loup " (dog leap or
jump).
(5) Should any one boast of his horsemanship, he is
quietly asked if he can " sit fling ;" and one who is thoroughly
beaten in an argument is sent away " wiv a lop iv his lug,"
(a flea in his ear).
(6) " Well, Jack," said one man to another, "did thahev
a good tuck oot (feast) at your young maisther's wedding"
" Nay, nut mich ! They meead ma tee up pooak afore it
was full."
(7) One who is working in vain, or receiving no pay, is
trying " ti wakken a deead oss " (to awaken a dead horse).
(8) Said one woman to another, "Ah gat sike a callin as
Ah niwer had i' mi life. She called ma ivvery thing at she
thowt bad ! "
6 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
" Why ! nivver mind, lass, what she calls tha, seeah lang as
she disn't call tha ower leeat fo' dinner."
Expressions such as these only skim the surface of the
subject. A whole volume could be devoted to the humour
of the dialect, for a native cannot speak many words without
giving utterance to some droll expression.
In comparing the dialects of Yorkshire, the great differ-
ence which strikes a listener is the vowel sounds, a difference
so marked that a river, a valley, a range of hills, another
township, shall cause or give another pronunciation of the
same word. The majority of words is common to all
northern dialects, but this variation of vowel sounds makes
the dialect of a district almost as different as another
language. Thus, in East Yorkshire, the word home, is
ham in place names, yam in some districts, wom in others ;
hooam in others ; and heeam in others.
Our standard English could be enriched by an infusion of
some of our dialect words — words that are native, expressive,
exact, and elegant — words properly formed, easily under-
stood, having life in them.
Printing has congealed and embalmed words, but there
are dialect words in existence as well worth recording and
preserving as any that have ever appeared in type — dialect
words which would well serve their users, ere they lost their
force, and became as empty shells from which the life had
departed.
SIDING THE STANG.
CHAPTER 11.
NOMINIES.
The word nominy is in use, both in the East and West
Ridings, and its meaning in both is the same. A prepared
oration, or a set speech or form of words, is a nominy. The
town crier and the church clerk use nominies.
It was a village lovefeast, and, of the two speakers, one
was eloquent and fluent, while the other was all hesitation.
The former was said "ti knaw his nominy, like a chotch
clerk ; bud tuther chap hadn't getten his nominy off*, an'
hackered an' stammered aboot, whahl yan cud niak nowt o'
what he said."
8 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
When boys go Christmas boxing they have a set form of
words :
Ah wish ya a Merry Chris'mas and a Happy New Year ;
A pocket full o' munny an' a cellar full o' beer ;
Two fat pigs, an' a new-coved coo ;
Good maisther and misthress hoo di ya do.
Pleease will ya gi' ma a Chris'mas box ?
Should the boy be unable to recite this rhyme, he would
be told he "didn't knaw his nominy," and would be sent
away empty-handed.
The village is in an uproar. The very sparrows, by their
lively movements and twittering, and the rooks, in the
rookery bordering one side of the village green, by
their wheeling flight and incessant cawing and clamouring,
seem to partake of the common excitement. A throng of
men and boys, aye, and women too, some with sticks and
some with old tins and pans, are as eager as bees at
swarming time ; and are talking long and loud, with faces
red with excitement and intensity of purpose. Jack Nelson
has cruelly beaten his wife, a gentle, noble, uncomplaining
woman, always willing to help a neighbour ; bat, alas ! as
is too often the case, united to a wretch, whom to call a
brute, would be to degrade the brute creation.
So now public opinion is roused, and Jack must be taught
that the whole community disapproves of his cruelty, and if
it cannot punish, at least it will endeavour to shame him.
An efiigy of Jack is tied on a stang (a long pole, though most
frequently a ladder) and carried by two men through the vil-
lage, accompanied by a motley crowd, with instruments more
famed for sound than music. A drum is a decided acquisition,
and he who has a horn is envied by those who have nothing
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 9
more melodious than a tin whistle, an old kettle, or their
own hoarse voice. So on the grand procession sweeps, to
halt before Jack's door, when at a given signal all instru-
mental music C?) is hushed, while the vocalists have their
turn. With voices loud and harsh, they break out
Here we cum, wiv a ran a dan dan ;
It's neeather fo'mah cause nor tha cause that Ah ride this stang,
Bud it is fo' Jack Nelson, that Roman-nooased man.
Cum all you good people that live i' this raw,
Ah 'd he' ya tak wahnin, fo' this is oor law ;
If onny o' you husbans your gud wives do bang,
Let em cum to uz, an we '11 ride em the stang.
He beat her, he bang'd her, he bang'd her indeed ;
He bang'd her afooar sha ivver stood need.
He bang'd her wi' neeather stick, steean, iron, nor stower,
Bud he up wiv a three-legged stool an knockt her backwards ower.
Up stairs aback o' bed,
Sike a racket there they led.
Doon stairs, aback o' deer,
He buncht her whahl he meead her sweear.
NoOj'if this good man dizzant mend his manners,
The skin of his hide sal gan ti the tanner's ;
An if the tanner dizzant tan it well,
He sal ride upon a gate spell ;
An if the spell sud happen ti crack,
He sal ride upon the devil's back ;
An if the devil sud happen ti run,
We '11 shut him wiv a wahld-goose gun ;
An if the gun sud happen ti miss fire,
Ah '11 bid ya good neet, for Ah 's oramast tired.
The instrumentalists, jealous at their enforced silence, now
burst in with an united blast ; not a bad representation of
musical chaos. And so, with cheering and loud noise, Jack's
effigy is carried round the village, for three successive nights,
and finally burned in a huge bonfire on the village green.
(Ridden in Hedon, 18th, 19th, and 20th, February, 1889.)
10 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
The time is early autumn ; the scene a field of ripening
turnip seed. Perched on the top of a five-barred gate is a
young urchin, bareheaded and energetic, armed with an
instrument shaped like a capital Y. Across the top of the
Y is str^ched a wire, on which are threaded several pieces
of sheet iron, about two or three inches square. He is a
" bod-fcenther " (bird-tender) ; and, seeing a flock of finches
alighting on the ripening seed, he seizes his rattle, shakes it
vigorously, and raises his young shrill voice into a sing-song
rhyme :
Shoo way, bods ! Shoo way, bods !
Tak a bit, an leeave a bit,
An nivver cum ne ma'e bods.
This is his work ; and he marches about, singing and
shaking his rattle, while the sounds he produces melt away
into the natural surroundings, and help to give tone and
formation to what we know as " country sights and sounds."
In the centre of a village green stands the village cross ;
and on the steps of this cross two or three boys have met.
They have been *' bod-nestin " (bird-nesting) ; and are com-
paring quantities and specimens. Several more boys are
about the place, playing at "merrills," or "Jack steean," or
cricket, with a pile of old tins for a wicket. The harmony
of the whole scene is broken in upon, by one of the bird-
nesters exclaiming, in a loud surprised tone, " Ah tell tha,
it's a robin egg ! " "It isn't ! " " It is ! " and so the dispute
waxes warmer, till all the others leave their sport to become
judges. Theii' decision is that one of the nesters has robbed
a robin's nest — a shameful act, which meets with summary
jurisdiction, whether done ignorantly or not They all draw
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 11
together from him, point their fore fingers at him, hiss and
boo, and finally break into a singing rhythm,
Robin takker, robbin takker,
Sin, sin, sin !
repeated again and again, with increasing volume and
vehemence as others join in the fray, until the offender is
driven away. To effect this, his persecutors not unf requently
take their caps, or knot their handkerchiefs, and *' mob "him
for his cruelty to the bird they protect.
Boys have also a similar punishment for those who "blab"
secrets. Should a boy have betrayed an intended raid on a
neighbour's orchard, or told who chalked a life-size caricature
of the school-master on the door of the school porch, or told
who had rung the church bell in the middle of the night,
after putting a tub full of water before the doors of those
likely to rush out to see what was the matter — such an one
was hissed at, hooted at, pointed at, and finally driven away,
his tormentors singing
Tell pie tit
Laid a egg an' couldn 't sit !
On New Year's day it is a custom at Driffield for the
boys of the town to assemble in the main street, go in
disorderly rout to the shops of the chief tradesmen, and,
standing in the road before each shop, sing out :
Here we are at oor toon end,
A shooldher o mutton, an a croon ti spend.
Hip! hip! hooray I
12 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
until some of the stock of the tradesman is thrown to them
and scrambled for.
The Flambro' children, who run after the vehicles which
convey visitors to and from their picturesque neighbourhood,
have a variation of this rhythm —
Here we are at oor toon end,
A bottle o' gin, and a croon ti spend.
If ya hain't a penny, a hawp'ny '11 do ;
If ya hain't a hawp'ny, God bless you!
Hip! hip! hooray!
The bringing home of the last load of harvest is always a
joyous time. At Bilton, when the harvest is safely
gathered in, the whole village gives itself up to merriment
and festivity. A half -holiday is given to all employees, and
they, one and all, enter into sports and joyous holiday-making.
But now one scarcely ever hears of the harvest song that
used to be sung when the last load entered the well-filled
"stagga'th," and when the younger people "scram 'led" for
nuts and apples. Then, the master, or foreman, entering the
stack-garth at the horses' head, began,
Here we are, as tite (from Ice. tittr, soon) as nip,
We nivver flang ower bud yance iv a grip,
An then oor Jack gav her the slip.
Hip ! hip ! hooray !
[Great effort has been made to get the completion of this
song, but hitherto without success].
The harvest is all gathered in, the "stagga'th" is full of
"pikes " and stacks, and has overflowed into the home field;
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 13
for the crops have been heavy, and there is no sign of ''deaf"
ears in the heavy " shavs." For some days, boys have been
" dhrawin sthreeah " (that is, pulling straw out by handf uls
from the straw stack made last thrashing day) and laying it
straight in bundles ready for the " theeaker," who takes a
bundle at a time, and after spreading some of it as evenly
as possible, " keeams " (combs) it, by means of a " stower "
(staff) having for teeth, long nails driven through it.
The thatcher is busy at work. The only sounds which
break the silence are the occasional strokes of his " keeam,"
as he apostrophises some mislaid straw which is difficult to
get right. By and by there is a sound of children's voices,
playing " heddo " (hide oh !) among the straw, and behind
the stacks and buildings. They soon discover the thatcher,
and their shrill voices are raised to chant a nearly-obsolete
rhythm —
Theaker, theaker, theake a span
Come off yer lather, an' hang yer man.
And should the " theaker" enter into the fun, he would reply
When my raaisther hes thetched all his streeah
He will then cum doon an' hing him that says seeah.*
Two chubby little fellows are going down a country lane.
A heavy shower has just ceased, but there are few pools, for
the parched earth has sucked up the summer rain, and were
it not for the scent-laden air, and the liquid gems that
bedeck every blade of grass and jewel every spray,
you would scarcely know that a welcome down-
pour had cooled the land, for the sun is shining
brightly, and the sky is blue overhead. From the topmost
twig of an ash tree, a blackbird is pouring forth his j9ute-
♦Best's Rural Economy, p. 147.
14 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. '
like notes, and the pauses in his hymn of praise, almost as
eloquent as his song, are filled in by the shriller tones of the
thrush, the lively chatter of the whitethroat, the sweet ditty
of the hedge-sparrow, the chirp of the homely sparrow, or
the tiny squeak of the shrew as it rustles through the wet
grass. High overhead, a skylark is heard but not seen, and
its silvery notes ripple through the warm air, already
becoming misty, the effect of sun and rain.
The boys are seemingly heedless of these things, for their
eyes are bent earthward, and they have difficulty in preventing
their feet from crushing the numerous black slugs that are
crawling over the gi'ound, leaving a slimy track behind them.
These they avoid, but noting a small snail, looking over-
burdened and top heavy by its cream and brown shell, one
of them seizes it by its house, and lifts it up. In an instant
it has drawn within its shell, and squeezes itself tight and
close, as they poke it with a blade of sword-grass. As their
efforts to dislodge it make it withdraw within its shell more
and more, they threaten it thus : —
Sneel, snael, put oot yer hoan (horn) —
Or Ah'll kill yer fay ther and muther te moan (to-morrow) ;
but, being unsuccessful in their repeated efforts to dislodge
it, they throw it away, and then pretend to read their future
occupation or condition by picking off the spikelets of the
flower stalk of the piece of grass. Beginning at the lowest
one, they take off one for each trade or condition —
Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor,
Kich man, poor man, beggar man, thief ;
and that which falls to the last or topmost spikelet represents
what they will be when they are to manhood grown.
Noon has passed, and the baby, after a fretful and wakeful
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 15
night, is only awaking, but bright and refreshed. The nurse
takes him, and, swinging him in her arms, keeps time to the
following nursery rhyme —
Pranky iddity ; pranky aye,
Baby hezn 't been pranked ti-day.
But let ti-morra come ivver sa soon
Baby sail be pranked bi noon.
Except in this simple ditty, the word pi-ank is obsolete.
It is, however, used by Spenser.
" Some prancke (trimmed) their ruffes," (F. Q. Bk. 1. c. 4).
" In sumptuous tire she joy'd herselfe to prank." (F. Q. Bk. 2. c. 2).
Iddity is also obsolete. It is a compound of Old English
dihtan, to dress, deck, or adorn ; and the A.S. prefix ge,
corrupted to "i."
** Soon after them, all dauncing in a row,
The comely virgins came, with girlands dight." (F. Q. Bk.l.c.l2).
" I dighte me derely, and dide me to chirche." (P. P. 1. 12. 963).
SQ^M
^.^ssm
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CHAPTER HL
SIMILES.
Until attention is drawn to the fact, few people seem to
be aware how much simile and metaphor enter into our
common speech. Likeness and figure are familiar in our
mouths as household words ; and, in some respects a simile
is like a proverb, for it often contains the wisdom of many
in the wit of one. Among common East Riding similes
may be mentioned the following : —
As awd as mi tongue, an' a bit awdher then mi teeth.
As black as a craw. Crows in the East Yorkshire are
"grey backs" and rooks are "craws." Hence the simile.
As black as hud. Hud is the hob of a fireplace.
As black as thunner. (thunder).
As blind as a bat. Doubtless so thought because of the
apparently aimless fight of the " fiitter-moose " as it is
frequently called.
As blue as a whetstan. Blue is the Conservative colour in
East Yorkshire, so that to say " He's as blue as a
whetstan" means he is a Conservative. But when anyone
is blue with cold, they are also said to be as blue as a
whetstan. Whetstan is the stone on which tools are
whetted or sharpened.
As blithe as a lennit (linnet).
As brade as narra, like Paddy's plank. The common version
is "as broad as long."
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 17
As brant as a hoose sahd. Brant means steep, upright, high,
as applied to rocks, hills, &c. So, of one who has a high
forehead it is said, " His broo's (brow is) varry hrant."
As one who is vain and conceited holds his head high, so
it is said of such an one " He walks as hrant as a pisimire."
(red ant).
As breet as sun.
As breet as silver.
As breet as a button, or a new pin.
As breet as a bullace. The " bullace " is the fruit of the
wild plum, and only those who know how bright it will
become by being well rubbed can understand and appreci-
ate the simile. — 15th Cent. Cook, Bk., p. 24. *'Take
isiyre bolasse wasshe hem clene, and in wyne boyle hem."
As broon as a berry.
As bug (vain, proud, elated) as a lad wiv a leather knife.
As bug as a dog wi' two tails.
As bug as a cheese.
As cawd (cold) as ice.
As cawd as deeath.
As clean as a whistle. Clean means complete, perfect, or
clear, and refers to the sound made by the whistle, and
not to the whistle itself. Just as in " as clear as a bell,"
the word clear refers to the sound, and not to the instru-
ment causing the sound.
" Lat it boyle wyl, but loke pat it be dine rennyng (clean
running)." (15 cent. Cookery Book, 31, 14.)
As croose (lively) as a loose (louse) or lopp (flea).
As cross as a wasp.
As dark as pick (pitch). Always used adverbially in
connection with "dark."
As dark as bellas. Is this "bell hoose "1 For belfrys are
nearly always dark places.
As deead as a deear nail. In Piers Plowman (P. 14, 1. 185)
18 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
it reads " as ded as a dore tree " where tree means simply
wood.
As deead as a herrin.
As deeaf as a yat stowp (gate post).
As deep as Garrick. This seems to be well-known all over
the country, for it is current in Cornwall and Wales. *
As deep as a well.
As deep as Awd Nick.
As dhry as a cassan. The cassan was a cake of dried cow's
dung, used as fuel. It was formed either by casting the
soft dung against a wall, from which it could easily be
detached when dry ; or it was spread, two or three inches
thick, on a piece of level ground, and cut into squares,
oblongs, diamonds, or other shapes, at the pleasure of the
maker. When dry, it was stacked or stowed away ready
for use. A fire made of cassans and chalk stones burnt
well and long, giving oflf great heat, little smoke, and a
pleasant perfume.
As dhry as a kex. The kex is the dried stalk and seed-pod of
the poppy, &c.
As eeazy as a awd shoe.
As fat as a pig.
As fat as a match dipt at beeath ends. The present paraffin
match has quite superseded the old brimstone match, made
of a splinter of wood about six inches long, and dipped at
both ends. They used to be hawked about by pedlars,
and sold at a halfpenny per bundle of about 20 matches ;
and were only used for ignition by the spark on the tinder,
produced by the flint and steel.
As fast as a thief iv a mill. The mill referred to would be
one of the old wooden wind-mills, built on posts, with only
one way of ingress and egress, and which could easily be
surrounded, thus giving no chance of escape to the thief
therein.
* Ha^litt's English Prorerbs, p. 65,
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 19
As fit as a flea. As ready and eager as a flea for blood.
As flat as a pan-keeak (cake).
As fond (silly, foolish) as a billy gooat. s
As fond as a jackass.
As fond as a geease (goose) stuck i' heead.
As fond as Dick's hat-band, at went roond his hat nahn
tahms (nine times) an then wadn't tee (wouldn't tie).
This, slightly varied in form, appears to be widely
circulated. *
As full as a egg 's full o' meeat.
As full as a tick. A tick is a sheep-louse, which has always
a full bloated appearance.
As good as ivver stepped upo' shoe leather.
As good as they mak em.
As green as gess (grass).
As grey as a badger.
As green as a yalla cabbish (cabbage). This saying is used
when anyone assumes innocence or ignorance. " Take
faire Cabochis, pike hem, and wash hem, and parboyle
hem," (15 cent. Cook. Bk., 69, 32).
As hahd as nails. ) a • t £
A 1, I. J 1. • 1 > ^aid 01 persons.
As hand as a brick. ) ^
As hahd as a grund tooad.
As happy as days is lang.
As heavy as leead.
As holla as a dhnim.
As hungry as a hunther.
As keeal (cool) as a coo-cummer (cucumber).
As keen as musthad.
As kittle as a moose-thrap. For kittle^ see Glossary.
As lang as a fiddle. Said of one who goes about with a long
melancholy face.
As lazy as a hoond.
As leet (light) as a feather.
* Hazlitt's English Proverbs, p, 75.
20 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
As mad as a March hare.
As mucky as muck. Said of dirty roads, &c.
As mischievous as a munkey. Applied to children.
As mony lives as a cat.
As nice as nice could be.
As pawky as yo' pleease. Pawky means impudent.
As peart as a lop. (flea).
As poor as a chotch moose.
As ram as a awd fox. It is this ram or strong foetid smell
which furnishes the " scent " for the fox-hounds.
As reead (red) as a blud puddin.
As reead as rudd. E-udd is a material used by housewives
to ruddle (redden) the brick floors of their kitchens, &c.
As rotten as pash, i.e., as rotten as rotten can be, all
broken up and decayed.
As rough as a badger.
As roond as a ball.
As sackless as a goose. Sackless means witless, foolish.
As scrugded as three iv a bed.
As shahp as a rezzil. A rezzil is a weasel.
As shahp as a needle. Sharp, the opposite of blunt.
As shahp as leetnin. Sharp, the opposite of slow.
As sad as a dumplin. Heavy clayey land is said to be sad.
So Wiclifie (Luke vi., 48.) " It was foundid on a sad
stoon."
As slape as glass, (or ice, or an eel). Boys like ice to be
slape, i.e. slippery, for then they can slither or slide well.
As slaw as a sneel (snail). See Nominies, p. 14.
As small as a sparrable.
As smooth as velvit.
As snog as a bug iv a rug.
As soft as a boiled tonnap (turnip). Said of any person
who easily gives way to tears. A boy who cries for a
little, or who is cowardly, is sure to have this simile
contemptuously thrown at him.
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 21
As soor as a crab. A crab is a wild apple.
As soor as vahjas. Hazlitt's English Proverbs, p. 77, gives
"As sour as verjuice (or vargeis). Leeds. Verjuice is
the juice of crabs or sour apples. "Caste thereto pouder
ginger, vergeous, salt, and a littul safferon." 15th Cent.
Cookery Book, p. 72.
As sthreyt as a bolt. A bolt is an obsolete weapon, a knob-
headed arrow for a cross-bow.
As sthreyt as a yard o' pump wather.
As still as a moose.
As stoddy as a awd yow (ewe).
Many frosts, and many thowes
Make many rotten yowes. — Hazlitt's Proverbs, p. 285.
As stunt as a mule. Stunt means obstinate, dogged, and
is a form of stint.
As reet (right) as a thrivet.
As sweet as hunny.
As sweet as a nut ; where sweet means sound and whole-
some. Thus manure, or land, in good condition, is said
to be sweet
As thick as inkle weeavers.
As threw as Ah's standin here.
As tite as nip. See Nominies, p. 12. In Hampole's Psalter
there are many instances of this word " tite " from Ice.
tittr, soon. A nip is that which is done quickly. To nip
up to a place is to go nimbly. " If thou here noghte als
i^hear not so) tyt i sail noghte leue." (believe) Ps., v., 3.
