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2D\ 



h 



WORDS IN USE IN 



WEST AND EAST COENWALL. 



r 



GLOSSAEY OF WOEDS 



IN USE IN 



COENWALL. 



Mtst grornfaall 



By miss M. a. COURTNEY. 



%RBt dvornbjall 



By THOMAS Q. COUCH. 



LONDON: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY, 

BY TRtJBNBR & CO., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL. 

1880. 



Snngag : 

CLAY AND TAYLOR, THE CHAUCER PRESS. 




CONTENTS. 



PAGB 



I. Witst CarntDail. By Miss M. A. Courtney. 

Introduction ... ... ... ... ... ix 

Glossary ... ... ... ... ... i 

Addenda ... ... ... ... ... 65 



II. (Saei (JT^rnhjaU. By Thomas Q. Couch. 

Introduction ... ... ... ... ... 69 

Glossary ... ... ... ... ... 75 

Addenda ... ... ... ... ... 109 



[In the sketch map which faces the title-page, it should be understood that the 
line of demarcation is only approximately indicated. Mr. Couch writes : 
" From long observation I can distinctly trace the western brogue and speech 
beyond Truro eastward, though it has become shaded off." — J. H. N.] 



WEST CORNWALL WORDS. 



By miss M. a. COURTNEY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



i 1. Decay of the Dialect in West^. 

Cornwall, 
\ 2. Pronunciation and Grammar. 



§ 3. Proverbial Sayings. 

§ 4. Cornish Names, 

§ 5. The Present Glossary. 



§ 1. With the introduction of railways and the increased means 
of communication, that has brought and brings every year more 
strangers to West Cornwall, the peculiar dialect is fast dying out, 
giving place to a vile Cockney pronunciation with a redundancy of 
^'s. The younger generation are ashamed of and laugh at the old 
expressive words their parents use. One seldom now hears such 
Shaksperian terms as giglet, a giddy girl; fadge, to suit; petze, to 
weigh ; nor the old form of the plural — housen, houses ; peasen, 
peas ; nor derivative adjectives with the prefix en, such as feasten 
and stonen. But in the outlying fisliing villages and inland parishes 
the dialect still lingers. 

§ 2. A stranger meeting one of our country labourers or miners 
on the " Downses " (downs), and asking him a question, would pro- 
bably have some difficulty in understanding the answer. Should the 
words in which it was given be common aU over England, the sing- 
song drawliiig tones of the high-pitched voice, and the different 
sounds given to the vowels and diphthongs, would greatly puzzle 
him. The pronunciation differs considerably in places not more than 
ten or twelve miles apart, and persons who live in Penzance and 
make the dialect their study, can easily distinguish a St. Just from a 
Newlyn or Mousehole man, and both from a native of Camborne or 
St. Ives. The most marked difference in speech, however, is found 



X WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

between the dwellera on "the mainland" (Penzance, &c.) and the 
inhabitants of Scilly, or, as they would call themselves, " Scillonians." 
With them thread becomes " tread," and three " tree." / is changed 
into oiy as pint, " point ; " isles, " oiles ; " but a point would be a 
"pint," and boil " bile." Their voices, too, are pitched in a different 
key. Although none of the islands are more than three miles from 
St Mary's^ the largest, on which is Hugh-town, the capital, each 
" Off-oisland " has a pronunciation of its own, and the people on St. 
Mary's often laugh at the peculiarities of the " Oflf-oislanders." They 
are fond of giving their children Scriptural names — Obadiah, Methu- 
selah, Melchizedek, Emmanuel, Tobias; which they shorten into 
Diah, Thus, Dick, Manny, Bias. This custom formerly prevailed in 
all the villages of West Cornwall. One man was baptized Maher- 
shalalhashbaz, although known as Maal, and women still live who 
bear the names of Loruhameh and Kerenhappuck. 

Of the dialect and pronunciation of the eastern part of the 
county I know from personal experience next to nothing, never 
having spent more than a few weeks in that locality, except that the 
vowels are broader and the consonants harsher than in West Corn- 
wall, and that it resembles the dialect of Devon. 

The following table will show the peculiarities of pronunciation 
in the Land's End and adjacent districts : — 

A pron. aa : call, caal , half, haalf ; master, maaster. Have, in 
reading, with old parish clerks and others, is haave. {au Scilly : call, 
caul.) 

A, pron. ee : square, squeer ; care, keer. 

Aif pron. ae, both vowels sounded : nail, nael ; tail, tael. 

Ef as e, with but few exceptions, where it becomes a, as yellow, 
y allow ; secret, sacret. 

Ee, as I, in been, bin ; and meet, mit. 

Ea diphthong, as ai : meat, mait ; clean, clain ; bream, braim. 

Ea in heard, heerd. 

Ea in earth and ear is sometimes spoken with a faint sound of y : 
y earth, year. 

" Ea is sometimes also separated, as e-arth, we-ar, at Zennor." 
J. W. 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

Ea in tea retains the old sound tay, and sea becomes say. 

Ea in proper names is mj : Pendrea, Pendray ; Tredi*ea, Tredray 

Ei diphthong, pron. ee^ as skein, skeen ; seine, seen; except in 
receive, where it "becomes a. 

/, pron. e, as river, rever ; shiver, shever. 

/, pron. ee^ as kite (the bird), keet ; child, cheeld ; &c. 

le diphthong, pron. a : believe, b*lave ; relieve, relave. 

O, as a ; grow, graw ; know, knaw ; &c. 

O, as w ; column, culumn ; pollock, pullock. 

O, as o where it is u in other counties, as front, not frunt ; among, 
not amung. 

in won't as a long, wan't. 

In proper names the o in the prefix Pol is always long, as Poltair, 
Poletair ; Polsue, Polesue. 

OOf preceded by h, is oo long : hood, not huod ; hook, not 
huok. 

U is pronounced as w in pull : dull, duol ; puzzle, puozzle. 

G sometimes y, as angel, anyel ; stranger, stranyer. In words of 
more than one syllable ending in ing the g is omitted, as going, 
goin ; singing, singin. 

P as 6 in peat, beat. 

Words ending in sp retain the old form ps, as clasp, claps ; hasp, 
haps ; crisp, crips. 

Y in yellow is often changed into j, jallo w. 

Old people generally add y to the infinitive, as dig, diggy ; hack, 
hacky ; paint, painty ; walk, walky ; and put an a before the imper- 
fect part, as "goin* a diggin'." 

Be commonly takes the place of are, and be not is corrupted into 
Vaint ; and when preceded by the verb the pronoun you is almost 
invariably changed into 'ee, as '* Whur be 'ee jailin, my son"? Goiu' 
to Mittin, are 'ee ? " Where are you walking so fast, my son 1 (my 
son is applied to all males, and even occasionally to females.) Going 
to Meeting, are you? (A Mittin or a Mittin-house is a Noncon- 
formist, generally a Wesleyan, Chapel ) " You b*aint a goin' to do 
et, sure-ly ] " " Ess-fye ! I be." (Yes, I am.) " Hav' 'ee most catched 
up your churs'J " (Have you most finished your housework ?) ** Did 



XU WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

'ee ever knaw sich a g'eat maazed antic in all your born days ? " (Did 
you ever know such a mad fool 1) &c. " I'll gi' 'ee a click under the 
y-ear." (PU give you a box on the ears.) 

Verbs and pronouns are often used in the second person singular 
instead of the second person plural, as '' Coom thee wayst in, thee 
g'eat chlicklehead, or I'll gi' 'ee a scat on the chacks that 'ull maake 
*ee grizzle the wrong side o* th' moueth. Thee thinkst o' nawthing 
but gammut. (Come in, you great stupid, or I will give you a slap 
in the face that shall make you laugh the other side of your mouth. 
You think of nothing but play.) "Beest *ee goin' to painty to-day, 
Jan ] " (Are you going to paint to-day, John 1) 

Him and it are contracted into 'w, as " I don't think much of 'n." 

CPeat takes the place of great, as " a g'eat biifflehead " (a great 
fool); bra* of brave, "a bra' fine day" (a very fine day). "And 
between two adjectives applies the preceding one to the latter — 
* bra' and wicked,' bravely or very wicked, although brave alone 
would be a term of commendation." — J. W. The article a is put 
before plural nouns, as " a trousers," *' a bellers " (bellows). 

The preposition up is very commonly used after verbs, as " I must 
finish up my work," " I must do up my odds and ends ; " and where 
in other places in would be used, as " Take up (not take in) two 
loaves for to-morrow." Sometimes a superfluous verb is added, as " I 
looked to see." 

The Cornish are fond of doubling their negatives, " Never no 
more, says Tom Collins." 

" When he died, he shut his eyes. 
And never saw money no more." 

Old Nursery Rhyme. 

*' I don't knaw, ant I " (I don't know, not I) ; and a favourite ans\yer 
to a question is, " Not as I knaw by," or " Not as I know," all pro- 
nounced quickly as one word, "Notsino." Couldst, wouldst, and 
shouldst are contracted into cu'st, wu'st, and shu'st ; as " How cu'st 
'ee (thee) be such a big fool?" "Thou shu'snt tell such lies;" 
" Wu'st 'ee (thee) do et 1 " But to multiply examples would take too 
much space for an introduction, and to those especially interested in 
this branch of the subject, I would recommend the works of the 



INTRODUCTION. XUl 

late Tregellas, Bottrell's Trculitiom and Hearth-side Stories of West 
Coiiiwall, first and second series; and a little work by '* Uncle Jan 
Trenoodle" (Sandys), which contains amongst other things a col- 
lection of poems in the Cornish dialect by Davies Gilbert. 

§ 3. Like all other Celts, the Cornish are an imaginative and 
poetical people, given to quaint sayings, similes, and pithy proverbs. 
I have heard of a man being ''so drunk that he couldn't .see a hole 
in a nine-rung ladder;" of a piece of beef "as salt as Lot*s wife's 
elbow.*' A woman a few days since in describing the " Bal gals," 
said, " they were all as sweet as blossbm ; " and another that some 
boy *' was as hardened as Pharoah." You may be often greeted on 
entering a house with, " You are as welcome as flowers in May." A 
servant when she adds a little hot to cold water, will speak of it as 
" taking the edge off the cold." A labourer will tell you that " he's 
sweating like a fuz' bush (a furze bush) on a dewy morning." Any 
one who has seen such a thing will recognize the force of the simile. 
Once I asked an old Land's End guide what made all those earth- 
heaps in a field through which we were passing ? His reply was, 
" What you rich people never have in your house, a want " (a mole). 

Few proverbs express more in a few words than the following : — 
" Those that have marbles may play ; but those that have none must 
look on." " 'Tis well that wild cows have short horns." " You've 
no more use for it than a toad for a side pocket." " All play and no 
play, like Boscastle Market, which begins at twelve o'clock and ends 
at noon." 

A great many of the sayings relate to long-since-forgotten 
worthies, such as : — " But — says Parson Lasky." " Oh ! my blessed 
parliament, says Molly Franky." " All on one side, like Smoothy's 
wedding." " Like Nicholas Kemp, you've occasion for all." " As 
knowing as Kate Mullet, and she was hanged for a fool." 

A few may be interesting from an antiquarian point of view : — 
"To be presented in Halgaver Court." ''Kingston Down well 
wrought is worth London town dear bought." "Working like a 
Trojan." " As deep as Gurrick." " As bright as Dalmanazar." " As 
ancient as the floods of Dava." Of the two last I have never heard 
an explanation. 



XIV WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Each parish has its own particular saint to which the church is 
dedicated. " There are more saints in Cornwall than there are in 
heaven." The saints' feasts are held on the nearest Sunday and 
Monday to dedication day, Feasten Sunday and Monday. The 
inhahitants of every parish have a distinguishing nickname. 

One curious custom is nearly obsolete, that of speaking of a 
married woman as "Kitty Ben Koscrow," "Mary Peter Penrose," 
instead of Kitty, Ben Koscrow*s wife, &c. 

§ 4. Cornish proper names of men and places have the accent 
on the second syllable, as Borla'se, Boli'tho, Trela'wney, Carne'gie, 
Pendre'a, Polme'nnor (Poleme'nnor). In true Cornish compound 
names the noun is put before the adjective, as Chegwidden (white 
house), che, house, gwidden, white; Younderveor (great road), 
voundery road, veoVj great (through ignorance now called Younder- 
veor Lane). When the word is formed of two nouns, the distin- 
guishing one is last, as Nanceglos (church valley), nanc (c soft), 
valley, eglos, church ; Crowz-an-wra (a road-side cross), crotoz, cross, 
wrUy road ; Peninnis (island head), pen, a head, inniSy an island ; 
Egloshayle (river church), eglos, a church, hayhy a river (now Pen- 
innis Head, Egloshayle Church). These rules hold good even when 
the words are half Cornish, half English, as Street-an-Nowan (the 
new street, of some antiquity), Cairn Du (black cairn), Castle Yean 
(little castle). Castle au Dinas ^ (a reduplication). Chapel Ury, Chapel 
St. Clare. 

§ 5. When asked some years since by the English Dialect 
Society to write a West Cornwall Glossary, wishing to make it as 
complete as possible, I consulted all the published works on the 
subject which were in the Penzance Library, and added to my list 
the words in them unknown to me. Those that I have given on the 
authority of Polwhele alone are, I am afraid, although common in 
the beginning of this century, now quite forgotten except by a very 
few. Had I been aware that I was to have been associated with Mr. 
Couch, I should have taken no examples from his works ; but I have 
retained them, as they were nearly all familiar to Mr. Westlake, Q.C. 
(J. W.), to whom I now take this opportunity of tendering my 

* **Some make castle a fortification of stone, dinas of earth." — Bannister. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

sincere and hearty thanks for his very valuable services, ungrudgingly 
given, he having kindly gone over the entire MS. with me, I must 
also thank Mr. H. R Cornish (H. R C), who has done the same by 
the proof-sheets, and Mr. Thomas Cornish (T. C), who placed all his 
Cornish words at my disposal. Those signed W. N. I had from Mr. 
Wm. "Noje, and Davy, Zennor through Mr. Westlake. Garlands are 
from a list by the late Mr. Garland in the Journal of the Royal 
Inst. Cornwall. I have, too, incorporated in this glossary a list of 
words collected by the Rev. Flavell Cook (F. C.) when at Liskeard, 
and kindly sent me through the Rev. W. W. Skeat ; and some from 
those published in the Comishman by Bernard Victor (B. V.) and 
Wm. Fred. Pentreath (W. F. P.), of Mousehole ; and by F. W. P. 
Jago, M.B., Plymouth. To all these gentlemen my thanks are due. 



Margaret A. Courtney. 



Alverton House, Peneafiee, 
January, 1880. 



A GLOSSARY OP WORDS 



IN USE IN 



WEST CORNWALL 



Abear, v, to dislike : always used 
■with a negative. " I caan't ahear 
what I caan't abide." 

Accrosbay (ac crochet), a kind of 
leap-frog, A cap or small article 
is placed on the back of the 
stooping person by each boy as 
he jumps over him; the one who 
knocks either of the things off 
has to take the place of the 
stooper. The first tmie he jumps 
over the boy says Accroahay, the 
second Aahotayy the third Aaahe- 
flay, and lastly Lament^ lament 
Leleenian's (or Lelena's) war. 

Acres, phr. in bis acres; in his 
glory. 

Addle-pool, a cesspool. 

Ad rabbet, inter, bother. 

Adventnrer, one who takes shares 
in a mine. 

Afeard, p.p. as adj. afraid. " I'm 
afeard of my life to go upstairs 
aiter dark." 

Afore, adv. before. "He took 
me up afore I were down.'* He 
corrected me before I had made 
a mistake. 

After, Arthur. "I'm coom for 



the dennar for After, who works 
at old Dolcoath." 

After - elapses, after - thoughts ; 
sui>erfluous finery. **I caan't 
manage the after-dapses.'* Some- 
thing happening after the cause 
is supposed to have been re- 
moved. H. E. C. 

After-winding, waste com. 

Agait, adj. very attentive; ear- 
nest. 

Agar, adj. ugly. Davy, Zennor. 
Aglet, Aglon, Awglon, Orglon, 

the berry of the hawthorn. 

Ailer, a receiver of stolen goods. 
** The ailer is as bad as the 
stailer." (He who aids and abets 
the thief by standing within hail 
as sentry. H. E. 0.) Heller, 
Lostwithiel. J. W. 

Aipemt, an apron. 

" A slut never wants a clout 
Whilst her aipernt holds out." 

Airy -mouse, a bat, M. A. C. 
Airy-Mouse, H. E. 0, Hairy- 
Mouse, J, W. 

Aitoh-pieoe, the catch or tongue 
of a buckle. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Ake, a groove in a stone nsed for 
an anchor (peculiar to Cornwall), 
to receive a rope or iron band to 
prevent it from slipping. Mouse- 
nole fishermen. K P., through 
W. Noye. 

Aketha, quotha. 

Alaire, a short time ago. Video 
says this is in common use; I 
query it M. A. C. 

Allee-oouohee, phr. to go to bed. 
Ammenuts, nuts. Almond nuts, 

almonds. 

Anan ? NaJi ? inter, " What did 
you say ? " 

Anatomy, Atomy, a thin person. 
Also Anatomis. H. E. C. 

Aneest, Aneist, prep, near. ^' I 
caan't bear him to come aneiat 



me. 



»> 



An end. To drive ari end is to 
excavate a level (a gallery) in a 
mine. 

Angallish, a gallows. <'You 
angalliah dog, you." 

Angle - twitch, an earth-worm. 
*' Wriggling like aii angle- 
twitch,^* 

Anointed. '* An anointed rogue " 
= an out-and-out rogue. 

An-passy, Passy, et cetera. 

Anti, phr. not I. Always used 
with a negative. ** I caan't say 
anti." 

Antic, a foolish person ; a merry 
rogue. **I never seed such an 
atitic in my born days." 

Apple-bird, ia chaffinch, Pol- 
whele. 

Apple-drain, a drone ; a wasp. 

•Apsen-tree, an aspen. " Bevering 
(shivering) like an apaen-tree," 

Aptycock, a clever little fellow. 
"Well done, my little apticock,'** 
—W, Briton, April 3, 1879. 



Araa ! Arear ! Areah ! an inter- 
jection of surprise. Arrea-faa. 
B. Victor and W. V. Pentreath. 
Mousehole. 

Ardar, a plough. 

Ardnr, a ploughman. 

Argee, Argeefy, v, to argiie. 

** He's all'ays ready to argee-' {g 
hard). 

Arish, stubble. " Turn them into 
the ariahea " (stubbles). 

Arish-field, a stubble-field. 

Arish-geese, stubble-fed geese. 

Arish-mow, a rick of com made 
in the field where it was cut 

Arm-wrist, the wrist. 

Arter, adv. after. " He's all'ays 
tinkering arter her." 

Ascrode, adv, astride. " She 
rode aacrode,^ 

As lev*, adv, as lief. " l*d as 
lev* do et as not." 

Assneger, Assinego, a silly 
fellow; a fool. "Do *ee be 
quiet, thee asaneger.^^ 

Athnrt, adv, athwart. " He looks 
athurt " (he squints). 

Attal, Attle, rubbish cast out 
£rom a mine. 

Atwixt and atween, pJir, be- 
twixt and between. ** Neither 
the highest nor lowest; but 
atwixt and atween, says Bucca." 

Aunt, An', Aint, a term of re- 
spect, conmionly used for elderly 
women. **Too fine, like An 
Betty Toddy's gown. " 

Awner's 'count, owner's ac- 
count; at the expense of the 
employers. 

Axed out, p. p. as adj. having 
the banns called in church. 

** I 'be axed out ! keep company ! 
G-et thee to doors, thee noodle." 
Z'^ncU Jan Trcnoodle, 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Baal, V. to beat. 
Baaled, p. p. beaten ; grieved. 
Baaling, a beating. 
Babby-rags, small bits. F. C. 
Backlet, Backside, a court or 

yard behind a house. 

Backysyfore, phr, hind-part be- 
fore. F. U. Backsyforcy, J. W. 

Bagonet, a bayonet. 

Bakester, a baker. 

Bal, a bother. " What a hot the 
dog es ! noozling up agen me." 

Bal, a mine. 

Balcb, a small rope ; a sash cord. 

Bal-girl, a mine girl. 

Balk, squared timber. 

Ballarag, v, to scold. 

Ballaragging, a scolding. '^ She 
gov' me a sound ballaragging,'^ 

Ball-eye, a wall-eye. "Billy 
hall-eye," 

Balscat, a cross-patch. " She's a 
regular ould halscat," Poor, con- 
temptible. Sometimes appUed to 
wine, as balscat port. J. W. 

Balshag, a coarse flannel with a 
long nap, used in mines. 

Bandeleer, a wooden toy, in 
shape like a thin flat reel ; it is 
made to move up and down by a 
string which winds and unwinds. 

Banger, a large thing or person. 

Bankers and Dorsars, cushions 

for seats and backs of settles. 
Bottrell. 

Bankroute, a bankrupt. 

Bannel, the broom, Genista, 

Bare -ridged. He rides hare- 
ridged = without a saddle. 

Barm, Bnrm, yeast, ^arm-cake 
is cake made with yeast. 



Barragon, fustian. Barraoan» 
H. B. 0. 

Barro, Borro, a boar. 

Barwell, Barvil, a leather apron 
formerly worn by fishermen when 
hauling in their nets and takins 
the fish out of the same. Capt. W. 
Pentreath, Mousehole, through 
W. Noye. 

Bazaam, the heath; a purple 
colour. 

Be, baint, are ; are not. •* Like 
Jan Trezise's geese, never happy 
unless they be where they haint ' 
** Where he 'ee going ? " = where 
are you going ? 

Beagle it ! (sometimes Ad beagle 

it !) a West-country imprecation. 
T. C. A troublesome person is 
often called a beagle or bagle. 
** Be quiet, you young hagleJ^ 
M. A. C. 

Beal, a bird's bill ; the nose. " I 
knawed 'ee by j^our beaV 

Beat, a turf; also the verb to 
make or attend to a fire of 
turves. 

Beat burrow, Beat tnrf, a heap 
of burnt turves left in the fields. 

Bedabber, Bejabber, v, to fade 
by keeping in the hands. 

Bedabbered, p. p, as adj. faded. 
** Yours flowers are bedabbered." 

Bed-ale, groaning-ale; ale brewed 
for a christening. Pol whole. 

Bedoling-pain, a constant pain — 
not acute. 

Bedoled, p. p. used as adj, stupe- 
fied with pain or grief. "I'm 
bedoled with the rheumatiz." 

Bed-tye, a feather bed: ofteii 
called a feather tye. 

Bee-skip, Bee-but, a beehive. 

Beety, v, to mend the net 
Mousehole fishermen, through 
B. P. and B. V. 

b2 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 



Beg^bd, p. p. as adj, allotted. 
•* 'Tis not hegihd to me " (^r hard). 
R Hunt, F.E.S. 

Beheemed, adj, sickly. ^^ A poor 
beheemed cretnr " (creature). 

Belk, t;. to belch. 

Belong. ^I belong at home*' 
= I live at home. ** I am not 
80 ill as I belong to be '* = not 
so ill as I generally am. '* She 
belongs to stay in to-night" = 
it's her turn to stay in to-night. 

Belve, i\ to bellow. 

Belving, part, " Belving like a 
bulL" 

Bender, anything unusually good 
of its kind. 

Berrin, a funeral. '< Bin to the 
berrin, ha' 'ee ? " 

Berrin-tnne, a tune to which a 

hymn is sung by the relations 
and friends on me way to the 
church. 

** To shaw our sperrits lev' us petch 
The laast new berrin-tune." 

Tregellas. 

Besting it, going to sea when the 
weather looks threatening, and 
cruising on the fishing ground 
without shooting the nets, to see 
whether the sky will clear or 
not. T. C. Also commonly used 
for considering a thing, as * * I am 
beating if I shall go to church to- 
night." M. A. a 

Better -fit. Used for better. 
** You'd better-Jit ha' done what 
I told 'ee." 

Better-most, adj, best. '* My 
better-most dress." ** The better- 
most people were there." 

Betwattled, Bewattled, p, p, as 

adj, mad, foolish. **Thee art 
betwattled; that were afore I 
were bom." 

Bib, a small fish ; a blind. 
Biddiz, a mattock. 



Bilder, hemlock; water dropwort. 

Billees, a bellows : facetiously 
called the Cornish organ. 

Biscan, Vesoan, a finger-glove of 
leather used in support of a 
wounded finger; sometimes a 
simple bandage of cloth. Bes- 
gan, W. N. 

Bitter, adv, very. " He's hitter 
cross this morning." ** A bitter 
wet day." 

Biver, Bever, v, to shiver. " I'm 
all of a tt'ver." 

Bivering, Bevering, part, shiver- 
ing. 

Black-a-moor*8 teeth^ small 

white-ribbed cowries. 

Black-cake, wedding-cake. A 
rich plum-pudding is a blcLck- 
pudding. 

Black-head, a boil 

Black jack, blend. 

Black strap, gin and treacle. 
An inferior winegiven to infe- n 
rior guests. J. "V^ 

Black tin, tin ore ready for 
smelting. 

Blast, a sudden inflammation. " I 
caught a blast in my eye." 

Blaw. '' A man caan't go farther 
than he can blaw,^ %, e, he can't 
do impo8sibilitie& 

Blind buck a davy, blindman's 
buff. 

Blink, a spark. " There's not a 
blink of fire in the grate." 

Blob, Blobber, a bubble. 

Blood-sucker, the sea anemone. 

Bloody warrior, a wallflower ; 
also the red crane's-bill. 

Blowser, one who assists in the 
pilchard fishery, 

Blowsing, working in seine boats. 
Blowth, blossom. " There's no- 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 



thing prettier than the apple 
hlowthr 

Blubber, Blobber, the sea nettle^ 
Sometimes called ating hluhher$. 

Blue -poll, a species or, more 
probably, a variety of salmon, 
remarkable for tne steel-blue 
colour of its head and for ascend- 
ing our rivers (e. g. the Camel) 
about Candlemas-day ; hence 
when appearing in numbers 
they are willed the " Candlemas 
School." It is observed by fish- 
ermen that the great majority 
are males or kippers. Couch. 

Board 'em, an old-fashioned round 

fame of cards. It can be played 
y any number of players from 
two to eight, either for fish or 
low stakes ; but there must not 
be less than six fish in the pool. 
Six cards are dealt to each per- 
son, and the thirteenth if two are 
playing, the nineteenth if three, 
and so on, is turned up for 
trumps. The forehand plays, 
and the next (if he has one) 
follows suit; if not, he may 

Elay another suit or trump. The 
ighest card of the original suit, 
if not trumped, takes the trick 
and one or more iish, according 
to the number staked. If you 
have neither card in your hand 
that you think will make a trick, 
you may decline to play, in 
which case you only lose your 
stake ; but if you play and fail 
to makp a trick, you must pay 
for the whole company, and are 
said to be ** boarded." 

Bob, the largest beam of a mine 
steam-pumping engine. 

Bobble. " An ugly bobble in the 
sea " = a ground swell. 

Bock, V. to shy. <*The horse 
hocked at the hedge." 

Boften, p, p, as adj. bought. 

Boften bread, baker's bread, not 
home-made. Boften cUmgh is 



sometimes used to express tho 
same idea. '* As plimi (soft) as 
ho/ten dough " — applied to a very 
foolish person. 

Boiling, a number, crowd, or 
family. "The whole boiling of 
'em were there." 

Boist, corpulence. Boustis, stout. 
J. W. Lostwithiel. Busthious, 
H.RC. 

Bolk, adj. firm. Probably from 
balk, squared timber. 

Boldering, adj, louring; inclin- 
able to thunder. ** 'Tis boldering 
weather." Polwhele. **'TiB bold- 
ering hot." J. W. 

Bolt) a stone-built drain,. 

Boo, a louse. 

Boobus, a wick for a small lamp. 
Booba/ Boobun, Newlyn. 

Boostering, part labouring so as 
to perspire. 

Boots and shoes, the flowers of 
the monk's-hood. 

Boryer, a borer; a bar of iron 
used to make holes in granite ; a 
mining tool. 

Boshy-man, a fop ; a conceited 
fellow. 

Botany-bay, the hydrangea. 

Botham, a tumour arising from 
the blow of a stick on any part 
of the body. Polwhele. 

Bothem, the feverfew. 

Bottom-pie, slices of potatoes and 
pork baked on a thick layer of 
dough. W. Noye. 

Bottoms, a narrow, uncultivated 
valley. 

Bougie, Bowgie, a sheep's house; 
a shed. 

Bouldacious, Bould, adj\ bold. 

Boulter, a moored line, with 
hooks attached, for catching pol- 
locks. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Boutigo, Bont-a-go, Bont-l-go 

(jpron, Boutshego), a tramp. **I 
caan't abear houtigos coming 
round the town plaace" (the 
farm-yard). 

Bowed, bent. "A little bowed 
old man." 

Bowerly, adj, burly; corpulent. 
** A fine bowerly man." 

Bowings, bowings of the legs; 
the under part of the knee-joint 

Bow-jowler (ow like how), a place 
in fishing boats for hauling foot- 
line through. Mousehole fisher- 
men, through W. P. P. and B. V. 

Boys. "There are no men in 
Cornwall; they are all Cornish 
boys,** 

Boy's love, southernwood. 

Braave, Bra, adj. and adv, fine ; 
very. "He's grown a bra 
cheeld.*' ** I'm braave and well, 
thank 'ee." And between two 
adjectives (in Cornwall) applies 
the preceding one to the latter. 
Brave and wicked (bravely or 
very wigked^ although brave 
alone would be a term of com- 
mendation. J. W. ** A brave- 
. looking man " is a good-looking 
man. 

Brace, the mouth of a shaft. 
Mining Record^ through W. 
Noye. 

BragOt V, to scold violently. 
Couch. 

Braging, part, roaring; raging. 
** Braging like a lion." 

firaggashans. " But I scorn to 

stand speeching braggaahana.** — 
Uncle Jan Trenoodle, 

Braggaty, adj, spotted ; mottled. 
"A braggaty cow." 

Brake, a large quantity: parti- 
cularly applied to flowers, as a 
brake of honeysuckle. 

Brandis, a three-cornered iron 
rest for baking meat on; also 



used to hold a kettle, or support 
burning brands. 

Brash, an eruption ; a rash. 

Breach. A horse or cow is said 
to breach when it breaks down 
fences. A ** breachy cow" is one 
that breaks boimds. 

Breachy water, brackish water. 
Bread - and • cheese, the young 

leaves of hawthorn, often eaten 

by children. 
Breal, Breel, a mackerel W. N., 

B. V. 
Breed, Breedy, v. to make or 

mend fishing-nets with a mesh 

and needle. 

Bren. Brend, v, to wrinkle the 

forehead. ** Don't brend your 
brows so." 

Brow brenner, eye winker. Old 
Nursery Rhyme, 

Brick, Breck, a rent or flaw. 
** There wasn't a brick in it." 

Brimming, the phosphorescence 
of the waves. 

Brink, the gill of a fish. R. P., 
through W. Noye. 

Briny, adj. luminous ; phosphor- 
escent : applied to the sea ; the 
medusee. 

Brit, a small kind of fish the 
size of a sprat. F. W. P., Jago, 
M. B. 

Brithyll, a trout {pron, truff). 

£[. A. C 
Broad-fig, a Turkey fig. 
Broft, p, p. brought. " She was 

bro/t home in a cart." 

Broil, earth on the surface indi- 
cating a vein of metal. **The 
burnt stuff, word used by Berry- 
man, who professes to find lodes 
to this day by the divining rod." 
T. C. 

Broil, V, to discover metal from 
the ecufth thrown up by the heat 
of the vein. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Srood, imparities mixed with ore. 

Broom-swike^ a twig of a heath- 
broom. 

Brose-of-het^ a great heat. << Vm 
in a hro8e-o/-?ut" At boiling 
point. 

Broasen, burning quickly. Mouse- 
hole fishermen, through W. F. 
P. and V. B. 

Brother - law, brother - iu - law. 
Father-laWf &c., &c. 

Brown-worty figwort or throat- 
wort. 

Browse, bruised fish used as bait. 
"I'll pommel thy noddle to 
hrowaeJ* Bottrell. 

Browse, brambles and thorns. 
F. 0. 

Browthy, adj. light; spongy: 
applied to bread. 

Brii8h,|^a nosegay. 

Brush, dried furze used for fires. 
** Not quite baked ; he'd take 
another hrtiah : " said of a half- 
witted man* 

Bmss, short twigs of heath or 
furze. ** When a younger sister 
marries first, her elder sister is 
said to dance in the hruss ; from 
an old custom of dancing with- 
out shoes on the furze prickles 
which get' detached from the 
stalk." H. E. 0. 

Bmyans, crumbs. Buryans, Bot- 
trell. 

Bucca, a stupid person ; a term 
of derision. 

** Penzance boys up in a tree, 
Looking as wisht (downcast) as 

vnBtS can be ; 
Newlyn huccaa, strong as oak. 
Knocking 'em down at every 
poke." 

Buooa-boo, a ghost ; a bug-bear ; 
a black bucca. 

Buooa - gwidden, a precocious 
child; a simple innocent; an 



insane person. T. 0. A white 
bucca. 

Buck, fermentation in milk or 
cream, produced by moist heat. 
**The buck is in the milk." 
Buccha-boo, Polwhele. 

Buck, the spittle fly. 

Buck, V. to bruise copper ore into 
small fragments. 

Bucking-iron, a flat hammer used 
for crushing copper ore. 

Buokle-up, V. to shrink or cur^ 
up with the damp. ** My dress 
hucklea-up in the dew." 

Buckshee-buck, a game played 
by an indefinite number of play^ 
ers. One shuts his eyes, and tne 
others say in turn, *^ Buckshee I 
Buckshee-huck ! How many fin- 

fers do I hold up ? " When the 
lindman guesses correctly, the 
one whose number is guessed 
takes his place. 

Buckthorn, Buckhorn, a salted 
and diied whiting. 

Bucky-how, a boy's game, resem- 
bling touch-timber. 

Buddie, a kind of tub for wash- 
ing ore. 

Buddle-boy, a boy employed in 
washing ore. The operation is 
caUed**buddling." 

Buddies, bubbles. " Blowing 
huddles, art 'ee, cheeld ? " 

Bud-picker, the bullfinch. Pol- 
whele. 

BufBle - head, a simpleton ; a 
foolish person. ** I niver seed 
sich a g eat ht^e-headJ'* 

Bulgranack, the pool-toad, or 
locally bull-toad, in sea-rock 
pools. H. E. 0. 

Bulgranade, a stickleback. 

Bulhom, a snaiL ''If tinners 
in going to bal (the mine) met 
wi£ a htUhom in their path, 
they always took care to drop; 



8 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



before it a **cnim" from their 
dhiner, or bit of grease from 
their candle, for good luck," 
Bottrell. 

Bulk, t;. to toss on the horns of a 
cow. 

Bulk, V, to cure pilchards, by 
placing alternate layers of salt 
and fi^ ; also a pile of pilchards 
about a yard in breadth and five 
feet in height : with the heads 
turned outward. 

Bulk-headed fool, always running 
his head against a wall. H. E. G. 

Bullies, round, smooth pebbles ; 
boulders. 

Bollooky man, a swaggering 
feUow, 

Bullnm, the fruit of the bullace 
tree. 

Bun-bread, phrase to express a 
severe thrashing. " Td beat him 
to hun-bread,^* Longrock, T. 0. 

Bunken, Bumpkin, a piece of 
iron projecting from the bow of 
a boat, to which the jib is fast- 
ened, W. Noye, 

Bunker-headed fools. Gwinear, 
T. 0. 

Bunting, part, sifting flour. 

Bum, twenty-one hakes (probably 
a burden) ; a pile of furze kept 
in country houses for fuel; a 
rick of hay. 

Burranet, the shelldrake. 

Burrow, a barrow or tumulus. 

Bush, two hoops fixed on a short 
pole, passing through each other 
at right angles. They are covered 
with white calico, and used as 
signals by a person standing on 
a nill to show where pilchards 
lie in a bay. 

Bush, V, Instead of thrashing 
corn with a flail, when straw 
was wanted for thatching, women 
were employed to beat out the 
corn into a barrel with the head 



out; the ears of com were struck 
against the cask. 

Bush tiie fire, phr. to put on 
more forze: only used where 
there are open chimneys and no 
grates. 

Busk, a thin slip of wood or 
whalebone, about an inch and 
a-half broad by fourteen long; 
formerly worn by all, now only 
by old women, in front of their 
s&ys. 

Busker, an undaunted, persever- 
ing fisherman in stormy weather, 
in contradistinction to in-and- 
outer. E. P. , through W. Noye. 

Bussa, a large earthenware pot or 
jar. 

Bussa-calf, a calf kept on the 
cow till it weans itself. Pol- 
whele. 

Bussa -head, an empty-headed 
person. 

Bussy milk, the first milk after 
calving. 

Bustious, adj\ over-fat ; burden- 
some to oneself. 

Busy, requires ; wants. "It es 
btisy all my time looking arter 
the childem.**. " It es busy all my 
money to keep house." 

But, a buttock of beef. 

But, V. to sprain or put out of 
joint. 

Butted, p. p, " I've hutted my 
thumb.'* 

But-gap, a hedge of pitched turf. 
Polwhele. 

Butt, a heavy, two-wheeled cart, 
with timber and yoked oxen. 

Butter - and - eggs, the double 
yellow daffodil. 

Buyed, v, bought. " I buyed un 
at the draper's." 

Buzza. "Stinking like btizza, 
E. Opie, through W. Noye. "A 



»r 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



huzza used before cess-pits/' H. 
E. 0. 

Bye, adv, lonely. " Our house is 
rather bye/* 

Caal, Call, v, to give public notice 
by a town crier. * * Haye it coaled, 
be sure." To have the banns 
** caaled out'* (called out) is to 
have them read in church. 

Caalves-henge, a calf s pluck. 

Cab, a homy gall on the hand 
caused by friction. '* Called a 
callous," H. R 0. 

Cab, a dirty mess. Also v, to 
soil by handling over-much. A 
cabby mess is a dirty, sticky 
mess. 

Cabaggled^ p,p, as adj. messed 
and dirty. J. W. LostwithieL 

Cabesta, space between the hook 
and lead in a fishing line. Mouse- 
hole fishermen, tlm)ugh W. F. 
P. Cobesta, V. B, 

Caboolen-stone, a stone used by 
seiners (the crew of a seine boat) 
as a means of keeping the fish 
enclosed in the seine but not 
caught from making their escape. 
It is continually thrown into the 
sea, a piece of ro^e being attached 
to it, imtil the seme can be drawn 
so close together that the fish can 
be dipped up in baskets. W. F. 
P. and B. Y. 

Cader, a small frame of wood on 
which a fisherman keeps his 
lines. Cantor, Penzance. 

Cadge. "Out on the cadge,'' 
on the tramp ; begging. ** They 

fet their Eving by cadging y*^ 
egging from door to door, 

Cafenter, a carpenter. 

** I'm coom for the dennar for After 
iLArthur), 
Wno works at old Dolcoath ; 
And if you be the ca/cn<er*« daffcer 
(daughter), 
You'll send enough for both." 



Caff, n. refuse, rubbish. 

Cage. '' She has a beautiful cage 
of teeth." 

Cal, tungstate of iron. 

Caloar, the lesser weever or sting 
fish, with the lance fish in Sennen. 
H. R. 0. 

Cam, Cand, fluor spar. 

Camels, camomile iiowers. 

Canker, a cock crab. M. Matthews, 
through W. Noye. ** Crane and 
Crancod." H. R. 0. 

Camiis, v, to toss about carelessly. 
Couch. 

Cant, V. to tip on one side. 
** Cant up the bottle." A faU. 
Polwhele. Cant of a way := a 
long way. W. Noye. 

Capel, Cookie, schorl " Capel 
ndes a good horse " indicates the 
presence of tin. 

Caper-longer, the shell-fish Pinna 
ingens. Couch. Tonkin applies 
the name Caper-longer to the 
razor-shell Solen solignia, 

Capperonse {jpron. like house), a 
great noise. * * What a capperouae ; 
'tes like Bedlam broke loose." 
** Cab-a-rouae is in seamen's lan- 
guage to pull together at a cable, 
shouting and singing." H. E. C. 

Cappnn. The superintendent of 
a mine is always called cappun, 

Carbona, Carbonas, a large mass 
of rich ore, sometimes called a 
house. 

Care, the mountain ash, branches 
of which are used as charms to 
prevent cattle being ** ill wisht ' ' 
(bewitched). 

Cam, Caime, a pile of rocks. 

Camy, v, to coax ; to flatter. 
** He thought to camy over me." 

Carraok, Oarraok, a rock : only 

used as a proper noun. 
Casling, a prematurely-born calf. 



10 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



The skins are often made into 
waistcoats. 

Cassabully, winter cress. Pol- 
whele. 

Catch up, v. to dry. " The clothes 
win soon catch up this windy 
weather." '* The roads are nicely 
catigkt tfp." Also applied to 
household work. '^Wnen the 
churs (chars) are caught up." 

Cat-in-the-pan. To turn cat-in- 
the-pan is to turn head over heels, 
sitting on a rail, whilst keeping 
hold of it. Traitor, J. W. 

Cats and dogs, the catkins of 
the willow. 

Cattern, Catherine. 

Cauch, a sloppy mess. J. W. 

Cauohy, adj. wet; sloppy. "The 
roads are very cauchy,** 

Caudle, a mess. 

Caudle, v. to do household work 
in an untidy manner. Caddie, 
F. W. P., Jago, M. B. 

Caudler, one who caudles or 
makes a mess. Caddler, one 
who is always caddling about the 
house, t. e. working but messing. 

Caudling, part, making a mess ; 
also wasting ; improvident. 
•* CaudUng away all his money." 

Cauuter, a cross-handed blow. 

Cause, case. " If that's the caiise 
I must work later." 

Cawnse, Coanse, stones; a flagged 
floor, 

Cawnse - way, Coanse - way, a 

paved foot-path. ** Coanse-way 
head," a street in Penzance. 

Cay-thollic. " Like Cay4holliCy 
the more he eats the thinner he 
P gets." 

Censure, t;. to give an opinion ; 
consent. ** I gived (or gov) my 
censure for they." 

Chacking, adj, thirsty. '^Half- 
fiEunished." Couch. ^ 



Chaoks, the cheeks. " Fll gi' 'ee 
a skat (slap) in the chocks.^* 

Chad, a young bream. 

Chad. "We say, Put a chad^ 
that is, a turn of rope, in the 
horse's mouth." J. H. Nanki- 
veU. 

Chainy, china. "A chainy tay- 
pot.*' 

Chall, a cow-house. 

Champion lode, a large vein of 
metal. In St. Just ** guides." 

Chape, the catch of a buckle. 

Chaunoe, v, to cheat 

Chaunt, Chaunty, v. to scold ; to 
mutter to oneself ; to prate. 

Chaunting,2>a?*f. scolding. " Chea 
chaunter" = cease chaunter! 
stop your prate ! H. E. C. 

Cheeld, a child; pL Childem. 
Old people call a little child '* a 
chet^d vean." "Like Malachi's 
cheeld, chuckful of sense.** 

Cheeses, seeds of mallow, often 
eaten by children. CSiokky- 
cheeses, F. G. 

Cheevy, adj. thin; miserable- 
looking. 

Cheins, Cheens, the small of the 
back. ** IVe a bad pain in my 
cheens^ 

Cherk, a half-burnt cinder. Chare, 

S. A. C. 

Chet, a kitten. 

Cheyy-chace, a great bustle or 
noise. ** What's all the Chevy ^ 
chace about F '* . 

Chewidden-day, the day on which 

white tin (smelted tin) was first 
sold in ComwalL 

Chickchacker, the wheatear : so 
called fi*om its note. CSiickell, 
Polwhele. 

Chien, Cheem, v, to germinate in 
the dark, as potatoes. 

Chiff-^haff, the chaffinch. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



11 



Chiffer, Cheffer, v, to bargain. 
** I never heerd a woman cheffer 
like she do." 

Childer, Childem, cliildren. 

Childermas-day, Innocents'-day. 
** It's unlucky to sail on Childer- 
Tnas-day.^^ 

Chill, a small earthen lamp, in 
shape like the old Boman lamp, 
formerly used for burning tram 
or pilcluird oil. 

Chimbley, a chimney. 

Ching, the chin. 

Chipper, the crossbill. 

Chitterlings, the frills formerly 
worn on gentlemen's shirts. 

Chod, a stew. 

Choris, a carouse ; a feast. 

Choust, a cheat. 

Choust, V. to cheat. "They'll 
choitst 'ee out of all thy money." 

Chow, V, to chew. 

Chowter, a female fish-vendor. 
More commonly jouater. Gener- 
ally those who go about the 
country in carts. 

Chrestmas - oor'ls, carols. On 
Christmas-eve the choir of the 
parish church goes from house 
to house singing ** cur^la,^* 

Chrestmas - stock, Chrestmas - 

mock, the Chnstmas log. A 
piece of this year's Chreatmas- 
mock is often saved to light the 
one to be burnt at the next 
Christmas. 

Chriss-crossed, adj. cross-barred ; 
checkered. 

Chuck, the under part of the 
face ; the throat. '* I like a pig's 
chuck,** 

Chuck, V, to choke. '' He looks 
as if butter wouldn't melt in his 
mouth and cheese chuck him." 



Chuck -cheldem, the shad: so 
called from its particularly bony 
nature. 

Chuckle-head, a stupid person. 

Chuck-sheep, an epithet. F. C. 

Chuf^ adj, sullen ; sulky ; fat. 

Ckuggy-pig, a pig. 

Chug-chug (Chee-ah, Bottrell). 
Used to call the pigs to teed. 

Chur, a small piece of work. 
**rve caught up my chur9** = 
Tve finish^ my work. 

Chur,Churrey, v, to go out by the 
day to do servant's work. 

Churrer, a charwoman. " She's 
a very good churrer,** 

Church-ale, a feast in commemo- 
ration of the dedication of a 
church. 

Church-hay, a churchyard. 

Church-hay-cough, a hollow, con 
sumptive cough. 

Church-town, a village. Three 
or four houses, and even a single 
house, is called a town in Corn- 
wall. A farm-yard is a town- 
place. London is often spoken 
of as **Lunnon church-town," 

Clack, a great noise ; much talk- 
ing. ** Hould your dack,** 

Clacker, a rattle to frighten away 
birds ; the tongue ; a valve of a 
pump. ** The clacker of the 
oillees" (bellows). 

Clain-off, adv, at once ; without 
a mistake. ** I did it clain-off." 
** I told it (repeated it) clain- 
of." 

Clam, a stick laid across a brook 
to clamber over, supplying the 
place of a bridge. E. Cornwall, 
Polwhele. A plank bridge. J. 
W. Lostwithiel. 

Clammed, clamoured; often ill. 
Polwhele. 

Claps, a clasp. Clapses, pi. 



12 



"WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARt, 



Clean, v. to wash ; to make one- 
self tidy. *' I am going to clean 
myself." 

Cleoky, adj, stiff; lame. 
Clem, V, to choke with thirst. 
Clemb, Climber, v. to climb. 

" He's such a boy to climher" 

Clems, fish and potatoes fried to- 
gether. Also called pick up. 

Clever, adj, well-grown; good- 
looking; in ^od health. *'A 
clever httle maid." ** How art *ee, 
my son ? " " Clever, thank 'ee." 

Clibby, adj. adhesive; sticky. 
Cliggy, F. W. P., Jago, M. B. 

CUck, a blow. *^rU gi' 'ee a 
clicJe under the ear." 

Click-hand, the left hand. " Thof 
(although) I*m lame in my dick- 
hand," — IJnde Jan Trenoodle, 

Click-handed, adj, left-handed. 

Cliders, a plant ; the rough bed- 
straw. '* Clivers, Cleavers, 
goose-grass." H. E. 0. 

Clidg^, a sweetmeat ; hardbake : 
so called because it sticks to the 
teeth. 

Clidgy, adj, sticky. 

Clig, Cligged, v. to cling to ; to 
stick to in the manner of glue or 
honey. As, ** My fin^rs are 
digged together;" ** Bird-lime 
digs more than anything." F. 
W. P., Jago, M. B. 

Clink, a small room where vaga- 
bonds and drunkards are con- 
fined. 

Clinker, a burnt-out coal. 

Clip, a smart blow. 

Clip, V, to turn the ground to put 
in crops. 

Clipper, one who turns the 
groimd. 

- cutter, a flutter, v. to flutter. 
*' I was all of a ditter," *♦ CliUer- 
ing its wings." 



Cloam, earthenware. 

Cloamen, made of earthenware. 
An old cloamen cat hollow to the 
toes = a hypocrite. Q-arland. 

Cloamers, painted clay marbles. 

Clob, a clod or lump of earth. 
Walls made of marl mixed with 
straw are called dob or cob walls. 

Clobbed, p, p, as adj, begrimed. 
'*A choked pipe of any kind 
would be said to be dobbed up. 
Dirty clothes or utensils are said 
to be dobbed with dirt." F. W. 
P., Jago, M. B. 

Clock, the crop or craw. Speci- 
mens of Cornish Dialect. Unde 
Jan Trenoodle. 

Clop, V. to limp. 

Clopping, limping. ** Clop and 
go one.' ' * * Mol^r was doppingj* 

Close, reserved. ** She's a close 
woman." 

Clonchin. '* He's a cloucldn sort 
of a fellow," t. e, a man of no 
character, not to be believed. St. 
Buryan. T. 0. 

Clout, a blow ; a slap. " Stop 
thy grizzling (giggling), or Til 
gi' 'ee a clout shall make 'ee 
laugh the wrong side of thy 
mouth.' ' 

Clouted cream, clotted cream; 
cream made from milk scalded 
over a fire. 

Clubbish, adj. rough ; brutal. 

Cluck, V, to bend down ; to squat. 
" Clucky down behind the hedge." 
"The hen has got the cluck *^ 
(wants to sit). Clutty, W. F. P. 

Clunk, V. to swallow with an 
effort; to bolt ** Clunk un 
down." 

Clunker, the uvula. T. Q. Couch. 

Clut, a gap in a hedge. To fall 
with a dut is to fall in a heap, 
leaving a gap. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



13 



Clyne, a sea-bird's feast. Matthias 
Dunn, Mevagissey. 

Clysty, adj, close ; moist : as 
badly-made bread or bad pota- 
toes. *' These taties are bra' and 
dyatyj* 

Co ! interj. an exclamation of 
entreaty. ** Come along, Co !** 

Coady. Sheep are said to be 
coady when their livers are 
affected. Stratton district. 

Coats, petticoats. " I never seed 
a cheeld with such short coats" 

Cob, a bunch of hair on the fore- 
head, often applied to the top 
locks of a horse's mane. 

Cob, V, to beat or thump. 

Cobbing, a beating. " Gobbet, a 
blow." (Jarland. Cobbing , in 
mining, is breaking copper ore 

; into smcdl pieces — done by 
women. 

Cobbing-hammer, a miner's tool. 
Cobba, a simpleton. 

Cobshans, money or savings. 

•'What, give my cobshana up to 
thee! 
Be Mistress Jan indeed." 

Unde Jan Trenoodle, 

Cock-haw, a game played by boys 
with victor nuts (hazel nuts). 
One boy takes off his cap, saying, 
**Cock-?iawf first blaw! Up 
hat, down cap. Victor." His 
opponent lays his nut, holding 
it py the strmg, on the cap. The 
first boy strikes it with his nut. 
Should he fail to crack it, the 
other boy places his down, and 
so on until the nut is broken. 
The nut that cracks the other 
is called a ** cock-battler." If 
another nut can be cracked with 
the same nut, it is called a ** two- 
cock-battler ; " the nut that 
breaks that a *' three -cock - 
battler," and so on. Polwhele 
calls the ^me ** Cob-nut," and 
the nut it is played with ** cob." 



Cock -hedge, a trimmed thorn 
hedge, sometimes double for dry- 
ing clothes on. 

Cockle-bread (pron. cock-le). To 
make codde-bread is to turn head 
over heels on a bed. 

** Up with your heels; down with 
your head ; 
That is the way to make cockle- 
bread:' 

Cockle-button {pron. coc-kle), the 
seed of the burdock. 

Cockle up, ^v, Ho shrink or curl 
up with damp. ** My dress 
coddea up with dew." 

Codger, Cadger, a tramp ; a mean 
pedlar; a term of contempt **An 
ould cadger:'* 

Codger's end, cobbler's wax-end. 

Codgy-waXj^cobbler's wax. 

Coin, a comer. 

Coin-fftone, a corner-stone. To 
coin is to strike off the comer of 
a block of 4;in, to discover its 
quality before it is stamped. 

Collar, boards near the surface 
for securing the shaft of a mine. 

Colley-brands, summer lightning. 
** Smut in com." Couch. " 

Colley-wobbles, a pain in the 
stomach ; diarrhoea. 

Collopping, a floggiiig. 

Colp, a blow; a short rope for 
carrying sheaves from the rick to 
the bam. 

Colpas, a prop or underset to a 
lever. 

Cool, a large tub or half-barrel 
used to salt meat in. When 
people brewed their own beer, 
the tub in which it was put to 
cool. 

Comb, an unturned ridge left in 
ploughing. 

Comfortable, adj, complaisant; 
agreeable. ** A very comfortable 
man." 



14 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Comical, adj. ill-tempered. ''A 
comical ould fellow." " A comical 
temper." 

Composants, the meteor Castor 
and Pollux. Oouch. The phos- 
phorescent balls that are some- 
times seen on the masts of vessels 
before a storm. 

Condidled, p, p. as <idj, mislaid ; 
stolen ; conveyed away by trick- 
ery. 

Condudles, plays; performances. 
" As I never had seed sich con- 
dudles afore." 

Uncle Jan Trenoodle, 

C,ongee, a bow; a parting. 
'* Make your congees" {pron, 
con-gees). 

Congee, v, to bow ; take leave. 
** We congeed and parted" (pron. 
con-geed). 

Conger - donee, sweet confer. 
Couch. Conger - dousts, Pol- 
whele. 

Conkerbell, Conkabell, an icicle. 
Cock-a-bell, H. E. C. 

Consait, a fancy. *^ I took a con- 
sait to go out." Sometimes used 
as a verb : ** I consaited to do it." 

Come-by-chance (/won. coom-be- 

chaence), something that comes 
into your possession by accident. 

Come-npping (pron. coom-upp- 
ing), a flogging. "Til gi' 'ee a 
sound come^upping.** 

Cooche - handed, left - handed. 
Stratton district. 

Coor, the time a miner works ; 
eight hours. There are two day 
and one night coor. "Out of 
coor," out of the regular course. 
A gang of miners is also called a 
coor. ** I belong to the night 
coor." 

Coose, course. "Iss, o' coose,** 
yes, of course. 

Coose, adj. coarse. '* Fine coose 
cotton," very coarse. 



Coot, a thrashing. " IVe bin and 

fove he a putty eoo^ to-day." 
iregellas. 

Cop, a tuft of feathers on a fowl's 
head. 

Coppies, tufted fowls. 

Copper-finch, chaffinch. 

Cor-crL "TU kiss the Bible to 
it, if there was a cor^cri (Corpus 
Christi?) between every leaf." 
St. Just, T. Cornish. 

Cornish, v. to use one drinking- 
glass for several people. ''To 
corniah together." J. W. 

Comish-hng, a peculiar grip used 
by Cornish wrestlers. 

Corrat, adj. pert ; spirited. " As 
corrat as Crocker's mare." 

Correesy, Corrizee, an old grudge ; 

a sort of family feud handed 
down from father to son. Cor- 
rosy, Polwhele. 

Corve, a large crab-box kept 
afloat. Capt. Henry Eichards, 
Prussia Cove. 

Corwich, the crab. 

Co8*8end, p. p. as adj. hammered 
into shape and new steeled. * * Pm 
like f ay ther's ould piggal (a large 
hoe used for cuttmg tui-f) new 
cos^sened." H. E. C. 

Costan, a straw and bramble 
basket. 

Costeening, a mining term; ex- 
amining tibe back of a lode (vein 
of metal) by digging pits. 

Conntry, the ground. **The 
country fell on him and killed 
him." A house is said to be 
built against the country when 
the side of a hill forms the back 
of it. 

Courant, a running romp ; a row. 
* ' What's all the courant $ " Covfa 
courant, rough, noisy play. 

Cousin, a familiar epithet. All 
Cornish gentlemen are cotmns. 
Cousin Jan, a Comishman. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



15 



Cousin Jacky, a foolish pei9on ; 
a coward. 

Consse, a chat; a gossip. "We 
had a bra' comfor'ble cousse,** 

Cousser, a gossiper. "She's a 
regular amsser," 

Coussing, part, gossiping. " She's 
alius coMMtngr." 

Conssy, v. to chat ; to gossip ; to 
loiter on an errand. Coursey, 
BottreU. 

Cow, a windlass, at top shaped 
like a cowl, for supplying mines 
with air. 

Cowall, Cawell, a basket to hold 
fish, carried by the fish-wives. A 
broad strap passes oyer the top 
of the head; the basket, whicn 
in shape somewhat resembles a 
cowl, rests on the back. 

Cow-flop, cow parsnip ; hogweed. 

Cowl, a fish bladder. Mousehole, 
W. F. P., B. V. 

Cowleck, Cowlake, a glutton; 
one over greedy of gain. Mouse- 
" hole, W. F. P., B. V. 

Cowshem, cow-dung. 

Cowshemy, adj. the colour of 
cow-dung, dark green: applied 
to the sea. 

Coxy, flw^*. pert ; foppish. "What 
a coxy fellow he is." 

Crabalorgin, the thomback crab. 
F. C. 

Craky, adj. hoarse. "I niver 
hecord sich a craky voice." 

Cram, i;. to crumple; to crush. 
I " This stuff crams.'' ** You have 
cramined your dress." 

Crame down, v. to creep down. 

Crawn, a dried sheep-skin. Davy, 
Zennor. See Crowdy Crawn. 

Craze, v. to crack. " IVe crazed 
the jug." ** Craze a squeer " is to 
crack a pane of glass. 

Crease, a ridge tile. 



Creem, Crim, a shiver; a creeping 
of the flesh. *< I feeled a crim 
coom o'er me." 

Creem, v. to squeeze ; to mash. 
** Creem the taties." To hug in 
wrestling. J. W. 

Creen, v. to grieve ; fret ; pine. 

Creening, part, complaining. 
"He's creening all day long." 
**A creening woman lives for 
ever." 

Creener, one who complains 
habitually. ** She's bin a creener 
ever since I knawed her." 

Creeved, p, p. as adj. underdone ; 
half raw; badly baked. *'The 
dennar is barely creeved.** 

Crellas, prop, nowiy ancient 
British hut circles. '* An exca- 
vation in a bank, roofed over to 
serve for an outhouse." BottreU. 

Cresser, a small fish resembling a 
bream, but of a brighter red 
colour. Taskis, Newlyn, through 
S. K. 0. 

Crib, a crust of bread ; fragments 
of meat. ** Eat up your cribs.'* 

Crib, V. to break off small pieces. 
** He cribs a bit here and there." 
Crib-a-Jlent (flint) is to renew the 
edge by breaking off small pieces. 

Cribbage-fiBiced, phr. marked with 
the small-pox. **Lanthom-jawed, 
a small, pinched face." T. Q., 
Couch. 

Crickle, v. to break down. It is 
applied to a prop or support when 
it breaks down through feeble- 
ness and simple perpendicular 
pressure of a weight above. 
Video, through W. "Noye. 

Cricks, dry hedge wood. Polwhele. 

Crips, adj. crisp ; stiflfly curled. 

Crock, a large iron pot standing 
on three legs, used for cooking 
purposes. "The crock calls the 
kettle smutty." ** From crockan, 
a bowl; hence croggan shells." 
H. B. 0. 



16 



West Cornwall glossary. 



Croft, a small common. ''An 
enclosed common not yet culti- 
vated.'' J.W. 

Croggans, shells of limpets. 

Crooks, crooked pieces of wood in 
the form of a half-circle slung on 
each side of a horse. Usea in 
the time of pack-horses to carry 
light loads on. 

Croom, a crumb ; a drop. ''Taake 
a croom o' caake and a croojn o' 
comfort " (spirits). 

Croony, adj, childish; doating. 

Crougillg, paii. shuffling. "He 
goes crouging along." 

Crow (as in crowd), a hut; a 
small house. Fig^a-crow, a pig- 
stye. 

Crowd, a wooden hoop covered 
with sheep-skin, used for taking 
up com. ** Sometimes used as a 
tambourine, then called crowdy^ 
crawn^ Davy, Zennor. 

Crowd, a fiddle. 

Crowder, a fiddler. 

Crowdy, v. to play the fiddle, 

Crownin, a coroner's (crowner's) 
inquest. ** They held a crot(;m*n 
on him." 

Crow-sheaf, the top sheaf on the 
end of a mow. Mow in W. Corn- 
wall is pronounced like cow. 
** The corn was cut and mowed " 
(stacked). 

CrowBt (ow like cow), refresh- 
ments given to farm-labourers 
in the field at harvest-time. 

Cruddle, v, to curdle. 

Crudly up, v. to curl up. 

Cmds, curds. Crudge, T. C, St. 
Just. 

Cruel, adv. very. " She was 
crud sick" (very ill). "A crud 
shaape " (shape) is a great mess. 

1 **'Twere plaise sure in a cruel 
shaape." — Vndt Jan Trenoodle, 



Crull, a bushy, curly head. " His 
head es all o' a cmW." "Owld 
Cruli:' 

Crum, adj, crooked. " Her 
finger is crum,^ 

Crum-a-g^ckle, mess, difficulty, 
bother. ** Here's a pretty crum^ 
a^grackle ! what shall we do by 
it?" St.Just,T.a 

Cnunmet, a small bit; a crumb. 

Crumpling, a little sweet wrinkled 
apple prematurely ripe. 

Crunk, r. to croak as a raven. 
F. 0. 

Cuckoo, Ouokow, the wild 

' hyacinth. **Fool, fool, the 
Guch'Ow!^^ said by one boy to 
another when he has succeeded in 
fooling him on April Fool's day. 

Cud, a quid of tobacco. 
Cuddle, Coodle, a cuttle-fish. 

** Staring like a coodle,** 

Cue, an ox shoe; an iron heel 
put on a shoe or boot. 

Culiack, a good-for-nothing per- 
son. Davy, Zennor. 

Cuny, adj, mildewed. 

Custanoe, a term used by boys 
in playing. When two boys are 
partners, and by accident hit 
each other's marbles, they cry, 
No cvstance ! meaning that they 
have a right to put back the 
marble struck. If they neglected 
to cry they would be considered 
out of the game. 

Custis, a flat piece of board with 
a handle, formerly used by 
teachers in school to strike the 
palm of the hand. Custis is now 
applied to a smart cut given 
across the palm of the hand by 
a cane. ** 111 give you a cM«<tV 

Custit, adj, sharp in reply ; 
impudently sharp. Couch. 

Custom {jyron, coostom), raw, 
• smuggled spirits. '*A drap o' 
coostomj^* 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



17 



Dabbety Fay! an expression 
formerly used by old people in 
W. Penwith as a pious inter- 
jection, equivalent to ** Q-ive us 
faith!" H. E.O. 

I) a ff e r ) small crockery - ware. 
** Bring the daffer" that is, 
*' Bring the tea-things, cups and 
saucers." Polwhele. 

Bag, a mining tool ; an axe. 

Sagging, paH. hanging down; 
trailing. ** That tree is dagging 
with fruit." " Her dress is dog- 
ging in the mud." 

I)ane, *^ red-headed Dane,* a term 
of reproach. 

Same-kn, a jack snipe. E. H. B., 
through W. Noye. 

Saps, Sops, an image ; a resem- 
blance. " He's the very daps of 
his mother." Sown-daps, Lost- 
withiel, J. W. 

Sash-an-darras, '' the stirrup- 
glass. This old custom, ' to 
speed the parting guest' (his 
foot in the stirrup) with a dram, 
still obtains in the W. of Com- 
walL" Polwhele (1808). 

Saver, v, to soil; to fade as a 
flower. See Bedabber. 

Savered, p. p, as adj, soiled; 
faded. ''DaverecZ flowers." 

Say-berry, the wild gooseberry. 

Sead, ^.^. .as adj, fainted. ** She 
went off dead** 

Sead and alive, adj, apathetic ; 
dulL 

Beads, the refuse of mines. 

Seaf-nettle, wild hemp. 

Bealsey, Selseed, a fir cone. 

Beef, adj, deaf; empty; rotten. 
"A deef nut." "The seeling, 
being deeff was scat" (broken). — 
Uncle Jan Trenoodle, 

Benneck. "There is another 
species of tub-fish caught here 
(Mousehole) very similar to, but 



much smaller than the former 
{%, e, tub), sometimes called Piper 
or Peeper, and by others Ellick, 
2>ewnccA;,orEedannech." W.F.P. 

Bevil'8 bit, Sevil's button, the 

blue Scabious. If picked the 
devil is said to appear at your 
bedside in the nignt. 

Sew-snail, a slug. " As slippery 
as a dew-snaiV* 

Bidjan, a small bit* 

Bido, a great noise. '' The cocks 
and the hens kicking up such a 
dido.'* 

Big, Biggy, v, to scratch. " Don't 
dig your head so." 

Byey, a small farm. "A very 

small homestead." BottrelL 
Bimmet, Biuninet, twilight. 
Sing, V. to reiterate* 

Singed, reiterated. « He dinged 
it into nty ears from momine: to 
night." 

Sinky, adj. tiny. F. C. 

Binyan (pron. din-yan), a little 
comer. ^ "I don't like fitting 
carpets into these stupid dtn- 
yans.** 

Sippa, a small pit: a mining 
term. 

Bisk, the revenue received by 
the ,lord of a tin-mine for the 
right of working it. Now paid 
in money, formerly in kind^ 
when every fifteenth or twentieth 
dish was put by for him. In 
W. Cornwall the country people 
still speak of a cup of tea as 
** a dish o* tay." 

Sisknowledge. <'He did not 

disknowledge it." T. C, St. Just. 

Bissel, Biesel, a thistle. 

Boat fig, a Turkey fig. "And 
dabb'd a ge'at doat fig in Fan 
Trombaa's lap." 

Bob, V, to throw stones at any- 
thing. 





18 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Dobbet, adj, short. "She's a 
regular little dohhet.** 

Dock, the crupper of a saddle. 

Docy, adj, pretty ; kind ; neat. 
Speaking of a young girl^she is 
said to be docy. Thus, ** she's a 
docy Uttle maid." F. W. P., 
JagO; M, B. 

Dogged. "And timber had to 
be dogged (dragged) many miles." 
Bottrell. 

DoldromSy low spirits. "I'm 
down in the d^ldrtumB,** 

pole, a parcel of copper ore; a 
share in a mine; mine dues. 
** What dole do you pay P ^ 

Dollop, a large piece. "Don't 
cut such a dollop^ 

Doo(la, a stupid. 

Doodle, V, to cheat ; to deceive ; 
to trifle. 

Doodling, part, cheating. 

Doole, Dolley, v. to toll a bell. 

Douse, v, to yield; to give up, 
** Douse out your money." 

Dousse. "I have known poor 
people call a pillow stuffed with 
husks of winnowed corn a doiLSse 
pillow." F. W. P., Jago, M. B. 
Chaff from winnowed com is 
doust. 

Dotist, V. to pelt. " I maade the 
purpoashals to doust 'em with 
stoanes." — Unde Jan Trenoodle. 

Doust, Donee, a blow. " A dcncce 
on the chacks." Polwhele. 

Donster, a fall ; a thump. Gar- 
land. 

Donsting, a thrashing. 

Dover, to pay all talkers, no 
listeners. 

Dow. "The aw'd doiD, a dis- 
agreeable, cross old woman, one 
who will not do what she is 
wanted to." Gwinear, 1868, T. 0. 

Down, Down-dannted, p. p, as 



adj, cast down ; depressed. ' * He's 
dreadfully down-daunted^ regu- 
larly down in the mouth." 

Downses, downs; commons. 
" Out for a walk on the downses," 

Down-sonse, adv, plainly; 
frankly; out-spoken. **I up 
and told un down-souse,*^ 

Dowse, V, to throw on the ground. 

Dowser, a man who discovers 
metal by dowsing. 

Dowser, a forked twig of hazel, 
used by Cornish miners to dis- 
cover a vein of metaL It is held 
loosely in the hand, the point to 
the dowser^s breast, and is said 
to turn round when they are 
standing over metaL 

Dowsing, ^a?*^. discovering metals 
by means of a dowser. 

Drag, V, to drawl. " Don't drag 
out your words." 

Drain, a drone. 

Dram, a swathe of cut com. 
Bottrell. 

Drang, a narrow passage ; a 
gutter ; a drain. 

Drash, v, to thrash com. 

Drashel, a flail. 

Draw-bncket, a bucket to draw 
water from a well. 