"He helpis noght als tyte as men." Ps. ix, 22. "Als tite
i cum to deme." (judge) Ps. xi, 5. " For thou gifes noght
als ^i^e as thai wild." Ps., xxiv, 6.
As teeaf as wesh-leather.
As teeaf as rag-lad (gristle). The peculiar cartilage to which
this is applied will split into filaments or " tags," hence it
is termed " teeaf -tags."
22 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
As thick as a booad. Equivalent to " as big as a lump of
chalk."
As thin as a wafer.
As thrang as Throp's wife. Hazlitt's Proverbs, p. 80, gives
" As thrang as Thrap's wife, as hanged hersell i' t' dish-
clout."
As wake as a kitlin. Wake — weak ; kitlin — kitten.
As wet as a dishcloot.
As wet as thack. Thack — thatch.
As white as dhrip. Dhrip, from Ice. dript, a snow-drift.
Said of things.
As white as a mauk. Mauk — maggot. Said of persons.
As yalla as brimston.
He dances aboot like a scoperil (a child's teetotum).
It sticks like a burr. The burr is the round seed of the
hairiff, or goose-grass ; and children, in play, often take a
long spray of it, and lay it on the dress of a companion,
where it will adhere closely. They call it "having a
sweetheart."
Ah sweeats like a brock. The brock is a small gi'een insect
(cicada spumaria) which exudes a white froth-like moisture,
commonly known as " frog-spit."
It stinks like ajummat, i.e. a polecat.
CHAPTER IV.
BELLICOSE WORDS.
The dialect of East Yorkshire contains, in gi'eat abnnd-
ance, words expressing fighting or quarrelling, either by
words, limbs, or instruments. The following list, lengthy
though it be, does not profess to be complete.
Bam, to brow-beat. "Ah couldn't get a wod in neeah
hoo, that lawyer chap hammed ma seeah. "
Bash, to bang, to clash together. " He hashed lad's heead
ageean deear powst."
Baste, (Ice. beysta, to beat), to flog. " Ah '11 haste tha
weel, if thoo dizzn't mahnd what thoo's deeahin."
Bat, a rap, a blow. " Give him a hat ower heead for his
pawk." (impudence).
Bats, a beating. "Thoo '11 get thi hats^ mi lad, when thi
fayther comes yam." (home)
Bell Tinker, a chastisement "Ah '11 gi tha hell tinker
if thoo disn't mahnd what thoo 's aboot ! "
Beltin, a flogging with a belt. Query — Is " bell tinker "
a beltinger ]
Bencillin, a beating. " Tom gav his lad a good hencillin
for steealin taties."
Bray, to flog, to chastise ; literally, to crush. Said a man
who discovered his son cheating and lying, "Ah '11 hray him
black and blew wi besom shaft." "Take almaundys and
24 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
blaunche Jbem pan hray hem in a mortere." (15th Cent.
Cookery Book, p. '30, 1. 10.)
Tone boy with a brande
Brayed me full well.— York -PL, 259, 143.
Bunch, (1) to kick. "Bunch him, Ned; he sed thoo
was a feeal;" (2) a kick. "He ga' ma a hunch ower mi
leg." " Ah's nut boon ti he'mah lad hincht ahoot like that;
Ah '11 tak him away."
It was an assault case at the Driffield Police Court :
Magistrate, (to Plaintiff) : Well, my good woman, what
did she do 1
Plaintiff (indignantly) : Deeah ? Why ! sha clooted mi
heead, rove mi cap, lugged mi hair, dhragged ma doon, an
huncht ma when Ah was doon.
Magistrate (piteously and amazedly) to Clerk : What did
she say'?
Clerk (slowly and decisively) : She says the defendant
clooted her heead, rove her cap, lugged her hair, dhragged
her doon, an buncht her when sha was doon.
As he ended the court revelled in laughter for a short time.
Said a labourer, to a man who wished to cross a field,
" Y'u can gan across that clooase, only mahnd an deean't
hunch tonnaps up."
Bung up, to close as with a hung. " Bung his ees up for
him, he desahves it."
Bussel, to drive away angrily. " Noo, away wi y'u ; or
Ah '11 hussle ya off i' quick sticks."
Callitin-Boot, a wordy quarrel.
Cawk, to flog. Hence " cawkin " a flogging.
Catch it, to meet with punishment. " Thoo 's gannin ti
catch it, mi lad."
Cherrup, a sharp blow. "Ah '11 gie tha a ch&rrup ower
lug, an then thoo '11 mebby think o' what thoo's tell'd."
Chin Chopper, a blow on the jaw or under the chin.
Chip, a slight quarrel. " We 've nivver had a chip sin we
wer wed."
FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 26
Clap, (Ice., klappa, to pat) a stroke with the flat hand, or
some broad instrument, so that a noise is made bj the
stroke. " Clap his lugs for him."
Clash, a violent knock against a hard substance. " Bob
clasht Jack's heead an wall tegither."
Cloot, (Ice. klutr — rag) to strike as with a cloth — " Cloot
him weel."
Crawk, a knock on the head. "He gat sike a craxvk wi
cunstuble's staff."
Crack, a stunning blow. "Ah fetched him a crack"
Cob, a kick with the knee, instead of the foot.
Cuff, literally, a blow with the cuff or fore arm ; most
frequently on the head.
Dab, a stroke in the face. "Jack gav him a dah iv his
ee.
Daffener, a stunning blow. " Ah ga ratten a daffener wi
mi speead, an then Ah killed it." Used also as a verb j " He
daffen^d it, afooar he killed it.
Dandher, literally a blow of such force as to cause shak-
ing ; for " dandhers " is a shivering fit ; and " dandhering "
is trembling. "Ah gav him a left-handed dandher^ an doon
he went."
Dhrissin, (dressing) — a flogging. " Ah '11 gi tha a good
dhrissin doon.'
Dhrop, to knock down with the fist. " Behave thisen, or
Ah '11 dhrop tha." (Ice. drepe, a blow). Also used to threaten
a flogging. "If tha dissn't dhrop it (give up) Ah '11 dhrop
thoo."
Dhrub, to flog. " He '11 get weel dhrubbedy an sahve him
reet."
Differ, a wordy quarrel. " Ah heeahd tell you 'd had a
differin boot (bout) ; bud, whativver meead ya differ ?
Dig, to poke with a stick, &c. " He ga' ma a dig i' ribs,
an its as sare as can be."
Ding or Deng, (Ice. dengja, to hammer) " He du7ig ma
26 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
doon." Prof. Skeat (Ety. Dicty.) describes ding as a true
English strong verb, though not found in A.S. In the
York Mystery Plays, 10, 30, we have
« " Dyng Jam doune
Tylle aU be dede."
Dust, (Ice. dustra, to tilt, fight — Cleasby, Page 109) a
scolding, a quarrel or fight. To " kick up a dust " is to create
a disturbance, while to have your jacket " dusted " is to be
well flogged with a stick, leaving not much dust in your
garments.
Esh, so called from the esh (ash) plant being the instru-
ment used by the castigator.
Feeat, to foot, to kick. ^^ Feeat him."
Fell, a knock-down blow. " If tha dissn't mahnd (take
care) A.h sail be givin tha a. Jell inoo." (soon).
Fetch, to deliver a blow. " Ah fetcht him a crack ower
heead, an that sattel'd him."
Fillip, a quick stinging blow.
Fisty Cuffs, a stand-up fight.
Gob-Fight, literally a mouth fight. A wordy quarrel.
Hammer, to flog severely with some instrument. Next
tahm he diz it, Ah '11 Ihammer him weel.
Haze, to beat. (Ice. ausa, to abuse or scold. "Line, and the
Danes," p. 336.) Hence "hazing," a beating, a chastisement.
Hezzle, to flog, as with a hezzle (hazel) rod. " If Ah catch
tha, mi lad. Ah '11 hezzle thi hide fo' tha."
Hiding, a flogging on the hide, or back. " Ah 's feeard mi
fayther'll gi ma a good hidin."
Hod, a punishment, a flogging. " Ah '11 gi tha sum hod
afooar lang."
Hum, to beat or flog, also a punishment inflicted by boys
on an obstinate player. They lug (pull) his hair, or strike
him with their caps, saying " Hum, hum, hum,'* long drawn
out. Such pulling or striking being continued until their
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 27
leader cries out "Off 1" when all must at once desist, or be
subject to a like punishment themselves.
Jowl, to knock together. " None jangill nor jolle at my
gate." York PI., 307, U. "Ah '11 jowl thi heead an wall
tegither."
Knap, (1) a slight blow; (2) to receive punishment
"Thoo'll knap it"
Lam, to beat. (Ice. lemja). " Lam intiv him."
Leather, sometimes " lather " (Ice. lau^rungr), so called
from the leather strap used for administering punishment.
Leeace, (lace) to flog. " Ah '11 leeace his jacket for him,
if Ah can catch him."
Let Dhraave, to strike with full force. " He up wiv his
neeaf (fist) an let dhraave at him, full slap."
Licks, a chastisement. " Thoo '11 get thi licks, mi lad, when
thi fayther gets ti knaw." "Ah whop (hope) he weean't lick
ma, for his lickins hots (hurt) yan."
Linch, a sharp, sudden blow with a pliable instrument.
"He lincht ma i' feeace wiv his whip."
Loondher, to abuse, to knock about. " What's tha
loondherin him aboot like that for'? What's he deean"?"
Lug, to pull hair or ears. The ear itself is called a "lug."
Loonge, a thumping blow.
Lump, to beat on the head with sufficient violence to
cause a lump.
Mell, literally, to mallet. (Ice. molva, to beat). Sometimes
" mill " is used. A mallet is called a mell.
Mob, a punishment among boys, inflicted by striking with
caps, knotted handkerchiefs, <fec. On the 29th of May (Royal
Oak Day) any boy who lacked the loyal symbol, a sprig of
oak, would be mobbedy i.e. pelted with eggs, not always
fresh-laid.
Mump, a blow on the mouth, given with the back of the
hand. " Ah gav him a m,um/p ower gob.'*
28 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Nail, to flog, to beat. "Jack Wilson lad brak oor windher
wiv a cobble-steean, an Bob did nail him fo 't."
Nevill, to beat with the neaf ov fist. (Ice. hnefi, the fist).
Nobble, to strike on the nob (head) with a stick. Punch
kills Judy by nohhling her.
Nope, to strike on the head or knuckles with a stick.
Pick, to push suddenly, " He pickt ma doon, just fo'
nowt at all, an then thowt betther on 't an pickt ma up
ageean."
Plug, to strike with the fist. " A good pluggin is what
thoo desahves."
Quaver, to pretend to strike.
Pooak, to poke^ or push. Similar to "pick," though
picking is done by the hand, and poking by some instrument.
Pummel, to strike with the fist. " Pummel him weel."
Bag, to tease, to aggravate. (Ice. ragja, to slander).
" Ah '11 rag him weel aboot that lass he 's getten, see if Ah
deeant."
Bap, a quick blow.
Battle, a blow on the head. "A rattle ower lug."
Bosselin, literally, a roasting, a good sound beating.
Bumpus, a disturbance, a quarrel.
Sauvin, a flogging, a chastisement.
Scaup, to beat about the scalp (head).
Scrag, to seize roughly by the scrag of the neck. " Noo,
hook it y go away) or Ah '11 scrag tha, an mak tha gan.
Scrap, a slight quarrel, i.e. only a scrap or small piece of
a fight. " Oh ! bayns only had a scrap ; they didn't hot
(hurt) yan anuther."
Set teeah, a set to, a regular fight. "There was a
regular set teeah^ i' Back Looan (Lane), ower that cock-
fight in job."
Skelp, (Ice. skella, to strike) to strike with the open hand
on some fleshy part. " Thoo can gan oot an laik (play), bud
if thoo mucks thisen Ah '11 gi tha a good skelpin."
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 29
Skin, to flog severely. "Bon thai Ah '11 skin tha wick,
thoo young rackapelt." (scamp).
Slap, (like skelp), a blow with the open hand.
Slate, to rebuke, abuse (Ice. sletta, to slap, to dab).
Slinge, to strike with a pliable, or supple instrument.
" He slinged ma wiv a whip."
Slipe, a sharp gliding blow, with the open hand. " Jack
gat sike a slipe ower gob, that his lips was brussen."
Sloonge, a heavy blow with the open hand. " Thoo '11 get
a sloonge ower heead thareckly."
Slug, ^another form of "slog;") to beat with any instru-
ment. " Let 's slug Tom Smithers, he put saut uppa
slittherin-spot." (salt on the sliding-place).
Suape, (Ice. sneypa, to disgrace, &c.) to check. "Ah sud
snape that bayn, an nut let him hev his awn way iv ivvery
thing, like his muther diz."
Sooal, to beat, as with the sole of a slipper.
Sowle, to chastise. "He'll go," he says, "and sowle the
porter of Rome gates by the ears." (Coriolanus, iv., 5).
Spank, to flog, (like slap and skelp). "Be quiet, and give
up gennin (whining) or Ah '11 spank tha."
Sneezer, a violent blow on the nose.
Suff, a blow, or hard knock, sufiicient to make one draw
in the breath, as when sufi'ering from a spasm of pain.
Swinge, a blow with a whip or any pliable thing. (A.S.,
swing, a whip, blow).
Swingel, like swinge. (A.S., swinegel, a lash.)
Swipe, like swinge. (Ice. svipa, a whip) From this word
we get the diminutive "swipple," the whipping part of a
flail.
Switch, a slight blow with a lash, or a thin pliant rod
called a switch.
Tannin, a beating on the back, like " hidin."
Tew, a struggle. " We had a teeatish teWy an Ah sweeat
like a brock wi' tevnn seeah,"
30 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
Thresh, literally to beat with a flail.
Throonce, to bustle about, to drive off*.
Thropple, to seize by the throat, or thropple.
Thump, to strike heavily on the back.
Tift, a tiff*, a slight quarrel.
Twenk, to lash with a whip or pliant rod.
Twilt, to flog with some instrument. " Twilt his jacket
for him, a pawky young raskil." "He desahves a good twiltin.^^
Wale, to beat with a stick sufficiently hard to make
" wales," hence " wallopin," a severe flogging. .
Wappin, a flogging. " Thoo'll get thi waps."
■ Welting, chastisement by means of a " welt," a leather
strap. A welt is sewn on to a boot upper, and the sole
is sewn to the welt.
Whack, to beat. "Ah '11 whack thi hide for tha, if tha
dissn't mahnd."
Whissle, a box on the ears.
Whipe, a stinging, sliding blow, like slipe. " A whipe
ower heead, or ower lugs."
Yark, to strike with a stick or whip.
Yether, to flog with a yether, a long supple rod used in
making a dead fence. When cutting thorns, a hedger will
say " If that weean't mak a steeak, it '11 mak a yether." A
long discoloured stripe caused by a blow is called a yether.
Yenk, to lash with the extreme end of a whip.
Yuck, to chastise. " He gat his yucks"
A»peculiarity of these words is, that many of them are also
in common use as adjectives, denoting superlative greatness,
or extraordinary fineness. The word retains the same mean-
ing, but the figure is changed from warlike strife to the
strife of competition and comparison. Thus we say "a
clinkin big ^gg^^^ which means that particular egg will heat
all others in comparison or competition ; or "a nailin
stooary," " a slappin boss," " a sluggin knife," " a spankin
pieear," (mare) " a switchin ton oot," (turn out) " a thurnipin
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 31
big lass," " a wallopin big pig," " a whackin lie," a wappin
score, (at cricket) &c.
Some of these adjectives are used as nouns; thus, " That 's
a whacker," means that particular article surpasses all others
of the same kind. So "thumper," "cracker," "nailer,"
"nobbier," "plugger," "rattler," " skelper," "slapper,"
"slugger," "spanker," <fec., are articles of superior or super-
lative quality.
CHAPTER IV.
SPECIMENS OF THE DIALECT.
A STOOARY O' BONNICK BOGGLE.
(Bonnick — Bon wick, near Skipsea. There is now no village,
as there once was ; only traces of foundations round Joan's
Dyke, which formed the village pond. Daffodils grow
wild in one field, which formed the flower gardens of the
departed cottages. One farmhouse. High Bonwick, and
another, Low Bonwick, are the only two houses in the
township. The Cawsey is the causeway, or raised road from
Skipsea to Skipsea Brough, across the marsh now drained
by the White Marr Drain).
Aye, what a do we had oot o' Billy Swaby an his malak
wi' Bonnick boggle. Billy had been at Rooaze and Croon,
wheear they'd been jawin aboot bahgeist an ghooast stooaries,
whahl he sed he dozen't gan heeam. Hooivver, oot he had
ti gan at last, an as he shaffled on Cawsey, he lewkt aboot
him, fost o' yah sahd an then o' tudher, an omraast dodhered
hissen ti bits, when a awd coo beealed ower hedge at him,
great bawmy 'at he is I Whah, bon it ! he's that soft he mun
be a bohn feeal !
Tonnin looan end ti Bonnick, beughs o' big esh thiee, at
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 33
cooaner, meead it as dahk as pick, an he skoothered alang
hedge sahd like a patthridge fo' fear White Lady sud cum
wivoot her heead ; or bahgeist, wiv ees as big as teeah saucers.
Newt com, an he went on whahl he com inti slack, just
afooar ya get ti Lo Bonnick, wheear rooad was all blathery,
an he cudn't find yat, bud went splawthering aboot, fost inti
hedge an then inti dike, an i' end, gat ower palins, sweearin
at boggle had teean yat away.
He gat on ti rooad ageean, efther ommast tumlin inti
Jooan Dike, an hadn't geean monny sthrahds afooar he fell
ower summat i' middle o' rooad, at was soft an hairy ; an
what jumped up an blared at him as he scrawmed an
rawmed aboot i' muck. Poor Billy was ommast flaid oot
ov his wits, an thowt he was gotten, bud when he fan his
legs, he peg-legged away full pelt ; an tell'd fooaks at he'd
tummeled ower Bonnick Boggle ; bud it was only Fahmer
Stork white fuzzack at was laid i' middle o' rooad, as sike
fond things ofiense diz.
HOO NEDDY KIRBY WAS ROBBED.
Neddy was a teealer, an used ti gan oot ti wahk, yan or
mare days at a tahm. He'd had a job at Black Bull, for
aboot fower days, an efther hevin two or three good sups o'
ther yal setoff ti walk heeam. Neet was dahk,bud Neddy knew
rooad, an set off whislin, wiv his geeas on his sleeve-booad,
slung ower his shooldher. Gainist rooad heeam was doon
bi Fahmer Gibson plantin ; an as Neddy was shaflin on, bi
sahd o' plantin, a jenny oolat skreeaked oot, an freetened
him ommast oot ov his wits. Off he set, as hahd as ivver
his bowdy-kite legs wad carry him ; an, as neet was pick
dahk, he cudn't see wheear he was gannin, an tummelled
9
34 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
ower a pissimire hill, an his geeas hit him a cloot ower back
ov his heead. He thowt robbers was on him, an rooared for
pity ; tewk all brass oot ov his pockets, laid it uppo grund,
an set off ageean ; an nivver stopt whahl he gat heeam, and
telled em he'd been robbed. Sum fooaks went on next
mooanin, an fan all Neddy brass uppo grund, just wheear
he'd left it. They gat it all up, an then axt Ned an a lot
mare ti gan ti Black Oss, and let Ned tell his stooary, whahl
they steead threeat all roond/ "When all munny was spent,
they tell'd Ned wheeas munny had bowt yal, an sum on em
yit say they wish Neddy Kirby was robbed ageean. And
Neddy his-sen gat seeah mad ower it, that lads can awlas get
his rag oot wi shooting up passidge " Wheah robbed Neddy]"
A EEAST YORKSHER STOOARY.
Ah say, Jim ! hez tha heea'd tell what a dooment Navvy
Bob had wi' that deead chap, at they gat oot ov oor scawdin
tub] Thoo knaws, chap dhroondid his-sen i' tub; an he'd
stiffen'd all ov a heeap, seeah at they couldn't mak a deeacent
coffin for him. They rigg'd up a sthrang teeable iv oor bahn,
an stuck him on it. They gat yah booad across his knees
wiv a lot o' fower steean weights on it, an a lot mare uppov
another booad, across his kist, ti sthreyten him a bit. Sum
ov oor lads ment hevin a spree oot o' Bob ; seeah aboot nahn
o'clock they oppen'd bahn deear, an threw a cat an dog in,
tahd tegither. They fowt, an spit, an scratid, an growl'd,
an meead sike a row iv hooal, that Bob gat up offa creeal,
wheear he'd been liggin, an gat a hedgin-steeak, ti hammer
em oot ageean. The things fullockt aboot bahn fleear,
undher teeable an atwixt thrussle legs, ower seeks o' wheeat,
an ommast throppled thersens ower hales ov a hickin-barra^
FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 35
at was fast amang seeks. They swither'd aboot like mad
things. Bob efther em, wi steeak iv his hand, cossin an
sweearin, an sayin they wer divvel his-sen. Enoo, they ran
atwixt his legs, an knocked him ageean booad across deead
chap kist, an knockt it off, whahl weights tummel'd doon
wiv a clatter, and deead chap sprang bolt upreet, as sthreet
as a dart. Bob ton'd roond, when he heead row, for he
thowt he'd knockt teeable an all ower; an when he saw
deead chap sittin up, he tewk steeak i' beeath hans, swung
it ower his heead, an sed *' Thoo lig thi-sen doon ageean ;
Ah can sattle a dog and cat wivoot thah help."
"What com next Ah deean't knaw ; for oor lads skoother'd
off, fo' fear Bob sud hear em lafiin.
Next mooanin Bob wadn't speeak a wod o' what had
happened ; bud he'd manidged ti sup all yal an smewk all
bacca they'd gin him ; an pleeace was all ov a reek like a
lahm kill, ommast all next day.
PAHSON AN KEEAL POT.
(Keeal pot — kail pot, i.e., cabbage pot, or broth pot. A
spherical cast iron vessel, of two or three gallons capacity,
having three feet to ensure safe standing. It has two
small lugs (ears) to which the semi-circular handle is
fastened).
Oor pah son liked owt at was cheeap, an seeah, yah day, he
was at a toon, two or three mahls frev heeam, an as he was
gannin doon yan o' sthreets, he saw a fellow stanin atop ov
a teeable, sellin keeal pots, pooakers, oddments, an kelther-
ment. It com intiv his heead at his wife said ti yan o'
lasses, afoor he stahted, at they sadly wanted a keeal pot,
an seeah he thowt he wad thry ti hev a cheeap bahgan ti tak
36 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
heeam wiv him. Just as he went up ti fella, a widda woman
was biddin yan an nahnpence fo' just sike a keeal pot as he
wanted ; an seeah he bad, an sheeah bad, an he bad ageean,
an sheeah bad ageean, an seeah they bad yan ageean tudher,
pahson an widda, for a lang whahl, an iv end, it was knocked
doon ti pahson fo' three an tuppence. Efther paying fo't,
he set off heeam as fast as he could pelt, ti show his awd
deeam what a cheeap bahgan he'd gotten, an tell her hoo
he 'd bested poor widda. He f ost hugged it i' ya hand an then
i' tudher ; for it was neeah leet weight. Ah can tell ya.
Efther gannin this gate for aboot a mahl an a hawf or seeah,
he began ti feel tired, an his ayms began ti wahk, whahl he
cud hard! ins bahd, an he began ti rue at he'd bowt it. Bud
thowt popt intiv his heead at '* A change is as good as a
rist ;" seeah he tewk off his hat and put keeal pot on iv it
pleeace, wiv holla sahd doon wads ti keep it on. Away he
cut across clooases, seeah as neeah-body mud see him huggin
it heeam, fo' fear they sud mak gam on him ; bud afooar he
gat heeam, he had a wahdish beck ti cross ; an as ther was
neeah brig, or owt o' sooat, he was fooact ti lowp ower it.
Seeah he tewk a good lang run, and ower he went like a
steg ; bud when he let at tudher sahd, keeal pot went reet
doon on his heead ower his ees, wiv hannle undher his chin
like lastic. Poor pahson was i' sike a stew. He thried ti
get it off, and thried ageean an ageean, bud he couldn't stor
it a bit — it was as fast as athof it had grown theear. Hoo ti
get heeam he didn't knaw, for he could see nowt, his ees
was reet blocked up. Hawivver, he went on grapin aboot
as weel as he cud, an when he fan yat, he thried ti get thruf,
bud theear he stuck fast, wi keeal pot heead and hannle
through yat bars ; an deeah what he wad he cudn't get lowse,
bud stuck theear for a hoor, botherin and sweeatin like a pig
iv a muck middin, whahl he was all ov a muck lather. It
seeah happened at a man called Bobby Brushwood was
cumin that rooad, an seein summat fast i' yat he meead up
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 37
tiv it. When lie gat theear he knew it was pahson bi shap
of his legs ; an he seel " Maisther, maisther, whativver are
ya deeahin theear 1 Laws o' me ! what a pickle yu'r in ' " " Ay,
Bobby !" says pahson, "An is that thoo^ Ah's varry glad
thoo 's cum'd ! Wheear is Ah 1 What a misfottan this is I "
" Whah, maisther," says Bobby, " hoo 's this 1 Can't ya get
keeal pot offa yer heead T' "Neeah, Bobby, mah lad ; it's fast
aneeaf. Ah can't stor it; an Ah's flaid it'll nivver cnm off
ageean. Tak hod o' mi hand an leed ma heeam." "Seeah
Ah will, maisther ; bud its a varry bad job, 'cos, yu see, yu'll
nivver preeach ni mare tiv uz, wi' that thing atop o' yer
heead." Pahson sed nowt ti this, bud gav a grooan.
Noo, when they gat ti Toon Gate bains com runnin iv all
mandhers o' ways ti see what this thing was at Bobby had
getten, bud neean on em could tell. Sum on em said yan tiv
anuther, "Sitha ! sitha ! Bobby's getten a young elephant."
" Nay, it isn't ; he 's catcht a see sahpent." Uthers sed it was
a Greenland beear, or summat like it. Pahson sed nowt
tiv em, thof he heead all they sed.
When he gat heeam there was a do. All docthers roond
aboot was sent for, but they cud deeah neeah gud, nut yan
on em, wivoot they cut his heead off. They pulled an they
screwed, an pahson thried ti back oot his heead, an sluf it
off, bud it was all neeah use ; for, deeah what they wad, awd
keeal pot wadn't leeave pahson heead.
At last Bobby says, " Ah've fun oot noo, hoo it'll he' ti
be deean. Let 's gan ti blacksmith shop." An away they
all went, riddy aneeaf, especially pahson, at wad he' deean
onny mottal thing ti get keeal pot offan his heead.
When they all gat inti shop, Bobby says, "Noo, maisther,
lig yer heead doon uppa stiddy ; " an he ligged it doon uppa
stiddy that varry minnit. Blacksmith then tewk yan o'
biggest hammers he had, an brak keeal pot intiv a thoosan
bits.
Mah wod, bud pahson lewkt rare an glad when he saw
38 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
day-leet ageean ; an he cut off heeam as fast as lie cud,
hoddin beeath hands tiv his lugs; pleeased aneeaf, Ah'll
asseer ya, at he'd getten his heead oot o' that keeal pot.
• (The Excelsior Reciter p. 248. Altered)
RIDING THE STANG.
The biggest norrayshun at ivver was seen,
"Was yah Collop Munda, on Thistleton Green,
When young Sammy Spadger had wallop'd his wife,
An leeac'd her wivin hawf a inch ov her life.
When news gat aboot,
All lads they com oot.
An they raised sike a hullaballo an a shoot,
Sike a beeall an a clatther, a yowp an a yell.
You'd he' swoan at Awd Nick had bont Bible i' hell.
'Cawse Bessy, his wife, thof i' nowt bud print goons.
Was heppenest woman you'd finnd i' ten toons;
Sike a click iv her back, an sa jannack an tall,
An highly beliked an rispected bi all.
Seeah they all on em swore wiv a dash an a dang.
They would get on a stee an would ride him a stang.
There was Billy Magee,
Wiv a kest iv his ee,
An a rooas pinned i' f runt ov his best seckaree ;
An young Jabod Bees,
Skymin oot ov his ees ;
An young Randy Todd,
At wore iv his billy the wing ov a bod ;
An Speelywag Robby,
The son o' the Bobby ;
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 39
An Bandy-legged Dick,
Wheeah's fayther was deead, the' his muther was wick ;
An Ellery Crisp,
That had teed up his slops wiv a lang wot-sthreea wisp ;
An Goffeny Mile,
Wiv a hat on his heead like a whemmel'd-doon sile;
An young Buckie Sykes,
That was sookin away at a pipe iv his wikes ;
An awd Cockie Sharrah,
Wiv a pair ov octoavers as big as a barra ;
An lots on em mooar ;
There wadn't be yan on em less then two scooar.
Seeah, wi sang an wi' sup,
At " Bull an Blew Munkey " they meead it all up ;
An efther some caffle, conthrahvifi, an talkin,
They varry seean manidged ti mak up a mawkin.
Then they borra'd a stee
Fre Billy Magee,
An set beeath mawkin an Billy asthrahd ;
'Cawse his voice was sa rough, an his mooth was sa wahd.
O lawk ! 'twas a whopper,
Like top ov a hopper.
An they knew he cud let oot the poethry propper.
Then they hugged him roond toon,
Bi the leet o' the moon,
An all the awd tosspots wer efther em soon,
Some wivoot onny hats, an wivoot onny shoon,
'Cawse sthreets they wer dhry
As a barley-meeal pie.
There was young lads an lasses, an awd wives an dames,
Wi ther cassimere approns belapt roond ther aymes,
An awd Dawcy Rowlytubs ran inti sthreet,
Wiv a shaff o' spice-breead sha'd just getten ti eeat,
'Cawse sha said at sha wadn't be slowpt ov her meeat.
40 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Seeah sha chewed as sha ran,
Ti keep up wiv awd man,
Puffing like a steeam booat.
An variy nigh sleekened wi crums doon wrang throoat,
An sha just gat ti chotch deer (the yan they call sooth).
When they tooted the hawboy, an Billy ga mooth.
" Here we cum wi' the soond o' the hohn.
Been betther for this woman if this man had niwer been
bohn.
Here we cum wiv a ran-a-dan-dan,
It's neeather f o' your cause nor mah cause at Ah ride this
stang,
But for Sammy, the butcher, his wife he did bang ;
He banged her, he banged her, he banged her indeed.
He banged her, poor creeathur, afoor sha stood need ;
He tewk neeather stick, staff, iron, nor stower,
Bud he up wiv his neeaf , an knockt her ower ;
Up-stairs a-back o' bed,
Sike a riot as niwer was led.
Doon stairs aback o' door,
He banged her whahle her back was sooar.
Poor thing was se scared that she ran wiv a fullock, ^
And wi' cowlrake he then knockt her doon like a bullock.
Sha oppened her gob, and sha let oot a yowp.
And he bazzacked her whahl she was stiff as a stowp.
He gev her a woncer, a twicer, an a back-hander,
'Twas a sin an a sham, was the way at he tanned her.
Noo, all you good people, wo live i' this raw.
We'd he' ya tak nooatis, for this is oor law —
If onny o' you husbands your good wives you do bang,
We'll get on this stee, and we'Jl ride you a stang."
As seean as he finisht they set up a cheer,
An Jabod collected sum coppers fo' beer.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 41
«
Whahl all the awd gossaps began fo' ti jabber
As hahd as ther tungs could be liggin ti labber.
They called Sammy Spadger a bulletowst hog,
A shitwig at 's just fit ti live iv a bog,
A muckflee ti gi' tiv a tooad or a frog,
They called him all neeames fre dival ti dog.
" Aye !" said Sally Magee,
" He sud just hev had me !
Ah 'd ha' meeade him pay dear !
Ah 'd ha' gi'n him what cheer !
Ah 'd ha' gi'n him bell-tinker an paddy- whack sauce.
Ah 'd ha' gi'n him a teeast o' Nan Clappison's dose.
Wi yan o' them there ! Ah 'd ha' knockt him doon stoddy,
An riven his liver-pin oot ov his body."
An Sally, she browt doon her fist wiv a soss
At wad sahtenly brokken the back ov a boss.
Seeah they kept on a cheerin, an shootin, an talkin,
As they went roond the villidge an followed the mawkin.
An Billy Magee,
At was set uppa stee,
He reeled oot the rahms.
An Ah '11 sweear at he reeled em oot full fifty tahms.
Three neets did they hod
This blissid norrayshun, an then on the thod,
They 'd a booanfire, an beer, an sike capers an games.
An they hung Sammy Spadger, his mawkin, i' flames,
Wi crackers all teed tiv his legs an his aymes,
An sike'n a spree
As you nivver did see,
An varry few fooaks gat ti bed awhahl three.
'Twas the biggest norrayshun at ivver was seen.
When they bont Sammy Spadger on Thisselton Green.
Geo. Lancaster.
42 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
A NEET OV HORROR
^ A THREW STOOARY.
Nog monny a day sin, as Ah've heead tell,
A horrubble neet ti John Smith yance befell.
Iv a Howdhemess villidge he'd lived all his days,
An been stiddy as clock-wahk iv all his good ways.
A hahd-wahkin man John had been all his life.
An had a good helper i' Nanny — his wife.
Bud Nanny, lang sin, had geean tiv her rist,
An her sperit had sooar'd up ti " realms o' the blist."
Ther banes had grown up, gotten married, an geean.
An awd man was left, wiv his-sen, all aleean.
Bi meeans of his thrade, an a wee bit o' grund.
He'd manidged ti cog up aboon fotty pund.
He 'd monny a anksome lewk at his store,
Noo carefully hed iv a newk ov a dhrawer.
Awd fooaks deean't sleep soond, and John wad oft keep
Awakken for hoors, nut venthrin ti sleep.
Fa fear at sum theeaves — sum law rubbishly thrash.
Wad brake intiv his hoose an walk oflf wiv his cash.
Yah dahk winther neet, as he laid, full o' fear,
He fancied he heead theeaves at his back deear.
He lissen'd — O dear ! Seer as fate they we' there;
An his honest awd heart noo felt pangs o' dispair.
Bud he se«an gat a leet, an then doon stairs he went ;
O' defendin his threasure he was fully bent.
Ti boak all sike chaps o' ther vahl theeavish f un,
He'd wahsly pavahded his-sen wiv a gun.
He darkt asahde deear, an then, wivoot doot,
He heead what vahl wretches ootsahde wer aboot
Hi a hoose steead apayte, seeah ni help cud he get^
Ti defend him ageean sike a vagabond set
FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 48
He spok em, bud niwer a wed did they say,
Bud at his awd deear kept scrubbin away ; —
Seeam'd thryin ti find sum wake spot or sum crack,
Ti put in a gavlack an fooace his deear back.
He teird em, hey, ower an ower ageean,
If they didn't give ower, at he'd varry seean
Fire off his gun at em, then they'd repent day
At ther theeavish dezahns had led em that way.
It seeam'd at they thowt at he hadn't a gun.
An at fing'rin his gold wad be far betther fun .
Then runnin away, like cawf -hearted chickins,
An missin ther chance o' sike golden pickins.
They laboured si hahd — went at it sa bold,
John saw they'd detahmin'd o' hevvin his gold.
All threeats an all wahnins alike preeav'd i' vain,
Fo' theeaves seeam'd detahmin'd his threasure ti gain.
Wiv his gun riddy raised, he steead beyont deear ;
Nowt bud firin' wad seeave him, he felt varry seear.
A pull at gun thricker, an slap-bang went ball.
An in flew awd deear an deear-steead an 'all :
Like a leetnin-flash, in it flew iv a crack.
An knockt poor awd Smith uppa fleear ov his back.
Things noo tewk a ton ; an Smith, nut si bold,
Thowt mare ov his-sen, an less ov his gold ;
An dhreeadin a moddherous endin ti sthrife.
Cried "Oh ! tak mi munney — fo'God seeak spare mi life"
O' massy his heart noo wad ommost dispair j
Bud his cries we' ni use — ther was neeabody there.
Smith laid uppa fleear, wi' brokken deear on him,
Expectin at yance at theeaves wad be on him.
Wi fear an thrimlin be was quiet oot o ' breeath ;
Bud, beeath insahde an oot, all was still as grim deeath.
" Hoo is this," he thowt tiv his-sen, as he laid,
"When they've smasht in mi deear at they've gin up
therthradef'
44 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Bud still he felt seear at, wiv all ther pains
Ti get in, they'd cum back, an secure ther gains.
Efther liggin a bit, as neeah yan com near,
Smith venthered ti crowl frev undher his deear,
An lewkt oot inti dahk an cawd midneet air,
Bud nivver a soul nor a soond was ther there.
All throo that dahk neet he sat shiv'rin wi fear,
Feelin sahtan at theeaves wad be lurkin near,
An seean wad be cumin, ther booty ti gain.
An seeah past his neet, i' terror an pain.
At last mooanin dawned, ti Smith greeat releeaf.
An villidge seean heead ov his horror an greeaf :
Like wahld-fire it ran — ivvery hoose iv eeach sthreet
Noo rang wi sad news o' John horrubble neet.
Leeather on, threwth o' matther com sthrangely oot,
An fooaks saw at yance what all row was aboot : —
Bob Johnson had cum'd tiv a despad loss —
Sumbody or uther had shutten his hoss.
Bob hoss, i' neet tahm, hevvin all his awn way,
Felt a lahtle inclahn'd ower fences ti sthray :
Smith gahdin was next ti Bob field, an his fence
Was awful an bad, an seeah, it seeams, thence
Bob hoss, nut wi views o' reet varry clear,
Sthrade ower awd fence an up ti Smith deear ;
An, findin deear was a conveeaniant spot,
Began imitatin weel-knawn loosy Scot,
Bi rubbin his flanks an his sahds, i' grand stable,
Bud mebby he fail'd ti " Bless Duke ov Argahle."
Smith wahnins an threeats ti Bob hoss we' ni use,
An he mud as weel he ' been still as a moose ;
Bud his bullit was mare then hoss feelins cud beear,
Seeah he up wiv his heels an smasht in Smith deear.
T. HOLDERNESS.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 45
APRIL FEEAL DAY.
Showin hoo Matty Muckspoot went ti fetch a storrup-oil
freezin-machine.
What a feeal is oor Jack !
•Ah seear he wad mak
Onnybody gan ranty, he hez sike daft ways ;
An if he dizn't olther he '11 shooaten mah days.
He 's sike a greeat fowt
At he thinks aboot newt
Bud makkin all mischief at ivver he can :
He 's mare like a skeeal-lad, a deal, then a man.
Last Munda (All Feeal Day) he cudn't let pass
Bud what he mud mak a greeat feeal ov oor lass.
" Here, Matty ! " sez he.
Ah wish thoo wad just gan doon villidge fo' me.
An ax Tommy Smootins, wheah lives clooase bi Green,
Ti send ma his storrup-oil freezin machine."
Just then Matty was fillin
Sum sausingers oot o' sum pigs they 'd been killin :
Bud Ah '11 say this for Matty — sha 's civil an willin.
Seeah sha weshes her neeaves.
An slipes doon her sleeaves.
An thraws a reead ton-ower atop ov her sahk.
An gans off i' height ov her thrang an her wahk.
An when sha gat there sha fan Tommy at yam,
An, ov cooas. Ah deean't doot, he was weel up ti gam.
Seeah he gans inti byre.
An fills a awd ken wi sum wheels an sum wire,
An sum seeaves, an a krewk ofia fey in-machine.
An a lot o' sike kelther as nivver was seen,
46 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
He sez, " Matty, it lewks i' bad Gather, Ah seear,
Bud tell him it hezzn't been used o' f ahve year ;
An it wants a good boilin
^ Afooar he puts oil in."
Seeah Matty, sha gans, luggin it off doon toon sthreets ;
An ivvery yan goffnin an gooavin sha meets :
An sha thowt it was queear,
At fooaks gooaved oot o' deear :
Bud sha thowt it was all lang o' nut beein dhrist ;
An it sagged her poor aymes seeah she had it ti rist.
Seeah, whahl sha was pantin,
Up cums Billy Bantin, —
It mebby mud be twenty minnits past ten aboot, —
Sez he, "Matty, what for is tha luggin awd ken aboot V
" Awd ken 1 " sez oor Matty ;
" It 's a stoiTup-oil freezin-machine, thoo daft watty ! "
" Whah," sez he, "thoo greeat stoavy !
Thoo goffeny goavy,
It 's thoo at 's daft watty !
Jack 's makkin a greeat April Feeal o' tha, Matty ! "
Noo, sha was iv a puckerin !
Ti think at oor Jack sud sa shamfully suck her in.
Sha banged awd ken doon.
Beet i' middle o' toon.
An com skelpin yam, as thof summat had bont her,
Or thoosans o' rattens an mice was behont her.
Lawk ! hoo sha did rooar.
For meeast ov a hooar !
Whah, it was ower bad ;
An Ah felt buggy mad,
Ti think at oor ottherpooak clunch ov a ass
Sud mak sike a April-daft watty o' lass.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 47
Sha sweears at sha '11 give him as good as he sent,
If sha hez ti think ower it up ti next Lent.
Sha taks it ti haht, yu knaw, — Ah sud, mi-sen ;
An sha 's been iv a mullygrubs ivver sin then.
Geo. Lancaster.
PART OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS, IN THE NORTH
HOLDERNESS DIALECT, SHOWING, MORE PARTICULARLY, THE
OMISSION OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE :
1. I' beginnin' God meead heaven an' ath oot o' nowt.
2. An' ath was wi'oot shap, an' emty : and dahkness was
uppa feeace o' deep. An' sperit o' God storred uppa feeace
o' watthers.
3. An' God sed, Let ther' be leet : an' ther' was leet.
4. An' God seed leet, at it was good : an' God devahded
leet fre' dahkness.
6. An' God call'd leet Day, an^ dahkness he call'd Neet.
An' neet an' mooanin' we' fost day.
6. An' God sed, Let ther be a fahmament i' midst o'
watthers, an' let it devahde watthers fre' watthers.
7. An' God meead fahmament, an' devahded watthers
'at wer' iindher fahmament fre' watthers 'at were aboon
fahmament, an' it was seeah.
8. An' God call'd fahmament Heaven. An' neet an'
mooanin' we' second day.
9. An' God sed. Let watthers 'at's undher heaven be
gether'd tegither inti' yah pleeace, an' let dhry land appear ;
an' it was seeah.
10. An' God call'd dhry land Ath : an' getherin' tegither
o' watthers he call'd Seeas : an' God seed 'at it was good,
48 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
11. An' God sed, Let atli bring fooath gess, yahb yieldin'
seed, an' frewt three yieldin' frewt efther his kahnd, wheease
seed is iv itsen, uppa yath : an' it was seeah.
12. An' ath browt fooath gess, an' yahb yieldin' seed
efther his kahnd, an' three yieldin' frewt, wheease seed was
iv itsen, efther his kahnd : an' God seed 'at it was good.
13. An' neet an' mooanin' we' thod day.
14. An' God sed, Let ther' be leets i' fahmament o' heaven
ti devahde day fre neet : an' let 'em be fa sahns, an' fa
seeahsons, an' fa days, an' yeeahs.