Dredge, a mixed crop of barley, 
oats, and wheat. 

Dredgy ore, a stone impregnated 
or traversed by mineral veins of 
ore. Mining Eecord. The poorer 
sort. Borlase Nat. Hist., 203, 
through W. N. 

Dresser, a stand with shelves for 
earthenware. "All over the 
house, -like Aaron's dresser.'* 
HalliweU says, N. Country, 
**Down with his apple-cart, an 
overturning." In Cornwall, 
" Down with your dresser," or 
"Over goes your apple-cart." 
M. A. C. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



19 



Dresshel, Drexel, the threshold. 
Dreckstooly Polwhele. 

Drethan, a spot of sand. It is 
a mutation of '^treathen," as in 
Pentreath, "the head of the 
sands." W. F. P. '' Drethen, 
a sand spot ; a sand area. Good 
fishing ground heneath the sea.'' 
B. v., Mousehole fishermen. I 
don't think Pentreath is from 
treath, sand, but from Pentref, 
a village. H. R. 0. 

Drib, a dribble. " Driff, a small 
quantity, not now commonly 
used." Video, through W. Noye. 

DrlLiy, a monotonous, continued 
sound. * * My dear cheeld, do stop 
your driUyJ*^ A guck-oo song 
IS a regular drihy, 

Dring, a crowd of people. To be 
dringed up is to be much pressed 
or worrieo. 

Dripshan, mother's milk ; spirits. 
** A little drap o' dripshan,'^ 

Droke, a wrinkle; a furrow; a 
passage. 

Droll. "It is the duty of the 
last man leavins^ a level part of 
a mine to explain to the first 
man of a relief party coming to 
it the state of the end they have 
been working, i, e, what holes 
for blasting they leave bored, 
what fired off, what have missed 
fire — ^this is called telling the 
drolV* T. 0. i>roW, an old tale, 
a legend. It is sometimes ap- 
plied to a tiresome, long-winded 
person. "He's a regular owd 
droll" 

Drop-curls, ringlets. 

Drops, window-blinds. " I knew 
he was dead — the drops were 
down." 

Drover, a fishing-boat employed 
in driving or fishing, witii drift 
or float nets. 

Druckshar^ a small solid wheel. 

Dmg, a drag ; v, to d7*ug a wheel 
(to put on the drag). 



Dmle, t;. to driveL 

Drnler, a driveller ; a fool. 

Dnding, pari, talking in a silly 
manner. 

Drum, v. to flog. 

Dminining, a flogging. 

Dminble, v. to go about a thing 
awkwardly ; to fumble. 

Dromble- drain, a drone; a 
humble-bee. 

** But Q-raacey were a keen chap 
too. 
She were no drwrnUe-drane,^ 
Unde Jan Trefwodle, 

Dryth, used by washerwomen 
when clothes don't dry. ** There's 
no dryth in the air." 

Dnffan, a man who praises him- 
self; a self-righteous hypocrite. 

DnfEy, a blunt, out-spoken person. 
" A blunt, happy-go-lucky per- 
son." Bottrell. 

Dug, a push. 

Duggle, V, to walk about like a 
young child. 

Dule, Dool, comfort ; consolation. 

Dull, hard of hearing ; deaf. 
"He's very dull of hearing to- 
day." 

Dumbledory, the cockchafer : 
sometimes csdled Spanish dumhh- 
dory, **No more heart than a 
dumbledory" (a coward), **Ag 
blind as a dumbledory," 

Dumdolly, a misshapen marble. 

Dung, mud; dirt. "Sweating 
like dung,** 

Dungy, adj. muddy; dirty. 
** What dungy shoes." 

Dunyon, a dungeon. "As dark 
as a dunyon," 

Durg^, a short, stout person. 

Durk, adj, dark ; blind. " Du7'Jc 
as petch (pitch) a wonside and 
hare of a crepple." — Unde Jan 
Trenoodle, 

c2 



20 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Dumes, Dums, the panels around 
a door; the door jambs. "I 
were squabVd (squeezed) 'gen 
the dumes** 

Dwaling, part, speaking in a 
rambling, confused manner. 

Ear-bnssas, the tonsils. Ear- 
bussums, T. Q. Couch. 

£ave, Heave, v. to thaw; to 
become moist, ** TJneeve," Pol- , 
whele. 

Ees-fye, adv, in faith ; certainly. 
*' Ees-fytf there's a bad smell 
. here." 

Egg-hot, a Christmas drink made 
with hot beer, sugar, eggs, and 
rum. 

Elements. "The lightning went 
all across the elements.*^ 

Elicompane, a sweetmeat ; hard- 
bake. "What's your name?*' 
** Elicompane,^ ^* Who gave you 
that name ? " ** My Master and 
Dame." 

Elicompanie, a tomtit. "There 
is a vulgar tradition that the 
elicompanie is a bird by day and 
a toad by night." Polwhele. 

Elvan, blue porphyry. Elvan is 
derived from Old Cornish elven, : 
a spark, the rock being so hard 
as to strike fire. 

Em-mers, Timers, embers. 

Emmut, stroke, as spoken of the 
wind." ** Eight in the emmut of 
it;'' that is, right in the stroke of 
it. Polwhele. 

En, the plural termination still 
in use, as "house, housen; prim- 
rose, primrosen." 

Ene, mene, mona, mi, Pasca, 
lara, bona (or bora), bi. Elke, 
belke, boh. Eggs, butter, cheese, 
bread, stick, stack, stone dead. 
Said by children in W. Cornwall 
when they want to know who 
shall be blmd-man in blind-man's 
buff, &c. See Vizzery. 



Eat, V, to empty. 

Enties, empty bottles. Empt is 
often Tised as a contraction, as, 
" JS?wipe the bag." 

Ettaw, a shackle for fastening 
two chains together, so as to 
make them one long one. Mouse- 
hole fishermen, through W. F. P. 

Eval, a three-pronged stable-fork. 
Turn-down eval^ a garden tool for 

E-ver, a grass; evergreen rye. 
" Eaver, so called in Paul parish, 
is the darnel principally found in 
red wheat." H. E. C. 

Every one week, phr, every 
other week. "There's a collec- 
tion at our chapel every one 
we^,*' 

Ewet, Ebbet, a newt. 

Eyeable, adj\ pleasant to the eye. 
" Make it eyeaUeJ* 

Fackle, an acute inflammation in 
the foot. 

Faddy, Flora, Furry-day, a feast 

held at Helstone on the 8th May, 
when all ranks (each keeping to 
its own class, and starting at 
different hours) dance through 
the town, to a peculiar tune 
called " The Flora or Furry • " 
sometimes going in through the 
front door of a house and out at 
the back. There is always a ball 
in the evening. 

Fade, v, to dance from town to 
country. 

Fadge, Fadgee, v, to suit; to 
agree ; to do. " That 'ull never 
fadge,^^ " How do 'ee fadgee P* 
how do you do ? 

Faggot, a bad woman. " It is. 
also used to describe a secret and 
unworthy compromise. In wrest- 
ling, a man who * sells his back' 
is said * to faggot,^ " Couch. 

Fainaigue, y. to cheat; to deceive; 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



21 



to flatter ; to trump a card, hold- 
ing one of the suit. Fumigg, 
Couch. 

Fainaiging, part. sLsadJ, cheating ; 
imposing. ** A/ainaiging vellun " 
(villain). 

Fainaig^er, a cheat ; a deceiver. 

Feneaged. *^ He agreed with the 
boy for a month at £4 a-year, 
and he went away and feneaged 
that hoy, and never took him 
nor paid him." Probus district, 
through T. 0. 

Tair>a-Mo, a fair held in St. Ives 
in November (pig fair), 

lairy, a weaseL T. Q. Couch. 

Talky, a long- stemmed plant. 
Halliwell. 

Tallows, boards fastened to the 
sides of a cart to make it hold 
more. 

Fal-the-rals, Falderals, non- 
sense; frippery. "Dressed up 
in saGh. fal-the^raW* 

Fang, V, to earn; to take; to take 
to. **I don't fang to your 
notions." 

Fang^lngs, wages. "Why a 
spent all hes fangings laaste 
Saturda* nite.'* — Uncle Jan Tre- 
noodle. 

Fare-nut, the earth or ground- 
nut. 

Farthing, a measure of land. 
" Thirty acres." Halliwell. 

Fast. The fast is the under- 
stratum, supposed never to have 
been moved or broken up since 
the creation. Polwhele* 

Fatch, V. to get home (fetch). " I 
shaan't be long/afc^tw^ home." 

Feasten, adj, connected with the 
two days yearly dedicated to a 
patron saint (Sunday and Mon> 
day). " Madron {pron. maddem) 
feasten Sunday." 

Feafher-bog, a quagmire. 



Feather-tye, a feather-bed. See 
Bed>tye. 

Features. "He features his 
father,'' resembles him. 

Fee, freehold property. " Our 
house is /ce." 

Feebs, ^eeps, pitch-and-toss. 

Fellon, a cattle disease ; an in- 
flammation; mortification. 

Fellon-herb, mouse-ear ; chick- 
weed. 

Feneook, the water-rail. 

Femicock, Femweb, a small 
brown beetle used as bait for 
trout. 

Fescue, a pin or pointer used to 
teach children to read. ** Pro- 
nounced also Vester." Polwhele. 

Fetch up, to get stronger. "She'll 
Boon fetch up again." 

Few, a little. " A few broth." 
Broth are always plural in Com-' 
wall: ^^ They are too salt," &c. 
J. W. 

Fig, phr. " in full fig,*^ very fine ; 
smart : spoken of a person with 
all his orders on. 

Figs, raisins. 

Figs and nuts, almonds and 
raisins. 

Figg^ pudden, plum pudding. 

Filth, a slut. " She's a dirty 
filth," 

Filth, fill. " He had his fUth of 
meat." " A poor dear old sister 
that has not got her filth of 
bread." Gwinear, T. 0. 

Find myselfj phr, know myself. 
* * I shouldn* t find myfielf dressed 
up like that.'* 

Fine, adv, very. " A fine clever 
boy. " * * Fine and coarse cotton " 
(very coarse). 

Fine and well, very well. " I'm 
getting on fine and well, thank 



'ee. 



'> 



22 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Fire. " As drunk as fire^^ mad 
drunk. 

Fire-engine, a steam-engine. '' A 
favourite sign for a public- 
house." 

Fire-paA, a fire-shovel. 

Fire-tail, the redstart. 

Firk, ?;. to tease roughly by hand. 
F. 0. 

Fish-fag, a fish-wife : more com- 
monly called Fish-j ouster. 

Fish-jonsting, yart hawking fish. 

Fisted, p. p. struck with the fist. 
"I><6dher.» 

Fit, v. to prepare meat for cook- 
ing. "When shall I fit the 
dennar?'* "Will'ee ha* a pie 
fitted V' '* The devil won't come 
into Cornwall for fear of being 
put in a pie." 

Fitcher, a pole-cat. "Stinking 
like di fitcher, ^^ 

Fitchered, p, p, to be baulked ; 
to be stopped. " Used in mining 
when some difficulty occurs in 
boring a hole for blasting." 
Garland. 

Fitty, adj, nice; becoming; 
clever. ** Your dress isn't look- 
ing fitty J*^ "He gov' a fitty 
answer." 

Fitty-ways, adv. properly. " Do 
behave fitty-ways.'* 

Flaad, p. p. as adj. puffed out 
with flatulency, as cattle after 
too much green food. 

Flaire, fat around a pig's kidney. 

Flam-new, adj. quite new. 

Flannin, flannel. "A flannin 
shart." 

Flasket, a large basket with a 
handle at each end; a clothes 
basket. 

Flay-gerry {g hard), a frolic ; a 
spree. 



Fleet, V. to gutter, as a candle in 
a draught, "v. to float." W.N. 

Flem, an instrument for bleeding 
cattle. 

Flesh - mait, butcher's meat. 
** They don't ait fleah-mait once 
a month." Pork is often spoken 
of as fleah in contradistinction to 
beef. 

Fleukan, a cross-cut that cuts off 
a lode (a vein) of metal. ** He's 
cut out by the fleukan.^' 

Flied, p. p. flown. 
Flink, a fling. " She went out 
with a flinhj' 

Flink, V. to fling ; imp. Flinkt. 
** She flinkt out of the room." 
" She flinkt off her hat." 

Flip-jack, a rude fireplace. 

Flisk, a large tooth-comb. 

Flitters, tatters. " She tore it to 
flitters,'^ ** Her dress is hanging 
in flitters.'* 

Flood-hatch, a flood-gate. phr. 
•* It's raiuing a fioodJ' 

Floor, a grass meadow. In 
mining, planks laid for dressing 
ore. 

Flop, V. to drop clumsily. " He 
let nn flop on the planchen" 
(floor). 

Flopt, V. imp. " ^hidflopt down 
on her salt" (seat). 

Flopper. an under petticoat. 
Polwhele. 

Flora-in-distress. A woman with 
dishevelled hair is said to look 
like Flora-in-distress. 

Flosh, V. to spill ; to shake over. 
** Don't fiosh the water on the 
floor." 

Flouery-milk, hasty pudding. 

Flushed, p. p. as adj. fledged. 
** The birds have flushed and 
flied" (flown). 

Flushet, a dam in a stream. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



23 



Flybanite, a giddy girL 

Fo*ced, p. p, as adj. forced ; 
obliged. ** A forced put is no 
choice.'' 

Fogo, a cave in a cliff; a hollow. 

Polger, Polyer (follower), a boat 
that carries the tuck -net in 
pilchard fishing. 

Pooch, a makeshift. "A fooch 
of a dennar" (dinner). 

Pooch, V, to make a thing serve ; 
to do upon a push. '^Can 'ee 
fooch along wi* that ? " 

Pooch, V, to push; to thrust 
yourself forward. " Where be 
ee fooching ? " 

Fooching along, doing indiffe> 
ently well. " How be 'ee, Jan?" 
^* Fooching along, thank *ee." 

Foothy, Porthy, adj\ forward. 
'*A fine forthy maid." "He's 
hra* and /oo^Ay." 

Fore-stroll, v, "I have never 
walked with her. I may have 
seen her fore-stroll, and gone to 
overtake her." St. Just, T. C. 

Fo'right-bread, Poreright^ 

bread, bread made from unsifted 
flour, 

Fo'right, Poreright, person, adj. 

an out-spoken person. 

Pqrrel, the cover of a book. 

Forth-and-back, adj. inconstant. 

Pousse, V. to crumple ; to ruffle ; 
to ^sarrange. " YouWe fomsed 
your cap." ** Don't fousse the 
clain clothes." 

Prange, v. to spread out like a 
fan. 

Prape, v. to bind. Couch. 

Preath, a gap in a wattled hedge. 
Couch. Frith, a gap in a hedge 
made up. J. W. 

Preathed, adj. wattled. 

Preathe, v. to weave. 



Preathe out, to unravel. ** This 
stuff freathes out very quickly.* 

French nuts, walnuts. 
Fret, V. to ferment. 

Prickets, Plickets, sudden heats 
in thefSace. 

Priday-in-lide, a miner's holiday. 
The first Friday in March. 
** Ducks won't lay till they've 
drinked lide water." ** Friday- 
in-lide is marked by a serio- 
comic custom of sendine^ a young 
man on the highest bound, or 
hillock of the work, and allow* 
ing him to sleep there as long as 
he can ; the length of this siesta 
being the measure of the after- 
noon nap for the tinners through- 
out the ensuing twelvemonths.' ' 
T. a Couch. 

Fringle, the grate of a kitchen. 

Pringle-hole, the place under the 
grate where the ashes lie. 

Frivolous, adj. thin; liable to 
break. ** This wool is very 
frivolou>s.^' 

FuU-butt, phr. face to face. '* I 
met him full-butt." 

Fulsome, adj. cloying. "This 
tart is swate and /a?«omc." 

Funny, well-pleasing. " It looks 
funny " — ^it looks weU-pleasing ; 
regular. Polwhele. 

Pur, V. to pull the ears. F. C. 

Puz', furze. "Sweating like a 
/uz'-bush on a dewy morning." 

Pnz'-chat, the stone-chatter. 

Pnz'-kite, the ring-tailed kite. 

Fuzzy-pig, the hedgehog. F, C. 

Gad, a mining tool ; a wedge for 
splitting rocks. 

Oaddle, v. to drink greedily. T. 
Q. Couch. " To fill up ; to brim 
over." Garland. 

Oad-je-vraws, ox-eye daisies. 



24 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Oaem, a garden. 

Gaggled, p, p, as adj, daggled. 

Oale, an ox. '' A childless man,*' 
Garland. 

Gale - ey grounds. « Ground 
where springs rise in different 
places.** Polwhele. Carew speaks 
of Gaully grounds. 

Ckdliganter, a tall, nngainly 
person. 

Gkdlish, the gallows. ** As cross 
as the gallish" 

Gal-yant, adj, gallant. 

Gambers, interj, " Yes, by gam- 
herar' 

(Jambrils, the small of the leg. 

Ganunnt, fun ; nonsense. " She 
thinks of nothing but gammut" 

Gange, Ginge, v, to gange a hook 
is to cover it with a fine brass or 
copper wire, to prevent its being 
bitten off bv the fish. ** Ging^ 
ginge, the fine wire twisted to 
the line above the hook to pre- 
vent congers from biting the 
line.*' BL E. 0. 

Garey, v. Husband and wife 
both trying to tell the same 
story (very loud), wife turns 
round on husband — ** One is 
quite enough to garey;" and 
husband subsides. St. Just, 
through T. 0. 

Gashly, adv, ghastly. 

Gathom, a mischievous spirit 
supposed to haunt mines. 

Gaver, a sea crayfish. Polwhele, 
Halliwell. 

Gawknm, an awkward person. 
Gay. " One is a play, two is a 



gay 



ft 



Gays, children*s toys : often, 
broken earthenware. 

G'eat (pron. gaite), great. 

Geek, v, to pry; to look round 
curiously. " Oeeking about like 



a Custom-house officer," ** Bo' 
geeky" bo-peep. 

Gerriok, a whistler fish; sea- 
pike. 

Gidge, interf, " Oh my gidge 1 " 

Gift, a white mark on the nail. 

** A gift on the thumb is sure to 
come ; 
But a gift on the finger is 
sure to linger." 

Giglet, a thoughtless, laughing 
girl. '* There's nothing but a 
passle (parcel) o* gigleta going.*' 

G^oalter, part of the rigging of 
a ship. J. Kelynack, Newlyn, 

Girts, groats ; oatmeal. 

Girty-milk, oatmeal; milk por- 
ridge. 

Giss, Geist, a hempen girdle; 
the girth of a saddle. 

Gissing round, Geesing ronndy 

V. peering about ; spying. 

Giz* dance. Guise dance, Geese 

dancers, people that go about at 
Christmas disguised and with 
masks on, generally three or 
four in a party. They come into 
your house uninvited, and are 
often very unruly. Sometimes 
they act an old play, ** St. George 
and the Dragon.** "As good as 
a Christmas play" is said of any- 
thing very funny. This custom 
has been abolished in Penzance 
for about ten years. 

Gladdy, the yellow-hammer. 

Glands, the banks of a* river. 
Polwhele, HaUiweU. 

Glase, t;. to stare. 

Glassenbnry dog, a term of re- 
proach, the origin at present 
unknown to the editor. — Unde 
Jan Trenoodle, 

" Do le' ma knaw the Qlassenhury 
dogr 

Glaws, Gonse, dried cow-dung 
used for firing. 

Glen adder, the cast skin of an 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



25 



adder worn as an amulet. ** The 
foot of a toad is worn in a bag 
around the neck as a cure for 
epilepsy." H. K 0. 

Olidder, a glaze ; an enamel. 

Olow, Glower, v. to stare; to 
look cross. 

Glumps, sulks. "She's in the 

glumpa." 
Olumped up, p. p. as adj. sitting 

sulkily. ** Glumped up in a 

comer.'* 

Oo abroad, v, to dissolve. *' The 
sugar has gone abroad" 

Oo-a-gooding, v, to go from house 
to house asking alms. On 
Christmas Eve large parties of 
poor women, sometimes as many 
as twenty in a party, call on all 
ttieir rich neighbours, asking 
alms. This they call going a 
gooding. 

Goal, a slow, aching pain. T. Q. 

Couch. 
Go around land, phr. to die. 

** They don't care how soon he 
goes around Jand.^^ 

Goffans, Coffans, old surface ex- 
cavations in a mine. 

Goggle for gapes, v. to look 

astonished; to stare, foolishly. 
** Or stand goggling for gapes 
like an owl at an eagle." — Uncle 
Jan Trenoodle, 

Golden chain, the flower of the 
laburnum. 

Gtommock, a fooL 

Gone dead, v. " He's gone dead 
three years since. " 

Gone poor, v. " He used to be 
rich, now he's gone poor." 

Goodness, butter or any kind of 
fat put in pastry. * * There's not 
enough goodness in this cake." 

Goodspoon, a mischievous child. 
"A regular young goodspoonJ" 
"A ne'er do weel.'^ J. W., Lost- 
withieL 



Goody, V. to thrive; to fatten. 
** Our cheeld don't goody.'* 

GoonMlly, a Cornish pony reared 
on Goonhilly downs. 

Goosechick, a gosling. 

Gtoss, a fuss or perplexity. 

Gtoss, a bulrush ; a reed. " Goss 
moor " is a reedy moor. Gorse. 
J. W. 

(Gossan, an old wig grown yellow 
from age and wear ; yellow earth 
just above a vein of metal. 
*' Keenly gossan^* is earth that 
looks promising for metaL 

Gourd, Goad, a linear measure ; 
a square yard : so called from 
being measured with the goad or 
staff by which oxen are driven. 

Gove, 17. imp. gave. " I gove et 
to the dog " (gov'). 

Gtowk, a large bonnet worn by 
country women, often made 
from printed calico; it has a 
protruding front, and a large 
curtain at the back to keep off 
the sun. 

Grab, something very sour, pro- 
bably a crab apple. ** Sour as 
grab." A grab. Lostwithiel, J. W. 

Grafted, v., p, p. as adj. be- 
grimed. ** It's grafted with dirt." 
** The dirt is grafted in." 

Grail, a trident for spearing fish. 

Grainy, adj. proud. "A cut 
a^inst the grain" is a cross, 
disagreeable person. 

Grambler, a stony place. 

Grammer sow, a millipede; a 
wood-louse. **Cafenter." F. 0. 

Grange, Gringe, ?;. to grind the 
teeth. 

Grass, a mining term for the sur- 
face of a mine. The ores are 
said to be brought to grass when 
they are brought to tiie surface, 
and the miner says he is going 
to grass when ho comes up from 
underground. " Grass capun " 



26 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



(captain) is a man who superin- 
tends the preparing the ore after 
it has been brought to grass. 

Graving cIoucLb, clouds blowing 
from the quarter of the wind 
branching over the sky in a 
contrary direction, foretelling a 
storm. 

Orebe, a handful. 

Oreen sauce, common sorrel ; 
Oxalis. 

Green side, land kept in pasture. 
** The green side is the most pro- 
fitable after all." 

Orend, a kink or twist in a 
chain. Mousehole fishermen, 
through W. F. P. 

Grey, "a badger." Polwhele. 
** Grey as a badger" is a Cornish 
proverb. 

Grey bird, the song thrush. 
Griddle, a gridiron, v. to grill. 

Griddling, part, sitting on a low 
stool before the fire warming 
oneself. 

Grief " To make grief," to make 
mischief. 

Griggan, a grasshopper. 

Griglans, Griglings, heath. 
** Heathy moorlands are griglan 
moors." H. E. C. Heath- 
brooms, ^rt^^n-besoms. 

Grizzle, v, to grin ; laugh ; show 
the teeth. ** What's the g'eat 
bufflehead grizzling at ? " * * He 
grizzled dX me; he was as vexed 
as fire." 

Grobman, ''a sea bream about 
two- thirds grown," Polwhele, 
HalHwelL 

Grook^ V, to pull ; to tweak. 
** Orock is to tweak the hair up- 
wards over the ears or above the 
nud'eck " (the nape of the neck). 
H. R C. 

Gross, adj. stout; big. <'A 
gross man." 



Growan, loose granite. 

Growder, soft granite used for 
scouring. Decomposed granite 
often called ** scouring geard." 

Groyne, a seaL 

Gmdglings, Grooshans, dregs; 
sediment left in the bottom of a 
tea-cup. 

GmfBler, a child. 

Gmte, Greet, coffee grounds; 
finely pulverised soil. ** The 
greet board of a plough is the 

?art which turns the furrow." 
'. Q. Couch. 

Gnff, stuff; refuse. 

Guinea pig, the small white 
cowrie. 

Guldize, Goolandize, the harvest- 
home feast. 

Gnlge, Vn to drink greedily. 

Gally-month, a small pitcher. 
"He's a regular gully-mouth" 
(one that takes in everything). 

Gunnis, a crevice in a mine or 
lode. Camborne, through T. C. 

Gorgoe, Gurgey (both ^*s hard), 
a low hedge; a rough fence for 
waste land. 

Gorgoes, long narrow lanes. W. 
P.P. 

Gnrrie, a hand-barrow for carry- 
ing fish ; or a wicker-basket with 
four long handles, carried like a 
sedan-chair. 

Gwaith, the breast hook of a 
boat. 

Gweans, scallops ; periwinkles. 
Sometimes called dueens. 

Gwenders, a disagreeable tingling 
in the extremities produced by 
cold. Also called Wonders. ** I 
have the gwenders in my fingers. " 
** I have the wonders for the first 
time this winter.'* 

Hack, Hacky, v. to dig lightly. 



WEST CORNWALL OLOSSART. 



27 



Hail, V, to cover with slates 
(slat). H. E. C. 

Hain, a hind ; a farm hailifP. 

Hair-pitched, adj, bald. "Hair" 
pitched oiild hermit," term of 
reproach. Newlyn, T. C. 

Haivery (the accent on the first 
syllable), miserly. F. W. P. J. 

Half (pron. haaf), Half-baked, 
Half-saved, half-witted. **He's 
only haaf -baked; he was put in 
with the bread and taken out 
with the cakes." 

Half-crease, " to put out bees to 
feed.'' Half the increase, when 
the owner has half the honey, 
and the person who takes care of 
the bees the other half. J. W. 

Halish, adJ, pale. " She's a poor 
halish creetur." 

Hallan, HaUan-apple, a large 

apple given to each member of 
the family at Hallantide. 

Hallan-tide, All Saint*s Day. 

HaU-nut, a hazel nut. 

Halvaner, one who receives the 
haK produce of his labour. 

Halvans, refuse of the lode (or 
vein of metal) after the ore is 
separated from the rock. 

Halvans, half produce of labour, 
given instead of wages. 

Haly-oaly, v. to throw things to 
be scrambled for. 

Hame, a circle of straw rope ; a 
straw horse collar, with wooden 
collar-trees. **A hame is used 
to fasten the fore-leg of a sheep 
to his neck, in a somewhat un- 
merciful way, to prevent him 
from breaking fence." Couch. 

Hand -gloves, gloves. "What, 

begging with hand-gloves on ! " 

Handsel, Hansel. When a man 
is well paid for any chance job 
early in the day, he says ** that's 
a good hanseV* 



Hankcher, a handkerchief. 
Haps, a hasp. Hapses, pL 
Hardah, elvan. Couch. 
Hard-head, the refuse of tin 

after smelting. The plantain, 
J. W. 

Hare*s-meat, wood-sorreL 

Hark, v, to listen. " I wouldn't 
hark to her nonsense." 

Harve, a harrow. 

Hastis, adj. hasty. ^^ Hydy 
(Cornish), haste, make haste." 
Uncle Jan Trenoodle. 

Hatches, dams ; mounds. 

Hatchet-fjEiced, adJ, thin-faced. 

Hatter-flitter, a jack-snipe. 

Haveage, the family ; the race ; 
the lot. ** They come from a bad 
Aavca</e," 

Haysing, following hares by 
night. 

Head and henge^ the pluck of 

an animal. 

Heap, the thigh. 

Heap. " When I heard it I was 
knocked all of a heap^^ (fright- 
ened, astonished). 

Heavy-cake, a fiat cake about an 
inch thick, made of fiour, cream, 
currants, &c. It should be eaten 
hot from the oven. 

Hedge-a-boor,'a hedgehog. 

Heed, v, to hide. Mop-and- 
heedy, hide-and-seek. 

Heel of the hand, the inside, 

thick part of the thumb. 
Hele, V, to cover. 

Heller, Hellier, a thatcher; a 
tiler. 

Helling, a roof. 

Helling - stone, fiat slate for 
roofing. 

Hepping-stock, a horse-block. 
Hepping-stocksy or hepping-stoneSy 



28 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY, 



are often seen by old garden 
walls. XJpping-stock. 

Heps, a hatch ; a short half-door, 
often seen in country shops. The 
lower half is kept shut, the top 
open. There is generally a beU 
fastened to it to give notice of a 
customer. "When a person has 
been brought before his superiors 
and remanded, he is figuratively 
said ** to have been made to ride 
the hep8,*^ ** More tongue than 
teeth ; she had better keep a heps 
before her mouth.*' 

Het-up (heat-up), v. to cast in 
one's teeth. " She het it up to 
him that he was drunk last 
night." 

Hev-a, a word shouted through 
St. Ives's streets when there are 
pilchards in the bay. 

Hewer, Huer, a person that 
makes signals from the cliffs to 
the fishermen in their boats, to 
let them know in what direction 
the pilchards lie. 

Hewing, part, making signals 
from the cliffs to the boats. 
There is generally a shed on 
the highest cliff to shelter the 
hewer, called the hewing-houae 
or bacon-house (beacon-house). 

Hicking cough, a dry, hacking 
cough. 

Hick-mal, Hekky-mal, the blue 
titmouse. Ekky-mowl, F. W. 
P. J., M. B. 

Hile, Aile, lie, the beard of 
barley. 

Hilla, the nightmare. 

Hippety - hoppety, adv. " He 

goes hippety - hoppety ' ' (walks 
unevenly). 

Hitch, V, to sew lightly. " Don't 
put too many stitches; hitch it 
together." 

Hitcher, the chape of a buckle. 
See Aitch.. 



Hobban, Hoggan, a cake mada 
of flour and raisins, often eaten 
by miners for dinner. Some- 
times called Figgy Hoggan 
or Fuggan. A pork pasty. 

Hobban, or Hoggan -bag, a 

miners' dinner-bag. A piece of 
meat baked or boiled in paste is 
sometimes so called. 

Hobble, v. to tie together the 
front and hind leg of an animal 
to keep it from straying. 

Hobbler, an unlicensed pilot ; a 
man who tows in a vessel with 
ropes. Two or three generally 
own a boat between them. 

Hobble, the share each hobbler 
gets when they bring in a vessel. 

Hobby-horse Day, a festival held 
in Padstow on May 1st. A 
hobby-horse is carried through 
the streets to a pool called 
Traitor's Pool, a quarter of a 
mile out of the town. Hero it 
is supposed to drink; the head 
is dipped in the water, which is 
freely sprinkled over the specta- 
tors. The procession returns 
home sinking a song to comme^ 
morate the tradition that the 
French having landed in the 
bay, mistook a party of mum- 
mers in red cloaks for soldiers, 
and hastily fled to their boats 
and rowed away. 

Hoddy-man-doddy, an overgrown 
stupid boy ; a simpleton. 

Hog, Hogget, a two -year -old 
ewe. 

Hog lamb, a sheep under twelve 
months. 

Hoity-toity, a see-saw. "She's 
a hoity-toity thing " (capricious, 
haughty). 

Hole to grass, phr, working a 
vein of metal to the surface. 

Hollibubber. " A man who, un- 
attached to the works, makes a 
living out of the refuse of the 



WEST CORNWALL OLOSSABT. 



29 



slate quarries at Delabole.** T. 
Q. Couch. 

HoUow-pot, SL loud-talking per- 
son. 

Hollow -work, in embroidery, 
open-work. 

Holm, the holly. 

Holm scritch, the missel-thrush. 

Holster, a retreat or hold for 
anything. J. W. 

Home, Hom'. " Shut Jiome the 
door.'* Put home, v, to escort 
home. 

Homer, homeward. " The Jiomer 
fields.'' 

Honey Fin, a peculiar sweet 
apple. BottreU. 

Hoop, a bullfinch. 

Hoot, V. to bray like a donkey. 
** Abad hoot," a bad job. '' That's 
a bad hooty says Madison.'* 

Hootin cough, whooping cough. 

Hoozy, adj\ hoarse. " Tm very 
hoozy" Oisy. "Tm oisy, so 
that I can hardly speak.*' St. 
Just, T. 0. 

Homy-wink, a lapwing ; plover. 
Horrywink, Couch. 

Homy-wink, "a toad. An old 
tumble - down house has been 
revilingly described as an old 
shabrag horny-wink place." H. 
J., Eoyal Institute of Cornwall. 

Homy-winky, adj. " desolate ; 
outlandish; like a moor where 
homwinks or lapwings resort; 
thence a tumble -down house 
might be so called." J. W. 

Horse, a fault in the rock; a 
piece of matrix rising in a lode 
(vein) of metal, throwing it out 
of its course. "The lode has 
taken horse,''* 

Horse-adder, the dragon-fly: so 
called because it is supposed to 
sting horses. 

Hosgid, a hogshead. 



HoTuel of ffoods, houseful, or a 
furnished house. Monrah, T. C. 

Hove, V. heave ; threw. " I hove 
my ball over the wall." " Why 
did you heave it so high?" 
"Heft it upon the ground," », e. 
heaved. St Just, T. C. 

Huccaner, a wood comer. 

Hucksen, the knuckles. '^ Muck 
(dirt) up to the hucksen,* 

Hnlster, Holt, a hold or retreat. 
** This rubbish is only a hulster 
for snails." T. Q. Couch 

Hnlster, v. to harbour. " How 
dare you hulster my daughter 
here?" 

Hummock, a stout, unwieldy 
woman. 

Hungry, adj. greedy; stingy. 
'' He's as hungry as the grave." 

Hunk, Hunch, a large piece. "A 
hurJc of bread and cheese." 

Hurle, the filament of flax. '* As 
dry as hurle.** 

Hurling, a Cornish game played 
with a ball. The players are 
divided into two equal parties, 
each of which tries to secure and 
keep the ball in their possession. 
The prize is one made of cork 
covered with silver. ** Fair play 
is good play" is the hurlers' 
motto. 

Hurly-burly, a scramble. "A 
hurly-burly for nuts." 

Hurried, p. p. as adj. frightened ; 
startled. ** I was bra'ly hurried 
when I heard of it." "What's 
your hurry ? " phr, why are you 
going ? 

Hurted, v. imp. "murder com- 
mitted, but nobody hurted." 

Hurts, whortleberries. 

Hush-a-bit, phr. go gently. 

Hushed out (pron. hoosh), v. 
imp, turned out by a sHght 
noise. "They hushed the Een 
out of the nest." 



30 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Hutcli-work, small ore washed 
by a sieve. 

I-facks, adv. in faith ; certainly. 

lies, small flat worms found in 
the livers of sheep — the cause of 
rot. 

Illck, Elliok, *' the red gurnard, 
called soldiers at St. Levan." H. 
E. C. 

ni-wish, V. to bewitch. The 
common people still believe if 
they have a sudden illness that 
they are ill-wishedy and pav a 
visit to the conjuror (wnite 
witch) to try and find out who 
has done it. 

Ingots, tin cast in small oblong 
iron moulds; large moulds are 
called blocks. 

Inkle, tape. 

Inkle-maker, a tape weaver. "As 
thick as inkle-nuiJeers^^ (very 
friendly). 

Innards, the bowels. "A pain 
in my innerdsy 

Insense, v, to make a thing plain 
to any one. **ril insense him 
into it.'* 

Insi-GOat, an inside coat ; a petti- 
coat. 

Ishan, dust from winnowing. 
** Take up the iskan and put it 
in the costan," meant "take 
up the dust and put it in the 
basket'' F. W. P. 

Jack Harry*8 lights, phantom 
lights, generally seen before a 
gale, taking the form of a vessel 
sure to be wrecked. Called after 
the person who was said to have 
first seen them. 

Jacky-ralph, a wrasse. 

JafBle, a handful: generally ap- 
plied to a bunch of flowers. " A 
jaffle of flowers." "JeflftiU, 
Yaffle, handful. ' Jeffulls of 
hay.' » T. C., Morvah. 



Jail, V, to walk fast. "Where 
be 'ee jailing V^ "He jails 
along." Jaale, T. 0. 

Jakes, a dirty mess. 

Jailer, Jallishy buff, adj. yellow. 
"I want a bit of jallishy huff 
prent, to make a frock for my 
cheeld." 

Jane Jakes^ Jean Jakes, a snail. 

Penzance, T. C. Jan-jeak, 
Camborne, Gbirland. 

Janjansy, a two-faced person. 
" I don*t like her ; she's a jan- 
jansy,^* 

Jannek, Jannak. "The great 

jannek thoft he could thrash his 
tenant, but the tenant fought 
him out afore the door, and beat 
him rarely.*' Mem. The t7. was 
a lout 6ft. 4in. high. Paul, near 
Penzance. T. C. 

Japes, a jackanape. 

Jannders, the jaundice. 

Jay-pie, a jay. " Sweet as a 
jay -pie sang a Cornish song.*' 
Janner, H. B. C. 

Jenny-quick, an Italian iron, v, 
to iron with an Italian iron. 

Jerry-pattick, a simpleton. 

Jewish woman, a Jewess. 

Jew's bowels, small pieces of 
smelted tin found in old smelt- 
ing works. Tradition always 
connects Jews with tin in Corn- 
wall. 

Jicks, Jiccnps, hiccough. 

Jiffy, adv, at once; quickly. 
*«rUdoitinay?yy.*' 

Jig, 1), to separate the ore from 
the refuse by means of a sieve ; 
so placed in a box of water that 
by the continuous action of a 
brake-staff the ore is precipi- 
tated to the bottom of the sieve. 
The work is done by girls called 
jiggers. 

Jigger, an ill-made thing. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



31 



Joan Bltmt, a rough, plain-spoken 
woman. 

Joan -the -wad, the name of a 
pisky (pixie). 

** Jack-the-lantem, Joan-the-tuad, 
That tickled the maid and made 

her mad, 
light me home, the weather is 
bad." 

T. Q. Couch, Polperro. 

Joggle, V. to shake ; to shake the 
elbow. 

** Hold your glass up to your chin, 
And let your neighbour yo^gr^e it 



in. 



»» 



Johnny Portnight, a packman. 

Josing, a scolding. 

Jonds, pieces. " He scat all to 
midjans and jotids * * (he broke all 
to pieces). 

Jondy, V. to walk in the sea with 
boots and stockings on. Mouse- 
hole fishermen, W. F. P. and 
B. V. 

Jowst, a fall from a donkey's 
back. 

Jowster, a person that buys 
things to sell again; a huck- 
ster ; a fish-dealer. 

Jnck, the oil in the fleece of 
wool. 

Jnnket, a dish made of new 
milk, sugar, and nmi; curdled 
with rennet, and eaten with 
clotted cream. 

Kager, Kegg^s, wild parsnip; 

wild carrot. ** Keggaa, often 
called kai-yeVy are good pigs' 
feed." H. E. 0. 

Kaig-nail, Keg-nail, a misshapen 
finger-nail or toe-nail. 

Kaille-alley, a ninepin-alley. 

Kailles, ninepins. 

Kan-kayers, "two or three con- 
federates who unite to disparage 
anything they wish to buy, or 



make fictitious offers and praiBe 
anything they wish to sell; 
tricksters. ' ' Bottrell. 

Kayer, a coarse sieve used to 
winnow com. 

Keuny, culj. mouldy. Cider is 
said to be keamy when there is a 
thick scum on the top. 

Keddenedy covered over with 
mud or dust. W. P. P. 

Keddened and Cabaged, booted 

with mud; dirty. Mousehole, 
B. V. Haggled, H. E. 0. 

Keem, v. to comb the hair with 
a small tooth-comb." 

Keeming-comb, a small tooth- 
comb. 

Keenly, adj, promising. " A bra' 
keenly lode," spoken of a pro- 
inising vein of metal. Some- 
times ** A bra* kindly lode.'* 

Keenly, adv. deftly. " He takes 
to it keenly." 

Keep company, v. Engaged 

people are said to keep company. 

Keep on, v. to scold incessantly. 
** What are 'ee keeping on 
about ? " 

Keeve, a brewer's tub. "She 
must speak out; she can't 
under the keeve" ** Consider 
St. Knighton^s kieve, also a 
potato kieve, where potatoes are 
kept covered with earth." J. W. 

Keggle, V. to draggle. 

Kelter, order, condition. "In 
bad ieelter" 

Kendle-teening, candle-lighting 
time. To light a candle & to 
teen it. 

" 'Twas kendle-teening when yung 
Mall Treloare." — Uncle Jan 
Trenoodle, 

Kennel, an ulcer in the eye. 
Kenning, T. Q. Couch. 

Kenning-herb, the crowfoot : used 
in incantations for curing ken- 
nings. Polwhele. 



32 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Kente-pathen-gy, wooden pins 
belon^ng to the stone anchor 
used in punts. B. V. Kente- 
purthurgy {g hard), W. F. P., 
Mousehole fishermen. 

Kern, v. to curdle. 

Kerned, p. p. as adj, turned from 
flower to fruit "The apple 
blowths have kerned" The word 
set is often used, as ** the blos- 
soms have all set." Metal fixed 
or concreted around quartz is 
also said " to have kerned,^ ' 

Keveran, the leather that joins 
the two pieces of wood in a flail. 

Kib, V. to mend a gap in a hedge 
with thorns. 

Kibbed, fenced by wood, thorns, 
briars, &c., being laid down, as 
applied to a hedge. Polwhele. 

Kibble, a mine bucket. 

Kibby, adj\ sticky. "To play 
kibhyy^ a term of contempt used 
by boys in plajring marbles when 
the marbles hit the player's 
nails. 

Kibby heels, chapped heels. 

Kicker, a small mizen used by 
fishing boats. W. F. P. 

Kicklish, adj. ticklish ; tottering. 

Kicky, V, to stutter ; to stammer. 
**A hick-hammering fellow," a 
stammerer. ** A kick in his 
speech," a defect. 

Kiddaw, a sea-bird ; a guillem. 

Kidge, V, to stick ; to unite, as 
broken bones, * * We don't kidge," 
we don't agree. 

Kidley-wink, Tidly-wink, a beer- 
shop. A man is sometimes said 
** to keep a kidly" 

Kidling, adj, ailing; physically 
weak. S. C. J. Kidling or 
kidlyy T. C, tricking; cozening. 

Kiggal, ''a spindle. Kiggal- 
ring^, spindle whirls." Bottrell. 

Killas, clay-slate ; schist. 



Killick, a stone set in a firame of 
wood, or thick rope used to 
anchor boats on rough grounds. 
"I must up killick and go," I 
must be off. 

Killimore, an earth-nut. Halli- 
welL Cornish, literally the grove- 
nut. Polwhele. 

Slimbly, the name of an oifering, 
generally a piece of bread or 
cake, still given in some districts 
to the first person met on going 
to a wedding or a christening. 
Sometimes given to a person 
bringing the news of a birth to 
an interested person. A cake, 
called a groanmg cake, is made 
in some houses after the birth of 
a child, of which every caller is 
expected to partake. * * The mother 
carries the groaning cake when 
going to be churched." H. E. 0. 

Kings, donkeys. Redruth, Corn- 
ish Telegraphf Sept., 1879. 

Kip, a cap or net. 

Kipes, a thin, lanky person. 

Kipesy, adj, thin ; lanky. " A 
kipeSy as thin as a bundle of 
pipes.*' 

Kiskey, a dried, brittle stem. 
The dry stems or stalks of 
**keggas," wild carrot, or wild 
parsnip. **A withered kiskey oi 
a man." 

Kist-vean, a small stone chest. 

Kit, a smear, v, to dab. Halli- 
weU. 

Kit, kith and kin. " The whole 
kit of them." 

Kit, a kite. ''As yellow as a 
kifs foot " {pron. keet), 

Kitt, V. to steal ore. 

Kittens, the kidneys. 

Kittereen, a primitive omnibus. 
**The Kit-Tereen was an open 
car that ran between Penzance 
and Truro, set up by Christopher 
Treen.'* J. W. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



33 



Cttmg, part, stealing. '^The 
famous kitting case/' Tregellas. 

Kitty-bags, rags wrapped round 
labourers* legs to keep off the 
wet, or straw bands. 

Kity, adj. cracked; harebrained. 

Zaack, a knock, v. to stop. 
** The bal is knocked." " Knack 
up." 

Snap, "the top or brow of a 
hilL'' T. a Couch, 

Xnawed, v. imp. knew. 

Xnitster, a woman who knits. 

Laoe, a rood or perch ; a land 
m.ea8ure. 

Lace, v^ to flog. A lacing ia a 
flogging. 

Ladies* trees,, small branches of 
dried seaweed, hung up in chim- 
neys to protect the house from 
fire. 

Lafts, lathes. 

Lag, a dirty mesa on the bottom 
of a dress. '* I hate a lag as 
much as any one." v. to draggle 
in the mud. 

Lagen, v. walking in the water 
with naked feet. F. W. P. 
liaggen, v. to splash in the 
water: applied to fish, also to 
children playing in the sea 
without shoes or stockings, B. 
Y., Mousehole. 

Laister, the yellow water iris. 

Lake, a portion of a bay, as 
Gwavas lake, Penzance. **At 
Lostwithiel a brook is called a 
lake." J. W. 

Ziammy, a kid ; sometimes made 
into a pie called " lammy pie." 

Lampered, mottled. " Lampered 
aU over.'' T. Q. Couch. 

Land-yard, two staves, or 18ft., 
are a land-yard, and 160 land- 
yard9 an acre. 



Lanthom-flsh, a smooth sole. 

Lap, V. to beat Garland. 

Lap, anything disagreeable to eat 
or drmk. *'I don't like such 
cold /op." 

Lappior, a dancer. Halliwell, 
Polwhele. 

Lappy, V. to lap. 

Lash, V. to pour. "A lash of 
rain" is a torrent of rain. ** To 
lash in pieces" is to break in 
pieces. 

Lasher, a large thing. ''This 
fish is a lasher y 

Lasldng, a word used by the 
Cornish fishermen when nearing 
a point. They say ** Keep the 
boat laaking* i, e, steer the boat 
so that she may go near the 
point. F. W. P. Lacking, keep 
near shore ; a term used by fish- 
ermen. B. v., Mousehole. 

Lattice, tin-plate. Latteen, Lost- 
withiel, J. W. 

Lattice-ware, tin-plate ware. ** A 
lattice cup," a tin cup. 

Latmder, a trough for washing 
tin ; a gutter for carrying off the 
water from the roo& of houses. 

Lawn, Lawen, a large, open 
mine- working in the back of a 
lode left in a" dangerous state. 
Towednack, T. C. 

Lawrence, the patron saint of 
idlers. ** He's as lazy as Lawr 
renoe," ** One would think that 
Lawrence had got hold of him" 
{pron. La'rence). 

Layer, a winnowing sheet. 

Leaf out, slightly insane. " Like 
Crocker, a lea/ ow<." 

Leaping- stock, a horse-block. 

Leary, adj. hungry; weak. 
"Empty," J. W. "Lairy," 
Couch. 

Lease, v. to pick stones from the 

D 



34 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Biirface of the fields, " Leasing, 
picking stones." Polwhele. 

Leat, a gutter ; a narrow artificial 
water; a mill-stream. "Don't 
waalk in the leat; thee baist." 

Leave. " I'm not le/i to go out 
in the cold.** Let/ for let. " Lev* 
us go.** 

Lemon plant, the verbena. 

Lent lily, the common yellow 
daffodil. 

Lenick, v, to flap about. 

Lermpping, a flogging. adj\ 
large, 

Lermps, the scrslps of meat sold 
by butchers. Lirrups, SciUy. 

Lesteroock, a toy-boat sent out 
before the wind by fishermen in 
rough weather with a string of 
hooks. 

Let, V. to stop ; to hinder. " You 
let my marble.** T. Q. Oouch. 

Letterpooch, an old Cornish 
dance, 

Lenstre, v, to plan. 

Level, a gallery of a mine. 

Levener, Elevener, a luncheon. 

Levers, the marsh iris (pran, 
layers). 

Lewth, Lew, a place sheltered 
from the wind. 

Liard, a liar. "You're a g*eat 
Uardy you are.*' 

Libbety-lat, a game for children. 
They stand before a hassock or 
step, and put the right and left 
foot alternately on it as fast as 
they possibly can, keeping time 
to uie words, 

" Libhefi/f lihhety^ Ulibety lat. 
Who can do this and who can do 

that? 
And who can do anything better 

than that ? *' 

Libbings, the webs of a water- 
fowl* s feet. ** Wingy, wingy, 



leggy, leg^, Ubhings and all; 
oh, where is my mallard ? " 

Lick, v. to smear lightly. "You've 
licked your sleeve in the mus- 
tard.*' ** Your dress is licking in 
the mud.'* 

Lidden, a word ; talk ; a burden 
of a song or complaint. " The 
same old lidden^ A monotonous 
song. T.Q. Couch. Also "broad," 

S. A. 0. 

Lie, V, " The wind has gone to 
/»e** (subsided). " The com has 
gone to lie** (broken by wind 
and rain has fallen flat). 

Lig, Ligg^an, a kind of seaweed* 

Ligg^an, "manure composed of 
autumnal leaves washed down 
by a stream and deposited by 
side eddies." Fowey, T. Q. 
Couch. 

Lig^an. " He's coming home 
with penny liggan" (lacking, 
like a bad penny returned). ** I 
can*t play any more, I'm penny 
ligganJ* 

Likes, adv. probability; likeli- 
hood. ** Do 'ee think there's 
likes o' rain ? " 

Lilly-banger. Until within the 
last twenty years it was the 
custom in Penzance on Easter 
Monday to bring out in the 
lower parts of the town tables 
before the doors, on which were 
placed thick gingerbread cakes 
with raisins in fliem, cups and 
saucers, &c., to be raffled for 
with liUy-hangers (cup and dice). 
The stalls were caUed "liUy- 
banger stalls." 

Limb. " Your daughter looks 
well." "No, she's but slight; 
her face is her best Wwfe." 

Lime-ash, a composition of sifted 
ashes and mortar used for floor- 
ing kitchens. 

Limner, a painter. '^ You oaan't 
paint a boat as well as our 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



33 



limner,^ * Newlyn : spoken by a 
fisherman of an artist who lives 
there. 

Linch, V. to beat severely. 

Liner, a threshed sheaf of com. 

Xmg^ster, an interpreter. 

Linhay, an out-house with a 
lean-to roof; a shed for cattle. 

LinknTH, a term of endearment. 
** Sb.e*s her mother's linkum" 

Idnsing, a thrashing. 

Xintern, the lintel 

Lipsy. "He taalka lipsy** (he 
lisps). **I had a seizure ten 
years ago, and I can't talk but 
lipay/* Penzance, T. C. 

liquorice - ball^ liquorice. ^'A 
pennard of liquorice-haU,''^ 

Lirmp, a strip ; a sioven. 

Lirmpping, hanging in strips; 
coming down. ** Your gown is 
lirrupping in the mud." See 
liOrrups. 

Listing) p, p. as adj. writhing 
with pain. 

XitHe-monnt, an old-fashioned 
diild. •** She's a regular Uttle- 
Tnount. The Mount (St. Michael's 
Mount) will never be washed 
away whilst she's living." 

Xoach, a doctor's draught; also 
a lotion. 

Xoader, "a double apple." T. Q. 
Couch. 

Xob, V, to throw or knock about 
in a careless manner. 

Xobba, Xoblolly, an idle, stupid 
fellow. 

Xoenst, long, thin sugar-stick, 
always rolled up in paper. 

Xodden, a pool. Also Plodden. 
Xode, a vein of metaL 
Xoff, V, to laugh. 
Logy V, to oscillate. 



Logan-rock, a stone that oscillates. 

Loggers, ears. '^ I'll grock (pull) 
thy loggers for thee." 

Logging, moving to and fro. 

Long - cripple, a lizard. '^ In 
Dovonslure a snake," J. W. 

Long-dog, a greyhound. '' Run- 
ning like a long-dog'^ 

Long oyster, <' the sea crayfish." 
Polwhele, 

Looby - weather, warm, misty 
weather. 

Loooh, filth ; refuse. Hayle, T. C. 

Looking, pourt. asking; demand- 
ingi ** They are /oo^'tn^ a shilling 
a dozen." 

Loon, the northern diver. 

LootaL '^ Stinking, great lazy, 
great lootal ; if thee canst have a 
veil and go walking about the 
lanes, that's all thee carest for." 
Penzance, T, C. 

Lop, Loppy, V, to limp. 

Lopperd, a limper. F. C. 

Losting, part losing. "Our 
horse is losting his coat." 

Louggy, fagged: " The crew of 
the brig seemed very louggy** 
G. E., Penzance, Corni$hman^ 
Dec, 1879. 

Lonstre, v. to work hard. See 
Leustre. ^* He that caan't leustre 
must lotistre,** or ** He that caant 
planny must work.' ' 

Loustring man, a strong man, 
able to do a hard day's work. 

Love entangle, "the nigella or 

fennel-flower." JHalliwell, Pol- 
whele, * ' Love - in - tangle, " 
J. W. 

Lnbbercook, Lnbberleet, a 

turkey-cook. 

** Lubber, luhber-leety 
Look at your dirty feet ! " 

Said by boys in a harsh voice to 

D 2 



36 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



turkeys to vex them, "As red 
as a lubhercock,^* 

Lud. " Sent all of a lud,'' struck 

all of a heap. W. N. 
Lng, the heach-worm, used for 

bait. 
Lugs, ears. " Til gi' 'ee a click 

under the Zt£flr,'* a box in the ear. 
Lug-sand, the fine sand close to 

iSe water's edge in Mount's Bay. 

Lugg, the undergrowth of weeds 

in a field of com. 
Lump, V, " If you don't like it 

you must Iwnp it." ** Swallow 

in a lumjpy 

Lumping-eel, Sndles-eel, a fish. 

* * A lamprey of the family called 
Petromyzidic (query)." H. E. C. 

Lumpous, adj, all of a heap. 
** She sat down IvmpouaP 

Lurker, a boat in which the 
master seiner sits to give instruc- 
tions. 

Lurk, Lurg^, idleness; laziness. 
•* The fever of lurkf two stomachs 
to eat, and neither one to work ; " 
or the fever of liirgy. 

Lutter-pooch, Litter -pooch, a 

slovenly person. 

Habyer, a young hen that has 
never laid. "As stiff as a 
Tnabyer,^ 

Hadgiowler, a large moth. 

Maggety-pie (i^a hard), a magpie. 

Mahogany, a drink made of gin 
and treacle. 

Hair. "The weather was so 
catching that I could not put my 
sheaves of com either into shocks 
or arish-mows ; but made them 
into mairsj^ These are built 
longitudinally, about 18ft. in 
length by 12ft. deep. St. Levan, 
through H. E. C. 

Hake-home, v. to shut. ^^ Make- 
home the door,** 



Hake wise, a make-belief. " He's 
only a make-wUe.** 

Haking-wise, v, to make belief. 

Ualkin, a cloth nailed to a stick ; 
used to dean out ovens ; a dirty 
person. 

Uanchet, a small loaf of bread, 
not baked in a tin, in shape like 
a large bim ; called by the com- 
mon people " Manchun bread.** 

Uarket-jeW) Marazion. A cor- 
ruption of the old name, Mai- 
raiew ; a Thursday's market 
(Oarew). Norden spells it Mar- 
cajewe, and gives it the same 
meaning. " £1 his own light, 
like the Mayor of Marketjew.^^ 
" Capital innabil^uits," the cor- 
porate electors of Marazion. 
Through J. M. Cornish, Pen- 
zance. 

Market -jew turmut, a large 

white turnip grown in Marar 
zion, or Yellow Dutch. 

Hashes, a great number. " Aye, 
a caled the poor doctor a maahea 
of names." — Uncle Jan Trenoodle^ 

Haun, Uaund, a large coarsely- 
made hamper used for sending 
potatoes, &c., to market. 

Haw, a piece of bread and butter. 
* * A sugary maw,* * bread, butter, 
and sugar. (Morsel, jpron, 
Mawsel.) 

Maxim, a whim ; idea. '' That's 
old Ann's work; she's full of 
her maxims.** 

May, the young shoots of the 
sycamore. 

May-bee, a cockchafer. 

May-bird, the whimbreL Couch. 

Hay-g^me (j)ron. maygum), an 
odd, foolish action ; also a person 
who so acts. * * Don* t make mock 
of a maygame; you may be struck 
comical yourself one day.'* 

Hay-horn, a large tin horn blown 
by boys on May-day. Sometimes 
as early as five in the mornings 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



37 



parties of boys, five or six in a 
party, will assemble under your 
-windows, blowing tin boms and 
concb sbeUsy and begging for 
money. With tbe money col- 
lected tbey go into tbe country 
and baye bread-and-cream jun- 
ket, &c. An additional ring of 
tin is added to tbe bottom of tbe 
boms every year. 

Hazed-antic, Mazegerry, Xaze- 

gerry-pattick (j>ron, maazed), 
a wild, f oolisb, frolicsome fellow. 

.Xazzard, a small black cberry. 

Xeanolas, a kind of stove. It 
was a square box filled witb 
stones and clay, used by fisber- 

. men in tbeir boats, before tbe 
invention of stoves, as a fire- 
place on wbicb tbey dressed 
tbeir meat. W. F. F., Mouse- 
bole. Mdnolas, H. R 0. 

Meat (pron, mait), v. to feed. 
** Mait tbe pigs." " Meat is 
still used in Cornwall in its 
general sense, and not for ani- 
mal food only." J. W, 

ICeat-earth, soil. 

Meaty, cidj. flesby. " Sbe's a 

maity little pig.*' 
Meayer, a measure. 

Meeder, a mower. Polwbele, 
Halliwell, Coucb. 

MSn, a stone. Men is not used 
as a common noun, but only in 
proper names. 

USn-an-tol, a stone witb a round 
bole in it. Galled by tbe country 
people ** crick-stone," because it 
18 supposed to bave tbe power of 
bealmg tbose wbo would crawl 
tbroUgn it. ** Maen tolj or tbe 
stone witb a bole, on Anguidal 
Downs in Madem, famous for 
curing pains in tbe back, by 

foing tbrougb tbe bole, tbree, 
ve, or nine times." — ^Borlase's 
** Antiquities," p. 178. 

Hfin-skryfa, an itLscribed stone. 
Sometimes spelt " Men ^cryffa^^ 



Merle, a link of a cbain. 

Meryon, an ant ; a term of en- 
dearment. *' Sbe* 8 faytber* s little 
wi«ryon" (pron, mer-yon). 

Merry-dancers, tJie Aurora 
Borealis. 

Merrysole (pron. merisol), a 
Frencb sole. 

Mewed, p. p. ''scattered by 
frigbt." Sennen, T. 0. 

Midget, a very small bit; a scrap. 

Midgetty-morrows, tbe fidgets. 

Midgetty-por, a great confusion. 
" Wbat a midgetty-por you bave 
around you." Miggaloonpore, 
H.E. 0. 

Midjans, small bits ; sbreds. 
**Tbe cup is skat (broken) to 
midjans J* ^ 

Milohy - bread, moist, sticky 

bread, made from milcby com. 

Milchy-com, com tbat bas germi- 
nated. 

Milpreve, a coralline ball worn 
as a cbarm against adders. 

Mimsey, tbe minnow. 

Minch, Minohy, v. to play tbe 
truant. Meedb, Polwbele. 

Mincher, one wbo plays tbe 
truant. 

Misment, a mistake. '' Twas a 
m^isment on my part." 

Miz-maze, Mizzy-maze, a bewil- 
derment. ** I'm all o' a mizzy- 
Tnaze^ 

Mock, a large block. A piece of 
tbis year's Christmas mock is in 
some parts saved to light the 
next year's. See Gbrestmas- 
stock. 

Mock, tbe cheese or compound of 
apples and reeds in the wring or 
cider press. Polwbele. 

Mocket, a bib attached to an 
apron to keep the front of the 
dress dean* 



38 



WEST CORNWALL OLOSSARY. 



Mood, t}ie fungiis produced on 

liquor by fermentation. J. W. 

A sweetbread. " Vegetable sap. * * 

Couch. 
XoonsMiie) spirit that has been 

smuggled. 

Hoor, Manr, the root of a plant 
or tree. "Nack't the mabyers 
(little hens) both stiff wi* a great 
maur of fuz'* (furse). — llncle 
Jan Trenoodle. 

Xoorstone, granite. 

Money-penny, the small white 
cowrie. Scilly. 

Xop and heedy, hide and seek 
(mope and hide). "Every fit 
and turn, mopping about to- 
gether. Mopping = going to- 
gether in company; spoken of 
a young man and woman sup- 
posed to be courting." Towed- 
hack, T. 0. 

Mor, Hnrre, a guillemot. 

Moral, a resemblance ; a likeness. 
* ' The very moral of his fayther.* * 

Morrabs, Morraps, land near the 
sea. Now used as a proper noun. 

Mort, hog's lard. 

Mort, a plenty ; a great number. 
** A mort of people.** 

Mort, Morty, v. to digest; to 
turn to fat. 

Mot, the root. 

Moth, moss. F. C. 

Month-speech, speech. '* Hav' 
* ee lost your motUh-apeech f * ' 

Mow, Brnmnial, a round mow, 
enlarging in diameter from the 
base up to a certain height, from 
which it again contracts to the 
a|)ex. All the sheaves are placed 
with the ears inward in the 
lower, and outward in the upper, 
part. (Brummal Mow.) 

Mow, Pedrack, a round mow 
preserving the same diameter 
throughout imtil it begins to 
contracf at the apex, having all 



the ears inside." (Pedrack Mow.) 
Davy, Zennor. 

Mowhay {pi'on, mo-ey), an en- 
closure of ricks of com or hay. 
** Out in the mo-ey close." 

Moyle, a mule. " A hybrid be- 
tween a stallion and an ass." T. 
Q. Couch. **As stubborn as a 
mmfUy MoyU is a surname in 
Cornwall. 

Mng^ets, sheep's entrails. 

Maggoty -pie, a pie made of 
sheep's entrails, parsley, an4 
cream. 

Mnle, V, to work hard ; to knead ; 
to make dough. 

Mnller, a stone formerly used for 
reducing tin ore to powder. 

Mnmchance (pron, chaence), a 
silent, stupid person. ** To sit 
mumchance, to sit silent." J. W. 

Mumming -booth, the tent in 
which strolling players perform. 
The performers are never spoken 
of as atctors, but play-actors. 

Man, decaying fish used for 
manure. 

Mnndic, iron pyrites ; sometimes 
cut, polished, and sold for orna- 
ments under the name of " Mar- 
casite." 

Mnng;e, v, to chew; to knead. 
** Munge your dough' well." 

Monged {g soft). *' He did not 
strike me ; he munged me upon 
my side with his knee when I 
was on the ground." Penzance, 
T. 0. 

Mong^, a horse-collar made of 
twisted straw. Polwhele. 

Mur, Mnrs, ^' a mouse, mice ; a 
dormouse, dormice." (Qu. mures 
Lat.) I heard a woman in Meneg 
say of two children asleep, "They 
are sleeping Hke two little mt*r«." 
Polwhele. 

Mured, jp, p, squeezed. "He 
mured me up agen the wall." 



WEST CORNWALL QLOSSARY. 



39 



Murely, adv, almost. *'I war 
murely ready to daunoe where I 
stood." — Unde Jan Trenoodle. 

Xurfled; freckled. 

Hurfles^ freckles. 

Xnrgy, a dog-fish. 

Xnrrick, a sloven. E. I. G. 

BEusieiaaer, a musician. 

Hute, a mule. "The hybrid 
between the male ass and mare." 
. Couch. See Moyle, 

XnttiiLg, cross; glum; sulking. 
* * Don* t sit muUing there. * * 

My-ivers, Xy-iyerinos, interjec- 
tion of surprise. 

Vackan, Hacker, Haokiiiy a 

pocket handkerchief. 

Haoker, the wheatear. T. Q. 
Couch. 

Fag^^ing-pain, a dull pain. 

Kag-ridden, troubled with the 
nightmare. 

FailHE^ring, a hang-nail. 

Fale^ Kawl, an awl. 

Hanny-viper, a caterpillar. 

Hash, adj, pale ; debilitated ; 
susceptible of cold. 

Jffatey, "applied to meat when 
fairly composed of fat and lean." 
T. Q. Couch. 

Hatlings, the small entrails. 

Heap, a turnip. 

Heary, adj, stingy. 

Heck, the la,3t sheaf of corn, 
which is cut by the oldest reaper. 
He calls out ** I have et ! I have 
et ! I have et ! " The others 
say **What hav' 'ee? What 
hav* 'ee? What hav' 'ee?" 
He answers, ** A neck ! A neck! 
A neck ! *' They ttien all hurrah 
loudly three times, The neck is 



afterwards made into a minia* 
ture shea^ ^>^J decorated with 
ribbons and flowers; carried 
home in triumph, and hung up 
to a beam in the kitchen, "^ere 
it is left until the next harvest. 
T. Q. Couch, PolperrOf p. 169, 
gives rather a different account 
of this custom, and says that 
the neck is given on Christmas 
Eve to the master bullock in the 
stall. 

Heck of the foot, phr. the instep. 

Heflin, ^Newfoundland cod. 

Hepperkin, the eighth part of a 
pint. 

"Well drink it out of the 
nepperkifif boys. 
Here s health to tiie Barley 
Mow." — T?ie Barley Mow, 

Hestle-bird, nestling ; the smallest 
bird of a brood; a pet. "The 
youngest of a family lefb at 
home, when the others have gonQ 
into the world." J. W. 

Hibbles, nebulous clouds. 

Hice chance, phr, near chance. 
"'Twas a nice chance I didn't 
throw it in the fire." 

Hicey, sweetmeats. " A* ha' pord 
of niceyj 

Hided, p, p. deceived. " I've 
niched fim." 

Hickers, Haggles, gnomes f mine 
fairies ; heard working beforQ 
the miners. 

Hickly-thize, the harvest-home 
supper. Scilly Isles. 

Hicky-nan-night (Hall Monday). 
** On the day termed * Hall Mon- 
day,' which precedes Shrove 
Tuesday, about the dusk of the 
evening, it is the custom for 
boys, and in some cases for those 
above the age of boys, to prowl 
about the streets with short 
clubs, and to knock loudly at 
every door, running off to escape 
detectipn on the shghtest sign of 



40 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 



a motion within. If, however, 
no attention be excited, and 
-especially if any article be dis- 
covered negligently exposed or 
carelessly guarded, then the 
things are carried away, and on 
the Following morning are seen 
displayed in some conspicuous 
place, to expose the disgraceful 
' want of vigilance supposed to 
' characterise the owner. The 
time when this is practised is 
called * Nicky -nan-nighty and 
the individuals concerned are 
supposed to represent some imps 
of darkness^ that seize on, and 
expose unguarded moments." 
Couch ^Polperro), p. 151, Boyal 
Institution of Cornwall, 1842. 

NiflF, a slight quarrel ; a tiff. 

Hiffed, p. p. vexed. " She's gone 
away niffed»^ 

Hight -nobby, a commode; a 
night-stool. 

Kimping^e, a whitlow. 

Noggin, a gill, the fourth part 
of a pint. 

Hoggin-wall, a wall built of 
rough stone, 

Kog^le-head, Nog^, '' a block- 
head." Garland. 

Hoise, a scolding. " I said there 
would be a bitter (great) noise 
when Missus know'd you'd brok 
un " (broken it). 

Kool, V. to thump ; to beat. 

pooling, a beating. 

Foozled the nepple, v. to nuzzle 

. or nestle, as a child to its mother's 
bosom. * * Thof (though) F ve bin 
ever sense I noozled the weppZe.'* 
— Unde Jan Trenoodle, 

No qnarterings, no halfings, no 
pick-a-daniels, a term used by 
boys when they find anything. 

Ifones, Nonce, Nines, on pur- 
pose; for the occasion. "He 
gove me a scat (slap) on the 
chaks for the nonce.** ** Dressed 



up for the nones," **Naun8: 
* He didn*t do it for the nauns/ 
that is on purpose.*' (Camborne), 
T. C. 

Notino, Notsino, no; emphatic 
denial ; not that I know, or not 
as I know. 

Nowle, a pig's head. 

Nnddick, the neck. Niddick, 
T. a, Couch. 

Nnll, a dry crust. 

Nnrly. " He*s a nurly fellow to 
dead with,'* ». c. sulky. T. 0. 

Nnthall^ the hazel. 

Oak-web, a May-bee; the cock- 
chafer. 

Oft, V, ought. *'He oft to 
do et." 

Ogos, caves along the shore. 
Polwhele. 