15. An' let 'em be fa leets i' fahmament o* heaven ti gi'
leet uppa yath : an' it was seeah.
Note. — In the Authorised Version the definite article is
used 52 times in these 15 verses.
(Holderness Glossary, p. 18.)
CHAPTER VI.
ILLUSTRATED AND ILLUSTRATIVE
GLOSSARY.
Aboon, above. "Nay, bayn, that's ahoon me," said a
mother to her child, who had asked a question the mother
could not answer.
''Ahoime it sail I be." York PL, 4, 87.
"This is the name fat es ahowne all names." Pr. Tr., 1.
Aback-o-beyont, behind ; behind-hand ; out of the way.
"That slaw beggar's awlas aback-o-beyont wiv his
wahk." H. G.
" Ah '11 send tha aback-o-beyont, wheear craws its (eats)
hawpnies." H. G.
Addle, to earn.
" Ah aint addled saut (salt) ti mi taties this mawnin." H. G.
"Short harvests msike short addlings." Eng. Prov., p. 349.
Admire, to observe ; to notice with astonishment.
" An when Ah gat there ; oh, this Ah did admeyr,
Ti see so monny lusty lads, asitting roond the fire." H. G.
Ageean, near to ; against.
"He tummel'd ageean bucket, an cut his heead."
" And lith (lies) a-^ein j?e lawe." P. P., Ill ,155.
P
60 POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Ageeat, engaged on; begun. (Literally, on gate. See
"Gate.")
" He 's ageeat ov a theeakin (thatching) job."
" Let 's get ageeat on 't."
Akest, crooked ; warped ; twisted. (Literally on cast, i.e.,
cast on one side). A person who squints is said to have a
kest in the eye.
"It's all a^es«."
Ake, to wander about aimlessly and idly.
" He was akin aboot all day lang ; an all fo nowt." H. G.
In Lincolnshire, an idle worthless fellow is termed a
" hakes." L. and D.
Anenst, against ; next ; near to ; with.
"It was ower anenst floor-mill."
"But anentis God all thinges ben possible." Wic,
Matt, 19, 26.
Arr, (Ice., arr and oit,) a scar.
" He's badly ^ock-arr'd (pock-marked)."
"Myn erres (scars, wounds), rotid." Psalter, 37, 5.
Arse, the back part of anything. The arse of a cart, or a
plough.
Atheril, a shapeless mass. Literally a mass of poisonous
matter; from A.-S., ater — poison. From this word comes
attercop (a spider), literally, the poison-bag.
"Poor fellow ! he was smasht all tiv (to) a atheril." H.G.
Axe, to ask. (A. S,, acsian, to ask.)
"I may namore axe." P.P., lY., 102.
"Go ye, and axe ye." Wic, Matt., 2, 8.
Backer-end — the farther end of a room.
" Y'u cudn't see ti backer-end o' spot, it was seeah full o'
reek."
Bahgeeast, A ghost-bear ; a bug-bear ; that which causes
fear or terror. A little active wilful fellow, who filled his
mother with fear and terror, by constantly running away
from her, was addressed thus, "Cum here, thoo lahtle
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 51
hagheeast ; thoo ommast flays (affrights) ma cot o* mi wits."
Balk, (1) (Ice., bdlkr) a transverse beam ; a beam.
"Afower-hoss balk."
" For that balke will no man vs blame
To cut it for the kyng." York PL, 339, 68.
(2) A strip or ridge, forming a land-boundary.
"Have an eye to the heades and balkes." Best, p. 28.
"Dikeres and delueres digged up the balkes." P.P., YI,
109.
(3) A grassy headland in a ploughed field.
(4) A grasy lane or road.
(5) To shii'k, or leave undone.
"They balk the right way, and stray en abroad.'' Sh.
Cal., (Sept).
(6) To shrink from. " Awd meear balkt at yat stowp."
(7) To turn, with loathing, from food or drink, so as
nearly to vomit.
"Ah ommast balkt mi heart up."
Ballocks, testicles. Literally, little balls.
" Taken away the ballokes." Wic, Lev., 22, 24.
Band, string; rope.
" A moder ass yee sal far find,
And ye hir sal vndo,
Yte of hir band." Curs. Mun. 14,969.
Baste, A tailor's and dress-maker's term, meaning to tack
or sew slightly. A tacking thread is a basting-thre-dd.
" And on her legs, she painted buskins wore,
Basted with bends of gold." F.Q., 5, 5, 3.
Bate, to reduce in cost ; to abate.
"His wife is more costly, and he bates her in tires"
(dress). Micro.
Bayns, bairns ; children.
" For Marie, love of heuene,
)?at bar Jjat blisful barne." P. P., II., 2.
"Q 1 barneSy it waxes clere." York PL, 51, 183,
52 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Beald, a shelter for cattle ; any shelter.
" Noo, lads, let 's gan ti heal sahd ov hedge."
Beeal, to shout out ; to cry ; to bellow. Akin to hawl.
" Ah was ommast flay'd oot o' mi wits, when awd bull
heeaVd oot at ma."
Besom, a birch broom.
. "Clensed with besyms." Wic, Matt, 12, 45.
Besom Bet is the name of the personator of a female in the
"Fond Pleeaf Procession," on Plough Monday. Besom-
heead is a term of contempt for one with little mental
capacity.
Beck, (Ice. bekkr; Swed. back; Dan. baek; Du. beek;
Ger. bach), a stream ; a brook.
This is the common name for streams, though some are
worthy, notably the trout-streams at Driffield, of being
called rivers. Beyond this generic name, they are all name-
less, except when the name of the adjacent village is added
or prefixed for the sake of distinction. ^
"Thou brast welles and beckis." Psalter, 73, 16.
"The watirs ran, and the beckis bolnyd" (swelled). Psal-
ter, 73, 23.
Beldher, to blubber and cry.
" Ah nivver heead sike a beldherin bayn i' all mah booan
days." H. G.
Belly-wahk, stomach-ache ; colic.
" Sick of the idle crick, and the belly-wahk in the heel."
Eng. Prov., 349. (See wahk — pain).
Bent, determined ; obstinately inclined.
"Let him gan his awn way ! Hes hentd' deeahin wrang."
"Thou art bent to die alone." Spenser's Daphnaida, 141.
Beugh, a bough.
"The bughes are the armes with the handes." Pr. of Con.,
680.
Bolt, an arrow. Now obsolete. See Similes p. 21.
"I bent mjbolt against the bush." Sh. Cal. (March).
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 63
Boult, to sift. Obsolete.
Saying, "He now hsid boulted all thefloure." F.Q. 2, 4, 24.
Bile, (A.-S., byl; Du.,buil; Ice., bola) aboil.
"The byil of Egypt." Wic, Deut., 28, 27.
" Bayn 's getten a bile on his aym (arm) an can't cum ti
skeeal."
Bink, a bench ; a bank. (A.-S., bene; Du. bank; Icel.
bekkr; Swed. and Dan. bank).
" And gret on him full tendirli,
And fan on bink he sitt him bi." Curs. Mun., 50, 57.
" And I schall buske to fe benke^
Wher baners are bright." York PL, 227, 188.
The rocky ledges at the mouth of the Humber are called
Stoney Binks ; and a ledge of chalk, at Flambrough Head,
is named Stottle Biyiks.
Black and Blew, discoloured.
*' Poor bayne had been hammered seeah mich, at it was
all black ami! blew."
")5e son wex blak and bloo." Curs. Mun. 958.
Blash, weak, poor stuff.
It was a public tea, and one woman said to another, "We' ve
had tweea sooats o' blash ti-neet — fost blashy teea, an then
blashy talk."
Blathery, wet and muddy.
"Ah've getten blathered up ti mi een, rooads was sa
blathery."
" jBa^^r " is known as ^^blatther"; and a batter-pudding
as a " blatiher-jmddin" .
Bluther, to cry. A form of "blubber."
" Noo then ! let's he' neeah mair o' that blutherinsui beealin. "
" Her faire face with teares was fowly blubberin.^^
F.Q., 2, 1, 13.
Boggle, an apparition. Derived from *^bug." See
"bahgeeast." IntheWestRiding the word becomes "boggard."
" Ghastly bitg does greatly them affeara" F.Q., 2, 3, 20.
54 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Bole, the enlarged, round (literally, swollen) part.
This word is nearly obsolete, and is restricted to two
objects — the hand, and the body or trunk of a tree. The palm
of the hand is known as the hole of the hand. Akin to
ball, bowl, boil (round tumour), bulge, and bag.
"For hollyng (swelling) of her wombe." P.P., vi, 218
"]5e king (Pharaoh) herd Jjis and weped sare.
And sagh (saw) men's bodis holnud (swollen) ware."
Curs. Mun., 4,726.
Boon, ready ; bound. (Ice. buinn, prepared)
" Ah's boon ti Aubro " (Aldboro').
"And bad hem alle be howriy beggeres and other." P.P.,
II., 159.
" Hym to serue bene redy botvn." Psalter, 1, 14.
Botch, a sore ; a little boil ; also an unskilful workman,
and the work he does.
"In the place of the botch^ aperith a fel wounde." Wic,
Lev., 13, 19
" Jack 's a reglar botch ; he maks a botch ov ivvery thing
he diz."
Brass, money.
" Hez tha getten onny brass i' thi cleeas?" (clothes, i.e.
pockets).
"And here (carried) here bras at fi bakke." P.P., III., 1 95.
Brazzocks, wild mustard (charlock).
^^ As brisokis that a while in somere ere grene." Psalter,
36, 2.
Breed, (Ice., brei^r) breadth.
"What was size on 't?" ^* Ahoot breed o' mi hand."'
A wall that is the breadth of a brick in thickness is "a
hrick-Si-breed wall." (Ice., a brei^r — in breadth).
"Kyt it in smale pecys of a peny brede." Ck. Bk., p. 7.
"A lengthe and a brede." P. P., III., 202.
"The brede (of the ark) fifti cubits." Wic, Gen., 6, 15.
"Semely shappe of brede and lenthe." Pr. of Con., 5,899.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 55
Brig, (Ice., biyggja ; A.-S., bricg; Swed., brygga) a
bridge ; as Allaman-wath Brig ; Stamford Brig, &c.
" Til that he saw him on fe hrigge.
And bi him mani fishes ligge." Havelok, 881.
" A hrig was ower fat gret water." Old Eng. Mis., 212, 57.
Broc, (Ice., brokkr) a badger. The word and the animal
both extinct, though 30 years ago, as many as a dozen
badgers, in their barrels, for baiting purposes, could be seen
at Magdalen Fair, Hedon.
" Wayte no we, he lokis like a hroTcke,
Were he in a bande (string) for to bayte." York PL, 258, 116.
Brogues, (Ice., brok) breeches, made of leather. Obsolete,
though in remote country districts the old tailors used to
apply the term to trousers, and say " Ah Ve getten a pair o'
brogues ti mak bi ti-mooan atneet." The Blue-coat children,
in Beverley, used to wear leather breeches, often called
brogues ; and the last leather-breeches maker in that town
was also a glover, for the gloves were leathern too. The
name of Ragnar Lodbrog (Shaggy Breeches) perpetuates this
word " brogue " for " breeches."
Brust, burst. Burst is formed from brust, as bird is
from brid, burn from bren, or dirt from drit.
"Into termes of open outrage brusty F.Q. 3, 1, 48.
" Heat that soone in flame forth brust" F.Q. 3, 3, 25.
The past tense is ** brast " — " He ran full butt at deear
an brast it oppen."
"Dreadfull Furies, which their chaines have brast. ^'
F.Q. 1, 5, 31.
Bunch, to kick.
"Deean't bunch him aboot like that."
"He bonched hem." P. P., Prologue, 1. 74.
A farm labourer is called a bunch-c\ot (clod-kicker) by the
town's people, who wish to scorn or ridicule him.
Busk, (Danish, busk; Swed., buske; Dutch, bosch, a
wood, forest; Old High German, busc) a bush. Nearly
56 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
obsolete, though a bush of whin (furze) is still pretty com-
monly called a whin husk.
" A husk I see yonder brennand bright." York PL, 74, 101.
CaflF, (A.-Sax., ceaf ; Du., kaf ; Ger., kaff) chaff, the husks
of wheat, &c.
" J?e caff o corn he cast sumquile (while).
In fe flum (river) J?at hait (called) fe nile." Curs. Mun. 4751.
"For .... fyre fat caffe son may bryn." (burn). Pr. of
Con., 3,148.
Callit, a scold ; a virago ; a constant fault-finder.
" To make the shameless callit know herself." Hy. VI.,
pt. 3, II. 2.
So we have the verb ca^^i^ / callitin^oot — a wordy quarrel;
and the adjective callity.
Cap, (1) to surpass. "He capt all at com at feeat ball."
(2) to puzzle. " It caps me ti knaw wheear all awd meeans
gans teeah " (old moons go to).
When anything very extraordinary is spoken of it is said
" Whah, that caps Leatherstarn, and he capt the divel."
So we get capper, anything puzzling ; a surprising feat ;
or anything of superior quality ; also, capping, astonishing,
puzzling, superior.
Chavel, to chew. Pigs, mice, <fec., chavd straw.
"The whale then hise chauelis (jaws) luke^," (lockefch,
closes). Old Eng. Mis., 16,513.
Cheer, health ; condition ; countenance.
" What cheer, mi hearty?" means " How are you 1"
"The licnesse of his cheer was chaunged." Wic, Luke,
9, 29.
"His che&re did seem too solemne sad." F.Q., Bk. I., 1, 2.
Childher, childi-en.
"If Jjou be putt fra thi reste . . . by fy chUdire be
noght angry with fame." Pr. Tr., 30, 27.
Clack, (lea, klaka, to twitter as a swallow, to chatter as a
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 57
pie, to wrangle ; Mid. High Ger., klac, a crack, break, noise)
gossip ; persistent talk.
" Hod thi clack !" is a command to be silent.
"Ther quenes (women) us daze with J?er clakke." York
PI. 344, 211.
Clart, stickiness ; feigned affection ; to trifle or bungle.
(1) "This threeacle-pot is clarty."
(2) A father will say jokingly to his child " It's neeah use
thoo kissin ma; thoo dizn't luv ma ! It's all clarV
(3) " Ah can't bide (bear) ti see em clariin aboot; Ah'd
ray ther deeah wahk mi-sen."
(4) " Ther was ower mich clartment (fuss) fo' me. Ah likes
things quiet."
Perhaps the most expressive word of this batch is that
applied to one who makes hypocritical professions of affection,
and who is termed a clart-pooak.
Clap, (Ice. klappa, to pat), to strike.
" And sipe clapte him on Jje crune, (crown)
So that he stan-ded fel for dune, (stone dead fell there
down)." Havelok, 1818.
" Jpe sixte wende for to fle.
And hec^a/?^e him with J?etre(wood,stick)."Havelok, 1820.
Clew, a ball of twine, worsted, &c. Old Eng. Mis. 95, 72,
has clew for bow-string.
Click, to snatch, clutch.
" He click' d it oot o' mi hand."
"An (if) I cleke yowe, I schall telle yow." York PL, 280,240.
Cloot, (Ice., klutr), a patch; a cloth. Female attire is
sometimes styled cloots, as " Get thi cloots on ! " A Holderness
swain, who was overheard enquiring into the accomplishments
of his sweetheart, asked, among other things, " Can tha set
a cloot on a shet (shirt) wivoot puckerin (wrinkling)."
"His garment nought but many ragged clouts." F.Q.,
I, 9, 36.
58 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
" They wesshen hjm. and wyped hym, and wonden hym
in chutes:' P.P., 11, 220.
Cobble, (Ice. koppusteinn, a round stone), a round stone ;
a small boulder : to throw stones.
These water-worn boulders used to be extensively used as
paving stones ; and, if for foot passengers only, seemed as if
they would last till domesday ; for, being uneven, they were
avoided as much as possible. Many churches in Holderness
are built of these cobbles^ with stone dressings ; and houses,
too, have them in their walls. A " roondy " piece of coal is
called a coh.
" Two cohillnotis (nuts) uppona bande." York PL, 122, 112.
Cock, a little heap.
" Under the haycock fast asleep.'' Nursery Rhyme.
"Under the cocked hay." Sh. Cal. (November)
Cock-loft, a gaiTet in the roof.
"His cock-loft is unfurnished." Eng. Prov., 213.
Collops, slices of bacon.
" I have no salt bacon,
coloppes for to maken." P.P., VI., 286.
Collop keeaks, or bacon keeaks, are made similar to a
sandwich, with two layers of pastry, having bacon or ham
between.
Collop Munda, the Monday before Shrove Tuesday, is so
called because of its being the last day of flesh-eating before
Lent, when fresh meat was cut into collops, and salted, to
hang till Lent was over.
Cool, (Ice. ktila) a swelling on the head, caused by a blow.
" He raised a cool as big as a pidgin Qgg"
Cratch, a standing rack for hay ; a frame on which sheep
are killed.
"And laide hym (Jesus) in a cratch" "Wic, Luke, 2, 7.
Crawlin things, insect vermin.
" WiJ? crepinge croulis in his bak." Curs. Mun., 3,567.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST TORESHIKE. 59
Croose, lively, elated.
" Summe grop tre, and sum grop ston,
And drive hem ut, fei weren cms,
So (as) dogges ut of milne-hous." Havelok, 1,965.
Cmd, curd. Hence cruddle^ to curdle.
"With cruddy bloud congealed." F.Q., I, 5, 29.
" two grene cheses, a fewe cruddes and creem,
and an haver cake.
And two loues of benes and bran." P.P., YI, 283.
" Take a faire lynen clothe, and presse the cruddes
thereon." Ck. Bk., 86.
Daft, stupid; witless.
" I compt (account) thame daft, an mekill worse nor mad."
Lauder, 12,267.
Dag, to sprinkle. (Ice. dogg, dew).
" Dag cawsey (path) afooar tha sweeps it." A housewife
also dags the dried clothes previous to folding and ironing
them.
Dale, a valley. Valley, as a place name, is unknown ;
but dales abound ; as, Danesdale, Kendale, Slaysdale, Welton
Dale, York Dale, Whitedale, Thixendale, Grindall, and the
Dale towns.
"So J»at Jje erthe bothe downe and dale" York PL, 10, 30.
Deng or Ding, (Ice. dengja, to beat), to throw with
violence.
"But dyng fam doune, Tylle all be dede." York PL,
91, 399.
" For he dynges out the deuyl." Psalter, 504, 2.
Dess, a heap or pile of potatoes, fruit, &c.
" There was a rare dess o' taties i' cooaner, bud sumhoo or
uther it didn't last lang eneeaf ."
Dhrop, (Ice. drepe, a blow), to knock down
"Behave thi-sen, or Ah'll dhrop tha."
" Summe of you shall ich (I) drepen." Havelok, 1783.
Didher, to tremble ; to shake with cold.
60 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
" My flesshe dyd&ris:' York PI, 240, 2.
Dill, to assuage pain ; to deaden.
Medicine given to infants, to deaden pain, is called dill
water.
" How luus (Jews) wit Jjer gret vnschill.
Wend (strove) his uprising to dill" Curs. Mun., 202.
Din, (Ice. dynr), noiSe.
'* )pan began gret dine to rise,
For Jje laddes on ilke wise,
Him assayleden wit grete dintes.'' Havelok, 1860.
"And leve thy dyne." York PL, 42, 80. Not greatly
different to " Hod thi din ! "
Dodher, to shake with cold, or fear.
"It's plaguey cawd ; Ah's all ov a dodher."
" Thoo dodherin awd thing 1" A contemptuous expression.
Doilup, a heap ; a lump.
"Ay ! what a doilup o' dumplin !"
Dowills, felloes ; sections of the rim of a wheel.
" The spokis and dowlis of the wheelis." Wic, III Kings,
7, 33.
Een, eyes.
"Shed thy faire beames into my feeble eyne." F. Q., Bk.
I., Prol. IV.
Egg, to sharpen ; to incite.
"Adam and Eue he egged on to ille." P. P., I., 65.
" Til whilk (to which) Jjai egged Jjam, bathe night and day."
Pr. of Con., 5,483.
" I am sorie of a sight
\)2it egges me to ire." York PI., 256, 40.
Efther, (Ice., eftir) after.
"like (each) warke eftyr is wroghte." York PL, 6, 125.
" Eftyr thar inclinaciouns." R. R., 77, 6.
" Eftyr a faa (few) dayes he apperyde till (to) ane Jjat was
famyliare till (to) hym in hys life." Pr. Tr., 7, 4.
FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 61
Feeath — hesitating ; reluctant.
" When Ah gat ti knaw spot was hanted, Ah was varry
feeath o gannin."
Fettle, or Fittle^ to prepare; arrange; make fit. So*'^i"
means ready ; also, an arrangement of stanzas, or parts of a
poem.
"Istaties/^r'
"Ah '11 gan smjlttle dinner noo."
^'Fettled him to shoot." Per. Eel, 65.
Fey, (Ice., faegja, to cleanse), to winnow; to cleanse corn
from the chafi" and dust.
"Give uz ken-crewk (churn-handle) for /eyiVmachine,
we're gannin ti/ey cooan."
" Gates threshed said /eyed." Best, 4.
Flay, (Ice., flaga), to frighten ; to make afraid.
"With fe left hand fam to Jlay." Pr. of Con., 1268.
" Hym for to tempte and for to flay." Pr. of Con., 2247.
A scare-crow is termed a^ai/-krake.
Flit, (Ice., flyta; Dan. flytte), to pass away; to remove.
"A sandie hill, that still didflitt and fall away." F. Q.,
I., 4, 5.
" My fi'adir is bowne to flitte." York PL, 47, 68.
The bat, from its changeful motion, is called a j^i^^er-mouse.
Fog. after-math ; the growth of grass after the hay harvest.