Oiler, a waterproof mackintosh. 

Old, must. "It tastes of old.*' 
''The clothes smeU of old*' 
(musty). 

Old hnnderd. Little hnnderd, an 

old-fashioned person or child. 
** What an old hunderd she es." 
Query, as solemn as the old 
100th Psalm. 

OUick, the house leek. 

Ool, wool. "As plum as *ool^ 
(very soft). 

Oost, a disease of cattle caused by 
worms in the windpipe. 

Ope, a narrow covered passage 
between two houses ; an opening. 

Oreweed, sea-weed. 

Organ, Orgal, penny royaL 

Orrel, a porch or balcony. " The 
ground-apartment of a fisher- 
man's house is often a fish cellar, 
and the first floor serves him for 
kitchen and parlour. The latter 
is reached by a flight of stone 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



41 



«tep8 ending in an orrel or porch," 
Coucli, 

Onnce^ the sixteenth part of any 
property. 

OuUander, a foreigner. 

Out-window (pron, wender), a 
hay or how window. 

Oyerfanged, p. p. as adj, strained ; 
stretched. "What overfanged 
notions you have." 

Overgone, p. p, as adj. over- 
powered ; faint. F. 0. 

Overlook, to hewitch j overlooked 3 
hewitched. 

Owls, the eaves of a house. 
** Oves.'' Couch. 

Paddle, an agricultural instru- 
ment; a smally sharp piece of 
iron with a long handle for cut- 
ting out the roots of weeds. 

Padgetypoo, a frog ; a tadpole. 

♦* Frenchmen with their wooden 
shoes 
Eating snails snidpadgetypooa" 
Uncle Jan Trenoodh, 

PadgypoWy an eft ; a lizard ; the 
newt. 

Pair, a set of miners that work 
together in a gang. 

Pair of moyles (mules), usually 
ahout thirty, for carrying tin. 

Palched, always ailing; half- 
cured; patched: applied to inva- 
lids. ** A poor palched creature." 

Pallace, a cellar for the bulking 
of pilchards: usually a square 
building with a pent house roof, 
enclosing an open area or court. 
Couch. 

Palsh, palsied. Towednack, T. C. 

Palshallals, the diarrhoea. 

Pame, the palm of the hand. 

Pan-crock, an earthen pan. 

Pane, a parsnip. 

Pane-seed, parsnip-seed. 



Pank, V. to pant; to breathe 
hard. 

Panshion, a milk-pan. 

Pare, a field (proper noun), 

Pasher. "He's a paaher^'' a 
clumsy workman. Ludgvan, 
T. 0. 

Pass, a slap ; a beating. 

Pass. " Quietus, they'll give him 
his pass some night or other.'* 
J., Royal Institution of Corn- 
wall. 

Passle (parcel), a great number. 
* * A bra' passle of peopla " 

Pasty, a meat and potatoe or 
fruit turnover. 

Patch-hook, a bill-hook. 

Pattick, a merry fellow ; a fool. 

Pattick, Paddick,a small pitcher. 

Paul's pitcher-day, St. Paul's 
Eve (tfanuary 24th); a miner*» 
holyday. They set up a water- 
pitcher, which they pelt with 
stones until it is broken to pieces. 
They then buy a new one which 
they carry to a beer-shop and 
fill, and empty it until they get 
drunk. In Dfracombe the boys 
fill a pitcher with filth, and going 
about the streets throw it slily 
into people's houses. 

Pawn, a forfeit. " Here's a, pawn, 
and a very pretty pawn, and 
what shall tne owner of this 
pawn do ? " 

Payse, Peize, v, to weigh. 
Paysen, Peizen, weights. 
Payser, Peizer, a man who 

weighs tin. 

Pea, the hard roe of a fish. 

Peach, chlorite. 

Peach away, v. to coax or entice 
away. 

Peecher, "a bait; an allure- 
ment" B. V. 



42 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Peart, adj. smart. '' He*s a 
peart fellow," 

Peasen, the plural of peas. 

Peathy, acfj- witty ; full of quaint 
sayings. ** He's a peathy man/' 
**PecUhy old fellow with plenty 
of gumption." 

Pedalmcan, the great cuttle-fish. 
Scilly Isles, through H. E. C. 
(pron, padilincan). 

Pednameny, a game played with 
pins : also called Pinny-Ninny. 
* * Fedna - a - Tnean , heads - and - 
tails, a game of pins." B. Y. 

Pednan, small pieces of tuif. 
Davy, Zennor, 

Pednbokshrlostwithel. Spoken 

, by fishermen in describing the 

peculiar model of a boat : is said 

to mean * * cod's head and conger's 

tail." W. F. P. 

Pedn-borbas, cod's head. B. V, 

Pedn-paly, the blue-tit. 

Peel, a pillow. Polwhele. 

Peendy, adj. tainted, applied to 
meat. 

Peeth, a well 

Pellar, a conjuror; a cunning 
man, applied to in supposed 
cases of bewitching. 

Pellas, Pillns, oats without 
husks. **I hove down some 
pellas amongst 'em to ^at" Pjil- 
com, Avena Nuda, 

Pellowe-bere, Pillow- bere, a 

pillow-case. **I were glad to 
put ma head 'pon the pellowe- 
here" — Uncle Jan Trenoodle. 

Pend, V. to shut in. T. Q. 
Couch. 

Pendle, a pendulum. 

Peniqne, adj, firm ; precise ; neat. 
** She's a peniqtie Httle thing." 
" You are looking qaitQ penique." 

Peijinkety, adj. apt to take 
offence. 



Phrase. " I shall soon learn the 
phrases of the house " (the habits 
of the family). Polwhele. 

Pick-up, fish and potatoes mashed 
together and fried. 

Plcrous-day, the miner^s great 
holyday, supposed to be in 
honour of Ficrous, the discoverer 
of tin. 

Pie. " Your hands are like pie " 
(very warm). 

Piecen (pron. peacen), v. to 
patch ; to put in a piece. 

Piff, a slight quarrel ; a tiff. 

PifffiTt^ a pick-axe; a large hoe 
used for cutting t\iri> 

Piggfy-dog, a dog-fish. 

Piggy-whidden, the smallest or 
youngest pig, sometimes applied 
to the youngest child. **My 
piggy-whidden " (a white pig). 

Piggy - whidden - pie. <' Some 
would die, and some did die, 
and of these we made piggy- 
whidden^ieJ* 

Pig's-crowe. See Crowe. 

Pilcher, a pilchard. "Money 
without love is like salt without 
pikhers," * * Killed as dead as a salt 
pilcher" **Like crame (cream) 
upon pilchersy^ or pilchards. 

Pile, deeply involved. "In a 
pile of wrangle," ». e, deeply in- 
volved in the dispute. Polwhele. 

Piler. " A farm implement used 
to pound, or cut the beards fron^ 
barley in winnowing," B. Y* 

Pilf, light grass and roots raked 
together to be burnt. 

Pilf, Pilm, Pillem, Hght dust or 

fluff. West Cornwall. <*Inthe 
east of Cornwall appUed to dried 
mud." Polwhele. 

Piliers, places on the downs in- 
terrupting their smoothness; 
tufts of long grass, rushes, &c., 
forming, covers for hares. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



43 



Pi^aok, a poor, mean fellow. 
Filiack, Davy, Zennor* 

Pill, a pool ; a creek. 

Pimpy, the after cider, made by 
throwing water on the almost 
exhausted mass of alternate apple 
and straw (beverage). 

Pin, the hip. 

Pin-bone, the hip-bone. 

Pindy, mouldy. J. W. 

Pinnick, the wryneck. 

Pinnikin, weakly ; puny. 

Piran-day, the fifth of March; 
a tinner's holyday. St. Piran 
is the patron saint of tinners, 
popularly supposed to have died 
drunk; the proverb says, **As 
drunk as a Firaiier" 

Pisky, Pixie, a fairy. " Laugh- 
ing like a pisky,*^ ** See-saw, 
Margery Daw, sold her bed and 
lay upon straw. Sold her bed 
and lay on hay, Piahy came and 
took her away." 

Piskyled, one who has lost his 
way, and is supposed to be be- 
witched. The remedy is to sit 
down and turn your stockings. 
** FisJcy-led, often whiskey-led." 

Pisky-stool, a mushroom. 

Pitch, the working of a piece of 
a mine, sold by public auction 
to two or four woikmen every 
two months. The whole mine 
is let out in ^pitches. ** A good 
pitch *' is a good bargain. 

Pitched, p.p. taking root after 
transplanting. **The turmats 
rtumips) are pitched J^ **Also 
miit set after the flower is gone 
is said to be pitched (the mean- 
ing in all these cases is set)*^ 
J.W. 

Pitch-to, V. to set to work. 

Planchen, a board ; a wooden 
floor. **Thrawed his hat on 
the planchen, and < died kickey 
rather/* ** Tendar I tendar ! stop 



the imxm, lefb ma boondle on the 
planchen " (called out of a rail- 
way carriage to the guard). 

Plashet, a moist place where a 
stream rises ; a quagmire. 

Plat-footed, Splat-footed, acy. 

splay-footed. 

Plethan, v. to braid; to plait. 
Polwhele. 

Ploffy, adj. fat; plump. "A 
P^ffy yoimg mabyer" (hen), 

Plosh, a puddle, 

Plosher, a half-grown bream • 

Plongh, a wheel-carriage drawn 
by oxen, 

Plnflf, fur. 

Plnfl^, adj, soft; out of con- 
dition, applied to feathers, &a, 
sometimes to a spongy turnip. 

Plnm, adJ, soft; light; stupid; 
foolish. ** This tye (feather-bedj 
is as plum as 'ool (wool)." 
* * Pretty plum weather.* * * * He*s 
a,a' plum as boften dough." To 
fall plum is to fall soft, as in 
mud. 

Plnm, Plim, v. to sweU. " 'Twill 
plum in boiling.** 

Plnm-oake, a light cake. 

Plnm-dongh, well risen dough. 

Plnmming, yeeust, raising dough 
with yeast. 

Plump, a pump; a well. v. to 
pump. 

Plnmpy, v, to chum. Halliwell, 

Poam, V, to pummel; to knock 
with the fist. 

Poaming, a pummelling. 

Pocks, shoves or pushes. Uncle 
Jan Trenoodle, 

Poddling, adj. meddling; inter- 
fered. * * She i^oes poddling." 

Podging; part, as adj. poking 
about. **Podging about the 



44 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



house.*' ''In tHis thing, and 
podging in that." 

Pod^, short and stout. "A 
podgy man." 

Poldavy, coarse, hempen cloath. 

PoUet, Polleok, a stick, crooked 
or knobhed at one end. W. F. P. 
Pol-yn, a stick, B. V. 

Polmmptioiu, adj\ restive; ob- 
streperous. 

Peltate, Tatie, a potatoe. 

Pomster, t?. to cure a sick person 
by quackery. ** For there's doc- 
tors as pometers all sorts of dis- 
eases." — Uncle Jan Trenoodle, 

Pooch-month, a protruding 
mouth. 

Poochy, V, to make mouths. 
Pook, hay-cock. 

Poor, bad. "It*s gone poor" — 
tuined sour (as beer). 

Poor-money, bad money. 

Poor-tempered, ill-tempered. 

Poot, a push with the feet. 

Poot, V, to push. " To be pooted 
and flopt so; I wesh I was dead." 
** This young fellow caught him 
by the hair of his head and gauve 
him a bit of a shake, and gauye 
biTTi a poot or two with his foot, 
but as to kicking him, he didn't." 
Towednack, T. 0. 

Pop-dock, Pop-glove, Poppy, the 

flower of the fox-glove. 
Pope, a puffin ; a sea-bird. 
Popple, Popple-stone, a pebble. 

Popple-stone pavement, a pebble- 
stone pavement. 

Popples, poplar trees. 

Por, a bustle or fuss. " What a 

por you're in." 
Porf, a pool of stagnant water. 

Portens, a butcher's term; 
appurtenance. * * Sheepshead and 
j?or^e;w." 



Porth, a cove. 

Portmaiitle, a portmanteau. '^ Did 
'ee see or hear tell of sich a thing^ 
as a portmantle f " 

Porvan, a rush-wick for a lamp. 

Posh, a heaviness on the chest 
from mucus, occasioning a loose 
cough. Polwhele. 

Vow {/plural posses), a gate-post. 
"Water will wear away stonen 
jpw«e«." 

Possed np, p. p, posted up; 
pushed up; placed up. "With 
a make- wise faace, possed on top 
of his awn.'^ — Unde Jan Tre- 
noodle, 

Pots, the entrails. 

Pots, wooden boxes without 
covers, and with moveable sides^ 
formerly used to carry dung on 
horses' backs to the fields. 

Pot-water, water for common 
household use: not drinking 
water. 

Pound, a cider mill; the place 
where cider is made. 

Powdered, slightly salted. "A 
powdered cod." 

Powers, a great number. '' Maade 
of pasty-board, with powers of 
beads and looking-glass." — Unde 
Jan Trenoodle, 

Prall, V, to tie a tin pan to a dog's 
tail 

Preedy, adj, forward ; conceited. 
"A preedy piece of goods." ** I 
shall not make myself preedyJ* 
Eedruth, T. C. 

Preedy, adv, with ease. "She 
does it bra' and preedy,** 

Preventive-man, a coastguard. 
Preventive-station, a coastguard 

station. 
Prid-prad, a tomtit. 
Priden-prall, a blue-tit. 
Pridy, handsome ; good4ooking ; 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART, 



45 



smart. **A11 prinked up bo 
pridy " (all dressed). — Uncle Jan 
Trenoodle, 

Prill, a small stone, as " a pnll 
of tin." Masons speaking of a 
stone wlucli does not at once 
make mortar, but afterwards 
bursts out, call it ** a hot prilV* 

Prill, V, to mix. 

Prill, V, to turn sour (as beer). 

Prill, V. to get drunk. 

Prilled, p,p. drunk. 

Prink, v, to walk jauntily. 

Prinkt, p, p, dressed finely. 
** You're pnwA^ up for tbe nones." 

Prong, a silver fork ; also a hay- 
fork. 

Proper, adj, handsome; well- 
formed. * ' He's a proper man." 

Prond-flesh, fungus flesh around 
wounds (exuberant granula- 
tions). 

Pm-it-Prn-it, a word used in 
calling cows. 

Psalmasimting-person, a hypo- 
crite ; a person who continually 
goes to cnurch to the neglect of 
other duties. 

Tad, the fist. 

Pnllan, a pool of salt water 
among the rocks. 

Pnllcronack, a small fish found 
in pools leffc by the sea (bully- 
cods) ; the shanny ; small-fish. 

Pnl-rose, the wheel-pit. Bottrell. 
The pit in which the wheel of a 
water-mill revolves. 

Pult, the pulse. T. Q. Couch, 

Pnnick, ''a small person; a 
dwarf." B. V. *' Punichy a 
small eater." W, F. P. 

Pnnion, Prmyon-end, the end of 
a house, not having any windows 
or doors ; the gable-end. 

Pure, Pewer, adj. good-looking ; 
adv, very many. ** He's a pure^ 



looking boy." * * Pure and stout." 
** A pure lot of people," 

^"^^i ^ short, thick, stout per- 
son. *< She's a regular little 
purgy:' 

Pnrgy, a fat little boy. 

Pnrl, a guard or watch. *'One 
need be always upon one's iniW," 
t. e. one's watch. Folwhele. 

Pnnran, shreds of cloth. W. 
F. P. See Porvan. 

Pnrvans, '' shreds of cotton used 
in wick-making for a 'chili'" 
B. V. The purvanB were rush 
wicks, the plaited rag wicks 
were called "-boobas." H. E. 0. 

Pnssiy anting, part, fussing; 
meddling. In ihe latter part 
of the seventeenth century the 
Poureuivants came into the coimty 
to search out aU those entitled to 
bear arms : hence the term. 

Put-going, adj, murdered. 

Put-home^ v. to shut "Pm^ 

home the door." To see a per- 
son safely home. '* Shall I put 
you home ? " 

Quab, V. sickly, infirm person. 
Qurland. 

Quaff {pron. quaif), v, to puff up. 

Quaffed, p. p. used as adj. satis- 
fied; fulL "Fm quaiffedr 
Sometimes called quaMed, 

Quail, V, to wither; p. p. as adj. 
quailled, '* These flowers soon 
quail. ^^ "Your flowers are 
quailled.^^ 

Quail-a-way, a stye on the eye. 

Qnalk, a heavy fall. 

Quarry, Quarrel, a square or 
diamond-shaped piece of glass t 
sometimes applied to a sheet of 
paper. 

Quarterer, Quaterman, a lodger^ 

Quarters {prcm. quaarters), lodg- 
ings. 



46 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Qnat, Qnatty, v, to hide by stoop- 
ing down, as boys behind a hedge, 
or a hare when pursued. 

Qneans, Qweans, scallops. ''Peri- 
winkles." Bottrell. 

Qneedy, adj, sharp; shrewd; 
cuttmg. 

Qnignogs, foolish notions or 
fancies. "Get out with your 
guignoga,** * * You're full of quig- 
nogs" 

Quilkin, a frog or a young toad. 
Wilky. Lostwithiel. J. W. "As 
cold as a quilkin" 

Qaillet, three-leaved grass, clover. 
Bottrell. 

Qnilter, v, to flutter. " I veeled 
sich a quiltering come over my 
heart." 

Qniltiiig, a beating. '^ I'll give 
'ee sich a quilting as you never 
had in your life." 

Bab, decomposed granite used for 
mending roads. 

Babbin, a robin. F. C. More 
generally rudbrist; occasionally 
ruddock, 

Baoe, a go-cart. 

Kaoe, V, to place in a row. " Cups 
raced along a shelf." 

Badgell, an excavated tunnel. 
W. Briton, December 27th, 1877. 

Bafe, a tear or rent in a garment. 

Bafe, V* to rend or tear. 

Baff, Baffle-fish, unsaleable flsh 
divided amongst the fishermen. 

Barnes. '^ Looking like the rames 
of death : '* said of a sickly per- 
son. M. A. 0. 

Barnes of a goose, the bony frame- 
work of a goose after most of the 
meat has been cut off. J. W. 
Lostwithiel. 

Bams-cat, a male cat. "Every 
thing is a he in Cornwall but a 
rams-cat y and that's a she. " "As 



teasy as a ratrts-cat,** Ramoat, 
J. W. 

Bandigal, a string of nonsense; 
rhodomontade. " It's a regular 
randigal of lies." 

Bandiyoose, a noise; a bustle. 
"What's all the randivoose? — I 
can't hear myself speak." 

Banter-go-round, an old-fashion- 
ed game of cards played in divi- 
sions, marked with chalk upon a 
bellows or tea-tray. Now at a 
table, and called Miss Joan. 

" Here's a card, as you may see ! 

Here's another as good as he ! 

Here's the best of aU the three ; 

And here's Miss Joan, come 

tickle me. 

Wee, wee." 

Bap and rind, phr. got together 
by hook or crook. F. C. 

Bare, adj, early. " The broccolow 
(brocoH) are bra' and rare this 
year." "We go to bed pretty 
rare on Simdays." T. C. Lelant. 

Bash, adj, crisp ; brittle. " This 
lettuce is very rash,*' "The 
wood is rash," 

Banning, Bannishyae?/. ravenous; 

voracious. "This is a rauning 
pollock, a whiting pollock is 
better." 

Baw cream, the cream that rises 
naturally to the top ; not scalded 
or clotted, Baw-ream, J. W. 

Baw milk, milk that has not been 
scalded. 

Beam, v. to stretch. "Don't 
ream it out of shape." 

Beamer, a milk-skimmer (pron, 
ramer). / 

Bechat, Eichard. < 

Beed, unbruised straw used for 
bedding horses. 

Been, prop, noun, a steep hill-side. 

Beese, Beeze, grain is said to 
reeze when from ripeness it falls 
out of the ear. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



47 



Keeve, v, to separate by meauB of 
a sieve, seeds, small com, &c. 
from the good grain. 

Semlet, a remnant. 
Besurrectioii-iay,EasterSunday. 
Kibble-rash, Sabble-iaih, the 

rabble. 

Kiffle, a break in a roof made by 
a strong wind carrying away 
the slates or thatch. 

Eiffied, V, carried away by the 
wind. ** The wind riffled lots of 
housen last night ; the hellings 
(slates) were flying about." 

Big, fun ; frolic ; noise. 

Bingle, v, to ring; to tinkle. 
**The bells are ringling all day 
long. < * I heard something ringle 
on the floor.'' 

Biver (pron. reyver), any small 
stream of water is ciedled a river. 

Beach, a rash. 

Bobin's alight, a game of forfeits 
played around the Are. A piece 
of stick is set on Are, and whirled 
around rapidly in the hand of 
the first player, who says, 
** Rohin^s cdight, and if he go out 
I will saddle your back." It is 
then passed to the next who 
says the same thing, and so on. 
The person who lets the spark 
die out has to pay a forfeit. 
Scilly. " Jack's alive." 

•* Jack's alive and likely to live ; 
If he die in my hand a pawn 
111 give." 

J. W. Lostwithiel. 

Bode, sense or wit. '' He hasn't 
the rode to do it." 

Bodeless, adj, without sense or 
wit. 

Bodeling, Botling, part, talking 
deliriously. ** She's bin rodeling 
all the night." 

Boostcock, a domestic cock. '' As 
red as a roostcock,'^ 



Bopar's-news, anything told as 
news that is not news. '* That's 
Roper' a news — hang the crier ! " 

Bory-tory, adj, very gay; tawdry. 
''I wouldn't wear such a g'eat 
rory-tory pattern." 

BosiLm, rosin. <' Short of romim,^* 
short of cash. 

Boup, V, to gulp down ; to drink 

noisiily. 

Boosabout, a bustling woman. 
^* She's a regular rotuabout,** 

Bout-out, a Saturday-pie (spoken 
in jest). 

Boving, p, p. raving. ''He's 
roving mad." 

Bow, rough. 

Bow, Bows, coarse, undressed tin 
ore; refuse from the stamping 
mills. 

Bow-cast, rough-cast (a compost 
of lime and pebbles plastered 
over the outside of houses). 

Budded, v. made red. ** £s feace 
all rtidded and whited." Uncle 
Jan Trenoodle, 

Budge, " a partridge." Polwhele. 

Bud locks, tiie rood loft. Bottrell. 

Bully, Bull, V, to wheel ; to roll 
along. 

Bulls, rolls of carded wool. 

Bumbelow. "With Halantow, 
Rumhelow" the burden of the 
Furry song. 

Bumbustious, adj, noisy ; trouble- 
some. ** They strutted about so 
braave and rumhustious as lubber- 
cocks" (Turkey-cocks). Unde 
Jan Trenoodle, 

Bummage, rubbish. '^ A good 
riddance to bad rummage^** 

Bummet, dandriff. 

Bumpin, adj, small; miserable. 
F. C. 

Bumpy, adj. coarse; uneven, 
** This cotton is rumpy," 



48 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Bimky, adj, wheezy; hoarse* 

Bniming, rennet. 

Bush, Sish, a list; a number 
made at playing at ball, &c., for 
another to beat. * * He's gone on 
another rush^' (another course). 
To make a new rush, v. to turn 
over a new leaf. 

!EttL8tring-oomb, a dressing-comb. 

Busty, adj, rancid. This bacon is 
rusty, 

Sabby^ adj, soft; moist; rotten. 
'* These taturs (potatoes) are 
brave and sabhy,** 

Sammy Dawkin, a stupid person. 
"You are a regular Sammy 
Dawhin, can't scull a boat" (a 
Padstow proverb). 

Sam-oven, Zam-oven, a luke- 
warm oven. 

Sampson, a drink made of brandy, 
cider, sugar, and a little water. 
** Sampson with his hair on." 
The same kind of drink with 
double the quantity of spirits. 

Sam-sodden, Zam-sodden, half- 
cooked, whether by boiling or 
baking ; also bread not properly 
risen, baked in a half -heated 
oven. 

Sape, Sapey, a stupid person. 

Save-all, a large pinafore with 
long deeves to keep children's 
dresses clean. 

Savonr, meat or fish eaten as a 
relish. **I alius like a savour 
for breakfast" 

Say, the sea. In Penzance, on 
Midsummer-day,, a fiair is held 
on the quay ; the boatman take 
the country people out for a 
short row (a great number at 
one time) for a penny each ; they 
call it, ** A pennord of say," 

Say-fencibles, old coast-guards. 
Scabby-gnllion, a stew — meat 



and potatoes hashed. B. Y. 
Scably-gulyun, W. F. P. 

Seal, Scale, loose ground about 
a mine ; it sometimes does great 
injury by faUing down and 
stoppmg the shaft of a mine. 

Scald-cream {pron, scaal'd cream), 
clotted cream. 

Scald-milk, skim-milk, milk from 
which the clotted cream has been 
taken. 

Scal^ions, salt dried fish; salt 
whiting. 

Scaly, adj, miserly. " A regular 
scaly old fellow." 

Scam, V, to scam a shoe is to 
twist it out of shape by wearing 
it wrongly. 

Scat, a slap. "rU scat your 
chacks" (face). 

Scat, a long season. '' A scai of 
fine weather." 

Scat, diarrhoea. 

Scat, a game played by boys with 
a small flat board or paper knife. 
One plaver holds out his hand, 
which tne other tries to strike 
before he can draw it away. 

Scat^.i;. to slap; to break; to 
become bankrupt. " He let fall 
the cup and scat un to pieces." 
** He's a scat merchant." ** The 
bal is scat,^^ ** Scat up and go 
home !" (break up your meetingl. 
**iSca<herfiace.*' 

Scat abroad, v, to enlarge; to 
open. * * The rose has scai abroad," 

Scat-to, a fight. "They had a 
httle scat'to," 

Scavelan-gow, a pack of lies; 
a great chatter ; a noise of scold- 
ing. '*I heard such a scavel' 
an-gow," 

Scavemick, a hare. Polwhele. 
Halliwell. 

Scaw-coo, night shade. 
Scaw-dower, water elder. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY, 



49 



Scawnse, Sconse, sense; under- 
standing. * ' He hasn't the aamse 
to do it." 

Scawsy-buds, elder flowers. '' Kab 
the hive with seaway buds." 

Scaw-tree, Soow-tree, Skew-tree, 

an elder tree. 

Scethen, a piece of fish cut out 

for bait F. W. P. Shethen, 

B.V. 
ScloWy Sclnm, v. to scratch. '' Ah, 

you old sclum-'Ca.t" F. W. P., J., 

M. B. 

Scoad, Send, v, to scatter manure 
over fields. 

Scoanse. See Coanse. 

Seool, School, a shoal of fishes. 

Scotch-dew {pron, Scott's-doo), 
a mist. 

Scouring - guard (pron, geard), 
decomposed granite used for 
whitening floors. 

Scovy, adj. spotted; mottled. 
^* Streaked, smeared, for example, 
a badljr painted flat surface 
would, if tne paint were uneven 
and smeared, be called scovy,** 
F.W. P. J., M. B. 

Scoy, ctdj. thin silk or stuff; 
V, to make a thing thin or small. 
* * For my fangings (wages) would 
look scoy" — Uncle Jan Trenoodle, 

Scramblings, scraps of broken 
meat. 

Scranny, a scramble. 

Scrawl, Scroal, v. to broil fish 
over a fire. They are split open, 
slightly dried, and se€UK)ned with 
pepper and salt. 

Screech, a short, sudden blaze. 
** Come to the fire ; FU put on a 
fuz' (furze) and make a screech,** 

Screed, a little piece. " Gi' me 
a screed o* mait." 

Screedle, v. to cower over the 
fire. 

Screw, a shrew mouse. 



Scrid, V. to descend partly by 
sliding, partly hy climbing. 

Scrif-scraf, Scrof, Scruff odds 
and ends, rubbish. 

Scriff, Scmf, v, to shrink to- 
gether; to crouch. ** I*m scruff td 
with the cold." Scriffed up m a 
comer. 

Scrimp, Scrimpy, scant. ''She 
gov* me scrimpy meayer '* (mea^ 
sure). 

Scrink, Scrinkle, v, to screw up. 
** He scrinkt up his eyes." 

Scroach, v, to scorch. 

Scroaching, paH. scorching. 

ScrollSy pieces of hard fat left 
after melting down lard. 

Scrome np, v, to arrange roughly. 
** I scromed up my hair." 

Screw (pron, like how), v. to 
scratch; to graze. ''The cat 
will screw you," ** I scrowed all 
the skin off my arm." 

Scruff, the skin. " Take the dog 
out by the scruff of the neck." 

Scmff, to fight; to wrestle. 
" We pitched to scruff.** ** Then 
we scruff ed.*' 

Scmmp, V, to shrink or draw 
together with cold. 

Scry, the report of the approach 
of a ^reat body of fish ; formerly 
apphed to wild fowl. 

Send, the hardened crust on a 
sore. 

Scud, Skid, Upscud, Upskid, v. 

to spill; to run over. "If you 
throw the petcher on the floor 
won't the water scud.** "She 
broke the petcher and upscud 
the water." 

Scombered, spoken of a bird 
discharging excrement. St Just., 
T. C. 

Sente, an iron with which the toe 
and heel of a shoe are protected 

B 



50 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



(see Cue) ; the iron point of a 
wooden plough. 

Scute, a small piece of leather 
put on the sole of a shoe; the 
outside piece sawed off a balk of 
timber. 

Soutter, V. to throw a fiat stone 
so as to slide on the top of the 
water; to make ducks and 
drakes. Skitter, F. 0. 

Sea-adder, a pipe-fish. 

Sea-hedgehog, a kind of shell- 
fish. 

Sea-holm, sea holly (angelica). 

Seam, a measure ; a cartload of 
day. 

Sean, Seine, a pilchard net. A 
net not less than 160 fathoms in 
length. 

Seaner, Seiner, a man employed 
on the pilchard fishery. 

Seed, imp, saw. 

''I seed his picter on the slat 
(slate), 
Haf an anyull (angel), haf a 
cat." — Tregdlaa. 

Seed-lip, a wooden basket to carry 
seed when sowing. 

Servy-day, the day after a feast 
when all the scraps are served 
up. See St. Aubyn-day. 

Set again, v, to reopen a business. 

Set, a mining licence to work a 
piece of ground. The piece of 
ground is also called a 6et, As 
a good set* 

Shab-off, V, to sneak off in a 
shabby way. "He wanted to 
shah'Off without paying.** 

Shaddocks, a slate axe. 

Shag, a cormorant. " As sick as 
a shag,*' 

Shaker, "two good ones and a 
shaker,^* 

Shakes. "No great shakes " (not 
worth much). ** He's no great 
sJiakes of a character." 



Shale, a scale of a ffsh ; a flake. 

Shale, V, to come off in thin 
slices ; to peel ; shell peas. 

Shaly, adj, rich and flaky. " This 
cake is very shaly, " "As shaly 
as a rusty iron hoop." 

Shale-stone, Shilstone, slate. 

Shallal, a serenade on tin kettles 
and pans, eiven to notorious 
persons on tneir wedding-night. 
"A great noise is said to be a 
regular shallaV^ 

Shank, the spoke of a wheel. 

Shape (pron, shaape), a great 
mess; a dirty state. "What a 
shape youVe got here.' ' * * What 
a shapes you are." J. W. " To 
make a sJiape is to make a dirty 
mess." 

Sharps, the shafts of a carriage. 

Shear, a good shear of hay. 

Shed yonr hair out of yonr eyesy 

phr, put your hair, &c. 

Shee-YO, a disturbance ; a row. 
"There was such a grand 
shee^vo,'* 

Shenagmm, Shenachnun, a drink 
made with hot beer, rum, sugar, 
and lemon. 

Shig, V. to cheat. 

Shigged ont, cheated out of every 
thing. " They shigged me of all 
my marbles." 

Shigged, cheated in a mean 
manner. " I was shigged out of 
that money." T. 0. 

Shiner, a sweetheart. 

Shivereens, small pieces or shreds. 
" Tom or broken into shivereens,** 

Shoad, loose stones of tin mixed 
with earth. 

Sheading - heaps, heaps from 
pits sunk in search of veins of 
metaL 

Shocky, a small fish (goby). 
F. 0. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



51 



Shoe-lift, a shoe-horn. 

Shong, a broken mesh. W. F. P., 
B. V. 

Shoot, water led to a point by a 
pipe or drain, and then bursting 
out In Cornwall they often 
took the place of pumps. 

Shote, a small kind of trout. 
Showl, a shovel. 

Shrim, a cold shiver. Shrim, v, 
to shiver. Shrimmed, chilled. "I 
feeled sich a shrimj' * * Shrimmed 
to death with the cold.'' 

Shnffer. " When Vm skuffer TVL 
pay." Mousehole. **A shuj^ 
old woman." St. Just. **A. 
shuff-oldm&n.'' St.Levan. **rull, 
stout, well." T. C. 

Sigger, Sigore, v, to leak. " It 
stggera through the walL*' Zig-ar, 

s. n. c. 

Sim-mee, v. it seems to me. 
** Sim-mee it's bra' and nonsical " 
(seeming to me it's very non- 
sensical). 

Sis -sling, moving uneasily in 
sleep. Garland. 

Sives, a species of small onion 
(chives). 

Skal, calling out. **You great 
skal ; " term of abuse. Newlyn, 
T. 0. 

Skate, a rent or tear. 

Skate, V, to rend. 

Skatereens, small pieces. 

Skedgwith, privet. Sometimes 
Skerrisk. 

Skeeny, sharp ; gusty. Couch. 

Skeer, v. to graze. " The stone 
sheered my head." 

Skeer, v, to skim a stone on the 
surface of the water. 

Skeese, Skeyze, v. to frisk about ; 

to walk quickly. ^^ Skeesing 
about like a pisky (pixie). ' 
Uncle Jan Trenoodle, Scouse, 
J.W. 



Skeet, Skeeter, a syringe. 

Skeet, to wash windows with a 
syringe. ** Skeet the windows." 

Skeet, V. to eject saliva through 
the teeth. W. F. P. Skit, F. 
W.P.J. M.B. 

Skew, a sudden gusty shower of 
thick drizzling rain. 

Skewy, adj\ gusty, showery. 

Skibbet, a small covered com- 
partment in a large chest, always 
near the top. 

Skimper, a person who slurs his 
work. ** This bed is not weeded 
clean; John is a skimper.'^ 
Skemper, H. E. C. 

Skimping, the smallest fragment 
of stone thrown out of a mine. 
Sometimes, as an adjective, ap- 
plied to a miserly person. ** He's 
a skimping ould fellow." 

Skip skop night. In Padstow, 
on one night in November, the 
boys go about with a stone in a 
sling, with which they strike 
the doors ; they then slily throw 
in winkle-shells, dirt, &c. Couch 
says, **They strike violently 
against the aoors of the houses, 
and ask for money to make a 
feast." 

Skirt, adj\ scanty ; short " Her 
coats were very sArtV^." ^^ Skirt 
measure." Also Skeerty. 

Skit, a jest or witticism. ''A 
lectioneering skit " (or anything 
else aimed at one). J. W. 

Skitter, i;. to slide; to scatter. 
** The things go skittering about." 

Skittery, slippery, like ice or 
smooth stones. F. W. P. J., M. B, 

Skiirer, a skewer. 

Skivered down, skewered down. 
** She walks about with her 
arms skivered down to her sides." 

Skuat, Sknte, a legacy or wind- 
fall. *'A skuat of money is a 

e2 



52 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



phrase I have hearcL" F, W. 
P. J., M. B. 

Skubmaw, pieces or fragments. 
A ship is said to have gone " all 
to $kubmaw" when she is wrecked 
and broken in pieces. Another 
use of the word-ns, "111 knack 
thee to Skubmaw:' W. F. P. 

Slab, a kitchen range ; a cooking 
stove. 

Slack, impertinent talk " Come, 
none of your Blacks* "Loose 
talk.'* Garland. 

Slack, Slacket, adj. slight ; thin. 
** You're looking but slack" 

Slag, tin dross; misty rain; 
sleet. 

SlagfiT* SUaggy, adj. wet; 
drizzling ; miry. ** The weather 
is very slaggy to-day." " What 
a Blaggy mess the streets are in." 

Slam, V. to trump. 'TU slam 
that card." 

Slamming, part, trumping. 

Slam, V. to beat. 

Slammed, beat. Slamming, a 

beating. "He slammed to un 
wi' a stick." 

Slams, Scrams, broken meat. 

Slatter-cnm-drash, a great noise. 

Sleep, V. starched, but not ironed 
linen, put by wet, and allowed 
to mildew, is said "to go to 
sleep.'' 

SUgerin, Slaggermg {g soft). 

"There was a sligerin outside 
the door," i. e. a great row, and 
fighting and tumbling about. 
Penzance. T. C. 

Slight, adj. ilL "He's but 
slight." 

Slights, half clad. ''He was 
walking about in his slights" 

Slim, V. to slim the teeth of pigs 
by giving them their meat too 
hot. Polwhele. 



Sling, a dram. Slingers, un- 
invited guests. Qttrland. 

Slintiim, an incline. 

SUp, a young pig. 

Slivar, a large slice; v. to cut 
into slices. Slice (pron, slish). 

Slock, V. entice. "He Mocked 
away my dog." Polwhele says, 
to pilfer ; to give privately. 

Slocking-stone, is a rich, enticing 
stone of ore, tempting one. 

Slocking-bone, spoken of the hip 
joint. 

Slone, a sloe. " Eyes as black as 
a slone" 

Slosh, to spill or splash about 
water. 

Slotter, V. to make a mess. 

Slotter, filth. 

Slotterer, a slovenly woman. 

Slottery, adj. dirty. " The roads 
are slottery." Sometimes applied 
to the weather. 

Slow cripple, a blind worm. 

Slummock, a dirty, sluttish 
woman. 

Slnmmockin, Slammakin, adj. 

careless; untidy. 
Slump, a careless work-woman. 

Slydom, subs, cunning. "They 
have too much of slydom to ven- 
ture on that." — Uncle Jan Tre^ 
noodle. 

Small deer, vermin. F. C. 

Small men, fairies. 

Smeech, Smitch, the smell or 
smoke arising from anything 
burnt in frying. 

Smellers, cat's whiskers. 

Smnlk, a dirty, drinking woman. 

Snag-tooth, Snaggle, an irregular 
tooth. " What snaororZea the cheeld 
has." 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 



f3 



Sneivy, adj. low; mean; cunning. 
" He's a sneivy fellow." 

Snippet, a small piece. F. W. P., 
J., M. 3. 

8iiite, a snipe. 

Snuff, " to be snuff, ^ i, e. to "be 
affronted. Polwhele. 

Soace, Soas, friend ; companion ; 
love. ** Ess, sodsS'' ** Houd your 
tongue, soas" "Come along, 

Soak, V, to bake tborougblj. 
" Tbis bread is not aoaked^ 

Sooiety, phr, a member of society 
(a Wesleyan). 

Sog, a sl^'cp. " Sbe is in a sweet 
«ogr." Sogh, Polwbele. 

Sog, V, to sleep. 

Sogg^ing, 2>arf. sleeping. 

Soile, a seal. ''And coming 
nearer borne, here was a sentence 
spoken last year by a person 
bving at Crowan Cburcbtown, 
wbicb to very many even in 
Cornwall, would be as unintel- 
ligible as a foreign tongue : * Ef 
a soile es en a zawn be do troacb 
about tbe paace tbat a man ken 
jaale.' Tbis was spoken of seals 
at Hell's Moutb in Gwitbian 
Cliff. * Soile' was *seal/ as 
* moile ' was * mule,* and * zawn ' 
was a sandy cove in a cliff. 
Pedlars were called troacbers, 
and bence tbe verb, to troacb — 
to go along as if witb a load on 
one's back; and to *jaAle' was 
to walk at a fast pace, wbicb 
one could keep up for some time. 
Witb tbis explanation, it would 
be seen tbat tbe sentence very 
well expressed tbe manner and 
speed of a seal's movements. — 
T. C. 

SoUar, a temporary floor at tbe 
bottom of a mine level, tbrougb 
wbicb tbe air passes for ventila- 
tion. 

Scons, amulets; cbarms. Mystic 



words given by " wbite-witcbes " 
to fcbeir customers. See White- 
witch. 

Scnnd, a swoon. " Sbe feU down 
in a 90und,^^ 

Scnnd-sleeper, a red and black 
motb, sometimes called *' a seven 
sleeper." 

Scnr-8cp8, sour-dock, or common 
sorrel. Soursabs, F. C. 

Sense, adj, beavily ; clumsily. 
"He sat down souse" Down 
souse, down rigbt. Souse is 
sometimes used as a verb. * * Sbe 
soused down in ber cbair." 

Scwdling, adj, burly ; ungainly. 

Sews, Grammar-sews, Old sews, 

woodlice; millipedes. 

Spadiards, tbe labourers or mine 
workers in tbe Stannaries of 
Cornwall are so called from tbeir 
spades. Kenuet, M. G. Halli- 
well. Polwbele calls them 
spalliers, 

Spal, V, to break stones. ''He 
was set to spal stones." ** I seed 
un spalling stoanes on the road." 

Spale, a fine. v. to mulct or fine ; 
to make anything last a long 
time. To spare, o, W. 

Span, V, to tether. 

Spaiqar, Span, a tether. 

Spanking, adj, large; big; a 
spanking woman. 

Spanyer, Spangar, a Spaniard. 
The Spaniards were formerly dis- 
liked for having landed in W. 
Cornwall and burnt a church. 

Sparables, small hobnails. 

Spare-werk, Sparey-werk, work 

that takes a long time doing. 
** Pine sewing is sparey^work," 

Spar - stcne, quartz ; Cornish 
diamonds. 

** A man of penetration he. 
For through a ^ar-stone he 
could see." 



54 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Spars, Sparrows, willow rods used 
for thatching. 

Spell, a turn of work. "Til 
taake a spell at et/' 

Spell, a long time; often used 
with the adjectives bra', pure. 
** A bra' Bpell of fine weather." 
"You've bin a pure spell on 
your arrant." 

S pence, a pantry or larder, 
usually joining the kitchen; a 
cupboard for keeping provisions. 

Spend, V, to break ground. 
Halliwell. 

Spickaty, adj, speckled ; mottled. 
** A spickaty cow." 

Spiller, a fishing-line with several 
hooks attached (for salt water 
fishing) left for some hours and 
then drawn. 

Spinning-drone, a cockchafer. 
Spise, V, to exude. Couch. 

Spiteons, adj. spiteful. "She 
was looking so spiteous,^^ 

Splat, a spot; a piece. "A 
purty splat of taturs." "A 
garden splat^ 

Splatty, adj, covered with spots 
or pimples." " A splatty face." 

Spooty, V, to dispute. "Not 

foing to spooty with you." St. 
ust. T. 0. 

Spraggling pattern, a large, gay 
straggling pattern. 

Sprawl, a disease incident to 
young ducks. They are said to 
have the sprawls when they have 
not strength to stand on their 
legs. 

Sprawl, Sproil, energy. " I am 
so weak that I have no sprawl 
to move." 

Spray, Spre, v, to chap, or crack 
with the cold. 

Sprayed, Spreed, p, p, as adj- 

" My lips are sprayed'^ 



Spraying, Spreeing, adj, cold; 

cutting. " A spraying east wind." 

Spriggan, a fairy ; a sprite. 

Springle, a springe ; a bird snare. 

Sprit, V, to split. "Sprit open 
the fish." 

Sproosen, an untidy, ungartered 
woman. " She's a regular sproo- 
sen about the heels." 

Spud, a garden tool for cutting 
out the roots of weeds. Also 
potatoes, H. E. C. 

Spud, a brat. "Be quiet you 
young spud" 

Spndder, a fuss, or bother. *' I 
don't want to ha' no spudder 
about et." 

Spur, a short job. "I'll do a 
spur arter my day's work." A 
bra' spur, a long time. "She 
has been gone a hra* spur,^^ 

Spur, a glass of spirits. 

"A spur in the head is worth 
two in the heel. 
Gi' me a glass and I'll shew 
'ee my ^eel." 

Squab, v, to push ; to squeeze. 

Squab-pie, a pie made of well 
seasoned fat mutton, with layers 
of apples and an onion or two. 

Squabbed, Sqnadged, p.p. 

squeezed. "I were squabbed 
agen the walL" 

Sqnard, a rent. 

Sqnard, v. to rend or tear. 

Sqnarded. "And thro' hes 
squarded hat hes heer appear' d.'^ 

Sqneer, a pane of glass. "I 
erased (cracked) a squeer." 

Squinge-grnb, a small, shrivelled 
pippin. "She's a regular old 
squinge-grub." Newquay. 

Squinny, v, to look or peer aljout 
with the eyelids half closed. 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



55 



" Then Knuckey rubVd his hat 
* all round.' 
And squinnied on the floor." 
Unde Jan Trenoodle, 

Squiimy-eyed, adj, short-sighted. 

Sqnitch, a sudden jerk; a twitch. 

Sqnitch, v. to twitch ; to jerk out 
of one's hand. 

Sqnitchemfl, gas is said to have 
the squitchema when water has 
got into the pipes. 

St. Aubyn^s day, the d y after a 
feast ; a second day's feast given 
to inferior guests to eat up what 
may be left &om the first. 

Stacy-jar, a quart stone bottle. 

Stag, Stog, V, to stick in the 
mud; to coyer oneself with mud. 

Stagged, Slogged, p. p, stuck in 
the mud ; covered with mud. 

Stam, an earthen pot shaped like 
an urn. 

Standards, a term in wrestling 
for a man who has thrown two 
opponents, and thereby secured 
a chance of trying for a prize. 

Stand witness. ''Considered a 
sure sign oi being sweethearts, 
if a young man and woman 
stand witness together, t. e, be- 
come godfather and godmother 
of the same child. T. 0. Towed- 
nack, 1868." Not in all parts; 
for I remember once hearing in 
Penzance a couple refuse to do 
so, saying that it was unlucky, 
** first at the font, never at the 
altar." M. A. C. 

Standings, stalls erected in the 
streets for the sale of fruit, 
small wares, &c. 

.Stank, a fuss; a disagreeable 
situation. ** I am in a stanh^ 

Stank, V, to tread ; to step ; to 
walk fast. ^^ Stank on that 
spider." * * He's stanking along." 
Sometimes '^sanking al6ng." H. 



Stare, a starling. 

Starry-gaiy-pie, a pie made of 
pilchards and leeks; the heads 
Drought up through a hole in 
the crust. Halliwell. 

Stave, V. to move quickly and 
noisily. Staver, a fussy, noisy 
person. * * She's a regular staver ; 
she staves about from morning to 
night" 

Stave, V, to knock down. " And 
snatched up a showl for to stave 
ma owt rite." Unde Jan Tre» 
noodle. 

Steaded, p, p, supplied. "Are 
you steaded f " 

Steeve, v, to stave in. " Shall I 
steeve in the head o' the cask, 
Missus?" 

Steeve, v. to stow away; p, p, 
steeved. 

^'Yet I've some little eohshans 
(savings), 

I've steeved at Oak-farm." 
Unde Jan Trenoodle, 

Steeved, p, p, frozen. "I'm 
steeved to deafli with the could." 

Stem of a fork, the handle. 

Stem, a job; work not paid by 
time. 

Stemming, a turn ; in rotation. 
Formerly when people were 
obliged to fetch their water from 
a common pump (or **shute'') 
they were obliged to take their 
stemming. 

Stent, the limits of a bargain in 
tutwork. Garland. See Tut- 
work. 

Stickings, the last of a cow's 

mUk. 
Stickler, an umpire in a wrestling 

match. 
Stiddle, Stoodle, the upright pole 

to which an ox is tied in a stall. 

Stile, a flat iron. 

Stinkard, a disagreeable person. 



56 



T¥EST CORNWALL GLOSS ART. 



Stinks -aloud, phr, to smell 
strongly. "This book stinks 
aloud of tobacco." 

Stir-a-ooose, a bustling woman; 
a busy-body. 

Stirrage, a stir. "What a 
stiiToge ^sometimes sturrage) 
there was in a few minutes." 

Stodge, porridge. " As thick as 
stodge. ' * A f os is sometimes said 
to be "as thick as stodge** 

Stoiting, the leaping of fish ; or 
the colour they impart to the 
surface. 

Stompses, Stamps (always plural), 
perpendicular wood or iron bars 
for crushing tin ore to powder. 
They beat alternately, and are 
worked either by water or 
steam. "Working away like 
a stompses,** 

Stope-a-baok, a mining operation. 
A stepform in a rock. Tregellas. 

Stound, a fit, v, (p, p.) stunned 
by a blow or ML 

Strake, Straky, v, to steal 

marbles. 

Stram, v, to slam. " Don't stram 
the doors so." To run violently 
against a person ; to strike. "I 
ran stram up agen un." " Told 
'im if he didn't let go, I would 
stram to un with a norse-whip, 
Bndl strammed to Ynm.** Blogan, 
T. C. 

Stram -bang, Slam -bang, ado. 

quickly. 

Stramming, (zdj, big ; monstrous. 
**A stramming big lie." A 
notorious falsdiood is some- 
times called a strammer. " That* s 
a strammer if ever there was 
one." 

Straw-mot, a straw. 

Stream works (pron, strame), tin 
works in valleys. The tin peobles 
being placed m heaps, a stream 
of water is turned on to. carry off 



the refuse. " A strame o* rain," 
heavy rain. 

Stream, v. to dip clothes in Uue- 
ing water. 

Streaming pot, a watering pot. 

Strike, a Winchester bushel ; the 
third of a Cornish one, which 
contained 24 gallons. 

Strike, v. to anoint as with 
ointment. 

Stroll, long roots of weeds ; 
couch grass; twitch grass. H. 
R. C. 

Stroll, strength; ability. "He 
has no more stroil than a child." 
Polwhele. 

Strop, a piece of twine or rope. 

Stroth (like both), a hurry or 
fuss. "What's all the stroth 
about ? ** 

Strother, a person always in a 
fuss or hurry. 

Strothing, part, hurrying. " She 
went strothing down the street." 
Stroping, said he did it all, and 
he was stroping about; but, in 
fact, he did very little. St. Just. 
T. G. 

Strove. " He strove me down to 
a Ue." 

Strow, Strawl, a confusion; a 
litter. "The ketch en war in 
such a strow. ** " Terribly strow 
over there," meaning a row or 
disturbance. Ludgvan. " There 
was a bit of a strow (row, noise, 
fight) outside the door." Sennen. 
T. 0. (Strow jwon. like how.) 

Strnb, V, to rob birds' nests ; to 
strip. " The boys quite struhhed 
the trees." 

Strnnty, adj. misty; foggy, 
" Warm strunty weather." 

St. Tibb'8-Eve, a day neither 
before nor after Christmas. " 111 
do et next 8t TihVs eve** 

Stnbberd, Stnbbet, an apple 
peculiar to Cornwall. 



IVEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



57 



Stuff, ore. " Tin stuff'' (tin ore). 

Stug along, V. to walk with short, 
quick steps. 

8tuggy» Sturgy, adj. short; 
thickset. 

Stnll, timher placed at the hack 
of levels (mine galleries) to pre- 
vent the falling of ruhhish. 

Start, a run of luck ; more than 
the usual gain ; a mining term. 
'^He had a hra' sturt last 
month." 

Sn, V. to go dry : as a cow that 
has stopped giving milk. " The 
cow has gone to su^ the milk has 
gone into her horn." 

Snant, adv, smoothly. "My 
cotton doesn't work atiant,'' 

Subsist, Sist, an advance on 
account of wages. 

Sugary -quartz, friable quartz 
resembling loaf sugar. 

Sump, the bottom of a shaft. 

Sumpmen, men employed in sink- 
ing mine shafts. 

Sunbeams, the long, light cobwebs 
which float in the air. 

Survey, a public auction. 

Survey-day, the day on which 
the under-ground workings of a 
mine are let. 

Suss, a great fat woman. "I 
never seed such a suss in my 
bom-days.'* 

Swabbers, certain cards at whist, 
by which the holder was en- 
titled to part of the stakes. ** I 
never cared for whisk since 
swahs went out of fashion." Said 
by an old lady at Penzance 
about ten years since. Still 
played in some parts of Com- 
waU. The swdba are ace and 
deuce of trumps, ace of hearts, 
knave of clubs. Each player 
before beginning to play puts in 
the pool a fixed sum for swahs. 



The four cards are of equal 
value, but should hearts be 
trumps the ace would count 
double. 

Swab-stlck, a mining tool. 

Swail, Sweel, to scorch ; to 
singe. ' ' A swtded cat," a singed 
cat. 

Swaising, part, swinging. '* He 
went down street swaising his 
arms." Sometimes whazing. 

Swap, a gadfly. 

Swellaok, a red-wing. A person 
whose self-esteem has been 
snuffed out, is called "a poor 
sxoellack:' H. R C. See Whin- 
ard. 

Swike, a twig of heath. *<A 
swike broom," a broom made of 
heath twigs. 

Sy, a scythe. 

Tab, dried roots and grass raked 
up and burnt; a cow-dung dried 
for burmng. Sometimes a turf. 
J. W. 

Table-board, a table. 

Tabn, food. Garland. 

Tack, a slap, v, to slap with the 
open hand. Tackhands is to 
slap hands by way of approval. 

Tacking, a thrashing or flogging. 

Tadago-pie, a pie made from 
abortive pigs. 

Taer, a rage. " She got into a 
pretty taer,'' ** He's in a pretty 
temper" would mean a bad 
temper. 

Tag, the tail end of a rump of 
beef. 

Tail-corn, refuse com. 

Tailings, the poorest tin; the 
sweepings ; the refuse. 

Tail-on-end, adj, full of expecta- 
tion. 

Take a heave, v, to lose the 



58 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



trace of a yein of metal by the 
shifting of the earth. 

Take-horse, \p/fr. when a vein of 
metal is split into two by a wedge 
of a different earth, it is said 
**to toJce horse'' The wedge is 
called the horse. 

Taking, a sad condition. ^'I 
never saw a woman in such a 
tahingr 

Talfat, a raised alcove to contain 
a bed. 

Tallet, a loft over a stable. 

Tally-ho, a wide covered passage 
between two houses. 

Tamlyn, a miner's tool. 

Tammy, a sieve; a cloth for 
straining. 

Tamping, material used in blast- 
ing. 

Tamping-iron, a tool to beat 
down the earthy matter in a 
charge used for tamping, 

T 'Andrew's dance, St. Vitus' 
dance. 

Tantmm-bobns, Tantra-bobns, 

applied to a noisily playful 
child, often used thus — **0h, 
you tantera-bobus," F. W. P. J. 
There's a proverb, ** Like tantra- 
hobtis, lived till he died." Some- 
times, like Tantra-bobus* cat M. 
A.C. 

Tap, the sole of a shoe. " The tap 
of your shoe is wearing ; it wants 
tapping." 

Tap, V, to sole a shoe. 

" Tap a tap shoe, that would I do. 
If I had but a little more 
leather," &c. 

Old Nursery Bhyme, 

Tarve, Tarvy, v. to struggle ; to 
rage. 

Tarving, struggling ; raging. 

Tarvied, p. p, struggled ; raged ; 
convulsed. '^ And when he had 



tarvied about" — Unde Jan Tre^ 
noodle. 

Tates, potatoes. 

Taunt, adj, pert. "A taurU 
piece of goods." 

Teat, a draught of wind. 

Teating, a whistling of the wind. 

Teel, V. to tiU or set. 

Teeled, p, p. buried. " The owld 
mon was teeled to-day." 

Teem-ont, to pour. **Teem out 
the liquor." 

Teen, v, to close. "I haven't 
teened my eye." 

Teen, v, to light " Teen the 
fire." 

Teening-time, the time to light 
the candles ; twilight. 

Teeth-haler, a dentist. 

Tell, V, to say. " Can you teU 
your lessons ? " 

Tell-tale-tit, a tell tale. 

" Tell-tale f pick a nail; hang to 
the bull's tail." 

Temper. " There's no temper in 
the ground " (no moist heat). 

Tend, v. to wait 

Tendar, a waiter at an inn ; the 
guard of a train. 

Term of a time, phr, a long time. 
** She's bin a term of a time over 
her work." 

Tern, a bittern. " Crying like a 
tern,** 

Tetty rattle, Cornish stew. F. W. 
P. J., M. B. 

Thicky, Thacky (pron. this; 
that. 

Thirl, adj\ lank; thin. "Our 
horse is very thirV* 

Thirt - eyed, squint - eyed. " I 
never seed sich a thirt -eyed 
feUow." 

Thoft, V, imp, thought "I 
thoft it was you," 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



59 



Throy-ting, v, part, cutting chips 
from sticks. 

Thumb-beans, straw ropes twisted 
around labourer's legs to keep 
off the wet. 

Thumper, a large person. "That's 
a thumper ! " a great falsehood. 

Thumping, adj. very large. " A 
thumping woman." 

Tic-tac-moUard, a game; ducks 

an 1 drakes. 

Tiching, v, part, setting up turves 
to dry, to prepare for fueL" 
Grose. 

Tidden, adj. tender; painful. 
*'It came somewhat tidden to 
him, that had helped to maintain 
his mother all along," t . e. hard ; 
he felt it a hard^p. GulvaL 
T. a 

Tiddly, v. to do the better or 
lighter household work. These 
tm*ee words, used long a^ to 
the mother of an old fnend, 
thus: **What can you do?" 
said the mistress. ** I can louster 
and fouster, but I caan't tiddly*^ 
said the Cornish servant. See 
Louster. F. W. P. J., M. B. 

Tiddy, a teat; mother's milk. 
Titty, H. E. C. 

Tiddy bit, a tiny bit. 

Tidy, adj, decent; clever. "A 
tidy little fellow,*' well-made; 
plump. ** A tidy little pig." 

Tie, a large wooden trough, 
through which a stream of 
water runs for the purpose of 
separating the ore from the 
dross. 

Tifle, Tiffle, or Tifling, a ravel- 
ling ; an unwoven thread from a 
piece of cloth. 

Tifle-out, Tiffle-out, to unravel 
cloth; to unweave. ** This cloth 
does not wear well ; it tifles out,^ 

Tight slap, a sharp, sudden slap. 
** I eov' her a nice tight slap on 
the diacks." 



Timbal, a mining tooL 

Timbering (pron, temberin), made 
of timber. *' To go up the fem- 
herin hill '* is to go upstairs. 

Tember-man, a mine carpenter. 
Timdo 6, a stupid. 

Timersome, adj. nervous ; timor- 
ous. 

Tin-dresser, a man who prepares 
tin ore for the smelting furnace. 

Ting, V. to tie h)gether. 

Tinged up, vnp. tied up. " She's 
alius going about with that man 
tinged up to her aipemt string." 

Tink, a chaffinch. J. W. 

Tinker arter, v. to go courting. 

Tinner, a tin miner. " A water 
wagtaiL" BottrelL 

Toad-in-the-hole, a piece of meat 
with batter pudding baked round 
it. 

Toat, the whole lot. " The toat 
of them were there." 

Toatlish, adj. foolish; weak. 
"He's getting owld and toat- 
lish.'' Totling, J. W. 

Toit, Toitish, adj. curt; saucy. 
** She's bra' and toit" 

Token, v. to betroth; to point 
out. ** He tokened me the way." 

Toller, a man who collects the 
tolls or revenues of the mine. 

Tom-holla, a noisy, bragging man. 

Tom-horry, a sea-bird. "The 
common name of two or three 
species of Skua." Couch. 

Tom-toddy, a young frog ; a tad- 
pole. ** Tom-toddy, all head and 
no body." 

Tom-toddy, a game in which each 
person in succession has to drink 
a glass of beer or spirits, on the 
top of which a piece of lighted 
candle has been put, whilst the 
others sing, 



60 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



** Tom-toddy es coom hoam, coom 
hoam; 
Tom-toddy es coom hoam ; 
With his eyes burnt, and his 
nawse burnt, 
And his eyelids burnt also. 
Tom-toddy es,'* &c. 

Uncle Jan Trenoodle. 

Tom-trot, hard-bake ; toflfee. 

Tom Twi&t and Harry Single ! 

interf. 

Tongne Tavas, Tongue Tab, a 

chatterbox. 

Tootle dnm pattick, a foolish 

person. 

Top-dress, v, to manure land« 

Top-dressing, manure. 

Tor, prop, noun, a rugged hill, as 
Bough-<or {pron. Row-tor). 

Tose, V, to pull wool. 

Tosing, part, cleaning wool by 
pulluig. 

Tosh, a large bunch. " She*d a 
tosh of yellow ribbon in her hat." 
** A tosh of flowers." 

Tonch-pipe (pron, tich-pipe), a 
rest from work to smoke a pipe. 
*^ A change of work is as good as 
a touch-pipej** 

Tonsse, a fuss or hurry. " What's 
all the tousse ? " 

Tonssing, part, hurrying; fuss- 
ing. ** What are you toussing 
about now ? " 

Tonsser, a large, coarse, round 
apron, worn by servants to keep 
their dresses clean when doing 
dirty work; it often has a 
**mocket"(bib). 

Towans, prop, noun, sand-hills 
(Dunes). 

Town-place, a farm-yard. 

Towze, V. to pull about roughly. 

Towzing, part, pulling about 
roughly; whirling round. **I 
want something to stand rowsing 
and towzingj^ 



Toze, V, to walk quickly. 

Tozing, part, walking quickly. 
** I saw him tozing down street," 

Trade (pron, tra-ade), a mean 
thing. Doctor's trade, medi- 
cine. Sweet trade, sweetmeats. 
Spoken of with contempt ** I 
wouldn't take sich traade," 

Train-oil, expressed fish-oil, most 
commonly pilchard. 

Trapes, v, to walk ; to saunter. 

Trapesing, part, walking. " IVo 
been trapesing the streets all day 
to try and find my man " (hus- 
band). 

Trawy, a trough. T. C. 

Treesing, part, idling. " Treesing 
away your time." 

Trestrem, bait cut up to put on 
hooks. Mousehole fishermen, F. 
W. P. 

Tribnt {pron, trib-ut), tribute; 
a percentage paid on ores raised. 

Trib-nt-ers, tributers; miners 
who work for a percentage. 

Trickster, Tricker, an adept. 
** He's a trickster for dancing." 

"Triddling, part, trifling; talk- 
ing nonsense." Garland. 

Trig, V. to support ; to set up ; 
to put a stone under a wheel to 
stop it. 

Trig-meat, any kind of shell-fish 
picked up at low. water. Lar^e 
quantities of limpets and peri- 
winkles are gathered in Penzance 
on Shrove Tuesday ; this is called 
going a trigging. It was formerly 
the custom for boys and women 
to stand at the comers of the 
streets on that day, with black- 
ened hands, which they rubbed 
over people's faces. After dusk 
the men and boys went about, 
throwing handfuls of shells, bot- 
tles of filth, &c., in at open doors, 
taHng down signs, and unhang- 
ing gates. 



TTEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



61 



Troach, v, to hawk smuggled 
goods ; now sometimes applied 
to liawking vegetables, &c. 

Troaoli, v. to trample. " The 
pigs are troaching on the flower- 
beds." J. W. 

Treacher, a hawker of smuggled 
goods. 

Troll, a short row on the sea, 
when paid for called a "pennord 
o' say," Troil is old Cornish for 
feast. 

Troll-foot, a crooked foot; a 
chib-foot. 

Troll-footed, adj. club-footed. 

Trone, the depression between 
furrows. 

Trool, V, to turn round like a 
wheel. To roll a ball is to 
trool it. 

Troy town, a maze ; a labyrinth 
of streets. **I lost my way; 
'twas a regular Troy tow^n" 

Troy town, a litter. " She had 
quite a Troy town round her." 
A hard-working man is said ** to 
work like a Trojan." 

Tmff, a trout. '*As fat as a 

Tmg (g hard), used for trudge. 
Towednack, T. C. 

Trunk, a mining tooL 

Trunking, one of the processes 
of tin-£:essing. 

Tub, a red gurnard. 

Tnbbal, a miner's tool. 

Tubban, Tab, a turf. ^'She 
thrawed a tuhban at me." '* He 
was cutting tuhbans." 

Tuck, V. to chuck under the chin. 

Tucker, a fuller. 

Tacking mill, a fulling meal 

Tucking, a term used in seine 
pilchard fishing. 

Tuck-net, a net used in tucking. 



Tulky, Tulgy, a slovenly woman. 
** As black as a tulky/* 

Tummals, a heap; a quantity. 
** TuminaU of letters." 

Tuntree, Tuntry, the pole by 
which oxen draw a wain. 

Turf-tye, Tye. See Bed-tye. 
Turmuts, turnips. 
Turpentine-soap, yellow soap. 
Tut, a footstool ; a stupid person. 
Tut- work, job-work in mining. 
Twingle, v. to wriggle; to writhe. 

TTgly, adj, cross. "She's fine 
(very) and uglp to-day." ** I 
never knawed sich an ti^/y-tem- 
pered wreteh." 

TTnbeknown, not known. '^ Twas 
quite unhtknown to me." 

TTncle, a term of respect applied 
te old m^n. 

** Uncle Jan Duff, had money 
enough," &c. 

Old Nursery Rhyme, 

TTnfrooze, v., p. p., thawed. 

TTnkid, adj, solitary, dull. 

TTnlusty, adj, unwieldy. Couch.^ 

TTnopen, v. to open. 

TTnream, v. to take the cream off 
milk. 

TTnreamed, p, p, "Have you 
u^nreamed the milk ? " 

TTnrip, v. to rip. 

TTnripped, p. p, " My dress is 
unripped in the seams." 

Tipping - stock. See Hepping- 
stock. 

TTprise, TTpraise, v, to church 

women. 
TTprose, p, p, " She was uprose 
last Sunday." 

TTpscud, TJpskid. See Scud. 
TTrge, v, to retch. 



62 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



Vzzle (pron, oozle), the throat. 
Vzzle-pipe, the wind-pipe. 

Vady, adj. damp ; musty. 

Van, a kind of omnibus entered 
from the front part. 

Van, a rude process of trying tin 
ores by crushing and washing on 
a shoyeL 

Vargood, a spar about 23ft. long 
used as a bowline to the foresail 
of our fishing boats. W. F. P. 

Veak, Veach, an inflammation 
near a finger-nail ; a whitlow. 

Vean (Old Cornish), adj. little. 
Still occasionally used, but more 
as a term of endearment. 
* *Cheeld- vcan.'* 

Veer (Old Cornish), great. Used 
in proper nouns, as Vounder- 
veor, great lane. 

Veer, a sucking pig. 

Venom, a gathering in the finger, 
not near the top ; a whitlow. 

Veskin, a protection for a sore 
finger ; a glove. 

Vestry, the smiling of infants in 
their sleep. 

Victor - nuts, hazel - nuts. See 
Cock-haw. 

Vinnied, adj. mouldy. Blue- ripe 
cheese is. called vinnied cheese. 

Visg^e, an agricultural imple- 
ment, in shape between a mat- 
tock and a hammer, for beating 
down hedges. 

Visnan, Vidnan, a sand lance or 
sand eel. 

" Vizzery, vazzery, vozery, vem, 
Tizzery, tazzery, tozery, tem, 
Hiram, jiram, cockrem, spirem. 

Poplar, rollin, gem. 
There stands a pretty maid in a 
black cap. 



If you want a pretty maid in a 
black cap, 

Please to take she." 
Salf, TJie Queen, Aug. 23, 1879. 
Said by children in E. Cornwall 
when they want to know who 
shall hide, &c. See Ene, Mene, 
&c. 

Via, Flaw, the colic in cattle 
produced by their eating too 
much green food. 

Voach, V. to tread on heavily. 

Volyer. See Folyer. 

Vore, a furrow. 

Voryer, a horse-way; a border 
round a field. 

Voyder, a clothes basket ; a large 
basket for holding unmended 
linen sold by gipsy women. 

Vug, Vngh, Hugo. See Fogo. 

Wagel, a grey gulL 

Waiter, a tesrtray. 

Walk (prOn. waalk), v. to make a 
journey or visit, not a walk. 

Walk, a journey. **Have you 
had a nice waalk ? " asked on a 
return from France. 

Waive, V. to wallow. "Fm 

waiving in riches." 

Wambling, a rumbling. '' I have 
a wambling in my innerds." 

Want, a mole. " What's that 1 " 
"What you rich people never 
have in your house, a wanV 

Want-hill, a mole-hill. 

Wanting, phr. " How long have 
you been wanting f " = how long 
have you been away from home r 

Warsail, a corruption of wassaiL 
About New Year's Day four or 
six men join together; after 
dark, carrying with them a little 
bowl, they go from house to 
house, opening the doors, and 
calling out ** WarsaiV^ They 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 



63 



then sing some do^grel rli3nne8, 
asking people to giye something 
to 

** These poor jolly Warsail boys, 
Come travelling through flie 
mire." 

This custom has long been con- 
fined to the Tillages (pron. 
wars-ail). 

Watty, a name for the hare in 
use amongst poachers. Couch. 

Way, reason. " The way I said 
so." " The tDay I did it." 

Wayst, Wnst, ways. *' Go thee 
wust home," go thy way. A 
woman taking a pig home, not 
bein^ able to get it along, at last 
let it go, sa3dng, ** Q<) thee 
wayst ; I waan't have anything 
moore to do wi' 'ee." 

Wee's nest, a mare's nest. 
** They have found a wee^s nestj 
and are laughing over the ^gs." 

Weelys, wicker pots or traps for 
catching crabs. Also Cuiiner- 
pots. 

Weered, imp. of wear. "She 
weered her blue gownd." 

Weet, Weel, v. to pull. "Ill 

vfeet thy loggers (ears) for thee." 

Weeting, a flogging. 

Weeth, prop, noun, a field. 

Weethans, prop, noun, small 
fields. 

Wee-wow, adj, bent ; crooked. 
** My needle is all wee-wow,^* 

Well -near, acf.v, well nigh. 

** There were well-near a hun- 
dred people in the field.'* 

Werret, v, to worry ; to tease by 
over-talking. " She werrits me 
out of my life." 

Whap, a knock. " O.C. whaf, a 
blow." Unde Jan Trenoodle, 

Wheal, a mine. "O.C. hmV* 
" Wheal Mary." 



Whelk, Whilk, a stye on the eye. 

Whem, Whim, a part of the 
machinery of a mine worked by 
horse-power. * * I druv' a whem, 

WMmseys, whims. "She's full 
of her whimaeys,** 

Whinard, a redwing. " As cold 
and starved as a whinard,** See 
Swellack. 

Whip-np, V, to raise ; to hoist. 

Whip and while, adv, now and 
then. ** Every whip and while 
he goes away. 

Whipsidery, a machine for raising 
ore. 

Whistercuff, a box on the ear. 

Whit' - neek, a white-throated 
weasel. ** Screeching like a 
whit^-neck,** 

Whit'-pot, a dish made of cream 
or milk, flour, sugar, and nut- 
meg ; a kind of custard. 

White -rent, a duty formerly 
annually paid by tinners 
(miners). 

White-witch, a person (either 
male or female) supposed to be 
able to charm toothache, stop 
bleeding at the nose, &c. ; also 
to be able to give assistance in 
recovering lost or stolen pro- 
perty, to cure ill-wished (be- 
witched) persons: often con- 
sulted by the ignorant. See 
Pellar. 

Whiz, a fussy, troublesome per- 
son. " A dreadful old whiz.** 

Whiz, V, to bustle about fussily. 

Whizzing, part, bustling. " He's 
always whizzing about the 
house." 

Whiz-agig, a whirligig. 

Whizzy, adJ, confused. " My 
head feels but whizzy,** 

Widdershins, from N. to S., 
through E. 



64 



WEST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 



Widdle, WMddle, a whim ; non- 
sensical idea. *' Notihing more 
than an old woman's whiddle." 
** Pshaw! go widdle,** 

Widdy, widdy, way, a boys* 

game. 
** Widdy, widdy f way^ is a very 
pretty play ; 
Once, twice, three times, and all 
run away." 

Widow-man, a widower. "He 
was left a widow" Towednack 
and Sennen Cove. T. C. 

Wiff, a small pelerine. 

Wildfire, erysipelas. 

Wilver, a baker or pot under 
which bread is baked. Couch. 

Wimmick, v, to cheat; to beggar. 

Wince-along, v. to swagger; to 
walk with a swing. 

Windan - sheet, a winnowing- 
sheet. 

Windmow, a rick of com put up 
in a field where it has been cut. 

Wingerly, adj, thin; miserable. 
** A poor, white wingerly fellow.'' 

Wingery, adj. oozing ; shiny, as 
tainted meat. "The mait is 
wingery,^^ 

Windspnr - broach, a crooked 
stick thrust into each end of a 
thatch to secure the windspur 
rope. H. E, C. 

Windspnr-rope, a rope fastened 
over a hay-stack to prevent its 
being blown about by the wind. 

Winky-eye, a game. An egg is 
put on the ground some distance 
off, the number of paces being 
previously decided on. Each 
player in turn is blindfolded, and 
-wim a stick tries to hit and 
break it. 

Winze, a small shaft with a 
windlass. 



Wisht, adj. sick ; ill ; white ; 
melancholy. ** You're looking 
pure (very) and wisht/' " Funny, 
but tuishtr ** If s wisht y but it's 
quiet." J.W. 

Wonders. See Gwenders. 

Worms {pron, warms), poor old 
people. "Poor auld worms,]' 
spoken of an old man and his 
wife, both near ninety and dis- 
abled. Morvah, T. C. 

Wranny, a wren. F. C. 

Wriggle out the ashes, phr. 

clear the bars of the grate. 
Sometimes Biddle out. 

Wrinkles, periwinkles. 

Wroxle, V, to walk unsteadily; 
to stagger. 

Wnstn't, V. wilt not. "Thou 
wtbstrCt do et." 

Yaffer, a heifer. 
Taffle. See Jaffle. 
Yap, V, to yelp. 
Yowl, V, to howL 

Zacky. See Cousin Jacky. 

Zang, Sang, a small sheaf of 
com such as leasers (gleaners) 
make. Couch. 

Zeer, adj, " worn-out : generally 
used in regard to clothing, but 
appHed also metaphorica&y to 
persons. * She's very zeer,^'' 
Stackhouse. 

Zew, V, " to work alongside of a 
lode before breaking it down.'^ 
Garland,, 

Zukky, V, " to smart. ' I wish I 
had un here, I'd make im 
zukhyJ " Camborne, Cornish 
Telegraph. 

Zwele, V. to singe. " A zwded 
cat," a singed cat. 



65 



ADDENDA. 



Cmm, cramped with the cold. 
See Cruxn. 

Flap, a flash of lightning. 

HnBcen, scolded. T. W. S. 

Parrick, a Httle jug. T. W. S., 
Gwinear, Cornishman^ Feb. 16, 
1880. 

Feasen (pron, paisen) Monday, 



the Monday before Shrove Tues- 
day. So called in E. Cornwall 
from the custom of eating pea- 
soup on that day. 

Sharp Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday. 
Illustrated NewSj Feb. 14, 1880. 

TTdjiack, a small moveable block 
of wood' used by builders in 
fitting the planks of a boat. 



Words kindly corUrihuted by Mr, W, Ccpdand BorUney Laregan, Pemancey 
too late for insertion in the Glossary, The two last are from an old 
Tithe-book for the parish of St, Jttst, now in his possession. 



Cooty a beating. 

OraoWy gravel. See Growan. 

Eenack, a term applied to a 
weakly child. 

Eenack, a worm. 

Eip, a small net used to hang 
vegetables. 

Morgye, an ill-looking wench; 
a dog-fish. See Murgy. 

Fezac, a pilchard with a broken 
back. Fezzac is a Cornish sur- 
name. 

Tigga, Tiggy, a game played by 



boys in wbich they touch and 
run. See Stig. 

Willen, a beetle. 

Obsolete. 

Vannte, Vann-stone, of doubt- 
ful interpretation, possibly the 
stoup. 

Whitesoolde, cheese. Carew says 
of the Comishmen, ** their meat 
was ' Whitsuly^ as they call it, 
namely milke, sowre milke, 
cheese and butter." 



F 



EAST CORNWALL WORDS. 



By THOMAS Q. COUCH. 



<9 



INTRODUCTION. 



DuBiNQ a long and intiinate acquaintance with the folk of East 
Cornwall, it has heen my habit to make note of such words as are 
in common use among them, but which have non^ dropped, or are 
dropping, out of the talk of cultured society. Many of these good 
words, obsolete or obsolescent in polite English, hardly deserve their 
fate, but should be retained as brief, apt, and vivid expressions of 
thought, only to be represented otherwise by verbose and often 
clumsy periphrase. Our greatest authors were glad to use them, and 
their persistent survival, both in sound and sense, in the rustic talk, 
should be a plea for their restoration to modem English speech. 

In the' presence of the English Dialect Society, I have shrunk 
from giving many etymological remarks, and those I have ventured 
on may be taken as mere surplusage, to be accepted or rejected. I 
have given such instances of their use by our Middle English and 
earlier Modem English writers as my memory and scant shelves 
supply me with. 

A few of the peculiarities of our speech, common in many parti- 
culars to the south-western dialects generally, but differing from the 
spoken English of to-day, are here given :— ^ 

A. The past participle of verbs has often the aflfix a (the Anglo- 
Saxon ge), as a-zeed, Orheerd. There are many, but ill-defined, 
irregularities in the accentuation of this vowel, as slat for slate, 
taJde for tackle. 

D Is commonly elided from the termination of words, as hana^ 
bands ; grown, ground ; e. g. " I owed 'n vorty pouns.'* 

E. en. This old English mode of ending the acQective is retained 



70 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

by ua to a larger extent than in our common tongue : elmen tree, 
eloamen dish, &c, 

F is sounded as v before vowels and liquids. 

G. This letter is elided in the present participle, as doin for 
doing. 

I has often the sound of d, as ckeldy child ; kenlyy kindly, &c. 

Of loses its / before a consonant : " the nap o' the hill." 

R is often transposed, as girts^ groats; afeardy afraid; ajpenif 
apron. 

Sy at the beginning of words and when followed by a vowel or 
liquid, is replaced by its softer kin-letter, z, 

Th is pronounced d : dresh for thresh, datch for thatch. 

V and u are interchangeable in a most erratic way. We have 
helve for bellow, waive for wallow, hauen for haven, etud for eval (see 
glossary, sub voce). The ancient and knightly family of Beville 
bore a passant bull in their canting arms. 

F is occasionally substituted for h, but not so frequently as in the 
other south-western dialects. We have yaffel for armful, yeffer for 
heifer ; and the semi-consonantal e in ewe is with us yawe. 

In most instances the past tense of verbs is weak, as '' I knowed 
it " for " I knew it ; " and in a few cases where it is weak in national 
English it is strong with us, as " I gove," for " I gave." 

The infinitive mood has y often added in termihation, as to 
mowy, to reapy, to milky. 

Words ending in a mute consonant undergo metathesis, as haps 
for hasp, crips for crisp. 

There is a marked difference between the speech of East and 
West Cornwall, not only in structure and vocabulary, but in the 
intonation of sentences. We have none of that indescribable 
cadence, a sort of sing-song, which marks the patois of the West, 
and which I judge to be as truly Keltic as the Comu-British words 
which remain to it. At the beginning of the present century mining 
adventure, especially in the search for copper, became a furor in 
East Cornwall, and a passionate enthusiasm brought hither the 
skilled miners of the West, who flocked to the banks of Tyward- 
reath Bay, and further east to the central granite ridge about the tors 



INTRODUCTION. 71 

of Caradon. These immigrants brought with them and have left an 
infusion of their language, especially its technical portion^ but I 
remember when it was a great mimetic feat, and^ productive of much 
mirth amongst us, to be able to imitate the talk of Cousin Jacky 
from Eedruth or St Just. This intermixture of tribes, increased 
still later by facilities of travel, traffic, telegraphy, &c, has rendered 
it ahnost impossible to draw any but a very broad and blurred line 
between the dialects. The comparison can only be made by such 
glossaries as that furnished by Miss Courtney &om the extreme 
west^ and mine from the easternmost parts of the shire. If asked to 
define roughly a boundary, I know none better than the Parlia- 
mentary line from Crantock Bay, on St. George's Channel, to Yeryan 
Bay, on the English Channel, which bisects the county. The late 
John T. Tregellas, who more than any other had the faculty of 
seizing and vocally representing with minute accuracy the subtlest 
distinctions of word and tone, even between neighbouring parishes, 
thought he could plainly trace the limits of the two dialects. Hie 
opinion of so weU-known an expert may be here given : — 

" To any one who may be disposed to jeer at the idea as falla- 
cious or ridiculous, I should be desirous of placing such a one at 
Mousehole or any village in the neighbourhood of Penzance, and for 
an hour to enter into easy conversation with its rustic inhabitants, 
and having well rivetted their sing-song (chant) on his ear, to peiv 
ceive the lessening and altering of the intonation of the inhabitants 
as he proceeds eastward, through Towednack, St. Ives, Hayle, and 
Camborne, Eastward of Camborne, eV^n at Eedruth, the natural 
chant has died away; nor is it again heard from the more guttural 
speakers of Eedruth, Gwennap, and St. Agnes. But be it known to 
the curious in these matters, the miner of Perranzabuloe expresses 
himself uniformly in a full note higher than his adjoining parish- 
ioners of St. Agnes, and no sooner have you passed Oranioek and 
Cvhert and entered the St. Columb's, than you find the people's con- 
versation partake, in a very small on to a very large degree, of the 
peculiar "" zalt " for salt, "yeffer" for heifer, &a, of St. Gennys and 
the whole neighbourhood of Camelford and Boscastle, until you hear 
in its fullest form the * I zim' for I think, 'spewn' for spoon, &c., of 



72 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Bideford, where the peculiarity of Devon is so manifest." ^ The 
popular tongue of East Cornwall, indeed, resembles that of Devon- 
shire and of those counties generally which formed the ancient 
kingdom of Wessex. 

Carew {temp, Elizabeth), whose loved dwelling-place Anthony, 
the home of many ancestors, was where the River Lyner " winneth 
fellowship with the Tamer," gives us in his Survey some account of 
the language of his tinie. In those days of difficult travel and 
intercourse, his knowledge of the tongue generally spoken over the 
county was probably slight, and chiefly drawn from East Cornwall. 
In his book, admirable for its keenness of observation and felicity of 
description, often in vernacular phrase, we learn that " most of the 
inhabitants can speak no word of Cornish, but very few are ignorant 
of the English." A few did yet so still *^afifect their own" that to 
an inquiring stranger they would answer, " Meea nauidua 'cowzasa- 
>vzneck," = I can speak no Saxonage. However, he says of the old 
Keltic. speech, "The English doth still encroache upon it, and hath 
driven the same into the uttermost skirts of the shire ; " the fate also 
of the old Kymric on the opposite shores of Wales and Brittany. 
Tlie English which the East Cornish speak " is good and pure, as 
receyuing it from the best hands of their owne gentry, and the 
Paateme Merchants." There was still, our historian says, " a broad 
and rude accent, eclipsingy" after the manner of the Somersetshire 
men. 

Considering that the Cornish branch of the Keltic was in use 
down to a late date, it is remarkable how few and unimportant are 
its remains. Those grand and almost changeless objects of nature, 
mountains, valleys, headlands, bays, rivers, submarine hills, and dells, 
with the more mutable territorial divisions into towns, villages, 
hamlets, farms, and even fields, still keep their old and very descrip- 
tive names untouched by changeful time. Here and there we meet 
with a few of the old designations of animals, trees, and herbs. 
These are the last to part with the old language. " Mountains and 
rivers," remarks Sir Francis Palgrave, "still murmur the voice of 

' Homes and Haunts of the Bural Population of CormoaUy p. 2, by J. T. 
Tregellas. 



INTRODUCTION. 73 

nations long denationalized or extirpated ; " and, says Canon Farrar, 
^' though the glossaries of Gael and Cymry should utterly pass away, 
the names they gave to the grandest features of many a landscape 
will still stand upon the map." 

Many of our ancient names are most happily descriptive of the 
natural peculiarities of the scenes as they still exist : others lead us 
back in fancy to the pre-historic condition of the spots, so changed, 
but still keeping their old designations. Lostwithiel, a town on the 
banks of the River Fowey, long connected with the earls and dukes 
of Cornwall, by its name alone takes us far into the past, when it 
was the place or residence of woodmen, the simple and sylvan 
habitation of a people leading a wild and venatic Hfe. The Cymro- 
Keltic tongue, to which, the Cornish being dead, we are fain to 
appeal, tells us that the word is derived from Ldos, Llys^ or Les^ a 
place, and Gwddely of the woods. In the near neighbourhood we 
have a large parish called Withiel, and Cuddle and other variations 
or corruptions' are to be traced to the same root. Maen, a stone, is 
nearly as common a prefix as the Tre, Pol, and Pen, "by which you 
shall know the Comishmen." Mennear, maen-hir, is still a common 
patronymic, the first bearers of it being dwellers by the long stone. 
As names of places we have our Menadu, Menacuddle, Menabilly, 
Menhenniot, and a host of others. In our topographical nomencla- 
ture here and there occur designations which mark the steps of the 
intruder, as Tresawsen, the residence of the Saxon. The only traces 
of the Eoman domination remaining to us are on a few sepulchral 
stones by moor or wayside, where the old name is disguised by a 
Latin termination. A typical instance is found on the road to 
Fowey, near the ancient camp at Castle-dore, and not far from 
PoUcerris, where a monolith bears an inscription which is read thus : 

OIRVSIVS Hic JAcrr ovnomori filivs. 
The similarity between Cirusius and Kerris is fairly evident. 

Later on, our Teutonic invaders made deeper changes in our 
language, driving the Keltic into the extreme west, and leaving the 
speech "of East Cornwall essentially English, with just a sparse 
Fprinkling of Norman words. This neo-Latin influence is chiefly 
noticeable on the scutcheons of our ancient gentry, armigers. The 



74 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Tremaynes, dwellers by the rock, when French was fashionable took 
for arms the three hands ; the Trewinnards, their three winnaids or 
redwings ; and the Trefosises, their three fusils. The Carminows 
held to their Cornish motto, Cala Rag Whethlow ; and the Polwheles 
to their Karenza whelaa Karenza. 

In the compilation of my list I have gleaned from the collection 
of Jonathan Couch, who, as "Video," contributed it to Notes and 
Queries (voL x., First Series, 1854). The glossary in the History of 
Polperro^ commonly attributed to my father, is, with the chapter on 
folk*lore, entirely my own. I have also had assistance from the 
Verbal Provincialisms of SouthrWestem Devonshire, by W. Pengelly, 
F.E.S. In this pamphlet, reprinted from the Transactions of the 
Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science and Art, are 
many words contributed by Mr. Pengelly from Looe in East Corn- 
wall, and they are so identical in sound and meaning with those in 
use at Polperro, that I much doubt the accuracy of Mr. Bond*s 
informant when he says : — 

^^ I have been informed that about a century ago the people of 
Polperro had such a dialect among them, that even the inhabitants 
of Looe could scarce understand what they said. Of late years, 
however, from associating more with strangers, they have nothing 
particularly striking in their mode of speech, except a few of the old 
people." ^ 

Many words have been taken from the comic and burlesque verse 
of Henry Daniel, a native of Lostwithiel, who has with exquisite 
humour and true poetic faculty made free use of our vernacular ; and 
also I am indebted to an interesting series of articles contributed by 
Dr. F. W. P. Jago, of Plymouth, to the pages of The Comishman, 
a Penzance weekly paper. 

I have been much guided in the proper rendering of the words 
by Mr. Ellis's Pronunciation of English Dialects, and have striven 
to give them as phonetically as I could in ordinary spelling. 

^ Topographical and Historical Sketches of E. and W, Looe, 



75 



A GLOSSARY OF WORDS 



IN USE IN 



EAST COENWALL 



Abroad, Abrawd, open. " The door is all ahrawdJ* 

Adder. The Eev. J. L. Stackhouse, Curate of St. Mellion, says, that 
in his neighbourhood this name which generally means the viper, 
FeliuB Berus, is applied to the newt, Liasotriton jpunctatus. 

Afeard, afraid. 

Agate, " all agate,''* descriptiye of earnest attention. 

Agen, against ; untiL 

Agg, V, to incite ; set on ; provoke. A.S. eggian. 

All, used frequently as an augmentative, as " all abroad." 

Alley, the Allis shad, Alosa vulgaris. From its bony nature some- 
times locally called chuck-childem. 

Allsanders, the herb, Smymium olusatrum, 

Ampassy, the &c. (et cetera) at the end of the alphabet. 

Anan. This interjection, used within remembrance, is now nearly 
extinct. It seemed to imply a wish to have the question repeated, and 
to mean, ** what did you say ? " 

Anend, on end ; straight. " Tail anend" 

Angelmaine, the Monk fish, Squatina angelus (Mevagissey). 

Angle-twitch, Angle-touch, the earth-worm. 

Tagwormes which the Cornish English terme angle-touches, — Cabew. 
Tour bayte shall be a grete angyll-twytch or a menow. — Treatise of 
Fysshynge by Juliana Berners, 

Anist, Anest, near to ; nigh. " I wan*t go artist en." 

Anker, a keg or small cask of handy size for carrying by hand, or 
slimg on horse-back. Used by smugglers. 

Apple-drane, the wasp. 

Apsentree, the aspen, Populus tremula. 



76 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Arg, to argue. 

Arrant, errand. 

Go soul the body's guest 
Upon a thankless arrant. 
The Lie^ by Sir W. Baleigh, (a Devonshire man). 

Arrish. See Erish. 

Ary mouse, hairy mouse ; the bat. A.S. hrere mus. 

To war with r&re-mice for their leathern wings. 

Mid%, N, Dream, II. ii. 4. 

The village boys at Polperro address the bat as it flits above them in 
this song : — 

Ary 'mouse, ary-mouee ! fly over my head, 
And you shall ha' a crust o' bread, 
And when I brew and when I bake. 
You shall ha' a piece o' my wedding cake. 

Ascrode, astride. 

Attle, rubbish ; refuse. The Cornish tinner, in Carew's time, called 
the heaps of abandoned tin works, Attal Sarazin, which he translates, 
**The Jewes offcast" (Survey of Cornwall, ed. 1769, p. 8). The 
word is spelt by Pryce {Mineralogia Comuhienata), attal, attle, adall, 
addle, and said to mean corrupt, impure, off-casts, deads. A.S. 
aidlian. Whatever the root, there are many branches, as addle, 
idle, &c, 

Avore, before. 

Ax, to ask. 

Azew. A cow is said to be azew when drained of milk before 
' calving. In some parts, when milking is discontinued, the cow is 
"gone to zew" 



Baly a mine. 

Ball, (1) to beat. 

(2) to ball, or as noun, a bawl. ** Hold thy hall,*' hold your noise. 

Balch, a stout cord used for the head-line of a Ashing net. 

Balk, in some places bulk. To balk pilchards is to pile them wall- 
like, in layers of pilchards and salt. Balk seems to mean a hedge, 
ridge, and metaphorically, an obstacle. Shakspere used this word 
as we do. Sir Walter Blount brings news of the discomfiture of 
Douglas, and describing the field, speaks of — 

Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, 
BaWctia their own blood. — Henry iF., Pt. 1, I. L 

That like a halk with his cross builded wall. 

Pkeneas Eletcher's Purple Island, Canto iv. Stanza 11. 

Ballywrag, to scold or abase. Barnes, in the Glossary appended to 
his Poema of Rural Life in the Dorset dialect, suggests a derivation 
j^om A.S. healu, evil, and wregan, to accuse. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 77 

Bankront, bankiapt. In the first folio edition of Shakspere, 1623, 
the form hanJerotU is generally used. See Mer. of Venice, lU. L 47 ; 
rV. i. 122. In Lov^a Labour Lost^ I. i. 27, the form is ** bankerout.** 
Marston in Antonio's Revenge, H. ii. has — 

Bich hope : think not thy face a hankrout though. 

Sannel, the broom {Cytisvs aeoparivs). From the Comish hana^, 
Williams {Lexioon Oomu Brit.) says, '*this is a late form. In the 
Comish vocabulary it is written banathel, genista. It enters into the 
name of many ^aces in Cornwall, as Bannd, Banathlek, Bennathlick, 
Bennalack.'* He gives instances from cognate dialects. 

Barm, yeast. There is in some parts a trill on the r, as barrum. 

Bassom, Bassomy, blush red, with inclination to purple, as in con- 
gestion of the cutaneous circulation. 

Bean, a withy band. 

Beat, burnt turf. 

Beat-burrows, a heap of burnt turves. In Carew's time, as now, 
farmers ''a little before ploughing time scatter abroad their heat-^ 
horougJia" {Survey of Cornwall, ed. 1769, p. 20). 

Becker, a species of bream, Spams pagrua, 

Bedman, sexton. A word going out of use. 

Bee-bnt, bee-hive. 

Balk, V. to belch. 

Till I might helk revenge. 

Mabston, Antonio*8 Revenge, I. i. Ibid, I. lii. 

Belong. A curious employment of this word is observed here, e. g. 
** I belong working to Wheal Jane." 

Belve, to bellow. 

Bettermost, much the best. 

•» 

Bever, to shiver. 

Biddicks, a mattock : perhaps from heat, burnt earth, and aa^, 

Bilder, the herb Heracleum sphondylium. In some parts called 
cowflop. The bild^ in many districts is that hurtful herb the hem-r 
lock water-drop wort, (Enanthe crocata* 

Biahop, the fish. Coitus scorpius. 

Black-head, a boil or furuncle. 

Blacky-month, November. The mis diu of the old Comish. 

Black-worm, the cock-roach. 

Blame, a word of objurgation. " I'm blamed if I don't." 

Blinch, to catch a glimpse of. E, g. " I just blinched en gam round 
the caunder." 

Blindbuck-a-Davy, the game of blind-man's bufif. 



78 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Bloody warrior, the wall-flower, CTieiranthus cheiri, 
Blooth, Kowfh, blossom. 

No fniit I promise from the tree 
Whicli for this blooth hath brought. 

Oaeew's Survey of C, Proaopopeia, 

Blne-poU, a species, or more probably a variety of salmon remarkable 
for the steel blue colour of its head, and for ascending our rivers 
(e. g, the Camel), about Candlemas ; hence, when occurring in numbers 

^ they are called ''the Candlemas schull." The great majority are 
observed to be males or kippers. 

Bobble, a pebble. 

BoldaoiouSi audacious; bold; impudent. 

Bon-orab, the female of the edible crab, Platycarcinus pagunis, 

Boostis, fat ; well conditioned. 

Boots and Shoes, the columbine, Aquilegia vulgaris. 

Bewerly, stately and comely. " A bowerly woman." 

Boy's love, southernwood. 

Brage, to scold violently. 

Braggaty, spotted ; mottled. In an old manuscript account book 
which belonged to a white witch or charmer of East Cornwall, I 
find a charm in which this adjective is applied to the adder. 

"A charam for the bit of an ader. *Brad^y, bradgty, bradgty, 
imder Ihe ashing leaf,' to be repeated three times, and strike your 
hand with the growing of the hare. * Bradgty, bradgty, bradgty,' tQ 
be repeated three times, nine before eight, ei^ht before seven, seven 
before six, six before five, five before four, four before three, Ihree 
before two, two before one, and one before every one. Three tunes 
for the bit of an ader." 

Brandys, a tripod or trivet used in cooking. 

Brath, broth. Here chiefly noticed for a curious idiom we have, 
**& few hrathf^^ a dish of broth with a few cubes of bread soaked 
in it. 

Brave, fairly good ; tolerably well. It is sometimes used without 
any well-defined meaning to qualify a noun, implying that the thiug 
is moderately good of its sort. E.g, ** 'Tis brave weather." ** How be 
you?" **Bravish." Pepys writes (September 19, 1662), **that he 
walked to Bedriffe by brave moonshine." 

Breek, a rent or hole in a garment. Qy. break. E, g. " There isn't 
a breek in it." 

Briming. The name given to those scintillations of light in the sea 
waves at night, produced by several species of entomosbraica, medusae, 
&c., when excited. Carew calls it briny. 

Brouse, thicket. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSART. 79 

Brown-wort, the figwort, Scrophularia nodoscL The leaves are 
much used as an application to ulcers. 

Browihy. Light and spongy bread is hrowthy. 

Buck. The Imcic in the dairy is a change in the milk and cream, 
produced by some unknown influence, perhaps electrical, or more 
probably some Aingoid or other growth by which they acquire a 
^sagreeable taste and smelL It is very difficult to eradicate from the 
dairy when once in. 

Bnckhom, whiting, salted and dried. Once a considerable article 
of export from Polperro and other fishing towns * but in these days 
when we cannot wait for fish to be salted the trade is discontinued. 

BoiBe-head, thick-head ; dunder-head. 

But my Lord Mayor, a talking, bragging, huffle^headed fellow. — 
Pepya, March 17, 1663. 

Bullardy bullward ? In the cow, maris appetena, 

BuIItukl, the fruit of the Prunus interstitia, or bullace tree. 

Boltys, Boulter, a term applied by fishermen to an apparatus for 
catching conger, pollack, &c. It consists of a long line, haying at 
interrals hanging from it snoods of a fathom length armed wil^ 
tinned hooks. The snoods have many separate cords to prevent the 
fish liberating themselves by gnawing. The whole is moored, and its 
position marked by a buoy. Garew calls it a botUter, 

Bmnfire, bonfire. 

Bnnt, the concavity or bellying of a net or saiL 

Burrow, a mound or heap; a sepulchral tumulus. See Beat- 
burrows. 

Buss, a yearling calf stiU sucking. 

Bussy-milk, the first milk after calving. 

Buts, bots, a disease of the horse. Shakspere uses the word. Tusser 
bids the farmer beware of giving his cattie ** green peason for breed- 
ing of hota.^* — Five Hwnd, Points : December Husb., v . 17. 

Butt, (1) a heavy two-wheeled cart. 

(2) a hive; "abee-but." 

Butter and Eggs, the flower Narcissus poeticus, 

Butterdock, the herb burdock, Arctium majus. Tlie fruit are called 
eockle-bells. 



€ab, a dirty mess ; a slovenly, untidy thing. 
Cabby, adj. dirty. 

Caff, refuse ; especially refuse or unsaleable fish. 
Cannis, to toss about carelessly. 



80 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Caper-longer, the shell-fisli, Pinna ingens, 

Caprouse, a tumult, or row. " He keck'd up zich a caprouse" 

Care, the mountain ash, Pyncs aucuparia. 

Cats and dogs, the catkins of the willow. 

Catty-ball, a ball used in play. 

Canch, a mess. 

Cauchy, sloppy ; miry. " The roads be caiLchyy 

Caudle, entanglement; mess. 

Cawed, a disease in sheep, &c., produced by the liver fluke, Distoma 
hepaticum, A sheep affected hy that disease, elsewhere known as rot> 
is cawed. In Dorset it is a-cothed, Barnes (op. cit.) quotes the Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle: "swile coth com on mannum : such a disease 
came on men. 

Chacking, half famished. **Tm chacking with hunger." See 

Chak, cheek. " I'll scat the' chaks" 

Chakky cheese, the fruit of the common mallow, much liked by 
children. 

Chall, the building where kine are housed. 

Chap, a young fellow. 

Cheeld, child. 

Cheens, the loins. 

Cheese, the cake of alternate pounded apple and straw from which 
the cider is pressed. 

Chien or Cheen, to germinate. Potatoes in a dark cellar cheen, in 
some petrts cheem. 

Chitterlings, the small guts and mesentery. Ohitter means thin ; a 
furrowed-feced person is called ** chitter-faced." 

Chop, to barter. 

As for the chopping of bargains. — Bacon, Essay of Riches, 
Chopping and changing. — GossoN, School of Abuse, 

Chow, to chew. 

Chuck, choke. 

Chuck-children, the Allis Shad, Alosa vulgaris. So called from tbe 
bony nature of the fish, and its inelegibiHty as an article of infant diet. 

Chuf^ sulky ; sullen. 

Church-hay, churchyard. Hcez, an inclosure. This word is dropping 
out of use, but is often heard in the adage, 

A hot May 

Makes a fet Church-hay, 

Church-town, the church village. 



15AST CORNWALL GLOSSAET. 81 

Chnrer, a char-womaiu 

Clam, the starfish, Asteriaa glaeialis. 

Clan, a rude wooden foot-bridge over a stream. 

Clib, to stick or adhere. 

Clibby, sticky; adhesive. 

Click-handed, Click-pawed, left-handed. Cornish, dom-gltken: 
dorn, hand ; gliken, left. 

Cliders, the herb, rough bed-straw, Galium aparine, 

Clidgey, adj. descriptive of a gelatinous, sticky consistence in bread 
confectionery, &c. 

dome, earthenware, distinct from the more pellucid china-ware. 
Clop, to limp. Cornish elof, lame ; Jdqppik, a cripple. 

Clout, a napkin for infants. 

When clothes are taken from a chest of sweets 
To swaddle infants, whose young breath 
Scarce knows the way ; 
Those doids are little winding-sheets 
Which do consign and send them unto death. 

Hebbebt, Church MorHflcation, 

Cluck, to crouch ; stoop. K g. " Cluchy down." 

Cluck, the sitting osstrum in hens. 

Clum, benumbed. " My hands are dum with the cold." 

Clunk, to swaUow. That action by which food passes from the 
tongue into the pharynx. 

Clunker, the uvula. 

Clush, to lie close on the ground. 

Clusty, a close, heavy consistence in bread, potatoes, &c. 

Cockabell, Cocklebell, icicle. 

CoUybrand, smut in com. 

Comjiosants, the meteor Castor and Pollux, known to sailors as 
ominous of storm. Qy. Spanish ctierpo santo, 

Condiddle, to take away clandestinely ; to filch. 

Conger doust or Conger douce, 1 sweet conger. The fish, Conger 
vulgaris, was within the memory of our oldest, and for reasons which 
might well be inqjuired into, immensely more abundant than now. 
Up to the beginnmg of the present century, a large trade existed 
between Cornwall and Catholic coTintries in Conger-douce, For further 
information as to the mode of its preparation, see Couch's Fishes, 
voL iv. p. 345. 

Coomb, a narrow valley. 

o 



82 EAST GORimALL GLOSSARY. 

Oorraty pert; impudent; saucy; sharp in rejoinder. "As eorrat 
as Crocker's mare." E. 0. proverb. 

Corwich, the crab, Maia aquinado. 

Oow-flop, the herb, cow parsnip, Heracleum Sphondylium^ 

Cowshem, cow-dung. 

Cowshemy, (zdj. applied to the sea when it assumes an olive green, 
turbid appearance, as if coloured with cow-dung. This appearance 
is probably owing to tibie presence of animalcules, such as entomos- 
tracse, medusae, &c. 

Crabbit, crabbed ; sharp and contradictory. 

Creem, to squeeze. It is metaphorically used to describe that sensa- 
tion of rigor or creeping of the flesh, known as goose flesh, cutis 
atiserina, ** I felt a creem go over me," ** Creemed wiVthe cold." 

Creen, to wail, or moan. . " The cheeld best been ereening all day/' 

Crib, a crust of bread. 

Cribbage-faced, small and pinched in face. 

Cricket, or Crecket, a low stool. Qy. A.S. eric, a crutch, or prop. 

Crickle, to break down through feebleness. 

Crim, a morsel ; a small quantity of anything. Allied to the word 
crumb. Often applied to time. Rg, ** After a crim,** in a very short 
time. 

Crowdy, to fiddle. Crowd, a fiddle. Crowder, a fiddler. "So 
long as you'll crowdy they'll dance." E. 0. proverb. Orowdero had 
his name from this word, said to be Keltic. Crwth is Welsh for a 
fiddle. 

O sweet consent between a crowd and a Jew's harp. 

John Lilly, Campaspe, II. i 

Crow-sheaf, the terminal sheaf on the gable of a mow. 

Cmddle, v, to curdle. 

See how thy blood cruddled at this. 

Beaumont and Fletcher, A King and no King, I. i. 

Cruel, in common use to qualify almost any noun, and has nothing 
of the meaning usually conveyed. Cruel slow, very slow ; cruel hard, 
very hard (Qy. slang). 

Crumpling, a stunted apple. 

Cry out, travail ; parturition. Shakspere makes King Henry VIII. 
(V, i.) say to Lovell concerning his discarded Queen Catherine :— 

What say'st thou ? ha 1 
To pray for her ? What is she crying out f 

Lovell, So said her woman ; and ttiat her sufPerance made 
Almost each pang a death. 

Cnckle-dock, the herb burdock, Arctium majna. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 83 

Cnckoo-spit, the froth of the insect, Cicadia epumaria. In that 
exquisitely dainty feast which Herrick spreads for Oheron is — 

A Utile 
Of that we call the ctickoo spittle, — Hesperidei, 

Cue, an ox shoe. There are two on each division of the hoof, some- 
what resemhling a Q, from which the name may he derived. 

Cnlch, oyster spat. 

Cullers, the same as Hollihnhher (Delahole). 

Cnlver-hoxind, the lesser spotted dogfish, SqucUtu cattdua. 

Cnstis, a smart blow on the open palm. A common school punish- 
ment ; also the name of the instrument inflicting it. 

Cuttit, sharp in reply ; pert ; impudent. 



Baiter, sometimes Darter, daughter. 

Baps, likeness ; image. " He's the very daps & es vather." 

Batch, thatch. 

Baver, to fade or soil. 

Bavered, faded ; soiled. 

Bayberry, the wild gooseberry. 

Beave, or Deeve, barren ; empty. A nut without a kernel is deeve, 

Belbord, the fish, nurse hound, Squalus canicula, N.E. C. 

Dams, the wooden frame in which a door swings. The dead and 
dry stock of an apple-tree is apple-dern, 

Bew-snail, the slug, Limax agrestis. 

Dish, (1) a toll of tin ; a gallon, according to Carew. Vide Pryce, 
Mineralogia Comub. 

(2) to be suddenly downcast or dismayed. 

Dishwasher, the bird, water wagtail 

Disle, the thistle. Milky disle, Sonchus oleraceus, 

Dogga, the picked dog-fish, Acanthius vulgaris. 
Dole, confusedly stupid. 

Doll, Qy, Toll, a tribute by the Lord of a tin-sett, tollere. 

Dory-monse, the dormouse. 

Dossity, spirit ; activity. 

Donst, chaff; dust. 

Down-danted, cast down ; depressed in spirits ; daunted. 

Dowse, to throw on the ground. 

2 



84 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Drang, a narrow passage or alley. A.S. thrang, thi^ingen^ to press, 
squeeze, or thruet. 

Drash, to thrash. 

Drashel, a flail. 

Draxel, the threshold. 

Dredge-oorn, a mixed crop of barley, oats, and wheat. 

DrifT, a small quantity. A word now not commonly used. 

Dnnged, or Dringed up, crowded. 

Srith, Dryih, dryness. 

Drover, a fishing boat employed in driving or fishing with drift or 
floating iiet& 

Drug, to drag. " Drug the wheeL" Chaucer says : — 

And at the gate he prof red his servyse 

To drugge and drawe what so men wold devyse. 

Knightea Tale, 
Dmle, to drivel. 

Dmmble-drane, the humble bee. 

Dubbut, short ; dumpy. 

Duggle, to walk about with efibrt and care, like a very young child. 

Dnmbledory, the cockchafer. 

Dommet, the dusk. 

Dwalder, to speak tediously and confusedly. 

Ear-bussnms, the tonsils. 

Easy, idiotic. 

Eaver, in some parts pronounced Hayver. The grass, Lolium 
perenne, 

Eglet, or Aglet, the fruit of the white thorn, haw. 

Elleck, a species of gurnard, Trigla cuculus, Carew in his enumera- 
tion of Cornish fishes mentions the " Illek." 

Elvan, probably a purely Cornish term applied to intrusive dykes of 
porphyritic felsite, but sometimes locally and ignorantly to coarse 
sandy beds of killas. 

Emmers, embers. 

En. The old plural termination still kept by some English nouns, 
as ox, oxen ; chick, chicken, is retained by us in pea, peasen ; house, 
housen, &c. 

Eppingstock, the step from wMch a horse is mounted by women. 
A common convenience in most farm-yards. Qy. upping-^ck. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 85 

Errish, sometimes Arrish, stubble^ 

Errish-, or Arrish-moWy field stacklets of wheat or barley. 

Eval, a dung fork. In the Easternmost parts of Cornwall it is, ' yule, ' 
eual, 

Eve, to become moist. A stone floor is said to eve before wet weather. 
A good hygrometric mark among country folk. 

Evett, sometimes Ebbet, the newt. 

May never evet nor the toad 
Within thy banks make their abode. 

Browne's Britannia Pastorals, Book L Song 2. 

Eyle, the eel. 

Faggot, a feminine term of reproach. Also used to designate a 
secret and imworthy compromise. A man who, in the wrestling ring, 
sells his back, is said to faggot, I presume it has some relationship 
to the word in use among electioneering people, faggot vote. 

Fairy, a weasel. 

Fang, more commonly pronounced Vang^ to take ; collect ; handle, 
or receive. AS. fengan. 

And Christendon of priests handes fonge, 

Chaucer, Man of Lawes Tale, 

Fare-nut, Vare-nut, the earth-nut or tuberous root of the Bunium 
flexuomm. 

Feather bow, fever few, Matricaria parthenium, 

Fellon, inflammation. Culpepper says that the berries of the bitter- 
sweet {Solanum dulcamara) are applied with benefit to felons. Vide 
Amara duhis. 

Fellon-herb, the mouse-ear hawk-weed, Hieraceum pUosella, 

Fern-web, a coleopterous insect, Melorontha horticola. 

Fetterlock, fetlock. 

Fit, to prepare or arrange. " Shall Ifit o, cup o' tay for *ee 1 " 

ritchett, a polecat. 

Fitty, fitting ; proper. 

Flaygerry, a frolic ; spree. 

Fleet, V, to float. 

Ere my sweet Gkiveston shall part from me 
This ide shall fleet upon the ocean. 

Maiilowe, Troublesome Reign of King Edw, 11, 

Flikkets, flashes ; sudden or rapid change of colour. 

riox, to agitate water in a closed vessel. 

Flying-mare, a peculiar and dangerous hitch or grip in wrestling. 



86 ^lAST CORNWALL QLOSSART. 

For, daring. " Once /or the day." 

Torfhy, officious ; forward. 

Fouse, to soil or crumple. 

Frape, to bind. 

Freath, or Vreafh, a wattle. 

Fumade, a pilchard [prepared by the process of balking, perhaps 
formerly smoked. 

Fumigg, to deceive ; desert, or fail in a promise. Qy. From the 
Comiish ^*fadiCf** a runaway* **Femgy," Video. 



Oad, a chisel for splitting laminated rocks. A.S. ga^ gaad, goad, 

Ghkddle, to drink greedily. 

Gale, an impotent bulL 

Oambrel, the hock of an animal. 

QsJLge, To gange a hook is to arm it and the snood with a fine 
brass or copper wire twisted round them to prevent their being bitten 
oS. by the nsh. 

Ghkwky, stupid ; foolish. C. gog, a cuckoo. A.S. gaee, geac, gcec^ a 
cuckoo. 

Oe^se, a girth of a saddle. 

Oerrick, the garfish, Belone vulgaris. 

Oiglet, an over merry, romping girl. 

Away with those gigleU too. — Measure for Measure, V. 352. 
Oing, the whip employed to spin a top. 
Oladdy, the yellow hammer. 
Olawer, the fish, power, Morrhua minuta, N.E. C. 
Olaze, to stare. 
Olint, to catch a glimpse of. 

Ooad. Land in small quantities is measured by the goad or staff 
with which oxen are driven. It represents nine feet, and two goads 
square is called a yard of ground. 

Oo-a-gooding. On the day before Christmas day poor women go 
round to their richer neighbours asking alms. This is called ^otn^-a- 
gooding. 

Ooody. To goody is to thrive or fatten. 

Gk)0g, or Gng, a seaside cavern. N.K C. 

Ooosey-dance. Burlesque sport on Christmas Eve. Vide Hist, of 
Folperro, p. 161. 

Gore* " A gore of blood. " 



EAST CORNWAUi GLOSSARY. 87 

Oorry, a wleker flasket with two long handles, carried in the mode 
of a sedan chair. 

GoiS, the reed, Arundo phragmites. 

Grab, to grasp ; seize. 

Grainy, proud; haughty. 

Grange, to grind the teeth. 

Green-sauce, the herb, Rumex aeetosa. 

Greet, earth; soil. 

Greet-board, the earth-board of a plough. 

Grey-bird, the thrush, Turdtu musicus. 

Gribble, the young stock of a tree on which a graft is to be inserted. 

Gripe, a ditch. Hedg^-gripe, the ditch by the hedge of a field. 

Griste, grist. Com sent to the mill to be ground. 

Grizzle, to grin ; to laugh. 

Guf^ stuff; refuse. 

Gnlge, to drink gluttonously. 

Gumption, sense ; shrewdness ; aptitude of understanding. 

Gnr, the fish, shanny, Blennius pholis, S.K C. 



Hack, to dig lightly. '' To hack tetties " (potatoes). 

Hallihoe, the skipper fish, Scomberesox saurus, 

Hall-Monday, Collop, or Shrove Monday, probably Hallow-monday, 
Vide Nicky-nan night. 

Hall nut, the haz^l. 

Hame, a circle of straw rope ; a horse-collar. A hame is used to 
fasten the fore leg of a sheep to his neck to prevent straying, or 
breaking fence. 

Handsel, to use or handle for the first time. 

Hange, the heart, lungs, and liver of an animal on a butcher's stall. 
" Head and hangeJ* 

Hapse, a hasp. 

Hardaby elvan rock. 

Hard-head, the herb, black knapweed, Centaurea nigra 

Hares-meat, the wood-sorrel, Oxalis acetosella: 

Harve, a harrow. 

Hastis, hasty ; sudden. ^ " HasHs news." 

Hanen, haven ; harbour. 



88 BAST CORNWALL OLOSSART. 

HaTftge, Hneage ; exkaciion. The children of a family of ill repute 
are said to be " o* bad havage,** 

EaynOi v, to withdraw cattle from a field with a view to a crop 
of hay. 

Eayrish. See ErrisL 

Haydng, poadmig. 

Heali or Hail, to hide or conceal. A.S. helan., "The Jiailei^a 

as bad's the stailer.** Local proverb. 

Hedg^boaTy the hedgehog. 

Hedg^gripe, a ditch at the foot of a hedge. 

Heel-tap, n, the heel-piece of a shoe. Metaphorically, the remainder 
of an ill-drained glass of Uquor. 

Hekkymal, the blue tit (Parus coervleua). 

Helling, in some parts Hailing, roofing stone ; flat slate. 

His howses were unhilid 

And full i yvel dight. — Cokes Tale of Oamelyn, 

Herringbaim, the fish, sprat, Clupea sprattus, 

Hile, the beard of barley. 

Hoaze, hoarse. 

Hobbin, a countryman's pasty which he takes to his work for a mid- 
day meaL 

Hog, Hogget, a sheep after six months of age. 

Hollick, an alliaceous plant, common in cottage gardens. 

Holm-bnBh, the holly. 

Holmscritch, the missel-thrush, Turdtis viscivorus. 

Holt, hold ; place of retreat. ? From Jielan. 

Home, pronounced horn, near to ; nigh ; close. ^' Make ho77i the door." 

Homer, homeward. 

Homey-wink, the lapwing plover. 

Horse, a fault in a rock. A portion of dead ground splitting a lode, 
named a rider or ritJier in Yorkshire. Pryce. 

Honse-wanning, a wedding gift, or present on first keeping house. 

Howsomever, however. 
Hudd, the husk of hard fruit. 

Buer, a man on shore who directs by signs the movements of the 
seine fishermen. 

Hull, the empty and rejected shell of nuts, peas, &c. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 89 

Hnlster, a hold; place of retreat, er concealment, like Holt E, g, 
« This rubbish es only a huUter for snails." 

Hnrrisome, hasty ; passionate. 
Hurry-sknrry, confusion; intemperate haste. 
HnrtSy whortleberry. 

lie, the liver fluke, distoma Jiepatic^, productive of rot in sheep. 
Ill-wished, bewitched. 

Inkle, tape ; narrow webbing. " As thick as /n/cZe-weavers." 
Inwards, intestines. 

Jack 0* Lantern, Ignis fatuus, the pisky Fuck. 

Jack o' Lent, a figure made up of straw and cast-off clothes, carried 
round and burnt at the beginning of Lent, supposed to represent 
Judas Iscarioi — ffist. o/Folperro, p. 125. 

Jakes, a state of dirty untidiness. 

Jam, to squeeze forcibly ; to crush. 

Janders, jaundice. 

Jenny-quick, an Italian iron. 

Jew's ears, some species of fungi. 

Joan the Wad, the name of an elf or pisky. 

Joiee, juice. 

Jowter, a travelling fishmonger. Carew says of Polperro, that there 
" plenty of fish is vented to the fishdrivers, whom we caliy<n£;^«." 



Keenly, deftly, as, "he does it keenly J^ Also kindly; favourable. 
** Brave keenly gossan.*' 

Keeve, a large tub. 

Kenning, an ulcer on the eye. 

** What is called a kenning, kerning, or a horny white speck on the 
eye, we have several old women who profess to cure by a charm. 
Possibly kenning may imply a defect in the ken or sight. The old 
word ken is used for sight m Oomwall as well as in Scotland. I should 
not omit to state that the application of some plant to the part affected 
accompanies the muttered incantation. In the present case it is the 
plant or herb here yclept the kenning harb." — ^Polwhele's Traditions 
and Recollections, vol. ii. p. 607. 

The plant I have seen most commonly used for clearing opacities of 
the cornea is the celandine, ckelidonium majiis, 

Kerls, swollen and hard glands. Same root as kernels. 



90 BAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Kern, to liarden^ as com does after blossoming. A word with large 
Felationships. 

Kib. To kib a gap, is to mend a hedge with thorns^ and put tabs or 
turyes to keep them down. 

Kibble, a mine backet. 

Kiddylwink, a beer-house. Vide Tiddlywink. 

Killas, Kellas, a local name in Cornwall and Devon for every kind 
of clay slate. It includes, in different districts, soft clay slate, roofing 
slate, fine-grained cleavable sandstone, &c. It may be said to include 
all fine-grained sedimentary rocks of silicious nature and schistose in 
structure. 

Killick, a stone set in a frame of wood, used by fishermen to anchor 
a boat in rough ^;round, instead of a grapnel. ** The word kelUck, as 
I am informed, signifies a circle in Welsh ; and it is probable that the 
circle of wood wmch holds the stone is the foundation of the name.*' 
— Video, 

Kimbly. " The name of a thing, commonly a piece of bread, which 
is given under peculiar circumstances at weddings and christenings. 
It refers to a curious custom which probably at some time was 
general, but now exists only at Polperro, as far as I know. When 
the parties set out from the house to go to the Church, or on their 

; business, one person is sent before them with this selected piece of 
bread in his or her hand (a woman is commonly preferred iqt this 
office), and the piece is given to the first individual that is met, whose 
attention has been drawn to the principal parties. I interpret it to 
have some reference to the idea of the evil eye, and its influence from 
envy which might fall on the married persons or on the child, and 
which is sought to be averted by this unexpected gift. It is also 
observed at bu:ths in order that by this gift envy may be turned away 
from the infant or happy parents. This kimbly is commonly ^ven to 
persons bringing the first news to persons interested in the birth." — 
Jonathan Couch, Polperro. 

Kink, a twist in a rope ; entanglement. 
Kipper, a male salmon. 

Kit, (1) kith. 

(2) the buzzard, Buteo vulgaris. Perhaps applied to the kite, 
Milvus regalia, before the bird became so exceedingly rare. 

Klip, to strike or cuff. " I klipped *en under the ear." 

Knagging) inclined to be contentious, and ill-tempered. 

Knap, the top or brow of a hill. 

Hark I on the hnap of yonder hill 

Some sweet shepherd tunes his quill. — ^Bbowne. 

As you shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of ground. — 
Bacon's Essays, 

Knap-kneed, knock-kueed. 

Ko ! an exclaniation of entreaty. Video says Coh is an exclamation 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 91 

of no yery decided meaning ; but it signifies to put off, as much as 
to say, f*You don't mean what you say," "Go along with you." 
Generally in E. C. it is used as supplementary to any earnest request, 
and is yery expressiye of eager entreaty. 



Lairy^ Leery, adj, descriptiye of emptiness or sinking at the stomach. 

Lake, a small stream of running water. Sometimes a space in the 
open sea where a particular current runs, as thh lake oft Polperro. 
Gwayas lake, 

Lamper, the lamprey. 

Lampered, mottled. ^* Lampered all oyer," like the sea lamprey. 

Lank, the flank, or groin. 

Lapstone, the stone on which a shoemaker beats his leather. 

Lask, a slice taken off the tail of a mackerel ; a fayourite bait in 
whiffing for mackerel or pollack. 

Latten, tin. 

Launder, a shute running under the eayes of a house. 

Lawrence, Larrence, the rural god of idleness. '< He's as lazy as 
Larence," *' One wad think that Larence had got hold o^n." A most 
humorous illustration of the dialect of Somersetshire, by Hr. James 
Jennings, printed in Brayley's Graphic and Historical lUustraior, p. 
42, shows that Larence is there held in the same repute. 

Leasing, gleaning. 

Leat, a mill stream. 

Lent-lily, the daffodil, Narcisaiis pseudo-Narcissus. 

Lerriping, expressiye of unusual size. A slang term like " whopping." 

Let, to hinder or stop. Still in common use among boys at play : 
** as you let my marble." 

Levers, the plant, Iris pseudacorus. From lyfreny leayes; thin laminao, 
very descriptiye of the flag or marsh iris. 

Lew, .sheltered. A common word in the Wessex dialect, signifying 
a sunny aspect, but protected from the wind, eminently descriptiye of 
our towns, the Looes. 

Lewth, shelter. . 

Lidden, a monotonous song or tale. Carew says it means a " by* 
word." 

Lide, the month of March. 

Lig^^an, or Lig. The manure composed of autumnal leayes washed 
down by a stream, and deposited by side eddies (Fowey). A species 
of sea- weed. See Worgan^a General View of Agriculture in Cornwall, 
p. 126. 



92 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

I»iggry> sloppy; drizzly, applied to weather. 

Lights, the lungs, The rising of the lights is the name given to the 
globus hystericw, a prominent symptom in the disease hysteria, 

Linhay, a shed consisting of a roof resting on a wall at the back, and 
supported by pillars in firont. 

Lintem, a linteL - 

Loader, a double apple. 

Lob, a stone tied to the end of a fishing-line to keep it fast when 
thrown from the rock. 

Locns, tofify; sugar-stick. 

Loitch, refuse. 

Longcripple, the lizard. In some parts of K C. it is the name of 
the snake and yiper. 

Long-nose, the fish Belone vulgaris. 

Loon, the bird, the northern diver, Colymbus glaeialis. 

Lords and Ladies, the wake-robin, Arum maculatum, 

Lonning, lank ; thin ; meagre. 

Lonster, to work hard. *' He that can't schemy must louster,^ Local 
proverb. 

Lngg, (1) the beach-worm, Arenicola, 

(2) the undergrowth of weed in a field of com. 



Maa, the maw or stomach. The a pronounced as in the next word, 
male, 

Male, the fish shanny, Blennius pholis, 

Malkin, a mop of rags fastened to a long pole, and used to sweep 
out an oven. Metaphorically, a dirty slut. 

Manchent, a small loaf. 

No inanchet can so well the courtly palate please 

As that made of the meal fetch'd from my fertil leaze. 

Dbayton, Polyolhion, 

Mar6 crab, the harbour crab, Carcinus Mrenas, Also applied to the 
velvet crab, Portunus puhevy and other harbour crabs. . 

Mash, marsh. 

Manr, Moor, a root> or fastening. Hence, perhaps, " to ^noor a vessel." 
** Maur and mule," is a common expression, meaning, root and mould, 

Mawi^e, to chew ; masticate ; munch. 

May, the flowering whitethorn. 

Mazed, bewildered. Expressive of confused madness. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 93 

Mazegerry, a wild, thoughtless, giddy fellow. Very possibly the 
clown of a rustic play, ChmrS^ Huare^ are old Cornish for play or 
sport. "The Cornish people," says Carew, "have their Guary 
miracles," or miracle plays. Vide Flaygerry. 

Mazzardf a black cherry. 

Header, a mower. This word appears in the following verse of an 
old, and I suppose, an unpublished song : — 

Summer now comes, which makes all things bolder ; 

The fields are all deck'd with hay and with com ; 
The meader walks forth with his scythe on his shoulder, 

His firkin in hand, so early in the mom. 

Mermaids Purses, the egg-cases of some Chondroptergious fishes, 
often drifted to the beach with areweed. 

Merry dancers, the flickering Aurora horeaUs. 

Miche, to play truant. 

To miche, to lurk, with a slight deviation from Fr. muser, — 

BlCHASDSON. 

In our older writers the word used to mean an idle pilferer. 

Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher, 

Shakspeke, First Henry /F., n. iv. 450. 

The moon in the wane, gather fruit for to last, 
But winter fruit gather when Michel is past ; 
Though michers mat love not to buy or to crave 
Make some gather sooner, else few for to have. 

TussEB, September Husbandrie. 

Miching, idling; skulking. 

I never look'd for better of that rascal 
Since he came miching first into our housa 

Hbywood, a Woman killed with kindness, 

Milcy, adj. descriptive of bread or flour made from corn which has 
germinated. The loaf has a sweet taste and close consistency. 

Mimsey, the minnow, Leuciscus phoxinus, 

Mismaze, bewilderment. 

Mock, Mot, a log of wood. The Christmas viock or mot is the yule 
log. 

Moil, the mule, hybrid between stallion and female ass. Vide Mute. 

Mole, the fish, rock goby, Gohius niger, N.E. C. 

Molly-caudle, a man who intrudes into women's household affairs. 
Such a character was down to late date known as a cotquean, Addison 
uses this latter word. 

Mood, the vegetable sap. ^ 

Moody-hearted, easily disposed to tears. 

Moor-stone, granite. 



94 EAST COENWALL GLOSSART. 

Mor, the guillemot. 

Vord, lard ; pig's grease. 

Mother Carey's chicken^ stonny petrels, Procellaria pelagica, 

Mowhay, the inclosure where stacks and mows are made. 

Muffles, freckles in the skin. 

MnggetS) the small entrails, chitterlings. In a MS. cookery-book 
of the tune of Queen Elizabetii, in my possession, and probably Oormsh, 
there are directions how '* to boyle calves mtiggeUB,^^ 

Mule, to beplaster with mud. '^ He was muled in mud.** The same 
as moiled or bemoiled. 

Mule, to knead or make dough. In Eiley's Munimenia GiWiallm 
I Londinemis, voL iii., a story is given in Latin of a roffiiish baker who 

used to cheat his customers by having a hole in his table^ ^^qtue 

vocatur molding borde," A.D. 1327. 

Mur, the sea bird Guillemot ( Uria), 

Mute, the hybrid between male ass and mare. 



Hacker, the wheatear, Saxieola oenatUke. 

Haert, night 

Nail, a needle. 

Natey, adj. applied to fat when fairly composed of fat and lean. 

Nattlings, the small guts. Qy. from C. enederen. 

Heat, adj, simple; undiluted. This word has wide distribution 
with many variations among the North-western branches of the 
Aryan languages. With us its use is fast dying out, and is 
chiefly appHed to spirituous drinks. E.g, "I'll ha' it neat," i,e, 
without water. Cmistopher Marlowe in his Jlero and Leander 
uses it in our sense. 

"Wild savages that drink of running springs 
Think water far excells all earthly things ; 
But they that drink neat wine despise it. 

Heck, a miniature sheaf of wheat with four plaited arms, intertwined 
with everlastings, and the more durable of flowers. The stalks of 
wheat brought down by the last sweep of the scythe are brought home 
in thankful triumph, and woven as described. In the evening the 
sheaf or zang is taken into the mowhay, where are assembled aU the 
harvest party. A stout-lunged reaper proclaims — 

'* I hav'en I I hav'en ! I hav'en I " 

Another loud voice questions : — 

"Whathav'eeP WhathaVeeP Whathav'eeP" 
** A neck ! A neck ! A neck ! " 

is the reply ; and the crowd take up, in their lustiest tones, a chorus 
of * * Wurrah." G-eneral merriment follows, and the draughts of ale or 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 95 

cider are often deep. The neck may be seen hanging to the beam of 
many of our farm-houses between harvest and Christmas eye^ on 
which night it is given to the master bullock in the chall, ^* Hollaing 
the neck " is stiU heard in East Cornwall, and is one of the cheerfallest 
of rural sounds. 

Negg^, the ass. 

Hessely a snood of twisted twine, home-made, to which the hook is 
fastened in fishing for smaller fii^, whiting, pollack, &c. 

Nessel-bird, the smallest of a brood. 

Hessel-taker, the little engine for making nessels, fixed to the beams 
of the fishermen^s dwelling. 

Hew-fang, New-vang, something newly got; new fangled. Vide 
Fang. 

ITibby-gibby, narrowly escaped or missed. 

ITicky-nan-niglit, the night of Shrove Monday. Foi* an account of 
the curious customs which distinguish this day, vide Bep. B. Inst of 
Com., 1842, and Couch's Hist, o/FoJperrOf p. 151. 

Kiddick^ occiput, or nape of the neck. 

ITiff, a slight offence ; a tiff. 

ITimpingale, a whitlow. 

ITut-liall, the hazel, Corylus avellana. 



Oak- web, the cockchaffer, MelolontM vtdgaris, 

Oile, the awn or hile of barley. 

Ood, wood. 

Oost, a disease of cattle, a symptom or cause of which is the presence 
of worms in the windpipe and bronchial tubes. 

Open-asses, the medlar, Mespilus gennanicd, A vulgar and ill- 
savoured story is told here as well as in Chaucer's Prologue of the 
Reeve, where it is said of the open-ers, ** Till we be roten, can we not be 
rype." 

Orestone, the name of aome large single rocks in the sea, not far from 
land. Some fish are said to taste ory, some things to smell (yry, that 
is, like oreweed or seaweed. 

Oreweed, seaweed. 

Orrel, a porch or balcony. The ground-floor of a fisherman's house 
is often a fiish-cellar, and the first floor serves him for kitchen and 
parlour, which is reached by a flight of stone steps ending in an orrel 
or porch (Polperro). 

Orts, scraps or leavings, especially of food. J. 

Ovees, eaves of a house. 



96 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Overlook, to bewitch ; to have under spell ; to cast an evil eye on« 

Beshrew your eyes 
They liave o^erlooJ^d me. — Shakspeeb, MercTiant of Venice. 

Ozel, the windpipe. 



Paddicky a small pitcher. 

Palaee, a cellar for the bulking and storing of pilchards. This cellar 
is usually a square building with a pent-house roof, enclosing an open 
area or court. Has our word anv connection with that applied to a 
regsd mansion which had a court (area circa asdes), for giving audience ? 

Palched, patched. A confirmed invalid is said to be a palched, ox 
patched up man. 

Panger, a pannier. 

Pank, to pant. 

Pay, to lay on a coat of pitch or tar. 

Peendy, tainted (applied to flesh). The peculiar taste or smell just 
short of decomposition. 

Peize, to weigh ; to poise. 

I speak too long, but tis to peize the time 

To eke it, and to draw it out in length. — Shakspere. 

Tho' soft, yet lasting, with just balance paised, — Fletcher's Purple 
Island. 
Norden also uses it, 1584. 

Pend, to shut in. In English we retain the participle past, pent. 

Penny-cake, the herb navel-wort, Cotyledon umbilictis. 

Penny-ligg^, penmless. 

Pilch, a warm, flannel outer garment for children. 

Fill, a pool in a creek. 

Even as a sturgeon or a pike doth scour 
The creeks and pills in rivers where they lie. 

Silvester's Du Bartas, 

PillnB, the oat grass, Avena (Worgan op. cit.). 

Film, Fillem, dust. " The dust which riseth." Carew, who says 
that this was one of the rude terms with which Devon or Comishmen 
were often twitted. 

Fimpey, the after-cider made by throwing water on the nearly 
exhausted cJieese or alternate layer of apple and straw. It is some- 
times called hevera^gef and is only fit for unmediate use. 

Finnikin, puny. 

Flaky, an elf or fairy. 

Pittis, pale and wan. Qy. piteous. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 97 

Planchin, a wooden or planked floor. 

And to that vineyard was a planched gate. 

Shakspebe, Measure /or Measure, 

Plashet, a moist place where a brook begins. Carew says of wood- 
cocks, that they arriye in Cornwall ** on tiie north coast, where almost 
every hedge serveth for a road, and eyery ptashshoat for springles to 
take thenu" 

Fluffy soft ; light and spongy ; out of condition. An old turnip is 
said to be plujf, ** How are *e to-day P " is often answered, " rather 
fluff," Hie for of a hare or rabbit is also called its pluff, 

Plum, soft; light and spongy; soft and 3rielding. Plummitig is 
raising dough with yeast or barm, 

Pooky Pnke^ a small heap of hay or turves. 

Poot, to stiike about with the feet, as children do when uneasy. 

Popdock, the fox-glove. 

Porr, Purr, hurry ; fluster ; pother. 

PortenB, a butcher's term : probably appurtenances. 

Power, the fish, Gadits minutus. 

Prease, Prize, to force a lock by means of a lever. 

Preedy, evenly balanced. The beam of a scale nicely adjusted is 
preedy, 

TroguBf to probe. 

Proad-flesh, exuberant granulations of a healing wound. 

Pnlt, the pulse. 

Pnnkin-end, Punion-end, the gable-end of a house. 

Purg^, thickset; stout. 

Purt, a sharp displeasure or resentment. " He has taken &purV* 



Qnailaway, a stye on the eyelid. 

Quarrel, a pane of glass ; probably at first a small square of glass. 

Some ask'd how pearls did grow, and where ; 

Then spoke I to my girl 
To part her lips and show me there 

The quarrelets of pearl. 

Herbiok, Amatory Odes, I. i. 

Qaaty 80 squat^ or stoop down, as a hare sometimes does when 
pursued. 

Quilter, to flutter. " I veel'd sich a quilterin* com over my heart." 

Quinted, over filled ; stuffed to repletion, applied to animals. 

H 



98 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Babble-fish, niualeable fish) shared by the fishermen. Video, N,4^Q., 
yoL X. No. 265. Vide Baffle. 

Baoe, a string. E. g. Of onions. 

Baffle, refuse. The less saleable fish which are not sold, but divided 
among the boat's crew, are called raffle fish. 

Bag, a large roofing stone. 

Bany, a ridge of low rocks in the sea covered and uncovered by 
the tide. 

Bare, raw. 

Banning, ravening; voracious. That voracious fish, Merlangu0 
Corbonariu8y is called the rauning pollack. 

Beam, (1) v. to stretch. A.S. ryman^ to extend. 

(2) n. the rim or surface. Cold cream is called ** raw ream." 

Beese, y. Com is said to reeae when from ripeness it falls out of 
the ear. 

Bheem, to stretch or extend, as india-rubber will do* 

Biding, Bam-riding. A rude method, once common in our villages, 
but now suppressed, of marking disapproval of, or holding up to 
infamy, any breach of connubial fidelity. A cart, in which were seated 
burlesque representatives of the erring pair, was drawn through the 
village, attended by a procession of men Mid boys, on donkeys, blowing 
horns. This custom was often the occasion of much riotous behaviour. 

Big, fun ; frolic. 

He little thought when he set out 
Of running such a rig. 

CowPER, John Oilpin. 

Bisli, the rush ; a list. Our people, instead of " turning over a new 
leaf," begin ^*a new ri$h" I have thought that this may have been 
derived &om a primitive way of keeping a tally by strmging some 
sort of counters on a rush. 

Bode, skill ; aptitude. " He hasn't the rode to do et." 

Not rode in mad-brain's hand is that can help. 

But gentle skill doth make the proper whelp. — Tvnms^ 

Bodeless, without rode or skill. 

Bodeling, helpless ; tottering ; wandering in mind. 

Boper's news, news told as new, but heard before. ** That's Roper' it 
new8.'^ E. 0. adage. 

Bench, Boohe, rough. 

Bonnd-robin, the angler fish, Lophius pisrnfornis. 

Boving, severe pain. 

Bow, rough, as in row-hound, the fish Squalus canicvla, and in the 
Cornish hUl, Bowtor, 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 99 

End, red. 

Eommet, dandriff. 

Euttling, a gurgling or rattling noise in the windpipe. 



Sabby, soft, moist, pasty. 

Sam, Zam, half or imperfectly done. ''A zam oven," ia one half 
heated. *'Zam-zodden/' means half sodden or parhoQed. To leave 
the door ** a zam " is to half close it. 

Sample, soft and flexible. 

Sang, or Zang, a small sheaf such as leasers (gleaners) make. 

Scam. To acam a shoe is to twist it out of shape by wearing it 
wrongly. 

Scan tie, small irregular slate, too small to make ''size slate'' 
(Delabole). 

Seat, to split or burst ; to bankrupt. 

School, Schnle, a body of fish. Carew spells it sehoels. Variously 
spelt. 

My silver scaled sktUh about my streams do sweep. 

Dbayton, Polyolhiony Song xxvi. 

In BciUh that off; 
Bank the mid-sea. — Milton. 

Sdow, to scratch. 

Solum, to scratch violently. 

Scoad, to scatter ; to spill. *' To scoad dressing" (manure). 

Scoce, to exchange or barter. 

Scollops, the dry residuum after lard is melted out ; an article of food. 

ScoUuoks, blocks of refuse or indifferent slate (Delabole). 
Sconce, brains ; wit. 
Soovey, spotted; mottled. 
Scranny, a scramble. 