" We 've had lots o' meeat this back end (autumn), fog
was ommast as lang as midda." (meadow).
" The/ogge of this close (field) letten for 33s. 4d." Best, 130.
Fond, silly; foolish.
" Now Noye (Noah) in faythe, Jje fonnes (goes fond) full
faste." York PL, 48, 89.
"Fooles fat Sirefonde" York PL, 303, 329.
" He 's 2, fond chapman that comes the day after the fair."
Eng., Pro v., p. 207.
" Grdinances of her owen fonnyd heeads." (fond heads).
Wic, Works, 3, 9.
62 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Fooar-eldhers, fore-fathers.
" Yr for-eldres fe bible wrat." Curs., Mun., 14,399.
Fra, (Ice., fra), from.
" And/ro that our the disciple took her in." Wic, Jno.,
19, 27.
"Puttes vayne ocupacyons/ra us." Pr. Tr., 3., 14.
Freshwood, threshold ; a piece of wood across the bottom
of tte doorway, to keep out the freshes^ or overflowings of
water after rain.
"Noo, mahnd an deeant threead uppa /res^i^jooc?."
Frush, to rush.
"Alto shiuere and alto/rwssAe." Havelok, 1993.
Full smack, (1) headlong; heavily.
"Ah ieWfull smack o' mi feeaco "
(2) with determination.
" He gans at it Jull smack.''
Fullock, (1) violent energy.
" Oss went at yat (gate) wiv a reg'lar /uUockf an brast it
reet ofi*a crewks."
(2) To jerk violently. Boys at marbles, to prevent their
opponents using undue force, cry out *^ 'Neesh fullocks !''
Fulth, sufficiency. Formed like warm-th, leng-th, &c.
" We 'd plenty ti it (eat) an we all it (^ate) ti wer fulth.^^
" Its fulth of milk. " Best, 5.
Gain, (Ice. gegn, convenient), near, convenient.
" The ganest gate (nearest way) fat i gane go." York PI.
59, 90.
A gain way of doing anything is an expeditious way of
doing it.
Gan or Gang, (Ice. ganga), to go.
Noo, gan on, an hod thi noise."
On grounde ongaynely mayy gauge." York PI., 32, 99.
" There 's been sum fahn (some fine) gannins on amang em."
They live at a odd hoose, bud they 've plenty ov cummers
smganners." (Occasional visitors ; persons who call whe^
passing).
((I
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 63
Garth, (Ice. garS), a yard; an enclosure; an orchard;
as i-dwd-garth (fold-yard), stsiggath (stack-yard), &c.
" In keepinge of appil (apple) garths." Psalter, 78, 1.
A road at Bridlington, which led to the orchard of the
Priory Church, before the dissolution of the monasteries, is
still called Apple-^ar^A Lane.
Gate, (1) (Ice. gata), a way; a road. In Driffield, Naffer-
ton, Cranswick, &c., streets are called gates, even where
there have never been any gates, (doors, bars, &c.) in
connection with them. The gate, which barred the way,
took its name from the way it barred. See Stee and Stile.
" Agaynes kyndly oys (use) or ojjer gates." Pr. Tr., 11.
(2) A right of pasturage, &c. Local advertisements
notify gaits for cattle, &c.
(3) Manner; method.
" Weel, gan yer awn gate !" (Do as you please).
Gaum, (Ice. guma, to take heed), sense ; wit ; tact. Is it
not closely akin to gauma, a man 1
" He hezn't a bit o' gaum aboot him."
*' He was that gaurrdess he let him hev it for a pund less
then he ga fo't."
"Have je geten vs fis gome," (man). York PL, 154, 255.
" Sco (she) was giuen to zebedei,
A daughti gom (man) o'galilee." Curs. Mun., 12697.
Gavlac, (a diminutive from Ice. gaffall, a dung-fork) a
crowbar ; a lever.
"One recon, one gaveloche, one fier shole." Best, 172.
Gen, to repine; to weep. Akin to "grin.''
" He's genniest chap uppo yath ; he 's awlas genninV
"His face was ugly, and his countenance sterne.
That could have frayed one with the very sight.
And gaped like a gulf when he did gerne "
F.Q. 5, 12, 15.
Getten, p. p. of " to get "
" He's getten all he wanted."
64 POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
"And lias getyn a som dele ryste " Pr. Tr. 17.
Gif, if.
" GifthQj axe wheear Ah cum fra."
" (t2// Christ had nocht as-cendit." Lauder, 12, 283.
Gift i' gob, fluency of speech.
" Oor pahson hez a rare gift i' gobV
Glooar, (Ice. glora, to stare), to stare rudely.
"Gro hense, fou glorand (glooaring) geldyng." York PI.,
126, 157.
Glowpin, (Ice., glopr, to stare; gloppen, to stupefy),
staring with amazement. Almost obsolete.
" ])is tre sho (she) stert al glop2)ened fra.'' Curs. Mun., 8901.
Golly or GoUock, an unfledged bird.
"A nest of briddis .... and the moder of the gollis.'*^
Wic, Deut., 22, 6.
When the young birds have left the nest, they are said to
be "fligged an flown."
Grave, " He went ti grave gahdin (garden) ower, an when
he'd groven it, pigs gat in an paddled it doon ageean"
"He up grofe it, and he fell in the pit that he made."
Psal. 7, 16
Greeas, (1) grease. Figuratively, flattery.
" What a awd greeas horn that fella is ! He thried ti greease
ma up, an get ma ti buy summat."
(2) gain, profit, advantage.
"He weeant gether mitch greeas oot o' that."
Grub, to toil ; to delve ; to dig up roots, <fec.
"And made hym gruhhle and gi'ave." York PL, 46, 23
Grund, ground, earth; to grind; ptt, did grind.
" The stone on which knives &c. are ground is termed a
grun-%tdiii.
"Scarp (sharp) grunden knijf in hand he bar (bore)."
Curs. Mun., 21, 437.
Grip, a gutter; a narrow ditch. That which has hold
upon the land ; so gripe^ a pain in the bowels,
rOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE. 65
" men casten hem in poles, (pools)
Or in a grip^ or in fe fen." Havelok, 2101.
" And summe leye in dikes, (ditches)
And summe in gripes.^^ Havelok, 1923.
Grape, p. t. of Grasp, to clutch ; also p. t. of Grope, touch,
feel.
" Hend (hands) thai hafe, and thai sail noghte grapeJ**
Psalter, 113, 15.
" Ah grape mi way i* dahk an ommast tummell'd ower
yat stowp." (gate post).
Hack, (Du., hakken; Dan., hakke; Swed., hacka; Ger.,
hacken, to chop), to cut or chop in small pieces. A
stammerer is called a hacker er^ for he cuts his words in pieces.
" He hackers and stammers seeah, that yan can't tell what
he meeans."
Mince-meat is known as Aac^-meat ; the knife with which
it is made is a hacking-^sxniQ ; and the trough or block on
which the work is performed is a Aac^m^-trough, or hacking-
block.
" Putte Jjerto Percely (parsley), Sawge leufs, nogt to smal
hakkyd.'" (Sage leaves not too small hacked). Ck. Bk., 32, 22.
Haft or Heft, handle, or the part by which you have a
thing.
"The yren slipt of fro the hafV Wic, Deut., 19, 5.
"For other haftis in hand have we." York PL, 158, 76.
[The Glossary of the Plays gives " affairs " as the meaning
of "haftis."]
Hales, handles of ploughs, wheel-barrows, &c. ; i.e. the
part by which you hale (haul). See Acts, 8, 3, (A.Y.) "Saul
.... haling men and women, committed them to prison.'*
" Not to trouble themselves with haling on so much at
once. ' Best, 50.
HaHsel, (Ice. handsal, earnest-money), first money, or first
use.
"Ah sail hansel mi new bonnet o' Sunda,'*
E
66 POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
" The catchpole is the first handsel of the young rapiers of
the templars." Micro., 142.
Hanted, haunted. Hence ** hant " means a habit.
"He's getten a hant o' gannin there ivvery neet."
" Mont olivet it es an hill
])2it iesus (Jesus) hanted mickel till (to).''
^ Curs. Mun., 13,690.
Happin, covering ; bed-clothes.
"Ah was cawd las neet; Ah hadn't hauf aneeaf happin.**
"Hille (pile) on me happing." York PL, 257, 82.
"And I sail happe fe, myn owne dere childe."
York PL, 116. 120.
"Thou reft him all the happinge that he had."
Psalter, 5. 10. ?0.
Hard, (1) quickly.
"And harde to her I wil me hye." York PL, 22, 15.
(2) fast; tight.
"Bunden hard wit rapes Strang." Curs. Mun., 21003.
Harden, to incite.
"When lads was fightin, Tom harderCd em on all he could.'*
" Her nourslings did with mutinous uprore
Harten against her selfe her conquered spoile.
Which she had wonne from all the world afore "
Spenser. [Ruins of Rome, 22].
Hask, (1) (Ice. hask, rigorous), stiff; unyielding.
" Harsk and harde." Curs. Mun., 21,343.
(2) bitter, tart, harsh to the taste.
"Give uz anuther lump o' seeagur (sugar) teeah 's si
hask.''*
Heeam, home.
" For she would cal him often heame " Sh. Cal. (November)
Heeap, a great number of persons or things.
"There was a heeap o' fooaks at chotch"
"There 's a heeap ov apples uppa that three "
" Ah've been ti Hull heeaps o' tahms."
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 67
"Bot fare-wele all fe heppe (crowd)." York PL, 160. 132.
Hick, to hitch ; an upward jerk.
^^ Hick it up a bit higher."
Farmers, maltsters, and others, use an oblong frame, called
a hickin-hdiVVB., by which a sack of corn can be lifted from
the ground by two men, who seize hold of the "hales " and
** hick '' it up, on to the back of him who carries it to the
wagon, <kc.
Hing, to hang. A poor lean miserable thing is termed a
"Am^-lug."
" And bot fai me faire brofer bringe.
For soj) fair ostage sallelAm^." Curs. Mun., 4991.
(Joseph sending for Benjamin).
« Thys frute full styll sail hyng.'' York PL, 20. 78.
I is, I am. The verb present indicative singular being
Ah is, Thoo is, He is.
" Ah 's (I is) varry cawd ! Give uz sum wahm teeah."
"])e man ye soke, he said, es i/' Curs., Mun., 19,904.
Jowl, to knock together.
" Ah^lljowl thi heead an wall tegither."
"J5at nonejangill nor jolle at my gate." York PI. 307. 14.
Kep, to catch anything thrown or falling.
Shrove Tuesday is called Keppin Day, because part of the
amusement consists of kepping balls.
"Horn in is (his) armes hire kepte, (caught)."
King Horn, 1208.
"And kipte (caught) up fat heui ston." Havelok, 1050.
Kessen, p.p. of to cast ; cast off.
"Hez tha onny kessen cleeas ti give awayT*
" Soth, quat has Jjou in j?i hand 1
Laured, he said, i ber a wand.
])o\x kest it on fe gress, i bidd,
Gladli, laured, and sua he didd."
Ours. Mun., 5809. — (Moses at the burning bush).
68 ^ FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
" Truly, what hast thou in thine hand ?
Lord, he said, I hear a wand.
Thou cast it on the grass, I hid ;
Gladly, Lord, and so he did."
Kinnle, to produce young ; literally, to bring forth the
same khid. Said only of rabbits ; but Wicliffe has, in Luke,
3, 7, ^^ -Kyndlyngis of eddires ;" and Shakespeare, in " As you
like it," III. 2., has "The cony that you see dwell where
she was kindled.^'' When we kindle a fire do we not produce
fire 1
Kist, a chest ; a large box.
"And laid in kist o' marbil stan." Curs. Mun. 21,018.
Kitlin, (Ice. ketlingr), a kitten. Formed from cat,
as birdling, nestling, gosling, from bird, nest, and goose
respectively.
" It ought not to be said that Cats, but that Kitlings
have nine lives." Lister.
Kittle, (Ice. kitla), to tickle.
At a church, in East Holderness, the clerk, finding himself
singing the Psalms alone, suddenly stopt, and exclaimed,
" If ya deean't help ma. Ah can't gan on ; Ah 've getten a
kiUin i* mi throoat."
^^ Kitlynge of thair flesch." Psalter, 2. 4.
Kittle, (1) delicate, sensitive.
"It's as kittle as a moose-thrap."
"If an ewe bee kitUe on her yower (udder) let her dance
in a payre of hopples." Best, 80.
(2) critical ; difficult to decide.
"Ah deean't knaw what ti say; it^^ 2, kittlish coshan."
(question).
Krake, a crow. A scare-crow is called a flay-craA;e ; and
the land-rail is a corn-cra^e.
" When it is all waxen blake, the krake nuryssis (nourishes)
it as his aghyn (own) bird." Psalter, 146. 10.
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 69
Lake, (Ice. leikr, a game ; leika, to play).
" Nog, lads ; let 's (let us) lake at tig."
"And gif him list for to laike." P.P., Prol. 172.
" How Jjis losell (rascal) laykis with his lord."
York P., 250. 253.
"Begunnen fer for to layke" Havelok, 1011.
Lall, to protrude.
" He lalled oot his tung, an meead feeaces at ma."
"And Ullediovth. his bloody flaming tong." F.Q., I., 5. 34.
Lane, to teach.
" Is this God's wourd that larnis thame this euyle."
Lauder, 16. 618.
" How J?ou lernist fe peple." P.P., lY. 11.
Lap, to wrap.
" Lap it up, an put it away."
"That daintie Rose lapped up her silken
leaves." F.Q., I., 5. 34.
")5at he before was lapped in." Pr. of Con., 523.
Late, (Ice. leita), to seek ; to search for.
" Ah lated it hauf an hoor, an cudn't find it."
"No we (may) god neuer late man after me."
York PL, 34. 149.
Lathe or Leeath, (Ice. hla^S), a barn.
" Let 's gan inti leeath ti lake."
Lee, lie; falsehood.
" Mare thoo sez, an mare lees thoo tells."
"That pow be never leif (at liberty) to^ee." R R, 92. 51.
Leeath- wake, (Ice., li^r, limb) supple-limbed ; used also in
reference to corpses which do not become rigid in the usual
time.
Leeav, soon; rather.
" Ah 'd as leeav deeah this as that."
" A ! I am full werie, lefe (soon) late (let) me slope."
Yk. PL, 110. 249.
70 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Leet, to alight. The past tense is "let."
"A elude (cloud) fat Jjar again (against) him light"
Curs. Mun., 18,767.
"A cat aw las leets ov it feet."
Lig, (Ice. liggja), to lie, as in bed; to place down.
" He say (saw) his wyues modir Uggynge."
• Wic, Matt., 8. U.
"But firste I wille lygge on (place on) my lyne."
York PL, 43. 98.
"Learne to ligge soft." Sh. Cal., (May).
")per bermen let he alle ligge." Havelok, 876.
A sluggard is known as a Zip'-i'-bed ; and when the moon
rises later at night it is said "Meean ligs in a bit noo o'
neets."
To expend money is to lig it out ; and the same term is
used in preparing a corpse for burial.
Lin, (Ice. lin), linen. Lin is the flax plant ; linseed its
seed ; and linQn the product of its manufacture.
" He dranc neuer cisar (cider) ne wine,
Ne wered(wore) neuer clath o' line.'^ Curs. Mun., 12679.
The York Plays, p. XXVII. , gives lynweiters as the name
of a guild of artisans.
Litha, verb imp., (Ice. hly^a, to listen), harken ! listen !
" Lithctj lutha, luxtha ; let s gan an lake on hossin-clog,
(play on the log from which horses are mounted)."
Sitha ! and sutha ! i^see thou) are similar expressions.
"And seyde lifes (listen) nou alle to me."
Havelok, 1400.
" Lithethsmd lesteneth." (Harken yeand listen ye). Gam., 1.
Liver, deliver.
" Carrier had a heeap o' things, bud he gat em all liver ed."
"She gladly did of that same babe accept,
As of her owne by liverey." F. Q., 6. 4. 37.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 71
" Gamelyn," seyde Adam, " for seynte charite,
Pay large lyuerey for the loue of me." Gam., 513.
Livered, delivered.
"Carrier livered em all, wivoot a mistak."
*' And liverd Jjaim fra pharaon." Curs. Mun. 14403.
Lop, a flea.
Named from its louping (leaping) powers.
" Grete loppis ouere alle jjis lande fei flee."
York P., 85. 293.
Lopper, (Ice. laupa, to congeal), to curdle.
" Lopird is as mylke thaire hert but in
lopirynge it waxis sou re." Psalter, 118. 70.
" He had na other fode (food),
Bot wlatsom glet (loathsome slime) and lopyrd blode.'*
Pr. of Con., 459.
Loup, (Ice., hlaupa), to leap, to jump.
Boys play at loup-hd^ok, i.e. leap-frog.
"And bigan til (to) him to loupe." Havelok, 1801.
" With that sprong forth a naked swayne.
With spotted winges, like Peacocks trayne
And laughing lope to a tree." Sh. Cal., (March).
" building churches and louping over them."
Hazlitt's Proverbs, p. 224.
"Loppestere (lobster) and drie haddok." Ck., Bk., 114, 28.
for the lobster is the leaper, or louper.
Louse, loose.
One free from his apprenticeship is said to be lowse^ and
the supper given on that occasion is a ^^ lowzenin feeast." A
lowse hand is a workman who can be conveniently spared.
A lowseness is the diarrhoea. To ^^lowze oot" is to
unharness.
*^Lou8 him (Lazarus) nu, he said." Curs. Mun., 14,356.
" To louse the thwong of his schoo." Wic, Jno. I. 27.
Low, (Ice., log, a flame; and loga, to flame), a flame; to
blaze.
72 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
The dancing flames of a fire are called \i\\i-lows.
"Of lowe and reke with stormes melled." (mixed).
Pr. of Con., 9431.
"In that low sa dim." Curs. Mun., 23,232.
"a sight to se
him (Moses) fougte brennynge a tre,
As hit wij5 loue al were bileyde " (be-laid).
Curs. Mun., 5,739.
Mak, (Ice., maki), a mate ; a companion,
ifa^less has become matchless — a shortened form of make ;
as tak for take, and mak for make (verb).
A father, rebuking his son for taking a worthless fellow as
his companion, will say, " Deean't gan wiv him. He 's nooa
sooat ov a mak fo thoo."
"But he has made to (for) hym a, make." York PL, 22. 14.
"As true as turtle to her make." F. Q., 3. 11. 2.
" But (except) thou hire take
)pat y wole geuen fe to make." Havelok, 1,149.
"She is fayne of fi felawship for to be ])i make."
P. P., III. 18.
In All Saints' Church, Hereford, there was a tablet with
an inscription (1428).
" Here lyeth under this stone, William "Wake,
And by him Joane, his wife and make."
Bardsley's Surnames, p. 475.
Mang, (Ice. menga, to mingle), to break, bruise, crush,
mix.
A child who, instead of eating his food, might be picking
it and pushing it about his plate, would be reprimanded by
bis mother thus " Deean't mang it aboot seeah."
"Take sugre and poudre Gynger, and meng it with ]je
farcere, (stujaing.") Ck. Bk., 46. 10.
Mare, more.
" J)at we suld hald it (sabbath) euer mare." Curs. Mun., 410.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 73
" All wondered on him, less and marey Curs. Mun., 13,886.
" He sail euer mare be withowttyn joje." Pr. Tr., p. 4.
Maste, most.
" Maste spedfull maste medfull and faire." Pr. Tr., p. 26.
Mene, or Meny, a family.
Quite obsolete in common speech, but is still preserved in
an old rhyme, used in stationing boys at the various " hods,"
preparatory to a game.
" Meny, msny, miny mo,
I ax ya wheear mun this man go %
Sum gans eeast, an sum gans west,
An sum gans ower the high crake nest."
" How he sholde his meine fede." Havelok, 827.
Mense, (Ice. menska, decency), (1) the best part; the
original freshness and beauty.
" Ay ! lass ! all mense is offa thah best bonnit."
(2) decency; manners.
" That lass hez neeather sense nor mense."
(3) to grace ; to adorn ; to honour.
" Mah wod. Jack, bud thoo did lewk weel o' Sethadaneet,
wiv a lass ov eeather sahd ti mense tha off."
"Gif I may, as I mygte, menske j)e with giftes."
P.P., Ill, 183.
Menseless means without decency or manners.
Mlddin, a heap ; a dunghill.
"Als (as) well on myddyng als on more."
York PL, 85. 296.
"A fouler myddyng saw fow never nane."
Pr. of Con., 628.
Milt, (Ice. milti), the spleen of an animal; sometimes
called a cat collap.
"Take pipes, hertes, myites, and rybbes of fe swyne."
Ck. Bk. 70. 30.
74 POLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
" Nv schal for-roteyn Now shall to rot
Jpine te]j and ]>i tunge Thy teeth and thy tongue,
j)i Ma we and fi Milte Thy stomach, and thy milt,
j)i lyiire and jji lunge Thy liver, and thy lung,
And ])i Jjrote bolle. And the swelling of thy throat
)pat fu mide sunge, That thou singest with."
Old. Eng. Mis., 179. 169.
Mind, a resolve ; a determination.
" Ah 've a good mhid nut ti gan at all."
"To him that mindes (resolves) his chance t'abye."
F. Q., Bk. II. 4. 40.
Mizzle, fine drizzling rain.
"Now gynnes to mizzle^ hye we homeward fast."
Sh. Cal. (Nov).
" If the mominge bee wette and rnislinge." Best, 44.
Moel, mole ; a dark-coloured spot.
"Diz tha knaw Tom hez a mood on his ayme."
" Upon the little brest, like christall bright.
She mote perceive a little purple 7?io^c?." F. Q., 6. 12. 7.