Sorawed, scorched in the sun, as fish are frequently prepared. ^' A 
scrawed pilchard." Scrowledt at St. Ivea Tregellas, 

Screw, the shrew or field-mouse, Sorex araneus. 

Soritch, a crutch. 

Scry, a report of the appearance of a body of fish, such as pilchards 
on the coasts of East ComwaU. Dame Juliana Bemers, in her 
TrecUiae of Fyaahynge with an Angle, says, "the noyse of houndys, 
the blastes of homys, and the $cry of foules." 

** They hering the eery cam and out of eche of the spere jn. hym." — 
Lbland. 

II 2 



100 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Scry is probably connected with the old practice of crying out, or 
Yociiferating on the approach of a schule of nah, 

Soud, the hardened crust on a sore. 

Scudder, Skitter, to slide ; skate. 

Scute, an iron plate with which the toe or heel of a shoe is armed. 
Fr. e8cu89on, Lat. Bctitum. 

Sea-adders, the vulgar generic name for pipe-fish. 

Seam, or Zeam. a load of hay ; manure, &c. It means with us no 
definite quantity, but a cart-load, wa^eon-load, &c. Tusser in 
speaking of the good crops of barley which he raised at Brentham, 
says (October* » Husbandrie), — 

Five Beam of an acre I truly was paid. 

Again, in November's Huabandriey he says — 

Th^ encrease of a seam is a bushel for store. 

Sea-vem, sea fern ; the coral, Gorgonia verrucosa, 

Seeoh. The rush of sea waves inundating the streets at high tides. 
Bond's HisU of Looea, 

Seedlip, the wooden basket in which the sower carries his seed. 

Sense, stop. An exclamation used by boys at marbles, when they 
want to stop for a moment. (Polperro.) 

Shanunick, a contemptuous epithet applied to a man. 

Shanny, the fish, Blenniibs pholis, 

Shenakmm, a drink composed of boiled beer, a little rum, moist 
sugar, and slices of lemon. (Qy. Snack o' rum.) 

Shive, to shy, as a horse does. 
Shiver, a bar of a gate. 
Shoal, adj, shallow. 

Shortahs, masses of loose rubbish in slate quarries which have fallen 
in, and filled up cracks and rents. 

Shot, the trout. Carew makes a distinction between the trout and 
shot, *'The latter," he says, "is in a maner pecuHar to Devon and 
Cornwall. In shape and colour he resembleth the Trowts : howbeit 
in biggnesse commeth farre behind him." 
The shoates with which is Tavy fraught. — ^Browne's BHt, Past. 

Shonell, shovell. 

Shnte, a conduit, or fountain of falling water. 

Siff, to sigh. 

Sives, a small pot-herb of the alliaceous kind. 

Skease, to run along very swiftly. 

Skeeny, sharp and gusty. " A siceeny wind." 



EAST COR>'WALL GLOSSARY. 101 

Skerret, a safe drawer in a box. In some places it is skivei, or 
sktbbet, 

Skerrish, the privet, Ligustrum vulgare. 

SkeW) a driving mist. 

Skit, a lampoon. 

Skitter, to slide. 

Skiver, a skewer. 

Skiver-wood, dogwood, Comiis sangidnea. 

Sladdocks, a short cleaver used by masons for splitting and shaping 
slate. Probably a corruption of slate axe. 

Slat, slate. 

Slew, to twist or bend aslant. 

Slip, a young weaned pig. 

Sloan, the sloe, Prunus spinosa. 

The meagre sloan, — Browne's Brit, Pastorals, 

Slock, to entice ; allure. Slocking stones are tempting,'selected stones 
shown, to induce strangers to adventure in a mine. 

Slotter, to draggle in the dirt. 

Snead, the handle of a scythe. 

Sneg, a small snail. 

Snite, the snipe. 

Soce, an interjection of doubtful meaning. Qy. C, >S'wa#, alas ! 
Arm., Sioas, alas. 

Sogg, or Zogg, to dose or sleep interruptedly or lightly. 

SotUid, or ZotUid, to swoon, or go into a fainting fit. 

** Did your brother tell you," says Eosalind, ** how I counterfeitod 
to sound when he showed me your handkerchief?" — Shakspere, 
As You Like It, 

Sotuid-sleeper, a moth. 

Sowl, or Zowly to serve roughly ; to soil. 

Sow-pig, the wood-louse. 

Spale, Spal, to deduct an amerciement or forfeiture from wages when 
not at work in good time ; a fine. 

Sparrow, Sparra, a double wooden skewer used in thatching. 

Spell, a turn of work. 

Spence, a cupboard or pantry under the stairs. 

Spiccaty, speckled. 

Spiller, a ground-line for fish. 

Spise, exude. 



102 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Splat; a spot. 

Splatty, spotty. 

Fve lost my aplaity cow. — Old Song. 

Sprayed, chapped by the wind. 

Springle, a snare for birds. 

Sproil, strength ; energy. Most commonly used negatively, as, " He's 
no aproiiy 

Spudder, bother. " I don't want to ha* no spudder about et." 

Squab-pie, a pie made of meat, apples, and onions. 

Squinty, to squint. 

Stag, a cock 

Standards, a term used in wrestling for a man who has thrown two 
op{>on6nts, and thereby secured a chance of trying for a prize. 

Stare, the starling. 

Stean, an earthenware pot such as meat or fish is cured in. 

Stemming, a turn in succession, as when in dry seasons people have 
to take their regular turn for water at the common schute or pump. 

Stingdom, the fish Gottits scorpius. 

Stint, to impregnate. 

Stogg, to stick in anything tenacious. " Stogged in the mud." 

Stoiting, the leaping of fish in schuU. At a distance this imparts 
colour to the sea, and is a valuable guide in seine-fishing. 

Stomach, v, generally used negatively. To feed against inclination. 
*^ I cud'nt stomach it.'' In some of our Elizabethan dramatists it is 
used not as expressive of appetite, but rather of loathing, as with us: 

Elder M<yrUm, Doth no man take exception at the slave. 
Lancaster, All stomach him, but none dare speak a word. 

Marlowe, Edward the Second. 

Stool-crab, the male of the edible crab, Platycarcinus pagurus, 

Strat, to drop. A mare aborting is said " to strat voal." 

Straw-mot, a straw stalk. 

Strike, to anoint, or rub gently. 

Stroil, weed, especially the couch-grass, Tnticum repens, 

Stmby to rob, or despoil. " To strut a bird's nest." 

Stnby to grub. ** Stubbing vuz." 

Stub roots so tough 

For breaking of plough.— Tusser. 

Stubbard, the name of an early variety of apple. 

Stoffle, to stifle. 



KAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 1()3 

Stuggy, stout; thickset. 

Style, steel. 

Suenty smooth ; equable ; even. 

Snmmeringy store cattle turned wild in summer for pasturage on the 
wild, unenclosed moors, are sent summering under the care of the 
moorland herdsmen. 

Survey, an auction. 

Swail, or Zwail, to scorch ; singe. 

Swarr, a swathe, or row of mown com or hay. 

Swop, to barter. 

Syoh, the edge or foaming border of a wave as it runs up a harbour 
or on the land. Vide Seech. 



Tab, a turf. 

Tack, to clap ; to slap sharply. " He tacked his hands." 

Tail, Teel, to till or set. "To tail corn," or "to tail a trap." 

With us it is usual for a pers )n who has gone through mud or 
water to say that it teeled him up so high as he was immersed or 
covered. — ^Video, N, & Q„ yoL x. No. 266. 

Tailders, or Tailor's Needles, the herb Scandix pecten Veneris. 

Tale, measure. A tale lobster is one eleven inches &om snout to 
tail ; all that fall short of this the master of a lobster smack will only 
give half-price for. 

Tallet, a loft. " Hay talletJ' 

Tarn, short; dwarf. The dwarf furze, Ulex nanitSy is here called 
"tomvuz." 
Furze of which the shrubby sort is called tame, — Carbw. 

Tang, an abiding taste. 

Tap, the sole of a shoe. Used also as a verb, " tap a shoe." 

Teary, soft, like dough. 

Teen, to close. " I haven't teen^d my eye," 

Tell, to count or enumerate. 

Why should he think I tell my apricots. 

Every man in his humour, I. i. 

Tend, to kindle; to set a light to. (Tinder, here j^Tononnced tender.) 

Wash your hands, or else the fire 
Will not tend to your desire. 

Herrick, Hesperidesy Ixxii. 

Thekky, Thekka, that one ; that person, or thing. 

Syn thilke day. — Chaucer, Kniyhtes Talc. 



104 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Thirl, thin ; lean. 

Tho, then ; at that time. In common use among the older poets. 
E, g. :— 

And to the ladies he restored ageyn 
The hodies of hir housbondes that were slain. 
To don the obsequies as was tho the guise. 

Ohauceb, Kmghte*8 Tale. 

Thumb beend, thumb band. The band for a bundle of hay. 

Tiddlywinkf sometimes Kiddlywink, a small inn only licensed to 
sell beer and dder. 

Tiddy, the breast or teat ; sometimes the milk. 

Tifling, the frayed-out threads of a woven fabric. 

Tig, a child's game ; a game of touch. 

Timberin, made of wood. 

Tine, the tooth of a harrow. Qy. from dym, teeth, C. L. dens. 

Tink, the chaffinch. Onomatopoeitic from its call-note. 

Tittivate, to make neat ; dress up. 

Tom-horry, a sea-bird. The common name of two or three species 
of skua. 

Tor, Tarr, the rocky top of a hilL The word is chiefly used in the 
central granite ridges of Cornwall and Devon. 

Toteling, silly ; demented. 

Town, Town-place, applied to the smallest hamlet, and even to a 
farm-yard. Here is an instance of the retention of the primitive use 
of a word. ** The town or tovm-place, farm or homestead inolosure, 
is derived from tynan, to inclose, denoting its primary sense,*' says 
Sir F. Palgrave, " the inclosture which surrounded the mere dwelling 
or homestead of the lord.'' — English Commonwealth^ p. 66. 

Trade, stuff ; material. Medecine is " doctor's trade,^* 

Train-oil, expressed fish oil. 

Trapse, to walk slovenly ; to slouch. 

Tribute. A consideration or share of the produce of a mine, either 
in money or kind, the latter being first made merchantable, and 
then paid by the takers or trihutors to the adventurers or owners for 
the liberty granted of enjoying the mine or a part thereof called a 
pitch, for a mnited time. — Pryce. 

Trig, to set up ; to support. " To trig the wheel." " To put a trig " 
on the sole of a shoe worn on one side. 

TroU-foot, club-foot. 

Trone, a groove or furrow ; a trench. Qy. a line. In describing 
heavy rain a countryman said the streams were '' like trones from the 
tids of a cow." 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 105 

Truckle, to trundle. 

Tmff, the sea-trout or bull-trout. 

Tuby the sappharine gurnet fish, Trigla hirundo, 

Tubbut, short and thick. The tub-fish is the shortest and thickest 
of its kind. 

Tuck, an operation in seine fishing described in Couch's Fishes of 
Brit, Islands, iv, 91. 

Turf-tie, the bed on which the turf-rick is piled {hed-tie). 

Tush, a tooth. 

Tut work. ** By the lump : as when they undertake to perform a 
certain work at a fixed price, prove how it may.'* — Pbyoe. 

Tin, aunt. An address of familiar respect to an old woman, not im- 
plying relationship : ** Un Jinny." 

TTncle, an address of familiar respect to an old man, not implying 
relationship : ** Unde Jan.*' 

TTnlusty, unwieldy. 

TTnyamped, not added to or embellished. It is used in this sense in 
Ford's play, The Lady'e Trial, I. i.— " The newest news unvamped" 

TTprose, a woman churched is uprosed. 



Vady, damp. "Bishop Berkely, in his Farther Thoughts on Tar 
Water, p. 9, uses what appears to be the same word, fade, in the 
same sense." — Video, N, & Q,, Vol. x. No. 266. 

Vamp, a short stocking ; the foot of a stocking. 

Vang. Vide Fang. 

Vare, Veer, a suckling pig. 

Veak, a whitlow. 

Carew says, in his account of John Size, the uncouth creature in 
the household of Sir William Beyille : ** In this sort he continued for 
diners yeeres, nntill, (upon I know not what vedke or unkindnesse), 
away he gets and abroad he rogues." — Survey of C, 

Vencock, fencock, the bird, water-raiL 

Vester, a feather stripped of its vane, all except the point, and used 
by children at a dame's school, to point out the letter or word they 
are studying. A corruption of fescue, 

Vinnied, mouldy (Fynig), Qy. past participle of Fynigean, to spoil ; 
corrupt; decay. 

Visgy, a mattock. 
Vist, fist. 



106 EAST GOUNWALL GLOSiiARY. 

Vitty, fitting ; proper ; ai)propriate. 

Voaoh, to tread heavily. 

Vogget, to hop on one leg. 

Voider, a small wicker basket of the finer sort. In the stage 
directions to Heywood's Woman Killed with Kindness is this : — ** Enter 
three or four serving men, one with a voider, and a wooden knife." 

Voks, folk; people. 

Volyer, the second boat in a pilchard seine Qy. a corruption of 
follower. 

Vore, a furrow of a plough. 



Wad, a bundle. " A wad o* straw." " Joan the wad " is the folk- 
name of a piaky. 

Jack the lantern, Joan the wcui. 

That tickled the maid and made her mad, 

Light me home, the weather's bad. — Polpbbro. 

Wadge, to bet or lay a wager. 

Waive, to wallow. 

Wang, to hang about in a tiresome manner. 

Want, the mole, Talpa Europcea, 

Waps, wasp. 

Warn, warrant. " 1*11 waim 'ee." 

Watercase, the herb Helosciadum nodiflorunif often made into pies 
in the neighbonrhood of Polperro. 

Watty, the hare. A name in common use among poachers. Shak- 
spere, in a beautiful description of the hare and its many shifts to 
elude pursuit, uses the abbreviation, Wat 

By this poor Wat, far off upon a hill 
Stands on his hinder legs with listening ear. 

Venus and Adonis, 

Well-a-fyne, a common interjection, meaning " it's all very well.*' 
Wei afyn, — Chaucer, Rom. of the Rose, also Coh^s Tale of Gamelyn, 

Wettel, a child's clout. Can this be a corruption of swaddle ? 
Whelve, Whilve, to turn any hollow vessel upside down (Polperro). 
Whiff, to fish with a towing-line under a breeze. 

Whip-tree, the spreader by which the chains of iron traces are kept 
asunder (Whippletree). 

Whitneck, the weasel. 

Whole, to heal. A.S. Jialian. 

Widdowman, widower. 



EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 107 

Widow-woman, a widow. 

Wilk, Welk, sometimes Welt, a ridgy hump or tumour. 

Little low hedges round like ii7«2to.— -Bacon^s Easay of Gardening. 

Wilky, a toad or frog. C. quUken, or quUkin, In some parts the 
immature reptile. 

Wilver, a baker or pot under which bread is baked by being buried 
in burning embers. N.E. 0. 

Winnard, the red-wing, Merula Hiaca, 

Winder, window. 

Wink, the wheel by which straw rope is made. 

Winnick, to circumvent ; to cheat. 

Wisht, melancholy; forlorn. This word is so expressive that we 
have no English synonym fully descriptive of its meaning. Browne, 
a Devonshire man, uses it in his Brittania Fastorala, Bk. I. Song 2 : — 

His late iviaht had-I-wists, remorseful bitings. 

In Latimer^s Sermons it is apparently used as a noun : — 
And when they perceived that Solomon, by the advice of his fisither, 

was anointed king, by and by there was all whisht, all their good 

cheer was done. — Parker* s Edit, p. 115. 
Far from the town where all is wisht and still. — Marlowe, Hero 

and^Leander, 

Woodwall, the green woodpecker, Picas viridis. Some doubt exists 
as to the bird originally designated the woodwall. With us it is 
undoubtedly the green woodpecker. In the glossaries commonly 
appended to Chaucer's works it is said to mean the golden oriole. 
The green finch has also been set down as the bird intended. 

The woodwele sung and would not cease 

Sitting upon the spraye, 
So loud he wakened Eobin Hood 

In the greenwood where he lay. 

Bobiii Hood (Ritson). 

In many places Nightingales, 

And Alpes, and Finches and Woodwalea. 

Bom, of the Bose. 

The note of the green woodpecker is very unmelodious, far from a 
song. The extreme rarity of the golden oriole is conclusive against 
its being the bird intended. The greenfinch has been suggested, but 
its song is hardly loud enough to have stirred the slumbers of the 
freebooter. Although the voice of the green woodpecker can scarcely 
by any poetic licence be called a song, I incline to think it the bird 
meant. Yarrel (vol. ii. p. 137) gives some interesting information on 
the etymology of this word. Brockett, in his glossary of North- 
Country words, considers it derived from the Saxon * whyteiy a knife. 
In Yorkshire and in North America a whittle is a clasp-knife, and to 
whettle is to cut or hack wood. The origin and meaning of the wood- 
pecker's name are therefore sufficiently obvious, whytel, whittle, 
why tele, &c. 



108 EAST CORNWALL GLOSSARY. 

Womal, the lamp produced by the larva of the gudlly iu the skin of 
cattle. 

Wrath, the generic name of the fishes, LahrL 

Wrinkle, the periwinkle shell, Turbo Uttoreu9, 

Wnrraw ! hoorah ! 



Taffer, heifer. 

Ya£EtQ, arms full. 

Yap, to yelp. 

Yaw, ewe. 

Yewl, a three-pronged agricultural tool for turning manure. 

Yook, Yerk, Yolk, filth, especially the greasy and yellow impurity of 
uooce. 

Zacky, imbecile. 

ZanL Vide Sam. 

Zang. Vide Sang. 

Zeer, adj\ worn out ; generally used with regard to clothing, &c., but 
applied also metaphorically to persons. E.g.** She is very zeerJ* 

Zog, (1) a doze ; nap. 

(2) V. to doze. 
ZwaU. Vide SwaU. 
Zye, scythe. 



109 



ADDENDA. 



Barker, a whetstone. 

Barton, the demesne land or home farm^ often the residence of the 
lord of the manor. 



Clavel, the impost on a square-headed window, door, or chimney. 

Ooil, the cuttle-fish, Sepia officincUis. 

Skirtings, the diaphragm of an animal. 

Spnke, a roller put in a pig's snout to prevent grubbing. 

Ugly, applied not so much to faults of visage as of temper. " My 
husband's terrible vglyj*^ He is a well-favoured man, but cross- 
tempered. 



CLAY AND TAYLOR, THE CHAVCEll PKE88. 



A GLOSSABY OF WOEDS 



IN USE IN 



THE COUNTIES OF 



ANTEIM AND DOWN. 



BY 



WILLIAM HUGH PAHERSON, M.R.I.A, 

XKMBEB or THE ROYAL HISTORICAL AND ARCHiBOLOOICAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND ; 
MEMBER OF THE BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



LONDON: 
PUBLISHED FOR THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY 

BY TRtJBNER & CO., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL. 

1880. 






Hsngafi: 

CLAT AND TAYLOR, FBINTEIIB. 




J 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the earlier part of the reign of Elizabeth the Irish language was 
generally spoken by the people in the Korth-east of Ireland, the 
exceptions being in some few centres of English occupation, such as 
Carrickfergus, Belfast, the shores of Strangford Lough, the neighbour- 
hood of Ardglass, and that of darlingf ord. 

During Elizabeth's reign considerable numbers of English, and of 
Lowland Scots, came over and settled in the thinly-populated terri- 
tories of Antrim and Down ; their leaders got grants of lands, and 
the native inhabitants moved away to less accessible districts of the 
country, or, to some extent, took service with the new-comers. This 
influx of English and Scotch settlers marks the introduction of 
English as a generally-spoken language into Antrim and Down. In 
the succeeding reign the number of English-speaking settlers was 
largely augmented, for as the forests were cut down the space 
available for colonization increased, and after the flight of the Earls 
of Tyrone and Tyrconnell in 1607, many Scotch settlers came into 
the district, along with Welsh and English. Still later, after the 
quelling of the rebellion of 1641, by the Parliamentary armies the 
number of English-speaking settlers was further increased, and for a 
considerable time afterwards a slow and gradual immigration went 
on, chiefly of Scots. 

Eichard Dobbs, Esq., writes thus in May, 1683, while speaking of 

the traffic between Scotland and the North of Ireland : — " Only 

people (with all their goods upon their backs) land here from 

Scotland. Take in from Glenarm to Donaghadee and the ports 

a2 



IV ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

between : [i, e. Belfast Lough, and a short distance to the north 
and south of it] there are more than 1000 of this sort that land 
every summer without returning." Centuiies before this time, large 
numbers of Scots had passed over into the county of Antrim, but 
they were Gaelic-speaking Highlanders ; they spread themselves 
over the district known as the * Glens of Antrim,' and kept up for a 
long time a close connection with their mother country, passing to 
and fro continually, and causing great trouble to the English rulers 
in Ireland. Their descendants, having amalgamated with the native 
Irish, still occupy the Glens, and Gaelic is spoken among them to 
this day. 

The spread of these turbulent Scots in Ulster is thus noticed by 
Mr. Hill in his Macdonnells of Antrim: — "In the year 1533 the 
council in Dublin forwarded this gloomy announcement on the 
subject to the council in London. ' The Scottes also inhabithe now 
buyselly a greate parte of Ulster which is the kingis inheritance; 
and it is greatly to be feared, oonless that in short tyme they be 
diyven from the same, that they bringinge in more nombre daily, 
woll by lyttle and lyttle soe far enoroche in accquyring and wynning 
the possessions there, with the aide of the kingis disobeysant Irishe 
rebelles, who doo no we ayde them therein, after siche manner, that 
at lengthe they will put and expel the king from his hole seignory 
there.' " 

Canon Hume, in an interesting paper on the Irish Dialects of the 
English language, reprinted from the Transactions of the Historic 
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, thus speaks of the tide of 
immigration from Great Britain into the north of Ireland : — " About 
the year 1607, when much of Ulster required to be planted or 
resettled, immigration, instead of being, as previously, a mere rivulet — 
or largely dependent on the condition of the regiments serving in the 
country — became a flood, and strangers settled not by tens, but by 
thousands. A large number of these were from the apple districts of 
Warwickshire, Worcester, and Gloucester ; several were from Chester, 
through which the adventurers passed to take shipping at the mouth 
of the Dee ; a few were from the adjoining county of Lancaster ; and 
some from London. The great English settlement commenced on 



INTRODUCTION. V 

the two sides of Belfast Lough. It included the town of Belfast, 
which was at first English, hut, like Londonderry, hecame Scotti- 
cised, owing to the preponderance of Xorth Britons in the rural 
districts on hoth sides* Pressing on hy Lishum and to the east 
hank of Lough iN'eagh, the English settlers cover eleven parishes 
in Antrim alone, all of which preserve to this hour their English 
characteristics; and crossing still further, over Down to Armagh, 
they stopped only at the hase of the Pomeroy mountains in 
Tyrone. Thus, from the tides of the channel to beyond the 
centre of Ulster, there was an unbroken line of English settlers, 
as distinct fix)m Scotch; and the district which they inhabit is 
still that of the apple, the elm, and the sycamore — of large farms 
and two-storied slated houses. The Scotch settlers entered at the 
two points which lie opposite to their own country — namely, at the 
Giant's Causeway, which is opposed to the Mull of Cantyre on one 
side, and at Donaghadee which is opposed to the Mull of Galloway 
on the other. Two centuries and a half ago Ireland was to them 
what Canada, Australia, and the United States have been to the 
redundant population of our own times." In another paper Canon 
Hume particularizes still further the lines of Scottish immigration : — 
" The Scotch entered Down by Bangor and Donaghadee, and pushed 
inland by Comber, Saintfield, and Ballynahinch, to Dromara and 
Dromore ; while in Antrim they proceeded by Islandmagee, Bally- 
clare, Antrim, and Ballymena, surrounding the highlands and 
reaching the sea again by Bushmills and the Causeway. In 1633 and 
1634 the emigrants from Scotland by way of Ayrshire, walked in 
companies of a hundred or more from Aberdeen or Inverness-shires, 
and were about 500 per annum, mostly males, and many of them 
discontented farmnservants." 

Canon Hume thus describes how the native inhabitants of the 
forfeited lands met this tide of immigration : — " The Irish or natives, 
broken and conquered, reduced also in number by war, famine, and 
disease, occupied when possible strong positions. They still regarded 
as specially their own the land which was least accessible, or least 
desirable, and fled to the hills and morasses. It is curious to see 
how popular language has embodied these facts in such expressions 



VI ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

as *Mountainy people/ 'Back of thfl liill folk,' * Bog-trotters/ etc- 
There they still remain, though many of the humbler classes have 
found permanent homes in the towns/* In Down, the extensive 
Baronies of Moume and Lecale,. and the Lordship of Newry, changed 
the lords of the soil, but retained the population. As bearing upon 
the dialect of the district it is interesting to enquire as to the 
numbers and the proportions in which these various nationalities of 
English, Scotch, and Irish now occupy the district. 

A valuable series^ of articles from the pen of the Rev. Canon 
Hume on these subjects was published in the Ulster Journal of 
Archceology, The following papers were some of those which 
a5)peared : — 

Origin and Characteristics of the People of Down and Antrim, in 
nine chapters, Ulster Journal, L 9; i 120; i. 246, Topo- 
graphical Map, Physical Map, and Speed's Map of 1610. 

Ethnology of the Two Counties, iv. 154. Ethnological Map. 

The Elements of Population, Illustrated by the Statistics of Religious 
Belief, in six chapters, vii. 116. Ecclesiastical Map, constructed 
from the Creed Census of 1834. 

Surnames in the County of Antrim, in five sections, v. 323. Unique 
Coloured Map. 

Surnames in the County of Down, in five sections^ vi.. T7. Unique 
Coloured Map. 

The Irish Dialect of the English Language, vi. 47. 

A Dialogue in the Ulster Dialect, vi. 40. 

The county electoral rolls a^rd a convenient way of ascertaining 
the leading names, and hence, pretty closely, the nationalities of the 
inhabitants. With this view the roll of the Co. of Antrim has been 
examined by the Rev. Edmund McClure, A.M., and the results made 
known in a paper read before the Belfast Naturalists* Field Club in 
January, 1874. The title of the paper is, 'The Surnames of the 
Inhabitants of the Co. of Antrim and their Indications.' The 
following extract sums up one branch of the subject : — 

"In the 1357 names of the RoU I find that 565 are Lowland 
Scotch, 18 of which are Il^orman niones^ There are 234 Highland 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

names. There are in all 181 Irish names, and 16 Anglo-Norman of 
the time of the Conquest. The English names amount to 251, the 
Welsh to seven, the Huguenots to six. The remaining names, about 
100, are those of a few foreigners, and those which I have left as 
undetermined. This shows simply the relative position of the names 
on the EolL The number of Lowland Scotch I find represented by 
the 565 names amounts to 5682, or about 55*80 per cent, of the 
entire Eoll. Of Scotch of foreign origin there is a per-centage of 
1-48. 

" The Scottish Celts represented by the 234 names exhibit a pro- 
portion of 23*68 per cent, of the Boll. The number of Irish names 
(181) represents only 824 of a native population, or about 8*09 per 
cent. Here the results, from an examination of the Electoral Eoll, 
seem to vary from those obtained from other sources. To represent 
the proportion of the native Irish in the county we should have to 
add 3 per cent., or even a little more, to this per-centage of 8*09. 
For I find that the native population, as a rule, are much poorer than 
their neighbours, so that a far less proportion of them have the 
qualifications of county voters, that is, holdings valued at XI 2 per 
annum. 

*'By private enquiry in the districts in which the native popula- 
tion is large I find this to be the case, and that many of their names 
do not figure on the Eoll at all. I think, however, that the per- 
centage over the entire county is not over 12 per cent. The English 
represented by the 251 names amount to 783. Those of long settle- 
ment in the county — i, e. who came centuries before the Plantation — 
number 40 in addition. The Welsh names represent 28. All these 
taken together make 851, or show a per-centage of 8*35 of the entire 
Eoll. Foreigners, Huguenots, and Germans are represented by 21 
people on the list. The undetermined names represent 243 on the 
list, or about 2*38 per cent, of the Eoll. The native population is 
descended in the main from well-known Irish tribes who dwelt in 
this part of the country before the wars of Essex (Queen Elizabeth's 

time)." 

The words and phrases in the accompanying Glossary will be 
found in the main to be of Scottish origin, and many of them have 



VIU ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

already found a place in Jamieson's dictionary, and in the various 
glossaries already printed by the English Dialect Society. The forms 
of the words may vary somewhat, because they naturally underwent 
changes consequent upon the lapse of time since their introduction to 
an alien soil. In many cases it was a difficulty how to spell the words, 
because I only had them as soimded, and the difficulty was increased 
when I frequently found that the same word was pronounced in two 
or more ways by different persons, either natives of different districts, 
or persons whose mode of speaking had been influenced by different 
surroundings or by more or less of education. In some districts^ in 
the east of the two counties the people still talk a Scotch dialect, but 
with a modified Scotch accent y the old people talk more ' broadly ' 
than the young. Owing to the spread of well-managed schools the 
Scotch accent and the dialect words are passing away. Some of the 
words in the accompanying Glossary are now obsolete, and doubtless 
in a few years a much greater number will have become so. I have 
not attempted to collect the proverbs that are in use here, but so far 
as I know they are much the same as those used in other parts of 
these countries. There are in use many phrases of comparison, of 
which the following are examples : — 

* As big as I don't know what,' a vague comparison. 

* As black as Toal's cloak.* 

* As black as Toby.* 

* As blunt as a beetle ' (t. c. a wooden pounder). 

* As broad as a griddle.' 

* As busy as a nailor.* 

* As clean as a new pin.* 

* As close as a wilk ' (t. c. a periwinkle) : applied to a very reticent 

person. 

* Ajs coarse as bean-straw.* 

* As coarse as praity-oaten.' 

* As common as dish water,* very common : applied to a person of 

very low extraction. 
' As common as potatoes.* 

* As could as charity.' 

* As crooked as a ram's horn.* 

* As crooked as the hind leg of a dog.' 

* As cross as two sticks.' 

* As dry as a bone.* 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

* As easy as kiss.' 

* As frush as a bennel ' (the withered stalk of fennel). 

* As frush (brittle) as a pipe stapple ' (stem). 

* As grave as a mustard pot.' 

* As great (intimate) as inkle weavers.* 

* As hungry as a grew ' (greyhound). 

* As ill to herd as a stockin' full o' fleas/ very difficult to mind. 

* As many times as I've fingers and toes/ a comparison for having 

done something often. 
' As mean as get out.' 
' As plain as a pike-staff/ quite evident. 

* As sick as a dog,' dck in the stomach. 

* As stiff as a proker ' (poker), very stiff : applied to a person. 
' As sure as a gun.* 

< As sure as the hearth money.' 

* As tall as a May-pole.' 

' As thick as bog butter.* Wooden vessels filled with butter, the 
manufacture of long ago, are occasionally dug out of the peat- 
bogs ; the butter has been converted into a hard, waxy substance. 

' As thick as three in a bed,* much crowded. 

' As thin as a lat ' (lath). 

* As true as truth has been this long time,' of doubtful truth. 
^ As yellow as a duck's foot' (applied to the complexion). 

As well as the publications by Canon Hume already enumerated, 
I should mention one which gives many most characteristic examples 
of the Belfast dialect. It is an almanac for the years 1861, 1862, 
and 1863, published anonymously, but written entirely by the learned 
Canon, whose authority I have for making this statement. The full 
title of the work is Poor RdbUn^s Ollminick for the toun o' BUfawst, 
containing varrious different things ^at ivvery body ought fbe acquentit 
withy wrote down, prentet, an* put out, jist the way the people spakeSf 
by Billy McCart of the County Down side that uset to he : hut now 
of the Entherim road, toarst the Cave hilL Canon Hume has also 
collected the materials for a most comprehensive dictionary or glossary 
of Hibemicisms. It would be most desirable that this should be 
published. For a description of the scope and aim of this work I 
would refer to his pamphlet, Remarks on the Irish Dialect of the 
English Language, Liverpool : 1878. 

In connection with our local dialect, I should also refer to a little 



X ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

work by Mr. David Patterson, The Provincialisms of Belfast pointed 
out and corrected. Belfast : 1860. In this work the writer calls 
attention to the various classes of words that are wrongly pronounced, 
and gives long lists of these words. He also gives a list of " words 
not to be met with in our ordinary English dictionaries." In my 
Glossary I have got some words from Mr. D. Patterson's lists, some 
from the Ollminick, and a few, principally obsolete, from local his- 
tories, such as 'ELaxria* 8 History of Down (1744), Dubourdieu's Survey 
of Down (1802), and McSkimin's History of Carrickfergus (1823). 
But most of the words and phrases have been collected orally either 
by myself or by friends in different country districts, who have kindly 
sent me in lists, and whom I would now thank for the help they 
have given. 

Although not necessarily a part of this work, I have thought it 
well to add a word on the subject of the Irish language as still spoken 
in Antrim and Down. It has lately been said that there is no county 
in Ireland in which some Irish is not still spoken, not revived Irish, 
but in continuity from the ancient inhabitants of the country. In 
1802 the Eev. John Dubourdieu, in his Survey of Down, thus writes: 
" The English language is so general that every person speaks it ; 
but, notwithstanding, the Irish language is much used in the moun- 
tainous parts, which in this, as in most other countries, seem to have 
been the retreat of the ancient inhabitants.*' 

I have made enquiry this year (1880), and a correspondent sends 
me the following note from the mountainous district in the south of 
Down : — " There are a good many Irish-speaking people in the neigh- 
bourhood of Hilltown, but I think nearly all of them can speak 
English ; when, however, they frequent fairs in the upper parts of 
the Co. Armagh, for instance at Newtownhamilton or Crossmaglen, 
they meet numbers of people who speak English very imperfectly, 
and with these people the Down men converse altogether in Irish." 
In the Co. of Antrim the district known as * the Glens,* in the KE. 
of the county, with the adjacent-lying island of Eathlin, has remained 
to some extent an Irish or Gaelic-speaking district. In the course of 
some years, about 1850, Mr. Eobert MacAdam, the accomplished 
editor of The Ulster Journal of Archaeology, made a collection chiefly 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

in Antrim of 500 Gaelic proverbs, which were printed, with English 
translations, in his Joumah These were picked up from the 
peasantry among their homes and at markets. A short note from 
the pen of Mr. MacAdam in Dr. J. A. H. Murray's work on The 
Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland (London: 1873), is so 
much to the point that I must quote it : 

" The people are evidently the same as those of Argyll, as indi- 
cated by their names, and for centuries a constant intercourse has 
been kept up between them. Even yet the Glensmen of Antrim go 
regularly to the Highland fairs, and communicate, without the 
slightest difficulty, with the Highlanders. Having myself conversed 
with both Glensmen and Arran men I can testify to the absolute 
identity of their speech." Dr. Murray adds : " But there is not the 
slightest reason to deduce the Glensmen from Scotland ; they are a 
relic of the ancient continuity of the population of Ulster and 
Western Scotland." 

I wrote this year to a friend whose home is in the Glens for 
information as to the present use of Gaelic there. He writes : — " I 
have ascertained from one of our medical men, who is long resident 
here, that in one of the principal glens there are about sixty persons 
who speak Irish, and who prefer its use to that of English, among 
themselves, but who all know and speak English. Some of the 
children also understand Irish, but will not speak it, or let you know 
that they understand you if you speak to them in it." 



W. H. Patterson. 



Strandtownf Belfast, 
June, 1880. 



/ 



A GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND PHRASES 



USED IN 



ANTEIM AND DOWN. 



Jl, pro, I. ^ A will' ^A^m sayin'.* 
Aan, sK the hair or beard in barley. 
Aas, 8h, ashes. 

A-back. *Light-a-&acA;.' * Heavy -a -6ac A;.' Wh»j^ a can is 
loaded, the load can be arranged so as to press very lightly on the 
horse, this is haying it * light-a-ftocA; ; ' when the chief wei^t is towards 
the front of the cart, and therefore presses on the horse, the cart is 
* heavy-a- &acA;.' 

Abin, or Aboon, adv, above. 

Able. * Can you spell able ? ' = are you sure you can do what 
you are bragging about ? 

Abreard, adj. the condition of a field when the crop appears. 

Acq^uanty or Acquent, v, acquainted. *I'm well acquant with all 
his people.* 

Afeard, adv, afraid. 

Affront. 'He didn't afiront her/ Le. it was not a shabby 
present he made her. 

Afleet, adj. afloat. 
Afore, prep, before. 
^^in, ^in, adv, against. 
A^ee, adj, crooked ; to one side. 
Ahin, prep, behind. 
Aiblins, adv, perhaps. 
Ailsa-cock, sh, the puffin. 

B 



L^ 



2 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Ain, adj, own. 

Airle, Erie, v, to give earnest money. 

Airles, or^Arles, sb. earnest money given on engaging a servant. 

Aim, sh. iron. 

Aims, or Plough Aim.8, sh. the coulter, sock, &c. of a plough. 

AiwaL When an animal falls on its hack, and cannot recover 
itself, it is said to have fallen * aiwaV 

Aizins, sh, the eaves of the thatch of a house or stack. Same as 
Easins. 

Aizle-tree, sh. an axle-tree. 

Allan- hawk, sh, the great northern diver, and the red-throated 
diver. The skua was also so called in Moume, co, of Down {Harris^ 
1744). See Holland-hawk. 

All gab and guts like a young crow, a comparison. 

All my bom days, all my life. ' A niver seen sich a sight in all 
ma horn days.* 

All my lone. A' my lane, or All his lone, v. alone. 

Allow, to advise. * Doctor ! A wouldn't allow you to be takin' off 
that blister yet,' means * I wouldn't advise it.' 

Allowance^ sh, permission. 'There's no allowance for people in 
here.' 

All sorts^ (^) ^ great scolding. 'She gave me all sorts for not 
doin' it.' 

(2) very much. * She was cryin' all sorts.^ * It was raining all 
sorts,^ 

All the one, the only one. * Is this all the one you have.' 

All there, adj, wise ; sane. * ITot all there ' = not quite wise. 

All together like Brown's cows, or Like Brown's cows all in a 

lump, a comparison. 

All to one side like the handle of a jug, saying. 

Alowe, V. lit ; kindled ; on fire. 

Amang hans. ' He'll daet amang liansy L e, he will get it done 
somehow, by dividing the labour, and finding spare time for it. 

Among ye be it, blind harpers, L e, settle it among yourselves : 
said to persons quarrelling. 

Amos. ' A blirton amos,* a big soft fellow who weeps for a slight 
cause. 

Angle-berries, sh, large hanging warts on a horse, sometimes about 
its mouth. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 3 

Anklet, sh. the ankle. 

Anncient, Encient, adj, cunning; knowing. 'A sea gull's a very 
anncieni bird.' 

Ammndher, adv, underneath. Same as Tnnundher. 

Antic, adj, funny ; drolL ' He's very antic.^ Antickest = most 
funny. 

Anything, used as a comparison. * He was running away as hard 
as anything,^ * Tm as mad as anything with him.' 

Apem, sh, an apron. 

Appear, v, to haunt places after death. 

Argay, to argue. *You would argay the black crow white,* 
saying. 

Ann. To arm a person, is to lead or support a person along by 
the arms. 

Arr, ah, a scar, such a pock-mark, or the scar left by a wound. 

Arran, Em, eh, an errand. 

Arred, adj, scarred; pock-marked. 

Arris, eh, the sharp edge of a freshly-planed piece of wood, or of 
cement, or stone work. 

Arr-nut, ah, the pig nut, Bunium fleocuoaum. 

Art, Airt, sh. point of the compass. * What art is the win in the 
day ? ' A particular part of the country, as — * It's a bare art o* the 
country.' 

Art or part, participation. *I had neither art nor part in the 
affair.' 

As, than. ' I'd rather sell as buy.* 

Ass. * He would steal the cross off an ass : ' said of a very mean 
and greedy fellow. 

At himself. ' He's no at himself* i. e, he's not well. 

Athout, without. 

Attercap, sh, a cross-grained, ill-natured person. ' Ya cross atfer- 
capy ya.' 

Atween, prep, between. 

Anld-fiarrand, or Anl-farran, adj. knowing ; cunning. 

Anmlach, sh, a small quantity. 

Ava, at all. * A dinna ken ava,* * A'll hae nane o* that ava,* 

Avis, Aves, adv. perhaps ; may be ; but. * Avis a*ll gang there on 
the Sabbath.' 

Avont, unless ; without. ' I could not tell avout 1 saw it.' 

B 2 



4 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Away and divart the hanger aff ye: said to children who are 

troubling and crying for a meal before it is ready. 

Away and throw monl' on yonrself : said in scolding matches, 
probably means * go and bury yourself.' 

Away in the mind, adj, mad. 

Away to the hills, gone mad. 

Ax, V, to ask. 

Ay? Eh? whati what do you sayl 

Ayont, prep, beyond. 

Back. * I'm never off his hacky i. e, I'm always watching and 
correcting him. 

Back door work, sh. underhand work. 

Back spang, 8&. a trick; something underhand. 'He's a decent 
man, there's no hack apanga about him.' 

Back-stone, sb, a stone not less than two feet high, a foot and a 
half broad, and one foot thick, placed at the back of a turf fire, 
between the fire and the gable. 

Back talk, saucy replies from a child or an inferior. 

Bacon. 'Could you eat bacon that fat?' is the remark that 
accompanies the gesture known as * taking a sight.' * He made bacon 
at me, t. e. he took a sight at me. 

Bad, adj, sick. ' He has been bad this month and more.' 

Bad cess to yon, bad luck to you. 

Bad conscience, sb. It is said of people who go out to walk in 
the rain that they have a *bad conscience,' and therefore cannot 
abide at home. 

Bad man, the, sb, the devil. 

Bad place, the, sb. helL 

Bad scran, sb, bad luck. ' Bad scran to you.' 

Baghel, Boghel, sb. a clumsy performer. 

Bailer, sb. a vessel used for ' bailing out ' a boat. 

Bairn, sb. a child. 

Baiverage, beverage. When a young woman appears wearing 
something new for the first time, she gives her acquaintances the 
* baiverage of it,' this is a kiss. 

Bake, v. to knead bread, as well as to bake it in an oven. 

Ball, sb. a large and compact shoal of herrings is called by fisher- 
men * a hcdV 

Balling, v. Sea birds pouncing on a ball of fry are said to be 
haUing, 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 5 

Balloar, Billour, or Billyor, v, to holloa ; to shout out. 

Bankrope, eb, a bankrupt. 

Bannock, Bonnoek, sh. a cake baked on a griddle. 

Banter, v, to taunt a person to fight. 'He bantered me to fight 
him.' 

Banty, sb, a bantam fowl. 

Banyan, sb. a flannel jacket worn by Carlingford oystermen and 
fishermen. 

Bap, sb, a lozenge-shaped bun, whitened with flour. 

Bar-drake, Bar-duck, sb, the red-breasted merganser. 

Bardugh, sb, a donkey's pannier with falling bottom. 

Bare pelt, sb, the bare skin. * He ran out on the street in his 
harepelV 

Barge, (1) sb, some kind of bird (Harris, Hist, co, Down, 1744). 

(2) sh, a scolding woman. 

(3) V, to scold in a loud abusive way. 

Barked, v, encrusted. * Your skin is barked with dirt.' 

Barley-bnggle, sb. a scarecrow. 

Barley-play, sb, a call for truce in boy's games. 

Barn-brack, sb, a large sweetened bun containing currants, in 
> season at all times, but especially so at Hallow-eve, when it contains 

a ring ; the person who gets the ring will of course be first married 

(Irish hreacy speckled). 

Barney bridge, sb, a children's game. In playing it the following 
rhyming dialogue is used : — 

* How many miles to Barney bridge $ ' 

* Three score and ten.' 

* WiU I be there by candle Hght ? ' 

* Yes, if your legs be long.' 

* A curtsy to you.' 
'Another to you.' 

* If you please will you let the king's horses go through ? ' 

* Yes, but take care of your hindmost man.' 

Barron^hed, Borronghed, adj, a cow with her hind legs tied to keep 
her still while being milked is harroughed. 

Barrow-coat, sb, a long flannel petticoat, open in front, worn by 
infants. 

Baste, sb, any animal except a human being. A zealous individual 
asked a servant-girl, * Are you a Christian ? ' She replied, * Do you 
think I'm a haste ? ' See a. v. Christen. 

Baste the bear, sb. a boy's game. 

Basty, adj. tough and hard, applied to stifi" heavy clay or earth. 



6 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Bat, (1) sh, a blow. ' He geed me a hat on the heed.' 
(2) ah, a moth. A.hatla called * a leather- winged hat,^ 

Bats and bands, a description of rude hinges, consisting of a hook 
which is driven into the door-frame, and a strap with an eye which is 
nailed to the door, so that the door can at any time be lifted off its 
hinges. 

Battery, sh, a sloping sea wall. 

Battle, bottle, sh, a small bundle of hay or straw. 

Bavin, sh, a sea fish, the ballan wrasse, family Lahras. Fishermen 
esteem it of very little account, and generally use it to bait their 
lobster-pots with. It is also called MSiforrian,' ' Murran-roe,^ and 
• Gregah.' 

Bay, sh, one of the divisions or apartments in a cottage. 

Beal, V, to suppurate. 

Bealdin, Bealin, sh, matter from a sore. 

Bealin, sh, 9k suppurating sore. 

Beat all, v, to surpass alL * Well, now, that heed aU that ever I 
heard.' 

" The day heat aU for beauty.**— W. Oaeleton. 

Beauty sleep, sh, the sleep had before twelve o'clock. 

Becker-dog, sh, the grampus. 

Becomes, v, ' She hecomes her bonnet/ means the bonnet becomes 
her. * Shure the creathur becomes his new shuit.* 

Beddy, adj. interfering; meddling. * You're very heddy, saucy at 
one's food, also greedy, covetous. 

Bedrill, sh, a bed-ridden person ; same as Betherel. 

Beece, sh, cattle ; beasts. 

Beeslings, sh, beestings— the milk got from a cow at the three first 
milkings after she has calved 

Beet, sh. a small sheaf, or bunch of fiax. 
Beets, sh, pi, the medulleury rays in wood. 

Beetle, sh. a round wooden mallet or pounder for kitchen use ; a 
wooden block as used in a * beetling mill.* 

Beetling-mill, sh, a mill fitted with large wooden 'beetles,' raised 
perpendicularly by machinery and falling with their own weight, for 
finishing linen. 

Beggar's stab, sh, a coarse sewing-needle. 

Begoud, Begood, v, begun. 

Beg^nnked, adj, disappointed. Same as Onnked. 

Behang, an exclamation. ' hehang t' ye for a fool.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 7 

Behind God speed, an out-of-the-way place ; quite out of the world. 
Same as At the back of Qod speed. 

Behopes, sb. hope ; expectation. * I saw him to-day, and he has no 
behopes of bein' any better.' *I had great behopea the day would 
be mie.' 

Bein'y ah. (being), any wretched or unfortunate person. 

Belly-band, sb, the girth, in cart or car harness ; the piece of cord 
attached to the front of a boy's kite to which the string is fastened. 

Bendard, sb. the bent stick or bow in the frame of a boy's kite ; the 
upright stick is called the ' standard.' 

Ben-weed, Bend-weed, sb, the rag-weed, Senecio JacobcBo, 

Berries, sb. pi. gooseberries. 

Betherel, sb. a bed-ridden person ; a helpless cripple. 

Be to be, must be. ' There be to be another man got to help.' 

Be to do, must do. ' He be to do it/ i. e. he must do it. 

Better, (1) adv. more. * He gave me better nor a dozen.' 

(2) adj. well. * He's not better, but he's not so bad as he was yester- 
day.' The moment a child is bom, the mother is said to be better. 

Better again, stiU better. 

Beyond the beyonds, adj. something very wonderful or unexpected. 

Beyont the beyons, some very out of the way place. 

Bide, V. to wait. 

Bid thotime o' day, v. to say good-morning, or any similar salutation. 

Big, V. to build. * Come and see Billy biggin.* 

Biggin, sb. a building. 

Bike (a bee's bike)^ sb. a wild bee's nest. 

BiU, sb. a bull 

BiUer, sb. water-cress (in Irish biorar [birrer]). 

Bindherer, Binntherer, sb, anything very large and good of its kind. 

Bing, sb. a heap ; a heap of potatoes in a field covered with earth ; 
a heap of gram in a bam. 

Binged up, v. heaped up. 

Binner, v. to go very quickly. 

Birl, V. to twirl round ; to go rapidly, as a vehicle ; to run fast. 

Birse, sb. bristles. 

Birsy, adv. bristly. 

Birthy, adj. numerous, or thick in the ground, applied to potatoes ; 
prolific, or productive. * Them beans is very birthy,* 



8 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Biscake, sh, a biscuit. 

Biscuit, sh, the root of Potentilla tormentilla^ called also ' tormenting 
root.* 

Bisna, v. is not. * If it hiana tlie right thing, we canny work wf it.' 

Bissent, is not. * I can carry it, if it bissent too weighty.' 

Bit, (I) sh. The hit of a key is the part that is cut to pass the wards 
of the lock. 

(2) sh, to ' come to the hity* is to come to the point ; to arrive at the 
last stage of a bargaui. 

Biting Billy, sh, a very hot description of sugar-stick. 

Bits of things, sh, pi, household furniture. 

Biz, bees, v, is or are. * If you biz goin' I'll go too.' * When that 
work hees finished ye may go.' 

Bizz, V, to buzz. 

"And sweetly you hizzed wee happy bee,'' — Flegheb. 

Blab, sh, (1) a raised blister; (2) a tell-tale; (3) a bee's blab, the 
litile bag of honey within the body of a bee. 

Black-a-vized, adj, dark-complexioned. 

Black-back, sh, a fish, the flounder or fluke, Platessa flestis. 

Black-head, sh, the reed bunting. 

Black lumps, sh, pi, a favourite sweetmeat made up in baUs, and 
flavoured with cloves. 

Black out, cuij, * The fire's black ouiy i, e, quite out. 
Black scart, sh, a cormorant. 

Blad, (1) sh, a useless thing. 

(2) ab, a slap or blow. 

(3) V, to slap. 

(4) v. to blow or flap about in the wind, as clothes do when drying 
on a Ikie.' ' ^e wind would blad the young trees about.' Bladding = 
flapping about. 

Blade, sh. Strawberries, raspberries, and currants, are sold by the 
blade ; i. e, a cabbage-leaf into which a pint or quart, as the case may 
be, of the fruit, has been put. 

Blade mangles, to, v, to take the outside leaves off growing 
' mangolds, 

Blae, adj, livid ; blueish. ' Blae with cold.' 

Blae-berry, sh, the whortle-berry, Vaccinum myrtillus. Same as 
Frughan. 

Bla-flnm, Bla-fum, sh, nonsense ; something said to mislead. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 9 

Blanket. ^ It's as braid as it's lang, like Paddy's blanket ' = it's no 
matter which of two ways a thing is done. 

Blanter, sb. a particular kind of oats, long in the pickle, and late in 
ripening. 

Blashy, adj, splashy. 

Blast o' the pipe, sb, a smoke. 

Blate, adj, bashful 

Blatther, sb, * He fell a!*blatther on the groun',' *. e. with great force. 

Bland, (1) sb, a slap or blow. 

(2) V, to slap. 
Bleart, adj. bleared. 

Bleary-een. sb. pL eyes affected by a thick fluid ; inflamed eyes. 
Bleerie-tea, sb, very weak tea. 

Blessed be the Maker ! an exclamation, made after saying that any 
one is particularly ugly. 

Blessing, (1) *You missed as you missed your mammy's blessin*:' 
said densiyely to some one who is disappointed at haying missed 
something. 

(2) * The Lord's blessing be about you,' a common form in which 
a beggar acknowledges an alms. 

Blether, Blather, (1) sb, a talking, empty person. 

(2) V, to talk f oolii^y ; to talk indistinctly. 

Blethers, sb. nonsense ; foolish talk. 

Blind, V, to ^ blind a road ' = to spread small stones or cinders so as 
to cover up the large stones, with which a new road has been 
* pitched,' and to fill the interstices. 

Blind man's stan, sb. a boy's game, played with the eggs of small 

birds. The eggs are placed on the ground, and the player, who is 

blindfolded, takes a certain number of steps in the direction of the 

'^Sg^'i he then slaps the ground with a stick thrice, in the -hope of 

breaking the eggs ; then ttie next player, and so on. 

Blinked, adj. Cow's milk is said to be blinked when it does not 
produce butter, in consequence of some supposed charm having been 
worked — a counter charm is required to bring it right. 

Blister, sb. an annoying person. 

Blockan, sb, the coal fish, Merlangus carbonarivs. The fry are 
called gilpins, small ones pickies ; the mid-sized ones blockans and 
glashans, and when large, grey lord and stanlock. 

Blood, (1) V. *To get blood from a turnip,' to achieve something 
very difficult in the way of getting. 

(2) V, to bleed. * Your nose is hloodin\' 



10 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Blood-sucker, ah, a stinging jelly-fish, or Medusa. 

Blooming Sally, sh, the hairy willow herb, Epilohium hirsufum. 

Blooster, v, to bluster. 

Blootther, sb. a severe blow ; a clumsy blundering rustic. 

BI088, sb. contraction for blossom ; a term of endearment. 

Bine-bonnet, sb. the blue titmouse. The bird that is here called 
the * cock blue bonnet,' is really the great titmouse. 

Blne-bow, Blew-bowed, sb, said of flax when it blossoms. 

Bine-month. * It happens longer or shorter, from the time that the 
owl pratis (potatoes) goes out, an' the new ones is not come in.' 
— OiiLMnacK. 

Blnit, sb. a fish ; some description of skate or thorn-back. 

Blnrtin' thing, sb. a crying child. 

Boag, sb. a bog. 

Boagie, sb. a strong low truck with four wheels. 

Board, (1) v. *To board a. person,' to brinj? him before a board (of 
Guardians, for instance) on some charge. * What ails you at the man ? ' 
* Sure he boarded me an' got me the sack ' (dismissed). 

(2) V. to accost a person. 

Bog-bean, sb, Menyanthes trifoliata. It is used medicinally by the 
peasantry. 

Bogging, sb. black bog or peat, used for manure (Mason's Parochial 
Survey y 1814). 

Boggle, sb. a mischievous spirit or goblin. 

Bog-wood, sb. fir-wood dug out of peat bogs. 

Bohog, sb. a rude shed, under which the priests said mass during 
times of persecution. 

Boil, sb, the boil = the boiling point. ' The pot's comin' to the 
boil.' ' If s just at the hoiV 

Boiled milk, sb. porridge made of oat-meal and milk. 

Boiled upon, boiled with. 'Take some of that herb boiled upon 
sweet milk.' 

Boke, V. to retch ; to incline to vomit. 

Bole, sb. a small recess in the wall of a room. 

Bo-man, sb. a bogey. The word is used to frighten children. 

Bonanght, sK a thick round cake made of oaten meal, baked on the 
clear turf coal, and often used on the first making of meal aft;er 
harvest (Dubottbdieu's Co, Dovm, 1802). 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 11 

Bone dry, adj. perfectly dry. 

Bonham, ah. a pig of six or eight weeks old. 

Bonnock, sh. Same as Bannock. 

Boo, sh, a louse. 

Booket, adj, sized. ' It's Ug booket.' 

Bool, sh, the bow of a key, or of scissors. 

Booled oars, ah, pi. a kind of oars used by the Scotch quarter fisher- 
men at Carrickfergus. 

'^ Booled oars are those which row, two at one beam ; upon each oar 
is fastened a piece of oak timber, the length of such part gI the oar as 
is worked within the boat ; which timber enables them to balance the 
oar so that they row with greater ease." — S. MgSkimin, Hist, of 
CarrickferguB, 

Bools, ah, pot-hooks. 

Boom out, V. When a smaU boat is running before a light wind 
the sails are hoovned out so as to catch as much wind as possible. 

Boon, ah. a company of reapers. 

Boor-tree, Bore-tree, ah, the elder-tree, Samhucua nigra. 
Boose, ah. a stall for an ox. 

Bose, adj. hollow. ' The goose is a bonnie bird if it was not hoae.* 
Bother one's head, v. to trouble one's self. 

Bonn', V, bound; determined; prepared; certain. 'He's houn* to 
do it.' 

Bowl, adj. bold. ' He come on as howl as a lion.' 

Box-borra, ah, a wheel-barrow with wooden sides. 

Boxen, ah, a casing of wood such as is round the sides of a farm cart. 

Boxty, or Boxty-bread, ah. a kind of bread made of grated raw 
potatoes and flour; it differs from 'potato bread/ or * potato cake/ 
of which cold boiled potatoes form the principal part. 

Box-wrack, ah. a kind of sea-wrack. 

Brace, ah. a screen, made of stakes interwoven with twigs, and covered 
inside and outside with prepared clay used to conduct the smoke from 
a fire on the hearth to an aperture in the roof. 

Bracken, ah. any leurge kind of fern. 

Brads, Breads, ah. pi. the flat boards or scales, usually made of wood, 
which are attached to a large beam for weighing. 

Brae, ah. a steep bank ; a hill ; the brow of a hill. 
Braid, adj. broad. 



12 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Braik, sb. a large harrow, sometimes called a ^ double harrow/ usually 
drawn by two horses ; the * single harrow ' is much smaller, and is so 
called, not because it is in one piece, it is really double, but because 
it is drawn by one horse. 

Braird, «b. The young blades of corn, flax, &c. that come up in a 
field are called the braird. 

Bramble, sb. withered branches ; rubbish of twigs, &c. 

Bramelly, or Brambled. A * bramelly-legged man * is a man who 

is eiiJier * knock-kneed * or * out-kneed,' or has misshapen feet and 
legs. 

Branded, Brannet, adj, of a red colour with streaks or bands, applied 
to cattle. 

Brander, sb, a broiling iron. 

Brasl^, (1) sb, a turn at the operation of churning. ^ Gi*e the chum 
brash,' 

(2) sh, an attack of illness. 

Brattle, sb, a peal of thunder. 

Brave, adj, fine ; large. * That's a brave day.' * That's a brave 
chile ye've got.' 

Bravely, adv. finely. * He's doin* bravely,* i, e, he is recovering 
finely. 

Brazier, sb, a fish ; the pout, Morrhua lusca ; also tjie poor or power 
cod, M, minuta; also the common sea bream, Pagellus centrodontus. 

Bread. 'Bread and butter, and tith, thith, thith.' A child is asked 
to repeat this, and when he gets to the last syllables the tongue gets 
between the teeth, and when some one gives him an unexpected blow 
under the chin of course the tongue gets bitten. 

Bread and cheese, sb, the young leaf-buds of the hawthorn. 

Break, {!) sb, a. word used by the Ulster Scots for a rout or defeat 
(obsolete). * The Break of Drummore,' * The Break of Killeleigh.' 

(2) v. to change money. * Can you break that pound note for me ? ' 

Break by kind, v, to be different in habits, disposition, &c,, from 
one's parents. " The son of a dhrunk man 'ill le be inclined to be 
dhrunk hisself, if he dizint break by kind," — OLLMDaCE. 

Breeks, sb, pi, trousers. 

Breest, or Breast, v, to spring up and alight with the breast upon 
some object. ' Cud ye hreest that wall ? ' 

Breeze, sb, fine cinders or coke. " The price of fine breeze has been 
reduced to Ss, per 40 bushels." — Belfast Paper, 1875. 

Bremmish, sb, a dash, or furious rush or blow; the sudden rush 
made by a ram. 

Brent clean, adj, quite clean. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 13 

Brent new, adj. quite new. Same as "bran new." 

Breqnist, sh, breakfast. 

Briar bot, sh. the fishing frog or sea devil, Lophius piscaiorius. 
Same as Molly Qowan, Elilmaddy. 

Briar banting, sb, the common bunting. 

Bridge, sh, a weigh-bridge. A coal carter was found to have been 
abstracting coals from his own load. * Ah, ye fool/ said his comrade, 

* shure A toviV ye ye had to go over a bridge,* 

Brills, sh. spectacles. 

Brissle, v. to toast or scorch. * To hrissle potatoes.* * Don't be 
brissUng your shins over the fire.* 

Broad stone, The, ab, a cromlech in the parish of Finvoy, co. of 
Antrim. 

Brochan, sh, thin oat-meal porridge. There is a saying, ' Never bless 
brochatif^ i, e. that brochan is not worth saying grace for, and that 
such poor food comes as a right. 

Brochan roy, sh, brochan with leeks boiled in it : used by the very 
poor. 

Brock, (1) sb. a badger; a foolish person; a dirty person ; one who 
has a bad smell. 

(2) sb. broken victuals. 

Brogue, sh, a strong Irish accent. ' He has a brogue you could hang 
your hat on,' i. e. a very strong brogue. 

Brogues. ' As vulgar as a clash o* brogues,* i. e. a pair of common 
boots, — very vulgar indeed. -; 

Broken down tradesmen, sb. a boys' game. 

Broo, sb, Snow-broo = snow broth ; half -melted snow.. 
Brooghled, v, badly executed. 

Brosnach o' sticks, sh, an armful or bundle of branches gathered 
for fire- wood. Also called Brosna and Brasneugh. 

Broth. Broth, like porridge and sowans^ is spoken of in the plural : 

* A few broth* * Will you sup them ? ' * They're very salt the day.' 

Brongh, sb, a halo round the moon. ' A far awa brough. is a near 
han' storm,' saying. 

Browlt, adj, deformed or bowed in the legs : generally applied to a 
pig, a young dog, or a calf. 

Brnckle, adj, brittle. ' That's bruekle ware ye'r carryin'.' 

Brnckle sayson, sb, very unsettled weather. 

Bmlliment, sb. a disturbance ; a broil. 

Brnmf, adj. curt or short in manner. 



14 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Brusty V. to burst. 

Bncht oot ! v. get out ! 

Buck-hoTue, sb, " To be sold or let, a good huck-hcyusey about 80 
feet long, with a well-watered bleacbing green." — ^Advt, Bdfast News- 
letter , 1738. 

Buckie, sb. a mollusk, Buccinum undatum, 

Buckie-berries, eK the scarlet berries of the wild rose. 

Buckie-breer, sb. a wild rose bush. 

Buckled, v. bent or twisted : applied to a saw. ' There, that saw's 
all buckled ; take her to the saw doctor/ t. e. a man who repairs saws. 

Buddagh, sb. the large lake trout, Scdmo ferox. The word is said to 
mean a big, fiEit fellow ; a middle-sized cod-fish. 

Buddy, sb. an individual. 

Budge, V. to move. ' He's that ill he can't bvdge his feet or his legs.' 

Buffer, sb. a boxer. ' An old buffer, a tough old fellow. 

Bug, sb. a caterpillar infesting fruit trees. 

Bulk, V. to play marbles. 

Bulkey, sb. a constable. 

Bull^ sb. a large marble. 

Bully-rag, v. to scold in a bullying and noisy way. 

Bully-raggin', sb, a great scolding. 

Bum-bee, sb. a bee. 

Bumbee waxk, sb. nonsense. 

Bummer, sb. a boy's toy, made with a piece of twine and a small 
circular disc, usiially of tin ; it makes a humming noise. 

Bumming, v. boasting ; talking big. 

Bun, sb. the tcdl of a hare. 

Bun, Bunny, call to a rabbit. 

Bunce, (1) sb. a consideration in the way of commission given to 
persons who bring together buyer and seller at a flax market. Per- 
haps a corruption of b<mus. 

(2) V. to divide money. * Bunce the money.* 
Bundle, sb, what a child sits on. 

Bunker, sb. a low bank at a road side, a road-side channel. 
Bunny, sb. a rabbit. 
Bunt, V. to run away, as a rabbit does. 
Bum, sb. a small river. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 15 

Bnm-sMn-da-eve, sh, a term for a woman who is fond of crouching 
over the fire. 

Bnrrian, sh. a bird ; the red-throated diver. 

Bnrroe, ab, a kind of sea wrack ; the tangle, Laminaria digitata, A 
tall, shapeless person is called in derision a hurroe. ^ When I was 
sixteen I grew up as tall as a big hurroe ^^ said by a woman from 
Glenarm, Co. of Antrim. 

Burrough duck, sh. the shell drake. 

Bursted dhum. When the sun sets before the grain is all cut, on 
the last day of reaping on a farm, there is said to be a hursted chum. 

Bushes, eh, pi, masses of sea-weed (tangles), growing on sunken 
rocks, and exposed at low water. 

Busk, V. to dress, or deck oneself. 

** Que husk yeirsel' an come awa* 
An* dinna sit here dringin*." — ^Htjddleston. 

Buskin boot, sh, a man's low boot ; to tie. 

Butcher, sh, the parten or shore crab, Carcinus mosnas. 

Butter goes mad twice in the year, a saying. In summer it 
runs away, and in winter it is too hard, and dear as weU. 

Buttery fingers, sh, a term for a person who lets things slip from 
his hands. 

Buttin' at, v. hinting at. 

Buy. ' He cud buy ye at the yin en* o' the toon, an' sell ye at the 
ithir,' said to a person who is supposed to have a small supply of 
sense. 

By-chap, sh, an Illegitimate male child. 

Bye-word, sh. a saying. *' It was about this time that Paddy 
Loughran seen a ghost that had come to frighten him, but he only 
sayd, * Ye're late,' an' with that the hye-word riz, * Ye're late, as 
Paddy Loughran sayd t' the ghost.' " — Ollminicjk. 

By Oommany, a petty oath, or exclamation. 
By Goneys, or By OoUy, an oath. 
By Jaiminie King, an oath. 
Byre, sh, a cow-house. 



Cackle, sh, a concealed laugh. 

Cadda, Caddow, sh. a quilt or coverlet ; a cloak or cover ; a small 
doth which Ues on a horse's back underneath the ' straddle.' 

Cadge, V, to carry about anything for sale. 



16 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Cadger, sh, a pedlar ; an itinerant dealer in fish. 

Caff, sb. chaff. 

Cahill, sb. an eel net. 

Caigey, adj, in very good spirits ; lively ; wanton ; eager. 

Cailey, sb. a call or friendly visit. 

Caillyea, sb, a talk round the fire ; a gossip among neighbours. 

Caleerine8S, sb. giddiness ; fun ; mischief. 

Caleery, adj. light ; vain ; full of mischief. 

Calf. When a calf is bom, it is customary in some places to crush 
an egg in the hand, and thrust it, shell and all, down the animaVs 
throat. It is also dragged by the heels round the yard for luck. 
Mason's Paroch. Survey y 1819. 

Caliagh, sb, a potato of more than a year old (probably from its 
wrinkled appearance, as this is the Irish word for an old woman or 
hag). 

Call, sb, occasion or need. ' You had no call to do that.' * What 
call had you to touch them ? ' 

Called on, in demand, as certain classes of goods in shops. ' Flan- 
nen's greatly called on this weather.' 

Calling, V, ' He's a callingy* ?. e, he is being called. 

Cambered, adJ, slightly arched ; a builder's term for a floor or ceiling 
which has become bent. 

Came on, v. became of. * What came on you ? ' 

Candy-man, sb. a rag-man. Thase men generally give a kind of 
toffee, called * candy,' in exchange for rags, &c. 

Canney, v. cannot. 

Canny, adj. cautious. 

Cant, V. to sell by auction. 

Can you whistle and chaw meal ? addressed to a person who is 
boasting of his powers of doing difficult things. : 

Cap-baU, sb. a boys' game. 

Capper, sb. a turner of wooden bowls. 

Carcage, sb. a carcase. 

Carf, Carp, sb. a fish, the sea bream, Pagellus centrodontus, 

Carf, sb. a ditch ; a shallow channel cut in peat bogs for conveying 
water. 

Camaptious, adj. quarrelsome ; fault-finding. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 17 

Carpers, ah, pi, " Hundreds of men, women, and children, called 
carpersj are ready to catch the fish [herrings] that break from the not 
on its drawing on shore/' — Mason* s Paroch, Survey (P. Ardcliuis, 
Co. of Antrim), 1819. 

Garrion. *A carrion won't poison a crow,* i, e. there are some 
persons who can eat anything, or to whom nothing comes amiss. 

Garry, sh, a weir or mill-lead. 

Carryings on, ah. pL boisterous or improper proceedings. 

Carry my lady to London. In this game two children grasp each 
other by the wrists, forming a seat, on which another child sits, who 
is thus carried about, while the bearers sing— 

* Give me a pin, to stick in my thumb, 
To carry my lady to London ; 
Give me another, to stick in my other. 
To carry her a little bit farther.' 

Carry of the sky, sb, the drift of the clouds. 

Carry on, v. to behave in a boisterous or giddy manner; to act 
improperly. 

Carvy seed, sb. carroway seed. 

Case equal. * It's case equaly i, e, it's just the same ; it's as broad 
as it's long. 

Cash, sK a pathway ; a covered drain made to leave a passage for 
water in wet ground or bog. 

Cast, (1) adj, rejected as being faulty. * Them's old cast yins ; A 
wouldn't tak them.' 

(2) V. to reject on account of some imperfection. 

Castaway, sb. an old, worn-out horse. 

Casting out, v, falling out; quarrelling; also the fading out of 
colours iroTCL articles of dress. 

Cast ones, sh pi. rejected things. 

Cast up, V. to reproach ; to bring up byegones ; to remind one of 
past errors or offences. 

Catch it, V. receive punishment. ^ If he finds you here you'll 
catch it,* 

Cat-flsh, sb. a cuttle fish, Sepia officinalis, 

Catteridge, sb. a cartridge. 

Caup, sb, a wooden cup without a handle. - 

, Cawney, adJ, cautious. Same as canny. 

Cawsey, Cassy, sb, the paved or hard-beaten place in front of or 
round about a farmhouse* 



18 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Ces8, (1) t;. a house painter's term. When water is put on an oily 
surface it is said to cesa, t. e, it runs into separate drops* 

(2) ah, * Bad ceas to you/ saying ; t. e. bad luck. 

Chainy, sh, china. 

Champ, sh. mashed potatoes. 

Chanderi v. to chide ; to scold in a complaining way. 

Change, sb, not merely * the change ' coming back after a payment, 
but money itsell ' Sir, Pve called for the change for them pea-rods.' 

Change one's feet, v. to put on dry shoes and stockings. 

Chapman gill, sb, a toll of one shilling levied annually by the 
sheriffs of Oarrickfergus from each vessel trading to the port. It is 
to pay the cost of burying the bodies of sailors or others cast on shore. 
— ^McSkimin, Hist, Carrick/ergiis, 

Charged. * Cliarged or no charged she's dangerous : ' said of a gun 
or pistol. 

Charity, sb, a person who is deserving of charity is said to be a 

* great charity,'' 

Charlie. * It's long o* comin', like Royal Charlie : * said of a thing 
that has been long expected. 

Charm. * That would charm the heart of a wheelbarrow ; ' and 

* That would charm the heart of a beggar-man's crutch : ' said in 
derision to a person who is singing or wmstiing badly. 

Chase-grace, sb, a scapegrace. * Eunnin' about like a chase-gi'ace,* 

Chay-chay, said to cows to call them or quiet them, 

Chay, lady, said to a cow to quiet her. 

Check, (1) sh, a slight meal 

(2) V, to chide. * He checked me for going.' To slightly slacken 
the sheet of a saiL 

Cheep, V, to chirp. 

Cheevy, v, to chase. Same as Chivy. 

Chert your tongue, bite your tongue. ' If you can't tell the truth, 
you had better chert your tongue and say nothing.' 

Chew, sir ! away \ or behave yourself : said to a dog. 

Childhre, sb, pi, children. 

Chile, sb, a child. 

Chimin', v, singing. 

Chimley, sb, a chimney. 

Chimley brace, sb, the screen that conducts the smoke from a fixe 
on the hearth upwards through the roof.. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 19 

Chirm, v, to sing ; to make a low, murmuring sound. 

" But sweetly you chirmed on ould May momin'." — ^Flecher. 
CMtterling, (1) sh. a swallow. 

(2) V. chattering, as applied to the noise that swallows make. 
Chitty wran, sb. the common wren. 
Chivy, (1) sb, a chace. 

(2) V, to chase or pursue. ' He chivied me.' 

Chokes, sb. pL the sides of the neck. 

Chollers, Chillers, sb. pi the sides of the neck. 

Chop-stick, sb, a small bit of whalebone attached to a sea fishing- 
line to keep the snood and hook clear of the sinker. 

Chow, V, to chew. 
Chrissimis, sb, Christmas. 

Christen, (I) sb, & human being. ' The poor dog was lyin' on a 
Chriaten^B bed.' 

(2) adj\ Christian. 
Chnckie, a hen ; the call for f owL 

Chnrchyaxd deserter, sb, a very sickly-looking person. 

Chum, sb, a harvest home. 

Clabber, sb, mud. * They clodded clabber at me.* 

Clabbery, adj, muddy. ' Don't put the dog into that clabbery hole.' 

Clachan, sb, a small cluster of cottages. 

Claghtin', v, catching or clutching at. 

Clam, sb, a shell-fish, Pecten maximus. 

Clamp, sb, a small stack of turf, containing about a load. When 
turls or peats are * put out,' they are left for some time to dry ; as 
soon as they can be handled they are put into * footins ' or * futtins,' 
i, e, about four peats are placed on end, the upper ends leaning against 
each other. In the course of a week or two, if the weather be dry, 
these are put into * turn footins,' several footins being put together. 
In this case, two rows of turf are placed on end, say six in eadi row, 
the upper ends leaning against eacn other ; on these are laid, cross- 
wise, as many peats as the upright ones wiU hold. After some time 
these ' turn footins ' are put mto * clamps,^ in which they remain until 
they are sufficiently dry to be removed from the bog. 

Clan-jamfirey, Clam-jamfrey, sb, a whole lot of people. 

Clargy, sb, a clergyman. ' Ah ! he's a good man ; he's my clargy,* 

Clarkin', v, clerking ; doing the work of a clerk. 

Clart, sb, a dirty, slovenly woman. 

c 2 



20 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Clash, (1) sK a slap or blow. 

(2) Bh, a tell-tale. 

(3) V. to tell tales. ' He went and clashed <m me.' 

Clashbag, sb. a tale-bearer. 

Clatchen, sb, a brood of young chickens or ducks. 

Clatin', V, the act of raking together. 

Clatty, adj, dirty, slovenly. 

Clatty and longsome. ' You weren't both datty and longaome at 
that,' means that though you were quick about it, you did it badly 
and dirtily. 

Clant, a strong rake for raking up mire or rubbish. 

Clavin, a sea-fish, the spotted gunnel, Blenniua Gunnellus. Called 
also Flutterick and Codliok. 

Claw-hammer, sb. a slang name for a pig's foot, also for a dress coat. 

Clay-bug, sb, a common clay marble. 

Clean, adv, quite. ' I clean forgot.* * He's clean mad.' 

Clean ower, adv, completely over. 

Clean wud, adj, stark mad. 

Clearsome, adj, clear; bright. 

Cled, adj, thickly covered, as a branch with fruit. 

Cleek, sb, a hook. 

Cleeked up, adj, hooked up, as window curtains sometimes are. 

Cleekups, sb, stringhalt ; a twitching disease in the hind legs of a 
horse or ass. 

Cleet, sb, a double hook used in a boat for belaying small ropes to, 

Cleg, (l) sb, the gad fly. 

(2) V, to clog. 
Clemmed to death, adj, perished with wet and cold. 

Cleush, sb, a sluice ; a water channel or spout. 

Clever, adj, large ; fine-looking. 
Clib, sb, a horse one year old. 

Clifted, adj, cleft or split. 

Clincher, sb, a convincing statement or argument that settles the 
niatter. 

Cling, V, to shrink o^ contract, as wood in drying. 
Clint, sb, a projecting rock. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 21 

Clip, 9h, a gaff, or strong iron hook with a wooden handle, used for 
landing fish; a mischieyous young girL 

Clipe, sh, anything pretty large. ' A dipe of a boy.' 

Clipes, sb, tongs for holding stones when being lifted by a winch. 

Clish-ma-claver, sh, silly talk ; nonsense. 

Clitterty, olatteity, meal upon Saturday. The rattling noise of 
a grinding mill is supposed to resolve itself into these words. Another 
form — 

' Clitteriy, datterty, late upon Saturday 
Barley parritch, an* hardly that.' 

Clockin*, t7. hatching. 

ClockSi {\) sh, pi, dandelions in seed. 

(2) * I'd as soon watch doclcB [beetles] as mind them childre.' 
Clod, V. to throw anything, such as stones. 
Cloot^ sh, a hoof. 
Clootie, sh, a left-handed person. 
Cloots, {\) ah, pi, ragged clothes ; fragments of cloth. 

(2) sh, the deyil. 

Close side, sh, the right side of a carcase of mutton, so called 
because tiie kidney at that side adheres more closely than at the left, 
which is called the open side. 

Cloth, sb, linen. 

Clout, ^1) sh, a slap. ' A'U gi'e ye a dout on the lug if ye dar' to 
dash. 

(2) V, to slap. 

Clove, sb, an instrument used in the preparation of flax ; by it the 
' shows ' are remoyed which haye not been taken off at tiie * scutch 
mill.' 

Clutch, sb. the sUty substance in which oysters are partly embedded 
on £he oyster banks near Carrickfergus. 

Coag, sb, a vessel for carrying or holding water, made of hoops and 
staves, like a smaU barrel, with one of tibe ends removed. 

Coal, sb. a lap of hay ; a lap cock. 

Coaling hay, v, rolling it in small cocks after being cutr 

Coast anent, v. Farm labourers who are given money to lodge and 
board themselves are said to * coast anent,* 

Coat, (1) sb. a woman's gown. 

(2) * I wear my coat none the worse for it to-day,' t.tf. I am nothings 
the worse now for having been in a much lower position at one time.) 

Cobble, V, to bargain or haggle. 

Cobblety-curry, sb. Same as Shuggy-shu (1). 



22 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Cobbs, or Herring Cobbs, ah. pL young herrings. 

Cock-bread, sh, a mixture of liard-boiled eggs and other things with 
which game cocks are fed. 

Cocked up, adj, conceited. 

Cocker, sb. a cock-fighter. 

Cockers, Caackers, sb. pi. the heels of a horse's shoe turned down. 

Cockles of the heart. A warm drink or a dram is said to ' warm 
the cochlea of ont^s heart.* 

Cocks, sb. a common wild plant, Plantago. Children amuse them*- 
selves in summer with knocking off the heads of each other's cocks^ 
This is called ' fighting cocks.' 

Cock-shot, sh. anything set up as a mark at which to throw stones. 

Cock-stride, sb. applied to the lengthening of the days. '' About oul' 
New Year's Day, the days is a cock-athride longer." — Ollmikics:. 

Cod, (!) sb. Si silly, troublesome fellow. 

(2) V. to humbug or quiz a person ; to hoax ; to idle about. * Quit 
your coddin\* 

Codger, sb. a crusty old fellow. 

Codlick, sb. a fish, the spotted gunneL 

Coffln-cntter, sb. Ocypua olens, the cock-tail, an insect larger than an 
earwig, of a black colour. Called also The Devil's Coachman. 

Cog, (1) sb. a wedge or support fixed under anything to steady it 

(2) V. to steady anything that is shaky by wedging it ; to place a 
wedge under a cart-awheel to prevent the cart going down hill. 

Coggle, V. to shake. 

Cogglety, Coggly, adj. shaky ; unsteady. 

Colcannon, sb. potatoes and ' curley kail ' mashed together. A dish 
of Colcannon used to form part of the dinner on Hallow-eve, and 
usually contained a ring. The finder of the ring was to be married 
first. 

Cold comfort, sb. no comfort at all ' That's cold comf(yrt ye're givin* 
me.' Compare ** He receives comfort like cold porridge." — Tempest, 
Act ii. sc. i. 

Coldrife, adj. chilly; cold; of a chilly nature. 'Some people's 
naturally coldrife.^ 

Coif, V. to wad a gun. 

Colfin', sb. the material used to wad a gun. 

CoUey, sb. smuts. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 23 

Collogue, (1) sh. a confidential chat. 

(2) V, to talk confidentially. 

Collopi sh a slice of meat. 

CoUop Monday, eh. the day hefore Shrove Tuesday. 

Colly [coalie], a dog. * It's as clean as if Colly had licked it : ' said 
of a plate or howl that has heen thoroughly emptied and polished off. 

Come back. * Come back an' pay the bap ye eat/ i. e. come back ; 
don't hurry away. 

Come in, v. to suit ; to serve. * It's sure to come in for some use.' 

Come on, v. to grow up ; to thrive. ' The chile's comirC on finely.' 

Come over, v, to repeat anything told in confidence. ' Now don't 
come over that.' 

Come round, v, to recover from illness. * Doctor, do you think he's 
comin* roun\* 

Come speed, v. to get on with any work. * Are ye comin* much 
speed wi' the job ? ' 

Commanding pain, ab. a severe pain, such as almost disables one. 

Common, (1) sb. hockey ; a game. Same as Shinney. Called in some 
districts Comun and Kamman, from the Irish name for the game. 

(2) ' As ixymmon as potatoes,' i, e. of very low extraction, or a com- 
parison for anything very common. 

Connougli worm, eb, the caterpillar of Sphinx atropoe, "Cows 
eating of the grass that it passes over are believed to be affected with 
thatmtal distemper called the connough,** — ^McSkdon's Hist, Carrxck- 
fergue, 1823. 

Conquer, sb. a conqueror. 

Consate, (1) sb. conceit ; a pleasurable pride. ' He takes a great consate 
in his garden.' 

(2) bK conceit. To ' knock the coneaie out of any one,' means to 
give him a beating. 

Constancy, sb, a permanency. * I wouldn't do it for a constancy* 
t. e. I would not make a practice of it. 

Contrairy, (1) adj. obstinate; contradictory. *Kow, what's the 
good o' bein' so contrairy ? ' 

(2) Inconvenient. ' It happened at a most contrairy time.' 

(3) V. to prove the contrary ; to controvert. * I couldn't contrairy 
that.' 

Convenient, adj. near. ^ His house is convenient to the church. 

Convoy, v. to escort or accompany. 

Coody doon, v. kneel down. * Ooody doon an' say yer prayers.' 
Same as Ooorie doon. 



24 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Coof, or Conf, sh, a clownish fellow. 
Coo-pnshla, sb, a single dropping of a, cow. 
Coorie doon, v, kneel down. Same as Copdy doon« 
Coorse Christian, sh, a rough fellow. 

Coorse morning, ah. coarse morning, i. e. very wet or stormy. This 
is a common greeting. 

Coo-sherran, sh, cow-dung. 

Corby, sh, the grey crow or hooded crow. The corhy has hecome rare 
in Antrim and Down sinc« the piirchasing of dead horses and cows hy 
the artificial manure makers hecame usual. 

Corker, ah, a large pin ; anything large — ^a large fish, for instance. 

Cormoral, ah, a cormorant. 

Com, ah, oats. 

Comy-gera, or Comy-keevor, ah. the missel thrush,. Turdua mctr 
voroua, 

Corp, ah, a corpse. 

CorriEig, ah, a wind guard for the door of a cottage, made of inter- 
laced hranches. Same as Wassock. 

Corruption, ah. matter from a sore. 

Corvorant, ah. a cormorant. 

Cot, ah. a flat-hottomed boat. 

Coulter-neb, ah. the pufi&n. 

Coult fit, ah, colt*s-foot, Tuaailago^ 

Country, ah, * My country ' is the common way of saying ' the part 
of the country where I Hve,' so that if two farmers from districts 
three or four miles apart meet at market, one asks the other, 'What's 
the news in your country ^ ' 

Country Joan, ^5. an uncouth country person. 

County crop, ah. having one's hair cut very short, as it would be cut 
in the county prison. * YouVe got the county crop : ' said in ridicule. 

Course, v, ' To courae a lime-kiln ' is to put in the alternate layers 
of limestone and coaL 

Contther, ah. a plough-share. 

Cove, (1) ah, a cave. 

(2) V, to rub a 'flagged floor with a * coving-stone.' 

Cove, V, to rub a flagged floor with a ' coving stone.* 

Covered car, ah, a car with two wheels, drawn by one horse. 
There is room inside for four passengers, who sit facing each other. 
The door and step are at the back, the driver sits in front, perched 
up near the top. There are two very small windows in front, and one 
in the door. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. J25 

Cowl, adj. cold. 

Cowp» t7. to upset ; to empty. 

Cow'8-clap, sh, a piece of cow's-dung. 

Cow's tail ^ To grow down, like a cow's tail : ' said in derision to 
a person who is supposed to be growing shorter instead of taller. 

Crab, V, to carp ; to scold at. ' A couldn't thole bein' crabbed at, 
when A didn't do nothin' ondaicent.' 

Crab's allowance, sb, the treatment that juvenile fishers give to 
those crabs (* partens') that fasten on their hooks and eat off the bait 
— ^the crabs, when landed, are instantly trampled to death. 

Crack, (1) sb, a chat. 

(2) V. to gossip or chat ; to boast. 

Cracked, adj. damaged : as ' cracked hams,' hams which are slightly 
damaged in appearance. 

Cracker, sb, the thin cord at the end of a whip ; a boaster. 

Cracks, sb. pi, tales ; gossip. 

Crane, sb. the iron arm over a fire from which the ' crook ' hangs. 

Crapen, sb. the crop of a fowl. 

Crave, v. * To crave a man,' to apply to him for payment of a debt. 

Craw, Crow, sb, a rook. 

Creel-pig, sb. a young pig, such as is taken to market in a creel or 
basket 

Creepers, sb. pi. lice. Same as Pedes. 

Creepy, or Creepy-stool, sb. a very low stool. 

Creesh, (I) sb, a punishment of an uncertain kind. ' You'll get the 
creesh,* i. e. punishment. 

(2) ah, grease. 
Creeshy, adj. greasy. 
Crenben, sb, a crab. 

Crib, or Crib-stone, sb. the curb-stone at the edge of a foot-path. 
Crine, v. to shrink. 

Crock, sb. a derisive term for a person who fancies himself ailing or 
delicate. 

Crocky, adj. fanciful about his health ; hippish. 

Croft, sb, a space surrounded by farm buildings. ' Just go through 
thon farmer's cro/t down there,' a small field near a house. 

Cronkin, adj, to describe the baying sound made by a flock of Brent 
geese. 

Croo, sb. a poor, filthy cabin. See Pig Cyoo. 



26 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Croodle, v, to crouch ; to cuddle. 

Crook, 8b. a hook which is suspended from the ' crane ' in a kitchen 
chimney for hanging the pot or griddle from. ' As hlack as the crook,' 
very hlack. 

Croony V. to lament or waiL 

Croose, adj. sharp-tempered; pugnacious; irritable; conceited. * He's 
as crooae as a banty cock.' 

Crop, V. to crop land. * To put in erqpy* to sow seed. 

Cross. ' Ho would steal the cross off an ass : ' said of an avaricious 
person. 

Crottle, sh. a lichen. A decoction of it is used for dyeing. 

Crowl, (1) sh. a small person ; a dwarf. ' A crowl on a creepy looks 
naethin*,' saying. 

(2) V. to stunt the srowth of anything. It is said that dogs can 
be crotvled by giving them whiskey when they are young, and that a 
child is crowlea if a man puts his leg over the child s head. 

Crown of the causey, sb. the centre of the road, the driest and 
cleanest part, and therefore taken possession of by the strongest. The 
expression refers to the old paved country roads, which had no side 
patha 

Cmb, (1) sh. a horse's curb-chain. 

(2) V. to check. ' The caterpillars cruh the blooms of the rosea' 

Cmden, sb. a parten (crab), Carcintts moenasy of a reddish colour. 

Cmds, sb. pi. curds. 

Cruel, Crule, adj. very. ' Cruel big.' * Crvsl nice.' ' Oruel purty.* 

Cmels, sb. the king's evil 

Cruffles, sh. pi. a kind of potatoes. 

Crule han', sb. a disagreeable spectacle ; a bad case. ' He's made a 
cTvle han' o' hisself with the dhrink.' Same as Sore Hand. 

Crulge, V. to crouch near the fire ; to cramp oneself by sitting in a 
crouching attitude. 

Crumbs. Children are recommended to eat up the crumbs^ ' for the 
crumbs will make you wise.' 

Crummel, sb. a crumb. 

Cnunming-knife, sh. a cooper's tool 

Cruse, adj. captious; cross. 

Cmckle, sh. a cockle. 

Cuckoo-Borrel, sh. wood sorrel, Oxalis acetosella. 

Cmckoo-spittle, sh. the white froth deposited on plants, which is 
secreted by and encloses the yoimg of an insect, Aphromora e^umaria. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 27 

Cudden, sh. a small fish, the young of the coal-fish, Merlangua 
carhonarivs, 

Cnddy, ah. a donkey. 

'Cndnae tell a B frae a bill's-fit,' applied to a person utterly 
ignorant. 

Cnidhich, ah. a night's lodging and food. 

Cullooli, sh, the broad-nosed eel, Anguilla latirostris. This word is 
used at Lough Neagh, and is the Irish Colhch = wicked, in allusion 
to this eel's yoradous habits. It is also caUed Hunter Eel and 
Oorb Eel. 

Cummings, sh. pi. the rootlets of malt. 

Curchie, sh. a curtsey. 

Curcndionghly, adv. comfortably ; cosily. 

Curl doddy, sb. a flower, the blue scabious, Scabiosa sticcisa. 
Children twist the stalk of this flower, and as it slowly imtwists in 
the hand, say tO it : 

* 

' Curl doddy on the midden^ 
Turn roimd an' tak' my biddin'.' 

Corleys, sb. curled kail. 

Curmurring, sb. grumbling ; the sound caused by flatus within the 
body. 

Cum, sb. a currant. 

Cumaptious, adj. quarrelsome; cross-grained. 

Custom gate. Custom gap, sb. one of the approaches to a fair. 

Cut, (I) sb. dL measure of linen yam. See under Spangle and Lea. 

{2) V, to tack from side to side up an inclined pleme ; to move a 
heskYj object forward by pushing eadi end alternately. 

Cut butter. * It would cnt butter^ if it was hot,' is said of a parti- 
cularly blimt knife. 

Cut meat. To, v. to eat anything. 'They never cvi; meat from 
Saturday till Wednesday :^ said of a lot of sheep which were in transit 
from Ireland to England. 

Cuts. * To draw cuts,^ to draw lots. 
Cutter, sb. a slate pencil. 

Cutty, (1) sb. a short, clay pipe. 

(2) sb. a sea bird, the razor-bill. Also the guillemoi 

(3) ' There you are puttin' in your cvUy among spoons,' said to a 
youngster who attempts to join in the conyersation of the elders. 

. (4) adj. short. * CuUy pipa' * Cutty spoon.' 

Cutty ftilL * You hav'n't a cutty full * (of brains), i. e, you have 
no sense. 



23 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Da, Dada, sK father. *lSidat come home to the wain ! * 

Da-dilly, ah, a helpless, useless person. ' She's a sore cLci-dUhj of a 
crayture.* 

Dab, (1) sh. a small flat fish. 
(2) «&, a snatch, or clutch. 

Dab at the hole, ah a game of marbles. 

Dad of bread, ah, a large lump of bread. 

DaSy-downdillies, ah. daffodils. 

Daft, adj, weak-minded ; mad. 

Da-hOy ah, the hedge parsley, Anthriscua aylvestrla. See Hi-how. 

Dais, ah,. A log used as a seat, and placed against the gable of a 
cottage at the back of the fire, that is where a * roimd about ' fire was 
used. If the fire-place was against the gable there was of course na 
room for a dais, 

Daiyer, v, to strike a person such a blow as almost to stun him. 

Daiyered, adj. doting ; bewildered. Same as Doithered. 

Damsel, (1) ah, a damson. 

(2) sh, an iron rod with projecting pins, that shakes the shoot of 
the hopper in a com milL 

Dander, on the dander ; idling about ; on the spree. 

Dandher, (1) ah, a slow walk. Til just take a dandher.* 

(2) V, to saimter ; to walk about slowly. 
Dangersome, adj. dangerous. 

Dapery, ah. When oats are being put through frames the lightest 
grains fall through a sieve, and are collected by themselves, these are 
called dapery y co. Antrim. In co. Down they are caUed * wake com,' 
i, e. weak com. 

Dare, or Dar, v, to taunt, or challenge. ' He darred me to fight him.' 

Dark, adj. blind. * Will you give something to a poor dark woman ] * 

Darlin, adj. nice. ' A darlin* red-head,' means a nice head of red 
hair. 

Daundered, adj. dazed. 

Dauma, v. dare not. Sometimes Daumae. 

Dayer, a. to stun. 

Davy, ah. an affidavit. ' 111 take my davy.* 

Daw, ah. a lazy, good for nothing person. 

Dawmson plume, ah, a damson. 

Day, ah, one's lifetime. See under Your day. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN aLOSSARY. 29 

Say an' daily, adv. constantly ; every day. 

Payligon, Dayly goin, sh. (daylight going); the dusk of the 
evening. 

Dead end. * If you saw it you would take your dead end/ %.e. you 
would die of laughter. 

Dead knowledge, sh, deceitfulness ; cunning. 

Dead man's plunge, sh. this is made by throwing a stone, so that it 
enters the surface of water with such force that no splash is made. 

Dead men's pinches, sh. Small discoloured marks on the skin, which 
come mysteriously during the night, and which show themselves in 
the morning. They resemble the marks otpinchet or bruises. 

Deaf nut, sh. an empty nut. 

Bear bless you I God bless you [?], an exclamation. 

Bear help you ! God help you [?], an exclamation. 

Bear knows. A common rejoinder, meaning < who knows/ or * no- 
body knows J* probably me««it originally, * Gt)d only knows.' 

Bear love yon ! God love you [?], an exclamation. 

Beave, v. to deafen ; to bewilder. * You would deave one's ears.' 

Bebate, sh. a defence, or fight. ' He can make a great debate for 
himself.* 

Beck of cards, sh. a pack of cards. 

Becline, sh. consumption. 

Bede auld, at^*. very old. 

Beed and doubles, indeed. 

Bail (1). ' The ddl couldn't do it imless he was drunk : ' said of 
something very difficult. 

(2) * The deil gang wi' ye, an' saxpence, an* ye'U nether want money 
nor company,' a saying. 

Bail bane ye, an expression of anger. 

Beil perlickit, nothing. 'What fortune did his wife bring himl' 
* Oh, deil perlickit, tied up in a clout.* 

Bail's needle, sh. a dragon-fly. 

Bemands, sh. commands. 'Have you any demands into townl* 

Bemean, v. to lower, or disgrace. *I wouldn't demean myself to 
speak to him.' 

Bemin ane, sh, an odd one, i. e. singular, unusual. 

Ben, {\) sh.Bk dark cellar in a mill building. 

(2) the place of safety in games, such as * Hy spy.' 
Desperation, sh. a great rage. ' The master was in desperation* 



30 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Deval, Deyalve, m* Develve, v, to desist. 

Deyanhion, sb. ridicule, * Makin' divarshion,^ turning into ridicule. 

Devil's clitLm staff, the sun spurge, Euphoi^hla helioscopia. 

Devil's coachmaiL, sh, an insect. Same as CofSta cutter. 

Dhirl, ah. a good-for-nothing person. 

Dhrap with hunger, v, to die of hunger. ' If I was dhrappirC with 
hunger I wouldn't ask him for a farden.' 

Dhruv, V, drove ; driven. * I dhruv past him.* * A've dhruv that horse 
these five year.' 

Dibble, sh, a pointed wooden implement for making holes in the 
groimd for planting in. 

Dibble, or Dibble in, 2;. to plant by means of a dibble, 

Diddies, sb, the breasts of a woman. 

Differ, sb, the difference. 

Dig, (1) sb. a blow. * I wish I had three digs at him.* 

(2) *.To dig with the wrong foot,* is a way of sa3ring that the person 
rererred to belongs to a religious persuasion different from that of the 
speaker. 

Dig wi* baith feet, this is said of a clever person. Compare Two 
hand boy. 

Dig with the same foot, to belong to the same religious denomination. 

Dimpsy brown, adj, * Dimpsy brown, the colour of a mouse's waist- 
coat,' an undecided colour. 

Din, adj, dun, or brown-coloured. 

Dinge, (1) «5. a dint. 

(2) V, to dint. 

Dingle, or Dinle, v, to throb ; to vibrate ; to tingle. 

Dinlin, adj, trembling; vibrating. 

Directly, just so ; precisely. 

Dirt bird, sb, the skua. It follows flocks of sea-gulls, and chases 
these birds till they disgorge the contents of their stomachs, and the 
vomited matter the dirt bird eats. See Allan hawk. 

Discomfdffle, v, to incommode. 

Discoorse, v, to talk to. ' Come here till I discoorse you.' 

Disgist, V, to digest. 

Disremember, v. to forget. 

Distress, sb, a sickness. ' Since I had that distress in my head.' 

Ditch, sb, a fence, generally of earth. 

Divil mend ye. * Served you right.' * You deserved it richly.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 31 

Diwidy V. divided. * We dtwid them as well as we cud.* 

Do [doo], V. to recover from illness. 'I'm tbinkin' he's not goin' 
to do,* 

Doohnd, sh. grael. 

Dookan, sh, a dock-plant. When a boy gets stung by a nettle he 
searches for a dock leaf, and rubs it on the wounded part, repeating 
the charm, ' Dockcm, Ihckan, in. Nettle, nettle, out.' 

Dofe, adj. heavy ; stupid, as with a cold ; also to describe a dull 
heavy sound. 

Doff, V, to take the full bobbins off a spinning-frame in a milL 

Doffer, sh, a girl who doffs, i, e, takes off the full bobbins from the 
spinning frames. The doff en are the youngest girls employed in flax 
spinning-mills. 

Dog, Bh, the end of a rainbow. , It generally precedes or accompanies 
a squall at sea. Same as Weather gall. 

Dog wilk, sh, a sea mollusc, Purpura lapillus. 

Doing of^ sb, a scolding. 

Doithered, adj. doting ; bewildered. 

Dolachan, sb, a large lake trout, not so large as the ' buddagh,' but 
same species {Salmo ferox). 

Doldram, adj, confused; stupid. 

Dolfer, Dolver, sb, a large marble. 

Dolly. ' He had hardly a dolly on him,' means he had scarcely any 
clothes on him. 

Done, V. did. In the same way ' seen ' is used for saw ; * had went,' 
for had gone, &o. 

Done man, sb, a worn-out old man. 

Donse, sb. the devil. 

Donsy, Dauncey, adj. sick ; sick-looking. 

Dool, sh. a kind of naiL An iron spike, sharp at both ends. 

Dooled, a cooper's term. '* The head and bottom equally dooled and 
set into the cross." — Bel/oat News-letter, 1738. 

Dooless, adj. helpless ; thriftless. 

Dom, sb. a narrow neck of water (not fordable) between two islands, 
or between an island and the mainland (Strangford Lough). 

Dotard, adj. doting. 
Dotther, v. to totter. 
Douce, adj. neat; tidy. 
Dour, adj. sulky ; disagreeable. 



32 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY* 

Dousing, sb, a beating. ' A good dousing.* 

Dowd, sh, a woman's white cap without any frilling. 

Dowdy cap, sb. Same as Dowd. 

Down in fhe month, in low spirits. 

Dowp, sb. a candle-end ; also a child's ^ bundle/ 

Dowse, V, to extinguish. 

Doylt, adj. stupid. 

Dozed, adj. decayed, applied to wood. 

Drabs, sb. See Dribs. 

Draft, sb. a drawing, or picture. 

Drafts, sb. cart-traces made of chain. 

Drapisy, sb. dropsy. 

Drap it like a hot potato, i. e, drop it at once. 

Draw, (I) V. to cart. 'He's Siweiy dratvin' peats.' 

(2) V. to lift or raise for the purpose of attack. * He drew his fist, 
and hit him on the face.' * He drew his foot and kicked her.* 

Drawky, adj. wet ; misty. ' It's a drawhy day.' 

Dredge, sb. a boat used for dredging in harbours. 

Dredge box, sb. a flour dredger. 

Dreegh, adj. dreary ; tedious ; slow. ' It's a dreegh jab ' (a weari- 
some piece of business). * A dreegh road ' (a tedious road). * A dreegh 
boy ' (a slow boy). 

Dreep, v. to drip slowly ; to ooze. 

Dreepin', adj. very wet ; dripping. 

Dribs and drabs, sb. small amounts. 'He pays it in dribs and 
draba.' 

Dring, v. to delay ; to linger. 

Dringing, adj. lingering, or dawdling on the way. *Come on, 
Joan, an' don't be dringing behin'.* 

Drink-a-penny, the bald coot, Fulica atra. The little grebe is also 
so called. 

Drogget, sb. cloth which is a mixture of flax and wool. Of the off- 
spring of mixed marriages it is sometimes said, * They're drogget^ an* 
that's the worst of all cloth.' 

Droghey, adj. drizzly. 

Droll, sb. a tale, or story. 

Drooned, adj. When the sky is overcast and dark all round, it is 
said to have ' a c^rooned^appearahce.' 

Drop, sb, a rather small quantity. ' Give us a wee drop.* 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 33 

Bronkit, adj, drenched ; drowned. * As wet as a drouhit rat.' 

Drouth, sh. thirst ; a drought. 

Drown the miller, this is said to be done when too much water is 
added to the whiskey in a glass of grog. 

Drown your Shamrock. On Patrick's day (March 17th) persons are 
frequently requested to come and drown their ahamrockSy this means 
to have a drink. On this day when anyone is observed in liquor, he 
is said to have been * drowning his shamrock.* 

Drudge, (1) sb. a dredge. 

(2) i;. to dredge for oysters; to shake flour from a dredger. 

Drugget, sh. to speak drugget. To endeavour to graft a fine accent 
on a vulgar one. 

Drum, sb. * Fll give you what Paddy gave the drum,* t. e. a good 
beatings 

Drumlin, sb. a mound or ridge of gravel (Co. Down, Geo. Suwey). 

Druthy, adj. thirsty. * Talkin's druthy work.' 

Dub, sb. mud. "Their petticoots weel kill ahin, nor diib, nor 
stoure mismay them." — ^Huddleston. 

Ducey, adj. juicy. 

Duck, sb. a dip in the sea. ' I can take nine back ducks runnings' 
t. e, in succession. 

Duck at the table, sb. a boy's game played with round stones, and a 
table-shaped block of stone. 

Duck in thunder. ' He turned up his eyes like a duck in thunder,' 
saying expressive of astonishment. 

Duck's meat, hardened mucous in the corners of the eyes after 
sleeping. 

Duds, sb. clothes, ragged clothes. 

Due sober, sb. quite sober. 

Duggen, V. dug. * I'U get that plot duggen* 

Duke, (1) sb. a duck. 

(2) V. to evade; to stoop the head so as to avoid a blow. Same 
as Juke. 

DuUis, Dillisk, sb. dulce, Rhodomenia pahnata, a sea-weed, eaten or 
rather chewed, after having been dried for a few days in the sun. 

Dumb craythurs, sh, the lower animals. 

Dunch, V. to push, or butt. * That cow will dunch you,* 

Dundher, (1) sh. a violent noisy blow. *A dundher came to my 
door.' 

(2) V. to make a (Jull heavy noise, such as pounding. 

D 



34 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Dnndnokity, adj, * Dundttckity mud colour, the colour of a mouse's 
diddy,' an undecided colour. 

Danne, sb. a bird, the knot, Tringa canutus, 
Duimy, sh, the skate. Rata baits, 
Dunt, sb, a push ; a hard blow. 
Dnre^ sb, a door. 

Durgan, (1) a short stout person ; a kind of pig. 

(2) ah, oatmeal fried in dripping, and sometimes flavoured with 
leeks, &c., co. Down. This dish is called in co. Antrim, mealy-crushy. 

Durin' ash or oak, for ever. 

Dorsent, dare not. * They dursent do it.* 

Duskifls, sb, the dusk ; the evening. 

Duty hens, sb, fowls of which a tenant has to give a certain number 
to his landlord each year. 

Dwamlsh, adj, feeling sick. 

Dwaum, sb, a fainting fit ; a sudden fit of sickness. 

Dwine, v, to die away ; to decline in health ; to diminish. 

Dwyble, v, to walk with a foltering gait, as if weak in the limbs. 

Dwybly, adj, shaky ; tottering. 

Dyke Sheugh, sb, a ditch or trench, alongside a fence. 

Dyer, sb, a small quantity of any liquid. A wee dyo7* is the same as 
* a wee sup,' *a wee drop,* 

Dyorrie, adj. dwarfed; small * There's a dyorrie pig in every 
Utter,' saying. 

Dyuggins^ sb, shreds and tatters. 



Earles, sb, earnest money. Same as Airles. 

Ears, (1). When the right ear is hot^ some one is speaking ill of 
you ; when the left ear is hot, some one is speaking good of you. 

(2) * I can't hear my ears,* i, e, there is such a din that I can't hear 
a word. 

Earywig, sb. an earwig. 

Easin, sb. pi. the eaves of thatch. Same as Aizins. 

Edge, sb. an adze. * Foot edge,* a foot adze. 

Ee, Een, sb, eye ; eyes. 

Eedyet, sb. an idiot. 

Eelans, of the same age. * We're eelans.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 35 

Eel oil, sh used as a cure for deafness. 

Eel skins, sb, these are used for bandages for sprains, and are sup- 
posed to possess a curative property ; they are bound round the hurt 
wet and slimy, just as they are taken off the eels. Eel-akin is also 
used for the * hooden,' or * mid-kipple ' of a flail. 

Ekes an- ens, sb. odds and ends ; small scraps of things turned to 
account * Ekes an* ens rise to something if you just put them together/ 

* Between ekes an' ens V Ye managed this.* 

Elder, sb, a cow's udder. 

Elk, sb. a term for the wild swan (Harris, Hist eo, Down), 

Elsin, sb, a shoemaker's awl. 

End. * From end to one ' ^ from one end to the other ; throughout. 

* I've cleaned the hedge from end to one.' * The story's known from 
end to one through the whole place.' 

Endeayour, sb, an attempt ; one's utmost. To do one's endeavour = 
to try earnestly. * He come in, an' they done their whole endeavour 
to get him out.' * Make an endeavour to do it.' 

End's erran'. * On one end's errafi*, on one single purpose or errand. 

Enengh between melts and ronnds, i, e, between one thing and 
another : the allusion is to the milt and roe of herrings. 

Engrained, Ingrained, r. A very dirty-looking person is said ' to 
have the dirt engrained into his skin.' 

Ei\jain, Injain, sb, an ingenious thing. ' That's a great enjoin,* 

Entertainment, sb. lodging and food. * Entertainment for man and 
beast,' a notice. 

Entry montll, sb, the end of an entry or lane, where it opens upon a 
street. 

Ere yesterday, sb, the day before yesterday. 

Erran', sb, an errand. * If A mak an erran* tae yer face, it 'ill no 
be tae kiss ye,' said in anger. 

Errook, sb, a young hen. 

Espibawn, sb, the ox eye. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, 

Etamal, adj, infernal. * He's an eternal villain.' Compare Shake- 
speare, * The eternal deviL' 

Ettle, V. to intend. 

Even, V. to impute. ' Would you even the like of that to me.' 

Even ash, sb, an ash-leaf with an even number of leaflets, used in a 
kind of divination. The young girl who flnds one repeats the words — 

** This even ash I hold in my han', 
The first I meet is my true man." 

She then asks the first male person she meets on the road, what his 
Christian name is, and this will be the name of her future husband. 

D 2 



36 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Evenlier, adj. more even. 

Even one's wit, v. to condescend to argue with another. * I wouldn't 
even my wit to you.' 

Even on, or Even down, applied to heavy, continuous rain, * There 
was an even down pour.' 

Every, each. * There's a chimley on every en' o' the house/ 

Eyes, (1) When the right eye itches it is a sign of crying : when 
the left eye itches it is a sign of laughing. 

(2) * Your eyes are like two humt holes in a hlanket,' an expression 
of derision. 

Eye sore, sb, a blemish ; anything that looks iU. 



Face card, sh. a court card. 

Fadge, (1) sh, a kind of thick bread made of potatoes and flour or 
meal, baked on a griddle. 

(2) sh, a bale of goods of an irregular shape. 

Failed, looking very ill, or in impaired health, 

Fairin', sh, a present from a fair. 

Faize, Fiz, v, to show or make an impression. 'Drink n&w^x fizzes 
on that man.' ' He took all the medicine, and it neYerfaized on hiin/ 

Fall, V, to fell trees. 

Falling hatchet, sh, an axe for cutting down trees. 

Fan, V, to fawn, as *the dog fans on me.' 

Fangled, v, entangled. *The cow has got /angled in her tether.' 

Fangs, sh, the roots of the teeth. 

4 

Fans, sh, SL winnowing machine. 

Far through, nearly finished ; very ill. 

Farl, sh. the fourth of the circular piece of oaten cake, which is baked 
on a griddle at one time. 

Farley, sh. a wonder ; something strange. See Spy farlies, also 
used as a term of contempt. * Yefarley ye.' 

Farm o' Ian', sh, a farm. 

Farmer. * By the holy farmer,' an oath. 

Famess, sh. distance. * Wha.tf arness off* do you live ] ' 

Famtickled, adj, freckled. 

Famtickles, sh. freckles. ' The farntickles niver sayd a word but 
one, that they wouldn't light on a din skin,* saying. 

Fash, V. to trouble oneself. * Don't fash your lug,' pay no heed ; 
never mind. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 37 

Fasten's e'en, sk Shrove Tuesday. 

Fatigue, sh, hard wear or abuse. *That cloth will i*\A\\^ fatigue.^ 

Faulty V. to blame. 

Fause face, a mask. 

Favour, v, to resemble, as regards family likeness. *That chile 
favours his father.* 

Feat, adj, neat ; tidy. 

Feather, sK the lines and markings seen in polished wood. 

Febberwerry, February. 

Feck, sh. a quantity ; the greater quantity or majority. 

Feerd, afraid. 

Feint a liate, devil a bit ; nothing at all. 

Felt, sb, a bird, the redwing : the fieldfare is here called the * large 
blue/e/<.' 

Fend off, v, to prevent a boat firom striking against any object 

Fend off post, sh, a post set in the ground to protect an object from 
injury by carts, &c., coming in contact with it. 

Peth i, Heth i, faith yes. 

Feth and troth, by faith and truth. ' Feth and frothy but I won't 
let you.' 

Fettle, V, to fix; to settle; to grind the rough edges from iron 
castings. 

Fettler, sh, a man who fettles castings. 

Fiery-edge, sb. the first or original edge on a knife or other cutting 
implement; the first eagerness on commencing a new thin^. 'I*ll 
just eat a bit now to take the fiery-edge off my appetite.' It is some- 
times said of a new servant, * Oh wait till you see how he does, when 
the fiery-edge goes off him.' 

Fike, V. to be busy in a trifling way. 

Fillaira, sb, a plant, valerian ; also called villera. 

Fined in, v» fined. *He was fined in lO*.' 

Finger-stall, sb, a finger-stall ; the finger of an old glove used as a 
protection for a sore finger. 

Fired. When black specks appear on the stem of growing fiax, it 
is said to he fired (Mason, 1814). 

Firing, sb. a kind of mildew or disease to which young flax is sub- 
ject ; called by bleachers * sprit' (Dxjbottrdieu*s Antrinit 1812). 

Fissling, sb. a stealthy noise, such as a faint rustling. 

Fisty, sb, a nick-name for a person who has only one hand. 



38 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Fits. * It Jits you to a hair in the water ' = it fits you exactly : said 
of a garment. 

Fitty forra ooo, ab, a cow that has heen giving milk for say fifteen 
months, and is not with calf. 

FlafE^ (I) sb, * Lichenin* ^^/ a flash of lightning. 

(2) V. to flutter or flap. 

Flaghter spade, sb. a broad, pointed spade, with one edge turned up, 
used for paring sods or * scraws ' off the surface of the ground. 

Flail, sb. A flail consists of three parts ; the han' stav', the hooden 
or mid-kipple, which is a piece of cow-skin or eel-skin; and the 
soople, or part that comes in contact with the grain. 

Flake, Flaik, sb. a hurdle, or arrangement, of branches, on which flax 
was formerly dried over a fire. 

FlaniLen, sb. flannel. 

Flatter, to wheedle ; to coax ; to persuade. ' Away and flatter him 
for the loan of his wheel-barra.' 

Flauclit, sb. a flash. 

Flayers, sb. what drops from a dog's tongue. 

Flax ripple, sb. a comb with large iron teeth through which flax is 
drawn, to remove the bolls or seeds. 

Flea. * He would skin a flea for the hide and tallow : ' said of an 
avaricious person. 

Flee, sb. a fly. 

Fleech, v. to coax or supplicate in a fawning way. 

Fleet-line (float-line), sb. a line used in a particular kind of sea- 
fishing; the hook floats mid- way between the surface and bottom, 
and is carried away clear off the boat, which remains at anchor by 
the current. 

Flied, Fliet, adj. frightened. 

Flinch, sb. a finch ; e. g. gold-flinch. 

Flisky, adj. skittish, specially applied to a mare which kicks when 
touched on the flank. 

Flit, !'. to change house. *Do jonflit this week or nextT 

Flitting, sb. furniture,; &c., when in transit from one house to another 
* A load oi flitting.'' 

Floffing, Flaffin', v. fluttering, as a bird when held. 

Flooster, Floosterer, sb. a flatterer. 

Flooster, v. to flatter, or coax. 

Floostered, v. flurried. 

Flowan, the bog cotton, Anthemis Cotula. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 39 

Flowans, Flouans, sb, the light clinging dust in a flax-ecutching mill ; 
small fragments of the flax stem. 

Flow-bog, Flow-mo8S, sh, a bog through which water has flowed, or 
in which it lodges. 

Flower, sb, a bunch of flowers. 

Flug-fisted, left-handed. 

Flummery, sb, nonsense. See under Sowans. 

Flush, (1) V, to startle a shoal of herrings at night, so that the flsh indi- 
cate dieir presence by disturbing the surface of the water. 

(2) sh. a pool ; a pool of water that extends nearly across a road. 

(3) fledged, as young birds. 

Flutteriok, ^&. a flsh. Same as Clavin. 

Flysome, adj. frightful ; dreadful. 

Fog, sb, moss. 

Fog-oheese, sb. a soft inferior cheese, made late in the year. 

Fog-harrow, sb, a harrow to clear moss away. 

Fog-meal, sb. a full or hearty meal. A person who has eaten too 
much is said to have got a * fog-fill,* or to be * fog-fu.' 

Foofing, sb. the melancholy howling of a dog. 

Fool, adj. foolish. E,g, 'sl/ooI man/ 

Fooran, sb. a bird, the puffin. 

Foosted, adj. fusty ; decaying ; having a bad smell. 

Foot and a half, sb. a boy's game. 

Foot go, sb. a sloping plank, with stout laths nailed on to assist the 
feet, used by masons. 

Footing, sb. small heaps of cut peat. See under Clamps. 

Footther, (1) sb. & useless, foolish, or awkward person. * You're a 
fooUher, and the duck's ill get you,' common saying. 

(2) V. to idle; to do anything useless. *Don*t st&n' fooUhering 
there.' 

Foottherin', adj. handless. 

Footy, adj. trifling; small; mean. 

For. *I'm for doing it,' i.e. I'm going to do it. 'Are you for 
going ? ' i, e. do you intend to go ? 

Forbears, Forebeers, sb. ancestors. 

Forbye, (1) adv. besides. 'There was two forbye myself,' 

(2) ad. very; past the common. * Thafs aforhye good horse.' 
Forder, (1) sb. progress ; speed. See Cteod forder. 

(2) V, to assist ; to help forward. 



40 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Fordersome, what forwards any work ; manageable. 
Fore. * To the /ore ' = in existence. 

Fore-end, ah, the beginning, or early part * He may go out in the 
fore-end of the day.* 

Fore-milk, sb. the first milk got from a cow at each milking ; it is 
very poor and watery. 

Foreway, to get the foreway of one ; to forestall ; to anticipate one. 

Forget, sb, an omission ; a neglect. ' That was a great /or^e^.' 

ForxLenst, opposite to ; in exchange for. 

Forra-coo, ah, a cow that has been giving milk, for say nine or ten 
months^ and is not with calf. 

Forrard, Forrit, adj, fast, as a clock, * She's twenty-minutes /(?rrarc?.' 

Fortll, sh, an earthen fort or rath. 

Fosey, adj, spongy, like an overgrown turnip, or decayed wood. 

Foul ground, sh, the bottom of the sea, where it is covered with 
rocks or stones, and sea- weed. 

Founded, Foundet, sh, anything. ^ There was not a foundet in the 
house/ t. e. there was nothing — always used with a negative. 

Founder, sK a catarrh; a cold, or illness. * The boy has got b, founder,^ 

Foundered, adj, exhausted or lamed with wet and cold. ' The horse 
was /own^creS in one of his forelegs.' 

Fower-squaxe, adj, square. 

Foxed, adj. Women's cloth boots dx^fooced when they have a bind- 
ing of leather on the cloth all round next the sole. 

Foxing, adj, scheming. 

Foxy, sh, a term for a red-haired person. 

Freen, sb, friend, or relative. 

Freet, «&. an omen. 

Freety, adj, having belief in charms or omens. 'We're no that 
freety about here.' 

Frenoh flies, sh, a boy's game. 

Friend, Freen, ah, a relative. ' They're far out friends of mine, but 
I niver seen them.' 

Frimsy-framsy. Same as Frinoy-franoy, q. v. 

Frincy-francy, sh, a game played between the dances at balls in 
farm-houses. A chair was placed in the middle of the bam or room ; 
the master of the ceremonies led to the chair a young woman, who 
sat down and named the young man whom she was willing should 
kiss her. This he did, and then took the seat which the lady vacated. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 41 

He then called out the name of some favourite girl, who was led up to 
him ; there was another kiss. The girl then took the seat, and so on 
(Co. of Down). The same game is called Frimsey^framsey in parts of 
the CO. of Antrim. 

Frizzens, sb, the iron mountings on single and double trees, by which 
they are attached to a plough or harrow. 

From fhat I went, from the time that I went. 

Frost, (1) 'By the holy frost,* an exclamation. 

(2) * Shell sit o, frosty* i. e. she will die an old maid. 

(3) * The frost has taken the air,' this is said when a wet day follows 
a clear frosty morning. 

Fmghans, ^&. whortleberries. Same as Blaeberries. 

Fmsli, adj, brittle, as applied to wood, &c. : said of flax when the 

* shoughs ' separate easily from the fibre. 

Fud, sb. the tail of a hare. 

Full farmer, sb. a large, or well-to-do farmer. 

Fnm turf, sb, light spongy turf. 

Fur, sb, a furrow. 

Furrow and land, the hollows and heights on the surface of a mill- 
stone. 

Fut, V, i. e. foot, to walk. * Ye futted it weel ' ^ you walked 
quickly. 

Fazionless, adj, insipid, or innutritions, as applied to fodder, &c., of 
inferior quality. 

Fyammy, adj, applied to a sea bottom covered with a growth of 

* fyams,* t. e. tangles. 

Fyams, sb, the long sea-weeds known as tangles. 



(Jab, (1) sb, the mouth : hence talk, 'Gie us none of your gab,^ 
(2) * All gah and guts like a young crow,' a comparison. 

Gktbbuok, ov Oobbook, sb, the piked dog-fish. 

Gktokin', v, mocking. 

Oaffer, sb, the head man over a gang of navvies. 

Gag, (1) sb. a joke ; a deception. 

(2) V, to ridicule. * They began with gaggirC other,' 

Gktilick, Oelick, sb, an earwig. 

Oaily pot, sb. a jam pot. See Oelly cup. 

Gaining, adj. winsome ; lovesome. 



42 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Oaits, sb, sheaves of com set up singly on end. They are tied higher 
up than usual, so as to allow the hase to spread. 

Ghdlon, sb, the hutter burr, Petasites vulgaris, 

m 

Ghdlowses, sb. suspenders. 

Oalore, (}alyore, sb, abundance. 

Oame. A dog is said to be game if it does not howl when held up 
by the tail or ear, 

Qsme leg, sb. a ]ame leg; a leg shorter than its fellow. 
Oammel, sb. the back of the knee of a horse's hind leg. 

(Janoll, sb, an awkward, silly fellow. * A sore gatich of a craithur/ 

Oang ower (going over), sb. a scolding, 

* Oang up the hous,' go on to the best room or parlour, i, e. when 
the parlour is up a stop from the passage or outer room. In some 
farmhouses, where the parlour is down a step, the expression used is 
* Gang doon the hous* an' mine the step.' 

Gangway, sb. a frequented thoroughfare. * Oh, we live right in the 
gangway.* 

Oant, (hkunt, sb. a yawn. 

(}ant, (}annt, v, to yawn. 

Oapeseed, sb. what one can see or spy out ; what catches the eye. 
' They oame in here just for gapeseed, for they had no erran*.* 

GFar, v. to make or cause. 

Oarron, sb. an old horse. 

Gktsh, sb. a rent or gap. * That cow has made a sore gash in your 
hedge.' 

(Raskin, sb, any material, such as flax or india-rubber, used to pack 
the joints of steam or water-pipes. 

Gather, v. to suppurate. 

Gathering, sb. a suppuration. 

(hktherup, sb. a wandering rag-man. 

Gavel, sb, a> gable. 

Gaw, sb. a trap-dyke. Also called a March. Hamilton's Antrim, 
1784. 

(}awk, sb. an awkward person. 

Gazebo, sb. a stand at a racecourse ; a tall building from which a 
look-out can be had ; a staring looking building. 

Gazened, sb. When the seams of a boat, a barrel, or any wooden 
article are opened and gaping in consequence of heat or drought it is 
said to be gazened. 

Gelly cup, sb. a small jam pot or cup. 



\ 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 43 

Oentle, adj, haunted by fairies. The large hawthorns growing singly 
are deemed sacred to fairies, and are hence called gentU thorns, 
MoSkimin's CarrickferguSy 1823. 

Gentry, sb, the fairies. 

Gentry bushes, * fairy thorns,' &c. They are sacred to the ' good 
people,* and are therefore let alone. 

Get, (1) sb, an opprobrious term used in scolding matches. 

(2) V, to be called. * He gets the name of Toal,* i, e. he is commonly 
called Toal. * His name is Mulgrew, but he gets Timony.' 

Get out of the sheugh,' get out of the way. 

Get yer heed in yer han', v. to get a great scolding. 

Get your lines, v, to be dismissed from employment. Same as Get 
the sack and Get the bag. 

Ghost, V, to haunt a person or place for the purpose of importuning 
for money or anything else. 

Ghoster, sb. one who follows another person or hangs about for the 
purpose of asking for something. 

Giants* Graves, sb, cromlechs and kistvaens. 

Gib, sb, a hook on the end of a peculiar pattern of yard-stick. 

Gif, if. * I certainly will fight gif your honour bids me.^ 

GifT-gaff, mutual giving and taking. ' Gfif-ffctf mak*s guid freens.* 

Gig-ma-gog's Grave, sb, a kistvaen between Coleraine and Bush- 
mills, Co. of Antrim. 

Gilderoy. * I wouldn't give it to you if you were as big as Gilder oy,^ 
a defiance. Q-. was a celebrated outlaw. 

GiUaroo trout, sb, a large lake trout, commonly said to have a 
gizzard like that of a fowl. 

Gillets, sb, narrow channels among rocks. 

Gilpins, sb, the fry of the coal-fish, M&rlangus Carbonarius, 

Ginkin, sb, a fish. Harris (1744) says it is "a delicate small fish, 
spotted and shaped something like a trout. It is called here a ginh'vy 
in the rivers of the 0. Gkilway a streamer, in some parts a graveling, 
and in the 0. Kilkenny a gilloge.'* 

Ginling, v, catching fish under stones with the hands. 

Gim, ^1) sb, a noose. The noose which is made with a halter and put 
in a horse's mouth is called a gim, * Pit a girn in his mooth.* 

(2) V. to snare trout, &c., with a noose. 

(3) V. to cry. * Stop that girning.' 



44 ANTllIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

* G-imy go gabby the cat- s cousin/ said to a child that cries fre- 
quently without much cause. 

Olaikit, adj. thoughtless ; giddy. 

Olaiks, 8h, a lever attached to a chum-staff, by use of which the 
churning is less laborious. 

01am, sb. a sudden snatch. ' I made a glam at it.' 
Olar, Olanr, sb. slimy mud. 

Olashan, sb. the coal fish, Merlangm carbonarius. Called also 
Blockan and Grey Lord. 

Oled, sb. a kite (bird). 

Gleed o' sense, sb. a spark or grain of sense. 

Glimin', v. looking out of the corner of one's eye. 

Glipe, sb. an uncouth fellow. 

Olower, V. to stare or look. 

Gk), or Gkmg, of water. A go of water is two pails, i. e. as much 
as a person can carry at one time from the well. 

Goak, Gonk, sb. a cuckoo. 

* The bat, the bee, the butterflee^ the cuckoo, and the gowky 
j^The heather bleat, tiie mire smpe, hoo many birds is that ? * 

Answer Twa. Another form : 

* The cuckoo and the gotiky 
The layrock and the lark. 
The heather bleat, the mire snipe. 
How many birds is that ? ' Three. 

Gt>at. * It would blow the horns off a goat : ' said of a great storm. 

God speed. * The back of God speed,^ any very solitary and unfre- 
quented place. 

God's truth, the truth. 

Going on a stick, v. walking by the help of a stick. 

Gold Head, sb. the pochard or red-headed widgeon. Habris, Co, 
Down, 1744. 

Goldspring, Gooldspring, sb. a goldfinch. 

Golly, sb. a ball or block of wood used in the game of 'shinney.' 
Called also a Nag. 

Gomeril, sb. a fool. 

Gomns, sb. a stupid person or blockhead. 

Good. * He's no good^ l. e. he is of no use or of no account. 

Good forder, sb, a salutation to a ploughman or labourer, meaning 
* May you get on well.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 45 

Good lock, sb, a large quantity. ' Ah, that's nuthin' ; gi'e us a good 
lock: 

Oooldspring, sh, the goldfinch. 

Goose seam, sh, goose grease. 

Goppen, Ooapen, sK the full of hoth hands. ' She gave the poor 
body a goppen o' meal.' 

Gorb, sh. a greedy person. In Belfast the boys of any one school 
called the boys of another gorhs, 

Gorb-eeL Same as Culloch, q, v. 

Ctorgy-mill-tree, ^h. a willow. 

Gorsoon^ sh. a young lad. 

Gtospel gteedy, fond of going to church. 

Goving about, or Goving round, v. staring about in a stupid way. 

Ctowk storm. On the N.E. coast of Co. Antrim, " the peasantry 
look forward with the greatest interest every spring for what they call 
the gowk (cuckoo^ storm, that takes place about the end of April or 
the beginning of May, when the note of this bird is heard. This 
storm, which is from the east, casts on the beach vast quantities of 
sea- wrack, which is used as manure for their potatoes." — Thompson's 
Nat. Hut. of Ireland. 

Gowl, V. to howl ; to cry in a howling way. 

Gowler, sh. a dog, ?'. e. a howler. 

Gowpin, sh, the painful beating or throbbing in a suppurating finger. 

Gra, liking for ; affection. * I had no gra for it.' 

Graden, sh. a coarse kind of oat-meal. Obsolete. 

Graith, sh. horse harness. 

Granny, sh. The granny is a small sheaf composed of the last 
remaining growing stalks of com on a farm at harvest. The stalks 
are plaited together, and are cut down by the reapers throwing their 
reaping-hooks at it from a little distance. It is then carried home in 
triumph, and the person who has cut it down puts it round the neck 
of the oldest woman of the farmer's family. It is sometimes hung 
up against the * chimney brace,' where it remains till next harvest, 
when it gives place to the new granny. Also called the Chum and 
the Hare. 

Granny gills, sh. head vermin. 

Granny's needle, sh. a hairy caterpillar; a dragon-fly. Same as 
Deil's needle. 

Granl, sh. a sea-fish resembling a young salmon. Harris (1744). 
A half-gi'o^vn fellow. 



46 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Oraving bowl, sh, a gratuity paid to ship carpenters when ^ey have 
completed the repair of a vessel, on bringing her out of the grjaving 
dock. 

Great, adj, intimate; confidential. 'As great as inkle weavers/ 
saying. 

Greatly failed, adj. much impaired in health. 

Great shakes, adj, much consequence. * He's no great shakes^ — 
he*s not of much consequence. 

Greeshaw, Grashaw, sh. glowing ashes ; embers. 

Greet, v. to weep. 

Gregagh, sK a fish, the ballan wrasse. Same as Bavin, q, v. 

Grew, (1) sh. a greyhound. 

(2) sh. a tremor. 

(3) V. to shudder. * The chile grewed at its medicine.' 

Grdwsome, adj, frightful ; anything that makes one shudder. 

Grey, sb, the grey linnet. 

Grin (corruption of grain), a small quantity. * Gi'e us a wee grin o' 
sthroe.' * A'll no gi'e ye a taste.' 

Gripe, sb. a ditch. 

Grogan, sb. a kind of fairy about two feet high and very strong. He 
helps the farmers in harvesting, threshing, &c., but takes offence if 
any recompense be offered him. 

Groof, sb, the front of the body. * We found him lyin' on his groof,^ 

Group, sb, a drain in a cow-house behind the cows. 

Gmbs, sb, juvenile thieves of the street Arab kind, who run away 
with the tops or marbles of school-boys. 

Gmnunel, sb, a backing of clay put round the outside of the brick 
lining of a well. 

Gmnunles, sb, grounds ; sediment. 

Grnmpy, adj, disagreeable in manner. 

Gnint, sb, a fish, the perch. 

Grup, (1) 56. a grasp. 

(2) V. to grasp or grip. * Eels is gy an' ill to grup,* 

(3) V, to catch ; to overtake. * She's gruppin* on us : ' said of one 
boat gaining on another. 

Gudge, sb, a short, thick, fat person. * He's just a gudge of a man.', 

Guldher, (1) sb, a loud, sudden shout, caused by anger or surprise. 
* I gave a guldher at him, and he ran away.' 

(2) t\ to shout loudly. 



ANTBIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 47 

OnUet hole, ab. a deep hole in a sand or mud bank dangerous to 
bathers. 

Galley, 3b. a butcher's knife ; and, in derision, a butcher's boy. 

Gnllion hole, sh, a muddy hole ; a cesspool. 

Onllions, sh, mud. Same as Outters. 

Gmnph, sb, a stupid person. 

Gumption, adj. quickness of understanding ; common-sense ; tact. 

Gun. * It's like the man's gu7i, that wanted a new lock, stock, and 
barrel, some repairs, and a ram-rod : ' said of anything that is quite 
worn out. 

Ounked, adj. taken aback; disappointed. 'Greatly gunked,' 'sorely 
gunhedy or ' quarely gunhedy are common ways in which this word is 
used. Same as Be-g^nked. 

Giumer, sb, a workman who repairs fire-arms ; a gun-smith. 

Gurly, adj. surly ; cross. 

Gut, sb. a narrow navigable channel among sand-banks or rocks. 

Gutters, sb. mud. * The gutthers was dhreepin' aff him,' L e. ofif a 
horse. 

Guzzle, V. to take by the throat ; to choke a person. 

Gy, or Gai, adv. very. * It's gy an' hot the day.' 

Gyly, adv. very well ; in good health. * How are you 1 ' * Gyly.* 

Hackit hands, sb. pi. hands chapped from exposure to cold. 

Hackle berry, sh. a growth on a horse's leg. Same as Ang^e-berry. 

Haddin, sb. a holding or ' tak ' (take) of land. 

Haddin, sb, the wall in a cottage which faces the door, and in which 
is the triangular or other shaped * spy-hole.* Same as HoUan. 

Haen, v. had. * I should ha' haen them things home in the cart.* . 

Haffets, sb. locks of hair growing at the temples. 

Haft, V. to plug the teats of milch cows when they are brought to 
market, so that the udder becomes very full of milk, or to leave them 
unmilked for the same purpose. 

Hag, V. to cut or chop ; to disfigure or spoil by cutting. * I hagged 
a wheen o' sticks.* 

Haggle, V. to wrangle over a bargain. 

Hag-yard, sb. a stack-yard. 

Hail, sh. shot. * Sparrow Iiatl ' = fine shot. * The whole charge of 
hail went into his back.' 



48 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Hain, v, to save ; to economise. Also to save or spare oneself. * Ye 
hained yerseF the day.' 

Hair. * No a hair feared/ not a bit afraid. 

Haity anything. * Deil a halt ' = nothing at all. 

Haiverel, (1) sb, a fellow half a fool. 

(2) adj. giddy ; foolish. 
Half away, adj. mad. 
Half natural, sh. a fool. 
Half one, Hef yin, sb, a half-glass of whiskey. 
Half-piece crock, sb, the ordinary deep-shaped dairy crock. 
Hallion, sb. a coarse, idle, worthless fellow. 
Hames, Hems, sb. the iron or wooden parts of a cart-horse's collar. 

Hammer, block, and Bible, a boys' game. Each of the three 
objects is represented by a boy. 

Han\ * It's doon the hill, an' wi' the han' : ' said of a thing that is 
easily done. See Wi' the han'. 

Hanch, sb, a voracious snap. *The dog made a hanch at me.' 

Hand, (1) sb. a ham made from the fore-leg of a pig. 

(2) eh. something spoiled, or broken, or dirtied; much the same 
as Sore hand, q. v, * If you let ihe chile get the book he'll make a 
hand of it.' 

(3) To * take a hand at ' a person is to make fun of him or mislead 
him. * There, don't mind him ; he's only takin' a han' at you.' 

Hand idle, adj. idle. ' They're hand idle for want o' their tools.' 

Handketcher, sb. a handkerchief. 

Handle yer feet, make good use of your legs. 

Hand ma doon, a term for any article of clothing purchased second- 
hand or ready-made, from the fact of its being handed down by the 
• stall-keeper for the inspection of the intending purchaser. The term 
is sometimes used in ridicule for any odd-looking garment. * Whar 
did ye get that auld hand ma doon of a coat ? * Compare Decroche moi 
fa, the slang French term for an old clothes shop. 

Hand over head, one with another, an expression used in selling, 
and meaning the putting an average value on a number of things 
that differ in value. * Now how much a piece will you say for them, 
if I take the whole lot hand over head.^ 

Hands. When the left palm itches you are going to receive some 
money, when the right itches you are going to pay money. 

Handsaw. * Your voice is like the sharpening of a handsaw,^ i. e. 
very harsh and disagreeable. 



\ 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 49 

Hand's turn, ah. any work. * He hasn't done a handCa turn these 
six months.' 

Hand write, sb. hand-writing. ' Whose hand ufrtte is that ) ' 

Hang, V, to hang a scythe is to attach it to its * sned ' (handle) for 
use. 

Hanging, v, standing. * Hangin^ on my feet all day.' 

Han gi n g gale. On some estates it is customary to allow one gale of 
rent to He always in arrear. This is called the hanging gdU. 

Hank, sh. a measure of linen yarn. See under Spangle and Lea. 

Han'le, v, to hurry ; to exert oneself. 

Hansel, (1) sh. an early meal given to farm-labourers before they 
commenced work. 

(2) V, The first ^purchase made from a dealer hameU him, t. e. 
brings luck. 

Hansel Monday, the first Monday of the year. 

Han' stay, sb. the handle of a flail See Flail. 

Hap, (1) ah, a covering, as a cloak or a blanket. 

(2) V. to cover; to wrap up in muffling or bed-clothes. 

Hap af^ a call to a horse to turn to the off, or right, side. 

Hape of daeeney, much politeness or good manners. 

** Boy s, A had a hape o* dcuxncy. 
When A first come among ye." 

Hard, (1) oe^*. close-fisted ; penurious. 

(2) adj\ quickly ; fast. ' Now run hard ! ' 

(3) adj, strong: as appHed to strong drink, whisky, &c. 

Hard bowed, adj. said of flax when the seed has formed. 

Hardies, ab. broken stones used as road metaL ' Nappin' hardiea, 
breaking stones. 

Hardy, adj. frosty. * It's a hardy mormn'.' 

Hare, The, ah. the last handful of growing com at harvest. Same as 
The Granny, g. v. 

Hare seart, ah. a hare lip. 

Harey, adj. cunning ; knowing (like a hare ?). 

Harl, acfj. a rough, coarse, field labourer. 

Ham, V. to harden bread on a griddle. 
Hamishin, ab. harness. 

Harp, ah. an Irish shilling (temp. EUz. and Jas. I.) equal only to 
9d. sterling money (Hnx's Plantation in Uliter). 

X 



50 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Harrow goose, sb, a ' large ' bird mentioned by Harris, Hist, Co. 
Down (1744). 

Hash, ah. a lazy, untidy person. 

Hasky, (1) adj. husky ; hoarse. 

(2) adj, harsh : applied to flax, fibre, &c. 

Haste. * The more hade the worse speed, as the tailor said to the 
long thread,' saying. 

Hatterel, (1) * He's all in a haiterely i. e. his body is all over sores. 

(2) a great many j a flock. * A hatterel o' weans.' ^ 

Hand, v. to hold. 

Haud awa', go away. 

Haughle, v, to walk badly ; to hobble. 

Have no mind, to forget. ^ I had no mind of it ' — I forgot it. 
* Have you mind of timt, Sam ? ' 

Hawthery, Huthery, adj, untidy ; tossed. 

Hay-bird, sb. the willow wren, so called from its using hay largely in 
building its nest. 

Hazelly, adj\ * Light hazelly land,' i. e, light, poor soil. 