Mought, might, p. t. of May.
" Iche man mut nedis shryuen oonys (once) in Jje yer."
Wic. Works, p. 329.
Mouther, or Moother, toll in kind, taken by millers.
The custom is quite obsolete and the word seldom heard.
A miller who was suspected of helping himself too liber-
ally was said to "knaw hoo ti moother."
" The miller taketh more mowter than is his due." Best, 103.
Mowdiewarp, or Mowthad, (Ice., moldvarpa), a mole.
"And a mold werp/' Wic, Lev., XL, 30.
"Like Moldwarps nousling." Spenser, p. 556.
Muck, (1) dirt.
" But mucky filth his braunching armes annoyes."
F. Q., Bk. IL, 7. 15.
(2) manure. A miuck heeap is a manure heap, and so is a
muck middin. To mv^k oot is to clear out manura
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 75
(3) figuratively, dirt. WicliflTe is very partial to this
word. In his Testament and other works it is in regular
use for wealth, &c.
"To geten worldely muk more ]?an soule heljje." (health),
Wic. Works, p. 5.
" fei prechen principally for worldeli muh"
Wic. Works, p. 10.
Mull, to spoil by bad workmanship.
Mullock, a piece of work spoilt by bad workmanship.
"He framed sa badly at job. Ah thowt he wad mak a
mullock on 't."
Mun, (Ice., munu), must.
"Ah mun be off heeam."
" He mon be brought down with sorrow." Psalter, 9. 42.
"Thai mun fynd it." Psalter, 24. 12.
Neeaf, (Ice., hnefi), the fist. Hence nevill, to strike with
the fist.
" With fe neue he robert sette
Biforn Jje teth a dint ful strong." Havelok, 2,404.
" Of that bignesse that one may thrust in theire nea/e."
Best, 126.
Noddle, the head.
" Thoo 's soft i' thi noddle."
" ]?ose noddil on hym with nefies,
)pat he (do) noghte nappe." York PL, 268. 370.
(Strike him on the head with fists, so that he sleeps not).
Nope, (1) the head. Akin to knop, knob.
(2) to strike on the head. See p. 28.
The children have a saying, " Bells is ringing, cats is sing-
ing, an dogs is gannin ti chotch," which represents a departed
custom. When the church bells were ringing for service,
the cats were left at home, to bask before the fire, and sing
" three-thrums " on the hearth-rug ; while the dogs went to
church with their masters, and lay under the seat of the pew
until the service was over. Though usually quiet, they were
76 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
not always so, and an official was appointed to keep the
tiresome ones in oi'der. He was termed a dog-noperj and
was armed with a stick, bearing a like name.
It is related that on one occasion, a fight began near the
pulpit, between two dogs of unequal size ; and, in spite of
the dog-nopeVy increased in intensity, until, by reason of
noise and excitement, the preacher was compelled to cease
preaching. Women stood on the seats for safety, the men
in order to see better, and all thoughts of place and time
were lost in the common excitement. Finally, the parson
leaned over the edge of the pulpit, clapping his hands and
saying "Two ti one on lahtle un ! Two ti one on lahtle un !"
Other some, others.
"Sum fooaks is wahse ti pleease then other sum/*
"Maria his moder and ofer sum." Curs. Mun., 18875.
Otther, to talk foolishly ; to wander aimlessly.
A prolific and forceful word. A slow-witted person is
ottherin ; an otther-pooak is literally a poke (sack) of ottJcer
(nonsense) ; and an otther-kite (stomach) or otlher-skeeat is
somewhat the same ; and so is otthertyhoy.
Owmly, (Ice. aumligr), (1) lonely, dismal, dreary, as ap-
plied to localities.
(2) lonely and spacious, as applied to houses, &c. Almost
like " dowly," {i.e. dole-ly).
"Ah sudnt like ti sleep wi mi-sen i' that greeat owrrdy
hoose."
Pale or Pail, a rail.
" Noo, keep ofia them paZins."
"She is ybrought unto a. paled greene." F.Q., Bk. 1, c. 5.
"And stood at his gaxden pale." Per. Rel., p. 75.
Pan, to become adapted by use. A new boot is not com-
fortable until it pans to the foot.
As a man becomes accustomed to his work he pans to it.
Two people, living together, have to pan one to the other,
before smoothness is possible
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 77
That which -will become well adapted, or will fit properly
by use, is panahle.
Pawk, (Ice., puki ; a goblin), insolent impertinent talk.
** Noo lets he' neean o' thi^ai^^, thoo^ai:;^ young raggill."
Pet, offence.
"He i'BikB pet at ivvery thing yan sez or diz."
"He now takes joe^." Earle's Mic, p. 20.
One who has had all his pets or fits of ill temper indulged
to excess is said to be " pettled."
Pissimire, pis-mire, the red ant. So called because it
discharges a reddish fluid.
Pooak, sack ; bag ; pouch. Pocket is a diminutive of poke.
" Nivver thoo buy a pig iv a pooak."
" His neather lip was not like man nor beast.
But like a wide deepejoo^e, down hanging low. "F. Q., 4. 7. 6.
Possessed, held ; controlled. Though not a dialect word,
its peculiar use in the dialect justifies its appearance here.
"Ah deean't knaw whsit possessed ma, when Ah did it."
Pucker, to gather in folds or wrinkles. Literally, to make
into pokes or small bags.
" She 's puckered up this sowin shamf uUy. It '11 all he' ti
cum oot ageean."
Puddle, a muddy place. Connected with pool.
" Ah '11 skelp tha weel, thoo mucky thing ! Thoo's been
thruf ivvery puddle thoo cud find."
" And like to troubled puddles have them made."
Spenser (Teares of the Muses) 276.
Purchass, leverage; advantage.
" Ah can't stor it wi this gavlac, for Ah can get neeah
purchass."
Quietsome, (1) still; not restless. A quietsome bayn,
(child.)
(2) tranquil. A quietsome neet.
(3) not quarrelsome. He 's a quietsome chap.
Eaggill, a rascal.
78 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
" And farre away, amid their rakehell bands,
They spiede a lady, left all succour lesse." F. Q., 5. 1 1 . 44.
Bake, (Ice. reika), to ramble about idly.
" He gans rakin aboot cunthry asteead o' gettin on wiv
his wahk."
"Thai suffire thaire hert to rake in ydel thoghtes."
Psalter, 85. 6.
Eame, (Ice. remja), to cry out ; to shout.
" He ramed oot at ma."
"mit (with) te rem =5at he maked." Old Eng. Mis., 1. 22.
Ramp, to stamp about ; to scold furiously.
" their bridles they would champ.
And trampling would fiercely ramp."
F.Q., Bk. L, c. 5.
Beek, (Ice. reykr), smoke. Akin to " roke " — sea mist.
"It was all ov a reek, like a lahm-kill" (lime-kiln.)
"For the reek it smithers me." Per. Rel., 79.
" Few chymneis reeking you shall espye." Sh. Cal.
Eemmon, or Eenunle, to remove.
" 0, y'u needn't remmon; Ah can manidge."
" Wot no man fe time wanne he sal hennce rimen."
(No man knows the time when he removes hence, i.e.
dies). Proverbs of Alfred.— Old Eng. Mis., 113. 170.
Render, (Ice. renna), to make run, to melt.
"The (golden) kalfe thai rendid." Psalter, 15. 19.
The leaves of fat from the inside of a pig are rendered, to
make lard. That which is left after the liquid fat is poured
off, is termed "scraps"; out of which " scrap-keeaks " are
made.
Bensh, rinse ; wash out.
" And rynsche fin dysshe alle abowte with oyle."
Ck. Bk., 24. 6.
Eig, (Ice. hryggr), (1) ridge of a house, stack, (fee. The
piece of wood forming the ridge is called the rig three {i.e,
ridge-tree).
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 79
(2) the highest part of a section of ploughing.
(3) the back, or backbone.
"J?at his rigg on it may reste." York PI., 339. 73.
" Bernard stirt (started) up, fat was full big,
And cast a brinie (cuirass) upon his rig"
Havelok, 1774.
Kock, a distaff. Quite obsolete, because the spinning
wheel has disappeared, but very old people still remember it,
though to mention it to them, forcibly reminds them how
very old they are.
" Sad cloths held the rocke, the whiles the thrid (thread)
was spun with paine." F. Q., 4. 2. 48.
Boosin, (1) (Ice., hrosa), boasting.
"What rosyng (boasting) of riches."
"I cried .... rosand (to boast) me of rightwisness."
Psalter, 31. 3.
(2) of large size.
"That's a roozin lee." (lie).
Eyme, (Ice. hrim), hoar. A rime frost is a hoar frost, or
a white frost.
" And he sloghe in haghil (hail) the vyners (vines) and
thaire mours (mulberries) in ryme froist." Psalter, 77. 52.
Sad, heavy, as unleavened.
" Sad keeaks " and dip form a favourite breakfast.
"Bete on Jje cloth with a ladell to make sad."
Ck. Bk., 92. 29.
Sadly means urgently, of heavy pressing necessity. "It
sadly wants mendin."
Sag, to bend ; to droop ; having slackness.
Clothes-lines, telegraph-wires, &c., which are not tight, are
said to Sag.
Sang, a song.
" Osanna king ! to f e we cri
A sang." Curs, Mun., 15,049.
80 POLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
Scrat, scratch.
^^ Scrat her ees cot, Molly; or else she'll rahvethi hair."
" And wit shratting he toke fe skurf
He barked ouer as a turfe." Curs. Mun., 11,823.
Scrudged, crowded; squeezed.
" We wer seeah scrudged up, we cud hardlins stor."
" And then atweene her lilly handes twaine,
Into his wound the juice therefore did scruze."
F. Q., 3. 5. 33.
Seer, sure ; confident. A contraction of seker ; as sure is.
a contraction of secure.
" Ah 's as seer on 't as Ah is o' standin here."
" For fat is euer mare a sehyr standard
})at will noghte (not) faile." Pr. Tr., 40.
Settle, a bench with a high back. Connected with sit
and seat.
" He sat on yal-hoose lang-settle an dhrunk yal, whahl they
tonned him oot."
" Opon the setil of his mageste." Pr. of Con., 6,122.
"Tosittein setlis." Cui-s. Mun., 18,997.
Shaav, or Shiv, or Shav, (Ice., skifa), a slice ; a piece cut,
as of wheat, &c.
"It is safe taking a shive from a cut loaf."
Shanks, ankles; legs.
"Is tha gannin ti ride] Ay, uppa shanks meear (mare)."
(upon my own legs).
"Noo then ! sparra shanks (thin legs) get oot o' gate 1"
" He broken armes, he broken knes,
He broken shanks, he broken thes " (thighs).
Havelok, 1,901.
Sike, such.
" There was sike a row as Ah nivver heead afooar."
" Puft up in pryde, sik as wes neuer sene
Before, with ony mortallmanniseine." Lauder, 16. 422.
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 81
Sile, (Ice., sia) (1) to strain milk.
(2) A small wooden bowl, with a large aperture at the
bottom, across which a piece of muslin is stretched, for the
purpose of straining milk. This piece of muslin is the " sile
cloot."
*< Mary, is milk siled ] " " Nooa ! " " Then reeach ma fii7e,
an Ah '11 sile it."
(3) To faint, or glide away.
" Ghooast com clooase ti bedsteead, and began luggin at
happin. It teeak twilt an pitcht it ower feeat-booad, then
blankits, an wad ha thrawn sheet anole, bud Ah stuck tiv
it ; an when sumbody spak i' next rum ghooast siled away,
an Ah nivver seed it ageean."
Skail, to scatter ; to spill.
"Deean't skail sthreea (straw) aboot seeah."
"]?ai J?at war scaild (scattered)." Curs. Mun., 19,505.
" He fetched out his bottle (bundle) and scaled the hay
aboute." Best, 78.
Skep, (Ice., skeppa) (1) a measure; as, a bushel skep ; a
peck skep.
(2) A wicker basket.
" Of his mete scip, (literally, bread-basket, stomach), was
mesur nan, (none).
He wold ete seuen seep (sheep) him an."
Curs. Mun., 7453.
Skrike, (Ice., skrikja) to shriek ; to scream.
"The little babe did loudly scrike and squall."
F. Q., Bk., 6., c. 5.
Slack, (Ice., slakki, a valley), a shallow valley. Common
as a place name; e.g.j Nafferton Slack, Garton Slack, <fec.
Slaver, (Ice., slafra), to run at the mouth with saliva.
Also figuratively, meaning foul-mouthed, obscene ; while, as
slaverment it means fulsome flattery.
"And as she spake therewith she slavered."
F. Q., Bk. 5., c. 12,
f
82 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Smatch, (Ice., smakka), a flavour or taste. Wicliffe uses
the older form — smack.
"He has some smatch of a Scholler."
Earle's Mic, (an Aturney).
Smoot, (Ice., smdtt), a way or track. Nearly obsolete,
and applied only to the " run " of hares and rabbits.
"Leavinge an open smoute for them to go in." Best, 62.
Snape, (Ice., snape, a pert youth), to check; to correct;
to snub.
" Ah sud snape that bayne, if Ah was thoo. He 's ower
mich of his awn way."
The Curs. Mun., 13,027, uses this word as meaning to
accuse, to snub. " He com to snaip pe king of sin."
Snitch, the nose. With this word, we have connected,
snipe (the bird with a long bill) snivel, snore, snort, snot
(mucus) snout, sniff*, snuff*.
"The snyte (snipe) and the crowe shul dwell in it."
Wic, Is. 34. 11.
"Also tongis to do out the snottis (snuff*s)."
Wic, Ex., 25. 38.
"Blaw thi snitch^ an deean't sniffle like that."
Spell, a splinter of wood ; a bar of wood.
The bars of a gate, ladder, chair, <fec., are called spells.
"Ah've getten a spell i' mi finger."
" On which if a man lenith, it schal be brokun, and the
speel thereof schal entre in hys hond."
Wic, 4 Kings, (2 Chron). 18. 21.
Spigot, a vent peg, inserted in beer barrels, &c.
" It is as must (new wine) without spigot."
Wic, Job, 32. 19.
Spok or Spak, p.t. of to speak.
"Jesus spac to the peple." Wic, Matt., 23. 1.
Stacker, (Ice., stakra) to stagger; to bewilder.
" Weel, that reglar stackers ma !"
"For scho may stakir in jje strete." York PL, 274. 85,
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 83
Stang, a pole or bar.
Riding the stang is a nearly-obsolete custom.
" A wicked iuu (Jew) wid wicked wrang
Smate him wid a walker stang.
]?at he him brae his ham (brain) panne."
Curs. Mun., 21. U3.
Start, tail. Obsolete, save in the name of a bird; the
redstart.
" He dragged dust wi^ his st&rt Eng. Mis., 1. 9.
Steck or S tike, to fasten a gate or door.
Doors in old houses and churches are still fastened by a
stake or bar ; so " stike that deer," means fasten the door
with a stake.
" He (Noah) self Jje dore fan has he stoken."
Curs. Mun., 1758.
" pe dores stoke" Curs. Mun., 19,313.
Stee, (Ice. stegi)^ a ladder.
This word is connected with step, steep, stair, stile (a little
stee), and stiiTup (a stee rope).
*'He settehis foot in thestyrop (stirrup)." Gamelyn, 189.
"He stied (mounted) into the boot (boat)."
Wic, Matt, U. 32.
The sloping piece of wood by which fowls reach their
roosting place is termed a hen-stee.
Sthrake, past tense of "to strike;" struck.
" He sthrake at rezzil (weasel) bud missed it."
" Strake on a rock, that under water lay.
And perished past all recoverie."
Spenser (Visions of Petrarch) 2. 9.
Sthrang, strong.
" Bill 's as sthrang as sthrang can be."
" For luf es Strang als dede " (as death). Pr. Tr., 2. 4,
Stiddy or Stithy, a blacksmith's anvil.
84 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
" Als (as) it war dintes (strokes) on a stebi
J?at smithes smittes in a smejjej."
Curs. Mun., 23,237.
"As the stithie of an hamer betere." Wic, Job, 41. 15.
Storr or Slower, a heavy stick.
" He beat her wi neeather stick, steean, iron, nor stoiver.
(Eiding the Stang).
"The Wright to come and putte in stowers" Best, 35.
Swad, a pod of peas, beans, kc.
The Authorised Version (Luke, 2. 12.) preserves a relative
of this word swaddling clothes.
' " Ah chuckt (threw) all peeah swads ti pigs."
Swap, to exchange ; to barter.
" Tom sivapt ma knives, an ga ma a buttherie gun inti
bahgan."
"The(y) swapte | blows] together tyll the(y) both swat."
Per. Eel, 43.
Swill, (1) to wash, by a drenching flood of water.
"aSWZ^ them flags!" .
"Ful wel kan ich (I) dishes swilen." Havelok, 919.
(2) to swallow greedily. An immoderate drinker is said
to " swill it intiv him."
We have also the compounds, swill-tiih, a tub for holding
stoill (pig's food) ; and swill-kite, one who makes his kite
(stomach) a receptacle for sioill — unnecessary liquids.
A humourous story relates how a cat " dhroondid hersen
i' sivill tub, 'cos misthris had gotten anuther cat."
Tally, (1) an account; a score.
"Thoo mun keep tally."
(2) to match.
" What's tha browt theeas for] They deean't tally."
. (3) to agree ; to hold the same opinions.
" Ay ! they call mah wife Tally. Thoo sees oor feelins
tallied."
Teeam, to pour out.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 85
"Ay, lass ! Ah 's riddy fo mi teeah ; teeam nz sum oot."
"The whilk (which) says temySy temys" Psalter, 136. 10.
Thrapse, to trudge about.
An old woman, on her death-bed, was asked to take a
message to a previously-deceased person, when she sharply
replied, " Di ya think Ah sail he' nowt ti deeah 1' heaven
bud gan thrapsin aboot, latein (searching) for hor]"
Threeap, to argue obstinately ; to dispute.
"Sha threeapt ma doon it was seeah."
" Witvten prep or strijf
Ai til (to) pe ending of pair lijf (life)."
Curs. Mun., 13,310.
" ))an was per no yrepyng.^^ York PL, 430. 105.
Tent, to tend ; to give heed to.
The person who tends pigs, cows, or birds is a "pig-tenthery
coo-tenther, or hodi-tenther, as the case may be.
"Eve ! to me take tent" York PI., 23. 41.
"))ou will noghte tente to them." Pr. Tr., p. 28,
Thrang, throng; busy.
"Men was as thrang as could be."
"Who makis here all pis ])rang 1" York PL, 178. 2.
Thof, though. The dialect has thruf for through ; pleeaf
for plough ; slafther for slaughter.
" Thofe I ware schreuen (shriven), me wanted contrycyone
(contrition)." Pr. Tr. 7.
Three thrums, the purring of a cat. Thrumming is pro-
duced by tapping gently with the finger ends. Three thrums
is thrumming on a three (tree), a piece of wood, by which
process a good representation of the purring of a cat can be
obtained.
"Ah like ti hear oor cat sing three thrvmis"
Threed, thread.
" Gan ti Johnson shop an fetch a hank o* whitey-broon
threed"
" Take a nedyl and a prede, and sewe J^e fore partye to
86 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Jje after parti." Ck, Bk. 40. 4.
Tickle, delicate ; ready to fall, go oflf, &c.
" It 's a ticklish job is settin a thrap, seeah as ti leeave it
tickle."
" On thing so tickle as th' unsteady ayre. F.Q., Bk. 7. c. 7.
" In humble dales is footing fast
• The trode is not so tickle." Sh. Cal. (July).
Tooan, or Teean,the one, (tuther, the other).
"Jje tane es to fe tojjer like." Curs. Mun., 18,861.
"The fyrste es needfull us to do, the tothire we awe
(ought) to do." Pr. Tr., p. 10.
" He schal hate the toon and loue the tether."
Wic, Matt., 6. 24.
Timdher, (Ice. tundr), tinder.
Once used with flint, steel, and brimstone matches to pro-
cure a light
" Of ston mid stel (with steel) in ^e tunder " (they make a
fire to) " warmen hem wel and heten and drinken."
Old Eng. Mis., 17. 535.
Tree, wood.
Just as the word " wood " means a quantity of living trees
as well as a piece of a dead tree, so the word " tree " has two
similar meanings — a living tree, and anything made of the
tree after it is felled. Thus we have cross-^ree (cross bits of
wood); boot-^ree (a wooden implement used by a shoemaker
for Wellington boots); axle-tree ; roof -tree j rig-{rooi) tree;
gallows-^ree j swingle-^re« (the swinging wood to which
horses are yoked); cobble-^ree, or kibble- ^ree (the coupling
wood, by which two horses are yoked abreast); maisther-
iree (the master or chief yoking beam, by which four horses
can be yoked abreast, sometimes called a fower-hoss balk).
" A man com til (to) him, and bedd (bade)
He suld him mak a treen bedd." Curs. Mun., 12,391.
"As ded as a dore tree." P. P., I., 185.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 87
"An putte al in a fayre treen belle" (wooden bowl).
Ck. Bk, 16.
Ugly, horrible; dreadful.
" That 's a ugli/ spot ti drahve past on a dahk neet."
" Vgly it is to fall in there hend." Psal.,, 9. 37.
Wahk, to ache ; ache or pain.
Thus we have heea,d-wahk (head-ache) ; teea,th-wahk ; ear-
ujahk ; hellj-wahk ; &c.
" Abouen (above) the warkynge of thaire woundes."
Psalter, 243. 68.
"Than ar thai sek ore thar hed werkis." — Then are they
sick, or their head aches. R. E-., 86. 352.
Wahk, work.
" Helpe, lady Werburge, this warke to amende."
St. Werb., 1,212.
"Thou fulfillis in warke that thow es called in name."
Pr. Tr., 1.
" And buildest strong warke upon a weake ground."
Sh. Cal., (May).
WafiRn, wafting ; waving. Connected with weave, weft.
" Deean 't waff aboot seeah ! Sit thi-sen doon ! "
"The Justice and the scherreue bothe honged hye,
To weyuen (shake, waff) with the ropes and with the
wynde drye." Gam. 880.
Wakken, to awake.
" Wakken up, thoo greeat sleepy heead !"
" It es time for to wacken him." Curs. Mun., 14200.
Wankle, unsteady; unstable. . /
"Tom's been badly (ill) seeah lang, whahl he's varry
wankle noo."
" ^is wunder wone^ (dwells)
in wankel stede. (insecure places)."
Eng. Mis., 18. 666.
Waykly, or Wayk, weak, delicata
" He was awlas a waykly bayn."
88 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
"Full wayke I ^vas." York PL, 43. 93.
" ge skar the wayMings from the wourd (scripture)."
Lauder, 16. 414.
"Scho wexe wayke (grew weak) and sodauly all was
awaye." Pr. Tr., 6.
Wax, to grow.
A growing child is said to he waxin, and waxin pains are
growing pains
" Whereat he gan to wex exceeding wroth."
F. Q., Bk 3. c. 9.
Wesan or Weeasan, the wind-pipe.
" Had his wesand bene a little widder." Sh. Cal., (Sep.)
Wem, (Ice., vamm), a spot; a mole (dark-coloured spot).
" Maiden ber barn witvten wemme (bore child without
spot)." Curs., Mun., 11,226.
**0f all vertus withowttyne weme of synn." Pr. Tr., 38.
Whom, home.
" They escaped all daunger.
Cam whom safe and sonde." St. Werb., 1,808.
" To offre to the (thee) a gyfte at my comyng whome."
St. Werb., 1464.
" At his whom comyng to Englande
from Normandy." St Werb., 1. 541.
In the dijQTerent parts of the Riding the word hoine becomes
hooam, heeam, wom, yam, <fec.
Wrate, p. t. of to write.
"Thou wrate it in my herte." Psalter, 426. 102.
Yat, (A.-S., geat; Middle Eng., yate), a gate.
"Shut that yat^ an ton (turn) that coo (cow)."
" For at fe ute-cuming o fe yatte
He turnd again." Curs. Mun., 12,593.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 89
ADDITIONAL SPECIMENS OF THE
DIALECT.
Rooads is despad sluthery, bud it 's dhry aboon heead.
Jim an me 's ray-fcher across just noo.
Ah 's varry tired ; Ah 've been af eeat all day.
Ah can beeat him all ti newt at walkin.
Awd man gets ti gan varry mitch astoop. He 's awdened
a vast leeatly.
Bob 's getten a pair o' bellas'd beeats this back end.
Noo, then ! Bessy-babs ! thoo 's gennin ageean.
Bayn kept his-sen quiet bi blawin blebs.
Thay all fell uppa yan anuther, bud Bill was boddom-most.
Thoo 's a bonny honey ti sthrike at thi awn f ayther.
We had a pie, meead o' rye,
An stinkin was all meeat ;
It was sa teeaf, we had aneeaf,
An mare then we could eeat.
Biggest breet Ah knaw aboot was yah hahvist. Watther
started ti cum doon dhreean ef ther teeah, an when Ah gat
up aboot midneet, middas was all breet. Ah called all lads
up, an we fetched sheep yam i' cahts an waggins.
We 're pjannin ti put Billy inti button cleeas o' Sunda,
This job owt ti be deean ti-neet, hi reets.
Machine lewks capadosha ; an sha gans capadosha.
90 POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Fooaks sez he 's rich ; bud there wad be newt left, if he
was cindhered up.
Mah awd granmother, she is deead,
Sh3 lane't ma hoo ti mak cockelty breead ;
It's up wi yer heels an doon wi yer heead.
An that's oor way ti mak cockelty breead.
An seeah y'u call all yon threes wiv all yon craw nests in
a craw-shaw ; bud iv oor toon we used ti call em a craw-
wood, or else a craw-beeld.
Cum thi ways, mah bayn, an give az a kiss.
Ay, sha 's a good-fo'-nowt ; sha stands ommast all day i'
frunt deear-steead.
New fooaks browt sike a dollop o' stuff wiv em.
He fiddled an faddled aboot seeah whahl Ah was sick o'
seein him.
Is it a frost ti-neet 1 Hey ! a duck-frost !
Ah fell full smack o' mi feeace.
Hey, Ah want a wife ; bud Ah deean't want neean o' yer
booadin-skeeal lasses, at plays planners an sike like. Ah
want yan at can milk ky, fodher-up bosses, an muck-oot pig-
sties. Ah want a useful beeast."
He 's a rare dab hand at his wahk, if he is gallic-handed.
It 's hard cheese when yan o' yan awn bayns tons ther
backs o' yan.
Poor awd Mally ! sha 's had nowt bud hard-sailin all her
life-tahm.
What a hawvy-gawvy Sammy-Codlin sooat ov a chap oor
Jack is.
Squint-ee squinny,
Sell'd his ee for a guinea,
"When he gat heeana, guinea was bad,
An seeah poor Squint-ee squinny ran mad.
When oor wagginer gets on ti yal-hoose lang-settle, he '11
sit a awd hen-sit
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 91
If thoo's cum'd iv a quahther ov a noor, thoo's cum'd hie-
tha-rally.
A greeat hobble-de-hoy,
*Twixt a man an a boy.
Noo, deean't let it cum doon wiv a soss ; humour it doon.
Thof he hez deean badly bi me, Ah wadn't deeah him a
ill-ton.
Wimmin weears ther goons si lang noo-a-days, at they gan
lallapin ivver si far uppa grund.
Cum leetly, gan leetly, Ah gat tha wi mi wife. (Said of
one who squanders his wife's fortune).
Thoo hez it ti deeah, an if tha dizzn't like it, thoo may lump
it
Ah ! y'u '11 get nowt oot ov him. He 's a narra-chined an.
She's nattherinest awd woman Ah ivver seed; she's
ommast natthered her chine away.
Thoo 'd needlins be shamm'd o' thi-sen, ti talk like that.
Bob 's a reglar nivver-sweeat ; he 's awlas lewkin oot all
ways fo' Sundas.
Oor fooaks is undher-handed ray ther then ower-handed,
bud they '11 mannish amang hands.
Jack 's a sthrange paf ty chap.-
There 's ower mich fo' yan, an scarcelins aneeaf fo' tweeah.
Here we are as tite as nip,
We nivver flang ower bud yance iv a grip.
Grip was sa wahd, at we cudn't sthrahd,
An seeah we cum yam wi looad ov a sahd.
[Another version of the Harvest Song, p. 12. Here
follow two versions of the second verse].
We 've rovven oor shets, we 've torn wer skin,
Ti get this merry hahvist in ;
An noo we've getten it tightly stackt.
We mun set ti wahk, an hev it thackt.
92 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Ah 've rovven mi sliet, an torn mi skin,
Ti get mi maisther hahvest in.
Hahvist in an hahvist oot,
We 've bet all fahmers roond aboot.
That scheeam o' them chaps was all a suck-in. Ah knaw
it, for Ail was suckt in.
Ah 's tired oot o' sitting here, wivoot a bit o' back-hod.
Deean't gan an bemeean thi-sen bi gannin wiv hor.
Children cry out to the bat, flitting above their heads,
" Bat, bat, cum undher mi hat," and throw their caps up in
the air to catch the creature. In some places they say,
" Black, black beear-away,
Cum doon bi here-away."
Thing lewkt weel aneef ti staht wiv ; bud what a bloit it
ended wiv.
Mah neck is sare, 'cos collar 's fridged it all day lang.
Ratten just ga three ficks, and then it deed.
He legged ma doon wi gib end ov his stick.
There's a pluke cummin upov his ayra, at's bad ti like.
Jack 's best-like bayn i' all famly.
We've had a varry blustherous day, bud it's a varry
lownd neet.
It 's a sowmy neet ; Ah 's ommast maf ted.
Bob was pawky, an seeah Ah gav him yan ower his
smeller.
It 's all askew, like oor Mally mooth.
Thoo says reet ; he is sthrang i' aym, bud he 's wake i'
brain.
Sun was bleeazin yat yisthada, an summer-colt was oot all
day lang.
Whah, Ah '11 be shoggin on, an thoo 'II owertak ma.
Noo thrig thi weeam, an deean't cum yam hungry.
Ah went ti see what sooat o' things he 'd getten, bud sike
a van-jot thery Ah nivver seed afooar.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 93
Deean't jowp cofiee-pot an stor all gruns up.
Let 's ram away, an get job deean.
Ah 's as full as a tick ; Ah 've had sike a jawtheram o'
broth.
Diz tha think Ah 's gannin ti be domineered ower wiv a
wackey like thoo.
Bonny is at bonny diz.
Bayn hez belly-wahk wi cranshin si mich rewbub.
He 's aboot dawziest chap Ah ivver seed.
Ey ! Ah 've gotten it sahtanly, bud nobbut bi dhribs an
dhrabs.
What 's matther, Bill 1 Matther ! Whah, yon dizzy-heeaded
feeal 's teean mah dikin-beeats, an cutten tops up ti mend
bahfin wiv.
When we led wheeat, it dozz'd oot a seet ti be seen.
Ay, bayn ! what a lahtle fat dabs thoo is.
Sha just tawmed ower, an siled doon, an if Ah hadn't
clickt hod'n her, sha wad he* tiimmeld inti tire.
When a child's tooth comes out, it must be dropped into
the tire, and the following rhyme said, or the child will have
to seek its tooth after death :
'• Fire, fire, tak a beean
An send oor Johnny a good teeath ajjeean.*'
I' summer tahm. Ah likes ti sit wi thruf-oppen deears, an
get a nice breeze.
Tom-feeals diz Tom-feeal things.
He was bad afooar, bud he 's wahse-like noo.
Cum on, an Ah '11 fight all web o' ya.
Awd machine wants fitlin up waintly.
Thoo didn't cum ti see uz las neet ■ What gat tha ?
If ya say Oor Fayther (the Lord's Prayer) wrang-ways on,
tha divvel '11 cum.
He dhrank a pahnt o' yal, all at yah slowp, wivoot ^
^ottan.
/
94 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Ah can beleeave meeast o' what thoo's telled ma, bud
Ah 's seer thoo 's wraxin noo.
Ah set mi back ageean a yat,
Thinkin it wor a thrusty three,
Bud stowp it bent, an then it brak,
An sike was mah threw luv ti me.
(Fragment of a song).
Shut thi gob, thoo dafty whatty, an deean't talk sike
baldherdash.
Tak skeel, an gan an milk ky.
That hoose must he' teean a weight o' brass ti beeld.
Thoo nobbut lewks vaiTy wawey this mooanin ! What 's
matther wi tha 1 Whah, Ah 's nobbut midlin !
If ya saw him bud walk, you would laugh fit ti brust,
For tooan leg or tuther is seer ti be fust.
When he tell'd ma there was f ooaks at tuther sahd o' yath,
wi ther feet tiv oor's, it stummled ma ti knaw hoo it was
they didn't tummle off.
Thoo 's nobbut been ti chotch fower tahms i' thi life : —
when thi fayther deed, when thi muther deed, when thoo
was kessened, an when thoo was wed.
Let 's bon all this awd toffer, an mak a bit mare rum.
Ah ken it biv ee-seet, bud Ah deean't knaw it neeam, —
said a school-boy of a certain letter, when learning his
alphabet.
He chunthered fo' lang aneeaf, just 'cos he cudn't deeah
what he liked.
He had ti clame wall ower wi tar, an he clamed his-sen
anole, an neeah mistak.
Whah, that caps Leatherstarn, and Leatherstarn capped
the divvel.
It 's a varry chollus wind this mooanin.
Think on an tell blacksmith ti get mah cowlrake deean bi
ti-mooan.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 95
Think me on ti get sum fire-eldin in te-neet.
Whah, sitha ! that conny lahtle bayn can run aboot like
a two-year-awd (horse).
Frumaty an rice wants weel creein, or else it isn't nice.
Pump swape 's brokken, an we he' ni watther.
What a cluntherin thoo maks, when thoo gans across fleear.
It 's nobbut a bit o' cleean muck, at weean't hot neeahbody.
Cum thi ways, mah bayn, an let 's noss tha.
What a lahtle doit of a fella he is.
Bayns croodled tegither, an kept ther-sens wahm.
What a tan-tawdherly woman Bess Kobbison is.
Jack 's as good as his maisther.
It 's a good bit sin Ah was there, bud when Ah went a
goodish few fooaks went anole.
Thoo can't hod on lang at that bat.
They 're flaid o' cholera, an seeah bellman 's cried hen*ins
doon.
Bacon swarth was all cothered up, an as hahd as a steean.
Mah stockin had all ruckt up i mi beeat, an raised a bleb
o' mi heel.
Oor Dick was flaid o' gannin intiv ooachad las' neet ; he
sed Awd Goggie wad get him.
She was iv a hig, 'cos Ah wadn't lether hev her new bon-
nit on.
They 're two reglar scally-brats, an went at it hoothoo-an-
noothoo for a noor an mare.
Las' Kesmas, we had ice-cannles a yahd lang, hingin fre'
spoot end.
Ah thried mi best tiinsense it intiv him, an yet Ah cudn't
mak him undherstand it.
God bless the maysther of this hoose,
The mistheriss also ;
An all the little intepunks,
That round your table go.
(Stanza of the Christmas Carol of the Vessle-cup women).
96 FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Joggle his memory for him !
Whah, thrain 's geean ! Sha was seeah lang getting her
fal-lals on, an smartenin her-sen up, at Ah thowt we sud be
lanted, an Ah 's reet.
It was twenty year last Cannlemas sin yoor gi-eeat awm
three blew doon ; bud Ah mind it like as agif it was nobbut
yisthada.
He «aid Ah sud nivver win if Ah bet o' Sundas ; an Ah
said sahtanly yan on az mun win, an that nailed him.
He 's aboot deean for. He gans pottherin aboot shop, bud
can't deeah nowt good for owt.
Ah thowt ther wad he' been summat left, bud ther wahnt
a skorrick.
Gan an wesh thi-sen ; thi hans is set in wi muck.
Sha cums oot o' Sundas iv all her fahn toggery.
Noo then ! What 's tha sidelin up ti ma for ] Ah knaw
thoo wants summat.
Diz tha think Ah 's boon ti dhrink sike slappy stuff as
that teeah 1 No I that Ah weean't !
Bayn taks efther his fayther.
Bessey braids ov her muther.
Days begins ti tak-off noo.
Awd Sally 's a reg'lar awd genny-gibs.
That was as near as a toucher.
Noo ! what 's tha think ti that 1 Isn't that a topper i
It 's fotty year, cum Kesmas, sin me an mah awd deeam
was wed.
Jack rolled doon hill, an towpled ower-tail.
Such expressions as these could be greatly multiplied, but
they miist suffice us Specimens,
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 97
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS
RELATING TO THE DIALECT OF THE EAST
RIDING OF YORKSHIRE.
COMPILED BY W. G. B. PAGE,
Sub-Librarian, Subscription Library, Hull.
Browne, Rev. Thomas, of Kingston-upon-Hull. Poems on
Several Occasions. Printed for Vernor and Hood,
London, and sold by Merritt and Wright, Liverpool,
and Thomas Browne, Hull. 1800. 8vo. pp. xxviii. 179.
[On pp. 151-166, there are several " Specimens of the Yorkshire
Dialect." Mr. Browne, though born at Lastingham, was educated
at the Hull Grammar School. Editor of the Hull Advertiser, in
1797, for which paper he wrote some dialect poems and dialogues
under the rwm de plume of " Alexis."]
** Byronica." (Edward Wade, a native of ToUerton, and a
seaman on one of Wilson's ships.
Oor Sammy. Hull Bellman^ vol. vi. (4th Sep., 188U),
p. 11.
Gooarge Herry smith's Neetmeeare. Hull Bellman^
vol. vi (20th Nov., 1880), p. 5.
Laatle Loois. Hull Bellman^ vol. vi. ""(ISth Oct.,
1880), p. 7.
Taailor Herrysmith's Giblet Pie. Hull Bellman^ vol.
vi (30th Oct., 1880), p. 11.
[None of "Byronica's" pieces are pure East Biding. The
influence of the North Riding in strong.]
98 FOLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
Cole, Rev. E. Maule, M. A., Yicar of Wetwang, Yorkshire.
Scandinavian Place Names in the East Riding of
Yorkshire, (with dialect) 8vo.
Countryman's Story, The. From the " Hull Bazaar Gazette."
Hull Advertiser, April 25th, 1863.
[A story in seven verses, which was written for the Hull Rifle
Bazaar.]
English Dialect Society.
Glossary, A, of Words used in Holdemess in the East
Riding of Yorkshire, by Frederick Ross, F.R.H.S.,
Richard Stead, F.R.H.S., and Thomas Holderness.
London : Published for the English Dialect Society,
by Triibner and Co. 8vo. pp. v. 162.
[Being " Series C. Orisjinal Glossaries and Glossaries with fresh
additions," of the publications of the Dialect Society.]
Glossary of North of England Words, by J, H.
Five Glossaries by Mr. Marshall, namely : East
Yorkshire, East Norfolk, the Yale of Gloucester,
the Midland Counties, and West Devonshire, and
a West Riding Glossary, by Dr. Willan, Edited by
Rev. W. W. Skeat. 1873. 8vo.
Glossaries, five re-printed, including Wiltshire, East
Anglian, Suffolk, and East Yorkshire Words, and
Dialectical Words from Bishop Kenneth's Parochial
Antiquities, Edited by the Rev. Prof.. Skeat, M.A.
English Dialect Society. 1879. 8vo.
Hamilton, Rev. Richard Winter, Minister of Belgi-ave
Chapel, Leeds.
Nugse Literaria : Prose and Yerse. London : Hamil-
ton, Adams, and Co. ; Smith, Elder, and Co. ; and
Jackson and Walford. Leeds : J, Y. Knight, and
John Cross. 1841. 8vo. viii. 586 pp.
[On pp. 289-364, there is an exhaustive chapter "On the York-
shire Dialect" generally, which gives an illustrative glossary of
words and their derivations.]
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE. 99
HoLDERNESS, Thomas, editor of the Driffield Observer and
joint-author of "A Glossary of Words used in
Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire."
Some Place-Names of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Driffield : Printed at the office of the Driffield
Observer. 1881. 8vo. 32 pp.
Specimens of the Yorkshire Dialect, as spoken in
the East Riding of the County, and more particu-
larly in the North-Eastern portion of the Riding,
with a copious Glossary. Driffield : Printed and
published by T. Holderness. 1887. 8vo. 48 pp.
See also " Holderness Glossary."
Lancaster, George, Hull.
Stringy Pie : a Yorkshire Ditty. By "Killpudding."
Hull Bellman^ vol. vi. (4th Sep., 1880), p. 7.
A Yorkshire Story. By Spring Bank, Esquire,
Gentleman. In thirteen chapters.
[This story, which appeared weekly in the Hvll Critic, from May
19th to August 4th, contains a number of East Riding Dialect
Words.]
Schoolmaster and his Visitors, The : a Poem. " Lays
and Lyrics." Hull, 1880. pp. 33 to 40.
Cockney Critic, The : a Poem. By C. W. Soderquist^
Tommy Sharp in the Country : a Chapter from the
Records of the Hull Children's Holiday Fund.
[This is a long Poem, in which are introduced many well-known
Yorkshire sayings.]
Ishmael's Prayer : a bit of East Riding Dialect.
Hull Arrow, Feb. 23rd, 1889, p. 11.
[Giving an account of the mode of praying adopted by a half-witted
farmer's son, who resided in the neighbourhood of Hull.
Stead, Richard, F.R.H.S.
Holderness and the Holdernessians : a Few Facts
on the History, Topography, Dialect, Manners and
100 POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Customs of the District : by a Fellow of the Royal
Historical Society. London : Tiiibner and Co.,
Broadway, Ludgate Hill. Hull : William Hunt,
42, Whitefriargate. 1878. 8vo. 121 pp. appendix
vi pp.
Holderness Words of a Fighting Character. Leisure
.Hour, Feb. 1879, p. 75.
See also "Holderness Glossary."
Thompson, Thomas, F.S.A., Wei ton.
Researches into the History of Welton and its Neigh-
bourhood : with a few remarks, chiefly of an Anti-
quarian Nature, about some Adjacent Places in
Yorkshire, and about the Yorkshire Language.
Printed for private circulation amongst his friends
and neighbours. Kingston-upon-Hull : J. W.
Leng, 15, Savile Street. 8vo. pp. vi. 205.
[The Second Part, pp. 107-196, the " Neighbourhood of Welton
and the Surrounding Districts," contains a large number of dialect
words and their origin.]
Wilson, Isaac, bookseller, Hull, and printer and publisher
of The Hull Advertiser.
The Country Politicians : or Joahney and Tommy.
A Dialogue in the Yorkshire Dialect, by "Apedale "
Hull Advertiser, April 20th, 1799.
Yorkshire Dialect, The, Exemplified in various Dialogues,
Tales, and Songs, applicable to the County.
To which is added a Glossary of such words
as are likely not to be understood by those unac-
quainted with the Dialect. London : John Russell
Smith, 4, Old Compton Street, Soho Square.
1839. 8vo. 24pp.