Hazerded, adj, half dried, as linen, &c., spread on grass. 'Them 
clothes are not dry at all ; they're only hazerded,'* 

Head, ( 1 ) «&. used for mouth. * Not a word out of your head.^ * Every 
tooth in my head was aching.' * The doctor said he was never to have 
the milk away from his head,^ This of a person who required con" 
stant nourishment. 

(2) * He was like to ate the head off me,' *. e. he was very angry 
with me. 

(3) * Hould up your head^ there's money bid for you : ' said as 
encouragement to a bashful person. 

(4) * Over the head of,* on account of. * I got dismissed over the 
head of a letter the master got.' 

(5) * To stand over the head of,' to warrant the quality or quantity 
of anything. 

Head beetler, the foreman beetler in a beetling mill, and hence any 
foreman or head man over workpeople. 

Head fall. " An infant at its birth is generally forced by the mid- 
vrife to swallow spirits, and is immediately afterwards suspended by 
the upper jaw with her fore-finger ; this last operation is performed 
for the purpose of preventing a disease called head-faU. Many 
children die when one or two days old of the trismus nascentium^ or 
'jaw-fall,' a spasmodic disease peculiar to tropical climates; here, 
however, it is probably a dislocation caused by the above-mentioned 
barbarous practice." — ^Mason's Parochial Survey, Parish of Culdaff, 
Co. of Donegal, 1816. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY^ 31 

Heaghmost, adj, highest. 

Hear tell, v, to hear. * Did ever ye hear tell o' the like 1 ^ 

Heart. ' I could find in my heart to/ &c., i, e. I have the heart to, 
&c. * I couldn't find in my heart to leave her.* 

Heart fever. 'Measuring for the heart fever,* a country charm.. A. 
tape is passed round the chest. 

Heart lazy, adj, very lazy. 

Heart's disease, sb. heart disease. 

Heart sick, adJ, wearied ; disgusted* * I*m heart sick of your goin's 
on.' 

Heartsome, adJ, cheerful; lively. 

Heartsomeness, sh, cheerfulness. 

Hear your ears, to hear yourself speak. * There was sich a tar' bio 
noise A couldn't hear ma ears.^ 

Heather bleat, sb, the common snipe. 

Heatherling, sb, the twite or mountain linnets Called also Heather 
Grey. 

Heavy. * He's very heavy on the strawberries,' i. e, he eats a great 
many. A heavy iinker. 

Heavy-footed, adj. pregnant. 

Heavy handful, sb, a weighty charge. * She has a heavy handful : *• 
said of a widow who is left with a large family. 

Hech, faith. * Hech man, but ye're dreigh o* drawin',' ^. e. faith, 
man, but you have been slow in coming to call. Same as Heth. 

Heddle, sK part of a loom. 

Heeler, sb, a sharp, prying, managing woman. 

Heel in, v, to plant young trees in a temporary way, to keep them 
safe till it is convenient to plant them permanently. They are placed 
in a slanting position. 

Heel of a loaf^ the last bit of a loaf. 

Heel of the hand, the part of the hand nearest the wrist. 

Heels foremost, dead. * Xever ! till A'm taken heels foremost,^ 

Heir, v. To heir a person is to inherit his property. 

Heir skip, sb, inheritance. * He got it by heir skip,* 

Hen. * Like a hen on a hot griddle,* a comparison for a very restless 
person. 

Hen fish, sb. the poor or power cod, Morrhua minuta^ 

Hern cran, Hem crane, sb^ ihQ heron. 

Herring hog, sb. the bottle-nosed whale. 

E 2 



52 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Het, V, heated. * He over het himser.' 

Heth, faith. * Heth no.* ^Heth aye.' * Heth an' soul, but you won't.' 
Same as Feth. 

Hengh, sh, a rocky height. ' The Gobbin Heughs^ precipitous rocks 
on the coast at the east of the Co. of Antrim. 

Higglety-pigglety, in confusion. 

Hi-how, sh, the hedge parsley, Anthriacus aylvestris. Of the parts of 
the stem between &e joints children make • pluffers' to * pluff ' haw- 
stones through. Children also make * scouts, t . e. squirts, of the stem 
of this plant. An instrument for producing a noise is also made. 
Could this sound have originated ihe curious name ? A correspondent 
says: "When we were wee fellows we used to make horns of the 
hi-Jiow,** Called also Da-ho. Compare the Sco. hech-how, 

Einoll, (1) sh. the thigh. ' The com was that short a Jinny Wran 
might ha* sat on her hincJies^ an' picked the top pickle ofE.' 

(2) V, to throw stones by bringing the hand across the thigh. 
Eingin' lock, ab. a padlock. 
Hingit, adj\ drooping : applied to flowers or plants. 

Eintin^ Hint, sb. the furrow in a ploughed field between the ridges. 

Hippo, sb. ipecacuanha. 

Hip-roofed house, a house the roof of which has no gables. 

Hirple, v, to walk lame. 

Hisseli^ himself. 

Hitch, V. to run. 

Hives, sb, red, itchy, raised spots on the skin. 

Hize, Hoise, v. to hoist. 

Hoag, Hogo, sb, a strong smelL 

Hook, Hawk, Hough, v. to throw stones under the thigh. 

Hoges. * The hoges* a boys' game played with * peeries ' (peg-tops). 
The victor is entitled to give a certain number of blows with the 
spike of his peerie to the wood part of his opponent's. 

Hoggat, Hogg^rt, sb, a dry measure consisting of ten bushels. (I 
believe obsolete.) 

Hoke, V, to hollow-out anything, such as a toy boat. A dog hoJces 
out the earth £rom a rabbit hole. 

Hokey Oh ! an exclamation. 

Hole and taw, a game of marbles. 

Holed, V. worn into holes, or suddenly pierced. 

HoUan, sK a wall in a cottage. Same as Haddin. See under Spy- 
hole. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 53 

Holland hawk, ah. This name is applied to two birds — the great 
northern diver and the red-throated £yer. Same as Allan hawk. 

Holy show, sh. a ridiculous or absurd exhibition of oneself. ' He 
made a holy show of himself.* 

Honey, a term of endearment. 

Hooden, ah, the hinge or joint of a flaiL Called also the Kid- 
kipple. 

Hooden sheaves, Hndden shaves, ah. the sheaves which are placed 
on the top of a * stook ' of com to turn off the rain. Also called 
Head sheaves. 

Hook, Hyenk, ah, a reaping-hook. 

Horn, (1) t?. to gore. 

(2) ' To have got the horn in him,' to be slightly tipsy. 

(3) V, to saw the horns off cattle. 

Homed, adj. Applied to cattle which have had their horns sawed 
off. Same as Skulled or Polled. 

Horn-eel, ah, the garfish, Belone vulgaria. Called Hackerel soont 
at Strangford Lough, and Spearling at Portrush. 

Homey, ah, a constable. 

Horn ouzel, ah, a bird mentioned by Harris (1744) as found in the 
Co. of Down. 

Horse elf stone, ah, a petrified sea urchin. 

Horse pipes, ah, the great horse-tail, Equiaetum maximum. 

Host, ah, a large number. ' I've a whole hoat of things to do.' 

Hot. * You were hot in the house : * said to persons who come out 
in wet or inclement days without apparent reason. 

Hongh, (1) * It's the last hough in the pot,' i, e, the last of anything, 
particularly anything to eat. 

(2) V, to hamstring. 

Houghel, ah, a person who walks in an awkward, loose, clumsy way. 
* He*s a sore houghel of a craithur.' 

Honldin', ah, something held, such as a farm. 

Honlts, holds. ' When I first seen them they were in houlta,* i, e, 
they were grappling with each other. 

Honl' yer han', stop work for a moment. 

Honl' yer loof^ L e, hold out your hand : an expression used in 
bargaining at markets. 

Honl' yer tongue, be silent. 

Honl' yer whisht, be silent. 

Hoved np, swollen- inflated. 



54 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Hovel, ib, the stand on which a com rick is bnilt.' 

Hovel-cap, sh. the broad stone, or piece of iron, laid on the top of 
each pillar of a * hoyeP to prevent rats, &c., &om climbing up to ihe 
grain. 

How-an'-divir, however. 

'How are you comin' on?* how do you do] 

How do you come on ? how do you do ? 

How do you get your health ? a common salutation, meaning how 
do you do i^ 

Howziver, however. 

Hulge, any large unshapely mass. * A hulge of a horse,^ a loose- 
limbed horse. Same as * a wallop of a horse.' 

Hum, sb. a morsel of food masticated by a nurse, and then put into 
an infant's mouth. 

Hummin', v, feeding a child with *hums.' 

Humplock, sb. a shapeless heap : applied to a badly-built hayrick. 

Hung^. * A hungry eye sees far,' saying. 

Hung^ g^ass, sb, some plant When a person treads on it in the 
fields he is seized with an intolerable hunger and weakness. A crop 
of hungry grass is said to spring up if persons who have dined in the 
fields do not throw some of the fragments away for the fairies. 

Hungry heart, sb, an empty, craving stomach. 

Hungry land, poor, sandy soil. 

Hunk^i V, to crouch on the ground with the heels under the hams. 
Hunkers. * To sit on one's hunkersy is the same as * to hunker.' 
Huntagowk, sb, a person sent on a fool's errand. 

Hunter, sb, A cat that is a good mouser is a hunter, * Her mother 
was a right hunter : ' said of a kitten. 

Hup, a call to a horse to go on; a call to a horse to go to the 
right or off side. 

Hup ! hup ! a car-driver's cry to get out of the way. 

Hurlbassey, sb, a star which when it is seen near the moon foretells 
stormy weather. — McSkimin's Hist, Carrickfergus, 

Hurly, (1) sb, a game ; hockey. Same as Shinney or Common. 

(2) sh, a long, low cart with two wheels. 

Hurly burly, sb, a boys' game. In it the following rhyme is used : 

* Burly 'hurly f trumpy trace ; 
The cow stands in the market-place ; 
Some goes far, and some goes near, 
Where shall this poor annor steer ? ' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. O.*) 

Hurries, The, sb, a term for the Irish Rehellion of 1798. Called 
also the Turn-out. 

Hnrrish, Thurry, a call to pigs. 

Hurry, (1) sb, a row or fight ; a quarrel 

(2) * Take your hurry,* or * Take yer hurry in yer han',' take 
your time. 

Hurstle, Hnrstling, the sound of rough breathing caused by mucus 
in the air passages. 

Hush, to drive a flock of fowl, saying at the same time, * Hmh, hush.' 
Sometimes Whush, or Wheeshoo. 

Hut, tut ! an exclamation of impatience. 
Hy spy, 8b, a boys' game. 



I, adv, yes. 

I-dent, adj. diligent ; hard-working ; attentive. 

Idleset, sb. off work ; idle time. * The horse was kept idleset. ' 
* There wasn't much idleset since you went away.' 

If I know, I don't know. ' Deed if I hiow when he's commin',' 
Ignorant, adj. wanting in manners. 
H-oonvainient, Onoonvainient, adj. inconvenient. 

HI, adj. difficult. * That stuff's ill to grind.' 

HI done, wrong. * It was very ill done of you to go there.' 

Hlfaured, adj. ill-favoured; ugly. 

ni-like, adj. ugly. 

Ill put on, badly or carelessly dressed : said of a person, 

HI to learn, difficult to teach^ * I wasn't ill to learn when I was 
young.' 

HI Willie, 111 wullie, adj. disobliging ; not willing to share any- 
thing with neighbours. 

Immaydiantly, adv. immediately. 

Impedent, adj. impudent. 

Impediment, sb. * There was a man there who had an impediment; 
he had lost more than the half of his hand.' 

I'm sure ! indeed ! really ! 

Income, ^5. a running sore.' * What makes you lamel' * A tuk' it 
first wi' an income in ma knee.' 

In coorse, of course^ 

Inieed-an'-doubles, a strong way of saying indeed. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

buck, sb, meal or porridge made from Indian com (maize). 

I, adv, due. ' He was indue me a year's wages/ 

trions, sh. an industrious person. * He was a good industriotis, 

r, sL the bringing home of a bride. 

ent, sb. a simpleton. 

sb. inn. ' I put up at the head inns,* ' He went to the horse 
V, and stayed at the inns.* 

idher, adv, underneath. Same as Annundher. 

over, near about any fixed date or any exact quantity. 

ad outs. * The ins and ouis ' of anything, i. e, all that can be 
wn about a thing. 

le, V, to explain. * Come here, and 1*11 insense you into it.' 

76, sb, a cooper's tool, like a drawing knife, but curved. 

9 inside of an hour, within an hour. 

prep, into. 

ine, alone. * Can the chile go ifs lone ? ' 

k me all|my time, i, e. I found it very difficult to do; it 
me very busy to do it. 

sb, ivy. 



k 




«- 



iokf4 



lis letter is sometimes called ^au^. 

), sb, a sea with small broken waves. 

in the box, sb, the wild arum. 

(I) sb, parts of a loom. 

I ah, a children's game played with five white pebbles, called 
k stones.' 

L) sb, a prick. 

I V, to prick. * A wee bit o' spruce fir jagged me in the sight o 
ye.' 

aup, V, to splash water. 

r&. splashes or sparks of water or mud. 

1) V, to talk in an offensive way ; to give saucy answers. 
I «&. saucy talk. Same as Back talk. 

ab, Jaw box, sb, a scullery sink. 

}, the missel thrush is called the jay here. The jay does not 

r. 



J 



i 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 57 

Jeesey, adj. juicy. 

Jennerwerry, January. 

Jig, (1) V. to dandle a baby. 

(2) V, To jig for herrings is to catch herrings by means of an 
apparatus composed of a number of wires with fish-hooks attached. 
l$ie jig is lowered into the sea where the fish are numerous, and is 
jigged up and down. Any herrings that come in contact with the 
hooks are caught and pulled into the boat. 

Jigger, sh, a sail that projects over the stem of a boat, set on a short 
mast called the ^jigger mast.' 

Jing-baJig, ah, a number of people. ' I don't care a pin about the 
vrhxAe jing-hang of them.' 

Jingle, sh, gravel. 

Jinnys. * A pair oijinnys^ a pair of callipers. 

Jirg^ing, sh, creaking, as shoes. 

Job of work, anything to do. * I hav'n't had a joh of work this 
month.' 

Jog, sh, a push or nudge. 

Joggle, V, to rock ; to be unsteady. 

Joggles, sh, the projecting pieces of wood left at the ends of a 
wooden cistern, or at the end of a window-sash. 

Johnny Nod. * Johnny Nod is creeping up your back : ' said to 
children who are very sleepy, but who don't wish to go to bed. 

Joiant, sh, a giant. 

Joice, sh, a joist. 

Join, (1) «&. a number of farmers, generally from eight to. twelve, who 
join together for the purpose of making cheese. ** Eachyoin has vats, 
tubs, pans, and the like implements, which are kept up at the expence 
of the whole." — Hist, Carrickfergua, 1823. Also a number of persons 
who join together for the purpose of purchasing drink for a carouse. 

(2) V, to commence work. 

Jotther, sh, a small quantity or dash of a liquid, %, e. ' a joWier o' 
whisky.' 

Jonlt, Jolt, sh, a lump. 'AjouU of meat.* 

Jnke, V, to stoop the head suddenly, so as to avoid a blow ; to turn 
off quickly when running away ; to hide round a comer. Same as 
Duke. 

Jnkery, sh, roguery. 

Jnke the beetle, sh, a lump in stirabout, or in ' champ.' 

Jump, V, to make a hole iii stone for blasting purposes with a Jumper 
(q, v.). The steel bar is jumped up and down, or is struck with a 
hammer, till the hole has been sunk the required depth. 



58 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Jumper, {I) sb. & kind of maggot in meat. 

(2) ah. & bar of steel or iron used at a quarry for boring a bole 
in the rock to receive a charge of powder for blasting. 

Jump jack, sb, the breast-bone of a goose made into a child's toy, 
with cobbler's wax, a string, and a stick. 

Jundy, (1) sb. a push. 

(2) V. to jostle ; to gush. 

Jurr, sb, a cart-load of flax offered for sale, which it is suspected is 
not the genuine production of the fanner, but has been manipulated 
by some unscrupulous dealer, is called a. Jurr, or ajturred load. 

Jute of tea, sb, a small quantity of tea. 



Xail runt, sb, a cabbage stalk. 
Kailyee, sb. a friendly evening visit. 

Kaimin' kaim, sb. an ivory or * fine-tooth ' comb. 

Kaiyel, Kevel, v. to toss the head, as a horse does. Also applied to 
the same kind of gesture in a person. * Watch the way yon girl 
kaivela her heed.* 

Kam, sb, a small iron pan used for holding the melted grease from 
which rushlights were made. A mould for casting several small 
bullets at once, or for casting small articles in. 

Kash, sb, a bog road, or causeway of uncut turf. 

Keokle, sb. a smothered laugh. 

Keddis, sb, a small quantity of silk, or woollen material, or flax, 
stuffed into an ink-bottle, and then saturated with ink. The pen is 
supplied by coming in contact with the keddis, and if the bottle is 
overset the ink does not spill. 

Keed, sb. cud. * Chow the Iceed,^ 

Keek, v. to peep. 

Keel^ sb, ruddle, a red earthy substance. 

Keel men, sb. the term for a class of illiterate buyers, who used to 
attend the country linen markets. When one of them purchased a 
web of brown hand-loom linen, he marked with a piece of * keel,* on 
the outside lap, some obscure characters, which were to the Tc^l man 
a record of the cost price, &c. 

Keen, (1) adj. anxious ; eager. ' She's keen to be married J 

(2) ah. a cry of lamentation over a corpse. 

(3) V, to wail or cry over a corpse. * When I heard the ban-shee 
it was just like an old woman Iceenying? 

Keenk, v. to cough ; to laugh in a convulsive way. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 59 

Keep company, v. to be lovers. 

KeesMon, sh. the hedge parsley. 

Keeve, sh. a large tub used in bleach works, &c. 

Kell, sb. the debris of the skin. 

Kelp, sb. the ash of burnt seaweed, of value for the alkali and iodine 
contained in it. 

Kemp-stone, sb, a large cromlech near Dundonald, Co. of Down. 

Ken, V, to know. 

Kennel, v, to kindle. 

Kenspeckled, adj. remarkable looking ; easily recognised. 

Keo8, sK funny tiicks ; jokes ; nonsense. 
Keous, sb, the rootlets of the potato plant. 

Kep, V. to catch ; to stop ; to head or turn back any animal. 

Kerries, sK fleecy driving clouds. See Carry of the sky. 

Kettle-bellied, adj, big bellied. 

Kib, sb. a kind of spade used in stony or hilly ground where a 
plough cannot work. It is very narrow and thick. 

Kilmaddy, sb. the fishing frog, Lophius piscatonus. 

Kilt, V. badly hurt. * The wean's hilt* 

Slimlin, sb, a small wooden vessel, used for dressing butter in. 

Kindlin', sb. fuel. 

King of the mnllet, a fish, the basse, Labrax Lupus. Called also 
White Mullet. 

Kink, sb. a twist in a rope or chain. 

Kink, Keenk, sb, a paroxysm of coughing or of laughter. 

Kipple, sb. the coupling of the frame of a roof. 

Kipple butt^ sb. that part of the principal of a roof which resis on 
the wall. 

Kisses, sb. small sweetmeats rolled up along with mottoes in a piece 
of coloured paper. 

Kist, sb. a chest. 

Kitchen, (1) sb. anything eaten as a relish with other food. * Butter 
to butter's no kitchen^' saying. 

(2) V. to save or husband anything carefully. 

Kitlin, sb. a kitten. 

Kittagh handed, left-handed. Colla Macdonnell (eirea 1600) is 
known as Coll Kittagh. 



60 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Kittle, V. to bring forth kittens ; to bring forth young alive. * Some 
fishes spawn and others kittle,* 

Kittling, acff, A hare with young is called a * hittling hare-* 

Knaby v. to snatch up ; to steal. 

Knap, V, to strike repeated blows, as with a hammer. 

Knapsack breed, children bom in the army. 

Knocldn' trongh, sh, a large mortar made of stone, formerly used 
for pounding barley in. It held about twenty quarts. The *mell' 
usea was of wood. 

Knowd, Nowd, sb. the grey gurnard, Trigla gurnardtis. 

Knowe, sb. a knoll ; a small hill. 

Knowin', sb. a knowing ; just what could be perceived. * We took a 
w«e knowin* o whisky.* 

Knowledgible, adj. knowing. ''Figs is a dale knowledgibler] nor 
people think."— Ollminick. 

Knur, sb. a dwarf ; anything small or dwarfish ; any animal that has 
become stunted in his growth. 

Krittity, adj. of uncertain temper; skittish; cross; unreliable. 

Kye, sb. cows. 

Lab, sb. a game of marbles. 

Labour, v. ' To labour a field,' to dig it or cultivate it. 

Laohter, sb. a brood of chickens, &c. ; a quantity. 

Lacken day, sb, a wet day. 

Lag, lag, Leg, leg, the call to geese. 

Laimeter, Lamiter, sb. a lame person. 

Lair, sb. A man or horse is said to lair when he sinks in mud or 
snow, and caDnot extricate himself. 

Laivins, sb. the refuse. 

Lamed to the ground. * I got a stab of a bayonet in the groin, 
which has lamed me to the ground.' 

Lament'able, adj. unpleasant; disagreeable. 'It*s a most lament'- 
able wet day.' * The smell of the fish was most lament' able.'* 

Lammas floods, sb. heavy rains which are expected about the first of 
August. 

Land, sb. cultivated land or pasture, as opposed to a road. ' Ck)me 
on the land^' i. e. come ofP the road into the fields. 

Landed, v. arrived ; placed. * I landed off the car at six o'clock.' 
* I gave him won skite, an' landed him into the middle of a whin- 
bush.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 61 

Langle, {!) ab. A * sheep's tangle * is a short piece of any kind of 
rope, with a slip knot at each end. The loops are passed oyer the 
fore and hind leg of a sheep. The animal is thus langled, and cannot 
go oyer fences. Hence the saying, ' He ^oes out of the langle,* applied 
to a person who goes on the spree occasionally. 

(2) V. to tie the hind foot and the fore foot of an animal together, 
to prevent it straying for. 

Lap, or Lapoock, ab, a small roll of grass cut for hay. Same as a 
Cole of hay. 

Lap, V, to roll up grass. * They lap it from the swathe/ 

Lapped np, wrapped up. 

Lapsther, ab, a lobster. 

Lark heeled, ab, having long heels : a term of derision. 

Lash, (l) ab. A large quantity. ' The master bought a laah o* things 
from them.' 

(2) V, to throw anything down violently. 

Lashins, ab, plenty. ' Laahina and lavins,' more than plenty. 

Lash wheat, v, to beat the grains of wheat out of the ears. 

Last day. ' I wouldn't have lifted it, not if it had lay till the laat 
day in the afternoon,' i, e, I would never have taken it. 

Latter end, ab, the end, * The latter end of the week.' 

Langh. * Laugh with the wrong side of your mouth ' = to cry. 

Langhin' sport, ab, sport ; fan. * You'll find it no laugMrH aport, 
i, e, it will turn out more serious than you expect 

Lave, (1) ab, the remainder ; the rest. * Ye may have the lave o't.' 

(2) t;. to lift or throw water out of a pool by means of anything, 
such as a bucket or scoop. 

Laverock, ab, a lark ; also a hare. 

Law, V, * To take the law ' of a person is to go to law with him. 

Laws. * By the lawa,* a mild oath. 

Lay a finger on, to touchy in the way of hurting or harming. 
Lay down yer bone, v. to work hard or earnestly. 
Lay out, v, to arrange ; to plan. * I laid myaelf out to do it.' 
Lazy led, ab, a broad ridge of potatoes. 

Lea^ ab, a measure of linen yam. Same as Cut. The ' lea ' or ' cut ' 
contains 300 yards, a *haiJ&' contains 12 'cuts,' and a * bundle' of 
yam 200 * cuts.' 

Leagh, v, low. 

Leagh the brae, at the foot of the hill. 



62 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Leal, adj. loyal ; true ; faithful. 

Leap the bnllook, a boys' game. Same as Leap-frog. 

Leasing, sh, a twisted thread of cotton or flax used for tying the 

* cuts * of linen yam. 

Leasing, v, putting in order or disentangling anything, such as 
thread, that has been tossed or tangled. 

Leather winged bat, a bat. 

Leave over ! v. stop ! desist ! 

Lees. * I hav'n't got the lees of you,' i, e. I don't comprehend you. 

Lemon sole, ab. the lemon dab, Platena microcephala. 

Lend, eh, a loan. ' Give me the lend of it.' 

Lerk, Lurk, sh, a wrinkle or fold. ' The child's that fat I can't get 
dryin' all his lerksJ* 

Lerked, adj, wrinkled. * The uppers of your boots is all lerked! 

Let, V. to hinder ; to interfere with. A boy's term in ball-playing, 
&c. ■ Don't let the game.' 

Let alone, besides. * I fell in and got hurt, let alone bein' all wet.' 

Let on, to show knowledge of a thing. * I never let on I seen him.* 

* Don't let orif' i, e, don't tell. 

Libel, sb. a label. 

Libbock, sb, a small, loose piece of something. 

Lick, (1) sb. a blow. 

(2) V, to beat. 

Licking, sb. a beating. 

Lieve, lief. 

Lift, (I) sb. the bend in the shaft or blade of a spade. * I would like 
a spade with more lift,' u e. with the shaft more bent. 

(2) V. to collect, as tickets, subscriptions, &c. 

(3) V. * Lift it and lay it like the lues of a laverock : ' applied 
when persons make frequent changes, such as moving things about 
from one place to another. 

(4) * Come here to I lift you : ' said in derision or in fun to a person 
who has fallen down. 

(6) V. to start a funeral. * What time do they lift f ' 

Lift yer han', v, to strike. * Wud ye lift yer han^ to a woman 1 ' 

Lig, V. to lie : a boy's term in playing marbles. * Let him lig,^ i, e: 
let his marble lie. 

Light, adJ, * Old lighty 'new light,* the terms for two sects of 
Presbyterians. The former subscribe the Westminster Confession, the 
latter are principally Unitarians. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 63 

light. 

* Light, light, low, 
The butterfly low/ 

Sung by obildren who are chasing butterflies. 

Like. * What like is he T i. e, what is he like ] 

Like is applied to words thus ; * I'm all tremblin' like.* * He was all 
frightened like,* * He seems careless like,' * Summer like,* 

Like I don't know what, a vague but common comparison. 

Lilt, V, to sing or hum an air. 

Limber, adj. flexible ; light ; frail. 

Limner, sb, a portrait painter : hence sometimes applied to a photo- 
grapher. 

Limpy coley, sb, a boys' game. 

Line, (1) sb, dressed flax. 

(2) ab, a road. The new roads are so called. 

Linen lease, sb. a lease granted under the provisions of the ' Linen 
Act.' It was for lives, renewable, and provided for the keeping of a 
certain number of looms on the farm. 

Lines, (1) When a dispensary doctor is engaged making calls in his 
district he is said to be out on lines, i, e, when he has received a line 
or order. 

(2) sb, a. discharge given to a worker or servant. 

Line yam, sb, yarn made from flax that has been dressed and sorted, 
so tiiat the flbres are long and run in one direction. 

Ling, sb. Heather, Erica cinerea, is especially called ling, 

Linge, v. to beat ; to chastise ; to lunge. . 

Linging^ sb, a beating. 

Lingo (pi. Lingoes), sb, a long, thin weight of wire used in Jacquard 
looms. 

Lint, sb, flax. 

Lint-hole, sb, a pit or dam for steeping flax. 

Lint-white, sb, a linnet. 

Lint-white, adj, very white. 

Linty, sb, a linnet. 

Lip, sb. * Give us none of your lip,* i. e, impudent talk. Same as 
Jaw. 

Lippen, v, to trust ; to depend on. * I wouldn't lippen her to carry 
It: 

Lisk, sb. the groin. 



64 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Litlis, 8h, the layers of a slaty rock ; the layers of an onion ; the 
diyisions of an orange. 

Lithy, adj. flaky ; in layers. 

Leaden, v, to load. ' I was told to loaden up with flax/ 

Loadened, ady, loaded. 

Load of conl*, a heavy cold. Same as Horth o' conl. 

Loaning, sb. a country lane. 

Lock, sb, a quantity. * A big lock.' * A wee lock,* 

Lockjaw, V. to take lockjaw. * He lockjawed.* 

Lock spit, V. to mark off the boundaries of land by cutting a slight 
furrow. 

Lodged, adj. Growing com that has been laid by the wind and 
rain is said to be lodged, 

Loghter, Lnghter, sb. a handful of growing com, or crop of any 
kind cut with a reaping-hook. 

Loke smell, ab. a nasty, sickeuing smell. 

Long. ' The long eleventh of June,' a saying. 

Long last, the very last. * Well, at long last he did it.' 

Long line, sb. a fishing line with several hundred hooks. Also 
called a Bulter. 

Longsome, adJ, tedious ; slow. 

Looby, sb. a great^ loose, indolent fellow. 

Loof, sb. the open hand. * They're scuddin' loofs an' buyin',' t. e, 
they are striking hands over their bargains. 

Look, V, to search. 'Away an' look the child's head.' 

Loose, adJ, unoccupied. 'I want to see the mistress when she's 
loose.* 

Loot your broos, to look sulky. 

Loss, V, to lose. 

Lossin' (^. e, losing), v. going to the bad. ' Them childre's lossin* for 
the want o' somebuddy t' see affcher them.' 

Lost, adj, cold ; wet ; perished. * Come in, chile, out o' the cowl' ; 
yer lost,* * Och, ye craythur, ye'll be lost if ye go out the day.' 

Longhry men, a race of small hairy people living in the woods. It 
is said that * they would get your gold.' They are very strong. 

Lonin, adj. hot. *My ears are louin,* 
Lonn, sK a boy ; a low, idle fellow. 

Lonp, V. to jump. 

Louse, ' They wad skin a louse : ' said of very grasping people. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 65 

Low, sb. a flame. 

Low come off, sh a low expression ; an offensive remark. ' They 
tonl' me to ate ma wee dog, an' A sayd to them, it's a low come off in 
ya to say the like o' that.' 

Lown day, a calm day. 

' Lown yer crack,' speak lower. 

Lowze, V, to loosen. 

Lozenger, sh, a lozenge. 

Luck. ' It was more by good luck than good guiding,' saying. 

Lncky, adj, full ; something over in count or measure. 

Lncky half, rather more than haUl 

Lncky stones, sh. small pebbles of hard, white limestone, which 
have been perforated by a sea- worm. They are found on the beach, 
and when the perforations extend in such a way that a string could 
be passed through the stone, and it could thus be suspended round 
the neck, it is called a lucky stone, 

Lne warm, luke warm. 

Lug, {\) sh. the lob-worm, -4r^mcoZa^25ca^orw7w, a large sea-worm used 
for bait. 

(2) ah, the ear ; the ear at the side of a can or bucket. 

Lnggie, ah, a boys' game. In this game the boys lead each other 
about by the * lugs,' t. c. ears, hence the name. 

Lump, (1) sh, anything big. 'A lump of a girl.' 

(2) ah, a quantity. * A lump of people.' 

Lump it * If you don't like it you can lump it^ i, e, you must put 
up with it. 

Luppen shinnen, sh, a started sinew. 

Lnrgan, Lnrg, Lnrk, sh, a whitish, very active sea-worm used for 
bait. 

Lnsty, adJ, healthy looking. . 

Lying, ctdj, sick. * He's lying these two months.' 

Lying heads and thraws, lying in different directions. 

Lythe, (1) sh, a fish, the pollack, Merlangus pollacJtius, 

(2) V, to thicken broth with flour or meal. 
Lything, (I) sh, flour or meal put into broth to thicken it. 

(2) V, fishing for Lythe, 

Machine, sh, anj ^ind of conveyance, such as a carriage, car, &c. 

Mackerel - cock, sh. a sea bird, the Manx shearwater, Puffinus 
anglorum, 

F 



66 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Haokerel-soont, sh. the gar fish. Same as Horn-eel. 

Mad, adj^ angry. 

Mad angry, very angry ; raging. 

Magnify, v. to signify. * That hurt won't magnify,^ 

Mailie, Mailie, a call to a pet sheep. 

Mails, sh. pL small perforated scales made of copper or other metal 
used in Jacquard weaving. 

Maist feck, sh. the greater part. 

Make, v, to attempt ; to offer. ' He made to strike me.' 

Make moan, v. to pity. * When you've tooth ache they make no 
moan for you.* 

Make off, v, to run away. 

Hake np, v, to accost a person with a view of making acquaintance. 
To he attentive to, or to make love to a person. 

Man. * You'll be a man before your mother,' said to comfort a little 
hoy in trouble. 

Man alive ! an impatient mode of address. 

Man-big, adj, full grown ; the size of a man. 

Mankeeper, Mancreeper, sh, a water newt, Llssotriton pimctatus. It 
is said that mankeepera will creep down the throat of a person who 
falls asleep near any water where they are. 

Manner, v, to prepare. ' It's hard to manner that ground.' * The 
land will be well mannered by the frost.' Flax is said to be well- 
manneredj or the reverse, according to its having been carefully 
treated, or the reverse, in the various processes of preparation. Flax 
is passed through rollers to manner it for the scutchers. 

Man or mortal, any one. * Now don't tell this to man or mortal,* 
Mansworn, adj. perjured. 

Manx puffin, sh, the Manx shearwater, PuMmis anglorum (Harris, 

1744). 

Many's the time, many a time. 

Map, sh, a mop. 

March, (1) sh, a boundary of land. 

(2) V, to border on ; to be contiguous to. * This is where my land 
marches with his.* 

March dike, sh, the dike (fence) between adjoining farms or town- 
lands. 

Marg^ more, sh, the big market, i, e, the market before Christmas. 

Marksman, sh, a man who cannot write his name, and has therefore 
to make his mark. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 67 

Hark the ground, put foot to the ground. * He could hardly mark 
the ground : ' said of a horse that was Tery lame. 

Marred, v. hindered ; interfered with. 

Married upon, Married on, v. married to. * She was married upon 
a man they call McKee.' 

Marrow, v, to lend men or horses for labour to a neighbour, and to 
receive a similar loan in return when needed. Same as To neighboiur. 

Marvel, sb. a marble. 

Masheroon, sb, a mushroom. 

Mashy-coms, Mash-ooms, sb. roots of * silver-weed * {Potentilla 
anserina). The root is roasted and eaten. It tastes much like a 
parsnip (Tate's Flora Belfastiemia), 

Masa * If ye missed mass ye hut the gatherinV *. e. you nearly did 
something. 

Master, sir ; a term of address. * Are you wanting any bog- wood 
the day, master ? * 

Mate, sb, meat ; i, e, food of any kind. * The horse dos'nt take his 
mate now at all.* 

Material, adj, good ; excellent. * A material cow.' 

Mang, y. to walk away. * Maug off with you.* 

Maunder, v. to talk in a wandering way. 

Mannna, Mannnae, v, must not. 

Mavis (jpron, maivis), sb, a thrush. * You can sing like a mavis/ a 
saying, generally used satirically. 

May be that ! Oh ! indeed ! 

May flower, sb, the marsh marigold, Caltha palustris. 

May I never stir, an appeal, used to give force to any statement. 

May jack, sb. the whimbrel. It is erroneously believed to be the 
young of the curlew. 

May shell, sb, the bone of a cuttle fish. Sepia officinalis. 

Mays. * Between the two Mays/ between the 1st and 12th of May. 

Meal ark, sb, a large chest or bin for holding a store of meal. 

Meal's meat, sb, a meal ; the food taken at one meal. 

Mealy-crnshy, sb, oatmeal, fried in dripping. Same as Durg^. 

Mealy-mouthed, adj, shy ; backward in asking ; not speaking out 
plamly when something disagreeable has to be said. 

Mean. ' As inean as get out,' very mean. 

Means. * Not by no manner of means/ i, e, by no means. 

F 2 



68 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Meat and Mense, food, and manners or politeness. ** Ye shud still 
ax a frien' t* take a bit o' whatiwer's goin', if he diz, why A wish 
him his health, an' much good may it do him ; if not ye hae yer meat 
and mense both," — Ollminick. 

Meokin'. * Meckin* a chimley o' yer mooth/ smoking. 

Meddle, v. to hurt or annoy. ' The dog won't meddle yoa.' 

Meg, sb, a boy's term for a bad old * peerie,* i, e. peg-top. 

Meg-many-feet) ab. a centipede. 

Meer, sb, a mare. * The white meer come oot o' some ermy/ i, e, the 
white mare had been in a cavalry regiment. 

Meerin, Mearing, sb, a land boundary. 

Melder, sb, the quantity of meal ground at one time for a person ; a 
large vague quantity. * IVe eaten a melder^ ». c. I've eaten too much. 

Mell whims, v, to bruise whins (furze) with a mallet or ' beetle,' for 
cattle feeding. 

Melt, (1) sb, the milt, or soft roe of a fish. 

(2) slang, sb, the tongue. * Keep in your mdtJ 

(3) * I'll knock the melt out of you,' a threat. 

Ment, V, mended. 

Meont, sb. a slight sound. * There wasn't a meout out o' the childre.' 
* Don't let a meout out o' you.' 

Messen, sb, a contemptuous term for a little person of either sex. 

Mich, V, to play truant. 

Mid kipple, sb, part of a flail. Same as Hooden. 

Midden, sb. a manure heap, or pit. 

Midge's knee-bnckle, sb. a very small article. 

Miles, Milds, sb, a wild plant used as spinach, Chenopodium album. 

Miller's lift, sb, an upward thrust with the point of a crowbar, to 
move a heavy object forwards. 

Miller's thnmb, sb. two small sea fishes are so called, Cotttis scoi'pius, 
and C, bulhalis. 



eye. *Hot from the mill eye,* a comparison for something 
freshly made. 

Mim, Mimsey, adj. prim ; prudish. 

Mind, (1) V. to remind. 'Now mind me of that to-morrow.' 

(2) V, to observe. * See ! d'ye mind the way she's walkin'.' 

(3) V. to remember. * I mind the time,' a common beginning to 
a story. *I don't mind much about my father being killed' = I 
don't remember much, &c. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 69 

(4) ab, recoUectioiu * I liadn't a bit mind of it.' 

(5) ' I was a mind to ha' done it,' t. e. I intended to do it. 

(6) * I had no mind/ i. e, I forgot. 

, V. to beat ; to aim a blow at ; to hit with a stone ; to hurt. 
' Mint the gowler/ i, e. hit the dog with a stone or anything. 

Misdoubt, V. to doubt ; to suspect. " He misdoubted there wud be 
blood dhrawed somewhere or another." — OiXMuaoK. 

Kisert, sb. a miser. 

Misertly, ad. miserly. 

Mislippen, v, to neglect. 

Mislippened, adj. neglected ; not cared for. ' A mislippened child.' 

Misliflt, V. to molest. 

Mismay, v. to annoy ; to disturb. 

Misses, V. * There's not much misses you,* t. e. you notice every 
thing that goes on.' 

Miss yer fat, to make a false step ; to stumble. 

Mistress, sb. wife. * His mistress opened the door to me,' i. e, 
his wife. 

Mizzle, (1) sb. a drizzle. 

(2) v. to drizzle ; to run away ; to disappear. 

Moan, V. to pity. 

Moan yon a hair, pity you in the least. 

Moat, sb. an earthen mound, or tumulus. 

Mookin* *s catcMn', i. e. mocking is catching. A warning not to 
mock or laugh at a person who is suffering from anything unpleasant, 
lest the same misfodiune may happen to one-self. It is said particu- 
larly to persons who are mimicking the personal defects of others. 

Moiled, adj. bare, applied to a bare-looking building. 

Moily, Moilya, sb, a hornless cow. 

Moily, adj. homle^ss. 

Molly gowan, sb. the fishing frog, LopMus piscatoHus. 

Molrooken, sb, the great crested grebe, Podiceps cHstatus. 

Money. * Money 's roun', an' it goes roun',' saying. 

Monkey flower, sb. mimulus. 

Mools, sb. broken chilblains. 

Mooly heels, sb. heels affected with ' mools.' 

Mooth, sb. mouth. * Ma heart was in ma mooth/ i. e. I was very much 
startled. 



70 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY^ 

Mootther, sh, the proportion of meal or seeds that the miller takes 
as his payment for grinding. 

Mope, sh, a mop. 

Xore betoken. Besides, generally used when adding a circumstance 
to prove the correctness of a statement; 

More holy nor godly, applied to a tattered garment. 

More red nebs than midges : said in very cold weather. 

More thaji middling, very superior. * His mother was more than 
middling* 

Mom's morra, sh, the day after to-morrow. 

Morra. * The morra come niver * = never. 

Morrian, sb. a fish, the ballan wrasse. Same as Bavin. 

Morth 0* cowl, sh, a very heavy cold. 

Mortial, or Mortal, very, or very great. ' Morfial cold.' ' A mortial 
lot.' 

M088, sh, a peat bog. 

Mo88-ban, sh, the edge or boundary of a peat bog. 

. Mos8-cheeper, sh. the titlark or meadow pippit. 

Mother naked, adj, quite naked. 

Mountain men, sh. pi, " That sect of dissenters called ' Covenanters '." 
— McSkimin's Carrickfergm. 

Mountainy, adj, mountain. * Mount ainy people.' * Mount ainy land.' 

Month. * Entry mjouthy i, e, entry end ; where an entry opens on a 
street. 

Month, (1) 'A mouth on you like a torn pocket,' a comparison. 

(2) * He niver as much as axed me if A had a mouth on me,' t. e, he 
did not offer me anything to eat or drink. 

(3) * You're a m^uthj^ an expression of contempt. 

Mowls, Mowl, sh, i. e. moulds ; earth. 

Mnckle, adj, much ; big. 

Muddle for potatoes, v, to get them out with the hands, surrepti- 
tiously. 

Mnd fat, adj, very fat. * The grass here is that good, that in six 
weeks a beast will get mud fat on it.* 

Mnd-lark, sh. a navvy, working at muddy embankments or exca- 
vations. 

Mndler, sh, a small metal stamper, used in public houses to crush 
the lumps of sugar in punch. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 71 

Hndyees, sh, short tongs. 

Mng, sh, the mouth ; a sulky person. 

Muggy, (1) sh. a hand-basket made of well twisted straw rope. 
(2) adj, foggy; close and wet; dark, applied to the weather. 

Hull, sh. a mess ; something spoiled. 

Hurpliies, sh. pi. potatoes. 

Mnrran-roe, sh. a fish, the ballan wrasse. Same as Bavin. 

Mussel picker, sh. a bird, the oyster catcher, Hoematopus ostralegus, 

Vj day, sh. all my life. *He*s the wee-est man ivir A seen in 
ma day.* 

My lone. His lone, &c., ad. alone. * 

My lord, sh. a hunch-backed man. 
My ! an exclamation of surprise. 

Naethin* ava, sh. nothing at alL 

Nag, sh. the wooden ball or * knur,' used in the game of * shinney ' 
(hockey) ; also called a * golley.* 

Nager [naiger], sh. a niggardly person. 

Nagerliness, adj. niggardliness. 

Naggin, sh. a measure of liquid = quarter of a pint. 

Naigies, sh. pi. horses. 

Nail, V. to strike with a sure aim. 

Nails. The little white marks that come and go on the finger-nails are 
the subject of the following divining rhyme : we begin at the thumb — 
a gift ; a friend ; a foe; a lover; a journey to go. 

Naperty, sh. a vetch, with a fleshy root, Lathyrus maarorliizus. 
Children dig up and eat the little knobs at the roots. 

Napper, Nabber, sh. anything large and good of its kind. 

Nature, sh. the name for a particular quality in flax, an oiliness, 
softness, or kindliness in working, which is of great value. * This 
flax is hard and birsely, it has no nature.* * Now here's a flax full of 
nature.* 

Nauky, adj. cunning. 

Neaped in, adj. term used when a vessel cannot get out of a harbour 
in consequence of tides or winds causing the water to be shallow. 

Near, adj. miserly ; penurious. 

Near begone, adj. penurious ; stingy. * Near hegmie people disn't 
give the workers mate enough sometimes, an' that's a burnin' shame.' 



72 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Near by, adv. near at hand. * Do you live near by ? ' 

ITeardest, adj, nearest 

Hear liand, adv, near^ nearly; almost. *I was near harC kilt.' 
* Not a shot came near hand us.' * The rope was not n,ear hand long 
enough.* 

Neayghen, sh, a small marine bivalve, about the size of a cockle, 
used for bait. 

Neb, sh, the nose ; a bird's bill. 

ITeok, V, to catch and shake a person. 

Nedcullion, sh, the wood anemone. Said to be derived from colleen, 
It. for girl (Co. Derry). 

Needoessity, sb, necessity. 

Neeze, v, to sneeze. 

Neighbour, ^1) sh. a fellow; a match. ' A'm lookin' for the neighbour 
of ma shai, i. e. I'm looking for the fellow of my shoe. 

(2) V. to give mutual assistance in farming, by lending and borrow- 
ing men and horses. Same as to Marrow. 

Nengh, v, to catch, or grasp a person. 

Never off his back, never ceasing to advise, or scold, or look after a 
person. 

New-ans, or Newance, something new ;. a novelty. ' It's new-ans to 
see you down so early.* * Ye'r behavin' yerself for new-ans^ i, e. you 
are behaving well for a novelty. 

New-fangled, adj. strange ; new-fashioned ; much taken up with 
some new thing. 

Next, adv. near. * Are you going next the quay 1 ' 

Nick and go, sb. a close shave. \ It was just nick and go with him.' 

Nicker, v, to neigh. 

Nick my near^ sb, a narrow escape ; a close shave. Same as Nick 
and go. 

Nick of time, sb. the right moment. * I arrived in the nick of tinieJ 

Nieve, sb. the fist, or closed hand. 

Nievy. 

* Nievy, navy, nick nack. 
Which han' will ye tak', 
The right or the wrang, 
m beguile ye if I can.^ 

The rh3rme is used in a game played with the closed hands ; in onq 
hand of the player is a marble, or any small object ; the other is 
empty. The second player tries to choose the hand that is not empty. 
Same as the old English game of * Handy-Dandy.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 73 

Nig^ay, Nignoy, v. to do what is useless ; to do something, but with 
no good result. 

Nig^ays, Nignoys, sb, pi, useless profitless doings. 

Nigh han\ adv, near ; nearly. 

ITippin', adj\ painful with cold. ' Ma toes is just nippin,* 

Nits, sh, pi, small objects among the hair, supposed to be the eggs of 
vermin, or young Hoe. 

Niver '8 a long day, a saying. 

No, adv, not * III no do it.' 

Noan, adv, none. 

No canny, adj, not lucky. 

No fit, adv, not able. ' Tm no fit to draw a herrin* off the brander,' 
i, €, I am in the last stage of weakness. 

Noggin, sb, a wooden vessel with a handle smaller than a * piggin.' 
Porridge and milk used to be eaten out of noggins, 

Noit, sb, * A noit of a crayture,' an insignificant person. 
No odds, no matter. 
Noole-kneed, adJ, knock-kneed. 

Norration, sb, a great noise. * The dogs are making a great norration,^ 

Not a fonnded, sb, nothing at all. 

Not at himself, adj, mad ; not in health. 

Not can, v, cannot. * Youll not can do that.' 

Note, sb, A cow is said to be * commin' forward to her note ' when 
the time of her calving draws near. * When is she at her note ? ' t, e, 
when will she calve ? The expression seems to originate in a note 
that is kept of the expected time. ** For sale, a Kerry cow, five years 
old, at her note in May." — Belfast Paper, 1875. 

Not expected, adj, not expected to recover from sickness. 
Notionate, adj. obstinate ; self-opinionated ; fanciful. 
Notish, V, to notice. 
Nont, sb, nothing. * I got it for noutJ 

Nowd, sb, the grey gurnard. Same as Knowd. 

Nndyan, sb, a bunnian. 

Nnrg, adj, miserly ; stingy. 

Nnrr, sb. a small insignificant thing. 

Nnrse tender, sb. a monthly nurse. 



74 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

0, sb. * a round ; ' a stupid or silly fellow ; a softy. 

Oberins, sb. * Wee oberinSf means trifling work. 

Obledgement, sb. a kindness. 

Och-a-nee ! Int an expression of weariness or sorrow. 

Odd or even, sb. a boys* game. A boy shuts up a few small objects, 
such as marbles in one hand, and asks his opponent to guess is the 
number odd or even. He then either pays or receives one, according as 
the guess is right or wrong. 

Of, as. ' The same of that/ t. e, the same as that. 

Offal, sb. the refuse part of ground wheat. 

Off and on, more or less ; there about. 

Offence. * No offence,* is a rejoinder when a person has said, * I beg 
your pardon.' 

Offer, (1) sb. an attempt. 

(2) to attempt. * Don' t offer to do it/ t. e. don't attempt ; don't dare. 

Ogenagh, sb. a simpleton. 

Oh then ! i7it. Oh indeed ! 

Old-fashioned, Onl-fashioned, adj. knowing or cunning. 

Old May day, sb. the twelfth of May. 

Old stock, sb. a familiar term in greeting an acquaintance. * Well, 
old stock, how are ye the day ? ' 

Old wife, sb. a fish, the ballan wrasse, Labrtis maculafus. 

On, (1) pr^. used for * to.' * Who did it on you ? ' ' Who done it on 
you ? ' f. e. who did it to you ? There is another idiomatic use of on 
in the expression, * Don't break it on me,' t. e. don't break that thing 
of mine.' 

(2) adv. continually ; without stopping. * They would sit there and 
eat on,* 

(3) adv, ready. * On for sport.' 

(4) is sometimes prefixed to the words to-morrow and yesterday, 
thus — * I'll do it on to-morrow.' 

Ondaicent, adj. unfair. 

On dying, dying. * They say he's just 07i dying.* 

One purpose, on purpose. 

Ones, sb. people. 'What's the reason, sir, that Tomson's mies 
always sends them kind o' coals P ' 

Onset, sb. a small cluster of houses : * McCuUough's onset* 

Ontorions, adj. notorious. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 75 

On you, on your person ; about you. * Have you any money on 
you $ ' 

Open weather, sb, weather in winter that is not frosty. 

Or, adv. till. * It won't be long or we'll be back.' 

OrcMt, sh, an orchard. 

Ordinary, adj, plain-looking, as a person. 

Or ever, adv. before. ' It'iS twelve or ever you're in bed.' 

Ortin', v. rejecting ; taking out, as a cow does the good fodder from 
the bad. 

Ortins, Oartins, sh, refuse; anything rejected. "Other weemen's 
ortins shan't be Sally's pick." — Flecher. *The mornings oartins is 
the evenin's fodther,' saying. It arises from cow-house experience. 

Other, each other. * If they take out the gun they'll shoot other.^ 

Other morrow, sh, the day after to-morrow. 

Our, adv, over. 

Our ones, Our uns, sh, my own family. * Our ones all goes to 
meetin'.' 

Out-by, adj. out of doors ; outside the house. 

Outlandish, adj. foreign, such as ships belonging to foreign countries. 

Out of the face, adv. to do a thing * out of the face ' is to do it right 
through from first to last without stopping. 

Out of one's name, by a wrong name. * He called me out of my 
Tiame,^ i. e. not by my own name. 

Out ower, adv. out ; quite over. 

Out-relation, sh. a distant relative. 

Out-wailins, sh. refuse. 

Over, adj. asleep. * The chile's just over.* 

Over all, adv. 'That's over all ivir A heerd,' i.e. that surpasses 
all, &c. 

Over-looked, v. the same as Over-seen, and means having received 
the * blink of an evil eye.' 

Overly much^ adv. too much. * That meat's overly much done.' 

Owrance, sh. mastery ;^ authority ; having command over. 

Oxther, sh. the armpit. 

** Whether would you rather 
Or rather would you be 
Legs to the oxther 
Or belly to the knee ? " 

Oxther-cogged, v. * They oxtlier- cogged you home,' i. e. helped you 
along by holding you up by the arm-pits. 



76 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Pad, 8b, a path. 

Paddlin* walk, ab, a gait, in which the steps made are very short. 

Paddock, Poddook, eb. a frog. 

Padrolli, sb. ' On his padrolla,^ i. e, on his walks or rounds. 

Paidlin*, v, wandering ; walking or running with short steps. * A 
paicUtn* collie/ a wandering do^. A horse &at is standing, and lifts 
niB feet in an uneasy way, is said to he paidlin\ 

Pairins, sb. thin fragments of pork pared off the bones, in poik- 
curingstorea 

Palms, sb, pi. small branches of the Spruce fir, also budded twigs of 
the willow. These are supplied on Pahn Sunday to persons attend- 
ing service in the Roman Catholic Churches. 

Pamphrey, sb, a kind of cabbage. 

Pandy, sb. a punishment at school, being a blow on the hand &om 
a cane or nder. 

Pane, sb. a section of ground in a garden. 

Pangd, V. stuffed full (of food). 

Papi, sb. pi. teats. * A cow's paps.^ 

Paramondra, sb. a large cylindrical mass of flint, sometimes the 
shape of the human trunk. It is said that this curious word is merely 

f'bberish, coined by a facetious quarryman to puzzle the late Dr. 
uckland, when he was geologizmg among the co. Antrim chalk 
rocks. 

Parfit, ddj. perfect. 

Parge, v. to plaster the inside of a chimney with mortar* 

Parritoh, sb. porridge. 

Parten, sb. the shore crab, Carcinus momas. Also called Bntcher. 

Pastre, sb. the pastern of a horse. 

Patch. ' Not a patch on it,' i. e. not to compare to it. 

Pattheridge, sb. a partridge. 

Pawky, adj. sly ; cunning. 

Pea shanps, sb. pi. pea shells. 

Peaswisp, sb. a small bundle of anything tossed roughly together 
like a wisp of pea straw. * Your head 's just like a peaswisp J 

Peat waight, m* weght, sb. a tray or sieve on which peat was 
carried into the house. 

Peeler, sb. a crab which has cast its shell, and is soft ; used for bait. 

Peel garlick, sb. a yellow person : a person dressed shabbily or 
fantastically. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 77 

Feely grass, sh. barley, with the 'hulls' and 'auns' removed. 

Peen, sh, the cross end of a mechanic's hammer, opposite to the face. 

Fee-pee, the call for pea-fowl. 

Peep hawk, sh, the kestrel. 

Peerie, sh. a peg-top. 

Peeweet, Peesweep, sh. the lapwing. 

Pegh, 8, to pant ; to puff. 

Pelt, sh, the skin of an animal ' Bare pelty one's bare skin. 

Penned, v, contracted. A horse sometimes has its knee ^penned in 
the sinews.' 

Penny bird, sh. the little grebe. Also called Drink-a-penny. 

Pens, sh. pi, the old twigs in a hedge. 

Pemicketty, adj. particular ; hard to please, 

Perswadians, sh, pi, persuasion ; entreaties. * Through perswadians 
I done it.' 

Peter Dick, sh. a child's toy made of a half walnut shell, a small 
piece of stick and some thread. When played upon by the fingers in 
a particular way, it makes a ticking noise, and is supposed to say :- 

* Peter Dick, 
Peter Dick, 
Peter Dick's peat stack.' 

Petted on, v, to be fond of a person, as a child is. 

Pevil, V. to strike rapidly. 

Phaisians, sh, pheasants. 

Piano rose, sh, the peony. 

Pickin' calf, v. Same as Casting Calf, i. e. dropping a calf before 
the time. 

Pickle^ sh. a very small quantity ; one grain. 

Pickock, or Picky, sh. Same as Blockan. A small fish, the young 
of the coal-fish. 

Piece, sh. what a child gets for lunch ; it is generally a piece of bread. 

Pied, V. searched ; examined. 

Pig-croo, sh, a pig-sty. 

Pigeon. ^ ApigeorCs pair,' a term for a family of two children only. 

Pigeon walk, sh. a boy's game. 

Pigg^ sh, a small wooden vessel made of hoops and staves, with 
one stave prolonged so as to form a handle, used for milking in, &c. 

Pig's whisper, sh, a loud whisper, one meant to be heard. 



78 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Fig's wrack, ah, a kind of sea wrack, boiled with meal or potatoes, 
and given as food for pigs. 

Pike, eh, a rick of hay. 

Piky dog, sh. the piked dog-fish. Same as Oobbnok. 

Pile, eh, a single grain of shot. 

Pill, Bad pill, or Bitter pill, sh, a disagreeable person. 
Pillaber, sh, a pillow. 

Pin bone, ah, the pointed bone above a horse's flank. 
Pingey lookin', adj, tight ; pinched looking. 

Pink, (1) «^. a term of endearment applied by a young man to his 
sweetheart. 

(2) V, to strike with a sure aim. 

Pin well, ah, a well in the demesne of Eed Hall, near Carrickfergus, 
is so-called. A person having drunk from it throws in a pin as an 
offering. 

Pipe. * Put that in your pipe and smoke it/ an expression enforcing 
some rather disagreeable piece of advice or information. 

Pipers, ah, pi, stems of grass. 

Pipe stapple, ah, the stem of a clay pipe. 

Pirn, ah, a wooden bobbin. 

Pirn cage, ah. an arrangement of pins standing up from a square 
frame, and in which * pirns ' or bobbins are stuck — used in power- 
loom factories. 

Pirre-maw, ah. the tern. 

Pismire, Pishmither, ah. an ant. 

Placket hole, ah. a pocket hole. 

Pladdy, ah. (Pladdies, pi.) a sunken rock. 

Planet showers, ah. pi. short heavy showers. 

Plan of wrack. In parts of the co. of Down the flat portion of the 
shore, between high and low water mark, is divided into plots, each 
of which belongs to a certain farm, and on these plots or * plans' the 
farmers grow sea- weed for manure, cutting the wrack periodically, 
and carting it inland. Stones are placed for the wrack to grow on. 

Planting, ah, a plantation of young trees. 

PlantSi ah, young cabbage plants fit for planting out. 

Plarted, v, fell down. 

Plaster, ah, anything overloaded with vulgar showy ornament. 

Plastery, adj, gaudy; over-ornamented. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 79 

Plates, ah, pi. flat rocks in a harbour. 

Play oneself, v, to play. * Play yourRelves/ i, e, go and play. * The 
chile 's playin' his self.* 

Pleaich, sh. the 'sea devil' or fishing frog, Lophius. Also called 
Molly gowan, Kilmaddy, &c. 

Pleasement, sh, what pleases ; satisfaction ; gratification. ' I was 
glad to hear it, but perhaps it's no pleasement to you.' * Til do it to 
your pleasement, ' 

Plenishing, sb, the furnishing of a house. 

Ploigher, v. to cough in an asthmatic or wheezing way. 

Ploitin* down, v, falling down. *What are ye ploitin* doum for 
there, ye fitless falla.' 

Plont, V. to splash. 

Pock-arred, adj. pock-marked. 

Poddock-stool, sK a toad-stool. 

Podes, sh, lice. Children are warned that if they do not allow their 
heads to be combed with a * fine tooth comb,' the podea will make ropes 
of their hair, and drag them into the sea and drown thein. 

Point. 'Potatoes and pointy i,e, potatoes and nothing. The 
potatoes are supposed to be pointed at a heiTing as they are eaten, to 
give them an imaginary flavour. 

Poitered ont, Poutered ont, v, said of land which has been ex- 
hausted, and has received only slight superficial cultivation. 

Poke, sh, a bag. 

Poke shakins, sb, the last child borne by a woman — supposed to be 
puny. * That's a brave chile, it's no the poke shakins I'm thinkin'.' 

Polled, having the horns cut ofl*. Same as Skulled. 

Polluted, adj, puffed up with pride ; conceited ; overrun. * Them 
people 's got quite polluted.' *The house is polluted with books.' 
* Polluted with beggars,' &c. * The other man polluted the mearing,' 
t. e. he tampered with the boundary. 

Pont, sh. a kind of boat which carries thirty hundred- weight of turf, 
used on Lough Neagh (Mason's Par. Survey), 

Pooin', V, pulling. 

Poor mouth, v, to * make a ^007* mouthy^ to complain of troubles or 
poverty, and to make the most of these, for the purpose of exciting 
pity. 

Poppel, sh, a flower, the corn-cockle, Lyclinis Glthago, 
Porvent, Purvent, v. to prevent. 

r _ 

Poss-tub, Pouss-tub, ah, a kind of wash-tiib. 



80 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Post. * Between you and me and the post^ a preliminary to some- 
thing confidentiid heing told. 

Poty, sb. a llower. 

Potyeen, Poteen, sb, illicit whiskey. 

Ponce, sh, the floating dust in rooms where flax is being dressed. 

Poncy, adj, asthmatic, from the effects of inhaling 'pouce* 

Pounder, sb. a person who sells freestone for scouring ; the freestone 
is sold pounded. 

PotUM, t;. to push clothes against the bottom of a tub when washing. 
' Gie the claes a guid pomaingJ* 

Power, sb, a great quantity. ' He made a power o* money.* 

Pox, sb. the small-pox. * Cut for the pox,* vaccinated. 

Praity-oaten, sb, a kind of bread made of potatoes and oaten meal ; 
in texture it is very coarse. * As coarse as praity-oatenj' saying. 

Prank, v, to amuse oneself. 

Pree, v, to taste. 

Presha, Presha bhwee, Pmshns, sb, the wild kale, Sinopsis arveims 

{hhwee is from Ir. for yellow). 

Prick at the loop, a cheating game played with a strap and skewer, 
at fairs, &o., by persons of the thimble-rig class, probably the same as 
the game called ¥a,at and Loose. 

Prig, V. to beat down in price. Same as to Haggle. 

Prittaz, Praitays, sb, potatoes. 

Prod, (1) *He gave me a pj^od,* i. e, he cheated me in something 
he sold me. 

(2) V. to prick or stab. ^Prod him with a pitch-fork.' 

Proddled, v, prodded, i, e, stabbed or poked up. ' Your eyes are 
like a. proddled cat under a bed,' saying. 

Proker, sb, a poker. 

Proper, adj. good. ^ A proper spade.* 

Pro88, (1) sb. a process at law. 

(2) V. to sue a person. * I prossed him.' 
Pnck, sb, a blow. ' He got a puck in the eye.' 

Pnckan-snlla, sb, a basket or hamper made of well twisted oat straw 
rope, used for holding seed potatoes; it holds about two and a half 
bushels. 

Pnddle, sb. a small dirty pool ; prepared or tempered clay. 

Pullan, Pollan, sb, the * fresh water herring' of Lough Keagh, 
Coregonua Pollan, 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 81 

Forre, sh, two sea birds, the tern and the black-headed gull. Sea 
Pirre and Pyrmaw. 

Pir^ middling adj, pretty well ; reply to a salutation. 

Poshla, 8b. See Coo-pusUa. 

Fnt down one's foot, to come to a determination of stopping some 
thing which has been going on« 

Fnt on, V. to put on clothes ; to dress onesel£ * I had hardly time 
to put on me.' * He rose an* put on him.' 

Fyot, sb. a magpie. 

JPyrmaw, sb. a sea bird, probably the torn or * purre ' (Harris, Hist. 
Co. Down, 1744), 



Qnaa, Quahi sb, a marsh ; a quagmire, or shaking bog. 

Qnait, adj\ quiet. 

Quaker. * You're not a quaket* f * said in bargaining to persons who 
will not abate the price they have asked. 

Qnakin* esp, sb, a kind of poplar with trembling leaves, 
tealitj, sb, gentry, 

Qnare, Queer, adJ, very * quare an' nice ' = very nice. 

Quarter deft, sb, a crazy person. 

Qnem, sb, the old hand-mill, consisting of two stones. 

Quej) or Quy, sb, a female calf. 

Quickens, sb. pi, couch grass. Same as Scutch grass. 

Qoicks, sb. pi. youDg thorn plants for setting. 

Quo' he, V, said he. This with ^ quo' she, quo' /,' are in very 
general use. 

Qaut, Quetj v. quit. * Qmit yer cloddin',' i.e. stop throwing stones. 

S.aave, sb, a fresh water plant, Anacharis. 

!EUkck comb, sb. a dressing comb. 

!EUkck of mutton, sb. a breast of mutton. 

Bam-stam, adj. headlong ; rash. 

Bandy, sb. a wild reckless fellow ; an indelicate romping woman ; a 
scold. 

Bannel, v. among school-boys ; to pull the hair. 

a 



82 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSAin'. 

Bannel-tree, Baivel-tree, sh the cross-beam in a byre to which tlio 
cows' stakes are fastened ; hence a long thin person is called a ' rannel- 
treff' or is said to be ' as thin as a rannd-tree,* 

Banners, sb, ph wild indistinct dreams. 

Ranty-berries, sK rowan-tree berries. 

Ratherly, or Betherly, adv, rather. 

Ransps, sh. pi. raspberries. 

Beam, v, to froth or foam, as a liquor. 

Bed, (1) done work. * What time will you get red ? ' 
(2) V, to put in order; to separate fighters. 

Beddin' kaim, sb, a dressing-comb. Same as Backcomb. 
Bed head. 

* Bed head, fiery skull, 
Every hair in your head would tether a bull.' 

Said derisively to a red-haired person. 

Bed loanin*, sb. the throat (inside). 

Bedshank, (1) a flowering plant, Polygonum Persicaria. 

(2) * Run like a redshank ^^ i, e. as fast as you can. I suppose the 
redshank is the wading bird so called, and not the human redshank 
known to readers of the Irish wars. 

Bed the road ! clear the way ! 

Bee, adj\ fresh as a restive horse ; wanton. 

Beef, sb, a rent or tear. 

Beek, sb, smoke ; the smell of peat smoke. 

Beel, V, to quiz or humbug, 

Beel-fitted) adj. club-footed. 

Bee-raw, adj. untidy ; confused. 

Beeve, v. to split wood by heat. * The sun will reeve it.' 

Bemember, v. to remind. ' Well, sir, Fll call in the morning and 
remember you about it.' 

Bemlet, sb, a remnant. 

Bemove, sb. the re-shoeing of a horse with the old shoes. 

Bench, Bange, v. to rinse. 

Benlet, Bnnlet, sb. a small barrel. 

Besidenter, sb. an old inhabitant. 

Bet, V. to steep flax. 

Bex, V. to reach. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 83 

Sibish, adj, thin, as applied to persons, but more especially to pigs. 

* They come of a ribish breed.* 

Bice, ah, a small branch of a tree ; a twig. 

Bicketty, sh, a ratchet brace for boring metal. 

Bift, V. to belch. 

Big, sb, a ridge. 

Big and for, ridge and furrow in a field. A particular kind of 
knitting is also called * rig and fur J* 

Biggin, sh, the ridge of a house. 

Bight, adv, thorough ; very ; good. * He's a right rascal.' * You're a 
right bad boy.' * He's a right wee fellow.' 

Bightly, adv, in good health ; right well ; very well. * I'm rightly! 

* I know him rightly.* * He got rightly frightened,* 

Bip, sh. a handful of unthrashed conu 

Bippet, sh, a row, or disturbance. 

Bipple, V. to take the seed off flax* See Flax ripple. 

Bipple gprass, Plantago lanceolata, 

Bive, V, to tear ; to split, 

Boach) sh, the rudd or red-eye, Leuciscus erythropthahmfjs. 

Bead, (1) sh, way. ' What road are you going?* 

(2) * No road,* is the formula for * no thoroughfare.' 

(3) V. to direct ; to show the way. * Who roaded you ? ' 

Boans, sh, pi, *Hazely roans,^ hazel brakes, *Brackeny roans^ 
fern brakes. 

Bobin-nm-the4iedge, sh, a plant, Galium aparine. The juice of 
this plant is extracted and boiled with sugar, and given as a remedy 
in whooping-cough. 

Bockets, sh. pi. the plumes of a hearse. 

Bodden, sh. a little road ; a mountain path. 

Bope, V. * The clay ropes off my spade like putty.* 

Bose, sh, ' The rose ' is a name for erysipelas. 

Bosit-slnt, or Bosin-slut, sh, a rag dipped in resin and used as a 
substitute for a candle. 

Bot-heap, sh. a heap of weeds left to rot for manure. 

Bonghness, sh. plenty; abundance. * There's a great roitghness 
. about his farm,' i. e. great plenty. * Them people has a great rovugh- 
neaa of money about fliem.' 

Bongli weed, sb. Straehys palustris, 

g2 



84 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Botind catt, sb, a particular throw in sowing grain. * He sows with 
a round ca$t,* 

Boup, eb, an auction. 

Sonth, or Souths, sb, plenty ; abundance. 

Souting-wheelf 8b. an eddy or whirlpool at the entrance of Strang- 
ford Lough. Mentioned by Harris (1744). 

Sowt, V, to bellow or roar as a bull. 

Brog, a sea- weed, the long tangle, Chorda filum, 

Rubber, ab, a housemai<rs dusting-cloth ; a coarse kitchen towel. 

Rubber apron, ab, an apron made of a coarse mateiial. 

Bnohness. Same as Boughness, abundance. 

Buction, sb, a row, or disturbance. 