[This is a similar selection to Mr. Holderness' " Specimens," and
contains contributions by the late Rev. Thomas Browne, Hull, and
D. Lewis.]
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
[ The numbers refer to the Pages. ]
Words which vary but little from standard English are
not included in this Glossary ; such as aboot (about), aneeaf
(enough), awd (old), aym (arm), bahn (barn), beean (bone),
boddom (bottom), bohn (born), bon (burn), breet (bright),
bud (but), deeam (dame), dhreean (drain), dhry (dry), feeace
(face), feeal (fool), fleear (floor), fost (first), gam (game),
geeas (goose), bans (hands), heeam (home), hod (hold), hot
(hurt), leet (light), looan (lane), mare (more), meead (made),
meear (mare), narra (narrow), neet (night), noss (nurse),
ommast (almost), ower (over), sahtanly (certainly), scheeam
(scheme), seeks (sacks), shap (shape), shets (shirts), sthrahds
(strides), sthrang (strong), steean (stone), summat (somewhat,
something), teeable (table), teealer (tailor), three (tree), ton
(turn), toon (town), wake (weak), whahl (while), wheeah
(who).
Aboon, above, 49.
Aback-o-beyont, 49.
Across, not on friendly
terms, 89.
Addle, to earn, 49.
Afeeat, on foot, 89.
Afooar, before, 3. 5. 33. 36. 80.
92.
Ageean, 49.
Ageeat, 50.
Akest, 50.
Ake, 50.
Anenst, 50.
Anksome, longing, anxious,
42.
Anole, also, 81. 95.
Arr, 50.
As agif, as though, 96.
Askew, on one side, 92.
Astoop, bent, 89.
At, who; that, 90.
Atheril, 50.
102
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Athof, though ; as though, 36.
Attercop, 50.
Awdened, aged, 89.
Awd Nooah, 5.
Awlas, always, 91.
Awm three, elm tree, 96.
Axe, 60.
Back-end, latter part of the
year, 89.
Backer-end, 50.
Back-hod, a hold or rest for
the back, 92.
Bad, did bid, 36.
Bad-ti-like, bad-looking, 92.
Bahfin, horse collar, 93.
Bahgeeast, 32. 33. 50.
Balk, 51.
Ballocks, 51.
Balderdash, foolish talk, 94.
Band, 51.
Baste, 51.
Bat, rate; speed, 95.
Bate, 51.
Bawmy, simpleton, 32.
Bayn, 42. 51. 52. 90.
Bazzacked, flogged, 40.
Beald, 52.
Beck, 3. 6. 52.
Beeal, 3. 32. 38. 52.
Bellas'd beeats, boots having
the tongues sewn to the
uppers, 89.
Beldher, 52.
Belly-wahk, 52.
Belltinker, 23. 41.
Bemeean, disgrace, 92.
Bent, determined, 52.
Besom, 52.
Bessy-babs, a child who cries
for little cause^ 89.
Best-like, best-looking, 92.
Bested, got the better of, 36.
Beughs, 52.
Bile, 53.
Billy, hat, 38.
Bi reets, by rights, 89.
Bink, 53.
Blared, bellowed ; roared, 33.
Blash, 53.
Blathery, wet; muddy, 33. 53.
Blebs, bubbles; blisters, 89.
95.
Bloit, failure; miscarriage, 92.
Blustherous, windy ; stormy,
92.
Bluther, 53.
Boak, to balk ; to thwart, 42.
Boggle, 33. 53.
Bole, 54.
Bolt, 52.
Bonny-honey, a nice sweet
thing (said with contempt).
89.
Boon, 53.
Botch, 54.
Boult, 53.
Braids, grows like, 96.
Brant, 17.
Brass, 34. 54. 94.
Brazzocks, 54.
Breed, 54.
Breet, a flood ; flooded, 89.
Brig, 36, 55.
Broc, 55.
Brogues, 55.
Brust, 55.
Brussen, 29.
Bug, 17.
Bullace, 17.
Bunch, 24, 55.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
103
Busk, 55.
Byre, cow house, 45.
Caff, 56.
CaflBie, noisy talk, 39.
Callit, 56.
Callitin-boot, 24.
Cap, 56. 94.
Capadosha, grand, 89.
Cassan, 18.
Cassimere, a coarse material,
39.
Cawsey, causeway ; path, 32.
Chavel, 56.
Cheer, 56.
Childher, 56.
Chollus, bitterly cold, 94.
Chunthered, grumbled, 94.
Cindhered up, 90.
Clack, 56.
Clam, 2.
Clame, daub ; besmear, 94.
Clap, 25. 57.
Clart, 57.
Clew, 57.
Click, 57, 93.
Clooases, fields, 24. 36.
Cloot, (1) a patch, 57.
(2) a blow, 25. 34.
Clooted, knocked, 24.
Cobble, 28. 58.
Cock, 58.
Cocklety breead, 90.
Cog up, treasure up, 42.
Collops, 58. 73.
Conny, little, 95.
Cool, 58.
Coshan, question, 68.
Cothered, puckered; wrinkled.
95.
Cowlrake, a rake for ashes,
40. 94.
Cranshin, crushing with the
teeth, 93.
Cratch, 58.
Craw, 16. 49.
Crawshaw ; Craw-wood ;
Craw-beeld ; a rookery, 90.
Creein, parboiling, 95.
Creeal, a strong wooden
frame, 34.
Croodled, nestled, 95.
Croose, 17. 59.
Crud, 59.
Cummers and Ganners, visi-
tors, 62.
Cut ten, has cut, 93.
Dabs, a fat child, 93.
Dab-hand, 90.
Daft, 59. Compounds of, 3.
Dag, 58.
Dale, 59.
Dawziest, silliest, 93.
Deed, died, 94.
Deng, 25. 59.
Dess, 59.
Despad, desperately ; very,
24. 89.
Dhribs an dhrabs, bits; in-
stalments, 93.
Dhrop, 25. 59.
Didher, 59.
Dike, 2. 33.
Dikin-beeats, ditching boots,
with high tops, 83.
Dill, 60.
Din, 60.
Dodhered, 32. 60.
Dog-noper, 76.
Doit, a little thing, 95.
104
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Dollup, a heap, 90. |
Dooment, sometliing to do ;
adventure, 34.
Dowills, 60.
Dowly, 4.
Dozzed oot, shook out, 93.
Duck frost, a shower of rain,
90.
Dumplin, suet pudding, 20. 60.
Een, 60.
Ee-seet, eye- sight, 94.
Efther, 60.
Esh, ash, 26. 32.
Fan, did find; found, 33. 45.
Feeath, 61.
Fettle, 61.
Fej, 45. 61.
Ficks, convulsive kicks, 92.
Fiddled and Faddled, dawdled,
90.
Fire-fanged, 4.
Fire-eldin, fire-wood, 95.
Flaid, 33. 37. 51. 52. 61. 95.
FHt, 61.
Fog, 61.
Fond, 33. 61.
Fooar-elders, 62.
Fooar-dear, front door, 90.
Fodher, give fodder to, 90.
Fowt (1) did fight.
(2) a fool ; a simpleton,
45.
Fra, 62.
Framed, 75.
Freshwood, 62.
Fridged, chafed, 92.
Frumaty, porridge made of
wheat, 95.
Frush, 62.
Full pelt, at full speed, 33.
Full smack, 62. 90.
Fullock, 34. 40. 62.
Fulth, 4. 62.
Fuzzack, a donkey, 33.
Gahth, 63.
Gain, 62.
Gainist, nearest, 33.
Galli-balk, 4.
Gallic-handed, left-handed,
90.
Gan, 62. 33. 93. 92.
Gat, got, 34. 93.
Gate, (1) way; road, 3. 63. 80.
(2) right of pasture, 63.
(3) manner, 36. 63.
Gaum, 63.
Gavlac, 43. 63. 77.
Geeas, tailor's iron, 33. 34.
Gen, 29. 63. 89. 96.
Genny-gibs, one always
whining and crying, 96.
Getten, 4. 63.
Gib, hooked, 92.
Gif, if, 64.
Gift-i-gob, 64.
Glooar, 64.
Glowpin, 64.
Gob, 3. 27. 29. Compounds
of, 4.
Golly, 64.
Gooaved, stared, 46.
Good bit sin, a long time
since, 95.
Grape, 36. 65.
Grave, to dig, 64.
Greeas, 64.
Grip, 12. 64. 91.
Grov. 3.
Growsome, 4.
Grub, 64.
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
105
Grund, 3. 64.
Hack, 7. 65.
Haft, 65.
Hales, 34. 65.
Hansel, 65.
Han ted, 66.
Happin, 66. 81.
Hard, 66.
Hard cheese, hard to bear, 90.
Harden, 66.
Hardlins, hardly ; scarcely, 36.
Hard salin, trouble; misfor-
tune, 90.
Hask, 66.
Hawvy-gauvy, simple, foolish,
94.
Healthsome, healthful, 4.
Heead-wahk, head ache, 5.
Heeam, 6. 32. 33. 66.
Heeap, 66.
Hedgin-steeak, a stake used in
making fences, 34.
Hen-sit, a long sitting, like
that of a hen upon her eggs,
90.
Heppenest, smartest, 38.
Hick, 67.
Hickin-barra, 34. 67.
Hie-tha-rally, a quick pace, 91.
Hig, a fit of ill temper, 95.
Hing-lug, 4. 67.
Hooam, 6. 88.
Hopper, the funnel - shaped
receptacle for corn, seeds,
(fee, in mills or machines, 39.
Hoothoo-an-Noothoo, first one
and then the other, 95.
Hud, a ledge at the back of a
fire-place, 16.
Hugged, carried, 36.
Humour, yield to ; to steady,
91.
Ill -ton, ill turn, 91.
Inkle weeavers, 21.
Insense, to make clear too;
to drive the sense of a mat-
ter into a person's mind,
95.
Intepunks, children, 95.
Jannack, a lump, 38.
Jawtheram, a large quantity,
92.
Jenny Oolat, an owl, 33.
Joan's Dyke, 32. 33.
Job, work, 33. 50. 75. 89.
Joggle, to remind, 96.
Jowl, 27. 67.
Jowp, shake ; disturb, 92.
Kaff, chafi; 2.
Keeal pot, 35.
Kelther, Keith erment, rub-
bish ; lumber, 35. 45.
Ken, churn, 46. 61.
Kep, 67.
Kesmas, Christmas, 96.
Kessened, christened, 94.
Kest, a cast ; a squint, 38.
Kest, cast ; throw, 67.
Kinnle, 68.
Kist, 2. 34. 35. 68.
Kitlin, 22. 68.
Kittle, delicate ; sensitive,
19. 68.
Kittle, to tickle, 68.
Krake, 68.
Krewk, a crooked handle, 6 1 .
Ky, cows, 90. 94.
Labber, daub ; besmear, 41.
Labouraome, labourious, 4.
Lahm kill, lime kiln, 35. 78.
106
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Lake, 28. 69. 70.
Lallapin, trailing, 91.
Lane, to teach, 69.
Lang settle, a long seat j a
bench, 90.
Lanted, belated, 96.
Lap, 69.
Lasses, servants, 35.
Late, 69. 85.
Lathe, 69.
Lather, perspiration, 36.
Led, carted away, 93.
Lee, a lie, 2. 69.
Leeaced, 27. 38.
Leeath-wake, 69.
Leeav, 69.
Leet, 70.
Lig, 31. 35. 37. 41. 44. 70.
Like, look. See "Best like";
"Bad ti like."
Lin, 70.
Lit, did alight, 36.
Litha, 70.
Liver, to deliver, 70.
Lop, 5. 71.
Loup, 36. 71.
Louse, loose, 71.
Low, a flame, 71.
Lug (1) to carry, 46.
(2) the ear, 5. 38.
Luggin, (1) carrying, 46.
(2) pulling, 27. 81.
Lump it, submit to circum-
stances, 91.
Mafted, overcome with heat,
92.
Maisther, master, 3. 5. 92.
Mak, 72.
Malak, commotion, 32.
Mandhers, manners, 37.
Mang, 72.
Mare, more, 34. 72.
Maste, 73.
Mawk, 22.
Maw kin, image ; effigy,
39. 41.
Mene, or Meny, 73.
Mense, 4. 73.
Messment, 4.
Middas, meadows, 89.
Middin, 36. 73.
Milt, 73.
Mind, a resolve, 74.
Mizzle, 74.
Moel, a spot, 74.
Mouther, 74.
Muck, 36. 74. 90. 95.
Mullock, 75.
Mun, must, 75.
Nailin, 28. 30. 96.
Narra-chined, niggardly, 91.
Natther, to complain ; to
grumble, 91.
Neeaf, 27. 40. 45. 75.
Needlins, of need ; of
necessity, 91.
Nivver-sweeat, one who is so
idle, that he never sweats
over his work, 91.
Nobbut, only, 94. 96.
Noddle, 75.
Nominy, 7.
Nope, 28. 75.
Norrayshun, 38. 41.
Nowt, nothing, 89.
Octoavers, large feet, 39.
Odd, single, 62.
Oddment, remnant, 4.
Offa, off from, 34. 76.
Offense, oft times ; often, 33.
POLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
107
Ommast, almost, 32. 33. 35.
90.
Ooachad, orchard, 95.
Oor, 95.
Otther, 4. 46. 76.
Ower-handed, having more
men than necessary, 91.
Owmly, 76.
Paf ty, irritable ; easily pro-
voked, 91.
Pale or Pailins, 33. 76.
Pash, 20.
Pawk, 23. 77.
Pawky, impudent, 20, 39, 92.
Pet, offence, 77.
Pick, push, 28.
Pissimire, 34. 77.
Plantin, a plantation ; a wood,
33.
Pluke, a little boil, 92.
Pooak, poke; sack, 5. 77.
Possessed, held, 77.
Potherin, doing anything in a
slow, unskilful way, 96.
Powst, post, 23.
Pucker, 77.
Puddle, 77.
Purchass, 77.
Quick sticks, speedily, 24.
Quietsome, 77.
Rack-a-pelt, a scamp, 29.
Kaggill, 77.
Rag-lad, 21.
Rag oot, temper ; passion, 34.
Rake, 78.
Ram, strong ; foetid, 20.
Rame, 78.
Ram away, push ahead ; work
hard, 93.
Ramp, 78. i
Ratten, a rat, 25. 46, 92.
Rawmed, sprawled, 33.
Reckons, hooks on which pans
are hung, 4.
Reek, 35. 50.
Remmon,' 78.
Rendher, to melt, 78.
Rensh, to rinse, 78.
Rezzil, a weasel, 20. 83.
Rig, 78.
Rigged, set up ; prepared,
34.
Rock, 79.
Roosin, 79.
Rovven, torn, 92. 93. Rove,
24.
Ruck, to wrinkle ; to gather
in folds, 95.
Rudd, 20.
Ryme, hoar frost, 79.
Sad, heavy, 20. 79.
Sadly, urgently, 79.
Sag, 46. 79.
Sahk, sark; shirt; smock,
45.
Scally-brat, a scold ; a virago,
95.
Scarcelins, scarcely, 91.
Scopperil, 22.
Scrat, 80.
Scrawmed, sprawled, 33.
Scrudged, 20. 80.
Seckaree, a short smock, 38.
Seeks, sacks; bags, 34. 35.
Seer, sure, 80.
Settle, a bench, 80.
Shaav, or Shaff, 40. 80.
Shaffled, shuffled ; walked in
a slovenly manner, 32. 33.
Shoggin, going slowly.
108
FOLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Sidelin, coming sidevvays, 96.
Sike, 5. 80.
Sile, 81, 93.
Similes, 16.
Sitha, see thou, 95.
Skail, 81.
Skeel, a milk pail, 94.
Skelpin, racing ; at full speed,
46.
Skep, 81.
Skreeaked, shrieked; screamed
33, 81.
Skoothered, scuttered; ran
crouchingly, 33, 35.
Skorrick, atom ; particle, 96.
Skymin, giving sidelong
glances, 38.
Slack, 33. 81.
Slape, 20.
Slappin, 30.
Slaver, 81.
Sleeav-booad, a board used by
tailors on which to press
sleeves, 33.
Slocken, to choke by eating
too quickly, 40.
Slops, trousers legs, 39.
Slowp, to drink with a sucking
noise, 40.
Sluf, slough ; to cast off, 4, 36.
Sluthery, wet; muddy, 89.
Smatch, 82.
Smeller, the nose, 92.
Smoot, 82.
Snape, 82.
Sniffle, 82.
Snitch, nose, 82.
Soss, a heavy fall, 41, 91.
Sowmy, oppressively close and
damp, 92.
Spell, 82.
Spigot, 82.
Splawtherin, sprawling, 33.
Spok, 82.
Stacker, 82.
Stang, 9. 40. 83.
Start, 83.
Steck, or Stike, 83.
Stee, 38. 39. 83.
Steg, a gander, 36.
Stew, a ferment, 36.
Sthrake, 83.
Sthreyten, straighten, 34.
Stiddy, 37. 83.
Stoavy, simpleton, 46.
Stoddy, stupid, 21. 41.
Storr, or Stower, 9. 40. 84.
Storrup-oil, stirrup oil ; a fic-
titous thing, Hke pigeon's
milk, 45.
Stowp, a post, 40.
Stummled, puzzled, 94.
Suck in, a deception ; to de-
ceive, 92.
Summer colt, the waving, un-
dulating air above the
heated earth, 92.
Swad, 84.
Swap, 84.
Swarth, bacon rind ; applied
also to grass fields, 95.
Swape, a sweeping lever
handle, 95.
Swill, 84.
Swipple, 29.
Switchin, 30.
Swithered, rushed, 30.
Tak efther, take after; to
bear a resemblance to 96.
Tak off, to grow shorter, 96.
POLK SPEECH OP EAST YORKSHIRE.
109
Tally, 84.
Tan-tawdherly, tawdry y
slovenly, 95.
Tatie-trap, pota toe- trap (ie.
the mouth), 5.
Taties, potatoes, 23.
Tawmed, swooned, 93.
Teeam, 94.-
Tent, 85.
Thareckly, directly, 29.
Theaker, 13.
Theakin, 50.
Thersens, themselves, 34.
Thrapse, 85.
Threed, 85.
Thrig thi weeam, fill thy
stomach, 92.
Throppled, choked, 34.
Thrnf oppen, open through-
out, 93.
Thrussle, a trestle ; a support
for a table, 34.
Tick, 19. 93.
Tickle, 86. (See Kittle.)
Tofier, lumber ; rubbish, 94.
Toggery, dress, 96.
Tooan, 86.
Topper, one of superior
quality, 96.
Toss])ots, drinking vessels ;
drunkards, 39.
Tow pie, or Tipple, to turn
head over heels, 96.
Tree, or Three, 86.
Tuck oot, a full meal, 5.
Tundher, 8G.
Ugly, 87.
Undher-handed, not sufficient
bands or employees, 91.
Van-jothery, miscellaneous
collection, 92.
Vahjas, verjuice, 20.
Wackey, simpleton ; fool, 93.
Waffin, 87.
Wahdish, widish.
Wahk (1) ache, 87.
(2) work, 5. 33. 87.
Wahse-like, worse looking, 93.
Waintly, very much, 93.
Wakken, 5. 87.
Wallop, 30. 31. 38.
Wankle, 87.
Watty, simpleton, 46. 94.
Another form of Wackey.
Wawey, languid; feeble, 94.
Wayk, 43. 87.
Wax, 88.
Weeam, stomach, 92.
Web, the whole lot ; all of
one kind, 93.
Wem, 88.
Whemmel'd doon, turned
down, 39.
White Lady, a spectre, with-
out a head, that haunts the
Bail Welt at Skipsea
Brough, and who destroys
all fences on her " round,"
no mattpr how often or
how strongly they are
made, 33.
Wick, living, contraction of
" quick," 39.
Wikes, corners of the mouth,
39.
Wot-sthreea, oat-straw, 39.
Wrang-ways, wrong way ;
backwards, 93,
110
POLK SPEECH OF EAST YORKSHIRE.
Wraxing, stretching; exag-
gerating, 94.
Yah, one, 47.
Yal, ale, 33. 34. 93.
Yan, one, 27. 33.
Yat (1), gate, 33. 94. ;
(2) hot, 92.
Yat-stowp, gate-post, 18. 51.
Yath, earth, 5. 47. 48. 94.
Yottan, a noise in the throat,
produced by swallowing a
large mouthful of liquid,
93.
Yowp, a loud shout, 38. 40.
65.
THOS. HOLDERNESS, PRINTER, DRIFFIELD,
ADVERTISEMENT.
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Beacons of lEaet
I?orft0bire,
BY
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AUTHOR or
"Folk Moots,*' *' Folk-Speech of
East Yorkshire," Etc.
London : Simpkin. Marshall, 8c Co.
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This illustration of Speeton Beacon in 1886. is one of the six illustrations in Beacons of
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its site. It fell into Vaudal hands and was chopped up for firewood. Thus perished the
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of which is only local, but which is so well made and so full of mforma-
tion that no limit need be set to its sphere, is Mr William Andrews'
" North Country Poets." Mr Andrews is president of the Hull Literary
Club, and has done much by a busy pen to bring into evidence the
literary activity of his part of England. In this volume, which is the
initial instalment of a fuller work, he begins a representative series of
extracts from poems by natives or residents of Northumberland, Cum-
berland, Westmoreland, Durham, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. The
selection shows care and good taste throughout. It includes poems by
such writers as George Linnaeus Banks, Mrs Browning, Arthur Clough,
Sir Francis Doyle, Lord Houghton, Joseph Skipsey, Sir Henry Taylor,
and Samuel Waddington — which partial enumeration may suffice to
show the excellence of its matter. The biographical sketches make
the book valuable for reference." — The Scotsman.
" The notices of the poets' writings are concisely and pleasantly
penned, and most of capital critical merit, while the examples of poesy
are admirably chosen."— ^or^A London News.
." It is a really excellent repository of the best local poetry of the
Northern Counties, the specimens being selected with sound judgment,
and the pithy biographies being in the case of each poet supplied by
some writer well situated to obtain original and reliable information."
Laiuioshire Evening Post.
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