Bue, V, to change one's tnind ;. to draw back. ' To take the me, to 
repent of an engagement, or promise. 

Bugg, V. to pull about roughly ; to pull the hair. 

Bnggle o' banes, sb, a thin person. 

Bninate, r. to destroy. 

Buination, sb, ruin. 

Bullion, sb, a big, coarse, dirty fellow. 

Bnmmle, (1^ * Put that in your jug an' rummie it,' i, e, consider that 
piece of information or advice. Same as Put that in your pipe and 
smoke it. 

(2) V, to rumble ; to shake about. * I feel that rummlin^ about in 
my inside.V 

Bundale, a plan of workin<? farms in partnership ; mentioned as a 
* pernicious practice 'in M'Skimin's CarrickferguSy IS22, Anciently 
many farms were wrought iu ' rundaW 

Bung, (1) a round or step of a ladder ; the rail of a chair. 

(2) sb, an old woman, * That auld rung o' mine 's bravel}',' a 
young lad. 

Bunners, sb. pi, small channels for water. * I made imnners across 
the pad to keep it dry.' 

Bunrig, sb. Same as Bundale. 

Bunt, (1) sb. a dwarfish person; an old woman. 
(2) sb. a stalk. * A kale runt.' 

Bust, V, to be restive or stubborn. 

Busty, adj. restive or stubborn.. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 8-5 

Sack, V. to vanquish an opponent by a show of superior learning. 
— ^W. Carleton. 

Sacrament, sb. an oath. 

Sad, adj. sodden, as badly-baked bread. 

Sadfl. * Sitting over their sads^* i e. regretting something ; repenting. 

Safety, adj. (pronounced sometimes as a trisyllable). A useful 
article in nurseries is called a * aaf-e-ty pin.' 

Saggan, sb, the wild iris. 

Said, V, * To be said,' to be advised. * Now be said by me.* 

Sail, sh. a ride in a cart or carriage of any kind. 

Sailor-man, sb. a sailor. 

Sailor's grip, sb. a mode of holding hands by hooking the fingers. 

Sair-bones, sb. * A*ll gi'e ye sair-bayies,* i. e, I'll give you a beating. 

Saired, v. served. 

Sair f onght, adj. nearly worn out with age or weakness. 

Sair-wrought, adj. hard-worked, 
. Sally, sb. a willow. 
Sally wran, sb. the willow wi*en. 
Salt. ' You will shed a tear for every grain of salt you waste.* 

Same of, same as. ' Can you give m& a knife the same of that ? ' 

Sang. * Ton my sang,' a mild kind of oath. 

Sannies. * Upon my sannies,^ a mild oath. 

Sark, sb. a shirt. 

Sarking, sb. a coarse kind of linen'; a sheeting of wood under the 
slated of a roof. 

Saturday. * Saturday flit, short sit.' Servants think it unlucky to 
go home to a new place on Saturday. 

Sangh, sb. a willow. 

Saony-go-softly, sb. a soft fellow. 

Saut, sb. salt. 

Saving your presence, excuse the word. * But, savin* your j?re- 

aence, the smell was that bad that/ &c 
Saw doctor, sb. a workman who repairs and sharpens saws. 

Soabbling, or Scaveling, hammer, sb. a large hammer for chipping 
stone. 

Scald, sb. * A heart scald,* a sore trouble. * He's heart scalded with 
her,* greatly troubled by her. 



86 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Soale-drake, sb, bhe shell-drake, Anas Tado7*na. 

Soame, Soam, v, to scorch. 

Scantling, (1) «5. wood cut to special sizes for carpenters' use. 

(2) ab, measurement of wood or iron to he used in work. ' What 
scantlings of iron will you put into the gate ? ' 

Soart, V, to scratch. 

Soaud, V, to scald. ^ It's sae het it wud scaucl a pig/ a comparison. 

Soanr, Soar, sb. a steep or overhanging hank of earth; a reef or 
ridge of rocks. 

Scheme, v, to endeavour to escape work hy false pretences. 

Scholar, sb, one who can read and write. ' It's a sore thing not to 
he a scholar,^ 

School, Schnll, sb, a shoal of fish. 

Scobes, sb, pi, rods of hazel or willow, sharpened at both ends, for 
pinning down the thatch to the * scraws ' or sods in thatching a house. 
Same as Scollops. 

Scog, sb, an offensive or mocking valentine. 
Scollops, sb, pi See Scobes. 

Sconce, (1) sb, a skulking person. 

(2) sb. a hiding-place : used hy wild-fowl shooters. It is generally 
a slight shelter built of stones on a beach. 

(3) V, to joke or ridicule; also to feign illness, so as to escape 
having to work. 

Sconoer, sb, one who pretends to be sick in order to escape work. 

Scope, (1) sb, an extent of land. ' He owns a large scoj^e of moun- 
tain.' 

^2) sb. in trawling or dredging the extra length of rope which is 
paid out after the £edge has reached the bottom is called the scope. 
* Give it a faddom or two more scope,* 

Scotch lick, sb, a very slight wash of the face or hands. 

Scotch penny, sb. the thick English penny of 1797. 

Scout, (1) sb, a squirt or syringe. 

(2) V, to squirt. 

Scout-hole, Scoot-hole, sb, a rat-hole to which rats run for shelter 
when chased, or a concealed hole planned for exit, by which rabbits 
may escape when their principal holes are watched. 

Scrab) (I) sb. sk scratch. 

(2) V, to scratch. * The cat near scrabbed his eyes out.' 

Scraigh, Scraik, sh. a scream, such as the cry of a sea-gull. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 87 

Scraigh o* day, sh, early morning. 

Scran. * Bad scran to you,* bad luck to you. Scran is said to mean 
food, 

Scrat, sb, something small * The fowls he had were only wee scrota* 

Scraw, (1) sh. a thin strip of sward or turf. Scraws are laid under 
the thatch of a house to receive the points of the * scobes ' or 
* scollops.' 

(2) V. to strip sods off the surface of a field. ' Do you want to 
acraw the man's land ? * 

Scraw, Sera, v, to cover a bank with sods. * To scraw a grave.* 

Screech cock, sh, the missel thrush. 

Screed, sh, a rent or tear in clothes ; a discourse or harangue. 

Screeding, sh, the mortar pointing round a window-frame. 

Screenge, sh, a mean, miserly person. 

Screw mouse, sh, the shrew. 

Scrimpit, adj. scanty. 

Scringe, v. to creak ; to make a grinding or rasping noise. 

Scrog^, sh, pi, places covered with furze, hazel, brambles, &c. 

Scrubby, adj, mean; shabby. 

Scruff, sh, a mean fellow. 

Scruff of the neck, sh, the back of the neck. 

Scrunch, sh, a crush or squeeze. 

Scud, V. to slap. 

Scuff, V, to subject to abuse or wear j to make shabby. 

Scuffed, injured in appearance by wear or abuse. 

Scuffle, (1) sh, a hoe that is pushed — called in trade a * Dutch hoe.* 

(2) V. to hoe walks or beds with a scuffle, 

(3) V, to scrape or drag the feet along the ground. 

Sculder, Scalder, sh. a jelly-fish (medusa) of any species. 

Scunner, Scunhur, Sounder, sh. a disgust ; a loathing. * I*ve taken 
a scunhur at that man.* 

Scutch, V, to remove the * shives * or * shows * from flax. 

Scutch g^ss, sh, couch grass. Same as Quickens. 

Scutch mill, sh, a mill where flax is * scutched.* 

Scutching tow, sh. the rough tow which is taken off" flax at a scutch 
mill. 



88 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

SoYfhe hook, ab, a reaping-hook that requires to be sharpened, as 
distinguished from a * toothed hook ' or sickle. 

Seam, 8b, ' Goose ^ea^n,' goose fat. 
belch, 8b, a seal, Phoca, 

^Seed, breed, and generation,' the whole of one's family and 

relatiyes. 
Seeds, 8b, pi. the husks of oats. See Sowans. 

See ontens, v, to go about for pleasure. ' If A didn't see oidens 
when A'm young, when would A ? ' 

Seep, V. to leak or ooze. 

Seepage, sb, what * seeps ' or leaks. * There's a great seepage from 
that cask.* 

Sel, self : hence him^?^ her^eZ, themaeZ, vo^sel. 
Server, sb, a small tray or salver. 

Set, (l) sb, a spell. * A long set of saft weather.' 

(2) A * low set person,* a person with a squat figure. 

(3) V, to plant. 

(4) V, determined. ' She*s hard set to be married.' 

(6) V. * She sets that very well,* i, e, that becomes her very welL 

(6) V. * The night is set,* i, e, the night is fixed ; night has come on. 

(7) adj, applied to a person who has stopped growing taller. * She's 
quite set lookin*.' 

(8) v. to appoint. ' I can't set no time,* i, e. I cannot appoint a 
time. 

Set a stitch, v, to make a stitch in sewing. 

Sett, sb, the number of ridges of corn that a * boon ' or reaping pai-ty 
is spread over. If there are ten able-bodied reapers in ttie * boon,* 
the sett would consist of ten ridges. 

' Set tae lowe,' set on fire. 

Setting down, sb, a scolding. Same as Doing off. 

Setts, sb, pi, * Paving setts ' or * cross setts,* rectangular blocks of 
stone used for paving streets. 

Seven'dible, sb, thorough or severe ; very great. 

Severals, sb, pi, several persons or things. ^ Severdls told me 
about it.* 

Shaaps, Shanps, sb, pi, the shells of beans or peas. 

Shade, sb, the parting or division of the hair on one's head ; a shed» 

Shai, s^, a shoe. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 89 

Shaima-lialt, ah, nothing. Same as Sorra halt, Deil a halt. 

Shamrock, sh. The lesser yellow trefoil {Trifolium minus) is the 
plant the leafy part of which is worn as a shamrock on Patrick's Day 
(March 17 th). 

Shandry-dan, sh, an old shaky and noisy car or carriage. 

Shank, sh, a handle. 

Shanks's mare, sh, on foot. ^ We went there on shanWs inare* 

Shanongh, (1) sh, a confidential chat. 

(2) V, to talk confidentially ; to gossip. 
Sharn, sh, cow-dung. 

Shaver, sh. a wag or funny fellow ; a keen^ shrewd fellow. 
Shear, v, to reap com. 
Shearin', sh, the cutting of com. 

Shebeen, sh, a place where intoxicating drink is sold without a 
license. 

Shebeening, v. keeping a place for the unlicensed sale of drink. ^ 

She-cock, sh. corruption of ' Shake cock,* a small hay-stack buDt up 
loosely. 

Shedding, sh. the place where cross roads intersect. 

Sheela, a 'molly-coddle' or effeminate man. JSJifida is a woman's 
name. 

Sheep's naperty, sh. a plants Potentllla tormentilla, 

Sheerman, sh, a workman employed at a bleach green. Obsolete. 
** Wanted a skilful journeyman sheerman and dyer." — Belfast NewS" 
letter, 1739. 

She sole, sh. a fish, the whiff, Rhomhus Megastoma. 

Shengh, sh, a ditch. ' I always let the shmgh build the dike/ i, e. I 
always let what was dug out of the ditch make the raised fence, a 
saying, my spending never exceeded my earning. * Scourin' a dyke 
sheugh,* cleaning out a ditch. 

Shill com, sh, a small hard pimple on the face. 

Shilling seeds, sh, 2?l. the husks of oats. 

Shilling stones, sh. pi, the pair of stones in a com mill which are 
used for taking the husks off oats. 

Shilty, sh, a pony (corruption of Shetland). 

Shin. Shoon, sh, pi, shoes. 

Shinnen, sh, a sinew. 

Shinney, sh, hockey, a boys' game, played with shinneys, i, e, hooked 
sticks, and a ball or small block of wood called the * goUey ' or * nag.* 



90 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Shired, adj. thin : applied to a part of any knitted article which is 
thinner than the rest owing to loose knitting. 

Shirey, adj. thin : applied to the thin part of a crop or of a garmeBt, 
or of woven materials. 

Shoddy, sh. pL the smaller stones at a quarry. 

Shoddy men, sb, pi, the men who shape paving sets, &c., at a 
quarry. 

Shodfl, sb. pi, the iron heel-tips on men's hoots. 

Shoe mouth, sb, the open of a shoe. ' I was over the shoe mouth 
in glar.* 

Shog, sb, a jolt or shake. 

Shoo, V, to sew. 

Shoot, V, to set a long line or net : a fisherman's term. 

Shore, sb, a sewer. 

Shot, sb. a half-grown pig. 

Shotten herring, sb, a spent herring ; one that has spawned. 

Showl, adj. shallow, as ^ showl water.' 

Shows, Shonghs, Shives, sb, pi, flax refuse. It is the hard part of 
the stem in small fragments. 

Shnggy-shn, sb, (1) a beam of wood balanced so that persons sitting 
on the opposite ends go up and down alternately ; (2) a swing. 

Shnler, sb. a vagrant. 

Shunners, sb, pi, cinders. 

Shnt, sb, a shutter. 

Si, sb, a dressmaker's term for the part of a dress between the arm- 
pit and chest. 

Sib, adj, related by blood. 

Sic, such. 

Sicoan, such. ' Siccan a heap o' coos.' 

Sicker, adj, sure ; precise in mode of speaking. 

Sight, sb. a quantity. 'There was a quare sight of people there.' 

Silly-go-saftly, Silly-go-sefly, sb. a foolish, useless creature. 

Simper, v, to simmer. 

Sinnerry, Sinthery, adv, asunder. 

Sirraft Chooseday, sb. Shrove Tuesday. 
*Sit down off your feet,' sit down. 
Sit fast, sb. a ranunculus, R. repens. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 91 

Skart, Scart, sh, a cormorant. 

Skeeg, sh, a small quantity. Same as a Wee drop. ^ There's no a 
skeeg o' watther in the kettle.' Same as Squig. 

Skee-weep, sh. a dash ; a smear ; something indistinct in writing. 

Skeigh, adj, restless ; frisky. 

Skelf, (1) i?6. a splinter or chip. * He got a skelf o* wud ondher *is 
nail.* 

(2) V. to splinter. 

Skelly, (1) sh, a guess; an unsuccessful attempt. *You made a 
queer aJedly at it.* 

(2) V, to squint. 

Skelp, (1) sh. a blow. 

(2) V, to run ; to slap. 

Skemlin, sh. a quantity of peat dug from the edges of a bog-hole, 
and thrown in to be mixed, and afterwards taken out and dried. 
* Tak' a skemlin aS. that side o* the hole.' 

Skeow, sh, a large flat barge, used to receive the mud raised by a 
dredging machme. 

Skep, sh, a sti*aw bee-hive. 

Skerry brand, sh. sheet lightning. 

Skey, sh, a small artificial island forming part of an eel-weir. 

Skiff, sh. a slight shower. 

Skillet, sh. a small saucepan. 

Skillop, sh. a gouge-shaped borer, of tapered form, for wood. 

Skimp, V. to stmt. 

Skimpy, adj. a tight fit ; short ; deficient in quantity. 

Skin a fairy, v. said of very cold weather. * Dear, but it's that 
cowl it would skill a fairy, ^ 

Skinadhre, sh. a thin, fleshless, stunted person. 

Skink, sh. a mixture to drink. 

Skip, a box in which stones are hoisted out of a quarry ; a basket or 
crate to contain live fowls in transit ; a large basket. 

Skip-jack, sh. the merry-thought of a goose made into a child's toy. 
See Jump-jack. 

Skirl, (!) sh. SL cry or scream. 

(2) V. to scream 

Skirr, sh. a sea-bird, the tern. 

Skirt, V. to run 



9'2 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Skite, (I) sb, a term of contempt ; an empty, conceited fellow. 

(2) sb, a sharp slap or blow. 

(t3) V. to slap. 

Skiver, sb, a skewer. 

Skiver the goose, sb, a boys' game. Two persons are trussed some- 
what like fowls : they then hop about on their * hunkers,* each trying 
to upset the other. 

Skull, V, * To skull cattle,' to cut off their horns close to the head. 

Skulled, adj. Same as Homed or Polled. Applied to cattle which 
have been subjected to the cruel operation of haying their horns sawn 
off dose to the skull. 

Skyble, sb, a thin person. 

Slabby, adj, sloppy ; muddy. * Slobby wet clay.* 

Slaok, o^/. neglectful ; remiss. 

Slaok lime, v. to put water on quick lime. 

Slack spun, adj, said of a person who is half a fool. The same 
kind of person is said * to haye only eleyen cuts to the hank,' or 'he 
is not all there,' or ' he wants a square of being round,' &c. 

Slap, {\) sb, a gap or passage through a hedge for occasional use. It 
is closed by filling up the opening with branches, &c. 

(2) sh, a large quantity. * A whole slap of money.* 

Slater, or Slate-cutter, sb, the wood-louse, Oniscxts, and seyeral of 
the allied species of crustaceans. 

Slats, sb, pi. The laths of a Venetian blind and the laths of a bed- 
stead are called slats, 

Slattering, v, going about like a slattern. 

Slavers, sb, pL water flowing from the mouth. 

Slay hook, sb, a small implement used by weayers : in slang, a term 
for a dried herring. 

Sleech, sb, fluyiatile or marine silt ; sea-wrack growing on mud banks, 

Sleech grass, sb, Zostera marina. 

Sleek, Slake, sb, a smear ; a streak of dirt. 

Sleekit, adj, cunning ; underhand ; hypocritical 

Sleep in, v, to lie too long in the morning, so as to be late for work. 

Slop, V, slept. * AVe slep noan.' 

Sleuster, v, to flatter. 

Slever, sb, saliya. 

Sliggaun, sb, the pearl-bearing fresh-water mussel, Anodon cygiien, 

Slinge, V, to sneak about. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 1)3 

Slip, (1) sh, a pinafore. 

(2) sh, a young pig, 

(3) V, to let slip or escape from punishment. * If ye do that again, 
see lE I slip ye for it.' 

Slipe, (1) s6. a triangular framework of wood on which large boulder 
stones are drawn out of fields ; a large trough, like a cart without 
wheels, used for drawing earth or wet peat from one part of a field or 
bos^ to another; a kind of sledge on which, stones are drawn down 
hiUy roads. 

(2) V. * To slipe stones ' =s to draw them out of a field on a * slipe.* 
* To slipe mud * = to carry it in a ' slipe * from the bog-hole to a level 
place where it is spread out to harden and cake into turf. 

Slip of a girl, sh. a young, growing girl. 

Slither, v. to slip or slide. 

Sliver, sh. Flax in process of being spun by machinery is drawn 
out into a ribbon or long lock before it is twisted : this lock is called 
sliver. 

Sliver can, sh, a tall cylinder of tin in which the * sliver * is coiled 
away and then carried to the ' roving frame * to get the first twist. . 

Sloak, sh, a seaweed, laver, Porphyra laciniata. Called in the Co. 
of Clare * sluke ' or * slukane.* 

Slobbering bib, sh, a small, thick pinafore worn by infants. 

Slockan, v, to quench fire or thirst. 

Sloiterin', Slnterin', v, loitering or lingering about pretending to 
work. 

Slonk, Slump, sh, a ditch ; a deep, wet hollow in a road. 

Slonky, adj, having muddy holes. * That slonlcy road.* 

Sloosh, sh, a sluice. 

Sludge, sh, wet mud. 

Slummage, sh, a soft stuff produced. at distilleries used for cattle 
feeding. 

Slump, (1) sh. a muddy place. *The road was all slumps of holes.* 

(2) V, to sink in mud. 
Slunge, (1) sh. a skulking, sneaking fellow. 

(2) V. to slink or lounge. 

Slurry, sh, mud; *glar.' *I took eight buckets of black slurry out 
of his well.* 

Sluttherin*, Swattherin*, v, applied to the noisy, slopping way that 
ducks feed. 

Sljrpe, V, to strip the branches off trees. * They would come and 
slype them down in the night for no use. ' 



94 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSAUY. 

Small family, sb. a family of small children. 

Smell, fth, a small quantity. 

SmixT, Smnrr, sh, * A smirr of rain/ a slight shower. 

Smit, V. infected. * I think youVe smit me with that cowl.' 

Smithereens, eb. pL small fragments. 

SmitUe, culj, infectious. ' Is it anything smittle he has 1 ' 

Smoorin', v, smothering — ^in sense of covering over, as snow over 
ground or treacle over bread. 

Smnd, Smudge, v. to smoulder. 

Smuddy ooom, Smiddy ooom, sb, the ashes from a smith's forge. 

Smudge, sb, a concealed laugh. 

Smudging, v, laughing in a smothered way. 

Snaok, Sniok. sb, a thumb-latch. 

Snail's pace, sb. To go at a snuiVs pace, to go very slowly. 

Snakes, sb. * Snakes set here,' is a form of notice sometimes painted 
on a board at the boundaries of plantations, &c. The snakes are sup- 
posed to be iron spikes, fixed point upwards in the ground. 

Snake stones, sb. pi. ammonites found in the Lias. 

Snaply, adj. quickly. 

Snap the head off one, v. to be very angry. * Feth, he was like 
to ha' snapped the heed aff me? 

Sned, (1) sb, the handle of a scythe. 

(2) V. to cut. * Bned turnips,' to cut off the leaves. 

Snedden, sb, a large-sized sand-eel. 

Snell, ddj. supercilious ; impudent. 

Snib, Sneck, v. to fasten. * Smh the window.' 

Snicher, Snigger, v. to giggle. 

Sniffle, V, to sniff. 

Snifter, v, to sniff. 

Snifther, sb, a strong blast of wind. 

Snifthers, sb, a cold in the head. 

Snig, sb, a juvenile tliief, who steals the kites of other boys by 
cutting the string and seizing the kite when it falls. 

Snirt, V, to make a noise through the nose when' endeavouring to 
suppress laughter. 

Snod, adj, cut smooth ; even ; as the edges or eaves of a thatched 
roof. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 95 

Snood, sh the thin part of a sea fishing-line, to which the hook is 
fastened. 

Snook, V, to sneak. 

Snool, ah. an ill-tempered, sneaking fellow. 

Snoot. * Whether wud ye rether hae a soo's snoot stewed, or a 
stewed soo's 8noot ? ' an alliterative saying, to be said very quickly. 

Snotther, sb. mucus of the nose ; also a term of contempt. 

Snow. (1) When snow lingers on the ground it is said *to be 
waiting for more.' 

(2) To * go like 8)ww off a ditch ' is to disappear quickly. The 
expression is used in reference to families that have died off rapidly. 

Snow broth, Snoo broo, sb, half-melted snow. 

Snuggle, V. to nestle, as a child against its mother's breast. 

Snnrley, adj. gnarled or twisted. 

Sol (1) indeed ! 

(2) * /So I am,' * 8ol will,' * so it is,' are added apparently to make a 
statement more forcible. * I will, so I will,* is considered to be 
stronger than merely * I will.' 

Soans, sb. Same as Sowans. * Sup sodns wi' an elsin,' attempt an 
impossibility. 

Soddened, adj. " The stones so soddened or wedged together, you 
cannot get one loose to throw at a fowl." — Eichard Dobbs, Descrip- 
tion of the Co. of Antrim, 1683. 

Soft, Saft, adj. wet, as applied to weather. 

Soft drinks, sb. pi, soda-water, lemonade, &c., as distinguished from 
whisky, &c., which are called hard drinks. 

Soil, (1) sb, fresh fodder for cattle. 

(2) V. to feed cattle in the house. 

Sojer (soldier), sb, a red herring. 

Soldiers, sb, pi. The little creeping sparks on paper that has been 
burned, but is not quite converted into ashes, are called by children 
soldiers. 

Sole, (1) sb, a silL * A window sole,* 

(2) sh. the sod ; grassy turf. ' The lawn has a good soW 
Sonsy and douce, pleasant and quiet« 

Sonsy, adj. lucky. * It's not sonsy to do that.* Comely ; stout : as 
applied to a woman. 

Soo, sb. a sow. 

Soogan, sb, a saddle of straw or rushes. 

Soo luggit, sb. with the ears hanging. * A soo lu/fgit horseJ 



i 



96 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Soop, V. to sweep. 

Soople, (I) sb. a part of a flail. See Flail. 
(2) acy. flexible; active. 

Sooter, Mb, a fish, the gemmeous dragonet^ CalUonimus Lyra. 

Sore, (1) adj\ sad ; unpleasant ; severe. ' It's a sore day on the 
stocks,* t. e. a very wet day. Also pitiful or contemptible. ' He's a 
9ore fooL* 

(2) V. swore. 
Sore foot, adj. Same as ' a rainy day/ i. e. bad times or sickness. 

Sore hand, Sair han*, sb, a disagreeable spectacle ; anything spoiled 
or disflgiu*ed. * He fell in the mud, an' made a sore han" o' himsel'.' 
' He tried to paint the boat, and made a sore hand of it.' 

Sore head, sb. a headache. 

Sore thumb, sb, * To sit up like a sore thumb/ to sit with a super- 
cilious or unbending air. 

Sorra halt, nothing. ^Sara hait rowled up in deil perlickit,' 
nothing at all.' 

Sorra mend ye, you deserve it 

Sorra yin, not one. 

Sort, V, to repair anything. 

Sosh, adj. snug ; comfortable ; neat-looking. * She's a sosh wee lass.' 
Saucy, 

Sond, V, ' Let them soud it amang themsel's,' i. e. let them settle it 
among themselves. 

Sough, (1) sb. a hollow sobbing or groaning sound, caused by the 
wind or by running water ; the sound that comes from a great crowd 
of persons at a distance ; a rumour or report of news. 

(2) * Keep a calm sough till the tide comes in,' t. e, have patience. 

(3) V. to breathe loudly in sleep, but not to snore. 

Sourlick, Sour'k, sb. a sorrel, Eumex acetosa, 

Sowan pot. * A wud nae gi'e scrapin's o* a sowan pot for it ; * said 
of anything very worthless. 

Sowans, sb, flummery ; a sour gruel made from the husks of oats 
called seeds. These are steeped in water tiU the Hquor sours ; they 
are then strained out, and the fluid portion is boiled. This thickens 
into a kind of jelly on cooling. 

Spadesman, sb, a man accustomed to dig. 

Spading, Spitting, sb. the depth of soil raised at one time by the 
spade. 

Spae, V. to foretell. 

Spae fortunes, i\ to tell fortunes. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 97 

Spae man, Spae wife, sb, a man or woman who it is supposed can 
tell fortunes or foretell events. 

Spain, 17. to wean a child or a foal. 

Spaivied, adj, spavined. 

Spang, ah, a bound or spring. '' About three horse apangs frae the 

thicket." — ^HUDDELSTON. 

Spangle, sb, a measure of hand-spim linen yam. "As the terms 
hank and spangle are not known to all readers, especially in their 
application to the quantities of hand-spun yam, it may be stated that 
after the thread had been spun, it was wound off the spool on a reel, 
constructed so as to measure exactly ninety inches in circumference. 
Every hank contained a dozen cuts, each cut was 120 rounds of the 
reel, and four hanks were counted as a spangle.^* — Ireland and her 
Staple Manufactures. Second ed. Belfast : 1865. 

Spark, V, to splash with water or mud. 

Spark to deeth, v. to faint. * I was liken to spark to deeth,* i, e, I 
was in a fainting condition. Befers also to persons who can hardly 
recover breath aJter a paroxysm of coughing. 

Sparrow hail, sb. very small shot. 

Spave, sb, a spavin. 

SpawLs, Spnls, sb. pi, long-shaped fragments of stone or wood. 

Spearling, sb. the gar-fish. Same as Horn-eel. 

Specs, sb. spectacles. 

Speel, V. to, climb. 

Speer, v. to enquire. 

Spelgh, V. to splice. 

Spell-man, sb. a man engaged to work by the job or spell. 

Spend, V. to deteriorate or * go back,* as cattle if put upon a poor 
pasture. 

Spenshelled, v. spancelled. A cow with her fore-feet tied together 
is said to be ' spenshelled* 

Spentacles, sb. spectacles. 

Spit, V. to rain slightly. 

Split the differ, v. to divide the sum which is the difference between 
buyer and seller in bargaining. 

Spoiled five, sb. a game of cards. 

Spoke, V. to ' spoke a cart,* is to force it on by pulling round the 
wheels by the spokes. . 

Spool of the breast, sb. the bone in the middle of the breast. 

Spranghle, (1) v. to sprawl 

(2) sh. a straggling branch. 

II 



98 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY, 

Spriokly-beg, sb. a stickleback. 

Springer, or Springin' cow, sh, a cow in calf. 

Springing, v, about to calve. 

Sprint, V, the * keeper ' of a chest lock. 

Sprig, V, to embroider muslin or linen. 

Sprigging, sh. the occupation of embroidering muslin. 

Sprit, sb, a mildew or disease to which growing flax is subject 
Same as Firing. 

Spmnged, adj, miserable-looking ; starved. 

Spnans, sb, what is vomited. 

Spuds, sb. potatoes. 

Spnlpin, sb, a corruption of the Irish word usually written * spalpeen,' 
a troublesome or disagreeable fellow. 

Spung, sb, a large pocket. 

Spnnkie, adj, high-spirited ; courageous. 

Spnrtle, sb, a pot stick. A small double-pointed flat stick with a 
T head, used for thrusting in the knots of straw, in repairing a 
thatched roof. 

Spy farlies, v, to pry about for any thing strange. ' Kow, don't be 
coinmin' in here to spy farlies,* 

Spy hole, sb. In cottages a wall called the ' hoUan ' is built to screen 
the hearth from the observation of any one standing at the threshold; 
but in order to allow a person within to see who approaches the door, 
a small hole, usually triangular, but sometimes four or five-sided, is 
made in the * hollan,' three or four feet from the floor ; this is the 
spy hole. 

Spy Wednesday, sb, the Wednesday before Easter. 

Sqnagh, sb, the cry of wild ducks or geese. 

Square, sb. a squire. 

Squench, v, to quench. 

Squig, sb. Same as Skeeg. 

Squinaoy, sb. a quinsy. 

Stab, sb. a stake or post. 

Stab, Beggar's stab, sb, a large thick needle. 

Stag, sb. a game cock under a year old ; an informer. 

Stagger, sb. an attempt. Same as Stammer. 

Stagging, sb. a man's game. Two men have their own ankles tied 
together, and their wrists tied behind their back ; they then try to 
knock each other down. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 99 

Stag warning, ah, a boy's game. 
Stake and rice, ah. a kind of paling. 

Stammer, ah. an attempt. ' Te didn't make a bad stammer at it.' 
Stand, sh. Fonr knitting needles are a stand. 
Standard, sh. the upright stick of a kite. 
Stand at peace I stand quiet. 

Stand by, (1) «&. a snack ; something taken in place of a regular meal. 
(2) V, stand aside. 

Stand off, adj. reserved ; haughty. 

Stand over, v. to warrant the quality of anything. 

Stank, ah, a ditch or ' sheugh ' in which water lies. 

Stank hole, ah. a pool of stagnant water. 

Stank water, ah. stagnant water. 

Stanlock, ah. a fish, the seath or grey lord, Merlangua carhonaritta. 

Stapple, ah. the stem of a pipe. 

Stare like a stuck pig, v. to stare in a stupefied manner. 

StcUven, ah. a kind of sea-wrack on which pigs are sometimes fed. 

Steek, V. to shut. * Steek your e'en,' shut your eyes. 

Steeped milk, «&. curdled milk. 

Steep grass, ah. Pinguicula vulgarian used for cudling milk along 
with rennet. 

Stelk, ah. mashed potatoes and beans. Same as Bean champ. 

Sten, V. to rear. ' Stennin* like a tip on a tether,' a comparison. 

Stenchels, ah. pi. the wooden cross bars in a window-sash. 

Step-mother's bairn, ah. the caterpillar of the tiger moth. Also 
called Qranny. 

Sthroe, ah. straw. 

Sti, adj. steep. * A ati brae.' * A ati roof,' a high pitched roof. 

Stian, ah. a stye on the eyelid. 

Stick. * If you throw him against the wall he would atick,' said of 
a very dirty person. 

Stickin', adj. obstinate ; stiff. 

Still, adv. always. * He's atill asking me to do it.' 

Stilts of a plough, ah. pi. the handles of a plough. 

Stime, ah. * It was so dark I couldn't see a atime before me,' i, e. 1 
could not see anything at all. 

H 2 



100 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Stir, sh, popular commotion ; excitement ; a concourse of p^ple. 

Stirk, sb, a cow one or two years old. * A bull stirk,' a young bull. 

Stitch, sb, clothes. ' She hadn't a dry stitch on.' 

Stock, sb, the outside of a bed, i, e. the side furthest from the wall. 
' I canna' sleep ony where but at the stock.* 

Stoit, V. to walk in a careless, staggering way. 

Stone. It is said that during the winter half of the year, the cold 
side of every stone turns uppermost There is also a saying — * Never 
sit on a stone in a month with an B in it.' 

Stone-ohecker, sb, the wheatear ; also the cock stone-chat. The hen 
is * whin-c^ecA:cr.' 

Stood, v. withstood. * Your honour knows I never stood your word.' 

Stook, (l) sb, the 'shock' into which sheaves of com are first built 
up after being cut — generally from eight to eighteen sheaves. 

(2) V. to put up sheaves of com in ' stooks ' or shocks. 

Stookie, sb. the inflated skin of a dog or other animal, used by fisher- 
men as a float for their lines or nets. 

Stooky, sb. a thick red composition used by French polishers. 

Stopple, sb. a knot of hair in a. brush. 

Stour, (I) sb. dust * It went off like stour : ' said of something that 
has sold rapidly. 

(2) sb. a disturbance or row. 

Stove, V. to suffocate with smoke. 

Straddle, sb. the saddle on the back of a cart-horse on which the 
' back-band ' rests. 

Strain the anklet, sb. to sprain the ankle. 

Strange, v. to wonder. * I strange very much that you didn't come.' 

Stranger. * You're a great stranger,* i. e. I have not seen you lately, 
or you have not been here lately. 

Stravaig, v. to wander about 

Stresses, sb. pi. " Many of the inhabitants, particularly females, 
die in their youth of what they call stresses, that is violent heats from 
•hard work." — Mason's Parochial Survey, 1814. 

Strick, (1) sb. a small handful of flax fibre. 

(2) V. to arrange flax which has passed through the rollers, for the 
scutchers, so as to make it as even as possible. 

Strickle, sb. an oak stick covered with emery for sharpening scythes. 
Same as Stroke. 

Strip, sb. the soil or clay which has to be stripped off the surface of 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 101 

a rock, before the rock can be quarried. Also called Aed, t. c. some- 
thing to be got rid of. 

Stripper, ah. a cow that is giving milk, but is not in calf. 

Strippings, sb, the last milk taken from a cow at each milking ; it is 
the richest. 

Strit, sb, a plant, Junctis lamprocarpua. 

Stroke, (1) sb. an oak stick covered with emery for sharpening 
scythes. Same as Strickle. 

(2) sh. a measure of potatoes containing two bushels. Dungiven, 
CO. Derry (Mason *s Parochial Survey, 1814). 

(3) sb. to give a * stroke of the harrow,* is to pass a harrow over 
land. 

Stroop) sb. a spout, as — ' the droop of the kettle.' 

Stnmt, sb. a sulky fit. 

Stnghies, 8b. pi, stews, of a greasy and coarse description. 

Stump and rump, ab. the whole. 

Stone, sb. a sting of pain. 

Stupe, V. to bathe or sponge any part. 

Sturdy, sb. " Near the sea-coast a sort of Poyson, I take it, called 
damell, rises in the oats and other grain, very offensive to the brain, 
and cannot be cleaned out of the corn; ye country people call it 
sturdy y from the effects of making people light-headed.* — Description 
of the CO. of Antrim, by EiOHAKD Dobbs, 1683. 

Such an', such. * Sttch an' a fine day.* 

Suck in, (1) «&. a deception. 
(2) V. to deceive ; to mislead. 

Suck ! Suck ! a call to a calf. 
Sucky, sb. a calf. 

Sugar. * You're neither sugar nor salt that you'd melt : ' said to 
reconcile a person to a wetting. 

Sum, sb. " A sum of cattle in these parts is what they call a collop 
in other parts of Ireland, consisting of one full-grown cow or bullock, 
of three years old, or a horse of that age ; though in some places a 
horse is reckoned a sum and a half. Eight sheep make a sumJ*^ — 
Habbis, Hist. CO. Down, 1744. In some places six ewes and six 
lambs make a sum. 

Sundays. *A month of Sundays' = a long time. *I won't go 
back there for a month of Sundays.* 

Sup, (1) sb. a small quantity of any liquid. 

(2) sh. a quantity. * A good sup of rain fell last night.* 



102 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Sup forra, v. to be sorry ; to repent. ' Sup sorra wi' the spoon o' 
grief/ a saying. 

Sorely to goodness, adv. surely. 

Swaby (1) «6. a batcher^s swab = a butcher's boy. 

(2) ib, a contemptuous term for a person. 

Swank, sh, a tall, thin man. 

Sward, sh, the swathe, or line of grass cut by the scytha 

Swayed, adj, said of a wall that is leaning to one side. 

Sweel, sh a swivel 

Swear, adj. unwilling ; slow. 

Swinge^ v, to singe. 

Swinger, sh. anything big. * That conger eel 's a swinger.^ 

Swingle-tree, sb. part of the tackle of a plough. 

Swirl, 8b. a whirling gust of wind. 

Swirly, sb. a quarryman's term for a large ammonite. 

Swither, t;. to be in doubt ; to hesitate. 

Switherin*, undecided. ' I'm awitlierivi! whether to go or not. 

Swithers, sb. To be * in the strntherSf wavering ; to be undecided. 
' Pm in the swithers what to do.' 

Swurl o' wnn, sb. a blast of wind. 
Synayng, a soft crab. Same as a Peeler. 
Syne, adv. late. 



Taapie, sb. a silly, careless woman. 

Tack, sb. a rancid taste or taint, in butter, &c. 

Tackle, sb. a quick and rather troublesome child. 

Tacky, adj. sticky as varnish, not quite hard. 

Taen, v. taken. 

Taickle, sb. a randy ; a talking, scolding woman. 

Tail of the eye, sb. the corner of the eye. * I saw him with the tail 
of my eye.* * Now don't be watchin' me out of the tail of your eye J 

Tak, or Take, sb. a piece of ground taken on lease. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 103 

Take. ^Take to your beaters.* ^ Take to your scrapers * = run 
away. 

Take a hand at, v. to impose upon ; to banter ; to hoax. * I know 
yer just tahivk a harC at me.' 

Take an' do, to do. ' Take arC do that at once.' 

Take bad, v, to take ill. 

Take in with, to overtake a person. * You'll soon take in with him.' 

Taken on with, pleased with. 'They're greatly taken on with him.' 

Take notice, v. an infant beginning to show that it observes things 
is said to ' take notice.^ 

Take off, (1) sh, a mimic. *Dear ! but you're a sore take off' 

(2) V, to mimic. * He took her off to the life.' 
Take stock, v. to take notice of ; to observe. 
Tak' yer tobacco, don't be in a hurry. 
Tammock, sh. a little knoll, in a bog or marsh. 
Tanny, sh, a dark-complexioned (tawney) person. 
Tap 0' kin, ah, the head of the family. 

Tap o' tow. Flax or tow placed on the * rock ' of a spinning-wheel, 
which if set on fixe, would be all ablaze in an instant. Hence the 
saying — * He went aff like a tajp o* tow^* meaning he got into a flaming 
passion in an instant. 

Tarble han', terrible hand. Same as Sore hand. 

Tarbillest, adj, most terrible. 

Targe, {\) sh. a scolding woman. 
(2) V. to scold loudly. 

Targein'. * A targein' fine horse,' a very fine horse. 

Taste, sh. a small quantity. ' A taste o' matches.' 

Tasty, adj. tasteful ; natty. * Oh, he's a very tasty man.' 

Tatty, adj. untidy; unkempt. 

Tawpened, adj. tufted as a fowl. 

Tawpenny, sh. a hen with a tuft on its head. 

Tear, (1) v. to run fast. 

(2) V. to knock or ring violently at a door. 

(3) [Teer] 'There's a tear in yer e'e like a threv'lin* rat,* saying. 

Tears. * The tears were running down his cheeks like beetles up a 
hiU : ' said in ridicule of a child who is crying for nothing. 



104 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Taenii (1) r. to pour. *He teemed a pint of it down the dog's 
throat' 

(2) «6. heaviest rain. * I was out in a perfect teemJ 

Telling. * It would be no telUrCy i. e. it would not tell or count in 
one's fiayour — ^would be hurtful. ' It would be tellin' me a quare dale 
if rd knowed that afore/ t. e. it would have been of great consequence 
to me to have known, &c. 

Temp a sant (tempt a saint), to be very annoying. * It would temj) 
a $ant the way you're gettin' on.' 

Tendered, v, made tender, as linen sometimes is in Hhe bleach.' 
* The fibre (of flax) tendered by excess of moisture.' 

Tent of ink, sb, as much ink as a pen will lift at once out of an ink- 
bottle. 

Thairm, sh. cat-gut. 

That, (1) so. * He was that heavy we couldn't lift him.' 

(2) used in sense of this, A common salutation. ' Thafs a soft 
day, means, * This is a wet day.' 

The day, to-day. * Will you go the day^ or the morrow 1 ' 

Thee, sh. the thigh. 

Thegither, adv, together. 

Theirsels, themselves. 

The long eleventh of Jane, saying, used as a comparison of length. 

The more, adv, although. * He did it, the more he said he wouldn't.' 

The morra come niver, never. 

Th^ pigs ran through it, something interfered to prevent the 
arrangement being carried out. 

Thiok^ (1) adj. friendly ; confidential. * As thick as thieves/ 
(2) adj. in quick succession ; close together. 

Think a heap, v. to like ; to value. * We thinh a heap of him.' 

Think long, v. to feel a longing; to be home-sick. 'What's the 
matter with you ; are you thinking long 9 ' 

Think pity, v. to pity ; to take pity. ' I thought pity o* the chile he 
was that cowl.' 

Think shame, be ashamed. * Think shame o' yersel', child ! ' 

Thirtage, sh. Same as Mootther, or Monlter. The proportion of 
meal paid to a miller for grinding. Ohsolete^ 1 believe. 

Thirteen, sh. a name for a British shilling at the time when the 
British and Irish currencies were different The shilling was worth 
thirteen pence Irish 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 105 

Thole, (1) V, to bear; to endure. 

(2) * A haporth 6* eAoZ«-weel, an' a pennorth o' nivir-let-on-ye-liae- 
it,' recommended as a cure for a trifling ailment. 

Thon, adv, yon. 

Thonder, adv. yonder. 

Thongin*, sb. a beating. 

Thoom, sb, the thumb. 

Thooms (thumbs). * They might lick thooms tae the elbows/ i. e, 
the one is as bad as the other. * We may lick thooms upon that/ a 
common saying when two parties agree to a bargain, or have a com- 
munity of opimon {Ulster Journal of Archceology), 

Thorn grey, sb. the common grey linnet. Also called Hedge grey. 

Thorough, or Thorra, adj, wise; sane. *The poor fellow's not 
thorough,^ 

Thought, sb, a small quantity of anything. ' A wee thought^* a less 
quantity. 

Thraiveless, adj. careless ; siUy, or restless, applied to a person dis- 
inclined to do anything, the disinclination arising from weakness. 
' I was thraiveless affcer uiat long illness.' 

Thrapple, Thrap, sb. the wind-pipe ; the throat. 

Thraw, v. to twist ; to turn. 

** Wha scarce can thraw her neck half roun', 
Tae bid guid morn her neighbour." — Huddlbston. 

* Them boots would thraw yer feet.' 

Thraw a rope, to be hanged (the weight of tbe body causes the rope 
to * thraw ^). 

Thraw hook, sb. a hooked stick used for twisting hay-rope. 
Thraw mule, sb. a perverse and obstinate person. 
Thread the needle and sew, sb. a children's game. 
Threave, sb. the straw of two stocks (shocks) of com. 
Threep, v. to argue, or contest a point. 
Threshel, sb. the threshold. 

ThrisHe cock, sb. the common bunting. 

Throm, prep. from. 

Throng, adj. crowded. * The streets were very throng f' over-throng = 
over-crowded. 

Through, (1) adv. in the course of. * I'll call through the day.' 

(2) adv, a horse ' working through land,' means working in fields, 



106 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

plougliing, &0. ' Gbing through the floor ' ^ walking about a room 
as a nurse does with a restless child. 

Through-other, Throother, adj. confused ; untidy; without order. 
* She's a through-other sort o* buddy.' * His horse is all throiigh-oth&r! 

Throw* V, to cause. ' It thraics us that we can't get the place cleared 
out.' 

Throw by, v, throw away. * Throw by that owl hat aff ye.' 

Thmm, sh, a threepence. A commission of three pence per stone on 
flax, paid by a flax buyer to a person who brings the buyer and seller 
together in open market. 

Thmmphry, sb. rubbish ; broken furniture. 

Thrunuii sb. pi, the ends of the threads of a weaver's warp. 

Thrush, sb, a boy's game. 

Thrush, the, sb, a skin eruption. 

Thrushed in the feet, applied to a horse whose feet have become 
tender from the effect of dry hot weather. 

Thump, sb, bean champ, i, e, mashed potatoes and beans. 

Thunder. * He turned up his eyes like a duck in thunder,* i, c. he 
showed astonishment. 

Thunder-bolt, a stone celt ; also a belemnite. 

Thunderin', very. * ThunderivH good hay.' 

Thurrish, v, to be friendly, kindly, or accommodating. * These people 
wouldn't thurrish together.' 

Tib's eve, or St. Tib's eve, never. * I'll marry you on Tib's eve, an' 
that's neither before Christmas nor after,' sa3ring. 

Ticht, adj, smart ; active. * A ticht, clean fellow.' 

Ticklish, adj, difficult; precarious. 

Tid, Tidge, sb, a fine warm bed for crops ; adj, the quality of soil 
that is fit for the reception of seed. ' That ground is in fine tid,^ i, e, 
pulverised and dry. 

Tied. ' He was fit to be tied,* i, e, in a great passion. 

Tig, sb, a children's game. The one that ' has tig,* chases the others 
till he * gives tig ' to one of them by touching ; the one * tigged ' then 
chases Sie others who avoid him as dangerous. 'Cross-^i^,' is a 
modification of this game. 

Till, (l) sb, heavy clay ; the subsoil. 

(2) prep, used for to. * A'm goin' till Lisbum.' 
Till iron, sb, a crow-bar. 

Till midden, sb, a manure-heap in a ploughed field. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 107 

Time, (1) * If I can make time * = if I have time. 

(2) * You kept time between you and the day,' ». e, you kept putting 
off the evil day. 

Time o* day. To * bid the time o* day,* is to salute a person with 
* good morning * or anything similar. 

Timmersome, adj. timorous. 

Tin, sb. What is know*n as * a tin,^ is a tin mug or porringer. 

Tinker's toast, sb, the crust at the side of a loaf which has been one 
of the outside loaves of a batch. 

Tint, adj. one-third rotten, applied to wood that has been kept 
seasoning till it begins to decay. 

Tip, sb, a ram. 

Tirl, Thirl, v, to turn up something. ' The wun' thirled the thatch 
las' nicht.* 

To, (1) adv. used for till. * Come here to I kiss you.* 

(2) prep, used for /or. * You can get a bit to yourself.' 

Toardst, adv. towards. 

Tod, sb. a fox. 

To-morrow was a year, a year ago from to-morrow. 

Tom pndden, sb. the little grebe ; also called, * penny-bird,' * drink a 
penny,' * Willie Hawkie.' 

Tongue; (1) * Has a tongue wud clip clouts.' * Has a tongue wud clip 
iron or orass,' applied to a great talker, or to a person who has * a 
cuttin' tongue.^ 

(2) V. to scold. 

Tongue thrash, v, to scold. 

Tongue-thrashing, sb, a scolding. 

Tonguing, sb, abuse ; a violent scolding. 

Too big riggit, adj, over rigged, as a boat. 

Took, (1) struck or caught. ' A stone just took him in the eye.' 

(2) V. went. * They took down the old road.' 

Took off, V. ran away. 

Toom, adj, empty. 

Tooth. Children when they are losing their first teeth, are told 
when a tooth is taken out> that if they do not put their tongue into 
the hole, a gold tooth will grow. 

Top, V. to lop off the top branches in pruning a hedge. 

Top pickle. ' The top pickle of all grain belongs to the gentry,' i. e. 
to the fairies. 



108 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Tory, eh. a deceiving person, usually applied in banter ; a tena of 
endearment for a chud, thus — * Ah ! you*re a right tory.* * A rayl 
tory,* * A sore toryf* &c. 

Tofhan, sb, a silly person. 

To the fore, in existence. 

Totfherry, adj. untidy ; ragged. 

Tonch, sb. a loop of cord put round a horse's tongue or lip. 

Touch an' hail, sb. (touch and heal), the St. John's wort, Hyporicum 
perforatum. Prunella vulgaris is also so-called. 

Tours, sb. pi. peat sods used in firing. 

Tove, V. to boast or brag. 
Tover, sb. a boaster. 

Tovey, Toved, adj. puflfed up ; silly ; self-important. 

Tovy eedyot, sb. a puffed up fool. 

Towarst, adv. towards. 

Town stinker, sb. a boy's game, played with a ball. The *toion* is 
marked by a circle on l£e ground, and two parties of boys take 
possession of it alternately, according to their success in striking the 
oall in certain directions. 

Track, sb. In playing marbles, a boy who hits one marble may 
* take track off it,* t. e. he gets another shot. 

Traik, (1) sb. a long, tiresome walk. 
(2) V. to be sickly ; not to thrive. 

Train, v. to travel by train. * He'll have to train it every day.' 

Tramp cock, sb. a hay- cock, which has been tramped to make it more 
solid. 

Trams, sb. pi. the portions of the shafts which project behind the 
body of a cart. They are also called Back-trams. 

Trash, Green trash, sb, unripe or bad fruit. 

Travel, v. to walk. * I travelled it every fut o' the way.' 

Treadwuddy, sb. an iron hook and swivel used to connect a single 
or double tree with a plough or harrow. 

Trench, v. to dig land down to the subnaoil. 

Trig, (I) sb. the line from which persons jumping start from, when 
making the jump. 

(2) adj. neat; trim. 
Trigged up, v. trimmed up ; settled. 
Trinket, v. a small artificial water-course. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 109 

TrinklOi V. to trickle. 

Trodge, v, to walk ; to saunter. 

Trodger, sh, a traveller on foot. 

TrogySb, slow and petty dealing in the market. 

Troth, in truth. * Troth an* I won't.' 

Tronbles the, sb, the Irish rebellion of 1641. 

Trout heaght, sb. trout height, the height that a trout can leap from 
the water, used as a standard or comparison of height. 

Truckle, sb, a small car^ in common use before the introduction of 
the present farm carts. 

Truff, V. to steal. 

Truff the ducks, a term applied to beggars and vagrants. 

Tmle, sb, a trowel. 

Trump, sb, a Jew's-harp. 

Truimel, Trinnel, (!) sb, the wheel of a wheelbarrow. 

(2) V. to trundle. * Away out an' trinnel yer hoop.* 

Truss, sb. A truss of hay is twelve score pounds. A tntss of straw 
is nine score (McSkimin, Htat. Carrickfergus), 

Truth. * It's as true as ti*uth has been this long time,' saying. 

Tryste, (1) sb, an appointment. ' He put in a tryste with his girl.' 

(2) v. to make an appointment ; to bespeak. < You can't have them 
boots, they're trysted, 

Trysted, v. appointed. * I have trysted to meet him on Monday.' 

Tthur ! Tthur ! a call for pigs. 

Tuck stick, sb, a sword-stick. 

Tune. * The tune the old cow died of,' a comparison for any unre- 
cognizable air, or any particularly bad attempt at music. 

Tuppenny ticket, sb, * It's not worth a tuppenny ticket,' i, e, it's 
quite worthless. These 'tickets* were copper, tradesmen's tokens, 
value two-pence, of which considerable numbers were issued in the 
north of Ireland in the eighteenth century. They were about the 
size of farthings. 

Turn an arch, v, to form or build an arch. 

Turned, adj, slightly sour, applied to milk. 

Tum-footins, sb, pi. small heaps of cut turf. See under Clamp. 
Turnips. 

* You may take one, 
And you may take two, 
But u you take three, 
m take you.' 



110 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Supposed to be said by fieuiners concerning persons wbo take a turnip 
out of a field to eat it. 

Turn out the, ah. a term for the Irish rebellion of 1798. Also 
called The Hurries. 

Turn spit Jack, ah, a game at country balls, &c., in which young 
men compete by singing for their partners in the next dance. 

Turn the word, to contradict, or dispute the correctness of a state- 
ment. * I wouldn't begin to turn the word with you.' 

Twa, nu. adj. two. 

Twa hand boy, ah a smart fellow. 

Twall, nu. adj. twelve. 

Twalmonfh, ah. a year. 

Twict, Twicet, adv. twice. 

Two double, adj. 'Bent two double.* 'Going two double* bent 
with pain or age. 

Two-eyed beef-steak, ah. a herring. 
Twussle, ah. a tussle. 



Unaise, Unease, XTnaisement, ah. an uneasy state. ' They got into 

an unaise when they heard about it.' * It caused a great unaisemeni 
in the village,' 

Unco, adj. strange. 

Underboard, adj. dead and coffined, but not yet buried. 

Underconsttunble, v. to understand ; to comprehend. 

Under foot salve, ah. filth applied as a poultice in the case of 
horses, &c. 

Unfeelsome, adj. unpleasant; disagreeable. 

Unfordersonie, adj. unmanageable. 

Unknownce, Unknownst, adv. unknown. 

Unpossible, adv. impossible. 

Unsignified, adj. insignificant. 

Unsonsy, adj. unlucky. 

Untimous, adj. at unseasonable times. 

Upcast, ah. a reproach ; something ' cast up ' to one. 

Upon, prep. with. * I take the medicine upon milk.' 

Upsetting, adj, arrogant; assuming. 'The're the most upaettineat 
people in the country.' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. Ill 

XTp the oountry people, sb, pi. persons from any part of Ireland, 
except the north-east of Ulster, 

TJs, pron, me. 



Vaig, sb, a disreputable, wandering person. 

Vaigish, adj, vagrant. * A vaigisJi looking person.' 

Vast. To be * vast against a person,' is to be very much opposed to 
him. 

Vant, sb. a vault. 

Yermint o' rats, a great quantity of rats ; a plague of rats. 

Waarsh, Worsh, adj. insipid. 'A've got a warsh taste in ma 
mouth.' 

Wabster, sb. a weaver. 

Wad, V. to wager. 

Wag at the wa', sb, a clock, of which the pendulum is exposed to 
view. 

Wag on, V. to beckon. * I wagged on him to come across the field 
to me.' 

Wait a wee, wait a little bit. 

Waited on, just expected to die. * He was waited on last night.' 
* He's just a waitin* on.^ 

Wakerife, Waukerife, adj. wakeful. 

Wale, (1) sb. that which is chosen or selected. 

(2) V. to pick the best out of a quantity of anything. 

Waling [wailing] glass, sb. a weaver's counting glass, which magnifies 
a small portion of the surface of linen, and thus enables the set or 
count to be ascertained. 

Walked [I sounded], adj. shrunken, applied to flannel that has shrunk 
in washing. ' The flannen 's as walked an' hard as a ca's lug ' [a calf s 
ear]. 

Wallop, sb. ' A wallop of a horse,' a loose-limbed horse. 

Walloping, v. floundering. A certain lake had overflowed its banks, 
and it was said that ' the eels were wallopin^ through the fields.' 

Wallopy, adj. loose limbed. 

Walter, v. * The potatoes lie down and waiter on the ground,' i. e. 
they remain lying. 

Walthered, adj. mired or stuck in a boggy road, or swampy place. 
' Whiles in the momin' I find the branches of the trees all walthered 
and smashed,' broken down into the mire. 



112 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Wanst, adv, once. 

Want, V, to do without ' We can't want the pony the day.* 

Wanting, without. ' You're better wanting that.' 

Wants a square of being round : said of a person who is not wise. 

War-hawk, sb, a bailiff or summons server. 

Warm the wax in your ears, box your ears. 

Warshness, sb, a sickish feeling, accompanied by a desire to taste 
something salt or with a strong flavour. 

Warts. Warts are said to be caused by the foam of the sea if it 
touches the hands. 

Washing, sb, A washing of clothes is as much as is washed at 
once. 

Wasslin', v. making a rustling or hoarse sound in breathing. ^ Do 
you hear the chile wasslin* in his chest ? ' 

Wassock, sh. a wind-guard for the door of a cottage made of inter- 
woven branches of birch or hazel. Same as Corrag. 

Watoh out, V, to watch for ; to look out for. 

Water, sb. a river. ' The six-mile water, ^ ' The Braid water, ^ 

Water-brash, sb. a sensation as of water coming up the throat into 
the mouth. 

Water-grass, sb. water-cress. 

Water g^uns, sb. pi. sounds as of gun-shots said to be heard around 
the shores of Lough Neagh and by persons sailing on the lake. The 
cause of the sounds, which are generally heard in calm weather, has 
not been explained. The phenomenon is also spoken of as the Lough 
shooting. 

Water of Ayr, sb. a kind of stone highly prized for hones ; boys* 
marbles are also supposed to be made of it. Sometimes called 
Wattery vair. 

Water table, sb. the channel at the side of a road. 

Water wagtail, «&. the grey wagtail. 

Waur, adj. worse. ' Ance ill, aye wauri saying. 

Way, sb. * He's in a great way with her,' i. e. he is very much taken 
with her, or in love with her. 

(2) * What way are ye ? * * What way are ye commin* on ? ' i. e. 
how do you do ? 

Ways, sb. way ; distance. ' It's a great ways off.* 
Weak turn, sb. a fainting fit. 
Wean, Wain, sb. a child. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 113 

Wear in, v. * The time will soon wear in,* i. e. the time will soon 
pass. 

Wearie. * The anld toearie on you,' an evil wish or curse. 

Weasel, sh. the stoat The true weasel does not occur in Ireland. 

Weather gall, sh the end of a rainbow seen in squally weather. 
Same as Dog. 

Weavers, sb, pi, spiders. 

Webber, sh, a country linen buyer. (Obsolete.) 

Week, sh, a wick — Whence the riddle or puzzle, 'licht a can'le on 
Monday morning an' it 11 biim tae the week's en'.' 

Wed, V. weeded. ' The garden wants to be wed* 

Wee, (1) sh, a short time. ' In a wee ' = in a short time. 

(2) adj. Httle. 
Weed, sh, a feverish attack to which women are sometimes liable. 

Weel-fanred, adj, good-looking. 

Wee folk, Wee people, sh. pi, fairies. 

Wee knowin', sh, a small quantity; what could be perceived. 

Weel saired, adj. well served. 

Weeny, adj. little. Same as Wee. 

Wee ones, sh. pi. children. ' There was a wheen o* wee ones follayin' 
afther thim.* 

Wee thing, a little. * It's a wee thing sharp this mornin'.' 

Weght, sh, a round tray, made of sheepskin stretched on a hoop, for 
carrying com, &c. 

Weigh butter and sell cheese, sh, a children's game. Two persons 
stand back to back and interlock their arms ; then each, by bending 
forward alternately, lifts the other off the ground. 

Weill whati 

Well-blooded, adJ, with a high complexion ; rosy. 

Well ink, sh, a marsh plant, Veronica Beccahunga. It is used 
medicinally. 

Well, I think ! an exclamation of surprise ; indeed ! 

Well of a car, sh. a receptacle for luggage or parcels in the central 
part of an ' outside car.' 

Well put on, adj, well-dressed. The reverse is 111 put on. 

Welshmen plucking their geese, a heavy shower of snow when 
the wind is S.E. or E. 

I 



114 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Welt the flnre, a call of enconragement to persons dancing. 

Wet-my-foot, sh. the quail : so called from its cry. Also called Wet- 
my-lip. 

Wet shodi adj, having one's boots and stockings saturated. 

Whaok, (1) ^&. a good allowance of drink. ' He can take his wha/ik^ 
A profit, or a shcure or slice of the profit, on a transaction. 

(2) Quality. ' It's not the whacky u e. not the quality; not up to 
the mark. 

Whalin'y eh. a beating. 

Whammel, v. to fall in a sprawling way. 

Whammle, Whnmmle, v, to upset or knock over something. 

Whang, (1) sh, a thong : hence a shoe-tie. 
(2) sb, a large slice cut off a loaf. 

Wharye, ah, the spool fastened on a spindle over which the band 
passes which drives the spindle. 

What ails yon atl means what objection or dislike have you tol 
Thus : * Whai ails you at that man ? * * What ails you at your stir- 
about ? ' 

What come on youl what happened to youl what delayed youl 

What do they call yon 1 i. e. what is your^name 1 

What like is hel what is he like? 

What way are yel how do you do 1 

What way is he ? how is he ? 

Whatsnmever, adv, whatever. 

Whaup, sb. a curlew, Nummius Arquata, 

Whee ! Wee ! call for a horse to stop. 

Wheen, sh, a quantity ; a number. ' Give us a wheen o' them nuts,' 
* I'll try it for a wheen o' days more.' 

Wheep, V. to whistle. 
Wheepler, sb, a whistler. 
Wheetie, sb, a duck. 
Wheetie-wheetie, a call to ducks. 
Which? what? 

Which han' will ye have it in? a taunt, meaning you won't get 
it at all. 

Whiles, adv, now and then ; occasionally, ' Ogh, 'deed, whiles he's 
betther an* whiles he's waur,' 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 115 

"Vhillalooya. * Singing whillalooya to the day nettles,' dead and 
buried. 

'Whimper, sh a whisper. 

"Whim-wham. ' A whim-wham for a goose's bridle,' something that 
April fools are sent in search ol 

*Whin checker, sb, the hen stone chat See Stone checker. 

WTiinge, v. to whine ; to cry in a complaining way. 

Whin grey, sb, a bird, the lesser redpole. 

Whins, sb. furze. 

Whin-stone, sb. basalt. 

Whip, V, to run quickly. 

Whish ! Whisht ! Wheesht ! trderf. hush. 

White, V. to cut small chips off a stick with a knife. 

White-headed boy, sb. a favoured one.; a mother's favourite among 
her boys. 

White horse, sb. a summons. 

White side, sb. the tufted duck, or the young of the golden eye. 

Whitey-brown thread, sb. a strong kind of thread : so called from 
its colour. 

Whitterick, sb. a small swimming bird, perhaps the little grebe. 

Whitterick, Whitterit, sb. the stoat, Mvstela Erminea. 

Whizeek, sb. a severe blow. 'A hut him a whizeek on the lug.' 

Who's owe iti who owns iti 

Whnddin', v. applied to a hare when it is running about as if to 
amuse itself. 

Whnmper, sb. a whisper ; a private intimation. 

Whnp, sb. a whip. 

Whntherit, sb. a stoat. 

Why but youl why did (or do) you not 1 * Why but you pay the 
man ? ' * Why hut you hut him ? * 

Wiley coat, sb. a short shirt of flannel, with short sleeves, open 
down the front, worn by men, sometimes next the skin and sometimes 
over another garment. 

Wilk, sb. a periwinkle. 

Williard, adj. obstinate ; self-wiUei 

Willie Hawkie, sb. the little grebe. Also called Drink-a-penny, 

Willie-wagtail, sb. the wagtail. 

I 2 



116 ANiaiM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 

Wilyart, Wnlyart, adj. bashful ; stupid. 

Win, V. to save or dry hay, turf, &c., by exposure to the wind. 

Wind. (1) 'To get under the wind ' of any afiTair is to get secret or 
early information about it. 

(2) The following rhyme has regard to the various winds : 

* When the wind *8 from the north 
It's good for cooling broth ; 
When the wind *s from the south 
It blows the dust into your mouth ; 
When the wind 's from the east 
It's neither good for man or beast ; 
When the wind *s from the west, 
Then the weather's best. 

Winedins, sh, pi The head and foot rig in a ploughed field on 
which the horses turn are the winedins. 

Wine 'ere, Wind 'ere 1 a call to a horse to turn to the left or near 
side. 

Wink 0* sleep, any sleep. * I didn't get a wink o' sleep for a week.' 

Winlin, sb, a small roll of hay. 

Winnie stroe, sh. a stalk of withered grass. 

Winter dyke, sh. two strong fences of stones or earth crossing each 
other at right angles. These are erected on exposed pastures to shelter 
cattle left out in winter. Also a clothes-horse for drying clothes on. 

Winter Friday, sh. a term for a cold, wretched-looking person. 

Wit, (I) sh. knowledge ; intelligence. 

(2) * He has to seek his wit yet,' said of a fool. 

Witch's cradle, sh. a Lias fossil, GrypJiea incurva. 

Wite, V. to blame. 

Wi' the han', favourable; easily done. This expression is taken 
from ploughing experience. When a man is ploughing across a 
sloping place, and has difficulty in getting the earth to lie back, he 
would say it was * again the han' ; ' if otherwise, he would say it was 
* wi'the han\^ The horse that walks on the unploughed land is said to 
be * in the han* ; ' the other horse is called the * fur horse,' because it 
walks in the furrow. 

Without, adv. unless. * Without you do it.' 

Wizzen, sh. the windpipe. 

Wobble, V. to lather the face before shaving ; to totter in walking ; 
to shake ; to be unsteady on the feet. 

Wobblin' brush, sh. a shaviiig brush. 

Wool cottar, sh. a cormorant. 



ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSARY. 117 

Wool fire, wild fire, an eruption on the skin. ' It spreads like xdooI 
fire,^ a comparison. 

Word, sh, news ; a message. ' Word come that his brother was dead.* 
* Did the master leave word when he would be home ? ' 

Words, sh, a falling-out. *Why did you leave your last place T 
' Oh, the manager an' me had 7oord$.* 

Worm month, sK part of July and part of August; a fortnight 
before and a fortnight after Lammas. ** Everything that has life in 
it lives this month." 

Worm-picked, adj, worm-eaten, as wood. 

'Worse nor lose ye canna,' i. e, you can but lose, so you may 
venture to do it. 

Wraith, sb. a shadowy likeness of a person. 

Wran, sb, a wren. 

Wringing adj, saturated ; dripping with water. * I was out in that 
pour, an' I'm all wringing.* 

Wrought on, v, worked in the system. * He took a swelling in his 
knee last July, an' it has wrought cm him ever since.' 

Wnd, adj. enraged ; mad. 

Wun, sb. the wind. 

Wnnnher, sb. a sprite of a child. ' Come here, ye uninnher, ye.* 

Wnnnhnr what ails ye. 'A'll mak ye tmmnJmr what ails ye,' a 
threat of a beating or punishment. 

Wnnnie claith, sb. winnow cloth, a large cloth on which the grain 
falls when it is winnowed by being tossed in the wind. 

Wnr sels, sb. pl^ ourselves. 



Yammerin', Yimmerin*, v. complaining ; grumbling. 

Yap, {\) sb. a cross, peevish fellow. 

(2) V. A chicken or young turkey is said to yap when it makes 
repeated calls for food. 

Yappy, adj. thin ; hungry-looking. 

Yam. * Take the yam,* said of herrings when they strike the net. 

Yarwhelp, sb. a bird mentioned by Harris {Hist. Co. Dovm, 1744). 
It *4s something like a woodcock." Called, also Tarwhip. 

Yaup, V. to bark ; to cry as a young bird for food. 

Yeat, sb. a gate. 

Yell, adj. dry, as a cow when not giving milk. 



118 ANTRIM AND DOWN GLOSSAUV. 

Yelloeh, sh, a yell. 

Yellow-man, sK a kind of toffee made of treacle and flour. 

Yerp, V, to yelp. * Whiles a whitterick yerpa like a dug,* L e, a 
stoat sometunes yelps like a dog. 

Yilley-yorlin, Yella-yoit, YelU-yert, sb, the yellow-hammer or 
yellow bunting. 

Yin, adj. one. 

Yin ends erran', on particular or special purpose. ' He went yin 
ends erran* for it.* 

Yirkin, sh. the side of a boot. 

Yirnin*, Yermerin*, v, grumbling ; complaining. 

Yoke, Yok, v. to attach a horse to a cart or other vehicle. 

Yirlin, sb. a yellow-hammer. 

Yon and yon else, /. e, you and others like you ; in the same line 
as you are, or the same way of thinking. 

Yonr day, sh, your lifetime ; all your daya * The watch will last 
you your day.^ 

Yon're no fit, you are not able. 

Yonr nns, eb. your family. 

YonSy pron, ye. * Yous can't get commin' through this way.' 

Yon've only the half of it, a reply to the observation, *I'm glad 
to have seen you,* meaning ' I am as glad as you are.' 

Yowl, V. to howL * The dog yowled when I clodded a stone at him.' 

Yowlin', sb. a howling or yelping noise. 

Ynky, adj\ itchy. 



Zinc, sb. This word is sometimes sounded as of two syllables, thusr- 
esB'Zinc. 



BITNGAT : CL4T AND TAYLOR, VKtNTEttB.